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Title: An essay towards a theory of apparitions
Author: John Ferriar
Release date: June 3, 2024 [eBook #73761]
Language: English
Original publication: London: Cadell and Davies, 1813
Credits: Tim Lindell, Susan E. and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ESSAY TOWARDS A THEORY OF APPARITIONS ***
Transcriber’s Notes
Words in italics are marked with _underscores_.
Words in small capitals are shown in UPPER CASE.
Please also see the note at the end of the book.
THEORY
OF
APPARITIONS.
AN
ESSAY
TOWARDS
A THEORY
OF
APPARITIONS.
BY
_JOHN FERRIAR, M. D._
A thousand fantasies
Begin to throng into my memory,
Of calling shapes, and beck’ning shadows dire,
And airy tongues, that syllable men’s names
On sands, and shores, and desert wildernesses.
These thoughts may startle well, but not astound.
COMUS, 1. 205.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR CADELL AND DAVIES;
BY
J. AND J. HADDOCK,
WARRINGTON.
1813.
CONTENTS.
Page.
CHAPTER I. _Reality of spectral impressions--General
law of the system, to which they may
be referred--Division of the subject--Spectral
illusions exemplified_ 13
CHAPTER II. _A lawyer’s argument for the existence
of witchcraft--Proofs of spectral impressions,
from recollected perceptions--New England
witches--Cardan--Donne--Jonson--The
maid of France--and other visionaries_ 30
CHAPTER III. _Beaumont’s Visions--Those of
Tasso--Kotter--Drabicius--Arise Evans--Bovet_ 69
CHAPTER IV. _Medical distinctions of spectral
impressions. Sepulchral remedies: Preparations
of the human skull--Mumia--Apparition of
Ficinus to Michael Mercato--Warning voice
to Quarræus--Visions of Dr. Pordage. Latent
lunacy; exemplified in the character of Hamlet_ 95
CHAPTER V. _Accessory causes of delusion, regarding
spectral impressions--Apparition of
Desfontaines--Ghosts at Portnedown Bridge--Lucian’s
story of a Split Ghost--Instance of a
Ghost in two places at once._ 117
PREFACE.
When a late ingenious Physician discovered the elastic fluid, which
he termed his ‘Gas of Paradise,’ and which he hoped to render a cheap
substitute for inebriating liquors, he claimed the honors due to the
inventor of a new pleasure.
How far mankind would have benefited, by the introduction of a fresh
mode of intoxication, I leave to the reflection of those sages, whose
duty it would have become to appreciate its value, as an additional
source of revenue to the state. But when I consider the delight with
which stories of apparitions are received by persons of all ages, and
of the most various kinds of knowledge and ability, I cannot help
feeling some degree of complacency, in offering to the makers and
readers of such stories, a view of the subject, which may extend their
enjoyment far beyond its former limits. It has given me pain to see
the most fearful and ghastly commencements of a tale of horror reduced
to mere common events, at the winding up of the book. I have looked,
also, with much compassion, on the pitiful instruments of _sliding
pannels_, _trap-doors_, _back-stairs_, _wax-work figures_, _smugglers_,
_robbers_, _coiners_, and other vulgar machinery, which authors of
tender consciences have employed, to avoid the imputation of belief in
supernatural occurrences. So hackneyed, so exhausted had all artificial
methods of terror become, that one original genius was compelled to
convert a mail-coach, with its lighted lamps, into an apparition.
Now I freely offer, to the manufacturers of ghosts, the privilege of
raising them, in as great numbers, and in as horrible a guise as they
may think fit, without offending against true philosophy, and even
without violating probability. The highest flights of imagination may
now be indulged, on this subject, although no loop-hole should be left
for mortifying explanations, and for those modifications of terror,
which completely baulk the reader’s curiosity, and disgust him with a
second reading. Another great convenience will be found in my system;
apparitions may be evoked, in open day,--at noon, if the case should
be urgent, in the midst of a field, on the surface of water, or in
the glare of a patent-lamp, quite as easily, as in the ‘darkness of
chaos or old night.’ Nay, a person rightly prepared may see ghosts,
while seated comfortably by his library-fire, in as much perfection,
as amidst broken tombs, nodding ruins, and awe-inspiring ivy. To those
unfortunate persons, who feel a real dread of apparitions, I hope
to offer considerations which will quiet their fears, and will even
convert the horrors of solitude into a source of rational amusement.
But I must forbear to display all the utility of this treatise, lest my
reader should imagine that I am copying Echard’s mock-panegyric on his
own dialogues.
Take courage, then, good reader, and knock at the portal of my
enchanted castle, which will be opened to you, not by a grinning demon,
but by a very civil person, in a black velvet cap, with whom you may
pass an hour not disagreeably.
Observe, however, that the following treatise is applicable, in its
principles, to profane history, and to the delusions of individuals
only. If any thing contained in the ensuing pages could be construed
into the most indirect reference to theological discussions, the
manuscript would have been committed, without mercy, to the flames.
What methods may have been employed by Providence, on extraordinary
occasions, to communicate with men, I do not presume to investigate;
nor could I hope to display them in language equal to the numbers of
our sweetest poet, with which I shall conclude these remarks:
And is there care in heaven? and is there love
In heavenly spirits to these creatures base,
That may compassion of their evils move?
There is: else much more wretched were the case
Of men than beasts. But O th’ exceeding grace
Of highest God! that loves his creatures so,
And all his works with mercies doth embrace,
That blessed angels he sends to and fro,
To serve to wicked man, to serve his wicked foe.
How oft do they their silver bowers leave,
To come to succour us, that succour want?
How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant,
Against foul fiends to aid us militant?
They for us fight, they watch and duly ward,
And their bright squadrons round about us plant,
And all for love, and nothing for reward:
O why should heavenly God to men have such regard?
_Faerie Queene_, _Cant._ viii.
THEORY
OF
APPARITIONS.
OF THE
THEORY OF APPARITIONS.
CHAPTER I.
_Reality of spectral impressions--General law of the system, to which
they may be referred--Division of the subject--Spectral illusions
exemplified._
I shall begin this discussion, by admitting, as an undeniable fact,
that the forms of dead, or absent persons have been seen, and their
voices have been heard, by witnesses whose testimony is entitled to
belief.
It would be an endless task to ransack the pages of antiquity, for
instances of this kind. The apparition of the Genius to Brutus, and of
the Fury to Dion, cannot be doubted. We may be allowed, however, to
enquire, whether the improved state of physiology affords any glimpse
of light on this subject, and whether such extraordinary and terrific
impressions cannot be explained, from the known laws of the animal
œconomy, independent of supernatural causes, in the examples furnished
by profane history.
It is well known, that in certain diseases of the brain, such as
delirium and insanity, spectral delusions take place, even during the
space of many days. But it has not been generally observed, that a
partial affection of the brain may exist, which renders the patient
liable to such imaginary impressions, either of sight or sound, without
disordering his judgment or memory. From this peculiar condition
of the sensorium, I conceive that the best supported stories of
apparitions may be completely accounted for.
To render this inquiry more perspicuous, I shall consider,
I. The general law of the system, to which the origin of the spectral
impressions may be referred:
II. The proof of the existence of morbid impressions of this nature,
without any sensible external agency:
III. The application of these principles to the best-authenticated
examples of apparitions.
§ I.
It is a well-known law of the human œconomy, that the impressions
produced on some of the external senses, especially on the eye, are
more durable than the application of the impressing cause. The effect
of looking at the sun, in producing the impression of a luminous globe,
for some time after the eye has been withdrawn from the object, is
familiar to every one.
This subject has been so thoroughly investigated by the late Dr.
Darwin, that I need only to refer the reader to his treatise on
ocular spectra.[1] In young persons, the effects resulting from this
permanence of impression are extremely curious. I remember, that about
the age of fourteen, it was a source of great amusement to myself. If
I had been viewing any interesting object in the course of the day,
such as a romantic ruin, a fine seat, or a review of a body of troops,
as soon as evening came on, if I had occasion to go into a dark room,
the whole scene was brought before my eyes, with a brilliancy equal to
what it had possessed in day-light, and remained visible for several
minutes. I have no doubt, that dismal and frightful images have been
presented, in the same manner, to young persons, after scenes of
domestic affliction, or public horror.
From this renewal of external impressions, also, many of the phænomena
of dreams admit an easy explanation. When an object is presented to the
mind, during sleep, while the operations of judgment are suspended, the
imagination is busily employed in forming a story, to account for the
appearance, whether agreeable or distressing. Then the author enjoys
the delight of perusing works of infinite wit and elegance, which never
had any real existence, and of which, to his utter mortification, he
cannot recollect a single line, next morning; and then the Bibliomane
purchases illuminated manuscripts, and early editions on vellum, for
sums so trifling, that he cannot conceal his joy from the imaginary
vender.
Dr. R. Darwin seems to believe, that it is from habit only, and want of
attention, that we do not see the remains of former impressions, or the
_muscæ volitantes_, on all objects.[2] Probably, this is an instance,
in which the error of external sensation is corrected by experience,
like the deceptions of perspective, which are undoubtedly strong in our
childhood, and are only detected by repeated observation.
“After having looked,” says Dr. Darwin, “long at the meridian sun, in
making some of the preceding experiments, till the disk faded into a
pale blue, I frequently observed a bright blue spectrum of the sun in
other objects all the next and the succeeding day, which constantly
occurred when I attended to it, and frequently when I did not attend to
it. When I closed and covered my eyes, this appeared of a dull yellow;
and at other times mixed with the colours of other objects on which it
was thrown.”[3]
It is scarcely necessary to mention the well-known experiment of giving
a rotatory motion to a piece of burning wood, the effect of which is to
exhibit a complete fiery circle to the eye.
To this principle of a renewal of impressions formerly made by
different objects, belongs the idle amusement of tracing landscapes,
and pictures of various composition, in the discoloured spots of an
old wall. This may be truly called a waking dream, as it is composed
of the shreds and patches of past sensations; yet there are, perhaps,
few persons who have not occasionally derived entertainment from it.
It is probably on the same principle, that we are to account for the
appearances of armies marching, in desert and inaccessible places, which
are sometimes beheld by the inhabitants of the vallies, in mountainous
regions. The accidents of light and shade, and the interposition of
partial fogs, or clouds, produce the same effect on the eye, as the
discoloured patches of the wall; and the rolling of the mist adds
motion to the spectral images.
In like manner, recollected images are attributed to the moving lights,
in the splendid exhibitions of the Aurora Borealis. The Icelander
beholds in them the spirits of his ancestors;[4] and the vulgar discern
encountering armies, and torrents of blood, in the lambent meteors of a
winter-sky. The humble diversion of seeing pictures in the fire, which
occupies children of smaller growth in the nursery, is calculated on
the same principles. In some cases, the imagination is assisted by
physical causes, in a very imposing manner, as in the instance of the
Giant of the Broken,[5] in Germany, the ‘nursing mother’ of ghosts.
The giant was seen to occupy the summit of a mountain, at certain
periods, to the inexpressible amazement of the inhabitants of the
valley, and of travellers. After many years of alarm and wonder, a
passenger, while he was contemplating the dreadful apparition, was
obliged to raise his hand quickly to his head, to secure his hat from
being carried away, by a gust of wind. The giant immediately performed
a similar motion; when the traveller bowed, the giant bowed in return;
and after various experiments, it was ascertained, that the portentous
appearance was nothing more than the shadow of the traveller, reflected
from a dense white cloud, opposed to the sun.
I remember to have heard, many years ago, a relation of a similar
nature, from a gentleman, who underwent the deception.
He was benighted, while travelling alone, in a remote part of the
highlands of Scotland, and was compelled to ask shelter for the
evening, at a small, lonely hut. When he was to be conducted to his
bed-room, the landlady observed, with mysterious reluctance, that he
would find the window very insecure. On examination, part of the wall
appeared to have been broken down, to enlarge the opening. After some
enquiry, he was told, that a pedlar, who had lodged in the room a short
time before, had committed suicide, and was found hanging behind the
door, in the morning. According to the superstition of the country, it
was deemed improper to remove the body through the door of the house;
and to convey it through the window was impossible, without removing
part of the wall. Some hints were dropped, that the room had been
subsequently haunted by the poor man’s spirit.
My friend laid his arms, properly prepared against intrusion of any
kind, by the bed-side, and retired to rest, not without some degree of
apprehension. He was visited, in a dream, by a frightful apparition,
and awaking in agony, found himself sitting up in bed, with a pistol
grasped in his right hand. On casting a fearful glance round the room,
he discovered, by the moon-light, a corpse, dressed in a shroud, reared
erect, against the wall, close by the window. With much difficulty,
he summoned up resolution to approach the dismal object, the features
of which, and the minutest parts of its funeral apparel, he perceived
distinctly. He passed one hand over it; felt nothing; and staggered
back to the bed. After a long interval, and much reasoning with
himself, he renewed his investigation, and at length discovered that
the object of his terror was produced by the moon-beams, forming a
long, bright image, through the broken window, on which his fancy,
impressed by his dream, had pictured, with mischievous accuracy, the
lineaments of a body prepared for interment. Powerful associations
of terror, in this instance, had excited the recollected images with
uncommon force and effect.
In another instance, related by an Italian writer, whole multitudes
were deceived for several hours, by an apparition of a more specious
kind. A croud was assembled in the streets of Florence, earnestly
beholding the image of an angel, hovering in the sky, and expecting
some miraculous consequences. He soon perceived, that the deception
was produced by a partial mist, which covered the dome of the
church, and left the gilded figure of an angel, which surmounted the
building, illuminated by the rays of the sun. Without the presence of a
philosopher, this would have passed for a supernatural appearance.
CHAP. II.
_A lawyer’s argument for the existence of witchcraft--Proofs of
spectral impressions, from recollected perceptions--New England
witches--Cardan--Donne--Jonson--The maid of France--and other
visionaries._
In a compilation, on the duties of a Justice of Peace, published by
Nelson, we meet with a proof of the existence of witchcraft, which
the editor appears to have thought irrefragable. “It seems,” saith
he, “that there must formerly have been such a crime as witchcraft,
because divers statutes have been made against it.” Were we to reason
in the same manner, respecting demoniacal agency, in medical cases,
proof could be brought, (particularly from the older German writers),
that medicines have been administered, for the purpose of expelling
the devil from human bodies, into which it was supposed that he had
entered, and that many different remedies had been employed to this end.
Instead of resorting to any arguments of this nature, I shall now
proceed to shew, that the forms of objects which have no external
prototypes, are exhibited to the mind, in certain states of the brain.
§ II.
In the course of my professional employment, I have frequently
conversed with persons, who imagined that they saw demons, and heard
them speak. This species of delusion admits of many gradations, and
distinctions, exclusive of actual insanity.
When the brain is partially irritated, the patient fancies that he
sees spiders crawling over his bed-clothes, or person; or beholds them
covering the roof and walls of his room. If the disease increases, he
imagines that persons who are dead, or absent, flit round his bed;
that animals croud into his apartment, and that all these apparitions
speak to him. These impressions take place, even while he is convinced
of their fallacy. All this occurs sometimes, without any degree of
delirium.
I had occasion to see a young married woman, whose first indication
of illness was a spectral delusion. She told me, that her apartment
appeared suddenly to be filled with devils, and that her terror
impelled her to quit the house with great precipitation. When she
was brought back, she saw the whole staircase occupied by diabolical
forms, and was in agonies of fear for several days. After this
first impression wore off, she heard a voice tempting her to
self-destruction, and prohibiting her from all exercises of piety. Such
was the account given by her, when she was sensible of the delusion,
yet unable to resist the horror of the impression. When she was nearly
recovered, I had the curiosity to question her, as I have interrogated
others, respecting the forms of the demons with which they had been
alarmed; but I never could obtain any other account, than that they
were small, very much deformed, and had horns and claws, like the imps
of our terrific modern romances.
I have been forced to listen with much gravity, to a man partially
insane, who assured me that the devil was lodged in his side, and that
I should perceive him thumping and fluttering there, in a manner which
would perfectly convince me of his presence.
Another lunatic believed that he had swallowed the devil, and had
retained him in his stomach. He resisted the calls of nature during
several days, lest he should set the foul fiend at liberty. I overcame
his resolution, however, by administering an emetic in his food.
In Mather’s _Wonders of the invisible World_, containing the trials
of the American witches, in 1692, a work which may be regarded as
official, it appears that the visions of several persons who thought
themselves bewitched, were occasioned by the night-mare.
On the trial of Bridget Bishop, at Salem, for example; “John Cook
testified, that about five or six years ago, one morning about
sun-rise, he was in his chamber assaulted by the shape of this
prisoner, which looked on him, grinned at him, and very much hurt him
with a blow on the side of the head.”... “Richard Ceman testified,
that eight years ago, as he lay awake in his bed, with a light burning
in the room, he was annoyed with the apparition of this _Bishop_ and
of two more that were strangers to him, who came and oppressed him so,
that he could neither stir himself, nor wake any one else,” &c.
Again, on the trial of Susannah Martin, “Bernard Peache testified, that
being in bed, on the Lord’s day night, he heard a scrabbling at the
window, whereat he then saw Susannah Martin come in and jump down upon
the floor. She took hold of this deponent’s feet, and drawing his body
up into one heap, she lay upon him near two hours; in all which time he
could neither speak nor hear.”
In the introduction to his history of the trials, which were conducted
on such evidence, Mather gravely says;
“’Tis, as I remember, the learned Scribonius, who reports, that one of
his acquaintance, devoutly making his prayers on the behalf of a person
molested by evil spirits, received from those evil spirits an horrible
blow over the face: and I may myself expect not few or small buffetings
from evil spirits, for the endeavours wherewith I am now going to
encounter them. I am far from insensible, that at this extraordinary
time of the _Devil’s coming down in great wrath_ upon us, there are too
many tongues and hearts thereby _set on fire of hell_, that the various
opinions about the witchcrafts which of later time have troubled us,
are maintained by some with so much loud fury, as if they could never
be sufficiently stated, unless written in the liquor wherewith witches
use to write their covenants; and that he who becomes an author at such
a time, had need be _fenced with iron, and the staff of a spear_.”
Stoughton, the Lieutenant-Governor of New England, affixed his
approbation to this book, vouching for the truth of the statements, and
declaring that all good men would “greatly rejoice, that the spirit of
the Lord had thus enabled him (Mather) to lift up a standard against
the infernal enemy, that hath been _coming in like a flood upon us_.”
Such was the force of this memorable fit of national insanity, during
which torrents of innocent blood were shed, by the misguided judges
and juries, under the impression that they were actually invaded by a
legion of devils; the part of which was really performed by themselves.
Nothing, indeed, can be added to the diligence of Remy, or Remigius,
with respect to the forms of demons. He was a commissioner for the
trial of witches, in Lorrain, and as he informs us, in the course of
fifteen years, he condemned nine hundred criminals to the stake. His
book is one of the most remarkable productions of credulity; for the
monstrous absurdities which it contains are supported by juridical
proofs, most of which evidently proceeded from spectral impressions,
when they were not extorted by torture.
My edition of this work, which is become very rare, was printed by
Vincenti, at Lyons, in 1595. It is entitled, DÆMONOLATREIA. The trials
appear to have begun in 1583. Mr. Remy seems to have felt great anxiety
to ascertain the exact features and dress of the demons, with whom
many of the persons supposed themselves to be familiar. Yet nothing
transpired, in his examinations, which varied from the usual figures
exhibited by the gross sculptures and paintings of the middle age. They
are said to be black-faced,[7] with sunk, but fiery eyes, their mouths
wide, and smelling of sulphur; their hands hairy, with claws: their
feet horny and cloven.
Not only are the voices and stature of the demons described by Remy’s
authorities, but many other extraordinary circumstances are recorded,
which might have been omitted with great propriety. The curiosity of
the worthy judge seems to have been as unlimited as his credulity. I
ought to add, that his book is written in Latin, in a good style, and
bears marks of considerable erudition.
The result of all these inquiries has been, that recollected images
only are presented to the persons labouring under delusions of this
nature.
But the most remarkable and decisive narrative of this kind was
published, some years ago, by Nicolai, the celebrated author and
bookseller, of Berlin. “Those who pretend to have seen and heard ghosts
obstinately maintain, that they perceived these apparitions by means of
their senses. In order to defeat that belief, we generally desire them
to consider how many people have been imposed on by artful novices, and
how liable we are to deceive ourselves; we advise them to lay hold of
the supposed spectres; assuring them that they are generally found to
be of a very corporeal nature. But those who have a predilection for
the miraculous, pay no regard to these objections; insisting that the
productions of their disordered imaginations are real beings. We cannot
therefore collect too many of such well substantiated facts, as shew
how easily our imagination imposes on us erroneous notions, and deludes
not only delirious persons but even those who are in full possession of
their faculties, by causing them to see phantasms which scarcely can be
distinguished from real appearances.”
“I have myself experienced a case of this nature, which to me appears
highly remarkable, both psychologically and medicinally; I saw, in a
state of mind completely sound, and after the first terror was over,
with perfect calmness, for nearly two months, almost constantly and
involuntarily a vast number of human and other forms, and even heard
their voices, though all this was merely the consequence of a diseased
state of the nerves and an irregular circulation of the blood.”
“It being a matter of considerable importance that an incident of
this nature should be observed with the strictest attention, and
related, together with all collateral circumstances, with the most
conscientious fidelity, I shall not omit any thing of which I retain
a clear recollection. The truth of what I am going to advance will
not require a farther testimony, as Dr. Selle, who was my physician
and was daily informed by me of every trifling occurrence and change
that happened, is still living, and will, by all who know him, be
most readily admitted as an unobjectionable witness. During the ten
latter months of the year 1790, I had experienced several melancholy
incidents which deeply affected me, particularly in September, from
which time I suffered an almost uninterrupted series of misfortunes
that afflicted me with the most poignant grief. I was accustomed to be
bled twice a year, and this had been done once on the 9th of July, but
was omitted to be repeated at the end of the year 1790. I had, in 1783,
been suddenly taken with a violent vertigo, which my physicians imputed
to obstructions in the finer vessels of the abdomen, brought on by a
sedentary life and a continual exertion of the mind. This indisposition
was successfully removed by means of a more regular and strict diet;
particularly efficacious in the beginning I had found leeches to the
arms, and they were afterwards repeated two or three times annually
when I felt violent congestions in the head. The last leeches which
had been put on, previous to the appearance of the phantasms of which
I am about to speak, had been applied on the first of March 1790, less
blood had consequently been evacuated in 1790 than was usual with me,
and from September, I was constantly occupied in business that required
the most unremitted exertion, and was rendered still more perplexing by
frequent interruptions.”
“I had, in January and February of the year 1791, the additional
misfortune to experience several extremely unpleasant circumstances,
which were followed on the 24th of February by a most violent
altercation. My wife and another person came into my apartment in the
morning in order to console me, but I was too much agitated by a series
of incidents which had most powerfully affected my moral feeling, to
be capable of attending to them; on a sudden I perceived, at about the
distance of ten steps, a form like that of a deceased person, I pointed
at it, asking my wife if she did not see it? It was but natural that
she should not see any thing, my question therefore alarmed her very
much, and she sent immediately for a physician, the phantasm continued
about eight minutes. I grew at length more calm, and being extremely
exhausted, fell into a restless sleep which lasted about half an hour;
the physician ascribed the apparition to a violent mental emotion,
and hoped that there would be no return, but the violent agitation of
my mind had in some way disordered my nerves, and produced farther
consequences which deserve a more minute description.”
“At four in the afternoon, the form which I had seen in the morning
reappeared. I was by myself when this happened, and being rather uneasy
at the incident, went to my wife’s apartment, but there likewise I was
prevented by the apparition, which, however, at intervals disappeared,
and always presented itself in a standing posture: about six o’clock
there appeared also several walking figures, which had no connection
with the first.”
“I cannot assign any other cause of all this, than a continued
rumination on the vexations I had suffered, which, though calmer,
I could not forget, and the consequences of which I meditated to
counteract; these meditations occupied my mind three hours after
dinner, just when my digestion commenced. I consoled myself at last
with respect to the disagreeable incident which had occasioned the
first apparition, but the phantasms continued to encrease and change
in the most singular manner, though I had taken the proper medicine
and found myself perfectly well. As when the first terror was over,
I beheld the phantasms with great emotion taking them for what they
really were, remarkable consequences of an indisposition, I endeavoured
to collect myself as much as possible, that I might preserve a clear
consciousness of the changes which should take place within myself;
I observed these phantasms very closely, and frequently reflected on
my antecedent thoughts to discover, if possible, by means of what
association of ideas exactly these forms presented themselves to my
imagination; I thought at times I had found a clue, but taking the
whole together I could not make out any natural connection between the
occupations of my mind, my occupations, my regular thoughts, and the
multifarious forms which now appeared to me, and now again disappeared.
After repeated and close observations, and calm examination, I was
unable to form any conclusion relative to the origin and continuation
of the different phantasms which presented themselves to me. All
that I could infer was, that while my nervous system was in such an
irregular state, such phantasms would appear to me as if I actually
saw and heard them; that these illusions were not modified by any
known laws of reason, imagination, or the common association of ideas,
and that probably other people who may have had similar apparitions,
were exactly in the same predicament. The origin of the individual
forms which appeared to me, was undoubtedly founded on the nature of
my mind, but the manner in which it was thus affected, will probably
remain for ever as inscrutable as the origin of thought and reflection.
After the first day the form of the deceased person no more appeared,
but in its place, there appeared many other phantasms, sometimes
representing acquaintances, but mostly strangers, those whom I knew
were composed of living and deceased persons, but the number of the
latter was comparatively small. I observed the persons with whom I
daily conversed did not appear as phantasms, these representing chiefly
persons who lived at some distance from me. I attempted to produce at
pleasure phantasms of persons whom I knew by intensely reflecting on
their countenance shape &c. but distinctly as I called to my lively
imagination the respective shades of three of these persons, I still
laboured in vain to make them appear to me as phantasms, though I had
before involuntarily seen them in that manner, and perceived them some
time after, when I least thought of them. The phantoms appeared to
me contrary to my inclination, as if they were presented to me from
without, like the phenomena of nature, though they existed no where but
within my mind. I could at the same time distinguish between phantasms
and real objects, and the calmness with which I examined them, enabled
me to avoid the commission of the smallest mistake. I knew exactly
when it only appeared to me that the door was opening and a phantasm
entering the room, and when it actually opened, a real person entered.”
“These phantasms appeared equally clear and distinct at all times and
under all circumstances, both when I was by myself and when I was in
company, and as well in the day as at night, and in my own house as
well as abroad; they were, however, less frequent when I was in the
house of a friend, and rarely appeared to me in the street; when I shut
my eyes these phantasms would sometimes disappear entirely, though
there were instances when I beheld them with my eyes closed, yet when
they disappeared on such occasions, they generally reappeared when I
opened my eyes. I conversed sometimes with my physician and my wife of
the phantasms which at the moment surrounded me; they appeared more
frequently walking than at rest, nor were they constantly present. They
frequently did not appear for some time, but always reappeared for a
longer or a shorter period either singly or in company, the latter
however being most frequently the case. I generally saw human forms of
both sexes, but they usually appeared not to take the smallest notice
of each other, moving as in a market-place, where all are eager to
press through the crowd; at times however they seemed to be transacting
business with each other: I also saw several times people on horseback,
dogs and birds. All these phantasms appeared to me in their natural
size and as distinct as if alive, exhibiting different shades of
carnation in the uncovered parts as well as in different colours
and fashions in their dresses, though the colours seemed somewhat
paler than in real nature, none of the figures appeared particularly
terrible, comical, or disgusting, most of them being of an indifferent
shape, and some having a pleasing appearance.”
“The longer these phantoms continued to appear the more frequently
did they return, while at the same time they encreased in number
about four weeks after they had first appeared. I also began to hear
them talk, the phantoms sometimes conversed among themselves, but
more frequently addressed their discourse to me; their speeches were
commonly short and never of an unpleasant turn. At different times
there appeared to me both dear and sensible friends of both sexes,
whose addresses tended to appease my grief, which had not yet wholly
subsided: these consolatory speeches were in general addressed to me
when I was alone, sometimes I was accosted by these consoling friends
while in company, frequently while real persons were speaking to me.
These consolatory addresses consisted sometimes of abrupt phrases, and
at others, they were regularly connected.”
“Though both my mind and body were in a tolerable state of sanity all
this time, and these phantasms became so familiar to me that they did
not cause me the slightest uneasiness, and I even sometimes amused
myself with surveying them, and spoke jocularly of them to my physician
and my wife; I yet did not neglect to use proper medicines, especially
when they began to haunt me the whole day, and even at night as soon as
I awaked.”
“At last it was agreed that leeches should be again applied to me,
as formerly; which was actually done, April 20th 1791, at eleven
o’clock in the morning. No person was with me besides the surgeon;
but during the operation my chamber was crowded with human phantasms
of all descriptions. This continued uninterruptedly till about half
an hour after four o’clock, just when my digestion commenced. I then
perceived that they began to move more slowly. Soon after, their colour
began to fade, and at seven o’clock they were entirely white. But
they moved very little, though the forms were as distinct as before:
growing however by degrees more obscure; yet not fewer in number as
had generally been the case. The phantoms did not withdraw, nor did
they vanish; which previous to that time had frequently happened. They
now seemed to dissolve in the air; while fragments of some of them
continued visible a considerable time. About eight o’clock the room was
entirely cleared of my fantastic visitors.”
“Since this time I have felt, twice or three times a sensation as if
these phantasms were going to re-appear; without however actually
seeing any thing. The same sensation surprised me just before I drew
up this account, while I was examining some papers relative to these
apparitions which I had drawn up in the year 1791.”
This is one of the extreme cases of delusion, which a man of strong
natural judgment has ventured to record of himself. Cardan, who fancied
himself visited by supernatural impulses, never produced so marvellous
a story.
Cardan, however, describes himself as amused, in his youth, with
recollected images, similar to those which I have described, in the
first chapter. Before he left his bed, in the morning, he saw a
succession of figures, composed of brazen rings, like links of mail,
(though he had never seen mail-armour at that time,) moving, in a
circular direction, upwards, from right to left, till they disappeared.
Castles, houses, animals, trees, men in different dresses; trumpeters,
appearing to blow their trumpets, though no sound was heard; soldiers,
and landscapes; all passed before him, in circular compartments.
“Videbam ego imagines diversas quasi corporum æreorum. (Constare enim
videbantur ex annulis minimis, quales sunt loricarum, cum tamen loricas
nunquam eousque vidissem) ab imo lecti angulo dextro ascendentes
per semicirculum, lenté et in sinistrum occidentes, ut prorsus non
apparerenti Areium, domorum, animalium, equorum cum equitibus,
herbarum, arborum, instrumentorum musicorum, hominum diversorum
habituum, vestiumque variarum, tubicines præcipue cum tubis quasi
sonantibus, nulla tamen vox aut sonus exandiebatur: præterea milites,
populos, arva, formasque corporum usque ad hune diem mihi invisas:
lucos et sylvas, aliaque quorum non memini, quandoque multarum rerum
congeriem simul irruentium, non tamen ut se confunderent, sed ut ut
properarent. Erant autem perspicua illa, sed non ita ut proinde esset,
ac si non adessent, nec densa ut oculo pervia non essent. Sed ipsi
circuli opaci erant spatia prorsus perspicua.”[8]
Ben Jonson, also, falls under this description, from the _Heads of
Conversation_, published by the executors of Drummond of Hawthornden,
who have deprived posterity of Drummond’s original account of these
interesting interviews. Jonson told him, that “when the king came to
England, about the time that the plague was in London, he being in
the country, at Sir Robert Cotton’s house with old Cambden, he saw
in a vision his eldest son, then a young child and at London, appear
unto him with the mark of a bloody cross on his forehead, as if it had
been cut with a sword, at which amazed he prayed unto God, and in the
morning he came unto Mr. Cambden’s chamber to tell him, who persuaded
him it was but an apprehension, at which he should not be dejected. In
the mean time there came letters from his wife of the death of that boy
in the plague. He appeared to him, he said, of a manly shape, and of
that growth he thinks he shall be at the resurrection.”
“He said, that he had spent a whole night in looking to his great toe,
about which he hath seen Tartars and Turks, Romans and Carthaginians
fight in his imagination.”[9]
Such sights as youthful poets dream,
On summer’s eve, by haunted stream!
That extraordinary, and much misrepresented character, the Maid of
France, appears to have been a visionary of this kind, and to have been
enthusiastically sincere in her belief of supernatural communications.
The ancient memoirs of this heroine, published by Denys Godefroy,
convey a high idea of her sagacity and elevation of mind. When she
induced Charles VII. to the bold attempt of procuring his inauguration
at _Rheims_, she described the celestial voice as having said to her,
while she was engaged in prayer, _Fille, va, va, je seray a ton ayde,
va._
Her unknown historian adds; “Elle estoit au reste tres-devote, se
confessoit souvent, & recevoit le precieux corps de N. S. Jesus Christ,
estoit de tres-belle et bonne vie, et d’honneste conversation.”
In a very curious letter, written by the Sieur de Laval, we meet with
some characteristic anecdotes of the Maid, to whom he was introduced
by Charles VII. ‘Et-fit ladite Pucelle tres bonne chere a mon pere & a
moy, estant armeé de toutes pieces, sauve la tete, et tenant la lance
en main; et aprés que fumes descendus á selle, j’allay a son logis la
voir; et fit venir le vin, et me dit, qu’elle m’en feroit bientot boire
á Paris; et semble chose toute divine de son fait, et de la voir et
de l’ouyr.----et la veis monter a cheval, armée tout en blanc, sauf
la teste, une petite hache en sa main, sur un grand coursier noir qui
a l’huis de son logis se demenoit tres fort, et ne souffroit qu’elle
montast; et lors elle dit, menez-le a la croix, qui etoit devant
l’eglise aupres, au chemin; et lors ell monta sans qu’il se meut, comme
s’il fut lié; et lors se tourna vers l’huys de l’eglise, qui etoit bien
prochain, et dit en assez voix de femme: _Vous les Prestres et gens
d’eglise, faites procession et prieres a Dieu._’
Upon her trial, as it is repeated by Chartier, she spoke with the
utmost simplicity and firmness of her visions: ‘Que souvent alloit a
une belle fontaine au pays de Lorraine, laquelle elle nommoit bonne
fontaine aux Feés Nostre Seigneur, et en icelluy lieu tous ceulx de
pays quand ils avoient fiebvre ils alloient pour recouvrer garison; et
la alloit souvent ladite Jehanne la Pucelle sous un grand arbre qui la
fontaine ombroit; et s’apparurent a elle S^{te}. Katerine et S^{te}.
Marguerite qui lui dirent qu’elle allast a ung Cappitaine qu’elles lui
nommerent, laquelle y alla sans prendre congé ni a pere ni a mere;
lequel Cappitaine la vestit en guise d’homme et l’armoit et lui ceint
l’epeé, et luy bailla un escuyer et quatre varlets; et en ce point fut
monteé sur un bon cheval; et en ce point vint aut Roy de France, et
lui dit que du Commandement de lui estoit venue a lui, et qu’elle le
feroit le plus grant Seigneur du Monde, et qu’il lui fut ordonné que
tretou ceulx qui lui desobeiroient fussent occis sans mercy, et que St.
Michel et plusieurs anges lui avoient baillé une Couronne moult riche
pour lui;’ &c.
Unquestionably, the temperament which disposes men to cultivate the
higher and graver species of poetry, contributes to render them
susceptible of impressions of this nature. Such a temperament, excited
by the pathetic circumstances of a story, more interesting than any
tale of fiction, produced the vision of Dr. Donne. When residing in
Paris, he saw the figure of his wife, then in London, pass through the
room, with her hair hanging loose, and carrying a dead child in her
arms. After reading the exquisite poem which he wrote, previous to
their separation, it is impossible to wonder at an impression of such a
nature.
This is, indeed, an instance of that species of ecstasy, which is
known, in the North of Scotland, under the name of ‘Second-Sight.’
Much has been written on this subject; I shall therefore only mention
two instances, which will prove that the spectral impressions certainly
take place; of their prophetic nature, there may be different opinions.
A gentleman connected with my family, an officer in the army, and
certainly addicted to no superstition, was quartered, early in life,
in the middle of the last century, near the castle of a gentleman in
the North of Scotland, who was supposed to possess the Second-Sight.
Strange rumours were afloat, respecting the old chieftain. He had
spoken to an apparition, which ran along the battlements of the house,
and had never been chearful afterwards. His prophetic visions excited
surprize, even in that region of credulity; and his retired habits
favoured the popular opinion. My friend assured me, that one day, while
he was reading a play to the ladies of the family, the chief, who had
been walking across the room, stopped suddenly, and assumed the look of
a _Seer_. He rang the bell, and ordered the groom to saddle a horse;
to proceed immediately to a seat in the neighbourhood, and to inquire
after the health of Lady ----; if the account was favourable, he then
directed him to call at another castle, to ask after another lady whom
he named.
The reader immediately closed his book, and declared that he would not
proceed till these abrupt orders were explained, as he was confident
that they were produced by the Second-Sight. The chief was very
unwilling to explain himself; but at length he owned, that the door had
appeared to open, and that a little woman, without a head, had entered
the room; that the apparition indicated the sudden death of some person
of his acquaintance; and the only two persons who resembled the
figure, were those ladies, after whose health he had sent to inquire.
A few hours afterwards, the servant returned, with an account that one
of the ladies had died of an apoplectic fit, about the time when the
vision appeared.
At another time, the chief was confined to his bed, by indisposition,
and my friend was reading to him, in a stormy winter-night, while the
fishing-boat, belonging to the castle, was at sea. The old gentleman
repeatedly expressed much anxiety respecting his people; and at last
exclaimed, my boat is lost! The colonel replied, how do you know it,
Sir?--He was answered; I see two of the boatmen bringing in the third
drowned, all dripping wet, and laying him down close beside your chair.
The chair was shifted, with great precipitation; in the course of the
night, the fishermen returned, with the corpse of one of the boatmen.
MARTIN, who has given a very particular account of _Seers_, in the
western Islands, mentions a young woman, who was troubled, during four
or five years, with the constant appearance of her own image before
her, the back being turned towards her. No event was connected with
this spectral impression.
But one of the most remarkable _Seers_ on record, was JOHN BEAUMONT,
who published a ‘treatise of spirits, apparitions, witchcrafts, and
other magical practices,’ in 1705. He appears to have been a man of a
hypochondriacal disposition, with a considerable degree of reading,
but with a strong bias to credulity. His collections of stories are
entertaining; but my business is with his visions, which shew in a most
astonishing manner, how far the mind may be deceived, without the
occurrence of actual derangement. They will be detailed in the next
chapter. Had this man, instead of irritating his mental disease, by the
study of the Platonic philosophers, placed himself under the care of an
intelligent physician, he would have regained his tranquillity, and the
world would have lost a most extraordinary set of confessions.
CHAP. III.
_Beaumont’s Visions--Those of Tasso--Kotter--Drabicius--Arise
Evans--Bovet._
Physicians have sometimes occasion to regret the prolixity of the
statements, which they receive from their patients. Beaumont has been
rather more diffusive than usual; for his book, which may be considered
as a narrative of his malady, contains four hundred pages, in octavo.
It is, however very much to my purpose, for it exhibits the disease of
spectral vision, in its full strength and permanency.
Like Nicolai, he sometimes saw a multitude of men and women about him,
both in the day and night. “So it was with myself,” says he, “for I saw
hundreds, though I never saw any in the night-time, without a fire,
or candle-light, or in the moonshine, and as the person mentioned
(by Aubrey) had two particular spirits there named, which constantly
attended him, besides others without names, so it was with myself;
two spirits constantly attending me, night and day, for above three
months together; who called each other by their names, and several
spirits would often call at my chamber door, and ask whether such
spirits lived there, calling by their names, and they would answer,
they did. As for the other spirits that attended me, I heard none of
their names mentioned, only I asked one spirit which came for some
nights together, and rung a little bell in my ear, what his name was,
who answered _Ariel_. We find that one of the spirits, who attended the
second-sighted person, appeared as a boy, the other as a girl; but the
two that constantly attended myself, appeared both in women’s habit,
they being of a brown complexion, and about three foot in stature; they
had both black, loose net-work gowns, tyed with a black sash about the
middle, and within the net-work appeared a gown of a golden colour,
with somewhat of a light striking through it. Their heads were not
drest with top-knots, but they had white linen caps on, with lace on
them, about three-fingers breadth, and over it they had a black loose
net-work hood.
“As the foresaid second-sighted persons, sitting by the fire, with
others in the winter-time, would see spirits standing by, and often
seem angry and disturbed, though nothing visible to others moved him;
so, as I have been sitting by the fire with others, I have seen several
spirits, and pointed to the place where they were, telling the company
they were there. And one spirit, whom I heard calling to me, as he
stood behind me, on a sudden clapped his finger to my side, which I
sensibly perceived, and started at it, and as I saw one spirit come in
at the door, which I did not like, I suddenly laid hold of a pair of
tongs, and struck at him with all my force, whereupon he vanished.
“*** I must declare, that I would not for the whole world undergo
what I have undergone, upon spirits coming twice to me; their first
coming was most dreadful to me, the thing being then altogether new,
and consequently more surprizing, though at the first coming they did
not appear to me, but only called to me at my chamber windows, rung
bells, sung to me, and played on music, &c. but the last coming also
carried terror enough; for when they came, being only five in number,
the two women before mentioned, and three men, (though afterwards there
came hundreds) they told me they would kill me, if I told any person
in the house of their being there, which put me in some consternation,
and I made a servant sit up with me four nights in my chamber before a
fire, it being in the Christmas Holidays, telling no person of their
being there. One of these spirits in women’s dress, lay down upon
the bed by me every night; and told me if I slept, the spirits would
kill me, which kept me waking for three nights. In the mean time, a
near relation of mine went (though unknown to me) to a physician of
my acquaintance, desiring him to prescribe me somewhat for sleeping,
which he did, and a sleeping potion was brought me, but I set it by,
being very desirous and inclined to sleep without it. The fourth night
I could hardly forbear sleeping, but the spirit, lying on the bed by
me, told me again, I should be killed if I slept; whereupon I rose,
and sate by the fire-side, and in a while returned to my bed; and so
I did a third time, but was still threatened as before: whereupon I
grew impatient, and asked the spirits what they would have? Told them
I had done the part of a christian, in humbling myself to God, and
feared them not, and rose from my bed, took a cane, and knocked at the
ceiling of my chamber, a near relation of mine lying then over me, who
presently rose and came down to me, about two o’clock in the morning,
to whom I said, you have seen me disturbed these four days past, and
that I have not slept; the occasion of it was, that five spirits, which
are now in the room with me, have threatened to kill me if I told any
person of their being here, or if I slept, but I am not able to forbear
sleeping longer, and acquaint you with it, and now stand in defiance of
them; and thus I exerted myself about them; and notwithstanding their
continued threats, I slept very well the next night, and continued
so to do, though they continued with me above three months, day and
night.”[10]
The celebrated visions of Tasso appear to have been of the same
nature. He fancied that he beheld a celestial being, with whom he held
converse, in the presence of spectators, who perceived no apparition,
and who heard no voice but that of the poet. Would that we could have
exchanged the narratives of Beaumont’s reveries, for those of Tasso!
To this class of morbid perceptions, belong also the visions of
Christopher Kotter, and Drabicius, which made a considerable noise in
the seventeenth century. They were published by Comenius, aided by
very ghostly engravings, under the title of ‘Lux é Tenebris.’ I must
refer to Bayle, for many curious observations respecting the tendency
of these prophetic rhapsodies: my business is only with the faculty of
spectral representation.
For this reason, I shall not notice Drabicius. As a man of superior
information, he might be suspected of politic views, in his pretended
visions: but there can be no doubt that Kotter was sincere in his
enthusiasm, and was as much a _Seer_ as any second-sighted prophet of
the Hebrides.
Kotter’s first vision was detailed by him, on oath, before the
magistrates of Sprottaw, in 1619. While he was travelling on foot in
open day-light, in June 1616, a man appeared to him, who ordered him to
inform the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, that great evils were
impending over Germany, for the punishment of the sins of the people;
after which he vanished. The same apparition met him at different
times, and compelled him at length, by threats, to make this public
declaration.
After this, his visions assumed a more imposing appearance: on one
occasion, the angel (for such he was now confessed to be) shewed him
three suns, filling one half of the heavens; and nine moons, with their
horns turned towards the east, filling the other half. At the same
time, a superb fountain of pure water spouted from the arid soil, under
his feet.
At another time, he beheld a mighty lion, treading on the moon, and
seven other lions around him, in the clouds.
Sometimes he beheld the encounter of hostile armies, splendidly
accoutred; sometimes he wandered through palaces, whose only
inhabitants were devouring monsters; or beheld dragons of enormous
size, in various scenes of action.
He was at length attended by two angels, in his ecstasy; one of
his visions at this time was of the most formidable and impressive
kind.[11] “On the 13th day of September, says he, both the youths
returned to me, saying, be not afraid, but observe the thing which will
be shewn to thee. And I suddenly beheld a circle, like the sun, red,
and as it were, bloody: in which were black and white lines, or spots,
so intermingled, that sometimes there appeared a greater number of
blacks, sometimes of white; and this sight continued for some space
of time. And when they had said to me, Behold! Attend! Fear not! No
evil will befal thee! Lo, there were three successive peals of thunder,
at short intervals, so loud and dreadful, that I shuddered all over.
But the circle stood before me, and the black and white spots were
disunited, and the circle approached so near that I could have touched
it with my hand. And it was so beautiful, that I had never in my life
seen any thing more agreeable: and the white spots were so bright
and pleasant, that I could not contain my admiration. But the black
spots were carried away in a cloud of horrible darkness, in which I
heard a dismal outcry, though I could see no one. Yet these words of
lamentation were audible: Woe unto us, who have committed ourselves
to the black cloud, to be withdrawn from the circle coloured with the
blood of divine grace, in which the grace of God, in his well-beloved
Son, had inclosed us.”
After several other piteous exclamations, he saw a procession of
many thousand persons, bearing palms, and singing hymns, but of very
small stature, enter the red circle, from the black cloud, chanting
halleluiah.
A Polish Prophetess made her appearance, about the same time; but as
there was nothing particularly interesting in her visions, they may be
kept, like the madness of Mr. Sheridan’s character in the Critic, in
the back-ground.
The prophecy of Arise Evans respecting the Restoration of Charles II.
is thus detailed by Dr. Warburton, in a letter to Dr. Jortin. Evans,
as I have mentioned elsewhere, was a mere juggler in the dates of his
title-pages. The vision itself resembles the royal shadows in Macbeth.
“You desired to have a more particular account of----a certain
prophecy of one Arise Evans, which you have heard some of your friends
speak of in terms of astonishment; as I have his book which is scarce,
I am able to give you that satisfaction. But it may not be amiss
first to let you into the character of the prophet. Arise Evans lived
and flourished in the last century, during the time of our civil
confusions. He was a warm Welshman, and not disposed to be an idle
spectator in so busy a scene. So he left his native country for London,
and finding on his arrival there that _Inspiration_ was all running
one way, he projected to make a division of it from the Roundheads to
the Cavaliers, and set up for a Prophet of the Royalists. He did, and
said many extraordinary things to the grandees of both parties: and it
must be owned, he had a spice of what we seldom find wanting in the
ingredients of a modern prophet, I mean prevarication.”
“Of this he has himself given us a notable example in the 42nd page of
his Tract, called an Echo from Heaven, which, because it contains an
uncommon fetch of wit, I shall describe. There are two confessions,”
says he, “subscribed by my hand in the city of London, which if not
now, will in after ages be considered. The one was made at the Spittle,
and subscribed with the right hand, in the aforesaid vestry, before
Sir Walter Earl; and that is a confession made by the inner man, or
new man; the other confession is a confession of the flesh, called
the outward man or old man; and the confession made before Green (the
Recorder), and subscribed with the left hand, as the difference in the
writing, being compared, will make it appear. I know the bench, and the
people thought I recanted, but alas! they were deceived.”
“Well, but this very man has in the 77th and 78th pages of this Echo
printed for the author in 12^{mo}. and sold at his house in Long Alley
in Black Friars, 1653, second edition with additions, a prophecy which
astonishes all who carefully consider it. It is in these words, A
vision that I had presently after the king’s death.--I thought that I
was in a great hall like the king’s hall, or the castle in Winchester,
and there was none there but a judge that sat upon the bench and
myself; and as I turned to a window in the north-westward, and looking
into the palm of my hand, there appeared to me a face, head and
shoulders like the Lord Fairfax’s, and presently it vanished. Again,
there arose the Lord Cromwell, and he vanished likewise; then arose a
young face and he had a crown upon his head, and he vanished also; and
another young face arose with a crown upon his head, and he vanished
also; and another----young face arose with a crown upon his head, and
vanished in like manner; and as I turned the palm of my hand back again
to me and looked, there did appear no more in it. Then I turned to the
judge and said to him, there arose in my hand seven; and five of them
had crowns; but when I turned my hand, the blood turned to its veins,
and these appeared no more: so I awoke. The interpretation of this
vision is, that after the Lord Cromwell, there shall be kings again in
England, which thing is signified unto us by those that arose after
him, who were all crowned, but the generations to come may look for
a change of the blood, and of the name in the royal seat, after five
kings once passed, 2 Kings x. 30. (The words referred to in this text
are these) And the Lord said unto Jehu, because thou hast done well,
&c. thy children of the fourth generation shall sit upon the throne of
Israel.”[12]
Sauvages mentions, that a woman, subject to epilepsy, saw, during the
paroxysm, dreadful spectres, and that real objects appeared magnified
to an extraordinary degree: a fly seemed as large as a fowl, and a
fowl appeared equal in size to an ox. In coloured objects, green
predominated with her; a curious fact, which I have seen verified in
other convulsive diseases. A very intelligent boy, who was under my
care for convulsions of the voluntary muscles, when he looked at some
large caricatures, glaringly coloured with red and yellow, insisted on
it that they were covered with green, till his paroxysm abated, during
which his intellects had not been at all affected.
Among other instances of _Suffusio_, Sauvages also mentions an aged
physician of Narbonne, who, during several days, saw every object
crooked.
I shall select, as a remarkable instance of spectral impressions, a
story published by Richard Bovet, in his _Pandæmonium_, or _the Devil’s
Cloyster_, printed in 1684. The first appearances were probably seen
in a dream. The noises, on the second night, were perhaps recollected
impressions.[13]
“About the year 1667, being with some persons of honour in the house of
a nobleman in the west country, which had formerly been a nunnery: I
must confess I had often heard the servants, and others that inhabited
or lodged there, speak much of the noises, stirs, and apparitions that
frequently disturbed the house, but had at that time no apprehensions
of it; for the house being full of stranger’s, the nobleman’s steward,
Mr. C. lay with me in a fine wainscoat-room, called my ladies’ chamber;
we went to our lodging pretty early, and having a good fire in the
room, we spent some time in reading, in which he much delighted: then
having got into bed, and put out the candles, we observed the room
to be very light, by the brightness of the moon, so that a wager was
laid between us, that it was possible to read written hand by that
light upon the bed where we lay; accordingly I drew out of my pocket
a manuscript, which he read distinctly in the place where he lay: we
had scarce made an end of discoursing about that affair, when I saw
(my face being towards the door which was locked) entering into the
room, five appearances of very fine and lovely women, they were of
excellent stature, and their dresses seemed very fine, but covered all
but their faces, with their light veils, whose skirts trailed largely
on the floor. They entered in a file one after the other, and in that
posture walked round the room, till the foremost came, and stood by
that side of the bed where I lay (with my left hand over the side of
the bed; for my head rested on that arm, and I determined not to alter
the posture in which I was) she struck me upon that hand with a blow
that felt very soft, but I did never remember whether it were cold or
hot: I demanded in the name of the blessed Trinity, what business they
had there, but received no answer; then I spoke to Mr. C. Sir, do you
see what fair guests we have come to visit us? before which they all
disappeared: I found him in some kind of agony, and was forced to grasp
him on the breast with my right hand (which was next him underneath
the bed-clothes) before I could obtain speech of him; then he told me
that he had seen the fair guests I spoke of, and had heard me speak to
them; but withal said, that he was not able to speak sooner unto me,
being extremely affrighted at the sight of a dreadful monster, which
assuming a shape, betwixt that of a lion and a bear, attempted to come
upon the bed’s foot. I told him, I thanked God nothing so frightful had
presented itself to me; but I hoped (through his assistance) not to
dread the ambages of hell. It was a long time before I could compose
him to sleep, and though he had had many disturbances in his own room,
and understood of others in the house, yet he acknowledged he had never
been so terrified, during many years abode there. The next day at
dinner he shewed to divers persons of principal quality, the mark that
had been occasioned on his breast by the gripe I was forced to give
him, to get him to speak, and related all the passages very exactly;
after which he protested never to lie more in that room; upon which I
set up a resolution to lodge in it again, not knowing but something of
the reason of those troubles might by that means be imparted to me. The
next night, therefore, I ordered a Bible, and another book to be laid
in the room, and resolved to spend my time by the fire in reading and
contemplation, till I found myself inclined to sleep: and accordingly
having taken leave of the family at the usual hour, I addressed
myself to what I had proposed, not going into bed till past one in
the morning: a little after I was got into bed, I heard somewhat walk
about the room, like a woman in a tabby gown trailing about the room;
it made a mighty rushelling noise, but I could see nothing, though it
was near as light as the night before: it passed by the foot of the
bed and a little opened the curtains, and thence went to a closet door
on that side, through which it found admittance, although it was close
locked: there it seemed to groan, and draw a great chair with its
foot, in which it seemed to sit, and turn over the leaves of a large
folio; which you know make a loud clattering noise; so it continued in
that posture, sometimes groaning, sometimes dragging the chair, and
clattering the book till it was near day; afterwards I lodged several
times in this room, but never met with any molestation.”
“This I can attest to be a true account of what passed in that room the
two described nights; and though Mr. C. be lately dead, who was a very
ingenious man, and affirmed the first part unto many, with whom he was
conversant; it remains that I appeal to the knowledge of those who have
been inhabitants or lodgers in the said house, for what remains, to
justify the credibility of the rest.”
CHAP. IV.
_Medical distinctions of spectral impressions. Sepulchral remedies:
Preparations of the human skull--Mumia--Apparition of Ficinus to
Michael Mercato.--Warning voice to Quarræus.--Visions of Dr. Pordage.
Latent lunacy--Exemplified in the character of Hamlet._
In medicine, we have fine names, at least, for every species of
disease. The peculiar disorder, which I have endeavoured to elucidate,
is termed generally HALLUCINATION, including all delusive impressions,
from the wandering mote before the eye, to the tremendous spectre,
which is equally destitute of existence.
It is unnecessary to my purpose, to pursue the subdivisions of this
affection, which have been traced by nosologists. I shall only mention
one extreme species, called the Lycanthropia, in which the patient
imagines himself to have become a wolf, abandons society, and takes
refuge in the woods. These impressions have no doubt been produced, or
strengthened by narcotic potions, of hyoscyamus, datura stramonium, and
other deleterious infusions, either ignorantly taken, or maliciously
administered.
But we may well be surprized to find, that impressions of this kind
are registered, under the title of experimental philosophy. Dr.
Garmann,[14] in his chapter on the ghosts of the dead, informs us, that
“when human salt, extracted and depurated from the skull of a man, was
placed in a water-dish, and covered with another plate, there appeared
next morning, in the mass, figures of men fixed to the cross.”
Another philosopher relates, that, when fresh earth from a church-yard
was put into an oblong plate, after the performance of certain
ceremonies, a thousand spectres were visible in it.
During the sixteenth century, preparations from the human skull were
favourite remedies: the moss which was found on skulls long-interred,
and the bones reduced to powder, were often prescribed. In a very
respectable work, WEPFER’S _Historiæ Apoplecticorum_, there is a
dissertation on this subject, by Dr. Emanuel Kænig,[15] in which he
asserts, that on those nights when the human skull was pounded in the
apothecary’s house, the family was alarmed by unusual noises, by
clappings of the doors and windows, by groans, and other indications
that the spirits of the dead were abroad.
I have never found that any effects of this kind were attributed to the
MUMIA, a favourite remedy of the same period: that is, the flesh of
mummies, which were imported from Alexandria, and which was swallowed
in the form of pills or boluses, by the noble and rich, in Europe. The
medical writings of that time are full of accounts of this horrible and
useless practice, which was at length discontinued, when it was found
that the Alexandrians, instead of disinterring the embalmed mummies of
the ancient Egyptians, contented themselves with exporting the putrid
carcases of Jews, to which they had easier access.[16]
In this manner was anthropophagy sanctioned by physicians, even as
late as the reign of Louis XIV. while some writers affected to doubt,
whether the practice had ever existed.
§ III.
From the principles which I have established, the reader will easily
proceed with me, to account for the most imposing relations of
apparitions.
I have shewn that a morbid disposition of the brain is capable of
producing spectral impressions, without any external prototypes. The
religion of the ancients, which peopled all parts of nature with
deities of different ranks, exposed them, in a peculiar manner, to
delusions of the imagination; and I have had occasion, in another
essay,[17] to mention the influence which the doctrines of Plato have
exerted, in this respect, even since the establishment of christianity.
From recalling images by an art of memory, the transition is direct
to beholding spectral objects, which have been floating in the
imagination. Yet, even in the most frantic assemblage of this nature,
no novelty appears. The spectre may be larger or smaller; it may be
compounded of the parts of different animals; but it is always framed
from the recollection of familiar, though discordant images.
The simple renewal of the impressions of form or voice, in the case
of particular friends, is the most obvious, and most forcible of
these recollections. Of this kind, seems to have been the celebrated
apparition of Ficinus, to Michael Mercato, mentioned by Baronius.
Those illustrious friends, after a long discourse on the nature of the
soul, had agreed that, whoever of the two should die first, should,
if possible, appear to his surviving friend, and inform him of his
condition in the other world.[18]
A short time afterwards, says Baronius,[19] it happened, that while
Michael Mercato the elder was studying philosophy, early in the
morning, he suddenly heard the noise of a horse galloping in the
street, which stopped at his door, and the voice of his friend Ficinus
was heard, exclaiming, O Michael! O Michael! those things are true.
Astonished at this address, Mercato rose and looked out of the window,
where he saw the back of his friend, drest in white, galloping off, on
a white horse.
He called after him, and followed him with his eyes, till the
appearance vanished. Upon inquiry, he learned that Ficinus had died at
Florence, at the very time when this vision was presented to Mercato,
at a considerable distance.
Many attempts have been made to discredit this story, but I think the
evidence has never been shaken. I entertain no doubt, that Mercato
had seen what he described; in following the reveries of Plato, the
idea of his friend, and of their compact, had been revived, and had
produced a spectral impression, during the solitude and awful silence
of the early hours of study. Baronius adds, that after this occurrence,
Mercato neglected all profane studies, and addicted himself entirely to
divinity. The vanishing of the imaginary apparition, in these cases,
resembles Achilles’s vision, in the Iliad.
----ψυχὴ δὲ κατὰ χθονὸς ἠΰτε καπνὸς
ᾤχετο τετριγυῖα.----
The impression of sound, the most remarkable circumstance in Mercato’s
vision, is by no means a solitary instance. Beaumont has given us, not
only his own ghostly experience, but many examples of this species of
delusion.
Cardan believed himself to have possessed a faculty of divination,[20]
by means of voices conveyed to him in different directions. He
certainly mistook the symptom called _Tinnitus Aurium_, which
accompanies the disease of literary men, for special warnings.
In another instance, Cardan has shewed his propensity to ascribe his
natural peculiarities to mystical causes. ‘When I lived and lectured
at Paris,’ says he, ‘looking accidentally at my hands, I saw, in the
ring-finger of the right hand, the figure of a bloody sword, which
alarmed me. In the evening a messenger arrived, with letters from my
son-in-law, informing me of my son’s imprisonment, and desiring me
to go to Milan. That mark continued to spread for fifty-three days,
till it reached the point of the finger, and was as red and fiery as
blood, to my great consternation. At midnight my son was beheaded; next
day the mark had nearly vanished, and in two days afterwards, it was
entirely gone.’[21] There can be little doubt, that this appearance was
occasioned by an inflamed lymphatic. The voice of lamentation which
Cardan fancied he heard, about the time of his son’s execution, was the
result of the agitation of his mind, distracted with grief and terror.
Beaumont’s perception of sounds consisted chiefly in the tolling of
bells, of different sizes, with occasional addresses from the spirits.
It is singular, that he never suspected himself to labour under the
disease of _Corybantism_, as it has been termed, though he describes
it, as applied to others.
The most remarkable instance of this kind, is the story of Quarrè, as
quoted by Morhoff;[22] but the proof of its accuracy is defective.
Philebert de la Mare, in his life of Guion, takes occasion to introduce
the story.
During the French civil wars, Quarreus, or Quarrè, and other
magistrates of the royal party, were obliged to quit Dijon, and
remove to Saumur. In the month of August, 1594, about two o’clock in
the morning, Quarrè was awakened by a sudden shock, and heard some
unknown words pronounced. He awaked his servant, who lay in the room,
and ordered him to strike a light, that he might write down the words,
which he continued muttering to himself, lest he should forget them.
Having written them, according to the sound, they ran thus: _Oug
aposondes ton endon distiguion_. Neither himself nor the servant could
imagine what the language was, Quarrè being entirely ignorant of Greek.
Early in the morning, he met with Guion, on his way to the court, and
asked him to interpret the words. Guion knew them to be Greek, and that
they ought to be written,
Ο’υκ ὰπώσῶντες τῶν ἐνδον δυςτυχίυν:
And he added the translation: _Non repulsuri, quod intus infortunium_.
In attempting to unriddle the meaning of this mystical warning, Guion
advised Quarrè to leave the house where he lodged in Saumur, the
unwholesome air of which had occasioned him several attacks of the
cholic. But eight days afterwards, the prediction was fulfilled. Quarrè
went, on public business, to Flavignac, and during his absence, the
house fell down in the night, and crushed its inhabitants to death.
Guion is said to have written a poem on the escape of his friend. This
story rests, I believe, on the unsupported assertion of La Mare. If it
be authentic, it seems to belong to the class of dreams.
On the same principles we must explain the apparitions recorded by
VINCENTIUS, in the SPECULUM HISTORIÆ, and extracted from him by
WOLFIUS, in his LECTIONES MEMORABILES ET RECONDITÆ, particularly the
appearance of Pope Benedict to the Bishop of Capua. “Idem lib. 25.
Damianus refert: Episcopus, inquit, quidam Capuanus vidit Benedictum
majorem Papam sibi olim familiarem, nigro, quasi corporabiter, equo
insidentem: (vide quam conveniant scripturæ Apoc. 6 cum historiis) at
is territus ea visione dicebat: Heus tu, nonne es Papa Benedictus, quem
jam defunetum novimus? Ego sum, inquit, infelix iste. Quomodo, inquit,
est tibi, pater? Graviter, inquit, torqueor, sed de Dei misericordia
non dispero, si mihi adjutorium præbeatur, quia juvari possum: sed
perge, quæso, ad fratrem meum Joannem, qui nunc sedem apostolicam
occupat, eique de mea parte dic, ut illam summam, quæ potissimé in
tali theca reposita est, in pauperes distribuat: sicque me redimendum
esse quandocumque, cum hoc divina miseratio decreverit, cognoscat,
nam cætera quæ pro me indigentibus tradita sunt, nihil, mihi penitus
profuerint eo, quod de rapinis et injustitis acquisita sunt. His
auditis, Episcopus Romam impiger adiit, et Joanni Papæ (cui et ipse
apparuit ille Benedictus 9. precans idem, et dicens, O utinam Odilo
Cluniacensis pro me rogaret!) fratris verba narravit, et episcopatum
mox deposuit, et monachatum induit.”
_Lection. Memorab. et zecondit. T._ i. _p. 530_.
My observations on this subject may be strengthened, by observing the
great prevalence of spectral delusions, during the inter-regnum, in
this country, after the civil war, in 1649. The melancholic tendency of
the rigid puritans of that period; their occupancy of old family seats,
formerly the residence of hospitality and good cheer, which in their
hands became desolate and gloomy; and the dismal stories propagated by
the discarded retainers to the ancient establishments, ecclesiastical
and civil, contributed altogether to produce a national horror unknown
in other periods of our history.
A curious example of this disposition is afforded, by the trial of
Dr. Pordage, a Clergyman in Berkshire, which was published under the
frightful title of ‘_Dæmonium Meridianum, or Satan at Noon-day_;’ among
many charges brought against him, Dr. Pordage was accused of demoniacal
visions, and of frequent apparitions in his house; one of which
consisted in the representation of a coach and six, on a brick-chimney,
in which the carriage and horses continued in constant motion for many
weeks. It was said ‘that a great dragon came into his chamber, with a
tail of eight yards long, four great teeth, and did spit fire at him.
‘That his own angel stood by him, in his own shape and fashion, the
same shape, band and cuffs, and that he supported him in his combat
with the dragon.
‘That Mrs. Pordage and Mrs. Flavel had their angels standing by them
also; and that the spirits often came into the chamber, and drew the
curtains when they were in bed.’
The developement of the story, which is not necessary for my
purpose, exhibits the combined effects of mysticism, superstition
and sensuality, which evidently produced a disordered state of the
sensorium, and gave rise to the visions, which were admitted by the
parties. It is indeed, an awful truth, well known to physicians who see
many lunatics, that religious melancholy is one of the most frequent
causes of the _Dæmonomania_.
The subject of _latent lunacy_ is an untouched field, which would
afford the richest harvest to a skilful and diligent observer.
Cervantes has immortalized himself, by displaying the effect of one bad
species of composition on the hero of his satire,[23] and Butler has
delineated the evils of epidemic religious and political frenzy; but
it remains as a task for some delicate pencil, to trace the miseries
introduced into private families, by a state of mind, which “sees
more devils than vast hell can hold,” and which yet affords no proof
of derangement, sufficient to justify the seclusion of the unhappy
invalid.
This is a species of distress, on which no novelist has ever touched,
though it is unfortunately increasing in real life; though it may
be associated with worth, with genius, and with the most specious
demonstrations (for a while) of general excellence.
Addison has thrown out a few hints, on this subject, in one of the
Spectators; it could not escape so critical an observer of human
infirmities; and I have always supposed, that if the character of Sir
Roger de Coverley had been left untouched by Steele, it would have
exhibited some interesting traits of this nature. As it now appears, we
see nothing more than occasional absence of mind; and the peculiarities
of an humourist, contracted by retirement, and by the obsequiousness of
his dependants.
It has often occurred to me, that Shakespeare’s character of Hamlet
can only be understood, on this principle. He feigns madness, for
political purposes, while the poet means to represent his understanding
as really, (and unconsciously to himself) unhinged by the cruel
circumstances in which he is placed. The horror of the communication
made by his father’s spectre; the necessity of belying his attachment
to an innocent and deserving object; the certainty of his mother’s
guilt; and the supernatural impulse by which he is goaded to an act
of assassination, abhorrent to his nature, are causes sufficient
to overwhelm and distract a mind previously disposed to ‘weakness
and to melancholy,’ and originally full of tenderness and natural
affection. By referring to the book, it will be seen that his real
insanity is only developed after the mock-play. Then, in place of a
systematic conduct, conducive to his purposes, he becomes irresolute,
inconsequent, and the plot appears to stand unaccountably still.
Instead of striking at his object, he resigns himself to the current of
events, and sinks at length, ignobly, under the stream.
CHAP. V.
_Accessory causes of delusion, regarding spectral
impressions--Apparition of Desfontaines--Ghosts at Portnedown
Bridge--Lucian’s story of a Split Ghost--Instance of a Ghost in two
places at once._
It will readily occur to the reader, that the disposition of the mind
to hallucination must sometimes be powerfully aided, and encreased,
by peculiar circumstances of time and place. Chance may supply, or
artifice may contrive concomitant sounds and objects, which must appal
even the most incredulous observer. Even Bayle has doubted, whether the
imagination alone can produce spectres, without the assistance of the
arts of confederacy. This point, I trust, is now decided.
An apparition which made some noise, about the beginning of the last
century, that of DESFONTAINES, seems to have originated in a fit of
deliquium, connected strongly with the recollection of a friend.
It was published in the _Journal de Trevoux_, in 1726, and its outline
is as follows.
Mr. _Bezuel_, when a school-boy of 15, in 1695, contracted an intimacy
with a younger boy, named _Desfontaines_. After talking together of
the compacts which have been often made between friends, that in case
of death, the spirit of the deceased should revisit the survivor,
they agreed to form such a compact together, and they signed it,
respectively, with their blood, in 1696. Soon after this transaction,
they were separated, by Desfontaines’ removal to Caen.
In July, 1697, _Bezuel_, while amusing himself in hay-making, near a
friend’s house, was seized with a fainting fit, after which he had
a bad night. Notwithstanding this attack, he returned to the meadow
next day, where he again underwent a deliquium. He again slept ill.
On the succeeding day, while he was observing the man laying up the
hay, he had a still more severe attack. “I fell into a swoon: I lost
my senses: one of the footmen perceived it, and called out for help.
They recovered me a little, but my mind was more disordered than it
had been before, I was told that they asked me then what ailed me, and
that I answered; _I have seen what I thought I should never see_. But I
neither remember the question, nor the answer. However, it agrees with
what I remember I saw then, a naked man in half-length; but I knew him
not.
“They helped me to go down the ladder; I held the steps fast; but
because I saw Desfontaines my school-fellow at the bottom of the
ladder, I had again a fainting fit: my head got between two steps, and
I again lost my senses. They let me down, and set me upon a large beam,
which served for a seat in the great _Place de Capucins_. I sat upon
it, and then I no longer saw Mr. de _Sortoville_, nor his servants,
though they were present. And perceiving _Desfontaines_ near the foot
of the ladder, who made me a sign to come to him, I went back upon my
seat, as it were to make room for him; and those who saw me, and whom I
did not see, though my eyes were open, observed that motion.
“Because he did not come, I got up to go to him: he came up to me, took
hold of my left arm with his right hand, and carried me thirty paces
farther into a by-lane, holding me fast.
“The servants believing that I was well again, went to their business,
except a little foot-boy, who told Mr. de _Sortoville_, that I was
talking to myself. Mr. de _Sortoville_ thought I was drunk. He came
near me, and heard me ask some questions, and return some answers, as
he told me since.
“I talked with _Desfontaines_ nearly three quarters of an hour. I
promised you, said he, that if I died before you, I would come and tell
you so. I am dead: I was drowned in the river of _Caen_, yesterday,
about this hour. I was walking with such and such persons. It was
very hot weather; the fancy took us to go into the water; I grew
faint, and sunk to the bottom of the river. The Abbé _Meniljean_,
my school-fellow, dived to take me up. I took hold of his foot; but
whether he was afraid, or had a mind to rise to the top of the water,
he struck out his leg so violently, that he gave me a blow on the
breast, and threw me again to the bottom of the river, which is there
very deep.
* * * * *
“He always appeared to me taller than I had seen him, and even taller
than he was when he died. I always saw him in half-length, and naked,
bare-headed, with his fine light hair, and a white paper upon his
forehead twisted in his hair, on which there was a writing, but I could
only read _In_ &c.”[24]
These spectral impressions were repeated more than once, with
conversations. The accidental death of the young man was ascertained
very quickly.
This story was published by the celebrated Abbé de St. Pierre, who
concluded, very justly, that the whole appearances might be explained
from natural causes, though he failed in his mode of deduction.
The first impression was evidently occasioned by _Bezuel’s_ fainting.
I know, from my own experience, as well as that of others, that the
approach of syncope is sometimes attended with a spectral appearance,
which I believe is always a recollected image. But the subsequent
attacks, in this case, appear to have been delirious; there can be
little doubt that Bezuel was deceived in the length of his supposed
dialogue with the spectre. We know well, how fallacious, in this
respect, the train of thought proves, in dreams, and in delirium.
In this case also, we perceive, what I have frequently had occasion
to notice, the obstinacy with which a morbid impression is preserved,
and defended, long after the restoration of health. I could give most
singular, and impressive examples of this nature, if professional
delicacy permitted. In one instance, which I heard from a friend on
whose veracity I could depend, a gentleman fancied during the delirium
of a fever, that a considerable estate had been bequeathed to him; the
impression continued long after his recovery, and he was not undeceived
without much trouble and difficulty.
There is a relation, published by authority, of some apparitions,
which were seen at Portnedown bridge, after the Irish massacre, which
deserves consideration, as it must be explained on principles somewhat
different.
I shall give copies of the evidence, produced by Sir John Temple, and
shall then endeavour to explain the alarming appearances and sounds, on
natural principles.
I. _James Shaw_ of _Market-hill_ in the county of _Armagh_, inn-keeper,
deposeth, that many of the Irish rebels, in the time of this deponent’s
restraint, and staying among them, told him very often, and it was a
common report, that all those who lived about the bridge of Portnedown,
were so affrighted with the cries and noise made there of some spirits
or visions for revenge, as that they durst not stay, but fled away
thence, so as they protested, affrighted to Market-hill, saying,
they durst not stay nor return thither, for fear of those cries and
spirits, but took grounds and made creats, (Creaghs) in or near the
parish of _Mullabrac_. _Jurat._ Aug. 14, 1642.
II. _Joan_, the relict of _Gabriel Constable_, late of _Drumard_,
in the county of _Armagh_, gent, deposeth and saith, that she often
heard the rebels, _Owen O‘Farren_, _Patrick O‘Conellan_, and divers
others of the rebels at _Drumard_, earnestly say, protest and tell
one another, that the blood of some of those that were knocked on the
head, and afterwards drowned at _Portnedown_ bridge, still remained
on the bridge, and would not be washed away; and that often there
appeared visions or apparitions, sometimes of men, sometimes of women,
breast-high above the water, at or near _Portnedown_, which did most
extremely and fearfully screech and cry out for vengeance against the
Irish that had murdered their bodies there: and that their cries and
screeches did so terrify the Irish thereabouts, that none durst stay
nor live longer there, but fled and removed further into the country,
and this was common report amongst the rebels there, and that it passed
for a truth amongst them, for any thing she could ever observe to the
contrary. _Jurat. Jan. 1, 1643._
III. _Katherine_, the relict of _William Coke_, late of the county of
_Armagh_, carpenter, sworn and examined, saith, that about the 20th of
_December_, 1641, a great number of rebels in that county, did most
barbarously drown at that time one hundred and eighty protestants,
men, women, and children in the river at the bridge of _Portnedown_;
and that about nine days afterwards, she saw a vision or spirit in the
shape of a man, as she apprehended, that appeared in that river, in
the place of the drowning, bolt upright heart high, with hands lifted
up, and stood in that place there, until the latter end of Lent next
following; about which time some of the English army marching in
those parts, whereof her husband was one (as he and they confidently
affirmed to this deponent) saw that spirit or vision standing upright,
and in the posture aforementioned; but after that time the said spirit
or vision, vanished and appeared no more, that she knoweth. And she
heard, but saw not, that there were other visions and apparitions, and
much screeching, and strange noises heard in that _river_ at times
afterwards. _Jurat. February 24, 1643._
IV. _Elizabeth_, the wife of _Captain Rice Price_ of _Armagh_, deposeth
and saith, that she and other women whose husbands were murderers,
hearing of divers apparitions, and visions that were seen near
_Portnedown Bridge_, since the drowning of her children and the rest of
the protestants there, went unto the bridge aforesaid about twilight in
the evening; then and there upon a sudden, there appeared unto them
a vision or spirit, assuming the shape of a woman, waist-high upright
in the water, naked with elevated and closed hands, her hair hanging
down, very white, her eyes seemed to twinkle, and her skin as white
as snow; which spirit seemed to stand straight up in the water, and
often repeated the word, _Revenge_, _Revenge_, _Revenge_; whereat this
deponent and the rest being put into a strong amazement and affright
walked from the place. _Jurat. January 29, 1642._
V. _Arthur Arlun_, of _Clowarghter_ in the county of _Cavan_, Esquire,
deposeth that he was credibly informed by some that were present
there, that there were thirty women and young children and seven men
flung into the river of _Belturbet_, and when some of them offered to
swim for their lives, they were by the rebels, followed in carts, and
knocked upon the head with poles; the same day they hanged two women
at _Turbet_; and this deponent doth verily believe, that _Rulmore
O‘Rely_ the then sheriff, had a hand in commanding the murder of
those said persons, for that he saw him write two notes which he sent
to _Turbet_ by _Brian O‘Rely_, upon whose coming there murders were
committed: and those persons who were present also affirmed, that the
bodies of those thirty persons drowned did not appear upon the water
till about six weeks after past; as the said Rely came to the town, all
the bodies came floating up to the very bridge; and those persons were
all formerly stayed in the town by his protection, when the rest of
their neighbours in the town went away.[25]
That the sounds complained of by these witnesses were mere delusions,
there can be no doubt. The actors in such bloody scenes are liable to
tremendous recollections. The solitary hours of Charles IX. of France
were rendered horrible by the repetition of the shrieks and cries which
had assailed his ears during the massacre of St. Bartholomew.[26]
When the mind is loaded with a sense of insupportable guilt, partial
insanity is at hand; and warning, or reproaching voices distract the
feelings of the sufferer.
The appearance of bodies, sitting upright in the water, was no
deception, though it contributed by its horror, to the illusions of
the ear. This terrific visitation has occasioned much alarm, under
similar circumstances, even in modern times. We are told, that after
the executions which took place, in the bay of Naples, by order of
that court, in 1799, the body of Carraccioli[27] was seen floating,
in an erect position, several days after his death, near the vessel on
board of which he had suffered. In a certain stage of putrefaction,
the bodies of persons which have been immersed in water, rise to the
surface, and in deep water, are supported in an erect posture, to the
terror of uninstructed spectators. Menacing looks and gestures, and
even words, are supplied by the affrighted imagination, with infinite
facility, and referred to the horrible apparition. I insert a striking
instance from Dr. Clarke. “One day, leaning out of the cabin window,
by the side of an officer who was employed in fishing, the corpse of
a man, newly sewed in a hammock, started half out of the water, and
continued its course, with the current, towards the shore--Nothing
could be more horrible: its head and shoulders were visible, turning
first to one side, then to the other, with a solemn and awful movement,
as if impressed with some dreadful secret of the deep, which, from
its watery grave it came upwards to reveal. Such sights became
afterwards frequent, hardly a day passing without ushering the dead to
the contemplation of the living, until at length they passed without
observation.”[28]
LUCIAN has treated this malady of the mind with his usual
severe ridicule, in one of his most entertaining dialogues, the
_Philopseudes_. The stories of the statues, which descended at night
from their pedestals, and walked about the court, are well told. But
that of the inchanted stick is the best.
Eucrates says, that he became acquainted, in Egypt, with Pancrates,
who had resided twenty years in the subterraneous recesses, where he
had learned magic from Isis herself. “At length, he persuaded me to
leave all my servants at Memphis, and to follow him alone, telling
me that we should not be at a loss for servants. When we came into
any inn, he took a wooden pin, latch or bolt, and wrapping it in some
clothes, when he had repeated a verse over it, he made it walk, and
appear a man to every one. This creature went about, prepared supper,
laid the cloth, and waited on us very dextrously. Then, when we had
no further occasion for it, by repeating another verse, he turned it
into a pin, latch or bolt again. He refused to impart the secret of
this incantation to me, though very obliging in every thing else. But
having hid myself, one day, in a dark corner, I caught the first verse,
which consisted of three syllables. After he had given his orders to
the pin, he went into the market-place. Next day, in his absence, I
took the pin, drest it up, and repeating those syllables, ordered it to
fetch some water. When it had brought a full jar, I cried, stop, draw
no more water, but be a pin again. But instead of obeying me, it went
on bringing water, till it had almost filled the house. I, not able
to endure this obstinacy, and fearing the return of Pancrates, lest
he should be displeased, seized a hatchet, and split the pin into two
pieces. But each part, taking up a jar, ran to draw more water, so that
I had now two servants in place of one. In the mean time, Pancrates
returned, and understanding the matter, changed them into wood again,
as they were before the incantation.” We may fairly apply the Italian
saying to this story; _si non é vero, é ben trovato_.
But there is ghostly authority for the division of a goblin, equal to
most of Glanville’s histories, though I cannot now recover, the names
of the parties. The relation came to me, however, from a friend of one
of the Seers.
Two elderly ladies, resided, each in her ancient castle, adjoining to
the other, near the borders of Scotland. While they were beguiling
a tedious winter evening, with accounts of their domestic policy,
the conversation insensibly turned on the subject of their household
ghosts: for at that time, every venerable old mansion had an
established resident of that nature, who was as well known as the
family-crest.
‘Every evening, said one of the Sybils, I perceive the bust of a man,
in one of the rooms, which is distinctly visible, down to the girdle.
‘And we,’ cried the other dame, ‘have the rest of his person in our
castle, which perambulates the house every night; till this moment,
I could not imagine how the head and shoulders of the figure were
disposed of.’
I have thus presented to the reader, those facts which have afforded,
to my own mind, a satisfactory explanation of such relations of
spectral appearances, as cannot be refused credit, without removing all
the limits and supports of human testimony. To disqualify the senses,
or the veracity of those who witness unusual appearances, is the utmost
tyranny of prejudice. Yet, who, till within the last fifteen years,
would have dared to assert that stones fell from the clouds? Livy had
regularly recorded such events, and was ridiculed for supplying those
most curious facts, which must otherwise have been lost to natural
history.
In like manner, I conceive that the unaffected accounts of spectral
visions should engage the attention of the philosopher, as well as
of the physician. Instead of regarding these stories with the horror
of the vulgar, or the disdain of the sceptic, we should examine them
accurately, and should ascertain their exact relation to the state of
the brain, and of the external senses.
The terror of nocturnal illusions would thus be dissipated, to the
infinite relief of many wretched creatures; and the appearance of a
ghost would be regarded in its true light, as a symptom of bodily
distemper, and of little more consequence than the head-ach and
shivering attending a common catarrh.
There is reason to believe, that many persons suffer silently, from
these imaginary visitations, who are deterred from divulging their
distresses, by the ridicule with which complaints of this nature are
commonly treated. When the proper distinction is established, admitting
the reality of the impression, but explaining its production in the
mind alone, all difficulties of this kind may be removed, and the
apprehensions of the visionary may be readily quieted.
Lastly, by the key which I have furnished, the reader of history is
released from the embarrassment of rejecting evidence, in some of
the plainest narratives, or of experiencing uneasy doubts, when the
solution might be rendered perfectly simple.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: The experiments in this Essay appear to have been
suggested, by those of Mariotte, Le Cat, and Bernoulli.]
[Footnote 2: Zoonomia, Sect. xi. 2.]
[Footnote 3: Sect. xi. 8.]
[Footnote 4: Voyage d’Islande, in the Ambigu.]
[Footnote 5: I subjoin the original account, as it will amuse the
reader.
“In the course of my repeated tours through the Harz,[6] I ascended
the Broken twelve times; but I had the good fortune only twice, (both
times about Whitsuntide) to see that atmospheric phenomenon, called
the Spectre of the Broken, which appears to me worthy of particular
attention, as it must, no doubt, be observed on other high mountains,
which have a situation favorable for producing it. The first time I
was deceived by this extraordinary phenomenon, I had clambered up to
the summit of the Broken very early in the morning, in order to wait
for the inexpressibly beautiful view of the sun rising in the east.
The heavens were already streaked with red; the sun was just appearing
above the horizon in full majesty, and the most perfect serenity
prevailed throughout the surrounding country, when the other Harz
mountains in the south west, towards the Worm mountains, &c. lying
under the Broken began to be covered by thick clouds. Ascending at
that moment the granite rocks called the Tempelskanzel, there appeared
before me, though at a great distance, towards the Worm mountains and
the Achtermannshöhe, the gigantic figure of a man, as if standing
on a large pedestal. But scarcely had I discovered it when it began
to disappear, the clouds sunk down speedily and expanded, and I saw
the phenomenon no more. The second time, however, I saw this spectre
somewhat more distinctly, a little below the summit of the Broken, and
near the Heinnichshohe, as I was looking at the sun rising, about four
o’clock in the morning. The weather was rather tempestuous; the sky
towards the level country was pretty clear, but the Harz mountains had
attracted several thick clouds, which had been hovering round them, and
which beginning on the Broken confined the prospect. In these clouds,
soon after the rising of the sun, I saw my own shadow, of a monstrous
size, move itself for a couple of seconds in clouds, and the phenomenon
disappeared. It is impossible to see this phenomenon, except when the
sun is at such an altitude as to throw his rays upon the body in a
horizontal direction; for, if he is higher, the shadow is thrown rather
under the body than before it. In the month of September last year, as
I was making a tour through the Harz with a very agreeable party, and
ascended the Broken, I found an excellent account, and explanation of
this phenomenon, as seen by M. Haue on the 23rd of May 1797, in his
diary of an excursion to that mountain. I shall therefore take the
liberty of transcribing it.
“After having been here for the thirtieth time,” says M. Haue, “and,
besides other objects of my attention, having procured information
respecting the above-mentioned atmospheric phenomenon, I was at length
so fortunate as to have the pleasure of seeing it; and perhaps my
description may afford satisfaction to others who visit the Broken
through curiosity. The sun rose about four o’clock, and the atmosphere
being quite serene towards the east, his rays could pass without
any obstruction over the Heinnichshohe. In the south west, however,
towards the Achtermannshöhe, a brisk west wind carried before it their
transparent vapours, which were not yet condensed into thick heavy
clouds. About a quarter past four I went towards the inn, and looked
round to see whether the atmosphere would permit me to have a free
prospect to the south west; when I observed, at a very great distance
towards the Achtermannshöhe, a human figure of a monstrous size. A
violent gust of wind having almost carried away my hat, I clapped my
hand to it by moving my arm towards my head, and the colossal figure
did the same. The pleasure which I felt on this discovery can hardly be
described; for I had already walked many a weary step in the hope of
seeing this shadowy image without being able to satisfy my curiosity.
I immediately made another movement by bending my body, and the
colossal figure before me repeated it. I was desirous of doing the same
thing once more, but my colossus had vanished. I remained in the same
position, waiting to see whether it would return, and in a few minutes
it again made its appearance in the Achtermannshöhe. I paid my respects
to it a second time and it did the same to me. I then called the
landlord of the Broken; and having both taken the same position which I
had taken alone, we looked toward the Achtermannshöhe, but saw nothing.
We had not, however, stood long, when two such colossal figures were
formed over the above eminence, which repeated our compliment by
bending their bodies as we did; after which they vanished. We retained
our position; kept our eyes fixed upon the same spot, and in a little
the two figures again stood before us, and were joined by a third.
Every movement that we made by bending our bodies, these figures
imitated--but with this difference, that the phenomenon was sometimes
weak and faint, sometimes strong and well defined. Having thus had an
opportunity of discovering the whole secret of this phenomenon, I can
give the following information to such of my readers as may be desirous
of seeing it themselves. When the rising sun, and according to analogy
the case will be the same at the setting sun, throws his rays over the
Broken upon the body of a man standing opposite to fine light clouds
floating around, or hovering past him, he needs only fix his eye
steadfastly upon them, and in all probability, he will see the singular
spectacle of his own shadow extending to the length of five or six
hundred feet, at the distance of about two miles before him. This is
one of the most agreeable phenomena, I ever had an opportunity of
remarking on the great observations of Germany. Philosophical Magazine,
vol. i. page 232.]
[Footnote 6: The Harz mountains are situated in Hanover.]
[Footnote 7: Lib. i. p. 76, 77. Nam aut in vultu fœditas est, ac
turpitudo, aut uncis, hamisque, quales obscænis vulturibus insunt
manus pedesve depravatos habent, aut denique insolita, atque insigni
aliqua nota quæ naturæ immanitatem prodant, conspicuos se ostendunt.
Joannes Piscator, Henaezel; Salome, Catharina Balandræa, Nicolæa
Ganatia, Sennel Armentaria, et Joanna Gerardina, retulerunt se & sæpe,
et otiosé, atque attenté considerasse suos Magistellos, cum præsentes
colloquerentur; observasseque semper illis obscuras atrasque fuisse
facies: ac (quod Jornandes dicit de Hunnis, quos Demonibus incubis
satos ferunt) offæ similes: lumina penitus abdita, flammæ tamen
instar micantia: Oris rictus sparsos, profundos, ac perpetuó olidi,
sulphureique aliquid æstuantes: manus strigosas, et villis atque hamis
deformes: pedes corneos bifidosque: staturam nunquam justam, sed aut
brevitate aut vastitate semper aliqua insolentem, totamque adeo Seriem
extra modum.
Addit Alexia Belhoria, illum se aliquando vidisse capite, vel pede
altero truncum, mutilumque, cum forté saltationes nocturnas uná cum
suis agitaret. Quæ res me in memoriam inducit ejus rumoris, qui me
puero circumferebatur de Empusis, quarum frequentes de nocte choreæ in
triviis tum videri ferebantur (_la Mequie Hennequin_) id est, familiam
Hellequinam vocitabant: nam Hellequinos ab incubis Dæmonibus suam
traxisse originem non ignobiles Scriptores prodiderunt.
Nicolæa Ganatia, Eva Hesoletia, Jana Nigra Armacuriana, ac pleræque
aliæ vocem illis esse aiunt, qualem emittunt, qui os in dolium, aut
testam rimosam, insertum habent.... Aut certé exilem et debilem, p. 80.
In the 6th chapter, Remy has indulged his curiosity in a most
extraordinary, and almost reprehensible manner.
Ab hoc qui nobis istos concubitus, succubitusque Dæmonum memorant uno
ore loquuntur omnes, nihil iis frigidius &c. The other details are too
shocking to be repeated, p. 55.]
[Footnote 8: Cardanus de vita propria, cap. 37.]
[Footnote 9: Drummond’s Works, p. 224.]
[Footnote 10: Beaumont’s Treatise, p. 91, 4.]
[Footnote 11: Die 13 Septembris amb. illi Juvenes ad me redierunt,
dicentes: Ne metue, sed rei quæ Tibi exhibebitur, attende! 2. Et
conspexi ante me subito circulum quandam, magni solis instar, rubrum,
ac velut sanguineum: in quo lineæ fuerunt, seu maculæ, albæ & nigræ,
tanta mixtura se invicem variantes, ut jam nigrarum, jam albarum major
cerneretur numerus: duravitque spectaculum istud per justum spatium.
3. Et cum ad me dixissent Aspice! Attende! nihil metue! nihil tibi
accidet mali! 4. Ecce fulmen tribus vicibus exigui temporis intervallis
sibi succedentibus intonuit, tam horrendé et terribilé, ut totus
obrigescerem. 5. Circulus autem ille stabat porro coram me, maculæque
albæ á nigris disjungebant sese: et circulus accessit tám propé mihi,
ut manu tangere potuissem. 6. Fuit autem tam speciosus, ut toto vitæ
tempore amænioris rei speciem nullam viderim: et maculæ albæ adeò
candidæ ác jucundæ, ut admirationis modum nón invenerim. 7. Sed aliæ
illæ maculæ à nube quadam horribilitér caliginosâ ablatæ sunt: in quâ
nube tristem audivi ejulatum, etsi viderem neminem. 8. Verba tamén
ejulatûs et lamentorum fuerant, bené perceptibilia, hæc; væ nobis
qui nos caliginosæ nubi permisimus abstrahi à rotundo Divinæ gratiæ
sanguine rubente circulo, quô nos Dei gratia in Christo dilectissimo
filio suo comprehensos concluserat.
_Lux é Tenebris_, p. 119.]
[Footnote 12: Jortin’s Rem. on Ecclesiast. Hist. App. to vol. I.]
[Footnote 13: Eighth Relation, p. 202.]
[Footnote 14: De Miraculis Mortuorum.]
[Footnote 15: Wepfer. Histor. Apoplectic. p. 459.]
[Footnote 16: Garmann de Cadaverum Mumiis. Lib. iii. Tit. ii. p. 1042,
3.]
[Footnote 17: On Genius.]
[Footnote 18: De Apparitionibus mortuorum, Vivis ex Pacto factis. Lips.
1709.]
[Footnote 19: Baronii Annales.--This story was told to Baronius, by the
grandson of Mercato, who was Proto-notary of the church, and a man of
the greatest probity, as well as of general knowledge.]
[Footnote 20: De vita propria, cap. 38.]
[Footnote 21: Cap. 37.]
[Footnote 22: Polyhistor. Literar. Lib. i. Cap. 19. 9. Tom i. p. 217.]
[Footnote 23: There are beauties, in the character of Don Quixote,
which can only be understood by persons accustomed to lunatics. The
dexterity and readiness with which he reconciles all events with the
wayward system which he has adopted: his obstinacy in retaining and
defending false impressions, and the lights of natural sagacity, and
cultivated eloquence, which break frequently through the cloud that
dims his understanding, are managed with consummate knowledge of
partial insanity, though it is sometimes hardly perceptible to the
general reader.]
[Footnote 24: Memoirs de Trevoux, T. viii.--1726.]
[Footnote 25: Hist. of the Irish Rebellion, by Sir John Temple, Kt.--p.
123.]
[Footnote 26: Mem. de Sully, Liv. i.]
[Footnote 27: Clarke’s Life of Nelson, vol. II.]
[Footnote 28: Second Part of Clarke’s “Travels in various parts of
Europe, Asia, and Africa.” Page 268.]
FINIS.
PRINTED BY J. AND J. HADDOCK, WARRINGTON.
Transcriber’s Notes
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the
public domain.
Spelling, punctuation, accents, and grammar have been preserved as
printed in the original publication except as follows:
1. Page number for Chapter II in the Contents changed from 28 to 30.
2. Page number for Chapter V in the Contents, 117, added.
3. Contents page: Changed “Proofs of spectral inpressions” to “Proofs
of spectral impressions”
4. Page 13: Changed “begin this discussion, by admiting” to “begin this
discussion, by admitting”
5. Page 20: Changed “desart and inaccessible places” to “desert and
inaccessible places”
6. Page 28: Changed “in this intance” to “in this instance”
7. Page 32: Changed punctuation from “with great precipitation,” to
“with great precipitation.”
8. Page 42: Removed hyphen: “as shew how-easily” to “as shew how
easily”
9. Page 65: Changed punctuation from “another lady whom he named,” to
“another lady whom he named.”
10. Page 87: Changed “_Pandæmonum_” to “_Pandæmonium_”
11. Page 103: The author’s Greek “ψυχή δε κατα χθονὸς ήὕτε καπνὸς Ὤχετο
τετριγυῖα.” was changed to “ψυχὴ δὲ κατὰ χθονὸς ἠΰτε καπνὸς ᾤχετο
τετριγυῖα.”
12. Page 111: Changed “effects of mysticism, supperstition” to “effects
of mysticism, superstition”
13. Page 122: Removed extra period from “&c..” to “&c.”
14. Page 137: Changed punctuation from “lost to natural history,” to
“lost to natural history.”
15. Footnote #1: Changed “Bernouilli” to “Bernoulli”
16. Footnote #5: Changed “Worm mountains and the Achtermaunshohe” to
“Worm mountains and the Achtermannshöhe”
17. Footnote #5: Changed “to see that atmospheric phonomenon” to
“to see that atmospheric phenomenon”
18. Footnote #7: Changed “Jormandes” to “Jornandes”
19. Footnote #9: Changed “Such sights as youthfnl poets dream” to
“Such sights as youthful poets dream”
20. Footnote #19: Changed “who was Proto-nothary of the church” to
“who was Proto-notary of the church”
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