saw were real or not. Nor could he always distinguish who were or who were not real customers, as they came into the rooms in the day-time, so that his conduct became the subject of observation; and though it was for a time attributed to private drinking, it was at last suspected to arise from some other cause; and when I was sent for, the family were under the full conviction that he was insane, although they confessed, that, in every thing else, except the foolish notion of seeing apparitions, he was perfectly rational and steady; and during the whole of the time that he was relating his case to me, and his mind was fully occupied, he felt the most gratifying relief, for in all that time he had not seen one apparition; and he was elated with pleasure. indeed, when I told him I should not send him to York, for his was a complaint I could cure at home. But whilst I was writing a prescription, and had suffered him to be at rest, I saw him suddenly get up, and go with a hurried step to the door. What did you do that for-he looked ashamed and mortified :-he had been so well whilst in conversation with me, that he could not believe that the soldier whom he saw enter the room was a phantom, and he got up to convince himself.

"I need not here detail particularly the medical treatment adopted; but it may be as well just to state the circumstances which probably led to the complaint, and the principle of cure. Some time previously he had had a quarrel with a drunken soldier, who attempted, against his inclination, to enter his house at an unseasonable hour, and in the struggle to turn him out, the soldier drew his bayonet, and, having struck him across the temples, divided the temporal artery; in consequence of which he bled a very large quantity before a surgeon arrived, as there was no one who knew that, in such a case, simple compression with the finger, upon the spouting artery, would stop the effusion of blood. He had scarcely recovered from the effects of this loss of blood, when he undertook to accompany a friend in his walking-match against time, in which he

went forty-two miles in nine hours. Elated with success, he spent the whole of the following day in drinking, but found himself, a short time afterwards, so much out of health, that he came to the resolution of abstaining altogether from liquor. It was in the course of the week following that abstinence from his usual habits, that he had the disease. It kept increasing every day till I saw him, allowing him no time for rest. Never was he able to get rid of these shadows by night when in bed, nor by day when in motion; though he sometimes walked miles with that view, and at others got into a variety of company. He told me he suffered even bodily pain, from the severe lashing of a waggoner with his whip, who came every night to a particular corner of his bed, but who always disappeared when he jumped out of bed to retort, which he did several nights successively. The whole of this complaint was effectually removed by bleeding with leeches and active purgatives. After the first employment of these means, he saw no more phantoms in the day-time; and after the second, only once saw his milkman in his bed-room, between sleeping and waking. He has remained perfectly rational and well ever since, and can go out in the dark as well as ever, having received a perfect conviction of the nature of ghosts."

The following instance of a vision is narrated of Colonel Gardiner, by Dr. Doddridge, whose theological superstition is strongly exemplified in his prefatory

remarks.

"It is with all solemnity that I now deliver it down to posterity, as in the sight and presence of God; and I choose deliberately to expose myself to those severe censures, which the haughty, but empty scorn of infidelity, or principles nearly approaching it, and effectually doing its pernicious work, may very probably dietate upon the occasion, rather than to smother a relation, which may, in the judgment of my conscience, be likely to conduce so much to the glory of God, the honour of the gospel, and the good of mankind.

"This memorable event happened towards the middle

of July 1719. The Major had spent the evening (and, if I mistake not, it was the Sabbath) in some gay company, and had an unhappy assignation with a married woman, whom he was to attend exactly at twelve. The company broke up about eleven, and not judging it convenient to anticipate the time appointed, he went into his chamber to kill the tedious hour perhaps with some amusing book, or some other way. But it very accidentally happened that he took up a religious book, which his good mother or aunt had, without his knowledge, slipped into his portmanteau. It was called, if I remember the title exactly, The Christian Soldier, or Heaven taken by Storm; and it was written by Mr. Thomas Watson. Guessing, by the title of it, that he would find some phrases of his own profession spiritualized in a manner which, he thought, might afford him some. diversion, he resolved to dip into it; but he took no serious notice of anything it had in it; and yet while this book was in his hand, an impression was made upon his mind (perhaps God only knows how), which drew after it a train of the most important and happy consequences. He thought he saw an unusual blaze of light fall upon the book while he was reading, which he at first imagined might happen by some accident in the candle; but lifting up his eyes, he apprehended, to his extreme amazement, that there was before him, as it were suspended in the air, a visible representation of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, surrounded on all sides with a glory; and was impressed, as if a voice, or something equivalent to a voice, had come to him, to this effect (for he was not confident as to the words), 'Oh, sinner! did I suffer this for thee, and are these thy returns?' Struck with so amazing a phenomenon as this, there remained hardly any life in him; so that he sunk down in the arm chair in which he sat, and continued, he knew not how long, insensible."

A further illustration of theological superstition may be found in the following anecdotes of Martin Luther, as cited by Dr. Hibbert.

"Luther has related of himself, that being at prayer,

contemplating how Christ hung on the cross and suffered for his sins, there appeared suddenly on the wall a bright shining vision, and therein appeared also a glorious form of our Saviour Christ, with his five wounds, steadfastly looking upon him, as if it had been Christ himself corporally. Now at the first sight he thought it had been some good revelation, yet presently recollected himself, and apprehended some juggling of the devil, (for Christ, as Luther says, appeareth unto us in his word, and in a meaner and more humble form, even as he was humbled on the cross for us,) therefore, said he, I spake to the vision in this manner-' Away, thou unfounded devil, I know no other Christ than he that was crucified, and who, in his word, is pictured and preached to me.' Whereupon the image vanished, which was the very devil himself."

"A gentleman had a fine young wife, who died, and was also buried. Not long after, the gentleman and his servant lying together in one chamber, his dead wife, in the night time, approached into the chamber, and leaned herself upon the gentleman's bed, like as if she had been desirous to speak with him. The servant (seeing the same two or three nights, one after another), asked his master whether he knew, that every night a woman, in white apparel, came into his bed? The gentleman said, 'No. I sleep soundly (said he), and see nothing.' When night approached, the gentleman, considering the same, laid waking in bed. Then the woman appeared unto him, and came hard to his bed-side. The gentleman demanded who she was? She answered, 'I am your wife.' He said, 'My wife is dead and buried.' She said, 'True, by reason of your swearing and sins I died; but if you would take me again, and would also abstain from swearing one particular oath, which commonly you use, then would I be your wife again.' He said, 'I am content to perform what you desire.' Whereupon his dead wife remained with him, ruled his house, laid with him, ate and drank with, and had children together. Now it fell out, that on a time the gentleman had guests, and his wife after supper was to fetch out of

his chest some banquetting stuff; she staying somewhat longer, her husband (forgetting himself) was moved thereby to swear his accustomed oath; whereupon the woman vanished that instant. Now seeing she returned not again, they went up into the chamber to see what was become of her. There they found the gown which she wore, half lying within the chest, and half without; but she was never seen afterwards. This did the devil,' said Luther: 'he can transform himself into the shape of a man or woman.""

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A person who could seriously narrate this tale would, of course, be a likely character to see visions, and found a new sect. Lord Herbert, of Cherbury, a deist, having written a book, which he considered calculated to do away with the belief in revelation, was so inconsistent as to pray for a special revelation to prove the validity of his own book. The case, as told by himself, is as follows:

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My book, De Veritate, prout distinguitur a revelatione verisimili, possibili et a falso, having been begun by me in England, and formed there in all its principal parts, was about this time finished; all the spare hours which I could get from my visits and negociations, being employed to perfect this work, which was no sooner done, but that I communicated it to Hugo Grotius, that great scholar, who, having escaped his prison in the Low Countries, came into France, and was much welcomed by me and Monsieur Tieleners, also one of the greatest scholars of his time, who, after they had perused it, and given it more commendations than it is fit for me to repeat, exhorted me earnestly to print and publish it; howbeit, as the frame of my whole book was so different from anything which had been written heretofore, I found I must either renounce the authority of all that had been written formerly concerning the method of finding out truth, and consequently insist npon my own way, or hazard myself to a general censure concerning the whole argument of my book; I must confess it did not a little animate me, that the two great persons above