letters on demonology sir walter scott

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THE LIBRARYOFTHE UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIA

The John J. and Hanna M. McManusMorris N. and Chesley V. YoungCollection


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Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2007 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation


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LETTERS

DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT.


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CONTENTS.

PageLETTER I.Origin of the general Opinions respecting Demonologyamong MankindThe Belief in the Immortality ofthe Soul is the main Inducement to credit its occa-sional re-appearanceThe Philosophical Objectionsto the Apparition of an Abstract Spirit little un-derstood by the Vulgar and IgnorantThe situa-tions of excited Passion incident to Humanity,which teach Men to wish or apprehend Supernatu-ral ApparitionsThey are often presented by theSleeping SenseStory of SomnambulismTheInfluence of Credulity contagious, so that Individualswill trust the Evidence of others in despite of theirown SensesExamples from the Historia Verda-dera of Bernal Dias del Castillo, and from theWorksof Patrick WalkerThe apparent Evidence of In-tercourse with the Supernatural World is sometimesowing to a depraved State of the bodily OrgansDifference between this Disorder and Insanity, inwhich the Organs retain their tone, though that ofthe Mind is lostRebellion of the Senses of aLunatic against the current of his ReveriesNarra-tives of a contrary nature, in which the Evidence


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11 CONTENTS.Page

Of Nicolai, the German Bookseller and Philoso-pherOf a Patient of Dr GregoryOf an Emi-nent Scottisli Lawyer deceasedOf the same fal-lacious Disorder are other instances, which have butsudden and momentary EnduranceApparition ofMaupertuisOf a late illustrious modern PoetThe Cases quoted chiefly relating to false Impres-sions on the Visual Nerve, those upon the Ear nextconsideredDelusions of the Touch chiefly experi-enced in SleepDelusions of the Tasteand of theSmellSum of the Argument, ... 1

LETTER ILConsequences of the Fall on the communicationbetween men and the Spiritual World Eff'ects ofthe FloodWizards of PharaohText in Exodusagainst WitchesThe word IVitch is bj' some saidto mean merely PoisonerOr if in the Holy Textit also means a Divinercss, she must, at any rate,have been a character very difl*erent to be identifledAvith itThe original, Chasaph, said to mean aperson who dealt in Poisons, often a traffic of thosewho dealt with Familiar SpiritsBut different fromthe European Witch of the Middle AgesThus aWitch is not accessary to the temptation of JobThe Witch of the Hebrews probably did not rankhigher than a Divining WomanYet it was acrime deserving the doom of death, since it inferredthedisowning of Jehovah's SupremacyOther textsof Scripture, in like manner, refer to something cor-responding more with a Fortune-teller or DiviningWoman, than what is now called a WitchEx-ample of the Witch of EndorAccount of her meet-ing with SaulSupposed by some a mere Impostor


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CONTENTS. mPage

ed, supposing that, as in the case of Balak, theAlmighty had, by exertion of his will, substitutedSamuel, or a good spirit in his character, for thedeception which the Witch intended to produceResumption of the Argument, showing that the"VVitch of Endor signified something very differentfrom the modern ideas of WitchcraftThe Witchesmentioned in the New Testament are not less dif-ferent from modern ideas, than those of the Books ofMoses, nor do they appear to have possessed the powerascribed to Magicians Articles of Faith which wemay gather from Scripture on this pointThatthere might be certain Powers permitted by theAlmighty to inferior, and even evil Spirits, is possibleand, in some sense, the Gods of the Heathens mightbe accounted DemonsMore frequently, and in ageneral sense, they were but logs of wood, withoutsense or power of any kind, and their worshipfounded on impostureOpinion that the Oracleswere silenced at the Nativity, adopted by Milton-Cases of DemoniacsThe incarnate Possessionsprobably ceased at the same time as the interventionof MiraclesOpinion of the Catholics Result thatWitchcraft/ as the word is interpreted in the MiddleAges, neither occurs under the Mosaic or GospelDispensationIt arose in the ignorant period, whenthe Christians considered the Gods of the Mahom-medan or Heathen Nations as Fiends, and theirPriests as Conjurers or WizardsInstance as tothe Saracens, and among the Northern Europeansyet unconvertedThe Gods of Mexico and Peruexplained on the same systemAlso the Powahsof North AmericaOpinion of MatherGibb, asupposed Warlock, persecuted by the other Dissent-ersConclusion, , .... 48


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IV CONTENTS.

PageLETTER III.Creed of Zoroasterreceived partially into most Hea-

then NationsInstances among the Celtic Tribesof ScotlandBeltane FeastGudeman's CroftSuch abuses admitted into Christianity after theearlier Ages of the ChurchLaw of the Romansagainst WitchcraftRoman Customs survive thefall of their ReligionInstancesDemonology ofthe Northern BarbariansNicksasBhar-geistCorrespondence between the Northern and RomanWitchesThe power of Fascination ascribed to theSorceressesExample from the Eyrbiggia SagaThe Prophetesses of the GermansThe Gods ofValhalla not highly regarded by their WorshippersOften defied by the ChampionsDemons of theNorthStory of Assueit and AsmundAction ofEjectment against SpectresAdventure ofa Chami-pion with the Goddess FreyaConversion of thePagans of Iceland to Christianity NorthernSuperstitions mixed with those of the CeltsSatyrsof the NorthHighland OuriskMeming theSatyr, 85

LETTER IV.The Fairy Superstition is derived from different sourcesThe Classical Worship of the Silvans, or Rural

Deities, proved by Roman Altars discoveredTheGothic Duergar, or Dwarfs, supposed to be derivedfrom the Northern Laps or FinsThe Niebelungen-LiedKingLaurin's AdventuresCeltic Fairies ofa gayer character, yet their pleasures empty andillusoryAddicted to carry off Human Beings, both


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CONTENTS, VPage

held the same beliefIt was rather rendered moregloomy by the Northern TraditionsMerlin andArthur carried off by the FairiesAlso Thomas ofErceldouneHis Amour with the Queen of ElflandHis re-appearance in latter timesAnotherAccount from Reginald ScotConjectures on thederivation of the word Fairy, . 115

LETTER V.Those who dealt in fortune-telling, mystical cures by

charms, and the like, often claimed an intercoursewith Fairy LandHudhart or HudikinPitcairn'sScottish Criminal TrialsStory of Bessie Dunlopand her AdviserHer Practice of Medicineandof Discovery of TheftAccount of her Familiar,Thome ReidTrial of Alison PearsonAccountof her Familiar, William SympsonTrial of theLady Fowlis, and of Hector Munro, her StepsonExtraordinary species of Charm used by the latterConfession of John Stewart, a Juggler, of hisintercourse with the FairiesTrial and Confessionof Isobel GowdieUse of Elf-arrow HeadsParish of AberfoyleMr Kirke, the Minister ofAberfoyle's Work on Fairy SuperstitionsHe ishimself taken to Fairy LandDr Grahame's In-teresting Work, and his Information on FairySuperstitionsStory of a Female in East Lothiancarried off by the FairiesAnother instance fromPennant, ....... 138

LETTER VLImmediate Effect of Christianity on Articles of

Popular SuperstitionChaucer's Account of the


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VI CONTENTS.Page

Reformationhis Verses on that Subjecthis IterSeptentrionale Robin Goodfellow, and otherSuperstitions mentioned by Regin.ild ScotCha-racter of the English FairiesThe Tradition hadbecome obsolete in that Author's TimeThat of"Witches remained in vigourbut impugned byvarious Authors after the Reformation, as Wierus,Nauda?us, Scot, and othersDemonology defendedby Bodinus, Remigius, &c.Their mutual Abuseof each otherImperfection of Physical Science atthis Period, and the predominance of Mysticism inthat Department, . . . . . 1G&

LETTER VII.Penal laws unpopular when rigidly exercisedPro-

secution of V/itches placed in the hand of SpecialCommissioners, ad inquirendumProsecution forAVitchcraft not frequent in the elder Period of theRoman Empirenor in the Middle AgesSomeCases took place, howeverThe Maid of Orleans

.The Duchess of GloucesterRichard the Third'sCharge against the Relations of the Queen DowagerBut Prosecutions against Sorcerers became morecommon in the end of the Fourteenth CenturyUsually united with the Charge of HeresyMonstrelet's Account of the Persecution againstthe Waldenses, under pretext of WitchcraftFlorimond's testimony concerning the Increase ofWitches in his awn limerBull of Pope InnocentVlII.Various Prosecutions in Foreign Countriesunder this severe LawProsecutions in Labourtby the Inquisitor De Lancre and his ColleagueLycanthropyWitches in Spainin Swedenandparticularly those apprehended at Mohra, . 189


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CONTENTS. VIIPage

LETTER VIII.The effects of the. Witch Superstition are to be traced

in the Laws of a KingdomUsually punished inEngland as a crime connected with PoliticsAt-tempt at Murder for Witchcraft not in itself Capi-talTrials of Persons of Rank for Witchcraft,connected with State CrimesStatutes of HenryVIII.How Witchcraft was regarded by the threeLeading Sects of Religion in the Sixteenth Centuryfirst, by the Catholics ; second, by the Calvinists ;third, by the Church of England, and LutheransImpostures unwarily countenanced by IndividualCatholic Priests, and also by some Puritanic Cler-gymenStatute of 1562, and some Cases upon it-Case of DugdaleCase of the Witches of Warbois,and execution of the family of SamuelThat ofJane Wenham, in which some Church of EnglandClergymen insisted on the ProsecutionHutchi-son's Rebuke to themJames the First's Opinionof WitchcraftHis celebrated Statute, 1 Jac I.Canon passed by the Convocation against Posses-sionCase of Mr Fairfax's ChildrenLancashireWitches in 1613Another Discovery in 1634Webster's account of the manner in which the Im-posture was managedSuperiority of the Calvinistsis followed by a severe Prosecution of WitchesExecutions in Suffolk, &c. to a dreadful extentHopkins, the pretended Witchfinder, the cause ofthese CrueltiesHis Brutal PracticesHis LetterExecution of Mr LewisHopkins PunishedRestoration of CharlesTrial of Coxeof Dunnyand Callender before Lord HalesRoyal Societyand Progress of KnowledgeSomersetshire Witches.Opinions of the PopulaceA Woman swum forWitchcraft at OaklyMurder at TringAct


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VIU CONTEXTS.Page

EnglandDame Glover's TrialAffliction of theParvises, and frightful increase of the ProsecutionsSuddenly put a stop toThe Penitence of thoseconcerned in them, 216

LETTER IX.Scottish TrialsEarl of MarLady GlammisWil-liam BartonWitches of AuldearnTheir Ritesand CharmsTheir Transformation into HaresSatan's Severity towards themTheir CrimesSir George Mackenzie's Opinion of WitchcraftInstances of Confessions made by the Accused, indespair, and to avoid future annoyance and Perse-cutionExamination by PrickingThe Mode ofJudicial Procedure against Witches, and Nature ofthe Evidence admissible, opened a door to Accusers,and left the Accused no chance of escapeThe Su-perstition of the Scottish Clergy in King JamesVI. 's time, led them, like their Sovereign, to encou-rage Witch ProsecutionsCase of Bessie GrahamSupposed Conspiracy to Shipwreck James in hisVoyage to DenmarkMeetings ofthe Witches, andRites performed to accomplish their purposeTrialof Margaret Barclay in 1618 Case of Major Weir Sir John Clerk among the first who declinedacting as Commissioner on the Trial of a WitchPaisley and Pittenweem WitchesA Prosecutionin Caithness prevented by the Interference of theKing's Advocate in 1718The Last Sentence ofDeath for Witchcraft pronounced in Scotland in1722Remains of the Witch SuperstitionCaseof supposed Witchcraft related from the Author'sown knowledge, which took place so late as 1800, 274


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CONTENTS. IXPage

LETTER X.Other Mystic Arts independent of Witchcraft

AstrologyIts influence during the 16th and 17thCenturiesBase Ignorance of those whopractised itLilly's History of his Life and TimesAstro-logers' SocietyDr LamhDr FormanEstab-lishment of the Royal SocietyPartridgeCon-nexion of Astrologers with Elementary SpiritsDr DunIrish Superstition of the BanshieSimilar Superstition in the HighlandsBrownieGhostsBelief of Ancient Philosophers on thatSubjectEnquiry into the respect due to such talesin Modern TimesEvidence of a Ghost against aMurdererGhost of Sir George VilliersStory ofEarl St Vincentof a British General Officerof an Apparition in Franceof the second LordLytteltonof Bill Jonesof Jarvis MatchamTrial of Two Highlanders for the Murder of Ser-geant Davis, discovered by a GhostDisturbancesat Woodstock, anno 1649Imposture called theStockwell GhostSimilar case in ScotlandGhostappearing to an ExcisemanStory of a DisturbedHouse discovered by the firmness of the ProprietorApparition at PlymouthA Club ofPhilosophersGhost Adventure of a FarmerTrick upon aVeteran Soldier Ghost Stories recommended bythe Skill of the Authors who compose themMrsVeal's GhostDunton's Apparition EvidenceEffect of appropriate Scenery to encourage a ten-dency to Superstitiondiffers at distant Periodsof LifeNight at Glammis Castle about 1791Visit to Dunvegan in 1814, .... 33S


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L E T T E E SON

DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT.To J. G. LOCKHART, Esq.

LETTER I.Origin of the general Opinions respecting Demonologyamong Mankind The Belief in the Immortality of theSoul is the main inducement to credit its occasionalreappearance The Philosophical Objections to the Appa-rition of an Abstract Spirit little understood by the Vulgarand Ignorant The situations of excited Passion incidentto Humanity, which teach men to wish or appreliendSupernaturalApparitions They are oftenpresentedby theSleeping SenseStory ofSomnambulism The Influenceof Credulity contagious, so that Individuals will trust theEvidence of others in despite of their own SensesEr-amples from the Historia Verdadera of Bernal Dias delCastillo, and from the Works of Patrick Walker Theapparent Evidence of Intercourse with the Supernatural'World is sometimes oicing to a depraved State ofthe bodilyOrgansDifference between this Disorder and Insanity, in


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Z LETTERS OXis lostRebellion of the Senses of a Lunatic against thecurrent of his ReveriesNarratives ofa contrary Nature^in which the Evidence of the Eyes overbore the Convictionof the UnderstandingExample of a London Man ofPleasure OfNicolai, the German Bookseller and Phi-losopherOf a Patient ofDr Gregory Of an EminentScottish Lawyer deceasedOf this samefallacious Dis-order are other instances, which have but sudden andmomentary enduranceApparition of MaupertuisOfa late illustrious Modem Poet The Cases quoted chieflyrelating to fake Impressions on the Visual Nerve, thoseupon the Ear next consideredDelusions of the Touchchiefly experienced in SleepDelusions of the Taste-and of the SmellSum of the Argument.

You have asked of me, my dear friend, that Ishould assist the Family Library, with the historyof a dark chapter in human nature, which theincreasing civilisation ofall weU-instructed countrieshas now almost blotted out, though the subjectattracted no ordinary degree of consideration in theolder times of their history.Among much reading of my early days, it is nodoubt true that I travelled a good deal in the twilightregions of superstitious disquisitions. Many hourshave I lost," I would their debt were less !"in examining old, as well as more recent narrativesof this character, and even in looking into some ofthe criminal trials so frequent in early days, upona subject which our fathers considered as matter ofthe last importance. And, of late years, the veiycurious extracts published by Mr Pitcaim, fromthe Criminal Records of Scotland, are, besides theirhistorical value, of a nature so much calculated to


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 3more recently to recall what I had read and thoughtupon the subject at a former period.

As, however, my information is only miscel-laneous, and I make no pretensions, either tocombat the systems of those by whom I am anti-cipated in the consideration ofthe subject, or to erectany new one of my own, my purpose is, after ageneral account of Demonology and Witchcraft, toconfine myself to narratives of remarkable cases,and to the observations which naturally and easilyarise out of them ;^in the confidence that such aplan is, at the present time of day, more likely tosuit the pages of a popular miscellany, than anattempt to reduce the contents of many hundredtomes, from the largest to the smallest size, intoan abridgement, which, however compressed, mustremain greatly too large for the reader's powers ofpatience.A few general remarks on the nature of De-monology, and the original cause of the almostuniversal belief in communication betwixt mortalsand beings of a power superior to themselves, andof a nature not to be comprehended by humanorgans, are a necessary introduction to the subject.The general, or, it may be termed, the universalbelief ofthe inhabitants ofthe earth, in the existenceof spirits separated from the encumbrance andincapacities of the body, is grounded on the con-sciousness ofthe divinity that speaks in our bosoms,and demonstrates to all men, except the few whoare hardened to the celestial voice, that there iswithin us a portion of the divine substance, whichis not subject law and


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LETTERS ONabode, shall seek its own place, as a sentinel dis-missed from his post. Unaided by revelation, itcannot be hoped that mere earthly reason shouldbe able to form any rational or precise conjectureconcerning" the destination of the soul when partedfrom the body ; but the conviction that such anindestructible essence exists, the behef expressedIjy the poet in a different sense, Non omnis moriar^must infer the existence of many millions of spirits,who have not been annihilated, though they havebecome invisible to mortals, who still see, hear, andperceive, only by means of the imperfect organs ofhumanity. Probability may lead some of the mostreflecting- to anticipate a state of future rewardsand punishments ; as those experienced in theeducation of the deaf and dumb, find that theirpupils, even while cut off from all instruction byordinary means, have been able to form, out oftheir own unassisted conjectures, some ideas of theexistence of a Deity, and of the distinction betweenthe soul and bodya circumstance which proveshow naturally these truths arise in the human mind.The principle that they do so arise, being- taught orcommunicated, leads to farther conclusions.

These spirits, in a state of separate existence,being admitted to exist, are not, it may be sup-posed, indifferent to the affairs of moitahty, per-haps not incapable of influencing them. It istrue, that, in a more advanced state of society, thephilosopher may challenge the possibility of aseparate appearance of a disemboched spirit, unless


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 5purpose, no bound or restraint can possibly beassig-ned. But under this necessary limitation andexception, philosophers might plausibly argue, that,when the soul is divorced from the body, it losesall those quahties which made it, when clothed witha mortal shape, obvious to the org-ans of its fellowmen. The abstract idea of a spirit certainly impliesthat it has neither substance, form, shape, voice,or any thing" which can render its presence visibleor sensible to human faculties. But these scepticdoubts of philosophers on the possibihty of theappearance of such separated spints, do not arisetill a certain degree of information has dawned upona country, and even then only reach a very smallproportion of reflecting- and better informed mem-bers of society. To the multitude, the indubitablefact, that so many millions of spirits exist aroundand even amongst us, seems sufficient to supportthe behef that they are, in certain instances at least,by some means or other, able to communicate withthe world of humanity. The more numerous partof mankind cannot form in their mind the ideaof the spirit of the deceased existing-, withoutpossessing or having the power to assume theappearance which their acquaintance bore duringhis life, and do not push their researches beyondthis point.

Enthusiastic feelings of an impressive and solemnnature occur both in private and public life, whichseem to add ocular testimony to an intercoursebetwixt earth and the world beyond it. For


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LETTERS ONadviceor a bereaved husband earnestly desiresagain to behold the form of which the g-rave hasdeprived him for everor, to use a darker, yetvery common instance, the wretched man who hasdipped his hand in his fellow-creature's blood, ishaunted by the apprehension that the phantom ofthe slain stands by the bedside of his murderer. Inall, or any of these cases, who shall doubt thatimagination, favoured by circumstances, has powerto summon up to the organ of sight, spectres whichonly exist in the mind of those by whom theirapparition seems to be witnessed ?

If we add, that such a vision may take place inthe course of one of those hvely dreams, in whichthe patient, except in respect to the single subjectof one strong impression, is, or seems, sensible ofthereal particulars of the scene around him, a state ofslumber which often occursIf he is so far con-scious, for example, as to know that he is lying onhis own bed, and surrounded by his own familiarfurniture, at the time when the supposed apparitionis manifested, it becomes almost in vain to arguewith the visionary against the reahty of his dream,since the spectre, though itself purely fanciful, isinserted amidst so many circumstances which hefeels must be true beyond the reach of doubt orquestion. That which is undeniably certain, becomesin a manner a warrant for the reahty of the appear-ance to which doul)t would have been otherwiseattached. And if any event, such as the death ofthe person dreamt of, chances to take place, so asto correspond with the nature and the time of the


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 7accomplishment of that which haunts our mindswhen awake, and often presage the most probableevents, seems perfect, and the chain of circumstancestouching- the evidence may not unreasonably beconsidered as complete. Such a concatenation, werepeat, must frequently take place, when it isconsidered of what stuff dreams are made^hownaturally they turn upon those who occupy ourmind while awake, and, when a soldier is exposedto death in battle, when a sailor is incurring- thedangers of the sea, when a beloved wife or relativeis attacked by disease, how readily our sleepingimagination rushes to the very point of alarm, whichwhen waking it had shuddered to anticipate. Thenumber of instances in which such hvely dreamshave been quoted, and both asserted and receivedas spiritual communications, is very great at allperiods ; in ignorant times, where the natural causeof dreaming is misapprehended, and confused withan idea of mysticism, it is much greater. Yet per-haps, considering the many thousands of dreams,which must, night after night, pass through theimagination of individuals, the number of coinci-dences between the vision and real event are fewerand less remarkable than a fair calculation ofchanceswould warrant us to expect. But in countrieswhere such presaging dreams are subjects of atten-tion, the number of those which seemed to becoupled with the corresponding issue is largeenough to spread a very general behef of a positivecommunication betwixt the living and the dead.Somnambulism and other nocturnal deceptions


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8 LETTERS ONbetwixt sleeping and waking. A most respectableperson, whose active life had been spent as. masterand part owner of a large merchant vessel in theLisbon trade, gave the writer an account of suchan instance which came under his observation. Hewas lying in the Tagus, when he was put to greatanxiety and alarm, by the following incident andits consequences. One of his crew was murderedby a Portuguese assassin, and a report arose that theghost of the slain man haunted the vessel. Sailorsare generally superstitious, and those ofmy friend'svessel became unwilhng to remain on board theship ; and it was probable they might desert, ratherthan return to England with the ghost for a pass-enger. To prevent so great a calamity, the captaindetermined to examine the story to the bottom. Hesoon found, that though all pretended to have seenlights, and heard noises and so forth, the weight ofthe evidence lay upon the statement of one of hisown mates, an Irishman and a Catholic, which mightincrease his tendency to superstition, but in otherrespects a veracious, honest, and sensible person,whom Captain S had no reason to suspect wouldwilfully deceive him. He affirmed to Captain^5 , with the deepest obtestations, that thespectre of the murdered man appeared to himalmost nightly, took him from his place in the vessel,and, according to his own expression, worried hislife out. He made these commimications with adegree of horror, which intimated the reahty of hisdistress and apprehensions. The captain, withoutany argument at the time, privately resolved to


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. \)As the ship-bell struck twelve, the sleeper startedup, with a ghastly and disturbed countenance, aftid,lighting- a candle, proceeded to the galley or cook-room of the vessel. He sate down with his eyesojien, staring before him as on some terrible objectwhich he beheld with horror, yet from which hecould not withhold his eyes. After a short spacehe arose, took up a tin can or decanter, filled itwith water, muttering to himself all the whilemixed salt in the water, and sprinkled it about thegalley. Finally, he sighed deeply, like one relievedfrom a heavy burden, and, returning to his ham-mock, slept soundly. In the next morning, thehaunted man told the usual precise story of hisapparition, with the additional circumstances, thatthe ghost had led him to the galley, but that he hadfortunately, he knew not how, obtained possessionof some holy water, and succeeded in getting ridof his unwelcome visitor. The visionary was theninformed of the real transactions of the night, withso many particulars as to satisfy him he had beenthe dupe of his imagination ; he acquiesced in hiscommander's reasoning, and the dream, as oftenhappens in these cases, returned no more after itsimposture had been detected. In this case, wefind the excited imagination acting upon the half-waking senses, which were intelligent enough forthe purpose of making him sensible where he was,but not sufficiently so to judge truly of the objectsbefore him.

But it is not private life alone, or that tenorof thought which has been depressed into melan-


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10 LETTERS ONto nightly apparitionsa state of eager anxiety,or excited exertion, is equally favourable to theindulgence of such supernatural communications.The anticipation of a dubious battle, with all thedoubt and uncertainty of its event, and the convic-tion that it must involve his own fate, and that ofhis country, were powerful enough to conjure upto the anxious eye of Brutus the spectre of hismurdered friend Caesar, respecting whose death heperhaps thought himself less justified than at theIdes of March, since, instead of having achievedthe freedom of Rome, the event had only been therenewal of civil wars, and the issue might appearmost hkely to conclude in the total subjection ofliberty. It is not miraculous, that the masculinespirit of Marcus Brutus, surrounded by darknessand sohtude, distracted probably by recollection ofthe kindness and favour of the great individualwhom he had put to death to avenge the wrongsof his country, though by the slaughter of his ownfriend, should at length place before his eyes inperson the appearance which termed itself his EvilGenius, and promised again to meet him at Phi-lippi. Bnitus's own intentions, and his knowledgeof the militaiy art, had probably long since assuredhim that the decision of the civil war must takeplace at or near that place ; and, allowing that hisown imagination supphed that part of the chaloguewith the spectre, there is nothing else which mightnot be fashioned in a vivid dream or a wakingreverie, approaching, in absorbing and engrossingcharacter, the usual matter of which dreams consist.


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 11doubt the idea that he had seen a real apparition,and was not likely to scrutinize very minutely thesupposed vision, may be naturally conceived ; andit is also natural to think, that although no onesaw the %ure but himself, his contemporaries werelittle disposed to examine the testimony of a manso eminent, by the strict rules of cross-examinationand conflicting- evidence, which they might havethought apphcable to another person, and a lessdignified occasion.Even in the field of death, and amid the mortal

tug of combat itself, strong belief has wrought thesame wonder, which we have hitherto mentionedas occurring in solitude and amid darkness ; andthose who were themselves on the verge of theworld of spirits, or employed in dispatching othersto these gloomy regions, conceived they beheld theapparitions of those beings whom their nationalmythology associated with such scenes. In suchmoments of undecided battle, amid the violence,hurry, and confusion of ideas incident to the situa-tion, the ancients supposed that they saw theirdeities. Castor and Pollux, fighting in the van fortheir encouragement ; the heathen Scandinavianbeheld the Choosers of the Slain ; and the CathoHcswere no less easily led to recognise the warhkeSaint George or Saint James in the very front ofthe strife, showing them the way to conquest. Suchapparitions, being generally visible to a multitude,have in all times been supported by the greateststreng-th of testimony. When the common feehngof danger, and the animating burst of enthusiasm,


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12 LETTERS ONis the case with stringed instruments tuned to thesame pitch, of which, when one is played, thechords of the others vibrate in unison with thetones produced. If an artful or enthusiastic indi-vidual exclaims, in the heat of action, that he per-ceives an apparition of the romantic kind whichhas been intimated, his companions catch at theidea with emulation ; and most are wilHng tosacrifice the conviction of their own senses, ratherthan allow that they did not witness the samefavourable emblem, from which all draw confidenceand hope. One wamor catches the idea fromanother ; all are alike eager to acknowledge thepresent miracle, and the battle is won before themistake is discovered. In such cases, the numberof persons present, which would otherwise leadto detection of the fallacy, becomes the means ofstrengthening it.Of this disposition, to see as much of the super-natural as is seen by others around, or, in other

words, to trust to the eyes of others rather thanto our own, we may take the liberty to quote tworemarkalde instances.The first is from the Historia Verdadera of DonBernal Dias del Castillo, one of the companions ofthe celebrated Cortez, in his Mexican conquest.After having given an account of a great victoryover extreme odds, he mentions the report insertedin the contemporary Chronicle of Gomara, thatSaint lago had appeared on a white horse in vanof the combat, and led on his beloved Spaniards tovictory. It is very curious to observe the Castilian


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 13from his own observation ; whilst, at the same time,he does not venture to disown the miracle. Thehonest conquestador owns, that he himself didnot see this animating vision ; nay, that he beheldan individual cavaHer, named Francisco de Morla,mounted on a chestnut horse, and fighting- strenu-ously in the very place where Saint James is saidto have appeared. But instead of proceeding todraw the necessary inference, the devout conques-tador exclaims," Sinner that I am, what am Ithat I should have beheld the blessed apostle I"

The other instance of the infectious character ofsuperstition occurs in a Scottish book, and therecan be Httle doubt that it refers, in its first origin, tosome uncommon appearance of the aurora borealis,or the northern lights, which do not appear tohave been seen in Scotland so frequentl}^ as to beaccounted a common and familiar atmosphericalphenomenon, until the beginning of the eighteenthcentury. The passage is striking and curious, forthe narrator, Peter Walker, though an enthusiast,was a man of credit, and does not even aftect to haveseen the wonders, the reahty of which he unscru-pulously adopts on the testimony of others, towhose eyes he trusted rather than to his own. Theconversion of the sceptical gentleman of v, hom hespeaks is highly illustrative of popular creduhty,carried away into enthusiasm, or into imposture,by the evidence of those around, and at once showsthe imperfection of such a general testimony, andthe ease with which it is procured, since the generalexcitement of the moment impels even the more


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14 LETTERS ONmajority, who, from the first, had considered theheavenly phenomenon as a supernatural weapon-schaw, held for the pui'pose of a sign and warningof civil wars to come.

" In the year 1686, in the months of June andJuly," says the honest chronicler, " many yet aHvecan witness, that about the Crossford Boat, twomiles beneath Lanark, especially at the Mains, onthe water of Clyde, many people gathered togetherfor several afternoons, where there were showersof bonnets, hats, guns, and swords, which coveredthe trees and the ground; companies of men inarms marching in order upon the water side ; com-panies meeting companies, going all through other,and then all falling to the ground and disappearingother companies immediately appeared, marchingthe same way. I went there three afternoonstogether, and as I observed there were two-thmlsof the people that were together saw, and a thu^dthat saw not, and though I could see nothing, therewas such a fright and trembhng on those that didsee, that was discernible to all from those that sawnot. There was a gentleman standing next to me,who spoke as too many gentlemen and others speak,who said, ' A pack of damned witches and warlocksthat have the second sight ! the devil ha't do I see ;'and immediately there was a discernible change inhis countenance. With as much fear and trembhngas any woman I saw there, he called out, ' All youthat do not see, say nothing ; for I persuade you itis matter of fact, and discernible to all that is notstone-blind!' And those who did see told what


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 15whether small or three-barr'd, or Highland guards,and the closing knots of the bonnets, black or blueand those who did see them there, whenever theywent abroad, saw a bonnet and a sword drop in theway."*

This singular phenomenon, in wliich a multitudebelieved, although only two-thirds of them sawwhat must, if real, have been equally obvious to all,may be compared with the exploit of a humorist,who planted himself in an attitude of astonishment,with his eyes riveted on the well-known bronzelion that graces the front of Northumberland-housein the Strand, and having attracted the attentionof those who looked at him by muttering, " ByHeaven, it wags !it wags again !" contrived in afew minutes to blockade the whole street with animmense crowd, some conceiving that they hadabsolutely seen the lion of Percy wag his tail,others expecting to witness the same phenomenon.On such occasions as we have hitherto mentioned,we have supposed that the ghost-seer has beenin full possession of his ordinary powers of per-ception, unless in the case of dreamers, in whom,they may have been obscured by temporary slumber,and the possibility of correcting vagaries of theimagination rendered more difficult by want of theordinary appeal to the evidence of the bodily senses.In other respects, their blood beat temperately,they possessed the ordinary capacity of ascertaining

* Walker's Lives, Edinburgh, 1827, vol. i. p. xxxvi. It isevident that honest Peter believed in the apparition of thismartial gear, on the principle of Partridge's terror for the


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16 LETTERS ONthe truth, or discerning the falsehood, of externalappearances, by an appeal to the organ of sight.Unfortunately? however, as is now universallyknown and admitted, there certainly exists morethan one disorder known to professional men, ofwhich one important symptom is a disposition tosee apparitions.

This frightful disorder is not properly insanity,although it is some\\hat allied to that most hor-rible of maladies, and may, in many constitutions,be the means of bringing it on, and although suchhallucinations are proper to both. The differenceI conceive to be, that, in cases of insanity, themind of the patient is principally affected, whilethe senses, or organic system, offer in vain to thelunatic their decided testimony against the fantasyof a deranged imagination. Perhaps the nature ofthis collision^between a cUsturbed imagination andorgans of sense possessed of their usual accuracycannot be better described than in the embar-rassment expressed by an insane patient confinedin the Infirmary of Edinburgh. The poor man*smalady had taken a gay turn. The house, in hisidea, was his own, and he contrived to accoimtfor all that seemed inconsistent with his imaginaiylight of property ;there were many patients init, but that was owing to the benevolence of hisnature, which made him love to see the rehef ofdistress. He went little, or rather never, abroadbut then his habits were of a domestic and rathersedentary character. He did not see much company^but he daily received visits from the first charac-


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 17society. With so many supposed comforts aroundhimwith so many visions of wealth and splen-dour, one thing- alone disturbed the peace of thepoor optimist, and would indeed have confoundedmost hons vivanSy-" He was curious," he said," in his table, choice in his selection of cooks,had every day a dinner of three regular coursesand a dessert ; and yet, somehow or other, everything he ate tasted ofporridge " This dilemmacould be no great wonder to the friend to whomthe poor patient communicated it, who knew thelunatic ate nothing but this simple aliment at anyof his meals. The case was obvious ; the diseaselay in the extreme vivacity of the patient's imagi-nation, deluded in other instances, yet not absolutelypowerful enough to contend with the honest evi-dence of his stomach and palate, which, hke LordPeter's brethren in the Tale of a Tub, were indig-nant at the attempt to impose boiled oatmeal uponthem, instead of such a banquet as Ude would havedisplayed when peers were to partake of it. Here,therefore, is one instance of actual insanity, inwhich the sense of taste controlled and attempted torestrain the ideal hypothesis adopted by a derangedimagination. But the disorder to which I previ-ously alluded is entirely of a bodily character, andconsists principally in a disease of the visual organs,which present to the patient a set of spectres otappearances, which have no actual existence. Itis a disease of the same nature, which renders manymen incapable of distinguishing colours ; only thepatients go a step farther, and pervert the external


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18 LETTERS ONthe imagination, which imposes upon, and over-powers, the evidence of the senses, hut the senseof seeing (or hearing) which betrays its duty, andconveys false ideas to a sane intellect.More than one learned physician, who havegiven their attestations to the existence of thismost distressing complaint, have agreed that itactually occurs, and is occasioned by different


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 19a band of figures dressed in green, who performedin his drawing-room a singular dance, to which hewas compelled to bear witness, though he knew, tohis great annoyance, that the whole coyys de balletexisted only in his own imagination. His physicianimmediately informed him that he had lived upontown too long and too fast not to require an exchangeto a more healthy and natural course of hfe. Hetherefore prescribed a gentle course of medicine,but earnestly recommended to his patient to retireto his own house in the country, observe a temperatediet and early hours, practising regular exercise, onthe same principle avoiding fatigue, and assured himthat by doing so he might bid adieu to black spiritsand white, blue, green, and grey, with all theirtrumpery. The patient observed the advice, andprospered. His physician, after the interval ofa month, received a grateful letter from him,acknowledging the success of his regimen. Thegreen gobhns had disappeared, and with them theunpleasant train of emotions to which their visitshad given rise, and the patient had ordered histown-house to be disfurnished and sold, while thefurniture was to be sent down to his residence inthe country, where he was determined in future tospend his life, without exposing himself to thetemptations of town. One would have supposedthis a well-devised scheme for health. But, alasno sooner had the furniture of the London drawing-room been placed in order in the gallery of the oldmanor-house, than the former delusion returned infull force ! the ^veenfigurantes y whom the patient's


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20 LETTERS ONaccompany them, exclaiming with great glee, as ifthe suiFerer should have been rejoiced to see them," Here we all arehere we all are !" The visionary,if I recollect right, was so much shocked at theirappearance, that he retired abroad, in despair thatany part of Britain could shelter him from the dailypersecution of this domestic ballet.

There is reason to beheve that such cases arenumerous, and that they may perhaps arise notonly from the debility of stomach brought on byexcess in wine or spirits, which derangement oftensensibly aifects the sense of sight, but also becausethe mind becomes habitually predominated over bya train of fantastic visions, the consequence of fre-quent intoxication ; and is thus, like a dislocatedjoint, apt again to go wrong, even when a differentcause occasions the demngement.

It is easy to be supposed that habitual excite-ment by means of any other intoxicating drug, asopium, or its various substitutes, must exposethose who practise the dangerous custom to thesame inconvenience. Very frequent use of thenitrous oxide which affects the senses so strongly,and produces a short but singular state of ecstasy,would probably be found to occasion this species ofdisorder. But there are many other causes whichmedical men find attended with the same symptom,of embodying before the eyes of a patient imaginaryillusions which are visible to no one else. Thispersecution of spectral deceptions is also found toexist when no excesses of the patient can be allegedas the cause, owing, doubtless, to a deranged state of


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 21was the first who brought before the English pubhcthe leading case, as it may be called, in this depart-ment, namely, that of Mons. Nicolai, the celebratedbookseller of Berlin. This gentleman was not aman merely of books, but of letters, and had themoral courage to lay before the Philosophical Societyof Berhn an account of his own sufferings, fromhaving been, by disease, subjected to a series ofspectral illusions. The leading circumstances ofthis case may be stated very shortly, as it has beenrepeatedly before the pubUc, and is insisted on byDr Ferriar, Dr Hibbert, and others who haveassumed Demonology as a subject. Nicolai traces hisillness remotely to a series of disagreeable incidentswliich had happened to him in the beginning of theyear 1791. The depression of spirits which wasoccasioned by these unpleasant occurrences, wasaided by the consequences of neglecting a course ofperiodical bleeding which he had been accustomedto observe. This state of health brought on thedisposition to see phantasmata, which visited, or itmay be more properly said frequented, the apart-ments of the learned bookseller, presenting crowdsof persons who moved and acted before him, nay,even spoke to and addressed him. These phantomsafforded nothing unpleasant to the imagination ofthe visionary either in sight or expression, and thepatient was possessed of too much firmness to beotherwise affected by their presence than with aspecies of curiosity, as he remained convinced, fromthe beginning to the end of the disorder, that thesesingular effects were merely symptoms of the state


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S2 LETTERS ONtime, and some use of medicine, the phantomsbecame less distinct in their outUne, less vivid intheir colouring, faded, as it were, on the eye of thepatient, and at length totally disappeared.

The case of Nicolai has unquestionably been thatof many whose love of science has not been able toovercome their natural reluctance to communicateto the public the particulars attending the visitationof a disease so peculiar. That such illnesses havebeen experienced, and have ended fatally, there canbe no doubt ; though it is by no means to be inferred,that the symptom of importance to our presentdiscussion has, on all occasions, been produced fromthe same identical cause.Dr Hibbert, who has most ingeniously, as well asphilosophically, handled this subject, has treated italso in a medical point of view, with science to whichwe make no pretence, and a precision of detail towhich our superficial investigation affords us noroom for extending ourselves.The visitation of spectral phenomena is describedby this learned gentleman as incidental to sundrycomplaints ; and he mentions, in particidar, that thesymptom occurs not only in 2)lethora, as in the caseof the learned Prussian we have just mentioned, butis a frequent hectic symptomoften an associateof febrile and inflammatory disordersfrequentlyaccompanying inflammation of the braina conco-mitant also of highly excited nervous irritabilityequally connected with hypochondriaand finally,united in some cases with gout, and in others withthe effects of excitation produced by several gases.In all these cases there seems to be a morbid degree


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 23ally itself, and which, though inaccurate as a medicaldefinition, may he held sufficiently descriptive ofone character of the various kinds of disorder withwhich this painful symptom may be found allied.A very singular and interesting illustration ofsuch combinations as Dr Hibbert has recorded ofthe spectral illusion with an actual disorder, andthat of a dangerous kind, was frequently related insociety by the late learned and accomplished DrGregory of Edinburgh, and sometimes, I believe,quoted by him in his lectures. The narrative, tothe author s best recollection, was as follows :patient of Dr Gregory, a person, it is understood^of some rank, having requested the Doctor s advice,,made the following extraordinary statement of hiscomplaint. " I am in the habit," he said, " of diningat five, and exactly as the hour of six arrives, I amsubjected to the following painful visitation. The(loor of the room, even when I have been weakenough to bolt it, which I have sometimes done,flies wide open ; an old hag, like one of those whohaunted the heath of Forres, enters with a frowningand incensed countenance, comes straight up to mewith every demonstration of spite and indignationwhich could characterise her who haunted themerchant Abudah in the Oriental tale ; she rushesupon me ; says something, but so hastily that Icannot discover the purport, and then strikes me asevere blow with her staff. I fall from my chair ina swoon, which is of longer or shorter endurance.To the recurrence of this apparition I am dailysubjected. And such is my new and singular com-plaint." The doctor immediately asked. Whetherhis patient had invited any one to sit with him when


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34 LETTERS ONhe expected such a visitation ? He was answeredin the negative. The nature of the complaint, hesaid, was so singular, it was so hkely to be imputedto fancy, or even to mental derangement, that hehad shnmk from communicating" the circumstanceto any one. " Then," said the doctor, " with yourpermission, I will dine with you to-day, tete-d-tite,and we will see if your malignant old woman willventure to join our company." The patient acceptedthe proposal with hope and gratitude, for he hadexpected ridicule rather than sympathy. They metat dinner, and Dr Gregory, who suspected somenervous disorder, exerted his powers of conversa-tion, well known to be of the most varied andbriUiant character, to keep the attention of his hostengaged, and prevent him from thinking on theapproach of the fated hour, to which he was accus-tomed to look forward with so much tensor. Hesucceeded in his purpose better than he had hoped.The hour of six came almost unnoticed, and it washoped, might pass away without any evil conse-quence ; but it was scarce a moment stnick, whenthe owner of the house exclaimed, in an alarmedvoice" The hag comes again I" and dropped backin his chair in a swoon, in the way he had himselfdescribed. The physician caused him to be letblood, and satisfied himself that the periodical shocksof which his patient complained, arose from a ten-dency to apoplexy.The phantom with the crutch was only a speciesof machinery, such as that with which fancy isfound to supply the disorder called Ephialtes, ornightmare, or indeed any other external impressionupon our organs in sleep, which the patient's morbid


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 25imag-ination may introduce into the dream preceding*the swoon. In the nightmare an oppression andsuffocation is felt, and our fancy instantly conjuresup a spectre to He on our bosom. In hke mannerit may be remarked, that any sudden noise which theslumberer hears, without being- actually awakenedby itany casual touch of his person occurring inthe same manner^becomes instantly adopted inhis dream, and accommodated to the tenor of thecurrent train of thought, whatever that may happento be ; and nothing is more remarkable than therapidity with which imagination supplies a completeexplanation of the interruption, according to theprevious train of ideas expressed in the dream, evenwhen scarce a moment of time is allowed for thatpurpose. In dreaming, for example, of a duel, theexternal sound becomes, in the twinkling of an eye,the discharge of the combatants' pistols ;^is anorator haranguing in his sleep, the sound becomesthe applause of his supposed audience ;is thedreamer wandering among supposed ruins, the noiseis that of the fall of some part of the mass. Inshort, an explanatory system is adopted duringsleep with such extreme rapidity, that supposing theintruding alarm to have been the first call of someperson to awaken the slumberer, the explanation,though requiring some process of argument ordeduction, is usually formed and perfect before thesecond effort of the speaker has restored the dreamerto the waking world and its reahties. So rapid andintuitive is the succession of ideas in sleep, as toremind us of the vision of the prophet Mahommed,in which he saw the whole wonders of heaven andhell, though the jar of water which fell when his


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iib LETTERS ONecstasy commenced, had not spilled its contentswhen he returned to ordinary existence.A second, and equally remarkable instance, wascommunicated to the author by the medical manunder whose observation it fell, but who was, ofcourse, desirous to keep private the name of thehero of so singular a history. Of the friend by whomthe facts were attested, I can only say, that if Ifound myself at hberty to name him, the rank whichhe holds in his profession, as well as his attainmentsin science and philosophy, form an undisputed claimto the most implicit credit.

It was the fortune of this gentleman to be calledin to attend the illness of a person now long deceased,who in his hfetime stood, as I understand, high ina particular department of the law, which oftenplaced the property of others at his discretion andcontrol, and whose conduct, therefore, being opento public observation, he had for many years bornethe character of a man of unusual steadiness, goodsense, and integrity. He was, at the time of myfriend's visits, confined principally to his sick-room,sometimes to bed, yet occasionally attending tobusiness, and exerting his mind, apparently withall its usual strength and energy, to the conduct ofimportant affairs intrusted to him ; nor did there,to a superficial observer, appear any thing in hisconduct, while so engaged, that could argue vacil-lation of intellect, or depression of mind. Hisoutward symptoms of malady argued no acute oralarming disease. But slowness of pulse, absenceof appetite, difficulty of cUgestion, and constantdepression of spirits, seemed to draw their originfrom some hidden cause, which the patient was


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DExMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 27determined to conceal. The deep gloom of theunfortunate gentlemanthe embarrassment, whichhe could not conceal from his friendly physicianthe briefness and obvious constraint with which heanswered the interrogations of his medical adviser,induced my friend to take other methods for pro-secuting his enquiries. He applied to the sufterer'sfamily, to learn, if possible, the source of that secretgrief which was gnawing the heart and sucking thelife-blood of the imfortunate patient. The personsapplied to, after conversing together previously,denied all knowledge of any cause for the burdenwhich obviously affected their relative. So far asthey knewand they thought they could hardlybe deceived^his worldly affairs were prosperousno family loss had occurred which could be followedMath such persevering distress ; no entanglementsof affection could be supposed to apply to his age,and no sensation of severe remorse could be con-sistent with his character. The medical gentlemanhad finally recourse to serious argument with theinvalid himself, and urged to him the folly ofdevoting himself to a lingering and melancholydeath, rather than tell the subject of affliction whichwas thus wasting him. He specially pressed uponhim the injury which he was doing to his own cha-racter, by suffering it to be inferred that the secretcause of his dejection and its consequences, wassomething too scandalous or flagitious to be madeknown, bequeathing in this manner to his familya suspected and dishonoured name, and leaving amemory with which might be associated the ideaof guilt, which the criminal had died without con-fessing. The patient, more moved by this species


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^ LETTERS ONof appeal than by any which had yet been urged,expressed his desire to speak out frankly to Dr

. Every one else was removed, and thedoor of the sick-room made secure, when he beganhis confession in the following- manner :

" You cannot, my dear friend, be more con-scious than I, that I am in the course of dying-under the oppression of the fatal disease whichconsumes my vital powers ; but neither can youimderstand the nature ofmy complaint, and mannerin which it acts upon me, nor, if you did, I fear,could your zeal and skill avail to rid me of it."


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 291 am dying-, a wasted victim to an imaginary-disease." The medical gentleman listened withanxiety to his patient's statement, and, for thepresent judiciously avoiding any contradiction ofthe sick man's preconceived fancy, contented himselfwith more minute enquiry into the nature of theapparition with which he conceived himselfhaunted,and into the history of the mode by which sosingular a disease had made itself master of hisimagination, secured, as it seemed, by strong powersof the understanding, against an attack so irregular.The sick person rephed by stating, that its advanceswere gradual, and at first not of a terrible or evendisagreeable character. To illustrate this, he gavethe following accoimt of the progress of his disease.

" My visions," he said, " commenced two or threeyears since, when I found myself from time to timeembarrassed by the presence of a large cat, whichcame and disappeared I could not exactly tell how,till the truth was finally forced upon me, and I wascompelled to regard it as no domestic householdcat, but as a bubble of the elements, which had noexistence, save in my deranged visual organs, ordepraved imagination. Still I had not that positiveobjection to the animal entertained by a late gallantHighland chieftain, who has been seen to changeto all the colours of his own plaid, if a cat byaccident happened to be in the room with him, eventhough he did not see it. On the contrary, I amrather a friend to cats, and endured with so muchequanimity the presence ofmy imaginary attendant^that it had become almost indifferent to me ; whenwithin the course of a few months it gave place to,

important


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GO LETTERS ONsort, or which at least had a more imposing appear-ance. This was no other than the apparition of agentleman-usher, dressed as if to wait upon a LordLieutenant of Ireland, a Lord High Commissionerof the Kirk, or any other who bears on his browthe rank and stamp of delegated sovereignty.

" This personage, arrayed in a court dress, withbag and sword, tamboured waistcoat, and chapeau-bras, glided beside me hke the ghost of Beau Nashand whether in my own house or in another,ascended the stairs before me, as if to announce m6in the drawing-room ; and at some times appearedto mingle with the company, though it was suffi-ciently evident that they were not aware of hispresence, and that I alone was sensible of thevisionary honours which this imaginary beingseemed desirous to render me. This freak of thefancy did not produce much impression on me,though it led me to entertain doubts on the natureof my disorder, and alarm for the effect it mightproduce upon my intellects. But that modificationof my disease also had its appointed duration. Aftera few months, the phantom of the gentleman-usherwas seen no more, but was succeeded by one horribleto the sight, and distressing to the imagination,being no other than the image of death itselftheapparition of a skeleton, AJone or in company,"said the unfortunate invahd, " the presence of thislast phantom never quits me. I in vain tell myself ahundred times over that it is no reality, but merelyan image summoned up by the morbid acuteness ofmy own excited imagination, and deranged organsof sight. But what avail such reflections, while the


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 31my eyes, and while I feel myself, though in fancyonly, the companion of a phantom representing- aghastly inhabitant of the grave, even while I yetbreathe on the earth ? Science, philosophy, evenrehgion, has no cure for such a disorder ; and I feeltoo surely that I shall die the victim to so melancholya disease, although I have no belief whatever in thereality of the phantom which it places before me."The physician was distressed to perceive, fromthese details, how strongly this visionary apparitionwas fixed in the imagination of his patient. Heingeniously urged the sick man, who was then inbed, with questions concerning the circumstances ofthe phantom's appearance, trusting he might leadhim, as a sensible man, into such contradictions andinconsistencies as might bring his common sense,which seemed to be unimpaired, so strongly intothe field, as might combat successfully the fantasticdisorder which produced such fatal effects. " Thisskeleton, then," said the doctor, " seems to you tobe always present to your eyes ?"" It is my fate,unhappily," answered the invaUd, " always to seeit."" Then, I understand," continued the physician," it is now present to your imagination ?"" Tomy imagination it certainly is so," rephed the sickman. " And in what part of the chamber do younow conceive the apparition to appear ?" thephysician enquired. " Immediately at the foot ofmy bed ; when the curtains are left a Httle open,"answered the invaUd, " the skeleton, to my thinking,is placed between them, and fills the vacant space."" You say you are sensible of the delusion," saidhis friend ; " have you firmness to convince yourself


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32 LETTERS ONto rise and place yourself in the spot so seeming tobe occupied, and convince yourself of the illusion ?"The poor man sighed, and shook his head negatively.** Well," said the doctor, " we will try the experi-ment otherwise." Accordingly, he rose from hischair by the bedside, and placing himself betweenthe two half-di'awn curtains at the foot of the bed,indicated as the place occupied by the apparition,asked if the spectre was still visible ? " Not entirelyso," rephed the patient, " because your person isbetwixt him and me ; but I observe his skullpeering above your shoulder."

It is alleged the man of science started on theinstant, despite philosophy, on receiving an answerascertaining, with such minuteness, that the idealspectre was close to his own person. He resortedto other means of investigation and cure, but withequally indiiferent success. The patient sunk intodeeper and deeper dejection, and cUed in the samedistress of mind in which he had spent the lattermonths of his Hfe ; and his case remains a melan-choly instance of the power of imagination to killthe body, even when its fantastic terrors cannotovercome the intellect, of the imfortunate personswho suffer under them. The patient, in the present.case, sunk under his malady ; and the circumstancesof his singular disorder remaining concealed, he didnot, by his death and last illness, lose any of thew^eU-merited reputation for prudence and sagacity,which had attended him during the whole course ofhis Hfe.

Having added these two remarkable instances tothe general train of similar facts quoted by Ferriar,


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 33considered the subject, there can, we think, be littledoubt of the proposition, that the external organsmay, from various causes, become so much deranged,as to make false representations to the mind ; andthat, in such cases, men, in the literal sense, reallysee the empty and false forms, and hear the idealsounds, which, in a more primitive state of society,are naturally enough referred to the action ofdemonsor disembodied spirits. In such unhappy cases, thepatient is intellectually in the condition of a generalwhose spies have been bribed by the enemy, andwho must engage himself in the difficult and deli-cate task of examining and correcting, by his ownpowers of argument, the probability of the reportswhich are too inconsistent to be trusted to.

But there is a corollary to this proposition, whichis worthy of notice. The same species of organicderangement which, as a continued habit of hisderanged vision, presented the subject of our lasttale with the successive apparitions of his cat, hisgentleman-usher, and the fatal skeleton, may occupy,for a brief or almost momentary space, the visionof men who are otherwdse perfectly clear-sighted.Tmnsitory deceptions are thus presented to theorgans, which, when they occur to men of strength-of mind and of education, give way to scrutiny; .and, their character being once investigated, thetrue takes the place of the unreal representation.But in ignorant times, those instances in whichany object is misrepresented, whether through theaction of the senses, or of the imagination, or thecombined influence of both, for however short aspace of time, may be admitted as direct evidenceof a proof the


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S4 LETTERS ONdifficult to be disputed, if the phantom has beenpersonally witnessed by a man of sense and estima-tion, who, perhaps, satisfied in the general as tothe actual existence of apparitions, has not takentime or trouble to correct his first impressions.This species of deception is so frequent, that oneof the greatest poets of the present time answereda lady who asked him if he beheved in ghosts," No, madam ; I have seen too many myself." Imay mention one or two instances of the kind, towhich no doubt can be attached.The first shall be the apparition of Maupertuis, toa brother professor in the Royal Society of Berhn.

This extraordinary circumstance appeared in theTransactions of the Society, but is thus stated byM. Thiebault, in his Recollections of Frederickthe Great and the Court of Berhn. It is necessaryto premise that M. Gleditsch, to whom the circum-stance happened, w^as a botanist of eminence, hold-ing the professorship ofnatural philosophy at Berhn,and respected as a man of an habitually serious,simple, and tranquil character.A short time after the death of Maupertuis,*M. Gleditsch being obliged to traverse the hall inwhich the Academy held its sittings, having somearrangements to make in the cabinet of natuiulhistory, which was under his charge, and beingwilling to complete them on the Thursday beforethe meeting, he perceived, on entering the hall,

* Long the president of the Berlin Academy, and much,favoured by Frederick II., till he was overwhelmed by theridicule of Voltaire. lie retired, in a species of disgrace, tohis native country of Switzerland, and died there shortly


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 35the apparition of M. de Maupertuis, upright andstationary, in the first angle on his left hand, having"his eyes fixed on him. This was about three o'clockafternoon. The professor of natural philosophy-was too well acquainted with physical science tosuppose that his late president, who had died atBale, in the family of Messrs BernouUie, couldhave found his w^ay back to Berhn in person. Heregarded the apparition in no other hght than as aphantom produced by some derangement of hisown proper organs. M. Gleditsch went to his ownbusiness, without stopping longer than to ascertainexactly the appearance of that object. But herelated the vision to his brethren, and assured themthat it was as defined and perfect as the actualperson of Maupertuis could have presented. Whenit is recollected that Maupertuis died at a distancefrom Berhn, once the scene of his triumphsover-whelmed by the petulant ridicule of Voltaire, andout of favour with Frederick, with whom to beridiculous was to be worthlesswe can hardlywonder at the imagination even of a man of physi-,cal science caUing up his eidolon in the hall of hiaformer greatness.The sober-minded professor did not, however,push his investigation to the point to which it wascarried by a gallant soldier, from whose mouth aparticular friend of the author received the follow-ing circumstances of a similar story.

Captain C was a native of Britain, but bredin the Irish Brigade. He was a man of the mostdauntless courage, which he displayed in someuncommonly desperate ad\'entures during the firstyears of the being


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DO LETTERS ONemployed by the royal family in veiy dang-eroiiscommissions. After the king's death, he cameover to England ; and it was then the following-circumstance took place.

Captain C was a Catholic, and, in his hourof adversity at least, sincerely attached to the dutiesof his rehgion. His confessor was a clergymanwho was residing as chaplain to a man of rank inthe west of England, about four miles from theplace where Captain C lived. On riding overone morning to see this gentleman, his penitent hadthe misfortune to find him very iU from a danger-ous complaint. He retired in great distress andapprehension of his friend's life, and the feelingbrought back upon him many other painful anddisagreeable recollections. These occupied himtill the hour of retiring to bed, when, to his greatastonishment, he saw in the room the figure of theabsent confessor. He addressed it, but received noanswerthe eyes alone were impressed by theappearance. Determined to push the matter tothe end. Captain C advanced on the phantom,which appeared to retreat gradually before him.In this manner he followed it round the bed, whenit seemed to sink down on an elbow-chair, andremain there in a sitting posture. To ascertainpositively the nature of the apparition, the soldierhimself sate down on the same chair, ascertainingthus, beyond question, that the whole was illusion ;yet he owned that, had his friend died about thesame time, he would not well have known whatname to give to his vision. But as the confessorrecovered, and, in Dr Johnson's phrase, " nothing


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 37showing that men of the strongest nerves are notexempted from such delusions.*

Another iUusion of the same nature we have thebest reason for vouching as a fact, though, for certainreasons, we do not give the names of the parties.Not long after the death of a late illustrious poet,who had filled, while living, a great station in theeye of the public, a literary friend, to whom thedeceased had been well known, was engaged, duringthe darkening twilight of an autumn evening, inperusing one of the publications which professed todetail the habits and opinions of the distinguishedindividual who was now no more. As the readerhad enjoyed the intimacy of the deceased to aconsiderable degree, he was deeply interested in thepubHcation, which contained some particulars rela-

* The friend on whose information I rested the story inthe text, has, since its publication in this shape, favouredthe author with the following remarks :" You have not quite done justice to my story of CaptainClifford. Having, in the words of your Glorious John,

* Proved what was the courage of a ghost,'by sitting down in his lap, he undressed himself, the ghoststanding now before him. On Mr Clifford's rising, theghost retreated, and finally passed behind the curtains intobed, when Clifford turned in to him. Clifford was a singu-lar man, somewhat fanatical in his religion, but a learnedtheologian. With this, he was a good-natured philosopher,an expert chemist, a passionate pursuer of all sorts of know-ledge ; in search of which, he once attended Judge Buller ina circuit as judges' marshal. As to nerves, if ever there wasa man without fear or weakness, (saving his fanaticism,) itwas this man. He was a sort of Talus,

* An yron man,


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38 LETTERS ONting- to himself and other friends. A visitor wassitting" in the apartment, who was also engaged inreading-. Their sitting-room opened into an entrancehall, rather fantastically fitted up with articles ofarmour, skins of wild animals, and the like. It waswhen laying down his hook, and passing into thishall, through which the moon was heginning toshine, that the individual of whom I speak saw,right before him, and in a standing posture, thexact representation of his departed friend, whoserecollection had been so strongly brought to hisimagination. He stopped for a single moment, soas to notice the wonderful accuracy with whichfancy had impressed upon the bodily eye the pecu-liarities of dress and posture of the illustrious poet.Sensible, however, of the delusion, he felt nosentiment save that of wonder at the extraonUnaryaccuracy of the resemblance, and stepped onwardtowards the figure, which resolved itself, as heapproached, into the various materials of which itwas composed. These were merely a screen, occupiedby great-coats, shawls, plaids, and such other articlesas usually are found in a country entrance-hall.The spectator returned to the spot from which hehad seen the illusion, and endeavoured, with all hispower, to recall the image which had been sosingularly vivid. But this was beyond his capacityand the person who had witnessed the apparition,or, more properly, whose excited state had been themeans of raising it, had only to return, and tell theyoung friend he had left, under what a strikinghallucination he had for a moment lalioured.

There is every reason to believe that instances of


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 39temperament ; and when such occur iii an early-period of society, they are almost certain to beconsidered as real supernatural appearances. Theydiffer from those of Nicolai, and others formerlynoticed, as being of short duration, and constitutingno habitual or constitutional derangement of thesystem. The apparition of Maupertuis to MonsieurGleditsch, that ofthe Catholic clergyman to CaptainC , that of a late poet to his friend, are of thelatter character. They bear to the former the ana-logy, as we may say, which a sudden and temporaryfever-fit has to a serious feverish illness. But, evenfor this very reason, it is more difficult to bring suchmomentary impressions back to their real sj)here ofoptical illusions, since they accord much better withour idea of glimpses of the future world than thosein which the vision is continued or repeated forhours, days, and months, aifording opportunitiesof discovering, from other circumstances, that thesymptom originates in deranged health.Before concluding these observations upon thedeceptions of the senses, we must remark, that theeye is the organ most essential to the purpose ofreahzing to our mind the appearance of externalobjects, and that when the visual organ becomesdepraved for a greater or less time, and to a fartheror more Hmited extent, its misrepresentation of theobjects of sight is pecuHarly apt to terminate insuch hallucinations as those we have been detailing.Yet the other senses or organs, in their turn, andto the extent of their power, are as ready, in theirvarious departments, as the sight itself, to retainfalse or doubtful impressions, which mislead, instead


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40 LETTERS ONThus, in regard to the ear, the next organ in

importance to the eye, we are repeatedly deceivedby such sounds as are imperfectly gathered up anderroneously apprehended. From the false impres-sions receivedfrom this organ, also arise consequencessimilar to those derived from erroneous reports madeby the organs ofsight. A whole class ofsuperstitiousobservances arise, and are grounded upon inaccurateand imperfect hearing. To the excited and imperfectstate of the ear, we owe the existence of whatMilton sublimely calls

" The airy tongues that syllable men's names,On shores, in desert sands, and wildernesses."

These also appear such natural causes of alarm, thatwe do not sympathize more readily with llobinsonCrusoe's apprehensions when he witnesses the printof the savage's foot in the sand, than in those whicharise from his being waked from sleep by some onecalling his name in the solitary island, where thereexisted no man but the shipwrecked marinerhim self.Amidst the train of superstitions deduced from theimperfections ofthe ear, we may quote that visionarysummons which the natives ofthe Hebrides acknow-ledged as one sure sign of approaching fate. Thevoice of some absent, or, probably, some deceasedrelative, was, in such cases, heard as repeating theparty's name. Sometimes the aerial summonerintimated his own death, and at others, it was nouncommon circumstance that the person who fanciedhimself so called, died in consequence ;for thesame reason that the negro pines to death who islaid under the ban of an Obi woman, or the Cambro-


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 41well, with the usual ceremonies, devoting him tothe infernal gods, wastes away and dies, as onedoomed to do so. It may be remarked also, thatDr Johnson retained a deep impression that, whilehe was opening the door of his college chambers,he heard the voice of his mother, then at manymiles' distance, call him by his name ; and it appearshe was rather disappointed that no event of conse-quence followed a summons sounding so decidedlysupernatural. It is unnecessary to dwell on thissort of auricular deception, of which most men'srecollection will supply instances. The followingmay be stated as one serving to show by whatslender accidents the human ear may be imposedupon. The author was walking, about two yearssince, in a wild and sohtary scene with a youngfiriend, who laboured under the infirmity of a severedeafness, when he heard what he conceived to bethe cry of a distant pack of hounds, soundingintermittedly. As the season was summer, this,on a moment's reflection, satisfied the hearer thatit could not be the clamour of an actual chase, andyet his ears repeatedly brought back the supposedcry. He called upon his own dogs, of which twoor three were with the walking party. They camein quietly, and obviously had no accession to thesounds which had caught the author's attention, sothat he could not help saying to his companion," I am doubly sorry for your infirmity at thismoment, for I could otherwise have let you hearthe cry of the Wild Huntsman." As the young-gentleman used a hearing tube, he turned whenspoken to, and, in doing so, the cause of the


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42 LETTERS ONsoimd was in fact a nigh one, being the singing ofthe wind in the instrument which the young gen-tleman was obhged to use, but which, from variouscircumstances, had never occurred to his elder friendas likely to produce the sounds he had heard.

It is scarce necessary to add, that the highlyimaginative superstition of the Wild Huntsman inGermany seems to have had its origin in strongfancy, operating upon the auricular deceptions,respecting the numerous sounds hkely to occur inthe dark recesses of pathless forests. The sameclew may be found to the kindred Scottish behef,so finely embodied by the nameless author ofAlbania :" There, since of old the haughty Thanes of RossWere wont, with clans and ready vassals throng'd,To wake the hounding stag, or guilty wolf;There oft is heard, at midnight or at noon.Beginning faint, hut rising still more loud,And louder, voice of hunters, and of hounds,And horns hoarse-winded, hlowing far and keen.Forthwith the hubhuh multiplies, the airLabours with louder shouts and rifer dinOf close pursuit, the broken cry of deerMangled by throttling dogs, the shouts of men.And hoofs, thick-beating on the hollow hill

:

Sudden the grazing heifer in the valeStarts at the tumult, and the herdsman's earsTingle with inward dread. Aghast he eyesThe upland ridge, and every mountain round,But not one trace of living wight discerns,Nor knows, o'erawed and trembling as he stands,To what or whom he owes his idle feiirTo ghost, to witch, to fairy, or to fiend.But wonders, and no end of wondering finds."*


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 43It must also be remembered, that to the auricular

deceptions practised by the means ofventriloquism orotherwise, may be traced many ofthe most successfulimpostures which credulity has received as super-natural communications.The sense of touch seems less liable to perversionthan either that of sight or smell, nor are theremany cases in which it can become accessary tosuch false intellig-ence, as the eye and ear, collecting"their objects from a greater distance, and by lessaccurate enquiry, are but too ready to convey. Yetthere is one circumstance in which the sense oftouch as well as others is very apt to betray itspossessor into inaccuracy, in respect to the circum-stances which it impresses on its owner. The caseoccurs during sleep, when the dreamer touches withhis hand some other part of his own person. Heis clearly, in this case, both the actor and patient,both the proprietor of the member touching, and ofthat which is touched ; while, to increase the com-phcation, the hand is both toucher of the limb onwhich it rests, and receives an impression of touchfrom it ; and the same is the case with the limb,which at one and the same time receives an impres-sion from the hand, and conveys to the mind areport respecting the size, substance, and the like,of the member touching. Now, as during sleep,the patient is unconscious that both limbs are hisown identical property, his mind is apt to be muchscarce, that I have only seen a copy belonging to the amiable and inge-nious Dr Beattie, besides the one which I myself possess, printed inthe earher part of last century. It was reprinted by ray late friend DrLeyden, in a small volume, entitled Scottish Descriptive Poems.Albania contains the above, and many other poetical passages of the


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44 LETTERS ONdisturbed by the complication of sensations arisingfrom two parts of his person being* at once actedupon, and from their reciprocal action ; and falseimpressions are thus received, which, accuratelyenquired into, would afford a clew to many puzzling"phenomena in the theory of dreams. This pecu-liarity ofthe organ of touch, as also that it is confine(Jto no particular organ, but is diffused over the wholeperson of the man, is noticed by Lucretius :

" Ut si forte manu, quam vis jam corporis, ipseTute tibi partem ferias, seque experiare."A remarkable instance of such an illusion was

told me by a late nobleman. He had fallen asleep,with some uneasy feelings arising from indigestion.They operated in their usual course of visionaiyterrors. At length they were all summed up in theapprehension, that the phantom of a dead man heldthe sleeper by the wrist, and endeavoured to draghim out of bed. He awaked in horror, and still feltthe cold dead grasp of a corpse's hand on his rightwrist. It was a minute before he discovered thathis own left hand was in a state of numbness, andwith it he had accidentally encircled his right ami.The taste and the smeD, hke the touch, conveymore direct intelligencethan the eye and the ear, andare less likely than those senses to aid in misleadingthe imagination. We have seen the palate, in thecase of the porridge-fed lunatic, enter its protestagainst the acquiescence of eyes, ears, and touch, inthe gay visions which gilded the patient's confine-ment. The palate, however, is subject to impositionas well as the other senses. The best and most


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DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT. 45betwixt different kinds of wine, if he is preventedfrom assisting his palate by the aid of his eyes,that is, if the glasses of each are administered indis-criminately while he is blindfolded. Nay, we areauthorized to beheve, that individuals have died inconsequence of having supposed themselves to havetaken poison, when, in reaUty, the draught they hadswallowed as such, was of an innoxious or restora-tive quality. The delusions of the stomach canseldom bear upon our present subject, and are nototherwise coAdiected with supernatural appearances,than as a good dinner and its accompaniments areessential in fitting out a daring Tarn o' Shanter,who is fittest to encounter them, when the poet'sobservation is not unlikely to apply

** Inspiring baiild John Barleycorn,What dangers thou canst make us scorn !Wi' tippenny we fear nae evil,Wi' usquebae we'll face the devil.The swats sae ream'd in Tammie's noddle,Fair play, he caredna deils a boddle !"

Neither has the sense of smell, in its ordinarystate, much connexion with our present subject*Mr Aubrey tells us, indeed, of an apparition, whichdisappeared with a curious perfume as well as amost melodious twang; and popular belief ascribes tothe presence of infernal spirits, a strong relish of thesulphureous element of which they are inhabitants.Such accompaniments, therefore, are usually unitedwith other materials for imposture. If, as a generalopinion assures us, which is not positively discoim-tenanced by Dr Hibbert, by the inhalation of certain

can


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46 LETTERS ONa person to believe he sees phantoms, it is hkelythat the nostrils are made to inhale such sufi'umi-gution, as well as the mouth.*

I have now arrived, by a devious path, at theconclusion of this letter, the object of which is toshow from what attributes of our nature, whethermental or corporeal, arises that predisposition tobeheve in supernatural occurrences. It is, I think,conclusive, that mankind, from a very early period,have their minds prepared for such^events by theconsciousness of the existence of a**^'itual world,infening- in the geneml proposition the undeniabletruth, that each man, from the monarch to thebeggar, who has once acted his part on the stage,continues to exist, and may again, even in a disem-bodied state, if such is the pleasure of Heaven, foraught that we know to the contraiy, be pemiittedor ordained to mingle amongst those who yet remainin the body. The abstract possibiHty of apparitionsmust be admitted by every one who beheves in aDeity, and his superintending omnipotence. Butimagination is apt to intrude its explanations andinferences founded on inadequate evidence. Some-times our violent and inordinate passions, originating

* Most ancient authors, who pretend to treat of the won-ders of natural magic, give receipts for calling up phantoms.The lighting lamps fed by peculiar kinds of medicated oil,and the use of suffumigations of strong and deleterious herbs,are the means recommended. From these authorities, per-haps, a professor of legerdemain assured Dr Alderson ofHull, that he could compose a preparation of antimony,sulphur, and other drugs, which, when burnt in a confinedroom, would have the effect of causing the patient to sup

letters on demonology sir walter scott

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