CONTENTS. Chapter 1. Reality of spectral impressions- General law of the system, to which they may CHAPTER II. A lawyer's argument for the exist- ence of witchcraft-Proofs of spectral inpres- sions, fron recollected perceptions New Eng- i jf;, W HÉN a late ingenious Physician discovered the elastic fluid, which he termed "his: Gas of Paradise, and which he hoped to render a cheap substitute for inebriating liquors, he 'claimed the honors due to the inventor of a new pleasure.' vir h o m nie www.pro ! I to -1; # How far mankind would have bene fited, by the introduction of a fresh mode of intoxication, I leave to the reflection of those sages, whose duty it would have become to appreciate its value, as an additional source of revenue to the state. But when I consider the delight with which stories of apparitions are received by persons of all ages, and of the most various kinds of knowledge and ability, I cannot help feeling some degree of complacency, in offering to the makers and readers of such stories, í a view of the subject, which may ex: tend their enjoyment far beyond its for- mer limits. It has given me pain to see - the most fearful and ghastly commence-ments of a tale of horror reduced to mere common events, at the winding up of the book. I have looked, also, with - much compassiori, on the pitiful instruments of sliding pannels, træp-doors, i-backstairs, war-work figures, smugglers, urobbers, coiners, and other vulgar machinery, which authors of tender consciences have |