Nicolai, the celebrated German bookseller, a member of the royal society
of Berlin, presented to that institution a memoir on the subject of a
complaint with which he was affected, and one of the singular
consequences of which was, the representation of various spectres. M.
Nicolai for some years had been subject to a congestion in the head, and
was blooded frequently for it by leeches. After a detailed account of
the state of his health, on which he grounds much medical as well as
psychological reasoning, he gives the following interesting narrative:--
In the first two months of the year 1791, I was much affected in my mind
by several incidents of a very disagreeable nature; and on the 24th of
February a circumstance occurred which irritated me extremely. At ten
o’clock in the forenoon my wife and another person came to console me; I
was in a violent perturbation of mind, owing to a series of incidents
which had altogether wounded my moral feelings, and from which I saw no
possibility of relief: when suddenly I observed at the distance of ten
paces from me a figure--the figure of a deceased person. I pointed at
it, and asked my wife whether she did not see it. She saw nothing, but
being much alarmed endeavoured to compose me, and sent for the
physician. The figure remained some seven or eight minutes, and at
length I became a little more calm; and as I was extremely exhausted, I
soon afterwards fell into a troubled kind of slumber, which lasted for
half an hour. The vision was ascribed to the great agitation of mind in
which I had been, and it was supposed I should have nothing more to
apprehend from that cause; but the violent affection having put my
nerves into some unnatural state, from this arose further consequences,
which require a more detailed description.
In the afternoon, a little after four o’clock, the figure which I had
seen in the morning again appeared. I was alone when this happened; a
circumstance which, as may be easily conceived, could not be very
agreeable. I went therefore to the apartment of my wife, to whom I
related it. But thither also the figure pursued me. Sometimes it was
present, sometimes it vanished; but it was always the same standing
figure. A little after six o’clock several stalking figures also
appeared; but they had no connection with the standing figure. I can
assign no other reason for this apparition than that, though much more
composed in my mind, I had not been able so soon entirely to forget the
cause of such deep and distressing vexation, and had reflected on the
consequences of it, in order, if possible, to avoid them; and that this
happened three hours after dinner, at the time when the digestion just
begins.
At length I became more composed with respect to the disagreeable
incident which had given rise to the first apparition; but though I had
used very excellent medicines, and found myself in other respects
perfectly well, yet the apparitions did not diminish, but, on the
contrary, rather increased in number, and were transformed in the most
extraordinary manner.
After I had recovered from the first impression of terror, I never felt
myself particularly agitated by these apparitions, as I considered them
to be what they really were, the extraordinary consequences of
indisposition; on the contrary, I endeavoured as much as possible to
preserve my composure of mind, that I might remain distinctly conscious
of what passed within me. I observed these phantoms with great accuracy,
and very often reflected on my previous thoughts, with a view to
discover some law in the association of ideas, by which exactly these or
other figures might present themselves to the imagination.--Sometimes I
thought I had made a discovery, especially in the latter period of my
visions; but, on the whole, I could trace no connection which the
various figures that thus appeared and disappeared to my sight had,
either with my state of mind or with my employment, and the other
thoughts which engaged my attention. After frequent accurate
observations on the subject, having fairly proved and maturely
considered it, I could form no other conclusion on the cause and
consequence of such apparitions than that, when the nervous system is
weak, and at the same time too much excited, or rather deranged, similar
figures may appear in such a manner as if they were actually seen and
heard; for these visions in my case were not the consequence of any
known law of reason, of the imagination, or of the otherwise usual
association of ideas; and such also is the case with other men, as far
as we can reason from the few examples we know.
The origin of the individual pictures which present themselves to us,
must undoubtedly be sought for in the structure of that organization by
which we think; but this will always remain no less inexplicable to us
than the origin of these powers by which consciousness and fancy are
made to exist.
The figure of the deceased person never appeared to me after the first
dreadful day; but several other figures showed themselves afterwards
very distinctly; sometimes such as I knew, mostly, however, of persons I
did not know, and amongst those known to me, were the semblances of both
living and deceased persons, but mostly the former; and I made the
observation, that acquaintances with whom I daily conversed never
appeared to me as phantasms; it was always such as were at a distance.
When these apparitions had continued some weeks, and I could regard them
with the greatest composure, I afterwards endeavoured, at my own
pleasure, to call forth phantoms of several acquaintance, whom I for
that reason represented to my imagination in the most lively manner, but
in vain.--For however accurately I pictured to my mind the figures of
such persons, I never once could succeed in my desire of seeing them
_externally_; though I had some short time before seen them as phantoms,
and they had perhaps afterwards unexpectedly presented themselves to me
in the same manner. The phantasms appeared to me in every case
involuntarily, as if they had been presented externally, like the
phenomena in nature, though they certainly had their origin internally;
and at the same time I was always able to distinguish with the greatest
precision phantasms from phenomena. Indeed, I never once erred in this,
as I was in general perfectly calm and self-collected on the occasion. I
knew extremely well, when it only appeared to me that the door was
opened, and a phantom entered, and when the door really was opened and
any person came in.
It is also to be noted, that these figures appeared to me at all times,
and under the most different circumstances, equally distinct and clear.
Whether I was alone, or in company, by broad daylight equally as in the
nighttime, in my own as well as in my neighbour’s house; yet when I was
at another person’s house, they were less frequent; and when I walked
the public street they very seldom appeared. When I shut my eyes,
sometimes the figures disappeared, sometimes they remained even after I
had closed them. If they vanished in the former case, on opening my eyes
again nearly the same figures appeared which I had seen before.
I sometimes conversed with my physician and my wife, concerning the
phantasms which at the time hovered around me; for in general the forms
appeared oftener in motion than at rest. They did not always continue
present--they frequently left me altogether, and again appeared for a
short or longer space of time, singly or more at once; but, in general,
several appeared together. For the most part I saw human figures of both
sexes; they commonly passed to and fro as if they had no connection with
each other, like people at a fair where all is bustle; sometimes they
appeared to have business with one another. Once or twice I saw amongst
them persons on horseback, and dogs and birds; these figures all
appeared to me in their natural size, as distinctly as if they had
existed in real life, with the several tints on the uncovered parts of
the body, and with all the different kinds of colours of clothes. But I
think, however, that the colours were somewhat _paler_ than they are in
nature.
None of the figures had any distinguishing characteristic; they were
neither terrible, ludicrous, nor repulsive; most of them were ordinary
in their appearance--some were even agreeable.
On the whole, the longer I continued in this state, the more did the
number of phantasms increase, and the apparitions became more frequent.
About four weeks afterwards I began to hear them speak: sometimes the
phantasms spoke with one another; but for the most part they addressed
themselves to me: those speeches were in general short, and never
contained any thing disagreeable. Intelligent and respected friends
often appeared to me, who endeavoured to console me in my grief, which
still left deep traces in my mind. This speaking I heard most
frequently when I was alone; though I sometimes heard it in company,
intermixed with the conversation of real persons; frequently in single
phrases only, but sometimes even in connected discourse.
Though at this time I enjoyed rather a good state of health, both in
body and mind, and had become so very familiar with these phantasms,
that at last they did not excite the least disagreeable emotion, but on
the contrary afforded me frequent subjects for amusement and mirth; yet
as the disorder sensibly increased, and the figures appeared to me for
whole days together, and even during the night, if I happened to awake,
I had recourse to several medicines, and was at last again obliged to
have recourse to the application of leeches.
This was performed on the 20th of April, at eleven o’clock in the
forenoon. I was alone with the surgeon, but during the operation the
room swarmed with human forms of every description, which crowded fast
one on another; this continued till half-past four o’clock, exactly the
time when the digestion commences. I then observed that the figures
began to move more slowly; soon afterwards the colours became gradually
paler; and every seven minutes they lost more and more of their
intensity, without any alteration in the distinct figure of the
apparitions. At about half-past six o’clock all the figures were
entirely white, and moved very little; yet the forms appeared perfectly
distinct; by degrees they became visibly less plain, without decreasing
in number, as had often formerly been the case. The figures did not move
off, neither did they vanish, which also had usually happened on other
occasions. In this instance they dissolved immediately into air; of some
even whole pieces remained for a length of time, which also by degrees
were lost to the eye. At about eight o’clock there did not remain a
vestige of any of them, and I have never since experienced any
appearance of the same kind. Twice or thrice since that time I have felt
a propensity, if I may be so allowed to express myself, or a sensation,
as if I saw something which in a moment again was gone. I was even
surprised by this sensation whilst writing the present account, having,
in order to render it more accurate, perused the papers of 1791, and
recalled to my memory all the circumstances of that time. So little are
we sometimes, even in the greatest composure of mind, masters of our
imagination.
[Illustration: ~The Porch of Beckenham Church-yard.~]
Beyond the _Lich-gate_ stand ten ancient yews--
Branching so high they seem like giant mutes,
With plumes, awaiting rich men’s funerals
And poor men’s bury’ngs:--stretching, over all,
An arch of triumph for Death’s victories.
*
Over the wickets to many of the church-yards in Kent is a shed, or
covered way, of ancient structure, used as a resting-place for funerals,
and for the shelter of the corpse until the minister arrives to commence
the service for the dead. This at Beckenham is one of the most perfect
in the county: the footway beyond, to the great entrance-door of the
church, is canopied by a grove of trees, “sad sociate to graves.” These
old church-yard buildings, now only seen in villages, were formerly
called _lich-gates_, and the paths to them were called _lich-lanes_, or
_lich-ways_.
The word _lich_ signified a corpse. Hence the death-owl was anciently
called the _lich-owl_.
The shrieking _Litch-owl_, that doth never cry
But boding death, and quick herself inters
In darksome graves, and hollow sepulchres.
_Drayton._
Also, from _lich_ is derived the name of the city of _Lichfield_, so
called because of a massacre on that spot.
A thousand other saints whom Amphibal had taught,
Flying the pagan foe, their lives that strictly sought,
Were slain where _Litchfield_ is, whose name doth rightly sound
There, of those Christians slain, _dead field_, or burying ground.
_Drayton._
* * * * *
_For the Table Book._