Collins’s Sermon, Rev. H., i. 135
Cometism, The Trinity of, i. 19
Constantine victorious, i. 38
Creslow, Haunted chamber at, ii. 92
Criticism upon Mr. Congreve, i. 20
Crookes, Mr. W., on Spiritualism, ii. 159, 162, 164
Cross of Constantine, The, i. 35
---- fire seen in France in 1826, A, i. 16
Cure, Miraculous, i. 95
---- Miraculous, by the Blessed Sacrament, i. 121, 125
Daimonomagia, i. 174
Dale-Owen, Mr., quoted, ii. 183, 185
Death of Captain Speer, i. 253
---- of Rev. S. B. Drury, i. 251
De Lisle’s, Miss, death, Supernatural music at, i. 135
De Lisle, Mr., on the Weld ghost story, ii. 54
---- Mr. Edwin, on Strauss, i. 2
Demons, Belief in, ii. 212
Denial of the Supernatural, i. 1
Details of the Supernatural, i. 8
Discovery of a lost will, i. 204
Disease of witchcraft, i. 174
Double apparition at time of death, ii. 55
---- in the West Indies, ii. 58
Dr. Lamb, the sorcerer, i. 202
Dr. Newman on ecclesiastical miracles, i. 36
Dr. Samuel Johnson on the Lyttelton story, ii. 45
Dr. William Harvey’s escape from death, i. 284
Dream of a child, Warning given in the, i. 260
---- of a dignitary realized, i. 257
---- of a housekeeper realized, i. 240
---- of a widow lady, i. 258
---- of Adam Rogers, i. 219
---- of Andrew Scott, i. 261
---- of Mr. Matthew Talbot, i. 225
---- of Mr. Williams of Scorrier, i. 226
---- of the Princess Natgotsky, i. 255
---- of the Swaffham tinker, i. 215
---- Prognostication of death in a, i. 250
---- Remarkable, of a clergyman, i. 247
---- Warning given in a, i. 254
---- Warning neglected, i. 244
Dreams and visions, i. 211
Dreams, Nature of, i. 210
---- of James Jessop, i. 244, 245
---- recorded in Scripture, i. 211
---- reproduction of thoughts in, i. 215
---- supernatural, i. 210
Dunbar’s testimony, Rev. Dr., ii. 218
Dungeon at Glamis Castle, The, ii. 114
Early Popes martyrs, The, i. 31
Eastern form of exorcism, i. 162
Ecclesiastical miracles, i. 32
Effect of the Supernatural, i. 7
Elimination of God, The, i. 19
Elizabeth Gorham bewitched, i. 187
---- Style accused of witchcraft, i. 177
---- Tibbots bewitched, i. 178
---- Treslar hung for witchcraft, i. 181
Ellinor Shaw and Mary Philips, i. 182
Emperor Julian thwarted, The, i. 42
English canon concerning exorcism, i. 164
---- statutes against witchcraft, i. 163
“Eternal,” The term, i. 5
Execution of Frederick Caulfield, i. 223
---- of Lamb’s servant, i. 203
Exhumation of James Quin, i. 236
Exorcism, Power of, i. 57, 69, 82
---- Latin form of, i. 138
---- Oriental form of, i. 162
Facts of witchcraft and necromancy, i. 164
Faculty of Jerome Cardan, i. 283
Fall of aerolites, i. 25
False reasoning, i. 26
Ferrers family, Omen concerning, i. 272
Florence Newton accused of witchcraft, i. 180
Friday an unlucky day, i. 282
Ghost of Bisham Abbey, ii. 91
God and His creatures, i. 4
---- The elimination of, i. 19
Guesses of Science, The, i. 14
Hand of Arrowsmith preserved, i. 95
Hanmer, Mr. C. L., on an apparition, ii. 60
Hannah Green’s testimony, i. 242
Haunted houses and localities, ii. 82
---- chamber at Creslow, ii. 92
---- Glamis Castle, ii. 114
---- house at Barby, ii. 109
---- house at Berne, ii. 126
---- house in Cheshire, ii. 116
---- house in Scotland, ii. 123
---- place at York Castle, ii. 96
---- places, ii. 84
---- police cell, ii. 121
---- road near Cardiff, ii. 114
---- room at Glamis Castle, ii. 112
---- room in the Tower, ii. 104
---- spot in Yorkshire, ii. 100
Hell-Fire Club, The, ii. 207
Henry Spicer’s testimony, Mr., ii. 75
---- IV. of France, Omen of death to, i. 267
Herder on Witchcraft, ii. 210
Heresies of the modern Spiritualists, ii. 185, 191
Home, Mr. Daniel, ii. 151, 153
Hospitals, Christian in their origin, i. 10
Howell, Mr. J., on Spiritualism, ii. 176, 177
Howitt, Mr. W., on eternal punishment, ii. 186, 188
Hume on miracles, i. 23
Increase Mather on the tests of demoniacal possession, i. 173
---- Mather’s “Cases of Conscience,” i. 195
Inquiries regarding Wynyard, ii. 33
Jane Brookes accused of witchcraft, i. 175
---- Wenham accused of witchcraft, i. 192
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, on the Lyttelton ghost, ii. 45
Kostka’s, S. Stanislaus, apparition, ii. 53
---- picture at Stonyhurst, ii. 53
Labarum, The, i. 37
Lactantius on dreams, i. 213
Lady Betty Cobb, ii. 15
Lancashire demoniacs, The, i. 171
Lane, Mr., on Modern Necromancy, ii. 215, 217
Laud, Omens concerning Archbishop, i. 271
Law of causation, The, i. 3
Lecky, Mr. W. H. E., on the Oxford Movement, ii. 232
Legion, The Thundering, i. 34
Longdon, Mary, bewitched, i. 194
Lord Falkland, Omen concerning, i. 270
Lord Litchfield’s note of a presentiment, i. 281
---- testimony, i. 281
Lord Westcote’s testimony, ii. 42
Lyttelton Ghost story, ii. 36, 42, 46
Macdonald’s, A., case of second sight, i. 285
Macknish on dreams, i. 215
Major George Sydenham, ii. 22
Marquis de Marsay on Spirits, ii. 86
Mary of Medicis, Omen of death to, i. 267
Media, Table of Spiritual, ii. 143
Mines, Haunted, ii. 84
Ministry of Angels, ii. 82
Miracles at Rome in 1792, i. 17
---- Bishop Hall on, ii. 230
---- examination of at Rome, ii. 227
---- of our Lord, i. 30
---- of Prince Hohenlohe, i. 17
---- wrought by the Blessed Sacrament, i. 123, 126
Miracle at Garswood, i. 96
---- at Metz, i. 128
---- at Typasa, i. 42
---- under Marcus Aurelius, i. 33
Miraculous cure at Pontoise, i. 83
---- facts, Tradition of, i. 32
---- of Joseph Lamb, i. 95
---- of Mary Wood, i. 114
---- of Winifred White, i. 116
Mediumship, ii. 143
---- Clairlative, ii. 146
---- Clairvoyant, ii. 150
---- Developing, ii. 148
---- Duodynamic, ii. 148
---- Gesticulating, ii. 144
---- Homo-motor, ii. 147
---- Impersonating, ii. 145
---- Impressional, ii. 150
---- Manipulating, ii. 145
---- Missionary, ii. 149
---- Motive, ii. 144
---- Neurological, ii. 146
---- Pantomimic, ii. 145
---- Pictorial, ii. 148
---- Psychologic, ii. 147
---- Psychometric, ii. 148
---- Pulsatory, ii. 145
---- Speaking, ii. 150
---- Symbolic, ii. 147
---- Sympathetic, ii. 146
---- Therapeutic, ii. 149
---- Tipping, ii. 144
---- Vibratory, ii. 144
Miss Weld’s testimony, ii. 54
Modern scientific methods, i. 10
Monsignor Patterson’s testimony, ii. 52
More’s “Antidote against Atheism,” i. 173
Mr. De Lisle on Miracles, i. 15
Mr. De Lisle’s testimony, ii. 54
Mr. Edwin De Lisle in reply to Strauss, i. 4
Mr. E. Lenthal Swifte’s testimony, ii. 104
Mr. George Fortescue’s declaration, ii. 43
Mr. Henry Cope Caulfeild’s testimony, ii. 115
Mr. Herbert Spencer answered, i. 11
Mr. J. G. Godwin’s declaration, ii. 68
Mr. Laxon’s wife tormented, i. 189
Mr. M. P. Andrews’ declaration, ii. 43
Mr. Ralph Davis on the Northampton witches, i. 182
Mr. Rutherford’s declaration, i. 263
Mr. William Talbot’s testimony, i. 226
Mrs. Baillie-Hamilton’s testimony, ii. 66
Mrs. George Lee’s testimony, i. 230
Mrs. Kempson’s testimony, i. 254
Murder discovered by a dream, i. 221
---- of Maria Martin discovered, i. 231
---- of the crippled and imbecile, i. 9
Naturalistic materialism, i. 10
Nature of God, i. 6
---- dreams, i. 210
Necromancy recognized by the fathers, i. 161
---- in China, ii. 220
Northamptonshire witches, The, i. 182
Notions, reintroduction of Pagan, i. 13
Old traditions generally accepted, ii. 90
Omen concerning Archbishop Laud, i. 271
---- concerning King Charles I., i. 268, 269, 270
---- concerning Lord Falkland, i. 270
Omens and prognostications, i. 263
---- The subject of, i. 263
Opinions of Strauss, i. 3
Oracles, The cessation of, i. 282
Ostrehan’s, Captain, testimony, ii. 218
Oxenham omen, The, i. 273
Pagan notions, Reintroduction of, i. 13
Patterson’s, Monsignor, information, ii. 52
Perrone, Father, on Spiritualism, ii. 184
Philipsons of Colgarth, The, i. 90
Planchette, Use of, ii. 220, 222
Plumer Ward’s, Mr., account of the Lyttelton ghost, ii. 46
Plutarch on the “Cessation of Oracles,” i. 282
Popes martyrs, The early, i. 31
Portrait of S. Stanislaus, ii. 53
Power and malice of Satan, ii. 83
---- of blessing and cursing, i. 90
---- of exorcism claimed exclusively, i. 163
Presentiment of Lieutenant R----, i. 250
---- of death, i. 262
---- to Lady Warre’s chaplain, i. 281
Principle of benediction, The, i. 88
Principles of the Broad Church party, ii. 137
Prognostication of death in a dream, i. 250
---- of death to Captain Speer, i. 252
Prognostications and omens, i. 263
Propriety of a revelation, i. 5
Purbrick, Rev. E. J., on the Weld ghost story, ii. 54
Purport of dreams, i. 212
Rebuilding of the Temple, i. 42
“Report on Spiritualism” quoted, ii. 153
Rev. Dr. Cox’s testimony, ii. 54
Rev. Dr. J. M. Neale’s testimony i. 243
Rev. Edward Price on the World of Spirits, ii. 82
Rev. G. R. Winter on the Swaffham tinker, i. 215
Rev. H. N. Oxenham’s testimony, i. 277
Rev. J. Richardson’s testimony, i. 253
Rev. John Wesley on evil spirits, ii. 85
Rev. Joseph Jefferson’s testimony, ii. 100
Rev. Mr. Perring’s dream realized, i. 234
Rev. T. J. Morris’s testimony, i. 240
“Rules for the Spirit Circle” quoted, ii. 151
S. Augustine on miracles, i. 30
S. Bernard on dreams, i. 214
S. Cyprian on dreams, i. 214
S. Cyril on dreams, i. 214
S. Irenæus on miracles, i. 41
S. John’s College, Oxford, Founding of, i. 267
S. Pacian on miracles, i. 41
S. Thomas Aquinas on dreams, i. 214
Sacrilege discovered by a dream, i. 232
“Sadducismus Triumphatus” referred to, i. 199
Satan, power and malice of, ii. 83
Science and faith, Rev. R. S. Hawker on, ii. 239
Science of the Pagan oracles, i. 161
“Scientific View of Modern Spiritualism” quoted, ii. 143
Scott, Dream of Andrew, i. 261
Scripture on witchcraft and necromancy, i. 164
Séance at the Marshalls’, i. 203
---- record of, from “Spiritual Magazine,” ii. 169
Second sight, Treatise on, i. 285
---- at Cardiff, i. 286
---- at Ramsbury, i. 288
---- Jerome Cardan’s gift of, i. 283
Sexton, Dr. G., on spiritualism, ii. 225
Shakespeare’s conception of the supernatural, ii. 89
Singular prognostication, i. 250
Sir Christopher Heydon on astrology, i. 200
Sir George Caulfeild, i. 223
Sir Henry Chauncy trying witches, i. 193
Sir Henry Yelverton and his death, i. 95
Sir Martin Beresford, ii. 13
Sir Matthew Hale’s evidence as to witchcraft, i. 163
Sir Thomas Brown’s evidence against witchcraft, i. 163
Slade’s, Sir Alfred, testimony, ii. 218
Somerset omen, The, i. 266
Sorcery of Dr. Lamb, i. 202
_Sortes Virgilianæ_, The, i. 269, 270
Sound of a drum, The, i. 278
Southey on haunted localities, ii. 84
Spectral dog, The, i. 280
Spectre of Lady Hobby, The, ii. 91
Spedlin’s Tower haunted, ii. 97
Spirits, perturbed, ii. 87
---- World of, ii. 82
Spiritualism despised, ii. 139
---- modern, ii. 135, 169
---- Mr. W. Crookes on the phenomena of, ii. 159
---- Origin of, ii. 141
Spiritualistic manifestations, i. 205;
ii. 151, 153, 155, 157, 160, 161, 163, 169, 173, 175, 176, 177, 178,
180
Statement of Lord Lyttelton’s valet, ii. 45
Stigmatization, i. 98, 100, 101, 102, 105, 109
Strauss, Opinions of, i. 2
Successful exorcism by an English clergyman, i. 80
Sudden death of Ruth Pierce, i. 289
Supernatural banished, The, ii. 140
---- basis of life, i. 12
---- its work, i. 2
---- noises at Abbotsford, ii. 99
---- religion, i. 18
Surey demoniac, The, i. 177
Tertullian on dreams, i. 213
Testimony to the fulfilment of a solemn Curse, i. 117
The Chester-le-Street apparition, ii. 3
The Christian system, i. 26
The Lyttelton ghost story, ii. 35
The Misses Amphlett, ii. 39
The Oxenham omen, i. 274
The result of a solemn Curse, i. 117
The sound of a drum, i. 278
The spectral dog, i. 280
---- bird, ii. 128
The use of the Sign of the Cross, ii. 4
The white bird of the Oxenhams, i. 274
Theories concerning dreams, i. 210
Thirteen to Dinner, i. 281
Thomas Aquinas on miracles, S., i. 28
Three men rescued by a dream, i. 231
Tichborne dole, The, i. 264
---- Curse and Prophecy, The, i. 265
---- Mabella, Lady, i. 264
---- Sir Henry, i. 265
---- Sir Roger, i. 264
Tinley, Dream of Samuel, i. 262
Tradition of miraculous powers, i. 32
Treatise on second sight, i. 285
Trial of Rev. E. Arrowsmith, i. 91
Trinity of Comteism, The, i. 19
Twice-repeated dream of a sailor, i. 231
Tyrone apparition, The, ii. 11
Unalterable experience, i. 24
Use of the Sign of the Cross, ii. 4
Wallace, Mr. A., on spiritualism and science, ii. 193
Wandering souls, ii. 87
Ward’s account of the Lyttelton ghost, Mr., ii. 46
Warning given in a dream, i. 238, 254
---- given to a lady by a dream, i. 242
---- to a lady, i. 258
---- to a little child, i. 260
---- to two persons in dreams, i. 258
“Weekly Register,” The, on Mr. Wallace’s theories, ii. 197
Weld ghost story, The, ii. 49
---- Philip, drowned, ii. 50
---- Very Rev. Alfred, S. J., on the Weld ghost story, ii. 54
Weld’s, Philip, apparition, ii. 53
Westcote, Lord, on the Lyttelton ghost, i. 33
White’s Dream, Sir Thomas, i. 266
Witchcraft and necromancy, i. 152
---- and sorcery, Canon Melville on, i. 156
---- common in non-Catholic countries, i. 201
---- condemned in Scripture, i. 152, 155
---- Definition of, i. 174
---- Examples of, i. 176-201
---- George More on, i. 171
---- Herder on, ii. 210
---- Jane Wenham accused of, i. 192
---- Joseph Glanville on, i. 175
---- recognized by the Fathers, i. 161
---- Rev. John Wesley on, i. 160
Witches, The Northamptonshire, i. 182
“Wonders of the Invisible World,” i. 198
World of spirits, The, ii. 82
Wynyard ghost story, The, ii. 26
FOOTNOTES:
[1] “Westminster Review,” July, 1872.
[2] Acts xvii. 27.
[3] The idea of the eternal enters largely into the stock arguments of
unbelief; for it is through the asserted “eternity of matter” that the
unbeliever shifts away the ideas of creation and a creator.
[4] Articles of Religion, No. 1, Book of Common Prayer.
[5] Christianity, as we know, exhorted men and women to the care of the
aged, the suffering, and the infirm. Our Blessed Saviour’s promise,
regarding the gift of a cup of cold water and its reward, was not
forgotten. Christian love resisted and cast out Pagan selfishness.
Hospitals were built where the diseases of the poor might be cured; where
the sore distress of hopeless pain and slow wasting-away might be soothed;
and asylums were provided where the weak and imbecile might be tended. Now
if the Pagan theories of “scientific people” are applied, the chief duty
of physicians in the future will be to poison their patients. Such a
conception would be ludicrous were it not so utterly revolting.
[6] A writer in an influential organ of opinion connected with the
American Church puts forth the following vigorous protest:--
“It is quite as well that we should be accustomed to the logical
consequences of some of our philosophies. The tradition of Christianity is
so strong upon the most ‘advanced’ of our wise men that it holds them back
from the carrying-out of their principles. But here and there is one, and
we should all be thankful to him who is so intellectually constituted that
he must carry ‘a law’ to its issue, and by the issue let us see the nature
of the law. The hint of what may be is given in the revival of the
advocacy of suicide for the wretched, and the putting to death of the
helpless. Naturalism carried out comes to that conclusion. Mr. Herbert
Spencer had been patiently laying down principles which scores who think
they think are accepting, without the slightest idea, on his part
apparently or on theirs, that they are simple savagery and pure Paganism,
and that the man who dines off his aged mother has been acting on them,
though Mr. Spencer’s name had never been heard in his native speech.
“In some sense of the supernatural, in some faith in the unseen, in some
feeling that man is not of this world, in some grasp on the Eternal God,
and on an eternal, supernatural, and supersensuous life, lies the basis of
all pity and mercy, all help and comfort and patience and sympathy among
men. Set these aside, commit us only to the natural, to what our eyes see
and our hands handle; and while we may organize society scientifically,
and live according to ‘the laws of nature,’ and be very philosophical and
very liberal, we are standing on the ground on which every pack of wolves
gallops.
“One may safely say, ‘If you will show me, on any principle of naturalism,
or any rule of what you shallowly in these days call ‘philosophy,’ on any
law of nature, why I should not strangle my deaf and dumb child, smother
my paralytic father, or drown my hopelessly insane wife, then I will turn
materialist also.’ We are far from believing that these gentlemen know how
they have been undermining the foundations of civilized and social life. A
lurid glare cast across these speculations, like this English discussion
of Euthanasia, may startle some whom Mr. Tyndall’s discussion of the
scientific absurdity of prayer might not startle, though both are locked
in one, and stand or fall together. But however it be, we are sure that
man will find that society stands on supernatural ground, that the Family
and the Nation are divine, and that ‘Naturalism,’ modified or disguised as
it may be, is only isolated savagery--‘every man for himself, and the
weakest to the wall.’”
[7] A writer in the “Church Journal” of New York puts the case well and
fairly as follows:--“The scientific people have taken up the lost weapons
of bigoted theological polemics, and assail with the rough sides of their
tongues and pens any man who calls for further evidence, or presumes to
bring their assumptions to the test of examination. But having no more
reverence for the unsustained _dicta_ of Sir Charles Lyell, Mr. Proctor,
or Professor Tyndall, than for the same sort of _dicta_ from a Middle Age
monk, we shall go on calling for proof. Our credulity is incapable of
saying ‘we know’ about a thing of which, when we examine, nobody ‘knows’
anything, except that some scientific man asserts it in his book.
“We are not ‘enemies to science;’ we only want science, and not guesses.
And the thoroughly unscientific, uncritical, and credulous way in which
men like Mr. Proctor are declaring ‘we know’ about things of which they
know nothing, is one of the greatest obstacles with which science has to
contend.”
[8] “La Croix de Migné vengée de l’incrédulité du siècle.” Published at
Paris, in 1829.
[9] “Account of the Miraculous Events at Rome in the years 1792 and 1793.”
Published in London, by Keating and Brown, Duke Street, Grosvenor Square.
[10] Hume’s “Essays and Treatises on Various Subjects,” second edition,
vol. ii. p. 122. London, 1784.
[11] Ibid. vol. ii. p. 133.
[12] Take for example the subject of meteoric stones. Marked changes with
regard to a belief in these, have existed in the past. The scholar can
testify that antiquity is undoubtedly in favour of their existence.
Plutarch, for example, in his “Life of Lysander,” describes a celebrated
aerolite which fell in Thrace, and History testifies unmistakably to
similar events--more particularly to the preservation of such in ancient
temples. Yet it was not until the year 1803, when meteoric stones fell at
L’Aigle in Normandy, that the Academy of Sciences in Paris appointed a
committee to investigate the case, and their report determined the
question. Mr. W. G. Nevill, F.G.S., of Gresham Street, City, London,
comprises the above in the following testimony to facts which appeared in
the “Standard,” of Feb. 25, 1873. “With reference to a paragraph headed
‘An Exercise of Credulity’ in your paper of the 24th instant, allow me to
offer a few observations, as the circumstance narrated therein of the fall
of an aerolite on board the Seven Stones light-vessel, as narrated by the
crew, is of extreme interest. The men in the light-vessel service are
carefully selected by the elder brethren of the Trinity House and trained
to make observations on the weather and record them in books at the time,
which books are received as evidence in the Admiralty Court. Their account
agrees in the main with the details given in other cases. My father, Mr.
W. Nevill, of Godalming, has a collection of specimens of 226 distinct
falls of such bodies. These take place in all parts of the world. I
believe only one instance has before been recorded in England. That
occurred at Wold Cottage, Thwing, Yorkshire, on Dec. 13, 1795. One of the
earliest recorded falls took place at Guisheim, in Alsace, during a
battle, Nov. 7, 1492, and was preserved in the neighbouring church. A
large shower of stones took place at L’Aigle, in north of France, on April
26, 1803 (not very far from the Seven Stones). These stones are of a grey
ashy colour and invariably coated with black enamel; other meteorites are
composed of solid native iron, and are sometimes of large size, as the one
at Bitburg in Rhenish Prussia, which weighed several tons.”
[13] “Athenæum,” for March 12, 1859, p. 350.
[14] Testimonies to the Supernatural amongst Christian writers are
abundant. The following may be instanced as a few concerning such events,
both in the second and third centuries:--Justin Martyr, Ap. ii. cap. vi.;
Dial. cum Tryph. cap. xxxix. and lxxxii.; Irenæus, ii. 31 and v. 6;
Tertullian “Apolog.” cap. 23, 27, 32, 37; “Origen against Celsus,” book i.
p. 7 and book vii. pp. 334-335, Ed. Spencer; Dionysius of Alexandria, in
“Eccl. Hist.” of Eusebius, vi. 40; Minucius Felix Octav. p. 361, Ed.
Paris, 1605; S. Cyprian, “De Idol. Vanit.” p. 14.
[15] S. John xiv. 12.
[16] “Hist. Eccles.” cap. v. Chronicon. p. 82.
[17] The following version by Dio. Cassius, translated from the “Annals”
of Baronius, affords no slender testimony to the account by Eusebius given
in the text:--“When the barbarians would not give them battle, in hopes of
their perishing by heat and thirst, since they had so surrounded them that
they had no possible means of getting water; and when they were in the
utmost distress from sickness, wounds, sun, and thirst, and could neither
fight nor retreat, but remained in order of battle and at their posts in
this parched condition, suddenly clouds gathered, and a copious rainfall,
not without the mercy of God. And when it first began to fall, the Romans,
raising their mouths towards heaven, received it upon them; next, turning
up their shields and helmets, they drank largely out of them, and gave to
their horses. And when the barbarians charged them, they drank as they
fought, and numbers of them were wounded.... And while they were thus
incurring heavy loss from the assault of the enemy, because most of them
were engaged in drinking, a violent hailstorm and much lightning were
discharged upon the enemy. And thus water and fire might be seen in the
same place falling from heaven, that some might drink refreshment and
others be burnt to death.”--Dion. Cass. “Hist.” lxxi. p. 805.
[18] The treatise of Apollinaris, it should be added, is lost; and there
seems to be some ground for believing that a particular Legion bore the
name “Thundering” as far back as the days of Augustus. This latter
assertion, however, even if proved, cannot set aside the leading facts
recorded in the text.
[19] “Life of Marcus Antonius,” chap. xxiv.
[20] “Historia Romana,” lxi. 8.
[21] Mosheim’s “Ecclesiastical History” (Ed. Stubbs), vol. i. pp. 99-101.
London, 1863.
[22] “Two Essays on Scripture Miracles and on Ecclesiastical,” by J. H.
Newman, pp. 273-4, Second Edition. London, 1870.
[23] Socrates, Philostorgius, Gelasius, and Nicephorus declare that the
Cross was in the sky. Sozomen, too, on the authority of Eusebius, makes a
similar statement. So likewise does Rufinus.
[24] This standard was known by the name of the “Labarum”--a word the
etymology of which is very uncertain. It was a pole plated with gold, upon
which was laid horizontally a cross-bar, so as to form the figure of a
cross. The top of the perpendicular shaft was adorned with a golden crown,
ornamented with precious stones. In the middle of this crown was a
monogram representing the name of Christ by the two Greek initial letters
Χ and Ρ. A purple veil of a square figure hung from the cross-bar, which
was likewise spangled with jewels. Gretser, “De Cruce,” Lib. i. cap. iv.
[25] S. John v. 20.
[26] Liber cont. Hær. c. xxxi.
[27] Daniel ix. 20-27.
[28] These miraculous interventions are testified to by S. Gregory
Nazianzen, S. Chrysostom, and S. Ambrose, as well as by Rufinus, Socrates,
Sozomen, and Theodoret. They are also recorded by Philostorgius the Arian,
and by Ammianus the Pagan. Bishop Warburton published a volume entitled
“Julian” in proof of their miraculous character, and they are acknowledged
as such by Bishop Halifax on p. 23 of his “Discourses.”
[29] Those who testify to the truth of this miracle are firstly a
Christian prelate, Victor Vitenus, “Hist. Pers.” sec. Vandal, iii. p. 613,
whose words are translated above; the Emperor Justinian (who declares that
he had seen some of the sufferers, “Codex Justin.” Lib. I. Tit. xxx. Ed.
1553); the Greek historian, Procopius of Cæsarea, who asserts that their
tongues were cut off as low down as their throat, and that he had
conversed with them, Lib. I. “De Bell. Vand.” cap. viij. and x. 1. Æneas
of Gaza, a Platonic philosopher, who, having examined their mouths,
remarked that he was not so much surprised at their being able to talk, as
at their being able to live. He saw them at Constantinople. Mosheim,
amongst Protestants, and Dodwell, the nonjuror, amongst English writers,
frankly admit the miracle. The most lucid and exhaustive account, however,
may be found in Section ix. of Dr. J. H. Newman’s “Essays on Miracles,”
pp. 369-387 (Second edition, London, 1870), where the ancient evidence is
set forth at length.
[30] On this subject a volume has recently been published, entitled “The
Tongue not Essential to Speech: with Illustrations of the Power of Speech
in the African Confessors.” By the Hon. Edward Twistleton. London: 1873.
This book has been carefully and exhaustively criticized in “The Month,”
for September, 1873. It will be sufficient here to remark that the modern
scientific objections to this miracle, that, because in a certain case, by
the skill of an operator, a tongue was so removed with marked dexterity in
recent times, therefore the power of speech retained by the African
Confessors was an ordinary event, are objections at once inconsequential
and invalid.
[31] “De Civitate Dei,” Lib. xxii. p. 8.
[32] “Epist. Sti. Greg.;” “Hist. Bed.” Lib. i. c. xxxj.
[33] _Vide_ “Sti. Bernardi Vita,” _in loco_, published by Mabillon.
[34] They were examined on the spot, by virtue of a Commission from John
III. King of Portugal, and were generally acknowledged, not only by
Europeans, but also by native Mahometans and Pagans. The important and
conclusive testimony of three Protestant writers--Hackluyt, Baldens, and
Tavernier--is set forth in Bouhours’ “Life of Francis Xavier,” which our
own poet, John Dryden, translated and published.
[35] S. Matthew xv. 22-28.
[36] S. Mark iii. 11. _Ibid._ iii. 15, 22-30.
[37] S. Mark v. 2-15. See also S. Luke viii. 26-40. Instances of such
power bestowed and exercised over unclean or deaf and dumb spirits may be
found in the following:--S. Mark vi. 13; vii. 25-30; ix. 17-29. S. Luke
iv. 33-37; ix. 38-42; xi. 14-26. Acts v. 12, 16; xvi. 16-18; xix. 13-20;
xxviii. 3-6.
[38] One of the most distinguished physicians in London recently assured
the Editor that, in his judgment, numerous peculiar and remarkable cases
both of epilepsy and madness could only be duly and rationally accounted
for by the Christian theory of possession; and he himself declared that if
the Church’s spiritual powers on the one hand, and the virtue of faith on
the other, were more commonly put into practice than they are, many cures,
by God’s blessing, might be looked for.
[39] “The History of Cornwall,” by Fortescue Hitchins, Esq., in 2 vols.
4to. Helston, 1824. Vol. ii. pp. 548-51.
[40] The parish of Little Petherick is six miles north of S. Columb, and
three due south from Padstow.
[41] Bishop Seth Ward, D.D.--Editor.
[42] “No minister or ministers shall ... without the license and direction
(_mandatum_) of the Bishop ... attempt upon any pretence whatsoever either
of possession or obsession, by fasting or prayer, to cast out any devil or
devils, under pain of the imputation of imposture or cosenage, and
deposition from the ministry.”--Canons of 1604, No. 72.
[43] Mr. Hawker quotes from the Diary of Mr. Ruddle for July 10th, 1665,
the following triumphant entry:--“How sorely must the infidels and
hereticks of this generation be dismayed when they know that this Black
Death, which is now swallowing its thousands in the streets of the great
city [London] was foretold six months agone, under the exorcisms of a
country minister, by a visible and suppliant ghost! And what pleasures and
improvements do such deny themselves who scorn and avoid all opportunity
of intercourse with souls separate, and the spirits, glad and sorrowful,
which inhabit the unseen world.”--pp. 123-4.
[44] In the act of exorcism, of course it is not necessary that the
exorcist be a clergyman, in other words, in holy orders. An “exorcist”
technically so called, when formally ordained, is only in “minor” and not
in “holy” or “sacred orders.” Any Christian layman, with faith and a
hearty desire and readiness to abide by the rules of the Church, can
perform the act of exorcism, if no duly-ordained exorcist can be had; just
as a layman (in the absence of a priest), can validly baptize. By baptism
the “old man” is cast out, and the work of regeneration formally effected.
By exorcism, some evil spirit or devil is expelled from a person
possessed, in the Name of our Adorable Redeemer, Who triumphed over death
and hell, and Who delegated Divine powers to the Church which He
instituted. “It belongs to an exorcist,” writes a distinguished Western
divine, “by exorcisms to deliver energumens and catechumens from the
vexations of demons.”--“Axioms concerning the Sacraments,” No. lxviii. of
Augustinus Hunnæus. On this point, the same theologian, sometime Professor
of Theology at Louvain, writes thus:--“In adults catechism, whereby the
doctrine of faith is delivered, ought to precede baptism; but exorcism,
whereby evil spirits are expelled, and the senses opened to the perception
of the mysteries of Salvation, ought to precede catechism. _Both, as well
catechism as exorcism, pertain to the office of a priest_; but in
catechizing he uses the ministry of a reader: _in exorcism that of an
exorcist_.”--“Axioms concerning the Sacraments,” No. xii.
[45] This clergyman, whose name the Editor is not at liberty to mention,
is known to many to be “a discerner of spirits.” He is now a dignitary of
the English Church in the colonies.
[46] “The same has been attested to myself by M. Denison, nephew to the
celebrated Morand, whom I saw at that time at Maubuisson-les-Pontoise. He
ran the same career as his uncle, and was also distinguished for his
merit. F. G. P.”
[47] Deut. x. 8; Numb. vi. 22-26, a form which the Christian Church has
adopted and retained.
[48] Heb. vii. 7.
[49] Another version of this conversation gives the report as follows:
“And should I die unjustly and undeservedly, my lord, in that case, you,
my lord, shall soon die too, and follow me; yea within the compass of a
year.”--_MS. Letter of Very Rev. Dr. Husenbeth._
[50] “That _dead_ dog Arrowsmith” stands in another version of this
portion of the narrative.--Editor.
[51] They went in company with Thomas Cutler and Elizabeth Dooley. The
above facts were formally authenticated by the parents of Lamb, as also by
the Rev. Thomas Sadler, of Trafford, near Manchester; and the Rev. J.
Craythorne, of Garswood. A friend who resides in Lancashire informs the
Editor that this miracle is firmly believed by thousands (A.D. 1873).
[52] It was on this day that formal and sufficient testimonies were put
into writing of the fact of the cure narrated above; and duly signed by
those who from their own personal knowledge could testify to the truth of
the same.
[53] The event recorded above, Arrowsmith’s sufferings and death, and its
details are taken from Dod’s “Church History,” Challoner’s “Memoirs of
Missionary Priests,” vol. ii. pp. 130-146; a “Relation of the Death of E.
Arrowsmith,” published A.D. 1630; a Latin MS. of his life, preserved at
Douay; and special traditional information given to the Editor by the late
Very Rev. Dr. Husenbeth, Provost of Northampton.
[54] This wonderful mystery is frequently represented in Christian Art,
both with beauty and effect.
[55] See a rare and remarkable pamphlet, by Mr. De Lisle, with etchings by
J. R. Herbert, R.A., now out of print, containing an account of his visit
to the subject of this miraculous occurrence. London: Dolman, 1841.
[56] The following is the full title of the volume from which the above
narrative and the extracts given are taken:--“Louise Lateau of Bois
d’Haine, her Life, her Ecstasies, and her Stigmata.” A medical study, by
Dr. F. Lefebvre. Translated from the French. Edited by Rev. J. Spencer
Northcote, D.D., President of S. Mary’s College, Oscott. To which the
following explanatory note may be added:--The name of Dr. Lefebvre is
sufficient guarantee of the importance of any work coming from his pen.
During twenty years that he has filled the chair of General Pathology and
Therapeutics in the University of Louvain he has gained a world-wide
reputation by his investigations in the wide and, to a great extent,
unexplored field of medical research. Add to this moral qualities of the
first order, and ardent zeal in the cause of religion, and we have a
character which commands our admiration and esteem in the highest degree.
The book, translated into English under the superintendence of Dr.
Northcote, is a medical inquiry into the case of Louise Lateau, the
Belgian _stigmatizata_. The medical features of the case are all that Dr.
Lefebvre proposes to treat, leaving, of course, to the proper
ecclesiastical authorities the theological investigation. An abridged
account of this case has been published, entitled “Louise Lateau, the
Ecstatica of Bois d’Haine,” by Dr. Lefebvre, translated from the French by
J. S. Shepard. London: Richardson and Son. 1872.
[57] This account was written in 1874.
[58] Affidavits of the truth of the above narrative have been made by the
physician and clergyman who witnessed the miraculous intervention, as also
by the person more immediately concerned--Miss Collins.
[59] Among the spectators were the following: Mr. R. Tobin and family, Mr.
John Sullivan and wife, Mr. C. D. O’Sullivan and wife, Mr. J. A. Donahue
and wife, Mr. George Hooper and wife, Mrs. Emmet Doyle, Mr. D. J. Oliver,
and many others. Dr. Polactri was standing by Miss Collins’s bedside,
taking notes on the condition of the patient. He confessed the case was
beyond the reach of medical science. Her head moved from side to side with
the intensity of her agony, and her tongue was parched and swollen.
[60] Mr. D. J. Oliver writes from San Francisco, in a private letter, as
follows: “I was awe-stricken whilst beholding the miracle. I know both the
young girls, and the account is correct in every particular, except that
the stigmata was on both sides of the hands and feet, and not on one side
only. I spent an hour with them last evening, and saw them at communion at
early mass this morning.”
[61] The account up to this point is copied from a Letter to Miss F. T.
Bird, dated September 3, 1809, by Mr. Woodford, an eminent surgeon of
Taunton, who attended Mary Wood upon her accident.
[62] Certain stated prayers and devotional exercises continued throughout
_nine_ days.
[63] The authentic documents of the examination, and of the whole process
of the cure, are contained at length in a work entitled “The Miraculous
Cure of Winifred White,” by the Rev. John Milner, D.D., published by Grace
of Dublin, and reprinted, on several occasions and in different forms, in
England. It may be added that Winifred White departed this life on the
13th of January, 1824, nineteen years after her cure. She died of
consumption.
[64] A well-known clergyman of the Church of England.
[65] The account from which the above was compiled was a formal and
authentic statement of the Curé de S. Martin, at Metz (A.D. 1865).
[66] The account given above is taken from a small tractate entitled “The
Miracle of Metz, wrought by the Blessed Sacrament, June 14, 1865,”
translated from the French, by Lady Georgiana Fullerton. With the
imprimaturs of His Grace the Archbishop of Westminster and the Bishop of
Metz. London: Burns and Co., 1865.
[67] See a series of most interesting letters, entitled “Is God amongst
us?” by a Clergyman of the Church of England, published in the “Union”
newspaper, for 1857, vol. ii. pp. 262, 329-330. London: Painter.
[68] “The Measure of Christian Sorrow for the Departed,” a Sermon preached
at the funeral of Mary Lisle Phillipps de Lisle, by the Rev. Henry
Collins, M.A. Loughborough: J. H. Gray, 1860, pp. 11-13.
[69] “Indulgenced prayers are prayers to the recital of which is attached
by the Church the grant of _indulgences_. By indulgences Catholics
understand a remission of sin, that is, of all those temporal pains which
God inflicts for sin committed by His servants after baptism; and the
Church teaches that the power of remission was conferred by Jesus Christ
when He said to the Apostles, ‘Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall
be loosed in Heaven.’” S. Matt. xvi. 19.
[70] An anonymous seventeenth-century writer reasons as follows:--“To know
things aright and perfectly is to know the causes thereof. A definition
doth consist of those causes which give the whole essence, and contain the
perfect nature of the thing defined; where that is therefore found out,
there appears the very clear light. If it be perfect, it is much the
greater; though if it be not fully perfect, yet it giveth some good light.
For which respect, though I dare not say I can give a perfect definition
in this matter, which is hard to do even in known things, because the
essential form is hard to be found, yet I do give a definition which may
at the least give notice and make known what manner of persons they be of
whom I am to speak:--A witch is one that worketh by the Devil, or by some
devilish or curious art, either hurting or healing, revealing things
secret, or foretelling things to come, which the Devil hath devised to
entangle and snare men’s souls withal unto damnation. The Conjurer, the
Enchanter, the Sorcerer, the Diviner, and whatsoever other sort there is,
are indeed encompassed within this circle. The Devil doth (no doubt) after
divers sorts and divers forms, deal in these. But no man is able to show
an essential difference in each of them from the rest. I hold it no wisdom
or labour well spent to travel much therein. One artificer hath devised
them all.”
[71] “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”--Exodus xxii. 18. “Neither
shall ye use enchantment.”--Levit. xix. 26. “Regard not them which have
familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by
them.”--Ibid. ver. 31. “When thou art come into the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of
those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his
son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or
an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a necromancer. For all that do these
things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations
the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”--Deut. xviii.
9-12. Of Manasseh is recorded, that “He caused his children to pass
through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed
times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a
familiar spirit, and with wizards.”--2 Chron. xxxiii. 6. Lastly, S. Paul
mentions “witchcraft” amongst such “works of the flesh” as “adultery,
fornication, heresies, drunkenness, and murders.”--Galat. v. 19-21.
[72] Many of the heathens cordially defended magic and Necromancy. For
example, Asclepiades, who lived in the time of Pompey the Great, cured
diseases by magic, _enjoining upon his patient, in the case of the falling
sickness, to bind upon his arm a Cross with a Nail driven into it_.
Julianus, the magician, is reported to have driven the plague out of Rome
by magical power. Apuleius, a disciple of Plato, wrote at length on magic.
To him may be added Marcellus and Alexander Trallian. Pliny asserts in
very plain language that Necromancy was so prevalent in his day, but was
condemned by the wisest, that it was classed with treason and poisoning.
And it is notorious that magic was long used as a convenient though
inefficient weapon against Christianity.--Vide, likewise, Livy i. 20, and
Strabo, lib. vi.
[73] “Fuga Satanæ. Exorcismus, ex sacrarum Litterarum fontibus, pioq̃ S.
Ecclesiæ Instituto exhaustus. Authore Petro Antonio Stampa, Sacerdote
Clavenense. Cum privilegio. Venetiis. M.D.C.V. Apud Sebastianum Combis.”
[74] “Touching the antiquity of Witchcraft, we must needs confess that it
hath been of very ancient time, because the Scriptures do testify so much,
for in the time of Moses it was very rife in Egypt. Neither was it then
newly sprung up, being common, and grown into such ripeness among the
nations, that the Lord, reckoning by divers kinds, saith that the Gentiles
did commit such abominations, for which He would cast them out before the
children of Israel.”--“What a Witch is, and the Antiquities of
Witchcraft,” A.D. 1612.
[75] See note to this effect on page 152.
[76] The following passage, from a sermon by the late Canon Melville,
bears out the above statement:--“It is unnecessary for us to inquire what
those arts may have been in which the Ephesians are said to have greatly
excelled. There seems no reason for doubting that, as we have already
stated, they were of the nature of magic, sorcery, or witchcraft; though
we cannot profess accurately to define what such terms might import. The
Ephesians, as some in all ages have done, probably laid claim to
intercourse with invisible beings, and professed to derive from that
intercourse acquaintance with, and power over, future events. And though
the very name of witchcraft be now held in contempt, and the supposition
of communion with evil spirits scouted as a fable of what are called the
dark ages, we own that we have difficulty in believing that all which has
passed by the names of magic and sorcery may be resolved into sleight of
hand, deception, and trick. The visible world and the invisible are in
very close contact: there is, indeed, a veil on our eyes, preventing our
gazing on spiritual beings and things, but we doubt not that whatsoever
passes upon earth is open to the view of higher and immaterial creatures.
And as we are sure that a man of piety and prayer enlists good angels on
his side and engages them to perform towards him the ministrations of
kindness, we know not why there cannot be such a thing as a man whose
wickedness has caused his being abandoned by the Spirit of God, and who,
in this his desertion, has thrown open to evil angels the chambers of his
soul, and made himself so completely their instrument, that they may use
him in the uttering or working strange things, which shall have all the
air of prophecy or miracle.”--“Sermons on certain of the less prominent
facts and references in Sacred Story.” By Henry Melville, D.D. In two
volumes. London: Rivingtons, 1872. Vol. i. pp. 57, 58.
[77] The above definitions are taken from the literary productions of
certain of the most recent “philosophers” and “thinkers” already referred
to in the text.
[78] “The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, _witchcraft_, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.” Galat. v. 19-21.
[79] This took place in England in the year 1736, in the teeth of the
protests of many, who felt that a modification of laws founded on an
explicit principle of Scripture would have been both wiser and safer than
their total and absolute abolition. Amongst others, Mr. John Wesley wrote
and preached to this effect. Quite recently a distinguished Liberal
statesman remarked that if the practices of the so-called “Spiritualists”
still developed, as for some time they had been developing, some
re-enactment of the laws against Witchcraft might become necessary. It
certainly seems one-sided and unfair that ignorant women should be
punished for “fortune-telling,” and that the paid professional mediums
should go scot free.
[80] The following bears out the remarks in the text:--“The influence of
Christianity upon magic could not be small; material changes would
undoubtedly be brought about through its influence.... At the epoch of
Christ’s appearance, faith in demons, and particularly in evil spirits,
was not only general amongst the heathen, but also among the Jews to an
incredible extent; and unbounded powers, even as great as those of the
Divinity, were ascribed to them, which not only were supposed to influence
the mind, but also Nature and physical life.”--Ennemoser’s “History of
Magic.” Translated by W. Howitt. London, 1854. Vol. i., pp. 340, 341. One
particular fact may be here put upon record, as being, to say the least,
more than remarkable: To the Roman Emperor Augustus, who, according to
Suidas and Nicephorus, sent to a renowned Oracle to inquire what successor
he should have, it was answered, “_The Hebrew Child, Whom all the gods
obey, drives me hence_.” No other response was vouchsafed.
[81] The Editor is indebted to the Rev. Dr. Littledale for the following
note:--“There is an authorized Form of Exorcism in the Greek
‘Euchologion.’ It begins with the Trisagion, and Psalms, _Domine exaudi_,
_Dominus regit me_, _Dominus illuminatio mea_, _Exurgat Deus_, _Miserere_,
_Domine ne in furore_, and _Domine exaudi precem_. Then follows the
Consolatory Canon, with a long Hymn addressed to our Blessed Lord, the
Blessed Virgin Mary, and All Saints. At the close of this the priest
anoints the patient, saying a brief prayer over him, and so the office
closes.” See also Appendix to Chapter iii. pp. 138-148.
[82] John Selden, in his “Table Talk,” in the article upon “Devils,”
somewhat scoffingly asserts that the Roman Catholics affirm that “the
Protestants the Devil hath already, and the Papists are so holy, he dares
not meddle with them.”
[83] “The Question of Witchcraft debated.” By John Wagstaffe. London:
1669. Second edition, 1671.
[84] “A True Discourse upon the Matter of Martha Brossier, of Romorantin,”
translated out of French into English, by Abraham Hartwell. London:
imprinted for John Wolfe. 1599.
[85] “The Copy of a Letter describing the Wonderful Worke of God in
delyviring a maydene within the city of Chester from a horrible kind of
torment or sicknesse, 16 February anno 1564.” Imprinted at London for John
Judely, dwelling in Little Britayne Street beyond Aldersgate, 23 March
1564.
[86] “A Briefe and True Discourse, contayning the certayne possession and
dispossession of seven persons in one familie, in Lancashire.” By George
More, Minister and Preacher of the Word, and now (for bearing witness unto
this, and for justifying the rest,) a prisoner at the Clinks, where he
hath continued almost for two yeares. A.D. 1600.
[87] It is asserted by several authorities that no less than three
thousand persons were executed for Witchcraft during that dark period of
heretical pravity, the Great Rebellion. Now, as “Rebellion,” according to
the express assurance of the Prophet Samuel (1 Sam. xv. 23) “is as the sin
of Witchcraft,” no hearty believer in God’s revelation can be at all
surprised to find that both Witchcraft and Rebellion in an atmosphere of
heresy flourished together, under that odious tyrant and hypocritical
fanatic, Oliver Cromwell: when the altar was thrown down and both King and
Archbishop were murdered.
[88] “An Antidote against Atheism: or an Appeal to the Natural Faculties
of the Mind of Man.” By Henry More, Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge.
1655.
[89] “Cases of Conscience concerning Evil Spirits personating Men.” By
Increase Mather. Printed at Boston, and reprinted in London for John
Dutton at the Raven in the Poultry, 1693.
[90] “Sadducismus Triumphatus: a Full and Plain Evidence concerning
Witches and Apparitions.” By Joseph Glanville, Chaplain in Ordinary to
King Charles II. London: 1726.
[91] A careful deposition as to the above facts was made before the
Justices of the Peace mentioned, who added the following formal
attestation: “The aforesaid passages [_i.e._ occurrences] were some of
them seen by us, and some other remarkable ones, not here set down, were
upon the examination of several witnesses taken on oath before us.
“(Signed) Robert Hunt.
John Carey.”
[92] “The Surey Demoniack; or, an Account of Satan’s Strange and Dreadful
Actings in and about the Body of Richard Dugdale of Surey, near Whalley in
Lancashire.” London: 1697.
[93] The following curious extract from a “Coventry News-Letter,” dated
Nov. 2, 1672, certainly tells a wonderful story, in some respects not
unlike that recorded in the text. It serves at all events to show what
were the popular notions concerning occurrences which, to say the least,
were very remarkable; and it is reprinted here _verbatim_:--
“All our wonder here about is employ’d at the strange condition of a maid
neare us, one Elizabeth Tibbots of about 18 yeares of age liveing with her
unkle one Thomas Crofts at a place cal’d Hust (?) in ye parish of Stonely
(Stoneleigh) about two miles hence. Ye maid for about this 3 weekes past
has bene taken with strange fitts in which shee has vomitted up severall
things incredible, as first severall Peble stones neare as big as eggs,
knives, sissers, peices of glass some of them two or 3 Inches square,
peices of Iron, an Iron Bullet of at least 8 Inches round, and 2 pound &
halfe weight, a black drinking pot of neare halfe a pint, peices of cloth
& wood, a pockett pistoll, a paire of Pincers, Bottoms of yarne and
severall other things many whereof are now at our majors, and have bene
evidently seene to come out at her mouth, by many credible witnesses, nor
should I my selfe venture to give you this Relation, which seemes soe
unlike truth, had I not my selfe beene an eye wittness, with my most
cunning observation of soe much of it, that I am confirmed in ye beleife
of the whole, all which is imputed to some diabollicall practices of one
Watson a strang kind of an Emperick, to whom shee was some tyme a Patient,
who had it seemes soe wrought with her as that shee had promis’d him
marriage, & to goe with him (though shee knew not whither,) But afterwards
refused it. Immediately upon which shee fell into these fitts, yet has
shee her respites, dureing which shee appeares reasonable well, & I have
heard her discourse very rationally of her selfe & condition, a full
account whereof would be too long to give; ’tis said that for these 4 or 5
dayes past (in which tyme I have not seene her) somewhat appeares to her
in ye shape of a dogg. Now, whether shee be bewicht or whether shee be a
witch, or whether ye Divell be in her, (as well as some others of her
sex,) I know not, but that what I have told you seemed to ye most vigilant
eye to be infallibly true is not doubted, so that if it be not really soe,
I can onely say the Divell’s in’t, who you perhaps may fancy to be in him
that gives you this seemingly incredible Relation, which be pleased to
accept for better, for worse from,” &c.
[94] “Witchcraft further Displayed.” London: Printed for E. Curl at the
Dial and Bible. 1714.
[95] In the “Overseer’s Accounts” for the parish of S. Giles, Northampton,
there is an item for the purchase of faggots for the purpose of burning a
witch. A.D. 1705.
[96] “An Account of the Tryals, Examination, and Condemnation of Ellinor
Shaw & Mary Phillips (Two Notorious Witches) at Northampton Assizes on
Wednesday the 7th of March, 1705, for Bewitching a Woman & Two children,
Tormenting them in a Sad and Lamentable Manner till they Dyed. With an
account of their strange Confessions about their Familiarity with the
Devil, and How They Made a wicked Contract with him to be revenged on
several Persons, by Bewitching their Cattel to Death, &c. And several
other Strange and Amasing Particulars.” London: Printed for F. Thorne,
near Fleete-street.
[97] The following “Letter” from Mr. Ralph Davis, of Northampton,
addressed to Mr. William Simons, merchant in London, is reprinted almost
verbatim, certain passages, by reason of their extreme coarseness, being
alone suppressed. It was published by Thorne, of Fleet Street, in 1705,
and had a very large circulation. It is entitled “The Northamptonshire
Witches:”--
“According to my word Promise in my last I have sent you here Inclosed a
faithful Account of the Lives and Conversations of the two notorious
Witches that were Executed on the North side of our town on Saturday the
17th instant, and indeed considering the extraordinary Methods these
wicked women used to accomplish their Diabolical Art, I think it may merit
your Reception, and the more since I understand you have a friend near
Fleete Street who being a Printer may make use of it in order to oblige
the Publick; which take as followeth; viz:--
“To proceed in order, I shall first begin with Ellinor Shaw (as being the
most notorious of the two) who was Born at Cotterstock within a small Mile
of Oundle in Northamptonshire, of very obscure Parents, who not willing,
or at least not able, to give their Daughter any manner of Education, she
was left to shift for her self at the age of 14 years; at which time she
got acquainted with a Partener in Wickedness, one Mary Phillips, Born at
Oundle aforesaid, with whom she held a frindly Correspondence for several
years together, and work’d very hard for a Livelihood; but when she
arriv’d to the age of 21 she began to be a very lude [lewd] sort of a
Person ... which wicked and loathsom Actions were not only talked of in
the Town of Cotterstock where she was Born but at Oundle, Glapthorne,
Benefield, Southwick and several Parts adjacent; and that as well by
Children of four or five years of Age as persons of riper years; so that
by degrees her Name became so famous or rather infamous that she could
hardly peep out of her Door but the Children would point at her in a
Scoffing manner ... [so] that she Swore she would be revenged on her
enemies tho’ she pawn’d her Soul for the Purchase; and then Mary Phillips
being her Partner in Knitting and Bedfellow also, who was as bad as
herself in the Vices aforesaid, she communicated her Thoughts to her,
relating to a Contract with the Devil, in order to have the Wills of those
who Slandered them.... In fine as these two Harlots agreed in their other
Wickedness so they were resolv’d to go Hand in Hand in this, and
consequently go to the Devil together for Company, but out of a Hellish
kind of Civility he saved them that Trouble at present, for ... he
immediately waited upon ’em to obtain his Booty on Saturday the 12th of
February 1704 about 12 a Clock at Night according to their own
Confessions, appearing in the shape of a black tall Man, at whose approach
they were very much startled at first, but taking Ellinor Shaw by the Hand
he spoke thus--Says he, Be not afraid, of me for I am one of the Creation
as well as your selves, having power given me to bestow it on whom I
please, and do assure you that if you will pawn your Souls to me for only
a Year and two Months I will for all that time assist you in whatever you
desire. Upon which he produced a little piece of Parchment on which by
their Consents having prick’t their Fingers’ ends, he wrote the Infernal
Covenants in their own Blood which they signed with their own Hands and
the same Night.... In the Morning he told them they were now as
substantial Witches as any were in the world, and that they had power by
the assistance of the Imps that he would send them to do what Mischief
they pleased.
“I shall not trouble you with what is already mention’d in the Tryals of
these two persons because it is in print by your Friend already but only
instance what was omitted in that as not having room here to contain it
altogether but as to their general confessions after their Condemnations,
take as followeth:--
“The day before they were Executed, Mr. Danks the Minister visited them in
Prison, in order if possible to bring them to a State of Repentance, but
seeing all pious Discourse prov’d ineffectual, he desired them to tell him
what mischeivous Pranks they had Play’d and what private Conference they
had with the Devil from time to time, since they had made that fatal
Bargain with him: To which Ellinor Shaw with the Consent of the other told
him that the Devil in the Shape of a tall black Man appear’d several times
to them and at every visit would present them with new Imps some of a Red
Coulour others of a Dun and the third of a black Colour and that ... by
the Assistance of these Hellish Animals they often Kill’d Men Women and
Children to the great surprise of all the towns thereabouts; she further
adding that it was all the Delight they had to be doing such wicked
Actions and they had Kil’d by their Inchantments and Witchcraft in the
space of nine Months time 15 children eight Men and six Women tho’ none
was suspected of being Bewitch’d but those two Children, said the Woman,
that they Dy’d for; and that they had Bewitch’d to Death in the same Space
of Time 40 Hoggs of several poor People, besides 100 Sheep, 18 Horses, and
30 Cows, even to the utter Ruin of several Families: As to their
particular Intreagues and waggish tricks I have not Room to enumerate,
they are so many; only some remarkable Feats they did in Prison which was
thus, viz:--one Day Mr. Laxon and his wife coming by the Prison had the
Curiosity to look through the Grates and seeing of Ellinor Shaw told her
that now the Devil had left her in the Lurch, as he had done the rest of
his Servants; upon which the said Ellinor was observ’d to Mutter strangely
to herself in an unknown Language for about two Minutes; at the end of
which Mr. Laxon’s Wife’s Cloathes were all turn’d over her head Smock and
all in a most strange manner ... notwithstanding all the Endeavours her
Husband could use to keep her Cloathes in order; at which the said Ellinor
having Laughed Heartily and told her She had prov’d her Lyer, her Cloathes
began to come to their right order again. The keeper of the Prison having
one Day Threatened them with Irons, they, by their Spells, caused him to
Dance almost an Hour Naked in the Yard to the Amazement of the Prison:
nay, such Pranks were Play’d by them during their Confinement that no one
durst give them an ill Word, insomuch that their Execution was the more
hastened in the regard of their frequent Disturbances and great Mischief
they did in several places of the Town notwithstanding their Imprisonment.
“They were so hardened in their Wickedness that they Publickly boasted
that their Master (meaning the Devil) would not suffer them to be
Executed: but they found him [a] Lyer; for on Saturday Morning being the
17th instant they were carried to the Gallows on the Northside of the Town
whither numerous Crowds of people went to see them Die, and being come to
the place of Execution the Minister repeated his former pious endeavours
to bring them to a sense of their Sins but to as little purpose as before:
for instead of calling on God for Mercy nothing was heard from them but
D----g and Cursing. However a little before they were ty’d up; at the
request of the Minister, Ellinor Shaw confessed not only the Crime for
which she Dyed, but openly declared before them all how she first became a
Witch, as did also Mary Phillips; and being desired to say their Prayers
they both set up a very loud Laughter, calling for the Devil to come and
help them in such a Blasphemous manner as is not fit to Mention, so that
the Sherif seeing their presumptious Impenitence caused them to be
Executed with all the Expedition possible; even while they were Cursing
and raving; and as they liv’d the Devil’s true Factors so they resolutely
Dyed in his service, to the Terror [of] all People who were eye-Witnesses
of their dreadful and amazing Exits.
“So that being Hang’d till they were almost Dead the Fire was put to the
Straw, Faggots and other Combustable matter till they were Burnt to Ashes.
Thus Liv’d and thus Dyed two of the most notorious and presumptious
Witches that ever were known in this Age.
“To conclude: I heartly wish that these wretched Women’s Sad and
Lamentable Fates may be a warning to all Proud, Lustful and Malicious
Persons whatsoever, least they be brought Step by Step before they are
aware unto the Devil’s Slaughterhouse of Confusion and Misery to all
Eternity.
“I am promised a Copy of the Sermon that was Preached by Mr. Danks at the
Church of All Saint’s the next day after the said Witches were Executed
(being Sunday) upon that very Occasion, which I hope to send you by the
next Post.
“I am Sir, Your humble Servant, Ralph Davis.”
[98] “A Full and Impartiall account of the Discovery of Sorcery and
Witchcraft, practised by Jane Wenham,” etc. London: 1712.
[99] “Sadducismus Debellatus: or a True Narrative of the Sorceries and
Witchcraft exercised by the Devil and his Instruments upon Mrs. Christian
Shaw in the county of Renfrew, in the West of Scotland, from August 1696
to April 1697, &c.” Collected from the Records. London: Newman and Bell,
1698.
[100] “Another Brand Plucked out of the Burning: or More Wonders of the
Invisible World.” London: 1700.
[101] “Saddvcismus Triumphatus,” pp. 20-37.
[102] Two remarkable works for and against what was termed “Judiciall
Astrologie,” were published in the latter years of Queen Elizabeth’s
reign. One, attacking the system, from the pen of John Chamber, Prebendary
of Windsor and Fellow of Eton College (London: John Harrison, Paternoster
Row, 4to., Lambeth Library, 78 F. 22); the other defending it, in reply to
the above, by Sir Christopher Heydon, Knt., printed at Cambridge, by John
Legat, printer to the University in 1603 (Lambeth Library, 78 F. 12). The
former is a treatise of very considerable vigour and power of reasoning:
the latter is somewhat laboured, eminently pedantic, overburdened with
tedious and irrelevant quotations, and altogether very inferior from a
literary point of view.
[103] In almost all Heathen or Pagan countries, Witchcraft, Necromancy and
Sorcery are recognized and established institutions.
[104] There was a notorious sorcerer and reputed necromancer in King James
the First’s reign, a certain Dr. Lamb. In Baxter’s “Certainty of the World
of Spirits” (A.D. 1691), he records a curious instance of Lamb’s
miraculous performances. This sorcerer, meeting two of his acquaintances
in the street, they, expressing a wish to witness some example of his
spiritual skill, were invited to his house. There they were conducted to
an inner room, where to their intense surprise they saw a growing-tree
spring up slowly in the middle of the room. [It may be here remarked that
the Oriental jugglers and sorcerers work a similar manifestation of their
powers, often witnessed and frequently described.--Editor.] In a moment,
as this record informs us, there appeared three diminutive men, who with
little axes felled the tree; and then the doctor dismissed his guests, who
had been duly impressed by his powers. On that very night, however, a
tremendous hurricane arose, causing the house of one of the guests to rock
from side to side, with every probability that the house would fall, and
bury him and his wife in its ruins. The wife in an agony of fear inquired,
“Were you not at Dr. Lamb’s to-day?” The husband admitted that it was true
that he had been. “And did you not bring something away from his house?”
The husband confessed that he had done so. When the little men were
felling the tree, he had picked up some of the chips and put them into his
pocket. Nothing, therefore, as his wife pointed out, remained to be done
but to produce these chips, and get rid of them as fast as possible. When
this was done, the tempest ceased, and the rest of the night was perfectly
calm. It may be added that this sorcerer became so odious, because of his
necromancy and other infernal practices, that in 1640 the populace rose
upon him and tore him to pieces in the streets; while, thirteen years
afterwards, a woman who had been in his service was apprehended upon a
charge of Witchcraft, was tried on what seems to have been very strong and
conclusive evidence, found guilty, and in expiation of her crime was
executed at Tyburn. [The contemporary literature extant, relating to this
case of Lamb and his servant, would fill a large volume.--Editor.]
[105] These persons are reported and reputed to be professional mediums,
and are said to be very largely patronized by people of all ranks and
classes, more especially the higher.
[106] “Report on Spiritualism.” Examination of the Master of Lindsay, p.
215. London: Longman, 1871.
[107] Genesis iii. 1; Revelation xii. 9; Ibid. xx. 2.
[108] The Editor, while avoiding the reproduction of examples which are
tolerably well known, has generally aimed at setting forth cases which
have not yet been put into print; though in some records which follow, a
few have been selected which have already been published, in order that
one example, at least, of all the particular kinds of warning and dreams,
may be here presented to the reader.
[109] Genesis xx. 3; Ibid. xxxi. 11, and (to Laban) ver. 31. As to
Pharaoh’s dream of a coming famine, see Genesis xli.
[110] Numbers xii. 6; 1 Kings iii. 5-15; Daniel vii. to the end of the
book. S. Matthew, 1-20; Ibid. ii. 12 (as to S. Joseph), ver. 13. and
verses 19 and 20; Ibid, xxvii. 19.
[111] Two valued correspondents respectively write as follows:--“One could
relate many such family incidents as you suggest, but everyone shrinks
from allowing them to be verified by name. I imagine that this reticence
arises from the natural dread and dislike to having what is sacred to
one’s own faith and feelings submitted to the ridicule of sceptical and
rationalistic minds.”
Another:--“I send you the enclosed--a record of the supernatural
appearance which is always seen immediately prior to the death of the head
of our family. But I do not wish it printed; and absolutely forbid the
mention either of place or person, lest it should be identified, which
might cause annoyance to our friends.”
[112] De Anima, c. 45-47.
[113] Ibid.
[114] De Opificio Dei, sæc. xviii.
[115] Epist. Sti. Cypriani, lxiii.
[116] Epist. Sti. Basilii, cxx.
[117] Opera Thom. Aquin., Tom. ii., Quæst. xcv., Art. vi.: Tom. iii.,
Quæst. lxxx., Art. vii.
[118] “The Philosophy of Sleep.” By Macknish.
[119] The Rev. George R. Winter, M.A., Vicar of Swaffham and Rural Dean,
thus most obligingly writes to the Editor (A.D. 1874):--“The story of the
Dream is popularly believed, and there was a good foundation for it. In
the upper portion of the windows of the north aisle is some old painted
glass, which is supposed to represent the man and his family; but the
chief monument of his identity is a piece of old carving representing a
pedlar with a pack on his back, and also his dog, forming part of the
westernmost stalls of the choir. This, I believe, was at one time in the
north aisle, which the man is supposed to have built.” The dream is
related at length in Blomfield’s “History of Norfolk.”
[120] The above was written at Alton Towers, Cheadle, on the 23rd of
October, 1842, and duly signed by Mr. William Talbot, a relation of John,
Earl of Shrewsbury.
[121] “The account here given of the Dream which occurred in Cornwall, is,
as I personally testify, true and accurate. (Signed) Rachel L. Lee
(daughter of the late Benjamin Tucker, of Trematon Castle, Esquire, and
daughter-in-law of the late Rev. T. T. Lee, Vicar of Thame), Kentons, near
Henley-on-Thames, May 14th, 1873.”
[122] A friend who provided the above example writes to the Editor:--“I
knew the family, and the circumstance of Mr. Perring’s singular dream; and
can certainly testify to its truth.”
[123] From a Letter dated Nov. 1, 1872, in the handwriting of the Widow of
the Clergyman in question, kindly communicated to the Editor by the Rev.
Theodore J. Morris, Vicar of Hampton in Arden, near Birmingham.
[124] The following document was drawn up about thirteen years ago, and
given to the Editor with the above account by an Oxford friend:--
“This is to certify that in 1840 I dreamt the Dream about the strange man
coming to the front door and forcing himself in; and that seven years
afterwards, that is in 1847, what I had seen in my dream occurred in
London, when, having heard knocks at the door when I was alone in the
house, I saw the man outside the door whom I had seen in my dream seven
years before.
“Hannah Green.
“Wootton, Oxfordshire, August 5, 1861.”
[125] “Notes and Queries,” Sept. 24, 1853.
[126] “I have carefully read the account which you have so nicely written
out from my own and my brother’s Letters; and have also twice read the
same to my mother and brother. Both join with me in testifying to its
absolute truth and perfect accuracy. Our account was taken down from the
lips of the Rector of ---- himself. We, indeed, have reason to believe in
the Supernatural.”
[127] The Rector of Phillack and Gwithian, near Hayle in Cornwall, is the
Rev. Frederick Hockin, M.A. and Rural Dean.
[128] He is described as “Wilfred D. Speer, Esq., of West End Lodge,
Thames Ditton, a magistrate for the County of Surrey, and a captain in the
Militia of that county.”
[129] “Statement of the Circumstances attending the Death of Wilfred D.
Speer, Esq., with copies of Testimony and Correspondence.” London,
Ontario: John Cameron, Dundas Street, West, 8vo. pp. 12, 1867.
[130] “If my dream come true, I am certainly approaching my latter end,
and have only a little time longer in this world.” Attested copy of
Captain Wilfred Speer’s Letter, given to the Editor by the Rev. John
Richardson, of Warwick.
[131] He was shot dead on the night of the 17th of June, 1867, on board a
steamboat on the Missouri.
[132] The following Letter has been received by the Editor from the
dignitary in question:--“Nov. 6, 1874. Rev. and dear Sir, I only wish that
my name should not be published. The statement, as written out by me, is
entirely at your service.... To the Rev. Dr. Lee.”
[133] It seems that as a matter of fact there is no tunnel near the scene
of the accident, but a long, level line of railway, very near the margin
of the sea. At least so a correspondent who knows the locality well has
informed me.--Editor.
[134] “Having made enquiries regarding the fact of Tinley’s remarkable
dream, which seemed to foreshadow his death by the well-known accident, I
can testify to the truth that he had such a dream, and that he regarded it
as a sign of coming death.
“A. Rutherford, Wolverhampton.
“July 14, 1874.”
[135] Sir Roger Tichborne, Knt. of Tichborne, flourished in the reign of
Henry II. He married Mabella, daughter and sole heiress of Ralph de
Lamerston, in the Isle of Wight.
[136] Sir Henry Tichborne, born in 1756, married in 1778 Elizabeth
Plowden, and had seven sons, viz. 1. Henry, 2. Benjamin, 3. Edward, 4.
James, 5. John, 6. George, and 7. Roger. His eldest son Henry, who married
Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Burke, had seven daughters, viz. 1. Eliza, 2.
Frances, 3. Julia, 4. Mary, 5. Katherine, 6. Lucy, and 7. Emily.
[137] “Staffordshire Chronicle,” July, 1835.
[138] Lysons in his “Magna Britannia,” vol. vi. describing the parish of
South Tawton, about five miles from Okehampton, co. Devon,
says:--“Oxenham, in this parish, gave name to an ancient family who
possessed it, at least from the time of Henry III. to the death of William
Long Oxenham, Esq., in 1814.” The mansion, as the Editor learns, has long
been occupied as a farm-house. It may here be added that it is believed
that Drake’s friend, Captain John Oxenham, who lost his life in an
engagement with the Spaniards in South America (A.D. 1575), was a member
of this family. Mr. Canon Kingsley, in “Westward-Ho,” has introduced the
omen of a Bird with a white breast in connection with this gentleman.
[139] “A True relation of an Apparition in the likeness of a Bird with a
White Breast, that appeared hovering over the deathbeds of some of the
children of Mr. James Oxenham, of Sale Monachorum, Devon, Gent. Confirmed
by Sundry witnesses. London, printed by I. O. for Richard Clutterbuck, and
are to be sold at the figure of the Gun in little Britain, near St.
Botolph’s church. 1641.” British Museum, Press-Mark E. 205-9.
A copy of this pamphlet is also to be found amongst Gough’s collection in
the Bodleian. The British Museum copy contains a curious and very
effective engraving, representing the actual appearance of the Bird to a
person dying in bed.
[140] It is also stated in this pamphlet that the clergyman of the parish
had been appointed by the bishop of the diocese to inquire into the truth
of these particulars, and that a monument had been put up with his
approbation with the names of the witnesses of each apparition of the
Bird. The pamphlet states that those who had been sick and had recovered,
never saw the apparition. It further came out in the evidence tendered,
that the same Bird had appeared to Grace, the grandmother of John Oxenham,
who died in 1618.
[141] Lysons states that these monumental inscriptions _do not now_ exist
either in the church or churchyard of Tawton or Sale Monachorum. But,
considering the shameful destruction of monuments in late years by
so-called “Church Restorers,” this is not to be wondered at.
[142] It has been shrewdly and perhaps not untruly observed, that “a
genuine and solemn citation may tend to work its own fulfilment in certain
minds, who, by allowing the thing to prey upon their spirits, enfeeble the
powers of life, and perhaps at the critical date arouse some latent or
dormant disease into deadly action.”
[143] The following is from a MS. note of a member of the Editor’s
family--George Henry Lee, Lord Litchfield, who was Chancellor of the
University of Oxford in the latter part of the last century. Lord
Rochester, it should be added, was allied to that family through his
mother, Anne, Countess of Rochester, previously the widow of Sir F. H.
Lee:--
“Lord Rochester told me of an odd presage that one had of his approaching
death in the Lady Warre his mother-in-law’s house. The chaplain had dreamt
that such a day he should die, but being by all the family put out of the
belief of it, he had almost forgot it till the evening before at supper,
there being thirteen at table, according to a fond conceit that one of
these must soon die, one of the young ladies pointed to him that he was to
die. He, remembering his dream, fell into some disorder; and the Lady
Warre reproving him for his superstition, he said he was confident he was
to die before morning; but he being in perfect health, it was not much
minded. It was Saturday night, and he was to preach the next day. He went
to his chamber, sat up late, (as appeared by the burning of his candle,)
and he had been preparing his notes for his sermon, but he was found dead
in his bed next morning. These things he said made him inclined to believe
[that] the soul was a substance distinct from matter, and this often
returned into his thoughts.”
[144] The Registrar-General in his last Report writes thus:--“Seamen will
not sail, women will not wed on a Friday so willingly as on other days of
the week. It has been ascertained that out of 4,057 marriages which took
place during a certain period in the midland district of England, not two
per cent. were celebrated on a Friday, while thirty-two per cent. were
entered as having taken place on a Sunday.”
[145] Jerome Cardan, the strange sixteenth-century physician, who dealt so
extensively in horoscopes, and is said to have sought the assistance of
spirits, professed to own and exercise some specific and supernatural
gifts:--1. The power of throwing his spirit out of his body, by which he
could see things at a distance. 2. _His faculty of Second Sight, or of
seeing whatever he pleased with his eyes, “Oculis, non vi mentis.”_ 3. His
dreams, which, as he maintained, uniformly foretold to him what was about
to occur, and by which he truly predicted the day of his own death, and 4.
his “unerring astrological knowledge.”
[146] “Miscellanies, collected by J. Aubrey, Esq.” London: printed for
Edward Castle, 1696.
[147] “A Treatise on the Second Sight, Dreams, and Apparitions,” by
Theophilus Insulanus. Dedicated “To the Honourable Sir Harry Monro, of
Foulis, Baronet.” Pp. 107-108. Edinburgh: 1763.
Transcriber's Notes:
The General Index was not a part of the original text. It has been copied
from Volume II of the series.
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.