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 sat by the fireside, 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." Again, in the case of Nicolai,-it would appear, that, notwithstanding his boasted calmness, the spectres which he saw were not always without the power of creating in his mind a little uneasiness, as the effort which he evidently made in order to preserve his composure betrays what was the real state of the philosopher's feelings. "After I had recovered," he observes, "from the first impression of terror, I never felt myself particularly agitated by these apparitions, as I considered them to be what they really were, the extraordinary consequences of indisposition; on the contrary, I endeavoured as much as possible to preserve my composure of mind, that I might remain distinctly conscious of what was passing within me." As it is evident, from this admission, that Nicolai's phantasms had occasionally some little power in disturbing him, we shall inquire into the effect that the agitation had upon his mind :-" In the afternoon," says Nicolai, "or a little after four o'clock, the figure which I had seen in the morning again appeared. I was alone when this happened,—a circumstance which, as may easily be conceived, could not be very agreeable. I went therefore to the apartment of my wife, to whom I related it. But thither also the figure pursued me. Sometimes it was present, sometimes it vanished, but it was always the same standing figure. A little after six o'clock, several stalking figures also appeared, but they had no connexion with the standing figure. I can assign no other reason for this apparition than that, though much more composed in my mind, I had not been able so soon entirely to forget the cause of such deep and distressing vexation, and had reflected on the consequences of it, in order, if possible, to avoid. them; and that this happened three hours after dinner, at the time when digestion just begins. "At length I became more composed with respect to the disagreeable incident which had given rise to the first apparition; but though I had used very excellent medicines, and found myself in other respects perfectly well, yet the apparitions did not diminish, but, on the contrary, rather increased in number, and were transformed in the most extraordinary manner.' It is apparent from this confession, as well as from that of Beaumont, that when any phantasm has the effect of exciting strong emotions of the mind, the illusion may not only be prolonged, but repeated. The latter result occurs when the recollected ideas of former spectral impressions are subjected to a fresh morbific excitement, and when this effect is increased by the vivifying influence of the particular Hope or Fear, which the remembrance of the apparition may have induced. - An illustration to this effect is given by a writer on phantasms produced by disease, the account of which appeared in Nicholson's Journal :"I know a gentleman," he says, "in the vigour of life, who, in my opinion, is not exceeded by any one in acquired knowledge and originality of deep research; and who, for nine months in succession, was always visited by a figure of the same man, threatening to destroy him, at the time of his going to rest. It appeared upon his lying down, and instantly disappeared when he resumed the erect posture." It is evident, from this narrative, that the most vivid idea in this individual's mind at his time of going to rest, was the remembered impression of the phantasm; and hence the same illusion was most likely to be renewed by a subsequent morbific cause of excitement. The foregoing remarks will probably afford us an explanation of many cases of apparitions, in which an * Nicholson's Journal, vol. vi. page 166. individual has been haunted for many years by a similar description of phantasm, as by a good or evil genius, or by some supposed emissary from Satan, under the name of a familiar. In short, ideas which may be vivified by Hope or Fear, are, by the co-operation of morbific excitements, most easily converted into apparitions. They are then dispelled with considerable difficulty, and are rendered the more liable to return. 3 CHAPTER VII. THE ILLUSIONS WHICH HOPE AND FEAR ARE CAPABLE OF EXCITING INDEPENDENTLY OF THE CO-OPERATION OF MORBIFIC CAUSES. "Then, led by thee to some wild cave remote, My taste I ply the study of myself. Or, should the silver moon look kindly down, An apparition is, in a strict sense, a past feeling, renovated by the aid of morbific agents with a degree of vividness, equalling, or exceeding, an actual impression. If the renewed feeling should be one of vision, a form may arise perfectly complete; if of sound, a distinct conversation may be heard: or, if of touch, the impression may be no less complete. The question then is,-What illusions are Hope and Fear capable of exciting independently of the co-operation of morbific causes? In this investigation a preliminary remark may be made, that all emotions which arise from such innate U |