Dissertations Upon the Apparitions

This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized
by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the

information in books and make it universally accessible.
https://books.google.com
LIBRARY
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

4
A
Get
Charles
John Gitton
роди
Arthur Kontanator
DISSERTATIONS
UPON THE
APPARITIONS
O F
Angels, Dæmons, and Ghofts,
And concerning the
VAMPIRES
Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silefia.
By the Reverend Father
DOM AUGUSTIN CALMET,
A Benedictine Monk, and Abbot of Senones in Lorraine.
Tranflated from the FRENCH .
LONDON :
Printed for M. COOPER, at the Globe in Pater-nofter

Row. MDCCLIX.
1
}
PREFACE .
AM not ignorant that the appari-

tions of angels, dæmons , and de-
parted foul's, are a fubject which
has employed a great number of
writers ; and I am not vain enough to imfas
gine that I fhall fucceed better, or throw
more light upon it than they have done. I
am fenfible that I expofe myſelf to the criti-
cifms, and perhaps to the laughter of many
readers, who look upon this matter as quite
exhauſted, and now generally exploded by
philofophers and men of learning, and even

by many divines. I have no reaſon to expect
the approbation of the vulgar, whoſe want
of diſcernment difqualifies them for being
competent judges in a queſtion of this nature.
My defign is not to promote fuperftition, or

to furniſh entertainment for the fond credulity
of vifionary minds, and fuch as blindly be-
W
A 2 lieve
A
iv PREFACE.
lieve every thing that is told them, as foon

as they diſcover any thing in it that is mira-
culous and fupernatural. In fhort, I write
only for reaſonable and unprejudiced minds,
who examine into things feriously and cooly,
who affent not to uncontefted truths without
confidering them, who are capable of doubt-
ing when things are uncertain, of fufpending

their judgment when they doubt, and of re- 1
jecting what is evidently falſe. As for fuch
freethinkers as deny every thing, in order to
diftinguish themſelves above the reft of man-

kind, I leave them in their exalted fphere.
They may entertain what opinion they pleaſe
of my work ; and as it is not defigned for
them , probably they will not be at the pains
to read it..
I undertook it with a view to my own
ipformation , and in order to form a juft no-

tion of all that is commonly reported con-
cerning the apparitions of angels, dæmons,

and departed fouls. I had a mind to fee how
far this matter was certain, or uncertain ;
true, or falſe ; known , or unknown ; clear,

or obfcure.
In the great number of facts and inſtances

which I have collected, I have endeavoured
to make a proper diſtinction, and not to heap

up too great a multitude ; fearing, that if
the
PREFACE.
the inftances were too numerous, fuch as are
doubtful might hurt the credit of thoſe that

are certain, and that by attempting to prove
too much, I fhould prove nothing at all. Even
among thoſe which I have quoted, there will
be found fome that will not eafily gain credit
如
with many readers , and I am very willing
that they fhould give no attention to them.
I defire them, however, duly to confider
2
the facts which are laid before them, and
they will then be able with me to pronounce
fentence, to affirm , deny, or remain in
doubt.
It feemed to me of great importance, on

account of the regard which every man owes
to truth, and the veneration which a Chrif-
tian, and eſpecially a clergyman, owes to re-
ligion , to undeceive thoſe who look upon all
ftories of apparitions as true ; and to fhew

the truth and reality of a great number to
thofe who look upon all as falfe. It is in all
cafes fhameful to deceive one's felf , but when
religion is concerned, it is particularly dange-

rous to believe lightly, or deny rafhly, to
continue wilfully in doubt, or * to perfift ob-
ftinately in fuperftition and illufion . It is a
great point gained to be able to doubt foberly,
and not to pafs judgment upon things which

are beyond the ſphere of our knowledge.
A 3 Nothing
VI PRE FAT CIE
Nothing that relates to this fubject has

åftonifhed me more than the accounts of the
vampires of Hungary, Moravia , and Poland ;

of the Broucolacks of Greece ; and of the
bodies of excommunicated perfons which are

faid "never to rot. I thought myself obliged
to give it all the attention I was capable of,

and refolved to treat of it in a particular dif
fertation, diftinct from that upon the appa-
Fitions of fpirits. After having ftudied the

point thoroughly, and got all the informa-
tion relating to it that I could, I found that
there was little in it which could be depend-
ed upon as certain. This confideration, join-
ed to the advice of fome judicious and re-
fpectable perſons whom I confulted , made
"
me give over my deſign entirely, and quit a
fubject expoſed to ſo many contradictions .
But, confidering the thing in another light,
Prefumed my pen, with a refolution of un-
I
deceiving the publick , if I found the com
mon reports to be abfolutely falfe, or of fhew-
ing that all that is advanced upon this ſubject
is uncertain, and that one ought to be very
cautious in deciding concerning thefe vam-
pires, which have made fo much noiſe in the
World for fome time paft, and concerning
which people are ſtill divided in their opini-

ons, even in thofe countries which are the
fcene
PREFACE. vii
fcene of their pretended return from the

grave. :
4I thall, therefore, examine this queſtion
ascan hiſtorian , as a philofopher, and as a
divine. As an hiftorian, ' I fhall endeavour
to diſcover the truth of the facts as a phi-
lofopher, Ifhall confider their caufes and
circumſtances ; and lastly, the light which

theology affords will enable me to draw from
it fome confequences, with a view to religion.

So that I write not in hopes of convincing
freethinkers, and fcepticks, of the exiſtence

of vampires, nor even of the apparitions of
angels, devils, and ghofts ; nor to frighten
weak and credulous minds with ftories of
furpriſing apparitions . On the other fide,

I do not expect to cure the errors of the fu
perftitious, for the prejudices of the people,

nor even to correct the abufes which spring
from their unenlightened belief, or to anſwer
all the objections which may be made againſt
*
apparitions, or to diftinguifh myſelf and ac
quire fame, or divert myſelf. Still lefs do Ì
pretend to fet myſelf up for a judge and cen-
for of the works and opinions of others, by
寶
fpreading dangerous doubts upon a matter
which concerns . religion , and from which
fome perfons might draw mifchievous confe-
quences to impugn the authority of the Scrip-
A 4 tures,
viii PREFACE.
tures, and the ftedfaſt doctrines of our holy

faith. I fhall therefore handle the fubject
with all the care and ſeriouſneſs that it de-
ferves, and I pray God to enable me to do it

with fuccefs .
I muſt further defire my reader to make

a diftinction between the facts themſelves *
which are related, and the manner of their
being brought about ; fince the former may

*
be certain , and the latter wholly unknown.
There are in Scripture feveral relations of
apparitions of angels and departed fouls : the
truth of which is indifputable, being founded
upon the divine authority of the Sacred Wri-
tings ; but the manner in which God wrought
theſe refurrections, or permitted thefe appa-
ritions, is hid among the fecrets of his pro-

vidence. We are allowed, however, to ex-
amine into the circumftances of thefe events,
and to propofe our conjectures concerning the

manner in which they were brought about..
But it would be rafh to pronounce decifively
upon matters, which God has not thought fit
to reveal to us. The fame may be faid,
with a proportionable degree of allowance,
of the flories related by grave, fenfible, ju-
dicious, and contemporary authors, who bare
ly relate the facts, without entering into an
examination of the circumftances, or a dif
quifition
PREFACE. ix
quifition concerning the manner in which the

events happened ; points, which they were
not perhaps fully informed of themſelves.
It has been already objected to me, that I
quote poets and authors of little credit, in
fupport of a queftion of fo ferious a nature,

and which has been fo much contefted, as
thats of the apparitions of fpirits. Such au-

thorities, it is faid, tend rather to make theſe
apparitions doubtful, than to prove their

reality, nebo wat Lusyys
But let it be obferved I quote theſe authors
only as witneffes of the opinions which ge
nerally prevailed in their time ; and it is of
confequence to fhew, that the ancient Greeks
and Romnas held , that the fouls of men
were immortal, that they exifted after the
death of the body, and that there was ano
ther life, in which they received the reward
of their good actions, or the puniſhment of
their crimes, and
Thefe opinions, which we meet with in
thes poets, are found alfo in the fathers of
the church, and in the heathen hiftorians.
Even in the Scripture there are hints of this

fort, with fome difference it muſt be owned,
but at the bottom they amount to the ſame

thing. For inftance, what I have related
of the manes or lares, of the evocation of
fouls
PREFACE
fouls after the death of the body, of their

eagerness to come and fuck the blood of fas
crificed animals, of the , shape of the foul

when ſeparated from the body, of its reſtleſs,
unquiet ſtate till the body is buried, of thofe
fuperftitious waxen ftatues, which were det

voted or confecrated under the name of cer-
tain perfons, whom the magicians pretended

to deſtroy, by burning or pricking theſe effi
gies ; the flight of wizards and witches
through the air, and their nocturnal affem-
blies ; all theſe things are related both by

philofophers and hiftorians, as well as poets
..I know well what degree of credit is due
to each, and I give them no more than they
deferve. But it feems to me of ſome ime
portance, in the difcuffion of this queſtion,

to explain, and confute at the fame time,
the fuperftitious prejudices which formerly
prevailed among the common people, and to
reduce the ornaments of fable to the ſtandard
of truth, by retrenching all that the poets

have added to embellish their works, and
amufe their readers...
Befides, I commonly relate theſe things,

upon occafion only of certain facts advanced
by hiftorians, and other grave and judicious
authors ; and fometimes rather to enliven and
embellifh the fubject, than to draw from

them
PROEF A CE.
them any neceffary confequences for eſtabliſh-

ing the doctrine, or to lay any ftreſs upon
them as certain facts, or giving weight to my
D ** c c : t
narration.
I am fenfible how little Lucian is to be
depended upon in what he fays upon this

ſubject, fince he mentions it only to laugh
at it. Philoftratus, Jamblicus, and fome
others deſerve no greater regard ; and I quote
them only to confute them, or to fhew to

what a pitch a vain and fooliſh credulity has
been carried on thefe fubjects, which were
treated as ridiculous by the moſt fenfible men
among the heathens themſelves.
The confequences which I draw from

theſe relations of hiftorians and fictions of
poets, and the manner in which I ſpeak of

them in the courfe of this Differtation , is a
fufficient proof that I look upon, and alledge

that only as true and certain, which is fol
in fact ; and that I have no view of impo-
fing upon the reader, by relating things
which I myſelf look upon as falfe , or very
doubtful, or even as fabulous. But this
ought to be no prejudice againſt the doctrine

of the immortality of the foul, or of ano-
)
ther life, nor against the reality of certain
apparitions related in Scripture, or atteſted
otherwife by good authorities. This is the

føle defign of my .work.
2 Having
CE
xii PREFA .
Having accidentally met with a ſhort Dif
fertation upon an event which happened at

St. Maur, near Paris, in the year 1706, 1
thought proper to fubjoin it to this work.
It ſeems to be the production of an able pen,
and by this means I have the fatisfaction of
refcuing it from the oblivion into which it
was fallen.
མཚ སྒྱུ
.
APPROBATION.
APPROBATION.
*
Have read, by order of my lord chancellor, a
I manufcript, entituled, Differtations upon the ap-
paritions of angels, demons, and gbofts ; and con
cerning the vampires of Hungary, Bobemia, Moravia,
and Silefia : a fubject which required examination
and criticifm . The author, who is well known
in the republick of letters, feems to have ſpared
no pains to inform himſelf of the facts that con-
cern his fubject. His judicious reflections will dif-
play with equal luftre his critical abilities, and will
undoubtedly fecure the reader from a vain credu-
lity, which difpofes men to believe every thing,
and from a dangerous fcepticiſm, which difpofes
them to doubt of every thing.
Sorbonne,
December 16, 1745. DE MARCILLY,
The King's Patent to the bookfeller, to continue in

force forfix years.
LOUIS
de , par la grace de Dieu, Roi de France &
Permilion
Permiffion of the Prefident and Superior- General of
the Congregation of St. Vanne and St. Hidulphe.
E, Dom Sebaftian and

Wfuperior- general of the congregation of St.
Vanne and St. Hidulphe, of the order of St. Be-
nedict , do make known, that, whereas the moſt
reverend Father Dom Auguftin Calmet, abbot of
Senones, has communicated to us his defign of
publiſhing two Differtations, one concerning the
謇 ap
parition of fpirits, and another concerning the vam
pires of Hungary ; and whereas nothing can come
(
from the pen of this celebrated author but what
must be very curious and very inftructive, we have
permitted, and by theſe prefents do permit the faid
moft reverend father abbot to cauſe the faid Differ-
tations to be printed , after having obtained the
ufual approbations and permiffions for that pur-
poſe.
Given at our abbey of St. Manfuy-les- Toul, on
the 18th day of January, in the year 1746, under
our ordinary feal of office, under our fign manual,
and under that of our chancellor.
D. SEBASTIAN GUILLEMIN,
Prefident.
By order of the most reverend father prefident,

૧ ૦૪ 1
D. JOHN MAGron,
Chancellor.
T
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
OF THE
DISSERTATION
RNING
APPARITIONS.
Sect.
PPARITIONS of good and evil angels re-
1.A lated in boly writ. Page 2
II. That departedfouls fometimes come again. 6
III. The confequences which may be drawn from this

doctrine.
8
IV. The certainty of the apparitions related in Scrip- "

ture....
10
V. Apparitions of the dead to the living. 12
VI. Apparitions and revelations are not always fenfible

and corporeal.
ibid.
VII. That we fometimes do not difcern objects that

are immediately before our eyes.
14
VIII. The
CONTENT S.
Sect.
VIII. The reality of apparitions proved by the fulfilling
of predictions. Page 15
IX. Opinions of the eastern nations concerning the

apparitions of angels, and the coming again af de-
parted fouls. 17
X. Opinions of the Hebrews, and of ancient and mo-

dern Chriftians concerning the appearing ofdeparted
fouls. 19
XI. Opinions of the heathens. 20
XII. Opinions of the northern nations. 21
XIII. Opinions of Chriftian writers concerning appa-

ritions in general. 25
j
XIV, Inftances of dead men raiſed to life for a little

time. 26
XV. Whether there be any hope of falvation for bea-

thens dying unconverted, or for Chriftians dying in
mortalfin. 28
XVI. Opinions of the ancient Greeks and Romans con

( cerning the return of departed fouls, and their being
called up by magick. 39.
XVII. Opinions of the ancient Greek and Latin fa-

thers concerning the return of departed fouls. 33
XVIII. Evocation of departed fouls. Inftances of it.

34
XIX. Apparitions ofgood angels, and guardian angels.

36
XX.of Of
CONTENT S
Sect.
XX. Offamiliar fpirits. Page 38
XXI. Apparitions of ſpettres or demons, andſpirits.

44
XXII. Other inftances of apparitions of ſpettres. 47
XXIII. More apparitions of Spectres. 49
XXIV. Stories of boufes fuppofed to be baunted by

Spectres. 50
XXV. Obfervations concerning fpe&tres. 53
XXVI. The opinion of the ancient heathens, that de-

parted fouls are not admitted to a ſtate of rest, till
their bodies are buried. 55
XXVII . Spe&res or demons which raiſe ſtorms. 60
XXVIII. St. Elm³s, or St. German's fire. 62
XXIX. Apparitions of angels, demons, or fpirits,

which reveal things unknown, and things future.
ibid.
XXX . Other remarkable apparitions of angels orfpi-

rits, which diſcover things profitable to falvation.
65
XXXI . Inftances of perfons, bath dead and living,

that have appeared to others, without knowing it.
66
XXXII. Apparitions of living men to other perfons

living, and at a distance. 71
XXXIII. Gobe
CONTENTS.
t.
Se&
XXXIII. Goblins, or familiar fpirits. " 72
XXXIV. Inftances ofſpettres feen in Sweden, and of

› magicians which fell winds. 76
XXXV. Of the lares, manes, and lemures of the

Latines. 78
XXXVI. Of ſpirits who defire to be prayed for. 79
XXXVII. Of a Spirit heard at Epinal. 81
XXXVIII. Story of a ſpirit at Verona. 82
XXXIX . Story of a fpirit at Lagny upon the Marne.

84
XL. Apparitions of deceafed perfons, and of devils.

6) 85
XLI. Melan&bon's evidence concerning the apparition

of a spirit. ibid.
XLII. Story of the mark of a band made upon a hand-

kerchief by a foul from purgatory. 87
•
XLIII. Reaſons for being upon our guard againſt
ghifts who defire our prayers. 92
XLIV. The devil bewn to be the author of most of

thoſe fupernatural events that do not tend to good.
94
2
XLV. Of Spirits in the bollows of mountains and

bottoms of mines. 95
XLVI. A
CONTENT S
Sect.
XLVI. Afolution of the question, Whether the devil
bas the keeping of bid treasure? Page 97
XLVII. Inftances which feem to prove, that the devil

bas the keeping of bid treasures. 100
XLVIII. More inftances of treasure difcovered by

Y 102
devils, or departed fouls.
XLIX. Of the Ignis Fatuus, or Will- with-a-wifp:

17105
L. Of obfeffions and poffeffions by evil ſpirits. 107
LI. Of devils called incubi and fuccubi. 109
LII. Whether obfeffions and poffeffions of the devil can

be cured by natural remedies. T 112
LIII. Of witches and their nocturnal aſſemblies. 113
LIV. What is meant by having the garter. Inftances

of a fupernatural speed in travelling. 118
LV. Of enchanted ferpents. 124
LVI. Surpriſing effects of magick. ibid.
LVII. Objections againſt apparitions. 128
LVIII. That the devil transforms himſelf into an an-

gel of light, and endeavours to weaken or deſtroy the
belief of apparitions , 129
LIX . Difficulties with regard to the reality of appa-

ritions. 131
a ? LX. Effeas
CONTENTS.
Sect.
LX. Effects ofAtrong impreſſions upon, and deceptions
of the imagination. Page 132
LXI. Transformations of men into beafts. 133
LXII. Miraculous cures of perfons bewitched. 136
LXIII. Illufions of the fenfes. #38
LXIV. Story of Defbordes, valet de chambre to Charles

IV. duke of Lorrain. 139
LXV. Apparitions examined, and fhewn for the most

part to be nothing but illufions. 141
LXVI. Surprifing effects of chymistry. 144
LXVII. Whether the devil was the author of the

beathen oracles. 146
LXVIII. Inftances of difcoveries really made by oracles.

148
LXIX. The dread which the devil has of thefign of

the cross, and of the prefence of Chriftians. 150
LXX. Whether there were any oracles among the an-

cient Jews. 153
LXXI. Whether gbofts ever appear with real bodies.

155
LXXII. Reflections upon the fubject of apparitions.

156
LXXIII., Principles to be laid down, in order to ac-

count for apparitions. 158
LXXIV. Con-
CONTENTS
Sect.
LXXIV. Confequences to be drawn from theſe princi-
ciples. Page 161
LXXV. Manner of accounting for apparitions. 162
LXXVI. Of the opinion that fpirits have fubtile ba

dies.
164
LXXVII. Difficulties of accounting for apparitions,

upon a fuppofition that angels, fouls, &c. are purely
Spiritual beings. 165
LXXVIII. Difficulties attending this fubject, what-

ever fyftem we embrace. 168
LXXIX. Whether the bodies of ghoſts are animated

by theirformer fouls, or by devils. 170
LXXX. Of goblins, and what notions we are to en-

tertain of them. 17 ፤
LXXXI. Thoughts concerning goblins. 172
LXXXII . Conclufion of this Diſſertation.

178
CONTENTS
CONTENTS :
I
OF THE
DISSERTATION
CONCERNING
VAMPIRE S.
REFACE. Page 179

PRE
Sect.
I. That the refurrection of a dead body can be effected
by God only: 184
11. Refufcitations of perfons not really dead. 185
III. How this fpecies of refurrection may be effected.

186
IV. Inftance of a man, who had been buried threeyears,

raiſed to life again by St. Stanislaus. 187
V. Refurrection and apparition of a girl who had been

deadfeveral months. 190
VI. A woman taken alive out of her grave. 193
VII. Apparitions in Moravia. 194

VIII. Sum-
CONTENTS
Sect.
VIII. Summary of a book, entitled, Magia Pofthu
ma. Page 195
IX. Proceedings against the bodies of vampires. 197
XOf carcaffes in Hungary, which fuck the blood of

living perfons. 198
XI, Story of a vampire taken from the Jewish Let-

ters. Letter cxxxvii. 200
XII. Other inftances of vampires. 201
XIII. Reaſonings of the author of the Jewish Letters,

upon the fubject of vampires. 204
XIV. Vampirifm owing to an epidemical fanaticifm.

208
XV. Cauſes of the fluidity of blood, and growing of

the hair and nails in vampires. 210
XVI. Extracts from the Mercure Galant of 1693

and 1694, relating to vampires. 212
XVII. Extractfrom aDutch paper, called the Gleaner,

Na. ix. 1733. 213
XVIII. A letter upon the ſubject of vampires. 215
XIX, Traces of this notion of vampires in antiquity.

217
XX. Another inftance of an apparition taken from

St. Auguftin. 219
XXI. Spectres in England in the twelfth century. 222

AXXII. Spec-
NXXZ
CONTEN P S.
Sect.
XXII. Spedres in Peru. Page 124
121
XXIII, Spectres in Lapland. 225
XXIV, Inftance of a man's coming again, after hav-

ing been dead feveral months. 0226
XXV. Ofperfons who had died excommunicated being

feen to go out of the church. 230
XXVI. Inftances of the hoft's being buried with dead

bodies, 231
XXVII. More inftances of excommunicated corpfes

caft up out of boly ground. 232
XXVIII, Inftance of an excommunicated martyr

thrown out of the ground, 234
XXIX. Obfervations upon this story. 235
XXX. A dead man cast out of the church, for hav-

ing refused to pay bis tithes. 236
XXXI. Inftances of perfons who haveshewn figns of

life after death, and bave reverently got out of the
way, to make room for others ofgreater worth. 237
XXXII, A man that went upon a pilgrimage after

death. 439
XXXIII. Another instance offeveral perfons being

accompanied in a pilgrimage by the deceafed, for
whofe fake they undertook it. ibid.
XXXIV. Instance ofafaint's coming out ofhis grave,

to avoid the company of the wicked. 241
XXXV. Ap-
CONTENTS
Sect.
XXXV. Appealfrom an unjuſt excommunication. Page
242
XXXVI. Reflections upon the cafe of excommunicated

perfons going out of churches. 243
XXXVII. Whether the bodies ofexcommunicated per-

fons rat in the earth. 247
XXXVIII, Inftances of the bodies of excommunicated

perfons not putrefying. 248
XXXIX . Of excommunicated perfons appearing again

to the living. 249
XE. Inftances ofexcommunicated perfans coming again.

250
XLI. A Broucolack dug up in the prefence of M. de

Tournefort. 252
XLII. Whether the devil has a power of taking away,

and restoring life. 258
XLIII. Whether the devil has a power of causing

death. 261
XLIV . The manner of putting perfons to death by

incantation, as practifed by the heathens. ** 262
XLV. Inftances of enchanted images among Chriftians.

264
XLVI. Of perfons who have promiſed to bring one

another an account of the other world. 268
XLVII . Several instances of people's coming again

after their deaths. 269
XLVIII. Why
CONTENTS.
Sect.
XLVIII: Whyothers who have made the fame engage-
-ments do not appear alfo. Page 272
XLIX. Different ways of accounting for the coming

again of deceafed perfons. 274
L. A differtation on the uncertainty of the figns of

death, and the danger of hafty burials, by M. James
Benignus Winflow, regent-doctor of phyfick at Paris,
" tranflated, and illuftrated with notes, by James
John Brubier, doctor of phyfick. Printed at Paris,

in the year 1742. 275
+
LI. Several inftances of perfons buried alive. 276
LII. Inftances ofperfons, feemingly drowned, that have

recovered. 280
LIII. Inftances of women who have been thought dead,

... 281
and have afterwards revived.
LIV. Whether thefe inftances can be applied to the

283
cafe of vampires.
LV. Ofcorpfes that chew in theirgraves, like bogs.284
LVI. Inftance of a vampire in Hungary. 286
288
LVII. Reflections upon this fubject.
LVIII. Reflections upon the cafe of vampires. Whe-

ther they are really dead or not. 289
LIX. Story of a man, named Curma, fent back again

into this world. 293
LX. Of Cardan's putting himself into an extafy, and

continuing infenfible, whenever be pleafed. 297
I LXI.
:
CONTENT S.
Sect.
LXI. Inftances of men, and other animals, continuing
for a long time as if they were dead. Page 298
LXII. An application of thefe inftances to the cafe

of vampires. 300
LXIII, Marks of vampirism in church-yards. 303
LXIV. Whether the devil has a power of fubtilifing

and fpiritualifing a dead body ? 305
LXV. An enquiry into fafcination, with regard to the

prefent fubject before us. 306
LXVI. Whence comes it that vampires give no ac-

count of what they have seen in the other world,
if they are really dead. 308
LXVII. Inftances of heathens who have related what

theyfaw in the other world. 309
LXVIII . The traditions of the heathens, relating to

another life, were derived from the Hebrews and
Egyptians. 312,
LXIX. Inftances of two heathens, named Thefpefius

and Gabienus, who came to life again, and made
wonderful difcoveries. 314
LXX. Inftances of Chriftians raiſed to life, and fent

back again into this world. 316
3
LXXI. A vifion of Vetin, a monk of Augie, 318
LXXII. A vifion of Berthold, related by Hincmar of

Rheims. 319
LXXIII. 4
CONTENT $.
Sect.
LXXIII. A vifion of St. Furfi. Page 321
LXXIV. Avifion of a Proteftant in Yorkshire. 323
LXXV. Conclufion of this Differtation. 324
LXXVI. Uncertainty of all the ftories about vam-

pires. 325
LXXVII. That it is morally impoffible for vampires

to come out of their graves. 327
LXXVII. No proof of the incorruptibility of the

bodies of fchifmaticks who have died under excom-
munication. 328
LXXIX. The accounts of excommunicated bodies feen

to go out of churches embarraffed with great diffi-
culties. 7330
LXXX. Magical devotements the work of the devil.

Their efficacy without proof. 1331
LXXXI. That the accounts given of the other world

by thofe who have returned from thence, have been
according to their own particular prejudices, but all
agree in the fundamental articles of religion. 333
A Differtation concerning Apparitions, occafioned by

an Event which happened at St. Maur in the Year
1706. 340
A DISSER-
A
DISSERTATION
UPON THE
APPARITIONS
O F
Angels, Dæmons , and Ghofts .
Now ad
HERE is nothing more commonly

talked of than apparitions of angels,
T dæmons, and ghofts. The reality
of theſe apparitions paffes for certain
with a great number of people, while
by as great a number, they are laughed at and
treated as reveries. Several authors have writ upon
this fubject ; fome of which having read, I came
to a refolution ofexamining into the matter myſelf,
and of treating it with all the precifion that I could .
I fhall therefore firft prove the reality of feveral of
theſe apparitions ; and then examine into the man-
ner in which they are effected, and upon what
principles they may be explained . After which
we fhall be able to judge whether they are natural
or miraculous events.
B SECT .
A DISSERTATION
SECT . I.: 2
Apparitions of good and evil angels related in boly

writ.
HE reality of apparitions is a queftion of

TH fact ; and therefore can be proved only by
the teftimony of thoſe who have either feen, heard,
or touched angels , dæmons, or ghoſts ; or who,
in any other way, have been witneffes of certain
apparitions, which can be attributed only to fub-
ftances unincumbered with grofs matter, whether
#
good or evil angels, or fouls that have left the
body. For inftance, if a perfon in a dream fees
a friend, who acquaints him with a thing wholly
•
unknown, whether paft or future, and with his
own death, I fhall make no fcruple of calling this
an apparition
Thus an angel appeared to St. Joſeph in
Egypt , and told him, that thoſe who fought the
life of the child Jefus were dead, and that he might
return into Judea: this I look upon as an inftance
of the apparition of a good angel . The ſpectres
which appeared to the Egyptians, during the dark-
nefs with which Mofes fmote the land of Egypt ,
were apparitions of evil angels. The writings of
Mofes are full of inftances of "A apparitions of
good fpirits. The cherub, which was placed at
the entrance of the terreftrial paradife, with a flam-
ing fword, to hinder all accefs to it, was probably
a good angel. The angels which appeared to
Abraham, and promiſed Sarah the birth of a fon,
Matt, ii. 13. © Gen. xvi. 7, 9. xix. 1 ,

3 Wifdem, xvii. 4. Per- 15. xxi. 17. xxii. 11. xxxi.
fona triftes illis apparentes, 11. xxxii. 1. Exod . xiv. 19,
¿pavorem illis præftabant. &c.
and
ON APPARITIONS, &c . 3
and which drew Lot out of Sodom, were cer
tainly good angels, as was the angel which ſpoke
to Agar in the wilderneſs ; the angels which
appeared to Jacob when he went into Mefot
potamia ; the angel that inftructed him how g to
procure theep of different colours ; the angel that
h
appeared and fpoke to Balaam and his afs ; the
angel that wreftled with Jacob at Mahanaim ,
when he was returning from his journey into Me
fopotamia ; the angel that appeared in armour to
Joſhua, in the plain of Jericho, and declared him-
felf captain of the hoft of the Lord ; the angel
that affured Gideon that he fhould deliver his
people from the yoke of the Midianites ; the angel
that foretold to Mahoah and his wife, the birth
of Samfony the angel that appeared over " Jeru-
falem, in the time of "3 David, and threatened to
deftroy the people of the Lord ; the angel that ap-
peared to Elijah, as he was on his way to
Horeb , and commanded him fome time after to
meet the meffengers which king P Ahab had fent
to confult the falfe god Baalzebub. It is com-
monly believed, that the angel of the Lord which
deftroyed the army of Sennacherib, was an evil
angel , as was the angel whom God permitted
to fmite Job. It is faid, that he preſented himſelf
before the Lord with the fons of God , that is to
fay, with the good angels. The Scripture does
not fay that he appeared to Job; but Job was too
fenfibly convinced of his prefence, and felt his
Gen. xviii. Hebr. xiii. 1

Judges vi. 12, & feq.
* Gen. xxi. 17. Judges xiii. & feq.
f Gen. xxviii. 12. n 1 Chron. xxi. 12.
8 Gen. xxxi. I I.. 1 Kings xix. 5.
h Numb. xxii. 22, 23. P 2 Kings i. 3.
i Gen. xxxii. 1. 42 Kings xix.. 35. ४
r 3
* Joshua v. 13, 14. Job i. 6, & feq.
B 2 power
A DISSERTATION
4
power and malice, by the calamities which he
heaped upon him.
The angel Raphael, that conducted young To-
biasto Rages ; the angel Gabriel that appeared
to Daniel, and to the bleffed virgin, and dif-
covered to them things to come ; the angel Mi-
chael, who is defcribed as one of the principal
u
minifters of the Lord, who refifted the prince
X.
of Perfia, and contended with the devil about the
body of Mofes, and who is defcribed as fighting
against, and victorious over, the dragon and bis
angels, are all good angels. The whole prophecy
of Zechariah is full of vifions of angels .
In the firft book of the Maccabees is mentioned
an angel, who appeared at the head of the army
of Ifrael, and fought on its fide. In the fecond
book of the Maccabees we are told, that Judas
Maccabeus faw the high- prieft Onias, and the pro-
phet Jeremiah, who encouraged him, and the lat
ter even gave him a fword for the defence of the
people of the Lord .
In the books of the New Teſtament we find the
fame belief of the apparitions of angels, dæmons,
.
and departed fpirits. The angel of the Lord ap-
peared to Zacharias, and foretold the birth of
his fon John the Baptift. The angel Gabriel figni-
с
fied to Mary the incarnation of the Son of God.
An angel commanded Jofeph to take unto him
Mary his wife, and revealed to him the myſtery
of the incarnation. He afterwards commands him
s Tob. iii. 17. .3. iii. 1. iv. V. 5. 10. vi. .

Dan. viii. 16. ix. 21 . 4, 5, &c.
Luke i. 19, 26. 2 Macc. xi. 6, 8. xv.
" Dan. x. 13, 21. xii. 1. 22. xvii. 12, 13, &c.
* Jude 9. b.Luke i, 12.
y Revel. xii. 7. Luke i. 26.
2 Zech. i. 9, 11, and ii. • Matth. i. 20.
to
ON APPARITIONS, &C. 13
carry them into Egypt, to avoid the violence of
Herod. In the fame claſs may be ranked the ſeveral
relations in Scripture of either God or angels fpeak-
ing, though the perfons prefent did not hear the
voice at all, or at moft only a confufed noife, and
not a diſtinct and articulate voice : as when Jefus
was fpeaking to the Jews, a voice was heard from
heaven, faying, " I have both glorified it, and will
glorify it again. The people therefore that food by
and heard it, faid that it thundered , others faid, An
angel Spake to him. Fefus answered and said, This
voice came not because of me, but for your fakes.
In all theſe inftances, and many others of the
fame kind, it does not appear that any words were
really uttered by angels ; but only that thofe to
whom God intended to reveal his will were per-
mitted to hear voices, in dreams or otherwife,
which made the fame impreffion upon their organs,
as if angels or other beings had really spoke. This
obfervation may be applied to a great number of
inftances related by the facred and prophane hif-
torians, who make mention of articulate voices
being actually heard, though probably the perfons
only fancied they heard them. This however is
no proof that thefe voices, orders, or intimations,
did not really come from God, who acted either
immediately, or by the intervention of angels,
upon the fenfes of thofe to whom thefe revelations
were made. For various are the methods by which
Providence reveals its will to men ; fometimes by
immediate revelations to the prophets ; fometimes
by internal inſpirations ; at other times by dreams,
or words, or external figns ; or laftly, by a fort
of impreffion upon the fenfes or imagination of
a perfon, even without the inftrumentality of any
external object.
John xii. 29, 30.

VII. That
14 A DISSERTATION .
9
VII.
That we fometimes do not difcern objects that are

immediately before our eyes.
OW, as we frequently imagine that we fee

NOW or hear, though there are no objects prefent
to excite thofe fenfations, fo it fometimes happens
that we neither fee nor hear things that are really
vifible and audible. For example, the inhabitants
of Sodom, who furrounded the houſe of Lot,
X
could not find the door, being ftruck by the
angels with a fort of blindneſs. The foldiers alfo
which fought Elifha ' , were affected with a fort
of blindness, though their eyes were open, fince
they spoke to the prophet, and were led by him
to Samaria, without knowing any thing of 3the
matter. The difciples who went to Emmaus with
Jefus, knew him only by his breaking bread ; for
their eyes were holden that theyshould not know him ".
It is therefore very poffible for a perfon, whe-
ther afleep or awake, to fancy that he fees and
hears what is only ideal and imaginary ; and, on
the contrary, neither to fee nor hear what is really
to him audible and vifible, 1 as appears from the
inftances juft quoted.
We may hence infer, that the apparitions related
in: the Old and New Teftament, were frequently
nothing but impreffions made upon the imagination
and fenfes of perfons, in the fame manner as if the
objects had been really prefent ; or an angel or
other ſpirit had actually spoken or appeared to the
perfon, either afleep or awake. Now it feems to
me equally difficult to hinder a perfon from fee-
* Gen. xix. 11 . z Luke xxiv. 16.

Y 2 Kings vi. 18, & feq.
ing
ON APPARITIONS ,A&C. 815
ing what is prefent before his eyes, and to make
him fee what is not fo. Both the one and the
other are effects of a fupernatural x power. To
fufpend, the action of our fenfes, and hinder them
from performing their functions according to the
common laws of nature ; or to make impreffions
upon them in the abfence of the natural objects ,
juft as if theſe were really prefent ; all this cannot
be effected without fome fort of miracle.f
VIII.
The reality of apparitions proved by the fulfilling

predictions.
UT we cannot conclude from hence, that all

BUT the apparitions * related in holy writ were
merely ideal, and the effect of ftrong impreffions
upon the imagination, or the creatures of a pre-
poffeffed mind and heated brain, like what happens
in fleep, when we fancy that we fee, hear, ſpeak ,
and act, though in reality we do none of theſe.
A demonftrative proof that the greater part of
the vifions and apparitions above- mentioned were
real, and proceeded from God only, who either
wrought, or permitted, or effected them by the
miniftry of angels, is the certainty of fome pre-
dictions, and the reality of the events which fol-
lowed them, as alfo the truth of fome circum-
ftances both paſt and future, which were otherwife
unknown, and have been known and difcovered
in theſe viſions.
The angels which appeared to Abraham, affured
him that he fhould have a fon born within a year ;
they diſcovered that Sarah, though abfent, laughed
at this promife; and they foretold the approach-
ing deftruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Can it
now be faid that all this was ideal, and exifted
I' only
1
16 A DISSERTATION
only in Abraham's imagination ? The fame may

be faid of God's foretelling to Mofes, that he
" fhould deliver the Ifraelites out of Egypt, that he
fhould work miracles in the prefence of Pha-
raoh, that the heart of this prince fhould be har-
dened, and that he would not let the Ifraelites go,
till he was forced by the hand of God.
Can it be faid, that the word of the Lord, which
was heard three feveral times by Samuel, and re-
vealed to him the calamities which were to fall
upon the family of Eli, and which did actually
fall upon it, was nothing but a mere dream ? The
birth of Samfon, and of John the Baptift, fo
clearly foretold by angels, and fo punctually ful-
filled, were certainly fomething more than dreams
and imaginations .
A dream continues only during fleep ; when
we wake, we perceive it to have been nothing
real ; its confequences are never to be depended
on, nor have they any characters of truth. Even
when dreams continue for a whole night, or return
oftener than once, as they fometimes do, they are
followed by no real event, (except they are fent
by God, as were the dreams of Pharaoh explained
by Jofeph, or thofe of Nebuchadnezzar interpret-
ed by Daniel) and have little attention paid them ;
they laft only for a fhort time, and leave but a
flight impreffion. But the apparition of the an-
gels to Abraham and Lot, continued at least two
days and a night ; and that of Raphael to Tobias
feveral weeks. And it is incredible that Tobias,
who travelled, converfed , eat and drank with the
angel all that time, fhould not wake and difcover
that it was only a dream and an illufion .
Is it poffible that Mofes and Elias, who appear-
ed with our Saviour upon mount Tabor, or the
dead which arofe from their graves at the inftant
when our Saviour gave up the ghoft, fhould be
I only
ON APPARITIONS, &c. 37
only phantoms formed in the imagination of the
Jews and apoftles ? Or are the numerous ftories
related by grave, judicious, and cotemporary au-
thors, of departed fouls which fometimes appear,
foretell future events, or reveal fuch as are already
paft, but were abfolutely unknown, and fometimes
defire prayers, or command reftitutions to be
made ; are all thefe, I fay, mere chimeras, the
dreams and illufions of prepoffeffed minds ?
IX. 3
Opinions of the eastern nations concerning the ap

paritions of angels, and the coming again of de-
partedfoulstore.
Come now to prove the reality, or at leaſt the

belief of the reality of thefe apparitions, by
facts drawn from writers of all nations and all ages .
The Mahometans, as well as the Jews and Chrif-
tians , believe that angels appear fometimes to men
in a "human form ; that they appeared to Abraham ,
preferved Lot, and deftroyed the inhabitants of
Sodom . They believe that the fouls of men con-
tinue near the bodies which they formerly ani-
2 mated,
b
and even in the fame grave, till the day
of judgment. They
"" affert that the archangel
C
Gabriel appeared to Mahomet, and revealed to
him the things contained in the Alcoran , that
d
Solomon was ferved and obeyed by dæmons , as
if they had been his flaves, or hired fervants. They
hold the genii or dæmons to be of a middle na-
ture between angels and men, and to have pro-
* Alcoran. Surat. vi. p. 245 . Ibid. Surat. xxvii. The

Edit. Maracc.. fame is afferted alfo in Solo-
Maracc . p. 625. mon's pretended will.
Alcor. Surat. liii. p. 684.
с perties
18 A DISSERTATION
perties in common with each ; that they eat, drink ,

propagate their fpecies, and die like men ; and
that they know future events like angels , Some
are of opinion that they are begot by the devil,
and they call them Gimi which is the fame as
Genius.
They give the name of Fagia or Mefagian to a
fort of fpirits who take away the lives of men.
The fultan Moctadi Bemvilla, as he rofe one day
from table, faid to one of his wives who was pre-
fent ; Who are theſe people that are come in here
without leave ? Upon looking round, fhe could
fee no one, but obferved that the king grew pale,
and immediately he fell down dead . The Ma-
hometans believe that theſe manflaying fpirits,
whenever they appear, always give mortal wounds.
The Perfians, and fome of the Turks, are of
opinion, that there are males and females among
thefe genii. The males, whom the Perfians call
Dives, are mifchievous and extremely ugly, and
generally in a ſtate of war with the Peris, their
females , which are much the fame with the fa fai-
t
ries in our old romances. The rabbins believe
that thefe gimim or genii were born of Adam with-
out the concurrence of Eve, or any other woman ;
and that they are the fame with what we call
1 include the
goblins, which may be extended to
fpectres, furies, and empuſes of the Greeks and
Romans.
nomok &
Vid . Alcor. Surat. Ixxfi. f D'Herbelot. Bibliot. Ori-
& notas Maracc. M. D'Her- ent. Peri & Dive.
belot Bibliotheq. Orient. in Ibid. p. 243
Metadi Bemvilla. p. 592. Ibid. p. 785. Scheitan
X. Opinions
ON APPARITIONS, & C. 19
ག་ ཟེ
ཀནྟོ
X.
63
Opinions of the Hebrews, and of ancient and mo-
dern Chriftians concerning the appearing of departed
Jouts.
HESE opinions of the eastern nations, fome

THE of the primitive Chriftians, who held that
angels and devils have bodies, and are capable of
generation ; and applied to them that text in Ge-
hefis, where it is faid, + that the fons of God (that
is, the angels ) faw the daughters of men that they
were fair, and went in unto them and begat mighty men,
The famous book of Enoch, which was in high
4
authority with feveral of the ancient fathers,
clearly taught this doctrine, which indeed pre-
vailed much among the ancients.
The modern Jews hold the fouls of men to be
fpiritual and immortal, but that they fometimes
appear again, as well as angels and devils ;
that the fouls of the Hebrews are never vifible,
either in hell or paradife, except their bodies are
buried that " even after they are buried, the foul
makes frequent excurfions from its deftined refi-
dence to vifit its former body, and enquire into
A its condition ; that it wanders about for a full year
after its firft feparation from the body ; and that it
was before the expiration of this year, that the
witch of Endor called up the foul of Samuel,
and that ſhe would have loft this power after the
year was out.
i Gen. vi. 2, & c. in codice Vet. Teft. p. 160,

Vid. apud Fabric. cod. & feq.
apocrip. Vet. Teft. D'Herbe- Berefchic. Rabba, c. xxii .
lot. Bibl. Orient . p. 245. Talmud. Tract . Sanhedrin.
1 Clem. Alex. Orig Ter- c. iv. Vide Manaffe Ben-Ifrael
tall. Iren, &c. Apud Fabric. de Refur. Mart. 1. ii. c. 6.
C & Origen
20 A DISSERTATION
Origen and Theophylact fay " , that the Jews

and heathens believed the foul to continue near
the body for fome time after the death of the per-
fon ; and that it was to deftroy this opinion, that
our Saviour cried with a loud voice : Lazarus, come
forth.
Some of the rabbins hold that, after death , the
fouls of the wicked are clothed with a fort of in-
tegument or upper garment, in which they habi-
tuate themſelves to fuffering ; but that the fouls
of the righteous are clothed with a magnificent
habit, and refplendent body, which ferves to pre-
pare them for the brightness of their future glory.
They believe farther, that the foul is not admitted
into heaven till the grofs body is buried, and en-
tirely confumed : an opinion which has paft from
the Hebrews to the Greeks and Latins.
XI.
Opinions of the heathens concerning the appearing of

departed fouls.
confulting a forcerefs, and commanding her

to call up a departed foul, that he might learn
from her his future fortune.
The words which the poet gives her are thefe :
Ye Manes, obey my prayers. I fummon not a foul
which has been long accuſtomed to the dark man-
fions of Tartarus, but one that is lately deſcended
among you, and is ſtill at the gates of hell.
Origen, in Joan. xi. 43. Hebrews, and on the Hebrew

Theophylact, ibid. See alſo funerals.
my Differtation on the nature Lucan, 1. vi.
of the foul, according to the
I Parete
ON APPARITIONS, & c. 21
Parete precanti :
Non in tartareo latitantem pofcimus antro
Affuetamque diu tenebris ; modà luce fugata
Defcendentem animam ; primo pallentis biatu
Hæret adbuc Orci.
XII .
Opinions of the northern nations.
P
'T was a prevailing perfuafion among the an-
I cient northern nations, that apparitions were
the fouls of perfons lately deceaſed ; and their way
to hinder their appearing any more, was either to
behead, empale, or burn the body, as is ftill the
cuſtom in Greece, Hungary, and Moravia. Thus
the forceress in Lucan above-mentioned promiſes
the ſpirit, which fhe raiſed up, to reward him by
burning his body, fo that he fhould never more be
diſturbed by other exorcifms.
When Xerxes, king of Perfia , was deliberating
whether he ſhould carry the war into Greece, he
was ſtrongly diffuaded from it by Artabanus, his
uncle by the father's fide ; but Xerxes being of-
fended at his freedom , treated him with very rough
language . The night after, he reflected feriouſly
upon Artabanus's reafons, and altered his refoluti-
ons ; but falling asleep, he faw in a dream a man
of uncommon ftature and beauty , who faid to
him : You have then laid afide your defign of
making war upon the Greeks, though you have
already given orders to the Perfian commanders to
P Vid. Bartholin. de Caufis contemptus mortis, 1. ii. c. 2 .

P. 265.
Herodot. 1. vii.
C 3 affemble
22 A DISSERTATION
affemble your army. You have done wrong in

altering your refolution ; though no one elſe ſhould
be of your opinion, take my advice, and purfue
your first refolution. Having faid this, the vifion
difappeared .
The next day the king re-affembled his council,
and without faying any thing of his dream, ex-
preffed himſelf forry for what he had faid the day
before to Artabanus, and declared that he had laid
afide his defign of making war upon Greece : upon
which, all who were prefent proftrated themſelves
before him with the utmoft joy, and retired.
The next night the fame fpectre appeared to
him a fecond time, and faid : Son of Darius,
thou haft then given up thy defign of declaring
war against Greece, without paying any attention
to my advice. Know, that if thou doft not imme-
diately undertake this expedition, thou shalt foon
be reduced to a ftate as much below that of the
common herd of mankind, as thy prefent ftate is
above it. Upon this the king immediately got
out of bed, and fent for Artabanus, to whom he .
related his two dreams, adding, I infift upon it,
that you put on my royal robes, feat yourself upon
my throne, and afterwards lie down in my bed. If
the fpectre appears to you alfo, I shall look upon it
as ordained by the gods, and fubmit to their decrees.
All the excufes that Artabanus could make
were in vain. He alledged that it was all to no
purpofe, if the gods had refolved to declare their
will, that his putting on the royal robes would look
Jike a defign of deceiving the gods, and be a
means of provoking their difpleafure ; and, in fhort,
that dreams were things which deferved no atten-
tion, being generally nothing but a fecond repre-
fentation of what had made a strong impreffion
upon the waking thoughts of men. The king,
however, was not convinced by theſe reaſons, and
I Artabanus
Artabanus complied with his requeſt, being per-
fuaded, that if the fame thing appeared again, it
T
would be a proof of the will of heaven, and of
the reality of the king's dream. He therefore
lay down in the king's bed, where the fame fpec-
tre appeared to him, and faid : It is by you then
that Xerxes is hindered from executing his refolu-
tion, and fulfilling the decrees of fate. I have ald
ready informed the king what he has to expect, if
he delays to obey my orders. At thefe words
the fpectre feemed to advance towards Artabanus,
in order to burn his eyes with a hot iron. Upon
this he immediately ſtarted out of bed, and ac
quainted Xerxes with what he had feen, adding,
I entirely alter my opinion : fince it is the will of
the gods that we fhould enter into this war, and
the Greeks are threatened with great calamities,
iffue out your orders, and make all neceflary pre-
parations for the war which was accordingly
done.
The fatal confequence of this war, which ended
in the deftruction of the Perfian monarchy, affords
a prefumption that this apparition , if real, was
fome evil fpirit, an enemy to that monarchy, and
fent by God to make way for the events foretold
by the prophets, and for the fucceffion of the great
monarchies, as preordained by the decrees of the
Almighty.
There is a ftory told by Cicero of two Arca-
dians, who travelling together, came to Megara,
a city of Greece, between Athens and Corinth ;
where one of them lodged at a friend's houſe, and
the other at an inn . After fupper, the perſon who
lodged at the private houfe retired to bed, and
falling afleep, dreamed that his friend at the inn
appeared to him, and begged his affiftance, becauſe
13 15
Cicero de Divinat. 1.' .
Danforthe
C
ON
24. A DISSERTATI
the innkeeper was going to kill him. The man

immediately got out of bed, much frightened at
the dream ; but recovering himſelf, and falling.
afleep again, his friend appeared to him a fecond
time, and defired , that fince he would not affift
him in time, he would take care, at leaft, not to let
his death go unpunished : that the innkeeper hav-
ing murdered him , had thrown his body into a
cart, and covered it with dung ; he therefore beg-
ged him to be at the city-gate in the morning, be
fore the cart went out. Struck with this new
dream , he went early to the gate, faw the
cart, and afked the driver what was in it. The
driver immediately fled ; the dead body was taken
out of the cart, and the innkeeper apprehended
and executed .
Cicero has recorded fome other inftances of ap-
paritions of this kind, which have happened in
neep ; particularly one of Sophocles, and another
of Simonides. The former in a dream faw Her-
cules, who told him the name of a thief that had
ftole a golden cup out of his temple. Sophocles
at firft neglected this information, as the effect
of nothing but a difturbed fleep ; till the god ap-
peared to him a fecond time, and repeated the
intelligence. Upon this Sophocles made informa-
tion against the thief, who was found guilty by
the court of the Areopagites ; and ever after, the
name of Hercules the Revealer was given to that
temple.
Simonides's dream or apparition was of more
perfonal fervice to him. As he was just going to
take fhip, he found the body of a ftranger lying
upon the fhore, and out of humanity gave it a
burial. The night after, the dead man appeared
to Simonides, and adviſed him not to embark in
that veffel, which he faid would certainly be fhip-
wracked. Simonides took his advice, and a
few
ON APPARITIONS , &c. 25
few days after learnt, that the f
in which he
intended to fail had actually been caft away.
Johannes Picus , prince of Mirandola, in his
treatiſe De Auro, affures us, that a man, whofe cir-
cumftances were always mean, was at laft reduced
to the utmoſt extremity, fo as to be unable either
to pay his debts, or to fupport a numerous family
in a time of great fcarcity. So many cares, how-
ever, did not hinder him from falling aſleep, when
he dreamed that there appeared to him a fpirit
from paradife, which taught him a fecret for mak
ing gold, and told him what water he muſt make
ufe of, in order to fucceed in the experiment. When
he awoke, he followed the fpirit's direction , and
it fucceeded. The quantity that he made was in-
deed but ſmall, fufficient however to fupply the
neceffities of his family. He afterwards made the
M
experiment twice with iron, and three times with
yellow arfenick : and he gave me ocular proof,
fays Picus, that there is fuch a thing as an art of
making gold,
XIII.
Opinions of Chriftian writers concerning apparitions

in general.
HE writings both of the primitive and

T later Chriftians are full of ftories of appa-
ritions of angels, dæmons , and fpirits ; and it
cannot reaſonably be doubted, but this doctrine
was received and taught among them from the
beginning, as derived from Chrift and his apoftles.
The council of Elvira, held about the year 300,
forbids the lighting of tapers by day in church-
yards, for fear of difturbing thefpirits of the faints:
Johann. Picus Mirandul. de Auro, 1 , iii. c. z.

The
26
€ A DISSERTATION GO
The fathers of this council must therefore have
believed, that the fouls of departed faints fre-
quented the cœmeteries, where their bodies were
buried.
There are many who believe, that dæmons are
fond of the company of women; and that they
fometimes ferve as inftruments to gratify the luft
of men. In the former cafe they are called Incubi,
in the latter Succubi ; and of both forts there are
t
extant feveral flories, the truth of which St. Auf-
tin thinks cannot reafonably be difputed , I Now
they who believe theſe things, muſt alſo acknow
ledge, devils, to have bodies, or at least that they
appear in thefe cafes with real and palpable bodies.
>
XIV.
inftances of dead men raiſed to life for a little

time. 、,
T. Auguftin " relates, that, during his refidence

at Milan, a young man having an action
brought against him for a debt which his father
had already diſcharged , but had miflaid the receipt ;
the foul of the father appeared to the fon, and
told him where the receipt was, which gave him
fo much uneafineſs ,
St. Macarius , of Egypt, is recorded to have
raiſed a dead man to life, in order to bear witnefs
to the innocence of a perfon who was accuſed of
having been his murderer. The dead man cleared
the accufed, but would not name the perfon that
had really committed the fact.
** Auguftin. de Civitat. lib. <* Rofweid in Vit . Patrum,

c. 23 . 1.ii. p. 480.
Aug. de Curâ pro mortuis.
3 The
ON APPARITIONS, &C.
The fame St. Macarius forced another dead
man, who had been buried fome confiderable time,
to diſcover a fum of money which had been com→
mitted to his care, and which he had hid without
his wife's knowledge . The dead man declared.
that it was hid at the foot of the bed.
Another story of St. Macarius is, that having
made ufe of feveral arguments to convert an Eu
nomian, or as others fay, an Hieracitan heretick,
but all to no purpoſe, he at laft faid to him, Let
us go to the grave of fome dead man, and afk
him to tell us which is in the right. The heretick
durft not accept the challenge ; but St. Macarius
went to the grave, accompanied by a great num-
ber of people, who ran together at fuch an un-
common fight. The faint put his queſtions to the
dead man, who answered out of the grave, that
if the heretick had appeared in the affembly, he
would have got up to confute him, and bear wit-
nefs to the truth. After which, St. Macarius com
豚
manded him to fleep on till the general refur
rection.
Ruffinus fays, that this dead man was a monk
lately deceafed Caffian, on the contrary, fays,
that it was an old Egyptian heathen, who died long
before the coming of our Saviour. For authors
differ concerning the circumftances of this fact, as
is generally the cafe when they truft to their me-
mory in their narrations ; and I believe, that out
of one ſtory they frequently make two or three.
The fame St. Macarius is faid to have inter-
rogated a fcull, which he found in the defert, and
which belonged to an heathen priest of Egypt
y Rofweid in Vit. Patrum, Pallad. Nicephor. Evagr. fen

P. 480. Ruffin. & alii.
Caffian, Collat. xv . C, 3.
* Apophthegm. SS. Patrum
Sozom. 1. iii. c. 13. apud Refweid, p. 546.
who
28 A DISSERTATION
who told him , that the fouls of wicked men, and

even unbelievers, received fome alleviation of their
torments, when good men, like Macarius, were
touched with compaffion at the pains they fuffered
in hell ; but that this alleviation confifted only in a
permiffion to fee one another ; and that at all other
times they dwelt in frightful darkneſs, without
feeing their fellow-fufferers, or any thing elſe.
XV.
Whether there be any hope of falvation for heathens

dying unconverted, or for wicked Chriftians dying
in mortal fin.
HIS laft ftory, whatever credit it meets with,

T is not the only inftance which feems to prove
that fome of the ancients were of opinion, that
even heathens, and wicked Chriftians, though
they died in mortal fin, or in a ſtate of impeni-
tence or excommunication, were not abfolutely
deprived of all hopes of relief, and even of par-
don, by means of the prayers of pious Chriftians.
I have formerly difcuffed this queftion pretty
fully in a differtation upon St. Paul's epiftle to the
Romans ; and fhewn that feveral of the ancient
fathers believed that our Saviour, at his defcent
into hell, declared his coming into the world both
"
to the Jews and Gentiles there, and carried up
with him into heaven fuch as believed in his
preaching. Ancillon b fhews that ſeveral doctors
have taught that Ariftotle was faved ; and Voetius
has writ a whole treatiſe De falute Ariftotelis.
To the above- mentioned ftory of St. Macarius,
may be added that of St. Thecla , who procured
Ancillon, t. i. Melanges, Vid. Grabbe, Vit. Sanctæ

P. 493, 194, 195. Thecla.
the
the falvation of Au Falconilla, though he died a

heathen ; and that of Trajan , who is faid to
have been faved by the prayers of St. Gregory the
Great; and that of St. Odilia , who delivered
from hell the foul of her father duke Atthicus,
who died impenitent ; and lastly, that of the fon
of the king or governor of Toul in Lorrain, who
was raiſed to life by St. Manfuetus , the firſt
biſhop of that city, and after his reſurrection gave
a defcription of the torments of the damned,
which he himſelf had ſeen and felt in hell. I will
not answer for the truth of all theſe facts ; but I
infer from them, that the relaters of them believed
the falvation of infidels to be neither incredible or
impoffible ; and that this opinion was not abfo-
lutely condemned in their time. There are now
extant in fome ancient books, prayers for the re-
lief of heathens killed in war ; ut mitiùs ardeant.
St. 1 Spiridion , bishop of Trimitus in Egypt,
had a daughter named Irene, who continued a
virgin to her death. After her deceaſe, a perfon
came to claim fomething which he had entruſted
to her keeping, without her father's knowledge.
After they had fearched all the houſe without
finding it, Spiridion went to his daughter's grave,
and calling her by her name, Irene ; fhe anfwered,
What do you pleaſe to have, Sir ? Where have
you put the thing, fays he, which fuch a one left
in your keeping ? You will find it buried, fays.
fhe, in fuch a place and upon fearching there it
was found, and reftored to the owner.
Vit. S. Gregor. Papæ, p. f Vit. S. Manſuẹti Tull.

14. t. i. Hiftor. de Lorr. p. 91 .
Vit. S. Odiliæ, Sæcul. 3 . preuves.
Bened. parte ii. p. 492 . • Sozom. Hift. Ecclef. 1. i.
C. II.
A piqus
TATION
A DISSER
3 0
Jy A pious abbot, named Æmilius " , raifed to life
a man who had been murdered, in order to justify

an innocent monk that was accuſed of the crime.
The abbot, having firſt prayed to God, aſked
the dead man who had killed him. He anſwer-
ed, I entruſted a fum of money to the care of a
friend , but he murdered me, kept the money for
himſelf, and carried my body to a neighbouring
monaftery, in order to conceal his crime, and make
this monk fufpected of it. I defire you will get
my money from him, and give it to my children.
Emilius then faid to him : Sleep in peace till the
Lord comes to raife you up at the laft day ; upon
which he fell aſleep again, and died.
XVI.
Opinions of the ancient Greeks and Romans concerning

the return of departed fouls, and their being called
up by magick.
HE ancient Greeks, who had derived their

T religion and theology from the Egyptians
and eaſtern nations, and the Latines who had bor-
rowed theirs from the Greeks, were all firmly per
- fuaded that the fouls of the dead appeared fome-
times to the living, that they could be called up
by necromancers, that they answered queſtions,
and gave notice of future events ; that Apollo
gave oracles, and that the prieftefs , filled with
his fpirit, and tranfported with a holy enthufiafm ,
uttered infallible predictions of things to come.
Homer, the most ancient of all the Greek writers,
and their greateſt divine, relates feveral appariti
De vitis
i Odyſſ. xi.PP.
fub1. ii.
fin.p. 650.
Vid. Pedag. 1. ii. c. 1. Prud. 1. i.
contra Symmachum . Tertull.
Horat. 1. i. fat. 8. Aug. de lib . de Animâ. Lact . 1. ii.
¿Civ. I. vii. c. 33. Clem. Alex.
ons,
ON APPARITIONS, &c.
ons, not only of gods, but of dead men and he

roes. In the Odyſſey, he introduces Ulyffes con-
fulting Terefias, who having prepared a pit full
of blood, in order to call up the Manes, Ulyffes
draws his fword to hinder them from drinking the
blood, of which they were very thirsty, till they
had anſwered the questions propofed to them. It
was alfo a prevailing opinion, that the fouls of
men enjoyed no repofe, but wandered about
' near their carcaffes as long as they continued un-
buried . Even after they were buried, it was a
cuftom to offer them fomething to eat, eſpecially
honey, upon a fuppofition that after having left
their graves, they came to feed upon what was
1
brought them. They believed alfo, that the de-
mons were fond of the fmoke of facrifices, of
mufick , of the blood of victims, and the com-
merce of women ; and that they were confined
for a determinate time to certain houfes or other
places, which they haunted, and in which they
appeared.
They held that fouls, when feparated from their
grofs and terreftrial bodies, ftill retained a finer and
more fubtile body, of the fame form with that which
they had quitted ; that theſe bodies were lumi-
nous like the ftars ; that they retained an inclina-
tion for the things which they had loved in their
life-time, and frequently appeared " about their
graves. When the foul of Patroclus appeared
to Achilles, it had his voice, his fhape, his eyes,
n
and his drefs, but not the fame " tangible body.
Ulyffes relates, that when he went down into hell,
* Virgil. Æneid. 1. vi. de Vid. Spencer de Legib. Hebr.

Palinuro & Miſeno. ritual.
¹ Aug. Serm. xv. de fanctis m
Orig. Præm. 1. i. de
quæft, in Deut. 1. v. c. 47. Princip. Idem. 1. vii.
Iliad. xxiii.
he
ON
A DISSERTATI
32
he faw the divine Hercules , that is, adds he, bis
image ; for he himself is admitted to the banquets of
the immortalgods. Dido fays, that after death fhe,
that is, her image bigger than the life , fhall go
down to the infernal regions.
Et nunc magna mei fub terras ibit imago":
And Æneas knew his wife Creufa, * who appear-

ed to him in her uſual ſhape, but of a taller and
nobler ftature than when the was alive.
Infelixfimulacrum, atque ipfius umbra Creufæ

Vifa mibi ante oculos, & nota major imago ".
In the fpeech which Titus made to his foldiers,

to perfuade them to mount to the affault of the
tower Antonia at Jerufalem, • he uſes this argu-
ment ': Who knows not that the fouls of thoſe
who bravely expoſe themſelves to danger, and die
in war, are exalted to the ftars, and there received
into the higheſt region of heaven, and appear as
good genii to their relations ; while they who
die of fickneſs, though they have lived good lives,
are plunged into oblivion and darkneſs under
earth, and are no more remembered after death,
than if they had never exiſted .
• Odyff. xi. Jofeph. de Bello Jud. 1. vi.

Virg. Æneid. iv. C. 1 .
Æn. ii.
XVII . Opinions
ON APPARITIONS , &C. 33
XVII.
Opinions of the ancient Greek and Latin fathers con-

cerning the return of departedfouls.:
E find that Origen , Tertullian, and St. Ire-

WE næus, were clearly of this opinion . Ori-
gen, in his fecond book againft Celfus, relates and
fubfcribes to the opinion of Plato, who fays, that
the fhadows and images of the dead, which are
feen near fepulchres, are nothing but the foul dif-
engaged from its grofs body, but not yet entirely
freed from matter ; that thefe fouls become in time
luminous, tranfparent, and fubtile, or rather are
carried in luminous and tranſparent bodies, as in a
vehicle, in which they appear to the living '.
Origen makes no doubt but St. Thomas believed
it poffible for our Saviour's foul to appear to Mary:
and only queſtioned whether Chrift was rifen again
with his proper natural body .
Tertullian, in his books concerning the foul,
afferts, that it is corporeal, and of a certain figure ;
and appeals to the experience of thoſe who have
feen apparitions of departed fouls, and to whom
they have appeared as corporeal and tangible,
though of an aerial colour and confiftence. He
defines the foul to be a breath from God, im-
mortal, acorporeal, and of a certain figure. St.
Irenæus delivers it as a doctrine received from
Chriſt, that the fouls of men not only exift after
the death of the body (without paffing from one
body to another) but that they retain the fhape of
their body, and watch over it as faithful guar-
dians ; that they remember all that they have either
Suidas in Avyosidis. < Tertull. de Animâ.

Origen, 1. ii. contra Cel- Irenæus, 1. ii. c. 34.
fum.
D done
A DISSERTATION
34
done or omitted to do in this life ; and he appeals
to the ftory of the rich man and Lazarus in the
Gofpel , as a proof of it.
For my own part, I do not adopt theſe opinions,
nor believe the fouls of men to be corporeal, ma-
.
terial, vifible, or clothed with luminous bodies.
I only quote theſe authors to fhew, that the appa-
ritions of fouls, after the death of the body, is an
uninterrupted and ancient tradition, founded upon
facts ; an opinion fupported by the old philofo-
phy, and even by fome texts of Scripture, under-
ftood by feveral ancient writers in this fenfe ; in a
word, an opinion not entirely exploded at preſent,
but ſtill maintained by a fort of modern philofo-
phers f . 1
XVIII.
Evocation of departed fouls. Inftances of it.
E are told by Pliny , that Appion raiſed up

WEthe foul of Homer, in order to learn from
him his country and his parents ; but that Appion
durft not publifh what he learnt. Philoftratus
fays, that Apollonius Tyanæus came to the tomb
of Achilles, raifed his manes, and begged that
the figure of the hero might appear to him ; that
upon this the tomb fhook, and there appeared a
young man of five cubits, that is, feven feet and
a half high ; that the phantom foon increaſed to
twelve cubits, and affumed an extraordinary beauty.
Luke xvi. 20, & feq. cernant la nature des etresfpiri-

f See a differtation de An- tuels. At Neufchatel in 1742.
gelicis fubftantiis non merè fpi- and Mr. Locke ofhuman under-
ritualibus, printed in 4to in standing.
1737. And another work g Plin. 1. iii. c. 2.
lately printed in 8vo, entitled, A Philoftrat. Vit. Apollon.
Efai d'unfyfteme nouveau con-
Apollonius
ON APPARITIONS , & C. 35
Apollonius put fome trivial queftions to him, but
finding that the young man trifled in a very in-
decent manner, he difcovered that he was poffeffed
with a devil, which Apollonius caft out. But thefe
are fables.
Lactantius , where he is arguing against the
philofophers, Democritus, Epicurus, and Dicæar-
chus, who denied the immortality of the foul,
fays, that they would not dare to maintain their
opinion before a magician, who by the fecrets of
his art can raiſe up fouls from hell, and make them
appear, fpeak, foretell future events , and give
other undoubted proofs of their prefence.
St. Auſtin , always cautious in his decifions,
does not venture to pronounce whether magicians
have a power by their enchantments of raifing de-
parted fouls, or not ; but Tertullian , who is lefs
referved, afferts that no magick can make the fouls
of the faints quit their happy abodes ; that the
power of necromancers is nothing but raiſing a fort
of phantom with a borrowed body, which impofes
upon the eyes, and makes them take that for real
which is only apparent. In the fame place he
quotes Heraclides for faying, that the Naſamones,
a people of Africa, pafs the night near the graves
of their relations, in order to receive oracles from
them ; and that the Celtæ, or Gauls, do the fame
near the monuments of their great men, as Nican-
der reports.
k
¹ Lact , 1. vi. c. 13. Divin. Aug. ad Simplicianum .
Inftit. Tertull. de Animâ, c. 57.
677
D 2 XIX . Ap.
ON
E RTATI
36 A DISS
XIX.
稚
Apparitions of good angels, and guardian angels.
S for apparitions of good angels, they are

Asvery common both in the Old and New
Teftament, and all other hiftories. St. Stephen,
in the Acts of the Apoſtles m, fays, that the law
was given to Mofes by angels ; and the " fathers in
general teach, that the beings which appeared to
Mofes and Abraham were angels, reprefentatives
of the Almighty, and fpeaking in his name. In
the New Teftament they appear alfo, but it is in
their own name : thus Gabriel appeared to Mary ';
an angel fpake to Jofeph in a dream ; angels mi-
niftred to our Saviour after his temptation in the
wilderneſs ; an angel comforted him in his ago-
ny ; angels publiſhed his refurrection, and appear-
ed to the holy women ; an angel delivered St.
9
Peter out of prifon ; and fo of the reft. Our
Saviour teaches us, that every man has a guardian
angel affigned to him from his infancy. Good
angels have often appeared to the holy martyrs
and hermits. St. Anthony could diftinguiſh
their apparitions from thofe of evil fpirits, by the
comfort, the tranquillity, the confidence, and peace
which they infpired ; while the evil angels left no-
thing behind them but trouble and uneafinefs in
the minds of thofe to whom they appeared .
™ A&s vii. 38 . Thom. Quæft. 6. de Potent.

Tertull. adverf. Judæos, Art. 7. ad. 3.
c. 9. De carne Chrifti. c. vi. • Luke xxii. 43 .
1.2 . & 3. Cont. Marcion. P Vit. Ant. per Athanaf.
Juftin Martyr Dialog . Aug. c. 18.
I. ii. De Trinit . c. 11. D.
We
We are told, in the life of St. Martin writ by

Sulpicius Severus 9 , that the faint having com-
municated with the Ithacians at Treves, was ex-
tremely forry for what he had done ; and that as
he was going to Audetanna, now called Ecternach ,
having retired from the company to bewail his
fault, his angel appeared to him, and told him,
that he had indeed done wrong, and had reafon
to be forry, but that he fhould not fuffer himſelf
to be oppreffed by grief, nor give way to deſpair.
St. Frances had always her good angel near her,
that he was vifible to her, and fuggefted to her
the good the fhould do, and diverted her from
evil ; he fometimes even chaftifed and ftruck her
before company, who heard plainly the blows he
gave her, but never faw the angel .
It is a doctrine of Plato ' , that, as the care of
flocks is not entruſted to beafts, but men ; fo the
care of men is entruſted to dæmons. The name
of dæmons was fo far from being odious or dif-
honourable among the ancients, that Plato ap-
plies it to the gods. Apuleius , after Plato, fays,
that a dæmon is affigned to every man to be the
invifible witnefs of his actions, and even of his
moft fecret thoughts. . That immediately after
death, the dæmon carries the foul before her judge,
where he either accufes her, or pleads in her be-
half, and that the judge pronounces fentence ac-
cording to the teftimony of the dæmon . Philo
u
Judæus acknowledges , that Mofes ufually gives
the name of angel to what the philofophers call
dæmons .
Sulp. Sever. Vit. S. Mar Idem in Timeo.

tini , c. 15 . t
Apuleius de Deo Socratis.
-! Plato de Legibus, 1. iv. Philo de Gigantib.
D 3 XX. Of
R TATION
A DISSE
38
XX.
Of familiar fpirits.
he knew, and
& who afory
was alive at the time of
his writing (which was in 1580) that had a familiar
fpirit, which from the time that he was thirty-
feven years old, was daily giving him good advice
about his behaviour, fometimes correcting his
faults, fometimes prompting him to virtuous acti-
ons, fometimes refolving the difficulties which he
met with in reading the Scriptures, and fometimes
giving him uſeful advice concerning his private af-
fairs. The fpirit generally knocked at his door
at three or four in the morning, to make him get
up, but the man being distrustful of all theſe kind
offices, and fearing it might be an evil angel, the
fpirit diſcovered itſelf to him once in broad day-
light, ftriking gently firft on a glass- cup, and then
on a bench. When he was going to do any thing
that was good or uſeful, the fpirit touched him
on the right ear ; when any thing bad or hurtful,
it touched him on the left ear ; fo that from that
time nothing happened to him, which he was not
before apprized of. If he was going to read any bad
book, the fpirit let him know it, by touching the
book. But this angel was particularly careful in
making him rife at four in the morning to fay his
prayers, in giving him notice of any bad defigns
that were formed againft him, and in keeping him
out of the way of ſeveral dangers, to which he
would have been otherwife expofed . The man
fometimes heard the fpirit's voice, and one day,
Bodin. Dæmonoman, 1. i. c. 2. fol, 10, 11.

being
being in great danger of his life, he ſaw him in
the form of a young child of admirable beauty.
After this ftory of Bodinus, I think I may well
add two facts of a later date, which happened
nearly about the fame time. Whether the dreams
related in theſe ſtories were owing to genii or tu-
telar angels, the cafe is the fame, and it is the
more fingular upon this account, that the reality
of the apparitions was confirmed by the events
which happened afterwards .
A man of learning, who lived at Difon, as the
y
ftory is told by a late writer, had wearied him-
felf a whole day to no purpofe in endeavouring
to underſtand an important paffage in a Greek
poet . Being tired and vexed at the ill fuccefs of
his long application , he went to bed, and falling
into a deep fleep, fancied that he was carried to
Stockholm, introduced into queen Chriftina's pa-
lace, and led into her library, when he run over
with his eye all the books ; and lighting at laft
upon a fmall volume, the title of which feemed
new to him, he opened it, and having turned over
ten or a dozen pages, he found ten Greek verſes,
the reading of which entirely cleared up the dif
ficulty that had fo long puzzled him. The joy
which he felt at this difcovery awoke him, and
his imagination was fo full of the Greek verſes,
that he remembered them, and kept repeating them
inceffantly till he had ftruck a light, when he writ
them down upon paper, and then endeavoured to
go to fleep again. The next morning when he
arofe, he reflected on his nocturnal adventure, and
finding it in all its circumftances to be very extra-
ordinary, he refolved to purfue it to the utmoft.
Suite du Comte de Gabalis, ou les Genies affiftans . A la

Haye, 1718. p. 56.
D 4 M. Def
40 A DISSERTATION
M. Defcartes was then in Sweden with the queen,

inftructing her in his philofophy. He knew him
only by reputation ; but was acquainted with M.
Chanut, the French ambaffador in Sweden. He
therefore applied to him to get a letter delivered
to M. Deſcartes, and to engage him to anſwer it.
In this letter he defired M. Defcartes to inform him
exactly whether the queen's library, the palace,
and the city of Stockholm, were not fituated in
fuch a manner ; whether on one of the fhelves, in
the fartheft part of this library, there was not a
book of fuch a fize, bound in fuch a manner,
and with fuch a title on the back ; and laſtly,
whether in this book , which he earneftly preffed him
to read carefully for his fake, in cafe he could find
it, there were not ten Greek verfes, the fame with
thoſe which he had fet down at the bottom of his
letter.
M. Defcartes, who was a man of the utmoſt po-
liteness, foon ſatisfied our querift ; and affured him ,
that the moſt expert engineer could not have
drawn a better plan of Stockholm than he had +
done in his letter ; that the palace and the library
were perfectly well defcribed ; that he had found
the book in queftion upon the ſhelf which he had
pointed out, and read in it the Greek verfes men-
tioned ; that the book was very ſcarce, but that
a friend of his had promifed him a copy of it,
which he would fend to France by the firft op-
portunity ; and that he begged him to accept
the prefent, as a mark of his particular efteem.
In fhort, the ſtory is well known, and there
are few men of letters who are not acquainted
with it.
The other inftance is taken from the fame au-
thor, and is as follows.
A coun-
ON APPARITIONS , &c. 4I
ļ
A counsellor of the parliament of Paris (his
name I have forgot, but the story is known to
many people, who had it from his own mouth)
being in bed faft afleep, dreamed that he faw a
young man, who with a vehement and earneſt
look, repeated to him feveral times fome words
in a language which he did not underſtand. Theſe
words made fo lively • and diftinct an impreffion
upon his memory, that when he awoke, he or-
dered a light and paper to be brought, and writ
them down. Having done fo, he put out the
light, and endeavoured to fleep again, but could
1
not fhut his eyes all the reft of the night. His
dream, and the ftrange words ran continually in
his head ; and finding himſelf extremely uneafy,
he determined to rife, and amufe himſelf with
ſtudying a caufe which he was to report inthe morn-
ing. He dreffed himſelf, put on his counſellor's
robe, and went to the court ; where finding him-
felf tired and fatigued with uneafinefs, and want
of fleep, he propoſed to three or four of his bro-
ther counſellors, who were as early as himſelf, and
with whom he had difcourfed a while about the
cauſe that was the fubject of his report, to go and
drink a glafs, telling them that he wanted it much .
The gentlemen confented to the propofal, and
went together to the tavern, where he told them
what had happened, and fhewed them the words
which he had writ on a bit of paper. Though
moſt of them had travelled, and fome underſtood
Engliſh and German, others Italian and Spaniſh,
they were entirely at a lofs what to make of the
words . At laft one of the company faid, I fee,
gentlemen, we are all puzzled ; but M. de Sau-
maiſe is near at hand, who underftands all forts of
languages ; let us fend for him upon a pretence
Suite du Comte de Gabalis, p. 62.

of
42 A DISSERTATION
of buſineſs, and I am fure he is too polite a man

not to come at our requeſt.
The company was pleafed at this thought, and
M. de Saumaife was fent for. After fome plea-
fantry, by way of introduction, they fhewed him
the paper, and aſked him if he knew what language
thofe words were, Yes, anfwered he, they are
Syriac writ in French characters. But, added they,
what is the meaning of them ? Their literal mean-
ing, replied he, is this, Leave thy boufe, for it will
fall down this evening at nine o'clock. This tranfla-,
tion was received with a loud laugh, and the dream
treated as a jeft , and an invention . But one of
the company, who had more prudence than the
reft, feeing plainly by the counfellor's look, that
it was no fiction of his, faid to the reft ; You
may laugh at this affair, if you pleaſe, but for my
part, I look upon it in a more ferious light. I af-
fure you, that if it was my cafe, I would not be
a moment without changing my quarters. Then
turning to the counfellor, Take my advice, Sir,
fays he, go home, and fet all the porters in your
neighbourhood to work ; you'll have nothing to
do but to carry your goods back again, in cafe
nothing ſhould happen. The counfellor took his
advice, and found the benefit of it ; for the houſe
fell flat to the ground, at the very hour which the
benevolent genius had foretold. He then con-
cluded, that the fpirit fpoke to him in a ſtrange
language, only with a defign to engage his atten-
tion more strongly, by the fingularity of the cir-
cumſtances, and had contrived all that followed,
namely, the interview with M. de Saumaife, his
explication of the words, and the refolution which
was taken, in confequence of it.
Thefe facts are taken, indeed, from an anony-
mous author, but I cannot think that he would
venture to relate them as true, if they were not
pre-
preferved by ſome private tradition, either in the
province, or the families in which they happened ;
efpecially as there are many others which have been
known only the fame way.
I have already related this laft ftory in another
work, but more briefly, and with a difference in
one particular, having there faid, after my vouch-
ers, that the words were Greek and not Syriack :
and I am apprehenfive, that this difference will
make the truth of both called in queſtion.
I am in fome doubt whether Socrates's a fpirit
ought to be reckoned in the number of good fpi-
rits, fince Socrates was a heathen, and not ac-
quainted either with the true God, or his angels.
He uſed to ſay, that, from his youth up, he was
attended by a genius, who hindered him from do-
ing any thing that was unjuſt to others, or hurtful
to himſelf, but this fpirit never adviſed him what
to do ; but what he should forbear to do.
It is recorded of Socrates , that, after the de-
feat of the Athenian army under the prætor Laches,
as he was flying in company with this Athenian
general, and came to a place where feveral roads
met, he refuſed to go the fame way that the others
did ; and the reafon being afked him , he anſwered,
that his dæmon diffuaded him from it : and the
event juftified his precaution ; for all thofe who
took a different way from Socrates, were killed,
or made prifoners by the enemy's cavalry.
Ariftotle affures us, that he knew a man named
Thafius, who had always near him a fpirit in a
human form, which was invifible to every one but
himſelf.
Thomas Bartholinus , in his book, Concerning the
Caufes ofthe contempt of death among the ancient heathen
* Plato in Theage. Plut. de • Bartholin. De Caufis

Deo Socrat. Contemp. Mortis, &c . 1. ii.
b Cicero de Divinat. 1. i. c. 2. p. 261 .
Danes,
44 A DISSERTATION
Danes, fays, that they were not afraid to fight with

fpectres, and that fome of them had fo piercing a
fight, that they could fee phantoms in the air, both
by day and night ; and that they had a power of
communicating this faculty to others, by making
them ftand behind their backs, and look under
their arms, which they held a-kembo, while they
pronounced certain words. He afferts, after a
countryman of his named Stephanus, that there
are ſtill ſome of theſe people in Iceland , whoſe
fight is as piercing as that of a lynx. If any one
chooſes to attribute this to magick, I fhall not
diffent from him ; but it may ſerve to account for
what is mentioned above of Thafius, and for the
ftories that are told of feveral other perfons. 4
XXI.
Apparitions of Spectres or damons, and spirits,
LUTARCH, an author of acknowledged

PLU gravity and good fenfe, makes frequent men-
tion of ſpectres and apparitions ; particularly, he
fays, that in the famous battle of Marathon, feve-
ral foldiers faw the apparition of Thefeus fighting
for the Greeks againſt the Perfians " .
In his life of Sylla , he reports, that this ge-
neral faw in a dream that goddeſs, whoever the
be, whether Bellona, Minerva, or the moon, whom
the Romans worshipped in the Cappadocian man-
ner. This deity appeared to Sylla, and put into
his hand a fort of thunderbolt, bidding him throw
it at his enemies, which fhe named to him one after
another ; and as he ftruck them, they immediately
fell dead at his feet. It is not improbable, that
d Plut. in Thefeo. Paufanias in Atticis.

Plutarc. in Sylla.
this
this goddess was Minerva, to whom the heathens
attributed a privilege of cafting thunderbolts, as
well as to Jupiter himſelf .
ི་ Paufanias writes, that, four hundred years after
the battle of Marathon , there were ftill heard, in
the place where it was fought, the neighings of
horfes, and the fhouts of foldiers, animating one
another to the fight. Plutarch alfo fpeaks of fpec-
tres feen, and dreadful howlings heard in the pub-
lick baths, where feveral citizens of Charonea, his
native town, had been murdered : he fays, that the
inhabitants had even been obliged to ſhut up thefe
baths ; but that, notwithstanding this precaution ,
great noifes were ſtill heard, and dreadful ſpectres
frequently feen
. by the neighbours .
As Dion the philofopher, a difciple of Plato,
and general of the Syracufans, was fitting penfively
one evening in the portico before his houſe, he
first heard a great noife, and then perceived a ter
rible ſpectre, a woman of a monftrous fize, who
refembled one of the furies as defcribed in trage-
dies. It was ftill day-light, and he began to
fweep the houſe. Dion, being much terrified, fent
to defire fome of his friends to come and paſs the
night with him ; but the woman immediately dif
appeared, and was feen no more. Soon after, his
fon threw himſelf from the top of the houfe, and
he himſelf was affaffinated by confpirators
Marcus Brutus, one of the murderers of Julius
Cæfar, being one night in his tent, faw a mon-
ftrous figure come in, about the third hour of the
night. Brutus immediately cried out, What art
thou? A man or a god? and why art thou come
hither ? The ſpectre anfwered, I am thy evil ge-
Dacier's Notes upon Plu- Plat, in Dione, p. 982.

tarch , t. iv. p. 241 . i In Bruto, p. 1000, 1001..
Plut . in Cimone , p. 479 .
nius ;
46 A DISSERTATION
nius ; thou fhalt fee me at Philippi. Brutus calm-

ly anfwered, I'll meet thee there. And going
out, he related the affair to Caffius, who being
of the fect of Epicurus, and believing nothing of
theſe matters, told him it was a mere fancy ; that
there was no fuch thing as genii, or other fpirits,
which could appear to men ; that even if they
fhould appear, they could not affume a human
fhape, or voice, and had no power over us.
Though Brutus was fomewhat encouraged by thefe
reaſons, yet he could not entirely get the better of
his uneafinefs .
But this very Caffius *, in the midst of the
battle of Philippi, faw Julius Cæfar, whom he
had affaffinated, riding up to him full ſpeed ;
which terrified him fo much, that he fell upon his
own fword .
Caffius of Parma ', a different perfon from the
laft mentioned Caffius, faw an evil genius, which
came into his tent, and gave him notice of his
approaching death.
When Drufus was making war upon the Ger-
mans, in the reign of Auguftus ", and intended to
paſs the Elbe to penetrate farther into the country,
he was diverted from it by a woman of uncommon
ftature, who appeared to him, and faid, Drufus,
whither wouldst thou go ? Wilt thou never be fa-
tisfied ? Thy end is near, return back. He im-
.
mediately did fo, but died before he could reach
the Rhine, which he intended to repafs.
k Val. Max . 1, i. c. 99. Dio Caffius, 1. lv.

Valer. Max. 1. i. c. 79.
XXII. Other
XXII.
Olber inftances of apparitions of spectres.
Gregory of Nyffa , in his life of St. Gre

ST. G
gory Thaumaturgus, fays ", that during the
time of a great plague which raged in the city of
Neocæfarea, there were feen at noon-day ſpectres
going into feveral houſes ; and it was obſerved,
that they brought with them certain death.
After the famous fédition at Antioch, in the time
of the emperor Theodofius , there was feen , the
following night, a fort of fury running up and
down the city with a whip, which ſhe cracked like
a coachman driving his horfes.
St. Martin , having conceived fome fufpicion
of an altar, which one of his predeceffors in the
bishoprick of Tours had erected to a fuppofed
martyr, prayed earnestly one day to God, that he
would let him know who it was that the people
honoured in that place ; when fuddenly there ap-
peared on his left hand a hideous fpectre, which
R having told his name, owned he had been a rob-
ber, and was executed for his crimes, and had
not the leaft right to the honours due to martyrs.
Upon this St. Martin demoliſhed the altar, and
fuppreffed the pretended reliques. They who at-
tended him heard plainly what was ' faid, but faw
nothing. It must therefore have been a fhadow,
and not a folid body which appeared.
The fame St. Martin, being at Treves, faw, as
He was going into a houfe, a frightful ſpectre,
which terrified him a little at firft, but he foon
Gregor. Nyff. Vit. S. Sulp. Sever. Vit. S. Mar-

Thaum, p. 1007. tini.
Sozom. 1. vii, c. 23.
recovered ,
ION
48 A DISSERTAT
recovered, and commanded the ſpectre to leave

the houſe. Inftead of obeying, it entered into the
body of a man there prefent, who immediately
began to fall upon all he met, and tear them with
his teeth. St. Martin putting himſelf in his way,
ordered him to ftand, and thruft his fingers into his
mouth, defying him to bite. The poffeffed man
drew back, as if he had had a bar of red-hot iron
in his mouth, and was immediately delivered from
the ſpirit, which went out, not at his mouth, but
with his excrements, which he let fly behind.
John, bishop of Affos , who lived in the fixth
century, speaking of the great plague which hap-
pened in the reign of the emperor Juftinian, and
which is mentioned by almoft all the hiftorians of
that time, fays, that black men, without heads,
were feen rowing upon the fea in brazen boats,
and advancing towards thofe places, where the
plague begun to rage ; that this infection having
difpeopled a town in Egypt, fo that there were
only feven perfons and a lad of ten years old left
alive in it ; theſe perfons intending to leave the
city, with a great fum of money, fell down dead
on a fudden. The lad fled, without taking any
thing away, but at the gate of the city, he was
ftopt by a spectre, which forcibly dragged him
into the houſe where the feven men lay dead. Soon
after the fteward of the perfon to whom the houſe
belonged, coming thither with fome other fervants
to take out fome goods for his mafter who was
in the country, was adviſed by this fame lad to
get away; but he died fuddenly, and the lad too.
The fervants who accompanied the fteward of-
caped, and carried the news to their mafter.
The fame bifhop relates, that coming to Con→
ftantinople during the time of a great plague,
Simon. Affemani Bibliotheca Orient. t . ii. p. 86, 87.

which
which carried off ten , twelve, fifteen , and fixteen
thouſand perfons a day, fo that it was computed
that two hundred thouſand 爵 were dead of the dif-
temper ; he relates, I fay, that there were cen in
that city dæmons running from houfe to houfe, in
the habit of ecclefiafticks or monks, and that they
brought death wherever they came. qu
Philoftratus fays, that Apollonius Tyanæus fhew
ed the Ephefians a dæmon, in the form of a va-
grant beggar, which occafioned a plague in their
city; upon which they puffued him with ftones,
and drove him out of the town.
xxIII .
More apparitions offpestres, tik se
LINY the younger, confulting his friend

PL Sura upon the fubject of apparitions, profeffes
that he is ftrongly inclined to believe they are true,
and the reafon he alledges is what happened to
Quintus Curtius Rufus, who having gone into
Africa in the retinue of the Roman quæftor, faw,
as he was walking one evening under a portico,
a woman of uncommon fize and beauty, who told
him that he was Africa, and affured him that he
fhould one day return into that country in quality
of proconful. This affurance filled Rufus with
great expectations, fo that he returned to Rome,
and by his intrigues and bribery obtained the quæf-
torfhip, and afterwards the prætorship, by the fa
vour of the emperor Tiberius. The meannefs and
obfcurity of his birth being covered by this dignity,
he was afterwards fent proconful into Africa, where
he died, after having obtained the honours of ↑
triumph.
Plin. l. vii. ep. 27. Tacit. L. xi. Annal.

E It
ION
ER TAT
ISS
150 A D
It is faid, that at his return into Africa, the fame

fpectre, which had foretold his future greatnefs,
appeared to him again as he was getting out of
the ship. This prediction being fo clear, and fo
punctually fulfilled, made Pliny of opinion, that
Tuch apparitions are not always imaginary. This
fame ftory of Curtius Rufus had been related by
Tacitus fome time before Pliny.
XXIV .
‫علم‬
Stories of boufes pretended to be baunted byſpeſtres,
N the fame epiftle, Pliny relates another ſtory,

INnot leſs extraordinary than the former. There
was at Athens a good houſe, which no one would
venture to live in, becauſe of a ſpectre which ap-
peared in it. The philofopher Athenodorus com-
ing to that city, and feeing that the houfe was ad-
vertifed to be fold at a low price, bought it, and
went and lived there with his family. In the night
being bufy in writing and reading, he heard on a
fudden a noife like the dragging of chains, and
looking up, faw a frightful figure of an old man,
loaded with iron chains, advancing towards him.
Athenedorus continuing to write on, the ſpectre
made him a fign to follow him, J but the philofo-
pher bid him ſtay, and ftill went on. Upon this
the fpectre came nearer, and rattled his chains at
his cars ; when the philofopher, ſeeing him fo im-
portunate, took up the light, and ㄓ followed him.
They went down together into the yard, where
the ſpectre funk into the earth, and diſappeared.
Athenodorus, without being much frightened,
plucked up fome grafs and leaves to mark the
place, and returned into the houſe. The next day
he informed the magistrates of what had happen-
ed, who came and ordered the place to be ſearched,
and
ON APPARITIONS, & c.
and found the bones of a human body loaded with

chains. The chains were taken off, and the bones
buried, and from that time the houſe was quiet,
and the philofopher enjoyed his cheap purchaſe.
There is a ſtory very much like this related by
Lucian , who fays that it happened at Corinth,
and that the houfe was fhewn there even in his
time. This houſe was fituated in the part of the
town called Cranaus, and belonged to one Euba-
tides. Notwithſtanding the report of its being
haunted by a ſpectre, one Arignotus having a
mind to pafs a night there, provided fome Egyp-
tian books of magick, and going into the houſe
with a light, fat down calmly in the court, and
1 fell a reading. The fpectre foon appeared, and in

hopes of frightening Arignotus, fometimes affumed
the form of a dog, foon after of a bull, and then
.
of a lion . But Arignotus, without being diſturbed ,
begun to pronounce fome magical invocations out
of his books, and drove the ſpectre up into a cor-
ner of the court, where it funk into the earth ,
and difappeared. The next morning the fent for
Eubatides, the owner of the houſe, and having
dug in the place, where the phantom diſappeared,
they found a body, or rather a fkeleton, which
they buried and from that time nothing was ever
heard or feen more in that houfe.od Rozm )
This ftory is put in the mouth of Arignotus
by Lucian, the man in the world the leaft credu-
lous in theſe matters. But in the fame place he
fays, that Democritus, who believed neither in
angels, devils, nor fpirits, having ſhut himſelf up
in a monument without the city, where he ftudied
both day and night, fome young perfons having
a mind to frighten him ; dreffed themſelves in black
garments, fuch as the dead are clothed in, and
222222
2011-95 * Lucian in Philopfeud; p. 84020 2.07 Au
E 2 putting
A DISSERTATION
32
putting on frightful marks,came howling and leap
"
ing about the place where he was . Democritus,
without being disturbed, went on with his ftudies,
and only ſaid to them coolly, Have done with
your wanton tricks.
Antonio de Torquemada, the author of a Spa-
niſh book, entitled , A Garden of curious Flowers,
printed at Salamanca in 1570, 1 tranflated into
French by Gabriel Chappuy, Tourangeau,, and
printed at Lyons in 1582 , and at Rouen in 1610,
under the title of Hexameron, or a work of fix
days ; this author fays, that a little before his time,
there happened at Bologna ,an event very much
like that which Pliny reports to have happened at
Athens, and Lucian at Corinth . The ftory is,
that a young man, named Vaſquez de Ayola, went
to Bologna, with two companions, to ftudy the
law, and not finding a lodging in the city that
they liked, they were fhewn a large and handfome.
houfe, which was deferted on account of a ſpectre
that haunted it, and frightened all who attempted.
to live there. They, however, laughed at theſe
ftories, and fettled in it.
A month after, Ayola's companions being faft
aſleep, and himſelf only awake in the chamber,
he heard a noiſe at a diſtance, as of feveral chains
dragging upon the ground, which advanced to,
wards him up the ftair-cafe. He recommended
himſelf to God, made the fign of the cross, laid
hold of his fword and buckler, and having the
candle in his hand, faw the door opened by a
dreadful fpectre, being nothing but bones, but
loaded with chains.
Ayola conjured the fpectre to tell what it wants
ed, and whether it would have him follow it,
The fpectre made him a fign to follow, which he
obeyed ; but as he was going down ſtairs, his
light went out, Upon this, he returned to his
chamber,
ehamber, lighted it again, and followed the fpirit,
which led him across a court, where there was a
well: Ayola fearing that it would throw him in,
ftopt fhort , but the phantom made figns to him to
come on ; and they went into the garden, where the
fpectre diſappeared. Ayola marked the place with
fome handfuls of grafs, and returned to tell his
孳
companions what had happened , and the next f.
morning laid the affair before the magiftrates of
the city, who came with the governor to view the
place. Having ordered it to be dug up, there
was found a body, loaded with chains, but with
the flesh entirely gone. Having made an enquiry
who it was, and nothing certain being difcovered,
funeral rites were performed for the deceaſed, and
the houſe was no more haunted. Torquemada af
ferts, that in his time feveral witneffes of the fact
were living, both at,Bologna and in Spain, and
that Ayola, upon his return home, was promoted
to a confiderable office ; and that his fon, a little
before Torquemada writ his book, was prefident
in a confiderable to that kingdom.
XXV.
Obfervations concerning Spectres.
T is remarkable that the heathens, conformably

IT to their principles, barely bury the bodies of
fpectres which appear again, but that Chriftians
perform funeral obfequies, and fay prayers in their
behalf. It is not impoffible that the fame thing
may have happened, with fome difference of cir-
cumftances, at Athens, Corinth, and Bologna ;
but this very diverfity of circumftances inclines me
to queſtion the truth of the facts. For, upon the
principles of Chriftianity, of what importance is
E 3 it
54 A DISSERTATION
it to a foul, whether its body be buried with chains

or not ? The ſpectres, mentioned by Pliny and
Torquemada, appeared with their chains on, and
funk into the earth, or difappeared fome other
way ; and the next day the bones and chains were
found under ground, without any appearance of
their having been difplaced.
It may here be aſked, how it was poffible for
them to come out of the earth, and go into it
again, without moving the ground ? Again, was
it the real body that was formerly buried, and real
chains which appeared, or was it only a reprefen-
tation of them to thofe who fancied they faw and
heard them ?
Lucian's fpectre came purely to frighten the
philofopher Arignotus, who, by the help of his
magical incantations, forces it to affume fucceffive-
ly the form of a dog, a bull, and a lion, and at
length to retire into a corner of the court, and
fink into the earth. All theſe circumftances are
evidently trifling and fabulous ; and accordingly
it is Lucian that relates them. He was undoubt- :
edly acquainted with Pliny's ftory, but he tells it
in his own way. Torquemada feems to be more
ferious and circumftantial. But is it poffible for a
carcafs, or ſkeleton, to drag its chains out of a
grave, and to return into the grave again, with-
out opening the ground, and moving it fo as to
1
be perceived? It must be owned, all theſe ftories
have ftrongly the appearance of fables.
ོ་
*
XXVI. The
b XXVI .
The opinion of the ancient heathens, that departed

fouls are not admitted to a state of reft, till their
bodies are buried.
さい
was an opinion among the ancients, that de-

1p parted fouls enjoyed no tranquillity, except
their bodies were falemnly interred, and received
all the honours of a funeral.
They called this animam condere, covering or in
terring the foul.
Inferimus facri patera , animam

s que fepulchre
Sanguinis &
Condimus, & magna fupremum voce ciemus.
It was alfo called covering or interring the fhades :
Romulus ut tumulo fraternas condidit umbras

Et male veloci jufta foluta remo.
The Sybil in Virgil, when thewing Æneas the

manes wandering up and down upon the banks of
Acheron, tells him that they are the fouls of fuch
as have not been buried.
Hæc omnis, quam cernis, inops inbumataque turba

est
Portitor ille, Ebaron : bi, quos vebit unda, fepulti
Nec ripas datur borrendas, nec raucafluenta
Transportare prius, quàm fedibus offa quierunt.
Certum errant annos, volitantque hæc littora circum.
Virgil. Eneid. iii , v. 66. * Virgil. Æneid. 1. vi.

Ovid. Faft. v. v. 325.
E 4 Saluft
R TATION
56 A DISSE
Saluft, the philofopher " , mentions the appearing

of deceaſed perfons about their fepulchres with
opake bodies, and endeavours, but in vain, to
prove from hence the truth of the metemplys
chofis. 1 .
Eucrates, as quoted by Lucian * , relates, that

at his wife's deceaſe, he threw into the funeral pile-
all the things that the formerly made ufe of. Seven
days after the appeared to her husband, who was
reading in bed Plato's book concerning the foul ,
and fat down by him. Eucrates embraced her
with tears in his eyes ; but the bid him make no
noiſe, and gave him a gentle reprimand for having
forgot to throw into the funeral pile one of her
golden flippers , which was hid under a chefſt .
While they were converfing together, a little dog
which lay upon the bed began to bark, and the
phantom vanished. The flipper being afterwards
found, was burnt like the other things.
It may here be afked, whether it was the foul
of the woman that came to claim the flipper, or
the devil that appeared in her ſhape ? Or whether
Lucian himfelf did not invent this ſtory to laugh
at the credulity of the vulgar. Be this as it will,
it is ſtill a proof that it was a prevailing opinion
among the Greeks, that departed fouls, angels and
દૂ
dæmons, appear fometimes to the living.
After the fatal end of Caligula, who was mur-
dered in his own palace, his body was buried in
his gardens in a hurry, and only half burnt. The
隔 *
princeffes his fifters, when they returned from
exile, got him burnt with all the ufual ceremonies,
and interred with honour ; but it paffed for cer-
tain, that before this, they who had the care of the
Saluft. Philof. c. xix. xx. Lucian in Philopfeud.

P. 33. 838, 839.
palace
palace and gardens, had been disturbed every night

by fpectres, and dreadful noifes.
One of Plautus's comedies, entitled Moftellaria
turns upon the like notion of a haunted houſe.
The poet introduces a fpirit, faying, that he had
been affaffinated about fixty years before by a trea-
cherous companion, who had robbed him of his
money, and buried him in that houfe ; that the
god of the infernal regions refuſed to receive him
below, as having died prematurely, and before
his time, and that therefore he was obliged + to
take up his reſidence in that houſe.
We learn from hence two remarkable things.
First, that it was a prevailing opinion, that perfons
who died a violent death, and before the ordinary
time, were not admitted into the kingdom of
Pluto. Secondly, that theſe fouls fometimes took
poffeffion of a houfe, where they continued, not-
withstanding all attempts to difpoffefs them, and
tormented thoſe who lived there ; which fhews
the opinions and prejudices entertained by the Ro
mans concerning fuch apparitions, in the houſes
where any one had been affaffinated, or died a vio
lent death.
Father Peter Thyrée, a jefuit, in his book en
titled Demoniaci, cum locis infeftis & terriculamentis
nocturnis, relates a great number of inftances of
houſes haunted by ſpectres, fpirits, and devils :
and among others that of a tribune named Hefpe-
rius, whofe houfe was haunted by a devil, which
tormented the fervants and animals, and was ex-
pelled by a priest of Hippo , who offered there
the holy facrifice of our Saviour's body
Plaut. Moftell. Act. ii . quia præmaturè vitâ careo.

Scen. ii. v. 67. Hæc mihi de- b Aug 1. xxii. c. 8. de civi
dita habitatio, nam me Ache tat. Dei.
+3
rontem recipere Orgus noluis,
St.
58 A DISSERTATION ?
St. German, biſhop of Capua , going to a bath

in that city, found there Pafchafius, a deacon of
the church of Rome, who had been ſome time
dead , who prefenting himſelf as to wait upon him,
told him, that he was there fuffering his purgai
tory, for having been an abettor of the anti - pope
Laurence againſt Symmachus. St. Gregory of
Nyffa, in his life of St. Gregory of Neocæfarea,
fays, that one of that bishop's deacons, going into
a wood, where no one ventured after a certain hour
in the evening, becaufe all who went there were
killed, faw there fpectres of all forts, which made:
a thouſand attempts to hurt him; but he put them
all to flight by making the fign of the crofs, and
calling upon the name of Jefus Chrift . I might
mention a great number of like inftances, related
by very ſerious and judicious authors. do 211
Alexander ab Alexandro, a famous Neapolitan
lawyer, who lived in the fifteenth century, fays,
that it is known to every one that there are houſes
in Rome (fome of which he himſelf has lived in)
fo difcredited for being haunted almoſt every night
by fpectres, that ſcarce any one will venture to live
in them . He quotes the teftimony of his friend
Nicholas Tuba, a man of known veracity and
probity, who coming once with fome companions
to fee whether the common reports about thefe
houſes were true, refolved to pafs the night there
with Alexander ; and as they were all together,
perfectly awake, and with feveral candles lighted,
there appeared a dreadful ſpectre, which frightened
them fo much with its terrible voice, and the
noiſe it made, that they knew not what they did
or faid ; and as we advanced towards it, fays he,
Greg. Magn. 1. iv , Dialog. Alexander ab Alexandra,

C$ 39. 1.v. 9. 23. most g
with
1
with a light, it retired, and at laſt, after having
greatly diſturbed the whole houfe, it diſappeared
entirely not med hund-now
But what is ſtill more extraordinary than all this,
is, that Alexander being one day in bed, broad
บ
awake, and the door of the room fhut clofe,
his fervant, and one of his clients, named Mark,
faws on a fudden a fpectre come through the
chinks of the door, and began to cry out with all
their might. Alexander, who did not fee the fpi-
rit, could ſcarce believe them , when immediately
the phantom , which had crept under the bed,
ftretched out its arm, and extinguifhed the candle
which ftood upon the table, and then fcattered
about all the papers that were on it. At the noife
which we made, fays he, our companions ran to
us with lights, and immediately the fpectre opened
the door, and fled before they came in, without
their feeing it. As for us who were in the room,
we faw it plainly, in the fhape of a very black
man.
Tiraqueau, who has writ learned notes upon
this author, treats all thefe facts as reveries. © Per-
Haps he is in the right ; but I wish he had given
fome proofs of what he advances.
J
By a letter which I received the 12th of Octo-
ber 1742, from a gentleman of undoubted credit,
he affures me, that when he lived at Mirecourt,
...
he had often heard, about eleven o'clock in the
evening, especially on holiday eves, a great noife
in his houfe, fometimes in the cellar, and fome-
times in the granary, as if all the things in thofe
rooms were turned topfy- turvy. Beſides, adds he,
I have often heard fomething walking in my cham
ber, fometimes like a perfon barefoot, and at
other times like a man in boots. One evening,
returning from a puppet-fhow, I found my child-
laid acroſs the fire, his bed being not at all tum-
Qani bled ,
60 A DISSERTATION :
bled, but in the fame fituation as when the child

was put in it. At other times, the child was taken
out of his bed, and laid in the middle of the
chamber, without knowing who had put him
there, and wakened only by the cold , which he
felt. One day, being All-faints eve, I faw, being
quite awake, three lighted candles in my room ,
one while advancing towards me, and foon after
retiring from me. Another time I ſaw the shape
of a tall woman, dreffed in white, with a child
in her arms. There were three of us which faw
her, and as we advanced towards her, the difap-
peared. Some friends of mine, who lodged with
me, and knew nothing of thefe apparitions, told
me in the morning that they could not fleep, and
could not conceive what noife we had been mak-
ing in the houſe all night. The fame thing hap-
pened to a dragoon who was quartered with me,
and grew almoft mad , being able to get no reft,
and feeing nothing, though he endeavoured with.
the utmoft diligence, by ftriking a light, to dif
cover the caufe of all this difturbance. I myſelf.
have got up in the dark more than thirty times
to find it out, and was at laft obliged to leave
the houſe. I am ready to atteft the truth of what
I have writ you, as often as you defire me.
XXVII.
Spettres, or dæmons, which raiſeſtorms,
HE prince of Radzville , in his account of

TH his journey to Jerufalem, relates a moft
extraordinary thing, which he himſelf was witnefs
of He had purchaſed two Egyptian mummies,
a man and a woman, and locked them up privately
Radzwill . Beregrini Jerofi .p. 228, ifeq.

into
into two chefts, which he put on board his fhip,

when he embarked at Alexandria to return to Eu-
rope. This was known only to himſelf and two
fervants, becauſe the Turks prohibit the exporta-
tion of mummies out of Egypt, believing that
the Chriftians make ufe of them for magical ope-
rations . When they were at fea, there arofe a
ftorm, which returned ſeveral times with fuch vio-
lence, that the pilot had no hope of faving the
fhip, and they all expected immediate and inevi
table fhipwreck. A Polifh prieft, who attended
the prince, faid the proper prayers on fuch an oc-
cafion, and the refponfes were made by the prince
and his attendants. But the prieſt all the while
complained of being tormented by two black and
hideous fpectres, a man and woman, which teized
him, and threatened to kill him. They all ima-
gined at firft, that his fright, and the danger of
being fhipwrecked, had difturbed his imagination.
Upon a calm's coming on, he feemed eafy ; but
the ftorm beginning again, he was tormented more
than ever ; nor was he delivered from his plague,
till they had thrown into the fea the two mummies,
which he had never feen ; and neither he nor the
pilot knew to be in the fhip..
Whether thefe apparitions were the fouls of the
two Egyptians, afraid that their bodies fhould re-
main in the poffeffion of Chriftians, or two de-
vils which affumed their fhapes : whence it hap-
pened that they were feen only by this priest, who
knew nothing of their being in the fhip : whe-
ther it was nothing but an impreffion made upon
his imagination : } whence this proceeded , and
what was the caufe of fo fingular an event : whe-
ther departed fouls or devils have a power of pro-
ducing fuch effects upon our minds ; all theſe are
points which I fhall not venture to determine.
XXVIII. St.
162 A DISSERTATION 2
XXVIII. i adiet
ม pashto St. Elm's,por St. German's fire,mat

.3.13
bud bolleg
HE prince of Radzville, in the fame work,
THmentions a fort of fire, which he calls St.
German's fire, which appeared ſeveral times upon
the top of the main- maft of the fhip : it is called
by others St. Elm's, or St. " Anfelm's fire. The
heathens attributed it to Caftor and Pollux , becauſe
it fometimes appears double. Philofophers con-
fider it as a natural phænomenon, and nothing
more than an inflamed vapour : an opinion which
I shall not conteft, but only obferve, that the an-
cients looked upon thefe fires as fupernatural and
divine.
With regard to a great number of ftories re
lated by certain writers, after others, we may,
without either admitting or rejecting them, abfo-
lutely agree with Livy, in leaving them to com
#
mon fame, and treating them like many other
things, in which we take little or no intereft.
Hec neque affirmare, neque refellere opera pretium eft
Fama rerum ftandum eft. I leave them therefore as
vulgar reports. Believe them who will.
XXIXA
Apparitions of angels, demons, or fpirits, which re-

veal things unknown, and things future.
F the following apparitions, fome may be

attributed to good angels, and others to the
devil . When Julius Cæfar was deliberating whe-

f
ther he ſhould paſs the Rubicon, and invade Italy
**
f Sueton. in Julio, c. xxxii.
there
there appeared a man of uncommon ftature, whift-
ling upon a reed, and upon the foldiers running
M
together to hear him, the ſpectre fnatched a trum-
pet from one of them , founded an alarm, and
paffed the river. Upon this, Cæfar, without he-
fitating any longer, cried out, Let us go, whither
the prefages of the gods, and the injuftice of our
enemies, call us.
balThe emperor Trajan was taken by a ſpectre
out of the city of Antioch through a window,
in the midft of that terrible earthquake, which
overthrew almoft the whole town. The philofo-
h
pher Simonides had a like intimation given him,
that his houfe was going to fall ཏྠཱ? upon which he
left it in time, and foon after it actually fell.
There is a fory, that a perfon , who under-
stood not a word of the Greek, came to viſit M.
de Saumaife the father, who was a counſellor of
the parliament of Dijon, and fhewed him the fol-
lowing words which he had heard in his fleep by
night, and had writ down in French characters
when he awoke in the morning : Apitbi, onk of-
pbraine tên sên epycbian . He afked M. de Sau
maife what they meant, who answered, Depart,
baft thou no apprehenfion of thydeath ? Upon this, the
man left his houfe, which fell down the following
night. Jofephus relates, that a little before the
deftruction of the temple of Jerufalem, there
*
were heard in the night voices crying out, Let
us leave this place.
The emperor Julian the apoftate uſed to tell
a ſtory, that at the time when his foldiers preffed
him to accept the empire, being at Paris , there
Dio Caffius, 1. lxviii. Menagiana.

P. 783 . * Jofeph. de Bello Jud.
Diog. Laert. in Simonid. 1. vi. c. 7.
1 Ammia
&Val. Max. 1, i. ¹ n. 1. xix. p. 162.
appeared
64 A DISSERTA
TION
appeared to him one night a fpectre, in the form
which the genius of the empire is ufually painted
in, which faid that it came to dwell with him,
but gave him notice that it would be only for a
fhort time. He affirmed likewife, that as he was
writing one night , in his tent a little before his
death , his familiar fpirit appeared to him, going
out of his tent, with a forrowful and dejected coun-
tenance.
A little before the death of the emperor Con-
ftantius, Julian faw by night a viſion of a lu-
minous fpectre, which repeated to him feveral
times four Greek verles, importing, that when Ju
piter fhould be in Aquarius, and Saturn in the
twenty-fifth degree of Virgo, the emperor Con-
ftantius fhould die a miferable death in Afia.
We are affured, that the night after the death
of Julian the apoftate, St. Bafil faw a vifion of the
holy martyr Mercurius , receiving an order from
God to go and flay Julian ; and that foon after
Mercurius returned , and ſaid, Lord, Julian is mor-
tally wounded, as thou baft commanded me. The next
morning, St. Bafil made this news publick, and the
truth of it was foon after confirmed. Didymus,
the famous blind man of Alexandria ", faw alfo the
fame night, in a trance, horfes galloping in the air,
and crying out, Let Didymus know that Julian
was flain this day at the fixth hour, and let him
carry the news to the bishop Athanafius.
Ammian. 1. xxv. Amphiloch. Vit. S. Bafil.

Idem, 1. ii . Greg. Nazi- Chronic , Alex. p. 692.
ana. Orat. iii. p. 68 . E SoZonien . D. với b
1:
XXX . Other
XXX.
Other remarkable apparitions of angels, or Spirits,

any which difcover things profitable to falvation.
Few minutes before the death of St. Am-.

A brofe, Honoratus, bishop of Vercelli, who
clay in an upper room in the fame houfe, heard a
voice, which cried to him three times, Rife, make
bafte , be is just departing. Honoratus immediately
-came down, and gave St. Ambrofe the facrament,
which as foon as he had received , he expired .
His body was carried to the church. It happen-
sting to be the evening of Easter-Sunday, when the
new converts were commonly baptized, he was
ſeen by ſeveral of the children, who pointed him
out to their parents ; but theſe latter could not
fee him, becauſe their eyes were not fufficiently
pure, fays Paulinus, a difciple of St. Ambrofe, and
the writer of his life.
Paulinus adds, that on the day of his death, St.
Ambrofe appeared to feveral holy perfons in the
eaft, and prayed with them, and laid his hands
cupon them . Thefe perfons writ an account of it.
to Milan, and upon comparing the dates, it was
found that it happened the very day of his death ;
and the letters were ftill in being in the time of
Paulinus. The holy bifhop was alſo ſeen ſeveral
times after his death praying in the Ambrofian
church at Florence, which, when he was alive , he
had promiſed to vifit often.
During the fiege of Milan by Radagnafius, St.
Ambrofe appeared to one of the citizens, and pro-
mifed him , that they ſhould receive fuccours the1
next day, which proved true. The fame faint ap-
Paulin. Vit. Ambrof. p. 47, 48.

F peared
66 A DISSERTATION
peared alfo to Mafcezel, who commanded the

Roman army against Gildon, and ftriking the
ground three times with his ftick , faid, Here, bere,
bere, meaning, that in that very spot he fhould
gain the victory three days after, which happened
accordingly. Paulinus had this from Mafcezel's
own mouth.
A blind man being told, in a vifion, that the
bodies of the martyrs Sifinnius and Alexander were
coming by fea to Milan, and that St. Ambrofe
was going out to meet them, requeſted him in a
dream to reftore his fight. St. Ambrofe anſwered :
Go to Milan, and meet the bodies of my brethren ;
they will arrive fuch a day, and will restore you your
fight . The blind man obeyed his orders, and upon
touching the fhrines in which the reliques of the
martyrs were inclofed, he recovered his fight, and
related the fact himſelf to Paulinus.
XXXI.
Inftances of perfons, both dead and living, that have

appeared to others, without knowing it.
T. Auguftin ' profeffes to believe, that the dead

Sh have often appeared to the living, diſcovered
where their bodies lay unburied, and pointed out
the place where they chofe to be interred : that
a noife has been frequently heard in churches,
where the dead are buried , and that the dead have
been often ſeen to go into the houſes which they
inhabited before their deceafe. He fays further,
that it is poffible for one living perſon to diſcover
to another, who is abfent, things which the dif
coverer has not the leaſt knowledge of, nor trou-
Aug. de Curâ gerendâ pro • Tom. ii. p. 562.

mortuis, c. x.
bles
ON • APPARITIONS, & C. 6%
bles his head about ; but that he will not deter-
mine whether, in this cafe, either of the perfons
is, at that time, afleep or awake ' .
If this be fo, as it cannot, adds he, be doubted,
who will queftion whether it is poffible for the
dead to appear to the living, without knowing it,
and to difcover to them things, which are con-
firmed to be true by the event ? And he con-
cludes, that it happens by the expreſs command,
or at leaſt the permiffion of God, who commands
his angels to fignify in what place the perfons, who
know nothing of theſe viſions, ought to be buried,
or to comfort the living, who are folicitous about
the burial of the deceaſed, or to recommend to
the living the care of burying their dead ; a neg-
ligence in this refpect being always blameable.
It is remarkable, that when one living perfon
appears to another, we do not fay, that his foul
or his body, but that fuch a perfon has appeared,
as if it were not poffible for the dead to appear, in
like manner, without body or foul, but merely
by an impreffion of their figure upon the mind or
imagination of the living perfon.
When Roger, earl of Calabria and Sicily, was
befieging the city of Capua, a certain Greek,
named Sergius, to whom he had given the com-
mand of a body of 200 men, being bribed by the
prince of Capua, formed a defign of betraying to
him the earl and his army in the night. The plot
being to be executed the firſt of March, St. Bruno,
who lived then in the defert of Squillaci , appear-
ed to the earl, and bid him take arms imme-
diately, if he would efcape from his enemies.
Upon this the earl leaped out of bed, and ordered
his foldiers to mount their horfes, and fee what
De Curâ pro mortuis, c. x. p. 523. See alfo Serm. 322 ,

323. Tom. v.
F 2 was
68 A DISSERTATION
was doing in the camp. They found there Ser-

gius's troop, and the prince of Capua, who upon
feeing them, retired towards the city, but the earl's
foldiers feized one hundred and fixty-two of them ,
who confeffed the treachery. The 19th of July
Roger went to Squillaci, and telling St. Bruno what
had happened, the faint anfwered, It was not I
that gave you notice of the plot, but the angel of
God who attends upon princes in time of war.
This fact is related by the earl himſelf, in a privi-
lege granted to St. Bruno ".
Some little time before the wretched death of
Lewis , king of Hungary, which happened in
the year 1526, this prince being at dinner, in the
citadel of Buda, there appeared at the gate an ill-
looking lame man, in a mean habit, who de-
manded, with great earneftnefs, to fpeak with the
king, faying, that he had fomething of the utmoſt
confequence to communicate to him . His ap-
pearance was fuch, that at firft he was treated with
great contempt, and no one would let the king
know of his being there ; but upon his growing
more importunate, and protefting that he could
not difcover his bufinefs to any but the king him-
felf, they informed Lewis of the matter. Upon
this he fent a lord, who, of all the nobles then
near him , had the greateft air of dignity, who
pretended to be the king, and aſked the man what
he had to fay to him . He anſwered , I know that
you are not the king ; but fince he will not vouch-
fafe to hear me, tell him, that he fhall certainly
die foon. Having faid this, he turned away, and
difappeared. Leunclavius had this from the baron
of Erbeftin, to whom it was told by a lady, who
was at the king's court when the thing happened.
" Leunclav. Pande&

t. Hift. * Apud Sur. vi . Octobr.
Turcicæ, p . 221 . P. 597.
Queen
Queen Margaret ', in her Memoirs , pretends that

the great are under the particular protection of
God, who reveals to them the future accidents of
their life, by dreams or fome other way ; " as
(fays fhe) was the cafe of the queen (Catharine
of Medicis) my mother ; who, the night before
" that unhappy tournament, dreamed that the faw
the king (Henry II. ) my father wounded in the
eye, as it afterwards happened ; and when the
" awaked, begged him feveral times not to run
in the lifts that day . Another time, when
" fhe was dangerously ill at Metz, and there ftood
" by the bed-fide the king, ( Charles IX. ) my
" fifter, my brother of Lorrain, and many ladies
" and princeffes, fhe cried out, as if fhe had feen
" the battle of Jarnac, See how they fly: My fon
has the victory : See the prince of Condé dead in
" that hedge. All who were by thought her de-
lirious ; but the night after, when M. de Loffes
" brought news of the battle, I knew it, faid fhe,
" very well; did not I fee it the day before yefter-
แ
"" day ?"".
Philippa, duchefs of Guelderland, wife of Re-
natus the fecond, duke of Lorrain, had a vifion
of the unhappy battle of Pavia, when he was a
nun at St. Clara's, at Pont-à -Mouffon ; and imme-
diately cried out, Ab ! my fifters, my dear fifters !
to prayers for the love of God .... Myfon de Lam-
befcis is killed, and the king my coufin ( Francis the
firft ) taken prisoner. Soon after arrived at Nancy,
the couriers which brought the news of the me-
morable event, which happened the very day that
the princefs had the vifion ; though neither the
prince of Lambefc, nor king Francis the first had
the leaſt knowledge of this revelation.
Memoires de la Reine Marguerite, 1. i.
F 3 Father
TION
S ERTA
A DIS
70
Father Abram, a jefuit of Lorrain, in the fixth
book of his hiftory of the univerſity of Pont-à-
Mouffon, relates that father Sinfon , a celebrated
preacher, who lived in that college, coming down
from his room one night, in the heat of the dog-
days, into a part of the cloifter which joined to
the church, in order to take the fresh air, and
cool himſelf, by walking barefoot on the pave-
ment, faw, on a fudden, at his left hand, a ſpectre
of a more than human fize, which was going to
fpeak to him ; but he made it figns, that he could
not fpeak by night, without leave from his fupe
rior ; and that if it would return the night after,
he would aſk leave, and have a conference with
it. The following night the phantom appeared
again, and told father Sinfon, that he had fome
great fecrets to impart to him. The father an-
fwered, I can receive no fecrets, unleſs you give
me leave to diſcover them to my fuperior . After
this preface, the converfation begun, and lafted for
near an hour ; but it was never known what the
ſpectre told him . The fuperior having afked fa-
ther Sinfon what was the fubject of their confe-
rence, he anſwered, it was fomething too frightful
to be heard without fhuddering ; and the fuperior
infifted no further upon knowing. Father Abram
affures us, that he who appeared was not a jefuit.
This event, which happened about the year
1602, is known to every one in Pont-à-Mouffon,
and the place where the ſpectre appeared is ftill
fhewn in the cloifter. Father Sinfon was feized
with fo great a fright, that he never recovered it,
and his brain continued a little difordered to his
death.
The ſtory of John Michel, fon of Nicholas Mi-
chel, who lived near the wood of Orthemont, in
the parish of Senones, is of a very late date. This
Michel, who had been a foldier in the regiment
of
of Enguien, and died in the hofpital of Ingolstadt
in Bavaria, after having received all the facraments,
in July 1742, appeared three different times, in
the night between the 29th and 30th of Septem-
ber, to his father, broad awake, and his brothers
and fifters, four in all, in the form of a man bu-
ried in a white cloth, which gradually diminiſhed
and diſappeared as they advanced towards him.
This the father of John Michel attefted before
me, and the reverend father Dom Ambrofe Pelle-
tier, miniſter of Senones, the 30th of September
in the morning, being the day after the faid appa-
rition.
.XXXII.
Apparitions of living men to other perfons living, and

at a distance.
T. Auguftin appeared, without knowing it ,

to two perfons who had never feen him , and
knew him only by reputation, as they protefted,
and as he himself declares in a publick difcourfe
to his congregation. There are feveral other in-
ftances of living perfons appearing to others, who
were a great way off ; as that of St. Benedict, who
appeared to ſome men, whom he had promiſed
to meet, and fhew them how he would have a
b
monaftery built. St. Meletius, archbishop of
Antioch, appeared in like manner to Theodofius
the Great, while he was a private perſon , and
clothed him with the imperial robe, as the empe-
ror himſelf declared upon feeing Meletius, whom
he knew, though he had never feen him before,
a c Theodoret. 1. v. Hiftor.
Aug. Serm. ccxxxiii. p.
1277, 1278. c. 6, 7.
Greg. 1. ii, Dialog. c. 22.
F 4 St.
ON
A DISSERTATI
72
St. Paul, after his converfion , faw in a vifion
Ananias, who laid his hands upon him, and re-
ftored his fight. St. Auguftin , in his book con-
cerning the care of the dead , fays, that a pious
monk, named John, appeared to a good woman ,
who defired earneftly to fee him ; and he reafons
much upon this apparition ."
Such apparitions of living men to others, and
efpecially thofe which happen without the know-
ledge of the perfon that appears, as in the cafe of
Ananias appearing to St. Paul, and St. Auguftin's >
appearing to the two perfons that he fpeaks of,
deferve the ftricteft attention. But every way of
accounting for them is attended A with great diffi-
culties, whether we fuppofe the fouls of thefe›
perfons really to appear, or only a repreſentation to
be formed by the operation of angels, or of God !
himſelf, in the minds of thoſe who ſee them , or
believe they ſee them.
XXXIII.
Goblins, or familiar fpirits.
'N the number of apparitions may be ranked

extraordinary
are told. They are of feveral forts , of which the
greater part are not mischievous, but, on the con-
trary, very ferviceable, by dreffing, feeding, and
taking care of horfes, which they fometimes do
at the cost of the next neighbour, whofe corn they
have been known to fteal, to give it to the horfe
which they have taken under their care. There
are a thouſand ftories of this fort, and all of them
fo ridiculous, that one fhould hardly believe them ,
• A&t . ix. 12.

Aug. de Cur. pro mortuis, c. vii. & c. ix.
without
without feeing them ourſelves, or having them
from eye-witneffes.
f
The younger Pliny tells a ftory of a freed
man " of his, named Marcus, a man of letters ,
who, as he lay in bed with his younger brother,
dreamed that he faw a perfon fitting upon the bed,
and cutting off the hair from the top of his
head. When he waked , he found himſelf ſhaved,
and his hair ſcattered about the room. A little
after, the ſame thing happened to a boy, who lay
afleep with feveral others in a large room, and
faw two perfons in white come in at the window,
*
and cut off his hair while he flept, His hair too,
as in the other inftance, was found fcattered
round the room next morning. Thefe events can-
邀
not, I think, be attributed to any thing but gob-
lins and, as a proof of it, I may add the con-
curring testimony of feveral unexceptionable wit-
neffes, who have affured me, that a relation of
theirs had a fort of familiar fpirit, which always
waited upon him, brought him his fhoes, bruſhed
his clothes, and when he was in the country, al-
ways came home before him, and got ready his
chamber for his reception. The people of the
houſe were ſo uſed to this fpirit, that they knew
the gentleman would foon be at home, when they
faw the furniture of his chamber fet in order, and
his clothes got ready .
Trithemius mentions a ſpirit which was feen for
fome confiderable time in the dioceſe of Hilde-
fheim in Saxony, and went by the name of Hec-
dekiu, or the fpirit with the cap, on account of a
cap which he always appeared in. He was feen
fometimes in one shape, fometimes in another,
and frequently he contented himſelf with doing
f Plin. 1. vii . ep . 27.

Trithem. Chronic. Hirfang. circa an. 1131.
fomething
A DISSERTATION
74
Something to give proof of his prefence and his
power, without appearing at all. " He fometimes
gave important intelligence to princes. He was
often feen in the bishop's kitchen, where he waited
upon the cooks, and did a great many little jobs :
but one of the fcullions, who had contracted a fort
of intimacy with him, having one day affronted
him, the fpirit complained to the head- cook, who
paying no regard to his complaint, the fpirit
thought proper to do himſelf juſtice, and did it
feverely. For as the fcullion was afleep one day
in the kitchen, the ſpirit ftrangled him, tore him
in pieces, and boiled him. He was proceeding
to wreak his vengeance upon the bishop's other
fervants ; but the affair was now no longer to be
trifled with. Ecclefiaftical cenfures were iffued out
against him ; and thefe, with the affiſtance of ex-
orcifms, foon obliged him to quit the country.
Caffian too makes mention of theſe goblins,
who take a pleaſure in putting tricks upon travel-
lers, and leading them out of their road, but ra-
ther with a defign of diverting themſelves, than
of doing any real harm to the travellers.
William of Paris fays, that he knew a dancing-
mafter, who had a familiar fpirit, which was al-
ways playing him fome unlucky prank, but ſeemed
to take a particular pleaſure in hindering him from
fleeping, by throwing fomething againſt the wall,
tumbling the furniture round the room, pulling
off the bed-clothes, and fometimes dragging the
man himſelf out of bed.
We are affured too by perfons of good fenfe,
that they have had their cloak taken from their
back in an open field, their boots drawn off, and
fometimes their hat thrown to the ground, with-
Caffian. Collat. vii. c. 32.

Guillelm . Parifienf. z. part. Princip. c. viii.
out
out feeling any other harm and that they have

zafterwards heard loud peals of laughter, and could
diſtinguiſh the voice of fome deceafed friend, who
[ feemed to be highly diverted with the ſport.
20The following ftory I have from a perfon, who
"
declares he is as fully fatisfied of the truth of
it, as if he had been an eye- witnefs. Count Def-
pilliers, who in his youth was captain of a troop
of cuiraffiers, being in winter- quarters in Flanders,
1. was one day waited on by a foldier of his troop,
who begged he would order him another lodging,
becauſe he was tormented by a fpirit, which came
every night into his chamber, and would not let
him fleep. The count, laughing at the man's fim-
plicity, fent him away without paying any regard
to his petition. A few days after, the foldier came
asfecond time, with the fame requeft, and the
count, in anfwer, fnatched up his cane, and would
have laid it acroſs his fhoulders ; but the man
avoided it, by getting quickly out of the way.
However, this did not deter him from coming a
third time, when he protefted to the count, that
he could bear it no longer, and that he ſhould be
forced to defert, if he could not get another lodg-
ing. Upon this, Defpilliers, who knew him to be
a brave foldier, and no fool, told him, with an
oath, after the German cuſtom, that he would
come and lie with him that night, and ſee what
was the matter.
At ten in the evening the count came to the
foldier's lodging, and placing his piſtols upon the
table in good order, lay down, having his ſword
by him, by the foldier's fide, in a bed without
curtains. About midnight he heard fomething
come into the chamber, which in an inftant turned
the bed upfide down, and confined them both un-
der the bedding. The count had the greateſt dif-
ficulty in the world to difengage himſelf, and find
his
76 A DISSERTATION
his fword and piftols ; after which he went home

in great confufion. The foldier had another lodg-
ing provided him next morning, and ſlept for the
future without interruption .
M. Deſpilliers made no fcruple of telling the
ftory to any one that defired to hear it. He was
a man of the moſt intrepid courage, and died
a field-marſhal in the fervice of the emperor
Charles VI. and governor of the fortrefs of Se-
guedin. I have not the leaft doubt, fays a worthy
officer, who writes me this account, that fpirits do
fometimes come again, but I have often been in
places where they are faid to appear, and have
done all I could to fee them, but have never fuc-
ceeded. I was even once in a company of more
than four thousand perfons, who all affirmed that
they faw a fpirit, but I was the only one of the
whole affembly that faw nothing. This letter is
dated this very year 1745.
XXXIV .
Inftances of Spectres feen in Sweden, and of magicians

which fell winds.
HESE goblins, or familiar fpirits, which

TH wait upon people in the fhape of men or
women, are very common in Sweden, and the
other northern countries. Olaus Magnus * gives a
particular account of a fort of nymphs that refide
in caves in the midst of forefts, and foretel future
events. Some of them are good -humoured and
1
beneficent, others crofs and mifchievous. They
appear and ſpeak to thoſe who confult them, and
then diſappear and vaniſh. It is a common thing
alfo for travellers and fhepherds to fee phantoms
Olaus Mag. Hift. 1. iii. c. 9, 10, 11 , 12, 13, 14.

I in
in the night, which fcorch up the place where they
appear, in fuch a manner, that no grafs, or any
thing that is green, ever grows there afterwards .
Olaus fays alfo, that it was a common practice
with the Finlanders, before their converfion to
Chriftianity, to fell winds to mariners, by giving
them a cord with three knots, informing them at
the fame time, that by untying the firſt knot, they
would have a fair and gentle gale ; upon untying
the fecond, the wind would be more violent, and
upon loofing the third, it would blow a dangerous
ftorm. It is faid, that they ftill make uſe of this
fecret, but not fo often as formerly ; and they are
particularly cautious of raifing ftorms, which they
never do but when they are determined to wreak
their vengeance upon an enemy, by putting him
in danger of fhipwreck.
Thefe ftories belong rather to the fubject of ma-
gick than of apparitions, as alfo what he relates of
the Bothnians, who by beating violently with a ham-
mer upon a brazen frog or ferpent, laid on an anvil,
fall into a trance, during which the evil ſpirit in-
forms them of things which happen at a great dif-
tance from the place where they are .
But the ſtrongeſt proof that the devil is con-
cerned in theſe apparitions, fervices, and predicti-
ons, is, that they tend manifeftly to deceive, to
hurt and damn men, by alienating them from the
worship of the true God.
I could produce ſeveral witneffes to atteft, that
they have ſeen and heard goblins or familiar fpirits,
which have drawn the curtains of beds, and drag-
ged off the clothes by force, notwithſtanding the
utmoſt efforts of the perfons in the bed to keep
them on. At other times, they have thrown fhowers
of ftones into a houſe, appeared like a light in a
chamber, taken children out of their cradles,
opened and ſhut doors with a great noife, removed
and
· A DISSERTATION
78
and overturned chairs and benches, and afterwards
reſtored them to their proper places. It is even
afferted, that ſome of them rock people in their
*
beds, without doing them any harm ; there are
others which fing or whiſtle, or burſt out into a
loud laugh, or play pranks.
XXXV.
Of the lares, manes, and lemures of the Latins.
HE goblins, or familiar fpirits, laft mention-

T ed, feem to be much like thoſe which the
Romans called Lares, or domeftick gods, who
were thought to be the fouls of fome deceafed
perfons of the family, for which they ftill pre-
ſerved an affection, and were honoured by it with
little offerings.
There was another fort of fpirits, which the
Romans called Lemures, who were generally wick-
ed and mischievous. Ovid ſpeaks of a feſtival cele-
brated to appease them, and offerings made to them.
The manner of celebrating this feftival, called Le-
muria, was as follows. The mafter of the family
getting up at midnight, when every one was aſleep,
went barefoot to a neighbouring fountain, in pro-
found filence, and full of a religious horror, making
only a little noiſe with his fingers to drive away the
manes, who might otherwife have diſturbed the
ceremony. Having waſhed his hands three times,
he returned homewards, throwing over his head
fome large black beans, which he had in his mouth,
faying, I redeem myself and my family with thefe
beans, which he repeated nine times, without look-
ing behind him ; fuppofing that one of theſe le-
mures, though invifible, followed him , and ga-
! See Apuleius de Deo Socratis.

thered
ON APPARITIONS , &c . 79
thered up the beans. When he came home, he
took water a fecond time, gave a ftroke upon a
brazen veffel, and defired the fpirit to quit his
houfe, repeating nine times thefe words, Retire,
ye manes of my ancestors.
The noife made upon a brazen veffel to drive
away the manes, is a circumftance that merits fome
attention. Lucian m has made the fame obferva-
tion, and ſays, that fpectres in general make off,
upon hearing the found of brafs or iron. Theo-
critus " introduces a fhepherd faying, that he dare
not play upon his flute at noon, for fear of pro-
voking the god Pan, who takes his nap at that
time, and is very angry at being difturbed by
finging.
The heathens, being uncertain whether the fouls
of their anceſtors were in a ftate of happineſs or
mifery, whether they were good or evil fpirits,
gave them the name of manes, and added to it
that of God ; Cum verò incertum eft que cuique
fortitio advenerit, utrum larfit an larva, nomine ma-
nem Deum nuncupant ; fcilicet & bonoris gratia Dei
vocabulum additum eft.
XXXVI .
Of fpirits which defire prayers.
HERE are fpirits, whofe errands feem to

T tend to fome good, fuch as thoſe who defire
to have maffes faid for them, or come to promote
any other good work .
Peter, furnamed the Venerable, abbot of Cluni ,
m Lucian in Philopfeud. • Apuleius de Deo Socrat.

P. 833 . Biblioth. Cluniac. p.1283,
Theocr. Idill. i. Initio. & feq. c. xxiii, xxiv, xxv, &c.
Vide Scholiaften.
tells
80. A DISSERTATION
tells a story of a good prieft, named Stephen, who

having heard the confeffion of a nobleman, named
Guido, who had been mortally wounded in a bat-
tle, the nobleman appeared to him fome time after
his deceaſe, in compleat armour, and defired him.
to bid his brother Anfelm reftore an ox, which he
[Guido] had taken from a peafant ; and to make
amends for the damage done to a certain village,
upon which he had laid a tax, though he had no
right to do fo, as it did not belong to his jurif
diction. Theſe two fins he had forgot, he faid,.
to reveal in his laft confeffion ; and was grievously
tormented for it ; and as a proof, added he, of
1 the truth of what I tell you, when you get home,
you will find your houfe robbed, and the money
gone, which you had laid by for a pilgrimage to
St. Jago. The prieft, upon his return home,
found his cheft broke open, and the money ftolen
but he could not execute his commiffion, becaufe
Anfelm, the nobleman's brother, was abfent.
A few days after, Guido appeared to him again,
and reproached him with his neglect of perform-
ing his requeft. The prieft made fome excufe,
and foon after went to Anfelm, who received him
very roughly, and told him, that he was not
obliged to do penance for his brother's fins.
But all was not yet over. The ghoft appeared
a third time to the prieft, and expreffed great dif-
fatisfaction at his brother's want of compaffion for
him ; but defired Stephen himself to aflift him in
this extremity. The good prieft did fo, and re-
ftored the value of the ox ; but being unable to
make fatisfaction for the reft, all he could do was
to fay prayers, and give alms in his behalf. And
this, with a recommendation to the prayers of
other pious people, fucceeded, for Guido appeared
no more,
XXXVII. Of
ON APPARITIONS, &
XXXVII.
Of a spirit heard at Epinal.
ICHERIUS, a monk of our monaftery of

R Senones 4 , writes, that in his time, about the
year 1210, there happened at the houfe of Hugh
de la Cour, a citizen of Epinal, about eight or ten
leagues from hence, a most extraordinary thing.
From Chriſtmas to Midfummer, a fpirit continued
in the houſe, doing many things, which were ſeen
by every one, though the fpirit that did them was
invifible. He was heard plainly by every body,
though he fpoke with a hoarfe, thick voice. He
faid, that he was the ghoft of a young man of
Clefentine, a village about feven leagues from
Epinal, and that, in his life-time, he had quitted
his wife, on account of her too great intimacy
with her parifh-prieft.
It happened one day, that Hugh having or
dered his fervant to faddle and feed his horfe, that
he might go into the country ; the fervant delayed
doing it, being employed about fomething effe.
In the mean time, the fpirit did it for him, to the
great furpriſe of every one .
When the mafter of the family was gone, the
fpirit defired Stephen, the fon-in- law of Hugh,
to give him a denier, that he might make an of
fering of it to St. Goeric, the tutelar faint of Epi-
nal. Upon this, Stephen offered him an old de
nier of Provins, and laid it upon the threshold of
the door , but the fpirit refufed to take it, and in-
fifted upon having a good denier of Toul . At
Richerius, 1. iv. c. 39. cilegium, with Richerius's

This ftory is not printed in remarks. But it is extant in
the third volume of the Spi- our original manufcript.
G laft
1
TI ON
82 Ά DISSERTA
laft the man complied, and laying the piece upon

the threshold, it immediately diſappeared ; and
the night following there was heard a great noife
in St. Goeric's church, like that of a man walking
to and fro.
Another time, Hugh having bought fome fish
for the family dinner, the ſpirit ſeized it, and car-
ried it into the garden behind the houſe, where he
laid part of it upon a little bench, and pounded
the reft in a mortar ; and upon their fearching after
the fiſh, he told them plainly what he had done
with it. Another time, Hugh having a mind to
be let blood, bid his daughter get ſome bandages ;
when immediately the fpirit went and fetched a
new fhirt out of another room, and tore it in
feveral pieces, which he prefented to the maſter of
the houſe, bidding him chuſe the beſt .
Another day, the maid-fervant having hung out
feveral pieces of women's linnen in the garden to
dry, the ſpirit carried them all into an upper room,
and folded them up as neatly as the beſt laundreſs
could have done. But what is very remarkable,
is, that during the whole fix months that the fpirit
was heard in this houſe, he did no one any mif-
chief.
XXXVIII .
Story of a fpirit at Verona.
I
N the year 1325, a man, named Guy de
Tornes, died at Verona ; and about eight days
after, he was heard diftinctly ſpeaking to his wife,
both by her and feveral of the neighbours, with-
* Herman Corner. Chronic. Lypf. 1723. Ex Chronic.

p. 1006, t. ii. Scriptor. Me- Lombard.
dii Evi à Georg. Eccard.
out
ON APPARITIONS , 津
& c. * 83
out being feen. The wife laid the affair before the
prior of the Dominicans, and the profeffor of divi-
nity, who refolving to examine into the truth of the
fact, defired the mayor of the city to furniſh them
with two hundred men armed, whom they placed,
by four and four, in every corner of the houfe,
and carried with them, in a box, the body of our
Saviour. They begun with faying mattins, and
repeating the feven penitential pfalms : after which,
> the dead man begun to ſpeak as ufual, and made
very pertinent anſwers to feveral queſtions in divi-
nity, which the prior put to him, and confeffed ,
that he was in purgatory, on account of certain fins
which he had committed , and for which he had
not done penance, but that he ſhould be releaſed
four years fooner, on account of the maffes which
had been faid for him by a poor priest, who was
his relation.
S -Being aſked, how he contrived to fpeak, with-
out having the neceffary organs ; he anſwered, that
t
every departed ſpirit had a power of forming, ou
of the air, organs of fpeech ; and added, that the fire
of hell acts not upon the foul by its own natural
power, but by the act of God, who makes ufe of
fire as his inftrument.
The prior of the Dominicans came again to the
houfe on Twelfth- day-eve, and put feveral more
queſtions to the fpirit, who answered them all ;
and then left off fpeaking, and departed like a
gentle breath of air, paffing through the midſt of
the company that was met together.
G 2 XXXIX . Story
84 A DISSER
TATION
...
XXXIX .
Story of aspirit at Lagny upon the Maine.
HE chronicle of Metz relates, that in the

T year 1330, at Ligny (or rather Lagny) upon
the Maine, about fix leagues from Paris, there
died a good lady of that town, : whofe ghoft came
again feveral times, and converfed, in the prefence
of more than twenty- eight perfons, with her father,
her fifter, her daughter, her fon-in-law, and her
other friends, earneftly requesting their prayers in
her behalf, and above all, that mafles might be
faid upon her private account ; for that males faid
exprefly for particular fouls, delivered thoſe fouls
out of purgatory. She likewife revealed feveral
fecrets, which were known to God only but con-
fined her diſcoveries entirely to good deeds, and
faid nothing of any evil that had been done. Some
fufpicions arifing of her being an evil fpirit, a
Francifcan, who was prefent, repeated to her fome
密
of the Gofpel of St. John, In the beginning, &c.
and then they ſaid to her the Lord's Prayer, the
Belief, and the Confeffion. As a farther teft, fhe
was afked by a prieft, if he fhould go and fetch
the holy facrament : to which the anfwered, that
it was there already, for her father, and feveral
others of the company, had received it on Chrift-
mas-day, which was the Tuesday before. She fur-
ther informed them, that laft All- fouls day, there
had been releaſed out of purgatory, by means of
prayers and maffes, no lefs than fix thoufand and
feventy- five fouls ; and added, that he was at-
tended by two angels, a good and a bad one ; and
that the good angel revealed to her all theſe par-
ticulars.
XL. Ap-
XL.
Apparitions of deceafed perfons, and of devils.
ATHER Taillepied, a Cordelier, and profef-

F for of divinity at Rouen, author of a treatife
upon the fubject of apparitions, afferts ', that about
ten years before his book was printed (which was
at Rouen in 1600) in the convent of the Cordeli→
ers de l'Obfervance at Nice in Provence, a friar of
his acquaintance, named Gabriel, appeared to fe
veral perfons in the convent, and ſpoke with a
hoarfe broken voice, as if it came from the bottom
•
of a pot. He defired that care might be taken
to fatisfy a tradefman of Marſeilles, of whom he
had bought a fuit of clothes, which was not yet
paid for. Upon their afking what he meant by
making fo much noife, he anſwered, that it was
not he, but an evil fpirit that wanted to appear in
his room, and would fain have hindered him from
difcovering the caufe of his uneafinefs.
XLI.
Melanthon's evidence concerning the apparition of a

Spirit.
HILIP Melanthon , whofe teftimony in mat

PHIL ters of this nature, ought not to be fufpected,
relates, that his own aunt, whofe hufband died
when ſhe was big with child, and near her delivery,
faw, as fhe was fitting one evening by her fire,
two perfons come into the houſe, one of which
Faillepied, Traité de t Philip. Melan&t . de Exam.

l'Apparit. des Elprits, c. xv. Theolog. t . i. Oper. fol. 326,
p. 173.. 327.
G 3 was
86 A DISSERTATION
was like her deceaſed huſband , and the other look-

ed like a great overgrown Franciſcan friar. At
firft fhe was greatly frightened, but her huſband
bade her compofe herſelf, for he had fomething
of confequence to communicate to her ; and
then defired the Francifcan to ftep for a moment
into the next room , till he ſhould have diſcovered
his intentions to his wife. When his companion
was gone, he defired her to get maffes to be faid
for his foul, and preffed her earnestly to give him
her hand, without fear. Upon her fcrupling to do
it, he affured her, that the fhould feel no harm.
At laft fhe put her hand into his, and drew it back
again, without feeling any pain, but it was fo
fcorched, that it continued black all the rest of
her life. After this, the hufband called in the
great Francifcan, and they difappeared . Melanc-
thon gives it as his opinion, that they were two
fpectres ; and adds, that many fuch inftances are
related by perfons of undoubted credit.
The fame author tells a ſtory of a monk's com-
ing one day, and knocking loudly at Luther's door,
defiring to ſpeak with him. Being admitted, I
want, fays he, to have a conference with you about
fome popiſh errors. Luther then bid him open his
mind; and the monk having propofed , at firft,
fome fyllogifms, which Luther eafily anfwered, he
proceeded to more difficult arguments ; when Lu-
ther, being a little difcompofed, anfwered peevishly,
you are troublefome ; I have fomething elſe to
mind at prefent. However, he anſwered theſe ar-
guments alfo ; but obferving that the hands of the
pretended monk were like a bird's claws, Luther
faid to him , Art not thou he of whom it is faid
in Genefis, The feed of the woman fall bruife the
ferpent's head; adding, but thou shalt not fwallow up
all. At thefe words the devil was confounded,
and retired, grumbling, with a great noife, leaving
the
the room full of a noiſome ſmell that lafted feve- .
'ral days.
XLII.
Story of the mark of a band made upon a handkerchief

by a foulfrom purgatory.
AVING been informed, that at Toul there

HAV was a perfon, named M. Cafmet, who had
in his poffeffion a handkerchief, on which there
was the mark of a hand made by a ſpirit, as a
proof of his fuffering in the flames of purgatory ;
I writ to a gentleman at Toul, to fend me an ac-
count of it, and I received the following anfwer,
dated the 18th of January, 1745.
I have been with M. Cafmet, one of the bailiffs
of our city of Toul, in order to enquire carefully
into the ſtory of the fpirit, which you defire me to
write you an account of. I have the honour to
inform you, that there are no witneffes of the fact
now alive ; but M , Cafmet affures me, that he had
the ftory from his uncle, M. George, who was
minifter of the parish of Fontenoy, about a league
from this city. The fact, as I have it from him,
is as follows.
Madame de Fontenoy kept in her houſe a nurſe,
by whoſe careleffneſs a child was ftifled in its cra-
dle ; and the nurſe was fo concerned at the acci-
dent, that he died foon after. A few days after
her death, the houſekeeper, named Mademoiſelle
Petit, complained that he was difturbed by ſome-
thing, which followed her wherever ſhe went.
Imagining it to be a fpirit, the at laſt aſked who
he was, and what he would have. The fpirit an-
fwered, that the need not be frightened, that he
was come again by the command of God, and
fhould not quit her, till the time of his penance
G4
was
889 A DISSERTATIONиo
was expired : and at laſt they grew fo wells ace

quainted, as to converfe together for the space of:
two years. One day, the houſekeeper having afk
ed him fome questions concerning his condition in
the other world, the fpirit anſwered, that he was
in purgatory: but, fays the, do you fuffer any
torment at prefent ? Yes, anfwered the fpirit, I
am now all on fire ; and pulling up his garment,
he fhewed her the flame that fcorched him. I am,
added the fpirit, all over in the fame condition
and to give you a proof of it, lend me a hand-
kerchief. A handkerchief being given him , im-
mediately there was the fhape of a hand marked:
upon it, just as if it had been done with a red- hot
iron, the five fingers and the palm being plainly
viſible.
This handkerchief was in the poffeffion of Mas
dame de Fontenoy till her death ; when Cafmet's
uncle, who was minifter of the parish , defired in
might be given him. After his uncle's death ,
Cafmet got it, and it is now in his cuftody ; but I
could not get a fight of it, becauſe, he fays, he
has miflaid it ; but he has promiſed to look for
it, and fend it me. This is all, moft reverend fa- ,
ther, that I have been able to gather of the ſtory.
If thoſe who told it me had been witneffes of it
themſelves, I would have got a written atteſtation
of it. If the handkerchief can be found , it will
be an eafy matter to give you a fight of it ; but I
have fince learned, that the whole affair is a fable,
and that the impreffion of the hand upon the hand-
kerchief was made by a fmith's apprentice, with a
hot iron, in the form of a hand, in order to carry
on an intrigue with the houſekeeper with lefs in
terruption. I do not doubt but that most of the
ftories of apparitions and fpirits would, in like
manner, turn out to be mere knaveries, if they
were enquired into, and fifted to the bottom .
The
ON APPARITIONS, & c. 89€
The following ſtory, though taken from a fabu

lous work of M. Gatien des Courtilz, fhews, how-
ever, what judgment we ought generally to make
of thefe pretended apparitions. He tells us, in
his Memoirs of the Count de Vordac, that this
officer, in company with feveral other gentlemen,
came to Placentia, and went to lodge at an inn,™
the keeper of which had juſt loſt his mother, who
died the night before. There was in the houfe a
monkey, which uſed often to divert the deceaſed.
In the evening, the mafter of the houſe having
fent one of the fervants up into the chamber where
his mother died, in order to fetch fome linnen ;
the fervant came running down, out of breath,
crying out, that he had feen his miftrefs, that fhe
was come again, and was now lying in the +bed.
Another of the fervants, who fancied he had more
courage, went up, and returned in the fame man-
ner, afferting pofitively that the was in the bed.
The mafter of the houfe then refolved to go up.
alone, but was perfuaded to take with him a maid,
with a light.
light. Immediately after, he came down
in a violent hurry, and cried out, in Italian , to the
gentlemen, who were at fupper ; Yes, gentlemen,
it is too trueMy poor mother-there fhe is
I faw her myſelf- but I had not courage to fpeak
to her. For God's fake, go up, and be witneffes
of the truth of what I fay.
Vordac obferving that no one offered to ftir,
took a candle, and addreffing himſelf to a Domi-
nican friar, who was one of the company, Come,
father, fays he, let you and I go together. With
all my heart, anfwered the friar, provided you
will go foremoft ; and accordingly they went up,
with each a candle in his hand. And now the
reft of the company, and even the mafter of the
houſe and the fervants, would go up too. When
they were got to the room , and " had drawn afide
the
90 A DISSERTATION
the bed-curtains, Vordac difcovered the figure of

an elderly black woman, much wrinkled, with a
cap on her head, looking boldly at them , and
making ridiculous grimaces, as if he meant to
laugh at them, and frighten them. Upon this ,
they bade the innkeeper come forward, and fee
whether it was his mother. Ah ! anfwered he, it
is fhe-my poor, dear mother ! The fervants
too all afferted that it was their miſtreſs.
Vordac then defired the Dominican, as he was
a prieft, to fpeak to her, and aſk her buſineſs.
The friar begun with, Who are you ? What would
you have ? and at the fame time befprinkled the
Spectre with holy water ; but his hand trembling
for fear, he was uncommonly liberal in the quan-
tity. The monkey at this quitted the bed, and
leaped upon the friar's head, who began to make
off, and cry out with all his might ; the monkey
in the mean time biting and fcratching his pate.
The prieſt took to the door, and the rest of the
company followed his example ; but Vordac, who
was laft, faw plainly that it was nothing but a
monkey in a woman's head-drefs . The prieſt be-
ftirred himself fo effectually, that at laſt he ſhook
off the monkey, and the animal, in falling, drop-
ped its head-drefs , and was immediately known by
all the family. Thus the whole fcene terminated
in a laugh ; and it was found out, that the monkey;
having often feen his miſtreſs drefs her head, had
taken a fancy to imitate her, and then had lain
down in the bed where fhe died .
Alexander ab Alexandro ", a famous lawyer, tells
a ftory of a perfon that appeared after death to a
friend of his, a grave, ferious, and fenfible man.
This friend of Alexander's accompanied a fick ac-
quaintance to Crema in Italy, for the benefit of the
Alexand, ab Alexand . Genial. Dier. t. ii. c. 9.

bath :
ON APPARITIONS , & c. 91
bath and they came to an inn upon the road,

where the fick man died : the other, having pro-
cured him as decent a funeral as the circumſtances
would allow, turned homeward, and took up his
lodgings that night in a little inn. In the night,
his deceaſed friend appeared to him, and having
feemingly undreft himſelf, was coming into the
bed. · The other retreated as far as he could , and
at laſt puſhed back with his foot the ſpectre, which
was ftill coming nearer, but felt fuch extreme cold-
nefs in the body of the deceaſed , as he had never
experienced before. The fpectre, being thus re-
pulſed, at laſt retired ; but the man was fo ftruck
with the appearance, that he fell fiek, and was in
a great deal of danger. There are feveral fuch
ftories of apparitions, and fore-tokens of the death
of relations, to be met with in Marcilius Ficinus,
1. i. Epiftol. p. 601.
I myſelf have been affured by a fenfible, learned
prieft, who was not in the leaft given to fancies,
that as he was lying down one day, perfectly awake,
in a room next to that where one of his brethren
had died a few days before, he heard, as it were,
at a diſtance the voice of the deceaſed , telling him
that there was money hid in the ftraw-bed . The
bed was immediately fearched, but nothing found.
But two or three days after, the money was found
in a purſe upon the dunghill, where the ftraw- bed
of the deceafed had been fhook out. This departed
foul was probably uneafy at his having forgot to
mention the place where he had laid this money,
which he had received by virtue of the office that
he held in the monaftery.
XLIII. Reafons
A DISSERTATION
92
XLIII.
Reafons for being upon our guard against ghosts who

defire our prayers.
Frequent errand of ghofts is to defire

A prayers, maffes, pilgrimages, reftitution of
wrongs, or payment of debts. The confequence
of this would naturally be, that theſe ghoſts muſt
be in purgatory, and that they want the affiftance
of the living for the alleviation of their fufferings,
or for their arriving fooner at a ſtate of happineſs.
But people ought to be upon their guard againſt
thefe ghofts, and their petitions . St. Paul gives us
warning , that Satan is often transformed into an
angel of light and it is elfewhere intimated, that
it is not given to every one to know the depths of
Satanb
This malicious and lying fpirit is often found
among the prophets and children of God ; he in-
trudes himfelf into the most holy myfteries, per-
verts the most facred ceremonies, and makes ufe
even of the facraments, the words of Scripture,
and the prayers of the church, to feduce and de-
ceive, and infinuate himſelf into the confidence of
the fimple, that he may thereby fhare in the ho-
nour due to the Almighty, and, if he can, appro-
priate it all to himſelf.Many a cure has he wrought,
many a holy action has he advised, many a laud-
able enterprize has he fet on foot, in order to al-
lure the faithful into his fnares.
Bodinus, in his Demonomania , mentions more
than one inftance of devils, who have appeared,
and defired the prayers of pious Chriftians, and
a 2 Cor. xi. 14. e Bodin. Demonom. 1. iii.

Revelations ii, 24- c . 6. fol . 157.
have
have even been ſeen in a praying poſture over a

grave, in order to infinuate thereby, that the per-
fon buried there ftands in need of prayers. Nay,
it is not an uncommon thing for the foul of fome
wicked wretch, or the devil in the ſhape of fuch
a one, to come and defire maffes, in order to have
it thought, that he is in purgatory, and by this
means, to poffefs others with a groundlefs and even
dangerous hope of being faved, notwithstanding
their wicked lives, and impenitent deaths.
Is it not alfo a notorious fact, that wizards and
magicians have frequently caft out devils ; and that
Satan has thought proper to obey his own tools,
in order to raife their credit, and have it thought
that they act by the power of God ? We are af-
fured, that Apollonius of Tyana, and Simon Ma-
gus, frequently practifed this artifice and the
damned, at the day of judgment, will fay to our
Saviour, Lord, have we not in thy name caft out de-
wils ? and in thy name done many wonderful works ?
The Jews were fo fully perfuaded that the devil
has a power of cafting out devils, by a malicious
and dangerous collufion, that they accused our
Saviour of cafting out devils by Beelzebub, the
prince of the devils , and our Saviour makes no
other defence , than by alledging the improbability
of Beelzebub's deftroying his own kingdom ; which
would evidently have been the, cafe, if he had caft
-out devils in confirmation of the truth of the Gof-
pel, which tended to extirpate all idolatry, fuper
tition, and corruption of manners.
With regard, therefore, to the cafe before us,
whenever the devil comes to defire maffes or pray-
ers, it is not with a defign of promoting true and
fubftantial devotion among Chriftians, or of fue
couring fuch departed fouls as want the interceffion
d Matth. vii. 22, 23. Matth. xii. 24.

of
A DISSERTATION
94
of the living, and are in a condition of being bene-
fited by their good offices. Theſe pious ends are
far from his intentions. His view is to feduce the
fimple, gain their confidence, perfuade them that
impenitent finners may be faved ; and by this
means encourage them to continue in a reprobate
ftate, and rely upon the prayers and good works
of others which can be of fervice to fuch only as
die in a ftate of grace, charity, and righteouſneſs,
but are not wholly purified from all venial ſtains.
For no defiled thingshall in any wife enter into the
kingdom of beaven
XLIV .
·
The devil proved to be the author of most of thoſe fu
pernatural events, which do not tend togood.
ORPHYRY, who was a heathen, being con-

P fulted by Anebo, an Egyptian prieft , whe-
ther perfons who foretel future events, and work
miracles, do it by any extraordinary qualities of
their own fouls, or by the affiftance of other ſpi-
rits, gives it as his opinion , that they do it by
means of certain evil fpirits, who are naturally fond
of miſchief, and affume all forts of fhapes, and
are for ever meddling in every thing that happens,
whether good or evil ; but, in fact, they never
incline men to do any thing that is really and effen-
⚫tially good.
St. Auſtin, who quotes this paffage of Por-
phyry, lays great ftrefs upon his evidence ; and.
adds, that all fupernatural effects, produced by
particular modulations of voice, or by means of
figures and phantoms, are the work of the devil,
Revelat. xxi. 27.

Auguft. de Civit. Dei, I. x. c. 1, 12.
who
who takes advantage of the errors and blindneſs of
men; and that every miraculous work, which does
not tend to promote the worfhip of the true God,
ought to be confidered as a diabolical illufion. The
other fathers of the church, particularly Minutius
Felix, St. Cyprian, and Arnobius, agree with St.
Auguftin, in attributing every fupernatural event
of this fort, to the operation of evil ſpirits ",
XLV .
OfSpirits in the bollows of mountains, and bottoms of

mines.
N the bottom of the deepeſt mines , it is a

IN common thing for fpirits to appear in the habit
of miners, running up and down very officiouſly,
as if they were bufy at work ; digging for the ore,
laying it in heaps, drawing it out of the mine,
turning the crane- wheel, and , in fhort, ſeeming to
be deeply employed in affiftingthe workmen, with
out doing any thing all the while. Thefe fpirits
are never miſchievous, except when they are in-
fulted or made game of, and then they generally
revenge themſelves by throwing fomething at the
offender. It happened once, that one of theſe
genii, being infulted by a miner, who had bid him
go to the gallows, twifted the man's neck in fuch
a manner, that his face came between his ſhoulders.
The miner, however, did not die of it, but con-
tinued all his life in that condition. 1
Georgius Agricola , author of a very learned
treatiſe upon metals, and the art of mining, dif-
A Minut. Felix in Octavio. ter. lib. de Phantafm..

Cyprian. de Idolat. Arnob, ii . * Georg. Agricol . de Ani-
6. mantib. fubterr . p. 501.
Taillepied, p. 136. Lava-
tinguiſhes
TI ON
96 A DISSERTA .
tinguiſhes the fpirits which appear in mines into two

or three forts. Some of them, he fays, are deformed
and little, like dwarfs ; others appear like old men,
bent with age, and in the habit of miners, with
their fhirts tucked up, and a piece of leather tied
round their waifts. There are others who mimick
the actions of men, are always in good humour,
and never do any mifchief, but all their feeming
labour produces no real effect.
There are alfo mines which are infefted with mif-
chievous fpirits, that hurt and drive away the
workmen, and fometimes kill them, fo that
they are forced to give over working fome very
rich mines. This was the cafe of a mine at Anne-
berg, called the Crown of Rofes , where a fpirit, în
the ſhape of an unruly fnorting horfe, killed twelve
miners at once, and forced the undertakers to quit
the mine, though it turned out very profitably.
At another mine in Sihuberg, called St. Gregory's
mine, there appeared a fpirit, with a black hood
over its head, which feized a miner, and carried
him up to a confiderable height above the ground,
and then letting him fall, wounded him in a very
dangerous manner.
Olaus Magmis fays, that there are fix forts of
devils ufually feen in mines, particularly the most
profitable filver mines ; that thefe devils appear in
4 various fhapes, and employ themſelves in breaking
the rock, drawing up the buckets, and turning the
wheels ; that they fometimes burst out into peals
of laughter, and play a thoufand apifh tricks ;
but the defign of it all is to entrap the poor mi-
ners, and crush them under the rocks, or entice
them into fome frightful dangers, that they may
be tempted to curfe and fwear, and ſpeak blaf-
Olaus Magnus, 1. vi . c. 9.
phemy .
phemy. Sometimes thefe tricks have been carried to

fuch a heighth, that many a rich mine has been de-
ferted for fear of miſchief.
XLVI.
A folution of the question ; Whether the devil has the

keeping of bidden treaſure ?.
NDER the head of apparitions may be re-

UND E
duced the ſubject of hid treaſure, which is
commonly imagined to be under the keeping of
the devil. It cannot furely be denied ", that the
devil has knowledge of treafure concealed under
ground, and of riches loft by fhipwrecks ; and
that he may, by God's permiffion, communicate
this knowledge to men. But this is a thing that
feldom happens ; and experience fhews us, that
witches, wizards, and , in fhort, all dealers with
the devil in money- matters, are generally the poor-
eſt and moſt wretched of Mankind . M. Remi,
in his Demonolatria , mentions feveral perfons whom
he had juridically examined, as lieutenant- general
of Lorraine, at a time when this country fwarmed:
with wizards and witches " ; and he obſerved , that
all thofe who fancied they had received money,
from the devil, found nothing in their purfes but
pieces of broken pots, lumps of coal, leaves of
trees, or fome other trumpery, of no value.
The reverend father Abram, a jefuit, in his hif-
tory of the univerfity of Pont-à-Mouffon, which
is yet in manufcript, relates a ftory of a young
man of good family, but in indifferent circum-
ftances, who went into the army, and ſerved among
Delrio , Difquifit . Magic. Remi, Demonolatr. c. iv.

1. ii. Qu. 12. P. 100, 111, ann. 1506.
112.
H the
A DISSERTATION HO
98
the common fervants and futtlers. His parents
hearing it, took him thence, and fent him to
fchool ; but not liking the confinement which his
ftudies required, he left the ſchool, with a refolu-
tion to return to his old way of life. On the road
he fell in with a man dreffed in filk, but black,
and hideously ugly, who afked him where he was
going, and why he was fo melancholy. It is in
my power, added the ſtranger, to make you eaſy,
if you will give yourſelf to me.
The young man, imagining that he meant to
hire him as a fervant, defired time to confider of
it ; but beginning to have fome fufpicion of his
fine promifes, he looked at him more attentively,
and obferving that his left foot was cloven like an
oxe's hoof, he was exceedingly frightened, and,
crofling himself, called upon the name of Jefus ;
at which the fpectre immediately difappeared.
Three days after, the fame figure appeared to
him again, and afked him if he was come to any
refolution. The young man answered, that he did
not want a mafter. The ſpectre then afked him
where he was going . I am going, fays he, to
fuch a city, mentioning its name. Upon this, the
devil threw down before him a purfe, which chink-
ed as it fell, and contained thirty or forty Flemish
crowns, among which there were twelve which
looked like gold, and feemed freſh, as if they were
juft come from the mint. In the purfe there was
allo a powder, which the fpectre told him was of
a very fubtile nature .
The devil then proceeded to give him fome
abominable lectures how he should gratify his paf-
fions, and adviſed him, above all things, to leave
off ufing holy water, and worshipping the Hoft,
which he called, by way of derifion, a little cake.
The lad being fhocked at fuch diſcourſe, croffed
himſelf over his heart ; when immediately he was
thrown
ON APPARITIONS, &C. € 99
thrown to the ground with fuch violence, that he

lay there half-dead for near an hour ; and as foon
as he was able to get up, he went home to his mo
ther , grew penitent, and mended his manners.
The pieces which feemed to be gold, and newly
coined, were found, upon trial, to be nothing but
brafs.
My defign in mentioning this ftory is to fhew,
that the devil's fole view is to cheat, and corrupt
the morals of thoſe whom he flatters with fair pro-
mifes. Nor is he more to be truſted , even when
he carries his kindnefs fó far, as to pretend to give
them money.
It is not many years fince I was confulted, by
two learned and fenfible priefts, about a thing
which happened at Orbé, a village of Alface, near
the abbey of Paris. Two men of this place af-
ferted, that they had feen, in their garden, a coffer
come out of the ground, which they imagined to
be full of money ; but upon their attempting to
lay hold of it, it drew back, and hid itſelf in the
ground afreſh ; and that this had happened oftener
than once.
•
Theophanes the annalift, a writer of credit and
gravity under the year of Chrift 408 , relates, that
Cabades, king of Perfia, having got intelligence
that there was a caftle fituated between Perfia and
India, in which there was kept vast quantities of
gold, filver, and jewels, refolved to make himſelf
mafter of the place. But the thing was not fo
eafily accomplished ; for thefe treaſures were under
the protection of certain devils, who would fuffer
no one to come near them.
To get over this obftacle, the king called for
the affiftance of all the Magi and Jews that were
about the court, who employed their ſpells and ex-
Theophanes, Chronograph, An. 408.

H 2 orcifms
100 A DISSERTATION
orcifms to no purpofe ; for the devils obftinately

kept poffeffion of their fortrefs. At laft the king
thought of the Chriftians, and fent for the metro-
politan bishop of the church of Perfia, defiring
him to exert himſelf to recover the treaſure, and
diflodge the devils. The prelate having celebrated
the facrafice of the mafs, and communicated , went
to the place, and quickly put the devils to flight,
and the king took quiet poffeffion of the castle. "
1:
XLVII . THE A
Inftances which feem to prove that the devil has the

keeping of bid treaſures.
SI was lately telling this laft ftory to a perfon

A of diftinction P, he informed me, that in the
ifland of Malta there were two knights, who hav-
ing hired a flave, that pretended to underſtand the
art of raifing the devil, and forcing him to difco-
ver fecrets, carried him to an old caftle, where it
was thought that a great deal of treaſure was hid.
The flave performed his11ceremonies, and after fome
time, the devil burft open a rock, and a coffer
came out of the opening. Upon the flave's at-
tempting to feize it, it fell back into the rock again.
This was repeated more than once ; and the flave,
finding his efforts vain, came and told the two
knights what had happened ; adding, that he was
fo weakened by the fatigue he had undergone, that
he wanted a dram to recruit his fpirits. When he
had drank, he returned to the charge once more,
and foon after a great noife was heard : upon which
the two knights went down into the cavern with a
light, and found the flave ftone -dead, with his
body mangled all over, as if he had been cut with
M. L'Abbé Guiot, governor of the pages at Luneville.

penknives.
ON APPARITIONS , & c. IOI
penknives. The wounds were all in the form of

a croſs, and his body fo full, that they could not
put a finger between them. The knights imme-
diately carried him to the fea- fide, and threw him
in, with a ſtone tied to his neck. If there were
any neceffity for it, the names of the perfons, and
the time when the thing happened , could easily be
mentioned .
The fame gentleman told me another ftory, upon
the fame occafion, of a thing that happened about
fourfcore years ago, to an old woman at Malta .
She was informed, it feems, by a genius, that there
was in her cellar a treaſure of confiderable value ,
belonging to one of the knights, a man of great
quality ; and he was ordered to let him know it.
The woman went as fhe was commanded, but
could not get audience of the knight. The night
following the fame genius appeared to her again ,
and repeated his commands ; and upon her fcru-
pling to obey, treated her fo roughly, that ſhe was
forced to go. She then told the fervants, that fhe
would not leave the houſe till fhe had feen their
mafter ; and being admitted, the related to him
what had happened. The knight, upon hearing
the ſtory, refolved to go to the woman's houfe,
and took with him feveral people, furnished with
proper tools for digging. After they had worked .
fome time, there flowed in upon them fuch a great
quantity of water, that they were forced to give
over the attempt.
The knight made a confeffion to the inquifitor of
what he had done, and received abfolution ; but
was obliged to record the ftory with his own hand
in the regiſter of the inquifition.
H3 XLVIII. More
102 A DISSERTATION
XLVIII.
More inftances of treaſure difcovered by devils, or de

parted fouls.
BOUT fixty years after this, the canons of

A the cathedral of Malta , having a mind to
enlarge the fquare before their church , made a pur-
chaſe of ſeveral houſes , in order to pull them down,
and, amongſt others, of the houſe which belonged
to this old woman. Upon digging, they found
the treaſure above -mentioned , which confifted of
a great number of gold pieces, each about the va-
lue of a ducat, ftamped with the head of the em
peror Juftin the firſt. The grand maſter of Malta
laid claim to the treaſure, as fovereign of the iſland,
and the canons contefted his right. The affair be-
ing carried to Rome, the grand mafter gained his
fuit; and the money was delivered to him, to the
amount of fixty thouſand ducats ; but he gene-
rouſly gave it up to the cathedral.
Some time after this, the knight above-mention-
ed, who was now grown very old, recollected what
had happened fixty years before, and infifted upon
it that the treaſure belonged to him . Being car-
ried to the place, he knew the cellar again, and
appealed to the register of the inquifition, where
the former tranfaction was recorded, as a proof of
his right. But the devil's evidence was not thought
fufficient to afcertain the legality of the claim.
It was looked upon , however, as a proof that the
devil knew of this treafure, and had the keeping
of it. The gentleman , who gave me this account,
has now in his poffeffion three or four of the pieces,
which he bought of the canons of Malta.
1
In
In a book lately publiſhed , there is a ſtory of

a man, named Honoré Mirabel, who found, in.
a garden near Marfeilles, a great quantity of Por-
tugal money, by the direction of a ſpirit, which
appeared to him one night at eleven o'clock, near
a farm-houſe, called the Paret. The farmer's wife,
and a fervant, named Bernard , were preſent at the
finding of the money ; and it ſeems , that when
Mirabel firft difcovered it, wrapped up in a dirty
piece of linnen, he would not venture to touch it,
tearing it was poifoned, and might kill him . He
therefore took it up at the end of a crook, which
he cut from an almond-tree, and carried it home,
where he privately opened the packet, found it full
of gold, and, out of gratitude to the fpirit, or-
dered a few maffes to be faid in his behalf. Soon
after, he told his good fortune to one Auquier, a
man in that neighbourhood, to whom he lent förty
livres, and impofed upon him a note of hand , da-
ted the 27th of September, 1726, by which Au-
" quier was made to acknowledge himſelf indebted
to Mirabel in the fum of twenty thousand livres,
inftead of forty.
It was not long before Mirabel called upon Au-
quier to pay the note ; and Auquier denied the
whole affair. This brought on a law-fuit, and on
the 10th of September, 1727, fentence was given ,
that Auquier fhould be fent to prifon, and put to
the queftion. The man appealed to the parliament.
of Aix, where the note was decreed to be a for-
gery. It happened that Bernard, who was faid to
be prefent at the finding of the treaſure, was not
fummoned ; and the other witneffes could give no
evidence, but upon hear-fay. Only Magdalen
Caillot; the farmer's wife, who was prefent, de-
pofed, that the faw fomething wrapped up in a
• Cauſes Celebres, t . xi . p. 304, & feq.

H4 linnen
104 A DISSERTATION ROU
linnen cloth, and heard a chinking like gold or.

filver coin, and faw one piece of about the breadth
of a halfpeny.
The parliament of Aix, on the 17th of Febru-
ary, 1728, gave orders , that Bernard, fervant at
the Paret-farm , fhould be examined ; which was
done feveral times, and he depofed , that he had
feen neither treaſure, nor linnen, nor coin. An-
other order, of the 2d of June, 1728 , commiffions .
the attorney- general to apply for ecclefiaftical cen-
fures, upon the facts as stated in the proceedings.
A citation, upon this, was publiſhed, and fifty- three
witneffes examined ; and on the 18th of February,
1729, a final fentence was given, by which Aust
quier obtained judgment, and was diſcharged the
court. Mirabel was condemned to the gallies for
life, after having firſt fuffered the queftion, and
Caillot was fined ten livres.
If theſe ſtories, concerning the appearance of
fpectres, which have the cuftody of hidden wealth, S
were narrowly fifted, a great deal of fuperftition
and whimſey would certainly be found in moft of
them, as well as in this laft.
Delrio mentions feveral inftances of people,
who have loft their lives in a miſerable manner, by
fearching after hidden treaſure : and each of them
furnishes evident proofs of the lying, treacherous
tricks of the devil ; and fhews that his power is
confined, and his malice defeated by the will of
God. They afford alfo melancholy inftances of
the impiety, avarice, and idle curiofity of man,
and of his confidence in the prince of darkneſs,
justly punished with the lofs of fortune, life, and
even foul itfelf.
Delio, Difquif. Magic . 1. ii . p. 112. #
Johannes
Johannes Vierus , in his treatife concerning the
juggles of devils, printed at Bafil in the year 1577,
fays, that in his time, that is, about the year 1530,
the devil made a difcovery to a prieft of Nurem-
"
berg of a great quantity of treaſure, which was
* 2
hid in a cave near that city, in a chryftal vaſe.
The prieſt took with him a friend to bear him com-
pany ; and they dug in the place defcribed, where
they faw, in a vault, a fort of coffer, by which:
there lay a great black dog. The priest stepped
up brifkly to feize the treaſure ; but he was fcarce
got within the vault, when it fell in, and cruſhed
him to death ; and the vault was filled up with
earth as before.
.XLIX .
Of the Ignis Fatuus, or Will-with-a-wifp.
HERE who, in the of

Tfpirits,rank thofe meteors, or ignes fatui,
which are frequently feen in meadows, upon ri-
vers, and in church- yards ; as alfo the phantoms
which are ſeen in burying- grounds, downs, fields
of battle, and other places.
Diodorus Siculus obferves, that in Egypt, and
particularly that part of it which is next to Syria,
there are frequently feen in the air, efpecially when
it is calm and ftill, the fhapes of animals of dif-
ferent forts. Some of them feem to be quite at reft,
others in motion : they are fometimes known to
retire,but generally they purfue thofe that endeavour
to run away from them, furround them, and put
them in mortal fear. The inhabitants of the coun-
Johan. Vierus de Præ- Diodor. Sicul. 1. iii. p.

ftigiis Dæmon. , 1. ii . c. 4. 184, or 128.
P. 159.
try,
106 A DISSERTATION
try, who know the nature of thefe meteors, are

under no concern about them ; but ſtrangers are
frequently frightened, taking them for fpectres.
Diodorus gives a phyfical explication of this
phænomenon, and obferves, that in Libya the air
is generally ftill, and that the clouds, which are
formed by vapours and exhalations, being not dif-
fipated by wind, are very much condenfed, and
fo form a variety of figures, more according to
the fancy of the beholder, than with any real foun-
dation in fact. Upon the air's being put in mo-
tion, by a perfon's running away, or even by the
flowing of a river or brook, the exhalation follows
that motion ; and it is no wonder if the perſon,
whom it overtakes, is heartily frighted .
Pliny alſo obſerves, that in Africa it is common
to meet with human figures, which vaniſh, and are
diffipated in a moment : and probably he means to
defcribe the ſame thing with Diodorus.
King Charles the ninth of France, being once
X
a hunting in the foreft of Lyons in Normandy
there appeared a fiery fpectre, which frighted all
the king's attendants to fuch a degree, that they
rode off, and left him alone. The king, drawing
his fword, galloped up brifkly towards the fpectre,
which immediately diſappeared, and left the king
in fome degree of terror. But there is no doubt
of its being only an inflamed vapour, which was
diffipated by the agitation of the air.
The poet Lucretius delivers it as his opinion ,
that all the various fpecies of images, fpectres, and
phantoms, are nothing but the external coats of
objects, which are difperfed about in the air, juft
as the floughs of fnakes are ſhed in fummer, and
Plin. Hift. Natural. I. vii. c. 2.

- Daniel, Hift. de France, t. iii, 1072.
y Lucret. 1. iv.
fcattered
fcattered about by the wind. He thinks it needlefs
to prove the actual exiſtence of theſe ſhapes, or to
enquire into their origin, or the poffibility of their
exifting he takes it for granted, that thefe phan-
toms, fpectres, or fpirits, are feen, or, at leaſt,
that people fancy they fee them : which is a fuffi-
cient proof that the modern opinions, with regard
to theſe matters, have always prevailed in the
world, hou8 07 M
ས
L.
** Of obfeffions and poffeffions by evil spirits.
INDER the head of apparitions may be re-

UND E
duced the cafe of obfeffions by the devil,
which I diftinguifh from poffeffions, by defining the
latter to be an internal acting of the devil upon the
perſon whom he molefts, while in the former, his
influence and power are wholly external. We have
an inftance of poffeffion in the cafe of Saul , who is
faid to be troubled by an evil spirit ; and we may
fuppofe, that this fpirit contrived, from time to
time, to fet his melancholy humours a working, or
perhaps took advantage of the natural motion of
thefe humours, to act within him more efficaci-
oufly, and excite him to hatred and jealoufy
againſt David. An inftance of obfeffion is the cafe
of Sarah, the daughter of Raguel , who was at-
tended by an evil fpirit, that deftroyed her feven
firft hufbands.
There are many ftories (but, I think, not to be
depended upon) told of women, who have been
put to death by fatyrs and devils, out of love and
jealoufy, becauſe they could not gratify their incli-
3.
a i Sam. xvi. 14. b Tob. iii. 8.
nations
TION
S ERTA
108 A DIS
nations with them . The devil, it is certain, has

frequently appeared in the ſhape of a goat or fatyr :
and Jamblichus fpeaks of a ſpectre, in the form
of a he-goat, who was defperately in love with a
woman, named Simonis.
It is to be obſerved, that in the inftance quoted
by Philoftratus, the devil kills the women whom
he cannot debauch ; but in the cafe of Sarah, the
devil Afmodeus put only her huſbands to death,
and probably on account of their incontinence in
the enjoyment of the lawful pleaſures of the mar-
riage-bed .
In the life of St. Bernard , we read of a woman
of Nantes in Bretagne, who had, or fancied the
had, an intrigue with the devil, who vifited her
every night, even when he was in bed with her
hufband. This intercourfe of gallantry had now
continued for fix years, when the woman, begin-
ning to be tired of her amour, confeffed the whole
to a prieft, and fet herſelf about feveral acts of
piety, in order to obtain pardon of her fault, and
to get rid of fo odious a lover. Her husband,
finding that he had fuch a rival, took his leave of
her, and would cohabit with her no longer.
The devil, however, did not care to lofe his
miftrefs, and gave her notice, that St. Bernard
would foon be at Nantes, that fhe fhould take care
not to fpeak to him, for he could do her no man-
ner of fervice ; and that if the difobeyed this com
mand, the might depend upon having him for an
inveterate enemy, inſtead of an admirer.
Notwithstanding this, the affair was laid before
the faint, who bade the woman take courage, and
made her a prefent of his own ftaff, ordering her
Philoftat. Vit. Apollon. • Vit. S. Bernardi, Oper.

1. vi. c. 13. t. ii. c . 21 , p. 1260.
d Jamblic. in Babilonic.
2.101... to
to take that to bed with her, inftead of the devil;

and if he comes, added the holy man, be not
afraid of him , but let him do his worft. The de-
*
vilkept his ufual hour, but not daring to come
near the bed, he threatened heavily that he would
come and torment her, without mercy, as foon as
the faint was gone.
To baulk his defigns, the next Sunday St. Ber-
hard went to the cathedral, accompanied by the
bishops of Nantes and Chartres, and having fur-
nished every perfon in the congregation (which
was very numerous ) with a lighted taper, the faint
gave them a minute detail of this abominable in-
ftance of the devil's incontinence ; and then exor-
cifed and anathematifed him in form, and ftrictly
forbad him to commit any act of impurity, not
only with this woman, but with any other. Upon
this, the whole affembly extinguiſhed their tapers,
and the devil's vigour was from that time entirely
taken from him!
TO MINIE S400
*
LI
Of devils, called Incubi and Succubi.
HERE is no one who has not heard of the

T pranks of incubi and fuccubi , and of wo-
men and girls feduced by the devil, fo as actually
to have a carnal commerce with him, or at leaſt
to fancy fo. Torquemada relates, with great par-
ticularity of circumſtances, a thing which happened
in his own time, and to his own knowledge, in
the iſland of Sardinia, in the city of Cagliari, where
a young woman fuffered herſelf to be debauched
by the devil ; and being apprehended by the in-
quifition, was burned to death, but flattered herſelf,
to the very laft, that her gallant would come and
reſcue her.
In
119 A DISSERTATION C
In the fame place, he gives a ftory of a young
woman, who being courted by a gentleman of
good family, the devil affumed his fhape, and con-
verfed with the young lady for feveral months
and, at laft, by the help of a promiſe of marriage,
debauched her ; nor was the undeceived, till the
gentleman, who paid his addreffes to her, 垂 inform-
ed her, that he was above fifty leagues diftant from
the town the day that the promiſe was given ; and
that he knew not the leaft of the matter. The
young lady, finding herſelf impofed upon, retired
into a convent, and there repented of the double
crime of incontinence , and converfing with the
devil.
Jown I cannot help fufpecting the truth of theſe
two ftories, and attributing them to the filly whime
fies of a difturbed brain : " and I am confirmed
in this opinion by the ftory juft related of St. Ber
nard ' , who cured a woman poffeffed with this
fancy, by giving her his ftick, and ordering her
to carry it with her to bed. So trifling a circum
ftance as this, might be fufficient to compofe the
difturbances of her imagination, and prevent the
bad dreams which ufed to proceed from this caufe;
and the ceremonies performed at the cathedral the
following Sunday, might help to complete the
cure. ་
As for the demoniac, mentioned in the Acts of
the Apoſtles , whom the fons of Sceva exorcifed ,
and attempted to cure by calling over him the name
of the Lord Jefus and the demoniacs, mentioned
by Jofephus " , whom a Jew, named Eleazar, cured
by putting under their nofes a ring, in which was
inchafed a root, prefcribed by Solomon : with re-
f Vit. S. Bernard . Vide Jofeph, Antiq. 1. viii.

Supr. C. 2.
Acts xix . 14.
gard,
gard, I fay, to thefe, and feveral others mention-
ed in the Gofpel, their cafe was merely that of
obfeffion, the devil acting upon them only exter
nallysateen
It is obfervable alfo, that Saul was cured, or, at
leaft , much relieved by the found of mufical in-
ftruments , and particularly by David's harp. The
devil Afmodeus, that molefted Sarah, and had
killed her feven firft hufbands, was drove out of
the houſe by a fifh's liver being burned in the bed-
chamber and hence he was baniſhed into the ut-
moft 4 parts of Egypt. The devils mentioned in
the Goſpel were put to flight by our Saviour's au
thority, or in his name by the apoftles : and the
exorcifts in the primitive church expelled devils,
by the confeffion of the heathens themfelves ,
who were frequently witneffes of the efficacy of
their exorcifms, and the power of the name of
Jefus Chrift, der
It is an opinion of Jofephus, the Jewish hifto
rian *, that the ſpirits concerned both in obfeffions
and poffeffions, are nothing but the fouls of wick-
ed men, who having feized upon the bodies of the
perfons affected , take pleaſure in worrying and
tormenting them.
But whether we fuppofe the agents in theſe caſes
to be devils , or damned fouls, there is a difficulty
in accounting for their quitting the bodies they
have taken quarters in, at the found of inftruments,
as in the cafe of Saul , or at the ftink of a fifh's
liver, y like Afmodeus, or at the ſmell of a certain
root, as in the cafe of thoſe who were exorcifed by
Eleazar, as Joſephus relates the ſtory.
iSee Cyprian, Tertullian, and others.

* Jofeph. Antiq. 1. vii, c. 25.
LII. Whether
112 A DISSERTATION
LII.
Whether obfeffions and poffeffions of the devil can be

cured by natural remedies.
HERE are feveral modern phyficians ' , who

THthink they can cure demoniacs by the uſe
of natural means, and pretend to have made the
experiment with fuccefs. Now this can be done
only by correcting that natural difpofition of the
humours, of which the devil takes advantage ; (fuch
as was the melancholy habit of Saul, the luftful
difpofition of Sarah's feven huſbands, and other
peccant humours in other diſorders) and by this
means depriving the devil of all opportunity of
exercifing his malice, and tormenting the patient.
For it cannot be denied that the evil spirit frequent-
ly makes ufe of the peculiar humours, and bad
habit of body, which he finds in men, in order to
diſturb and tempt them to diffoluteneſs or deſpair.
There have been inftances of perſons tormented
and plagued both day and night by the devil, who
was always waking them out of their fleep, pull-
ing them by the nofe or ears, and, in ſhort, never
羞
giving them any peace ; but perpetually wanting
to know if they had no favours to afk of him .
Spanger, a Dominican friar and inquifitor, fays,
that he has condemned many wizards, who declar-
ed they were glad to be releaſed , by death, from
the tyranny of the devil, who never gave them a
moment's reft, but made their life a burden to them.
1 V. Gabriel. Clauder. 2. an. vii. p. 159. Decad . iii .

Decur. anni iv. Obfervat. an. 3. p. 100, &c.
cap. xxxvi. p. 217. Academ. Bodin. Demon, 1. i.
Leopold. Curiofor, Nat. Item c. 6. p. 155.4
decad. 2. an. 2. p. 334. Item
LIII. Of
LIII.
Of witches, and their nocturnal aſſemblies.
HE common notion of witches flying

T through the air to their nightly meetings, is
how generally looked upon as fabulous ; and there
are feveral inftances upon record, which prove that
they do not ftir from their beds, or chambers, but
rub themfelves with a certain greafe or ointment,
which makes them drowfy and infenfible ; and in
this lethargick (tate they dream that they go to
thefe affemblies, and are prefent at the ſtrange
pranks which are vulgarly talked of.
t We read, in a book entitled Malleus Malefica-
rum, or a Hammer for Witches, that a woman af
fured the inquifitors, who had apprehended her,
that the had a power of conveying herſelf, really
and bodily, to any place that the pleaſed , though
fhe was never fo clofely confined, or the place the
no went to at never fo great a diftance . The inqui
fitors, upon this, ordered her to go to fuch a place,
et to fpeak to fuch particular perfons, and to bring
back an anſwer ; which having promifed to do,
ng
fhe was fhut up in a room, under lock and key.
She then lay down upon the floor, as if he were
dead, and though the inquifitors came in and ftir-
我
red her, the continued motionleſs, and without
Om
any fenfe , fo that even a lighted candle was ap-
Da
plied to her foot, and the flesh burned , without
cm.
her fhewing any figns of feeling . Soon after, the
" came to herself, and gave an account of her er-
rand, faying, that fhe had found it a very difficult
&
journey. Upon her being afked what was the
matter with her foot, the faid he felt great pain
in it fince he came off her journey, but knew not
I the
Of
114 A DISSERTATION *
the meaning of it . The inquifitors then told her

all that had happened, affured her that ſhe had not
quitted the room, and that the pain in her foot
proceeded from a candle which they had applied
to it, during her imaginary abfence. The thing
being too clear to be denied, fhe was convinced of
her delufion, afked pardon for her fault, and pro-
tefted ſhe would never more be guilty of the like.
On the other hand, there are hiftorians " who
affert, that wizards and witches, by rubbing them-
felves with certain drugs, are really and corporally
conveyed to their nocturnal meetings . Torquemada
tells a story, after Paul Grillaud, of a husband
who fufpecting his wife to be a witch , was refolved
to find out whether he went to the affemblies of
the fifterhood, and what fhe did ,to convey herſelf
thither. Having watched her very narrowly, at
laft he diſcovered her rubbing herfelf with a cer
tain unguent ; after which fhe took the fhape of a
bird, and flew away ; and he faw no more of her
till the next morning, when the returned to him in
bed.
Upon her return, the man examined her very
clofely, without being able to make her confefs
any thing, till at last he told her what he had feen,
and by the help of a good cudgel, forced her to
diſcover the fecret, and carry him with her to the
next affembly. Upon his arrival, he fat down at
table with the reft ; but finding the dishes very
infipid, he called for falt. It was fome time be-
fore any was brought ; but at laft it came, and
the man feeing it, cried out ; Well, thank God,
at laft I have got fome falt. He had fcarce ut-
tered the words, when he heard a horrible noiſe,
and inftantly the whole affembly vanished, and he
* Alfonf. à Caftro ex P. Grillaud, à Caftr. Tra&t . de Hærefib.

found
found himſelf alone and naked in a plain, in the
midft of mountains. He walked on, and at laft
met with fome fhepherds, from whom he learned
that he was three and thirty leagues diftance from
his own houſe. Upon his coming home, he laid
the whole affair before the inquifitors, who appre-
hended his wife, and feveral of her accomplices ,
and punished them according to their deferts.
The fame author relates a ftory of a witch re-
turning from the rendezvous, mounted upon a
devil , who hearing the bell ring for morning pray-
ers, was fo frighted, that he flipped from under
his rider, and he fell into a thorn-hedge by the
fide of a river. Unfortunately for her, fhe was
quite naked, with no covering but her hair flow-
ing over her breaft and fhoulders. When the had
recovered her fall, fhe faw at fome diftance a young
man, whom, by dint of many entreaties, the at
laft prevailed upon to carry her to the next village,
where the lived. It was a great while before he
could perfuade her to tell him what had happened ;
at laft fhe confented, but not without conjuring,
and even bribing him to keep the fecret. 4 The
thing, however, could not be hindered from com-
ing out.
If any credit could be given to theſe ſtories,
and to many others of the fame kind , which are in
every one's mouth, one fhould be inclined to think,
that wizards are fometimes perfonally conveyed
to their wicked affemblies . But upon comparing
theſe relations with others, which prove theſe jour-
nies to be merely imaginary, we may fafely con-
clude, that the common notions concerning theſe
matters, are mere illufions of the devil, and that
the wretches themfelves, who fancy they fly and
travel through the air, when in fact they do not
ftir from their places, are impofed upon by the
I 2 devil,
TI ON
116 A DISSERTA
devil, who promotes this filly prejudice, in order

to rivet them in their delufions, and feduce others
to partake in their impiety. For Satan has a
thouſand artifices to deceive mankind, and con-
firm them in their errors. A diſturbed imagina-
tion is frequently the fource of witchcraft, im-
piety, and magick ; and it feldom happens that
perfons of this ftamp are not addicted to abomi-
nable lufts, irreligion, thievery, and other pernicious
crimes of the fame fort.
12
There are others who have fuppofed, that de-
vils affume the form of wizards and witches go-
ing to thefe nocturnal meetings ; and fupport the
filly notions of the vulgar, by appearing in the
fhape of reputed wizards, while the perfons fuf-
pected are fleeping quietly in their beds. To this
purpofe, there is a story told of St. Germain,
bifhop of Auxerre, who, as he was making a tour
through his diocefe, came to a village, where he
fupped ; and obferving that they were preparing
another fupper, he afked if they expected any
fresh company ; and being told that it was intend-
ed for the good women that travel by night, he
underſtood their meaning, and determined to fee
the end of this adventure.
Soon after, he faw a number of devils, in the
fhape of men and women, come into the houſe,
and fit down to fupper. When they were fettled,
St. Germain charged them, at their peril, not to
quit the room till he returned ; and having called
the family, and afked whether any one knew theſe
people ; he was anſwered, that they were fuch and
fuch perfons (mentioning their names) in the neigh-
bourhood. Go now, fays he, and fee if the peo-
ple you mention are at home. Accordingly a fearch
was made, and they were all found asleep in their
beds. Upon this, the faint forced the devils to
make
make anfair confeffion, that this was one of their
methods of impofing upon mankind, and per-
fuading them that there are wizards and witches,
who frequent thefe nocturnal affemblies . The de
vils, having obeyed this mortifying injunction, re-
tired in the utmoſt confufion .
I will not answer for the truth of this ſtory,
though it is found in feveral ancient manufcripts,
is told by James de Voragine, Peter de Noels, and
St. Antoninus, and is even inferted in the old bre-
viaries of Auxerre, both in manufcript and print :
on the contrary, I look upon it as an undoubted
fiction. It is a proof, however, that the author
and the tranfcribers of the ftory believed thefe.
nightly voyages of wizards and witches to be mere
illufions of the devil. Indeed it is impoffible to
account for the common reports concerning wizards
and witches, without having recourſe to the inter- A
pofition of the devil. To this muſt be added , a
weak head, a difturbed imagination, and a mind
filled with filly prejudices ; and, if you will, the
ufe of drugs, calculated to affect the brain, to ftir
the peccant humours, and by this means to raiſe
whimfies, conformable to the impreffions already
received .
There are authors, particularly Porta, Cardan ,
and fome others, who have handed down the com-
pofition of the unguents, which the dealers in
witchcraft make ufe of to convey themselves to the
general rendezvous of the fociety ; but the only
effect which they really produce, is to caufe a
drowſineſs, to diſturb the fancy, and to make them1
believe, that they take long journies, when they
are all the while found aſleep in their beds.
• Johan. Baptifta Porta, 1. ii. Çardan. Johan. Vierus de La-

Magia Naturalis Hieronym. miis, l. iii. c. 17.
I 3 LIV. What
ON
118 A DISSERTATI
LIV.
What is meant by having the garter : alfo inftances.

of a fupernatural Speed in travelling.
HRE are alſo many who are difpofed to

TH treat as a mere whim, what is vulgarly called
baving the garter ; by which is meant a power of
travelling at an incredible and fupernatural rate,
either on horfeback or on foot, by virtue of a com-
pact, either explicit or implicit, with the devil. It
is certain, however, that a number of fuch inftances
are told with great confidence : and they acquire
an additional degree of probability from feveral
facts of this nature, which are related in Scripture.
Such, for inftance , as our Saviour's being carried.
by the devil upon a pinnacle of the temple at Je-
rufalem , and thence removed to an exceeding high
mountain, from whence he faw all the kingdoms
of the world ; and the prophet Habakkuk's being
carried by the hair of his head from Jewry to Ba-
bylon , and back again, as foon as he had given his
dinner to Daniel, who was shut up in the lion's den.
Other instances are, that of the band of the Lord's
being upon Elijah, and his running from Mount
Carmel to Jezreel , before Ahab, who rode in his
chariot ; that of St. Philip, the deacon , who was
caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and carried
d
from Gaza to Azotus ; and , to mention no more,
St. Paul's being caught up into heaven, either in
the body or out of the body , ( for he profeffes he
does not know which ; ) the tranflation of Enoch
• Matth. iv . 5. 8. C
1 Kings xviii. 46.
Bel and the Dragon, ver. d Acts viii . 40 .
36. 39. From Jewry to Ba- C 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3.
bylon is about zoo leagues.
and
ON % APPARITIONS, & C. 119
and Elijah ; and the devil's driving the herd of

fwine into the lake of Gennefareth.
Theſe inftances, I fay, give an additional degree
of probability to the common ftories of witches
riding through the air, and of perfons having the
garter, as it is called, by means of which garter,
and, I fuppofe, a bargain with the devil befides,
they can travel prodigious diftances with incredible
fpeed ; and it cannot be denied that feveral facts of
this fort are related , which feem inconteftible . It
is even afferted, that the perfons who make ufe of
this diabolical art, are fo oppreffed with weariness,
after one of theſe journies, that they are unable to
ftir ; and that they require as much time to reco-
ver themſelves, as would have been fufficient to go
the journey at the common rate of travelling.
In fome cafes the devil exerts himſelf upon the
traveller's horfe only ; fo that the horſe, and not
the rider, is fatigued. To this purpofe Torque-
mada tells a ftory of a ftudent of his acquaintance,
a youth of great parts, and who was afterwards
physician to the emperor Charles the fifth . This d
gentleman, when he was a ftudent at Guadaloupe,
was invited by a traveller in a religious habit, to
whom he had tendered fome little civility , to take
part of his horfe, and that he would carry him to
Granada. The ftudent refufed the offer, upon ac-
count of the bad plight of the horſe, which feemed
to be but a very poor one, and already much jaded.
At laft he was prevailed upon to get up behind ,
and the horfeman having ftrictly charged him not
to fall aſleep, becauſe they were to travel all night
without ftopping, they jogged on , without any ap-
pearance of their going at an extraordinary rate.
At day-break they found themfelves near the city
of Granada, and the horfeman purſued his journey
Matth. viii. 31, 32. Torquemade, 3 journee.

I 4 with
120 A DISSERTATION
without ftopping, but the ftudent ftayed in the city...

extremely furprited at having travelled fuch a dif-
tance in a fingle night.
Another story, that he gives us, is of two perfons,
a father and fon, of his acquaintance, who being
upon a journey from Valladolid to Granada, paffed
through the village of Almeda, where they fell in
with a perfon on horfeback going the fame road,
Having travelled two or three leagues together,
they made a ftop, and the ftranger fpreading his
cloak carefully upon the grafs, fo as to leave no fold
or wrinkle in it, they all fat down, and bringing
out their provifions; refreshed themfelves for fome
confiderable time. At laft the two travellers, who
were bound to Granada, ordered their fervants to
get ready their horfes ; but their companion told
them they might fave themfelves that trouble, for
they fhould certainly be at their journey's end bers.
fore the day was over ; and immediately he fhewed
them the town, not a quarter of a league off. He
told them they were obliged to his cloak for having of
a finiſhed their journey fo expeditioufly, and defired ,
them to fay nothing to any one of what had hap
pened.
As for the ftories of wizards and witches flying
through the air upon walking- ftaffs and broom-
sticks, I attempt not to account for them, but look
upon them all as fabulous. However, I think that
the devil muft neceffarily be concerned in theſe in-
tances of people's travelling with fuch amazing
expedition and of all the ftories which feem to
prove it, the following is perhaps the moft fingular
and extraordinary .
St. Antidius, bifhop of Befançon , going one day,
attended by his clergy, to preach in the country,
full in with a convocation of devils, affembled upon
the bridge over the riverDon , which run by the city.
Satan himself prefided at the meeting, and gave
audience
audience to the inferior tribe, who were giving an

account how they had executed their feveral com-
miffions. Among others, St. Antidius took par-
ticular notice of one, who was as black as a negro,
hideously ugly, and lean as a fkeleton, who was in-
forming the prefident of the affembly, that he juft
came from Rome, where, after a clofe fiege of fe-
ven years, he had at laft enticed the pope into an
act of uncleannefs ; and as a proof of his victory,
he produced the pope's flipper, which he had
brought with him. This happened on the Thurf-
day before Eafter ; and the devil boafted that the
pope had committed the fact on Palm - Sunday, that
is, three days before.
St. Antidius, hearing this, refolved to fet out im-
mediately for Rome, to perfuade his holiness to re-
pent immediately of his incontinence : and he or-
dered his clergy, who neither faw nor heard any
thing that paffed , to return to the city, telling them
that bufinefs of the utmoft confequence obliged him
to go farther ; that he fhould not be able to confe-
erate the holy chrifm on Good- Friday ; but that he
would provide it fome other way ; and that he
would certainly return on Eaſter-Eve. He then
addreffed himself to the negro- devil, whom he
commanded to ferve him by way of horfe, and
to carry him to Rome as expeditioufly as he pre-
tended to be come from thence,
The faint, mounted upon the devil, arrived at
Rome on Good- Friday, about nine in the morning,
just as the pope was going up to the altar to cele-
brate mafs, and confecrate the chrifm . Antidius,
having uttered a fhort prayer, demanded earneſtly
to fpeak with the pope, to whom he faid he had
fomething of the greateft confequence to commu-
nicate. The pope retired with him into a private
place, where the faint related what he had feen,
Thewed the pope the flipper which he had reſcued
out
122 A DISSERTATION A *)
out of the claws of the devil, and exhorted him

to repent of his crime. The pope heard him with
refpect, and defired the faint to officiate in his room
at the folemn office of the day. Antidius, at his
request, put on the pontifical robe, celebrated mafs,
and performed the other functions, which the pope,
from a fpirit of penitence, thought proper to ab
ftain from himſelf. After fervice was over, he gave.
the pope abfolution, and received it in turn from
his holiness ; and then mounting his devil again,
whom he had left tied at the church-door, he re
turned to Besançon as expeditiously as he got to
Rome, and brought with him the chrifm, and con-
fecrated oil, for the ufe of the clergy of his dioceſe.
There is a ſtory much like this, told of St. Maxi-
mus of Turin, who rebuked pope Leo the firft for
a fault which he had committed, in giving his hand
to a woman to kifs. The pope, fays the ftory, was
fo afhamed of his weaknefs, that he cut off his hand ;
but the bleffed virgin reſtored it to him again by a
fignal miracle .
There is a thing ftill more extraordinary related
of a canon of a certain cathedral in Normandy,
who being pitched upon by his brethren to go to
Rome, and execute a commiffion in the name of
the body, delayed his departure till after morning-
fervice on Christmas-day, and then made himſelf
be carried by a devil, who had long been his fami-
liar. By this means he got to Rome the fame day,
executed his commiffion, and brought back with
him the original charter, by which the canons were
obliged to fend yearly, on a fixed day, one of their
body to Rome, to do homage in perfon.
I am fenfible that all theſe relations will be treated
as mere fables ; and I have no inclination or intereſt.
to fupport their truth. I only obferve that father
a Bolland, x April . & 25 Juin. p. 41.

Chifflet,
ON APPARITIONS, & C. 123%
Chifflet, in his hiftory of Befançon , looks upon the
ſtory of St. Antidius to be fo well fupported , and
by fuch authentic monuments, that he thinks a fair
hiftorian cannot omit relating it, or a man of fenfe
reject it as fpurious . De hiftoriâ S. Antidii, Romam,
vectore dæmone , profecti, adeò multa funt certaque mo-
numenta, ut eam ut fpuriam rejicere, vel reticere ut in-
decoram, nec biftorici effe putem, nec æqui rerum æſti-
matoris. Ejus certè veritatem aftruunt primùm libri
vetuftiffimi & conftans majorum traditio, deinde anti-
quiffimæ imagines pilte filleve in ecclefiis S. Rufii, S.
Pauli, S. Petri, Sa. Magdalena, &c. nec non &
breviaria vetera.
The Bollandifts declare themſelves of a different
opinion ; and I readily fubfcribe to their judgment.
As for the ftory of pope Leo the firſt , as above re-
lated, they have entirely fuppreffed it as fabulous :
and yet the circumſtances of St. Maximus's remind-
ing him of his fault, of St. Leo's cutting off his
hand, and of its being miraculouſly restored by
the bleffed virgin, however incredible they # may
ſeem, were recorded in fome ancient paintings,
which pope Clement the eighth, by the advice of
ſeveral learned and prudent perfons, thought pro-
per to efface.
The ftory of the canon's being carried by a de-
vil, from Normandy to Rome, in feven or eight
hours, ſeems abfolutely fabulous and incredible.
Nevertheless, I am affured that there are proofs
of it now to be feen in the archives of that cathe-
dral, and even in the infcription upon the canon's
I tomb. I am alſo informed, that the celebrated fa-
A
ther Mabillon infpected the original papers ; but,
d for my part, I will not venture to pronounce de-
cifively in a matter, for which I have no evidence.
t
but uncertain hear-fay. I only infer from hence,
that the notion of men's being carried from place
to place by the devil is founded upon ancient tra-
ditions ;
124 A DISSERTATION O
ditions ; and that it is authorifed, in fome degree

at leaft, as not impoffible, by Habakkuk's being
carried by an angel from Jewry to Babylon ; by
Elijah's being caught up into the air ; and by our
Saviour's being fet on a pinnacle of the temple,
and then upon an exceeding high mountain, by the
devil . To thefe may be added, the fory of Simon
Magus's being carried up into the air by the devil ;
the frequent inftances of faints of both fexes who
have been carried into the air by angels ; and even
the cafe of the bleffed virgin, who is generally be-"
lieved by the faithful, to have been carried into
heaven by celeftial fpirits.
LV.
Of enchanted ferpents.
HERE is no period in all antiquity, in which™

T we do not find fomething about the effects
of magical charms upon ferpents. Even the Scrip-
ture itſelf alludes to it ", where the deaf adder is faid
to refuse to bear the voice of the charmer, charm be
never fo wifely. Lucian, in his laughing way, tells
a ftory of a magician of Babylon, who collected
all the ferpents of the country into one place, and
there burned them alive. There happened to be
one old ferpent which did not obey the fummons
with the reft ; but the magician difpatched a young-
one to fetch him ; and he ſhared the common fate.
LVI.
Surprifing effects of magick. Arist
MORQUEMADA has delivered a moſt re-

T markable fact, taken from the Malleus Ma-
Pfalm lviii. 4, 5* Lucian in Philopfeud. p. 831 .
leficarum
ON APPARITIONS, &t. 125
leficarum, or Hammer for Witches, concerning a

woman, who being accuſed of magick, was appre-
hended by the inquifition. At her trial, the judges
gave her a promife of pardon, if ſhe would engage
to renounce her diabolical practices, and give them
ocular demonftration of the power of her art,
Upon this the ftepped afide among fome trees,
where the dug a little hole in the earth with her
hands, and urined therein. After fhe had ftirred.
the earth and the urine together with her finger,
muttered certain words, and made fome odd jef-
tures, there iffued from the hole a thick fmoke,
which, rifing into the air, formed a black cloud,
attended with dreadful thunder and lightning.
The witch then defired the inquifitors to name
any place that they chofe, for the clouds to dif-
charge its contents, which was a great quantity of
hail and ftones. Having pointed out a place to her
where it could do no mifchief, the cloud was car-
ried thither by an impetuous wind, and immedi-
ately burft, and difcharged the ftones and hail with
great violence.
Lucian relates a thing, which is, if poffible, ftill
more extraordinary. A magician of Egypt was
poffeffed of a ftrange fecret, by which he could
make himfelf be waited on by the iron bolts or bars
of any houfe where he happened to be upon the
road. His way was to wrap them up in the fkirt.
of his garment, and to repeat certain words, when
immediately the bolt affumed the form of a man,
attended him with great affiduity , brought him
whatever he called for, and got ready his dinner.
When the magician had no farther occafion for a
fervant, he pronounced fome other words, and the
iron returned to its former fhape.
Theſe ſtories of Lucian, I look upon as mere
waggeries, related in order to ridicule the vulgar
iLucian in Philopfeud. p. 842.
ftories
‫وا‬
126 A DISSERTATION
ftories of magick, in which he had no greater faith,

than in the pagan fyftem of theology, which he
laughs at in every one of his dialogues."
In Lapland, it is faid, there are ſchools where
magick is publickly taught, and that parents fend
their children to learn the art ; which, in a country
that fwarms with wizards, is abfolutely neceffary
for common fafety. It is a frequent thing among
thefe people, for a familiar devil to be left as an in-
heritance by a father to his children, in order
to protect them from the tutelar devil of fome
other family, who bears them a grudge . They
make great ufe of a drum, in moft of their ma-
gical operations. For inftance, when they have a
mind to find out any thing that paffes in a foreign
country, one of them is employed to beat the drum,
having firft laid up, on a part of it where the fun
is painted, a number of tin rings, tied together
with a chain of the fame metal. By way of drum-
ftick, he makes ûfe of a forked bone, and continues
beating till the rings are put in motion , finging all
the while a fong which the Laplanders call Jouke ;
in which he is accompanied by all the people pre-
fent, who take care to mention at every turn the
name of the place from which they want intelli-
gence ".
When the Laplander has beat the drum for fome
time, he puts it upon his head, in a particular man-
ner, and inſtantly falls to the ground motionleſs, and
without any appearance of life. The whole company
about him continues finging till he comes to him-
felf and if they ftop, he dies immediately. The
cafe is the fame, if any one endeavours to wake
him , by touching him with their hand or foot.
See Scheffer's Laponia, xi. entituled, De facris magi-

printed at Francfort, in the cis, & magiâ Laponum, p.
year 1673 ; particularly chap. 119, & feq.
They
They even take care to drive away the flies, and
other animals, that they may not come near him.
When he comes to himfelf, he gives them the
intelligence they want ; but it fometimes happens
that he continues in a trance for 24 hours, fome-
times more, and fometimes lefs, according to the
diftance of the place 4where he is fent. And to
leave no fufpicion of the truth of his relation , he
always brings back with him any proof that they
require, of his having been there ; as a knife, a
ring, a fhoe, or fomething elfe of that *fort.
It is worth while to obferve the difference bé-
tween thefe Lapland wizards, and the witch lately
mentioned, whofe foot was burned without her
feeling it. The fame is obfervable alfo in the ſtory
told by St. Auftin of the prieſt Prætextatus, who
felt nothing that was done to him during his trance.
The Laplanders are likewife faid to make ufe of
this fame drum, in order to find out the cauſe of a
diforder, or to deprive an enemy of his health or
life. There is alfo among them a fort of con-
jurers, who keep their magical flies or devils in a
leathern bag, from whence they let them looſe to
deftroy their enemies, hurt cattle, or raife ftorms.
There are others who wreak their vengeance by
throwing a dart into the air, which infallibly de-
ftroys every thing it meets with : and others make
ufe of a little ball, called a Tyre, about the fize of
a middling nut, and very light, with which they
put their enemies to death ; but if by the way it
unfortunately lights on any other perfon, or ani
mal, it infallibly deftroys them .
AN 10 NO
e
LVII. Ob
3
128 A DISSERTATION
LVII.
Objections againſt apparitions:
T is obferved, that in all countries fuperftition

I keeps pace with ignorance ; and that the power
of the devil is always greateft, where people are
moft immersed in vice and error. Accordingly
Ludovicus Vives " reports, that in thofe parts of
the world which have been lately difcovered, no-
thing is more common than for fpirits to appear
at noon-day, as well in towns as in country-vil-
lages ; and impofe fome command or other upon
the perfons they meet, and even fometimes to beat
them.
Olaus Magnus , archbishop of Upfal, who has
writ upon the antiquities of the northern nations,
obferves, that in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and
Lapland, there are frequently feen fpectres, who
do many extraordinary feats ; and that they fre
quently wait upon people in the capacity of fer-
vants, and drive their horfes and other cattle to
paſture.
Even to this prefent time, the Laplanders, both
ſuch as are converted to Chriſtianity, and fuch as
continue in idolatry, have a strong belief in appa-
ritions of departed fouls, and offer them a fort of
facrifice. I am willing to allow, that the preju
dices of education contribute much more to this
opinion, than reafon and experience. For among
the Tartars, where barbarifm and ignorance pre-
vail as much as in any part of the world, there
is no fuch thing talked of as fpirits. The cafe is
the fame with the Turks, though they admit the
apparitions of angels to the patriarchs recorded in
Lud. Vives, 1. i. de Ve- • Olaus Mag. 1. vi.
rit.-Fidei, p.340.
the
the Old Teftament ; and that of the archangel Ga-
briel to Mahomet himfelf.
The people of Abyffinia, who are extremely rude

and ignorant, have no faith in wizards, magicians,
or enchantments ; and they maintain that thofe who
attribute ſo much power to the devil, fall into the
error of the Manichæans, who admitted two inde
pendant principals ; the one the author of good,
the other of evil.
This opinion of the Abyffinians is not peculiar
to them. Beker , in his Enchanted World, openly
laughs at all apparitions of good and evil angels,
ridicules all the common opinions about magick ;
and afferts, that it is contrary to Scripture and the
principles of the Chriftian religion, to give any
credit to them. But he carries the matter too far,
3
2 and is very deficient when he comes to prove his
affertions.
$ i Shut
LVIII.
That the devil transforms himfelf into an angel of

light, and endeavours to weaken and deftroy the be-
lief of apparitions.
HE prince of darkness is indifputably fond

T of affuming the form of an angel of light, of
counterfeiting the works, and defeating the purpofes
of God. He well knows what advantages are de-
rived to religion, from a belief that ſpirits return
from the grave : fince it certainly proves the truth
of fome of the fundamental articles of faith, name-
ly, the exiftence of another world, the inimortality
of the foul, the mifery of the wicked, and the hap-
pinefs of the juft, in a future ftate ; the uſefulneſs
of prayers for the dead, and the communion which
n
fubfifts between the church-militant and the church-
Beker, Monde enchanté, Preface & 1. i. c. 18.
K triumphant.
e
A DISSERTATION
130
triumphant. He therefore employs every art to
weaken the credit, and impair the certainty of
thefe great truths : and one of his methods is, to
impoſe upon the world his own delufions inftead of
real apparitions ; and to encourage men to perſevere
in fin, by making notorious villains appear and de-
fire prayers ; than which nothing can be a ſtronger
motive to impenitence, as it creates a belief that
others, who are guilty of the fame crimes , may like-
wife obtain pardon after death ; whereas nothing
can procure that mercy, but repentance and a change
of life.
Thus, for inftance, the devil inftigated the ma-
gicians of Egypt to imitate the real miracles of
Mofes with their inchantments ; and in our Saviour's
time, the children of the Jews caft out devils ' ;
and he himfelf tells us, that at the day of judg
ment, many will fay unto him, Lord, Lord, have we
not prophefied in thy name ? and in thy name have
caft out devils ? and in thy name done many wonder-
ful works ? and that he will profefs unto them, I
never knew you *. In the days of the apoſtles, there
appeared Simon Magus, and Apollonius Tyanæus,
who, by their forceries, impofed upon the fimple,
and perverted them from the faith of Chrift. In
fhort, the devil in every age has had his agents and
minifters, who have been induftrious in propagat-
ing error, and counterfeiting the actions of the
faints and we know that in the laft days there
fhall arife falfe Chrifts, and false prophets, and fhall
fhew great figns and wonders, infomuch that (if it
were poffible) theyshall deceive the very elect.
Exod. vii. viii ix. Matth. vii. 22.

Matth. xii . 27.
LIX . Dif-
10
of LIX .
Difficulties attending apparitions.

re
T is the conſtant and invariable conduct of di-
C
ger I vine providence to fuffer the cleareſt truths of
at religion to be attended with fome obſcurity ; the
se moft indifputable facts to meet with fome oppo-
fers ; and the beſt fupported miracles to furnish
ng
fome circumſtances for the cavils of unbelievers .
ge
Indeed there is no article of religion but has its
a- bright and its dark fide ; and God has thought
of proper to permit it, in order to try the faith of the
r's righteous, and that infidels may perish in their er-

rors ; that feeing they may not fee, and bearing they
may not understand . The adorable myfteries of
ag.
the Chriftian faith are to the latter a fumbling-black
we
ave and foolishness ; but to the former, the power of God,
der- and the wifdom ofGod ".
We cannot therefore be ſurpriſed at finding this
7, 1
here fubject involved in doubt and contradiction , nor at
meeting with fome circumſtances which can be at- આધ
eus,
tributed only to the almighty power of God, and
ple,
others which bear the viſible marks of fraud and
In
and illufion, and can be fuppofed to proceed from the
devil only. It is of great confequence to religion
gat.
to ſeparate them carefully from one another, that
the
weak minds may not be mifled by their own pre-
here
judices, or the dexterity of wicked men, in weaken-
hall
ing the credit of unquestionable truths, and attri-
if it buting to the power of the devil the undoubted
works of God.
It has always been a doctrine of the Sorbonne,
a ſchool which may juftly be ftiled the firſt in the
Chriftian world for theological learning, that de-
▾ Luke viii. 10. W 1 Cor.i. 23.

K 2 parted
A DISSERTATION
132
parted fouls do ſometimes return into this world,
either by the power, or command, or permiffion of
God. This is the purport of the decifion in the
year 1518, and ftill more exprefly on the 23d of
January 1724. Nos refpondemus veftræ piæ petitioni,
animas defunctorum divinitùs, feu divina virtute, or-
dinatione, & permiffione interdum ad vivos redire ex-
ploratum effe. It has alfo been decided by ſeveral
eminent lawyers, and courts of juftice, that a leafe
is made void by the apparition of a ghoft : and
we fhall preſently fee a variety of inftances of houfes
being forfaken, on account of their being haunted
by fpectres.
LX ...
Effects ofstrong impreffions upon the imagination.
T muſt be owned, that an imagination ſtrongly

poffeffed with prejudices, or a weak, credulous,
and fearful mind, is capable of forming many a
chimerical notion, and making perfons imagine
that they fee and hear what has in reality no ex-
iftence. It is not uncommon to meet with people
who fancy themſelves préfent at theatrical repre-
fentations, when in fact there is no fuch thing.
This was the cafe of the whimſical citizen of Aby-
dos, mentioned by Ariftotle , who diverted him-
felf, when alone, with clapping and beating his
hands , as if he had been entertained in the moſt
agreeable manner at the amphitheatre ; and of the
Argian, mentioned by Horace , who complained
that his friends had deprived him of the greateft
pleaſure of his life, in curing him of a diſorder, by
which he fancied himſelf to be feeing the fineſt
plays, when in reality he was quite alone. Athe-
1 * Ariftot. de Mirabil. y Hor. Epift. lib. ii .

næus
næus alfo tells a ſtory of a man, named Thrafy-
lias, who fancied every fhip that came into the har-
bour of Piraeus at Athens, to be his own, and was
very angry at being cured of this agreeable mad-
nefs .
LXI.
Transformations of men into beasts.
E are told in Scripture that Nebuchadnez-

W zar , king of Babylon, imagined himſelf
to be changed into an ox : and there have been per-
fons in our time, who having taken it into their
heads that they were damned, have ftarved them-,
felves to death. Others have fancied themſelves
to be earthen pots, and have carefully avoided com-
ing near any one, for fear of being broke. And
it is common enough to meet with people who
imagine themſelves to be kings , cardinals , or noble-
men, and divert themſelves highly with theſe agree-
able fancies. I am not ſpeaking of the dreams of
fick perfons, or the whims which they are poffeffed
with in a fever, but of reveries of another fort ?
which have been known to go fo far, that people
have fancied themſelves to be actually dead, and
have acted and ſpoke conformably to this preju-
dice, and even difpofed of all their ſubſtance.
In the diforder called the lycanthropy, the pati-
ents imagine themfelves to be changed into wolves,
bark like them, and get out of the way of men.
There is no one but has heard the ftory of Ajax's
growing mad at Ulyffes's gaining the prize in their
conteft for the arms of Achilles , attacking a flock
of ſheep inſtead of the Grecian princes, and feizing
z Athen. Dipnofoph. Hor. Satyr. lib. ii . Juvenal.
a Daniel iv. Sat. xiv.
Quint. Smyrn. lib. v.
K 3 two
A DISSERTATION
134
two of the largeft, which having loaded with re-

proaches, he fcourged, and at laft hanged, mif-
taking them for Agamemnon and Ulyffes ; but
when the fit was over, and he found his error, he
flew himſelf for fhame and defpair.
Virgil, in his eighth eclogue , mentions certain
herbs which had the power of changing men into
wolves.
Has herbas, atque bec Ponto mibi letta venena,

Ipfe dedit Maris ; nafcuntur plurima Ponto.
His ego fæpe lupun fieri, & fe condere Sylvis
Vidi, &t.
d
The ſtory which Homer tells of Ulyffes's com-
panions being turned into fwine, by drinking out
of Circe's cup, is too well known to be infifted on.
Herodotus alfo mentions thefe transformations of
men into wolves ; and Apuleius's golden afs is no-
thing but a fatire upon the credulity of the vulgar,
for believing thefe accounts of metamorphofes
wrought by magick.
But thefe authorities are too trifling to be much
depended on . St. Auſtin is of another order ; and
he affures us, that there were women in Italy who
could change men into horfes, by giving them to
drink of a certain potion ; and that after having
made uſe of them to carry their burdens, they re-
ftored them to their original form : and he inſtances
in the father of a certain prieft, named Præftantius,
who was changed into a mule, by fome of theſe
dealers in magick, and carried their baggage for a
confiderable time. It does not appear however
that thefe transformations were real, but that the
perfons were ftrongly poffeffed with a notion of
their being changed into horfes, aſſes, or mules ;
and acted accordingly.
• Virgil . Eclog . 8.. Auguftin. de Civitat. Dei,
Hom. Odyff. lib. x. lib. xviii . c. 18,
Herodot. lib. iv.
Æneas
Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini, afterwards pope Pius
the fecond, has recorded, in his hiftory of Bohemia,
a ftory of a woman, who foretold to one of Wradi-
flaus's foldiers, that that prince's army fhould be cut
in pieces by the duke of Bohemia ; and that the fol-
dier had no way to eſcape being killed himſelf, but
by killing whoever he fhould firſt meet, cutting off
the perfon's ears , and putting them in his pocket,
Having done this, he was, with the ſame ſword, to
make the figure of a crofs between his horfe's legs, to
mount immediately, and get off. The foldier did
every thing as he was commanded . Wradiflaus's ar-
my was routed, and the general killed : the foldier
efcaped ; but when he came home, he found that he
had murdered and cut off the ears of his own wife.
Now this woman muft needs have been ſtrangely
difguifed and altered , fince her husband did not
know her ; nor did the diſcover herſelf to him, in
fuch a dangerous fituation , when her life was at
ftake. It is natural therefore to fuppofe that both
the women were witches, as well fhe that was mur-
dered, as fhe that made the prediction . Upon the
whole, the affair was attended with three dreadful
circumſtances . The firft witch is the author of a
murder ; the man murders his own wife ; and the
wife dies in a ſtate of damnation , having diſguiſed
her perfon by witchcraft, ſo as not to be known .
In the life of St. Macarius, of Egypt, we are told
that there was brought to him one day a woman,
changed into a mare, by the curfed art of fome ma-
gician ; and her huſband , and all that faw her, be-
lieved the transformation to be real. She had now
continued three days and three nights , without taking
any nouriſhment that was proper either for her former
or her prefent condition. Having been fhewn to all
the prieſts in the neighbourhood, who found the cafe
to be beyond their reach, fhe was at laft brought to
the cell of St. Macarius, who had already had a
K 4 revela-
TA TION
A DISSER
136,
revelation of her coming. His difciples would fain
have fent her back, fuppofing her to be a common
mare but at laft, having informed the faint of his
new vifitant, “ One would think, fays he, that you
" too are turned beafts, you are ſo eaſily impofed
66
upon. The woman has undergone no change ;
" it is your eyes that are bewitched. " And having
fprinkled the woman's head with holy- water, fhe
immediately appeared in her old form to all the
fpectators. He then ordered her fomething to eat,
and difmiffed her fafe and found, with this advice,
" Take care for the future to keep your church
" better ; for this misfortune came upon you, for
66 having been abfent five weeks from the facra-
65 ‫دو‬
ment 8.
LXII.
Miraculous cures of perfons bewitched.
HERE are few cafes of this fort, in which

THholy-water may not be depended on as an in-
fallible remedy. For another proof of its virtue,
take the ſtory of St. Hilarion's curing a girl, whom
a wizard had bewitched with an outragious paffion
for a young man : a cafe recorded by the grave and
venerable St. Jerom . No fooner had Hilarion be-
gun to apply his remedy, than the devil, which pof-
feffed her, cried out, Thou giveft me the most ex-
quifite pain, but it is not in my power to come out,
till he that fent me here releafes me ; for I am chain-
ed down by a plate of brass, which lies under the
threshold, infcribed with magical figures, and tied
with a flaxen ftring. In truth , anſwered Hilarion,
thou art a devil of moft extraordinary prowess, to
fuffer thyfelf to be hampered with a bit of brafs
and a ſtring : and continuing to ply him with holy-
Palladii Helenopolit. Epift. Vit. fan&
ti Macarii apud Rof-
weid. p. 720.
water,
water, he drove him out by main violence, and
cured the girl, without fuffering the things under
the threshold to be ftirred.
St. Jerom, in the fame work ", relates another
remarkable fact of one Italicus , a Chriſtian citizen
ofGaza, who kept horfes to run at the publick ſports
in the circus. This man had an antagoniſt, who
was a heathen, and poffeffed of fome magical fe-
cret, by which he could retard Italicus's horfes, and
make his own run with extraordinary fpeed . Italicus
having bore it a great while, at laft came to St.
Hilarion, and told him the whole affair. Would
it not be better for you, fays the faint, fmiling, to
fell your horfes, and give your money to the poor,
than to be engaged in fuch an employment ? That,
anfwered the man, is not in my power. It is a
publick employment, which is forced upon me ;
and as I am a Chriftian . I muft not have recourſe to
witchcraft, and foil my antagoniſt at his own wea-
pons .
His petition being backed by fome of the bre-
thren who were prefent, St. Hilarion was prevailed
upon to conjure in an honeſt way ; and giving Ita-
licus the earthen veffel out of which he ufually i
drank, filled it with water, and bade him fprinkle
his horfes with it. Italicus, to make fure work,
rather exceeded his commiffion , and ſprinkled not
only his horſes, but his very ſtable, and the chariot
that was to run. Next day his antagoniſt was beat
fo fhamefully, that the whole theatre cried out,
Marnas is diſtanced ; the Chriftian has it. And the
change was thought fo extraordinary, that many
citizens of Gaza were converted upon the ftrength
of it.
St. Hicronym, in Vit. Hilarion. p. 79.
LXIII. II.
A DISSERTATION
138
LXIII.
Illufions of the fenfes.
HERE is fcarce any thing more common ,

THthan inftances of deceptions of the eyes and
other fenfes. Philofophers, by means of prifma-
tick glaffes, magical lanthorns, and other fecrets
in opticks, can fhew a variety of things, which ig-
norant people are apt to take for mere juggles.
In the cafe of weak eyes, people fee not at all the
objects which are vifible to others, or fee them in
a different manner : a man that is drunk, fees
things double ; and, in the dark, we are very apt
to miſtake every ftump of a tree for a ſpectre.
Even common jugglers can perform a variety of
tricks, which feem to be beyond the power of na-
ture : fuch as eating fwords, fpitting up coals and
flints, drinking wine, and throwing it up again
through their forehead ; cutting off heads, and
putting them on again ; making a pullet draw a
large beam ; fwallowing fire, and vomiting it up
again ; fpitting up lumps of nails ; mangling arms
and legs ; putting the point of a naked fword
againſt a perſon's belly, and making it bend to the
hilt, inſtead of entering the flesh ; running a man
through the body, without his feeling any harm ;
fhewing children without heads, and heads without
children. Theſe, and a number of other tricks,
feem at first abfolutely miraculous, but when we
know how they are done, they are only laughed
at.
LXIV, Story
LXIV.
Story of Defbordes, valet de chambre to Charles IV,

duke of Lorrain.
N the year 1628, an accufation was laid againft

INDefbordes, valet de chambre to Charles IV,
duke of Lorrain, for having occafioned the death
of the princefs Chriftina, widow of Francis, the
late duke, and mother to Charles IV, and for being
the author of feveral difeafes, which the phyficians
attributed to witchcraft. The duke himfelf had
conceived ſtrong fufpicions of his fervant, from
a feat which he had feen him perform, as they
were one day a hunting. Defbordes, it feems, had
entertained the duke and his attendants with a mag-
nificent feaft, with no other preparation than open-
ing a little box, with three tire of drawers ; and
to compleat the miracle, had commanded three
malefactors, which had been executed, and hung
a
in chains, to come down and wait upon the duke,
and then return to their gibbets. It was faid alfo,
that, upon another occafion, he had commanded
3 the figures in a piece of tapeſtry to come out ofthe
hangings into the middle of the room.
The duke, though far from being credulous,
yet gave orders for Defbordes's trial ; and the iffue
Out was, that he was found guilty of witchcraft and
magick. He afterwards confeffed ſeveral facts,
We was condemned to be burnt to death, and the ſen-
ed tence was executed .
After the execution, the duke's party were for
queftioning the validity of the duchefs's baptifm,
who had been chriftened by the chantor of St.
George's church in Nancy, an intimate friend of
Defbordes's, and who had been convicted of feve-
ral
140 CA DISSERTATION
ral crimes (though not of witchcraft) which brought

him to the fame end. From the invalidity of the
duchefs's baptifm, they wanted to infer the invali-
dity of her marriage, which was then the duke's
grand point, and poffibly might be of no fmall
weight in determining the fate of theſe unhappy
men.
It is recorded by father Delrio, a jefuit , that
the wizard Trois- Echelles, gave a remarkable fpe-
cimen of this art, in the prefence of Charles IX ,
by unfaftening the links in the collars of feveral
knights of the king's order, who were at a confi-
derable diftance from him ; and that having brought
them into his hand, he reſtored them to their places,
without hurting the collars.
Of all juggles, none are fo common as tricks
upon cards ; and yet theſe appear to be downright
enchantment, till the fecret is known. It is not
long fince there was fhewn in this country a horse,
which feemed to be endowed with reafon, and to
underſtand his keeper's language. But the whole
fecret confifted in the horse's being taught to ob-
ferve the motions of his mafter, and in confequence
thereof to do certain things, which he had been
trained up to, but would never have hit upon him-
felf. In like manner, there are inftances of dogs
that have done furprifing feats, and fuch as could
fcarce have been expected from the moſt intelli-
gent and faithful fervant.
* Delrio, Difquif, Magic. 1. i. c. 4,
LXV.
LXV.
Apparitions confidered, and proved to be generally il

A
lufions.
will enter into a minute exa-

ſpirits, de-
mination of the apparitions of
vils, and goblins, will find most of the ſtories to
be nothing but grofs impofitions. It frequently
turns out to be a thievifh or diffolute fervant, who
conceals his thefts and debaucheries, by counter-
feiting a ghoft. Sometimes it proves to be a com-
pany of coiners, who have got poffeffion of the
vaults of an old manfion, and frighten away every
one from it, by appearing in the night, dragging
about chains, and, upon occafion, vanishing through
a trap- door into their fubterraneous retreats. Such
a thing as this happened to the marechal Du Bourg,
and we read of its having frequently happened to
others. At other times it is difcovered to be no-
thing but a contrivance of young people to carry
on, by this means, an amorous intrigue with greater
fecrecy.
At the caftle of Arvilliers in Picardy, there were
conftantly feen, at certain ſeaſons of the year, par-
ticularly about All-faints day, a frightful quantity
of flames and fmoke, accompanied with dreadful
cries and fhrieks. The farmer of the eftate feemed
'not to be much concerned at it, and it was becauſe
he was the author of it himself ; but in the vil-
lage nothing was talked of but apparitions and
1pectres, and a variety of ſtories were told , ac-
cording to the different fancies of the relaters. The
gentleman who owned the caftle, having a ſtrong
fufpicion of fome roguery at the bottom, defired
• Caufes Celebres, t. xi. p. 374.

two
142 A DISSERTATION
two of his friends to accompany him , and came

there about the ufual time of the noifes being
heard, with a refolution of purſuing the spectre,
and ſeeing whether he was piftol proof. A few
days after their arrival, there was heard a hideous
noiſe over the room where the gentleman lay ;
and his two friends immediately went up, each
having a piftol in one hand, and a candle in the
other. At first they faw only a thick fmoke, and
now and then a flaſh of fire ; but there foon ap-
peared a fort of harlequin, dreffed in black, with
horns, and a long tail, which begun to gambol
and frifk about before them..
Upon this, one of them fired his piſtol, but the
ſpectre, inſtead of falling, advanced nearer, and
continued his gambols. The gentleman then en-
deavoured to feize him, but he escaped by a little
ftair-cafe. The gentleman followed, without lo-
fing fight of him, and after feveral doubles, the
fpectre got into a granary, and vanished through
a wall, where the gentleman thought himſelf fure
of catching him. A light being brought, it was
found out, that in the place where the ſpectre dif-
appeared, there was a trap- door, faftened with a
bolt on the other fide. This being forced open,
they found the fpirit, who confeffed all his tricks,
and that he had made himſelf piftol proof, by
means of a thick buff-ſkin, which he wore round
his body.
The cardinal de Retz, in his Memoirs, gives
an agreeable defcription of himſelf and his com-
pany's being frightened at meeting a number of
black Auftin friars, who had been to bathe them-
felves by night in the river .
In a differtation lately writ by a phyſician upon
the ſubject of ſpirits, there is a ftory of a maid-
C Memoires du Cardinal de Retz, 1. i. p. 43, 44.
fervant,
ſervant, at a houſe in St. Victor's ſtreet, who go-
ing into the cellar, returned in the greateſt fright,
afferting that there was a ſpirit fitting between two
hogfheads. The fame was confirmed by others
of the family, who went down afterwards : and
at laft it proved to be a dead body, which had
fallen out of a cart that came from the Hotel-
Dieu, as it paffed over the air- hole of the cellar.
It often happens , that a whole family is frighten-
ed at the noiſe of a cat, a dog, a monkey, or an
owl. And ſtories of apparitions are frequently
raiſed by the waggery of unlucky boys, dreffing
themſelves up like fpirits, hiding themſelves in
church-yards, and ftrolling, at late hours, in the
night.
There are inftances alfo of fuch reports being
owing to more innocent cauſes, fuch as people's
going to pray by night in a church-yard, at a
church-door, or over a grave. And many a gob-
lin has been raiſed out of a perfon's being hid un-
der a bed, and pulling off the clothes, or drawing
the curtains in the night.
To this account of the various fources of appa-
ritions, may be added ſuch artifices as the prieſts of
d
Bel employed to make the people believe that their
god eat and drank ; and thoſe of the prieſts of
Anubis at Rome , one of which debauched Paulina,
in the reign of Tiberius . The catalogue will be
much augmented by the ftratagems , recorded in
history, of generals, who have pretended to have
vifions and revelations, in order to encourage their
troops. Of this fort too is Numa's receiving his
laws from the nymph Egeria, and many fictions of
other legiflators, contrived with the fame view.
Bel and the Dragon . Jofeph. Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 4.
↑
LXVI. Sur-
244 A DISSERTATION
LXVI.
Surprising effects of chemistry.
HE chemifts pretend to fhew by experiments ,

T that a palingenefis , or refurrection of animals,
infects , or plants , is far from being impoffible, or
contrary to nature. But ' , fay they, the afhes of
a plant in a vial, and upon the application of a
gentle heat, they will rife in a fort of vapour, and
affume, as nearly as poffible, the form which was
originally given them by the author of nature. It
is even afferted by father Schot, a jefuit, that he
has frequently feen a rofe-tree rife out of its afhes,
by the help of a fmall degree of heat, as often as
any one choſe to renew the experiment.
There has alfo been difcovered a mineral water,
which reftores a dead plant, provided it has not
loft its root, to the fame ftate of verdure and
ftrength, as when it was thriving in the ground ;
and, if Digby may be credited, he himſelf has
raiſed out of the pulverifed bodies of animals, re-
prefentations of other animals of the fame fpecies.
Duchêne, a famous chemiſt, has recorded a ſtory
of a phyſician at Cracow, who kept in vials the
afhes of almoft all forts of plants, and could gra-
tify the curiofity of his vifitants, by exhibiting
the reprefentation of any flower that they defired.
For inftance, he could form a rofe, by placing
the vial, which contained the afhes of a rofe-tree,
over a lighted candle : and as foon as it felt the
heat, the afhes begun to move, and rife in the form
of a ſmall vapour, which by degrees repreſented a
rofe, as fair and freſh, as if it had been juft ga-
thered from the tree.
Vallemont, Curiofités de la Nature.

Gafferel
1
1
.
Gaffarel & affures us, that M. de Claves, a fa-
mous chemift, was poffeffed of this art, and has
fhewn hundreds of plants raifed out of their own
afhes. David Vanderbêche goes ftill farther, and
pretends that the blood of animals, as well as their
feed, contains the principles of their fpecies ; and
he relates an experiment made by Borelli, which
proves that human blood , while it continues warm ,
is full of acid and volatile falts, which being put
in agitation by the warmth of the earth, in bury-
ing places and fields of battle, will exhibit the,
form of the perfons interred ; and that thefe forms,
might be feen by day, as well as night, were it,
not for the light of the fun, which even hinders
us from feeing the stars. He adds, that by means
of this art, which he ftiles a natural and innocent
fpecies of necromancy, it would be eafy to raife.
up the form of any of the heroes of antiquity,
provided we were poffeffed of their afhes.
This is the fubftance of the moſt plaufible ob-
jections that are made against the reality of appa-
ritions and from hence it is concluded, that they
are either exhalations, produced by the heat of the
earth, impregnated with the blood and volatile.
falts of dead bodies, efpecially fuch as have died
a violent death, or illufions of a disturbed imagi-
nation and prejudiced mind, or tricks contrived by
unlucky wags to divert themselves, by terrifying
others ; or, laftly, bugbears raiſed by the fancy
out of the common motions of a man, a cat, a
dog, or an owl. It must indeed be owned, that
upon a cloſe examination of the fuppofed inftances
of apparitions, they generally turn out to be no-
thing real , or, at leaft , nothing extraordinary.
But to conclude from hence, that they are all
Gaffarel, Curiofités inouïes.

Journaux des Sçavans, t. vi. p.452, & t. xcv. December, 1731 .
L equally
el
R TATION
A DISSE
146
equally chimerical, is certainly carrying matters
too far.
LXVII.
Whether the devil was the author of the heathen

oracles ?
WITH regard to the heathen oracles, I declare

WITH myfelf perfectly indifferent as to any opi-
nions that may be entertained about them. I even
own, without any heſitation, that there was a great
deal of fraud and deceit carried on by the prieſts.
and priefteffes, who had the direction of them.
But, furely, it does not follow from hence, that
the devil never interpofed in the bufinefs. It can-
not be denied, that the oracles fell gradually into
contempt after the eſtabliſhment of Chriftianity,
and at laft were totally filenced ; and that the
priefts, who pretended to foretel future events,
have been frequently forced to confefs, that they
were put to filence by the Chriftians. It muſt be
owned too, that the Chriftians have publickly
defied the dealers in divination and prophefying ,
to dare to ſpeak in their prefence¹ .
In the law of Mofes , there are frequent pro-
hibitions of having recourfe to wizards, or thoſe
that have familiar fpirits ; fuch as the woman
whom Saul confulted . In all the paffages where
they are mentioned , the Hebrew word is Ob, which
the Greek interpreters render by the word Engaf-
trymutbos, which fignifies a fpecies of wizards,
that gave their anſwers from the bottom of their
bellies. They are mentioned again in the fecond
Sozomen, Hiftor, 1. v. * Levit. xix. 31. xx. 6. 27.

ċ. 19. Deuteron. xviii. 11.
Tertull. Apolog . Art. xxii , 11 Sam. xxviii. 3, 7, 8, 9.
xxiii.
book
book of Kings ™, and in Ifaiah ". In the Acts of
O
the Apostles we read of St. Paul's filencing a
damfel, poffeffed with a spirit of divination, which
brought to her masters much gain by footb-faying. And,
to mention no more, we are affured , that the de-
vil, who prefided over the oracle of Daphne near
Antioch, complained, that he was hindered from
giving his anfwers as ufual, by the body of the
martyr St. Babylas.
It was an article of belief common both to the
vulgar and the learned in Greece and Italy, that
oracles were dictated by Apollo , or fome of the
other gods, or by deified heroes , who were all
confulted in different places. Now thefe gods
were, in fact, nothing but devils, or , at leaſt,
damned and reprobate fouls. Even Porphyry, the
moft inveterate enemy of the Chriftian name,
makes no fcruple to own , that the oracles were
dictated by lying fpirits, and that dæmons are
the authors of all enchantments, philtres, and
witchcraft ; that they do nothing but impofe fpec-
tres and illufions upon us, inftead of realities ; that
they have the ambition to aim at divine honours ;
that their bodies, which are of an aerial and fpiri-
tual nature, are nouriſhed by unctuous fmoke, and
the blood and fat of animals ; and that their pe-
culiar province is to dictate lying, equivocal, and
deceitful oracles. At the head of them he places
Hecate and Serapis ; and much in the fame difre-
fpectful and contemptuous manner, does Jambli-
chus fpeak upon this ſubject.
The primitive fathers, who lived near the age in
which oracles were in vogue, and who were many
of them converted from heathenifm to the Chri-
m 2 Kings xxi. 6, xxiii. 24. P Eufeb. de Præpar. Evang.

Maiah viii. 19. xix. 3. 1. iv. v. vi. Fontenelle , Hitt.
Acts xvi. 16. des Oracles, p . 27. c. iii.
L 2 ftian
148 A DISSERTATION
ftian faith, and were confequently better acquaint-

ed with the oracles than we are, (who must take
our accounts of them from the ancient writers)
fpeak of them as being originally invented , and all
along directed and fupported by dæmons. To
thefe charges, the heathens were utterly at a lofs
what to anſwer, and we have juft feen, that Por-
phyry and Jamblichus give the fame repreſentation
of them with Chriftian writers.
LXVIII.
·Inftances of difcoveries really made by oracles.
O whatever lengths the juggles of the heathen

T priests in the management of their oracles
may be reprefented to proceed, I fhall by no means
undertake their defence, but profefs to entertain as
bad an opinion of them, as moft of their own phi-
lofophers. It is fufficient for my purpoſe to fhew,
that the devil did fometimes interfere ; and indeed
there are ſo many facts upon record, which feem
to exceed the ordinary powers of men, that they
can be attributed only to the operation of dæmons.
Plutarch relates, that a governor of Cilicia,
having fent to Mallos, a city of that province, to
confult the oracle of Mopfus, the perfon that
carried the note, in which the governor's quef-
tion was written, fell alleep in the temple, and
dreamed that he faw a man of uncommon beauty,
who pronounced to him the fingle word, black.
This anfwer, which he could not guefs the drift
of, he carried back to the governor ; and the fuc-
cefs of the embaffy was much laughed at by all
who heard it, till the governor, opening the note,
fhewed them his queftion, which was this, Shall I
Plutarch, de Defun&
t . Oracul . p. 434.
facrifice
facrifice a white or a black ox ? and convinced them,

that the oracle had anfwered it, without opening
the note,
There are recorded feveral other inftances of
anſwers given by oracles to fealed notes, without
their being opened . But poffibly, in all thefe
cafes, may have been practifed the trick of Alex-
ander of Abonotichos, a city of Paphlagonia in
Afia Minor, who had contrived to perfuade the
inhabitants of that country, that he had at his de-
votion the god Æfculapius, who affumed the form
of a large tame fnake. The way of confulting
this divinity, was to depofite in his temple a note,
carefully fealed up, and the anfwer was always
writ at the bottom of the queſtion, without the
note's being opened . The fecret, it ſeems, con-
fifted in dexterously taking off the feal with a
shot needle, * and replacing it with great care, hay-
ing firft writ the anfwer in that obfcure and enig-
matical ftile, in which all oracles are very prudent-
ly delivered . At other times he made ufe of
gum-maftick, which, when foft, eafily took off
the feal, and, when it grew hard, made a freſh
impreffion . His price was about ten pence for
1, each note, and he continued this trade as long as
0 he lived, which was no fmall time ; for he was
killed by lightning at the age of ſeventy, about
the end of the fecond century. His hiftory, with
a great particularity of circumstances, may be ſeen
at large in Lucian's treatiſe, entitled Pfeudo- Mantis,
or the falfe prophet.
Macrobius attributes oracles to dæmons or gods,
which with him are the fame, for he derives the
1 word demones from danoves, a Greek word, which
e, fignifies knowing, becauſe he ſuppoſes them to be
acquainted with futurity. He relates alſo a thing
* Macrob. Saturn . 1. i , c. 23.

L 3 which
ce
A DISSERTATION
150.
which happened to Trajan, who, in order to try
the divinity of the oracle at Heliopolis in Phoeni-
cia, fent a billet carefully fealed up, as if it con-
tained a queſtion to the god , but without any
thing writ within. The priests were aſtoniſhed
beyond meature, when the god ordered them to
fend back a blank note, fealed up with equal pre-
caution. Upon the receipt of this billet, Trajan
difpatched another, in which he confulted the god,
Whether he fhould return to Rome from the ex-
pedition which he had then undertaken against the
Parthians? The oracle, in anfwer, ordered fome
branches of a knotty vine, which was confecrated
to the uſe of the temple, to be fent him. The
meaning of this anfwer was never diſcovered, till
the bones of the emperor , who died in his return
from this expedition, were brought to Rome ; and
then it was clear beyond a doubt, that the oracle
meant to typify this event by the vine branches,
which were found to have a great refemblance to
bare human bones.
LXIX .
The dread which the devil has of thefign of the cross,

and of the prefence of Chriftians.
t
HEODORET, bifhop of Cyrus in Syria,
THa writer of great penetration and equal gra-
vity, relates a ftory of Julian the Apoftate, who
having put himself under the tuition of a magi-
cian, was carried to an idol's temple, and conduct-
ed into the moft fecret part of it. Here the ma
s Vitem centurialem, that to correct their foldiers .

is, nodoſam, becauſe the cen- Theodoret. Hiftor. 1, iii.
turions in the army made uſe c. 3.
of a rough knotty vine-twig,
gician
" gician began to invoke his dæmons, who foon
appeared in their ufual form ; but Julian was terri-
fied at the ceremony, and croffed himself over the
forehead. The devils immediately vanished, and
the magician reproached his difciple bitterly for
his cowardice. Julian confeffed his fear, and feem-
ed aftoniſhed at the virtue of the crofs ; but the
magician affured him, that the devils did not run
away for fear, but becauſe 1 they were ſhocked at
the impiety of the action. Julian was fatisfied with
this frivolous reafon, and always retained a ftrong
belief in the myſteries of magick, J and a vio-
lent paffion for prying into the fecrets of futurity.
In the life of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus " we
read, that as that faint was once upon the road to
his epifcopal city of Neocæfarea, being caught in
a violent rain, and night coming on, he went with
his attendants into an idol's temple, * where there
was an oracle in high reputation all over that coun-
try. In order to purify the place for his reception,
he invoked the name of Jefus Chriſt, and made
the fign of the croſs feveral times, and then ſpent
the night in finging hymns to God , according to
his ufual cuftom. In the morning, after he was
gone, the heathen prieſt came to perform his ufual
functions ; but the dæmons made their appearance,
and told him plainly, that they muſt quit their ha-
bitation in the temple for ever, on account of
the man that had lodged there that night . The
prieſt did his utmoft, by facrifices and incenfe, to
make them alter their refolution, but all to no
purpoſe. He then followed Gregory in a violent
rage, and threatened to have him feverely puniſhed
by the magiftrates. The faint heard him with
great temper, and only faid calmly, Know, that
Vit. Greg. Thaum. p. 980.

L 4 it
2152 CA DISSERTATIONÃO
it is in my power, by the help of God , to drive

devils out, and to make them return again, where-
ever I pleafe. Order them then, fays the prieft,
to return to their temple. Upon this the faint tore
2 out a leaf from a book which he had in his hand,
and writ thefe words ; Gregory to Satan return.
The prieſt having laid the billet upon the altar,
performed his ceremonies, and finding that every
thing was right as it ufed to be, followed Gregory
a fecond time, and defired the faint to, inftruct
him in the knowledge of this God, which had fo
abſolute a command over all others. In compli-
ance with his request, Gregory explained to him
the whole Chriftian fyftem, but the prieſt could
not ſwallow the doctrine of the incarnation. To
"get over his fcruples, the faint told him it was a
truth, which could be proved by no human ar-
guments, but by the miracles of the divine power.
Well then, fays the priest, give me this proof, by
ordering that rock to change its fituation, and go
"to fuch a place. The faint did as he was defired,
and the rock inftantly obeyed, as if it had been en-
dued with life. The priest immediately yielded
to this argument, took leave of his temple, fol
lowed the faint, and became his 'difciple.
The life of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, from
which I have taken this relation, was writ by St.
Gregory of Nyffa, who lived very near the fame
-time, and was fully inftructed in all the particulars
of his life.
LXX. Whether
LXX.
Whether there were any oracles among the ancient

Jews ?
1
See no reafon for fuppofing, that the Jews had
among them any oracles, properly fo called,
band confined to particular places, like thofe of
Dodona, Claros, and others , among the Greeks,
Their common way was to confult a prophet or
feer ; and it feldom happened that God fuffered
the nation to be without one of thefe. In default
of thefe, they had the Urim and Thummim of the
high-prieft , which was a fort of permanent ora-
1cle, defigned to reveal the will of God, and to
- difcover future and fecret events. But it is plain,
that the neighbouring nations, the Philiftines,
Egyptians, and Phoenicians, had their oracles,
which the Jews had too often the folly and im-
© piety to confult.There is particular mention
made of Baal- zebub, called by our 1 Saviour the
Z
prince of the devils whom Ahaziah fent to confult
in his fickneſs, and was feverely reproved for it by
the prophet Elijah. Is it not because there is not a
God in Ifrael, fays the prophet, that ye fend to en-
quire of Baal zebub the god of Ekron ?
The Egyptians were in a particular manner ad-
dicted to divination . They fball feek to the idols,
fays the prophet Ifaiah , and the charmers, and to
them that have familiar fpirits, and to the wizards.
The prophet Hofea reproaches the Jews with
afking counsel at their flocks, ( that is, their idols)
* Exod. xxviii . 30. a Ifaiah xix. 3.

7.2 Kings i. 2, & feq. b Hofea iv. 12.
z Matth. xii . 24. Luke zi.
$5.
and
A DISSERTATION
154
and expecting their staff to declare unto them ; for
the fpirit of whoredoms bath caused them to err. By
the spirit of whoredoms is probably meant the devil,
or the unclean ſpirit, whom they confulted inſtead
of the living God , and received from him ambi-
guous, equivocal, and fallacious anfwers. By re-
proaching them with expecting their faff to declare
unto them, the prophet alludes to a fpecies of divi-
nation, much in vogue among the heathens, and
called by them Rabdomanteia, in which they made
ufe of rods. This ſeems alfo to be the divination
ufed by Nebuchadnezzar in Ezekiel , where he
deliberates about invading the Ifraelites and Am-
monites. For the king of Babylon ftood at the part-
ing of the way, at the head of the two ways, to ufe
divination: be made his arrows bright (the Septuagint
tranſlation ſpeaks not of arrows, but gados, rods)
be confulted with images, he looked into the liver.
The teraphim, which were ſtole from Laban by
his daughter Rachel , were, without doubt, fu-
perftitious and magical images, made uſe of to
pry into futurity. Such too were the images (in
the original teraphim ) which Nebuchadnezzar is
faid to confult in Ezekiel. His other method of
divination, namely by arrows, (as the word bitzim
-is rendered in the common tranflations) is of great
antiquity, and practifed by feveral nations, as the
Slavi, Germans, and Perfians.
Of the fpecies of teraphim was alfo Micah's
image , and that of Gideon ' , which became a fnare
to all Ifrael. That which made them in fuch re-
queft, was their oracular faculty : but the priests
were generally their interpreters. Sometimes in-
deed an articular found was heard to proceed from
c Ezek. xxi. 21. 7

Judges xvii. 5. xviii. 14,
₫ Gen. xxxi , 19 . 15:
Judges viii . 27.
the
the idol itſelf. But however the anſwer was con-

veyed, there was no queftion but the god himſelf
was ultimately the author of it. tatt
In the first book of Kings , a fpirit, (probably
f
the devil) offers to be a lying spirit in the mouth of
all Ahab's prophets. The true prophets themſelves
frequently complain of the falfe and groundless
predictions of theſe counterfeit prophets . Hofea
forewarns the Jews , that they ſhall abide many days
without a king, and without a prince, and without a
facrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod,
and without teraphim, that is, without any publick
exercife of religion, either true or falfe, without
either true or falfe prophets to inftruct them in the
knowledge of future or fecret events.
LXXI.
Whether ghofts ever appear with real material bodies ?
Am fenfible that there is a variety of difficul-

I ties in which this fubject of apparitions is in-
volved ; and that they are fuch, as not only affect
the facts themſelves, by calling in queftion their
reality, and attributing them to prejudice and fancy,
but fuch as arife from the various folutions that
have been given of the phænomenon itſelf. For
it is a queftion not eafily decided, which of theſe
opinions was moft generally received amongſt the
ancients , Whether angels, devils, and departed
fouls, ftill retain a fubtile, fpiritual body, or form
one, upon occafion, out of air, or vapours, or
any other matter proper for the purpoſe of appear-
ing to men: or, whether they only affect the fenfes
and imagination of the perfons to whom they ap-
1 Kings xxii. 22. ! Hofea iii. 4

Ifaiah, Jerem. Zachar.
pear,
236 ADISSERTATION
pear, without condenſing the air, or affuming any

vifible body ; or laftly, whether they only modify
the rays of light in fuch a manner, as to make
the fame impreffions upon the fenfes, as would be
excited by folid, living bodies a 190
DAG OF
፡
1. 1.LX
**** 3078 1.5 XI
LXX I..
II
Reflections upon the fubject of apparitions.
ROM the feveral facts above related, I con-

F clude, that, in fome inftances, good angels
have appeared, and in others devils, and in others
departed fouls. Sometimes the apparitions have
been goblins, who are fuppofed to be beings of a
middle order, between good and evil angels ; and
at other times the real bodies of perfons deceaſed,
or devils that have affumed thofe bodies.
Equally various are the opinions that are enter-
tained concerning theſe matters. There are fome
who fwallow implicitly every tale that has an ap-
parition in it. Be it angel, devil, ghoft , vampire,
in fhort, of whatever fpecies, their faith extends
indifcriminately to all. "
There are others who reject every thing of this
fort, as confidently as thefe laft admit it ; not be-
cauſe they have made deeper reſearches, or ex-
amined the fubject more critically. But they know
many ftories are current, fome of which are
that many
evidently apocryphal, and others but weakly fup-

-ported ; and therefore they conclude, that there
are none which reft upon better foundations.
2
Again, others abfolutely deny the exiſtence of
angels, devils, and fpirits, and believe that when
the body goes, all goes with it. Such were the
Epicureans among the Greeks, and the Sadducees
among the Jewe and fuch are many libertines in
this age, who lay claim to fuperior degrees of
knowledge,
ONLAPPARITIONS, &C. 157
knowledge, and affect to be diftinguiſhed by the

title of Freethinkers:
There is another order of men, who look upon
every thing as involved in doubt and difficulty.
Such are the fcepticks of all ages, who are cons
vinced by no proof, and can be brought to admit
no conclufion.
Laſtly, there are others, who profefs a regard
for the holy Scriptures ; who can withhold their
affent, when things are doubtful and uncertain ;
can liften to the reaſons on both fides of a queſtion,
and are perfuaded, whenever they meet with folid
and convincing proofs. Moreover, they look upon
the immortality of the foul, and the existence of
angels and devils as inconteftible truths.
It is chiefly for the fake of thefe laft, that I have
undertaken a difcuffion of this fubject. I had
likewiſe a view to my own information , and to en-
gage thofe who are furniſhed with better talents
for a final decifion of the queftion, き to communi-
cate their difcoveries to the publick . I look upon
it as labour loft, to write with a view of convince-
ing thofe who refolve to deny at all events, who
have no reaſon for doubting, but becauſe they are
determined to do fo, and are ambitious of raifing
themſelves above the common level of mankind,
by a filly affectation of the title of Freethinkers.
I readily declare, that I admit nothing as true,
but what really is fo ; and own that there is an in-
finity of ſtories of apparitions received in the
world, which are certainly falfe and imaginary.
I myſelf have related feveral, to which I give but
little credit. As for thofe that are stamped with
the characters of truth and certainty, I entertain
them with refpect. As for the reft, I treat them
with all the contempt which they deferve ; but at
the fame time I am convinced, that many of thefe
relations are true, and that they may, like other
hiſtorica
138 A DISSERTATIÓN
hiftorical facts, be diſtinguiſhed from fuch as are

falſe, by trying them by the rules of fober criti-
cifm, by weighing the merit of authors, the poffi-
bility of facts, and the circumſtances with which
they are recorded.
LXXIII.
Principles to be laid down, in order to account for ap-

paritions.
N order to give a fatisfactory folution of all the

INdifficulties that occur in this fubject of appari-
tions, I lay it down as abfolutely neceffary,
Firſt, that we ſhould have a perfect knowledge
of the nature of fpirits, fouls, angels, and devils.
We muſt know precifely, whether they are entirely
difengaged from all matter, or have ftill fome con
nection with an aerial, fubtile, and invifible body,
which continues under their command after death ;
or even with that grofs body which they formerly
animated, ſo as to communicate motion to it, as
the foul does to the body in our preſent ſtate ; or
whether the foul acts merely as an occaſional cauſe,
and by a bare volition, determines God to con
municate motion to the machine, which it ani-
mates.
Secondly, Whether after death the foul retains
this power only over its own proper body , or can
extend it to others, fuch as the air, and other
elements.
Thirdly, Whether angels and devils have this
power over other fublunary bodies ; fo as, for in-
"
ftance, to condenfe or inflame the air, to form
clouds, and raiſe tempefts, to preſerve or deſtroy
fruits and corn, to kill animals, and produce epi-
demical diforders, to caufe fhipwrecks, or even to
fafcinate
falcinate the eyes, or delude the other fenfes of
men.
Fourthly, Whether they act in this manner by
their own inherent power, and exert it as often!
as they think proper, or muſt be authoriſed by an
expreſs order, or, at leaſt, a permiffion from God.
Laftly, we must have an accurate knowledge of
the power of thofe beings, which we fuppofe to
be entirely ſpiritual, and how far the influence of
angels, devils, and departed fouls, extend in the
cafe of thoſe appearances, actions, motions , and
difcourfes, which are vulgarly attributed to them.
For while we are ignorant of the precife limits
of that power which God has beſtowed upon de-
parted fouls, angels, and devils, we cannot, with
the leaft degree of certainty, diftinguiſh a miracu-
lous from a natural event, nor point out the bounds
to which the ſphere of action of theſe beings ex-
tends, or within what restrictions it is confined . *
If we fuppofe the devil to have a power of
fafcinating our eyes whenever he pleaſes , or of
difpofing the air in fuch a manner, as to make us
imagine we ſee ſpectres, or of communicating mo-
tion to a dead body that is not entirely putrefied ,
or of diſturbing mankind with diſagreeable dreams ,
or frightful phantoms, we can no longer be fur-
prized at ſeveral events, which now aſtoniſh us, or
look upon certain apparitions and cures as mira-
culous, fince they are only exertions of the natural
powers of angels, devils, or human fouls.
If we ſaw effects of this fort produced by mere
human means, we might juftly pronounce them
to be miraculous, becauſe they are beyond the na-
tural and common powers of man. But if we
knew the agent to have a commerce with fome
angel, or devil, by virtue of an explicit compact,
the effect produced would ftill be beyond his na-
tural power, but not beyond that of his affiftant
I Spirit ;
160. A DISSERTATION
fpirit ; and, in this cafe, the effect could not with

propriety be filed miraculous , fince the being that
Caufed it is fuppofed to be naturally endowed with
powers adequate to its production.
The next queftion that occurs, is, Whether there
be any thing miraculous in a man's having a com
merce with an angel or devil, and obliging him
by virtue of a compact, executed in due form , to
produce certain effects, which hall have the ap-
pearance of being beyond the natural powers of
man ?
Before this question can be answered, it muſt be
previously decided, whether there be any natural
property or tendency in a human living foul,
which makes it capable
of contracting an alliance,
or entering into a compact with an angel or devil,
by virtue of which contract thefe beings fhall be
fubjected to that human foul, and exert the powers
of their nature, in obedience to its commands.
For if, in this cafe, there be nothing contrary to
the eſtabliſhed order of nature , on the fide of
either of the contracting parties, there is evidently
nothing miraculous in the whole tranfaction . Nor,
again, is there any exertion of an extraordinary
power on the part of God, fince he only permits
fecond caufes to take their common courfe, at the
fame time he is the original author, and continues
to be the perpetual fuperintendant of their opera-
tions in all cafes, fo as to have a power of confine
ing, fufpending, increafing, or extending their
agency, according to his own good pleasure.
But as we know not, and as it feems even im-
poffible that, by the mere light of nature, we ever
Thould know, the nature and extent of the ordi-
nary powers of angels, devils, and departed fouls,
it will be rafh to pronounce decifively upon this
fubject, fo as to form any conclufions from the
facts, or to judge of effects by causes . For inftance ,
I to
to conclude, that, becauſe angels, devils, and

ghofts, have fometimes appeared to men, there-
fore they have by nature a power of doing fo,
would be rafh and dangerous. For it is poffible
that they may have happened by a particular com-
mand of God, and not in confequence of that ge-
neral order of things which he has eftablifhed as
the ordinary rule to which his difpenfations are
conformed. In the firft cafe, theſe apparitions are
miraculous, as exceeding the natural power of the
agents concerned in their production . In the fe-
cond cafe, they are mere natural events , and have
nothing extraordinary in them, but the permiffion
granted by God to fuch ghofts, angels , or devils,
to appear and produce fuch particular effects : *
permiffion which must be fuppofed to be but fel-
dom granted.
LXXIV.
Confequences to be drawn from thefe principles.
HESE principles being eſtabliſhed, we may

T fafely admit the following conclufions.
1. That angels and devils have frequently ap-
peared, and departed fouls have frequently come
again ; and that both the one and the other may
do the fame hereafter, as well as formerly. !
2. That the manner of their coming and appear
ing again, is a thing which we know nothing of ;
undecided by God, and left as a matter of difpute
and enquiry among men.
3. That it is in fome meaſure probable, that
theſe appearances imply nothing miraculous on the
part of the good or evil angels, but that God is
pleaſed to permit them, for reaſons best known to
himſelf.
M 4. That
162 A DISSERTATION
4. That we can lay down no certain rules, or

form any demonftrable hypothefis upon this fub-
ject, for want of knowing perfectly what is the
nature, and how extenfive are the powers of theſe
fpiritual beings.
5. That there is a great difference between ap-
paritions in dreams, and apparitions to perfons
awake; between apparitions of folid bodies, which
fpeak, walk, eat, and drink, and apparitions of
mere fhadows, or bodies of a thin airy fubftance ;
and laftly, that the dead bodies, which come again
in Greece, Hungary, Moravia, and Silefia, are to
be accounted for upon different principles from all
thefe.
6. Upon the whole, it would be raſh to lay down
the fame principles, and to reafon in the fame man-
her upon all thefe different phænomena ; fince
every fpecies of apparitions requires a diſtinct con-
fideration.
LXXV.
Manner of accounting for apparitions.
HE firft that occur are apparitions in dreams.

THEOf this fort was that of the angel who ap
peared to Jofeph, and ordered him to carry the
child Jefus into Egypt, becauſe Herod fought to
deftroy him. In this apparition there are two
things to be confidered ; the impreffion made
upon Jofeph's mind, of an angel's appearing to
him ; and the prediction, or rather difcovery of
Herod's wicked intentions. We may with ce
tainty pronounce both thefe to exceed the ordinary
powers of human nature, but are not fure that they
are beyond the power of an angel. This, how-
ever,
ON APPARITIONS, & c. 163-
ever, is certain, that it could be done only by the

will and command of God
Next come the apparitions of angels, devils,
and ghosts, with only apparent bodies, or mere
fhadows and phantoms. Of this fort was that of
the angel who appeared to Manoah, the father of
Samfon, and vanished with the fmoke of the fa
crifice : and the angel that delivered Peter out of
prifon, and diſappeared in the fame manner, after
having led him through one ftreet. With regard
to the bodies of thefe angels, which I fuppofe to
have been only apparent, there occur fome diffi-
culties, not eaſily cleared up . For theſe bodies
muft either have been their own property, or only
borrowed and affumed .
If we fuppofe them to have been their own, and
to affent to the opinion of feveral ancient and
fome modern writers, that angels and devils, and
even human fouls, are invefted with a thin, trans
fparent, airy body, the difficulty will be to account
for this tranſparent body's being condenſed, fo as
to become visible. If it were naturally vifibley
nothing less than a perpetual miracle could make
it invifible, and unperceived by our fenfes. But
if it be naturally invifible, what power has inter-
poſed to make it vifible? Which ever fide we
take, it feems equally miraculous to render a fpi-
.
ritual being an object of fenfe, and to make a pale
pable and corporeal being invifible.
M 2 LXXVI. Of
164 A DISSERTATION
LXXVI. De vide
Of the opinion that fpirits have fubtile bodies.
HE primitive fathers of the church, who at

THtributed to angels their aerial bodies, were
lefs at a lofs to account for the feveral phænomena
which puzzle our modern fyftems. For inftance,
the prediction of future events by devils, and their
miraculous operations upon the air, and other ele
ments, and even human bodies ; (all which vaftly
exceed the power of the moft exalted faculties of.
men) the production of difcafes, by evil angels:
corrupting and infecting the air, their prompting
men to wicked thoughts and impure defires, their
knowledge of all our thoughts and defires, their
foreſeeing changes in the air, coming of ftorms,
and the badneſs of approaching feafons. All theſe
phænomena, I fay, are accounted for with greater
eafe by thofe, who fuppofe that devils have bodies
compofed of a very thin and fubtile fpecies of
air.
St. Auftin had once afferted, that fpirits have a
faculty of finding out our moft fecret thoughts and
inclinations, by obferving certain external tokens
and motions, which efcape the vigilance of the
moft circumfpect of men. But upon farther re-
k
flection, he retracted this opinion, and owned that
he had spoken too decifively upon fo intricate
a queſtion, and that the manner in which evil an-
gels difcover our thoughts, is a fubject too much
involved in obfcurity to be clearly comprehended,
or fatisfactorily explained by man. He chufes,
therefore, to fufpend his judgment, and continue
in doubt upon this matter.
ZZ 1 Auguft. Retract, 1. ii. c. 30.

We
We are alfo equally ignorant of the manner in

which the two following effects are produced :
namely, how a fpirit endtied with a body, mate-
rial indeed, but extremely thin and ſubtile, can
condenfe and thicken this body, fo as to make it
an object of fight and touch ; or, how a fpirit
can produce fuch a change in the rays of light, as
to render them capable of making the fame im-
preffions upon our fenfes, that a real, material body
would do, if it were prefent.
દ LXXVII.
ean ari I IX
Difficulty of accounting for apparitions, upon a Suppo-

fition that angels, fouls, &c. are purely spiritual
beings.
HE duty ftill increafes, if we fuppofe

T theft fpirits to" be entirely difengaged from
all matter.Fon in this cafe, how can we ac-
count for a fpirit's taking a certain quantity of
matter, uniting himſelf to it, and forming it into
the shape of a human body, fo accurately as to
be known, to be capable of ſpeaking, acting, con-
verfing, eating, and drinking ; all which was done
by the angels that appeared to Abraham¹ , and the
angel that conducted Tobit to Rages ? Are thefe
things performed by a bare exertion of the natural
powers of thefe fpirits ? And has God originally
endued them with this power, and obliged himſelf,
by virtue of the eſtabliſhed laws of nature, to com-
municate, in confequence of the volitions of the
fpiritual fubftance, # certain motions to the air, or
to any other body, which it fhould think proper
to affume for the performance of thefe functions,
Gen. xviii. 1 , 2. Tobit xii . 19 .
M 3 in
166 A DISSERTATION O
in the fame manner as, in conſequence of the union

between the human foul and body, he has empow-
ered the foul to communicate to the body, fuch a
quantity, and fuch a direction of M motion, as it has
before refolved to communicate?? And yet there
is naturally no connection between matter and fpi-
rit ; nor can they act upon each other, by virtue
of any difcoverable law of naturel The whole
"muſt be refolved into the arbitrary will of the first
caufe of all things, who has thought proper to
produce fuch a degree of motion, and to cauſe
fuch effects, în confequence of the determinations
of the human will. is
Or, fhall we adopt the fyftem of a modern wri-
ter " , and fay ; " Though we have the ideas of
" matter and thinking, yet poffibly we fhall never
" be able to know, whether any mere material be-
" ing thinks or not ; it being impoffible for us,
" by the contemplation of our own ideas, without
revelation, to difcover whether omnipotency
has not given to fome fyftems of matter, fitly
* difpofed, à power to perceive and think, or elfe
joined and fixed to matter fo difpofed, a think-
દર ing immaterial fubftance : it being, in refpect of
*
our notions, not much more remote from our
comprehenfion to conceive, that God can, if he
pleafes, fuperadd to matter a faculty of think-
** ing, than that he fhould fuperadd to it another
fubftance, with a faculty of thinking ; fince we
" know not wherein thinking confifts, nor to what
*** fort of ſubſtances the Almighty has been pleaſed
靠
<< to give that power, which cannot be in any
created being, but merely by the good pleaſure
and bounty of the creator."
But this hypothefis certainly abounds with great
abfurdities, greater, I think, than thofe which it
Looke's Effay, Book iv, c. 3. § 6.

was
was intended to avoid. We have clear ideas of

matter's being divifible and fufceptible of motion,
but we have no comprehenfion of its being capa,
able of thinking, or that thinking can confift in a
particular configuration of parts, or a certain de-
gree of motion. But were it poffible that a power
of thinking fhould arise from matter's being modi-
~ fied and moved after a certain manner 1: it will fol
low, that when this modification is altered, or this
motion fufpended, the power of thinking will
ccafea and confequently that which conftitutes the
efferice of many confidered as a reasonable being
will be deſtroyed. And thus there is an end of
all religion, and all our hopes of a future life.
God forbid that we should think of affigning li
mits to the almighty power of the Supreme Being.
繁阳
But fince all our knowledge neceffarily depends
Supon the clearness of our ideas, and we are entirely
in the dark where this clearness is wanting, it fol-
vdows, that we have no right to affert the poffibility
of matter's thinking, fince we cannot difcover
the leaft poffible connection between matter and
thought. Indeed, if we could borrow any light
from revelation , and the thing had been decided
by the authority of Scripture, we might then fi-
lence the workings of human reafon, and bring
into captivity every thought to the obedience of faith.
But it is allowed, that revelation is wholly filent
upon this head ; nor has the truth of the notion
been established by any demonftrative proof. It
can, therefore, be looked upon as nothing but a
mere hypothefis, invented in order to get rid of
certain difficulties arifing from the contrary notion.
-But if it be fo difficult to explain the manner in
which the foul acts upon the body, is it not ftill
more difficult to conceive the foul itſelf to be a
material, extended fubftance ? But if this muft be
M 4 admitted ,
1688 s ADISSERTATION
admitted defire to know, whether, in this caſe,

1 its own mosq
the foul acts upon itfelf, and begins
tion, in order to think ? Whether thought is no
thing but mere motion, or a confequence of mo-
tion ? Whether this thinking matter thinks al-
ways, or only now and then ? Upon a ceffation
of thought, what caufe produces it afreſh ? Is it
God, or the foul itſelf? Can a fubftance, fimple
and uncompounded, act upon itſelf, and almoft
create itſelf anew, by thinking multa died to
But, to apply what has been advanced above, to
this queftion of apparitions, I think we fhall be
involved in fewer difficulties, by fuppofing ſpirits
to have, as it were, a property in a certain quan-
tity of matter, which they can difpofe of and move
as they pleafe ; than by embracing the contrary
opinion. The thing will become ftill eafier, by
fuppofing that this matter is capable of being con-
denfed or rarefied itſelf, of condenfing or rarefying
the air about it, and of acting upon our fenfes in
'
fuch a manner, as to make us believe, that we
lactually fee, feel, hear, or touch what only paffes
Ax
in our imagination ; or, on the contrary, of not
feeing or feeling what is actually prefent to our
fenfes.ds, 2
* LXXVIIL
Difficulties attending this fubject, whatever fyftem we

embrace.
Y reader will probably complain, that I leave

Μ 'him in a ſtate of confufion ; and that, in-
ftead of clearing up this fubject of apparitions, I
involve it in freſh doubt and perplexity. The
scharge, I own, is juft , but I chufe rather to fuf-
pend
ON APPARITIONS, 169
pend my judgment, than to pronounce decifively
upon a fubject which I do not fully comprehend.
And if I were to confine myſelf ſtrictly to what
our religion teaches us concerning the nature of
angels, devils, and human fouls, I fhould fay,
that as they are pure fpirits, it is impoffible they
ſhould ever appear in any body whatſoever, except
in cafe of a miracle : fuppofing all along, that God
has not formed them fo as to be naturally capable
of these functions, fubordinately to his fovereign
will, which feldom permits them to exert this
power of appearing corporally to meno
If there have been inftances of angels eating,
fpeaking, Y walking, and acting like men, it was
not becauſe they were under any neceffity of eat-
ing and drinking, in order to fupport their being,
but to execute the will of God, who was pleafed
that they should perform theſe functions when they
appeared to men By the will of our God, fays
the archangel Raphael , 1 came all thefer days did
1 appear unto your [to eat and drink] but I did nei-
ther eat nor drink, but you did fee a vifion. And in-
deed it is not eaſy to form any notion of the nou➡i
rifhment of angels, who are beings of a purely
fpiritual nature, or to guess what became of the
food, which this Raphael, and the three angels,
whom Abraham ? entertained in his tent, took, or,
at leaft, feemed to take in the common way.
Tobit xii, 18 , 19.
LXXIX. Whe-
ON
RTATI
DISSE NO
多
plovilicsb stanouong of m'a a Lang
band- rques viul XIX .
་ 03 tow i
of 1 li hai.
beaker the bodies ofglaſts are animared by theirforə

yat ik mer fouls, or by devils.
★ HE fame difficulties occur likewife in the

badaſe of apparitions of departed fouls, except
we admit of this folution, that fouls fometimes
return to their former bodies for a fmall space of
time, in order to defire prayers, or to fee reftitu-
tion made, or merely with a view to disturb the
livings which laft feems to be the only affignable
motive, in the cafe of the vampires which are fo
much talked of in Moravia, Hungary, and Sile-
ha. For it is very uncertain, whether this fpecies
of apparitions is carried on by human fouls, or by
devils.The truth feems rather to be, that in
fome inftances, devils are the agents, and in others,
departed foulsnt rubiak es gads croce moder
One may eaſily conceive how a foul, affifted by
the power of God, can communicate fresh motion
-to a body, which ſtill retains fome proximity to
dife by the fluidity of its blood, and the mobility
and folid texture of its organs, as has been obferved
to be the cafe in vampires and broucolaca's ; of
which laft of fhall give fome account by and by.
Their limbs have been found to be pliant and
moveable, the blood warm and fluid, and all the
parts of the body entire ; fo that nothing was
wanting but to make the heart refume its motion,
and to restore to the machine its fubftantial form,
that is, its reaſonable foul, or, if . you pleaſe, to
make an evil spirit enter the body in its room.
LXXX. Of
LXXX.
a
Of bobgoblins, and what nations we are to entertain
ph of them ...
S for the apparitions of goblins, familiar fpi

A rits, incubi, fuccubi, lamiæ, fairies, angels,
lemures, and a hundred other forts of fpirits com
monly talked of, I readily allow that most of the
ftories related of them are trifling and fabulous.
Ifhould never have done, if I had a mind to col
lect all that I have heard or read relating to this
matter, or to give an abftract of the opinions of
many celebrated writers, both ancient and modern,
upon the fubject of thefe apparitions. The labour
would ftill be greater to attempt to confute, and
fhew the folly of, the tales that are vulgarly re-
received and the refult of it would probably be not
thing more, than to add to the doubt and uncer-
tainty in which the fubject is already involved, fince
I could pretend to nothing beyond mere conjecture
and hypothefis.The affertors of the corporality
of angels, devils, and fouls, reafon upon one fet
of principles ; and thoſe who believe them to be
incorporeal, and entirely difengaged from all mat
ter, proceed upon quite different maxims ar
Thoſe who pretend that the common ſtories
concerning ſpirits and ghofts are mere fictions of
churchmen , who find their account in propagating
thefe opinions, would do well to reflect, that the
heathens, who derived no advantage from theſo
apparitions, and the barbarous nations ofthe North,
who cannot be ſuſpected of ſuch artifices, have all
along had the fame notions of fpirits, ghofts, gob
Jins, devils, and genii, that prevail among Chrifti-
ans and churchmen.. And what is very remarka
ble, the primitive Chriftians, who are afferted by
proteftants
172 A DISSERTATION
proteftants to have known nothing of a purgatory,

or prayers for the dead, make frequent mention of
apparitions of departed fouls, and of devils that
have been known to poffefs, moleft, and exert a
very extenfive power over men. No authors have
writ in ftronger terms, concerning obfeffions, ap-
paritions, and the power of devils, than the an-
cient fathers ; and in all ages of the church, it has
been a custom to exorcife children that come to be
baptized, and perfons under obfeffions or poffeffi-
ons of the devil. In thefe practices it is evident,
that the intereft of bifhops and priests was not in
the leaft concerned .
LXXXI.
Thoughts concerning goblins.
HE fpecies of fpirits, called goblins, feems to

be of a middle nature between good and evil
angels ; for it is very feldom that they do any
harm ; on the contrary, they frequently do little
fervices, which no one defires of them, fuch as
bringing to the animals they have taken a fancy
to, or the houſes they frequent, things which be-
*
long to other people. That they are not devils,
we may conclude from their little waggiſh tricks ;
at leaft, that they are not devils of a malignant
nature, fuch as are in a ftate of torment in hell,
fuch as follicit men to fin, and fuch as we pray to
be delivered from in the Lord's prayer, when we
fay, Lead us not into temptation ; but deliver us from
evil, (or, from the evil one, a TE TONE,)
If they are good angels, their actions have not
that ferioufnefs, which our ideas of the high rank
and dignity of thoſe happy fpirits teach us to ex-
pect. For goblins are never known to lead men
into temptation, but generally do them ſervice ;
they
they are fond of play, and of working in mines,
but their labour produces no real effects. Some
of them, however , are more mischievously difpofed :
they are angry at being thwarted, and are fome-
times guilty of great diforders, fo as to force the
workmen to defert mines of great value, ་ which
they have taken a fancy to feize for themſelves . 11
Whether they appear in their own proper bodies,
or with factitious, artificial, or borrowed bodies,
is a point which we are unable to decide. I have
given fome inftances of thefe fpirits which have
not appeared at all, but have given proofs of their
being prefent, only by actions or words. The
fpirit of Epinal, recorded by Richerius, faid he
was the foul of a young man of the village of
Clefentine, not far diftant from Epinal. Whether
this fpirit came from heaven, or hell, or purgatory ,
is a queftion which I will not venture to decide.
This, however, may be faid with fafety, that if
he made an offering to St. Goerick, he expected to
receive fome benefit from the faint's protection, or
perhaps he had a mind to impofe upon the peo-
ple by this fhew of devotion.
LXXXII.
1
Conclufion of this Differtationing vi
PON the whole, from what has been faid

UPON
U upon this head, we may conclude,
First, that the matter of fact, (namely, that an-
gels, devils, and departed fouls, do fometimes come
again and appear, and confequently, that thefe ap-
paritions are not only poffible, but real and actual,
founded upon the authority of the facred writings
both of the Old and New Teftament, upon ' the
reftimony of authors, Greek and Latin, Chriftian
and
174 A DISSERTATION
and heathen) is indifputably made out. And

yet, we are not, for this reafon, to aſſent to every}
ſtory that we meet with in uninfpired writers, or
even to anſwer for the truth of all that is advanced
in this Differtation . sow 793
Secondly, That the manner in which thefe ap
paritions are brought about, is hitherto unknown.
Neither Scripture, nor reaſon , fupply us with any
certain principles for the explication of thefe pha
nomena ; and, therefore, we can only form con™
jectures, and guefs at probable folutions. And
this we have a right to do, provided we confine our
doubts within the limits of reafon, and are guided
in our enquiries by a ſpirit of modeſty and docility
to the great points of religion. whatuwe gated
Thirdly, That the foul is immortal, and that
there is a future ftate, with punishments for the
wicked, and rewards for the good, and that no-
thing defiled fhall enter into the kingdom of Gods
That there are good angels, which incline us to
good, and evil angels, which tempt us to irreligion,
wickednefs, and impenitence : and theſe are the
points which I propofed to demonſtrate in this
Treatife.
Fourthly, That it is probable that ſpiritual be-
ings, as well as departed fouls, as angels and de-
vils, are invefted by the Supreme Being, the crea-
tor and preferver of all things, with an extenfive
power of acting upon fublunary bodies, and cau-
fing in them very great and very dreadful alte-
rations.
This conclufion is confirmed by a variety of facts,
recorded in an infinite number of hiſtories, and
by the exorcifms and prayers of the church, which
are founded upon a perfuafion that the air is full of
evil fpirits, called by St. Paul ', princes of the power
Ephef. ii. 2, and vi, 12.

of
of the air, and rulers of the darkneſs of this world,
the head of whom is ftiled in the Gospel , the
prince of this world. We may farther gather, that
the power of theſe ſpirits would be much more ex-
tenfive than it is, if it were not limited and fuf-
pended by the power of God, and the mercy of
Jefus Chrift, who affures us in his Gofpel ', that he
has overcome Satan, and made him fall from bea-
ven, and commands us to pray without ceafing, that
we may refift temptation, and be fecure from the
malice of the devil, who, in the apoftle's phrafe ,
like a roaring lion, walketh about feeking to devour
us, if we give him any opportunity of doing it
by our own negligence and prefumption, in ex-
pofing ourſelves needlefsly to the danger of his
temptations.c
John xii. 31. xiv. 30. Luke x. 18.

1Pet. v. $.
A DISSERTATION
1
M
50.. Ch
hoo
CITO
112
A
DISSERTATION
CONCERNING
VAMPIRE S,
OR THE
SPECTRES
Which appear in
Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia and Silefia.
N
1
PREFACE.
VERY age, nation, and country has its par

ticular prejudices, difeafes, fashions, and incli
E
nations, which feem to diftinguish their feveral
characters, and having had their day, go
off, and are fucceeded by others : and it frequently
happens, that what was the object of admiration at
one time, is treated with contempt and ridicule in an-
other.
There have been ages in which the empire offashion
has extended itself even to matters of devotion, learn-
ing, and difcipline, and would fuffer only particular
forts of each to go down. For more than a century,
the prevailing tafte of Europe was travelling to Fe-
rufalem. Kings, princes, nobles, bishops, priefts, and
monks, ran thither in crowds. At another time, pil-
grimages to Rome were in high vogue ; and at preſent
they are both laid afide. Whole provinces were, at
one time, overrun withflagellants ; and now there re-
mains no trace of them, but in a few fraternities of
penitents, which still fubfift in fome obfcure places.
There appeared not long ago in this part of Europe,
a fort of tumblers and dancers, who were eternally ca-
pering and dancing in the streets, thefquares, and even
in the churches: and theyfeem to be revived in the con-
vulfionaries ofour time, who will be a fresh fubject of
aftonishment to pofterity, as they are of ridicule to us.
About the end of the fixteenth century, and the be-
ginning of the feventeenth, nothing was talked of in
Lorrain but wizards and witches ; but it is now a
great while fince they have been entirely forgot. At
the first appearance of Defcartes's philofophy, the run
it had was furprising. The ancient fyftems were ex-
N 2 ploded,
180° PREFACE. I
ploded, and nothing talked of but experiments in natu-

ral philofophy, new hypothefes, new difcoveries. No
fooner did Newton appear, than he drew all the?
after him. What a diſturbance was lately raised in
the kingdom by Mr. Law's fcheme, bank bills, and
all the madness of Quinquempoix -street ? It feems to
be a new species of convulfion that had laid hold of
every head in France.
In this century, a new fcene has been prefented to
our view, for about fixty years paft, in Hungary,
Moravia, Silefia, and Poland. It is common, we are
told, to fee men, who have been dead feveral years,
or, at least , feveral months, come again, walk about,
infeft villages, torment men and cattle, fuck the blood
of their relations, throw them into diforders, and
at laft , occafion their death: and there is no way, it
Jeems, to get rid of these troublesome vifitants, but by
digging them out of their graves, impaling them, cut-
ting off their beads, taking out their hearts, and burn-
ing their bodies. The name by which they are known,
is that of Oupires, or Vampires ; and the ftories
about them are related with fuch a minute particularity
and probability of circumftances, and confirmed by fo
manyfolemn attestations upon oath, that one canfearce
reject the opinion which prevails in thoſe countries,
that thefe ghostsfeem really to come out of their graves,
and produce the effects which are related of them .
It is certain, that nothing of this fort was ever
feen or known in antiquity. Search the hiftories of
the Jews, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and you
willfind nothing that comes near it. It is true, there
are inftances in history, but they are very rare, ofper-
fons that have returned to life, after having been fome
time in their graves, and looked upon es dead. We
hallfind too, that it was an opinion among the anci
ents, that magick might be employed both to deprive
people of their lives, and to raife the fouls of the de-
ceafed. There are some paffages cited, which prove
that
1
PREFACE. 181
that it was a prevailing notion in certain times, that

wizards fucked the blood of men and children, and
occafioned their death. In the twelfth century, there
appeared ghosts of much the fame fpecies with thofe in
Hungary but in no hiftory do we read of any thing
fo common, or fo circumftantial, as thefe relations of
vampires in Germany.
•We meet withfome inftances in Christian antiquity,
of excommunicated perfons, who have viſibly, and be-
fore all the congregation, come out of their graves,
and quitted the church, when the deacon pronounced
the order for all excommunicated perfons, and those
who did not partake in the facred myfteries, to retires
For many ages past, nothing of thisfort has happened,
though it is evident, that feweral perfons, who died
in aftate of excommunication, are buried in churches;
and are every day present at the holyfacrifice.
The opinion entertained by the modern Greeks, that
the bodies of excommunicated perfons were not in their
graves, bas no foundation either in antiquity or found
philofophy, and is not even countenanced by biftory. It
Jeems to be an invention of the modern fchifmaticks of
the Greek charch, to authoriſe and ſupport their re
voitfrom the Roman communion. The opinion of the
primitive eburch was directly contrary ; namely, that
the incorruptible state of a carcass was rather afymp
tom offanctity, and a proof of a particular fuperin-
tendence of Providence over a body, which had for-
merly been the temple of the Holy Ghoſt, and had kept
up the genuine character of Christianity, by living in
righteousness and innocence.
The broncolaca's of Greece and the Archipelago, are
ghofts of another fpecies. One can scarce perfuade
one's felf that it could be ever poffible for the Greeks
to entertainfo romantick a notion. They must needs be
deeply immersed in ignorance and prejudice, ſince there
bas hitherto appeared
IN no writer of anyfort, either
TATE church-
N 3
182 PREFACE .
church- man or lay-man, to undeceive them in this

respect,
The notion entertained by fome of dead people's chew-
ing in their graves, and making a noife, like bogs
when they eat, is too ridiculous to deferve a serious
confutation.
My defign in this Differtation is to difcufs the quef-
tion concerning the ghosts or vampires of Hungary,
Moravia, Silefia, and Poland. I expect to meet
with great feverity of criticism, in what way foever
I handle it. Those who are convinced of the truth
of thefe relations, will accufe me of rafhness and pre-
Jumption, for venturing to question them, and much
more for denying their existence. Others will blame
me for throwing away my time in writing upon this
fubject, which is looked upon as frivolous and trifling
by many perfons of unquestionable good fenfe. But,
whatever opinion may be entertained of my defign, I
can never repent of having examined to the bottom a
fubject , which I thought of importance in a religious
view. For if the return of thefe vampires be real,
it is worth while to defend and eſtabliſh its truth. If
it be nothing but mere whim, it is ofgreat importance
to religion, to undeceive thofe who look upon it as true,
and to put astop to an error that may be attended with
very dangerous confequences,
A DISSERTATION
teket
DISSERTATION
CONCERNING
VAMPIRES,
OR THE
Spectres which appear in Hungary,

Bohemia, Moravia, and Silefia .
AVING treated, in a particular Differ-

H tation, the fubject of apparitions of an-
gels, devils, and $ departed fouls, I am
tempted, by the affinity of the matter,
to fay fomething of fpectres of another fort, name-
ly, thofe that come again in the body : fuch as
excommunicated perfons, whom the earth is faid
to caft up out of her bowels, the vampires of
Hungary, Silefia, Bohemia, Moravia, and Poland,
and the broncolaca's of Greece. In treating this
fubject, I fhall firft give the fubftance of what I
have learned about it, either from common report,
or from books : fecondly, I fhall deduce fome
confequences from it, and then give the reaſons
that may be alledged both for and againſt the ex-
iftence and reality of thefe apparitions.
N 4 SECT .
184 A DISSERTATION :
SECT. I.
That the refurrection of a dead body can be effected by

God only.
Lay it down, at first , as an indisputable prin-

ciple, that to raife to again a perfon that is
really dead, can be effected only by the power of
God. It is impoffible for any man to reſtore life,
either to himſelf or to another, without a vifible
miracle.
Our Saviour indeed rofe again, as he had fore-
told, by virtue of his own power ; but his refur-
rection was attended with circumftances of a moft
miraculous nature. If he had rifen, immediately
after his being taken down from the crofs, it might
have been faid that he was not quite dead, and that
fome principles of life were ftill left in him, which
might be revived by the help of warmth, or cor-
dials, or other things capable of recovering the
fpirits. But he did not rife till the third day, and
he had even been killed, if I may uſe the expref
fion, after he was dead, by his fide being pierced
with the fpear, which alone must have occafioned
his death, if he had not been too far gone before.
When Lazarus was raifed to life , our Saviour :
ftaid till he had been dead four days, and begun
to putrefy, which circumftance is the most infalli
ble fymptom of real death, and leaves no hopes
of returning to life, but by fupernatural means
The refurrection of which Job expreffes, fuch
a confident expectation : the inftance of the
dead man, who revived upon touching Elisha's
bones ; that of the Shunamite's fon, who was re-
1945 ft *
John xi . 39 18 $ 2 Kings xiii. 21, 22, 23
Job xix . 25.
ftored
ON VAMPIRES, &C. 185
ftored to life by the fame prophet d, and the refur-

rection of the dry bones foretold by Ezekiel , and
fulfilled in his prefence ; in a word , all the inftances
ofrefurrections recorded both in the Old and New
Teftament, are evidently miraculous effects, and to
be attributed folely to the almighty power of God,
-II.
Revival of perfons not really dead.
S for inftances of refufcitations, in cafes where

凌
A perfons but were
only afleep, or in a lethargy, or have lain long
under water, and recovered afterwards by proper
care, good remedies, and the affiftance of fkilful
furgeons thefe are evidently out of the prefent
queftion. The perfons, in thefe cafes, cannot be
confidered as properly coming to life again, ſince
they were not really, but only apparently dead.
I mean to fpeak of another fort of refufcitated
perfons, who have been buried feveral months ,
and in fome cafes feveral years, and who muft
needs have been fuffocated in their graves, if they
had at firft been buried alive, but are found with
many fymptoms of life about them, fuch as their
blood ſtill fluid , their fleſh entire, their colour freſh ,
and their limbs pliant and flexible. Theſe are the
fpectres which are faid to come again, as well by
day as in the night . Their errand is to torment
the living in all manner of ways, fuch as fucking
their blood, and fo caufing their death, appearing'
in their former clothes to their own families, fit-
ting down at table, and a thouſand other things ;
which having done, they return to their graves,
and no one can diſcover how they got out of them,
* 2 Kings iv. Ezek . xxxvii. 1, 2, 3, &c.³

nor
186 A DISSERTATION
nor how they find their way into them again. In

fhort, it is a fort of momentary refurrection , for 1
inſtead of living, eating, drinking, and converfing
with other men, like the perfons recorded in Scrip-
ture to have been raiſed from the dead, thefe vam-
pires appear only for a certain time, in certain
countries, and in certain circumſtances, and never
appear any more after they are impaled, burned,
or beheaded.
III.
sab
How this fpecies of refurrection may be effected.
we fuppofe this laſt fort of redivivi not to be

I really dead, there is nothing fupernatural in
their return, except the manner in which it is done,
and the circumftances with which it is attended.
For it may be questioned, whether they do any
thing more than wake out of their fleep, or reco-
ver their fpirits, like perfons who fall into a fwoon,
or fainting fit, and after a time come to themſelves
naturally, by the blood and animal ſpirits return-
ing to their ufual motion. i
But fuppofing this to be the cafe, how do they
come out of their graves, without opening the
earth, and go in again, without leaving any marks
behind them ? Befides, was there ever an inftance
of a lethargick or fainting fit that lafted for whole.
years ? 4 And, if we muſt admit of a real reſur-
rection, was it ever known, that dead perfons were
raiſed of themſelves, and by their own proper
power?
If they were not raiſed by their own power,
fhall we have recourfe to the power of God for the
folution of the difficulty ? But what proof have.
we of the interpofition of God ? or what end can
be affigned for this exertion of his omnipotence ?
Shall
ON VAMPIRES, & C. 187
.
Shall we venture to fay, that he defigns the ma
nifeftation of his own glory and that his glory is ,
really promoted by vampires?
But if God be not the agent, is it an angel, or-
a devil, of the foul that formerly was united to the
body of the vampire ? With regard to the latter,
is it certain, that a foul, once feparated from the
body, has a power of entering again at will, and
reftoring it anew to life, for a bare quarter of an
hour? As to either of the former, fhall we at-
tribute to an angel or devil a power of restoring a
dead perfon to life ? Certainly not, except in cafe-
of an exprefs command, or, at the lowest, a per-
miffion from God. I have difcuffed , in the former
part of this work, the queſtion concerning the na-
ན།
tural power of angels and devils over human bo-
dies ; and fhewn , that neither reaſon nor revelation
furnish us with any certain information upon this
head,
IV.
Inftance of a man, who had been buried three years,

raifed to life again by St. Stanislaus.
LL the lives of the faints abound with vari

A ous inftances of perfons raiſed to life again
which inftances have evidently a connexion with the
fubject now before us, concerning dead perfons, or
fuch as have been thought dead, appearing again,
with a human body and foul, and even living fome
time after their refurrection. Of all the ftories of
this fort, I fhall only relate that of St. Staniſlaus , bi-
fhop of Cracow, who raifed a man to life that had
been dead three years, with circumftances of fo re-
markable a nature, and in fo publick a manner, that
the fact will ſtand the teft ofthe fevereft enquiry . The
life of St. Staniſlaus was writ either at the time of
his
188 A DISSERTATION
his martyrdom , or foon after, by different au

thors, fully acquainted with the things they relate ;
for the martyrdom of the faint, and above all, the
refurrection of the dead inan, were feen by an in-,
finite number of witneffes, and particularly by all
king Boleflaus's court ; and as the event happened
in Poland, where vampires are to this day very
common, it may, upon this account, be confider
ed as having a particular relation to the matter?
which I am now treating.
F
St. Stanislaus having bought of a gentleman,"
named Peter, an eftate fituated upon the Viftula,
in the territory of Lublin, for the ufe of his cathe-
dral, paid the money to the feller before feveral
witneffes, and with all the forms requifite in that
country, but without any written inftrument ; for
at that time purchaſes were generally made in Po
land before witneffes only. St. Stanislaus foon after
took poffeffion of the eftate by the king's autho
rity, and his church had quiet poffeffion of it for
about three years.
In the interval, the gentleman who had fold it

died ; and Boleflaus, king of Poland, who had
conceived an implacable hatred to the bishop, for
the freedom which he had taken in reproving the
king's vicés, laid hold of this occafion to vex him ; +
and prevailed upon the gentleman's three fons to
claim the estate, which their father had fold, on a
pretence of its not being paid for, and the king
+
promiſed to ſupport the claim, and get it adjudged
to them. Upon this affurance, the gentlemen fum-
moned the bishop to appear before the king, who
was then at Soleck, adminiftring juſtice in the ge-
neral anembly of the nation, held under tents in the
open field, according to the ancient cuftom of the
country. The bishop appeared before the king,
1
to site Bolasdeti Mati pe 156, feq.
eid and
ON VAMPIRES, &c. 189
and afferted, that he had bought and paid for the
eſtate in difpute ; but when the witneffes were fum ,
moned, they would not venture to give their evi
dence. It happened that the place where the af
fembly was held was very near Peterwin, the name
of the eſtate in queftion . Night was coming on
and the biſhop was in great danger of being con-
demned by the king and his affeffors ; when all on
a fudden, as if feized with a divine, infpiration, he
cried out, that he would undertake to bring Peter,
who had fold the estate, before the king within
three days. The propofal was accepted ; but treat
ed with great contempt, as impoffible to be exer
cuted.
The bishop immediately fet out for Peterwin,
where he spent the three days in prayer and faft-
ing with all his attendants . The third day he went
in his pontifical habit, accompanied by his clergy,
and a great multitude of people, to Peter's grave,
and ordered them to lift off the ftone, and dig till
they came to the dead man's carcafs, which they
found quite decayed and putrefied . The faint com-
manded him to come out, and appear before the
king's tribunal, to give evidence of the truth. The
dead man immediately rofe, and a mantle being
thrown over him, the faint took him by the hand,
and conducted him to the king. None of the
judges had the courage to examine m: but he
fpoke of his own accord, and declared that he had
fold his eftate fairly to the bishop, and had re-
ceived the full price for it. He then reprimanded
his fons very feverely, for being concerned in fo
malicious a profecution of the good bishop.
The faint then afked him, if he chofe to conti
nue aliye for any time, in order to complete his
repentance ; but the man thanked him , and faid he
did not defire to be again expofed to the danger
of finning. Upon this, the bishop waited upon him
back
196 A DISSERTATION
back to his grave, where he fell aſleep again in the

Lord. It may eaſily be fuppofed, that a fact of
this fort must be known to an infinite number of
witneffes, and foon propagated over all Poland.
Thefe circumftances ferved only to increaſe the
1
king's hatred againſt the biſhop ; and foon after
he murdered him with his own hand, as he came
down from the altar, and ordered his body to be
cut into feventy- two parts ; with a fpiteful view
to hinder them from being reaffembled, and re-
ceiving that worſhip, which was indifpenfably due
to the body of a martyr, who fuffered for the
cauſe of truth and epifcopal liberty. W
1 I come now to the principal fubject of this dif
quifition, namely, the vampires of Hungary and
Moravia, and others of the fame fpecies, who ap-
pear only for a fhort ſpace of time in their natural
bodies.
ง.
Refurrection and apparition of a girl, who had been

dead feveral months.
HLEGON, freed- man to the emperor Adrian,

PH in a fragment of his book De Mirabilibus ",
relates, that at Tralles in Afia, there was an inn-
keeper, who carried on a criminal converfation
with a girl, named Philinnium, daughter of De-
moftratus and Charito. It was not long before
the girl died, and was buried ; but the ftill con-
tinued to visit her gallant every night, and eat,
drank , and lay with him. One day, the girl's
purfe happened to fee her fitting with Machates,
the innkeeper, and ran immediately with the news
Phleg. de Mirabilib. t . vii, Gronov. Antiq . Græc.

p. 2694
to
to her mother Charito ; who, after a great many

fcruples, came at daft to the inn, but could not
fatisfy her curiofity, as it was very late, and every
one in bed. She difcovered, however, her daugh-
ter's clothes, and fancied that ſhe ſaw her daugh-
ter in bed with Machates. The next morning the
came again, but having loft her way, the miffed
feeing her daughter, who was gone before the mo
ther came. Machates related to her the whole af-
fair of her daughter's coming to him, by night,
for fome time paft ; and for a proof of what he
afferted, he opened a trunk, and fhewed a ring'
which Philinnium had given him, and the fillet
tied over her breaſt, which ſhe had left behind her
the night before.
Charito being no longer able to queſtion the
truth of the fact, abandoned herſelf to cries and
tears ; but being affured that ſhe ſhould have no-
tice the next night , when Philinnium came , fhe
went home. In the evening, the girl came as ufual,
and Machates inftantly fent to her parents ; for he
begun to fufpect that fome other girl had taken
Philinnium's clothes out of her grave, in order to
deceive him .
When Demoftratus and Charito came, they in-
ftantly knew their daughter, and ran to embrace
her ; but he cried out, I what could induce you to
diſturb my happineſs, and hinder me from ſpend-
ing only three days more with Machates, without
doing harm to any one ? Your curiofity fhall coft
you dear. And immediately fhe fell back upon
the bed, ftone-dead .
Phlegon, who was invefted with fome command
in the city, came and prevented the concourfe of
people that was affembling from making a tumult.
Next morning the people affembled in the theatre,
and refolved to fearch the vault where Philinnium ,
who died about fix months before, was buried .
2 Upon
TION
S ERTA
: 192 A DIS
Upon examining, they found all the reft of the

family ranged in order as they were buried, but
no Philinnium. There was only an iron ring, and
a gilt cup, which ſhe had received as prefents from
Machates. From the grave, the multitude came
to Machates's houfe, where the body of the girl
was found extended upon the floor. The next tep
was to confult an augur, who ordered them to
bury the body without the bounds of the city, to
appeaſe the furies, and terreftrial Mercury, to per-
form folemn obfequies to the Dii Manes, and fa-
crifice to Jupiter Hofpitalis, Mercury, and Mars.
Phlegon adds, addreffing himſelf to the perfon he
writes to, If you think proper to lay the affair be
fore the emperor, let me know it, that I may fend
you fome of the perfons who were witneffes of all
thefe particulars .
Here is a fact related with great particularity of
circumstances, and which feems to carry with it
all the marks of truth ; and yet is embarraffed with
numerous difficulties ; whether we fuppofe the
girl to be really dead, or only aſleep ; whether we
affert her refurrection to be wrought by a power
of her own, and as often as the pleafed or by a
dæmon, who restored her to life. One thing feems
clear, that it muſt have been a real body . A va-
"
riety of circumftances put this out of all doubt.
If indeed fhe was not really dead, but the whole
was a contrivance to gratify her paffion for Ma-
chates, there is nothing very incredible in the whole
account, fince we all know what love is capable of,
and the ſtrange freaks of people under the power
of a violent paffion
વિચાર વા VI.
4
VI.
A woman taken alive out of her grav?.
Na book lately publiſhed , there is a ftory

IN much like that which I have juſt related . A
tradefman of St. Honoré's street in Paris, had pro-
mifed his daughter to one of his friends, a tradef
man in the fame ſtreet. Soon after, a receiver of
the revenue made his addreffes to the girl ; and
being preferred to the tradefman, her old fweet-
heart, they were married. The young woman ,
c'er long, fell ill, and, being fuppofed to be dead,
was buried. Her first lover, having fome notion
of its being only a lethargy, or fainting fit, took
her out of the grave by night, and recovered her.
They were foon after married, and went into Eng-
land, 雛 where they lived happily together for feve-
ral years. At laft they returned to Paris , where
the woman was found out, upon fome publick
walk, by her firft hufband, who claimed her as
his wife, and commenced a law- fuit againſt her fe-
cond hufband. They pleaded in their defence,
that the first contract was made void by death ;
and proceeded to accufe the former huſband of
having defignedly buried his wife too foon. But,
forefeeing that this plea would not be received
as valid, they went abroad a ſecond time, and end-
ed their days in peace.
Will any one now venture to affert , that Philin-
nium, in Phlegon's ftory, was not in like manner
put into the vault before the was dead, and fo came
by night to visit her gallant Machates ? This was
certainly much eaſier for her, than for the woman
in the laft inftance, who was fairly put under ground,
Caufes Celebres, t. viii. p. $47.

O and
£94 A DISSERTATION
and continued covered with earth, and wrapped up

in a fhrowd, for fome confiderable time.
The other inftance, related in the fame work, is
of a young • woman who fell into a fwoon, and
was taken for dead ; but in the interval 1 was got
with child, without knowing by whom. At laft,
the author of the great belly, who was a monk,
diſcovered himself, and infifted upon being dif-
charged from his religious vows, as having been
made by force. This was the foundation of a long
law fuit, the records of which are ſtill preferved .
The iffue of it was, that the monk was releafed
from his vows, and married the girl. This in-
ftance alfo is much like that of Philinnium , and
the girl of St. Honoré's ftreet. Theſe perfons,
however, were not really dead, and confequently
there was no refurrection in their cafe.
VII
Apparitions in Moravia.
Have been affured by the late M. de Vaffimont,

I judge of the court of Exchequer at Bar, that
when he was fent into Moravia by his late royal
highnefs Leopold I. duke of Lorraine, upon fome
bufinefs of the duke's brother, prince Charles,
biſhop of Olmutz and Ofnabrug, it was a thing
commonly talked of in that country, that perfons ,
who had died fome time before, frequently ap-
peared in company, and fat down to table with
their former acquaintance, without fpeaking a word ;
but that they nodded their head to fome one of the
company, who infallibly died within a few days.
The truth of the fact was afferted to him by feve-
ral perfons, and in particular by an old clergyman,
who affirmed that he had known more inftances of ·
it than one.
The
ON VAMPIRES, & c.
195
The bithops and clergy of the country thought
proper to confult the pope upon fo extraordinary
a cafe, but they received no anſwer, becauſe the
whole was confidered as a mere whim, or vulgar
error. The next ſtep they took was to dig up
the bodies of the perfons that came again, and
burn them , or confume them fome other way. By
this means they got rid of theſe troubleſome vifi-
tants, and the country, fays the honeft prieſt, is
not fo much infested with them as formerly.
1*** VIII.
Summary of a book, entitled Magia Pofthuma.
HIS laft fpecies of apparitions has given oc-

THcafion to a ſmall treatife, entitled Magia
Pofthuma, writ by Charles Ferdinand de Schertz,
printed at Olmutz in 1706, and dedicated to prince
Charles of Lorraine, bishop of Olmutz and Ofna
brug. The author relates a ftory of a woman that
died in a certain village, after having received all
the facraments, and was buried with the ufual ce
remonies in the church-yard. About four days af
ter her death, the inhabitants of the village were
affrighted with an uncommon noife and outcry,
and faw a fpectre, fometimes in the fhape of a
dog, and fometimes in that of a man, which ap
peared to great multitudes of people, and put them
to exceffive pain, by fqueezing their throats, and
preffing their breafts, almoft to fuffocation . There
were feveral whole bodies he bruifed all over, and
reduced them to the utmost weakness , fo that they
grew pale, lean, and disfigured. His fury was
fometimes fo great as not to fpare the very beafts ;
for cows were frequently found beat to the earth,
half dead ; at other times with their tails tied to
- one another ; and their hideous lowings fufficienly
O 2 expreffed
196 A DISSERTATION
expreffed the pain they felt. Horfes were often

found almoſt wearied to death , foaming with ſweat,
and out of breath, as if they had been running a
long and tireſome race : and theſe calamities con-
tinued for feveral months.
The author of the treatife examines into the
fubject in the capacity of a lawyer, and difcuffes
both the matter of fact and the points of law arif➡
ing from it. He is clearly of opinion, that if the
fufpected perfon was really the author of theſe
noifes, diſturbances, and acts of cruelty, the law
willjuftify the burning of the body, as is practifed
in the cafe of other fpectres which come again and
moleft the living. He relates alfo ſeveral other
"
ftories of apparitions of this fort, and particula-
rifes the mifchiefs done by them. One, among
others, is of a herdfman of the village of Blow
near the town of Kadam in Bohemia, who appear-
ed for a confiderable time together, and called
upon feveral perfons, who all died within eight
days. At laft, the inhabitants of Blow dug up
the herdfman's body, and fixed it in the ground,
with a ſtake drove through it. The man, even in
this condition, laughed at the people that were
employed about him, and told them they were
very obliging to furnish him with a ſtick to de-
fend himſelf from the dogs. The fame night he
extricated himſelf from the ftake, frightened feve-
ral perfons by appearing to them, and occafioned
the death of many more than he had hitherto done.
He was then delivered into the hands of the hang-
man, who put him into a cart, in order to burn
him without the town. As they went along, the
carcafs fhrieked in the moft hideous manner, and
threw about its arms and legs, as if it had been
alive and upon being again run through with a
ftake, it gave a loud cry, and a great quantity of
fresh, florid blood iffued from the wound. At laft,
the
1
ON VAMPIRE S, & C. 197
the body was burnt to aſhes, and this execution put

a final ftop to the ſpectre's appearing and infefting
the village .
The fame method has been practifed in other
places, where theſe apparitions have been ſeen , and
upon taking them out of the ground, their bodies
have feemed freſh and florid, their limbs pliant
and flexible, without any worms or putrefaction ,
but not without a great ftench. The author quotes
ſeveral other writers, who atteft what he relates
concerning theſe ſpectres, which, he fays, ftill ap
pear in the mountains of Silefia and Moravia
They are feen, it feems, both by day and night,
and the things which formerly belonged to them
are obferved to ſtir and change their place, with-
out any perfon's being feen to touch them. C And
the only remedy in thefe cafes, is to cut off ther
head, and burn the body of the perſons that ares
fuppoſed to appear.
IX .
a bas
Proceedings against the bodies of vampires. Mi to
Tis not uſual , however, to proceed in this manner,

ITis
without fome form of law. Witneffes are ge-
nerally fummoned, and depofitions taken : the ar-
guments on both fides are weighed, and the bodies 等
dug up are infpected, to fee if they have the com-
mon marks of vampirifm , which are, a pliancy
and flexibility of limbs, a fluidity of blood, and
unputrefied fleſh. If thefe fymptoms are diſcover-
ed, the bodies are delivered to the executioner to
be burnt. Notwithstanding which, it fometimes
happens, that the fpectres are feen three or four
days after the execution . Sometimes they delay
burying fufpected perfons for fix or feven weeks ;
0 3 and
TION
S ERTA
198 A DIS
and when it is found that their flesh does not cor-
rupt, and that their limbs continue fupple, as if
they were alive, they are then burnt. It is more-
over afferted for truth, that the clothes of thefe
perions move, without any one's touching them ;.
and very lately, fays my author, there has been
feen at Olmutz a fpectre, which threw ftones, and
was extremely troublefome to the inhabitants.
•
i 1 X.
Of carcaffes in Hungary, which fuck the blood of liv

ing perfons.
Tis now about fifteen years, fince a foldier,

was in a
mack peaſant, upon the frontiers of Hungary, faw,
as he was at table with his landlord, a ftranger
come in, and fit down by them. The mafter of
the houfe, and the rest of the company were ..
ftrangely terrified, but the foldier knew not what
to make of it. The next day the peafant died ,
and upon the foldier's enquiring into the meaning
of it, he was told, that it was his landlord's fa-
ther, who had been dead and buried above, ten
years, that came and fat down at table, and gave
his fon notice of his death.
The foldier foon propagated the story through
his regiment, and by this means it reached the ge
neral officers, who commiffioned, the count de
make aa ain in Alandetti's regiment of foot,
to
Cabreras, a pt
to make an exact enquiry into the fact . The count,
attended by feveral officers, a chirurgeon, and a
notary, came to the houſe, and took the depofiti-
ons of all the family, who unanimously fwore, that
the fpectre was the landlord's father, and that all
the foldier had faid, was ftrictly true. The fame
was
ON VAMPIRES, &C. 199%
was alſo attefted by all the inhabitants of the vil-
lage.
In confequence of this, the body of the ſpectre
was dug up, and found to be in the fame ftate as
if it had been but juft dead, the blood like that
of a living perfon. The count de Cabreras order-
ed its head to be cut off, and the corpfe to be bu-
ried again. He then proceeded to take depofi-
tions againſt other fpectres of the fame fort, and
particularly againft a man who had been dead above,
thirty years, and had made his appearance three ,
feveraltimes in his own houfe at meal-time. At
his first -vifit, he had faftened upon the neck of
his own brother, and fucked his blood : at his fe-
cond, he had treated one of his children in the
fame manner ; and the third time, he faftened upon
a fervant of the family, and all three died upon the
fpotom raded arab sexiT
Upon this evidence, ' the count gave orders that,
he ſhould be dug up , and being found, like the
first, with his blood in a fluid ftate, as if he had
been alive, a great nail was drove through his
temples, and he was buried again. The count or-
dered a third to be burnt, who had been dead
above fixteen years, and was found guilty of mur
dering two of his own children, by fucking their
blood. The commiffioner then made his report to
the general officers, who fent a deputation to the
emperor's court for further directions ; and the
emperor diſpatched an order for a court, confifting
of officers, lawyers, phyficians , chirurgeons, and
fome divines, to go and enquire into the cauſe of
thefe extraordinary events , upon the fpot.
The gentleman who acquainted me with all theſe
particulars , had them from the count de Cabreras
himſelf, at Fribourg in Brifgau, in the year 1730.
Q4 XI. Story
200 A DISSERTATION :
XI.
Story of a vampire taken from the Jewish Letters.
HE following account is extracted from the

THE new edition of the Jewish Letters, publiſh
ed in 1738. Letter cxxxvii.
We have lately had, in thefe parts of Hungary,
a fresh inftance of vampirifm , attefted in form by
two officers of the court of Belgrade, P who went
down to the place, and by an officer of the empera
ror's troops at Gradifch, who was an eye-witnefsk
of the proceedings.
In the beginning of September laft, there died
1
in the village of Kifilova, about three leagues
from Gradifch, an old man, of the age of fixty-
two. Three days after his burial, he appeared in
the night to his fon, and aſked for victuals, which
the fon gave him , and he eat it and vanished.
i
The next morning, the fon informed his neigh-
bours of what had happened. The father did not
appear this night ; but the night after he came
again, and afked for fomething to eat. It is not
known, whether the fon gave him any+ thing or
not ; but the next morning, he was found dead in,
his bed ; and the fame day, five or fix perfons
were taken fuddenly ill in the village, and died in
a very few days. The magiftrate or conftable of
the place, being informed of what had happened,
diſpatched an account of it to the court of Bel-
grade, which fent down two officers, attended by
an executioner, to examine into the affair. The
commanding officer of the emperor's troops at
Gradifch, from whom my information comes, had
the curiofity to go with them to fee what would be
the event. They begun with opening all the graves
of the perfons that had died within fix weeks
and
ONAVAMPIRES, & C. 201
and when they came to the grave of this old man,

they found his eyes open, his colour freſh and flo-
rid, and that he had a natural refpiration , but was
motionleſs and quite dead. 1 From thefe fymptoms
it was concluded, that he was a vampire of the firſt
magnitude : and the executioner having drove a
ftake through his heart, a pile was erected, and
the carcafs reduced to afhes. As for the corpfe
of the ſon, and the other perfons, 1 they were not
diſcovered to have any marks of vampiriſm .
Credulity, thank God , is what I am the fartheft
removed from of any thing in the world. I own
that natural philofophy furnishes me with no prin-
ciples whereby to difcover the caufes of this un-
common event. But I cannot help affenting to the
truth of a fact, established by legal proof, and au
thenticated by witneffes of undoubted credit. As
a farther confirmation, I fhall tranfcribe from num
ber xviii. of the Gleaner, an account of a thing
that happened in the year 1732 ,
XII.
300
Other inftances of vampires.
e
the part of Hungary , known in Latin by the

name of Oppida Heidonum , on the other fide of
the Tibifcus , vulgarly called the Teyfs ; that is,"
between that part of this river which waters the
happy country of Tockay , and the frontiers of
Tranfylvania ; the people named Heydukes have a
notion, that there are dead perfons , called by them,
vampires , which fuck the blood of the living, fo
as to make them fall away vifibly to fkin and
bones, while the carcaffes themſelves , like leeches,
are filled with blood to fuch a degree, that it
comes out at all the apertures of their body. This
notion
1
202 A DISSERTATIONDO
notion has lately been confirmed by feveral facts,

which I think we cannot doubt the truth of, con-
fidering the witneffes who atteft them. Some of
the moſt confiderable of thefe facts I fhall now
relate.
• About five years ago, an Heyduke, named Aru
nold Paul, an inhabitant of Medreiga, was killed
by a cart full of hay that fell upon him. About
thirty days after his death, four perfons died fud
denly, with all the fymptoms ufually attending !
thofe who are killed by vampires .It was then re-
membered, that this Arnold Paul had frequently
told a ftory of his having been tormented by ar
Turkiſh vampire, in the neighbourhood of Caffo
%
va, upon the borders of Turkiſh Servia ( for the
notion is, x that thofe who have been paffive vam
pires in their life-time, become active ones after:
death ; or, in other words, that thofe who haves!
had their blood fucked , become fuckers in theiris
turn) but that he had been cured by eating fomey
of the earth upon the vampire's grave, and by
rubbing himſelf with his blood . This precaution,!
however, did not hinder him from being guilty
himſelf after his death ; for, upon digging up his
corpfe forty days after his burial, he was found to
have all the marks of an arch- vampire. His body
was fresh and ruddy, his hair, beard, and nails
were grown, and his veins were full of fluid blood,.
which ran from all parts of his body upon the
fhrowd that he was buried in. The hadnagy, or 1
bailiff of the village, who was prefent at the dig

ging up of the corpfe, and was very expert in the
whole bufinefs of vampiriſm, ordered a fharp ftake
to be drove quite * through the body of the de-
ceafed, and to let it pafs through his heart, which
was attended with a hideous cry from the carcafs,
as if it had been aliye. This ceremony being per-
formed,
ON VAMPIRES, &e. 203
formed, they cut off the head, and burnt the body
*
to afbes. After this, they proceeded in the fame!
manner with the four other perfons that died of
vamperiſm , left they alfo fhould be troubleſome.
But all theſe executions could not hinder this dread- #
e
ful prodigy from appearing again last year, at the
diftance of five years from its firft breaking out.
In the space of three months, feventeen perfons
of different ages and fexes, died of vampirifm,*
fome without any previous illnefs, and others after
languishing two or three days. Among others,
it was faid, that a girl, named Stanofka, daughter
of the Heyduke Jotuitzo, went to bed in perfect
health, but awoke in the middle of the night,
trembling, and crying out, that the fon of the Hey..
duke Millo , who died about nine weeks before,
had almoſt ſtrangled her while fhe was afleep.
From that time, he fell intocarlanguifhing ſtate,
and died at three days end. Hor evidence againft
‫هو‬ *7
Millo's fon was looked upon as a proof of hist
being a vampire, and upon digging up his body,
he was found to be fucholski its
At a confultation of the principal inhabitants of
the place, attended by phyficians and chirurgeons,
it was confidered how it was poffible, that the
plague of vampirism fhould break out afresh , afterɔ
the precautions that had been taken fome years be-
fore ; and, at last, it was found out that the original
offender, Arnold Paul, had not only deftroyed the
four perfons mentioned above, but had killed fe- 1
veral beafts, which the late vampires, and parti-
cularly the fon of Millo, had fed upon. Upon
this foundation, a refolution was taken to dig up
all the perfons that had died within acertain time.
Out of forty were found feventeen, with all the
evident tokens of vampirifm , and they had all
ftakes drove through their hearts, their heads cut
off,
1204 A DISSERTATION &
off, their bodies burnt, and their afhes thrown into

the river.
All theſe ſeveral enquiries and executions were
carried on with all the forms of law, and attefted
by feveral officers who were in garrifon in that
country, by the chirurgeon- majors of the regi
ments, and by the principal inhabitants of the
place. The original papers were all fent, in Janu
ary laft , to the Imperial council of war at Vienna,
which had iffued out a commiffion to ſeveral offi-
cers, to enquire into the truth of the facts.
XIII .
Reafenings of the author of the Jewish Letters upon

the ſubject of vampires.
HERE are two different ways to get rid of

T the opinion of theſe pretended fpectres, and
to fhew the impoffibility of the effects attributed to
the agency of lifelefs carcaffes. The firft is, by ac-
counting for all the wonders of vampirifm by
natural cauſes. The fecond, and by far the wifeft,
is by denying entirely the truth of all thefe ftories.
But as there are many who look upon the certifi
cate of a * magiftrate, as a demonstration of the
truth of any abfurd tale, it may be proper, before
I proceed to fhew how little ftrefs fhould be laid
upon forms of law in philofophical matters , let it
be ſuppoſed, that fome people have really died of
the diforder ufually called vampirifm.
It may readily be allowed to be poffible, that
the blood of human bodies, even after they have
been buried ſeveral days, fhould ftill retain its flui-
dity, and iffue from the canals of the carcafs. Add
to this, how eafy it is for fome people to fancy
themſelves to be fucked by vampires, and for the
fear
Fear which muft naturally attend this opinion, to
caufe in them fo great a commotion, as to deprive
them of life. Their imagination being poffeffed
all day with the fear of theſe pretended fpectres,
it is not to be wondered at, that the fame ideas
fhould preſent themſelves in fleep , and occafion fo
great a fright, as to make fome perfons die im-
mediately, and others in a few days. We know {
that it is not an uncommon caſe for people to die
inſtantaneouſly by fear and ſometimes joy has
been known to produce that effect. Renke po pr
In the Leipfick Journals , I have met with an
abridgment of a little work, entitled, Philofophica
& Chriftianæ cogitationes de Vampiris, à Johanne
Chriftophoro Herenbergio. Philofophical and Chriftian
Reflections concerning Vampires, by John Chriftopher
Herenberg, printed in 1733. The author mentions
a great number of writers, who have treated this
and fubject, and introduces a ſtory of a ſpectre that
-d to appeared to himſelf at noon-day. He afferts, that
ya20- no one was ever killed by vampires, and that the
br vulgar notions of this matter are founded in no-
ifeft thing but the diſturbed imagination of the patients.
ories He collects a variety of inftances to prove, that
certif the imagination is capable of producing great dif-
of the orders in the animal frame. He fays, that in Scla-
before vonia, the punishment inflicted upon murderers,
De laid is impaling them, and driving a ftake through their
leti hearts ; and that from hence the fame puniſhment
d ed d
i was derived upon vampires, the fuppofed murde
rers of the perfons whofe blood they fuck ; and
1
e, the he gives fome inftances of this punishment being
y har executed upon them, and particularly once in the
ies flu year 1337, and again in 1347. He makes mention
Is. Ad alſo of the opinion entertained by fome, that dead
o fancy
* Supplementum ad Act . Erudit. Lipf. Ann. 1738. t. ii.
for the
P. 89.
feat
perfons
206 A DISSERTATION”
perfons eat in their graves ; and he endeavours to

prove the antiquity of this notion, by a paffage in
Tertullian's book of the Reſurrection, by St. Au-
guftin de Civitate Dei, 1. viii. c. 27, & Serm. xv.
de Sanctis. *
This is nearly the ſubſtance of M. Herenberg's
book concerning vampires. The paffage which
he quotes from Tertullian, is a clear proof that
the heathens had a cuſtom of fetting meat before
their dead, even thoſe whoſe bodies were burnt,
upon a fuppofition that their fouls fed upon it'
Defunctis parentant, & quidem impenfiffimo ftudio,
pro moribus eorum, pro temporibus eſculentorum, ut
quos fentire quicquam negant, efcam defiderare præfu
mant. But this relates only to the heathens.
But St. Auguftin, in feveral places , mentions
cuftom that prevailed among the Chriftians, parti-
cularly in Africa, of carrying meat and wine to
the tombs of the deceaſed, and there making a fort
of devotional feaft, to which the poor were always
1
invited ; as indeed the inftitution was principally
intended for their benefit. St. Monica, mother to
St. Auguftin , having a mind to keep up at Mi-
lan the old cuftom, which he had been uſed to in
Africa, St. Ambrofe expreffed his difapprobation
of it, as being unufual in his church and the
good lady left off her practice of carrying a basket
of fruit and wine to the church-yard, which the
ufed only to tafte herfelf, and leave the reft for
the poor. St. Auguftin, in the fame plaće,
obferves, that too many Chriftians laid hold of
this opportunity to indulge their intemperate love
of wine. Ne ulla occafio ingurgitandi daretur ebri-
afis.
Tertull. de Refurrect. Initio.

Auguft. Confeff. 1. vi. c. 2.
St.
ON VAMPIRE $, &c. 207
St. Auguftin , however, exerted himſelf ſø ef-

fectually, both in his fermons, and by private re-
monftrances, that he entirely got the better of this
cuſtom , which had gained footing all over Africa,
and was too generally abuſed . In his books De
Civitate Dei , he makes it appear, that the cuſtom
was neither univerfally received, nor approved by
the church ; and that they who gave into it, did no
more than lay their meat upon the tombs of the
martyrs, that it might be fanctified by their me-
rits ; after which, they carried it home, and hav
ing fatisfied themfelves, diftributed the reft to the
poor, Quicumque fuas epulas eò deferunt ( quod quie
dem a melioribus Chriftianis non fit, & in plerifque
terrarum nulla talis eft confuetudo) tamen quicumque
id faciunt, eas cum appofuerint, orant, & auferunt,
ut vefcantur, vel ex eis etiam indigentibus largiantur.
It appears by two fermons, which have been af-
cribed to St. Auguftin, that this custom had for-
merly crept into the church of Rome, but did not
fubfift there long, and was always difapproved and
condemned.
Now, were it true that bodies have an appetite
for food, and actually do eat in their graves (for
this was the opinion of thofe mentioned by Ter
tullian, and we may infer it from the cuftom of
carrying victuals, fruit, and wine, to the tombs
of the martyrs and other Chriftians ; nay farther,
I think I can produce indifputable proofs, that
theſe things were in fome places put into the graves
along with the dead bodies of Chriftians, fince I
have by me feveral veffels of clay and glaſs, and
even plates, with bones of pig and fowl ſtill upon
them, which were found very deep in the ground,
Aug. ep. xxii. ad Aurel. Carthag, & ep. xxix. ad Alypium.

Item de Morib. Ecclef. c. xxxiv.
in
208 A DISSERTATION
in the church belonging to the abbey of St. Man-

fuy, near the city of Toul, where I can fcarce think
that any heathen was ever buried). If, I fay, bo-
dies do really eat in their graves, they certainly
are not dead, and may confequently come again,
and torment the living, and foretell to them the
1
approach of death. Upon this footing, the return
of vampires is neither impoffible nor incredible.
But fince this notion of dead perfons eating in
their graves, is an improbable whimſey, nay, ab-
folutely incredible and void of all poffibility, what-
ever be the number or credit of thofe, who have
been thought to believe it, I fhall ſtill maintain, that
the return of vampires is unfupportable and im
practicable,
XIV.
Vamperiſm cwing to an epidemical fanaticiſm.
PON examining clofely the narrations of the

UPON death of thefe pretended martyrs to vampi
rifm , I diſcover all the ſymptoms of an epidemical
fanaticifm , and am convinced , that their death is
occafioned by nothing but the impreffions of their
own fear. A girl, named Stanofka, daughter of
the Heyduke Jotuitzo, is faid to have gone to bed
in perfect health, and to have waked in the night,
trembling and fhrieking, and crying out, that the
fon of the Heyduke Millo, who had been dead
about nine months, had very near ftrangled her in
1
her fleep. From that moment she fell into a lan-
guiſhing diforder, and, at the end of three days,
died. To a perfon who has any thing of a phi
lofophical eye, this fingle relation is fufficient to
prove, that this fancied vampirifm refides wholly
in the imagination . In the cafe before us, a girl
is waked out of her ſleep ; ſhe ſays, that a perfon
attempted
attempted to ftrangle her : the vampire, however,
does not fuck her blood, but is hindered from
making his meal . Nor is it at all probable that
he had better fuccefs afterwards , as the would fearce
be left by herſelf on the following nights ; and if
the vampire had made any fresh attempt, the per-
fons prefent must have known it. Neverthelefs,
The dies within three days ; and her fright and low
nefs of fpirits, her fad and languiſhing ſtate, are
an evident proof how ftrongly her imagination muft
have been affected .
* V Thofe who have been in towns afflicted with the
> plague, know, by experience, that many people
die of nothing but fear. When a man finds him-
felf indifpofed in the leaft degree, he immediately
fancies he is attacked by the epidemical diftemper,
and puts himſelf into fo violent an agitation, that
it is almoft impoffible he ſhould get over it.
When I was in Paris, I was affured by the che
valier de Maifin, who was at Marſeilles in the time
of the plague, that * he knew a woman who was
literally frightened to death by a trifling illneſs that
her fervant was feized with, which the imagined
to be the plague ; and that this woman's daughter
was fo ill from the fame caufe, that her life was
once defpaired of
There were two other perſons, living in the fame
houſe, who took to their beds, and fent for a phy-
fician, upon a full conviction that they had the
plague. When the phyſician came, he firſt viſited
the fervant, and then the other patients ; and find-
ing that none of them had the contagious diftem-
per, he endeavoured to cheer their fpirits, and
ordered them to rife and live as ufual. But all
bis pains were thrown away upon the mitrefs
of the family, who died two days after, of pure
fears.
P Confider
2.10 A DISSERTATION
Confider now the fecond ftory of the paffive

vampire, and you will find the cleareft fymptoms
of the dreadful effects of fear and prejudice . Three
days after his burial, he appears by night to his
fon, afks for fomething to eat, eats it, and vanishes.
Next morning, the fon tells the neighbours what
had happened. The night following, the father
does not appear ; but the night after that, the fon
is found dead in his bed. Never furely did a ſtory
contain more evident proofs of prejudice and fear.
At the first attack which thefe paffions make upon
the fuppofed fufferer by vampires, they do not
produce their full effect, but only difpofe the mind
to be more fufceptible of future impreffions . Thefe
impreffions fail not to follow, and the effect, which
may naturally be expected from them , is at laft
produced. It is remarkable, that the vampire did
not come again, the night after the fon had com.
municated his dream to his friends, fince in all pro-
bability his friends fat up with him, and prevented
this giving himſelf up to fear.
XV. galę v
Caufes of the fluidity of blood, and growing of the

bair and nails in vampires. w stori
1 : 3
Come now to thofe carcaffes which are faid to
be full of fluid blood , and to have their beard,
hair, and nails grow. We may fafely ftrike off
three-fourths of thefe wonders, and ftill be very
complaifant in admitting the remaining part. No
one of a philofophical turn can be ignorant to what
a pitch every thing, that has the leaft extraordinary
circumftance in it, is magnified by the common
people, and even by fome hiftorians . However,
it
ON VAMPIRES, & C. 2 Lt
it is not impoffible to give a phyſical explication of

thefe phænomena .
We know by experience, that there are fome
foils of fuch a nature, as to preferve dead corpfes
entirely fresh. The reafons of this have been too
often explained, to make it neceffary for me to en-
large upon the 1 fubject. There is at Toulouſe a
vault, in the monk's church, where carcaffes are
preferved fo perfect and entire, that there are fome
which have been buried near two centuries , and
ftill look as if they7 were alive. They are placed
upright againſt a wall, ₹ and are dreffed in their
ufual habit. But what is moſt extraordinary, + the
corpfes which are laid on the other fide of the
vault, are devoured by worms in two or three
days. i mart
As for the growing of the nails, hair, and
beard, it is a common cafe with many dead bodies.
As long as there remains any confiderable degree
of moiſture, it is not to be wondered at, that thoſe
parts which do not require a fupply of animal fpi-
rits, fhould encreaſe. 1 /
The fluidity of the blood , and its continuing to
circulate through the channels of the body, feems
to be attended with greater difficulties : but this
phænomenon alſo may be accounted for upon phy-
fical principles. It is eafy to conceive, that the
folar heat may communicate warmth to the nitrous
and fulphureous particles of that fpecies of earth,
which is proper for the prefervation of dead bo-
dies, and that thefe particles, being incorporated
with the bodies lately buried , may ferment there,
and liquefy and unfix the coagulated blood, fo as
to make it flow by degrees along the veins . And
there is an experiment which contributes to con-
firm the truth of this opinion. If you boil, in a
veffel of glafs or earth, one part of chyle or com-
mon milk, mixed with two parts of oil of tartar,
P 2 the
212 A DISSERTATION
the liquor will become red inftead of white, by

the falt of tartar's rarefying and diffolving entirely
the oily part of the milk, and converting it into
a fort of blood, not quite fo red indeed , but of
equal thickness with that which is formed in the
veffels of the human body. Now, it is not im-
poffible that, in the other cafe, heat may caufe a
fermentation, which will produce nearly the fame
effects as in this experiment ; and we fhall the
more readily admit this, by reflecting , that the
juices of the fleſh and bones have a great refem-
blance with chyle, and that the fat and marrow
are its moft oily particles. Now all thefe particles
fhould, by this experiment, be converted into a
fort of blood, when they are put into a fermenta-
tion. So that vampires will be fupplied with blood
from the melting of their fat and greaſe, exclufive
of that which will be liquefied and uncoagulated
in their veins and arteries.
XVI.
Extracts from the Mercure Galant of 1693 and

1694, relating to vampires.
HE publick news- papers of the years 1693,

T and 1694, make frequent mention of upi-
ers, or vampires, appearing in Poland and Ruffia.
蜜
They are feen from noon to midnight, and fuck
the blood of men, or other animals, in fuch large
quantities, that it comes out at their mouths and
nofes, and especially their ears ; and ſometimes the
carcafs has been known to fwim in its coffin in this
blood. They are faid alfo to have a fort of hun-
ger upon them, which makes them eat the grave-
clothes that they are wrapped in. Thefe vampires,
or devils in their fhape, frequently come out of
their graves, and pay a vifit to their relations,
whom
213
ON VAMPIRES, &C.
whom they fqueeze and pinch, and fuck their

blood, till they are reduced to the greatest weak-
nefs, and fall away gradually to their death. This
perfecution is not confined to one fingle perfon,
but reaches to every one of the family, except it
be put a stop to, by cutting off the head, or tak-
ing out the heart of the vampire, who is found in
his coffin, with his flesh foft, flexible, plump, and
ruddy, though he has been dead for fome confide-
rable time. There generally iffues from the body
a great quantity of blood, which fome people mix
with meal, and make bread of it ; and this bread
being eat by the perfons haunted, delivers them
from the fpectre, and makes him defift from his
vifits.
XVII.
Extract from a Dutch paper, called the Gleaner, Num

ber IX. 1733.
HE author of the Gleaner, by no means a

credulous writer, admits thefe facts, having
no reaſon to difpute their truth. But he reafons
upon them in no very ferious manner, and afferts,
that the people, among whom theſe vampires ap
pear, are very ignorant and very credulous, and
that thefe apparitions are nothing but the effects of
a diſturbed imagination . The whole, he fays, is
occafioned, or at leaft increaſed, by the wretched
nourishment of thefe people, who generally eat no-
thing but bread made of oats, roots, orA the bark
of trees ; which muft neceffarily produce very grofs
blood, and fuch as is ftrongly difpofed to putrefy,
and raiſe gloomy and difagreeable ideas in the ima-
gination. He compares this diforder to the bite"
of a mad dog, by which the venom of the animal
P. 3 is
R TATION
214 A DISSE
is communicated to the perfon bit. In the fame

manner, the perfons infected with vampirism , com+
municate this dangerous venom to thofe who come
near them ; and hence proceed want of fleep, un-
accountable whimſeys , and fancied appearances of
vampires.
He conjectures that this poifon is nothing but
a worm, which feeds upon the pureft part of the
fubftance of the human body, and is inceffantly
gnawing the heart, till the perfons die, and that it
does not defert them even in the grave.
Thus much, however, is certain, that the bodies
of thoſe who have died by poifon, or of a contagi-
ous diforder, do not ftiffen after death, becauſe the
blood does not congeal in the veins, but is rare-
fied and tormented in the fame manner, as it is
deſcribed to be in vampires, whofe beard, hair,
and nails are ſaid to grow ; their ſkin to look rud-
dy, and their body plump, by means of the blood
which fwells and flows in every limb,
As for the cry which the vampires make, upon
the ftake's being drove through their heart, nothing
is more easily accounted for. The air which is
confined in their body, and expelled by violence,
neceffarily cauſes this noife in its paffage through
the throat. It is very common for dead bodies
to make fuch a noife without being touched at
all. Upon the whole, he concludes, that all is
owing to the imagination's being difturbed by me-
lancholy, or fuperftition, and fo made capable of
fancying, that this diforder is owing to the
blood's being fucked out of the body by vam-
pires.
He adds , that a little time before, in the year
1732 , nefts of vampires were alfo difcovered in
Hungary, Moravia, and Turkiſh Servia ; that the
fact is too well attefted to be called in queftion ;
that
that ſeveral naturalifts in Germany have writ large

volumes, both in Latin and German , upon this.
fubject ; and that all the academies and univerfities
in that country, ftill ring with the names of Arnold
Paul, Stanofka daughter of Sotuitzo, and the fon
of the Heyduke Millo ; all notorious vampires in
the canton of Medreyga in Hungary.
',བྷཏཾ ཝ
1
XVIII.
+
A letter upon the ſubject of vampires.
**** 1*
HAT I may omit nothing which can contri-
THAbute to clear up this fubject, I fhall here tran-
fcribe a letter writ by a gentleman of great honour,
and who has had opportunities of knowing a great
deal of the matter.
You defire me to give you the beft information
I can, concerning thoſe ſpectres which are ſaid to
come again in Hungary, and put numbers of peo-
ple to death in that country. It happens to be a
fubject which I am well acquainted with , as I have.
ſpent ſeveral years in thofe parts, and have natu-
rally a good ſhare of curiofity.
I have heard, in my life-time, a thoufand rela-
tions of facts, or pretended facts, concerning fpi-.
rits and witchcraft ; but out of the whole number
have credited fcarce one. Indeed one cannot be
too circumfpect in this matter, without danger of
being impofed upon. Nevertheless, there are fome
facts fo well attefted, that one cannot help believ-
ing them. 3 As for thefe Hungarian spectres, the
man
thing generally happens in this manner. A
finds himself fall into a languid ftate, lofes his ap-
petite, decreaſes vifibly in bulk, and, at eight or
ten days end, dies without a fever, or any other
fymptom of illneſs, I but loſs of fleſh , and a dried,
withered body. : *
P 4 The
21612 A DISSERTATION
The opinion in that country is, that a vampire

faftens upon the patient, and fucks his blood, Andi
the greateft part of thofe that die of this diforderog
包
imagine that they fee a white fpectre, which always s
attends them like a fhadow upon its refpective a
body, 37300
At the time when we were quartered at Temef
war in Walachia, there died of this diforder two
dragoons of the company in which I was cornet,
and feveral more who had it would have died alfo,
if the corporal of the company had not put a stop
to it, by applying a remedy commonly made ufe of
in that country. It is of a very fingular kind,
and though infallibly to be depended on, I have h
never met with it in any Difpenfatory.
They pick out a boy, whom they judge to be
too young to have loft his maidenhead , and mount
him bare upon a coal-black ſtone -horfe, which has
never leaped a mare, o
This virgin-pair is led about 12
the church- yard, and acrofs all the graves, and
wherever the animal ftops, and refufes to go on
in fpite of all the whipping they can give him, they
conclude they have difcovered a vampire. Upon
opening the grave, they find a carcafs as fleshy and
fair , as if the perfon were only in a flumber. The
next ſtep is to cut off his head with a fpade, and
there iffue from the wound fuch a quantity of
fresh and florid blood, that one would fwear they
had cut the throat of a man in full health and vi
gour. They then fill up the pit, and it may be
depended on that the diforder will ceafe, and that
all who were ill of it will gradually get ftrength,
like people that recover flowly after a long illnefs .
Accordingly this happened to our troopers, who
were attacked with the diftemper, I was at that
time commanding officer of the troop, the cap-
tain and lieutenant being abfent, and was extremely
angry at the corporal for having made this experi
ment
ON VAMPIRE's, &c. A 2170
ment without me. It was with great difficulty that

I prevailed with myfelf not to reward him with a
good cudgel, a thing, of which the officers of the
emperor's fervice are ufually very liberal. I would
not, for the world, have been abfent upon this oc-
cafion, but there was now no remedy.
01
XIX.
Traces of this notion of vampires in antiquity.

4
HERE are fome traces of this opinion to be
T met with in the higheft antiquity. Ifaiah ",
defcribing the ftate to which Babylon fhould be
reduced, fays, that it fhall become the habitation
of fatyrs, lamiæ, and ftriges (in Hebrew Lilith) ;
which laft word means the fame thing that the La
tins expreſs by ftrix and lamia, and fignifies a witch
or forcerefs, which deftroys young children. Hence
it is a cuftom with the Jews to drive away thefe
mischievous beings, by pronouncing, at the four
corners of the bed where a woman is newly deli-
vered, thefe words, Adam, Eve, be gone Lilith.
They were known to the ancient Greeks by the
name of lamia, and the notion was that they de
Youred children alive, or fucked their blood till
they died. Horace alludes to this opinion : Neu
pranfe lamie vivum puerum extrabat alvo. In fome
Greek tranflations, the word lilith, in Ifaiah, is
rendered by lamia. We find them defcribed alfa
by Euripides, and the fcholiaft upon Ariftophanes,
as pernicious monfters, and enemies to mankind.
Qvid ' deſcribes the ftriges as ravenous birds, which
fly about by night, devouring the bodies, and
fucking the blood of children.
Ifaiah xxxiv. 14, Ovid. Faft. 1. vi.

Hor. de Art, Poet.
Capere
TION
S ERTA
218 A DIS 3
Capere dicuntur latentia vifcera roftris,

3... Et plenum poto fanguine guttur habent .
Eft illis ftrigilus nomen. 2
Theſe prejudices had taken fuch deep root in the

barbarian world, that it was common to put per-
fons to death, who were fufpected of being ftriges,
and eating people alive, I Charlemagne, in the
Capitularies which he compofed for the ufe of his
new Saxon fubjects , orders death to be inflicted
woman of
upon any one that ſhall accuſe a man or
being forcerers, (trigas effe) or fhall burn them, or
eat their fleſh, or give it to others to eat. Hence it
may be obſerved , that it was a notion, that there
were people who fed upon living perfons ; that
thefe people were put to death and burnt ; that
fometimes their flesh was eat by way of reprizals,
as it is common in Ruffia to eat bread, kneaded
up with the blood of vampires ; and that at other
times, it was the practice to expofe them to rave-
nous beaſts, as vampires are now frequently treat-
ed, after their bodies are impaled, or their heads
cut off. In the fame manner, it is forbidden by
the laws of the Lombards to put another man's
maid fervant to death, upon pretence of her being
1
a witch, ftriga or mafca. This laft word, from
which mask is derived, means the fame with the
Latin word larva, a fpirit, phantom, or ſpectre.
In the catalogue of vampires may be ranked the
fpectre mentioned in Sigebert's Chronicle, under
the year 858 ,
Capitul. Caroli Magni homines comedere, & propter

pro partibus Saxonia, c. vi. 7 hoc ipfam incenderit, vel car-
Si quis à diabolo deceptas nem ejus ad comedendum de-
crediderit, fecundùm morem derit, vel ipfam comederit,
paganorum, virum aliquem capitis fententiâ punietur,
aut foeminam ftrigam effe, &
&
There
ON VAMPIRES, & c. 219
There appeared this year, in the dioceſe of

Mentz, a fpirit, which diſcovered himſelf at firſt ,
by throwing ftones, and beating against the walls
of houſes, as if it had been with a great mallet.
He then proceeded to fpeak, and reveal fecrets,v
and difcovered the authors of feveral thefts, and
other matters, likely to breed diſturbances in the
neighbourhood . At laft he vented his malice upon
one particular perfon, whom he was induftrious in
perfecuting, and making odious to all the neigh-
bours, by reprefenting him as the caufe of God's
anger againſt the whole village. The fpirit never
forfook the poor man, but tormented him without
intermiffion, burnt all his corn in the barns, and
fet every place on fire where he came. The priests.
attempted to frighten him away by exorcifms,
prayers, and holy water ; but the ſpectre anſwered
them with a volley of ftones, which wounded fe
veral of them . When the prieſts were gone, he
was heard to bemoan himſelf, and fay, that he
was forced to take refuge in the cowl of one of the
priefts, who had debauched the daughter of a man
of confequence in the village. He continued in
this manner to infeft the village for three years to-
gether, and never gave over till he had fet every
houfe in it on fire.
XX.
Another inftance of an apparition, taken from St. Au-

guftin
HE ftory has fome refemblance

T with the accounts of vampires in Hungary,
which come and foretel the death of their relations.
Evodius, bishop of Ufilla in Africa, writes to St.
Auguſtin,
2200 A DISSER O
TATION
Auguftin, in the year 415 , that a young man
of uncommon innocence, and purity of manners,
who ſerved him in the capacity of fecretary, dyi
ing in the twenty-fecond year of his age, a pious
widow dreamed that fhe faw a certain deacon, withs
other holy perfons, of both fexes, employed in
fitting up a moft magnificent palace, which fhone /
as if it had been entirely of pure filver. Upons
her aſking what this palace was intended for, fhe
was told it was for the reception of the young
man who died the night before. The next thing
that the faw was a venerable old man, clothed in
white, giving orders to two perfons to fetch the
young man out of his grave, and bring him up to
heaven.
In the houſe where he died, an old man, who
was half afleep, faw a perfon with a laurel-branch
in his hand, upon which there were fome characters.
infcribed. 3.
A few days after the young man's death, his fa
ther, who was a priest, and named Armenius, hav
ing retired into a monaftery, to confole himſelf for
his lofs, with St. Theafius, biſhop of Memblofa,
the dead fon appeared to one of the monks, and
faid that God had admitted him among the bleffed,
and had fent him to fetch his father. Four days
after, Armenius was feized with a flight fever, from
which his phyfician affured him there was no fort
of danger ; but he took to his bed , and immedi-
ately expired, before the phyfician had done fpeak-
ing. It could not be the fright that killed him,
for it does not appear that he knew any thing of
the monk's dream .
The fame Evodius reports, that feveral perfons
have been ſeen, after their death, going and com-
Aug, epift. 658, & epiſt, 258, p. 361,

ing
ON VAMPIRES, &C. 22
ing to their own houſes, as ufual, both by night,

and at noon- day. It is alſo afferted , adds he, that
in places where dead bodies are interred, and par-
ticularly in churches, f there is frequently heard, at
arcertain hour of the night, a noife, like perfons
praying aloud. I myſelf, continues he, have heard
it affirmed by feveral people, and particularly by
a pious priest, who was an eye- witness of the
thing, that great numbers of fpirits have been feen
to come out of the baptiſtery with fhining, lumi-
nous bodies, and have been afterwards heard pray-
ing in the middle of the church. Evodius goes
ſtill further ", and *21fays, 茄 that Profuturus, Priva
tus, and * Servilius, who lived in the fame monaf-
tery with great reputation for fanctity, converfed
with him after their death, and that every thing
they foretold, fell out exactly, on aina Benga
St. Auguftin having quoted Evodius for all thefe
particulars, wifely fays, that there is a wide diffe-
rence between true and falfe vifions, and wishes
that he was poffeffed of a certain rule for making
the diftinction .
But how fhall we arrive at the knowledge requi-
fite for this purpofe, which feems to be as difficult
as it is neceſſary to be obtained, fince we have no
certain criterion whereby we can diftinguish infal-
libly true miracles from falfe, or the works of God
from the illuſions of the devil ?) na bad rec
8
Aug. epift. 258, p. 369 , 370.
XXI. Spectres
222 A DISSERTATION ›
alpin yo dito ' deding en zoloti reo visit of ri
Skud .4 Nom du 166 25
XXI.
28 Spectres in England in the twelfth century

༣ ;,
PILLIAM of Newbury , who flourished
WIL about the middle of the twelfth century,
relates, that in his time a man appeared corporally
in the county of Buckingham, for three nights
together, to his wife, and afterwards to his other
relations. The way they took to defend them-
"
felves from his frightful vifits, was to fit up all
night, and make a noife, when they obferved that
he was coming. Upon this, he appeared to feveral
people in broad day. Hereupon the bishop of
Lincoln fummoned his council, and was informed
that the thing was common in England, and that
the only way to stop it, which they knew of, was
to burn the body of the ſpectre.The bishop did
not reliſh this advice, as he thought the expedient
a cruel one but he writ out a form of abfolution
the
on abody
fcrapofofthe deceaſ
paper, which was
ed, ordered
and fola
it to on
id on
be laid
to be
as fresh and entire, as if it had been dead only a
day ; and from that time the apparition was no
more heard of. The author adds, that theſe fto-
ries would be thought incredible, if feveral inftances
of them had not happened in his time, atteſted by
perfons of undoubted credit.
The following remarkable inftance of an appa-
rition is related by M. Daubigné. " The ſecond
" prodigy, fays he', I can affert upon the king's
own word, it being one of the three ftories
" which he has frequently told us, with his hair
*Willelm. Neubrig. Rerum felle, 1. ii. c. z. An. 1574.

Anglic. 1. v. c. 22. P. 719.
Daubigné, Hift . Univer
* ftanding
ONIVAMPIRES, &c. 223
ſtandings on end; The queen happened one
evening to go to bed earlier than ufual, and was
attended, among other perfons of diftinction,
by the king of Navarre , the archbishop of
Lyons, meldames de Retz , de Lignerolles, and
side Sauves by two of whom I have heard this
fact confirmed. As thenqueen was just going
to diſmiſs them, ſhe threw herfelf fuddenly, with
Sa eftart, upon her pillow, clapt her hands before
her eyes, called out for help in the moſt violent
manner, and pointing to the cardinal, who ſtood,
as the faid, at the foot of the bed , and held out
chis hand to her, cried out, My lord cardinal, I
66
will have nothing to do with you. The king
of Navarre immediately fent one of his gentle-
men to the cardinal's houfe, who brought word
" that he expired at that very inftant."
The following ftory, which is of a very fingular
nature, and has fome relation with the foregoing,
is extracted from Sulli's Memoirs which have
lately been digefted into better order than former-
dy.ans It is ftill queftioned, fays the author, what
that illufion could be, which was fo often feen,
and by fo many perfons, in the foreft of Fön-
Sutainebleau. It confifted of adfpectre in a hu
** man form, and a pack of hounds, which were
* feen and heard barking at a diſtance ; but the
whole difappeared when anyone came near it.”
M. de l'Eclufe, the editor of thefe Memoirs, fub-
joins a note, wherein he enters into a more minute
detail of the affair! He obferves , that M. de
Perefixed mentions this phantom, and makes him
fay with a hoarfe voice, onerror mother of thefe
words:: s m'attendez- vous, or m'entendez- vous, e For
Tubigodt så ni so bovi9097 306717-biku´`s
• Henry IV. note 26. Octav, edit . tom. iii.
Sulli's Memoirs, quarto p. 3211 note 26. 7 Jannd)
edit. tom. i. liv. 10. p. 562.
amendez-
RRA A DISSERTAT 108
amendez vous. And it was fuppofed, adds he, to

be the work of ſome wizard, or of the devil him
felf. The thing is mentioned alfo in the journal
of Henry the fourth's life, and in the Ghronologie
Septénaire, and is faid to have frightened the king
and his courtiers not a little. It is fpoke of alfo
by Pierre Mathieu, in his hiftory of France, and 1
by Bongarfius, + who pretends it was a huntſman,
murdered in this forest in the reign of Francis the
first (Bongar's Epift . ad Camerarium). At prefent
it is no more talked of; but there is a road in the
foreft which ſtills retains the name of the Great
Huntſman, in memory, it is faid, of this appa
rition.
¥{
XXII .
<8 ས
Speares in Perus
O the former inftances of dead perfons -com-

T ing again, may be added the following,
which happened in the country of the Ititans in
Peru. A girl, named Catharine, who had lived
a wretched life, and been guilty of feveral acts of
facrilege, died about the age of fixteen. Imme
diately after her death, * her body was corrupted to
fuch a degree, that they were forced to carry it
out of the houſe into the open air, to get rid of
the offenfive fmell. At the fame time a yelping,
like that of dogs, was heard , and a horfe, which
had been always very gentle, begun to fling, and
prance, and kick up his heels, and try to break his
halters. A young man, who was gone to lay down
was violently dragged out of bed by the arm, and
a maid-fervant received a kick in the fhoulder,
167
Annal. Societ. Jefu, sanno 90, 91, in Provincia Peruviana,
fol. 766.
which
ON VAMPIRES &C. 225
* which he carried the mark of for feveral days.
All this happened before the body of the girl was
buried part aperto
Some time after, feveral of the neighbours faw
a great quantity of tiles and bricks thrown about
with a great noife, in the houſe where he died.
The maid fervant was pulled by the foot, before
her mistress and ten or twelve other women, and
no one feen to touch her, The fame fervant go-
ing into a room to fetch fome clothes , faw the de-
cealed ftooping down to lay hold of an earthen
pot. The maid immediately fled ; but the fpectre
took the veffel, threw it againſt the wall, and
broke it in a thoufand pieces. The mistress of the
houfe running in at the noiſe, faw a brick- bat
thrown violently againſt the wall. And the next
day a crucifix, which was faftened in the wall, was
fuddenly tore out before a large company, and
broke in three pieces.
XXIII.
Spectres in Lapland.
HERE are fome traces of this fpecies of fpec-

THE met in
we are told that a great number of fpirits appear
to the inhabitants, and converfe and eat with them,
and that no effectual method can be found to keep
them off. But as they fancy that thefe fpectres
are the manes of their deceaſed relations, the best
way to put a stop to their vexatious vifits, is found
to be burying their bodies under the hearth, pro-
bably with a view that they may be confumed
the fooner. It is an opinion among them , that
manes, or difembodied fouls, are generally inclined
to miſchief, till they have taken poffeffion of fome
other body ; and therefore they pay fome fort of
worship
226 A DISSERTATION
worſhip to the ſpectres, or demons, who are fup-

pofed to ramble about rocks, mountains, woods,
and rivers, juft as the Romans paid honours to the
fauns, fylvans, nymphs and tritons. But the moſt
interefting circumftance is, that the tradition con-
cerning deceaſed perfons coming again, appears to
have prevailed among the ancient Jews, Greeks and
Romans. Afterwards it got footing in France,
was current in Germany in the time of Charle
magne, in England in the twelfth century, in Lap-
land for a long fucceffion of ages , and in Hunga
ry and Moravia to this very hour.
Andrew Alciat tells us, that he was once con-
fulted in the cafe of certain women, whom the
inquifition had burnt as witches, for having killed
feveral children by witchcraft, and having threat-
ened to kill others, who actually died the night
after, of diforders, which the phyficians were ut-
terly unacquainted with . This furnishes us with
a fresh inftance offtriges, or witches, depriving hu-
man creatures of life.
XXIV .
Inflance of a man's coming again, after having been

dead feveral months.
ETER, furnamed the Venerable , abbot of

PECluni, relates a converfation which he once
had, before the bifhops of Oleron and Ofma in
Spain, and ſeveral ecclefiafticks, with an old monk,
named Peter d'Engelbert, who had lived long in
the world with a great character for bravery and
honour, and had retired, after the death of his
wife, into the order of Cluni, when Peter the Ve-
Andr. Alciat. Parergon juris, 1. viii. c. 22.

Petrus Venerab. Abb. Clun , de Miracul. 1. i. f. 28. p. 1293.
nerable
ON VAMPIRE § , &c. 227
nerable came to fee him, Engelbert told him , that

being one night in bed perfectly awake, he faw,
by the light ofthe moon, which fhone very bright,
a man, named Sanchez, come into the room , whom
he had fent fome years before, at his own expence,
to the affiftance of Alfonfo, king of Arragon, then
engaged in a war. Sanchez returned fafe from
this expedition, but foon after fell ill, and died in
Engelbert's houſe.
About four months after his death, Sanchez ap-
peared to Engelbert in the manner above-menti-
oned . He was quite naked, except that a rag
was thrown over his private parts . When Engel-
bert first discovered him, he was ftirring up the
embers in the chimney, as if he intended to warm
himſelf, or in order to be fooner taken notice of.
Engelbert immediately afked him who he was ;
he anſwered, with a hoarfe, broken voice, I am
your old fervant Sanchez . And what is your bu-
finefs here ? I am going into Caftille, fays he,
with feveral others, to expiate the miſchief we
did during the laft war, upon the very spot where
the facts were committed. My crime was plun-
dering a church, and I am condemned upon that
account to take this journey. It is in your power
to be very ferviceable to me by your works of cha-
rity, and your wife, who ftill owes me eight pence
of my wages, will oblige me infinitely, if the will
give it to the poor in my name.
Engelbert then aſked him, if he knew what was
become of his old friend Peter de Fais, who died a
little while before, and Sanchez told him , that he
was gone to heaven. And our old countryman
Bernier, what condition is he in ? He is damned,
fays Sanchez, for having behaved ill in his office
of judge, and for having oppreffed and plundered
the widow and the fatherlefs. And can you give
me any intelligence, added Engelbert, of Alfonfo,
Q2 king
228 A DISSERTATION
king of Arragon, who has now been dead ſeveral

years ? At this, another spectre, which Engelbert had
not yet feen, but which now appeared plainly by the
light of the moon, fitting in the window, faid, It
is to no purpoſe to enquire of him for king Alfon-
fo: he has not been long enough among us, to
know any thing about him : but I , who have been
dead above five years, can tell you fomething of
him . Alfonfo was with us for fome time, but he
was releafed from our quarters by the monks of
Cluni ; and where he is now I cannot tell : and
then addreffing himſelf to Sanchez , Come, fays
he, let us follow our companions, it is time to be
going. Sanchez obeyed his fummons, having firft
repeated his petition to his old mafter Engelbert.
When they were gone, Engelbert waked his
wife, who lay by him, but had neither feen nor
heard any thing of the converfation, and aſked
her, whether ſhe was indebted any thing to San-
chez, who had been their fervant for fo many years,
and was lately dead ? Yes, fays fhe, I owe him
eight pence. This circumftance having fully con- 1
vinced Engelbert of the truth of what Sanchez
had told him, he gave the eight pence to the poor,
and added a good deal of his own money, and
ordered prayers and maffes to be faid for the de-
ceafed. At the time that this happened, Engel-
bert lived in the world in a married ftate ; but
when he told the ftory to Peter the Venerable, he
was a monk at Cluni.
The abbot of Urfperg informs us, in his Chro-
nicle, that in the year 1123 , there ' were ſeen , in
the diſtrict of Worms, great numbers of armed
men, both on foot and on horfeback, going to and
fro, 7 as if they belonged to fome folemn affembly,
f
and were obferved to repair every day about none-
E One of the feven canonical hours among the papifts .

time,
time, to a certain mountain , which feemed to be

their place of rendezvous. A man in the neigh-
bourhood, who had more courage than the reft,
having first fortified himſelf with the fign of the
crofs, went up to one of theſe armed men, and
conjured him , in the name of God, to let him
know what this army meant, and why they affem-
bled in this manner. The foldier, or, if you
pleafe, the phantom , anfwered, We are not what
you fuppofe us to be, either real foldiers, or real
phantoms ; but most of us are the fouls of thoſe
who fell in a battle that was fought upon this fpot
fome ages ago. Thefe arms and horfes, which
were formerly the inftruments of our fins, are now
the inftruments of our punishment : and though
you can fee nothing fiery about us, we are really
属
all in a flame. Among others, it is faid, that
count Emico, who was killed a few years be-
fore, was particularly taken notice of in the com-
pany, and that he declared he might be deli-
vered out of this ftate by the help of alms and
prayers.
In the night which preceded the battle fought
in Egypt, between Mark Antony and Cæfar,
while the whole city of Alexandria was in the
greateſt agitation in expectation of the event, there
were ſeen in the city a great multitude of people,
crying and howling in the Bacchanalian manner,
together with a confufed noife of all forts of in-
ftruments, employed in honour of Bacchus, juft
as Antony himself uſed to celebrate the feaft of
that god. This troop, having made a tour round
the greateft part of the city, went out at the gate
which led to the enemy, and then difappeared.
This is all that has reached my knowledge con-
cerring the vampires of Hungary, Moravia, Silefia
Plutarch . in Anton .
and
Q3
230 A DISSERTATION
and Poland ; as alfo concerning the coming again

of deceaſed perfons in France and Germany. I
fhall hereafter deliver my fentiments upon the rea-
lity of the facts, and the other circumſtances at-
tending theſe redivivi.
Thoſe which follow are of another fpecies , but
equally miraculous. I mean the accounts of ex-
communicated perfons coming out of their graves,
and quitting the church, till the facrifice of the
maſs is finiſhed, and then returning again."
XXV.
११.५
Of excommunicated corpfes going out of the church.
I.
Gregory theGreat ' has recorded a ſtory of
two nuns, who being threatened with excom-
munication by St. Benedict, died in this ftate.
Some time after, they were feen, by their nurſe,
going out of the church, as foon as the deacon
had pronounced the words, Let all, who do not com-
municate, retire. The nurfe having informed the
faint of what fhe had feen, he fent an oblation, or
piece of bread, to be offered for them , in token
of reconciliation, and from that time they reſted in
their graves in peace.
We are told by St. Auguftin *, that it was the
*
cuſtom to recite, in the diptychs, the names of
the martyrs and deceafed holy virgins . Perhibet
præclariffimum teftimonium ecclefiaftica autoritas, in
qua fidelibus notum eft quo loco martyres, & quo de-
functa fanctimoniales ad altaris facramenta recitantur.
It is probable, therefore, that when they were
named at the altar, they went out of the church .
i Greg. 1. ii. Dialog . c. 23.

St. Auguft. de Sta . Virg. c. xlv. p. 364.
XXVI. Inftances
A
XXVI.
Inftances of the beft's being buried with dead bodies.
belongedwithout
A Benedict ' , having left the monaftery to
leave, and without receiving the holy abbot's blef-

fing, happened to die in this ftate of difobedience,
and was buried. Next morning his body was
found thrown out of the grave, and his relations
laid the affair before St. Benedict, who gave them
a confecrated wafer, and ordered them to lay it,
with all reverence, upon the young monk's breaſt.
The command being executed , the earth ſuffered
him afterwards to reft in peace. This ufage, 1 or
rather this abuſe, of putting the holy eucharift into
the grave with dead bodies, is of a very fingular
nature, but not unknown to antiquity. The author,
who writ the life of St. Bafil the Great m, by the
name of St. Amphilochius, fays, that St. Bafil re-
ferved the third part of a confecrated hoft, in or-
der to be buried with him. At the time of his
death he received it, and expired with it in his
mouth. But before this time, the practice had
been condemned by feveral councils, and has been
fince difapproved by others, as contrary to our
Saviour's original inftitution.
Notwithstanding this prohibition, it has been
the practice, in fome places, to put hofts into the
graves of perfons eminent for piety, as was done
in the grave of St. Omer, abbot of St. Gal " , where
1 Greg. 1. ii. Dialog. c. 24. Carthag. iii. c. vi. Hippon .

Amphiloch. in Vita Bafi- c. v. Antiffiodor. c. xii, Conc.
lii. Vide Balfamon. ad Can. in Trullo, c. lxxxiii,
83. Concil. in Trullo , Conc. Vita S, Otmari, c. iii.
Q 4 they
232 A DISSERTATION
they found ſeveral ſmall round pieces of bread,

which were not doubted' to be confecrated hofts.
In the life of St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarn °,
we read, that there were found under his breaſt a
great number of hofts. Amalarius reports of ve-
nerable Bede ", that an hoft was laid upon his breaft
before he was buried . Oblatâ fuper fanctum peetus
pofita. This particular is not to be met with in
the hiftory of Bede, but in the fecond life of St.
undoubted/ malarius obferves, that the Engliſh
Cuthbert
derived this cuftom from the
of Rome and father Menard maintains, that
it is not this cuftom which is condemned by the
councils, but the cuftom of giving the commu-
nion to dead perfons, by putting it into their
mouths. Whatever becomes of this practice, with
is certain, that cardinal Humbert ', in his anſwer
to the objections of the patriarch Michael Cerula
rius, reproaches the Greeks with burying the holy
eucharift, when any part of it remained after the
faithful had communicated . MAXI
XXVII.
More inftances of excommunicated corpfes caft up out

of boly ground. HDD ANS
TH regard to the cafe of excommunicated

WIT perfons, faid to be caft up by the earth,
we meet with feveral examples of it in hiftory.
We are told, for inftance, in the life of St. Go-
• Vita S. Cuthberti , 1. iv. 9 Menard. Not, in Sacram .

& ii. apud Bolland. 26 Mar S. Greg. Mag. p. 484, 485.
tii. • Humbert. Cardinal. Bi-
P Amalår. de Ofic. Ecclef. blioth . Patrum. 1. xviii. &
1.iv. c. 41 . t. iv. Concil.
thard,
thard, bishop of Hildesheim , that certain perfons,
whom he had excommunicated for rebellion , and
other crimes, came obftinately to church, and ſtay-
ed there during divine fervice, notwithſtanding
his prohibition ; while the very dead, who had
been buried there a great number of years, and
were not known to be excommunicated, came out
of their graves, with the greatest reverence, and
quitted the church. When maſs was over, the
faint, addreffing himself to the rebellious crew,
reproached them with their hardneſs of heart, and
affured them , that theſe dead perfons would cer-
tainly rife up in judgment against them. At the
fame time, he went to the church door, and gave
abfolution to thofe modeft carcaffes, with a per-
miffion to come into the church again, and teft
quietly in their graves. This life of St. Gothard
was writ by one of his difciples, a canon in his
cathedral. The faint died on the 4th of May, in
the year 938 .
In the fecond council of Limoges, held in the
year 1031 *, confifting of a great number of bi-
fhops, abbots, priefts, and deacons , were recited
the inftances juſt mentioned of St. Benedict, to
ſhew the reſpect which ought to be had to fentences
of excommunication, pronounced by ecclefiaftical
fuperiors : and the bishop of Cahors, who was
then preſent, took this opportunity of relating a
thing, which had happened to himself a little while
before. " A knight of my diocefe, fays he, being
" killed in a ſtate of excommunication , I refuſed
" to comply with the request of his friends, who
" follicited me earneftly to give him abfolution .
My refolution was to make an example of him,
Vita S. Gothardi, Sæ- Tom , ix. Concil. p. 902.

cul . vi . Bened. part. i . p. 434 . Anno 1031.
« in
234 A DISSERTATION
" in order to ftrike terror into others. Notwith-,

" ftanding this, he was buried in a church dedi-
" cated to St. Peter, by fome foldiers, or knights,
66
(milites) without any ecclefiaftical ceremony,
" without my leave, and without the affiftance of
" any prieft. The next morning his body was
" found out of the ground, and thrown naked at
" fome diſtance from the grave, perfectly entire,
" and without any token of its having been touch-
buried him having open-
" ed. The foldiers who
" ed the grave, found nothing but the linnen
" which had been wrapped about his body. They
" then buried him afresh, and covered the grave
" with an enormous quantity of earth and ftones.
" The next day the corpfe was found out of the
66
grave again, and no fymptom of any one's
66
having been at work. The fame thing was re
66
peated five feveral times, and at laſt they buried
" him, as they could, in unconfecrated ground,
" at a diftance from the church-yard . The neigh-
bouring gentlemen were fo ftruck with this re-
" markable event, that they came to me in a body
" to make overtures of peace." This fact feems
to be accompanied with all the circumſtances which
can contribute to make it probable.
XXVIII.
Inftance of an excommunicated martyr thrown out of

the ground.
T is recorded in the Menées des Grecs, of the

of
being excommunicated by his fuperior, for fome
act of difobedience, quitted the defert, and came
to Alexandria , where he was apprehended by the
governor of the city, ftripped of his religious habit,
and
ON VAMPIRES , & c.
235
and ſtrongly follicited to facrifice to the idols of
the place. The man bravely refifted the tempta-
tion, and was tortured feveral ways, till at laft
they cut off his head, and threw his body out of
the city, to be devoured by dogs. The next night
it was carried away by the Chriftians, who having
embalmed and wrapped it up in fine linnen, in-
terred it in an honourable part of the church, with
all the reſpect due to the remains of a martyr.
But, at the next celebration of the mafs, upon
A
the deacon's crying out aloud , as uſual, Let the
1 catechumens, and all who do not communicate, retire,
his grave inftantly opened, and the martyr retired
into the church- porch. When mafs was over, he
came again of his own accord into his grave.
Not long after, it was revealed by an angel to a
holy perfon, who had continued three days in
prayer, that the deceaſed ecclefiaftick had been ex-
communicated by his fuperior, and would conti-
nue bound, till that fame fuperior had reverſed the
fentence. Upon this, a meffenger was diſpatched
to the defert after the holy anchorite, who ordered
the grave to be opened, and abfolved the deceaſed,
who after this continued in his grave in peace.
XXIX.
Obfervations upon this ftory.
Have a variety of reafons for fufpecting the

I truth of this relation . Firſt, at the time when
the defert of Scheti was inhabited, there were no
perfecutors at Alexandria. No one was difturbed
there, either for his Chriftian or monaftick pro-
feffion. Idolaters and heathens were at that time
in greater danger of being molefted, as Chriſtianity
flouriſhed, and was refpected all over Egypt, and
particularly
236 A DISSERTATION ,
纛 particularly at Alexandria. Secondly, the eccle-

fiafticks of Scheti were rather hermits than ceno-
bites, and one of them had no authority to excom-
municate another. Thirdly, it does not appear,
that the perfon in queftion had done any thing to
deferve excommunication, at leaſt of that heavier
kind which hinders a perfon from coming to church,
and partaking in the communion . T The Greek
text fays only, " that he continued in obedience
" to his fpiritual father for fome time, but after-
" wards fell into difobedience, and left the mo-
6C
naftery without any lawful caufe, and went to
" Alexandria." If this ecclefiaftick quitted his
profeffion, and left the monaftery to live a fecular
life, it was unquestionably a crime, which deferves
the heavieſt ſpecies of excommunication. But the
ecclefiafticks of thoſe days were not tied up to per-
petual obedience as they are now, and their fupe-
riors had no right to inflict on them the greater
excommunication : but of this I ſhall ſpeak more
hereafter.
XXX .
A man caft out of the church for having refuſed to pay

bis tithes.
E are informed by John Bromton , abbot

W of Sornat in England ", that it is recorded
in fome very ancient hiftories, that St. Auguſtin,
the Engliſh apoffle, having endeavoured to prevail
upon a gentleman to pay tithes, it pleafed God
that, upon the faint's calling out, before he begun
Joh. Bromton. Chronic. Vide & Bolland, ad Diem 26

Maii, p. 396..
mafs,
ON VAMPIRES , & c. 237
mafs, Let no excommunicated perſon be preſent at this

boly facrifice, there was immediately feen to come
out of his grave, and quit the church, a man who
had been buried above 150 years. When mafs
was ended, St. Auguftin, with the crofs carried bel
fore him, went to queftion this man, why he went
out of the church, and was anſwered , becauſe he
died excommunicated . The faint then aſked him,
where the priest, who had pronounced the fentence
against him, was buried ; and being fhewn the
place, ordered the prieft to rife. The priest obey-
ed the fummons, and faid he had excommunicated
the man for feveral crimes, and particularly for his
obftinacy in refufing to pay his tithes ; but, at
St. Auguftin's command , he gave him abfolution,
and the dead man returned to his grave. The
prieſt then defired the faint to grant him the fame
permiffion, and it was indulged him. This ftory
feems to me equally fufpicious with the former.
In the days of St. Auguftin, who preached the
Goſpel in England, the obligation of paying tithes
was not impofed upon pain of excommunication ,
and ftill lefs one hundred and fifty years before.
XXXI.
Inftances of persons who havefhewnfigns oflife after

death, and bave reverently got out of the way, to
make room for others of greater worth.
HE following ftory is told by Tertullian *,

THwho fays he was a witnefs of it himself:
de meo didici. A woman, who had been given to
a certain church for a flave, died in the prime of
16 life, having been once married . Before the was
* Tertull, de Animâ, c. li. p. 597. Edit. Pamelii.

put
A DISSERTATION
2381
put into the ground, when the prieſt was offering

up the facrifice, and lifting up his hands at the
prayers, this woman, whofe hands were extended
by her fides, lifted them up at the fame time in a
fuppliant pofture, and after the bleffing was pro-
nounced, replaced them in their former pofition .
Tertullian adds, that a dead body, in the church-
yard, retired on one fide, to make room for an-
other body which they were going to bury by it.
He relates thefe stories, after having mentioned the
opinion of Plato and Democritus, that the fouls of
the deceaſed remain for fome time about the body,
and that they fometimes preferve it from putre-
faction, and make its hair, beard, and nails, grow
in the grave. Tertullian diffents from this opinion,
and even refutes it tolerably well. But he owns,
that the facts which I have mentioned feem to fa-
your this notion , which prevailed alfo among the
Hebrews, as we have ſeen above.. **
We are told, that after the death of the famous
Abelard , who was buried in the monaftery of
Paraclete, Eloifa, his wife, dying not long after,
and being buried, at her own requeft, in the fame
grave, Abelard ſtretched out his arms, and received
her into his bofom : elevatis brachiis illam recepit,
& ita eam amplexatus brachia fua ftrinxit. But this
fact is by no means certain, or even probable ; and
the Chronicle, where it is recorded , took it, I fup-
pofe, from fome popular rumour.
In the life of St. John the Almoner , which
was writ foon after his death, by Leontius, bi-
fhop of Neapolis, in the iſland of Cyprus, we read,
that St. John died at Amathus in that ifland , and
was buried between two bifhops, who, in the pre-
y Chronic. Turen, in Operibus Abelardi, p. 1195.

z Bolland. t. ii. p. 315. 23 Januar.
fence
fence of all the # people, withdrew on each fide,
to make room for him in the middle. Non unús“
neque decem, neque * centum viderunt, fed omnis túrba,
que convenit ad ejus fepulturam, fays the author.
The fame fact is alfo related by Metaphraftes, who
writ the life of this faint in Greek.
XXXII.
Aman that went upon a pilgrimage after death."
Scholar of the town of St. Pons, near Nar-

AⓇ bonne , dying in excommunication, ap-
d
peared to one of his friends, and defired him to
go to Rhodes, to obtain abfolution for him of the
bishop. The man fet out upon his journey in a
very fnowy ſeaſon, and was attended by the fpirit,
who fhewed him the way, and cleared the road
of fnow. When he came to Rhodes, he applied
to the bishop, and obtained the abfolution he
wanted, and was conducted back again to St. Pons
by the fpirit, who, at taking leave, thanked him
for the trouble he had taken, and promiſed to take
fome opportunity of teftifying his gratitude.
*
XXXIII. 102
Another inftance of feveral perfons being accompanied

in a pilgrimage by the deceased, for whofe fake they
undertook it.
HE following letter was fent me on the 5th

T of April 1745, and has ſome relation to
the fubject before us.
Melchior. Lib. de Statu Mortuor.
There
ON
-240 A DISSERTATI
There has lately happened in thefe parts , a thing

relating to your Differtation upon Spectres, which
I think it my duty to communicate to you. A
man, who lives at Letraye, a village at a few
leagues diftance from Remiremont, loft his wife.
the beginning of laft February, and was married
again the week before Lent. At eleven o'clock in
-the evening, on the wedding- day, the former wife
appeared to the bride, and the refult of their con-
verfation was, that the bride engaged herſelf to
perform feven pilgrimages upon the old wife's
fcore. From that time, the deceaſed appeared re-
gularly at the fame hour, and fpoke in the prefence
of the minifter of the parifh, and feveral other
perfons.
was
On the 15th $ of March, juft as the bride
preparing to fet out for St. Nicholas's church, the
received a vifit from the deceafed, who bid her
make hafte, and not be deterred by the difficulties
The would meet with on the road. The company
then fet out on their journey, confifting of the
bride, her huſband , brother-in -law, and fifter-in-
law, little thinking that the deceaſed would make
one ; but he did not leave them till they came to
the church-door.
When they were got within two leagues of St.
Nicholas, they took up their lodging at an inn
called the Barracks ; where the bride found herfelf
fo ill, that the two men were obliged to carry her
hither ; and as foon as the came to the church
door, fhe walked with great cafe, and felt no more
pain. This story was told to me and the veftry-
keeper, by all the four perfons, who added, that
the last thing which the deceafed faid, was, that
the bride fhould neither fee nor hear any thing
more of her till ſhe had finiſhed half her journies.
The plain and natural manner, in which theſe good
stadr people
1

2.1
people told me the ftory, convinces me that it may
be depended on for truth.
It is not faid that this woman died in excommu-
nication ; but he was in all appearance bound by
fome vow or promiſe to perform theſe pilgrimages,
which the turned over to her fucceffor. Accord-
ingly we find, that ſhe did not go into the church,
but accompanied the pilgrims no farther than the
door.
XXXIV .
Inftance of a faint's coming out of his grave, to avoid

*
the company of the wicked.
Ἐ the earth has been fometimes known to throw

F
up excommunicated perfons, there are alſo in-
ftances of faints coming out of the ground, to get
rid of the company of the wicked , or even peb-
ple of lefs merit than themſelves. Evagrius of
Pontus , tells a ftory of a holy hermit, named
Thomas, furnamed Salus, from his counterfeiting
an idiot, who died in the hoſpital of Daphne near
Antioch, and was buried in the place appropriated
to ftrangers ; but was every day found caft out
of the ground, at a diftance from the other dead
bodies, which feemed to be pushed away from
him . The inhabitants laid the affair before Ephrom ,
bishop of Antioch, who ordered him to be carried
into the city in a folemn manner, and honourably
interred in the church- yard ; and from that time
the people of Antioch celebrate the feaft of his
tranflation every year. The fame fact is related
by Johannes Mofchus , only with this difference,
Evagr. Pont. 1. iv . c. 35.

Johan. Mofch. Præt. Spirit. c. lxxxviii
R that
242 A DISSERTATION
that he fays they were fome women buried near

Thomas Salus, which came out of their graves,
out of refpect to the faint.
XXXV.
Appeal from an unjust excommunication .
OPE Clement V, having excommunicated

P Walter, bishop of Poitiers, the bishop think-
ing the fentence unjuft, appealed to the tribunal of
God, and at his death ordered the inftrument of
appeal to be put into his hands, and buried with
him. Some time after, the Pope came to the con-
vent of Minor Friars at Poitiers, where Walter
was buried, and in the night-time ordered the grave
to be opened, and bad his archdeacon take the in-
ftrument, by force, out of the hands of the de-
ceaſed : but the archdeacon could not poffibly do it,
till the pope had given a folemn promiſe to return
the paper after he had read it. The dead man then
lifted up his hand, and gave the paper. While
the pope was reading it, the archdeacon felt him-
felf faftened down, as it were, to the grave, by
$
fome invifible power, till the pope had reſtored the
paper, and it was put again into the dead man's
hand. The hiftory of this event was recorded in
the year 1329 , upon the evidence of a gentleman
who was a witneſs of the fact.
Vide Gallia Chriftiana, t. ii. Inftrum . xxi. p. 340.
-1
XXXVI. Re-
ON VAMPIRES , &C. 243
XXXVI.
Reflections upon the caſe of excommunicated perſons

going out of churches.
HERE is fomething in all theſe accounts of

TH excommunicated perfons, which have been
feen to come out of their graves during the cele-
bration of mafs, and to return to them again after
the facrifice was over. which deferves a particular
attention. It ſeems to me, that an event, which
happened before a whole congregation, affembled
in open day, and in the midft of the moſt auguft
ceremony of our religion, cannot be denied, or
even difputed. And yet we may fairly afk, how
thefe bodies came out of their graves ; were they
found or rotten, naked or clothed , in their ufual
drefs, or in their grave-clothes ; and whither they
went?
The caufe of their coming out is clearly affign-
ed ; namely, the greater excommunication. Now
as this puniſhment is never inflicted , but in case of
mortal fin , thefe perfons confequently died in this
ftate, and of courfe were damned, and went to
hell. For if it were only the common leffer ex-
communication, I do not fee the neceffity of their
going out of the church with fo many extraordi-
nary circumstances of terror, fince this fpecies of
excommunication does not abfolutely prohibit per-
fons from communicating with the faithful, or from
coming into a church.
If we have recourfe to the diſtinction between
culpa and pana, guilt and punishment, and fay,
that though the former was remitted, the latter
• Concil. Meld. in Can. Thom. in 4 Diſt. 18, 9, 2, 2.

Nemo, 41 , 11 , 4, 3 . D. 1. Quaeftiuncula in Corp., &c.
R 2 was
244 A DISSERTATION
was not, and that the perfons under fentence were

deprived of the communion of the church, till
they were legally abfolved by an ecclefiaftical
judge, the difficulty to be removed is, Whether
a dead perfon can be abfolved, and restored to ec-
clefiaftical communion, unleſs fome fatisfactory
marks of repentance and converfion have preceded
that perfon's death ?
Beſides, in the inftances above-mentioned , there is
no reaſon to ſuppoſe, that the perfons were free from
guilt. It is pretty clear, from the authors there
quoted, that they died in their fins. And parti-
cularly St. Gregory the Great, in his anfwer to
Peter, the other ſpeaker in the dialogue, evidently
fuppofes that the two nuns died in an impenitent
ftate.
Beſides, it is a ftanding maxim in the church,
that where no communion has been had with per-
fons in their life - time, there can be none after their
death. Quibus viventibus non communicavimus, mor-
tuis communicare non poffumus, fays the pope St.
Leo . Notwithſtanding this, it is allowed, that
an excommunicated perfon, who has given tokens
of fincere repentance, but has not had time to
make a confeffion in form, may be reconciled to
the church after death, and admitted to Chriftian
burial. But, in general, before a perfon can be
abfolved from the guilt of fin, the ecclefiaftical
fentence of excommunication , wherever it is in-
curred, muſt be taken off. Abfolutio ab excommu-
nicatione debet præcedere abfolutionem à peccatis ; quia
quamdiu aliquis eft excommunicatus non poteft recipere
aliquod Ecclefiæ Sacramentum, fays St. Thomas .
S. Leo Can. Commun . communic. & Monitoires, c.iv.

i. 24, 4, 2, & Clemen iii. in D. Thom. in 4 Diftin. 9.
Cap. Sactif. 12. de Sepulturis qui 1. art. 3. Quættiunc. 2.
Ecclef. ad 2.
• Eveillon. Traité des Ex-
According
ON VAMPIRES, &C. 245 .
According to this decifion, thefe perſons muſt

have been abfolved from their excommunication,
before they could be abfolved from their fin. On
the contrary, they are here reprefented to be ab-
folved from their guilt, in order to be made ca-
`pable of abfolution from the cenfures of the
church.
I own I cannot difcover how we fhall get rid of
the following difficulties. 1. How a dead perfon
can receive abfolution ? 2. How an abfolution
from excommunication can precede an abſolution
1
from guilt ? 3. How abfolution can be given,
without the perfon's defiring it, or giving any
proofs of defiring it ? 4. How abfolution can be
given to perfons who died in mortal fin, and
without having done penance ? 5. For what rea
fons thefe excommunicated perfons return to their
graves again, after mafs is over? 6. If they durft not
ftay in the church while mafs was celebrating, were
they more worthy before, than after the facrifice ?
It feems evident, that the two nuns, and the
young ecclefiaftic, mentioned by S. Gregory, died
in their fins, and without having received abfolu-
tion . It is probable that St. Benedict was not a
prieft, and therefore had not abfolved them. It
may be faid, that the excommunication , mention-
ed by St. Gregory, was not of the greater fort i
and in this caſe the good abbot might have ab-
folved them. But then was this common leffer
excommunication of confequence enough to make
them go out of the church in fo wonderful and
aftoniſhing a manner ? The perfons excommuni-
cated by St. Gothard, and the gentleman mentioned
at the council of Limoges in 1031 , died in a ſtate
of impenitence and excommunication, and confe-
quently in mortal fin ; and yet they were abfolved
and re- admitted, even after their deaths, at the
bare request of their friends .
R 3 The
#46 A DISSERTATIÓN
The young hermit, mentioned in the Menées des

Grecs, left his cell in difobedience to his fuperior,
and was excommunicated. In this cafe, was he
capable of receiving the crown of martyrdom ?
If he were, was he not at the fame time reconciled
to the church, and did not he wash away his
fault with his blood ? And if his excommunica
tion was only of the leffer kind, did he deferve to
be ftill excluded, notwithstanding his martyrdom,
from being prefent at the facred myſteries ?
Suppofing the facts to have happened as they
are related, I can think of no other method of
clearing up theſe difficulties, but by fuppofing that
hiſtory has not preferved all the circumftances
which made theſe perſons deferve abfolution ; for
it is to be prefumed that the faints, and especially
the bishops that abfolved them, were acquainted
with the rules of the church, and acted in every
refpect regularly, and according to the canons.
From all that has been faid upon this head,
there refults one important truth, that as the bo-
dies of the wicked retire from among the faints,
out of refpect and a fenfe of their own unworthi-
nefs, fo the bodies of the faints withdraw from
the fociety of the wicked for oppofite reafons, viz.
that they may not appear to have any connection
with them , even after death, or to approve their
wicked life. + Farther, if what is above related be
true, the good, even the faints, fhew great defe-
rence and reſpect to one another in the other life.
We shall foon ſee ſome inſtances which ſeem to
invalidate thofe arguments for a perfon's fanctity
which are drawn from his body's not corrupting
fince it is afferted , that the bodies of excommunicated
perfons do not rot in the earth till the fentence
be taken off.
XXXVII . Whether
XXXVII.
Whether excommunicated bodies rot in their graves ?·
HE notion that the bodies of excommuni-

THE cated perfons are preferved from corruption,
appears to have been a very old one, from the life
$
of St. Libentius , archbishop of Bremen, who
+
died the 4th of January 1013. This prelate hav-
ing excommunicated a gang of pirates, one ofthem
died, and was buried in Norway. Seventy years
after, his body was found quite entire and uncor
rupted, and did not fall to afhes till it had re-
ceived abſolution from the bishop Alvareda.
"It is afferted by the modern Greeks, in defence
of their fchifm , and as a proof that the gift of
miracles, and the epifcopal power of the keys, fub-
fifts in their church more vifibly and evidently than
in the church of Rome, that, with them, the bo-
dies of excommunicated perfons never rot, but
fwell up to an uncommon fize, and are ſtretched,
like drums, nor ever corrupt or fall to duft, till
they have received abfolution from fome biſhop
or prieft. And they produce many inftances of
carcaffes which have been found in their graves un-
corrupted, and which have afterwards putrefied ,
as foon as the excommunication was taken off.
They do not, however, deny, that a body's not
corrupting is fometimes a proof of fanctity *, but
in this cafe they expect it to fend forth an agreeable
fmell, to be white or ruddy, and not black , ſtink-
ing, and fwelled like a drum, as the bodies of ex
communicated perfons generally are.
i Sæcul. 6. Benedi &. Part. i. p. 131.

* Goar, Not. in Eucholog. p. 688.
R 4 XXXVIII. In
248 A DISSERTATION
XXXVIII.
Inftances of excommunicated bodies not putrefying,
'E are told ', that in the time of Manuel,

WEor Maximus, patriarch of Conftantinople,
the Turkish emperor having a mind to know the
truth of the Greek notion concerning the incorrup
tion of excommunicated bodies, the patriarch or
dered the grave of a woman, who had lived in a
criminal commerce with an archbishop of Conftan-
tinople, to be opened, Her body being found
entire, black and much fwelled, the Turks put it
into a cheft, under the emperor's feal ; and the pa-
triarch having repeated a prayer, and given abfo-
lution to the deceaſed, the cheft was opened three
days after, and the body was found reduced to
afhes. In this cafe, however, I fee nothing mi-
raculous. It is well known, that bodies are fome-
times found entire in their graves, and that upon
being expoſed to the air, they immediately fall to
duft. I except thoſe that are carefully embalmed,
like the mummies in Egypt, and thofe that are bu-
ried in extremely dry places, or in a foil impreg-
nated with nitre and falt, which foon dries up all
moisture in the carcaffes both of men and other
animals. But I cannot comprehend, how an arch-
bishop of Conftantinople could legally give abfor
Jution after death to a perfon that died in mortal
fin, and under the fentence of excommunication .
Vide Malux. 1.i. Turcogræc. p. 26, 27.
XXXIX . Of
XXXIX.
Of excommunicated perſons appearing to the living.
T is alſo
Greeks ,that the bodies of thefe excommuni-
cated perfons frequently appear to the living, both
by day and night, and ſpeak to them , call upon
them , and difturb them ſeveral other ways.
Leo Allatius is very particular upon this head,
and fays, that in the ille of Chio, the inhabitants
never anſwer the first time they are called, for fear
g re ed wice
hes bein a fpect
tof
y
; but if the are call t ,
they are fure it is not a Broucolack " , ( this is the
name they give thefe fpirits. ) If any one appears
at the first call, the fpectre difappears, but the
perfon certainly dies..
They have no way to get rid of theſe evil genii,
but to dig up the body of the perfon that has
appeared, and burn it, after having repeated over
it certain prayers. By this means the body being
reduced to ashes, appears no more. And they
look upon it as a clear cafe, that either thefe mif
chievous and fpiteful carcaffes come out of their
graves of their own accord, and occafion the death
of the perfons that fee or fpeak to them ; or that
the devil. himſelf makes use of theſe bodies to
frighten and deftroy mankind . They have hitherto
diſcovered no remedy which more infallibly rids
them of theſe plagues, than to burn or mangle the
bodies which are made ufe of for theſe curfed
purpoſes . Sometimes the end is anſwered by
Vide Bolland. Aug. t. i. * Βρυκολακος ; derived from

P. 201 , 202, 203, &c. Leo. Beuxos or Beunxos, ftinking,
Allat. Epift. ad Zachiam. corrupted flime, and λxxos,
n. 12, &c. a ditch, a pit.
tearing
A DISSERTATION
250
tearing out the heart, and letting the bodies rot
above ground before they bury them again, or by
cutting off the head, or driving a large nail through
the temples.
XL.
Inftances of excommunicated perfans coming again,
IR Paul Rycaut, in his hiftory of the prefent.

STRftate of the Greek church , obferves, that the
opinion that excommunicated bodies are preſerved
from putrefaction, prevails generally, not only
among the Greeks, but also among the Turks ;
and he gives us a fact which he had from a Ca-
loyer of Candia, who confirmed it to him upon
oath. The caloyer's name was Sophronius, a man
well known and refpected at Smyrna.
There died in the iſland of Milo, a man, who
was excommunicated for a fault which he had
committed in the Morea, and he was buried in a
private place, without any ceremonies, and in un-
confecrated ground . His relations and friends ex-
preffed great diffatisfaction at his being treated in
this manner, and very foon after the inhabitants of
the island were tormented every night by frightful
apparitions, which they attributed to this unhappy
man. Upon opening the grave, his body was
found entire, and his veins fwelled with blood ;
and a confultation being held upon the fubject,
the caloyers adviſed difmembring his body, cut-
ing it in pieces, and boiling it in wine, which, it
feems, is the ufual manner of proceeding there in
thofe cafes.
However, the friends of the deceaſed prevailed
upon them, by dint of intreaty, to delay the exe-
Rycant's State of the Greek Church, c. xiii . p. 282.--

cution
ON VAMPIRES , &C. 25-1
cution, and in the mean time fent to Conftantino-
ple to get abfolution for him from the patriarch.
Till the meffenger could return, the body was laid
in the church, and prayers and maffes were faid
daily for the repoſe of his foul. One day while
Sophronius, the caloyer above- mentioned, was
performing the fervice, there was heard on a fud-
den a great noife in the coffin ; and upon exami-
nation, the body was found reduced to afhes, as
if it had been dead feven years. Particular notice
was taken of the time when the noife was heard,
and it was found to be the very moment when
the abfolution was figned by the patriarch. Sir
Paul Rycaut, who has recorded this event, was
neither a Greek nor Roman Catholick, but a stanch
Proteftant of the church of England.
Hè obferves upon this occafion, that the notion
among the Greeks is, that an evil fpirit enters
into the excommunicated carcafs, and preferves it
from corruption, by performing the ufual functi-
ons of the human foul in a -living body ". They
fancy moreover, that theſe corpfes eat by night,
and actually digeft, and are nourished by their
food : that feveral have been found of a fresh,
ruddy colour, with their veins ready to burft with
blood, full forty days after their death, and that
upon being opened, there has iffued from them
as large a quantity of warm fresh blood, as would
come from a young perfon of the moft fanguine
conftitution. And this opinion
, prevails fo univer
fally, that every one is furniſhed with a ſtory to
this purpoſe.
Father Theophilus Raynard , author of a par-
ticular treatife upon this fubject, afferts, that this
P See François Richard Theop. Raynald, t. xiii .

Hift . de l'Ile de Ste. Irene, Oper. init. Vit. c. vii. p. 51,
c. xv. 18. 52 .
Coming
A DISSERTATION
252
coming again of deceaſed perfons is an undoubted
truth, and fupported by unquestionable facts . But
to pretend that thefe fpectres are always excom-
municated perfons, and that the fchifmatical church
of Greece has a privilege of preferving from pu-
trefaction the bodies of thofe that die under her
fentence, is what cannot be maintained ; fince it
is certain, that excommunicated bodies rot as well
as others, and that feveral who have died in the
communion of the church, Greek as well as Ro-
man, have continued uncorrupted . There have
even been inftances of this nature among the
heathens, and frequently among other animals ,
whofe carçaffes have been found unputrefied in the
ground, and among the ruins of old buildings.
Whoever will examine mere accurately into this
matter, may confult father Goard's Rituel des Grecs,
p. 687, 688. Matthew Paris's History of Eng-
land, t . ii . p. 687. Adam of Bremen, c. lxxv.
Albert of Stade, under the year 1050 ; and M.
Ducange, Gloffar, Latinit . at the word Imblocatus.
XLI.
A Broucolack dug up in prefence of M. de Tourne ◄

fort.
De Tournefort has given, in his travels,

M. an account of the digging up an imagi,
nary Broucolack in the iſland of Mycone, where he
was on the ift of January 1701. His words are
as follow ' . We were prefent at a very different
fcene in the ſame iſland, upon occafion of one of
thofe dead corpfes, which they ſuppoſe to come
to life again after their burial. The man, whofe
Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, t. i. p. 52 , 53. Edit.

Amfterdam, 1718, in Quarto,
story
ſtory I am going to relate, was a peaſant of My-

cone, naturally ill- natured and quarrelfome (a cir
cumftance of confequence in fuch caſes :) he was
murdered in the fields, no body knew how, or by
whom .
Two days after his being buried in a chapel in
the town, it was noiſed about, that he was feen in
the night walking about in a great hurry , that he
came into houfes, and tumbled about their goods,
griped people behind, and played a thouſand little
monkey tricks. At firft it was only laughed at,
but it foon grew to be a ferious affair, when the
better fort of people joined in the complaint.
The Papas themſelves gave credit to it, and no
doubt had their reafons for fo doing. Maffes, to
be fure, were faid , but the peafant was incorrigible,
and continued his old trade. After feveral meet-
ings of the chief people of the town, and of the
priefts and monks, it was concluded to be necef-
fary, in obedience to fome old ceremonial, to wait
till nine days after the burial.
On the tenth day, a mafs was faid in the cha-
pel where the body lay , in order to drive out the
devil, which was imagined to have taken poffeffion
of it . When the mafs was over, the body was
taken up, and preparations were made for pulling
out its heart. The butcher of the town, an old
clumfy fellow, began with opening the belly inſtead
of the breaft. He groped a long while among
- the entrails, without finding what he looked for,
till at laſt ſomebody faid he ſhould cut up the
diaphragm ; and then the heart was pulled out,
to the admiration of the fpectators. In the mean
time, the carcafs ftunk fo abominably, thât they
were obliged to burn frankincenfe ; but the fmoke
mixing with the fumes of the corpfe, increaſed
the ftink, and began to heat the poor people's
brains. Their imagination, already affected with
the
234 A DISSERTATION
the fpectacle before them, grew full of whimfies,

and they took it into their heads, that a thick
moke came from the body ; nor durft we ſay
that it was only the fmoke of the incenſe.
In the chapel, and the fquare before it, they
were inceffantly bawling out Broucolack, which is
the name they give to thefe pretended redivivi.
From hence the bellowing was communicated to
the ftreets, and feemed to be invented on purpoſe
to fplit the roof of the chapel. Several there preſent
averred, that the blood of the offender was red,
and the butcher fwore that the body was ftill warm ;
whence they concluded, that the deceaſed was
guilty of a heavy crime for not being thoroughly
dead, or rather for fuffering himſelf to be re-ani-
mated by the devil, which is the notion they have
of a Broucolack. They then roared out that word
in a ftupendous manner. Juft at this time there
came in a flock of people, who loudly proteſted,
that they plainly faw the body was not grown
ftiff, when it was carried from the fields to the
church to be buried, and that confequently it was
a true Broucolack ; which word continued to be the
burden of the fong.
I queſtion not but they would have fworn it did
not ftink, if we had not been there, fo thoroughly
were their heads turned upon this occafion, and
fo ftrongly were they infatuated with the notion
of thefe ſpectres. As for us, we got as cloſe to
the body as we could, that we might obferve
what paffed more exactly, and were almoſt poiſon-
ed with its ftink. When they asked us what we
thought of the corps, we told them we believed
it to be compleatly dead ; and having a mind to
cure, or, at leaft, not to exaſperate their prejudices,
we reprefented to them, that it was no wonder
the butcher ſhould feel fome warmth, by groping
in the entrails, which were then putrefying ; that
it
it was no extraordinary thing for it to emit fumes,

fince the fame will happen upon turning up a
dunghill, and that as for the pretended redneſs of
the blood, it was ftill viſible, by the butcher's
hands, that it was a mere ftinking nafty fmear.
Af
all our reafoning, they refolved upon going
to the fea-fhore, and there burning the dead man's
heart. But, notwithſtanding this execution, he
did not grow more peaceable, but made more
noife than ever. He was accufed of beating peo-
ple in the night, breaking down doors, and even
roofs of houfes, fhattering windows, tearing clothes,
and emptying cafks and bottles. It was a ghoft
of a very thirty conftitution ; nor do I believe
that he fpared any houfe but the conful's, where
we lodged. In the mean time, nothing could be
more deplorable than the condition of this ifland .
Not a head in it but was turned : the wifeft among
them were feized like the reft. In fhort, it was a
real diforder of the brain, as dangerous as lunacy
or madneſs. Whole families quitted their houfes ,
and brought their beds from the remoteft parts
of the town into the great ſquare, there to fpend
the night. Every one complained of fome fresh
infult, and nothing could be heard but groans at
the approach of night. The moft fenfible people
among them thought proper to retire into the
country.
When the prepoffeffion was fo general, we thought
it our best way to hold our tongues . Had we op-
pofed it, we fhould have been treated not only as
2
fools, but as infidels. Indeed, how was it poffible
to bring a whole nation to its fenfes ? Thofe who
believed in their hearts that we doubted the truth
of the fact, came and reproached us with our in-
credulity, and endeavoured to prove that there
were fuch things as Broucolacks, by quotations out
of the Buckler of Faith, written by father Richard,
a Jefuit
A DISSERTATION
256
a Jefuit miffionary. Their argument was this
He was a Latin, and therefore you ought to be-
lieve him ; nor fhould we have got any thing by
denying the confequence. We were entertained
every morning with a recital of the new pranks
of this night-bird, who was even charged with be-
ing guilty of the moſt abominable fins.
Some of the citizens, who were moft zealous
for the publick good , took it into their heads that
there had been a defect in the moſt effential part.
of the ceremony. They were of な opinion, that
mafs ought not to have been faid, till after the
heart had been pulled out. With this precaution ,
they infifted that the devil muft needs have been
worsted, and would not have ventured to come
again whereas, by mafs being faid firft, he had
time enough given him to make off, and return
to his poft when the danger was over.
After all thefe wife reflections , they were as
much perplexed as at firft fetting out. They meet
night and morning, debate, and make proceffions for
three days and three nights. The Papas are oblige d
to faft, and run from houfe to houfe with fprink-
lers in their hands. Holy water is plentifully fcat-
tered about, even to the waſhing of the doors,
and filling the mouth of the poor Broucolack.
We repeated it fo often to the magiftrates, that
we fhould not fail in Chriftendom to appoint a
watch by night upon fuch an occafion, in order to
obferve what paffed in the town, that at laft they
apprehended fome vagabonds, who had certainly
a hand in theſe diſorders ; but either they were
not the principal agents, or they were difmiffed
too foon. For two days after, to make themfelves
amends for the faft they had kept in prifon, they
begun to empty the wine cafks of fuch as had
been filly enough to leave their houſes in the night,
fo
fo that nothing was left but to have recourfe again

to prayers.
One day, as they were repeating a certain form,
after having ftuck a number of naked fwords in
the grave where the carcafs lay, (which they dug
up three or four times a day to gratify the whim
of whoever came by) an Albanian, who happened
to be at Mycone, took upon him to pronounce
with an air of great wiſdom, that it was ridiculous
to make ufe of the fwords of Chriftians in fuch a
cafe as this. Are you fo blind, fays he, as not to
fee that the hilt of thefe fwords, being made in
the form of a crofs, hinders the devil from com-
ing out of the carcafs ? I am furpriſed that you
do not take the Turkish fabres. But the expedient
of this wife perfonage had no effect : the Broucolack
was ftill unruly ; the whole island continued in a
ftrange confternation, and they were utterly at a
lofs what faint to invoke, when all on a fudden,
as if they had given one another the word, they
begun to bawl all over the city, that they had
waited too long, that the Broucolack fhould be
burned to afhes, and then they defied the devil to
harbour there any longer, and that it was better
to have recourſe to this extremity, than to have
the iſland totally deferted . For, in fact, feveral
whole families had begun to pack up, in order to
retire to Syra or Tinos.
The magiftrates, therefore, gave orders to carry
the Broucolack to the point of St. George's inland,
where they got ready a great pile, with pitch and
tar, for fear the wood fhould not burn faft enough
of itfelf. The remnant of this miferable carcafs
was thrown into it, and foon confumed . It was
the first of January 1701 , and we faw the flame
as we returned from Delos. It might properly be
called a rejoycing bonfire, as no more complaints
S were
A DISSERTATION
258
4
were heard of the Broucolack. They only faid,
that the devil had at laſt met with his match, and
fome ballads were made to turn him into ridicule.
It is a notion which prevails all over the Ar-
chipelago, that the devil re-animates no carcaffes
but thofe of the Greek communion. . The inha-
bitants of Santorini are terribly afraid of thefe
bug-bears : thofe of Mycone, after their whims
were diffipated , were equally afraid of a profecu-
f
tion from the Turks, and from the bishop of
Tinos. Not a fingle Papas would venture to be
at St. George's when the body was burnt, for fear
the biſhop ſhould infift upon a fee for their taking
up and burning a body without his leave. As for
the Turks, they did not fail, at their next viſit, to
make the Myconians pay heavily for their treat-
ment of this poor devil, who became in every re-
fpect an object of abomination and horror to all
the country. After this inftance, is it poffible to
deny, that the modern Greeks are no great Gre-
cians, and that nothing but ignorance and fuper-
ftition prevails among them ? Such is the account
given by M. de Tournefort.
XLII.
Whether the devil has a power of taking away, and re-

Storing life ?
T is pretended , that the devil has a power of

reftoring to life, and of preferving from cor-
ruption for a certain time, any dead body that he
has a mind to make ufe of in frightening and de-
ceiving mankind. M. Remy, attorney-general of
Debrio, 1. ii. Magic. Quæft. 19. fect. 2. Loyer, 1, iii . de

Spectris, c. x. & feq.
Lorrain,
Lorrain , འ relates a fact, in confirmation of this

notion, which happened in his time, that is, in
the year 1581 , 瞥 at Dalhent, a village fituated bes
tween the Mofelle and the Sare. A herdſman of
this village, named Pierron, who was married and
had a fon, conceived a violent paffion for a girl of
the fame place. One day, as he was in the fields,
with his thoughts fixed upon the object of his af
fections, the girl, or the devil in her form, ap-
peared to him. Pierron immediately diſcovered
his paffion, and the promiſed to gratify it, if he
would abfolutely give himſelf up to her, and obey
all her commands. Pierron accepted the terms,
and his defires were immediately granted. Some
time after, Abrahel (which is the name the devil
affumed) infifted upon the man's facrificing to him
his only fon, as a pledge of his affection, and gave
him an apple for the child to eat, who, as foon
as he tasted it, immediately fell down dead, and
left the parents in grief and deſpair at this fatal ac-
cident.
Some time after, Abrahel appeared again to the
herdfman, and promiſed to restore the child to
life, if the father would aſk that favour by paying
him the adoration due to the Supreme Being. The
peaſant fell on his knees, and worshipped him ,
and immediately the child begun to revive, and
open his eyes. Upon being brought to the fire,
and having his limbs rubbed, he begun to walk
and ſpeak, and was in all refpects the fame as be-
fore, except that he was pale, meagre, and wan,
his eyes funk, his motions flow and heavy, and
his faculties dull and ftupid. At the year's end,
the devil, which animated his body, left him with
a frightful noife, and the child immediately fell
t Nicol. Remi Dæmonolatr. 1. ii. p. 195, & 190. Periocha,

P. 13.
S2 backward,
260 A DISSERTATION
backward, and ſtunk in fo intolerable a manner,

that his body was drawn out of the houſe with a
crook, and buried inftantly without any ceremony.
The ftory being carried to Nancy, was legally
examined by the magiftrates, who having made
the exacteft enquiry, and heard the depofitions of
witneffes, found that the thing really happened in
and 201 5kg 38
the manner above- mentioned . aland
Procopius, in his fecret hiftory of Juftinian ", de-
clares that he himfelf, and many others, were fully
»
convinced, that that emperor was a devil incarnate.
He fays the fame of the emprefs Theodora, his
wife. Jofephus, the Jewiſh hiftorian , is of opi-
nion , that it is the fouls of wicked men that enter
into the bodies of perfons poffeffed , and when they
are got there, torment them, and make them act
and ſpeak as they pleaſe.
It is plain from St. Chryfoftom , that it was a
notion in his time among many Chriftians, that
the fouls of perfons, who died a violent death,
were changed into devils, and that the magicians,
in their wicked rites, make ufe of the foul of a
murdered child, in order to pry into futurity. St.
Philaftrius ranks in the number of heretics, thoſe
who believed that the fouls of wicked men were
changed into devils :
According to the fyftem maintained by thefe au-
thors, the devil might very well enter into the
body of the herdfman's child, endue it with mo-
tion, and give it a fort of life, as long as the
body remained uncorrupted , and the organs were
not difqualified for their ufual functions . In ſhort,
Mast Procop: Hift. Secret. 31 Chryfoft . Concion. 2. de

C. 32. Lazaro, t . ii p. 717. Nov.
* Jofeph. Antiquit. 1. vii. edit. & t. vii. p. 336.
c. 25. & de Bello Jud. I. vii. 2 Philaftr. Hæref, 73 .
C. 6.
it
it was not the foul of the child that animated its

body, but the devil fupplied its place .
It is a notion of Philo's, that as there are good
and evil angels, fo there are good and evil ſouls ;
and that fuch as take poffeffion of human bodies,
infufe into them alfo their good or evil qualities .
It appears from the Gofpels, that the Jews believed
it poffible for the fame body to be animated by fe-
veral fouls. Herod fancied that the foul of John
the Baptift, whom he had beheaded, was entered
into our Saviour's body, and that therefore mighty
works didfhew forth themselves in bim , Others of
the Jews imagined, that he was animated by the
foul of Elias, or Jeremias , or fome other of the
old prophets. I am far from adopting thefe noti-
ons and yet I do not think it abfurd to fuppofe,
that, by God's permiffion, a devil, or foul, may
communicate freſh life and motion to a dead body,
when the blood is not congealed, nor the texture
entirely diſordered, nor the flesh corrupted.
XLIII:
Whether the devil has a power of caufing death ?
UT if we attribute to the devil a power of

BUcommunicating life and motion to a dead
body, the fame reafons will hold much ſtronger
for his caufing death. In fact, we are told in Scrip-
ture, that the devil put to death the feven firſt
hufbands of Sarah, Tobias's wife and it is the
opinion of the moft learned commentators, that
the angels, who fmote the army of Sennacherib,
king of Affyria, and put to death the firſt-born
9
a Philo de Gigantib. & alibi fæpius.

Mark vi. 14. Luke ix. 8, 9.
Matt. xvi. 14. Luke ix. 19, &c,
S3 of
262 A DISSERTATION
of Egypt, and destroyed the rebellious Ifraelites

in the wilderneſs, acted in all thefe cafes by the
exprefs command, or at leaſt, by the permiffion of
God.
XLIV.
The manner of putting perfons to death by incantation,

as practifed by the heathens,
HE antient Greeks and Romans evidently at-

Tributed to the devil a power of putting per-
fons to death, by the help of a magical ceremony,
which confifted in forming a waxen image as like
as poffible to the perfon upon whom the experiment
was to be tried, and devoting it to deftruction,
with certain ceremonies prefcribed by the art. It
was then put in the fire, and as the image melted,
the perſon whom it reprefented, gradually wafted
away, and at last died. Theocritus introduces a
woman, who was violently in love with the fhep-
herd Delphis, calling upon her affiftant witch, and
praying, that her beloved fwain may melt like the
waxen image that reprefents him ".
Horace has alfo introduced two witches raifing
departed fpirits, in order to learn the fecrets of
futurity. They firft tear to pieces with their teeth
a black lamb, and pour its blood into a pit, to in-
tice up the fouls from whom they expect their in-
telligence. Their next step is to fet up two ftatues,
one of wax, and another of wool ; the latter of
which is the larger, and domineers over the other,
Theocrit. Idyll. ii.
Ως τέτον τον καζον εγω συν δαιμονι τακώ ,

Ὡς τακοιθ᾽ ὑπ᾿ ερωτος ο Μύνδιος αντικά Δελφής
Horat. Serm. 1. i. fatyr. 8.
which
which ftands in a fupplicating poſture, and ſeems

to expect nothing but death. After a variety of
magical ceremonies, the waxen image is confumed
in the fire.
Lanea & effigies erat, altera cerea : major

Lanea, que panis compefceret inferiorem.
Cerea fuppliciter ftabat, fervilibus n'que
Jam peritura modis
• Et imagine cereá
Largior arferit ignis.
He introduces the ſubject alfo in another place ,

and makes a fham recantation to Canidia of all the
abuſe he had thrown upon her art, the power of
which, he tells her, he now knows by experience,
and finds that ſhe is able to animate waxen figures,
and to fetch down the moon from heaven.
An que morere cereas imagines,

(Ut ipfe nofti curiofus) & polo
Deripere lunam
Virgil & alfo has mentioned thefe devilish rites,

and particularly the incantation of waxen ftatues.
Limus ut hic durefcit, & hæc ut cera liquefcit

Uno eodemque igni ; fic noftro Daphnis amore.
But there is great reafon to believe, that thefe

poets introduced the fubject, only to fhew the
folly of fuch pretended myfteries, and the vanity
and impotence of all magical ceremonies.
f Horat. Epod. xvii.

Virgile Eclog. viii.
$ 4 We
264 A DISSERTATION
We have in Lucian an account of the effects !

produced by the art of a certain Hyperborean con
jurer, who having made a Cupid of earth, gave
it life, and fent it to fetch a girl named Chryfeis,
with whom a young man had fallen violently in
love. • The cupid performed his errand ; and next
morning at day break, the moon, which the mas
gician had fetched down from heaven, returned
and took her former place ; Hecate, who was
brought from hell, fled thither again, and the reft
of the fcene difappeared entirely. Lucian juftly
laughs at all fuch tales, and threwdly obferves,
that thefe magicians, who boaft of fo extenfive a
power, feldom exert it but in favour of beggars,"
and are generally beggars themfelyes,
"What is much to be wondered at, is, that thefe
fuperftitious and abominable practices fhould ever
get footing among Chriftians, and become objects
of terror to thoſe who ought to deſpiſe them as
vain and impotent.
XLV.
Inftances of enchanted images among Chriſtians,
E read in the of
W Treves ', that Eberard, archbishop of that
diocefe, who died in the year 1067, having threat-
ened to expel the Jews out of his capital, except
they became Chriftians within a certain time, thefe
wretches prevailed upon an ecclefiaftick, for a large
fum of money, to baptize for them a waxen image,
in the bishop's name, to which they tied matches
or wax-candles, and fet them on fire on Eafter-
eve, as the prelate was going to perform the fo-
Lucian. in Philopfeud . p2 .
Hift. Trevir. c. lvii.
lema
ON VAMPIRES, &C. 265-
lemin ceremonies of the day. While he was em-
ployed in this holy function, about the time that
the image was half confumed , he felt himfelf
extremely ill, and being led into the veftry, ex-";
pired foon after. 1
3m the year 1317, pope John XXII made a
complaint, in feveral publick letters, of certain
villams that had made an attempt upon his life by
operations of this fort. He feems to be fully cons
vinced of their efficacy, and attributes his prefer
vation to the ſpecial protection of God . " We
" give you to know, fays he, that certain traitors
"s have confpired against us, and againſt fome of
" the cardinals , our brethren ; that they have pre
" pared potions and images to take away our
" lives; but it has pleafed God to preferve us.'
This letter is dated the 27th of July. On the
27th of February, the pope iffued out a com
miffion of enquiry after thefe: poifoners, addreffed
to Bartholomew, bishop of Frejus, the pope's fuce
ceffor in that fee, and to Peter Teiffier, doctor of
laws, and afterwards cardinal. The fubftance of
it is as follows. " We have been informed, that
" John de Limoges, James furnamed Brabançon,
6c
John d'Amant, phyfician, and feveral others,
moved by a damnable curiofity, apply them-
felves to the ftudy of books of necromany, and
" other magical arts ; that they have frequently
" made ufe of looking- glaffes, and confecrated
" images, and, placing themfelves within a circle,
" have raiſed evil fpirits, in order to put men to
" death by enchantments, and fhorten their days
" by difeafes. They are alfo accufed of confining
" devils within looking-glaffes, circles, and rings,
" in order to queftion them concerning future
events, and make them foretel what is to hap
Rainald. ad an. 1317-
3 pen
266 A DISSERTATION
pen hereafter. They have even boafted of hav-

" ing made feveral experiments of this fort, and
" have the audacioufnefs to affert, that they can
" fhorten, or prolong, or take away, the lives of
" men, and heal all difeafes, not only by giving
" certain things to eat and drink, but by the bare
" pronunciation of certain words."
On the 22d of April, 1317, the pope iffued out
a like commiffion to the bishop of Riez, the above-
mentioned Peter Teiflier, Peter Defprez, and two
others, to examine into the confpiracy against him-
felf and the cardinals . In this commiffion , the
charge againſt the criminals runs thus. " They
" have prepared certain potions, in order to poi-
" fon us and feveral cardinals , and not having an
" opportunity of making us take them , they have
" made waxen figures in our names, in order to
" deftroy us by pricking thefe images with magi-
« cal enchantments , and invocation of devils. But
" it has pleaſed God to preferve us, and to fuffer
" three of theſe images to come into our poſſeſ-
" fion."
: We meet with a like defcription of theſe in-
chantments in a letter writ three years after to the
inquifitor at Carcaffone, by William de Godin ,
cardinal and biſhop of Sabine. " The pope, fays
" he, orders you to enquire after, and proceed
againft all thofe who facrifice, worship, or do
any fort of homage to devils, or enter into any
" expreſs contract with them, by writing, or other-
" wife, or make images, by way of compact with
" the devil, or commit any other act of forcery
1 by his affiftance. You are alfo to proceed
against all thoſe who abufe the facrament of
baptifm, by baptifing images made of wax
" or other materials, with invocation of devils
❝or who abuſe the eucharift, or confecrated hoft,
" or any other facrament, in acts of witchcraft.
" In
" In all theſe cafes, you are to proceed againſt

them, as in matters in herefy ; and the pope
hereby authoriſes you to do it. " This letter is
dated at Avignon , Auguft 22, 1320.
At the trial of Enguerrand de Marigny, there
was produced a magician , who was caught making
waxen images, reprefenting king Louis Hutin,
and Charles de Valois, whom he attempted to put
to death, by pricking or melting theſe figures at
•
the fire. It is faid alfo, that Cofmo Ruggieri of
Florence, a famous Atheist and magician, had a
private room, where he uſed to fhut himſelf up
alone, and prick with a needle a waxen figure,
which he had made to reprefent the king, after
having loaded it with curfes, and devoted it with
other frightful ceremonies, in hopes of making the
king die of a lingering diſeaſe .
*Whether theſe inchantments, images, and other
ceremonies, produced any effect or not, they are
ftill proofs of the notions which were then enter-
tained concerning the mifchievous difpofitions of
magicians, and of the fear which prevailed of their
imprecations proving effectual ; and it may reaſon-
ably be fuppofed, that people fancied they had
met with fome facts, either real or imaginary, to
countenance this fear.
The ignorance of that age attributed feveral na-
tural events to fupernatural caufes ; and it being
clear from Scripture, that God has frequently per-
mitted the devil to deceive and hurt mankind by
miraculous methods, it was inftantly taken for
granted, that there was fuch a thing as magick,
or an art, confifting of infallible rules difcovering
certain fecrets, and doing certain forts of mifchief
by the help of the devil, as if God had not always
De Thou. 1. vi. de Vitâ fuâ. Journal de Henri III. ^t. i.

68, 69, 70, &c. edit. 1744.
a power
268 A DISSERTATION
a power of permitting or hindering thefe effects

or would ratify every bargain made with that evil
ſpirit. But upon a ſtrict enquiry into this pretend
ed magic, it turns out to be nothing but an art of
poifoning, accompanied with fuperftitious ceremo-
nies, and "" grofs impofture.
Under the head of ghoſts and ſpectres, may
be reduced the ſtories of perfons, who have pro-
miſed to appear to one another after their deaths,
and bring news of what paffes in the other world;
and of their own condition in it.
XLVI.
Of perfons who have promiſed to bring one another

an accouut of the other world.
HE ftory of Rambouillet's
Tappearing after his death to the marquis of
Precy is well known ". Theſe two noblemen be-
ing one day talking of the affairs of the other
world, in a manner which fhewed they did not be-
lieve much about it, entered into an agreement ,
that the firſt that died fhould come and give intel-
ligence to the other. Soon after the marquis of
Rambouillet fet out for Flanders, which was then
the feat of war, and the marquis of Precy ſtaid
at Paris, being ill of a violent fever. About fix
weeks after, he heard fome one draw the curtains
of his bed, and turning to fee who it was, difco
vered the marquis of Rambouillet in a buff- coat
and boots. He inftantly got out of bed, and ran
to embrace his friend , but Rambouillet drew back,
and told him that he was come to perform the
Memoires de Rochefort. alfo the Cauſes Celebres. t.xi.

But I quote this book as no- P. 379.
thing but a romance. See
promife
ON VAMPIRES , & C. 269
promiſe he had formerly made ; that nothing was

more certain than what they had been taught con-
cerning another life ; that he advised him earneſtly
to alter his way of life, for that the firſt action he
fhould be engaged in, he would certainly fall .
Precy made a fresh attempt to embrace his friend,
but grafped only the air ; upon which, Rambouil-
let, feeing that he ftill difbelieved what was told
him, fhewed him the wound in his reins of which
he died, from which the blood ſtill ſeemed to
flow.
Soon after this, Precy received a confirmation of
the marquis of Rambouillet's death, and was killed
himſelf in the civil war, at the battle of the Fau-
bourg St. Antoine.
XLVII.
Several inftances of people's coming again after their

death.
ETER the Venerable, abbot of Cluni, relates

a ftory much of the fame nature with the
laft. Humbert, fon of Guichard de Belioc, a no-
է:
bleman of the bishoprick of Macon, having de-
clared war againft fome other lords in the neigh-
bourhood, a gentleman, named Geoffrey d'Iden,
received in one of the fkirmishes a wound, of
which he died upon the fpot. About two months
after, he appeared to one Milon d'Anfa, and de-
fired him to inform Humbert de Belioc, in whoſe
fervice he had loft his life, that he was now in
torments for having affifted Humbert in an unjuſt
war, and for not having done penance for his fins
before he died : he therefore begged Humbert to
take pity upon him, and upon his own father Gui-
Bibliothec. Cluniac. de Miracul. 1. i. c. 27. p. 1290.

chard,
A DISSERTATION
270
chard, who had left him a great eftate, which he
employed to ill purpoſes, and part of which was
unjustly acquired. It was true indeed, he faid,
that Guichard, Humbert's father, had entered into
a monaftick life at Cluni, but he had not had time
to make fatisfaction to God for the fins of this paft
life. It was, therefore, Humbert's duty to give
alms, and have maffes faid in their behalf; and to
procure the prayers of pious people, in order to
their more ſpeedy deliverance from torment. He
added , Tell him, that if he pays no regard to this
meffage, I ſhall be obliged to come myſelf. wos
Milon d'Anfa executed his commiffion punctu
ally ; and Humbert was a little frightened, but
did not grow a bit better. However, being under
fome apprehenfion that his father Guichard , or
Geoffrey d'Iden would diſturb him, he would never
venture to be by himſelf, efpecially in the night,
but took care to have fome of his fervants always
with him. Notwithſtanding this precaution, as
he was lying awake one morning, he faw Geoffrey
ftand before him in complete armour, pointing to
the wound of which he died, and reproaching him
bitterly with his barbarity to himſelf, and his own
father, who were both in torments upon his ac-
count. Beware, added Geoffrey, of God's deal-
ing feverely with you, and refufing you that mercy
which you refufe us ; but, beware particularly of
executing your refolution of making war upon
count Amedæus. If you do it, you will lofe both
your life and fortune.
The deceafed had fcarce done fpeaking, and
Humbert was juft going to anſwer, when Richard
de Marcy, Humbert's fquire, came in from mafs,
and the ſpectre difappeared . From that moment
Humbert did every thing in his power to relieve
his father and Geoffrey, and refolved to go upon
a pilgrimage to Jerufalem, for the expiation of
his
his own fins. Peter the Venerable was fully ac

quainted with all the circumſtances of this affair,
which was much talked of all over the country,
and happened the fame year that he took his jour
ney into Spain.
Marfilius Ficinus affures us, " that he made an
agreement with his friend, Michael Mercates, that
which ever of the two died firft, fhould come
again after his death, and fatisfy the furvivor con-
cerning the immortality of the foul . It happened
that Ficinus died firft ; and after his death he ap-
peared to Mercates, who was in his ſtudy employ-
ed in fome philofophical enquiry, and revealed to
him feveral fecrets of the other world. A great
number of inftances of this fort may be met
with in the writings of Glanville, and Dr. Henry
More.
The following ſtory is taken from the life of
brother Jofeph de Lioniffe, a Capuchin miffionary,
b. i. 64, and following pages. As he and his
companion were one day engaged in converfation,
concerning the duties of a religious life, the fide-
lity which God requires of all who have devoted
themſelves to that profeffion, the rewards of thofe
who fulfil their obligations, and the fevere puniſh-
ment referved for unfaithful fervants, brother Jo-
ſeph faid to him, I defire we may give a mutual
promife, that he who dies firft fhall appear to the
furvivor, if God will permit it, to give informa-
tion of what paffes in the other world, and of his
own condition in it. With all my heart, anſwered
the other, I give you my word to do fo. And I,
replied brother Jofeph, enter into the fame engage-
ment. A few days after, the good man was ſeized
with an illneſs, which proved mortal ; and brother
Jofeph, who knew his uncommon merit, was fen-
fibly afflicted at the lofs : he doubted not, however,
but the deceaſed would appear, and perform his
promife,
A DISSERTATION
272
promife, at a time when he leaft expected it. Ac

cordingly, one day when brother Jofeph was re-
tired to his chamber after dinner, there appeared
to him the figure of a Capuchin, frightfully thin
and meagre, with a pale, wafted face, who spoke
to him with a hoarfe and trembling voice. Upon
Jofeph's feeming a little furprized at the fight, Be
not afraid, fays the fpectre, I am come to perform
my promife, and inform you, that I am admitted,
by the mercy of God, into the number of the
elect. But know, that falvation is a more difficult
work than the world is apt to imagine ; that God,
who fees into the deepeſt fecrets of the heart of
man, weighs exactly all the actions of our lives,
all our thoughts and defires, and motives in acting ;
and that, as he is inexorably, fevere to finners,
fo is he good, and compaffionate, and rich in
mercy to fuch as have ferved him faithfully. Hav
ing faid this, the phantom diſappeared.
XLVIII.
Why others who have made the fame engagements da

not appear alſo.
will here naturally be afked, whence it hap-

I
made the fame promiſe to come again after their
death, have not done it ? Seneca mentions a
Stoick philofopher, named Canius Julus, who be-
ing condemned to death by Caligula, told his
friends, that whereas they were enquiring, whe-
ther the foul was immortal, or not, he was go-
ing to a place, where he ſhould foon know : but
• Senec, de Animi Tranquill. c. xiv.

we
are not told that he came again to clear up the

matter.
La Motte le Vayer , made an agreement with
his friend Baranzan , the Barnabite, that the firſt of
the two that died, fhould come and inform the
other of his condition. It happened that Baran-
zan died firſt, but he never kept his promife.
It is wrong to conclude, that, becauſe the dead
fometimes come again, therefore they do fo al
ways. And in like manner it would be reafoning
weakly to fay, that they never come again, becaufe
fome that have promifed to do fo have not kept
their word. To juftify thefe pofitions, we muſt
fuppofe it to be in their own power to appear
when, and how, they pleaſe ; but it feems evident,
on the contrary, that this does not depend upon
1
them, and that it is by the particular permiffion
of Almighty God, that they ever appear at all.
We fee, by the ſtory of the rich man and La-
zarus, that God would not permit one to rife
from the dead, in order to convert the rich man's
unbelieving brethren. And the fame reaſons may
have hindered the coming again of Canius Julus, *
and Baranzan. And in all cafes, we may venture
to affirm , that the return and apparition of de-
parted fouls is not a natural event, or fuch as de-
pends upon their own will, but of a fupernatural
and miraculous kind .
La Motte le Vayer ; de l'Immortalité de l'Ame.
T XLIX. Dif-
A DISSERTATION
274
XLIX.
1
Different ways of accounting for the coming again of
deceafed perfons.
F we reflect upon the noife which has been made

I'in the world by ghofts, it is not ſurpriſing that
a variety of fyftems and hypothefes fhould be-
formed to account for this phænomenon. Some
have fuppofed the refurrection to be only momen-
tary, and the body to be animated by its former
foul, or by the devil ; either of which may be
imagined to enter into it , and give it life and mo-
tion, while the blood ftill retains its former con-
fiftence and fluidity, and the organs are not entirely
decayed and difcompofed .
Others, to avoid the confequences which they
1 fancied might be drawn from the former hypothe-
fis, have chofe rather to fuppofe, that vampires
were not really dead, but ftill retained fome prin-
ciples of life, and that their fouls had a power of
re-animating them from time to time, and bring-
ing them out of their graves, in order to recruit
their vital juices and animal fpirits, by fucking the
blood of their relations.
L. A
L.
A differtation on the uncertainty of thefigns of death,

and the danger of hafty burials, by M James Be-
nignus Winflow, regent-d Etor of phyfick at Paris,
tranflated, 1 and illuftrated with notes, by James
John Brubier, doctor of phyfick. Printed at Paris,
1742.
HERE was printed at Paris, in the year

TH1742, a work, which may ferve to explain
how perfons that have been thought dead, and
have been buried accordingly, have notwithſtand-
ing recovered a confiderable time after their burial,
and may confequently contribute to make vampirifm
feem lefs incredible. M. Winflow, regent- doctor
of phyfick at Paris, maintained a thefis in April
1740, in which he enquires whether chirurgical
experiments are the propereft means of diſcovering
the most certain fymptoms, in cafes of doubtful
death. He afferts, that there are feveral cafes, in
which the figns of death are very uncertain, and
he quotes feveral inftances of perfons that have
been thought dead, and have been buried as fuch,
but have afterwards recovered .
This difcourfe has been tranflated into French
by M. Bruhier, who has added fome learned notes,
which ferve very much to confirm M. Winflow's
opinion ; and, upon the whole, it is a work very
interefting for its matter, and very entertaining for
its manner. In the following extract of fome few
particulars relating to my fubject, I have confined
myſelf to the moft undifputed and extraordinary
facts ; for to relate them all would be to tranſcribe
the whole book.
It is well known, that Johannes Duns, furnamed
Scotus, or the fubtile doctor, was unfortunately
T 2 buried
276 A DISSERTATION
buried alive at Cologne, and that when his grave

was opened fome time after, they found he had
gnawed his arm. The fame thing is told of the
emperor Zeno, who was heard to cry out feveral
times by thoſe that watched his grave. The fa-
mous Lancifi, phyſician to pope Clement XI, fays,
that he knew a perfon of diftinction at Rome, who
was ftill alive at the time when he wrote, who reco-
vered, and came to himſelf, while they were fing-
ing the laſt ſervice for him at church.
**
Peter Zacchias, another celebrated phyfician at
Rome, fays, that a young man, in the hoſpital
of the Holy Ghoft, being feized with the plague,
fell into fo deep a fwoon, that he was thought ab-
folutely dead ; but that as they were carrying his
body, with feveral others, acroſs the Tyber to
be buried, he fhewed fome figns of life. Upon
this, he was brought back to the hofpital, and
.
recovered. Two days after, he fell into a like
fwoon, and was now thought to be irrecoverably
dead, and thrown among the other bodies that
were to be buried. However, he recovered a fe-
1 cond time, and was living when Zacchias wrote.
LI.
Several inftances of perfons buried alive.
HERE is an account in Plutarch of a man

THthat fell headlong from a high place, and
was thought to be dead, though there was no fign
of a wound upon him ; but as he was carrying to
be buried three days after, he fuddenly recovered
his ftrength, and came to himſelf.
Afclepiades once meeting a great proceffion
attending a dead body to the grave, begged that
a Celf. 1. ii. c. 6.
he
he might fee and touch the corps, and finding that

it had fome figns of life, he immediately recover-
ed the perfon, by means of fome remedies, and re-
ftored him found to his friends .
There are many inftances to be met with of per-
fons, actually buried , that have come to themſelves,
and lived a long time after in perfect health. There
is one ſtory in particular of a woman at Orleans,
who was buried with a ring on her finger, which
could not eafily be got off before fhe was put into
her coffin. The next night a fervant came and
opened the grave, and broke up the coffin ; but
not being able to pull off the ring, was going to
cut off her finger ; but fhe gave a great cry, and
the fervant took to his heels. When he was gone,
the woman got off her grave- clothes, went home,
and out- lived her huſband.
M. Benard, one of the principal chirurgeons in
Paris, avers, that he was prefent, with his father,
in the parifh- church of Real, when a Franciſcan
friar was taken out of his grave alive, who had
been buried three or four days, and had gnawed
the flesh off his hands, round the bandage which
tied them down but, upon being brought into the
air, he inftantly expired.
Several authors have mentioned the ſtory of the
magiftrate of Cologne's wife, that was buried
with a valuable ring on her finger, which tempted
the fexton to come the next night and open the
grave, in order to fteal the ring. But the good
woman laid hold of him, and forced him to draw
her with him out of the vault, and then he difin-
gaged himſelf from her, and fled. The woman,
after this ftrange refurrection, went and knocked
Miffon, Voyage d'Italie. bles. Printed at Geneva in

t. i. lett. 5. Goulart, Hif- 1628.
toires admirables & memora-
T 3 at
210. !
278 A DISSERTATION
at her own houſe, where he was taken for a ſpec-

tre, and left fhivering at the door a confiderable
time. At laft, the door was opened , and the was
put into a warm bed, where the foon recovered ,
and had three fons afterwards, who were all bred
to the church. The event is perpetuated by a re-
preſentation of it engraved on her tomb ; and re-
lated in fome verfes writ in the German language.
They add, that when he came to the door, and
was refufed admittance, the told the fervant, in
o der to convince the family, that it was the her-
felf, that the horfes were got up into the corn-
loft, which was found to be true ; and there are
now remaining at the windows of that very loft,
feveral horfes heads cut in wood, as a niomument
of the truth of the thing.
Francis de Civile ' , a Norman gentleman , about
the age of twenty- fix, who commanded a company
of an hundred men in the city of Rouen, when it !
was befieged by Charles IX , being wounded in
one of the attacks, was thrown for dead into a
pit with another corps, and, covered with a little
earth. Here he continued from eleven o'clock in
the morning till half an hour after fix in the even-
ing, when his fervant came to remove his body ;
but obferving that there were ftill fome fymptoms
of life in him , the man put him into a bed, where
he lay five days and five nights, without fpeaking
or fhewing any other, token of fenfe, but all the
while in a burning fever. When the city was taken
hy ftorm , he fell into the hands of fome fervants
belonging to an officer of the victorious army,
who was to lodge in the houſe where Civile lay,
and they threw him upon a ftraw bed in a back
room . From hence he was thrown out of the
window upon a heap of dung, where he lay for
• Miffon. Voyage, t . iii.

more
more than three days and three nights in nothing

but his thirt. At the end of this time, a relation
of his, furprized at finding him ftill alive, fent
him to a houſe about a league from Rouen, where
he was taken care of, and at laft was perfectly re-
covered.
In the year 1558 , when the plague raged in
the town of Dijon, a lady, named Nicole Lentil-
let, being taken for dead, was thrown into a great
pit, where they buried thofe that died of the epi-
demical diforder. The next morning after her bu-
rial fhe came to herfelf, and made feveral attempts
to get out, but could not for her own weakneſs,
and the weight of the other bodies that were thrown
upon her.
her serIn 2this horrible fituation fhe continued
for four days, and was then taken out by the per-
fons employed to bury the dead, and carried home,
where the recovered her health entirely.
Much fuch another story is told of a young lady
of Augfburg, who fell into a fwoon " , and was
laid in a deep vault, the entrance of which was
walled up again, without any earth being thrown
upon her body. Some years after, upon the
death of another perfon of the fame family, the
vault was opened, and the body of this young
lady was found at the entrance, without any fingers
on her right hand, and it was fuppoſed that ſhe
had gnawed them off in deſpair.
Goulart, Loc. Citat.

M. Graffe Epitre à Fabri Guill, Fabri. Centur, 2. Obferv.
Chirurg. obferv. 96.
T · LII. In-
280 A DISSERTATION
LII.
Inftances of perfons that have recovered, after lying a

confiderable time under water.
O the above-mentioned facts may be added

T the following inftances of perfons that have
recovered feveral days after they were fuppofed to
X
be drowned... One ftory is told . by Pechlin of a
gardener at Troningholm in Sweden,, who was
living at the time that Pechlin wrote. This man
going to affift another that had fallen into the wa
ter, the ice broke under him, and he fell into a
place eighteen ells deep, where his feet ftuck in
the mud at the bottom, and he food in a perpen-
dicular pofture for fixteen hours. In this ftate, he
entirely loft all fenfe, except that he fancied he
heard the bells ringing at Stockholm , and felt
the water run in, not at his mouth, but at his ears.
After a fearch of fixteen hours, a crook happened
to lay hold of his head, and he was drawn out,
He was inftantly put to bed, near a large fire, and,
at laft, by the help of rubbing, and other means,
he came to himfelf. He was afterwards fhewn to
the king and queen, to whom he related his cafe,
and had a penfion fettled upon him.
A woman of the fame country was recovered in
the fame manner, after having been three days un-
der water. Another perfon, named Lawrence
Jonas, a lad of feventeen years of age, was taken
out of the water feven weeks after his firſt falling
in, and was recovered much in the fame way with
the two former.
M. D'Egly, a member of the royal academy of
infcriptions and belles lettres at Paris, tells a ſtory
3 Pechlin apud Derham, Phyfico Theol. book iv. c. vii.

of
of a Swifs, a famous diver, who went into a hole

in the river, where he expected to find good fish,
and continued there about nine hours ; when he
was drawn out with crooks , wounded in feveral
places. M. D'Egly, who was prefent, obſerving
that the water bubbled as it came out of his mouth,
infifted that he was not dead ; and the man actual
ly revived, by being held for about three quarters
of an hour in a proper pofture for the water to
run out of his body, and being afterwards wrap-
ped up in warm linen, put into a bed, and let
blood.
Several more inftances might be produced of
perſons that have revived, after having lain feven
weeks under water. There are feveral alſo record-
ed of a fhorter time, as that of Gocellin, nephew
to an archbiſhop of Cologne, who fell into the
Rhine , and lay there fifteen days before he was
found. At the end of this fpace, he was carried
to St. Fuitbert's tomb, and there recovered.
...LIII.
Inftances of women who have been thought dead, and

have afterwards revived.
is afferted by very able phyſicians, that in a

I
' fuffocation of the matrix, a woman will live
thirty days without breathing . I myſelf knew a
lady that lay
要 fix and thirty hours without fhewing
any figns of life, and every body thinking her
dead, he would have been buried, if her huſband
had not oppofed it. At the end of that time, the
came to herſelf, and faid that he heard plainly
every thing that was faid , and knew that they pro-
Le Clerc, Hift. of Phyfick

pofed
282 A DISSERTATION
pofed to bury her ; but fhe was fo heavy and benum-

med, that ſhe ſhould have let them do whatever
they pleaſed, without making the leaft refiftance.
Much like this is the cafe which St. Auguftin
mentions of Prætextatus, who was fubject to
fwoons, or fainting- fits, in which he heard dif-
tinctly every thing that was faid, but would fuffer
his flesh to be cut or burnt, without making any
oppoſition, or fhewing the leaft figns of feeling.
Corneille le Bruyn, in his travels , gives an ac-
count of a Turk that he faw at Damietta in Egypt,
who went by the name of the dead child, becauſe
his mother, when the was big with him, was taken
very ill, and being thought dead, was carried out
pretty expeditiously, according to the cuftom of
that country, (where they are forced to bury their
dead foon, eſpecially when they die of the plague)
and laid in a vault which her huſband had made
for the ufe of his family.
In the evening, fome hours after ſhe was buried,
the huſband, taking it into his head that the child
fhe was big with might poffibly be alive, went
and had the vault opened, and found that ſhe was
actually delivered of a living child, but was dead
herfelf. Some fay that the child was heard to cry,
and that it was upon receiving this intelligence, "
that the father had the grave opened. However
this be, the child grew up, and was alive in 1677.
Le Bruyn is of opinion , that the woman was dead
when he was born ; but it feems impoffible that
a woman, in that cafe, fhould bring a child into
the world. It must be obferved, that in Egypt,
where this happened, the women are delivered with
great cafe, as we learn from both ancient and mo-
dern writers, and that this woman was only fhut
up in a vault, and not covered with earth.
z Corn, le Bruyn, t. i. p. 579.

It
It would be eaſy to multiply inftances of perfons

that have been buried alive, of others that have reco-
vered as they were carrying to be buried, and others
9 that have been taken out of the grave by chance.
A perfon that is curious in this matter, may confult
the above-mentioned work of the two learned phy-
ficians, or any of the authors that have wrote ex-
a
prefly upon this fubje&. The confequence which
the phyficians draw from theſe facts is of great im-
portance, namely, that no one ought to be buried ,
without an abfolute certainty of their being dead,
efpecially in time of a plague, or in the cafe of
other difeafes, which deprive perfons inftantaneouſly
of fenfe and motion.
LIV.
Whether thefe inftances can be applied to the cafe of

vampires.
Further ufe may be made of theſe inftances

A and reflections, to fupport the credibility of
vampirifm, by fuppofing that the ſpectres fo much
talked of in Hungary, Moravia, Poland, & c. are
nothing but perfons that are ftill alive in their graves,
*
though without motion or refpiration ; and that
the freſhneſs, and ruddy colour of their blood, the
flexibility of their limbs, and their crying out when
their hearts are run through with a ſtake, or their
heads cut off, are demonftrative proofs of their
being ſtill alive. But this does not affect the prin-
cipal difficulty at which into their
I ſtick graveshow
, namely, o they
come out of, and go
leaving any mark of the earth's being removed ;
and how they appear in their former clothes. If
they are not really dead , why do they return to
their graves again, and not ſtay in the land of the
- See M. Bruhier's additions, p. 167.
living ?
284 A DISSERTATION
living ? Why do they fuck the blood of their

relations, and torment and pefter perfons that
fhould naturally be dear to them, and never gave
them any offence ? On the other hand, if it be
nothing but a mere whim of the perfons infeſted,
whence comes it that theſe carcaffes are found in
their graves uncorrupted, full of blood, with their
limbs pliant and flexible, and their feet dirty the
next day after they have been patrolling about, and
frightening the neighbourhood, whilft nothing of
this fort can be difcovered in other carcaffes that
were buried at the fame time, and in the fame
ground ? Whence is it that they come no more,
after they are burnt or empaled ? Can this too
be owing to mere prejudice and fancy, diffipated
and cured by theſe executions ? Whence again is
it, that theſe ſcenes are fo frequently acted over
again in theſe particular countries, that theſe pre-
judices of the inhabitants are never to be rooted
out, and that daily experience, inftead of putting
a ftop to theſe fancies, ferves only to increaſe and
ftrengthen them ?
LV.
Of corpfes that chew in their graves, like bogs.
T is an opinion which prevails much in Germa-

ny, that there are corpfes which chew in their
graves, and devour whatever lies near them . Some
go fo far as to fay, they may be heard munching,
like hogs, with a fort of grunting, grumbling
noife.
A German writer, named Michael Raufft, has
writ a treatiſe upon this fubject, which he entitles,
De Mafticatione Mortuorum in tumulis . He fuppofes
it to be a certain fact, that dead corpfes have de- !
1 Around N 5. voured
voured their finnen, and whatever elfe was within

reach of their mouths, and that fome have even
eat their own flesh from their bones. He ob-
ſerves ", that it is a cuſtom in ſome parts of Ger-
many to prevent this practice by putting a lump of
earth under the chin of the corps, and that in other
places they make ufe of a piece of money, or a
ftone, for this purpoſe, or tie the throat cloſe with
a handkerchief. He quotes feveral German au-
thors that mention this ridiculous cuftom , and
makes extracts from ſeveral others, who fpeak of
corpfes that have devoured their own flefh in the
grave. This work was printed at Leipfick in
1728 ; and the author frequently refers to another
writer, named Philip Rehrius, who publifhed a
treatiſe in 1679, with the fame title, De Maftica
tione Mortuorum.
To the facts which he has collected, he might
have added the ftory of Henry count of Salm ,
who, being thought dead, was really buried
alive. The night after, a great cry was heard in
the church of the abbey of Haute- Seille, where
he was buried ; and his grave being opened the
next morning, he was found with his face down-
wards, inſtead of lying upon his back, as he had
been buried .
A few years fince, a man being buried in the
church- yard at Bar-le-duc, there was a noife heard
in the grave ; and next day the man, being dug
up, was found to have eat the flesh off his arms.
This I had from feveral eye-witneffes. The man,
it feems, was ftupefied by drinking a great quantity
of brandy, and was taken for dead. Raufft men
Mich. Raufft, alterâ Dif- repertis, art. ix. à Beier.

fert. art. Ivii. p. 98, 99, & Muller, &c.
art. lix. p. 100. Vide & Chrif- Richer. Senon. t. iii. Spi-
tian. Cherenfied . Seyffert de cileg. Dacherii, p. 392.
nummis in fore defunctorum Raufft, art. xlii. p. 43 .
i... tions
286 A DISSERTATION
tions a woman of Bohemia, in the year 13451

who devoured half of her burying-linen. In Lu-
ther's time, there was a man and woman, that eat
their own bowels in their graves : and in Moravia,
a man devoured the linnen belonging to a woman
that lay in the next grave.
LVI.
Inftance of a vampire in Hungary.
UT the moft remarkable of all his ftories , is

BUT
that of a man, named Peter Plogojowitz,
an inhabitant of a village in Hungary, called Kifo-
lova, who, after he had been buried above ten
weeks, appeared by night to feveral perfons in the
village while they were afleep, and fqueezed their
throats in fuch a manner, that they expired within
twenty-four hours. There died in this manner no
leſs than nine perfons in eight days ; and the wi-
dow of this Plogofowitz depofed, that the herfelf
had been vifited by him fince his death, and that
his errand was to demand his fhoes ; which fright-
ened her to fuch a degree, that the left Kiſolova,
and went to live fomewhere elſe.
Thefe circumftances determined the inhabitants.
of the village to dig up the body of Plogojowitz,
and burn it, in order to put a stop to fuch trou
blefome vifits. Accordingly they applied to the
commanding officer of the emperor's troops in the
diftrict of Gradifca, in the kingdom of Hungary,
and to the incumbent of that place, for leave to
dig up the corps. They both made a great many
fcruples to grant it ; but the peaſants declared
plainly, that if they were not permitted to dig up
this curfed carcafe, which they were fully convinced
A
Raufft, art. xii. p. 15.
3 was
was a vampire, they fhould be forced to leave the
village, and fettle, where they could.
The officer who gave this account, feeing that
there was no hindering them either by fair means
or foul, came in perfon, accompanied by the mi-
nifter of Gradifca, to Kifolova, and they were both
prefent at the digging up of the corps, which they
found to be free from any bad fmell, and perfectly
found, as if it had been alive, except that the tip
of the noſe was a little dry and withered .. The
beard and hair were grown afreſh, and a new fet
of nails were fprung up, in the room of the old
ones that had fallen off. Under the former ſkin,
which looked pale and dead, there appeared a new
one, of a natural fresh colour ; and the hands and
feet were as entire as if they belonged to a perfon,
in perfect health. They obferved alfo, that the
mouth of the vampire was full of fresh blood,
which the people were perfuaded he had fucked
from the perfons he had killed .
The officer and the divine having diligently ex-
amined into all theſe circumſtances, the people,
being fired with fresh indignation, and growing
more fully perfuaded that this carcafe was the real ,
cauſe of the death of their countrymen, ran im- 史
mediately to fetch a fharp ftake, which being drove
into his breaft, there iffued from the wound , and
alfo from his nofe and mouth, a great quantity of
fresh, ruddy blood ; and fomething which indi-:
cated a fort of life, was obferved to come from
his private parts. The peaſants then laid the body.
upon a pile of wood ; and burnt it to afhes.
M. Raufft , who has recorded all thefe circum-
ftances, quotes feveral authors who have writ upon
this fubject, and upon the cafe of dead bodies
eating in their graves ; but he feems to lay parti-
f Art. xi. p. 14.

cular
TION
288 A DISSERTA
cular ftrefs upon the teftimony of Gabriel Rzac-

zinoſki, in his natural hiſtory of Poland, printed
at Sandomir in 1721.
4. LVII.
Reflections upon this fubject.
HE authors above-mentioned have reafoned

THEmuch upon thefe events. 1. Some are of
opinion that they are really miraculous . " 2. Others
look upon them as the mere effects of whim and
prejudice. 3. Others again think there is nothing
in them but what is very plain and natural, the
perfons not being dead, but acting upon other bo-
dies in a more natural way. 4. There are others
who attribute the whole to the operation of the
devil. In which clafs, there are fome who hold ,
that there is a fort of good-humoured, waggiſh
devils, the authors of wanton, harmlefs pranks,
and diftinct from that gloomy fpecies, which aims
at nothing but the promotion of wickednefs and
mifery among mankind . 5. Others will have it,
that it is not the dead themſelves which eat their
own bodies and clothes, but that it is done by fer-
pents, mice, moles, lynxes, and other animals of
prey, and fometimes perhaps by what the Latins
"
called ftriges, which are a fpecies of birds that eat J
the flesh, and fuck the blood of animals . Some
have maintained , that thefe inftances are chiefly
remarked in women, and at times when the plague
reigns. But there are examples of thefe fpectres
in both fexes, nay, rather more frequently in men
';
Rudiger. Phifi. div. 1. i. Ovid. 1. vi. faft. vide

c. 4. fec. 4. Theophr. Para- Delrio difquif. magie. 1. i.
celf, Georg. Agricola de anim . p. 6. & l . iii. p. 355.
fubterr . p. 76.
though
though it must be confeffed too, that thofe who
die of the plague, or by poifon, frenzy, drun-
kennefs, or any epidemical diſorder, are more apt
to come again ; probably becauſe their blood does
not congeal fo eafily, and becauſe they are fome-
times buried before they are really dead, in order
to prevent their increafing the infection by lying
long unburied.
It is added, that theſe vampires are known only
in fome countries, as Hungary, Moravia, Silefia,
and a few others, where diforders of this kind are
very frequent, and where the coarfe food of the
inhabitants renders them fufceptible of certain in-
difpofitions, which take their rife from a bad cli-
mate, and unwholeſome nouriſhment, but are pro-
digiouſly encreaſed by prejudice, fancy, and fear,
the frequent fources both of the production and
increaſe of very dangerous diftempers. But as for
what is advanced by fome, that dead bodies have
been heard eating, and champing their teeth in the
grave, like hogs, this is manifeftly falfe, and could
take its rife from nothing but the most ridiculous
prepoffeffions.
LVIII.
Reflections upon vampires. Whether they are really

dead or not.
HE hypothefis of thoſe who maintain, that

T all the ftories of vampires are the effect of
mere fancy and whim, or of that diforder which
the Greeks call phrenefis, or corybantiafmus, and
who pretend to account for all the phænomena of
vampirifm from thefe principles , feems to be very
weak in one refpect, namely, in attributing to a
diforder in the brain the real and fubftantial effects
above- mentioned. It feems impoffible to fuppofe,
U that
9.290 A DISSERTATION
*
that feveral perfons fhould, on a fudden, be pof
feffed with an opinion that they fee a thing which
has no existence, and that they fhould die in fo
fhort a time of a mere imaginary diforder. Be-
fides, how can they know, without a revelation ,
that fuch a particular body remains entire in the
grave, A is full of blood, and enjoys a fort of life
after death ? Can it be fuppofed, that a whole
nation ſhall not afford a fingle man of fenfe, who
is free from fuch whims, and has got the better of
this general fafcination, or of theſe fympathies and
antipathies of natural magick, as fome philofo-
phers are pleaſed to call it ? And, in the next
place, have we not a right to call for an explana-
tion of thefe pompous terms, and to expect to be
let into the fecret of thefe occult and myfterious
operations ? Except this be done, it is only ex-
plaining one obfcurity by another, and fubftituting
a greater difficulty in the room of a lefs. 463
Let us next fee, whether the hypotheſis of thofe

who fuppofe that vampires are not really dead,
ftands upon a better bottom. It is evident, that
death is nothing but a feparation of foul and body,
and that neither of thefe conftituent parts of man
is deſtroyed or annihilated by this feparation. The
foul is immortal, and the body continues entire
for fome time, and then moulders away gradually,
fometimes in a few days, and fometimes in a longer
fpace of time. There are even inftances of its re-
maining uncorrupted for feveral years, nay feveral
ages. And this difference in the periods of cor-
ruption, is owing either to a particular ftrength
of conftitution, as in the cafe of Hector and Alex-
ander the Great, who continued feveral days with-
out putrefying , or to the art of embalming, or
↑ Hom . Iliad, 1. xxiv. v. 411. Plut. in Alexandro. Q. Curt.

1. x. c. 10.
to
to the nature of the foil where the body is buried
there being ſome foils which have a property of
drying up the radical moiſture, and hindering pu
trefaction. It is not neceffary to dwell here upon
the proof of theſe particulars, as they are already
fufficiently known.
Again, there are inftances, in which the body,
without being feparated from the foul, has cone
tinued lifeless, and without motion, or at leaſt
with a motion fo flow, and a reſpiration ſo weak,
as to be almoft imperceptible ; ‫ گی‬as in the cafe of
i
fwoons, extafies, fainting fits, and fome diforders
incident to the female fex, Of this fort is the ſtory
of Prætextatus, the prieſt of Calama, and feveral
other inftances related above of perfons taken for
dead, and buried accordingly : 6 to which may be
added, the cafe of M. l'Abbé Salin, prior of St.
k
Chriftopher's in Lorrain, who being laid in his
coffin, and juſt ready to be carried to the grave,
was revived by one of his friends, who poured a
glafs of Champagne down his throat. Several
more of this fort are related, among which a very
remarkable one is that which . I have mentioned
above, out of the Caufes Célébres, of a girl who
was got with child in one of thefe long fwoons !.
m
Pliny has collected a great many inftances of
perfons that have been thought dead, but have
recovered, and lived a long time after. He men-
tions one in particular of a young man, who hap-
pening to fall asleep in a cavern, continued there
n
forty years without waking. Our own hiftorians
talk much of the feven fleepers, who flept for above
a hundred and fifty years together, from the year
About the year 1680. m Plin. Hift. Natur. 1. vii.

He died after the year 1694
1 Cauſes Célébres, t . viii. c. 523S Greg. Turon. de Glor.
P. 585. Martyr. c. xev.
U 2 253
292 A DISSERTATION
253 to the year 408. The philofopher Epime-

nides is faid by fome to have flept fifty-feven years,
by others forty-feven, and by fome only forty ;
the ancient writers not being agreed concerning the
number. It is farther afferted, that this philofo-
pher had a power of fending his foul away from
his body, and calling it back again, whenever he
pleafed. The fame thing is told alfo of Arifteus
of Proconnefus. Thefe ftories I readily give up
as fabulous, but at the fame time infift upon the
truth of feveral other inftances of perfons that
have recovered, after having been thought dead
for three, four, five, fix, and feven days. Pliny
fays, that there are inftances of people that have
appeared again after their burial, but he does not
relate them , becauſe he confines his hiſtory to the
works of nature only, and does not admit prodi-
gies. Poft fepulturam quoque viforum exempla funt,
nifi quod naturæ opera, non prodigia confectamur.
The opinion that Enoch and Elijah are ftill liv
ing, I firmly affent to, and I find it is a notion
which formerly prevailed with many, that St. John
the Evangelift was not dead , but continued alive
in his grave. Plato, and St. Clement of Alexan-
dria , report, that Er, the ſon of Zoroaſter, came
to life again twelve days after his body had been
laid upon the funeral pile. Phlegon fays , that a
Syrian foldier in Antiochus's army, after being
killed at Thermopyle, appeared in open day in
the Roman camp, and fpoke to feveral perfons :
and Plutarch mentions a man, named Thefpefius,
who was killed by a fall from the roof of a houfe,
but came to life again three days after.
• I have difcuffed this mat- Phlegon de Mirabil.

ter in a particular differtation c. i
prefixed to St. John's Goſpel. Plutarch. de fera numinis
Plat. de Rep. 1. x. Clem. vindicâ.
Alexand. Strøm. 1. v.
St
1
St. Paul, in his epiftle to the Corinthians ', ſeems
to fuppofe, that the foul fometimes leaves the
body, and is actually prefent in the place where
a perfon, in the common phrafe, is faid to be in
fpirit. I knew a man, fays he, that was caught up
into the third heaven, and beard unspeakable things
but whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot
t
tell. St. Auguftin alfo ſpeaks of a prieſt of Ca-
lama, named Reftitutus, who hearing fome per-
fons bewail themfelves in a very plaintive tone,
fell into fuch an extafy, that he was deprived of
all fenfe and motion, and his fleſh might have
been burnt or cut, without his feeling it. His
foul, I fuppofe, had either left his body, or was
fo entirely taken up with the lamentation, as to be
infenfible of pain. In the cafe of common fwoons
or faintings, the ufual operations of the foul are
fufpended, though it really continues to refide in,
and animate the body, but without any perception
of its own actions.
LIX.
Story of a man, named Curma, fent back again into

this world.
HERE is another ftory, much to the fame

purpofe, told by St. Auguftin " , of a peafant,
named Curma, who had a little office in the village
of Tullia, near Hippo. This man fell fick , and
lay for feveral days together fenfelefs and fpeech-
lefs, without any fign of life but a gentle breathing,
which was but juft perceptible . After fome time,
he began to open his eyes, and the first thing he
z Cor. xii. 2. Idem. lib. de Curâ pro

$
Aug. 1. xiv, de Civitat. mortuis, c . xii . p . 524 .
Dei. c. xxiv.
U 3 414
294 A DISSERTATION
did was fending to enquire what was become of

another peaſant of the fame village, named Curma
alfo ; and word was brought him, that this Curma
expired at the very inftant that he himself recover-
ed. Upon this, he begun to relate what he had
heard and feen , and faid , that when he was ſent
back again, he heard fome one fay, that it was a
miftake, and that it was not Curma the Curial *,
but Curma the farrier, that ſhould have been
brought. He added, that among the perfons he
faw in the other world , he difcovered J feveral of
his acquaintance that were dead, and fome eccle-
fiafticks ftill living, who adviſed him to come to
Hippo, and get himſelf baptized by Auguſtin,
the bishop of the diocefe ; and that, in compliance
with their advice, he fancied himſelf to have re-
ceived baptifm.
After this, he was introduced into paradife, but
did not ſtay there long, being told, that if he had
a mind to live in that place, he muſt firſt be bap
tized. He anfwered , that he was fo ; but was
told that this was only a vifion, and that he muſt
go to Hippo, and be baptized in earneſt. As foon
as he was recovered, he obeyed this injunction,
and received baptifm , with the other catechumens.
The affair did not come to St. Auguftin's ears till
two years after, and then he fent for Curma, and
learnt all thefe particulars from his own mouth.
Now it is certain that Curma really faw none of
the objects which were reprefented to him in this
vifion, peither the town of Hippo, nor St. Au-
guftin, nor the ecclefiafticks who adviſed him to
be baptized, nor the other perfons of his acquain-
tance. We may therefore attribute the whole to
the fupreme power of God, who thinks proper to
* Curialis is St. Apguſtin's word, which means a little office

in a village,
employ
employ the intervention of angels to execute the

judgments of his providence, in conveying advice,
comfort, or terror to men,
St. Auguftin, upon this occafion, propoſes à
queſtion, Whether the dead have any knowledge
of what paffes in this world ? and he decides it in 1
the negative, for the following reafons ; becauſe
Jofiah is faid to have been taken out of the world
by God, that he might not fee the evil that was to
fall upon the nation of the Jews ; and it is a com-
mon faying, that fuch a one is happy in being
gone from the world, and knowing nothing of the
miferies of his family, or his country. But if we
admit this decifion, how fhall we account for the
peace of departed fouls being disturbed, on ac-
count of their bodies lying unburied ? How can
the faints hear our prayers, 1 and to what purpoſe
is it to defire their interceffions in our behalf?
We muft, therefore, fuppofe the dead to be ac
quainted 1 with what paffes upon earth, either by
means of angels, or fouls arriving fresh from this
world, or by a revelation from God himſelf, who
may well be + fuppofed to communicate to them
fuch particulars as it is expedient they ſhould know.
On the other hand, he fometimes fends perfons
that have been long dead upon errands to the liv
ing. Thus Mofes and Elias appeared at the tranſ,
figuration of our Saviour, and the inftances of de
parted faints that have come again are innumera-
ble. In short, the invocation of faints has been
always taught, and practifed in the church, and
this evidently fuppofes, that they hear our prayers,
are affected with our wants, and can relieve them
by interceding in our favour. But in what man-
ner it is done, is beyond our comprehenfion, fince
72 Chron. xxxiv. 28.

U 4 Aeither
296 A DISSERTATION
neither reafon nor revelation affords us any light

in this matter.
There is a ſtory much like this in Lucian's dia-
logue, entitled Philopfeuds , or the lover of lies.
A man, named Eucrates, being conducted to hell,
was prefented before Pluto, who fell into a paffion
with the guide, and faid, This man has not fi-
niſhed his courſe, his turn is not yet come. Go,
fetch me Demilus, for his thread is out. Eucrates --
was accordingly fent back into the world, where
he gave out that his neighbour Demilus (who was
already a little indifpofed) would foon die , and he
had ſcarce ſpoke the words, before Demilus's fa
mily was heard crying for his death . Lucian in-
deed laughs at all theſe notions, but he allows that
they prevailed univerfally in his time; and he ſays
in the fame place, that a man was known to come
to life again, after being thought dead for twenty
days.
The above- mentioned ftory of Curma brings
into my memory another much like it, told by
Plutarch , of one Enarchus, who came to life
again foon after his death, and faid, that the devils
who carried him off were feverely reprimanded by
their commanding officer for making fuch a grofs
blunder, when it was Nicander, and not Enarchus,
that they ought to have brought. To repair the
miſtake, they were ordered to fetch Nicander, who
was immediately feized with a fever, and died the
fame day. Plutarch had this account from Enar-
chus himself, who, to confirm it, told Plutarch,
that he ¿ ſhould certainly recover very foon of the
illness which he then had upon him. "
-
Lucian Philopf. p. 838. Eufeb. de Præp. Evang. 1. xi.
• Plutarch. de Animâ, apud c. 18 .
LX. Of
LX.
Of Cardan's putting himſelf into an extafy, and con-

tinuing infenfible, whenever he pleafed.
E are told by Cardan , that he had a fa-

WE culty of falling into an extafy whenever he
thought proper: he owns that he cannot fay whe-
ther he ſhould be infenfible of wounds, like Præ-
textatus, but that he did not feel his gout, nor
was fenfible of being pulled and hauled about.
The priest of Calama, adds he, heard diftinctly
the voice of thoſe that were ſpeaking round him,
as if it were at a great diftance ; but as for my-
felf, I hear the voice indeed, but confufedly, and
without knowing what is faid. When I am going
to be in an extafy, I feel about my heart fomething
like a feparation of my foul from the rest of my
body, which is communicated from thence to my
other parts, and particularly my head and brain ;
and then I am deprived of all fenfe, except a con-
ſciouſneſs that I am in an extatic ftate.
To this place belong what is related of the peo
ple of Lapland , who when they want to know
what is going forward in diftant parts, fend forth
their devils, by ufing of certain magical ceremo-
nies, and beating upon a drum or fhield , painted
in a particular manner, and then immediately fall
down in a trance, and continue without motion ,
or any fign of life, fometimes for four and twenty
hours together. But during this whole time, a
perfon muſt ftay by them, to prevent their
b Hieron. Cardan. 1. viii. Lib. iv. Muf. c. 12. Peu

de varietat.rerum. c. 34. cer.de variis divinat. Generib.
Olaus Magnus, 1. iii. P. 28z.
Epitom. Hift. Septentr
being
ION
298 DISSERTAT
being waked by any one's touching or ſpeaking to

them , for even the motion of a fly will break their
trance, and in this cafe they die immediately, or
are carried away by the devil. N
> But to return to the queftion, whether vampires
are really dead or not ; it is eafy to produce feve-
ral inftances of animals, which appear to have loft
all motion, life, and fenfe, and after a certain time
recover them again. I would not conclude from
hence, that the fame thing may happen to fome
men in fome climates ; but theſe inftances may
ferve to make the opinion of thoſe who fuppofe
vampires to be only ftupefied, or aſleep, and not
really dead, feem lefs incredible and abfurd.or
1:
14 LXI.
Inftances of men, and other animals, continuing for

long time as if they were dead.
IT is well known, that ferpents, worms, flies,

fnails, and dormice, continue in a state of in-
fenfibility all winter, and that toads, fnakes, and
oyfters have been found alive in large blocks of
ftone, where they must have been fhut up for fe-
veral years, and in fome cafes for more than a
century. f Cardinal de Retz, in his Memoirs, gives
an account of his being at Minorca , where the
governor of the inland entertained him with ex-
cellent oysters, taken alive out of the middle of
large rocks, which had been drawn out of the bot-
tom of the fea with cables, and were then broke
in pieces with large hammers.
There is a fifh called a dactyl, or date, or dale,
found upon the coafts of Sicily, Malta, Sardinia,
p. 297.
Memoires du Card. de Retz, t. iii. L. 4. P.
and
and Italy, which infinuates itſelf into ſtones, by

means of a hole no bigger than the point of a
needle ; and there feeds upon the infide of the
ftone, till it grows too large to be got out any
other way but by breaking the ſtone. It is then
washed and cleaned, and ferved up at table ; and
is much like the date which grows upon palm-
trees, or the finger of a man's hand ; from which
laft refemblance it has the name of daylos, a word
which, in Greek, fignifies a finger.
It is well known that there are men who can
ſtay a confiderable time under water without breath-
ing, and that others have lain long in a grave
without dying. I imagine too , that death is fre-
quently occafioned by the blood's being coagulated,
and fixed in the veins, as is the cafe of perfons that
eat hemlock, or are bit by ſome ſorts of ferpents.
But there are others, whofe death is occafioned by
too great a fermentation in the blood, as in acute
diſorders, in certain kinds of poiſon, and even ſome
forts of peftilence : in fhort, in all the various
cafes of violent death, and particularly drowning.
Now, in the former of theſe cafes, a dead perfon
can be reſtored to life by nothing leſs than a mi-
racle, it being neceffary for this end, that the blood
fhould recover its fluid ftate, and the heart its ufual
motion.
But in the fecond cafe, a perfon may be reco-
vered by mere natural means, that is, by any
thing that will remove the obſtacle which fufpends
the motion of the heart ; juft as a pendulum reco-
vers its motion, by the removal of a hair, a thread,
of the leaſt atom that ſtops its ſwinging.
# LXII. An
TION
૩૦૦ A DISSERTA
LXII.
An application of thefe obfervations to the cafe of

vampires.
DMITTING now the truth of theſe facts,

A (which I think indifputable) it is not un
reaſonable to fuppofe, that the vampires of Hun-
gary, Silefia, and Moravia, may poffibly be per
fons who have died of acute diforders , and ſtill
retain fome principle of life, juft as the animals
above-mentioned, and the birds which hide them ,
felves under water in the lakes and marshes of Po-
land and other northern countries, continue for a
long time without motion or refpiration, though
not without life. At the return of fpring, when
the water is heated by the fun, or even when they
are brought near a gentle fire, they recover their
powers of motion and action, and perform all the
ufual functions of the animal life, which had un-
dergone a temporary fufpenfion by cold.
In like manner, thefe vampires recover life after
a certain time ; nor does the foul take a final leave
of its former tenement, till by the entire diffo-
lution and diſorder of the organs of the body, it
has no means left to diſcharge the vital functions.
Upon this principle, the inhabitants of thoſe coun-
tries empale, behead, or burn the vampire-bodies,
in order to deprive their fouls effectually of all
hopes of re- animating them again, and making
ufe of them to torment the living.
We are told by Pliny , that the foul of Her-
motimus of Clazomenæ had a trick of frequently
leaving his body, and, upon coming back again,
would give an account of feveral events which
• Plin. Hift. Natur. 1. vii. c. 52.

I happened
happened at a great diftance, and could not pof
fibly be known but by fome one that had been
prefent upon the fpot. One day, when fhe was
out upon a ramble, the Cantharidæ, Hermotimus's
enemies, feized his body, which lay with fcarce
any figns of life, and burnt it, and by this means
deprived the foul of its old fheath : Donec cremato
corpore inimici (qui Cantharide vocabantur) remeanti
anima velut vaginam ademerint.
Origen undoubtedly learnt from the ancient hea-
thens his notion ' , that the foul, though of an in-
corporeal and fpiritual nature, yet upon quitting
its terreftrial body, affumes a fubtile vehicle, of
the fame form with its former grofs tenement ; and
that the foul makes ufe of this fubtile body by way
of fheath or cafe, and fometimes appears with it
near the grave where the other is depofited. He
founds his opinion upon what is faid in the Gofpel
concerning the rich man and Lazarus , who muft
both have had bodies of fome fort, fince they fee
and ſpeak to one another, and the rich man aſks
for a drop of water to cool his tongue. I will not
anfwer for the conclufivenefs of this argument ;
but I cannot help obferving, that his notion of a
fubtile body, of the fame form and lineaments
with the terreftrial body which invefted the foul
during life, is entirely conformable to the ancient
opinion mentioned above.
That the bodies of fuch as die of violent difor-
ders, or are executed in full health, or are only
in a fwoon, fhould vegetate in their graves ; that
their hair, beard, and nails fhould grow, that they
fhould be full of blood, pliant and flexible, at-
tended with no bad fmell, and fhould perform the
f Origen de Refurr. Fragment. t. i. p. 35. nov. edit: &

contra Celfum, 1. vii. p. 697. & Luke xvi. v. 24, & feq.
ufual
302 A DISSERTATÍON
ufal excrétions ; theſe are not the circumftances

which are moft perplexing, fince they may be ac
counted for by the vegetation of the human body.
Even the ftories of their devouring whatever is
next them, may be admitted as the effects of that
fury, which must neceffarily transport perfons bu
ried alive, at their recovery from a ſtate of infen-
fibility.
But the principal difficulty is to account for the
vampires coming out of their graves to torment
the living, and going into them again. For this
particular is mentioned in every ſtory of this fort
as a certain fact, but no account is given of the
manner or circumftances of it, which, however,
is the moſt intereſting part of the whole tranfaction.
How a body, buried four or five feet under ground,
having no room to move or ftir, wrapped clofe in
a fhrowd, and nailed up in boards, can extricate
itſelf from all thefe obftacles, come again above
ground, and produce the effects which are com-
monly talked of, and after that return to its former
ftate, get under the earth again, and be there
found entire, found full of blood, and in all refpects
like a living body ; thefe are difficulties not eaſily
folved . For it will ſcarce be faid, that theſe bo-
dies penetrate through the earth, without difcom-
pofing its furface, as water or dew foke through
it, and leave no marks of their paffage. In fhort,
it were to be wifhed , that the relations which have
been tranfmitted to us concerning vampires, had
explained theſe particulars in a more fatisfactory
manner.
2. LXIII. Marks
LXIII.
Marks of vampiriſm in church-yards.
HE moft particular information that I have

THE been able to get upon this head, is, that
when a place is infefted with vampires, they go to
the church-yard, and examine the graves ; and
wherever there are two, or three, or more holes,
about the fize of a man's finger, they dig to
the bottom, and never mifs finding a body with
all the marks of vampirifm. Some perhaps may
imagine, that theſe holes in the earth contribute
to preferve fome degree of vegetable life, and re-
fpiration, in the vampire that lies below, and confe
quently make his coming again feem lefs incredible.
But I cannot think that this notion has the leaft
probability.
There is a ſtory told by Bartholinus ' , an author
whom I have quoted above, ( and he takes it from
a book writ by an old forcerefs, named Lendela,
which was never printed) of a man, named Har-
pye, who ordered his wife to bury him exactly at
the kitchen door, that he might fee what went on
in the houſe. After his death, the woman executed
her commiffion punctually ; and foon after he ap-
peared to ſeveral in the neighbourhood , killed
the people that were at work, and played fo many
other mischievous pranks, that no one would ven-
ture to live any longer in the village. At last, a
man, named Ólaus Pa, took courage, and ran at
the ſpectre with a lance, which he drove into its
body, and left ſticking in the wound . The ſpectre
This account was given Bartholin. de Caufa con-

me by general de Grun, at Re- emptûs mortis, l. ii. p. 268 .
miremont, in the year 1744.
inftantly
304 A DISSERTATION
inftantly vanished, and next morning Olaus got

the grave opened , and found his lance in the dead
body of Harpye, which was not yet corrupted .
Upon this, they dragged the carcafe out of the
grave, burnt it, and threw its afhes into the fea,
and the ſpectre was no more heard of.
In this inftance it is evident, that the body really
came out of the grave, and was a fubftantial vul-
nerable body, fince the lance was found in the
wound. Now the difficulty to be accounted for
is, how it came out of the grave, and returned
into it again. For there is nothing wonderful in
the circumſtances either of the lance or the wound,
fince it is a common cafe for wizards and witches
that have changed themſelves into dogs, cats, or
wolves, to bear in their human fhape, and in the
fame part of their bodies, the wounds which they
have received in their beſtial ſtate.
But if we fuppofe that their bodies do not really
ftir out of their graves, and that nothing but a
mere fantom is feen, the difficulty lies in account-
ing for the production of this phantom, from what
cauſe it derives its power of acting, and by what
it is animated ; whether by the foul of the de-
ceaſed, which has not yet quitted its former man-
fion, or by fome devil, which provides a borrow
ed, vifionary body. But if the body be only a de-
lufive, unreal mockery, whence come the wounds
which are found in the real carcafe ? And befides
all theſe difficulties, we are ftill embarraffed with
the general one, whether theſe apparitions are na
tural or miraculous ?
LXIV. Whe-
LXIV.
Whether the devil has a power of fubtilifing and ſpir

ritualiſing a dead body ?
}
F none of the above folutions are thought fatif
$
vil may not have fubtilifed theſe bodies to fuch a
degree, as to make them capable of paffing through
the earth, without difcompofing the fituation of
its parts, of flipping through a key hole, or the
crannies of a door ? Whether he may not have
given them a fort of fluidity like that of water or
hair or rather, have endued them with thoſe pro-
perties, which we fuppofe will be communicated
to beatified bodies after the refurrection, and which
our Saviour's body actually had, after he roſe from
the dead ; fince he was feen only by thofe to whom
* he thought proper to appear, and stood in the midst
of bis difciples, when the doors were ſhut *.
But if we ſhould admit the devil to have a
power of re - animating dead bodies, and enduing
ligh
them with motion for a certain time, will it fol-
low from thence, that he can lengthen, diminiſh,
and rarefy the bodies of thefe fpectres, fo as to
enable them to infinuate themſelves through the
earth, or to pafs through windows and doors ?
There is no evidence for his having received this
power from God, and it is even inconceivable that
a grofs, material body, can receive fuch a degree
of fubtilty and fpirituality, without deſtroying en
tirely the configuration of its feveral parts, and the
difpofition of its whole frame : which would to-
tally defeat the devil's purpoſes, and incapacitate
* John xx. 26.
X him
TI ON
306 A DISSERTA
him for the whole bufinefs of vampirism ; fince

he could neither appear, act, or ſpeak in a human
form , nor be cut in pieces and burnt, according
to the established ways of proceeding in all the
vampire countries . 誊 Thefe difficulties continue alſo
in full force in the above- mentioned cafe of ex-
communicated perfons, faid to come out of their
graves, and quit the church, in the face of the
whole congregation. 儀
Upon the whole, we muft fhut up our refearches
into this abftrufe fubject in refpectful filence, fince
it has not pleafed God to reveal to us either the
extent of the devil's power, or the manner how
theſe things are brought about. And we fhall ac
quiefce the more readily in our ignorance , by res
flecting, that there are many phænomena in nature,
nay even in our own bodies, of the caufes and
operations of which we know no more than of
thefe fupernatural events. têm ab el chinos
etry a to enduit , ut, ve est
LXV .
Whether thefe phenomena can be accounted for by-

fafcination of the fenfes ?
HERE are fome who have recourfe to a

T faſcination of the fenfes as a fufficient explic
cation of all the ftories of apparitions ; but they
certainly involve themſelves in greater difficulties,
than thoſe who honeftly admit the reality of thefe
events. For by faſcination muſt be meant either
a fufpenfion of the power of feeing ( like that of
the inhabitants of Sodom , who could not find
the door of Lot's houfe, though it was juft be-
fore their eyes ; or that of the difciples at Em-
maus, of whom it is faid, that their eyes were
1 Gen. xix, 11.

bolden,
bolden, that they should not know our Saviour)
or it must mean a repreſentation of an object to
the fenfes, different from what it is in fact, like
that of the Moabites " , who fancied they faw the
water red with the blood of the Ifraelites, or that
of the Syrian foldiers , who were fent to appre-
hend Elisha, and were led by him into the midft
of Samaria, without knowing either the prophet,
or the city. But both theſe forts of fafcination
are evidently beyond the common ordinary powers
of human nature, and therefore cannot be effected
by the unaffifted operations of any human agent.
If it be aſked, whether they are alfo beyond the ordi-
nary powers of an angel or devil ; the only proper
anfwer is a confeffion of our ignorance, and of the
neceffity of fufpending our judgment in theſe ar-
duous points .
There is yet another fpecies of fafcination, which
confifts in the production of fome mifchievous ef-
fect, by the fight of a particular perfon or thing,
or by being praiſed or envied : and the ancients
were particularly careful to defend their children,
against it, by hanging a fort of prefervatives, or
amulets, round their necks. In illuftration of this
point, it were eafy to produce a variety of paf-
fages from the Greek and Latin writers , and I am
informed, that even to this day there are ſeveral
parts of Christendom where the efficacy of thefe ,
fafcinations is firmly believed. However, * thefe
three things are indiſputable ; firſt, that the virtue
of theſe imaginary fafcinations is extremely uncer-
tain , fecondly, that fuppofing it were certain, it
is very difficult, not to fay impoffible, to account
for it ; and thirdly, that it cannot with any pro-
Luke xxiv. 16. 2 Kings vi. 18.

2 Kings fii. 23.
X 2 priety,
ON
E RTATI
308 A DISS
priety, be applied to the cafe of apparitions or

vampires. ส้น
LXVI.
Difficulties arifing from the circumſtance of the vam-

pires giving no account of what they have ſeen in
the other world, fuppofing them to have been really
dead.
F theſe vampires are not really raifed to life

again, nor their bodies refined and fpiritualifed,
as I fatter myſelf I have fhewn they are not, and
if our fenfes are not deceived by any faſcination ,
I am afraid we fhall have nothing left, but to deny
abfolutely, that they ever come again, or to fup-
poſe them to be only in a ftate of fleep, or ftupe-
faction. For if they are really raifed to life again,,
and the common reports of their fpeaking, acting,
converfing, and fucking the blood of the living,
are true, they cannot but know what paffes in the
other world, and they certainly ought to let their
relations and friends into the fecret, inftead of tor-
menting and putting them to death. And yet we
never read that they do the former, but are ge-
nerally guilty of the latter.
In like manner, we do not read, that any of
the perfons recorded in Scripture to have been
raiſed to life, ſuch as Lazarus , or the widow of
Nain's fon , or the fon of the woman of Shunem ,
or the dead man who revived upon touching the
bones of Elifha ' , made any diſcoveries of the
ftate of departed fouls in the other world.
John xi. 14. r. 2 Kings iv. 25.

Luke vii. 11 , 12. 2 Kings xiii. 21.
In
}
In the Gofpel indeed, the rich man defires

Abraham tofend to his father's boufe, to testify unto
bis brethren, left they alfo fhould come into that place
of torment. But he is anſwered, They have Mofes
and the prophets ; let them hear them. And upon
the rich man's urging farther, that ifone went unto
them from the dead, they would certainly repent, Abra-
ham anfwers, If they hear not Mofes and the pro-
phets, neither will they be perfuaded, though one rofe
from the dead.
But there are ſeveral inſtances of heathens, and
fome of Chriftians, who, upon their return from
the other world, have made, no fecret of the tranf-
actions there, but have given an ample account
of all that they have heard and feen,
LXVII.
Inftances of beathens who have related what they fave

in the other world.
Have already made fome mention of the cafe of

I Eros of Pamphylia ", who being wounded in
a battle, was found among the flain ten days after,
and carried home without fenfe or motion. Two
days after this, as his body was just going to be
laid upon the funeral pile, he came to himſelf,
and begun to ſpeak and give a relation of the man-
ner in which men are judged in the other world,
with a deſcription of the rewards of the good,
and the punishment and torments of the wicked.
His account was, that his foul, as foon as it
was feparated from the body, arrived, in company
with many others, at an agreeable place, where
they faw two great openings for the admiffion of
Luke xvi. 27.

Plat. 1. x. de Rep. p. 614.
X 3 thofe
310 A DISSERTATION
thoſe that came from earth, and two others which

led to heaven. Here he faw the judges examining
all that came from this world, and fending thofe
that had lived well to an high place on the right
hand, and thofe that had been guilty of great
crimes into a fort of hole on the left. Each of
them had a label affixed to his back, infcribed
with his good and bad actions, as the reafon of his
condemnation or acquittal..
When Eros's turn came, the judges told him ,
that he muſt return back upon earth, in order to
publifh the tranfactions of the other world, and
bad him obferve every thing attentively, that he
might make a faithful report. He was therefore
admitted to fee the torments of the wicked , which
were to last for a thousand years, and the happy
ftate of the righteous ; and was informed, that
their refpective rewards and puniſhments were in a
tenfold proportion to their virtues and vices . Among
others, he obferved particularly, that the judges
aſked for one Andæus, a Pamphylian, famous for
his tyranny and other crimes : but they were anfwer-
ed, that he was not yet come, nor would come at
all. And accordingly Andæus having with much
labour and difficulty got to one of the openings
above-mentioned, he was pushed back again to
the fociety of the wicked, where they were tor- "
mented together in a great variety of ways, and
repelled as often as they made any effort to eſcape.
He faw, moreover, the three Parca, Lachefis,
Clotho, and Atropos, daughters e of Neceflity or
Fate ; the firft of which prefided over things paft,
the fecond over things prefent, and the third over
things to come. All fouls were obliged to ap-
pear before thefe three goddeffes, and Lachefis
threw a number of lots 量 into the air, of which
every foul caught one ; but this hindered no one
from
1
from leading his life conformably to the laws of
juftice and reafon. た
Eros added, that he faw feveral fouls attempte
ing to enter into the bodies of other animals. Or
pheus, for inftance, out of hatred to the female
fex, 3 by whom he was murdered, entered into a
fwan, and Thamyris into a nightingale. Ajax,
the fon of Telamon , chofe the body of a lion, our
of indignation to the injuftice of the Greeks, who
refuſed to award him the arms of Achilles, to
which the pretended an undoubted right. 1 Aga
memnon, vexed at the crofs accidents which he
had met with in life, pitched upon the body of
an eagle. Atalanta, charmed with the honours of
an athletic life, chofe that profeffion. Therfites,
the most deformed of the human race, entered
into a monkey ; and Ulyffes, fick of the hardships
he had endured upon earth, defired to live a
private, undisturbed life. He was long fearching
after a lot for this purpofe, and at last found it ly
ing neglected upon the ground, and picked it up
with joy.
Eros reported alfo, that the fouls of beafts fome-
times entered into the bodies of men ; and that,
on the contrary, the fouls 糖 of wicked men were
doomed to inhabit fierce and favage beaſts, but
the fouls of the righteous entered into fame do-
meftick animals . After thefe feveral tranfmigra-
tions, Lachefis affigned to each perfon a guardian,
to conduct him through the courfe of his life.
After this, Eros was conducted to the river of
Oblivion, which effaces the memory of all things ;
but he was not fuffered to tafte it. The conclufion
of his narration was, that he came again to life ,
but knew not in what manner.
The moral which Plato draws from this apo- ,
logue or fable, as he himself calls it, is, that the
foul is immortal, and that, in order to arrive at
X 4 happinef
TA TION
312 A DISSER
happineſs, we muſt practile virtue ; upon earth,

which will lead to glory in heaven, where we are
promiſed a ſtate of beatitude to laft for a thoufand
years.
We see from this ftory , that it is poffible for a
man to live a confiderable time, without fhewing
any figns of life : that the Greeks believed in the ..
tranfmigration of fouls, in a ſtate of happineſs for
the good, and punishment, of a thousand years
duration, for the wicked ; that they looked upon
deſtiny as confiftent with a freedom of doing either
good or ill, and affigned to all men a genius or
guardian angel. Add to this a future judgment,
and the reception of good fouls into a place which
they called the Elyfian Fields.
LXVIII.
The traditions of the heathens, relating to another

life, were derived from the Jews and Egyptians.
WHAT the traditions of the heathens upon

WHAthis article were, may be eaſily gathered
from Homer and Virgil, and the other Greek and
Latin authors. That they were derived from the
Hebrews and Egyptians, but more particularly the
latter, from whom the Greeks borrowed their re-
ligion, and afterwards adapted it to their own tafte,
is, I think, indifputable. In the writings of the
Hebrews, we meet with frequent mention of Re-
phaim, or giants ; who are defcribed in the book
ofJob , as groaning under the waters. In the book
6
of Proverbs , they are mentioned as the inhabi-
* Job xxvi. 5. The Vul- ▾ Proverbs ix. 18. The

gate renders it ; Ecce gigantes Valgate tranflation is, Et
gemunt fub aquis , which tran- ignoravit quad ibifint gigantes.
Nation the author follows,
tants
z
tants ofbell. In Ifaiah's defcription of the down-
fall of the king of Babylon, hell is reprefented as
meeting him at his coming, and ftirring up the Rephaim
for bim, who fhallSpeak andfay unto him, Art thou alfo
"
become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us ?
a
So alfo in Ezekiel's defcription of the deftruction
of Affyria. In the day when he went down to the grave,
1 caufed a mourning, 1 covered the deep for him, and
I reftrained the floods thereof. Yet fhalt thou be
brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether
parts of the earth ; thou shalt lie in the midst of the
uncircumcifed, with them that be flain with thefword.
And in the Goſpel there is faid to be a great gulph
fixed between the refpective abodes of Lazarus and
the rich man .
The Egyptian word Amenthes, that is to fay,
the receiver and giver, is their name for what the
Greeks called Hades ; and their notion was, that
Amenthes received the fouls of men at their death,
and reftored them to them again upon their coming
into the world : that the foul, immediately after
death, tranfmigrates fucceffively into the bodies of
other animals : the firft ftage is a terreftrial animal,
the fecond an aquatic one, the next a bird, till hav
ing animated every fpecies of animals in their turns,
it enters again into a human body, after the expi-
ration of three thousand years. It is from the
Egyptians that Homer and Orpheus derived their
opinion of the immortality of the foul, and the
idea of the grotto of the nymphs, as deſcribed by
Homer, who reprefents it as having two gates, one
at the north end, through which fouls enter into
the cavity, and the other at the fouth, through
which they come out of it.
Ifaiah xiv. 9, & feq. In- Ezek. xxxi. 15.

fernus -Suſcitavit tibi gi- Luke xvi. 26.
gantes . Vulg.
2 LXIX. In-
314 Ά DISSERTATION
LXIX .
Inftances of two heathens, named Thefpefius and Ga-

bienus, who came to life again, and made wonderful
difcoveries.
NE Thefpefius, a native of Soli in Cilicia,

Ο well known to Plutarch , having led a very
debauched life, and being reduced to great necef-
fity, fet himſelf upon all forts of ſcandalous em-
ployments, in order to gain a livelihood, and ma
naged fo well, that he fcraped together fome
wealth, but entirely loft his reputation. Having
fent to confult the oracle of Amphilochus, he was
answered, that matters would be better with him
t
after his death. Soon after he fell from the top
of a houſe, broke his neck, and died. Three
days after, when he was just going to be buried,
he came to life again, and from that time there
was fuch a change in his manners, that there was
no man in all Cilicia who had a better character
for piety, integrity, and honour.
Upon his being aſked the reafon of fo extraor
dinary an alteration, he faid, " that at the inftant
"
of his fall, he was affected in the fame manner as
a man is that falls from the deck of a ſhip into the
fea that after this, his foul was carried up into the
region of the ftars, where he admired the aftoniſh-
ing magnitude and wonderful beauty of the hea-
venly orbs that he learnt, that all fouls, after
their feparation from the body, are hoifted up
into the air, and fhut up in a fort of fiery globe,
L
or vortex ; that when they go from hence, fome:
fly up aloft with incredible rapidity, and others are
whirled about in the air, and agitated different
• Plutarch. de iis qui ferò a numine puniuntur.

ways
ways, fometimes upwards, and fometimes down-
wards . The greater number appeared to him to
be in great diftrefs, by their lamentable fhrieks and
howlings : the reft, who were fewer in number,
flew up aloft, and enjoyed great happinefs in the
fociety of congenial fpirits. Upon the whole, he
learnt, that Adraftea, the daughter of Jupiter and
neceffity, leaves no crime unpunished , but treats
every man according to his deferts. He enters
into a very minute detail of feveral particulars,

and enumerates the various puniſhments inflicted
upon the wicked in the other world. He adds,
that a perfon of his acquaintance, whom he met
there, faid to him , You are not dead, but your
foul is permitted by God to come to this place,
and has left all her faculties in your body. At laft
he was ſent back to his body through a fort of ca-
nal, and puſhed forward by an impetuous wind.
There are two circumftances in this relation
which furnish matter for reflection : the firſt is.
the foul's quitting the body for three days, and
then returning to animate it again : the fecond is,
the truth of the oracle which promifed Thelpefius
a happier life after death.
In the Sicilian ward, Gabienus, one of the com-
manders of Cæfar's fleet, being taken prisoner by
Sex. Pompey, was beheaded by his orders. His
body continued upon the fea- fhore the whole day,
with the head held on only by a fingle fibre. In
the evening, he defired that Pompey, or fome
other of his friends might be fent for, becauſe he
came from the other world , and had fomething of
confequence to communicate. Pompey, hearing
this, fent feveral perfons to him, to whom Gabie-
nus declared , that Pompey's caufe and party were
favoured by the god of the infernal regions, that
Plin . Hift. Nat. 1. vii. c. 52.

he
N
TIO
SE RTA
316 A DIS
The fhould certainly fucceed in his defigns, and that

he (Gabienus) was commiffioned to tell him fo ;
and as a proof, added he, of the truth of what I
fay, I fhall expire immediately, which he did.
But Pompey's party did not come off victorious,
as this meffenger promifed ; but, on the contrary,
was forced to fubmit to Cæfar. Indeed, the god
of the infernal regions, that is to fay, the devil,
found his own account in it, in having fo many
unhappy perfons made a facrifice to revenge and
ambition.
!18
*
LXX.
10
Inftances of Chriftians raised to life, and fent back
again into this world.
E are told by an ancient author , who

WEwrote about St. Auguftin's time, that an
inhabitant of the city of Uzal in Africa being crufhe
ed to death by a wall's falling upon him , his wife,
while things were getting ready for his funeral, ran
to St. Stephen's church, and implored the interpo-
fition of the faint, when immediately the man was
obferved to open his eyes, and move his body
Soon after he fat upright, and told them that his
foul, upon quitting his body, met with a great com-
pany of departed fouls, fome of whom he knew,
but not all that a young man, in a deacon's habit,
coming into the room, drove away the other fouls,
and faid to him three times, " Reſtore what you
" have received." At laft he found out, that the
deacon meant the Creed, which he immediasely
repeated, and alfo the Lord's prayer and that
then the deacon (who was no other than St. Stephen
* Lib. i . de Miraculis San- t. vii. Oper. Sti. Aug. in Ap-

Ati Stephani, c. iv. p. 28, pendice.
himſelf)
himſelf) made the fign of the croſs over his heart,
and bad him rife in perfect health.
A young catechumen, who had been dead about
three days, being raiſed to life by the prayers of
St. Martin, gave an account of his appearing be-
fore the great tribunal, and being condemned to a
dark region, in company with many more ; but
that two angels rofe up in his defence, and repre-
fented to the judge, that St. Martin had interceded
in his behalf. Upon this, the judge ordered
the angels to carry him back to the other world,
and reſtore him to St. Martin. The command
was punctually executed, and the young man was.
baptifed, and lived many years after.
St. Salvi, bifhop of Abby , being feized with
a violent fever, and taken for dead, was laid upon
a bier in his pontifical habit, where a folemn fer-
vice was performed over him, which lafted the
A
whole night. The next morning he was obferved
to move, and foon after he awoke as from a deep
fleep, and lifting up his hands towards heaven,
cried out, Ah ! Lord, why haft thou ſent me back
into this vale of mifery ? He faid no more at
that time, but rofe in perfect health . A few days
after, he gave an account of his being carried up
to heaven by two angels, where he faw all the
glories of paradife, and was fent back, much
against his will, to live longer upon earth. St.
Gregory of Tours, who gives us this account,
calls God to witnefs, that he had it from St. Salvi's.
own mouth .
Sulpit. Sever, in Vitâ. S. Martini.

Gregor. Taron . 1. vii. c.I.
LXXI. A
318 A DISSERTATION
LXXI.
Avifion of Vetin, a monk of Augie,
MONK of Augie-la - Riche, named Vetin of

A Guetin ", who lived in the year 824 , being
very ill, and lying one day on his bed, with his
eyes fhut, but not afleep, faw the devil in a moft
hideous ' form , dreffed in an ecclefiaftical habit,
come into the room , holding in his hand feveral
inftruments of torture, and threatening the monk
that he fhould foon feel them. The devil was
followed by a multitude of other evil fpirits, bring-
ing with them fuch tools as are ufually made ufe
of in building tombs. Soon after this, there came
in feveral ferious, grave perfonages, in religious
habits, who drove
# away the devils. The next that
appeared was an angel, encompaffed with rays of
light, who came to the foot of the bed, and con-
ducted Vetin through an agreeable road to a place
fituated among mountains of an extraordinary
height, at the bottom of which there ran a large.
river, in which a multitude of damned fouls were
fuffering divers tortures, in proportion to the na-
ture and enormity of their crimes . Among them
he obferved fome whom he knew, and particularly
feveral wicked prelates and priefts, who were tied
by the back to ftakes, and roafted over large fires.
Over-againſt them , the women , who had been
their accomplices, fuffered the fame puniſhment.
He took notice alfo of an avaricious monk,
whofe crime was heaping up money as his private.
property, puniſhed by being fhut up in a leaden
coffin till the day of judgment. He obſerved alſo
feveral abbots and bishops, and even the emperor
Vifio Vetini feu Guetini, fect. iv. Benedict. part. 1. p. 265.

Charlemagne
Charlemagne himſelf, expiating their crimes by fire,

and expecting deliverance after the expiration of
a certain term. He had alfo a fight of the man-
fions of the bleffed, where each was ranked ac
cording to his refpective merit. The angel then
declared to him what crimes were moft offenfive
to God, and moft common among men ; and
mentioned Sodomy in particular as a moſt detefta-
ble fin. When the nightly fervice was over, the
abbot came to vifit, Verin, who related to him, his
vifion, and the abbot had it writ down from his
mouth. Vetin lived two days after this, and hav-
ing foretold that he ſhould not outlive the third ,
he recommended himfelf to the prayers of his
brother monks, received the bleffed facrament, and
died in peace on the 31st of October, in the year
824 .
LXXII .
A vifion of Berthold, related by Hincmar of Rheims.
HE famous Hincmar , archbishop of Rheims,

T in a paftoral letter addreffed to his fuffragan
bishops and faithful of his diocefe, relates the cafe
of one Berthold, who falling fick, and having re-
ceived all the facraments, lay four days without
taking any nouriſhment . On the fourth day he
was fo weak, that the motion of his pulfe was
fcarce diſtinguiſhable. At midnight he called his
wife, and bade her fend immediately for his con-
feffor, who was no fooner come into the court,
but Berthold cried out, 7 Bring a chair immediately,
for the priest is coming. When the prieſt was come,
he repeated the ufual prayers, to which Berthold
made the proper refponfes, and then told him his
* Hinemar, t. ii. p. 805.

vifion.
320 A DISSERTATION ,
vifion. At my firft leaving this world, fays he,

I faw forty-one bishops, among whom were Ebbo,
Leopardellus, and Æneas, clothed in black, ragged
habits, extremely dirty, and ſcorched by the fires
and they themselves were this moment burnt with
fire, and the next froze with infufferable cold.
Upon Ebbo's defiring him to go to his clergy,
and other friends, and defire them to offer, the
bleffed facrifice in his behalf, Berthold obeyed,
and at his return to the place where he had feen
the bishops, he found them well clad, fhaved and
wafhed, and full c of joy.
A little farther on he faw king Charles , who
feemed to be almoft devoured with worms ; and
received a commiffion from him to apply to Hinc
mar for affiftance in his diftrefs ; and upon Hinc
mar's faying mafs for him, the king was relieved
He next faw Jeffe, biſhop of Orleans, laying acrofs
a well, attended by four devils, who plunged him
firft into boiling pitch, and then threw him into cold
water ; and he alſo was relieved by having prayers
•
faid in his behalf. He next faw count Otharius,
who was alfo in a ftate of torment ; and Berthold
carneftly recommended it to his wife, and tenants,
and friends, to fay prayers, and give alms for his
deliverance. After this, Berthold received the
communion, and found himfelf growing much
better; and from this time he entertained hopes of
living fourteen years longer, as the angel who con
ducted him about, and fhewed him all thefe fights,
promiſed he fhould,
Probably Charles the Bald, who died in 875.
LXXIII. A
‫يال‬
ON VAMPIRES , &c. 321
LXXIII.
A vifion of St. Furfi.
'N the life of St. Furfi ' , wrote foon after his
INC death, which happened about the year 653 , we.
have an account of feveral of his vifions . Once
in particular being dangeroufly ill, and not able
to ftir, he had a vifion, in which he feemed to be
fupported over a place of darknefs by three angels,
who carried him out of the world, and then brought
him back again, and made his foul return again
into his body, to accomplish the work for which
God had appointed him. At his awaking, he
found himfelf furrounded by feveral perfons, who
were lamenting his death, and told him, that the
evening before he had fwooned away on a fudden,
fo that they took him for dead . He expreffed a
great defire of having fome intelligent perfons
about him, to whom he might relate what he had
feen ; but being attended only by ignorant rufticks,
he received the holy communion, and lived three
days longer.
On the Tueſday following he fell into another
fwoon in the middle of the night, and his feet-
grew quite cold. His hands were lifted up in a
praying poſture, and he prepared himſelf for
death with great tranquillity. Then he faw the
fame three angels, who had conducted him before,
come down and carry him up into the air ; but
inftead of the agreeable mufick which he had
heard in his former voyage, he was entertained with
nothing but the hideous howlings of devils , who
Vita S. Furfii apud Bol- Vide Sæculum II. Bene-

land. 16 Januar . p. 37, 38. dict . p. 299 .
Stem, P. 47, 48.
Y began
322 A DISSERTATION
began to fight with him, and pelt him with fiery

darts ; but the angel took them all in his fhield,
and extinguiſhed them. The devils then began to
charge Furfi with wicked thoughts, and other hu-
man frailties ; but the angels undertook his de-
fence, faying, if he is not guilty of any capital
fins, he fhall not be damned.
The devil not being able to accuse him of any
thing that deſerved eternal damnation , Furfi was
accofted by two faints of his own country, St.
Bean and St. Medan, who foretold to him the ca-
lamities which God would inflict upon mankind,
for the fins of the princes and paftors of the
church ; the former in giving the people bad ex-
amples, and the latter for neglecting to preach the
word of God ; and after this, they fent him back
into his body.
The faint came to his old tenement with great
reluctance, and began to relate all the particulars
he had feen. In order to recover him perfectly,
they threw cold water upon his body, and he felt
a great heat between his fhoulders. After this,
he preached all over Ireland, and venerable Bede
fays ", that there was an old monk in his monafte-
ry, who had thefe particulars from a perfon of great
credit, who received them from St. Furfi's own
mouth ; and it is added, that the faint himſelf
was fully convinced , that his foul was actually fes
parated from his body in thefe extatic fits .
Beda, 1. iii. Hift. c. 19.
LXXIV
LXXIV.
A vifion of a Proteftant in Yorkshire.
HE following ſtory is told of a Proteftant

THand happened in the year 1698. The mi-
nifter of the parish of Hipley in Yorkſhire, named
Henry Watts, being feized with an apoplexy on
the 15th of Auguft, was put into his coffin on
the 17th, and carried out to be buried but as
he was just going to be put into the grave, he
gave a great fhriek, which frightened all that
attended the funeral. However, he was taken
out of the coffin, and when he came to himſelf,
related many ſurpriſing particulars, which, he faid,
had been revealed to him during his trance, which
lafted 48 hours ; and on the 24th of the fame
month, he made a moft pathetick diſcourſe to
thofe that had attended him to the grave.
There are ſome, perhaps, who will treat thefe
accounts as mere fables and whimfies. But it is
evident, that they all agree in the belief of the
great articles of heaven, hell, and purgatory ; of
the efficacy of prayers for the dead, of the appa-
rition of angels, and of the exiſtence of devils,
who are appointed to torment both the fouls that
are în a ſtate of eternal damnation, and thoſe that
are to undergo only a temporary puniſhment for
the expiation of lefs heinous offences.
Larrey, Hift. de Louis XIV. an. 1698, p . 98.
Y 2 LXXV. Con
… ཨ།
A DISSERTATION
324
vi heb os
: ་ ::: 6t?
LXXV.
Conclufion of this Dirtation.
Come now to recapitulate in à few words the

I fubftance of the foregoing Differtation , which
is, that I have there fhewn at large,
First , That a refurrection, properly fo called ,
of a perfon who has been dead for any confidera-
ble time, and whofe body is already corrupted and
ftinking, or even juft going to putrefy, (as in the
cafe of Peter, who was raifed to life by St. Stani-
flaus, after he had been buried three years, or that
of Lazarus, who had been dead four days, and
began to ftink) that fuch a refurrection can be ef-
fected only by the almighty power of God.
Secondly, That perfons who have lain long un-
der water, or are fallen into a fwoon, lethargy, or
trance, or are fuppofed to be dead from any other
cauſe, may be recovered and restored to life, to
motion, and to health, without the intervention of
any thing miraculous, but by the fole power of
medicine, or even by waiting patiently till nature
recovers of her own accord , by the heart's re-
fuming its former motion, the blood flowing freely
through the veins and arteries, and the animal fpi-
rits through the channels of the nerves.
Thirdly, That all the ftories concerning oupires,
or vampires, in Moravia, Hungary, Poland, and
other countries, though related with the moft mi-
nute particularity of circumſtances, and ſupported
with fuch a weight of evidence, as would be ad-
mitted for proof by the moft fcrupulous courts
of juftice ; in fhort, that all the reports of their
coming to life again , their appearing and diſturb-
ing whole cities and villages, their putting people
to
to death, by fucking their blood, or giving them

figns to follow them, are nothing but mere illufion,
and the effects of ftrong and inveterate prejudices.
The maintainers of the reality of thefe accounts
cannot produce the evidence of one fenfible, ferl-
ous, and unprejudiced man, who will fay, that
he has feen, touched, fpoke to. or any how exa-
mined into the cafe of thefe vampires, or will af-
fert the truth of their coming again, and producing
the effects which are afcribed to them.
At the fame time, it cannot be denied, that
many people have died of a fright, by fancying
they have feen their deceaſed relations fummoning
them to the other world. Others have imagined,
that they have heard noifes at their doors ; and
various kinds of hauntings and diſturbances from
fpirits have been firmly credited ; and all thefe
perfons being examined before a court of juftice,
have depofed, that they actually faw and heard
things that exifted only in their own imagination.
This, however, does not affect the point in quef-
tion. What we want is unprejudiced witneffes,
free from fear, intereft, or paffion, who will feri-
oufly affert, after mature deliberation , that they have
feen, heard, or ſpoke to theſe vampires, and been
witneffes of their exploits ; and I am convinced
that fuch as theſe we fhall never have.
LXXVI.
Uncertainty of all the flories about vampires.
CCORDINGLY I have been affured by a

A perfon of the moſt improved understanding,
and of unquestionable veracity ", that Lewis XV,
The marquis de Beauveau, who died at the fiege of

Ypres in 1744.
Y 3 being
TION
S ERTA
326 A DIS
being defirous to know the truth of thefe reports,

gave orders to the duke of Richelieu , his ambaf-
fador at the court of Vienna, to examine carefully
into the affair, and to fend him an account of what
he could collect from the original records of theſe
vampire-tranſactions. The duke executed his com-
miffion with the utmost exactnefs, and informed.
the king that nothing appeared to him more in-
difputable than thefe accounts. The unbelieving
party, however, was not fatisfied with this, but
defired the king that the ambaſſador might be or-
dered to make further enquiries upon C the spot.
The duke obeyed the order, and his fecond report
was, that he found more of prejudice and whim
than of truth in this whole buſineſs of redivivi, or
vampires. In confequence of this, there are now
two parties at the court of Vienna, one of which
holds the truth of theſe apparitions, and the other
rejects the whole as mere whim and fancy.
I have alfo by me a letter, writ to me from
Warfaw the 3d of February, 1745, by the reve
rend father Sliwifki, vifitor of the province of the
fathers of the Polifh miffion, informing me, that
he had ftudied this point with great attention, and
collected materials for writing a phyfical and theo-
logical differtation upon this fubject , but that his
office of vifitor and fuperior of the monaftery of
his order at Warfaw, allowed him no time to ex-
ecute his defign : that he has lately fearched for
thefe papers in vain, and imagines that they are
ftill in the hands of fome one to whom he gave a
fight of them and that there were among them
two refolutions of the Sorbonne, prohibiting the
cutting off the head, and mifufing the body of
thefe pretended vampires. He adds, that thefe
decifions may be found in the regiſter of the Sor-
bonne, between the years 1700 and 1710.
He
He fays farther, that in Poland they are fo fully

convinced of the exiſtence of vampires, as to look
upon thoſe that deny it as little better than here-
ticks. They have a great number of facts which
they think indifputable, and bear down all contra,
diction with a vaft cloud of witneffes . " I my-
felf, fays this wife and judicious prieft, have
taken the pains of going to the bottom of this
affair, and of examining every one that I have
* heard quoted as a witnefs in the caufe. But I
could not find a fingle perfon that would ven→
ture to affirm he had been an eye-witneſs of any
1 of the facts in queftion ; and I look upon the
whole as mere whims and reveries, founded
" upon nothing but fear and idle reports.
LXXVII.
That it is morally impoffible for vampires to come out

of their graves.
OURTHLY, which I have

Furged above, drawn from the impoffibility
of vampires coming out of their graves, and go-
ing into them again, without leaving fome marks
that the furface of the earth has been ftirred, no
anſwer has been yet given, nor indeed ever will
be. To ſay that the devil fubtilizes or fpiritualizes
their bodies, 1 is an affertion entirely deftitute of
proof, and even probability.
Fifthly, The fluidity of blood, the freſhneſs of
colour, and pliancy of limbs,, which are always
obfervable in vampires, are circumstances not more
to be wondered at than the growing of their hair
and nails, and the uncorrupted ftate of their bo-
dies. It is a very common cafe for carcaffes not
to putrefy, and to retain a fresh lively colour after
Y 4 death ;
328 A DISSERTATION
death ; and it is particularly common with fuch as die

of a violent or fudden death, without any previous
fickneſs, or of certain diforders well known to
phyficians, which do not fix and congeal the
blood, or ſtiffen the limbs of the dead body..
With regard to the growing of the hair and
nails in uncorrupted bodies, there is nothing in it
but what is eafily accounted for. Thefe bodies
ſtill retain a flow and imperceptible circulation of
their juices, which produces this effect, juſt as
•
onions will grow and ſhoot after they are taken out
of the earth, and confequently can receive from
thence no moiſture or nouriſhment. The fame will
hold good with refpect to fome flowers, and may
be extended to moft cafes which depend upon the
vegetation of plants or animals.
Sixthly, The opinion which prevails among the
modern Greeks, concerning the return of Brouco-
lacks, is not better . founded than that of vam-
pires. This ridiculous notion had its rife origi-
nally, and is ftill kept up, by the ignorance, pre-
judice, and fuperftition of the Greeks ; and I think
there wants nothing but the story above quoted
from M. Tournefort , to undeceive the wärmeft
patrons of this opinion .
LXXVIII.
No proof that the dead bodies of excommunicated per-

fons are exempted from putrefaction .
EVENTHLY, The notion that the bodies of

SEVE
fuch as die under the fentence of excommu-
nication do not rot, has ſtill lefs evidence to fup-
port it, than the return of vampires, or Brouco-
lacks. It is certain that the primitive church had
no fuch opinion ; and, if it were true, the whole
body
1
ON VAMPIRES , &C. 329
body of the Greeks, being fchifmaticks, and cut
off from the communion of the church of Rome,
muft lie under this curfe ; which is contrary ง to
experience and common fenfe. But if the Greeks
pretend an exclufive right to the title of the
true church, the dead bodies of all the Roman
catholicks, who are ſeparated from their commu-
"
nion, ought to be exempted from putrefaction..
Beſides, the inftances alledged by the Greeks either
prove nothing, or prove too much. The bodies
which have been found uncorrupted, were really.
excommunicated , or they were not. If they were
not actually and even nominally excommunicated,:
their unputrefied ftate proves nothing at all. If
they were, it ftill remains to fhew, that this pha-
nomenon was not owing to fome other caufe,
which it will not be eaſy to do.
Befides, a circumftance of fo uncertain and equi-
vocal a nature, cannot be admitted as proof in an
affair of fuch confequence. It is a known fact,
and allowed as fuch by both Greeks and Latines,
that the bodies of faints are frequently preferved
from corruption, and therefore this circumftance
cannot be alledged as an evidence of the efficacy of
excommunication .
Another defect in this argument is its want of
univerfality, that is to fay, it does not extend to
all the cafes in queftion. For no one will venture
to affert the incorruption of every excommunica-,
ted body. In this cafe, all the members of the
Latine church, as excommunicated by the Greeks,
and all the Greeks, as excommunicated by the
Latines, muft partake of this exemption, which
certainly is not the cafe : and therefore the proof
is frivolous, and concludes nothing. Add to this,
that there are ſtrong reaſons to ſuſpect the truth of
all the relations that are brought to fupport this
marvelous
A DISSERTATION
330
marvelous property of ſchifmatical carcaffes ; and
I am convinced, that, upon a cloſe examination;
a great deal of falfhood and illufion would be dif-
covered.
LXXIX.
The accounts of excommunicated bodies going out of

churches embarraffed with difficulties.
IGHTHLY, Notwithſtanding the great re-

fpect which I have for St. Gregory the Great,
who has related feveral ftories of the bodies of
excommunicated perfons going out of the church
before the whole congregation , and for the other
authors, who have appeared as witneffes to other
facts of this nature, or rather ftill more incredi-
ble, I cannot but think that fome circumftances of
thefe events are dropped in the narration. It is
not impoffible indeed, that God may have exerted
his almighty power, and wrought theſe miracles,
in order to infpire his faithful fervants with a pro-
per refpect for the cenfures of the church. But,
without having recourfe to a miraculous interpofi-
tion, the thing is abfolutely inexplicable.
Ninthly, All the various ftories concerning dead
bodies eating or chewing in their graves, are too
childiſh and defpicable to deſerve a ferious confu-
tation .
Tenthly, It is a thing well known , that it is
too often the cafe for perfons to be buried before
they are dead, and that all hiftories, as well anci-
ent as modern, abound with inſtances of its truth.
The defign of M. Winflow's Differtation, and of
M. Bruhier's notes upon it, is to fhew, that ſcarce
any fymptoms of death are abfolutely to be de-
pended upon, but fome degree of stench and pu-
trefaction
trefaction in the carcafs. Accordingly, there are

many inftances of perfons, thought dead, who have
recovered, even after they have been put into the
ground. There are alfo many diſorders, in which
the patient continues for a long time without
fpeech or motion, or even fenfible refpiration ; and
many who have been looked upon as drowned,
have been recovered by bleeding, and the uſe of
other common means.
All this may ferve to explain how vampires have
been taken out of their graves, and have spoke,
cried, fhrieked, and bled afterwards ; I mean, by
fhewing, that they were not really dead, till they
were beheaded, burnt, or run through with a ftake.
In which refpect the executioners were certainly
in the wrong, fince the pretence of their coming
again, and doing I know not what mifchief, has
never been proved in fo clear a manner, as to au-
thoriſe thefe barbarities. In fact, the evidence for
the apparition and turbulent behaviour of vam-
pires and broucolacks is extremely flight, and it is
not to be wondered at, that the Sorbonne fhould
condemn the inhuman treatment offered to thefe 1
wretched carcaffes. It is much more furprising,
that the civil power fhould not interpofe to pre-
vent it.
LXXX .
Magical devotements the work of the devil. Their

efficacy without proof.
LEVENTHLY, As for magical devote-

E ments, faſcinations, and raiſing of fpirits, I
look upon them as works of darkness, and the
devil as their author, if they have any thing real
in them , which, however, I cannot eafily believe,
ar
OR
332 A DISSERTATION
at leaft with regard to devotements, and the rai

fing of departed fpirits. It is difficult indeed not
to admit fome inftances of fafcination or decep-
tion of the fenfes as true, fince it is common to
imagine that we fee an object which has really no
exiftence, and not to fee what is actually before
our eyes; and the fame miſtake often happens to
the fenfe of hearing .
But to afcribe to the devil a power of putting a
perfon to death, merely becaufe a ftatue is formed
of wax, and the name of that perfon given to the
ftatue, with certain fuperftitious ceremonies, and
to imagine that the perfon fhall die by inches as
the ftatue confumes away, is giving the devil a
very extenfive influence, and reprefenting magick
as a very formidable art. There is no doubt but
God may, if he pleaſes, give a looſe to the ma-
lice of this grand enemy of mankind, and permit
him to do all the miſchief which either he or his
imps can meditate ; but it is ridiculous to fuppofe
that the will of the fovereign Lord of Nature is de-
termined by magical ceremonies, or that a magi-
cian can ſet the devil at work againſt us, without
the permiffion of God.
Twelfthly, The cafe of the herdfman of Dal-
hent, who gave his child to the devil, is one of
thofe extraordinary and almoft incredible ftories,
which we fometimes meet with in hiftory, but
which are utterly inexplicable, upon all the prin
ciples of divinity or philofophy. For the diffi-
culty is equally great, whether we fuppofe it was
the devil that animated the body of the child upon
his coming to life again, or his former foul. Be-
fides, by what authority did the devil take away H
the life of the child, and then reſtore it again ?
Is it reaſonable to imagine, that God permitted it
as a puniſhment upon the impiety of the wretched
father,
A
father, for giving himself to the devil, in order
to gratify a brutal paffion ? And farther, how was
it poffible for the father to gratify this paffion with
the devil, though he appeared in the form of the
beloved girl ? In fhort, I fee nothing but confu-
fion and darkness on all fides of the question, which
I leave to be cleared up by a more able, or a more
confident pen than mine.
LXXXI.
That the accounts given of the other world by thofe

who have returned from thence, have been according
to their own particular notions, but all agree in the
fundamental articles of religion.
E have feen that the ancient Hebrews , ( that

W is to fay, the prophets and other inſpired
writers) the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, as
well heathens as Chriftians, all fpeak of the ftate
of departed fouls in a way which agrees well enough
in the main, but differs widely in the manner and
circumftances . The heathens, who have related
their difcoveries of another life by vifion, extafy,
or trance, (as in the cafes of Eucrates, Eros, Thef-
pefius, Enarchus, and others) never fail to infert
their own errors concerning the kingdom of Pluto,
the tranfmigration of fouls, the Elyfian Fields,
Minos, Rhadamanthus , Tantalus , Sifyphus, the
bark of Charon, and the river Lethe : while Cur-
ma, Vetin, Hincmar, St. Furfy, and other Chrif-
tians, talk of angels and devils, of wicked men
tormented in the flames of hell, and good men
enjoying eternal happineſs in heaven ; of fouls ex-
piating their paft tranfgreffions in purgatory, and
wanting the affiftance of prayers and maffes to
fhorten their time of fuffering, and advance them
fooner to perfect blifs.
But
334 A DISSERTATION , & C.
But it is to be obferved, that they all agree in

thefe effential points ; that the fouls of men are
immortal, and that there is a wife, and juft, and
good being, who weighs the actions of all men, and
allots them their portion in a ſtate of eternal hap-
pinefs or mifery, according to their reſpective de-
ferts : and that theſe fentiments, in whatever form
they are dreft up, are found invariably and uni-
formly, both in facred and profane writers.
1.
1
(
A DISSERTATION
A
DISSERTATION
CONCERNING
APPARITIONS,
OCCASIONED BY
An Event which happened at St. Maur,
In the Year 1706,

TT
ས
KOI
7
00 2. D
DI2ZEKŁYLION
PREFACE.
THE event which happened at St. Maur in the

month of March, 1706, has made too much
T
noife in Paris, and even at court, for the pub-
lick not to give a favourable reception to the
following foort Differtation writ upon that occafion.
Befides, the fubject itself is of the most interesting na-
ture. There is no age of the world in which ſpirits
have not been talked of ; fcarce a history but is full
of ftories of apparitions. All the old ones are fwal-
lowed implicitly by the vulgar, and new additions are
daily made to the old stock. In the learned world,
there are fome who have not laid afide the prejudices
of childhood, and confequently believe in apparitions ;
others reject them for no other reafon but becauſe the
vulgar believe them ; whilst the generality of men con-
tinue in doubt and uncertainty upon this head, and look
upon this as the beft fide they can take, fince neither
Scripture nor the church have thought proper to decide
the question. It were, therefore, to be wished, that
Some perfon of extenfive learning would undertake to
clear up the difficulties of this obfcure fubject ; and it
is with a view of perfuading those who are capable
of this task, that I publish the following epiftolary
Differtation, which may be confidered as a sketch or
outline offo uſeful a work. This, at least, is the only
motive that could have prevailed upon the author to
fuffer this letter, wrote only to fatisfy the curiofity of
a few private friends, to be made publick.
Z A DISSERTATION
ཏཱི སི ཙ
V DISSER
1
A
DISSERTATION
CONCERNING
APPARITIONS,
OCCASIONED BY
An Event which happened at St. Maur ,
In the Year 1706.
OU are before-hand with me, Sir, in

your enquiries after the fpirit of S. Maur,
which is fo much talked of in Paris ;
for I had refolved to fend you a fhort
detail of all the particulars, in hopes of engaging
you to communicate to me your fentiments upon
a fubject of fo curious a nature, and which engages
fo much of the publick attention. But after you
have read M. T.'s account of it, I am furpriſed that
you ſhould hefitate a moment in forming your opi-
nion. Your faying that you fufpend your own
judgment till you know mine, is making me fo
great a compliment, that I can fcarce believe you
are in earneſt, and rather think it is nothing but an
Z 2 artifice,
TATI ON
A DISSER :
340
artifice, in order to fee how I fhall acquit myſelf
upon fo nice a point. Be this as it will, I cannot
find in my heart to refufe your requeft, or, to
fpeak more properly, difobey your commands ;
and I chufe rather to expofe myſelf to the raillery
of freethinkers, or the reproaches of the credulous,
than to run the rifk, of difpleafing you.
You defire to know, whether I think there is
any fuch thing as a fpirit's coming again ; and
whether the late affair at St , Maur is to be aſcribed
to the agency of any incorporeal being.
Now, to anſwer your two questions in their or-
der, I fhall firft obferve to you, that the ancient
heathens admitted feveral forts of fpirits, diftin-
guished by the names of Lares, Lamiæ, Larvæ,
Lemures, Genii, and Manes.
But thefe notions are at prefent out of date ;
nor is any greater regard paid to the whims of
our modern cabalifts, who imagine every element
to be inhabited by its proper fpirits, the air by
fylphs, the earth by gnomes, the water by un-
danes, and the fire by falamanders. The common
opinion now is, that there are only three forts of
created fpirits, namely, angels, devils, and the
fouls which are united to human bodies during life,
and feparated from them by death.
The holy Scripture makes frequent mention of
angels appearing to Abraham, Jacob, Tobias, and
other patriarchs and prophets ; fo that there can
be no doubt about their exiftence . Befides, as
their very name implies their employment, which
is that of meffengers of God, and executors of his
commands, it is obvious to fuppofe, that they
muft frequently have appeared to men upon thefe
errands ; and it feems to be a fettled point with di-
vines, that they make ufe of aerial bodies for this
purpoſe.
As for the manner of their affuming theſe aerial
bodies, and modifying them 2 fo as to become ob
jects of light or hearing, it cannot be comprehend-
ed without having a clear idea of vifion, which is
performed by a reprefentation of the vifible object
upon the retina of the eye. To underſtand which,
we muſt fuppofe a number of rays of light to fall
upon the object, and there to be refracted in diffe-
rent degrees, fo as to exhibit different colours.
For one degree of refraction will exhibit a red co-
lour, another green, another blue, or yellow, and
fo on, as is evident from the common experiment
of the prifmatick glafs, which will produce all the
various colours of the rainbow. Now vifion is per-
formed by theſe refracted rays being reflected back
upon the eye from the object on which they fall .
But light can fall only upon three forts of objects,
or bodies, namely, tranfparent, opake , and fuch as
partake of both thefe properties, being partly tran-
fparent, and partly opake. When a ray of light
falls upon a tranfparent body, fuch as the air,
which is full of little pores, it all paffes through,
and none of it is reflected. When it falls upon an
opake body, which it cannot penetrate, fuch as a
flower, for inftance, it is reflected back again, and
by this means tranfmits the fhape of the flower to
the eye, marked with its proper colours. If the
body on which the light falls is partly tranfparent
and partly opake, like glafs, the light paffes through
the tranſparent parts, that is to fay, the pores of
the glafs, and is reflected back by the opake, that
is, thofe parts that are not porous. Thus the air
is invifible, becauſe it reflects back none of the
rays of light that fall upon it. A flower is vifible,
becauſe it is impenetrable by the rays of light, and
reflects them all . And the vifibility of glaſs is
owing to its having fome opake parts, which, ac-
Z3 cording
ON
A DISSERTATI
342
cording to the different refrangibility of the rays
of light falling upon it, exhibit the appearance of
various colours. In this manner viſion is perform
ed ; and hence it appears, that the air, being in-
viſible on account of its being abfolutely tranfpa-
rent, cannot be a proper vehicle for an angel to
appear in, except it be condenſed in fuch a man-
ner as to become opake, and capable of reflecting
the rays of light to the eye. Now as angels are
endued with degrees of knowledge and power
beyond our conception, it is not incredible that
they may affume aerial bodies, and make them vi
fible by this means. As for their method of fur-
nishing theſe bodies with the organs neceffary for
forming articulate founds, this will be beſt ac-
counted for, by having immediate recourſe to mi-
racle, without puzzling ourſelves with any conjec-
tures about it.
In this manner we may conceive the angels to
have appeared to the ancient patriarchs ; and this
fame fuppofition of a condenfed aerial body, will
explain the poffibility of the appearance of beati-
fied fouls, which partake much of the nature of
angels. The fame principles will ferve for the cafe
of the devil himself, whenever his appearance ferves
to promote any end of providence ; as we are told
that he has frequently appeared to, and tempted
St. Anthony the Hermite, and other faints.
Excufe me, Sir, this fhort excurfion into the
regions of natural philofophy, which I thought
neceffary in order to explain how angels, which
are beings of a fpiritual nature, can become objects
to our carnal fenfes.
The only particular relating to this fubject in,
which the fathers are not agreed, is, whether an
gels appear to men of their own accord, or muft
be exprefsly commiffioned by God. The beſt way
of
ON APPARITIONS, & c.. 343
of clearing up this difficulty is to determine the

manner in which angels arrive at the knowledge of
the affairs of this lower world. For if it be by
images, or ideas, daily communicated to them by
God himſelf, as St. Auguftin believes, there is
no reaſon to doubt but they know all the wants of
men, and that a bare permiffion from God, with
But an exprefs command, is a fufficient
20 warrant
for their appearing, in order to ftrengthen our
weaknefs, and relieve our diftrefs . The fame
Conclufion may be gathered alfo from the words
of St. Ambrofe, concerning the appearance of an
gels ; that they are invifible by nature, but vifible
by choice. Hujus naturæ eft non videri, voluntatis
videri .
As for devils, it is certain, that their power was
very extenfive before the coming of our Saviour,
fince he himſelf calls them the powers of darkness,
and rulers of this world. Nor can it be doubted
that they impofed upon mankind for a long time,
by means of the prodigies which they enabled thofe
to work, who dedicated themſelves more imme-
diately to their fervice ; that many oracles were
under their management, though fome were kept
up by the cunning of men ; and that theyfrequent-
ly appeared in odd fhapes, which they affumed by
organifing aerial bodies, as angels do. We are
even told in Scripture, that they frequently took
poffeffion of the bodies of living perfons. But our
Saviour has now affured us in too exprefs a man-
ner, that he has deftroyed the kingdom of Satan,
and delivered us from his tyranny, for any one to
think that they retain the fame power over us
which they formerly enjoyed, and which was very
little fhort of miraculous : witnefs the ſtory of the
Comment. in S Luc. 1. i. c. i.
Z 4 veſtal,
344 A DISSERTATION
veital, who, to wipe offthe imputation of unchaftity,

carried water in a fieve without fpilling it ; and
another, who drew up againſt the ſtream of the
Tiber, with nothing but her girdle, a veffel, which
was ftuck fo faft in the ground, that no human
ftrength could ftir it. And it is agreed by moft
of the fathers of the church, that the devil has
no way to deceive us 2but by evil fuggeftions ; and
that God has left him this, in order to exerciſe our
virtue.
I fhall not throw away my time in confuting the
idle ftories about incubi and fuccubi, with which
fome authors have defiled their writings, or in ar
guing against the pretended poffeffion of Martha
Broffier, or the girls of Loudun , which made fo
much noife in Paris at the beginning of the laft
century. Thefe fubjects have already employed
many learned pens, and it has been fhewn clearly,
that the devil had no hand in thofe tranfactions.
The cafe of Broffier, in particular, is vindicated.
from devilifim by the report of the celebrated phy-
fician Marefcot, who was commiffioned by the fa-
culty of theology to examine into her miraculous
feats . The expreffion which he made ufe of, may
ferve for a general anfwer in all cafes of this fort :
à naturâ multa, plura fita, à demone nulla. That
19, the conftitution of this Martha Broffier, which
was probably of a melancholy gloomy caft, con-
Martha Broffier, daughter Lewis XIII, and cardinal

of a tapestry-weaver at Ro- Richelieu is accufed of fetting
morantin , was cried up for å on foot this tragedy, in order
un e
demoniac in the year, 1598. , to f oud
nruin Urban Grandier, er
See an account of her in M. M i o L . Th the
de Thou's Hiftory, b. cxxiii is a very curious account of
and vol v. of the Journal of this event publifhed, by the
Henry III . edit. 1744, p. 206, name of Hiftoire des Diables
&c. The affair of Loudun de Loudun, in izmo. Amfter-
happened in the reign of dam .
tributed
tributed much to her freaks ; fomething more fhe

counterfeited ; but the devil did nothing at all, w
Even the few fathers, who, like St. Thomas,
attribute to the devil a more extenſive power than
that of fuggeftion, always add , that he cannot exert
this power, but by the particular permiffion of
God, and only to promote his glory, and the fal
vation of men...
As for all the wonderful performances which are
vulgarly attributed to witchcraft, and dealing with
the devil, the greatest part of them are certainly
done by natural magick, which, is nothing more
than a knowledge of the fecret effects of natural
caufes ; and the reft are only juggle and flight of
hand. Moft of the fathers of the church, ! who
have faid any thing upon the fubject , are of this
opinion ; and without hunting for paffages to
the fame purpoſe in heathen authors, fuch as
Xenophon , Athenæus, and Pliny, whofe works
abound with miracles of this fort, we fee every
day fuch effects produced by the loadftone, by
common ſteel and mercury, as we fhould certainly
attribute to withcraft, as the ancients did , if we
had not ocular demonftration of the contrary .
We fee alfo fuch extraordinary and feemingly fu-
pernatural performances, done by common moun-
tebanks and jugglers, that we fhould be tempted.
to look upon them as magicians, if we did noti
know by experience, that bare dexterity, improved ,
by habit and practice, is the only art which they
employ.
In fhort, the only part which the devil acts in
the criminal practices of thoſe who are commonly
called wizards, is that of fuggeftion, or prompting
them to make ufe of all the methods they can
find to do mifchief to their neighbours.
I come
346 A. DISSERTATION
I come now to the niceft point of your enquiry,

which is, whether the foul, after it is ſeparated from
the body, can come again, and appear in this
world.
The philofophers of ancient times were extreme-
ly miſtaken in their notions concerning the nature
of the foul of man ; fome thinking that it was a
A
fort of fire that animated the body, others taking
it to be refined and fubtile air, and others affirm-
Ing it to be nothing but a proper arrangement of
the whole machine of the body, which in effect
was reducing us to a level with the beafts. It is
not, therefore, to be wondered at, that their ideas of
the ftate of the foul after death were very grofs
and rude.
The error of the Greeks, which from them
was communicated to the Romans, and thence to
the ancient Gauls, was, that the fouls of thoſe
whoſe bodies were not folemnly interred by priests,
with the proper ceremonies of religion, wandered
about in a reſtleſs , uneaſy ſtate, and were not ad-
mitted into the infernal regions , till their bodies
were burnt, and their afhes collected together.
Homer makes Patroclus, who was killed by Hec-
tor, appear to Achilles in the night, and defire to
be buried, for otherwife he must be deprived, he
fays, of the happinefs of croffing the river Ache-
ron. They held, moreover, that all fouls, ex-
cept the fouls of thofe that were drowned, might
come again after death ; for which we find a plea-
fant reafon in Servius, the commentator upon Vir-
gil, who fays, that it was the general opinion of
the learned in Virgil's time, and, among others,
of Virgil himſelf, that the foul was nothing but
fire, which animated the body, and that this fire
was totally extinguished by water. Virgil's own
opinion is clearly expreffed in the following line ;
Igneus
3
Igneus eft ollis vigor, & cæleftis origo .
And a little before ;
1
totamque infufa per artus
Mens agitat molem, & magno fe corpore mifcet..
Meaning the general fouls of the world, which he

held in common with the other philofophers of
that age .
Another miſtaken notion of the heathens was,
that the fouls of fuch as died before their% proper
age, which they fixed at the utmoft limits of ma-
turity, wandered about till the time came when
they ought, by the courfe of nature, to have been
feparated from the body. But Plato, who had
more penetration, and was better inftructed than
the reft, though he held the
common error, main-
tained that the fouls of juft and virtuous perfons
afcended up into heaven ; and that the fouls of the
wicked, which ftill retained the contagion of the
grofs fubftance of the body, wandered inceffantly
round about their graves, and appeared as fhadows
or fantoms.
But we Chriftians, whofe religion teaches us that
our fouls are of a ſpiritual fubftance, that they are
created by God, and united to our bodies for a
certain period of time ; we, I fay, know that there
are three different ftates prepared for them after
death.
The fouls which enjoy eternal happineſs, and
are fwallowed up, to ufe the common expreffion
of the fathers, in the contemplation of God, have
ftill a compaffionate concern for the affairs of men,
having once been partakers themſelves of all the
En. 1. vi. 730.

forrows
348 A DISSERTATION
forrows of mortality ; and being arrived to the

blifs of angels, the facred writers fuppofe them to
have the fame privilege of appearing with aerial
bodies to their brethren here on earth, in order to
alleviate their diftreffes, and inftruct them in the
will of God ; and they have recorded feveral in-
ſtances of God's permitting fuch apparitions."
As for the fouls, who for their enormous crimes
are condemned to that place of everlaſting torment
which the Scripture ftiles hell, without the leaft
diftant hope of relief, a permiffion of appearing
to men with borrowed bodies, would be to them
entirely uſeleſs. The Scripture fufficiently intimates
to us the impoffibility of their coming again, by
what the rich man fays, when he is introduced
fpeaking to Abraham. He does not defire to be
fuffered to go himſelf and teftify to his brethren,
left they ſhould come into that place of torment :
he knows this to be impoffible ; but he defires
Abraham to fend thither Lazarus, who was in glory.
And, to fhew by the way the uncommonneſs of
thefe apparitions of angels and beatified fouls, Abra-
ham affures him, that even Lazarus's going would
be to no purpoſe, becauſe they had already Mofes
and the prophets, and they had nothing to do but
follow them .
The ſtory of the canon of Rheims, in the ele-
venth century, who in the midft of the folemn fer-
vice which was celebrating for the repofe of his
foul, cried out and faid, that he was already tried
and condemned, has been confuted by fo many
learned men , who have fhewn it to be a manifeſt
forgery, and mentioned by no cotemporary author,
that
M. de Launoy has writ ftory. Nevertheless, the event.

a particular differtation, De is repreſented in the fine paint-
caufâ Seceffûs S. Brunonis, in ings in the little cloister of
which he fully confutes this the Carthufian monaftery at
Paris,
that it will ſcarce be quoted as an objection to my

hypothefis. But were its authenticity as well efta-
bliſhed as its falfhood now is, I fhould ſay without
fcruple, that the converfion of St. Bruno, which
has been the occafion of faving fo many fouls, was
a fufficient reafon for God's working fo diftinguiſh-
ed a miracle.
Let us next enquire, whether the fouls in pur-
es
gatory, who are there to expiate their fins, before
nt
they are admitted into the habitations 2 of the blef
aft
fed, can come and converfe with men, and defire
ng prayers to be faid for their relief.
Lem
The maintainers of the popular error have la-
tes
boured hard to fupport it, by feveral paffages from
by St. Auguftin , St. Jerom, and St. Thomas. But
ced
it is certain that theſe fathers fpeak only of the
obe
coming again of beatified fouls ; and St. Auguftin
aren,
exprefsly fays, that if it were poffible for departed
nent : fpirits to appear again, he fhould not pafs a day
efres without a vifit from his mother Monica.
glory. Tertullian, in his treatife of the foul, laughs at
efs of
the tolly of fome in his time, who believed in ap→
Abra-
paritions. St. Chryfoftom, in his comment upon
would
the ftory of Lazarus, exprefsly denies that there is
Mofes
any fuch thing ; and Johannes Andreas, the au-
do but thor of the Glofs upon the canon law, calls it the
filly whim of a difordered imagination . The fe-
the ele venth chapter of Job, and the fong of Hezekiah,
emn fer- recorded in the 38th chapter of Ifaiah, abound
e of his with expreffions which feem clearly to intimate,
dy tried that our fouls
4 can never come again upon earth
o many after death, or, at leaft, not till God has advanced
manifeſt them to the rank of angels.
author,
y
that Paris ; and every one knows Carthufian that fhewed him
M. Bruyere's story of the no- thefe pictures, whether it was
bleman (he means the marquis St, Bruno, or the canon, that
s , the event
de Brancas) who asked the was damned,
me finepaint
cloiter of But
monaftery at
Paris,
350 A DISSERTATION MO
But to prove it ftill more convincingly, it may

be proper to answer the principal objections of thofe
who hold the contrary notion. Their chief argu
1
ments are drawn from the opinions of the Jews,
as delivered by Jofephus and the Rabbins ; from
the words of our Saviour to his apoftles, after his
refurrection ; from the authority of the council of
Illiberis ; from fome paffages in St. Jerom's trea
tife againſt Vigilantius ; from the decifions of fe-
veral parliaments for cancelling leafes of houfes,
on account of their being haunted by fpirits ; and
laftly, from a number of inftances of apparitions
recorded in all hiftories .
Now, to obviate all * thefe difficulties in a few
words, I obferve firft, that it cannot be concluded
that the Jews believed the coming again of depart-
ed fouls, becauſe Jofephus fays, that the fpirit
which the witch of Endor raiſed for Saul, was the
real foul of Samuel. For, befides that the pro-
phet was certainly admitted into the number of
bleffed fpirits, there are fome circumftances in this
narration which have made many of the fathers'
queftion, whether there was any apparition at all,
but that the whole was a mere trick and impofi-
tion upon the king .
Nor do the accounts which the rabbins give of
the ancient patriarchs, prophets, and kings, being
feen by them upon mount Gerizim, prove that the
Jews believed the coming again of departed fouls.
For, in the first place, they only mean that they
had fuch vifions in an extacy or trance, when ob-
jects that have no exiſtence appear to be really pre-
fent ; and fecondly, the perfons who are faid to
have appeared, were fuch as the Jews themſelves
hold to be faints.
• This council was held at or 313. Some think that it

Elvira, in the kingdom of was at Collioure in Rouffillon ;
Grenada, about the year 305, but they are mistaken.
What
What our Saviour fays to his apoftles, of a ſpi-

rit's not having flesh and bones, is fo far from prov
ing that fpirits come again, that, on the contrary,
it proves they cannot become objects of fenfe,
without a miracle, fince a bodily fubftance and or
gans are abfolutely neceffary for this purpoſe. But
fouls are pure, immaterial fubftances, and confe-
quently invifible, and not naturally objects of fenfe.
The provincial council of Illiberis, held in Spain
in the pontificate of Sylvefter the first, which for-
bids wax-candles to be lighted by day in the co-
meteries of the martyrs, left the fouls of the faints
fhould be difturbed, is of no weight in this cafe ;
fince, befides that theſe words are capable of dif-
ferent fenfes, and may even have been interpolated
by a tranfcriber, as fome learned men think, they
relate to none but martyrs, whoſe ſouls are univer-
fally allowed by all Chriftians to be in glory.
The fame anfwer will ferve for the paffages from
St. Jerom , becaufe, in his controverfy with the
heretick Vigilantius, who treated all the miracles
wrought at the tombs of the martyrs as mere im-
poſtures, he undertakes to prove, that the faints
in heaven always compaffionate the miſeries of men
on earth, and fometimes appear viſibly to comfort
and ftrengthen them
As for the fentences for annulling leafes of houfes,
on account of the inconveniences which the tenants
have received from fpirits, a flight examination of
the grounds upon which thoſe ſentences were found-
ed will fhew, that the judges have either been im-
pofed upon by their own prejudices, or by the
roguery or fimplicity of witneffes, to whofe evi-
dence they are obliged to conform their decifions,
fometimes againſt their own conviction.
The next difficulty in our way is the number
of inftances of apparitions recorded in all hiftories.
But there is one on which particular ftrefs is laid,
and
ON
352 A DISSERTATI
and which I therefore think myself moft obliged

to anfwer ; and that is the famous Paris ftory ,
which is faid to have happened in the laft century,
and for the truth of which they quote more than
five hundred witneffes, who examined into the
truth of the fact with particular attention . The
event is related in the following manner by cotem-
porary writers.
The marquis of Rambouillet , elder brother of
the dutchess of Montauzier, and the marquis of
Precy, eldeft fon of the family of Nantouillet,
each between 25 and 30 years old, were intimate
friends, and ferved in the army, as moſt men of
quality do in France. They happened one day
to be talking together about the concerns of ano-
ther life ; and after much converſation , which did
not indicate the greateft ftock of faith, they gave
one another a promife, that the firſt who died,
fhould come and give intelligence to his friend.
About three months after, the marquis of Ram-
bouillet fet out for Flanders, which was then the
feat of war, and Precy was detained at Paris by a
violent fever. Six weeks after, Precy, at fix o'clock
in the morning, heard fome one draw the curtains
of his bed, and turning to fee who it was, difco-
vered the marquis of Rambouillet in a buff- coat
and boots. He immediately got out of bed, and
would have leaped upon his neck for joy at his,
arrival : but Rambouillet retiring a few ſteps, told
him , that it was no time for fuch demonftrations
of kindness ; that he was come only to perform
his promife, having been killed in ſuch an action ;
that what is told of the other world was certainly
true, and that it was high time for him [ Precy]"
to think of living in another manner, becauſe he
of This ftory is told above in the ſecond Differtation, Sect.

XLVI. but too concife.
would
ON APPARITIONS ,A&c. 353
55
would be killed in the first action he should be en-

for
gaged in Precy's furprize at this difcourfe was
Cury,
han inexpreffible ; however, not believing what he
heard, he attempted again to embrace his friend,
the
but grafped nothing but air. Rambouiller upon
this, feeing him incredulous, threw open his coat,
and fhewed the wound which he had received in
his reins, from which the blood ftill feemed to dow
After this the fpectre difappeared, and left Precy
in a fright, which may be more eafily conceived
than defcribed . He immediately called his valet
de chambre, and cried fo loud, that the whole
houfe was alarmed, and feveral perfons came run-
ning into the room, to whom he gave an account
of what he had feen ; but they all attributed it to
his being light- headed with the violence of his fe-
ver, and defired him to lie down quietly again
The marquis, vexed at their thinking his head.
awas turned, related to them all the circumftances
above- mentioned y but it was to no purpofe that
he protefted he really faw and heard his friend.
They continued to look upon it as an C illufion, till
the arrival of the mail from Flanders, which brought
news of the death of the marquis of Rambouillet.
This firft circumftance being found true, and that
Rambouillet died in the manner which Precy had
mentioned , the perfons to whom he told the ſtory
began to think that there might poffibly befomething
in it, fince Precy could not have intelligence of it
in a natural way, Rambouillet having died only
the evening before Precy had told iti The ftory
was foon publiſhed in Paris, vand looked upon uni-
verfally, either as the effect of a diſturbed brain,
or a pure fiction ; and notwithſtanding all that could
be faid in its défence by thofe who had weighed it
ſeriouſly, most people ftill entertained fufpicions,
which nothing but time could remove. In fhort,
A a the
354 A DISSERTATION
the whole refted upon the fate of the marquis of

Precy, who was threatened with death in the firft
action he ſhould be at, and every one waited to fee
.
how the plot would be unravelled. But all their
doubts were foon cleared up ; for as foon as the
marquis got rid of his diforder, the civil war
broke out, and in ſpite of all the remonftrances of
his father and mother, who were afraid of the
prophecy, he would go to the battle of St. Autoine,
where he was killed, to the great grief of all the
family.
Now, admitting the truth of all the circumſtances
of this event, I have ftill fomething to offer by
way of bar to the confequences which are drawn
from it.
It is not difficult to conceive, that Precy's ima-
gination might be fo diſturbed by his fever, and
by thinking on the promiſe which Rambouillet and
he had made, as to make him imagine he ſaw his
friend, whom he knew to be every day in danger
of being killed. The circumftances of Rambouil
let's wound, and the prediction of Precy's death,
are of greater weight ; and yet thoſe who are ac-
quainted with the power of prefentiments, or ftrong
previous impreffions about future events, will eafily
conceive it poffible for the marquis of Precy, whofe
imagination, ? inflamed by the violence of his dif
order, was continually attending his friend through
all the dangers of war, and who expected every
hour to have his death notified by his apparition,
to have an impreffion , that the marquis of Ram-
bouillet was killed by a muſket-fhot in the reins,
and to know that his own ardor in battle would
make him fall in the firft action he fhould be en-
gaged in. From a paffage of St. Auguſtin, which

I fhall quote hereafter, it may be ſeen that tha
eminent father of the church was fuch a believer
1 DAI in
afferted, that he ſaw the bed move of its own ac
cord.
As for the voice, which is fo induſtriouſly kept
fecret, there being no witnefs, we can form no
judgment concerning it, but from the condition
in which the man, favoured with this pretended
revelation, was found at the time.
A man's crying out in a violent manner, and
coming to open a door, which he had probably
bolted himſelf, upon hearing that it was going to
be broke down, with his eyes ftaring, and his
whole perſon in unuſual diſorder, are ſymptoms
which would have made the ancient pagans take
him for a fybil, in an enthuſiaſtick raving ; and
certainly looks more like the effects of a con-
vulfive fit, than of a converſation with a ſpiritual
being.
Laftly, the violent blows againſt the wall and
the window, happening in the night, and in the
prefence of two witneffes, might make fome im-
preffion, if we could be fure that the patient, wh
lay directly under the window in a little bed, had
no fhare in them. For the two witneffes who at
teft this noiſe, were the mother, and the particu
lar friend of the patient : which friend, after hav❤
ing reflected maturely upon what he faw and heard,
declares publickly, that it could be owing to no-
thing but witchcraft.
However ftrongly you are prejudiced in favour
of this climate, I can fcarce think that the obſer-
vations I have made to you upon the circumſtances
of this affair, will induce you to think that Mr.
S. has been honoured with the apparition of an
angel. I am rather apprehenfive, that you will
attribute it to a diſorder in his brain, occaſioned
by the thinness of the air. But as I am intereſted
in the reputation of the air of St. Maur, I think
myſelf
O
368 A DISSERTATIÓN
myfelf obliged to add fomething more concerning

Mr. S. which will give you a greater infight into
his character.
It requires no great fkill in the fcience of phy
fiognomy, to find out by his look that melancholy
is the prevailing ingredient in his conftitution.
This black humour, added to a fever, which he
had laboured under for fome time, might fillhis
brain with vapours, and make him fancy that he
really heard every thing that he reported abroad. Be-
fides, his defign might be originally only to divert
himſelf by frightening his fervants ; and when he
found that his fport had reached the ears of a
great prince, and might probably do him a mif-
chief, this might engage him to carry his fiction
farther. Upon the whole, I imagine you will be
of my opinion, that the decifion of the famous
phyfician, Marefcot, in the cafe of Martha Brof-
fier, agrees perfectly well with the cafe before us,
and explains the whole mystery: à naturâ multa
lura fitta, à démone nulla. His conftitution made
him fancy that he faw and heard a great deal:va
defire of fupporting what his whim, or his wan-
tonnefs, had engaged him in, made him feigna
great deal more : but no fpecies of fpirit had any
thing to do in the whole affair. Without dwelling
upon feveral proofs that I could give of his whim,.
fical turn, I fhall only obferve, that his embarking
lately at ten o'clock at night, in a little boat, to
4
• make a tour round the peninfula of St. Maur,
when the weather was fo cold, that he was forced
to cover himself with ftraw, was thought fo tin
accountable by the prince I mentioned, that he
took the trouble of examining him concerning the
motives of fo ftrange a voyage at fo. ftrange a
time.
Give
ON APPARITIONS, &c.
&C. 369
Give me leave to add, that the prince's good ſenſe

made him eafily guefs at the fource of this affair,
and that his behaviour upon this occafion fhews
it is very difficult to impofe upon him. Nor can
I omit the judgment which Mr. S. the father, a
man of diftinguifhed merit, paffed upon this ad-
venture of his fon , when he was firft informed of
it at Paris, by a letter from his wife at St. Maur.
He told feveral perfons, that he was convinced
that the only ſpirit which had a hand in the tranf-
action, was the fpirit of his wife and fon. The
author of the relation was in the right to attempt
to deſtroy the credit of fuch a teftimony ; but I
can scarce imagine, that he himſelf thinks he has
done it, by reprefenting the father as a freethinker,
who values himfelf upon being of the faſhionable
opinion with regard to fpirits.
But to fix your judgment completely, and give
an agreeable conclufion to this difcuffion which
you have forced upon me, I cannot do better than
repeat to you the words of a princefs ' , who is
not lefs diftinguiſhed by the delicacy of her wit,
than by the grandeur of her ſtation, and the charms
of her perfon. The fingularity of this adventure
of St. Maur being one day the fubject of conver-
fation in her prefence, Why fhould you be fo
furpriſed at it, fays fhe, with that graceful air which
always accompanies her ? Is there any thing ex-
traordinary in the fon's converfing with fpirits,
when the mother fees God the Father three times
a week ? That woman, いadded the princefs, is
fingularly favoured : for my part, I defire no
greater happineſs than to fee him once for all.
i The dutchefs-mother, count de Charolois , and the

daughter to Lewis XIV. and count de Clermont.
mother to the late duke, the
B b You
370 A DISSERTATION , &c.
You may divert yourſelf and your friends with
this agreeable reflection ; but be very cautious that
my letter does not become publick. This is the
only recompence that I defire for having obeyed
your commands fo punctually upon fo delicate an
occafion.
I am,
SIR,
Your most bumble, 34.
St. Maur, May 8, 1706.
FINIS.
TO འཐཱུ་ ་
h
Bet
JOEY
し
BF1412
C1641

Dissertations Upon the Apparitions

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Dissertations Upon the Apparitions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized

by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Angels, Dæmons, and Ghofts,

And concerning the

Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silefia.

By the Reverend Father

DOM AUGUSTIN CALMET,

A Benedictine Monk, and Abbot of Senones in Lorraine.

Tranflated from the FRENCH .

Printed for M. COOPER, at the Globe in Pater-nofter

AM not ignorant that the appari-

philofophers and men of learning, and even

My defign is not to promote fuperftition, or

lieve every thing that is told them, as foon

confidering them, who are capable of doubt-

ing when things are uncertain, of fufpending

diftinguish themſelves above the reft of man-

ipformation , and in order to form a juft no-

cerning the apparitions of angels, dæmons,

true, or falſe ; known , or unknown ; clear,

In the great number of facts and inſtances

to make a proper diſtinction, and not to heap

the inftances were too numerous, fuch as are

doubtful might hurt the credit of thoſe that

It feemed to me of great importance, on

ftories of apparitions as true ; and to fhew

religion is concerned, it is particularly dange-

and not to pafs judgment upon things which

Nothing that relates to this fubject has

vampires of Hungary, Moravia , and Poland ;

bodies of excommunicated perfons which are

to give it all the attention I was capable of,

Fitions of fpirits. After having ftudied the

which people are ſtill divided in their opini-

fcene of their pretended return from the

circumſtances ; and lastly, the light which

it fome confequences, with a view to religion.

freethinkers, and fcepticks, of the exiſtence

furpriſing apparitions . On the other fide,

perftitious, for the prejudices of the people,

tures, and the ftedfaſt doctrines of our holy

ferves, and I pray God to enable me to do it

I muſt further defire my reader to make

which are related, and the manner of their

being brought about ; fince the former may

ritions, is hid among the fecrets of his pro-

and to propofe our conjectures concerning the

quifition concerning the manner in which the

fupport of a queftion of fo ferious a nature,

thats of the apparitions of fpirits. Such au-

apparitions doubtful, than to prove their

Even in the Scripture there are hints of this

but at the bottom they amount to the ſame

fouls after the death of the body, of their

crificed animals, of the , shape of the foul

fuperftitious waxen ftatues, which were det

tain perfons, whom the magicians pretended

blies ; all theſe things are related both by

portance, in the difcuffion of this queſtion,

of truth, by retrenching all that the poets

Befides, I commonly relate theſe things,

embellifh the fubject, than to draw from

them any neceffary confequences for eſtabliſh-