eyes, I saw a high wall on which the sun darted his refulgent rays. I then said, 'O, my friend, how shall I contrive to raise myself so as to be able to see the sphere of the sun?' He thereupon showed me several steps which were upon my right hand, and bade me ascend them. Having gone to a little distance from him, I mounted several of those steps backwards, and began by little to see the approaching sun. I ascended as fast as I could, in the manner above mentioned, so that I at last discovered the whole solar orb; and because its powerful rays dazzled me, I, upon perceiving the cause of it, opened my eyes, and looking steadfastly on the great luminary, exclaimed: 'O brilliant sun! whom I have so long wished to behold; I from henceforward desire to behold no other object, though the fierce lustre of thy beams quite overpowers and blinds me.' In this manner I stood with my eyes fixed on the sun; and after I had continued thus wrapped up for some time, I saw the whole force of his rays united fall on the left side of his orb, and the rays being removed, I, with great delight and equal astonishment, contemplated the body of the glorious luminary, and could not but consider the concentrating of its beams upon the left as a most extraordinary phenomenon. I meditated profoundly on the divine grace which had manifested itself to me this morning, and thus raised my voice: O wonderful power! O glorious influence divine! how much more beauteous art thou to me than I expected!' The sun divested of its rays appeared a ball of purest melted gold. Whilst I gazed on this noble phenomenon, I saw the centre of the sun swell and bulge out, and in a moment there appeared a Christ upon the Cross, formed of the self-same matter as the sun; and so gracious and pleasing was his aspect, that no human imagination could ever form so much as a faint idea of such beauty. As I was contemplating this glorious apparition, I cried out aloud, 'A miracle! a miracle! O God! O clemency divine! O goodness infinite! What mercies dost thou lavish on me this morn

ing!' At the very time that I thus meditated and uttered these words, the figure of Christ began to move towards the side where the rays were concentrated, and the middle of the sun swelled and bulged out as at first. The protuberance having increased considerably, was at last converted into the figure of a beautiful Virgin Mary, who appeared to sit with her son in her arms, in a graceful attitude, and even to smile. She stood between two angels of so divine a beauty, that imagination could not even form an idea of such perfection. I likewise saw in the same sun a figure dressed in sacerdotal robes; this figure turned its back to me, and looked towards the blessed Virgin holding Christ in her All these things I clearly and plainly saw, and with a loud voice continued to return thanks to the Almighty. wonderful phenomenon having appeared before me about eight minutes, vanished from my sight, and I was instantly conveyed back to my couch."*

arms.

This

In the two examples which follow, the apparitions may be partially explained by the sympathies which exist between members of the same family, and in whom we have often noticed a common psychological character, especially between the husband and wife, producing not only the same expression of countenance, but even the same tone of thought. Such persons will frequently interchange their thoughts without any direct communication with each other, but, as it were, by a kind of divination.

Example 18. "One morning, in 1652, Philip, the second Earl of Chesterfield, saw a thing in white, like a standidg sheet, within a yard of his bedside. He attempted to catch it, but it slid to the foot of the bed, and he saw it no more. His thoughts turned to his lady, who was then at Networth, with her father, the Earl of Northumberland. On his arrival at Networth, a

*The Life of Benvenuto Cellini. Translated from the original by Thomas Nugent, LL.D., F.S.A.

footman met him on the stairs with a packet directed to him from his wife, whom he found with Lady Essex, her sister, and Mrs. Ramsay. He was asked why he returned so suddenly. He told his motive; and on perusing the letters in the packet, he found that his lady had written to him, requesting his return, for she had seen a thing in white, with a black face, by her bedside. These apparitions were seen by the Earl and Countess at the same moment, when they were forty miles asunder."*

Example 19. A youth of eighteen, having no tendency to enthusiasm or romance, and with an entire absence of superstition, was residing at Ramsgate for the benefit of his health. In a ramble to one of the neighboring villages, he happened to go into a church towards the close of day, and was struck aghast by the spectre of his mother, who had died some months before of a painful and lingering disease, an object of great compassion and commiseration. The figure stood between him and the wall, and remained for a considerable time without motion. Almost fainting, he hastened home; and the same spectre appearing to him in his own room for several successive evenings, he felt quite ill from the agitation, and hastened off to Paris to join his father, who was living there. At the same time he determined to say nothing of the vision, lest he should add to the distress already weighing him down, from the loss of a tender and affectionate wife, the object of his unbounded love.

"Being compelled to sleep in the same room with his father, he was surprised to observe that a light was kept burning all the night, and for which there had always been previously a great dislike. After several hours of watchfulness from the effect of the light, the son ventured out of bed to extinguish it. His father soon after woke up in great agitation, and commanded him to relight it, which he did, much wondering at the anger displayed

*Dendy: Opus cit. p. 27. From a letter of Philip, the second Earl of Chesterfield.

and the marks of terror on his father's countenance. On asking the reason of the alarm, he was put off by some vague excuse, and told at some future time he would be informed of it.

"A week or more had elapsed, when, finding his own rest so very much disturbed by the light, he once more, when his father appeared in a sound sleep, ventured to extinguish it; but the father almost immediately jumped out of bed in the greatest trepidation, remonstrated with him on his disobedience, re-lighted the lamp, and told him that whenever he was left in the dark the spectre of his deceased wife appeared to him, and remained immovable till he could again obtain a light, when it disappeared.

"This made a strong impression on the boy's mind; and fearing to aggravate his father's grief should he relate the Ramsgate. adventure, he soon after left Paris, and went to an inland town about sixty miles off, to visit his brother, who was at school there, and to whom he had not communicated what had occurred to himself, for fear of ridicule. He had scarcely entered the house and exchanged the usual salutations, when the son of the schoolmaster said to him, 'Has your brother ever shown any signs of insanity for he has behaved very strangely lately. He came down stairs the other night in his shirt, in the greatest alarm, declared he had seen his mother's ghost, and dared not go into his room again, and then fainted away from excess of terror.'"

"Had there been a coincidence in point of time," adds Dr. Wigan, "how would this have seemed to corroborate the superstitious belief that the spirits of the dead return to the earth?” This argument does not seem to us so irresistible as to Dr. Wigan; for in the case of the Earl of Chesterfield, the vision did occur at the same time. With respect to the vision appearing to three different people, it may be explained by the strong affection which they had for the deceased, by her dying under the most distressing circumstances, and from the fact that "each of the family had the power of forming a voluntary image of any object

at will on shutting the eyes, and that each could draw from memory a representation of it, more or less accurate."*

Example 20. The celebrated Bodin, in his work entitled De Demonomanie des Sorciers, relates the following history :

"I have heard," he says, "of a person now living who had a spirit which always waited on him, and whom he had known for more than thirty years. Every morning, at three or four o'clock, the spirit knocked at his door, and that getting up, he would sometimes open the door, but saw no one. . . . The spirit always accompanied him, and gave him a sensible sign, such as touching him on his right ear, if he did anything that was wrong, and on his left ear, if he did what was right. If any one came for the purpose of deceiving him, or to take him off his guard, then he suddenly perceived the signal on his right ear; but if he was an honest man, and intended him good, he perceived the signal on his left ear. . . . If any evil thought entered into his mind, and he dwelt upon it, he soon felt the signal to desist. . . . . Lastly, by a kind of inspiration, he was able to divine the meaning of his dreams, as well as of similar reveries, which came to him in ill health or when his mind was disturbed. So that, during all this time, nothing has occurred to him but what he has been warned of beforehand.

"One day, being in great danger of his life, and having prayed to God with all his heart that it might please Him to preserve him at daybreak, being between sleeping and waking, he perceived on his bed a young child clothed in a white robe, whose countenance was of marvelous beauty. This reassured him."+

This case has a peculiar interest attached to it, as an example of those hallucinations to which M. Michea has given the name

Wigans: Opus cit. p. 167.

J. Bodin Augevin: De la Demonomanie des Sorciers, p. 11, et suiv. Grand in-8vo: Paris, 1587. At Rouen there is an edition in 8vo, published at Aubers in 1593.