THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION:
BEING AN INQUIRY INTO THE EFFECTS
OF
PHYSICAL INFLUENCE ON THE MIND,
IN THE PRODUCTION OF DREAMS, VISIONS, GHOSTS, AND
OTHER SUPERNATURAL APPEARANCES.
BY W. NEWNHAM, ESQ.
AUTHOR OF A TRIBUTE OF SYMPATHY, THE PRINCIPLES OF PHYSICAL,
INTELLECTUAL, MORAL AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, &C. &C>
I
" And \vhen they shall say unto yon, seek unto tliem that have familiar spirits, aud -.j
onto wi7.ards, that peep, and that matter; should not a people seek nnto their God ? JM
for the living, to the dead ?— To the law and to the testimony : — If they speak not wt
according to this word, it ie because there is no light in them." — Jtaiah, v^ii. 1^, 50.
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PREFACE.
The subject of the following pages was ori-
ginally suggested to the Author, by a highly-
valued friend, as one on which his pen might
be usefully employed, in endeavouring to re-
move some of those misconceptions which
seem to place the pursuits of the Christian,
in opposition to the researches of science;
a spectral imagining, which can alone maintain
its supposed existence, so long as it can be
invested with the undefined character that will
be communicated by the darkness of ignorance,
or by the twilight of information, but which
must vanish before the full-born day of know-
ledge : — for Christianity and true science can
PREFACE.
never be opposed ; — and it may be fearlessly
said, that the investigations of the latter, if
conducted in a spirit of inquiry after truth, will
always serve to explain and confirm the former ;
although they will also dissipate the mistakes
of some of its most valuable professors.
The idea thus suggested to the Author was
acted upon, and from this arose a series of
communications to the ** Christian Observer,"
during the course of the past year. These
Essays are now collected into one volume, and
are presented to the Public, with various cor-
rections, and additional illustrations, in the
hope that they may prove acceptable to a
larger class of readers ; and that they may be
useful in undermining the wall of prejudice,
which has been just alluded to: their Author
most sincerely and fervently prays, that they
may prove the means of widening the agency of
real religion, by contracting the limits of the
prejudices against its influence.
It is perhaps a little extraordinary, thjit a
work undertaken with this view, should have
PREFACE. XI
been charged with a tendency to infidelity. Of
late years, this term has been very commonly
applied to all those who stepped out of the
beaten track, in order to extend the boundary
of present knowledge, and to inquire into the
secret springs, by whose operation, certain phe-
nomena were obtained, and certain results
attended. Perhaps it might be well to inquire,
how far the zeal which has prompted a charge
of this general nature, was really the offspring
of a Christian spirit, and how far it may have
been the product of indulging a natural seve-
rity, and other peculiarities of character, — them-
selves at variance with that spirit, and in so far
as this may have been the case, closely allied
to infidelity. The effect of Christianity is one
of meekness and forbearance — of tenderness
and prudence: — may the Author and his friends,
and those who differ from him, strive earnestly
to drink more deeply into the spirit which was
in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to imitate his
most perfect example. For himself, he can only
most solemnly appeal to the great Searcher of
XII PREFACE.
hearts, that his simple object has been, to
extend the influence of genuine Christianity,
and the glory of Christ ; and he humbly prays
that such may be the result of the present
inquiry ; and if so, to God be all the praise !
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER 1. Page
Introductory Remarks ..... 1
CHAPTER 11.
Division of the subject. — Of superstition in general.
Its essential character. Its varieties. Its causes - 21
CHAPTER III.
Materiality of the brain, and its subjection to the agency
of physical causes. It is the organ of mind, and will
influence its manifestations. It is liable to morbid
action, according to the particular organ of the body
which may be in a state of irritation ; proofs of this
position, arising out of simple, and morbid, and sym-
pathetic excitement of the brain . . . .50
CHAPTER IV.
Particular sympathies of the brain; — with the heart —
with the blood — with the organs of respiration — with
the stomach — with the liver — with the function of
secretion in general — with the muscular system — with
the skin, &c. &c. Conclusions - . . .82
XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
Phenomena of disordered brainular function, and its
influence on the manifestations of mind. — Sensorial
feebleness or perversion ; great susceptibility ; hal-
lucination; unconquerable wakefulness; change of
intellectual and moral manifestations . . .112
CHAPTER VI.
The same subject continued. — Early and slight changes
of character accompanying this state. Varied in-
fluence upon the bodily functions; intermittent or
remittent character of the brain's maladies— epilepsy
— possession. Causes producing irritation of the
brain ; viz. original malconformation ; wounds ;
concussion ; compression ; fever ; local inflamma-
tion; the entire class of nervous diseases; hypo-
chondriasis. General inferences . . . .128
CHAPTER VII.
Phenomena of sleep, and its morbid states. Its phy-
siological laws. Its morbid conditions. Waking
dreams or reveries. Nightmare. Dreams . . 147
CHAPTER VIII.
The same subject continued. — Definition of dreams; no
dreams in natural sleep ; dreaming independent of
the intellectual faculties; proximate cause of dream-
ing ; exciting causes ; imperfect sleep ; irritation of
the brain ; dreams of disease; their endless variety,
and organic classification. Dreams of insanity; dis-
stinction of dreams, arising from primary or se-
condary irritation of the brain ; recollected impres-
sions; accidental associations . . . 162
CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER IX.
The same subject continued. — Somnambulism. Second
sight. Animal magnetism. Influence of imagination,
and of superstitious credence. Is there any truth in
popular superstitions ? 181
CHAPTER X.
The same subject continued. — Are dreams commission-
ed for the discovery of crime? Application of the
Author's principles to the history of W. Corder.
Agency of the devil in the production of dreams, and
various errors. Vision of angels, &c. . . . 202 /
CHAPTER XI.
On presentiments. Omens. The case of martyrs, and
their extraordinary supernatural aid. Opinions of
Dr. Hibbert, and of the author of " Past Feelings
Renovated." 217
CHAPTER XH.
Agency of evil spirits; possession; dsemonomania ;
temptation; astrology; doctrine of apparitions ; spi-
ritual contemplation ; peculiar physical state . .231
CHAPTER XIII.
Critical inquiry into the views of a recent writer in the
" Record," on the subject of apparitions . . . 248
CHAITER XIV.
Influence of nitrous-oxyde gas on the brain : — agency
of Belladonna, Stramonium, opium, hemlock, fox-
glove, &c. ; various illustrative cases. Influence
of several mental excitants in the creation of appa-
ritions 268
XVI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV.
Influence of brainular disease on the function of volition.
Appearance of departed spirits to distant friends.
Other supernatural appearances. Various illustra-
tive narratives ....... 298
CHAPTER XVI.
The same subject continued. — Examination of some
popular histories of supernatural visitation. Lord
Tyrone and Lady Beresford. Lord Lyltleton, &c. .318
CHAPTER XVn.
Summary review? of the preceding argument .- . 340
CHAPTER XVni.
The same subject continued 363
CHAPTER XIX.
The same subject continued . . . .383
CHAPTER XX.
Conclusions arising from a review of the whole subject 409
ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
CHAPTER I.
Introductory Remarks.
Before inviting the attention of my readers to
a series of illustrations on the manifold and
varied forms in which the offspring of super-
stition cross our path, I must claim their indul-
gence should I sometimes impugn the truth of
any long-cherished prejudices; and, especially,
should I frequently refer to a bodily cause, effects
which some of them may have attributed to a
purely spiritual agency : and therefore I think
it necessary to prefix to this inquiry, the prin-
ciples upon which it is undertaken.
I. The cause of true religion always loses
ground, in proportion as it is associated with
any system of irrational belief.
4 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
II. The cause of true religion always gains
an accession of influence, and obtains an exten-
sion of its benefits, in proportion as the faith of
its disciples is supported by knowledge, en-
lightened by the torch of scientific research,
and chastened by the delicacy of true taste.
III. The honour of God is vindicated, and
the kingdom of Christ is enlarged ; the faith of
the humble and the sincere is confirmed ; the
prejudices of such as are satisfied with this
world's wisdom are subdued ; the fears of the
ignorant are superseded ; and the hope and
confidence of the just are supported by being
placed on a basis of scientific and rational ex-
planation, rather than on the fears of ignorance,
or on a measure of belief which was never de-
signed for a revelation addressed to God's ra-
tional creatures.
It would contribute to the happiness and
welfare of mankind, if the sincerely religious
would condescend to be aided in their inquiries
by the light of true science ; and if scientific
investigators would, in the conscious humility
of Christian feeling, submit their feeble judg-
ment to the guidance of the Holy Spirit : so
that the highest knowledge might be adorned
by the lesser, but not trifling, beauties of intel-
lect ; while the Colossus of literature might be
CHAPTER r. 6
rendered estimable by subordinating his stores
of wisdom to the promotion of genuine piety in
himself and others.
These propositions require a little farther de-
velopement ; andj^r*^, the cause of true religion
in the world always loses ground, in proportion
as it is associated with any system of irrational
belief. Reflection teaches us, that thus it must
be ; for since revealed religion was designed for
God's most perfect work, and as it was des-
tined to restore man to the image of God, in
order that he might show forth the glory of his
Creator and Redeemer; it is manifest that this
object will be accomplished only in proportion
as he resembles his Maker. And since perfect
knowledge forms one of the attributes of the
Divine character, his creatures will be like him
in this respect, only as the clouds of ignorance
have been chased away by the influence of the
Holy Spirit, upon the exertion of those talents
which man has received ; as the undefined
forms of twilight are rendered visible in all
their proportions by the result of increasing
acquaintance ; as his hopes are enlarged by
being placed on a firmer basis ; as his affec-
tions are invigorated by discoveries of the in-
finite care and goodness, and love of his Hea-
venly Father; as his intellectual powers are
B 2
4 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
strengthened and matured by constant exercise
on a wider and a more successful field of in-
quiry and observation ; and as he is enabled to
explain phenomena, and account for circum-
stances which have been termed supernatural,
and to know the wise and rational agency of
that good Providence which upholds and go-
verns all things by the word of the Divine
power.
Experience confirms this award of reflection.
Let us cast our eyes upon the Roman Catholic
devotee ; let us look to his standard maxim of
** I believe, because it is incredible;" let us
contemplate the homage which he offers to his
priest, — not on the score of influence arising
from superior sacred ness of character, — from
intellectual and moral worth, or in return for
the instruction he receives ; for all these may be
wanting : he may be grossly and openly pro-
fligate, profoundly ignorant, and wholly care-
less of the real wants of his flock ; yet homage,
(might I not almost say adoratmi ?) is yielded
to his ministerial character as a confessor, and
as possessing the power of granting or with-
holding absolution, rescuing his supplicant
from the torments of purgatory, or suffering
him to experience its prolonged punishments.
Let us advert to his belief in the power of the
CHAPTER I.
priest to forgive sins, upon being paid for it,
although it is declared that none can forgive
sins except God alone ; let us contemplate the
catalogue of faults which includes murder,
theft, adultery, and the like, as admitting of
])ecuniary atonement ; nay, farther, let us esti-
mate the prospective indulgence which may be
obtained to commit sin in future, upon a scale
proportioned to the wealth of the individuals ;
let us look to the mummery of his religion, to
its imposing ceremonial, and its dread of the
circulation of the Bible ; let us accurately
weigh its favourite doctrine of transubstantiation,
and of the real presence; its constant hostility
to the diffusion of intellectual culture ; its claim
to infallibility for all its decisions, and its per-
manent substitution of a belief in the church for
faith in Christ, and of penances and pilgrim-
ages for holiness of life ; and then let us see
whether all the loveliness and spirituality, and
almost all the influence of Christianity, be not
lost by its degrading association with that which
is irrational. Witness again the effect of this
system upon the will and upon the intellect :
man loses his free-agency and individual ac-
countability; his mind is grasped by the terrors
of superstition, as by a chain of adamant ; he
has no will but that of his priest, and no occa-
6 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
sion for the exercise of judgment, or of the other
intellectual faculties ; he is fast bound by the
thraldom of the most enthralling power; his
conscience is directed by the interest of his
spiritual pastor, and the fear of his resentment,
rather than the love of his Heavenly Father,
and the desire of obedience to his commands.
Effects, similar in kind to these, though not in
degree, are produced wherever a spirit of Ro-
man Catholicism is abroad throughout the
world, and under every possible disguise ;
that is, whenever any thing short of the pure
and simple evangelical piety of the Bible
is substituted as the ground of hope, or
the rule of conduct; whenever any irrational
attachment to forms and ceremonies is placed
in the room of the worship of the Most High
God.
If it were necessary to accumulate proofs of
this position, they might readily be found in
the system of religious belief of the Mohamme-
dan— in the endless and sensual mythology of
the Hindoo — or in the still less enlightened no-
tions of the North American Indian ; all tend-
ing to show, that in proportion as man departs
from that which is reasonable, he becomes the
willing victim of ignorance, the debased slave
of his passions, and still further and further
CHAPTER r. 7
alienated from the God of his life ; experience
thus affording the strongest confirmation of our
position.
11. The cause of true religion always gains
an accession of influence, and obtains an ex-
tension of its benefits, in proportion as the faith
of its disciples is supported by knowledge, en-
lightened by the -torch of scientific research,
and chastened by the delicacy of true taste.
Real Christianity always gains by inquiry :
once get a man to think over his state, and the
suitableness of religion to his wants ; once en-
list his understanding in the pursuit, and let
him be truly in earnest in asking what is his
duty towards God and his neighbour; and
there is every hope for him. The great mis-
chief is, that he will not think ; that he will
not consider; and that he will be contented
with a few irrational services, placing these in
the room of principled obedience.
Prejudice is diminished by the association of
the understanding with religious belief. While
the man of science and intellectual attainment
can persuade himself that religion consists in a
certain influence upon the passions and affec-
tions, exerted he knows not how, and by a mys-
terious agency, the very existence of which he
almost hesitates to acknowledge, he considers
8
ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
it only as the heritage of weak minds, and de-
signed to govern the ignorant : but when he
sees its doctrines embraced upon conviction, by
individuals of whose intellectual capacity he
can entertain no doubt ; and when he perceives
that such minds are only energised in the pur-
suit of knowledge, and refined, and purified ;
when the powers of the judgment are confessedly
deepened, and the benevolent affections are ex-
panded ; when argument is called in to the de-
fence of their opinions, and all the resources of
learning are placed in requisition to prove the
reality, as well as the reasonable ground, of
their convictions ; — he is assured that religion is
not that contracting study which he once
thought it, but that it possesses the power
even of ennobling the mind ; and thus the veil
of prejudice is blown aside, the film of visual
delusion is dissipated, and at least the soil is
prepared for the reception of Divine truth.
Again ; learning, and the majesty of culti-
vated mind, exert an astonishing influence over
popular opinion, and must therefore add strength
to the cause of Christianity, in proportion to
the extent of such agency. And this will ope-
rate both in the way of precept and example :
the opinion of the reputed wise is quoted by the
majority of those who think not for them-
CHAPTER I. 9
selves ; their powers of persuasion are very
great ; and their example is bounded only by
the extent to which it can be seen.
The employment of these talents and re-
searches upon Biblical Criticism has not been
thrown away ; many seeming incongruities have
been explained ; many difficulties have been
removed ; light has beamed upon that which
was obscure ; the appearance of contradiction
has been reconciled ; and the harmony of the
Scriptures has been fully established : the ob-
jections of the infidel have been answered ; and
while it has been allowed that there are mys-
teries in religion far beyond the comprehension
of a finite capacity, it has also been shown
that the same law attaches to all the produc-
tions of nature; and precisely because the
human mind, formed originally with capacities
to comprehend the rationale of its own phe-
nomena, has lost that power by the debasing
influence to which it has been subjected. It
has been shown, too, that the difficulties of
infidelity involve an exercise of belief far
greater than the mysteries of religion, and
monstrous in proportion to the cheerless anni-
hilation with which they are connected : the
doubts of feeble and unconvinced but sincere
inquirers have been chased away, like the sum-
10 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
mer's mist which has still lingered on the crest
of our hills, till it has vanished before the light
and heat of the full-born day: and the faith
and hope, and love, and joy of the Christian
have been deepened in their hold upon his
heart, while they have expanded into all that
is virtuous in principle, all that is pure and
benevolent in feeling, all that is lovely and
excellent in conduct.
Moreover, Christianity will derive an acces-
sion of strength from the delicacy of true taste :
its influence upon the mind will be, to give it a
more extensive hold upon the sympathies of
others; while to the man of simple literary
taste, it will come recommended and adorned
with its genuine qualities, instead of being
associated with that which is opposed to its
real nature ; and thus its agency will be ex-
tended both above and below, from the giant
of literature to the least expanded intellect
among the sincere and simple-hearte, the
poor and illiterate. Besides, there will be
developed a delicate perception, by which the
finer shades of moral beauty will be seized and
appropriated ; an acquaintance with mind, and
its powers and operations, will be widened ;
the removal of prejudice will unveil the wide
field of mental research ; all that is sublime
CHAPTER I. 11
and beautiful in nature or in character will be
doubly enjoyed ; there will be a permanent
delight in cultivating the intellectual faculty,
and in consecrating its powers to the service of
Him from whom all blessings flow ; the sub-
stantial worth of the individual will be increased,
while his capacity for usefulness, and his desire
after it, will be augmented ; the productions of
reason and intellect will be estimated aright,
and will be tested, as they ought to be, by
their title to the possession of moral beauty ;
and this again will be referred, for its standard,
to the character of highest value, even to
Christ, who is the chief among ten thousand,
and altogether lovely.
III. But, thirdly, I have stated that the
honour of God is vindicated, and the kingdom
of Christ is enlarged ; the faith of the humble
and sincere is confirmed ; the prejudices of
those who are satisfied with this world's wis-
dom are subdued ; the fears of the ignorant
are superseded ; and the hopes and confidence
of the just are supported, by being placed on a
basis of scientific and rational explanation, ra-
ther than on the fears of ignorance, or on a
measure of belief which never was designed for
a revelation addressed to God's rational crea-
tures.
12 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Christianity is not a religion of mere feeling
and passion : for, although it should come from
the heart, it must be based on the understand-
ing, and be supported by the intellect ; other-
wise its clear and steady light will be exchanged
for the transient meteor of exhalation on the
one hand, or the frost of indifference on the
other. The glow of enthusiasm, or the chill of
carelessness ; the fever of passion, or the col-
lapse of scepticism, will characterise the mani-
festations of a mind which has embraced its
truths but in part, and has, perhaps, embraced
them with the narrow views of sectarian influ-
ence. Besides, a little acquaintance with the
intellectual nature of man will prove that he
was originally designed for much greater attain-
ments than are now within his grasp ; and will
show that some perverting agency has passed
upon him, has circumscribed his knowledge,
placed a limit everywhere to his researches,
converted that which was once good into that
which has an evil tendency, and made him
what he now is, the willing slave of sin, instead
of what he ought to be, the obedient servant of
Christ. And if this state of things cannot be
accounted for upon any known principle, it is
surely not irrational to take the account which
revelation gives of this sad change. And, if our
CHAPTER I. 13
conviction of this first and fundamental truth of
revelation be thus confirmed, our faith in its
remaining doctrines acquires a firmer basis.
For faith, which is the gift of God, must be
based upon the conviction of want in the
dependent, and of power, and knowledge, and
goodness, in the Giver ; and it must be sup-
ported by the understanding, or it will wither
away, before the sophistries of the designing.
Besides, the moral responsibility and free
agency of man, his power to choose the good,
and refuse the evil ; and his loss of that power,
in consequence of the gloomy inheritance be-
queathed him from this first fall, and now pro-
longed to successive generations, derives sup-
port from the phenomena of mental manifes-
tation and brainular peculiarity.
The original character of the faculty of voli-
tion may be still descried through its mourn-
fully altered phenomena : man's knowledge of
good, and his conviction of truth, his preference
of evil, and his choice of error, are stamped in
undeniable characters upon his mental opera-
tions, and plainly indicate the necessity of some
change, in order to convert the manifestations
of his degraded temperament into the off'spring
of truth, and justice, and righteousness ; and
thus also confirm the doctrine of a necessity for
14 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
the influence of the Holy Spirit, to renew that
nature, to change that heart, to subdue that
rebellious will, to enlarge that contracted un-
derstanding, and to place its renovated feelings,
and views, and principles, on another and a
firmer basis, even the Rock of Ages. Yet, if
this be true, it is clear that man is now in a
state of imperfection ; and still equally clear
that the constitution of his nature must have
originally destined him for a state of perfection.
Man's immortal spirit is encumbered and im-
prisoned in its material tenement, which is
destined, in a few short years, to lose its beauty,
and to crumble into dust. Here, then, he is
tending to decay ; and therefore, if there be a
state of perfection anywhere, it cannot be on
earth. But he possesses within himself a con-
sciousness of continued existence. It is rea-
sonable to conclude that perfection must be
hereafter : and we now see him placed in a
period of probation, during which, his powers
are to be refined ; and he is to be daily striving
forward, after that nearer and still nearer ap-
proach to a perfect state, which is only attain-
able, as it is revealed to us, when mortality
shall be swallowed up of life, when the soul
shall escape the burden of materiality, and when
disenchanted from the thraldom of ignorance
CHAPTER I. 15
and vice, and released from the prison of the
body, it shall know all things ; when it shall
be clothed in the robe of its Redeemer's right-
eousness, and it shall be holy, even as He is
holy.
But, further, this being admitted, it is mad-
ness to rest satisfied with the possession of any
measure of present wisdom. For if the original
tendency of the human mind be the pursuit
after perfection ; and if any point of improve-
ment be a step gained in advance towards this
state ; and if the acquisition of every fresh
portion of knowledge be not only a triumph
over ignorance, but a source of strength for the
future useful application of mental power ; and if
the value of knowledge be estimated only by the
end which it proposes, and by the means of its
accomplishment, it is clear, that that wisdom
which relates to a small section of man's exist-
ence, can only be valuable in proportion as it
adds to his capacity for enjoying, and his means
of obtaining, that eventual good which will
constitute his happiness throughout futurity ;
and therefore, that every attainable portion of
science should be earnestly desired, and should
be employed directly or indirectly in seeking
after that perfection which alone can thoroughly
satisfy the heart that has been renewed by
16 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
the Spirit of grace ; since none but a Divine
sanction can fully calm its fears, or expand the
bosom with hope and confidence, or joy and
love : nought but this can constitute the active
Christian, the burning and shining light, during
the darkness and the doubt which attach to his
material existence.
The doctrine of Providence, the bountiful
care of the Almighty Creator, the harmony
which pervades all his works, the beneficence
which marks his designs, and the wonderful
provision which has been made for all the emer-
gencies of life, are explained and defined by
the researches of natural philosophy ; and thus
phenomena which impressed the mind with
fear, when ignorant of their cause, become
sources of adoring gratitude, and motives to
obedience when explained. Every hour of
man's eventful history affords a convincing proof
of his dependence, and of the divinity of that
power, which, unseen sustains and governs all
things with inconceivable benevolence. The
light of science will exhibit this truth in a
thousand every-day forms, and will prove how
minutely and literally we live, and move, and
have our being, through this Almighty agency.
But if so, we are prepared to receive the reve-
lation of God as the moral Governor of the
CHAPTER I. 17
universe, entitled to man's obedience, and en-
acting those, paternal laws, the infringement of
which must be followed by certain punishment,
or by pardon proceeding upon a principle which
can reconcile perfect holiness with perfect love.
The obligations of a child to an earthly parent
admit not of comparison with those of man to
his Creator ; yet the former enacts laws, and
requires implicit obedience to their spirit, pu-
nishes for their infraction, and only forgives upon
submission of the offender, making a fancied
atonement for error, and promising to do his
will in future. But God, who is perfect holi-
ness, can only forgive iniquity which has been
atoned for ; and since man has no power of his
own to expiate sin, to obtain forgiveness for the
past or strength for the time to come, a sacri-
fice has been provided, by which the harmony
of the Divine attributes may be sustained, and
God may be just, and manifest his hatred to
sin, and yet be gracious to sinners, receiving to
his favour all such as accept the proffered sal-
vation, through faith in Christ, and obedience
unto life. Nor is there any thing incredible in
this provision ; for, reasoning from the analo-
gies of the physical creation, if God has wisely
ordained a certain proportion of atmospherical
air to sustain natural life ; and if the slightest
18 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
difference in the proportion of its constituent
atoms occasion distress ; and if the^air we have
breathed be contaminated, and rendered unfit
to sustain animal life ; and still more, if this air
be peculiarly fitted for the support and nourish-
ment of plants, which thus consume what man
has impoverished, and again breathe it out pu-
rified and renewed : or if it has been wisely
provided, that water, in assuming the form of
ice, should become specifically lighter than in
its pristine state, in order to prevent the devas-
tating consequences of those inundations which
must ensue, were the contrary the case ; why,
if this minute care (and the instances might be
indefinitely multiplied) be taken of man's wel-
fare (and science demonstrates that it is taken),
can there be any thing incredible in the suppo-
sition, that at least equal care should have been
taken of his moral, but contaminated nature, or
that some provision should have been reserved,
to rescue him from the devastations of sin, which
come in like a flood ? And can there be any
thing less reasonable, less worthy of attention
and of belief, in the provision which has been
made in the sacrifice of Christ, for the latter
instance, — recurring to the above-mentioned
physical facts, — than in the effect produced
upon air by the respiration of plants, or on the
CHAPTER I. 19
specific gravity of water by the change of con-
figuration in. its particles on their becoming
ice?
Surely, then, my first propositions have been
fully demonstrated ; surely, we need not be
afraid of considering reason and science as the
handmaids of religion ; or of seeking for an
explanation of forms of being with which we
are unacquainted, without at once referring
them to a purely mysterious and spiritual agen-
cy. There is sometimes exhibited a fear of
tracing effects to their causes, and of investi-
gating the successive links of action and im-
presssion, lest we should look to second causes
only, and rest in these, forgetting the Great
First Cause. But this fear arises from errone-
ous conception. When we look to the govern-
ment of God, and endeavour to trace in our
view its immensity, and its moral attributes, we
can only refer such agency to an infinite mind,
and can form no comprehensible idea of its
operation ; but when we look to this govern-
ment as presiding everywhere, and as acting
through the use of means which have been pro-
vided, and which scientific research enables us
to understand, we can then form some idea of
this wonder-working agency, in some infinitesi-
mal portion of creation : and by the infinite
c 2
20 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
multiplication of this sustaining power, our
views of its grandeur, and goodness, and all-
pervading influence and love, are immensely
increased ; the rational mind is expanded, where
feeling or prejudice would before have operated ;
and the conviction which results is of a far
firmer and longer and more enduring quality,
as well as more universally operative. God is
everywhere : we acknowledge it as an abstract
truth, or as a matter of faith : but when we
trace his footsteps, we see and know it. The
only evil attending this investigation consists in
the possibility of forgetting his primary agency;
but this will be never realized where such re-
search is undertaken with a view to his glory,
and with a simple desire to be led into all truth.
May God Almighty bless the present attempt
to explain phenomena, which to many may ap-
pear inexplicable, and to show that He is a God
of order f working by the agency of means, to
the perversion, or diseased or morbid applica-
tion of which by sinful man, can alone be re-
ferred those deviations from consistency, which
have often been ascribed to purely spiritual
agency ; but which really do, for the most part,
own a bodily origin.
CHAPTER II.
Division of the Subject. — Of Superstition in general. — Its
essential character. — Its Varieties. — Its Causes.
In proceeding with the subject, it will be ne-
cessary to consider superstition in general,
which will lead me to a notice of its causes ;
and, among others, that which arises from the
influence of irritated brain. — The writer's views
on this subject will oblige him to glance at the
cerebral functions in a state of health, and un-
der the operation of morbid action ; after which
his hypothesis will be applied to account for
various presumed supernatural appearances and
influences, — to dreams, visions, ghosts, and
other kindred matters.
I. Of superstition in general.
The essence of superstition consists in the
belief of the existence of some supernatural
power ; not, however, the agency of the God of
22 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
the Christian revelation — a Being of infinite
purity and holiness, of unsearchable wisdom, of
boundless mercy, and goodness, and love; — a
God of order, requiring the obedience of the
understanding and of the heart to laws which
are framed by infinite knowledge of the delu-
sions of the former, and of the aberrations of
the latter; the object of the hope, the confi-
dence, the affection of his creatures — dwelling
with the humble and the contrite — preserving all
things by the word of his power, and especially
extending his protection to those who love and
serve him : but a power, the character of which
is mischievous, its attributes unknown, not
founded on reason, inimical to science, unac-
knowledged by revelation, opposed to the hap-
piness of man, introducing disorder into the
mental functions and moral conduct, submitting
the understanding and the heart to a blind and
irrational impulse, prompting to evil, or para-
lyzing the power of doing well, and leading to
distrust in the providence of God, and to disbe-
lief of his promises. Exactly in proportion as
real religion raises the tone of moral feeling,
and stimulates the desire after intellectual at-
tainment, superstition degrades the former and
destroys the latter. The character of man as
a moral and intellectual being is exalted and
CHAPTER II. U3
improved by the influence of religion, because
he justly estimates its precepts and doctrines as
the offspring of truth, the handmaid of science,
the nurse of intellectual progress, the great
source of mental action and passion, the regu-
lator of the desires, and consequently as af-
fording the means of happiness in the sunshine
of prosperity, as well as of hope, of peace, and
of consolation under the cloud of adversity;
the only source of correct conduct, because it is
the only system of morals which reaches to the
thoughts, and feelings, and motives ; and be-
cause none but a Divine sanction can renew the
heart, or subdue the rebellious will, change the
course of natural passion, substitute the love
of God for self-love, or implant the desire of
obedience to his will, in the room of that trea-
sonable pursuit of independent existence, which
is the spontaneous fruit of practical atheism.
It is under such an influence that man, civi-
lized man, cultivates his faculties, and should
devote them to God who gave them. He finds,
indeed, a natural barrier placed to his re-
searches ; but he does not with his own hands
construct an artificial impediment to his pro-
gress : he busily employs his talents, and, un-
der the influence of the Spirit of God, he every
where thirsts after the perfection of knowledge.
24 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
and power, and action ; and is arrested only
by the insuperable difficulty just mentioned,
and beyond which it would be the merest pre-
sumption to attempt to pass : he acknowledges
the feebleness of his reasoning powers, but he
directs his inquiries into every proper channel ;
and with a chastised imagination, endeavours
to form an acquaintance with the causes of the
phenomena which surround him, so far as these
have been placed within his reach.
But how different is this portrait from that of
the heart and soul of man under the agency of
debasing superstition ! He has no longer to
think for himself, or to seek the guidance of a
merciful God in his researches. The powers
of his reason are laid aside, to make room for a
nameless impulse, under the influence of which
his mind takes a peculiar form : its manifesta-
tions assume the tinge of this prevailing bias ;
the power of the will, the ability to choose
good and to refuse evil, is converted into the
desire of warding off some dreaded misfortune:
the mind is clouded by prejudice ; its credulity
is that of the blind man who fears all that he is
told by those who are interested in keeping him
from advancing ; and religion itself is blamed
for that which owes its origin exclusively to the
wa/it of this principle.
CHAPTER II. 25
Superstition assails us in a number of forms,
which however may be all traced to the same
cause. Thus, for instance, we have a variety of
signs, and portents, and warnings of death, or
misfortune, — more indeed than it would be easy
to enumerate, — beginning with the equality or
inequality of numbers, or the mode of the flight
of birds, and terminating with the winding-
sheet on our candles, or the peculiar howling
of the midnight dog under our window. So,
again, from the same principle, fear is deve-
loped in darkness, or during the exhibition of any
natural unexplained phenomena ; an eclipse has
sown terror in the hearts of millions ; the
power of unknown evil rests upon the sable
wing of midnight ; the spirit of the storm is heard
in that peculiar agitation of the atmosphere
which precedes its immediate approach ; the
thunder of the summer cloud has been consi-
dered as the warfare of the spirits of the air ;
and even at the present day, and in this Chris- ..
tian country, it is very frequently deprecated as
an object of apprehension, instead of being
gratefully received as the source of great
good ; and as the appointed means of express-
ing the eternal unchanging benevolence of the
Almighty to his ungrateful creatures, rather
than as an indication of his anger.
26 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
We are next assailed with a long list of tales
of swptrnaiural appearances, of sudden lights,
and peculiar forms, of ghosts, and sundry other
matters ; and these have not only constituted a
ground of unnecessary alarm, but have even
formed a basis for precaution, for suspicion, for
unjust, or injurious, or absurd action : and thus
some ocular spectra, the offspring of a dis-
eased brain, have become motives for conduct ;
and, still worse, this very conduct, which is a
remote consequence of disobedience to God, is
made to assume the appearance of doing the
immediate will of Him who is infinitely wise
and holy. v/i :■:■
Another demonstration of the same principle
is to be found in the history of certain revela-
tions and impressions, producing a very consi-
derable influence upon the modes of thought,
and habits of action. An idea, and very fre-
quently an insane idea, depending upon some
recollected image, whose law of association we
may perhaps be unable to trace, is invested with
an attribute of sanctity, as being the imfnediate
suggestion of Him who constantly watches over
his creatures. In a mind predisposed to super-
stition, this idea gains so great an influence over
the attention, that it presently engages it exclu-
sively ; and the patient has now approached the
CHAPTER II. 27
confines of that undefined territory, in which
he will range lawlessly, from an impression that
he is acting under the immediate agency and
guidance, sanction and direction, of that Being,
with whom originated, as he verily believes,
the early delusive impression, that formed the
first link in this chain of deviation from healthy
function.
A variety of the same tyrant principle may
be observed in ascribing the operation of na-
tural bad passion to direct satanic influence ;
by which means persons sometimes excuse
their misconduct on the plea of not acting from
the will, but under the resistless impulse of a
power of evil superior (by the supposition) to
the highest effort of that will. I am aware of
what the Scriptures of truth teach us respect-
ing the existence and the agency of that spiri-
tual enemy, who goeth about seeking whom he
may devour: but the worst that he can do
against us is in the way of evil suggestions,
adapted to our corrupt propensities. The Crea-
tor has endued him with no active power over
us ; he cannot operate upon us except through
the medium of our own will ; but persons are
often better pleased to throw the blame of that
which is evil in their hearts upon the influence
of Satan, than upon their own indulgence of
28 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
sinful passion and corrupt propensity ; as if the
facility with which they fall into the snare of
the devil, and are taken captive by him, did not
equally prove that permanent tendency to wrong
which showed that the heart was deceitful and
desperately wicked. What is commonly called
(and very frequently is) temptation, is often as-
cribed to this especial agency, when it really
consists in the aptitude of the mind for certain
evil modes of action, which are embraced when
presented to it, because there exists a corres-
ponding feeling, a principle from within, har-
moniously combining with every outward ac-
tion of a similar character.
Another step in advance, and we meet the
whole tribe of dreams, visions, reveries, and
the like, — frequently the offspring of recollected
impressions disjoined from their original trains
of association ; or resulting from a bad habit of
indulging the love of mental wandering with-
out guidance, or fixed rule, or definite object ;
or depending upon the organ of mind, variously
irritated by immediate or intermediate connexion
or sympathy with the morbid action of such
other organ of the body as may happen to form
the nucleus of that preponderating disorder of
function which overturns the balance of health.
Next appears for consideration the lengthened
CHAPTER 11. 29
train of vulgar prophecies. — We need not go
beyond the instance of Johanna Southcote, to
perceive that there is no folly so great but that
it will find a corresponding trait of imbecility in
the character of many with which it readily as-
similates ; and if this future should happen to
possess a pretended association with religion,
the dupe of the designing, or of the infatuated
and misled, may become the disciple, or the
founder, of a new sect, a zealous partizan of
its views, a devotee to his newly-formed opi-
nions, and a worshipper at the altar he has
erected ; he receives the seal of his safety, and
becomes the fully-formed enthusiast.
One step more in the descending scale of
credulity, and we meet with a belief in the per-
formance of vulgar miracles : as if the Author of
nature would permit his laws to be interrupted,
except to prove his own Divinity, to show that
His is the creative power, that this power is
superior to the laws of the universe, and that
therefore he is God. Of the claims to miracu-
lous agency in these latter days, the history of
animal magnetism may be referred entirely to a
well-timed employment of certain known phy-
sical laws on the part of the designing magne-
tizer, and to the influence of an exalted imagi-
nation under such physical agency on the part
30 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITrON.
of the magnetized. The sacred advantages
arising from the possession of the Holy Sca-
pular,* may be adjusted, partly by the selfish
and avaricious influence of a crafty priesthood —
partly by the falsehood of the narrative — and
partly by purely physical and mechanical
agency. The existence of Anne Moore with-
out taking any sustenance, has been satisfac-
torily traced to imposture ; and the astonishing
cures of Prince Hohenlohe, if authentic, are to
be explained upon the principle of unlimited
credence, producing such an eff"ect upon the
animal fibre as to suspend for a time the morbid
action which was previously going on ; and
which, in certain constitutions, might then be
entirely superseded by the commencement of a
new train of healthy associations. The same
explanation will apply to the agency of charms
in dispelling the returns of ague, and other in-
* Some of my readers may not be aware that the Holy
Scapular is supposed to be in imitation of a portion of the
dress of the Virgin Mary, which, having been consecrated by
the priest and sold to the people, will defend the purchaser
and wearer from many imminent dangers, from death in a
thousand forms, and from various other evils The history of
the Holy Scapular forms an interesting and valuable monu-
ment of the influence of a secular priesthood, and of the de-
gradation of human nature, by which it is placed in a situa-
tion for believing such monstrous absurdities, and for rever-
ing, nay adoring their authors !
CHAPTER TI. 31
termittent irritations depending upon a law of
the nervous system, by which a certain periodi-
city of action is observed ; and the same func-
tions, whether healthy or diseased, commence
at similar hours, and are continued by habit,
and by the persistence of similar conditions.
To this enumeration may be added, lastly,
the whole system of dupery, involved by the
mystic science of astrology, and its pigmy off-
spring— divination, casting nativities, and for-
tune-telling. The influence of this latter form
of superstition upon the mind, is very consi-
derable ; and even at the present hour exerts
an agency, far greater than could be believed
by those who contemplate the barefaced kna-
very which it involves, had it not been actually
traced by others who have obtained extensive
opportunities of observation ; aye, and this
agency is exerted even upon those whose minds
by education and situation ought to have been
exempted from this grossest fanaticism. Now
all these several forms of superstition may be
referred to one or more of the following causes.
I. The most fruitful source of superstition,
and indeed that which characterises every other
cause, is the belief of that which is false, or
contrary to reason and revelation, as regards
the agency of a Divine power. The God of
32 ESSAY ON SUPERS riTI ON.
the Christian is a being of infinite mercy and
love; his compassion is unbounded; he pities
the wanderings of his creatures ; he is slow to
anger; his knowledge, his wisdom, and his
power, are equalled only by his benevolence and
tenderness. And although his children have
broken his laws, forgotten his precepts, and in-
curred the penalties due to their disobedience,
he is anxious to receive them back to his fa-
vour ; he waits to be gracious ; he will be
found of those who seek him ; he will blot out
their iniquities, and will no more remember
their transgressions, but will be reconciled to
them through the sacrifice of Christ ; and they
shall become his people, and walk in his ways,
and love and serve and fear him.
Not so the divinity of superstition, or false
religion. The prominent attribute of every
such form of worship, is that of an irrevocable
fatalism : the decree has passed, and cannot be
altered ; infinite knowledge is exchanged for
predetermination of the will, which nought can
change ; the justice of a pure and Holy Being
is supplanted by the capricious declaration of
a changing mortal ; the smile of pity is super-
seded by the frown of vengeance ; the anger of
Him, who '* willeth not the death of a sinner,"
but rather that " he turn unto Him and live ;"
CHAPTER II. 33
who ** deferreth his anger," who " suffereth
long, and is kind," is exchanged for the vindic-
tive exultation of one who rejoices to punish sin,
who glorifies himself in the weakness and frail-
ties of mankind, and who is honoured by the
deepening crimes of those who shall ultimately
receive his proffered grace. From these false
views will result fear and dread, not reverence
and love. The desire of averting the wrath of
God will usurp the place of a wish to serve,
obey, and please him ; his moral attributes will
be misrepresented -, it will be supposed, that
He, who is above all human frailty, may be in-
fluenced by passion ; and this error will be
augmented and perpetuated by the influence of
our own natural feelings and emotions, and by a
conviction of our feebleness, contrasted with
the power of Him with whom, under such circum-
stances, we must have to contend. This falla-
cious view necessarily leads to absurd opinions,
and to acts of worship, or ridiculous ceremo-
nies, to avert the anger or propitiate the good-
ness of Him who ruleth in the heavens, but
who is an object of terror only to the finally im-
penitent. A considerate review of this first
cause of superstition will show how important
it is to form sound and rational, that is, true
D
34 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
and scriptural, views on the subject, and will
lead us to notice,
2. Ignorance^ as another fertile source of
these false impressions. This cause, in pro-
ducing its effect, will operate both upon the
physical and the mental system. The former
mode of causation will be presently considered,
when we come to speak of the peculiar in-
fluence of different states of the brain ; we shall
in this place, therefore, only remark the moral
effects of this absence of knowledge. By it,
the sphere of intellectual vision is contracted,
the spirit of inquiry is arrested, the genius of
truth is enthralled by a fatal lethargy which it
cannot dissipate, and the phantoms which
arise from its uneasy slumbers, are at once the
offspring and the nurse of superstition. The
ignorant man looks at nature with a gaze of
wonder, which is easily converted into awe :
for an essential ingredient in many of her most
sublime phenomena, is a certain portion of
terror, so chastised by an acquaintance with
their rationale, as to become a source of plea-
sure : but so terrible when unexplained, as to
afford ground for superstitious reverence, in-
stead of rational admiration and adoring grati-
tude. And when the mind has been brought
CHAPTER II. 35
into this state, the gradation is most easy, by
which it insensibly glides into the habit of as-
cribing all these natural grand spectacles to the
immediate and special agency of a superior
being, of whose character the only idea which it
forms is derived from the terror by which it has
been inspired, and in consequence of which it
partakes largely of the false and injurious no-
tions which we have just contemplated as a
principal cause of this dangerous tendency.
If to this want of knowledge of the laws of
the universe, be added ignorance of the moral
attributes of Him, ** who rides upon the whirl-
wind, and manages the storm," we have the
mind at once subjected to the fully-formed
agency of superstition. The history of man-
kind will corroborate this conclusion ; for we
perceive the greater or less influence of this
principle, exactly in proportion as the human
mind is expanded by the glow of intelligence,
or withered and contracted by the blast of de-
solation, by that destitution of information
which will leave man in the gloomy night into
which sin had originally plunged him. Thus,
in the earlier stages of society, and in situa-
tions to which the light of science has not yet
extended its awakening beams, this principle is
most prominent ; and in the more civilized and
D 2
36 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
intelligent quarters of the globe, it is found to
prevail particularly among weak and unculti-
vated minds, and it is dissipated in proportion
as education and principle make their way.
These have disenchanted many a hamlet of its
popular legend; the ghosts and fairies of for-
mer times, which have claimed the privilege of
nightly visitation, have been exorcised by its
rays, and have fled before the breath of morn-
ing air; and the ignorant worship of the ** un-
known God" has been exchanged for devotion
of the heart to the service of Him, ** who is not
far from every one of us ; for in Him we live,
and move, and have our being." Again, this
influence is more particularly visible in fe-
males; and how is this to be explained, but
partly by supposing that they are not so much
in the habit of investigating the laws of nature,
and of reasoning upon them, so that they are
more subjected to this general agency ; and
principally, from that increased susceptibility of
the nervous system, which belongs to their pe-
culiar physical temperament, and which has
been fostered by their modes and habits of life,
by indulgence, and by the absence of that sea-
sonable control which alone can discipline the
mind into obedience to principle and reason ?
This cause will be again noticed, and will then
CHAPTER II. 37
serve to explain another seeming anomaly;
namely, that though superstition is the off-
spring, the inheritance, and the mark of a weak
mind, yet it will sometimes be found to exist
in men of great genius, and of enlightened in-
telligence.
3. Fear is another cause of superstition ;
whether it may arise from a bodily source of
irritation, disturbing the equilibrium of brain-
ular function, from ignorance, from erroneous
views of the power and government of the Su-
preme, or from a consciousness of that moral
delinquency, which indeed would afford ground
for hopeless fear, had not a remedy been pro-
vided in the " balm of Gilead," the Saviour of
the world. None can doubt, that according to
his physical temperament, one man will be
more or less impressible by fear, and will mani-
fest more or less of courage, than another. This
is visible in the inferior animals ; it is observ-
able in children; it is readily distinguishable in
the adult, and it will cleave to manhood, even
through life. This natural tendency may be
increased by some peculiar morbid states of the
cerebral function, which tend to throw the or-
dinary associations into confusion ; it may be
encouraged by a weak, or repressed by a judici-
ous education ; it will be rapidly brought into
38 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
action, by the agency of false views of religion ;
and, finally, under that merciful dispensation
which has been revealed to us, unless we can
contemplate God as reconciled in the person
and sacrifice of Christ, guilt makes cowards of
us all : we fear we know not what, because we
instinctively dread lest every unknown agent
may prove a messenger from that last enemy
which will convey us to a final, unexplored
state of existence, of whose terrors we can form
no adequate conception, though we do know
that it has been declared, ** There is no peace
to the wicked." We deprecate an evil of whose
extent we are ignorant, and we seek to avert
it by any superstitious forms of devotion which
we can imagine in the vanity and frowardness
of the natural heart, unless we are led by the
Spirit of God to come simply and humbly to
the cross of Christ, and to ask of him grace
and strength to do his will ; and that perfect
love which ** casteth out fear, because fear
hath torment."
4. Coincidence may be mentioned as another
fruitful source of superstitious observance.
Upon this principle may be explained the
currency that has been given to certain warn-
ings and tokens, with the circumstances of
which we are liberally obtested, as having, of
CHAPTER 11. 39
necessity, preceded some great misfortune,
when that misfortune has actually occurred,
but which are overlooked and forgotten in the
thousand instances in which no such predicted
calamities have followed. It is very possible,
that certain events may have occurred in such
an order as to have become associated in idea,
as a regular matter of sequence ; in fact, as
cause and effect ; and yet, that the two might
be wholly independent of each other, except
by some whimsical affinities, or, still more fre-
quently, by the simple accident of having oc-
curred at the same season.
5. Another source of superstition is fraud
and hypocrisy. The love of power and influ-
ence is so natural, and reigns so universally,
that both will be sought after in every possible
way; and they to whom nature and providence
have not given the means of exerting such
power, and who do not possess principle suf-
ficient to induce them to employ their talents
exclusively in promoting the good of those
around them, or even to restrain theni from
seeking an extension of such influence by any
means within their grasp, will avail themselves
of the frailties and follies of their neighbour,
and of all the weak points of his character, for
this purpose ; and man will become the easy
40 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
dupe of the designing and the unprincipled ;
and all this from the mere love of influence in
general, and of the consequence which it in-
volves. This same principle will admit of ex-
tension, and will receive a particular and deter-
mined bias, when there is any local interest to
serve, any boon to obtain, any duty to deprecate,
any private object to accomplish. The faculties
of the hypocrite will be quickened by selfish
association ; and all the secret practices of
knavery will be brought into action, in order to
keep up a certain effect, and to conceal a suc-
cessful fraud.
6. The influence of the Imagination, in pro-
ducing unreal images, must not be forgotten in
this enumeration of the sources of superstition.
This faculty was a two-fold agency ; first, in
its natural condition, in which, if uncontrolled,
it has the power of creating images, and, from
indulgence of these airy nothings, of believing
them to be faithful portraits of realities ; and,
secondly, when under the influence of its dis-
eased impressions, it claims a supremacy over
every other faculty, and will insist upon the
prevalence of its manifestations. With regard
to the former, one of the most common modes
of its exhibition is that form of reverie which is
entitled castle-building; in the course of which
CHAPTER II. 4ll»
the mind invents for itself a certain possible
situation, and then invests it with appropriate
characters, till, under many circumstances, it
is quite absorbed by the ideUy which then haunts
its waking and its sleeping moments, and be-
comes onerous from its obtrusiveness. There
are very few who have not occasionally given
the reins to this busy faculty, and who will
not acknowledge the vividness, intensity, and
vraisemblance with which all objects appear,
so that it may be diflficult to persuade them that
they are not real.
Another evidence of the common operation
of this faculty with which the mind embodies
for itself various figures, is easily obtained ; as,
for instance, when we intently watch the slow
progress of ignition in our fires, or the peculiar
shapes of clouds, or the undefined forms of
moonlight, or the fantastic appearances assumed
by the driven snow. In all these instances,
there is a creation of spectra, and, by going a
certain number of steps further, under the in-
fluence of a morbid imagination, a person may
even imagine them moral or spiritual agents,
and invest them with appropriate attributes,
which, because their qualities are unknown,
will develop fear, give rise to credulity, and to
42 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
that firm belief in their existence, and their
power, which is not easily dissipated. The ab-
surd fables of mythology may assist to show
that I have not overstated my position.
A further illustration of the same principle,
is to be found in the aptitude with which we
invent actors for specific scenes ; and, not con-
tented with considering them as abstractions,
we think and speak of them as persons, — nay
more, as particular individuals ; and we ima-
gine their form, and feature, and expression.
It is by this property that we fabricate for
ourselves an idea of persons we have never
seen, but which we consider as appropriate
to certain characters, and as expressive of cer-
tain habits and modes of action. Nor does
this process terminate with the simple ascrip-
tion of form and feature, to action and progres-
sion : for, by the law of association, these pri-
mary forms are connected with other forms ;
and from these again are reproduced images
of which we do not recollect the germs and
first impressions, because their fantastic group-
ing has given them an air of novelty which dis-
sociates them from their original stocks, and
occasions them to be considered as creations
arising from a power extrinsic to the mind
CHAPTER II. 43
itself. This fruitful source of many of the
forms of supernatural appearance, must not be
forgotten.
But there is yet another property of the imagi-
nation, by which it not only invents persons and
situations, in due subordination to some fancied
or rational arrangement, but also invests them
with attributes which they do not possess, and
then draws conclusions as real, which the cir-
cumstances of the case would not admit even
as rationally conjectural. Commonly too, it
takes care that these should be attributes of
fearful interest ; for it delights to exert a tor-
menting influence over the other mental mani-
festations, and to divert them from the steady
pursuit of truth.
These creations of the fancy will be charac-
terised by the situation of the individual ; and
by the degree in which education has developed
his intellectual powers, the closeness with which
he has been accustomed to reason, and the ex-
tent to which he has disciplined his mind to
believe only that which is real ; I mean not,
that which is supported exclusively by the
evidence of one or more of his senses, or which
admits of demonstration ; but that which is
founded on sound principle, and is consistent
with reason, that which rests on unbiassed and
44 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
unprejudiced human testimony, or that which
is based on Divine revelation. Moreover, these
imaginative musings v^^ill be influenced by the
particular state of the brain, and will take a
cheerful or a melancholy tinge, accordingly as
that organ may have been roused by determi-
nation of blood to its vessels, or as it may have
been depressed by congestion, or by the agency
of fear and disappointment. Again, as it may
have been strengthened by use, and expanded
by acquisition, or enfeebled by indolence, and
shrivelled by narrow-mindedness ; and still
farther, as it may have been influenced by an
undue excitement of its own, or by that of some
neighbouring or associated viscus, its creations
will partake of gloom and distress, or of cheer-
fulness and enthusiasm. These, however, are
only natural productions ; but there are many
morbid conditions which will more readily be
classed under the last source of superstition ;
namely,
7. The influence exerted by the brain in its
physiological and pathological state : brainular ir-
ritation of any kind, which in certain cases may
border very nearly on insanity ; the approach of
disease ; the return of convalescence ; protracted
wakefulness ; too long indulged sleep ; and a va-
riety of other agents, differing in their degree.
CHAPTER 11. 45
but all agreeing in one principle, that of exert-
ing a certain baneful influence upon the organ
of mind. Most of the causes of superstition
which I have just enumerated, tend also to
produce this effect upon the brain : for it must
be remembered that every mental impression
occasions also a certain movement of the organ
through which that impression is transmitted, or
is simply rendered cognizable ; and that by this
combined agency is promoted a condition of
that viscus peculiarly favourable to the deve-
lopment of superstitiousi mages. Thus, for
instance, erroneous views on the subject of
religion place the spiritual principle in a situa-
tion liable to be acted upon easily by impres-
sions of fearful interest ; but, on the other hand,
the influence which these exert upon the brain,
also predisposes that organ to a similar action
— renders it susceptible of the like impressions
— and induces a state of irritability, during the
continuance of which, itself is very much in-
clined to create these unreal phantasms by a
certain peculiar licence of its own.
Again, ignorance has a two-fold influence :
first, by withholding truth from the mental
contemplation ; and next, by withdrawing the
aptitude for correct thought from the brainular
organ. Its function remains undeveloped, and
46 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
its capacity for action is diminished, the evils
of indolence and bad habit rest upon it ; it
becomes more completely the organ of the
animal nature, and more abstracted from spi-
ritual influence ; its mental operations are all
inadequately performed ; it is unaccustomed to
correct discipline, and hence becomes accessi-
ble to impulse : erroneous impressions find a
ready access where there is no countervailing
strength of truth ; irritability is accumulated
from the absence of a due proportion of employ-
ment, and therefore it is liable to those inordi-
nate excitements and depressions which are
common to any and every other organ, whose
exercise and repose are not nicely balanced ;
but which are peculiarly operative upon the
brain, because it is the centre of the nervous or
sensitive system.
Fear, the coincidence of events, the creations
of fraud, and the agency of imagination, will all
be found to exert a similar power upon the mind
and its organ, placing it in that peculiar state
in which it is ready to be acted upon by slight in-
tangible trains of association, calling up images
of superstitious importance; or in which, by its
wayward "operations, it develops creations pe-
culiarly its own, and is unable to distinguish
between them and real impressions. This effect
CHAPTER II. iW
may have been greatly augmented by early
habit, resulting from the influence of ghost
stories, and other nursery tales ; producing at
the time such a powerful impression upon the
brain, as to leave behind them ever afterwards
a susceptibility to their re-development, which
no time will remove, and no subsequent reason-
ing can eradicate. For the moment the man of
cultivated intellect yields all the powers of his
enlightened judgment to the indulgence of unreal
phantasms, because he cannot control or su-
persede that vivid impression which was Jirst
made upon the sensorial organ, and which still
claims a superiority over his better principles
and feelings. Let this teach us to joi/y, not to
blame or ridicule, those who have been unable
to escape from shackles thus thoughtlessly or
wickedly imposed ; and let it operate as a sti-
mulus to others who feel this agency, to rise
from the thraldom of its oppression, and, by a
successful exertion of principle, to shake off" the
manacles of early brainular impression.
But if all this be true, we are prepared to
understand how any disturbance of the cerebral
function may overturn the balance of healthy
action, and produce the diseased state in ques-
tion ; we can comprehend that the deepening
shades of mental alienation will give energy to
4§ ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
this morbid state, by depressing further and
further the scale of health ; we can appreciate
the influence exerted upon every portion of the
nervous system, by the first impression of dis-
ease, or by the substitution of the new train of
healthy actions in the period of convalescence,
when the links of morbid association have been
only just broken through; we can allow the
influence exerted upon this organ by the dis-
tant sympathetic irritation of any other function
of the body in a state of suffering, or of any
particular article of diet or medicine ; we can
estimate the agency of long vigilance, producing
susceptibility to impression of every kind ; or
of too much sleep giving rise to hebetude of the
intellectual power, and a disposition to erro-
neous spontaneous action, rather than remain
subjected to the morbid state of no action at all ;
and we can trace in all these several states a
peculiar deviation from health on the part of
the brainular organ : which peculiarity there-
fore probably forms the proximate cause for the
development, belief, and indulgence of all the
several forms of superstition. This is the pro-
position, on which mainly rests the object
of these essays ; and it will be necessary to
develop it at some length. The great source of
mistake cofisists in forgetting the materiality of
CHAPTER 11. ^
the brain, and its consequent liability to be acted
upon by physical causes. The writer distinctly
avows it as his belief, that supernatural appear-
ances do actually depend upon a peculiar condition
of the brain, in consequence of which that organ
has escaped the control of the presiding mind, and
continues to act without direction or guidance:
but before we can apply this proposition to the
several forms of superstitious manifestation, we
must consider at some length the functions of
the brain, in a state of health and of disease.
CHAPTER III.
Materiality of the Brain, and its subjection to the agency of
physical causes. — It is the organ of mind, and will influ-
ence its manifestations. — It is liable to morbid action,
according to the particular organ in a state of irritation : —
proofs of this position, arising out of simple, and morbid,
and sympathetic excitement of the brain.
It was stated in the last chapter, that the
various phenomena of superstition, and espe-
cially alleged supernatural appearances, de-
pend upon a morbid condition of the brain, in
consequence of which it has escaped the due
control of the presiding mind. In order to
apply this proposition to the several forms of
superstitious manifestation, it is necessary to
describe the functions of the brain in a state
of health and of disease.
I. The brain is a material organ, and is lia-
ble to be acted upon by many physical causes.
CHAPTER III. 51
This is almost a self-evident proposition,
since we see that it is possessed of extension,
figure, solidity, and of a certain degree of in-
variable structural arrangement. It is true that
we are unacquainted with the ultimate cerebral
fibre, or with the reason why these fibres are
assembled according to their present form ;
and it is also true, that we are unacquainted
with the mode of their function : but we con-
clude, from very close analogy, that the brain
is most perfectly adapted to its peculiarity of
function, because we know that this is the case
with other organs and functions of the body ;
and because we find, from observation, that
this office is more or less perfectly performed,
according to varying circumstances of original
character, and physiological manifestation, as
well as according to the phenomena of health
or indisposition. Now, as such, the brain will
require a due and regular supply of fine and
healthy blood, exactly in proportion to the ex-
tent and importance of its agency in the animal
economy ; and its functions will be feebly and
irritably carried on if that supply be defective
in quantity, or less highly animalized than in
its most perfect state. On the contrary, it will
be oppressed, if the supply should exceed the
demand of ordinary expenditure : and it will
F. 2
52 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
be variously irritated and disturbed, if that
blood shall not have undergone its proper
purifying change in the lungs ; and, more es-
pecially, if it shall have been charged with any
noxious qualities ; according to the extent of
its deterioration, the intensity of the conse-
quent morbid impression, and the disordered
changes with which it is associated.
But, since the brain also forms the centre of
nervous sympathy, it is intimately connected
with many other viscera, whose functions can-
not be carried on without the assistance derived
from this organ, and whose infinitely varied
disturbances are all propagated by a reflex ac-
tion to this common centre. Thus, disorder
of stomach will interfere with the integrity of
brainular action, and head-ache, languor, and
inaptitude for mental exertion, are the con-
sequence. This state continuing a certain
length of time, or being frequently repeated,
will, in a constitution so predisposed, give rise
to hypochondriasis: and, in a still more aggra-
vated form of impression, this hypochondriasis
may be exchanged for deeper mental aberration :
and thus the due functions of the brain will be
suspended — perhaps irrecoverably destroyed —
by the reflex action of disorder, whose first
point of irritation was in the stomach.
CHAPTER III. 53
Again : the skin is an important organ ; and
a simple morbid impression made upon it will
sometimes occasion a degree of cerebral dis-
turbance. Even in common catarrh, the
earliest symptoms will very generally be those
of unwonted drowsiness and oppression : these
will be followed by chills, and a certain wan-
dering of intellectual manifestation, which in-
dicates that the brain is not under the usual
control of the will ; and when the subsequent
re-action has occurred, it will be accompanied
by pain in the head, excited susceptibility to
sensorial impression, and general disposition to
over-action. When this first impression may
have been more intense, particularly if it shall
have resulted from the invasion of fever of a
specific character, the cerebral disturbance will
be more distinctly characterized ; and the de-
viations from correct, congruous, coherent, and
consecutive thought, will be more apparent.
This is so manifestly the case, that some au-
thors have placed the seat of fever exclusively
in the brain, because that organ always suffers
more or less ; forgetting that, although it has
to bear its own peculiar burdens, it is also call-
ed upon to sympathize, when any other organ
of the body is affected with morbid irritation ;
thus proving that it is eminently the organ
54 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
which is most under the influence of physical
disturbance.
Again : every person may have remarked the
unwonted irritability which attaches to con-
valescents. And, be it remarked, that it is un-
wonted : they who have borne long, sub-
missively, and patiently, with great suffering,
become impatient and irritable as soon as they
begin to recover ; and this, not from a feeling
of having exhausted a long-tried stock of pa-
tience, but from a peculiar state of the brain,
which it requires a great mental effort to con-
trol. Every person who has experienced
this return from sickness to health, knows this
to be the fact : and it is manifest in children,
who would not be subjected to these effects, if
they arose from an exhaustion of the influence
of patience and submission, as moral motives ;
but who do equally experience this irritability,
which takes its origin from a purely physical
condition, and which observers actually hail
as the harbinger of returning health ; because,
even to the observation of those who reason not
upon its causes, this indication has been as-
sociated by experience with the setting in of
a new train of healthy actions.
Nor let the sincere Christian be fearful of
avowing his belief in the physical origin of a
CHAPTER III. 55
State which he so much deplores : let him
indeed be cautious of making this an excuse
for peevishness and restlessness ; let him be-
ware of crying Peace, where there can be no
real peace, — that is, if this temper of mind be
not combated : and while, on the one hand^ he
ought not to adopt that harsh and unjust judg-
ment which would produce a doubt of his in-
terest in the Saviour's atonement, because of the
existence, which he mourns over, of feelings thus
opposed to the meekness and patience of that
Saviour's example ; let him, on the other hand,
deplore this state, though a physical condition,
as an evidence of that debasing influence of sin
which has been exerted upon the manifesta-
tions of mind, and upon the organ through which
they are made. Let him consider this painful
struggle as a portion of the trial of his faith and
patience, and as perhaps rendered especially
necessary at a period when the overwhelming
gratitude of recovery renders the mind peculiarly
liable to be less watchful than usual, and to
those oscillations of feeling which take place
rapidly, and often imperceptibly, under the in-
fluence of powerful emotion. Let him become
guarded in his joy, and remember to ** watch
unto prayer." Let him recollect that he is
called upon to grapple with this physical con-
dition, and by a powerful mental effort, made
56 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
in dependance upon the assistance of the Holy
Spirit, the Sanctifier, to keep his heart with all
diligence, to preserve it stayed upon his God,
to cultivate a devotional spirit, and to show
forth the glory of the Saviour by more closely
imitating his example. There is, then, no plea
for indolence, no excuse for supineness : the
existence of feebleness call upon him for the
display of energy, and invites him to seek for
strength where alone it can be found.
Again : the effect of some articles of food or
medicine will confirm my principal position. A
certain moderate quantity of wine will render
the individual more cheerful, give brilliancy to
his ideas, and stimulate the organ of thought
to more intense exertion. A larger dose of the
same fluid will make one individual outrage-
ously joyous and noisy, while another will be-
come stupid and melancholic, according to his
peculiar temperament ; and a still larger quan-
tity will abolish consciousness from both alike :
and absolute intoxication will destroy all traces
of the rational creature. The influence of se-
veral medicines will be presently noticed among
the morbid trains of cerebral impression : it is
here only necessary to state, that they are
varied and extensive.
Once more : bodily fatigue will induce a de-
gree of cerebral irritability, which, in ordinary
CHAPTER III. h%
cases, will prevent the usual approach of sleep,
and give rise to such a susceptibility of the
nervous system, that it will be prepared for
any morbid impression. A similar effect will
be produced by the excitement of society, or
by emotion of any kind, of an intense character ;
thus showing that the brain, as a material orgariy
is similarly acted upon both by causes from
within, and by those which attach more par-
ticularly to exterior nature ; by mental exer-
tion, and by physical influence. On the other
hand, too much sleep produces an effect of a
different kind r the patient rises with a dull
obtuse headache ; he feels that his perceptions
are obscured, that he is stupid, that he wants
his usual activity of body and mind, that his
spirits are oppressed, and that he misses his
customary cheerfulness. Now the difference
of these two conditions consists in this : in the
former case, there is increased action of the
arteries of the brain, and the individual is con-
scious of the change ; in the latter, there is a
sluggish congested state of the veins ; thus
proving, that, according to these varying phy-
sical states, the manifestations of mind are
different, and even opposite, and that the organ
is a material one — mainly influenced by phy-
sical causes. But enough has been said for
58 ESSAY OK SUPERSTITION.
my present purpose : the several forms of cere-
bral delusion and morbid action will be noticed
hereafter.
II. This material organ, thus influenced by
physical causes, is the organ of mind, and will
characterize, not, indeed, its essence, its real
character, but its manifestations, by its opera-
tion upon the ideas conveyed to the immaterial
spirit from without, as well as upon those pro-
duced by its unaided and spontaneous action
from within. Man possesses an internal con-
sciousness that the brain is the organ through
which he thinks, reasons, remembers, imagines,
distinguishes, and performs other mental opera-
tions : and this consciousness is as positive as
would be that of the hand being the organ of
prehension to a blind person, who sought after
an acquaintance with the properties of matter
through this medium.
Indeed, when we recollect that man is a com-
pound creature, — made up of a perishable body,
and of an imperishable mind, — we see how im-
possible it would be for that body to be subject-
ed to the influence of mind, unless it possessed
with the latter some medium of communication ;
and, consequently, that, without this medium,
man's moral responsibility would be destroyed.
It is true, that the omniscient Creator might
CHAPTER HI. 69
have subjected the body to a purely spiritual
influence, without any corporeal mode of com-
munication with it ; because He is also omni-
potent. But then it is manifest, that there
would have been no consciousness of personal
identity ; and man would not be able to dis-
tinguish that which resulted from the influence
of bodily association, from that which was
prompted by this mysterious presiding spirit :
from all which we infer the excellence of the
present arrangement ; and we exclaim from the
heart, ** O Lord, how excellent are thj^ works!
in wisdom hast thou made them all." In this
way also man feels that he is a responsible agent,
because he is conscious of this mental action,
and knows that the brain is subjected to the
influence of volition. For an attention to all
its actions and promptings, therefore, he is im-
mediately answerable ; and for the indulgence of
all the suggestions of the spirit, he is equally,
though remotely, accountable; because he is
furnished with the faculty of discriminating
good from evil, and with the power of choosing
the one and refusing the other: and then it
will follow, that, if responsible for the indul-
gence of spiritual suggestions, he must be in-
creasingly amenable for those actions and pas-
sions which arise from every germ of evil, but
60 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
which would never obtaia their full develop-
ment unaided by their appropriate organs of
expression. " Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse thou me from secret faults : keep back
thy servant also from presumptuous sins : let
them not have dominion over me."
If we required a proof at once that the brain
is the organ of mind, and that it is at the same
time material, it would be found in the com-
mon influence of intense thought ; as, for in-
stance, in the writer of the present essay, when
engaged upon a subject requiring his whole at-
tention, the extremities are cold, while the head
is proportionally heated : but let him lay aside
his pen, or only divert his thoughts to a current
of minor importance, and, in less than three
minutes, the feet will be glowing with a return
x)f the circulation of blood in the extremities ;
and this phenomenon happens notone night only,
but every night, in the midst of summer as well
as in winter. So extraordinary and invariable
a circumstance must surely have some mode of
rational explanation. It is not sufficient to say,
that the attention is deeply engaged, and there-
fore the circulation of the blood is sluggish.
The circulation, as such, has nothing to do with
this faculty ; we cannot by mere attention in-
crease or diminish one pulsation. Half the
CHAPTER III.
Al
errors of mankind arise from their unwillingness
to observe, and from their preference of pre-
conceived opinions to the investigation of facts.
But let us attend for a moment to the process
just detailed : what does it prove ?
First, That intense thought excites brainular
action :
Secondly, That this increased action requires
a larger supply of blood than usual to support
it:
Thirdly, That by a physical law this supply
is sent to the organ which particularly requires
it ; and, therefore, that the extreme parts of
the system, those at a great distance from the
centre of the circulation, and from the organ in
a state of excitation, as well as those which are
inactive, all obtain deficient supplies of blood,
and become cold in consequence :
Fourthly, That this increased action, being
produced by thought, proves the brain to be
the organ through which the operations of the
immaterial spirit are carried on ; and that its
active functions can only be supported by a
larger supply of blood than is necessary to sus-
tain its mere vitality, or even to maintain the
vigour of its bodily agency : and it follows, that
since this organ of thought requires the assist-
ance of a material fluid, in order to support this
62 ESSAY ON SUPBRSTITION.
excited action, itself also must be material ; a
fact which is even more fully shown by the pro-
vision which has been made for granting this
increased supply without injury to the organ :
but if this be granted, the consequence is ine-
vitable,—
Fifthly, That the brain must be liable to dis-
order of function from a deficient, redundant,
or ill-timed supply of this fluid ; or from any
imperfection in its vital properties ; or from any
deleterious change which it may have under-
gone in its elaboration, or under the influence of
disease, or from a thousand other bodily causes ;
as well as from many intangible mental associa-
tions, so finely connected that it may be im-
possible to trace them, and yet which it would
be absurd to deny. Hence it follows.
Sixthly, That there may be many morbid
states of thought, and feeling, and perception,
with which we are utterly unacquainted. But if
the brain be the organ of mind, and if it be
thus physically and morally related, it will hap-
pen that the common internal actions of the
mind, though necessarily perfect in themselves,
may be variously altered in their manifestations
by transmission through this material organ ;
and that no one can ever hope to arrive at a
true philosophy of mind, unless he will submit
CHAPTER III. 63
to consider the action and re-action of spirit
upon matter, and of matter upon spirit ; nor
unless he will allow that their mutual operations
may be variously influenced by different cor-
poreal states, and more especially by disease.
III. The brain is subjected to a variety of
morbid impressions, which will produce corres-
ponding alterations upon the mental manifesta-
tions ; a proposition which will be subsequently
developed, in treating of the effects arising from
various morbid causes, acting upon the nervous
system.
IV. The important corollary from the forego-
ing propositions is. That the morbid impressions
upon the organ of mind will be characterized
by the particular bodily or mental source whence
they were originally derived, and will thus ad-
mit of many variations. A friendwhose testimony
may be relied upon, and whose cool judgment
enables him to watch the agency of disease,
has often told me, that when suffering from de-
termination of blood to the head, he always
feels a tendency to undue elation ; and, on the
contrary, to depression whenever the digestive
functions are disordered.
The sanguine expectations of consumptive
patients, and the degree in which hope is fondly
cherished by them, even when the last remnant
64
ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
of vitality is well nigh exhausted, are prover-
bial, and form a perfect contrast with the de-
pression and hypochondriacal feelings of those
who suffer from disordered digestive functions.
Indeed, the very term hypochondriasis, like other
corresponding Greek and Latin words, such as
melancholy and atrabiliarian, show how com-
pletely the ancients referred this brainular state
to the influence of those distant organs.
Again, affections of the heart are character-
ized by a great degree of anxiety and solicitude,
but are not usually accompanied by depressed
spirits. All these facts are generally admitted.
The evil consists in this, — that they have been
received as true, without reasoning upon them,
or inquiring into their cause. But do they not
prove that the organ of mind is variously affected
by the morbid sympathies of distant func-
tions,—and that too according to a rule, which,
though not understood, experience and obser-
vation have enabled us to predict ? And if this
be undeniably the case, with regard to a few
forms of morbid impression with which we are
acquainted, is it not fair to infer that a similar
influence may be exerted, though probably by a
somewhat different method of expression, by
the unnumbered modes of diseased association
which we cannot trace, — not only with regard to
CHAPTER III. Q9
the important organs already specified, but to
several others, with whose particular agency we
may be unacquainted? And, if so, may not a
variety of morbid celebral impressions be re-
ferred to some one of these different causes : —
and may not its hallucinations be satisfactorily
accounted for upon this principle ?
V. We come next to examine the influence
of several morbid states of the brain, in order
to prove and illustrate these positions.
1. Simple ej'citement, whether excessive in
degree, or only moderate but long continued,
will produce a slight deviation from health,
which in some cases will be remedied by re-
pose ; and, in others, will occasion more or less
of permanent disorder. But in both instances
the brain will ultimately suffer ; and the func-
tions of body, and the manifestations of mind,
will be impaired, enfeebled, or even altered
For too great activity of the brain expends ra-
pidly the stock of nutrition ; and every atten-
tive observer of himself must have noticed the
fatigue induced by mental occupation, — the
muscular feebleness, the weariness which come
over him. And again, — under other circum-
stances he will have remarked how much bodily
exertion he could encounter, so long as his
mind was at peace, or cheered by hope, and
F
66 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
animated by joyful expectation ; and how soon
he became exhausted if the spirit had been ruf-
fled by any teazing occurrences ; if the germ of
displeasure rankled in his bosom; if he had
been vexed by disappointment, or harassed by
the dissipation of fancy's airy and glowing vi-
sions; or if from any other cause depression
had brooded over the future, and enveloped his
prospects with her sable mantle of fear and un-
certainty.
Further, — this state of the brain disturbs the
digestive process ; and, therefore, not only ex-
hausts the present stock, but diminishes the
future supply of nutrition. For, in order to the
completeness of this process, it is necessary
that an increased quantity of blood be deter-
mined to the stomach, in order that the nervous
energy may be accumulated upon that organ ;
so that rest of body, and freedom from disquiet-
ing, or even joyful emotion, or much thought,
should be observed. If, on the contrary, the
brain be intently engaged by intellectual occu-
pation, it calls for that supply of blood, which
ought to be sent to the stomach, to perfect its
secretions ; and the same fluid cannot be found
at the same time in two places ; nervous energy
is rapidly strained off" from its source, and there-
fore cannot be spared for a distant organ : the
CHAPTER III. 67
individual possesses an intellectual and spiri-
tual existence, but forgets the necessities of his
compound nature ; the animal functions, in con-
sequence, suffer deeply ; the stomach becomes
enfeebled — it digests imperfectly ; assimilation
of the undigested mass is impossible, and the
function of nutrition can only be half performed.
As proofs of this position, I need only mention
the effect produced upon the stomach by any
sudden mental impression : as, for instance,
when it is empty, and the desire for food is
urgent, appetite will be instantly destroyed by
such an occurrence ; and appetite in a healthy
state of the organs and their secretions, is the
expression of the power of digesting food ; and,
on the other hand, when the stomach is filled, al-
though this power shall have precedingly existed,
indigestion, with all its train of consequences,
will be the result. The effect of hard reading
upon the studious is notorious. A gradual
wasting of the body, enfeebled muscular power
and general debility, proclaim the exhausting
influence which brainular excitement has ex-
erted upon the frame. A common hair-dresser,
wholly ignorant of science, said the other day
to a friend of mine, who is prematurely grey-
headed, *' I presume, sir, you have been a close
student." "And why so?" '* Because, sir,
F 2
68 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
we always remark that study dries up the hair.
I suppose it makes the brain feverish, and that
this exhausts the nourishment." The observa-
tion may be worth recording, as every un-
sophisticated observation deserves notice, al-
though I much question its being borne out by
experience ; my own recollection immediately
furnishing examples of premature grey hairs in
individuals, who have been any thing but stu-
dious. And, if true, it would be difficult to
understand how the effect should be produced
by such a cause, since the colour of the hair de-
pends upon its oil — whiteness upon the absence
of that oil — greynesSy of course, upon its partial
abstraction.
But again, this cerebral excitement overturns
the balance of power in the system. Health
depends upon each organ or function of the
body being neither in a state of irritation or de-
pression : and, therefore, if the brain, upon
which all the others depend, be unduly ex-
cited, and expend upon itself more than its just
share of nervous energy, not one only, but all
the organs and functions are thrown into dis-
order and confusion ; the equilibrium of animal
and intellectual life is destroyed, and both give
way under so cruel an experiment.
And, lastly, brainular excitement keeps up a
CHAPTER III. QW
continued irritation, or permanent febrile action
in the constitution. It has been truly said,
that " midnight study retires to feverish rest \"
for the brain cannot be goaded to exertion
without requiring a larger quantity of blood :
to afford this supply, it calls upon the heart
and arteries for augmented action ; and this
action is, in fact, a state of fever, of a remittent
kind, and produces the natural consequences of
disease.
Now, in these effects of simple excitement
are to be found the causes which operate in
producing morbid manifestations of mind ; since
they all re-act upon the brain, and, through it,
apparently, upon the intellectual principle.
First, feebleness of the brainular organ arises
from a lavish expenditure of its energies ; it is
not recruited by rest, because its supply of
healthy blood is diminished ; the balance o^
power being destroyed, it is liable to become
the slave of any other organ of the body in a
state of irritation ; and in consequence of the
febrile action which is produced by the general
disturbance, not only can it never be at peace,
but morbid images, resulting from that action,
are excited. Where this state exists, ideas
succeed each other without the possibility of
controlling them ; and the morbid causes which
70 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
occasion this involuntary, incoherent, and un-
defined succession, are not to be removed by
reasoning, because they result from organic
agencies which have escaped the presidence of
the will, and have usurped that authority which,
in a well-ordered system, should be maintained
exclusively by the function of volition. And
when once this state of disorder has been in-
troduced, no bounds can be set to the creation
of unreal and disconnected images ; and a con-
dition of the brain, and of its mental manifesta-
tions has been produced, most favourable to the
creation of supernatural appearances, and to
the belief in dreams, visions, and omens.
Another law of this organ, of great import-
ance in the present discussion, is, that actual
consciousness may be suspended by any power-
ful cause acting upon it, even during its waking
slnd healthy state ; and much more when en-
feebled by disease, or any other oppressing
cause. This is a most important law, because
it serves so greatly to support the main posi-
tion I have advanced, — of the production of
unreal images by the brain, without any con-
sciousness of the action by which they are
called into being. Thus, actual and severe
pain may be suspended by powerful impres-
sion : as, for instance, a fit of tooth-ache by the
CHAPTER III. ft
apprehension of extraction ; a, severe paroxysm
of gout, or acute rheumatism, with their accom-
panying impossibility of motion, by the vicinity
of a dangerous fire : the presence of another
individual, the lapse of time, and the recurrence
of the usual periodical demands for food on the
part of the constitution, will be all unperceived
during the earnest continuance of some ab-
stracting pursuit ; even the most powerful ap-
petites and desires will be suspended by mental
occupation of an interesting character. This
suspension of consciousness will serve to ac-
count for many of the far-famed cures of Prince
Hohenlohe, which, it i« confessed, were only
temporary. And when once consciousness is
suspended, the mind is prepared for receiving,
as real, many creations of a vivid fancy.
But if this state of simple excitement be ex-
changed for that which is positively morbid ; if
the brain be suffering from the oppression of
invading disease, (especially if that disease
should be of a specific character,) which at
first threatened to overwhelm its power and
destroy its integrity at once ; or from the con-
sequences of that re-action, which results from
an effort of the constitution to restore that
which has been threatened with destruction ;
then a variety of morbid states are produced.
72 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
In the first place, the customary period of re-
pose ceases to be one of quietude and peace ;
uneasy slumbers, unrefreshing sleep, and fright-
ful dreams, haunt the patient ; nightmare, in its
thousand forms, broods upon his pillow ; lassi-
tude, languor, and weariness, attend his waking
moments ; head-ache proclaims the distressed
organ ; the changed expression of the counte-
nance is characteristic, — that which was lighted
up by intelligence, now speaks only of distress;
that which eloquently told the varied emotions
of the mind, now proclaims only the anxious-
ness of bodily disorder ; and even, oftentimes,
defines its extent by the greater or less com-
pleteness with which mental manifestation is
obliterated : there exists a feebleness, and
sometimes a perversion, of sensorial, intellec-
tual, moral, and muscular movements, because
all these are oppressed by the disturbance of
the organ of mind ; some of the senses are ex-
traordinarily obtuse, while others are rendered
morbidly irritable and acute ; the delightful
action of thought becomes an oppression, and
consecutive reasoning is impossible. It is most
difficult to pursue any thing like connected
trains of images or impressions ; the influence
of the passions is now purely mischievous, be-
cause those of a simply exciting character, in
CHAPTER III. 73
any moderate degree, will not be attended to,
and those which are powerfully stimulant will
only still further overturn the balance of healthy
action; while, on the contrary, those of a de-
pressing tendency, and especially /ear, will be-
come predominant.
But when health returns, the period allotted
to sleep again becomes one of refreshment, and
the exhausted power and energy of the day are
recruited during the night; the attacks of night-
mare become less frightful in proportion ;
dreams assume a less painful character, until
they become remarkable for their ridiculous
perplexities : the head feels at ease ; a light-
ness and elasticity of expression again beam
upon the countenance ; the functions of the
senses become nicely adjusted, as the safe-
guards of the system ; the servant of the spiri-
tual principle regains its appetite for intellectual
food, and literary pursuit is relished ; the de-
licacy of moral tact is restored, and muscular
motion is once more characterised by energy ;
thought is the merely healthful exercise of the
mind, and even close and abstruse reasoning is
but the little additional exertion of the vigorous;
like mounting a hill which is to give a com-
manding view of cultivated scenery, and which
will repay the difficulty of access, by the varied
74 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
and interesting associations presented to the view.
When the Christian contemplates these facts,
emotions of adoring gratitude should swell his bo-
som with joy and love to that generous Benefac-
tor, by whom his health is daily sustained, and
he is preserved in the possession of the full use
of his powers ; and this conviction, with the
knowledge how easily they might be disturbed,
should lead him to a renewed dedication of
every talent to Him, who justly claims the
whole heart : he should be incited to greater
diligence ; to work while it is day, lest the
night of disease and feebleness should obliterate
his power of usefulness and acquisition; he
should be humbled with a recollection of the
cause which first introduced this liability to
disorder into the bodily and mental functions ;
and also with the consideration of the most
splendid intellectual possessions, since he has
nothing which he did not receive, nothing but
which the fever of a day might obliterate for a
time, and perhaps for ever; and he should be
filled with benevolence and compassion towards
those whose mental manifestations are feeble
or perverted ; while to enlarge mental power in
general, but chiefly to give it a just direction,
should be his constant desire.
But, once more, the brain is an organ of
CHAPTER III. 7B
extensive sympathy. This much-abused term is
often employed as a cloke for complete but
acknowledged ignorance. It is, however, ac-
cepted in the present discussion, as meaning
that the brain stands so closely related to other
organs of the body, that it possesses the capa-
city of suffering with them whenever they are
in a state of irritation ; and also, of reflecting
upon them its own morbid actions, which they
in their turn oftentimes assume, and then be-
come secondary irritants to the brain : and
further, that it is subjected to irritation of a
peculiar character, according to the organ which
forms the originating point of disturbance.
These positions will be illustrated by attending
to the mode of sympathetic action of the se-
veral organs with which it is most distinctly
associated.
In all disease the functions of the brain
oftentimes suffer most deeply, and produce,
when so suffering, a great, and occasionally a
most frightful, degree of debility : in fact, it
seems as if the strength were suspended alto-
gether, and stolen away, the patient knows not
how. This is very remarkably the case, when
it is itself the peculiar seat of suffering: pros-
tration of muscular power is very generally an
accompaniment of irritated brain, though not
76 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
always ; for occasionally the patient will make
the most incredible efforts under these circum-
stances. Many of the greatly varied phenomena
of brainular irritation will depend upon the por-
tion of brain which is particularly disturbed ;
for it is well known, that that organ may at all
events be divided into the brain of animal rela-
tion, and that which is sensorial and intel-
lectual. There are also many finer shades
of cerebral disturbance, which escape our no-
tice altogether, and pass off as peculiarity of
manner, odd habits, whim, ill-humour, or eccen-
tricity. But from what source is this pecu-
liarity of manner derived ? It is often quite in-
dependent of, and indeed absolutely opposed
to, the intellectual, social, and moral associa-
tions of the individual ; nay, more, it will give
the law to education, and characterize the man.
It cannot be derived from any peculiarity of
the spiritual essence : for it is absurd to sup-
pose, that there are souls of different kinds ; a
mode of being totally opposed to the harmony
of the divine Creator, and destructive of moral
accountability. But the difficulty is easily re-
moved, by considering it as the character which
is stamped upon the manifestatmi of spiritual
existence, by the material medium through which
it is rendered cognizable : and thus it is, that
t>f CHAPTER in. 77
these changes of thought and feeling are often
ascribable to variations of health, and particular
aptitude for impression in the recipient organ,
— variations which escape detection, but which,
nevertheless, do actually exist, and even form
a portion of the probationary trial of man's
earthly existence, — and are a result of that
primal sin which introduced disease into the
perfect brain, and consequent disorder of its
manifestations.
To illustrate this position by a fact, A. B. was
a child of the highest possible promise; her ex-
traordinary intelligence, her docility of temper,
her amenity of disposition, her easy suasion, and
her capacity of impression, were remarkable. She
became the subject of measles, and to a pecu-
liar form of brainular irritation, which is often
consequent upon that malady. In her case,
this attack was severe, and she recovered with
difficulty. For a considerable time after that
recovery was decided, her manifestations of
mind were scarcely perceptible, and her little
idiot smile inflicted upon her parents a pang,
which for awhile made them doubt whether
that convalescence were a blessing or a still
heavier trial. Months passed away with a
gradual return of intellectual agency : but her
character was entirely changed. She is no
78 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
longer the creature of intellect^ though suffi-
ciently intelligent ; her temper is become
violent, obstinate, and often ungovernable ;
she is timid, morose, and furtive, instead
of confident, mild, and open : when her
resolution is formed, it is impossible to move
her; and her susceptibility to impression and
capacity for acquisition are contracted. Now
what has occasioned this change ? Disease,
most manifestly. And upon what has it ex-
erted its influence ? upon the brain, which was
the immediate seat of that disease : or upon the
spiritual principle, which is incapable of dis-
ease ? Surely common sense must reply, upon
the brain. But, if so, it is shown that a change
of the material medium may for a time oblite-
rate, and afterwards obscure, alter, and per-
vert, the manifestations of mind. Hence it
follows, that similar, but transient morbid states,
may produce equal though not permanent
changes and, perversions ; and if so, the basis
of all our future reasoning is granted.
Another law of the brain's sympathy is, that
any organic lesion, however distant, is yet felt
by it in a very lively manner : this produces
disturbance of cerebral function ; and then, as
well as in the case of its own injuries, in con-
sequence of its extensive relations with the
CHAPTER ni. 79
animal economy, it reflects general disorder
upon it, quickens the pulse, hurries the breath-
ing, palls the appetite, and destroys the diges-
tion. But more ; it does this, not as a simple
centre of nervous influence and sympathy, but as
the organ of mind; for all these phenomena are
sometimes the effect of fear ^ g^^rfy f>^ other absorb-
ing passions. And if the same effect be produced
by bodily and mental causes upon distant or-
gans, is it not fair to conclude, that it is occa-
sioned through the same medium, unless ano-
ther and a better mode of communication can
be demonstrated? The author will illustrate
this position, by a history of one of the slightest
and simplest injuries to the brain ; though this
detail involves a narrative of a small section of
his own not uneventful life. About twelve
months since he was thrown from his horse,
and was taken up in a state of uncon-
sciousness : the kind attentions of some poor
persons, who fancied him dead, restored him to
a certain extent ; so that to their inquiries, whe-
ther he would walk home, or whether a post-
chaise should be sent for, he answered automa-
tically, that " he would walk." But of aFl
this, of the lapse of time, and of walking home
upon the arm of an attendant, he had no con-
sciousness or recollection. After his arrival.
80 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
excessive sickness was produced, and an ex-
treme degree of coldness, such as he had never
before felt, with an imperfect degree of return-
ing consciousness : and then febrile reaction
occurred, which was kept within certain bounds ;
and, finally, the organ was restored. Now in
this case it is not to be supposed that the spi-
ritual principle suffered : and yet, for the time, its
action seems to have been suddenly annihi-
lated; precisely, because, from the injury
its organ had sustained, it was no longer
capable of intellectual manifestation. Pre-
sently animal volition returned ; which is proved
by the automatic answers, and by walking
home ; but as yet there was no conscious-
ness. At length comes the reflected disorder
of the brain upon the stomach, the skin, and
the general system: fever is produced, and
ultimately, the manifestations of mind go on
as usual. If we will but attend to these com-
mon circumstances with unprejudiced views,
we cannot avoid learning the truth. But, in-
stead of this, we are contented to say, "This is
a simple history of a person's being stunned
by a sudden violent blow." True ! And what
is this stunning, but rendering the brain in such
a physical condition, that it is incapable of the
manifestations of mind ? And is it too much
CHAPTER III. 81
to ask, that if one state of the brain may render
it unfit for mental operation at all, another
and a different state may give rise to morbid
manifestations and unreal images ?
o
CHAPTER IV.
Particular sympathies of the brain : — with the heart — with
the blood — with the organs of respiration — with the sto-
mach— with the liver — with the function of secretion
in general — with the muscular system — with the skin, &c.
— conclusions.
To return to the digression with which we con-
cluded the last chapter, we will now contem-
plate some of the extensive sympathies of the
brain ; and first with the heart.
I. It requires no argument to prove how
easily palpitation of the heart may be produced,
by surprise, fear, joy, desire ; and indeed by
every kind of mental emotion, as well as by a
variety of hypochondriacal or hysterical affec-
tions; and, on the contrary, we are conscious
that this very palpitation disturbs the brain,
interrupts the processes of thought, agitates
the feelings, and introduces disorder and con-
fusion into the mental manifestations.
CHAPTER rv. 83
The phenomena of fainting afford another
instance of this double sympathy. It will often
arise from mental emotion, producing such an
effect upon the brain, that the due supply of
nervous energy, necessary for the continuance
of the heart's function, is withheld from it :
then it has not the power to contract, so as to
send its regular quantity of blood to the brain ;
and, wanting this, a suspension of its action
occurs, and absolute fainting is the consequence.
The spirit is not affected, but its manifestation
is suspended ; and how is it to be restored ?
Not, surely, by reading lectures to that spi-
ritual principle, on the necessity and import-
ance of retaining or recovering its conscious-
ness ; but by the common physical processes of
placing the patient in a horizontal position, so
as to favour the return of blood to the head ;
and by stimulating the brain by the sudden
application of cold water sprinkled upon the
face ; by excitants applied to the different organs
of sense, and by other similar operations. In
suspended animation from another cause, all
mental agency is gone, and the patient appears
to be dead ; yet by observing certain physical
rules, vital action is restored ; and, after a time,
the brainular functions are performed as before.
Besides, it is a well-established fact, that dis-
ci 2
84 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
ease of the heart is the frequent consequence
of grief, and of other violent contentions of spi-
rit. A proof of this is to be found in the
greatly-increased frequency of affections of this
organ in France since the era of the Revolution.
And what is all this, says an objector, but a
simple instance of fainting, or, if you must have
it so, of the extensive influence of the mind ?
But it is more : for it is a proof of the depend-
ance of that mind, for the correctness and per-
fection of its manifestations, upon the integrity
of the organ allotted by the Creator to its
functions.
II. Another class of sympathies of the cere-
bral organ is with the blood.
It has been just shown that the brain cannot
continue its function without an adequate sup-
ply of blood. This probably acts in two ways :
first, by the impression of its circulation ; and
secondly, by the vital principles which it con-
tains. Chemists may analyze this fluid, and
may tell us what are its constituent elements :
but they cannot produce from it bone, muscle,
nerve, and the various organs and functions to
which it gives rise. This can be accomplished
only by a vital action, termed secretion ; which
cannot be perfected without the intervention of
the brain. Now one purpose of the blood dis-
CHAPTER IV. 85
tributed to the cerebral organ is, to give it nou-
rishment. But it receives a much greater quan-
tity than can be required for this purpose, even
after making a large allowance for its very high
degree of vitality; and, indeed, this would
again bring us round to the same point, since
why is it endowed with a higher degree of vita-
lity than other viscera ? If, then, it do actually
receive a much larger quantity of blood, than
can be necessary for j its nutrition ; if this
quantity be increased during the excitement of
deep thought, close reading, or agitating emo-
tion ; and if its temporary absence, or rapid
diminution, do occasion the complete abolition
of sense, and intellectual and affective opera-
tions,— what can we conclude, but that the brain
is necessary — not indeed to the essence of the
immortal spirit — but to its corporeal manifes-
tations ?
Again : the blood received by the brain must
be pure ; it must have undergone its regular
changes in passing through the lungs ; other-
wise it will prove destructive to its physiologi-
cal action, or will occasion disordered manifes-
tations. Now, if the mere absence of the vital
principles which it should contain, is thus inju-
rious to the integrity and perfection of the cere-
bral function, much more will that function be
86 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
injured, or even annihilated, if it be loaded
with any deleterious substance or quality.
But again : the brain must obtain no more
than its due proportion of this necessary fluid.
For if it receive an excessive quantity, it will
experience as material a disturbance to the
energy of its functions, as in the instance of a
defective supply ; only the mode of producing
this effect will be different. And even this
very difference of manner, leading to the same
ultimate result, is instructive; showing how
greatly the brain, and the manifestations of
mind, are subjected to the agency of the same
physical causes. For in the former state, there
will supervene giddiness, head-ache, a sense of
uneasy distension, drowsiness, heavy sleep, loss
of energy, feebleness of the will, lethargy;
and if this morbid influence be not relieved, all
the miserable symptoms of apoplexy, and a
complete or partial abolition of sense and rea-
son, together with the entire subversion of the
integrity of intellectual manifestation : and in
the latter, a variety of uneasy sensations, all
indicating the feebleness of the brainular func-
tions, and their partial or total temporary cessa-
tion, according as the abstraction of blood may
have been more or less considerable. Further :
the subsequent effect of any great loss of blood
CHAPTER IV. 87
is, that the convalescence of the patient is ex-
ceedingly slow : it is a long time before the
brain can be commanded by the will, and be-
fore it can sustain much intellectual exertion;
hence the subject of such a state will remain
feeble, peevish, irritable, and oftentimes essen-
tially altered in his character. Not, indeed,
that ideas are elaborated from the blood, or that
the function of the brain can be compared to
any process of ordinary secretion : nor that this
fluid can impress upon the organ any facility of
peculiar moral or intellectual manifestation.
The Almighty Fountain of wisdom has provid-
ed for these purposes a viscus, to which he
has given the necessary wonderful structure,
although we do not pretend to explain or com-
prehend the mode of its function ; and this
structure receives from the blood its peculiar
pabulum ; so that its actions may be increased,
diminished, or modified ; and, finally, so that,
under certain circumstances, the manifestations
of mind may be perverted, or abolished — pro-
ducing, in the former instance, the various forms
of mental alienation and fatuity ; and, in the
latter, fainting, and the several varieties of
nervous affection, convulsions, apoplexy, and
even death. Surely, then, it may be allowed,
that an organ thus intimately dependent upon
88 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
the blood for the integrity of its function, may,
under the influence of certain morbid states of
that fluid, exhibit many erroneous manifesta-
tions of mind.
III. Another sympathy of the brain is with
the organs of respiration.
This intercommunion of suff'ering is main-
tained through the medium of nerves, which go
to supply the muscles concerned in respiration,
and of those which are received by the lungs
themselves. If these nerves be divided, or so
pressed upon as to intercept their communica-
tion with the brain, death, the stoppage of every
intellectual and spiritual function, so far as de-
veloped through the material organs of the
body, is the immediate consequence. But if
this entire severence be attended with an in-
stantly fatal result, the disruption of the union
between body and mind, is it not a probable
inference, that a minor degree of violence, con-
sisting in simple irritation of these nerves, must
also disturb the source whence they are derived?
Now every uneasiness, excess, or defect, — that
is, every disordered action, is constituted an
irritant to the organ so subjected to morbid in-
fluence. And, since the forms of disease of the
chest are various, is it otherwise than a legiti-
mate inference, that the brain may be variously
CHAPTER IV. 8^
irritated according to these peculiarities of dis-
ordered action ? B\it if so, we may have several
varieties of cerebral irritation arising from the dis'
turbance of only one organ. Moreover, it is im-
possible to suppose that the brain can be irri-
tated without suffering deeply in its intellec-
tual functions. And if these premises be grant-
ed, it is impossible to deny or evade the con-
clusion, that these several forms of irritation may
produce a coincident number of morbid cerebral
manifestations.
A little further consideration will show how
very intimately the lungs are associated with
the brainular function ; and, if this be proved,
the reflex action of the same influence cannot
be denied. Let us only attend to some common
circumstances of life, and quietly listen to their
voice ; let us look to the agency of emotion in
quickening respiration ; let us watch the tumul-
tuous heavings of the bosom from the effect of
simply listening to that which deeply interests
the feelings ; let us remember its convulsive
agitations in the act of laughter from joy ; let
us listen to the automatic sigh of merely ani-
mal oppression, and contrast it with the deep
expressive symbol of real grief as it bursts from
the breaking heart of the mourner ; let us ap-
preciate the intense and involuntary earnest-
90 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
ness with which we listen in breathless expec-
tation, particularly under circumstances of fear ;
let us attend to the unwonted sob of mental
agony, or of violent bodily suffering ; and let
us watch the agitation produced by some forms
of hysterical disease ; — and then must we con-
fess how closely and essentially the brain and
the respiratory organs are linked together, and
how interchangeably each must suffer from the
irritation of the other. Besides, as has been
already shown, the brain requires a pure blood
to ensure the continuance of its healthy func-
tions ; and, in order to this, there must be a
sound state of the lungs, and a pure atmosphere
easily and freely inhaled ; conditions of indis-
pensable importance that the blood may not be
imperfectly oxygenated ; and that the brain may
not suffer in consequence of that fluid's being
deprived of its highest vital qualities. There-
fore, if the brain and its manifestations of mind
be impaired by receiving a blood unsuitable for
its purposes, how much more will it be perverted
by the action of that fluid when impregnated
with absolutely noxious particles !
IV. Sympathy of the brain with the stomach
and alimetitary canal.
I must next notice the connexion, and listen
to the sympathies, existing between the brain
CHAPTER IV. 91
and the stomach, together with the alimentary-
canal ; and we shall here also find how com-
pletely the latter are dependent upon the former,
and observe the consequent influence exerted
by any morbid cause of irritation existing within
either. — In the first place, the stomach receives
from the brain certain nerves, the integrity of
which is indispensable to the performance of its
function of digestion or alimentation. Destroy
this communication, and the action of assimila-
tion ceases : this at least proves the close con-
nexion between the two organs, and will afford
room for suspecting that any morbid* change in
a function, so entirely dependent upon the brain,
must reflect its irritating influence upon the
source from which all power of healthy action
is derived. But further : the influence of pro-
longed study in diminishing the digestive
power, and the gradual wasting of the flesh, and
general exhaustion, which follow from a severe
course of reading; the suspension of appetite,
and the indigestion after eating, which arise
from any sudden and considerable mental emo-
tion : the destruction of the tone of the stomach,
the chronic irritation, and even ulceration of its
coats, from the slow and insidious but certain
effects of grief and disappointment, when suf-
^ ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
fered to prey upon the mind, without seeking
for the consolations of religion : the nausea and
disgust which, in some individuals, are pro-
duced by the sight or smell of certain articles,
which have formerly proved injurious to them,
and which declare these senses to be appointed
as faithful sentinels to the system, and to enable
us at the same time to trace the limits of asso-
ciation between function and function : the ab-
solute sickness which will sometimes result
from the preceding state, and particularly
from the idea of swallowing that from which we
have a decided aversion ; a similar effect some
times produced from mere nervousness, that is,
from mental emotion : the participation of the
stomach in almost all the maladies with which
the brain is directly or indirectly affected, and
the expression of its uneasiness being some-
times the onli/ symptom which would lead to a
suspicion of irritation of the brain : the fre-
quently severe disturbance of the stomach,
called ** sick head-ache," and which originates
primarily from an affection of the brain ; or from
concussion or compression of that organ, or on
recovery from fainting; — all show how com-
pletely the former is under the influence of the
latter, and betray the intemate sympathy be-
CHAPTER IV.
m
tween the two functions ; which is still farther
ficonrmed by the cerebral uneasiness and dis-
order in diseases of the stomach.
We may elucidate this state of morbid sym-
pathy, by contemplating the rationale of some
of its healthy functions. Hunger and thirst,
for instance, and the desire of satisfying appe-
tite, although frequently referred to the sto-
mach, do not exist there ; but are the results,
when unsophisticated, of the wants of the sys-
tem impressed upon the nerves of the stomach
and referred to the brain, in order that volition
may be excited to satisfy those wants, and to
preserve that system. When the desire has
been satisfied by taking food, a feeling of com-
fort will be diffused over all the animal machine,
if the stomach has been moderately supplied ;
accompanied, however, with a degree of lan-
guor and indisposition for intellectual exertion,
and the desire of quiet, in order that the cere-
bral system may be fully occupied with the
important process of digestion, without the pe-
culiar aid of which the powers of the stomach
would ultimately fail. In many persons of
weakly digestion, a disposition to drowsiness
occurs ; and the other functions of the system
are not in activity, in order that all the nervous
M ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
influence that can be spared may be concen-
trated upon the stomach.
Where the meal has been moderate, all this
passes without notice ; but if the stomach
shall have received more than it can conve-
niently digest, the attention of the nervous sys-
tem is directed towards it, and the patient feels
oppressed. And if this oppression be frequently
repeated — perhaps every day, and several times
in the day — permanent feebleness of intellect
will be the result ; because the energies of the
brain are accumulated upon the animal system,
and cannot be afforded for its intellectual func-
tions. Hence it is that, by experience, persons
engaged in literary pursuits, in extending the
field of their own intelligence, or in communi-
cating knowledge to others, know and feel that
a full diet is incompatible with intellectual
activity. Moreover, many extraordinary affec-
tions of the brain occur during difficult diges-
tion ; nay, spectral illusions, and often nervous
symptoms, which show that that viscus is ir-
ritated ; and that when irritated there is no
placing bounds to its actions.
We must here also notice the effects produced
upon this organ by various substances ; and par-
ticularly by alcoholic fluids, tea, and coffee.
CHAPTER IV. 90
As a very slight stimulant the former is some-
times recommended, even by medical advisers ;
but when the quantity is considerable, the sto-
mach suffers sooner or later ; and, where a
habit of drunkenness is continued, generally
suffers irrecoverably. But it is with the effect
upon the brain, and its manifestations of the
mind, that we have chiefly to remark. In
moderate doses, alcoholic fluids excite that
organ gently, and stimulate the employment of
its functions ; a degree of hilarity is observable ;
a rapid flow of ideas; increased acumen in dis-
putation ; lively sallies of wit ; and generally
augmented powers ; but when the quantity
taken has been larger, reason is suspended — it
is absolutely drowned : in some instances, per-
fect insanity is produced ; in all, the senses
become obtuse. The muscles refuse obedience
to the will ; the patient is unable to walk with-
out staggering, or to speak without stammering;
and, in a more advanced stage of inebriety, the
power of the brain is apparently lost ; a deep,
heavy, apoplectic slumber comes over the pa-
tient, from which, after a certain interval, he
awakens, stupid, enfeebled, with head-ache,
languor, debilitated moral and intellectual ma-
nifestations, depression of spirits, and the con-
sequent anxiety for a renewed dose of this
96 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
deadly stimulus. Disease, and perhaps sud-
denly fatal disease, frequently results from
drunkenness ; and where this may not be the
immediate consequence, the continuance of the
habit gradually terminates in an enfeebled
brain ; the individual is reduced below the level
of the brute animal creation, and his besotted
intellect is more and more clouded, till he be-
comes childish, fatuous, palsied, and lives out
only half his days. There is, therefore, great
danger in the habitual use of even slight alco-
holic stimulants ; for by custom a larger dose
becomes necessary, as the excitability of the
organs is lessened ; till at length, what was
taken perhaps at first with caution, and it may
be with a view to health, becomes deeply in-
jurious both to the mind and body, and leads
on the unconscious victim to the miserable state
I have described. The highly alcoholized
wines used in this country, are a slow poison
to thousands of persons who, from long habit,
cannot feel wound up without them, and are
not even aware that they are every day unduly
stimulating the system, and bringing on prema-
ture decay, imbecility, and old age.
Tea and coffee, on the contrary, excite the
brain without producing these deleterious ef-
fects, or at all endangering the manifestations
CHAPTER IV. 9T
of mind; they cheer, but do not inebriate.
They appear to communicate a great facility
in forming, arranging, and communicating ideas :
thought becomes rapid, acute, and of a supe-
rior order ; composition, conversation, every ef-
fort of mind, becomes easier, more valuable,
more perfect ; and inappreciable energy is com-
municated to the mental operations. It must
be allowed, however, that their habitual em-
ployment renders them necessary in order to
secure a certain brainular stimulation, without
which the energy of the organ is below its
average power ; but this only proves still far-
ther the dependence of mind upon matter for its
manifestations, and that too upon the condition
of a distinct organ. It must also be recollected,
that persons possessed of a highly nervous, sus-
ceptible, irritable temperament, cannot take
these substances with impunity y much less with
advantage; for the equilibrium of an already
too highly irritable organ is disturbed, and
wakefulness, with many a symptom of uneasy
nervous disorder, is produced.
I must not entirely pass over the action of
opium ; the more especially as we shall have
occasion to refer to it hereafter. It is well
known, that this medicine is distributed to the
Turkish troops, on the eve of an expected battle,
ti
98 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
in order to produce in them that exaltation of
animal power, and that fanatical ardour and
courage, for which they are remarkable. When
taken under ordinary circumstances, and in
precisely the right dose, it will occasion agree-
able sensations, enchanting reveries, and plea-
sures which are indescribable. It is well
known that this remedy has been often abused
for the purpose of creating supernatural appear-
ances, visions, and other illusions, which have
been ascribed to the agency of heavenly spirits.
This subject might be extensively pursued ;
but, probably, enough has been brought for-
ward to show the dependence of cerebral phe-
nomena on the state of the brain ; and to prove
how much its manifestations may be disturbed
by any irritation of the stomach — an organ pe-
culiarly liable to this morbid state, from the
variety of its own diseases, its extensive con-
nexions, and its mischievous dietetic manage-
ment.
V. Sympathy of the brain with the liver.
I shall here only just notice the influence of
moral causes upon the functions of this organ,
so that an excessive flow of bile does often re-
sult from the mere agitation of suspense or sur-
prise; while the more powerful passions, such
as anger, fear, terror, excessive joy, have
CHAPTER IV. 99
actually produced a fit of jaundice. Then
again its reflected influence is very consider-
able ; head-ache, and a countless variety of
morbid mental manifestations, have frequently
followed congestion of its vessels ; and their
removal has been coincident with its returning
health : while, on the other hand, concussion of
the brain has often given rise to inflammation,
and even abscess of the liver. The well-ascer-
tained influence of diseases of this organ in
producing hypochondriasis, melancholy, and
many other forms of vaporous irritation, is also
proverbial, and tends to confirm our position,
that its functional disturbance occasions a
sympathetic disorder of the intellectual organ
— not of the mind, but of the material medium
through which it acts — possessing a specific
character analogous with that which constitutes
the primary irritation. In what this character
consists we know not ; nor is it necessary that
we should know, since we seek not to define
the nature of this influence, but merely to indi-
cate its extent.
VI. Sympathies of the brain with the func-
tion of secretion in general.
We must pass over the influence of the kid-
neys, the spleen, and several other organs of
the body : but as these are for the most part
H 2
100 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
secreting organs, we shall just notice the
agency of the brain in producing secretion at
all, and its reflex operation upon that viscus.
This function very much depends upon the
brain, and can be continued only so long as a
due correspondence is kept up with that organ.
But there are some secretions which conspi-
cuously exhibit this law ; that, for instance, of
saliva under the influence of the excited imagi-
nation of food : on the opposite side, disgust for
certain articles of diet will arrest the secretion,
and produce dryness of the mouth. Again :
the secretion of tears may be produced by two
very opposite mental states — either of great
sorrow or joy ; and in both cases their flow
seems to afford relief to an oppressed brain —
the suff*ering organ of the mind. This is a
matter of common observation, though its
cause is not contemplated. Every one has
experienced the temporary relief afforded by
this secretion to a bursting heart ; and there are
few who have not rejoiced when they have wit-
nessed tears come to the relief of an agonized
bosom ; for they know that a sorrow which can
find an outlet in these natural expressions of
grief, is less injurious than that deeply-concen-
trated feeling, which has no way of utterance,
and in which the individual remains as isolated
CHAPTER IV. 101
from himself and others, and frequently falls a
victim to cerebral disorder. This influence is
also indirectly exerted upon the chest, so that
the phrase of being " stifled with grief," is often
used to depict a state in which the oppressed
bosom can scarcely free itself from its load, and
is accompanied by a sense of stricture and tight-
ness very commonly known ; and which, in the
nature of things, must depend upon cerebral in-
fluence. Parents are accustomed to act upon
this principle, without knowing why, and with-
out reasoning upon it : as, for instance, in the
choice of a wet-nurse for their infant, they
would look for one endued with a good share of
equanimity, whose system was not liable to the
agitation of tumultuous passion, and to moral
afl'ections of a debasing character ; because
the influence of these mental states upon the
secretion of milk is known to be deleterious,
and to render it improper for the nourishment
of the infant ; even if it do not still farther
exert an unfortunate effect upon the infantile
brain, and on the consequent manifestations of
mind.
VII. Sympathies of the brain with the mus-
cular system.
The influence of the brain on the muscles is
conspicuous in several forms of malady, as well
102 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
as in their more simple healthy actions. They
may be considered as agents to the brain, and
absolutely incapable of their action without its
continued energy imparted to them. A proof
of this may be found in that state of a limb
which is termed being ** asleep." By pressure
on the nerves, the communication with the
brain has been intercepted ; and the individual
wills in vain to move the limb : motion is impos-
sible till the return of nervous influence, marked
by the common sensation of ** pins and needles,"
has restored the communication with the brain,
and the muscles become again obedient to the
will. Although from long habit these organs
may appear to act without a distinct effort of
volition, yet it is manifest that this really hap-
pens from the so-frequent repetition of cerebral
actions, that the precise operation is performed
without exciting the attention. If further proofs
were needed of this position, they might be
found in the enfeebled muscular power of old
age, precisely accompanying enfeebled brainu-
lar energy ; in the complete loss of voluntary
action attendant upon palsy ; in the partial ab-
sence of the influence of volition over one set of
muscles, (as, for instance, thefle-rors, or exten-
sors of a limb,) while it remains active upon the
other; in the debilitated muscular actions
CHAPTER IV.
i6B
arising from any source of irritation oppressing
the brain, but particularly as a consequence of
invading disease ; in the convulsions and other
disordered muscular movements which attend
many forms of cerebral disorder ; in the inti-
mate sympathy which is known to exist be-
tween the different parts of the muscular sys-
tem ; and in the ease with which many remote
muscles are called into action, for the purpose
of aiding, or of counteracting the influence of
other muscles, in the performance of their
salutary, or in controlling their morbid, actions ;
and, above all, in the muscles of expression,
those fruitful exponents of the varied emotions
of mind. This is also demonstrated by the act
of yawning, which is either a purely cerebral
phenomenon, or indirectly such, through the
agency of disordered stomach, or other suffering
organ, irritating the brain. A similar disturb-
ance of muscular power is visible in some dis-
eases of the brain, as in epileptic and hysterical
affections ; for it will be found, that in all these
states, however they may be complicated with
disorder of other important organs, yet that a
morbid condition of the brain is the first link in
the chain of unhealthy action.
Again : the development of great muscular
power can scarcely consist with the perfect
104 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
integrity and energy of moral and intellectual
manifestation. Only appreciate the influence
of fatigue from lengthened muscular exertion,
and it will be seen that the brain is unfitted for
intellectual action : it is also impossible to
think deeply during long-continued or rapid
walking; and after great exertion repose is
necessary, even for some days, before the brain
can resume its accustomed power. Thus again,
with regard to those who have devoted them-
selves to athletic pursuits, it will be remarked,
that their weight of intellect and aptitude for
moral feeling are very small ; and that their
life is passed between eating, sleeping, and
training. Only individuals of contracted intel-
ligence will submit to sacrifice mental energy
to the development of muscular power ; or will
give up the hope of moral and intellectual ex-
cellence, in exchange for that which, at the
very best, they can but enjoy in common with
many of the inferior animals — namely, a supe-
riority of physical power over the comparatively
feeble and helpless. The man who thinks
correctly — who really enjoys and desires the
exquisite happiness which may be derived from
the exercise of the nobler faculties of the imma-
terial spirit, and whose conscience tells him
the importance of cultivating these faculties,
CHAPTER IV. 105
and the moral responsibility attaching to their
possession, — can never hesitate, for a moment,
respecting the duty and satisfaction of culti-
vating talent, and devoting it to the love and
service of Him who gave it. The two, in a
very high degree, are incompatible ; because, if
the animal brain receive an undue proportion of
development, the intellectual manifestation
will be starved and dwindled, after the same
ratio ; thus proving the great importance of the
organ, and its dependence for integrity upon
other distant sympathies.
VIII. Sympathies of the brain with, the skin.
I shall close this part of the inquiry with a
remark or two on cerebral sympathy, as con-
nected with the skin. At first sight, this may
not appear a tangible or likely association ; and
some who peruse these pages may imagine that
greater importance than it deserves is given to
the cerebral organ. And, indeed, there is often
an obscurity enveloping these connexions, which
makes it difficult to trace the exact mode of as-
sociation. Yet the influence of moral emotion
in producing that state of the surface which is
familiarly called goose-skin; the agency of fear
in occasioning paleness of the countenance, by
recalling the blood to the interior, or blueness
106 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
of the lips, from congestion in the extreme ves-
sels ; the effect of shame and surprise, in giv-
ing rise to the blush which tinges the cheek of
an innocent person, as well as deeply flushes
the countenance of the consciously guilty ; the
agency of suspense and agitation in occasioning
perspiration; the dryness of the skin which is so
common an attendant upon mental anxiety ; the
change of countenance from the impulsion of
spiritual agony ; the alteration of its colour in
those who really mourn, and the wrinkle of dis-
satisfaction which broods upon the forehead ; —
are all proofs of intimate dependence between
the two structures, and confirm the position
that through these several organs the brain
may be variously irritated, so as to produce a
difference in the specific expression of its suf-
ferings. This, too, is elucidated by the fact,
that the brain suffers very differently from
affections of different organs, according to pe-
culiarities which we cannot trace, but which
do actually exist.
There are some other very remarkable sym-
pathies, but which are not so well suited to po-
pular perusal ; and I therefore pass them over,
in order, in the next chapter, to offer a few re-
marks on disorders of the cerebral function. In
CHAPTER IV. lOT
the mean time, the following important results
may be drawn from the present section of our
inquiry.
1 . The brain is placed in a state of sympathe-
tic communion with many organs of the body :
it rejoices in their health, and it suffers in their
diseases ; and, moreover, it forms the link of
communication between all these several organs,
which unites them into one perfect whole ; so
that if the action of any one be arrested, the
whole are thrown into confusion.
2. The brain is exceedingly liable to be irri-
tated by disturbance excited in anyone of these
distant organs. No disease of any kind can
exist anywhere in the system, — no uneasiness,
excess, or defect, in any one organ or function,
but the brain suffers from it. And since it has
been shown that the brain is the organ or in-
strument through which the manifestations of
the mind are rendered cognisable, it is clear
that these manifestations will be excited, alter-
ed, or impaired, by the state of the cerebral
organ, which is the consequence of such irrita-
tion.
3. The peculiar character of such disturbance
will be determined by the particular organ
which forms the source of irritation ; and by
the kind and degree of morbid action to which
108 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
it is exposed. It has been shown how closely
the several organs of the body are United in
sympathy to one common centre ; and how
variously they affect that centre, according to
their own peculiarities. But it will very seldom
be found that this agency will be excited in a
manner pure and uncombined ; for not only is
each individual organ itself the seat of many
healthy and morbid sympathies, but it is essen-
tially connected with all the other organs of the
body ; and its actions are variously modified by
this connexion. Still, by this local primary
disturbance, the effect propagated to the brain,
and the subsequent reflex action of that viscus,
are characterized, and do variously influence
the manifestations of mind.
4. These facts should lead us to exercise ten-
der compassion, in reference to those diseased
manifestations of mind which so frequently
cross our path. Let us recollect, that, though
man is not a merely animal machine, the ex-
pression of his thoughts, feelings, reasoning,
affections, and passions, is really influenced by
the state of his body, and by any morbid action
which may affect it. Let us hope, that many
lesser peculiarities of conduct may depend
upon the irritation of the organ of mind ; and
though bodily temperament is not to be pleaded
CHAPTER IV. 909
as an excuse for moral obliquity, which a high
exertion of Christian principle would have
overcome, still let us learn to compassionate
such sufferers as those I have described. Let
the arm of mercy and forgiveness be outstretch-
ed towards them ; and let the active energy of
real pity be willingly exercised to succour
those whom we would consider as the wretched
victims of disease, rather than as the voluntary
agents of their own wanderings. Some of my
readers can, perhaps, recollect having been
vexed or irritated by persons, who at that time
"were considered of sane mind, but were after-
wards obliged to be placed under restraint as
lunatics; and have said, ** I can now account
for, and of course forgive and pity, many things
which offended me in my friend's conduct : it
was, in fact, incipient derangement." Now my
object is to show that there is much of this in-
cipient derangement in the world ; which,
though it may never go beyond this earliest
stage, is, in its degree, derangement still, and
ought to be pitied and borne with as such. Of
the extent of moral guilt in the individual I
am not now speaking: this will depend upon the
degree in which reason and conscience still re-
tain their influence, the existing power of the
no ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
function of volition, and the effort made by the
mind, according to its moral consciousness, to
struggle with temptation. I merely add this
remark, that I may not seem to any cursory
reader to be offering an apology for moral pra-
vity.
5. My last observation naturally leads to ano-
ther ; namely, that while we pity the infirmity
of our neighbour, our scrutiny of ourselves
ought to be rigid ; for we should exercise a con-
stant and uncompromising hostility to the in-
fluence of these sources of irritation. We must
learn to excuse others, but we must not excuse
ourselves : because we ought to resist every
tendency to irritation ; to watch over the first
symptom of morbid manifestation ; to seek sup-
port and guidance from on high ; and in the
strength of the Lord our God to come off more
than conquerors. If the organ of mind be lia-
ble to irritation from a great number of bodily
sources, God has also graciously given us a prin-
ciple by which we are called upon to contend
with these morbid tendencies ; and it is our
duty to strive against and overcome them.
6. But if this varied irritation should be so
intense, or continue so long, as that the inte-
grity of the brain should be destroyed, it will
CHAPTER IV.* Ill
then escape from the control of the presiding
mind^ and will continue to act without guidance
and direction, producing the morbid manifesta-
tions of cerebral disorder, the next point to be
noticed.
CHAPTER V.
Phenomena of disordered brainular function, and its influ-
ence on the manifestations of mind. — Sensorial feebleness
or perversion ; — great susceptibility ;■ — hallucination ; — un-
conquerable wakefulness ; — change of intellectual and
moral manifestations.
The next step of our investigation is to consi-
der the phenomena of disordered brainular func-
tion.
A great error has arisen, and has been perpe-
tuated even to the present day, in considering
cerebral disorder as mental ; requiring, and in-
deed admitting, only of moral remedies, instead
of these forming only one class of curative
agents ; whereas the brain is the mere organ of
mind, not the mind itself; and its disorder of
function arises from its ceasing to be a proper
medium for the manifestation of the varied ac-
tion and passion of the presiding spirit. And,
CHAPTER V. 113
strange as it may seem, this error has been con-
secrated by a desire to escape from the fallacies
of materialism.
Yet it is manifest that they alone are guilty
of the charge of attachment to materialism, who
consider the disorders of the cerebral function
as mental ; for then, indeed, the brain must be
mind itself, and not simply its organ. When the
stomach, or the liver, or the lungs, are affected
with disease, some term is employed which at
once leads the attention to the suffering viscus,
and to the mode of its sufferings. But when
we speak of disorder of the cerebral function,
persons currently employ the terms mental alie-
nation, fatuity, and various others which de-
scribe the symptoms of cerebral disease ; but
which do not lead the mind on to the affection
of the organ which occasions them. This cause
is generally very little understood, and often
mistaken. But we must recollect, that the spi-
ritual principle is not susceptible of disease —
except speaking metaphorically ; and therefore,
we must refer the symptoms of morbid mental
manifestation to their organic cause.
And if these mental manifestations always
become disordered in a morbid condition of the
brain, it is not too much to ask that other ana-
logous phenomena should be referred to this
I
114 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
cause, which have sometimes been ascribed to
spiritual agency, because the altered manifesta-
tions have not been contemplated as a conse-
quence of disease of the manifesting organ :
and, if this be granted, it will not be too much
to ask further, that those morbid manifestations
of mind, which can be traced to disease of the
material organ, should be permitted to guide us
into the same route of explanation as respects
other deviations from healthy mental agency,
which may not so clearly be associated with
disease of structure.
Cerebral disorder is characterized by cer-
tain symptoms, which, in prosecuting this in-
quiry, it is important to consider. We will first
take an example of the simplest form of dis-
turbance ; namely, slight tendency to conges-
tion in the vessels of the brain. The patient
wakens with difficulty ; he is desirous of sleep-
ing beyond his usual time ; he dresses with an
oppression upon his brow, which constitutes
that operation a burden ; he remains languid
and feeble all the morning ; there is a sense of
weight in his head, which he cannot shake oiBP;
he is still drowsy and indisposed for exertion :
the hour of dinner arrives — and the stimulus
occasioned by this meal drives the blood through
the congested vessels ; re-action is produced ;
CHAPTER V. 115
the sense of weight is lost, and it is superseded
by head-ache of a more or less. acute character;
by restlessness, and a variety of fidgetty sensa-
tions ; and if the pain should subside (as it
very commonly does) towards evening, and fre-
quently under the controlling influence of green
tea, still there is a great degree of irritability,
and the patient retires to rest in a state of mor-
bid wakefulness, which is not overcome for
hours ; and he then falls into the same heavy,
unrefreshing sleep, which occasions a repetition
of similar congestion ; to be again removed by
the same re-action, and to return in a similar cir-
cle till the morbid condition has been relieved.
But what is the effect of this state upon the
manifestations of mind ? All the morning the
subject of brainular alteration is incapable of
intellectual exertion ; his spirits are depressed,
and his powers of thought inadequate. To this
mental cloud succeeds a transient brightening
of the faculties, which is suspended by acute
pain, and is afterwards characterized by an
impossibility of fixing the attention, until to-
wards evening, when a greater degree of se-
renity is produced, and the patient probably
conduces to his approaching wakefulness by
mental occupation ; which now, no longer a
I 2
116 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
burden, goes on cheerily. Now unless we are
wilfully blind, do we not see that the mani-
festations of mind are under the influence of
this peculiar though most simple cerebral dis-
order ? and, if so, may there not be other mor-
bid conditions of the brain, perhaps unknown
or unexplained, and, with our present know-
ledge, inexplicable, which may give rise to
varied deviations from healthy mental mani-
festation, to visions, spectral illusions, halluci-
nations, apparitions, and similar phenomena?
The infinite wisdom of the Creator has so
appointed, that the brain can bear much injury
with impunity. And it is astonishing to con-
template the degree of mischief which will
sometimes go on in its structure without being
rendered very obvious by bodily or mental
symptoms. By what constitution of the organ
this has been effected is beyond our know-
ledge, and we seek not to explain it : but we
see the fact ; and we would derive from it a
lesson of adoring gratitude to that holy Being,
whose infinite knowledge has prepared for the
operations of mind an organ of such exquisite
delicacy and susceptibility; and yet one which
can bear with comparative impunity a greater
degree of lesion than many other less important
CHAPTER V. 117
viscera. But although this is sometimes the
case, yet cerebral disorder is generally marked
by some of the following appearances.
1. Feebleness, or suspension, or perversion
of the intimations afforded by the organs of
sense.
Mere mental emotion will occasion the tongue
to be furred in a few minutes ; vision will be
rendered indistinct, and the hearing obtuse ;
an emotion of a more powerful kind will sus-
pend the action of the senses altogether : while,
under other circumstances, it will so completely
pervert them, as that the taste shall be de-
praved ; the ear shall be assailed by a thousand
forms of unreal impression ; spectral images
shall float before the eye ; the nose shall be
occupied by odours which do not exist, and
relative feeling shall be disturbed. Precisely
similar effects will often be produced from an
impression of primary disease of the brain ; so
that in either case of disorder of that organ,
whether it may claim a physical or mental
origin, we are prepared for perverted manifes-
tations of mind.
2. We notice, in the next place, the extreme
susceptibility of these organs. The taste be-
comes developed in an unusual degree ; so that
the simple contact of many bodies with the
118 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
tongue will instantaneously produce sickness,
and bring on all those associated actions which
\i^\Q primarily commenced in irritation of the
brain : hearing will be rendered so acute that
the slightest vibrations of the atmosphere will
seem to the patient as thunder, and he will
be incapable of listening without pain to the
gentlest movements in his room : the eye will
abhor its usual grateful stimulus, light, and will
court the completest obscurity: while both
these senses will be rendered so irritable, that
voices will be heard, and forms will be seen,
where neither the one nor the other ever ex-
isted. The sense of smelling will be offended
by odours which are not in themselves dis-
agreeable ; and the skin will be so susceptible,
that it will feel soreness and pain from the
slightest impressions ; its functions will be in-
terrupted ; it will be chilled by cold or fevered
by heat, or unnaturally perspiring ; while it
will cease to convey correct impressions, from
the morbid excitability of its surface. Can it
be surprising that, under many circumstances
of invading disease, and while the brain is suf-
fering from its oppression, this extreme suscep-
tibility should operate in producing illusions ?
For we are frail and feeble creatures, composed
of body and mind ; and we have no access to
CHAPTER V. 119
external circumstances for the latter, except
through the intervention of the former.
3. But, thirdly, another expression of cere-
bral disorder consists in hallucination. This
manifestation of mental operation very fre-
quently arises from the former : a perverted
image is conveyed through the senses, and re-
presented to the mind ; in consequence of the
high degree of susceptibility of the brain, this
impression is brooded over : it is frequently
recalled even during sleep ; it is associated
with other impressions, and grouped with
them in some fancied order of preverted and
fantastic arrangement, and it becomes so over-
bearing a sensation, that the patient is cour
vinced of its reality, and carried away by its
reiterated impulse. At another time, the brain
forms for itself these delusive images from
the involuntarily recollected frusta of previous
impressions, and their very natural, but not
always coherent, associations ; and thus its
action becomes perverted : it ceases to listen
to the notices conveyed by the external senses,
by means of which its internal impressions
might have been compared and adjusted ; the
voice of judgment is not heard, and the patient
is absorbed by the certainty of his erroneous
impressions, and verily believes in the exist-
120 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
ence of the fancied offspring of a disordered
imagination. In this state actual feelings are
disregarded ; the morbid images supply their
place, and are contemplated as the positive
results of sensation. The natural laws of in-
tellect are now superseded ; the brain is no
longer the obedient servant of the mind ; but,
in the tyranny of its usurpation, subjugates the
reasoning powers, and compels them to yield
to that human infirmity, which attaches itself
to the grand prevailing cause that has marred
the most perfect creation of Omnipotence, and
has rendered that which was originally *' very
good," now ** very far gone from original
righteousness."
These hallucinations may be very fugitive,
especially at the commencement of cerebral
disease ; and a powerful appeal to the mind,
judiciously applied, may recal it to the influ-
ence of right reason. But if disease should
continue, it will soon relapse into the same or
similar trains ; and if it should advance, or in-
crease in intensity, this hallucination may be-
come permanent, and it will then form delirium
or insanity. These hallucinations will fre-
quently commence during sleep, and the pa-
tient, on rousing from that state, cannot be
convinced of their illusion; they remain with
CHAPTER V. 131
the energy of waking impressions, and often
become motives to conduct; and at all events
form the groundwork for morbid reasoning.
Here, however, we are treading too closely on
the subject of visions, which will come to be
considered more especially hereafter.
4. Another result of cerebral disorder, is
that of unconquerable wakefulness. A cease-
less vigilance attacks the patient, and sleep
seems to have fled for ever from his eyelids.
It is astonishing how long a period will some-
times be passed without repose; and so great
are the attendant restlessness and irritability,
that they are often beyond the control of
medicine : nay more, the primary stimulus of
opium seems to increase them in a degree far
greater than can be quieted by its subsequent
sedative effects ; while the application of an
ice-cap, to cool the fevered brain, will prove
the most efficacious remedy. For days and
weeks together the patient will never sleep,
and, during the whole time, will talk inces-
santly. And yet, such is the wisdom of the
Almighty Architect in protecting this organ of
the mind, that it will not have eventually suf-
fered from this protracted irritation, in a degree
at all commensurate with that which would
have been produced by the same excited ac-
122 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
tion in other organs of the body. It will be
seen, however, at a glance, how favourable
must be this state of irritability, to the pro-
duction and indulgence of morbid sensorial and
intellectual impressions ; and then it may be
inferred how easily this same state would be
induced by a degree of the same cause, existing
for any length of time, — but not so great as to
be called disease, — escaping attention under
the terms of ''restless nights," and of a "bad
sleeper," till the morbid results have so far
accumulated as to be uncontrollable. This
form of great excitement may be followed by
collapse, and destruction of the brain ; or it
may be rapidly succeeded by congestion, and
by a tendency to heavy sleep from which the
patient can scarcely be aroused ; and from
which, if left to himself, this very congestion
may terminate in lethargy, apoplexy, or other
of the deepening shades of cerebral disorder.
5. But there are indications of brainular
malady, which we must mention particularly,
as they affect the intellectual and moral mani-
festations. One of the first symptoms to be
remarked, is an inaptitude for intellectual
employment : the patient requires a frequent
change of pursuit; he cannot turn his attention
steadily to one object ; he cannot reason or
CHAPTER V. 123
think consecutively ; he finds it impossible to
fix his thoughts upon the reasoning of others ;
his desk and his books are neglected ; and he
himself is occupied with the veriest trifles,
rendered important, in his estimation, by their
association with some perverted images. More-
over, if he has contrived to fix his attention,
he soon becomes fatigued ; thus showing, that
however the brain may on some occasions be
disposed for over-action, it has not the power
of supporting it, but rather that it exhausts
itself by attempting to accomplish that to which
it is utterly inadequate.
Again, there is a susceptibility to moral im-
pression, and a disposition to impulsive action,
which show that the patient is not to be de-
pended upon. Reason with him, convince his
judgment, see his resolution fully taken, ap-
parently with all the immoveable determi-
nativeness of conscious right ; leave him to act
upon these convictions, and the first wave of
new impression, or even the recurrence of an
old one, will have dissipated all his firmness,
and he acts in a way diametrically opposed to
that on which he had resolved. There exists
in him so intense and craving a desire after
sensation, that it is of little consequence whe-
ther it may be right or wrong, so it be but
124 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
sensation ; only, if one morbid train of ideas
shall have become predominant, it will be certain
of claiming its supremacy, as soon as the patient
gains time to listen to its suggestions.
This supreme agency of one dominant idea
is manifested in the history of A.B., which is
also mentioned in this place as affording an
apt illustration of the progress of cerebral dis-
order. Family predisposition existed towards
insanity ; the grandmother, the father, and the
sister, had been subject to some one of the va-
ried forms of mental aberration. But sur-
rounded by affluence, and apparent comfort of
every kind, A.B. had reached his sixtieth
year without being exposed to the operation of
exciting circumstances. It then happened,
that moral causes, of a deeply painful nature,
and connected with emotions of intense in-
terest, characterized also by a depressing ten-
dency, assailed the patient : on these he
brooded, till the brain became irritated by
the unnatural goading and oppression, and then
a slight deviation from regular habits was ob-
served. But now morbid action had taken
place in the room of family predisposition, and
the brain became the increasing source of dis-
ordered mental manifestation. The fear of
poverty was the prominent idea, and the pos-
CHAPTER V. T2S
sessor of very large and valuable landed pro-
perty, as well as from many other sources,
suddenly became, in his own estimation, not
worth a shilling, and the only prospect before
him was that of interminable imprisonment.
To reason with him was unavailing; for al-
though at my professional visits I would de-
monstrate to him, upon his own showing, that
he was worth many, very many hundreds a-
year, yet inevitable ruin impended over him ;
cerebral disorder increased ; irritation of the
brain became more conspicuous ; other insane
ideas were added to the dread of penury, which
however always remained supereminent ; and,
after a short and a painful attendance, I was
summoned one morning in great haste, and
learned that he had found means for a single
minute to elude the vigilance of his attendant,
and was a corpse by his own hands. For the
last act of his life, doubtless, he was not re-
sponsible ; but let us learn a lesson of usefulness
from this melancholy relation.
In the first place, we see the germ of disease,
the origin of cerebral irritation, in the influence
of moral causes, and the subsequent history
shows that, even in this life, the path of sin is
one ofunmingled bitterness and misery; it has
its providentially ordained punishment, and
126 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
though we would be far from limiting the mercy
of God, and though we would hope that lucid
intervals may be devoted to repentance, humi-
liation, and prayer, yet we cannot but see that
irritation of the brain, and the paroxysm of in-
sanity, must be fearful barriers in the way of
seeking God, and turning to him with full pur-
pose of heart. May we watch and pray to be
preserved from sin, and all its awful conse-
quences ! The Holy Spirit will not always
strive with man : may we be saved from tempt-
ing that Spirit to depart from us, or from pro-
voking our long- suffering Creator to leave us to
an afflictive dispensation, which goes far to
quench the light of spiritual life in the soul, by
shutting it out through the material veil of dis-
eased organization.
Secondly, let us observe, that that which
originated in moral causes was continued and
extended by the disordered action of the brain ;
and that then other manifestations of mind be-
came perverted ; false premises and inferences
usurped the dominion of mind : the patient at
length ceases to be an accountable agent, and
closes a life of misery in the most melancholy
manner ; for if we deprecate sudden death at
all times, how much more the death of the sui-
cide !
CHAPTER V. 127
Thirdly, we notice that the brain being once
disordered, there is no setting bounds to the
distorted images which it will produce, or to
the creation of its wild associations.
And, fourthly, let us learn the value of reli-
gious principle : this would have saved the
victim from the first cause of brainular irrita-
tion ; it would have offered a healing balm in
the all-powerful blood of Christ, even after
that irritation had commenced, and would have
led to peace and reconciliation with God ; and
even after insanity had been produced, could
the bodily disease have been subdued, or could
the hope of the Gospel have been embraced by
the mind during a lucid interval, it would have
given that best medicine, which might have
confirmed the results of physical treatment,
and afforded a prospect of permanent peace to
the wretched sufferer.
CHAPTER VI.
Same subject continued. — Early and slight changes of cha-
racter accompanying this state ; — varied influence upon the
bodily functions ; — intermittent or remittent character of
its maladies ; — epilepsy ; — possession ; — causes producing
this state; — original malconformation ; — wounds; — con-
cussion ; — compression ; — fever ; — local inflammation ; —
the entire class of nervous diseases; — hypochondriasis;
— general inferences.
But again : perhaps long before the symptoms
are fairly cognizable, there is a slight change of
character, or manner, or habit, which ought
always to excite alarm on the part of friends ;
as, for instance, where the prudent suddenly
become prodigal ; or the mild and benevolent,
vindictive; or the good-tempered, morose; or
the cheerful desponding ; or where the manner
of confiding openness is exchanged for distrust
or suspicion ; or the reserved become accessible ;
or the taciturn loquacious; or where habits of
retirement have been superseded by a love of
company, or, on the contrary, a desire after
CHAPTER VI. 129
society has given place to habits of seclusion,
and abstraction from mankind : in fact, w^hen-
ever, in any way, a deviation from original and
established character is observed, then let ce-
rebral disorder be suspected, and it will almost
always be found. As it proceeds, and as the
shadows of departing reason are deepened, de-
lirium will be noticed as a frequent accompani-
ment; sometimes only as a transient symptom
for a few moments ; at others prolonging its in-
sidious visitation, varying very much as to
character, from the determined and exclusive
raving of the monomaniac, to the ever-shifting
mutability of him who wanders hither and
thither, without object, without end, without
guide, and without purpose.
As disorder of the brain advances, there may
be increasing mental darkness proceeding to a
total suspension of intelligence ; and the indi-
vidual becomes a mere wreck of himself; his
glory has departed from him, and he has exhi-
bited the most pitiable example of the wrath of
the offended Majesty of heaven against sin.
Yet, be it remembered, the case is not hopeless ;
and even this state of misery and destitution
admits of relief. The wretched victim of cere-
bral disorder may yet be restored to himself, to
society, to his duties, and to the enjoyment of
K
130 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
intellectual pleasures, as well as to the pursuit
of moral worth : but by what means ? Not by
any process of reasoning — not by moral suasion
— not by didactic appeals to his understanding,
or by an impression upon his feelings — not by
all the arts of rhetoric, the efforts of educa-
tion, or, even, while in that state, the impres-
siveness of religious motive ; — all these would
of themselves be utterly unavailing ; but by re-
medial measures, directed, not to the spiritual
principle, which is not diseased, but to its or-
gan which is; in fact, addressed to the brain,
with all its variously-associated sympathies.
But we proceed to show, that cerebral dis-
order, and diseased manifestation of mind, are
connected with other bodily effects, which can-
not in truth be referred to any other than a
bodily cause. Thus, for instance, we may
mention the great variety of muscular affections
which attend the several forms of malady now
under consideration; beginning with the sim-
plest disturbance of the dance of St. Vitus, and
terminating with that wretched state of suffer-
ing, in which the patient is doubled up upon
himself, and scarcely retains the form of a
human being. Among these also, may be
reckoned, feebleness and diminution of the
power of the will over the voluntary motions,
CHAPTER VI.^. 131
involuntary actions, tremors, general palsy,
palsy of only one half of the body, convulsions,
irritation of only one set of muscles, and para-
lysis of their antagonists, as of the flexor and
extensor muscles of a limb, all the varieties of
cramp, and, above all, the peculiar expression
of the countenance, arising from the constant
and exclusive employment of certain muscles to
embody the feelings and views. But if all these
bodily efi'ects be readily traced to irritation of
the brain, it must surely be allowed, that these
same disturbances, from whatever cause arising,
will exert a reflex influence upon the cerebral
organ, and tend to place it in a very unfit state
for intellectual integrity of manifestation, and
one in which it will be easily excited to morbid
sympathy.
Lastly, we shall notice the intermittent or re-
mittent character of the brain's maladies; such
as in epilepsy, hysteria, and other diseases, more
especially belonging to the nervous system.
Now this attribute cannot surely be ascribed to
the influence of a spiritual immaterial principle ;
which in itself, as a cause of disease, cannot
admit of change, of paroxysm, of increased
mischief, and again of improvement. It is true
that these diseases have been referred to dis-
tant sympathies ; but the brain is evidently
K 2
132 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
their real source. It must be remembered,
also, that epilepsy has been ascribed to pos-
sessioriy and even at the present day, an impres-
sion of this kind exists in the mind of the vulgar.
1 have been frequently told that such and such an
epileptic individual was ** overseen;'' nor canv^^e
blame these results of superstition among the
vulgar, while their superiors in intellect and
acquirement continue to refer similar effects to
mental agency. The influence of epilepsy
upon the brain is such, as in its progress to
destroy altogether the manifestations of mind,
and to produce a hideous expression of the
countenance, usually a peculiar grin, which,
with minds predisposed to such explanation,
it would not be difficult to imagine Satanic;
but which is manifestly the result of the organ
having been rendered unfit for the manifesta-
tions of mind : and the semi-human expres-
sion of involuntary laughter remains to tell the
sad tale of what sin has wrought. But in this
case will it be said, that the soul is the seat of
disease ? Surely not ! And if not, if disease of
brain can produce a perfect obliteration of men-
tal manifestation, it may be permitted also
to occasion its perversioHy and to give rise to those
unreal images which have been called apparitions.
Before we conclude this part of our inquiry,
CHAPTER VI. 133
we must notice some of the causes producing
diseased manifestations of mind.
1. Original malconformation will give rise to
idiotcy. Instances have occurred which show
that without brain there can be no manifestation
of mind : and in old age, that organ undergoes
a change which shuts out the operations of the
mind from being perceived. But can it be
believed that the idiot has no soul ? or that the
feebleness of old age extinguishes the powers
of the spiritual principle, at a period when it is
fast approaching its glorious change of immor-
tality ; or that the humble, faithful servant of
God is liable to disease of spirit, just as he is
actually entering the confines of the heavenly
world ? No : the brain may be diseased or
enfeebled, but the soul can be subject only to
one moral taint, for which a remedy has been
provided. A similar effect will sometimes be
produced, in some cases, by water on the brain.
2. Wounds of the brain will occasion a variety
of morbid symptoms, differingtoo according to the
precise portion of brainular structure which has
become the subject of injury ; thus demonstra-
ting, so far as demonstration is possible, the de-
pendence of mental manifestation on brainular
integrity.
3. Concussion of the brain will produce gid-
134 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
diness, sickness, a complete loss of power and
of recollection, and generally a suspension of
the manifestations of mind. These symptoms
may be so intense as to occasion death ; and if
not, they will be followed by a reaction, which
will be attended by inflammation, delirium, or
insanity. Still, by the blessing of God, under
a judicious management, there is an ultimate
restoration to the state of health. It is also
probable that sea-sickness and sick-headache
both owe their origin to some irritation of the
brain.
4. Compression of this organ, from what-
ever cause arising, and however slight in degree,
"Will produce, according to its intensity, more or
less alteration, and even extinction, of mental
manifestation ; and when that compression is
suddenly relieved, there will sometimes be an
immediate return to health, but more generally
it will be through a series of perverted mani-
festations.
5. The state of fever will occasion large de-
viations from healthy brainular function. These
will vary materially according as the febrile
condition shall partake more or less of the
inflammatory character ; as it shall be more or
less characterized by debility or oppression ; as
it shall be marked by symptoms of a peculiar
CHAPTER VI. 135
nature ; or as it shall more evidently depend
upon the morbid structure of some particular
organ, and assume the form of decided hectic.
In all these states, however, one feature is to
be uniformly found ; namely, that of perverted
mental manifestation : visions are seen which
have no reality, but which are firmly believed
by the patient, who maintains them as never
doubting their existence; persons and things
appear and act and talk as they would do
under the supposed circumstances, and the
patient will consistently relate that such has
been the case. Now let it be recollected, that
we have here traced apparitions of one kind,
visions, &c., to a bodily-morbid cause ; and if
this be indisputable, it can scarcely be denied,
that all other supernatural appearances may
be referred to some similar or analogous cause.
6. Local inflammation of a slow character,
and consequent disorganization, must be enu-
merated as another cause of the perversion of
mental manifestation, and of the more or less
complete destruction of intellectual power.
7. The whole class of nervous diseases contri-
bute to impair, and, under extreme circumstan-
ces, to destroy the manifestations of mind. We
are well aware, that nervous disorders have been
often ascribed to fancy ; and, from the facility
136 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
with which they may be simulated, this is
likely to be the case in some instances : but
still no rational person will deny that the
nervous system is liable to disease ; and that it
produces great distress when so disturbed. None
but persons who have thus suffered, or who
have witnessed such sufferings, can imagine
the misery which it induces, on the perversions
of intellect, feeling, perception, and judgment,
to which it gives rise. This state may be very
transient, or it may continue for years ; it may
be suspended by a powerful impression upon
the system, or it may resist every remedial
measure ; it may be called into action by men-
tal emotion, or bodily disturbance : it may be
opposed by a powerful effort of the will ; but
it will be cured only by that which relieves
the source of irritation, and then gives tone to
those nerves to prevent their too great suscep-
tibility. How is this to be accounted for, on
the supposition of merely mental agency ?
The converse of this proposition is further il-
lustrated by the good effects of cold applied to
the head. Wherever there is irritation, thither
will blood be determined, and congestion, or
inflammatory action, will be the result. In
persons so predisposed to cerebral excite-
ment, great advantage will accrue from the
CHAPTER VI. 137
application to the head of cold water, suffered
to evaporate, which operates in diminishing
increased action ; carrying off heat as one
cause of stimulation; subduing sensibility by
its directly sedative influence ; relieving ful-
ness and tension, by its condensing efl'ect upon
the blood ; and preventing congestion, by
giving that degree of tone to the vessels that
they will not readily yield to the impulse of the
blood, or allow themselves to be distended by
it. The good effects of cold applied to the
head^ in diminishing the excitement arising
from wine, or other alcoholic stimulus, is well
known to those who take too much habitually :
yet we see that the use of this means presup-
poses a bodily organ in a state of irritation, and
is only adapted to relieve the phenomena of
mind, by operating on the material medium
through which its manifestations are made.
Lastly : we will only further notice a few of
the different phases of hypochondriasis. It was
formerly supposed, that this malady depended
upon a merely disordered state of the digestive
organs ; and it may be so in some instances.
But often, where this is the case, it is only that
these organs form the first link in the chain of
disturbance, and that, irritating a too susceptible
brain, they produce phenomena which are
138 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
purely cerebral. Generally it will be fouud,
that the brain is primarily affected, and that
the digestive organs only suffer from the inter-
ruption of a due and regular supply of nervous
influence. It is true, that moral causes do
generally occasion and characterize hypochon-
driasis; and they do so by their disturbing
operation upon the organ appointed for their
manifestation. Thus it will be found, that
grief, fear, shame, ennui, and disappointment,
become the frequent sources of hypochon-
driasis : and it will be acknowledged, that these
all agree as to their action ; namely, that of ex-
citing a depressing influence upon the brain.
This depression enfeebles its energies, allows
congestion to take place, and the consequent
irritable reaction arises from the disturbance
created by such circumstances.
Let us not doubt, or underrate the sufferings
of the hypochondriac, or fancy that he himself
might remedy them if he would : he has lost
the power of the will over his mental mani-
festations, and he has become feeble, capricious,
changeful, and irritable. One of the first and
most remarkable symptoms about the hypo-
chondriac, is the loss of sleep : should he even
feel drowsy beforehand, no sooner does he
place his head upon his pillow, than sleep quits
CHAPTER VI. 139
his eyelids, and seems to mock his wooing;
an irritability of brain is produced, which is not
easily overcome : in this case, too, opium very
frequently fails to induce sleep, because of the
state of cerebral excitement which the narcotic
cannot subdue, and therefore cannot produce
that congested state of its vessels through the
medium of which it operates in procuring sleep.
And since it fails of its effect, it tends to excite
and irritate an already-irritated brain, and to
increase the symptoms it was intended to
relieve. It will be found, also, that this in-
creased action of the cerebral circulation, is
attended by headache, and by the perversion
of the mental manifestations ; sustained atten-
tion is impossible; perception is clouded on the
one hand, or morbidly acute on the other :
memory is lost, so that the patient does not
recollect what he has said ten minutes before ;
nor will he remember ten minutes hence that
which is now enjoined. His judgment is feeble,
erring, fallacious ; his will changed at every
instant, and by every changing impression.
Now, whence these perverted manifestations ?
Is it that the spiritual principle is diseased ?
Rather is it not that its organ has ceased to be
subservient to its purposes ?
Moreover, the senses of the hypochondriac
140 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
are endowed with an extreme degree of sensi-
bility, or they are hable to frequent hallucina-
tions, or they become depraved. Thus, for
instance, he hears voices, and receives admoni-
tions ; he sees visions, and is often assailed by
unearthly visitants: he perceives around him
objects which have no real existence : he ac-
quires a fondness for substances in themselves
disgusting : his feeling is unusually acute :
above all, his skin becomes morbidly sensitive
to changes of temperature : a stream of cold
air is as death to his comforts : and he is par-
ticularly excited and irritable during the pre-
valence of an atmosphere highly charged with
electrical matter. Again : he forms false es-
timates of himself and his circumstances ; he
is convinced that he suffers the agonies of im-
pending dissolution : at one time, his heart, he
thinks, is oppressed with blood ; it is stagnated
there, and the organ can beat no longer; at
another, he cannot breathe; and again, at a
third, his stomach is worn out ; or other fancies.
That these are really hallucinations, is mani-
fest from the healthy state of the organs al-
leged to be diseased ; from the frequent change
of the viscus said to be affected ; and from the
kind and degree of indisposition. Moreover,
the extreme inquietude of hypochondriacs re-
CHAPTER VI. 141
specting their health ; the fear of one lest he
be touched, because his body is composed of
glass, and is so brittle that the slightest touch
may occasion its destruction ; the dread of ano-
ther to go from home, because his body being
a grain of barley he fears he shall be consumed
by the chickens ; the hopeless deprecation of
the Divine vengeance by another, and the fruit-
lessness of reasoning in all such cases, to pro-
duce more just convictions; together with the
advantage resulting from medicine and disci-
pline,— all show the importance of attending to
the brain. This conclusion is confirmed by the
patients' frequent change of humour and ex-
pression ; their overweening cordiality or sus-
picion— their varying mode of expression — the
feebleness and changefulness of their purposes
— the general timidity of their character — their
particular pusillanimity and fearfulness — their
irascibility without adequate cause — the rest-
lessness of their pursuits — their frequent mo-
rose reception of intended kindness— and their
unprovoked jealousy,— all prove the extent to
which the brain, as the organ of mind, has suf-
fered, and show the importance of making this
the first object of our attention. And if it
were necessary to accumulate proofs, they might
be found in the frequent disturbance of the mus-
142 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
cular system and loss of power, amounting even
to partial palsy.
It is possible, that when existing only in a
slight extent, this cerebral excitation may com-
municate a considerable degree of activity to
the intellectual operations during a certain por-
tion of time ; but in a more advanced state of
the malady, the brain becomes unequal to the
discharge of its functions : and thus the ideas
become confused, disconnected, inconsequent,
too tardy or too rapid : the mental manifesta-
tion is languid, or is excited to transient action
which produces no result ; the ideas become
unreasonable; the sensations fallacious ; and oc-
casional delirium or absolute insanity closes the
long train of morbid cerebral manifestation.
From this review of the influence of cerebral
disorder, we shall only infer, that a certain state
of brainular malady always produces disordered
manifestations of mind : that disordered mani-
festations of mind may be always traced back to
functional disease of its organ : and that in
such states the most unreal images are presented
to the mind of the patient, with a degree of
impressiveness, which supersedes the power of
reason, and the influence of judgment, and gives
them all the attributes of simple and sober truth.
Thus, then, we trust it has been proved, —
CHAPTER VT. 143
That the organ through which the mind acts
is material, and that it is liable to be affected by
physical causes :
That it is subject to different kinds and de-
grees of irritation, according to the particular
organ which is disturbed, and which forms the
first link in the chain of morbid action :
That the manifestations of mind will be pro-
portionally disordered, and will partake of the
peculiarity of this organic derangement: And,
That the brain, being once overpoised from
its triple balance of physical, intellectual, and
moral agency, perversion of action will be the
consequence : and that, escaping the guidance
of the will, it will continue to act on without
direction, and will become liable to be deceived
by disordered mental manifestations, which do
in fact result only from a loss of the balance of
power : whether this may have been occasioned
by primary or secondary physical irritation —
by the overstrained employment of the brain in
literary pursuit, — or by the influence of power-
ful and exclusive emotion.
The very great difference in the symptoms of
several of these morbid states, arising apparently
from the same source of disease, would lead us
to suspect that the brain must be liable to indi-
vidual inappreciable peculiarities, which give
144 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
their impression to its morbid as well as to its
healthy manifestations ; and a little considera-
tion will show us, that this arises from a law of
Nature's, which has stamped this diversity of
operation upon that organ.
It is this alone which will account for the in-
finite diversity of original character ; that un-
sophisticated expression of mind which is visi-
ble before it has been influenced by education,
and the various agencies of social life. No two
individuals are precisely alike : even in the same
family, there is a striking difference between its
several branches ; family resemblance may be
handed down, to a certain extent, from genera-
tion to generation ; yet in each, there will be a
variety of mental manifestation, which consti-
tutes peculiar character, even as the features of
the countenance serve to distinguish those whose
near alliance may entitle them to the possession
of general likeness ; and to maintain the con"
sciousness of personal identity.
In what then does this difference consist,
and how is it produced ? Is it mental or physi-
cal ? does it originate with the great God, the
Creator of the ends of the earth, or may it be
accounted for on natural principles ? We adopt
unhesitatingly the latter alternative ; — since, if
we did not do so, — if we asserted the peculia-
CHAPTER VI. 145
rity to be mental, it must be communicated from
the almighty Fountain of goodness, who gives to
man a reasonable soul, and who thus becomes
the author of all the natural obliquities and
perversions of spiritual manifestation; — a conse-
quence too blasphemous to be tolerated.
On the other hand, we believe every gift of
God to be good, and the soul of man, as ema-
nating from him, to be pure and holy ; — it be-
comes prone to evil by its alliance with mate-
riality— with that fallen nature upon which the
influence of sin has been soprominently impress-
ed ; — and then its manifestations assume the
tinge of the material medium appointed for their
expression ; and individual peculiarity is ac-
counted for upon the same principle with the
distinctive attributes of other animals. The
only difference is this, that man has within him
a spiritual presiding principle, and that all his
animal propensities are subjected to its influ-
ence ; and therefore he is responsible for every
act, and thought, and feeling, and expression. —
Originally he had power to choose the good, and
refuse the evil ; and although now he has lost
that power in his own strength, and sin reigns
in his mortal body, and his mental manifesta-
tions are debased, — yet a remedy has been pro-
vided in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and in
L
146 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
the promised aid of the Holy Spirit. Now all
these varied influences — animal peculiarity, dif-
ference of social relation, education, opportu-
nity, custom and habit, advantages of religious
instruction, the abandonment or the reception of
moral sanctions, the acceptance or the rejec-
tion of the proffered offers of mercy, and the
degree in which the heart is under the guidance
of religious motive and principle — will sufficient-
ly explain the diversities of present character.
But if so, these diversities have been shown
to consist not in variety of spiritual essence, but
of the material medium through which its manifes-
tations are made ; — and this again explains the
infinite variety of its morbid actions.
CHAPTER VII.
Phenomena of sleep, and its morbid states ; — its physiologi-
cal laws ; — its morbid conditions ; — waking dreams or re-
veries ; — nightmare ; — dreams.
The next stage of our inquiry, in proceeding
from the more simple to the more complicated
results, will be to glance a little at the physio-
logical phenomena of sleep ; but more particu-
larly to consider its morbid states.
It would be right, were it possible, to define, in
the first instance, in what consists simple, na-
tural, healthy sleep, before we proceed to de-
scribe its pathological conditions, in order that
the exact amount of the latter might be esti-
mated by contrasting them with the former :
but here, again, we find a limit placed to our
investigation ; for it is an inexplicable boon pro-
vided for the weary and the wayworn by the be-
neficent Creator, and so essentially interwoven
L 2
148 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
with the constitution, as to be inseparable from
its well-being, and to form a vital action, the
precise nature of which is unknown. Its in-
fluence is a fundamental law impressed upon ani-
mal life ; and all bow to its agency ; but we
know not why. It is the offspring of life, and»
like its parent, is difficult, perhaps impossible,
to be defined ; and we must be contented with
the scanty information we can obtain of its na-
tural phenomena, and of the many deviations
from its healthy state. In fact, it is far easier
to say what it is not, than to describe wherein
it consists.
It is, however, important to remark, that it
is not a state of absolute quiescence; for many
organs of the body will continue to act on dur-
ing sleep ; and, indeed, will be possessed of a
greater degree of activity than is customary,
precisely because the intellectual function is
less employed. Thus, all the processes on which
the continuance of life depends, go on uninter-
ruptedly : the beating of the heart, and the
heaving of the chest, are visible and tangible ;
the process of digestion is even more com-
pletely performed during sleep, than in the
waking state, because more nervous energy can
be then accumulated about the stomach than
can be spared for the individual wants of this
CHAPTER VII. 149
organ at a period when it is distributed among
a variety of active functions. But let it be asked,
whence is this continued supply of nervous ener-
gy derived ? If from the brain, it surely must be
one of those organs which does not enter
into complete repose during sleep; and, ad-
mitting this, we shall be prepared to account
for many of the disturbed phenomena of that
process.
The brain continues its unwearied action dur-
ing sleep ; but many of its intellectual manifes-
tations are laid aside, or are so obscured by this
state as not to be cognizable. It should seem
that as an intellectual organ it was more liable
to exhaustion, than as a merely corporeal agent;
and that, therefore, sleep had been provided
more particularly for the repose of the intellec-
tual brain ; and this opinion is supported by
the fact, that fatigue is induced much earlier
when bodily exertion is accompanied by mental
effort or emotion ; more especially if that emo-
tion be of a depressing character. A conse-
quence of this law is, that in sleep the brain
ceases to be the servant of the mind, or spi-
ritual principle, and is no longer obedient to
the will. For, as wakefulness may be defined
to be a state of the brain in which the exercise
of its functions is submitted to the will, with a
150 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
consciousness of such submission ; so sleep is
the opposite state, during which there is a sus-
pension of all possible intellectual action ; and
the entire brainular function is no longer under
the influence of the will, nor in any way sub-
jected to its control.
Thus, sleep is provided for the restoration of
the nervous system; and in its most healthy
form is of a light character, and easily dis-
turbed ; the brain, immediately upon awaken-
ing, entering upon the full tide of its functions.
The reason is obvious, and shows the infinite
wisdom of that Creative Power which has sur-
rounded us with wonders. During sleep, man
is in a defenceless state ; and if it were not
easily disturbed, he would not be aware of the
approach of danger ; nor in an instant capable
of taking the necessary precautionary measures
of escape or defence. This is easily seen by
watching the heavy slumber of an oppressed
brain, and the sudden wakening, not to the
energy of action, but to dulness and stupidity
of perception, and to generally feeble or per-
verted manifestations. The repose of the brain
is often incomplete ; and then, though the organ
be wholly or partially abstracted from the in-
fluence of the will, it nevertheless continues a
certain kind of action, without the guidance and
CHAPTER VII.
15t
direction of the judgment : unrefreshing sleep is
the result, and its subject rises in the morning
wearied, with enfeebled powers of the body,
and with greatly diminished capacity for the
manifestations of mind.
The arrival of sleep may be evaded for a con-
siderable time, by various stimuli ; but after a
certain interval, longer or shorter according to
the idiosyncracy of the individual, nature claims
her prerogative : her voice will be heard; and
the invasion of sleep becomes irresistible. But
when it takes place under such circumstances,
it is generally oppressive, and does not recruit
exhausted power, since the brain has been irri-
tated by previous excitants ; and when itself,
or any of the organs with which it stands con-
nected, are in a state of irritation, quiet sleep
is not to be expected.
As the invasion of sleep may thus be warded
off for a considerable time by the agency of
various stimuli, so a state of morbid vigilance may
be produced by certain conditions of the brain,
and by various other exciting causes. Thus,
acute irritation of the brain, even when attended
by power on the part of the constitution will pro-
duce it. Opium exhibited for this purpose will
occasion it. In the opposite state of the system,
in which excitation is produced without power
152 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
to support it, the degree of nervous irritability
will be such as to render sleep impossible, till
calm has been obtained ; and the same effects
will originate from the agency of green-tea, cof-
fee, and other stimulants. Now it is quite im-
possible that these causes, to which many others
might be added, can all agree in the possession
of one common property , by which wakefulness is
produced ; or that the vigilance so created can
admit of a similar treatment.
But if not, the brain may be variously irri-
tated by various disturbing causes : and these
causes may operate effects upon its physio-
logical function with which we are at present
unacquainted ; because we know not the man-
ner in which the connexion between the brain
and its distant associated organs is carried on,
and therefore we cannot ascertain the mode in
which it is disturbed, while this very mode con-
stitutes the essential character of morbid vigi-
lance. It is sufficient for us to ascertain that
the brain is excited by various, and even oppo-
site causes ; and that these causes produce ef-
fects varying in kind, and differing in degree,
though they are all uniform in disturbing the
manifestations of mind.
, We must attend more particularly to some of
the morbid states of sleep : and, first, o{ waking
CHAPTER VIT. 1 153
dreams, or reveries. To many persons there is
something so pleasing in the semi-unconscious-
ness which this state involves, that they indulge
it, for the sake of enjoying the gratification it
affords.
Reverie consists in dissociating the mind
from such external circumstances as would tend
to fix and controul its operations ; and thus
creating for itself images of interest, and group-
ing them together so as to produce various
emotions; and in imagining situations for ac-
tion or passion often impossible, and generally
monstrous or improbable. Here there are no
impediments in the way ; for every difficulty is
subdued by the powerful agency of a lawless
imagination. In this state the patient is often
unconscious of all that passes around him : he
is called absent — that is, he does not attend
to external realities, because such attention
would break the charm of reverie by which he
remains spell-bound — yet without the slightest
consciousness of being so.
Now, let it be remarked, that here is con-
tinued action of the brain, without the support
of volition or the influence of judgment; and
that in this state, unreal images are presented
to the mind with all the semblance of truth
and reality. The brain, then, when left to it-
154 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
self, in consequence of the disorder which is
thrown into its actions, is capable of producing
images, imagining situations, and inventing
consequences, without reason or truth. And,
if so, it may surely be granted — at least it may
be asked without presumption — that some other
analogous but unknown action might be the re-
sult ; and this unknown action may be the
creation of spectral forms.
aiThis opinion is confirmed by the phenomena
of nightmare. This mighty enemy to peaceful
repose generally depends upon the state of the
brain, either primarily or secondarily. In the
first place, it is most frequent, and most
complete in cerebral affections ; and espe-
cially in ,that peculiar condition of the brain
which has arisen from intellectual over-action ;
in which a large quantity of blood has been
determined to that viscus, and in which the
balance of power, having been overturned by
some occasional cause, the organ has become
exhausted, and has been rendered irritable as a
consequence of such excitement and exhaustion.
Moreover, the phenomena of nightmare are
purely cerebral, and always disappear upon
perfect waking : for the distress of the patient
is occasioned by being placed in some imaginary
situation of terror or danger, and by his incapa-
CHAPTER VII. 156
city to escape ; so that, in a severe paroxysm,
he awakens, after a violent struggle, trembling,
agitated, with palpitation of the heart, and in
violent perspiration — all these symptoms point-
ing out the really intense agony which he has
suffered from this visionary impression, pro-
duced by a physical condition of the organ of
mind. They who have attended to this form
of malady in themselves, will have observed,
that the attack is very generally preceded by
an unwonted drowsiness, showing that the
brain is oppressed ; and, indeed, the occur-
rence of sleep, and the invasion of the symp-
toms of nightmare, often happen so very rapidly
after going to bed, that the patient fancies it
has occurred before he could possibly have
fallen asleep ; as, in fact, it does before he
would have been asleep under ordinary circum-
stances. But this never really happens; the
patient must be asleep, or he does not suffer
from nightmare. This is another proof of the
cerebral origin of this malady ; so that^ if it be
remotely depending upon the state of the sto-
mach— and we believe that it frequently may
be so — it is produced, not by the immediate
agency of that viscus, but by its nervous and
sympathetic connexion with the brain. And
again, if from any cause the latter organ shall
156 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
have been powerfully excited late at night, that
night will, in persons so predisposed, be almost
certainly characterized by nightmare ; so that,
after a time, the patient may unerringly cal-
culate upon the attack from his sensations be^
fore falling asleep.
Again : the intensity will be governed by the
more or less morbid state of the cerebral organ ;
it will be severe when that morbid condition is
considerable ; it will increase with the deepen-
ing shades of brainular malady; and it will
diminish exactly in proportion with the gradual
return to healthy action, and with the progress
of convalescence ; till the attack shall have be-
come slight, and the images with which it is
associated ludicrously embarrassing, instead of
being frightful ; and till a perfect restoration of
the organ also restores the patient to that
healthy state in which the ugly hag no longer
haunts his pillow.
Once more : the attack of nightmare is
most common to individuals who possess an
irritable brain. And, finally, the illusions which
attend it are complete : the patient verily be-
lieves in their actual existence ; and it is only
by the influence of the judgment, reason, and
experience, that he can be convinced of the
contrary truth. Now, these illusions involve
CHAPTER VII. 157
the appearance of different individuals ; their
speaking and acting, according to certain sup-
posed circumstances ; and the consequences of
such words and actions : all these being as-
suredly felt by the patient in no ordinary mea-
sure. I have been the more desirous of show-
ing that this state is an affection of the brain,
because of the natural inference, that in one
particular state of that organ images are pro-
duced with all the character of reality about
them — speaking, moving, thinking, and acting.
This illusion is so complete, that their existence
is never doubted for a moment ; and, therefore,
there is nothing unreasonable in the supposi-
tion, that other morbid states of the same organ
may give rise to varying, though analogous, phe-
nomena.
We shall now proceed a step further, to the
history and mystery of dreams.
Before, however, entering upon this subject
more particularly, we must just notice the great
activity of the brain during sleep. — It will be seen
also that this is not the increased activity of the
immaterial principle, when for the time disso-
ciated from the entire agency of its cumbrous
medium of manifestation ; because, if this were
the case, we should have to mention only per-
fect ideas, refined images, and correct notices, as
158 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
resulting from such disencumbered action ; in-
stead of the common result, imperfect ideas,
confused images, and incorrect impressions.
Thus, again, at the outset of our inquiry we
trace dreaming to a condition of the material
brain, not of the immaterial principle: and it
must be seen, that by so doing we vindicate the
honour of God, and that we do not derogate from
\i\s power, or wisdom, or goodness. For if dream-
ing be produced by a peculiar condition of the
organ of mind, that organ having been subjected
to the perverting agency which accompanied
man's lost and ruined state, the facts are ac-
counted for ; this is a result of the natural
punishment which attaches to sin, and is itself
a proof of its debasing influence, while it forms
a connecting link in the chain of the most per-
fect moral government of the world.
But if the strange, and fantastic, and hetero-
geneous groups of dreams do actually result
from the uninfluenced associations of the imma-
terial spirit ; and if these do actually require
to be corrected by the waking state — that
is, by the influence of the brain (the organ
appropriated for exhibiting the manifestations
of mind) upon them — two consequences will
result ; namely, That the immaterial spirit
possesses very limited powers of intelligence ;
CHAPTER VII. 159
and. That these require to be aided by its mate-
rial connexions ; — results which are falsified by
daily experience; and which, if allowed, would
leave us at once in the darkness of the night of
materialism.
The fact is, however, that the immaterial
spirit is not necessarily engaged in the pheno-
mena of dreaming : the brain is not its servant
during sleep, because by that very state it is
unfitted for intellectual operations ; and when
it does act, it is without the control of a pre-
siding mind ; and therefore the morbid state of
dreaming, instead of the physiological process of
coiTect thinking, is produced.
That the mode of association, and the habit
of brain ular action, are most rapid, may be
proved by the phenomenon of dreaming, when
we are awakened by a servant's customary
knock in the morning. Sometimes this regu-
larly-repeated sound will be received by the
appropriate organ of sense, and will be trans-
mitted to the brain ; where it will produce, or
at the least elicit, the customary automatic
answer, without conveying any impression to
the sentient principle ; so that there shall re-
main no consciousness of having been called at
all. At another time, when the sleep is less
160 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
perfect, the momentary knock at the door will
excite in the brain an action connected with a
long train of associated images : so that in the
second of time which elapses between the
impression of that sound, and the state of abso-
lute wakening, a long dream will be passed
through ; sometimes manifestly associated with
this atmospherical vibration, and at others not
so ; but uniformly marked by an inconceivable
rapidity in the succession of images or impres-
sions, which are dissipated as soon as perfect
consciousness returns. Dreams, therefore, may
be generally considered as resulting from some
uncontrolled or morbid action of the brain ; and
this action may be either primary, and attach-
ing immediately to that organ ; or secondary
and sympathetic, arising from the irritation of a
distant organ in communion with the brain.
This position is confirmed by the dreams of
animals. It will not be contended that their
dreams result from spiritual agency ; yet we
know that they do dream — as in the familiar
instance of dogs — and that they will perform in
consequence some of their peculiar functions,
as barking, and various other automatic ex-
pressions of joy or sorrow. It is also known,
that this disposition to disturbed sleep will be
CHAPTER VII. 161
promoted by any cause which has powerfully
excited their brain ; whether this may have
been exercise or disease.
We may trace in these circumstances the
rationale of our own dreams — namely, that they
arise from the brain's spontaneous action, when
under the influence of excitement or irritation,
either from its own peculiar morbid state, or
from that of some one of its associated organs.
"We shall also probably find, that the great
variety of dreams may be accounted for on the
principle of the kind of disturbance to which the
brain may be subjected from this primary or
secondary irritation : and it is further manifest,
that in the latter case the kind and degree of
excitement may vary, not only according to the
organ which forms the first source of irri-
tation, but also according to the nature and
extent of its morbid actions, and to their
special affinities with the nervous system ;
thus forming a groundwork capable of constant
change, and of almost infinite variety.
M
CHAPTER VIII.
The same subject continued. — Definition of dreams; — no
dreams in natural sleep ; — dreaming independent of the
intellectual faculties; — proximate cause of dreaming; —
exciting causes ; — imperfect sleep ; — irritation of the brain ;
— dreams of disease ; — their endless variety, and organic
classification. — Dreams of insanity. — Distinction of dreams
arising from primary or secondary irritation of the brain ;
— recollected impressions ; — accidental associations.
Dreams may be defined to be trains of ideas
and images confusedly heaped together during
sleep, and resulting from irritation of the brain ;
that irritation admitting of many modifications,
according to its peculiar condition — according
to the endless variations of the general health
— and according to the nature of any uneasi-
ness, excess, or defect, in any one organ of the
body, arising to such a height, or continuing so
long, as to produce sympathetic disturbance of
the nervous system.
CHAPTER VIII. 163
It is to be remarked that there are no dreams
in natural sleep — that is, in sound and quiet
sleep — the body being healthy, and the mind at
ease ; but if the brain shall have been irritated
by deep mental emotion, intense or protracted
study, the commencement of impending fever,
or the existence of any morbid action in the
system, then dreams will be produced ; will be
generally traced to some disordered function ;
and will often appear among the first phenomena
of disease.
Now it is to be recollected, that in sleep the
intellectual faculties are suspended, so far as
regards the manifestation of their action ; and
therefore they do not enter into the component
phenomena of dreaming. For, however some
dreams may appear to be almost rational and
consecutive, it will be always found that they
want at least one link to constitute them perfect
mental operations ; there is a something wrong
— a want of cohesion in the causes and conse-
quences ; an absence of truth, which (however
vraisemblable they may occasionally seem) des-
troys their title to credence, and stamps them
with the character of deviation from correct
thinking. Thus, there is no accurate percep-
tion of the bearing of associated circumstances ;
m2
164 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
there is no attention to first principles ; there is
no proper memory — for, however the repro-
duction of formerly associated images may
seem to resemble memory, it will be found that
it is always the automatic calling up of impres-
sions which have been previously made upon
the sensorial organ: — there is no intellectual
association ; there is no judgment, which pre-
supposes comparison, and a regular adjustment
of the claims of imagination : in fine, there is
no exercise of the will ; a proof of which is to
be found in the great difficulty with which the
patient arises from the uneasy slumber of night-
mare.
However, therefore, the intellectual faculties
may seem to be occasionally associated with
dreams, it will always be found that this sem-
blance of action is only the automatic production
of the brain, from impressions which have been
previously made upon it, as the organ of mental
manifestation; consequently, that the apparently
intellectual trains are merely oi^ganic associations.
And it is well that they are so : for, on the
contrary supposition, we should have great rea-
son to blush for them ; and there would be at
least one spot, and that the brightest in the uni-
verse, where we should fajl to trace the footsteps
CHAPTER viir. 165
of that Almighty Architect, who has created all
things in wisdom.
It may be said, that these dreams are the
result of sin, which, having entered into the
world, pervades its remotest boundary, and
more especially the heart of man, and all its
thoughts and actions ; and that dreams are
sleeping thoughts characterized by this fatal
influence. And this is true, but not in the
sense of the objector. For, as it has been
shown that the intellectual faculties are not
directly implicated in dreaming, and as there is
no exercise of the will, there can be no respon-
sibility ; consequently no infraction of the Di-
vine law. But the organ of the mind has suf-
fered, in common with the whole man, from the
perverting influence of the fall ; its manifest-
ations have become disordered, and dreaming
is one of its diseases. Hence, though man is
not responsible for his dreams, he is awfully so
for any course of conduct, any trains of thought,
any indulgence of unhallowed passion, which
may aff'ord painful, though automatic associa-
tions, for an irritated brain to revive.
Still further : during sleep the senses are not
capable of receiving their customary impres-
sions, or of exerting their regular influence in
controlling the wanderings of the intellectual
166 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
faculties ; but if sleep be disturbed, from any
cause, then impressions made upon the senses
will produce that irritation of their nerves
which, when propagated to the brain, will
form the basis of a dream, or of a succession
of dreams; in which may be produced, accord-
ing to circumstances of varied irritation, and not
according to any principle of choice or selection, a
multitude of ideas, thoughts, opinions, habits,
and associations, which have been acquired by
individual intelligence, or which have been
wrought out of knowledge so obtained by the
agency of the spiritual principle, and which
during such process exerted a certain influence
upon the intellectual organ.
This influence may be re-excited by organic
impressions, and may give the semblance of
the immaterial mind being engaged in the pur-
suit. But it will be found that these trains
may be called up to an extent, and with a
degree of association, which it is impossible to
restrain within defined limits : they are often
incomplete ; they may be grotesquely grouped;
they may be true or false ; they may be utterly
incoherent ; they are generally extravagant,
and exceed all the ordinary bounds of cre-
dibility. If, then, these manifestations were
referred to a continued action of the immaterial
CHAPTER VIII. 167
spirit, independently of external impressions,
It will follow that the soul, when unassisted by these
external material assistances, thought most in-
correctly — that is, that its actions were more
pure and perfect now, when confined within
its material tenement, than when disencumber-
ed of mortality — which is an absurd result.
But, on the contrary, when the process of
dreaming is referred to a continued action of
the brain, having, during sleep, escaped the
control of the immaterial principle, all is har-
mony and beauty, and the Creator's laws stand
vindicated from the charge of unreasonableness.
Again : the impression of uneasiness, re-
ceived by the sensorial organ during the day,
will often form the germ of a dream during the
night ; and many bodily uneasinesses will arise
during that period, which will produce a simi-
lar effect : these impressions cannot be es-
timated, or compared, or referred to their true
cause, because reason and judgment being
suspended, erroneous perceptions are occasion-
ed ; and these may possibly produce consecu-
tive trains of association. These associations
are generally of the wildest character ; and
thus afford another proof that organic irritation,
7iot mental operation, is the proximate cause of
dreamins:.
168 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
A great variety of circumstances will operate
as ea^citing causes of dreaming : an uneasy po-
sition, and the automatic act of turning to re-
lieve it ; the sensation of cold, and the associ-
ated action of covering ourselves with bed-
clothes ; or of heat, with the consequent effort
to dismiss all our coverings ; the influence of
habit — as in the act of instinctively answering
to a knock at our door in the morning ; passing
through a long dream produced by this impres-
sion, and then continuing to sleep on, still pur-
suing during that sleep the associated trains
which had been awakened by the first sensorial
impressions, and had been then thrown to-
gether in the most dire and unextricable con-
fusion.
Moreover, the influence of opium, or hyoscia-
raus, belladonna, or aconite, or any other simi-
lar narcotic; much previous fatigue ; continued
mental emotion of whatever character ; long-
sustained study ; general febrile indisposition ;
congestion of the brain ; any point of local irri-
tation^ according to the intimacy of its union,
or nearness of connexion with the brain; and
many other causes, might be mentioned.
Yet it will be seen, that all these causes
agree in one particular mode of action — name-
ly, that of producing a peculiar excitement in
CHAPTER VIII. 169
the cerebral organ, which forms the point of
disturbance to the nervous system. And it
will be further seen, that this peculiar disturb-
ance is not always of one kind, nor the same
in degree, but that it varies with circumstances;
and that, therefore, differing results may be
expected ; not only as the brain may be stimu-
lated many degrees more or less than the
standard of health ; but as such mode of
stimulation may be possessed of a particular
character, which will communicate its tinge
to the consequent images.
In approaching and imperfect sleep, when
any one of these irritants exists, it is very usual
for unreal images to present themselves to
notice : figures exhibiting the most grotesque
and even horrible grimaces; and forms the
most undefined, or possessing the nearest pos-
sible resemblance to some living person, or to
those long since gone ; as well as fugitive con-
figurations of diff'erent associated objects, arise,
fade, and pass away ; leaving behind them, on
some favourably constituted brains, an impres-
sion so vivid, that it bears the semblance of
truth, and the mind cannot be persuaded to the
contrary ; nay, so strong is this belief, that
any effort to undermine its foundation would
produce a recoil in favour of what is most
170 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
assuredly believed to be true. Thus, then, it
will be seen, that any impression made upon
the sensorial organ, which is insufficient to
interrupt the process of sleep, may occasion
dreaming.
This state is further elucidated by the con-
dition of the mildly insane. A little consider-
ation will show that the perfect integrity of
the brain is necessary to the manifestation of
thought ; so, consequently, wherever there ex-
ists any alteration of brainular function, the
slightest increased disorder will produce amaz-
ing changes in the intelligence of such a pa-
tient ; who, while he preserves the exercise of
his senses, and even of some of his intellectual
faculties, will nevertheless reason most incor-
rectly upon all, or upon some, or only one sub-
ject, and will associate the most monstrous
and incoherent images. Here, then, is a proof
of the influence exerted over the mental mani-
festations by slight irritation of the organ ;
much more is this influence exerted during
sleep.
But, again, a very frequent cause of dream-
ing is a more extensive irritation of the brain,
experienced by this organ, either primarily,
during the approach or development of its own
diseases ; or consecutively, on the invasion of
CHAPTER VIII. 171
disorder of other organs with which it is as-
sociated, and even varied according to the
particular relation of these organs and their
functions : so that dreams will derive their
character from whatever disturbance may hap-
pen to form the first link in the chain of mor-
bid sympathy or association, or from whatever
organ may, from its peculiar feebleness, become
the prominent object of attention in the pro-
gress of malady.
Further: the dreams of disease will also
present a great variety, according to the nature,
the duration, the period, the simplicity, or the
complication of the morbid action which pro-
duces them ; and according to the physical
temperament, habits, and idiosyncracies of the
individual. In this short sentence will be found
a sufficient explanation of the endless varieties
of dreaming. It has been supposed that dreams
may possess a peculiar character, from the ex-
istence of simple febrile action ; but it is more
philosophical, as well as more consonant with
truth, to believe that fever always has a local
origin, and that the peculiarities of febrile
dreams are to be sought for in the particular
organ which forms the cause of constitutional
irritation.
But the division adopted in this Essay, of
172 BSSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
dreams arising from a greater or less degree of
morbid disposition on the part of the brain
itself, or of its consecutive irritation from the
suffering of some other organ of the body, is
sufficient for the present purpose. The time
will probably arrive, when it will be possible to
classify dreams, and when, from being referred
to their organic cause, they will become symp-
toms which will greatly assist the diagnosis of
disease : but at present this is impossible ; our
knowledge is too limited, our observations too
few, to warrant any thing like generalization.
This, however, we do know, that there are some
forms of organic irritation so slight, that during
our waking hours, and from attention to other
things, they are not noticed ; yet they are suffi-
cient to disturb sleep, and to occasion dreaming.
Often, indeed, in the early stage of malady,
will this form the exclusive indication of dis-
ease ; and the intensity and aggravation of
dreams will mark the progress of such a dis-
turbed state, while their gradually increasing
mildness will equally proclaim the return of
convalescence.
Again : the relation subsisting between
dreams and their organic cause, will show that
certain apparent illusions, which occur during
the act of dreaming, were really true in their
CHAPTER VI n. 173
germ, although they may have ultimatelj' become
the exaggerated or sophisticated expression of
a real sensation.
Dreams will be sometimes characterized by
the state of the brain during the incubation of
disease, and before it has actually made its ma-
nifest attack — as in apoplexy, epilepsy, nervous
fever, typhus, &c. I have lately had an oppor-
tunity of witnessing, and of watching very nar-
rowly, the dreams of the latter state, and the
complete and perfect illusions to which they
give rise, as well as the firmness of belief with
which they are connected ; as perfect, certainly,
as that of any superstitious individual, whose
path has been crossed, or whose pillow has been
haunted by some supernatural appearance.
We must not omit to mention in this place
the dreams of insanity, which are sometimes
most extraordinary. Moreover, the peculiar
state of the brain, producing this morbid condi-
tion of its manifestations, may be suspended dur-
ing the day, and may be again renewed at night,
so soon as the organ of the mind has lost the
opportunity of verifying its impressions through
the medium of the senses. This state of insa-
nity may be transient ; it may be only momen-
tary ; and yet its delusion at that moment may
174 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
be so complete as to lead the patient to com-
mit the greatest crimes (if criminality could at-
tach to insanity), not only without remorse, but
even glorying in the illusion which has led
perhaps to a fatal catastrophe.
There is a manifest difference between dreams
which arise either from primary or secondary
irritation of the brain : and even in the former
case, between those which are the consequence
of irritation arising from venous congestion, or
from an increased supply of arterial blood. In
the case of secondary irritation, it is probable
that a modification of brainular action will oc-
cur (we might have said, it actually does hap-
pen) in exact correspondence with that of the
organ which forms the primary source of irrita-
tion, and with its peculiar mode of morbid ac-
tion ; so that the process of dreaming will be
characterized by this extensive variety of ner-
vous impression — an impression still further
modified by the peculiarities of its messengers ;
that is, of the nerves which convey these notices
to the brain.
When primary irritation of this viscus is the
cause of this diseased manifestation, if there be
too great arterial action, sleep will be light,
easily disturbed, and approaching more nearly to
CHAPTER VIII. 175
the waking state ; the patient is highly nervous ;
in a most sensitive and susceptible state ; every
impression is felt with an undue impulse; and
hurried action, increased intensity of feeling,
great rapidity in the succession of ideas and
emotions, the sanguine vivacity of hope and
cheerful expectation, and the great ease with
which every difficulty is surmounted, will form
the essential character of the dreams : because
the brain is unduly excited ; it receives a larger
supply of its natural stimulus than it ought to
do, or than it knows how to dispose of : and
then, when sleep invades the patient, his brain
is set at liberty from physical and moral re-
straint ; and it operates largely, without effort
or design, but chiefly through ideas and impres-
sions already associated, and yet connected in
a manner so extraordinary, that we cannot even
trace their cohesion or affinity.
In the opposite state, where congestion forms
the chief symptom of brainular malady, sleep
is profound, even heavy and oppressed. In this
condition dreaming may occur, without produc-
ing a consciousness of such action ; or, if the
congested state be only slight, and the pro-
foundness of sleep not unnatural, the associated
images will have the semblance of great truth
about them. There will be a character of
176 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
reality attaching to dreams under these circum-
stances, which may leave an impression upon
the waking hours not easily dissipated ; and the
associated impressions and emotions will ob-
tain an equal freedom and extent of operation,
and yet will seem to possess a greater degree of
cohesion, or, at least, will exhibit a family re-
semblance.
These states may vary in a very short period,
from change of posture, and various other cir-
cumstances ; they may distinctly alternate ; or
they may run into each other, so as to lose
their defined outline : and these changes may
happen during the course of one dream ; an
event which, connected with the different de-
grees of profundity of sleep, will go far to ac-
count for the greater or less obvious attribute of
rationality which occasionally seems to attend
upon one dream ; and also for the frequent in-
terruption of the first action of a dream by ano-
ther associated impression, which interferes
with the harmony of the former action, and
brings disorder and confusion into the whole
process. Let it be remembered, that truth does
occasionally attend these perceptions ; but this
is not often to be expected, and ought never to
be calculated for, much less to be relied upon.
Further : it must be evident how much the
CHAPTER VIII. 177
morbid state of brainular action, which may be
considered as accidental, must be influenced by
the original conformation of the brain, and by
various circumstances, both physical and moral,
which have contributed to develop or to retard
its manifestations ; by habitual susceptibility
to impression ; by the amount of its literary
labours ; by the degree and kind of intelligence
for which the individual is remarkable ; by the
effects of the light and shade of his intellec-
tual and moral acquisitions ; by the period of
life, and situation in society ; by the sex, and
the associated plans of suitable intellectual and
literary pursuit; by the frivolities of fashion
and folly, or the varied plans of usefulness ; by
the prominent modes of thought, and action,
and passion ; by the influence of physical tem-
perament ; by the kind of life which has been
previously led, or which is now resolved to be
led ; and by a host of apparently accidental cir-
cumstances in the manner of living, and think-
ing, and expression.
Now it will be seen that all these circum-
stances operate a certain eff'ect upon the organ
through which the mental manifestations occur;
and it is this effect which afterwards commu-
nicates its character to the dreaming state.
And again, the slightest deviation from health
N
178 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
may so modify the disposition of the cerebral
organ, as to change its mental manifestations ;
and this real or apparent difference will be fol-
lowed by a corresponding real or apparent dif-
ference in the intellectual aptitudes and moral
feeling of the individual ; and this again may
disturb the sleep, occasion dreaming, and cha-
racterize its images.
This effect of indisposition upon the mental
manifestations we often experience when awake ;
and inaptitude for intellectual exertion, a want
of interest in spiritual objects and pursuits, and
irritability of temper, form portions of that trial
which awaits us here below, and exercises our
industry, our dependance upon Almighty aid,
our faith and hope and confidence, our strug-
gling against that which is evil, and our deter-
mination, in the strength of the Lord our God,
to be victorious over that imperfection and
frailty which cling to our fallen nature, and
which we are constantly called upon to oppose
with effort, with watchfulness, with prayer,
with the shield of faith, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God. But during
sleep we are unable to oppose the influence of
body upon mind, because the combination of
ideas is involuntary, and becomes, in its turn, a
stimulus to the brain to enter into new associa-
CHAPTieR VJH. 171)
tions, and to give a great variety of cliaracler
to the dreams.
Dreams which are depending for their origin
upon these states, will probably be characterized
by moral or intellectual agency, unless the brain
shall have been so far disturbed by its early im-
pressions as to lose the distinctive character of
the first, in the subsequently associated organic
actions ; and this will depend very much upon
the state of the bodily system at the time. In
all these instances, however, we find, that, in
order to the production of dreaming, brainular
action must be dissociated from the will ; and
then, being submitted to its own agency, or to
the impulse it has received from organic causes,
these phenomena occur.
One other source of dreaming will be found
in the recollected impressions of the preced-
ing day, or of some antecedent period. It will
often happen, that the dream may be traced to
some thought or action which has occupied the
attention during the day, and which will be re-
produced at night in dreams, grotesquely asso-
ciated with other persons and things ; and, if
the sleep be light, with an air of vraisemblance
which makes the patient really doubt if it be a
dream or a truth. The last impression of the
evening will often be revived and carried on ;
N 2
180 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
and at other times a long-lost emotion will be
recalled by an action which we cannot compre-
hend, but which depends upon some law of na-
ture, by which impressions once made upon the
brain may ever afterwards be revived by its own
agency, spontaneously, and without any kind of
effort. Yet here, again, brainular impression
must precede.
Lastly ; accidental association will characterize
the dreams : such, for instance, are dreams of
hunger and thirst. " It shall be even as when
a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth;
but he awaketh, and his soul is empty : or as
when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he
drinketh ; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is
faint, and his soul hath appetite."
CHAPTER IX.
The same subject continued. — Somnambulism. — Second
sight. — Animal magnetism. — Influence of imagination, and
of superstitious credence. — Is there any truth in popular
superstitions ?
In continuing the history of dreams, and other
analogous brainular manifestations, we may
not omit some notice of the phenomena of
somnambulism.
The common form of somnambulism, must be
considered as a kind of dream, happening
during profound sleep, in which some actions,
intimately associated in the waking state, and
rendered easy, and almost automatic, by long
continued habit, are reproduced in sleep with-
out apparejit volition ; and these actions corres-
pond with the ideas, feelings, and emotions,
the succession and combination of which, form
the intellectual and mental fabric of the dream.
182 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Possibly the alleged faculty of second sight,
so far as it is not a mere jugglery of the de-
signing, may be referred to a species of som-
nambulism, in which the mental manifestations
confer with themselves, and produce a pros-
pective result, which has been termed second
sight. If this mental manifestation be not
referred to a cerebral on^n, there is no alterna-
tive but that of either denying its existence
altogether, or investing it with the attributes of
prophecy, and admitting it as the result of
inspiration; — this inspiration being either a
spiritual communication from the most high
God, or a suggestion of the evil one. All these
alternatives are unsatisfactory. To deny its
existence altogether, seems impossible; to
place it on a level with Revelation, derogates
from the high and holy character of prophecy ;
and to ascribe it to Satanic agency, is to allow
Satan a greater sway over the government
of the universe than is consistent with our
views of the power, and knowledge, and good-
ness, of the omnipotent Jehovah.
But if we consider it as an affair of the brain,
occurring principally in advanced life, and
when that organ is manifestly suffering under
excited action ; and, what is very important to
he remembered, both the seer and his auditors
CHAPTER IX. 183
fully believing from their infancy the occurrence
of such manifestations, and prepared implicitly
to receive them ; we are enabled to class it at
once with other phenomena which result from
analogous stages of excitement, when the brain
has escaped from the influence of the will and
the judgment, and continues its morbid func-
tion without guidance or direction.
The common examples of cunning men and
women, the practice of fortune-telling, and the
science of astrology and divination, must be re-
ferred to the class of impostures ; and, as such,
are scarcely entitled to consideration among
the legitimate offspring of superstition. And
5'^et their influence upon many minds is exten-
sive, and even frightful : and the best antidote
is to be found in the principle of quiet confi-
dence in that superintending Providence, with-
out whose knowledge not even a sparrow falls
to the ground, by whom even the hairs of our
head are all numbered, and in whose hands are
the hearts of all men. True, there is much evil
in the world, much apparent wrong, much
injustice, oppression, and misery, which, to
short-sighted mortality, appear inconsistent
with this universal prevalence of goodness and
justice. But shall man be more just than his
Maker ? God is not the author of any evil :
184 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
man is a free agent, and, as such, in following
the dictates of his corrupt nature, is often per-
mitted (not employed) to bring about the wise
and good designs of the Almighty ; but these
attributes of wisdom and goodness are not
determined, by what isolated and purblind mor-
tality can see, but by that omniscient eye
which takes in creation at a glance, and em-
braces eternity in the view of an instant.
To return : There are on record some extra-
ordinary relations of the endless wonders of
somnambulism : during which state have oc-
curred certain mental actions, which it is diffi-
cult to disbelieve, and not easy to account for,
unless by referring them to a peculiar excite-
ment of the brain, under the influence of some
powerful intellectual stimulus ; or to a morbid
agency, under the impression of its own dis-
eases ; or to the sympathetic disturbance of
some other suffering organ.
There are many different degrees of som-
nambulism : as, for instance, the case of those
who simply talk in their sleep ; of those who
move and walk, but do not talk; of those who
both walk and talk ; and of those who speak,
move, and likewise experience some sensations,
and even recollected impressions, of various
kinds ; who are also sensible to alternations of
CHAPTER IX. 185
temperature, and to other circumstances con-
nected with their general state.
Now these several conditions possess a well-
defined analogy with instinctive action : the
operations of the somnambulist are performed
without the concurrence of the will, and by the
sole influence of their association with a certain
train of ideas and images, to which, by long
habit, they have been inseparably connected.
But habit is a cerebral impression, and therefore
a peculiar state of the brain will account for
these phenomena.
The only known fact which would *ee7W to mili-
tate against this conclusion, is the history of a
German student, who rose in the night, during
profound sleep, seated himself at his desk,
began composing, and, having written a word
which he did not approve, blotted it out, and
substituted another which was more appro-
priate. Now if this narration be true, and it
appears to rest on a sufficiently authentic founda-
tion, it must be confessed to be one of the most
extraordinary instances of somnambulism, and
to involve the semblance of an exercise of the
judgment, and of the will, grounded upon its
decision. But when it is recollected, that,
according to the history, the eye was during all
this time perfectly closed, it is clear that one
186 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
essential part of the process is wanting : it is
impossible that the writer could have seen the
term so altered, and therefore there could not
have been an exercise of the perfect will; while,
on the contrary, long familiarity with the sub-
ject on which he was engaged in writing, and
on which, probably, his last waking thoughts
had been employed ; and the automatic conti-
nuance of the same brainular action, after the
influence of the will had been suspended by
sleep, will still bring us to that physical influ-
ence of habit, to which we have just before
referred the more common actions of somnam-
bulism. I may add two instances which have
occurred within my own observation ; in the
former of which, an individual arose from his
bed, and hunted over a large box of papers,
apparently in quest of a particular document,
but, not finding it, replaced the other deeds,
and returned to bed : and of another, who,
having forgotten his usual duty of winding up
the clock on Saturday night, rose from his bed
during sleep, went down stairs, peformed the
customary duty, and returned. Habit alone and
habitual association can account for these cir-
cumstances.
But we must notice a little, in this place,
the phenomena of animal magnetism; a state
CHAPTER JX. 187
nearly allied to somnambulism, and very im-
portant in the present inquiry. No question,
perhaps, of late years, has been met with more
positive and obstinate opposition on the one
hand, or with a greater degree of enthusiastic
admiration on the other; unanimously rejected
by the former, and revived with as full a belief
in all its consequences by the latter. Yet it
would seem impossible to deny the facts which
are alleged, and equally impossible to account
for them, except by granting them a physical
origin.
But the effects produced are similar to those for
which a spiritual and supernatural agency has
been asked; and if it be granted in the one in-
stance, it cannot be withheld in the other. In
the phenomena of animal magnetism, as they
are capable of being produced by the concur-
rence of the magnetizer and magnetized, there
happens an opportunity of witnessing the
operation ; and sine e this can be referred en-
tirely to physical circumstances, there is no-
thing unreasonable in claiming a similar organ
for other analogous phenomena.
It is then to be remarked, that the magnetic
paroxysm is most easily produced upon a brain
which is in an irritable and excited state ; that
the concurrence of the two individuals (the
188 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
agent and recipient of magnetic influence) in
the same object, and the full determination of
their will towards its accomplishment, appear
to be necessary to success; and, moreover,
that, for the most part, certain actions of the
hands seem to be necessary, or at least useful
in making a deep impression upon the nervous
system. Besides, the phenomena which pre-
cede the magnetic orgasm are all indicative of
a highly excited and disturbed action of the
brain ; and it is only after the continuance and
increase of these symptoms for some time, that
the fully-formed magnetic somnambulism is
produced.
It may not be easy to find a method of ex-
dlaining all the phenomena of this state; but
admitting their existence, it is manifest that
they are purely physical, resulting from the opera-
tion of brain upon brain^ when placed within
the sphere of a certain relation to each other :
phenomena, for example, somewhat analogous
to the development of electricity by the friction
of a stick of sealing wax ; or of the galvanic
aura, by the union of two metallic bodies under
given circumstances. The precise mode of ex-
plaining this state is not at all necessary to my
purpose : it is sufficient, if the phenomena may
be fairly traced to a purely cerebral origin ; to
CHAPTER IX. 189
a physical, not a spiritual agency: and if the
result be such a disorder in the mental mani-
festations as shall terminate in the creation of
unreal forms and images, and in the exhibition
of unwonted power on the part of some of the
intellectual faculties.
It is not pretended that a powerful impres-
sion upon the mind will not greatly aid the
effect ; because this latter agent produces that
physical susceptibility of the brain, which we
have supposed to be almost a necessary con-
dition of successful magnetic operation ; but
which cannot be obtained, without the inter-
vention of the material organ. Only let it be
remembered, that during this state, there ap-
pears, on the part of the magnetized, an alleged
power of predicting certain events ; a certain
impression of futurity, very analogous to the pre-
sentiments of our neighbours — the ** coming
events" which "cast their shadows before,**
of the Highland seer ; so that probably both
states may depend upon some similar condition
of the brainular system.
We may not altogether omit some specific
notice of the influence of imagination, in oc-
casioning a state of the brain favourable for
the production of such mental manifestations.
Its agency has been already pointed out in the
190 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
hypochondriac ; and it is no less cognizable in
the hysterical state, as well as in other dis-
orders of the function of the brain. In this
latter case, the patient is abstracted from the
influence of reason and judgment ; his fancy
becomes omnipotent, and the deepening gloom
of melancholy is very commonly thrown over
all the prospects of futurity, attended by all
the undefined creations of fear.
Not many months since, I visited a patient
of this class. I found her one day in a state
of unusual agitation, and I inquired the cause :
she told me, that as she had been sitting in
her chair, she had seen a snake coiled under
her feet: she had screamed aloud upon this
discovery, and the agitation which I witnessed
was the result ; for although, as it is perhaps
needless to say, her attendants were unable
to discover the alleged intruder, yet the im-
pression made upon her nervous system was
so great, that she had been unable to recover
herself from a shock, produced not only with-
out any real object of fear, but simply through
the medium of imagination, which conjured up
this creation, at a period of the year too when
snakes are not seen. But if disorders of the
bodily health will produce such a morbid ac-
tion of the brain, as that it should assuredly,
CHAPTER IX. 191
and upon the fullest conviction, discover a
snake where none existed, it surely is not too
much to require, that a similar physical in-
fluence may give rise to other unreal and su-
pernatural appearances ; and may produce that
state of brain in which it will see its own crea-
tions, and believe them to be real existences ;
that state, in fact, which shall develop the be-
lief in apparitions.
This article of popular creed (the belief in
spectres and ghosts), and its consequences, —
imaginary terror and superstitious agitation
before going to bed, — are of themselves a fre-
quent cause of dreaming ; for the susceptibility
of the brain to continue its evening action
during the night, and to take up its last waking
impression, and to revive it with adventitious
and fantastic circumstances of its own group-
ing, has been already demonstrated : added to
which, an irritable state of that organ has been
oftentimes induced by the excitement of listen-
ing to tales of this kind, — an excitement, too,
of rather an intense character, and accompanied,
in proportion to its intensity and continuance,
by that exhaustion which leaves behind it a
constantly decreasing power of supporting what
is in fact a " fever of the spirits," and there-
192 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
fore a greater susceptibility to morbid action
of every kind.
Again : — another of its laws, that of habit,
would be brought to bear powerfully upon this
point ; and by its influence, the brain would
be more liable to fall into analogous strains of
thought and feeling : and, moreover, this very
excitement and expenditure of energy, does
actually give rise to that commencement of
morbid action which constitutes the precise
state of peculiar adaptation to erroneous and
spectral impression, the existence of which has
been already assumed.
If any person question such a state of the
cerebral organ, only let him attend to a simple
physiological fact : let him commit to memory
imperfectly, a certain piece of poetry or prose
in the evening of to-day, and in the morning of
to-morrow its recollected impression will be far
more perfect than its first conception the night
before ; and this, not because the energy of
the brain has been accumulated, and its ca-
pacity for acquisition augmented by rest, and
that its faculties are freshened and invigorated:
it is an effect which precedes the exertion of
those faculties, and may be observed as the
first waking act, and is accomplished without
CHAPTER IX. 193
effort ; doubtless because the organ of mind
has been subjected to its organic physiological
laws of continued though involuntary action
during sleep; of accumulated sensibility, be-
cause this property is not strained off by the
outlet of the waking senses ; and of extended
habit, when freed from the shackles of social
perversion.
There is a species of dream, which consists
in alleged visions during trances or prolonged
slumbers ; but surely none can doubt the phy-
sical origin of this form of cerebral hallucina-
tion. It is a state very nearly allied to the
highest degree of somnambulism ; and, where
it has not been the offspring of imposture, or
self-delusion, it has arisen from a peculiar mor-
bid action of the brainular organ.
It has been sometimes thought that an al-
tered condition of the circulating fluids might
account for these phenomena ; but the expla-
nation is unnecessary, and unsatisfactory : and
surely, if we observe a disturbed manifestation
of mind, we ought to refer it to the manifesting
organ. Besides, the individuals who have been
the subjects of these visions, have been persons
of highly nervous temperament ; in whom sus-
ceptibility to impression predominated, — ge-
194 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
iierally females, and such too as were predis-
posed to hysterical affections.
Another important circumstance to be re-
marked in this place, is that these visions have
generally been characterized by the predomi-
nance of the particular temperament of each
individual ; that is, by the prevalence of the
essential attributes of his cerebral or nervous
system ; and have assumed a sanguine or a me-
lancholic character accordingly.
This effect is also frequently to be referred
to momentary insanity, and to the delusion by
which it is accompanied. So powerful is the
latter, that it remains even after the patient has
been restored to a sound employment of the in-
tellectual organ ; and he relates in simple and
sober earnestness, what he thinks he has said, or
seen, or done, during such temporary disorder
of the function of the brain, and most firmly
believes in its truth ; a sufficient proof, were
there no other, that a morbid condition of the
brain may give rise to unreal images, and that
their influence upon the manifestations of mind
may be very extensive.
In the present state of our knowledge, we
are not prepared to say wherein consists the
peculiar irritation of the brain which occa-
CHAPTER IX. 195
sions this state : it is one of the many truths of
which we cannot as yet fathom the rationale.
In fact, we are not at all acquainted with the
nature of the function of the brain ; that is, we
know not how it is performed ; and therefore we
cannot presume to be well informed of its de-
viations from healthful agency ; we can only
trace its effects, and reason back from these to
their cause.
Poor human nature ! what a lesson of hu-
mility is inculcated by the simple fact of its
ignorance, even of the first principles which
govern, or at least greatly influence its own
actions! What infinite wisdom and goodness
are displayed in the creation and preservation
of such a wonderful structure as the brain !
How are the malignity of sin, and the depth of
our fall from original perfection, shown by the
limited powers and frequent morbid actions of
that viscus ! And what infinite condescension
and grace are exhibited in the fact, that for this
poor, sinful, ignorant, and wandering creature,
man, Christ died, and, having become his ran-
som, has promised, if he will accept the offers
of his grace, to restore him to the image of God,
and to the full exercise of every power and
faculty, in realms of unfading joy.
To return from these digressive remarks, it is
o2
196 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
a fact, that, however ignorant we may be of
the nature of the brain's function, we know it
as extensively as we do that of any other func-
tion of the body ; as, for instance, the process
of secretion, of which, we only understand that
it takes place under the influence of the brain,
and that it is suspended when that influence is
withdrawn : but in what that influence consists,
how it is communicated, and in what way it ex-
cites the particular organ to its function, we
know not. Yet we are aware that the integrity
of this secretion is affected by every morbid
cause, disturbing the quiet calm of the secret-
ing organ, and that it is more or less vitiated
by every such disturbance. But if the simpler
actions of the brain, in ministering to the process of
secretion, be inte?Tupted by oiganic irintation ; may
not its more complete office, of manifesting the
powers and attainments of the mind, be likewise sub-
jected to similar laws!
Before we proceed farther, we might ask. Is
there any truth in popular superstitions; or
do they all rest on the basis of an enthusiastic
belief in the actual existence of spectral illu-
sions, which can only be accounted for satisfac-
torily by attributing to them a cerebral and
bodily origin ? It is urged, that these all rest
on the same foundation ; namely, human testi-
CHAPTER IX. 197
rnony ; and that he who ventures to doubt their
positive being, is met by a host of overwhelming
facts, in answer to his scepticism, — these facts
forming the evidence of so many persons of
assumed health of body, and integrity of brain-
ular manifestation. That we venture to doubt
this evidence, and to disbelieve this sanity of
body and mind, may be perhaps our misfor-
tune ; but it is our honest conviction, and, as
such, we are bound to maintain what we be-
lieve to be the truth.
If then, all these histories rest on the same
basis, and if it can be proved that any one of
them is false and absurd, it will form a very
strong presumption in favour of other similar
relations being equally false and absurd.
Take, for example, the history of the fairies ;
a little, busy people, whose good and evil of-
fices are as well authenticated by substantial
testimony as any similar stories. But where
is there now to be found an individual who be-
lieves in their existence? Doubt is thrown
upon the evidence in their favour : the value of
human testimony is shaken ; and as it is not to
be supposed that these histories have been en-
tirely fabricated by the designing, it will follow
that the parties have been self-deceived ; and, if
so, what is so likely to have occasioned such de-
198 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
lusion as a peculiar state of irritation of the
brain y giving rise to spectral appearances ? But
we have supposed this cause to exist, with
regard to other supernatural apparitions ; and
the supposition is strengthened by referring to
the acknowledged absurdity of one form of
popular superstition.
It may be objected that the evidence in fa-
vour of dreams and other manifestations is de-
rived from the same source as that on which
rests our belief in the truths of our holy reli-
gion. Now, that the Almighty Governor of the
universe can employ, or overrule, if he so will,
for the wisest purposes, any action of the sys-
tem, natural or supernatural, to accomplish his
merciful intentions, is most fully and explicitly
admitted ; and the evidence in proof that He
has done so, rests on the most unquestioned
foundation ; but then a particular purpose was
to be accomplished ; a part of the great designs
of love and mercy to fallen, sinful, helpless
man.
The answer to the objection is this : Direct
communications from on high appear to have
been limited to certain portions of the history
of the church ; and the testimony of the Sacred
Scriptures in favour of dreams, as containing a
revelation of the will of God, may be equally
CHAPTER IX. 199
alleged in support of miracles, and prophecies,
and special commissions from on high — nay
more, of the gifts of tongues, and of inspiration
itself. These several modes of spiritual inter-
course with the Almighty were formerly vouch-
safed ; but now we have the written word of
God for our guide, containing all things neces-
sary to salvation. The canon of Revelation is
so complete, that a woe is denounced against
those who would add to it; miracles are no
longer necessary to prove the divine power
and authority of Christ; the voice of prophecy,
the extraordinary communication of language,
and the gift of inspiration, have given way to
the ordinary operations of Divine grace ; to
the teaching of the Spirit, and faith, and
prayer, and obedience, and communion with
God in his ordinances, and in waiting upon him
in humble desire to be led and guided into all
truth.
In the same class of extraordinary communi-
cation, dreams and visions are to be ranged,
which have equally ceased with the pecu-
liarities of the ages to which we have referred.
These are not to form the rule for our opinions
at the present day ; miraculous interposition is
no longer to be expected: the spirit of pro-
phecy no longer actuates the ministers of God ;
200 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
it has fled with the necessity for its employment.
We have no longer any gifted Apostles with su-
pernatural powers, in order to establish the di-
vinity of their commission : the evangelists of
the present day are those only who expound
the word of God to perishing sinners ; and al-
though the Bible and Missionary Societies, by
their exertions, have almost imitated — not to
speak it profanely — the gift of tongues ; yet
we do not expect that their translators will
proceed in their work, under the unerring in-
fluence of the gift of the Spirit, without the la-
bour of previous study, and careful translation,
collation, and revision, again and again. We
no longer expect these circumstances, which
were for a given purpose, to proclaim the in-
finite power and essential Divinity of the incar-
nate Saviour, and to eff'ect the miraculous ex-
tension of his kingdom. These have ceased
with the apostolic age.
Now in the same class of agents which the
Supreme has deigned to employ, are dreams ;
but we should no more expect that the Al-
mighty would now employ the latter than the
former. And since no one would at this day
receive the commission of an Apostle ; but
since every one would treat the assumption of
such power with discredit, and would throw
CHAPTER IX. 201
the odium of imposture or insanity upon those
who assumed to be sent on an especial message
from God to his creatures, and who pretended
to miraculous powers in support of their mes-
sage ; so no one at this period of the Chris-
tian day ought to appeal to dreams, as evi-
dence of a communication from the Almighty
Disposer of all things.
CHAPTER X.
The same subject continued. — Dreams commissioned for the
discovery of crime ; — application of the author's principles
to the history of W. Corder ; — agency of the Devil in the
production of dreams and various errors : — vision of an-
gels, &c. &c.
There are some particular forms of dreaming,
which should be just noticed in this place :
and, first, that which we are often told has
been commissioned for the discovery of crime.
In these cases it is assumed, that crime — for
the most part murder — has been for a time suc-
cessfully concealed ; but that detection haunts
the footsteps of the criminal : and that an im-
pression of circumstances is revealed to some
individual during sleep, which leads to the dis-
closure of such a chain of evidence as may ter-
minate in the conviction of the murderer. This
train of reasoning proceeds upon the assump-
tion, that God is a righteous Governor, and
CHAPTER X. 203
will not suffer a murderer to live; but that
** whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man
shall" actually, as well as injunctively, " his
blood be shed."
Now if it were true that the present is the
final state of retribution, there would be good
ground for this reasoning. But it is to be re-
collected, that God is merciful as well as just ;
and that, though he is angry with the wicked
every day, he defers his wrath, and delights to
be long-suffering, and to extend the day of
grace, the hour of returning to him to seek the
pardon of sin : and when we reflect, that if
God were strict to mark iniquity, — that is, if
justice were his only attribute, — the infliction of
punishment would follow the commission of
sin, and that we could have no hope of accept-
ance with him, we see that this pursuit of the
criminal is not a necessary consequence of this
attribute : on the contrary, that in his dealings
with his sinful creatures, he willeth not their
death, but rather that they should turn unto him
and live.
Further, this is not the day of retribution,
but of proffered pardon, if it will be accepted
in Christ Jesus. Here on earth, we daily see
crime successful, and virtue suffering ; the one
caressed, the other in poverty, obscurity, and
204 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
neglect; the one surrounded by friends and
affluence, the other in indigence and desti-
tution; the latter constantly suffering injustice
from the oppression of the former. This is not
the coming period, when the righteous shall be
for ever blessed, and the wicked shall be for
ever miserable. There is now an inequality in
their lot, which will only be rendered right at
the last great day of account; so that here
again it is shown not to be inconsistent with
the dealings of the providence of God, that the
wicked . should escape punishment in the pre-
sent life.
Moreover, this assumption proceeds upon
an idea of the justice of the Almighty requiring
the punishment by the hand of man, of certain
very great offences. But then it has happened,
and that not unfrequently, that the innocent
have suffered ; that is, that they have been
innocent of the particular crime for which they
were executed : and this is another proof that
errors are permitted here, and that we must
cast our eye forward to hereafter, for the full
display of the retributive justice of God. In
fact, the circumstances of the innocent having
suffered in the place of the guilty, while the
latter have escaped, would, on any other sup-
position, impugn the attribute of justice in
CHAPTER Y. 205
Him who is perfect holiness. It is, therefore,
unnecessary on account of his justice : and,
indeed, if it were necessary, it would always be
discovered ; a supposition which we know to
be contradicted by facts.
But if this result be neither necessary nor
constant, we may well question the validity of
any pretended deviation from the ordinary
course of God's providence, in order to its
being obtained. And may not this dream-
ing almost always, if not always, be ac-
counted for on other principles less liable to
objection ?
We will exemplify the principle by applying
it to one recent instance ; namely, the discovery
of the murder of Maria Marten by William Cor-
der : and this example is chosen only because
it is of late occurrence, and that the principal
facts still live in the memory of the public. It
does not, indeed, appear, by the published evi-
dence on the trial, that this discovery and con-
viction did actually take place in consequence
of a dream of her mother, Ann Marten; but it
was so stated by her at the coroner's inquest,
and it is the popular opinion, and is therefore
a proper subject for consideration.
Now let it be remembered, that the Red
Bam was the place in which her daughter was
last seen in company with William Corder ; — •
206 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
let the long and anxious interval since she had
heard from her be duly estimated ; let the
equivocal and evasive answers of Corder to her
own, and the neighbours' inquiries, be taken
into adequate consideration ; let the continued
irritation of the brain, which arose from the
circumstances of suspense, misgiving, and
anxiety, and which had necessarily brought
that brain into a state of morbid susceptibility,
that is, into the condition which has been al-
leged as the proximate cause of dreaming,
receive its due weight ; — above all, let the
avowed observations of Corder to Phoebe
Stow, that although Maria Marten was a young
woman, ** she was not likely to be troubled
with any more children;" and further, that ^e
knew ** when he was not with her, nobody else
was/' be added to the preceding impressions; —
let all these facts be duly estimated, and then
let any reasonable mind say whether there be
not suflficient natural and physical ground for
the alleged supernatural interposition, through
the medium of a dream ; in the anxious direc-
tion of the waking thoughts, in the irritated
brain which was the consequence of this anx-
iety, and in the scattered facts just detailed, —
which, if embodied by that organ, when acting
on without the government of the will, and
clothed with its own involuntary imagery.
CHAPTER X. 207
would easily invest obscurity with an impres-
sion of murder, and would localize that deed to
the spot in which the absent individual was
last seen with William Corder. There is surely
no necessary ground for supernatural agency
in such a history ; all is clearly and satisfac-
torily accounted for on rational principles.
Even allowing that the vengeance of the Al-
mighty was thus pursuing the murderer, and
suffering him not to live, the honour of God
and the ways of his Providence are more com-
pletely vindicated, when we see them brought
about by the agency of natural causes, than by
supposing a special interference with the es-
tablished order of nature ; since, if we may
admit the idea of comparison, as applied to an
Infinite Being, that appears to be a greater ex-
ertion of power and wisdom, which orders all
the manifold events and circumstances of life,
health, and disease, so as to bring about cer-
tain designs, than when these designs are ac-
complished by one supernatural visitation.
Others attribute, much too vaguely, the sug-
gestion of evil thoughts, the prompting to sin-
ful conduct, and even the production of dreams,
to the evil spirit. Now it is fully allowed,
that, by the transgression of man, sin entered
into the world, and death by sin ; and sin
208 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
reigns in our mortal bodies. By this fall of
man, he has become corrupt ; prone to ill ;
averse from good ; delighting in that which is
contrary to the law of God, and in rebellion
against him. But Satanic influence is often
alleged as a kind of excuse for sin. Man
thinks himself half excused from his transgres-
sion, when he says that he was tempted to sin;
and really fancies that this temptation could
not be resisted, except with extraordinary
difficulty, because it arose from a very powerful
adversary.
St. Paul says, that " when he would do
good, evil was present with him;" and St.
James most satisfactorily states, that "every
man is tempted when he is drawn away of his
own lusts, and enticed^' by them into obliqui-
ties of conduct. And this is the simple fact.
Sin is the evil principle embodied in action.
By the fall of our first parent, the manifestation
of every faculty of the soul has become debased;
man easily falls into error ; courts the deepen-
ing shades of vice, and even loves them ; but
very difficulty regains the steep ascent to God
and heaven, from which there is a constant re-
coil in his rebellious heart. Now, till that
heart has been renewed by Divine grace, there
is a constant propensity to evil; and after-
CHAPTER X. 209
wards there is, or ought to be, a never-fail-
ing opposition to that corrupt tendency, which
man inherits from his first parent. And it is
only by the restraining and preventing grace of
God, that any are enabled to stand against
such an overwhelming tyranny; overwhelming,
because the heart loves it, and eagerly clasps
the chain by which it is held. Since, then,
it is only by a new and living principle, even
the grace of God which bringeth salvation,
that the Christian escapes the corruption of
sin, which is in the world ; so, in the absence
of this living principle, man becomes the slave
of his sinful propensities : he is a tempter to
himself, and he falls into gross vice from listen-
ing to the voice of his corruptions. Yet God
has furnished him with a counteracting princi-
ple, if he will sincerely ask for it ; and has
promised to bestow it liberally.
Now it will not be contended that Satanic
influence is superior to this sacred holy agency;
it is only that man is too proud to ask for this
boon, too corrupt to esteem it, too wicked to
receive it; he delights in iniquity, and in the
gratification of his passions : to their depraved
influence he listens with pleasure, and when
conscience reminds him of his deviations from
rectitude, he rejoices to lay the blame upon the
210 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
temptation of Satan ; as if Satan would be per-
mitted to exert any power over him, except
through the medium of his unrenewed nature ;
his disposition to sin ; his corrupt propensities;
and his delight to serve sin, rather than be
found obedient to the Saviour, and living a life
of righteousness, by faith upon Him who is the
^on of God.
r- But what are we to say on the subject of
errors in opinion and judgment? Man, simple
man, is the slave of Satan, because, since the
fall, he thinks incorrectly, reasons erroneously,
determines hastily, judges unfairly : both soul
and body are subject to this debasing influence ;
and therefore the spiritual principle has lost its
power, and its attributes have been perverted,
while the power of manifesting these operations
has been curtailed, by the feebleness and mor-
bid tendency of the organ destined for such
visible manifestation. In both ways, error is
produced ; and the operations of Satan upon
the mind are made through the medium of this
perversion of its functions, which, being applied
to the affairs of life, leads to error in opinion,
and obliquity in conduct. Let not, then, the
presumptuous find shelter from the stings of
conscience ; or the timid Christian distress
himself by considering those views, and opi-
CHAPTER X. 211
nions, and feelings, as the immediate result of
Satanic agency, which are, in fact, produced by
the perversion of his own mind : but rather let
him pray to be led into all truth, and strive to
redeem the time ; and, in the strength of the
Lord God, to recover that original perfection of
the spiritual principle in which our first parent
was created. ^»
It will not be necessary to enter again fully on
the general influence of physical temperament,
in modifying the expression of religious feel-
ing;* but a few words of explanation are due, in
this place, to the candid and Christian remarks
of H. B., in the "Christian Observer," for Octo-
ber, 1828. I am fully disposed to allow, that vi-
sions of angels, and other appearances, have been
seen by patriarchs, and prophets, and primitive
Christians ; but I have before stated whi/ we
are not to expect a continuation of these extra-
ordinary revelations, and tvhi/ we should consider
them as improbable.
But further : the alleged circumstances are
very different. It is manifest, from the cases
recited by H. B., that there was always an
* For his views on this subject, the Author would
refer to his Essay in the " Christian Observer" for 1828, of
which it is his intention to place a more expanded view before
the public.
p2
212 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
object io be accomplished by the revelation ; and
that, for the most part, it was forming a portion
of that inspiration which was necessary for the
accomplishment of the intended revelation of
the whole will of a God of infinite mercy, to his
sinful, wandering creatures. How dissimilar
is this from the supposed vision of angels, and
the revelation of the heavenly glory of Christ,
and of the world to come, to expiring mortality,
with no object to be answered, no end to be
realized.
Another important difference consists in the
peculiar condition of the organ of mind. In all
the instances alleged by H. B., its integrity
was unimpaired ; the individuals were in high
health ; and their internal consciousness ena-
bled them to perceive, what it had pleased the
Almighty Ruler of the universe to reveal. This
is easily conceivable ; but such is the constitu-
tion of our nature, that, although this internal
revelation cannot be perceived by the organs of
sense ; yet the individual recipient of such
communication will only become aware of the
revelation by attending to it, and perceiving it :
and it will only be influential by his reflecting
upon it, and remembering it ; and by his deter-
mining, in the strength of divine grace, to
receive it by faith, as a revelation from God ;
CHAPTER X. 213
and in the power of the Lord God to act
upon it.
But attention, perception, reflection, memory,
judgment, and volition, are intellectual faculties,
whose functions are performed through the w^e-
r//ww of the brainular organ; and it is only through
this medium that the subject is conscious of the
revelation he has received. Although a revela-
tion, or vision, be made to the interior mind or
soul ; the compound man becomes conscious of
such revelation, and communicates it to others,
only through the medium of a bodily organ : and
therefore, according to all analogy of the per-
fection of the Divine government, it would be
expected that it should be made when that
organ was in a state of health or perfectness.
But the period is now only marked on the
page of prophetic and sacred history, when
such revelations from on high were necessary ;
and I return to the observation, that it should
be recollected, "that the spirit, though hover-
ing on the verge of an eternal scene, is still
confined to its material tenement; and that,
whatever it may perceive, is through the medium
of that corporeal habitation.'" This remark of
course supposes that there is now no miraculous
interposition of God's providence (the idea in-
volved in the consideration of internal revela-
214 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
tion to fallen man;) and we have considered
this communication as unlikely^ because the
days of vision and prophecy have passed by ;
because it is unnecessary ; and because such
recorded revelations have been made in an inte-
gral state of the cerebral function.
Moreover, these visions are referred to the bo-
dily senses ; for the patient commonly points to a
particular part of the room in which he has seen
the angels, witnessed the Saviour's cross, or en-
joyed revelations of the glory of the future world ;
and at the same time he is usually sufferingfrom
other ocular spectra, and perpetually endea-
vouring to take hold of objects which appear
before him, but which, in fact, have no real
existence.
Besides, I must in truth appeal to the records
of my professional experience ; and I must state,
that these visions are by no means confined to
the death-bed of the Christian, who rests from
his labour, and whose works do follow him, —
but that they have also attended the closing
scene of those over whom, in the judgment of
the most expansive charity, we could have no
hope ; who, during life, had never exhibited
the fruits of faith, obedience, and love to God ;
and who, at the last, had not shown that pa-
tience, and submission, and acquiescence in
CHAPTER X. *2t$
the will of Heaven, which we should naturally
expect from those over whoni we could rejoice
with confidence, or even rest in assured hope of
their resurrection unto life eternal.
But, further; this state, namely, the vision
of angels, and revelation of future glory, is
common to the maniac; who, in his hallucina-
tions, mixes up himself as a principal actor
in these glorious scenes, but who still details
them with a sufficient degree of approach to
truth and consistency, to be classed under the
same view. If, then, the particular vision in
question be common to the unrighteous, as well
as to the righteous : and if its traces be clearly
visible in the delirations of the insane ; surely,
is it not more wise and prudent, more just
to God, and more consonant to his dealings
with mankind, to believe that this appearance
really owns a bodily origin, and is to be as-
cribed to the imperfect, failing, or perverted
powers, of the organ of mental manifestation ?
This result leaves entirely intact all the re-
velations of Scripture ; which are of a totally
different order, and which, in mercy and in
love to poor perishing sinners, have been vouch-
safed to man, for the establishment of his faith,
the extension of his hope, and the increase of
his knowledge. Although, therefore, I fully
216 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
agree with H. B., that such things have been
under a different situation of the Christian
world, and of the church, I cannot accede to
his position, that such things are, until the pre-
ceding facts and arguments are refuted. Pos-
sibly, under some future great change, such
things may again be ; but of this we are not
called upon to determine.
The charge of enthusiasm, or superstition, is
not preferred against H. B., or against any
one who differs from me : for, in the first place,
I do not believe that it would attach to him ;
and, according to my own principles, the pre-
cise point of light, in which facts, and views,
and opinions, are received by the individual,
do very greatly depend upon his physical tem-
perament, and upon its peculiar state, as in-
fluenced by health or disease. This, of course,
does not affect the truth of any particular point:
but it does affect the impression of that truth, and
the zeal and earnestness with which it is re-
ceived ; or the caution, and doubt, and preju-
dice, which absorb and enthral the mind.
m
CHAPTER XI.
On Presentiments, — Omens; — the case of martyrs, and
their extraordinary, supernatural aid ; — opinions of Dr.
Hibbert, and of the author of" Past Feelings Renovated."
We must now say a few words on the subject
of what are called presentiments.
I apprehend that, in every instance, presen-
timents may be referred to some antecedent
physical or moral impression, and to its near or
distant associations, however difficult it may be
to trace them, and however illogically they
may seem to be concatenated.
Strong testimonies have been urged to prove
that individuals under the influence of magnet-
ism, or, as it has been perhaps more correctly
designated, magnetic somnambulism, possess
the power of predicting the day, the hour, the
severity, the duration, of an attack; for instance,
of hysteria or epilepsy, and of various other
218 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
bodily states. Now if these testimonies are
valid, (if they are not, we cut the Gordian-knot
at once by denying the existence of presenti-
ment,) there may be a peculiar state of the
brain, produced by disease, as well as artifi-
cially induced by the agency of animal magnet-
ism, in which it may be enabled to feel the
approach of any great disaster to the constitu-
tion.
But even if the possibility of such a case
were admitted, it cannot be believed to be of
frequent occurrence ; and with this single al-
leged exception, presentiments may be always
traced to antecedent powerful impression upon
an anxious mind. There are two grounds on
which this conviction is founded; first, that
frequently the expected results are not realized ;
and, secondly, that even when they are so, coin-
cidence will often offer a just explanation; and,
if not, the influence exerted by the presenti-
ment itself upon the brain, and, through it,
upon all the other functions of the body, will
be sufficient to induce a morbid state, which
will border on the very verge of distraction.
In order to be admitted as consequential, the re-
sults should be invariable, and should have no
tendency to produce themselves ; whereas they
are confessedly rare, and these rare instances
CHAPTER XI. 219
may easily arise from the physical influence of
the first morbid impression.
To illustrate these positions by example : A.
B. told me that he had a presentiment of his
approaching dissolution, and that medicine
would be of no avail ; for that his days were
numbered, his hour was determined, and he
must die. Upon inquiry, he referred this im-
pression to the ** abundant revelations which he
had received." It is scarcely necessary for the
author of the present Essay to add, that he
thought differently from his patient; neither
need he point out the source to which both
the presentiment and the revelations were con-
jointly referred. Under the influence of medi-
cine, this patient recovered perfectly ; a proof
of the absence of truth in the prediction of the
sick man, and of the delusion under which he
had laboured relative to these supposed spiri-
tual communications from on high ; the whole
of which had evidently resulted from the in-
fluence of disease upon the intellectual organ
of a highly enthusiastic individual. Of such
cases I have known many, greatly exceeding
those of an opposite description, of which,
however, several have occurred to me. The
following instance shall suffice, as an example
taken from the genus.
220 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
C. D. became the subject of disease; for the
effectual removal of which, a surgical operation
was necessary. Upon its being proposed to
the patient, she consented unhesitatingly, but
affirmed that she should die from its conse-
quences. No danger being really apprehended
from the operation, a day was fixed for its per-
formance ; and it was discovered afterwards,
that the patient had employed her time in the
interval, in arranging her little domestic affairs,
placing her drawers in order, attaching labels
to her keys, and leaving the minutest directions
behind her, that no confusion, or as little as
possible, might ensue upon her decease. The
hour for the operation arrived ; it was most
skilfully performed by the first British surgeon
of his day, and was supported by the patient
with the utmost fortitude. Upon being after-
wards congratulated by her medical attendant,
on the good prospect of complete recovery
which was before her, she only repeated her
conviction that she should die ; and, in fact, in
three days she was a corpse. Now, though
the want of invariability in the result would be
quite sufficient to show that such an impression
could not emanate from an unchanging God;
yet in the present case it must be manifest, how
great an influence this deep, absorbing, and
CHAPTER XT. 221
exclusive feeling must have exerted upon the
physical system ; depressing its power of
vitality ; depriving it of the means of resisting
the slightest shock to its integrity ; and predis-
posing it to that irritation and inflammatory
action, which so frequently blast the fairest
prospect of recovery, as well as undermine the
power of successful re-action, by which this
result was to have been naturally effected.
Preseiit'anent is sometimes supported by a
variety of alleged warnings, or omens, which are
considered as indicative of some fatal event ;
though they may fail to define its particular
nature, or the individual for whom the intima-
tion is given. Generally speaking, it is sup-
posed that these are tokens of death to the in-
dividual remarking them, or to some of his
friends or connexions. This is certainly taking
a tolerably extensive range for the truth of the
vaticination ; but even this is not sufficient.
So active is the busy passion of/e^rr, that the
disparity of numbers in a little social meeting;
the ticking of the death-watch ; a peculiar un-
easy chirping of the cricket; the croaking of a
raven ; the appearance of a winding-sheet on
the candle, and a thousand other supposed
omens, have struck terror into the hearts of the
fearful, and sometimes, by the very influence of
222 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
this terror upon the physical system, have
given most undeservedly an air of truth to the
presage, ^by the illness and death which have
followed.
In the case of E. F., who was labouring
under most serious and alarming illness, one
feature of which was profuse hemorrhage from
the nose, it being very hot weather the window
was kept open during the whole night. It so
happened, that a dog was observed to howl
most piteously under the window ; a death-watch
repeated its ominous monitions behind the bed ;
a bat flew into the room and extinguished the
candle ; and a raven passing, alighted upon the
window-ledge, pecked with his beak, and
flapped his wings against the (other) unopened
window. Of course, the nurses all concluded
that E. F. must inevitably die ; but E. F. re-
covered, and the whole concurrence of circum-
stances would find an easy explanation in the
attraction afforded by the light to the bat, its
irritation to the watchful dog, the odour of
blood to the ill-omened croaker, and perhaps
the animating summer weather to the ticking
insect.
But the writer has seen all these omens fal-
sified in a hundred cases ; and it is clear, that
if the predicted consequences shall only follow
CHAPTER XI. 223
in a few instances, they must constitute ex-
ceptions to the rule, — not the rule itself; and
must be unworthy of serious consideration.
Besides, the veriest accident; atmospherical
changes; the peculiar, but natural action of
the insect; and a certain constitution of the
air consumed by the candle, or some other
mode of regulating its admission, will seem to
explain all these influences, and to place them
upon a basis which removes them greatly from
our present range ; referring them to mental
ignorance, rather than to corporeal impression ;
only the agency of the former upon the latter
must never be forgotten.
Farther, the simple, groundless, inexplicable
presentiment, will be often found independently
of these portents, and where this is the case,
it is referable, for the most part, to a physical
state of animal depression, attendant upon the
incubation of disease, and may generally be
considered as of no consequence ; yet it does
occasionally exert such a formidable and in-
jurious influence upon the malady with which
it is placed in contact, that it tends to throw a
semblance of truth around itself, by the morbid
sympathies which itself has developed, while it
has diminished the vital energy of resistance
to disease, and of the inherent power possessed
224 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
by the animal frame to restore its healthy func-
tions, where the balance has once been de-
stroyed.
Happy they, who, escaping from the thral-
dom of ignorance, and its fearful imagery, are
enabled to trace the finger of God in all the
events of life ; to refer them, with their mani-
fold results, to the wise and arbitrative will of
the Supreme; and to trust in his care all they
hold most dear, even where they cannot trace
the footsteps of his power. All this frightful
brood are called into being by the absence of
a simple trust and sure confidence in God: and
the knowledge of this should lead us to watch
and pray against their influence ; since to dis-
trust him is to dishonour him, and to dishonour
him is sin.
The case of martyrs, and the extraordinary
composure with which they have endured tor-
ments, has, on the one hand, been mixed up
with the idea of spiritual agency; and, on the
other, has been referred by Dr. Hibbert to a
certain physical condition, in which great suf-
fering not only ceases to be painful, but be-
comes, he says, the source of grateful sensation.
Now, the idea that pain can change its nature,
cease to be such, and commute its peculiar at-
tributes for the manifestations of pleasure, is
CHAPTER XI. 225
certainly too absurd to be endured ; and only
shows how far a favourite hypothesis may de-
lude the mind into unreal creations; ; and thus
actually becomes a proof, how very far a pe-
culiar physical condition of the reasoning organ
may operate in perverting the manifestations
of mind.
This opinion of Dr. Hibbert has subjected
him to the merited castigation of the author of
a recent work on the subject of supernatural
manifestations, entitled, " Past Feelings Re-
novated " who, however, errs equally on the
opposite side of the question. The case of
Theodorus is referred to by both these writers,
in proof of their respective positions. It is re-
lated of him, that he underwent a continuous
torture for ten hours. *' While enduring the
extremity of pain, he was comforted by (as he
conceived) a bright messenger from heaven,
who allayed his sufterings, by wiping the per-
spiration from his body, and by pouring cold
water upon his irritated limbs, till he was free
from pain. It is a fact, that the martyr con-
tinued upon the scaffold in the sight of all men,
smiling, and even singing, until it was thought
expedient to take him down." This was con-
ceived to be in consequence "of supernatural
interposition; and why should we doubt it?"
Q
226 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
This example will afford a good opportunity
of offering a few remarks on this question, as
it affects the case o{ martyrs in general.
With regard to this particular instance, which
is a very common example of the genus, if we
allow its truth, we must also embrace its cir-
cumstances ; by which we must go farther than
even the admission of spiritual agency ; for we
must recognize the material action of wiping
away perspiration, the presence of a material
something by which it was absorbed, and the
actual material affusion of cold water, and of
the action by which its application was made.
But if so, the laws of nature must have been
interfered with, and a miracle is produced. But
this is not contended for ; and if it were so,
the cause would be at once removed from the
present question of spiritual agency. How then
are the facts to be explained ? Most readily.
In the first place, the mind of the martyr
will have been subjected, long before the period
of martyrdom, to the conflicting influence of
the fear of bodily suffering on the one hand,
and of a prominent desire to be found a faithful
witness of the truth, even unto death, on the
other ; while the depressing agency of the
former will have been gradually superseded,
by the prospect of that glorious inheritance.
./OKiCHAPTER Xl.l/MiiH 227
even the crown of life, promised to the good
and faithful servant and soldier of Jesus Christ.
The result of this frequent contemplation will
be a firm reliance on the support promised from
on high ; a sure trust and confidence in the
comforting and sustaining presence of Him who
has promised to be with his people in their
hour of extremity. As the period of final suf-
fering approaches, the feelings will be more
highly wrought upon : and the temporary ago-
nies of dissolution will be more constantly con-
trasted with the glory which shall follow, and
which will be realized at death. Then,
again, there will be a prominent desire to prove
the sincerity of faith in Christ, by complete
obedience to his will ; this will be accompanied
by a very great effort to bear the allotted tor-
ture, and to sustain the evidence for truth, by
showing the firmness of real belief in its doc-
trines, and their power to support the mind,
under the most painful circumstances, without
a murmur, or an expression of impatience.
These are powerful motives to mental effort;
but there yet remains to be considered their
bodily influence. .
The agency of these continued powerful im-
pressions upon the brain will be such as to
exalt its vitality, to increase its energy, to call
Q 2
228 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
up an extraordinary supply of blood, to aug-
ment its natural powers of manifestation, to
continue a degree of excitement, by which the
patient is carried out of himself; he is animated
by the glow of enthusiasm, (the word has its
good, as well as its bad sense,) and his feelings
are wrought up to extacy. Now this is a brain-
ular state, and one which predisposes to the
creation of supernatural appearances ; and it
would not be surprising, if the real mental
support and consolation, promised to those who
wait upon God, and especially vouchsafed un-
der these circumstances, should by the martyr,
in his ecstatic state, be mistaken for extraor-
dinary spiritual agency, and should thereby be
invested with a form and locality which are
really the result of long-excited brainular ac-
tion.
The Christian has nothing to fear from this
view of the subject ; the promised strength
from on high, strength equal to his day, is
vouchsafed, but it is afforded by the ordinary
assistance of the Holy Spirit: it is conveyed
through the medium of second causes, and not
by the intervention of a supernatural creation ;
by leading the mind into all truth, and not by
the perversion of its imagination ; by the sure
word of God, and not by the presence of an
CHAPTER XI. 229
angel. The latter fancied appearance is a
brainular illusion, from which the disciple of
Christ should pray to be delivered.
Nor let it be conceived, that this purely phy-
sical condition^ is unequal to the effect produced.
Let it be recollected that there is no instance
of fortitude in the Christian martyr, which has
not been paralleled by the unyielding endur-
ance of the greatest ingenuity of torture by the
heathen, — by him, of whom it may justly be
said, that God was not in all his thoughts, —
because he would not suffer his enemies to
triumph over an extorted groan : he has even
told them how to augment his sufferings, and
has exulted in showing the most unshaken
fortitude, amidst the most appalling trials to
human strength and constancy of purpose.
This may be called infatuation. Granted : yet
here, the mere motives of the man acted in
producing such%^ ecstatic excitement of the
brain, that the individual rose above physical
suffering, was lifted out of himself, and would
not grieve the spirits of his ancestors, by ex-
hibiting the slightest symptom of degenerate
courage.
O, suffer not the Christian's hope and con-
solation to rest upon a similar superstitious
basis : but let him humbly rely upon that
230 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Strength which has been promised in the per^-
formance of duty : let him diligently seek for
support in prayer, in the word of God, and in
waiting upon him ; and then he will be en-
abled, in the promises of the Gospel, to realize
the Saviour's presence with his suffering chil-
dren ; let him strive to imitate Him who knows
all our infirmities, and was himself made per-
fect through sufferings : above all, let him look
to his sufferings upon the cross, and during his
last agony, and let him contemplate for what
and for whom he suffered ; so that the firm-
ness of his principles, the reality of his faith,
and their efficacy to support him, shall be de-
monstrated, and shall present a rational, a well-
grounded, and a lovely example of Christian
fortitude.
V(ii
CHAPTER XII.
Agency of evil spirits. — Possession ; — demonomania ; —
temptation ; — astrology ; — doctrine of apparitions ; — spi-
ritual contemplation; — peculiar physical state.
The agency of evil spirits is so nearly con-
nected with this part of the subject, that it
presents a just claim to consideration before
we proceed further.
The principal forms in which we meet with
this variety of superstitious influence, are those
of supposed possession^ and alleged temptation.
Almost every hamlet has its traditional legend
of the former state, or its actual habitation of
some *' cunning woman" or witch, or other pre-
tender to supernatural information ; and in al-
most every coterie will be found some mind
under the actual agency of temptation. With
these views are associated various processes,
232 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
by which the power and presence of the evil
one are to be evoked or deprecated ; and a
whole host of excuses, for a particular line of
conduct or thought, which conscience admo-
nishes is wrong, and which reason and religion
prove, on other grounds to be indefensible.
1. With possession, as far and as frequently
as it may be the result of fraud or imposture,
we have nothing to do ; but instances are to be
met with, in which it is verily believed by the
patient, and has been adopted as an absorbing
and exclusive idea ; and it then forms a variety
of religious melancholy, under the appellation
of demonomania. This, with other indications
of insanity, is to be referred to a peculiar bodily
condition, and is attended by certain morbid
manifestations of mind, which originate in a
diseased state, either primary or secondary,
of the intellectual organ. Its classification, as
a variety of melancholy, would show, that the
ancients believed it to originate in a disordered
secretion of bile ; and indeed it is very certain,
that irritation of the liver has a decided influ-
ence in throwing a sombre cloud over all the
present, as well as the future events of life.
But I am more disposed to believe, that in this
case i\iQ Jirst link in the chain of morbid action
will be found in the brain itself; and that the
CHAPTER XH. 233
disturbance of the digestive functions, is a con-
sequence, rather than a cause, of such irritation,
though it may afterwards tend to keep up, and
even ultimately to aggravate, the operation of
the originating cause.
This view of the subject is borne out
by considering the circumstances of the ma-
lady. In the first place, there will be found
to have existed a general predisposition to
insanity. General ignorance, and contracted
mental manifestation, will show how little at-
tention and cultivation have been bestowed
upon the intellectual organ : the patient is re-
markable for mental feebleness and pusillani-
mity ; thus proclaiming a want of brainular
energy, and of intellectual expansion. Pre-
viously to the fully-formed paroxysm of malady,
it will be found that the mind has been under
the influence of prolonged disquietude, fear, or
even terror ; and these very generally own
their commencement in false and erroneous opi-
nions on the subject of religion, arising either
from an injudicious statement of its real truths,
or from partial and exclusive views ; or from
placing too great dependance on mere feelings
and emotions, rather than on the sentiments —
the results of sound judgment and a spiritually
enlightened understanding; or from such a
234 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
degree of physical nervous irritation, that the
rays of religious comfort do not reach the mind
through the material veil which disorder of
cerebral function has drawn around its percep-
tions.
Again : all these causes of disturbance will
be mutual re-agents with accumulating force;
and after a certain degree of conflicting and
anxious attention, the false notions take pos-
session of the individual, and, beyond an inef-
fectual struggle, claim their supremacy — a su-
premacy of, disease. Now it will be seen, that
the remote causes of this malady operate rather
immediately than intermediately upon the brain ;
and that its irritation is to be traced rather to
mental than to bodily sources. This opinion is
strengthened by the fact, that these views have
become less frequent, and exert a diminished
influence, exactly in proportion as knowledge
has become diff*used ; as the Scriptures of truth
have been rendered more accessible, and as
they have ceased to be a dead letter, by the
extension of religious education, and of juster
views on the subject of God's dealings with his
sinful children.
That this state is the result of brainular irrita-
tion, is still further shown by the prevailing dis-
position to suicide by which it is accompanied.
CHAPTER XII. 235
Far be it from the author to diminish the awful
responsibility of those who put a period to their
existence, and rush unbidden into the presence
of their Maker and Judge, with an act of aggra-
vated treason on their hands : far be it from him
to palliate the crime of suicide, or even to insi-
nuate that in the majority of cases it is an act
of insanity. On the contrary, he verily believes
that it too frequently arises from a determina-
tion to get rid of present sorrow and perplexity
at any hazard, and, of course, from a practical
disbelief of the tremendous risk involved in this
act of disobedience. But the energy and ex-
tent of moral responsibility will never be in-
vaded by the development of just views; nor
by defining the boundary of moral accounta-
bility from the limits of physical impulse.
To apply these principles to the present in-
stance : the patient verily believes himself pos-
sessed by evil spirits, rejected by God, sold
to Satan, and hurried on to do his will ; so that
he finally commits an act which, according to
his own showing, would place him immediately
under the tormenting influence of the evil one ;
and would make him realize the fire which he
has complained of as existing in his brain — the
hell of his bosom — the worm that dieth not,
and the fire that is not quenched. Now this is
236 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
vot sound, and certainly not scriptural, reason-
ing. To do that which seals present suffering
with an irrevocable doom — a doom, too, which
might have been avoided — is not legitimate
reasoning; and the act which results from its
awfully tremendous perversion, must, in the
judgment of truth and charity, be considered an
insane act. Far otherwise the petulant impa-
tience of him who thoughtlessly rushes from
present pain, upon the desperate venture of
presumed annihilation, — or even upon a reck-
lessness of futurity ; for, on the supposition
that this were depending upon ignorance, in this
happy country at least, it must be voluntary,
inexcusable, and therefore sinful.
But again, with regard to temptation. — This
term often signifies trial, and is then an expres-
sion of that life of probation in which we are
placed, for the exercise of faith and patience ;
and, generally, of the Christian character. But
this is not the acceptation of the term with
which we have now to do : it is rather a sup-
posed enticement by Satan, or his angels, to
commit that which is hateful in the sight of
God. Now this is either a physical or a moral
state ; but in neither case is it supernatural.
It may first be a physical condition ; as, for
example, in the history of G. H., who has often
CHAPTER XII. 237
consulted me for varying states of health. At
one time, he has referred to certain morbid
manifestations of mind, and temptations to sin,
which he has ascribed to Satanic influence :
and at another period has begged of me to de-
fine the respective limits of physical and moral
agency, and to assist him in distinguishing the
former influence from that of natural corruption,
or predisposition to evil ; particularly as exhi-
bited in that spontaneous or involuntary thought,
which must arise from the prevalence of certain
mental constitutions, or must be the eflect of
nervous irritability ; so satisfied was he, in his
better moments, that much of what he expe-
rienced depended upon a varying condition of
the organ of mind. This latter state will very
generally be accompanied by other uneasy sen-
sations, and morbid mental manifestations,
which will define its nature, and clearly point
to the diseased organ ; since disorder of func-
tion necessarily implies a disturbed and irri-
tated state of the organ by which the function is
carried on ; and, in the case before us, the brain
has been shown to be that organ. This, how-
ever, is not always obvious : but then, the im-
pression will very seldom want the characteristic
of unreasonableness ; that is, it will be without
238 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
a solid basis of truth, and it will not be re-
movable by its light.
It is not intended to deny the influence of
the spirit of evil, but merely to place the sub-
ject upon a just foundation ; and to show, that
the enticements of their own lusts is the same
principle which produced the fall of our first
parents ; and which now operates upon their
posterity, as it did also upon them, through
the medium of their sensorial and intellectual
capacities, — now augmented by the consequen-
ces of that fall, and by the introduction of those
depraved mental states which render the spiri-
tual principle assailable to the influence of
sin; or which, in other words, prepare it for
listening to the voice of temptation. We fully
believe that Satan, as a roaring lion, goeth
about, seeking whom he may devour ; but we
believe that his agency is exerted, and his
power to harm us, is conferred by that sin
which reigns in our mortal bodies.
Now the simple scriptural truth is, "that
every man is tempted, when he is drawn away
of his own lusts and enticed." And the sequel
is most just : " Then when lust hath conceived, it
bringeth forth sin ; and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death." This, then, is the beau-
CHAPTER XII.
2ag
tiful explanation of temptation, against which
we are taught to watch and pray. It consists
in the supremacy of corrupt principles or pas-
sions, propensities, or views, called into action
by that evil change which has passed upon man,
when he fell from his first estate ; and which
now operates in producing alienation of the
heart from God, and rebellion of the will against
his holy law. And the gradual increase of this
corruption, from the first leaning of the heart
towards that which is evil, to its full accom-
plishment in action ; and to its final consumma-
tion in the cessation of spiritual life, and the
universal devastating reign of spiritual death,
are here beautifully portrayed. ■ i /.ii.
The same cause will operate the perversion
of the intellectual faculties, and will explain how
error is embraced, and nurtured into prejudice;
and why it maintains the human soul divine in
a state of darkness and destitution, from which
nothing can recall it but the ray of scriptural
truth, vivified by the Spirit of the most high
God. But this omnipotent Spirit deigns to
employ means ; and these will always be con-
sistent with truth, and will ever tend to pro-
mote the glory of God and the good of man :
to both which objects the extension of his know-
240 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
ledge, and the chastened development of his
mental powers, seem indispensable ; and not
less so, the government of his heart, and the
regulation of his desires, by the unerring law
of God.
It will not be expected that I should notice
the miserable impostures of fortune-telling,
casting nativities, and developing the horos-
cope ; or draw aside the veil which invests the
whole science of divination and astrology ; be-
cause these are manifestly the result of evil
intention, and cannot, therefore, with propriety
be referred to a physical state. We shall there-
fore pass on to the several points of interest
involved in the last object of our attention ;
namely, the mystery of apparitions : and, in par-
ticular, the question — Can they be explained
upon any satisfactory principle ?
The more usual forms of alleged supernatural
appearance are those in which some deviation
from the common processes of nature, as settled
by its Divine Author, has been supposed to be
produced for the purpose of occasioning a cer-
tain spiritual impression ; in which individuals,
just as they have ceased to live, have presented
themselves to others for the purpose of giving
an intimation of their death — oftentimes for no
CHAPTER XII. 241
conceivable design ; and the spectral forms of
such as are supposed to haunt particular spots,
in order to reveal crime, or to give some other
important information to the living.
Now if we can succeed in showing that there
is a peculiar state of the brain, in which such
appearances are not unusual, and that this is a
morbid state ; if we can show that this is the
result of impending disease, and that it may be
produced by the exhibition of certain remedies ;
if we can further prove, that the anticipated re-
sults have not, in every instance, followed ; and
if we can account for some of the most remark-
able instances of apparitions, upon natural
principles, we shall not wander far from the
truth when we adopt a physical interpretation
for these same appearances.
It has sometimes been observed by those
who disbelieve in apparitions, and with a kind
of triumphant air, that a ghost was never seen
by two persons at the same time. But this is
no argument ; for the very nature of the case
supposes that it is a spiritual not a material ex-
istence ; and therefore not cognizable by the
external senses, but only perceived by the in-
ternal. In the very nature of things, there-
fore, that which is immaterial can only be
242 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
perceived by the one mind to which it is pre-
sented,— or to two or more minds, individually
acted upon by a similar spiritual agency. In
giving up this objection to ghosts, it will how-
ever be seen, that this very abandonment of an
untenable position involves a corollary, fatal to
all those relations in which material attributes
have been ascribed to them. It will be seen here-
after, that this principle admits of an impor-
tant application to one of the most frequently
quoted histories of apparitions after death ;
namely, that of Lord Tyrone to Lady Beresford,
which will be considered in a future chapter.
Apparitions are ascribable, in a great num-
ber of instances, to tricky and are generally
produced for some sinister purpose ; and then
the science of optics and the resources of che-
mistry will afford many useful explanations,
and will account for a large majority of the
most far-famed ghost stories.
But there are many other histories which
cannot thus be explained, and which must
either be admitted as actual spectral appear-
ances of a supernatural character ^ or be con-
sidered as physical products, the result of a pe-
culiar morbid state of the brain, which may be
traced to irritation of that organ.
CHAPTER XII. '243
This peculiar state may be, and indeed fre-
quently is, induced by the pressure of impend-
ing disease ; and then the supposed appearance
will be followed by morbid excitement of the
system (febrile action), which is now often as-
cribed to the influence of emotion excited by the
spiritual appearance ; whereas, in fact, the sub-
sequent commotion is a mere consequence of
the previously disordered state of the brainular
function. This peculiar condition of the brain
may likewise originate in intense mental emo-
tion, particularly of a depressing character.
I shall presently produce examples of these
states, always preferring those which have
fallen under my own notice.
But before we proceed further, we must add
another word, on the subject of spiritual contem-
platiofi. — It has been said, that an apparition is
in fact presented to spiritual contemplation ; that
it is cognizable by mental perception alone ; and
that the truth of its existence is based upon this
principle, that the idea is conceived in the mind.
Dr. Hibbert, on the contrary, says, that it is a
renovation of past feelings, with all the energy of
truth, and all the vividness of an intensely in-
terested imagination. Neither of these views
is quite satisfactory.
It is agreed by all parties, that an apparition
R 2
244
ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
has no real and material existence — no flesh
and bones ; and that although presented to the
eye, and heard by the ear, it yet possesses no
tangible substance ; that it cannot intercept or
transmit, absorb or reflect, the rays of light ;
and is incapable of producing those atmosphe-
rical vibrations, which are necessary for the
propagation of sound. It may, therefore, in
this respect, be said to be an ideal object con-
ceived in the mind, or to be the product of
spiritual contemplation. But spiritual contem-
plation is that process during which the imma-
terial principle perceives, thinks, reflects, as-
sociates, remembers, reasons.
Of the nature of spiritual existence, when
separated from matter, we know nothing ; and
of the modes and habits of thought and feeling
of pure spirit, we equally know nothing. More-
over, we become co7iscious of these operations
within ourselves, only through the medium of
the brainular organ, — the appointed channel
for the manifestations of mind.
But if there be any disorder of function on
the part of that organ ; if it shall have received
such a powerful mental emotion as shall have
excited it vehemently ; or if it shall be suffer-
ing from the threatened invasion of impending
disease ; it will cease to be a perfect medium for
CHAPTER XII. 245
conveying the results of spiritual contempla-
tion ; the manifestations of mind will be per-
verted, and spectral illusions will be the result.
And this view of the cause will be invariably
borne out by the circumstances of the case.
Some anxious state, some depressing passion,
or some morbid cerebral condition, will have
preceded the creation of the apparition. And,
in simple truth, the semblance of form, and
defined outline, which so generally attaches to
this kind of supernatural appearance, should be
enough to proclaim illusion somewhere; for,
at all events, the senses are deceived, and this
must be attended by deviation from the healthy
action of the mental manifestations.
And since this can alone be dependent upon
some morbid condition of the manifesting organ,
either temporary or permanent, we have rea-
soned back to the assertion, that the brain
under these circumstances is always in a morbid
state; in fact, that it is subjected to that ** pe-
culiar condition in luhich it has escaped the controul
of the presiding mind, and continues to act on with-
out direction or guidance J"
On the contrary, the position that apparitions
are the result of past images recalled in the
mind ; in fact, recollected impressions of scenes
long lost, only grotesquely associated, with an
246 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
undue degree of intensity, is equally unsatis-
factory and unconvincing ; for.
In the first place, this hypothesis will not
account for all supposed supernatural appear-
ances ; such, for instance, as that which made
so powerful an impression on Colonel Gardiner,
and similar spectra which have been expe-
rienced by many others ; and if the theory be
inapplicable to all the particular cases, which it
ought to explain, we have good ground for sus-
pecting that is not the correct explanation of
ANY, however it may seem to account for many
of the attendant phenomena satisfactorily.
Secondly ; the hypothesis will not account
for the recalling of these recollected impres-
sions at the precise moment at which appari-
tions are produced ; since, if they were only
recollected impressions, there can be no good
reason why they may not be created at any
time, especially by a voluntary effort of me-
mory : a fortiori, therefore, is it most extraor-
dinary, not only that they cannot be reproduced
by any effort of volition, however powerful, but
that their appearance is actually independent
of the will ; and, moreover, that it is to be met
with only and invariably, during the continu-
ance of a state of morbid irritation of the brain ?
Thirdly ; this hypothesis will not account for
CHAPTER XII. 5^47
the fearfulness with which an apparition is
viewed. Ideas familiar to the mind, recollected
impressions of past scenes and persons removed,
when recalled by the aid of memory, do not
produce terror ; but, on the contrary, a chas-
tened satisfaction, or a mellowed sorrow : and
this valuable mental attribute delights to dwell
on the dear forms of those whom we have lost,
and to contemplate the mental manifestations
associated with such cherished remembrance.
But the sudden and involuntary appearance of
this very form, when suggested to the mind,
produces a saisissement, which the system can
scarcely sustain consistently with the integrity
of its functions ; and which plainly indicates an
unusual or morbid state of the manifesting organ,
namely, the brain.
CHAPTER XIII.
Critical inquiry into the views of a recent writer in tbe
Record, on the subject of apparitions.
The present seems to be a proper opportunity
for noticing the observations of a valuable,
though mistaken, writer in " The Record."
This individual fears that sceptical notions may
be fostered by referring dreams, apparitions,
and the like, to a state of morbid irritation of
the brain, the material organ of the mind.
" Men of this character," he remarks, **turn
away their eyes from the operation of God's
hand in nature and providence ; and therefore
it is to be expected, that they should close
them fast against any instance, even remotely
tending to establish his existence, and his con-
troul over the affairs of mankind." Again,
adds the writer, "the position is, that spiritua
CHAPTER XIII. 249
beings exist ; generally invisible to mortal eye.
The refutation, that their existence is dis-
proved, from the impressions of their appear-
ance only being received during the prevalence
of a diseased state of the nervous system.
This assertion, hovi^ever, the accuracy of it
being assumed, proves nothing. To see, or
hear, or taste, or smell, or touch, the corres-
ponding organs must be in a state of health.
If they are disordered, the sensations are lost.
They are frequently lost for a time, and again
they resume their powers. But there may be
other disorders or alterations in one or more of
the senses, not of common occurrence, which
do not, as in the usual cases of disease, strike
out existing objects from the cognizance of the
mind ; but which present to its view existing
objects, which, in the healthy or usual state of
the organs, are not perceived."
Now I notice first, that the physiological
principle upon which this argumentation pro-
ceeds, is not founded in truth, or supported by
facts. It is indeed true, that there are organs
adapted to receive the impressions of external
nature, and to convey them to the brain ;
where, if that central organ of sensation be
attentive to the impression, a distinct and ade-
quate idea is formed of the object of sight, or
250 ESSAV ON SUPERSTITION.
touch, or hearing, or taste, or smell. But it
is not true, that if these organs are disordered
the sensations are lost. It is not just, or sci-
entific, to forget here, the important agency of
the intellectual brain, in order to the com-
pleteness of an impression : nor is it correct to
endow the organs of sense with a primary and
full power; whereas their office is subordinate :
they act as mere sentinels ; and the power
of receiving, or combining, considering, and
weighing the results, rests entirely with the
brain, and upon its attention to the notices it
receives. Thus, therefofe, mere impression is at
all times unsatisfactory, till it has been referred
to, and judged of, and estimated by, the pre-
siding mind ; which determines its truth and
value, according to its possessing or to its
wanting certain attributes.
But the sensations are not lost when these
organs are disordered, at least, they are not
so always, or even often. In fact, the loss of
sensation must depend upon a temporary or
permanently paralytic state of the sentient ex-
tremities of the nerves ; a state of disease
which is much more commonly referrable to
a condition of irritation of the brain, than of
the local organ of sense. And even supposing
the disorder to be confined to the proper or-
CHAPTER XIII. 251
gan of sense, it will by no means follow that
the sensation is lost ; since that organ may be
subjected to many varieties of irritation ; and
it will much more frequently happen, that its
function shall be unduly excited, or that it shall
be perverted, even to such an extent as to give
rise to unreal impressions by its excessive ac-
tivity, than that the sensation should be lost.
Moreover, this hyper-activity and perversion
do very generally result from primary irritation
of the brain, to which these impressions are
communicated; and the result is, that sensorial
illusions are not infrequent under such circum-
stances. Now it has been stated, that appari-
tions are intellectual illusions, proceeding from
an irritated intellectual organ : consequently,
the analogy of sensorial disease is strongly in
favour of the position assumed in the present
Essay.
That these sensations may be lost and re-
stored, perverted and adjusted, excited and
depressed, and this in frequent alternation, is
borne out by every-day facts : and nothing is
more common than the fluctuations between
melancholy and excitation. The history of
A. B. will illustrate this position. For many
years his life has been passed in these succeed-
252 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
ing changes, not in rapid and sudden transition,
but insensibly gliding into the one or the other
form, exactly in proportion as the brain has
been in a state of slight, moderate, or high ex-
citement; or in the opposite condition of failing
energy, oppressive languor, or absolute col-
lapse : so that, perhaps, there can scarcely be
said to have been one day in which the organ
of mind has been free from morbid action ;
and, therefore, not one day in which its mani-
festations have been perfectly correct. Now
the state of these manifestations may always
be predicated from the more or less morbid
brainular action, varying from the highest de-
gree of bustling activity, and excessive interest,
to the most perfect indisposition for action,
and want of interest in every object. In the
former case, there is the most unconquerable
vigilance ; in the latter, an equal tendency to
sleep, which is rather courted than resisted,
in order to escape from the oppressive tedium
of existence. In the former there exists a
high susceptibility to impression ; in the latter,
scarcely any possibility of receiving it: in
both cases will be found perversion of sensorial
influence. This patient will appear towards
the close of our Essay, as having seen appari-
CHAPTER xrii. 253
tions ; thus once more leading us back to the
cerebral origin of these supposed spiritual
creations.
Again : the existence of spiritual beings is
not denied — very far from it ; — neither is it a
question as to their functions : the real point
in discussion is not this ; but, Whether certain
apparitions, which have often been referred to
spiritual agency, may not be accounted for
more truly on another principle ?
It is allowed on all hands, that spiritual be-
ings are not cognizable by the corporeal eye ;
their existence, therefore, cannot be demon-
strated, and must be received as a matter of
faith. Now on this view of the subject we
rest our belief: not, surely, on the treacherous
foundation of merely human testimony, but on
the sure word of God, which reveals to us the
attributes and offices of the Holy Spirit, the
Comforter and Sanctifier of the people of God ;
and also speaks of good and evil spirits, — the
former sent forth to minister to the heirs of
salvation, the latter busied in alienating the
soul from God, and tempting it away, by the
voice of its own lusts, from the paths of religion
and holiness. But of the mode of their access
to the mind, or of their agency upon it, nothing
is revealed. Certain, however, it is, that so
254 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
far as we know any thing of the functions of
these spiritual existences, they differ in their
essential character, and in every particular at-
tribute, from modern apparitions. And since
the latter do not usually lead to any beneficial
result, or indeed to any result at all, we believe
them to differ in their nature from the com-
missioned or permitted messengers of God's
holy will. Therefore, as some instances of
these alleged supernatural appearances have
been distinctly traced to certain phenomena of
bodily agency, we hold it to be most logical,
most consistent with sound reasoning, most
agreeable to revelation, and most honourable
to God, to ascribe other unknown, but analogous
and extraordinary phenomena, to a similar
cause ; and for this plain reason, that it is un-
necessary and unwise to call in the aid of su-
pernatural power, when a peculiar morbid state
of the body will abundantly explain, for the
most part, this supposed spiritual agency.
We must not reject this explanation, because
it may not solve all the difficulties of the sub-
ject. Is there scarcely any natural problem of
which we can unravel all the intricacies of ac-
tion and passion, and motive and influence ?
Further, if we cannot explain how the bud of
the future year is perfected in the autumn of
CHAPTER XIII. 255
the present; how it is preserved, and in due
time resumes its activity, expands its leaves,
produces its flowers, and matures its fruits ;
is it surprising that we cannot develop all the
laws of the finest and most complicated portion
of the living machinery — the brain? Let us
not be infatuated, and led away by high-sound-
ing prejudice ; but let us dwell in adoring
gratitude upon the goodness and power of that
Supreme and Holy Being, who has thus wisely
constructed, and thus essentially protected, so
delicate an organ from disease and injury, that
its morbid associations, when they do occur,
are looked upon with a vague and fearful in-
terest, or an ignorant apprehension, which in-
vests them with attributes they do not possess;
and which induces many to call in the opera-
tion of spiritual influence, which they cannot
explain at all, to account for a natural morbid
state ; which is in part explicable upon natural
principles, but of which we cannot fathom all
the peculiarities.
But again : the writer above alluded to goes
on to remark, that ther^ may be other disorders
or alterations " in one or more of the senses,
not of common occurrence, which do not, as in
the usual cases of disease, strike out existing
objects from the cognizance of the mind ; but
256 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
which present to its view existing objects,
which, in the healthy or usual state of the
organs, are not perceived."
Now this argument assumes a point as set-
tled, which might well be questioned ; namely,
the existence of apparitions as spiritual objects.
For although we have allowed, and do verily
believe in, the existence of spii^itual beings, yet
we have carefully distinguished between these
and the common alleged apparitions. But
leaving this objection, let us ascertain the
exact meaning of the writer before us, which
appears to be this : That as in the common or
healthy state of the senses, or of the brain
upon which these depend, man is unable to
perceive spiritual objects ; so there may be
some disordered or altered condition of that
organ, or some changed mode of their function,
which shall give them the capacity of perceiv-
ing that which, in their normal relations, was
withheld from their notice by the physical
structure which encompassed them.
But if so, it should seem that a deviation from
perfect action, that is, a morbid state, is sup-
posed to be necessary for the perception of spi-
ritual objects ; and since the state of health is
the most perfect state, it follows, that an im-
perfect, or altered, or diseased condition of the
CHAPTER XIII. 257
brain, is necessary to the perception of these
spiritual beings : so that the point in dispute
is granted to a certain extent, or at least, it is
resolved into this form. Whether apparitions in
general be the creation of a peculiar mode of
cerebral irritation ; or whether apparitions, be-
ing real spiritual existences, this peculiar irri-
tation is necessary to their perception.
Now if it be thus granted, that a morbid
state must exist, it will surely be much more
consonant with reason, and with our experi-
ence of the Divine government, that intel-
lectual and sensorial illusions should be the
production of irritated brain, rather than that
disease should be produced in order to confer
an additional power upon the brain, to enlarge
its faculties, and to enable it to receive notices,
which could in no other way be obtained. If
the contrary position were assumed, who is to
decide the kind and degree of this morbid state
which may be necessary to confer the requisite
additional power ? and who is to distinguish be-
tween this morbid state and many forms of in-
cipient insanity ? That a morbid state exists, is
allowed by all ; that this state is produced in
order to confer the power of supernatural vision,
is assumed by the writer of the paper on which
1 am commenting ; that it is in itself the cause
258 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
of alleged supernatural appearances, is con-
tended for by the present essayist: and the
issue is by him securely left to the decision of
every unprejudiced mind.
That portion of the Sacred History to which
the above-mentioned writer refers, (** And
Elisha prayed and said. Lord, I pray thee, open
his eyes that he may see. And the Lord
opened the eyes of the young man, and he
saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of
horses and chariots of fire, round about Elisha,"
2 Kings vi. 17,) is, throughout, the account of
a miraculous interference of the God of Provi-
dence for the preservation of his servant and
prophet. But we know that the age of mira-
cles has ceased, and we do not now expect
them ; any reasoning, therefore, which is
founded upon such a presumption, is clearly
untenable, and contrary to the usual course of
God's moral government of the world.
Further, there appears at the present hour
to be an irritable dread of scepticism, as con-
nected with this question. Now I believe that
a tendency to scepticism exists, but not in the
way which has been supposed. The human
heart inclines to practical infidelity ; it longs to
forget its accountability ; and it desires to live
without God in the world. In this awful state
CHAPTER XIII. 2$(^
of alienation from God, it will prove a soothing
and consolatory reflection, if it can be brought
to believe that the existence of spiritual beings
can only be perceived during the prevalence of
a peculiar mental state, over which it has no
kind of influence ; because it will naturally say,
that other manifestations of mind of a morbid
character may be placed to the score of some
other mental irritation, equally dependent upon
supernatural agency, and equally involuntary ;
and thus moral responsibility is destroyed ;
and disbelief of revelation treads very closely
upon the footsteps of this fatal delusion. But
if man's accountability be upheld, and the su-
premacy of his own will be maintained, and
these supernatural appearances be accounted
for as the result of brainular action, after it has
been separated from the control of the presid-
ing mind, by a physiological action, such as
sleep; or by a pathological condition, such as
impending disease, he finds no way of escape
for himself, and is brought back to the koli/ law
of God which he has broken, and to the con-
sequences which have flowed from its infrac-
tion.
Many excellent persons are afraid of the
liberality of the day, anri of the assumed expan-
sion of intellectual manifestation with which it
s 2
260 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Stands connected. It is with them almost a
proof of heterodoxy, if sentiments like the
above are avowed : and to impugn the long re-
ceived opinions as to the reality of apparitions,
is placed to the account of a restless desire to
be over-wise, and to explain natural phenomena
without the intervention of a superintending
Providence. But this is unfair, and inconse-
quential: for the more intimately we become
acquainted with the rationale of the operations of
God in the works of nature, the more must the
heart be affected with the wisdom, and know-
ledge, and power, and goodness, and love,
displayed in the endless and exquisite contri-
vances of his infinite mercy ; and the more will
it rest with confidence on the moral agency of
this all-perfect Being, and be prepared to serve
him with full purpose of heart, and to receive
with meekness and obedience the revelation of
his will.
On the contrary, it requires the most inordi-
nate stretch of imagination, to believe all the
histories of apparitions with which our ears are
assailed. Yet if the correctness of one tale be
admitted, it will naturally be asked, why not
believe all, since all rest upon the same basis,
namely, human testimonu,? This basis, however,
unless where the testimony is full, and above
CHAPTER XIII. 261
the possibility of mistake or error, is not a safe
foundation for belief, since it is liable to be
acted upon by so many prejudices, that its re-
sults are often erroneous, and demand the
closest scrutiny. That is a species of spurious
charity which affects a great degree of tender-
ness for the reports of individuals so circum-
stanced, while it estimates as very little worth
the explanations of reason and science; and the
declared experience, not of those who have
never seen apparitions, but of those who,
having seen them as much as their more credu-
lous neighbours, have not been deluded into a
belief of their reality, but have been enabled to
account for them upon physical principles.
Surely the voice of reason and reflection,
aided by the experience of the great majority
of mankind, and supported by the known laws
of physical temperament, as they affect the
manifestations of mind, deserve an equal share
of attention with the clamours of the illiterate,
and the representations of the prejudiced few,
in whom predominant fear has superseded the
sober realities of life, and converted the effects
of a morbid brainular condition, into an imagin-
ary creation, which, by its hold upon the feel-
ings, and by its powerful appeal to the passions,
has carried the mind out of itself, has cast
"26*2 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
away the anchor of sober reasoning, and has
placed it in an ocean of conflicting elements,
where it has ceased to be mistress of its own
actions, and where it has yielded the helm of
thought to the direction and government of the
fancy.
And when to this part of the argument is
added the fact, that the existence and agency
of a supreme Superintending Power, is not
called in question, but that his ways are jus"
tified, surely a very strong case is made out in
favour of the hypothesis, that the supposed spi-
ritual agency is for the most part ascribable to
the action and operation of physical causes.
And yet such is now the case. The providence of
God is universally diffused ; and so far as we
can trace its ways, we find its actions governed
by some Jixed principles^ and operating through
the medium of natural means : therefore we do
not expect an interference with the ordinary
course by which he governs nature, except
upon some occasion which would be of suffi-
cient importance to account for such a devia-
tion.
In the moral government of the universe, we
find the same employment oi moral means. The
moral law is promulgated as the will of God
for the guidance of his creatures ; and grace
CHAPTER XIII. 263
and strength are promised to those who seek
them; the Holy Spirit to those who ask; the
power and blessing of the Most High to such
as diligently wait upon him in the way of his
appointment. Then again, a great reward is
promised to the righteous, to those who keep
his laws, not as an act of merit, but as they are
enabled to do so by the grace and strength
vouchsafed in the employment of the prescribed
means. The mansions of the blessed are pre-
pared for those who hear the voice of the Great
Shepherd, obey and follow him ; the crown of
glory is given to him that overcometh ; the wel-
come reception of ** Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world," is reserved
for those who had given food to the hungry,
and drink to the thirsty ; and had received the
strangers and the houseless, clothed the naked,
visited and succoured the sick and the wretched,
and had extended aid to every form of misery,
not simply to that which obtruded itself upon
their notice, but which was by circumstances
concealed from view. ** Inasmuch as ye have
done it," says Christ, '* unto one of the least of
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Again, they who appear with white robes,
with palms in their hands, are they *' who have
%
^
264 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
come out of much tribulation, and have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb ; therefore are they before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in
his temple." God is a God of love, infinite in
compassion, and of tender mercy ; his invita-
tions and urgent entreaties to sinners to turn
unto him are unbounded. But in all these in-
stances an appeal is made to the moral constitu-
tion of mans mind. And it is evident, that the
Almighty long-suffering Jehovah sees fit to act
rather upon the hopes than the fears of his crea-
tures, so that the denunciations of his ven-
geance are only upon the finally impenitent.
Yet no mention is made of supernatural agency;
of deviations from the ordinary course of nature,
or the revealed will of God ; or of spiritual in-
fluence, except through the medium of moral
means, and providential circumstances.
It is upon these that the mind should be
fixed for the purpose of extracting a lesson of
usefulness : here are to be found every where
the traces of a supreme and Superintending
Power of infinite goodness, and wisdom, and
mercy ; it is here that the ways of God to man
are justified, and that he is left without excuse,
if he refuses to receive Christ, and to obey his
laws ; whereas, if the reins be once given to
CHAPTER XIII. 265
imagination, every kind of alleged supernatural
influence must be admitted; every variety of
vision, all the Protean forms of dreaming, every
supposed apparition, all the voices that have
ever been heard, all the chosen offspring of
enthusiasm, all the unexplained lights and
shades, all the contentions of good and evil
spirits for the mastery, and every other creation
of superstition, must be received as spiritual
agents ; the mind is lost in the wildest and
most unlimited speculation ; and, to say the
very least, it has no means of judging whether
the apparition has been produced to answer a
good end, or only to deceive through the malig-
nant influence of the arch-fiend.
Besides, so many instances have occurred in
which no conceivable good could have been
produced, that we are justified, even on this
ground, in believing that such supernatural
agency, or rather supposed agency, is incon-
sistent with the ordinary course of God's most
perfect providence, and therefore is not lightly
to be believed. When, moreover, a natural ex-
planation can be found, for that which is not
conceivable without much difficulty upon any
other principle, it is the duty of the Christian,
humbly to accept such explanation ; especially
when it off'ers a beautiful exposition of how far
266 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
the spiritual principle is modified in its mani-
festations, by the debasing influence of that
primeval Fall, which separated man from his
Maker, and occasioned the loss of the image of
God upon his heart; by which he became "very
far gone from original righteousness," and " the
servant of sin."
So far then from impugning the wisdom, res-
training the power, or limiting the agency of
Omnipotence, by withdrawing it from the sha-
dowy wand of superstition, his perfect know-
ledge, and his holy operation, are vindicated
from the unhallowed creations of mortality ;
the vagaries of imagination are distinguished
from the suggestion of his Spirit ; the influence
of the Word of God, and of that unwritten
word which is found in the heart and conscience
of every man, is defined and separated from
those words, and that influence, which result
from a disordered state of the animal fibre.
Hope and fear, joy and sorrow, desire and love,
obedience and transgression, are snatched from
the dominion of supernatural influence, and are
placed on a just basis ; namely, the grace of
God, which bringeth salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ, revealed to us by his word, and
by his providence, and received or rejected by
the sinner.
CHAPTER XIII. 267
In fact, thei/ only impugn the power of Omni-
potence who question the agency upon spiritual
mind, of its organic medium of manifestation ; and
who doubt, nay deny, that disorder of this
material medium may be, or rather must be,
followed by defective, or excessive, or perverted
manifestation; who deny, in fact, that primary
or sympathetic irritation of the brain is insuffi-
cient to account for the appearances in ques-
tion ; as if it were not in the power of Almighty
God, to make as it hath pleased him an organ
for this very purpose, and for the reception and
communication of moral cause and effect. Let
the humble and sincere Christian constantly
lift his heart in adoration and gratitude to that
beneficent Creator and Lawgiver, who preserves
from disorder a function of such exquisite deli-
cacy, and possessed of such fearful interest.
CHAPTER XIV.
V
Influence of nitrous-oxyde gas on the brain ; — agency of bel-
ladonna, stramonium, opium, hemlock, fox-glove, &c. —
Various illustrative cases. — Influence of several mental
excitants in the creation of apparitions.
The influence of the nitrous-oxyde gas has been
alluded to in this discussion, and it has been
represented as capable of producing a state of
the cerebral system, peculiarly favourable to
the production of so-called apparitions. And
this is true to a certain extent, inasmuch as it
occasions that incipient morbid action which
has been shown to be prolific of spectral visions
and imaginings : but the more important truth
has not been mentioned ; namely, that the
effect of this article varies according to the
peculiarity of physical temperament, or to the
varying condition of that temperament at the
moment.
CHAPTER XIV. 269
Thus it affords an excellent exposition of two
principles ; first, as to the creation of appari-
tions, and unreal images, from a cause operating
exclusively on the brain and nervous system ;
and next, that the specific character of these
images, arising from the same source of cerebral
irritation, will vary according to the expression
of predominant constitution ; or to its fluctuating
state at the time of receiving the morbid sti-
mulus; nay more, that, the peculiar tempera-
ment of the individual being given, the precise
effect may be calculated beforehand.
Now the effect of inhaling the nitrous-oxyde
gas will differ upon half a dozen specimens of
the same creature, man. One shall be out-
rageously joyous and happy ; another shall be
excited to the most incredible muscular efforts,
till he sinks subdued by exhaustion ; a third
shall exhibit the common symptoms of intoxi-
cation, after the first effects of alcoholic sti-
mulus have passed ; a fourth will lose all power
of volition and apparent consciousness, will
seem abstracted from this world, and will tell
of blissful visions ; and a fifth will sink into a
state of stupid reverie, from which it is impos-
sible to recal him, and from which he wakens in
total oblivion of the interval between inhaling
the gas, and his return to consciousness ; and all
270 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
these varying effects will have been produced in
a few seconds.
Moreover, in all these variations of morbid
action, there may be, according to the peculiar
excitation or depression of the brainular system,
the creation of unreal images or apparitions,
which shall be presented to the patient with all
the energy and vividness of truth. And further,
this state is exceedingly transient^ and will soon
give way to a languid condition, arising from
the feebleness consequent upon morbid excite-
ment ; and presently, to the resumption of the
usual mental manifestations. But, if we trace
all these effects to the influence of one physical
agent operating upon the brain, and if we know
that there are others of a similar, though not
identical nature, it is not difficult to conceive
that there may be other morbid states which will
concur in the production of this particular in-
fluence. We shall here mention an illustration
or two of this position.
A. B. had been taking the extract of bella-
donna (deadly nightshade,) for a painful affection
of the nerves of the face. After a few doses had
been exhibited, I was surprised one morning,
on finding this lady conducted into the room by
her servant, because she could not see : the pupil of
her eye was dilated to the utmost, the retina
CHAPTER XIV. 271
paralysed, and natural vision destroyed. Yet
in this case, varying forms of exceeding loveli-
ness and beauty, in quick and rapid succession,
were presented to the mental contemplation.
This effect was transient, and soon gave way
to appropriate treatment ; and moreover, my
patient was a lady of great intelligence, and
was aware of the cause of these appearances :
but had she possessed a contracted mind, or
been ignorant or doubtful as to the physical
influence under which she laboured, the appa-
ritions would have been pronounced superna-
tural; and the simplest accidental brainular
phenomena would have been dignified with an
importance, which ought in justice to be re-
served for proper occasions, but which in this
case would have been constituted an object of
superstitious hope, or fear, or reverence, accord-
ing to the peculiar physical temperament of
the patient, and the coincident predominance
of cheerful, gloomy, or serious modes and
habits of thought and action. Finally, let it
be remarked, that in proportion as this morbid
state subsided, the visions disappeared, and
were completely gone when the optic nerve had
thoroughly regained its power.
C. D. under the influence of stramonium,
related to me the delight he had experienced
272 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
from the cessation of pain, from its soothing
agency, but detailed, as a great inconvenience
attending its employment, the numberless and
grotesque forms and images with which he had
been as^iled during the night; these having
become onerous from their constant repetition,
and often disagreeable from their horrible gri-
maces. A similar effect has been observed
from digitalis, aconite, solanum tuberosum,
hyosciamiis, opium, and other narcotic medi-
cines. With regard to opium, its influence in
the production of unreal images of persons and
things, has been well described in the " Con-
fessions of an Opium Eater;" a little pamphlet,
which, with much to blame, and much that is
fanciful, enthusiastic, and sinister about it, pos-
sesses the merit of being for the most part true
to nature, and particularly as it respects the
unreal world, into which the miserable patient
is supposed to have been plunged by its opera-
tion.
The case of E. F. is an example of a very
frequent state, that of a young person in the
last stage of consumption, who on her death-
bed became the subject of many blissful visions,
when under the influence of the physical effects
of opium. It has been before remarked, how
greatly the associated manifest ations of mind
CHAPTER XTV. 273
are characterized by the peculiar organ which
forms the point of irritation to the brain ; and
it has been mentioned, that in consumption of
the lungs, the passion of hope generally predo-
minates, and clings to the patient, even to the
last expiring gasp, if the morbid actions be
confined to that viscus ; and then it is, that an
excited state of the brain will occasion the pro-
duction of angelic forms, which would have
been exchanged for, or associated with, demons
or other apparitions of terrific mien, had the sto-
mach or liver been the primary source of mis-
chief, or had disorder of these latter organs
been combined with disease of the former.
The case just referred to was ascribed to super-
natural spiritual agency ; but it had clearly a bo-
dily origin, and should have no weight with us in
forming our estimate of the character, or in
drawing our inferences of support under the
trying circumstances of dissolution. The ex-
cellence of a truly consistent, and eminently
pious, though highly susceptible, and perhaps
enthusiastic patient, who *' being dead, yet
speaketh," will afford to surviving mourners a
more substantial ground of consolation, than
the questionable manifestations of mind, under
the influence of organic irritation, failing power,
and medicinal agency.
T
274 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
A somewhat analogous instance is related in
" Past Feelings Renovated," as an extract from
" Foreign Scenes and Travelling Recreations,"
by Mr. Howison, in which the extraordinary
state of the nervous system is traced to the
influence of tobacco fumes : and this is followed
by the history of a German student, who volun-
tarily subjected himself to the agency of hem-
lock, foxglove, deadly nightshade, and other
narcotic herbs, for the purpose of obtaining the
enjoyments arising from the *' flood of ideas and
images of the most vivid, wonderful, and tremen-
dous description ;" which resulted, as he sup-
posed, from having ** partaken of a superhuman
state of existence," but, in reality, from irrita-
tion of the brain.
Only let these facts be duly and dispassion-
ately weighed, and it will be impossible to re-
sist the conclusion, that alleged supernatural
appearances and visions may be produced by
the employment of medicine, occasioning a
peculiar influence upon the brain ; this action
partaking of the nature of disease, — in other
words, becoming cerebral irritation. But if so,
it will follow, that many phenomena usually
ascribed to spiritual agency may be more cor-
rectly shown to be depending upon a peculiar
condition of the body, especially of the brain.
CHAPTER XIV 276
Nor is this extraordinary : for since this vis-
cus is the appointed organ for the manifestation
of mind ; since, as such, it is subjected to the
general laws affecting organic life ; since sin
introduced death, and therefore, also that state
of disease which, by its slow and successive
accumulations, leads to the dissolution of life ;
since general death results from the prior decease
of one particular organ, which associates with
itself all the other organs of the body ; and
since the death of any one organ of the body
will always be preceded by primary or sympa-
thetic irritation of the brain ; it will follow that
every morbid state is really a result of the sad
change which has passed upon all men ; and
that every morbid state affecting the organ of
mind, will disturb its functions ; so that the
manifestations of the brightest intellect, or of
the holiest soul, may be impeded, deranged,
suspended, or stopped in death, by the irri-
tation of its material medium of communication.
This point of doctrine is shown by the fol-
lowing remarkable history : —
X. Y. Z. about two years since became the
subject of moral causes, which harassed him
exceedingly, and which for a considerable time
kept up continued irritation of the brain. He
wanted peace of mind, and his health was un-
T 2
276 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
dermined. It should be premised, that X.Y.Z.,
though perhaps what the world might not term
a very faulty character, was at this time very
far below the standard of Christian morality,
and that in fact much of his present annoyance
arose out of his neglect of the commands of
God involving him in situations of difficulty.
One night, after retiring to rest, with these dis-
turbing causes weighing upon his mind, and
also certainly ?iot well, he was awakened by the
impression of hearing a conversation in the
next house, which related to himself, and to
the peculiar object of his lengthened solicitude ;
these also were associated with circumstances
of a highly distressing character. He endea-
voured, by getting up, to ascertain the truth
of his impression : all was quiet in the next
house, and the stillness of night rested upon
its inhabitants : he returned to bed, but again
heard the same voices. The remainder of the
night was passed in no very enviable condition,
and he went to his duties in the morning. As
the day wore away, and he was about to re-
turn to his abode, the voices became loud, and
threatening destruction to himself; so that he
was afraid of returning home, lest he should
have been torn in pieces : his head felt as if on
fire ; and finally, in order to escape from these
CHAPTER XIV. 277
supposed enemies, he fled into the country,
and wandered the whole night through the
fields, and returned to the town where he
dwelt, the next or the following day, but not
to his own home ; he obtained a lodging for
the night elsewhere. Before the usual hour
of rising in the morning, these voices informed
him that the house of a friend was to be burned
down, and he hastened with all the eagerness
of irresistible impulse to acquaint him with the
event. Here, however, he was kindly taken
care of, and the attack subsided in a few days.
At this time, X. Y. Z. was not under the
influence of religious motive or impression ;
and indeed, as has been stated^ his conduct
was not strictly consistent even with the out-
ward requirements of the Decalogue. A little
afterwards, and when again he was conscious
of being more particularly poorly, he took a
walk to (I suppress particular references),
and was hurried into the fields by an impulse
he knew not how to controul. Here a voice
proclaimed to him, as from the clouds, that the
millennial reign of Christ on earth had com-
menced, and that in that very spot the city of
redemption would be built. At this time, he
saw the forms of many whom he believed to be
the happy spirits of the dead. He was directed
278 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
to kneel down and say his prayers, which he
did. He was told to be charitable^ and he
obeyed this command by indiscriminately giving
away the money he had in his pocket, to a
crowd of persons upon the road, which his ex-
traordinary manner had gathered round him.
On the same occasion, he was directed to re-
pair to a heath at some distance from his abode,
to meet the spirit of his father, at eleven o'clock
that night. He attended also to this summons,
but when there, be began to consider the late-
ness of the hour, and that he would be unable
to return to his lodgings, and must pass the
night upon the heath ; and the voice told him
it was enough, and that he might return home.
At another time, he was told to read his
Bible, to go to church, and to be more atten-
tive to religious duties, and he was so for a
short time only ; for this effect soon passed
away.
On a late occasion, he again heard the voice
as from heaven, assuring him that his sins were
forgiven ; and indeed it has pleased God of his
infinite mercy, to effect (by means of affliction)
a most happy change in his life and conversa-
tion ; his views are well defined ; and his mo-
tives and conduct are irreproachable, while his
only hope for safety is in Christ.
CHAPTER XIY. 279
X. Y. Z. now became a most diligent student
of the Bible, and considers that he every where
finds proofs in support of his manner of ac-
counting for these impressions. He often hears
the voices of deceased relatives and friends,
and recognizes them by the sound. He con-
stantly hears his own thoughts repeated by
voices in the air. Upon the whole, these
voices have exerted a beneficial influence
upon him, and have generally told him to do
what is right, and to avoid what is wrong. But
this has not always been the case : and there
seem to him to be two kinds of voices, and that
these are opposed to each other ; the one teach-
ing him to do what is right, the other assailing
him by contradictions, and by the most horrid
imprecations ; so that he conceives himself to
be the subject of contention between good and
evil spirits, for the mastery over him ; and in
confirmation of this view, he appeals to the
change wrought in him, as evidence of the
supreme power of Christ. These voices some-
times proceed from the air, sometimes from
one part of the room, sometimes from another,
and sometimes from his own body. The air he
inhales appears to convey a sound, and to im-
press audibly, but to this there are no rational
words attached. When he is inclined to do
280 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
wrong, the good voice seems to warn him, and
to become troublesome ; and on the other
hand, there is an expression of conscious satis-
faction from well-doing. On one occasion, the
voice exhorted him to persevere in the Christian
course ; the opposing voice advised him to
hang himself: sometimes a sustained dialogue
will be kept up for a considerable time, and
the thoughts which are suggested appear to
him to be the production of another, not his own.
At some periods, the opposing voice is very
onerous and oppressive to him, and he becomes
irritable and disposed to quarrel with it; and
when this has been the case, he invariably
suffers for it, and the voice becomes more trouble-
some.
Moreover, X. Y. Z. often sees an appearance
in the air, as of a great number of eyes, and
evidently contemplates these as ministering
spirits. Some little time since, he was di-
rected to visit a gentleman, and to inform him
that his father's spirit had warned him to ac-
quaint his son, that the millennium had com-
menced, and to exhort him to be religious.
Again, he sleeps well for some hours on first
retiring to rest, and is not disturbed ; but
when he wakens he hears the voices, which
render him uneasy till he rises. There ap-
CHAPTER XIV. 281
pears to be a kind of dissatisfaction on the
part of these attendant voices, unless he gets
up ; and this has made him an early riser.
Finally, this patient, of whom only a very
feeble outline has been sketched, has remarked
that he hears voices more when his health is
disordered, and that they are more troublesome
during an electrical state of the atmosphere ;
facts which he has noticed notwithstanding
his own belief of the theological nature of his
case. I must make a few remarks on this
interesting case ; and shall notice,
First, its physical origin ;
Secondly, its happy influence upon the cha-
racter; and.
Thirdly, distinguish between this state, and
any instance of recorded analogous conversion.
1. The physical origin of this state is shown
by a consideration of its circumstances.
In its commejicement, there had been no an-
tecedent religious impression ; but, on the con-
trary, continued and distracting anxiety arising
from mental causes of a sinful complexion
This solicitude had pressed upon his bosom,
and had produced irritation of the nervous
system to such an extent as to undermine the
general health. Then, and not till then, he was
awakened from sleep {not impressed while awake);
282 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
during which state there naturally occurs a
certain degree of congestion in the vessels of
the brain, increased of necessity in the present
instance by the preceding irritation of that
organ, with the sound of voices, and a sus-
tained conversation relating to himself, and to
the situation on which he was placed. These
proceeded apparently from the next house ;
and he proved at once, so far as proof could
be obtained, that they were sensorial illusions.
In this state of the brain, however, when it has
escaped the controul of the presiding spirit,
the mind is not capable oi Jixing even upon de-
monstration, and therefore returns to its own
morbid trains.
The same state of cerebral irritation continu-
ing, he himself became the object of these
threatering voices ; he was afraid of returning
home; his head felt as if on Jire ; and in this
state of brainular excitation he wandered into
the country, and into the fields, without any
other object than to escape from this imaginary
destruction. He returned to town after a day
or two; and the same morbid action continuing,
another illusion (first also occurring during the
night) occupied his attention, accompanied by
the same eager, impulsive, characteristic de-
sire to secure his friend's escape from the
CHAPTER XIV. 283
threatened calamity. At this period of his
history, he was placed under medical super-
vision ; and by great quiet, cupping, and me-
dicine, this attack subsided in a few days. Up
to this time no particular turn had been given
to his views, and there is no room for supposing
supernatural agency.
The same causes of cerebral irritation still ex-
isting, and the health having again become more
disordered^ his malady assumed a new feature.
The same kind of irresistible impulse still at-
tended his actions ; but his views and feelings
now began to put on a religious character, —
yet with the same marked disturbance of the
brain and its functions ; witness the occurrences
at , and on the heath.
He hears the voices of deceased friends, and
recognises them by their sound, showing at once
the influence of a recollected impression, and also
proving the existence of a physical state of
brainular excitation. Again ; he hears his own
thoughts repeated by voices in the air, showing
once more the presence of sensorial illusion.
These voices sometimes proceed from different
parts of a room ; sometimes from the air ; and
at others from his own body : thus attaching
physical attributes to the supposed spiritual
284 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
agency, and again proclaiming sensorial illusion,
A modification of this same state, unattended
by articulate sounds, and arising from the at-
mosphere as it is inhaled, still further eluci-
dates the morbid susceptibility to sensation of
the nervous system. When he becomes irri-
table and disposed to quarrel with this trouble-
some voice, that is, whenever the brain is ad-
ditionally excited, the voices become more
troublesome. Again ; he occasionally sees an
appearance as of a great number of eyes in the
sky, supposing these to be ministering spirits J
thus retaining a physical form, but not requir-
ing their spiritual agency. Farther ; up to a
very recent period, he was warned to visit a
gentleman, and to inform him, by the desire of
his father's spirit, that the millennial reign of
Christ upon earth had commenced ; thus show-
ing a continuance of the original morbid trains,
and of the same impulsive character; only that
they are now modified by a mind deeply im-
bued with religious principles.
Lastly; he always hears the voices more
when his health is more particularly disor-
dered ; or during the existence of a highly elec-
trical state of the atmosphere.
Only let these circumstances be duly con-
CHAPTER XIV. 285
sidered,and surely none will doubt the physical
origin of these voices ; but should they do so
let them attend,
Secondly, to the happy influence of this
state upon the heart, and upon the character.
By what means was this effected ?
These circumstances of fearful impression
induced him to pause, and to consider, to look
back on his past life, and forward to futurity,
and the broken law of God ; and to listen to the
*' still small voice" of heavenly wisdom. Thus
it pleased God, through the influence of his
sorrows, to awaken him to a sense of his lost
and ruined state, and to enable him, by his
Holy Spirit, to lay hold of the hope, set before
him in the Gospel, of a crucified Saviour. But
the physical disordered manifestation still con-
tinuing, his impression of forgiveness arose,
not so much from the believing sense of an inte-
rest in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, as from
having heard it proclaimed from heaven that his
sins were forgiven. He had become the subject
of the converting grace of God ; he really be-
lieved in Christ ; felt that he was healed of the
plague of sin ; and this feeling was repeated in
common with almost all his thoughts by a voice
from heaven. From this time a real change of
heart and life had taken place; and he now
286 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
read his Bible diligently, and became, it is
trusted, a new man in Christ Jesus, renewed
by the Spirit of his grace.
Upon the whole, these voices have been be-
neficial to him ; but this has not always been
the case. Here, again, he who has begun a
good work, will carry it on until the day of
the Lord Jesus ; but the influence of remain-
ing corruption, acting also upon a state of ce-
rebral irritation, has tempted him to forget God,
and to commit sin ; and the Christian's struggle
between the influence of better principles im-
planted, and of evil principles not yet subdued,
has been going on : only that his morbid phy-
sical state has induced him to ascribe this to
peculiar spiritual agency, rather than to the or-
dinary operations of the Spirit of God, in the
heart of a sinner awakened, convinced, par-
doned, but still imperfect.
The approbation or reproof of an enlightened
conscience will sufficiently explain the uneasy
feelings produced by listening to the tempta-
tion to do wrong; and the strength obtained
for time to come by the successful wish and ef-
fort to do right, and to imitate the Saviour.
Thirdly ; it remains to show the distinctive
characters of this state, and a recorded instance
of miraculous conversion, lest some fearful
CHAPTER XIV. 287
Christian might suppose that that change upon
St. Paul might be referred also to physical causes,
and thus might be produced an apprehension
lest the records of Scripture should be im-
pugned. But the conversion of St. Paul was
miraculous. He was a chosen vessel unto God,
to bear his name before the Gentiles, and kings,
and the people of Israel ; therefore the perse-
cutor was arrested in his maddening course by
a voice from heaven, " Saul, Saul, why perse-
cutest thou me ?" And the effect was worthy
such an immediate interference of the all-pow-
erful Creator ; for he, trembling and astonished,
stood a monument of the power of Divine grace,
converted from the error of his way, and ex-
claiming, in the language of penitent and be-
lieving supplication, ** Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do ?" And the result of this mira-
cle was, that " straightway he preached Christ
in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God."
How essentially different in all its circum-
stances and effects are the two events ! In the
first place, though the conversion of a sinner is
at all times a miracle of Divine grace, the age
of miraculous conversion has passed by ; it is no
longer required ; the ordinary operations of the
Spirit of God, by his word, by his ordinances,
and by his providential arrangements, have su-
288 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
perseded the extraordinary operations of the
early ages of the history of the church of Christ ;
just as the ordinary ministers of the Gospel
have taken the place of the extraordinary mi-
nisters of the apostolic age. Such a deviation
from the ordinary course of God's moral go-
vernment is no longer required ; and therefore
an occasion for such interference has not been
established.
- But the objects of the alleged similar cases
were totally different; in the instance of St.Paul,
there was an immediate^ but rational, appeal to
the conscience of the persecutor, and a convic-
tion of sin, and a humble dependance upon
Divine grace as its consequence. In the case
now mentioned, there is no such rational con-
viction of sin, no revelation of an offended God
reconciled to rebellious man in the person of
Christ; no exhibition of the sacrifice of the
Saviour ; no invitation to look unto him and be
saved ; but a barren intimation that the millen-
nial reign of Christ upon earth had commenced^
instead of the application of the atoning blood
of Christ to the heart ; a communication that
there the city of redemption would be built,
instead of leading the sinner to the only city of
refuge, and bringing him to seek for the pardon
of his sins, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
CHAPTER XI\r. 298
Not only, therefore, is this narrative deficient
in those attributes which would constitute it a
divine agency, but it possesses evidences which
take it for ever from such a supposition. In
the first place, it wants the holy character of
im?nutable truth ; for however we may have the
happiness of living in the latter days of the
Christian church, yet, without entering upon
the question of the precise nature of the millen-
nial glory of Christ, it may be safely said, that
it has not commenced. Moreover the localiza-
tion of the " city of redemption," the new Jeru-
salem, is another evidence of this want of
truth ; and a proof that the supposed revelation
could not have been given by the God of Truth.
That it was entirely a physical state is shown,
in the first place, by this perversion of religious
truth ; by the preceding state of ill health; by
the foims of happy spirits which were seen on
this occasion, and which proved the brain to be
in that state of peculiar excitation in which ap-
paritions are seen ; and by the subsequent de-
lusive occurrences on the heath.
Once more : that this could not claim a di-
vine origin ; and consequently, that it has no
claim for comparison with the miraculous con-
version of St. Paul, is shown by the effects
u
290 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
which followed, as well as by those which were
wanting.
The effects which followed were, indiscrimi-
nate charity, and the interview with his father's
spirit. Now charity is a very proper evidence
of love to God, but then it must be as a fruit of
faith : and it will select its objects, so as to re-
lieve misery and promote the glory of God ;
not add to that desecration of his sacred name
and holy laws, which must arise from indiscri-
minate almsgiving to a multitude collected by
the strangeness of manner of the patient. Here
is the impulsive action of physical irritation —
not the humble seeking of the glory of Christ
by the new convert ; he was beginning with the
evidence rather than with the principle.
But again; he was warned to meet the
spirit of his father on the heath : and here,
probably from diminished cerebral irritation,
arising from fatigue, and still more perhaps
from the impression of cold air, he began to
consider the lateness of the hour, &c. ; and then
was told, that it was enough, and that he might
return home ; that is, he considered this in his
own mind, and then, by the physical delusion
which has followed him ever since, his own
thoughts were repeated to him from the clouds.
CHAPTER XIV. 291
and, as he verily then believed, were revealed
to him.
But the effects which should have followed,
and which were wanting, prove that it was not
a special exertion of divine power. It was not
followed by the conversion of the sinner ; for,
however this change occurred afterwards, under
the ordinary teaching of the Divine Spirit, and
in the use of the ordinary means of grace, it did
not result at that time from this supposed ex-
traordinary revelation : so that, if it were
allowed to be miraculous, the miracle would
have been produced without a corresponding
result ; the exertion of divine power would
have been in vain ; — a result so utterly incon-
sistent with reason and revelation, that we
may safely deny the premises which lead
to it.
And lastly : at another time, subsequent to
this, he was told to read his Bible, to go to
church, and to be more attentive to religious
duties — all which he did for a short time only ;
for this influence soon passed away, and he
remained indifferent, till really called by Him
who is mighty to save, and made willing in the
day of His power.
How earnestly, therefore, should the Christian
u2
292 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
strive against every physical and moral cause
which might occasion this perversion ; and
what a source of consolation should it be to
him under the impression of infirmities, against
which he daily and continually struggles, that
our omniscient Judge and Saviour knows our
frame, and is touched with the feeling of our
infirmities ; remaining always, under every
changing scene, the same unchangeable God;
" faithful to save," almighty to rule and com-
mand ! " For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our in-
firmities ; but was in all points tempted (triedN
like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, there-
fore, come boldly unto the Throne of Grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in every time of need."
But we proceed to state, that the histories of
apparitions may be accounted for on the princi-
ple of cerebral irritation arising from a morbid
impression, primarily made either upon the
viirid or the body.
First, upon the mind. — Some may be traced
to the influence of any dogma of superstitious
belief impressed upon the mental organ in
early childhood, and recalled in after life, under
circumstances of cerebral excitation, with an
CHAPTER XIV. 293
unwonted and unnatural degree of vividness.
It is probable that the recollection of an im-
pression is proportioned to its pristine inten-
sity ; to the attention which it receives at the
time, and to the manifold feelings with which it
is subsequently associated. And if so, Jirst
impressions are of the greatest consequence,
because their intensity is proportioned to their
novelty and freshness : they receive an undi-
vided attention ; and they operate upon a mind
unbiassed by prejudice, unsophisticated by the
cold and selfish calculations of after-life, and at
a time when mental manifestation is charac-
terized by the desire of sensation and by a cra-
vinsT after excitement.
Granting this to be the case, the impressions
of early childhood are of the first consequence :
because, although many years may have elapsed
since they were first made, and although after-
wards they may have apparently faded from
memory; still they will be revived by some
accidental association, and with all the energy
of first feeling : so that they will have acquired
a power over the judgment and the will, which
will stimulate these faculties to action, render
them unsafe guides to conduct, and prepare
them for the influence of morbid trains of
294 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
thought, and for the creatioQ of unreal images
of terror.
Besides, it is the nature of the organ upon
which these impressions are made, that they do
not weaken by the lapse of time, and by the
common effect of distance in diminishing influ-
ence; but that they re-appear with pristine
vigour, perhaps even with augmented power,
however long may have been the interval : and
therefore it is that the brain does not super-
sede the effects of early over-excitement.
A little friend of mine, not at all remarkable
for timidity of character, passes the commence-
ment of his nights in sleepless horror, from a
morbid disposition to the production of unreal
images. It is also remarked, that this horror is
greatly influenced by the character of his read-
ing during the preceding day. When this has
been powerfully excitant, especially if it has
been some interesting fiction, the tendency is
increased, and for the plainest reason : — the
mind has been engaged upon the absolute
creation of unreal images, and has been over-
excited ; all goes on tolerably well, so long as
the courage imparted by society, action, day-
light, and employment, operate in sustaining
the mind; but when these are abstracted, name-
CHAPTER XIV. 295
less fear predominates : and although he retires
to bed with the resolution of a hero, physical
irritability, terror, and cowardice, soon vanquish
a better principle ; and the result is, that the
phantoms of brainular creation drive him from
his pillow to the day-nursery, and to the pro-
tection of his attendants. And this is not a
singular instance, even within my own, mode-
rately extensive observation.
Who is there that has not listened with in-
tense interest to fairy tales — to tales of the
genii — enchanted castles — supernatural aid —
or the history of giants, — till he has expected
to find a ghost at his elbow, and has been
afraid to look behind him, from the apprehen-
sion of some unearthly visitant ; till he has
trembled at his shadow, or the sound of his own
motions ? Who is there that will not confess
to have experienced the excessive excitement
of works of fiction, — delighted, perhaps, in the
interest produced, — an interest amounting to
palpitation and breathless anxiety for some
imaginary distress? and yet who has not traced
that the effect of this excitement was to iimierve
him ? to predispose him to entertain and to
create situations of danger, and to people them
with imaginary beings, of unknown agency, and
immense though undefined power ? Let this
2% ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
operate as a warning against the indulgence of
an excessive and unhallowed taste for reading
of this description.
Fiction in general, nay, even religious fiction,
produces this effect upon the mind in the early
habit of creating imaginary personages. This
impression and its consequent habit, will never
be lost ; but in after-life, under favourable cir-
cumstances, will be recalled, and will form one
basis for the belief in apparitions. — A friend of
mine, very lately, and during the early stages
of the important discussion which has just so
happily closed on the subject of Catholic con-
cession, told me, that he had seen a lady in an
agony of terror , which had caused many sleep-
less hours, — not arising from a consideration
of the really fearful points of the question,
but from an actual injury inflicted upon the
sensorium in early life, by a sight of the ter-
rible pictures in the Book of Martyrs; the
recollection of which, with all its associated
horrors, was ready to be called up afresh
upon the first application of any exciting
cause. This law is sufficiently well known ;
and did we need a proof of this assertion —
the exhibition of a transparency setting forth
the burning of Bishop Latimer, during a recent
memorable electioneering contest, would be
CHAPTER XIV. 297
sufficient to show that this power of awakening
terrific images, after the days of childhood had
passed by, had not been overlooked by those
who had an object, doubtless in their view a
laudable one, to accomplish.
CHAPTER XV.
Influence of brainular disease on the function of volition : —
appearance of departed spirits to distant friends; — other
supernatural appearances ; — various illustrative cases.
I PROCEED to notice cerebral irritation arising
from bodily causes, as another source of spectral
appearances.
But before I advance further on the subject,
it will be desirable to mention two or three
instances of disordered mental manifestation^
particularly impairing the energ3" of the func-
tion of volition, and depending upon physical
causes.
A. B. possessed by inheritance what is
called a highly nervous or sensitive constitution,
that is, a system in which susceptibility to im-
pression largely predominates. For a moment
let the meaning of these terms be enquired
after. Do they mean that such was the nature
CHAPTER XV. 299
of the spiritual principle ; or do they exnress
some quality of the organ through which its
manifestations are perceived ? It is almost
an offence against the common sense of my
readers to ask the question, since the very terms
employed, lead the attention to a bodily origin.
Upon a mental and corporeal system thus con-
stituted, causes of anxiety, distress, and dis-
appointment began to operate, and to supply
a constant source of irritation; the bodily
health gave way ; prostration of strength and
loss of energy of volition were the consequence,
to such an extent as to amount, in the patient's
own expressive terms, " almost to a change of
nature" — the more painfully felt, because he is
aware of the necessity and duty of exertion.
A. B. has been subject to a white, dry
tongue in the morning — in fact, to the peculiar
tongue of cerebral irritation, to unrefreshing
sleep, and to a lassitude which unfitted him
for any exertion for more than half the day ;
he dreams a great deal, and instead of awak-
ing in peace, to a sense of activity, and to the
immediate possession of all his powers and
faculties, he is some time in shaking off un-
pleasant impressions, and teaching himself to
look to the cheerful side of circumstances.
The powers of digestion are feeble, and there
300 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
is often a peculiar craving, after taking food.
Doubtless these symptoms result from the
deficient supply of nervous energy to the sto-
mach ; but if we took the other view of the
subject, and considered the stomach as the
Jirst link in the chain of irritation, we should
still arrive intermediately at the same physical
origin of the disordered mental manifestation.
It is to be remarked also, that the disorder of
stomach is always in proportion to the call for
mental exertion.
The indications in the case of A. B. were to
attend to the general health, improve the di-
gestion, remove sources of irritation, JBnd re-
gular employment and exercise for body and
mind, and strengthen the function of volition,
so as to supersede that vacillation of the will,
which has been so strongly marked in a con-
stant changefulness of purpose. Sufficient
time has not yet been given to ascertain how
far this may be completely removable; but
as far as the experiment has been tried, it has
been attended by a flattering prospect of suc-
cess. This case admirably illustrates the na-
tural connexion between body and mind.
C. D. became the subject of a severe apo-
plectic seizure, which threatened his existence,
but from which he slowly and difficultly re-
CHAPTER XV. 301
covered. During his tedious convalescence,
he was affected with mental agitations of the
most terrific kind ; he was assailed by a variety
of delusive images ; he was haunted by the
presence of individuals which produced agony
of fear ; and he frequently called upon his at-
tendants to destroy him, or to furnish him with
the means of destroying himself. He slowly re-
gained his health of body and peace of mind ;
he is now, although feeble, as cheerful as is
his natural character, and cherishes existence
with the care of one who is sensible of the
value of the boon.
An objector will perhaps say, here was a
case of violent disease which will abundantly
account for the disordered manifestations of
mind. Yet if it be allowed, that in this in-
stance disordered manifestations of mind are
to be accounted for by the existence of cere-
bral disease, what perversion of i^easoning can
interfere with the conclusion, that other morbid
brainular states, of a less violent character,
may destroy the integrity and harmony of
mental operation ? Surely nonCy which does not
itself originate in disease! If it be granted that
cerebral disease does ever produce disordered
mental manifestations, nothing can supersede
the conclusion that it may do so always; al-
302 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
though man remains minutely responsible for
his conduct, because the brain is the servant of
t e spiritual principle, until disease has advanced
so far as to obliterate the power of reason and
volition ; and then insanity is produced.
Once more : E. F. has been subjected to
great alternations of high spirits, or of hypo-
chondriasis; and the latter state has been al-
ways accompanied with more or less disorder
of the general system. He has a prescriptive
title to cerebral excitement ; and his talents
have placed him in a rank of literary eminence.
During the period of depression, so different
was the aspect of circumstances, that he could
not believe they were the same as they ap-
peared to be, when the dark clouds were
rolled away and the influence of cerebral irri-
tation had subsided. He finds that beyond a
certain point he is not master of himself; he
dares not often trust himself to express merited
displeasure, lest he should become angry —
pass the point at which he ceases to controul
his actions and expressions, and should be
betrayed into a violence which he would after-
wards deplore. This has happened to him ;
and a disposition the most humane, mild, and
benevolent, has been goaded, in one of these
paroxysms, into acts the most abhorrent to
CHAPTER XV. 303
his reason, judgment, and conscience ; and from
reflection upon which he has cruelly suffered.
Under physical treatment conducted upon the
principles assumed in this essay, he has soon
regained the entire command over himself.
To resume the thread of my essay ; it has
already been shown that the brain is the organ
of the mind ; and that under certain circum*
stances of irritation it is liable to disordered
manifestations, so as to occasion various illu-
sions, and among others the appearance of
ghosts, and other alleged supernatural visita-
tions. My present position is, that under given
circumstances the brain ceases to be a perfect
organ for mental manifestation ; and that in
this state of imperfection it continues to act
on without the guidance of the presiding mind,
and so as to give rise to various appearances,
which have usually been attributed to super-
natural agency.
Perhaps the most important of these cases
are those, first, in which there has been sup-
posed to be the re-appearance of departed
spirits to distant friends, at the moment of the
dissolution of the connexion of mind with its
material tenement; and, secondly, those which
have been ascribed to the immediate inter-
vention of the Deity.
304 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Of the former class, it seems just to infer
that one established case in which the supposed
circumstances have taken place, but the death
of the party has not occurred, will be suflficient
to overturn the hypothesis ; because, if intended
by the Divine Power as a notice or warning of
the death of certain individuals, and therefore
permitted or appointed by that Providence, it
must be invariable, or it cannot form a portion
of the moral government of a Being of infinite
and immutable truth. Such a history is fur-
nished us in the narrative of the Rev. Joseph
Wilkins, published in the Record of September
2, 1828. [Having mislaid the paper, I quote
from memory, but I believe correctly.] It is
there stated, that Mr. Wilkins dreamed that he
paid a visit to his family at Abingdon ; that he
arrived in the night, and tried to obtain an en-
trance at the front door, but in vain ; that he
then went round to the back door, and, finding
it open, proceeded up stairs to his mother's
chamber, and addressed her; after this he
awoke, and perhaps would not have thought a
second time about his dream, but that on the
same night, and at the same hour, Mrs. Wilkins,
his mother, was awakened by some person en-
deavouring to obtain an entrance at the street-
door, but failing in doing so, she heard pre-
CHAPTER XV. 305
sently afterwards the back-door opened ; her
son came up stairs and addressed her in the
words before alluded to. So thoroughly con-
vinced was she that this was the usual sup-
posed appearance of departed spirits to their
distant friends, that a letter was written the
very next day to a friend of the Rev. Joseph
Wilkins, upon the presumption that he was
dead, to inquire particulars. The individual
who publishes this statement concludes by ob-
serving, that it may appear strange that the nar-
rator lived half a century after this circum-
stance, and " could never attribute any thing
that happened, which could apply to this plain
and simple matter of fact." — Strange indeed,
surpassing strange, it would have been, if viewed
ajs a spiritual communication ; but an extraordi-
nary coincidence only, if considered as resulting
from a state of cerebral irritation, existing in
two individuals of the same family, with simi-
lar constitutional predispositions, at the same
time. The fact, I am not disposed to deny,
may have happened ; its circumstances may not
be easy to explain : one thing, however, is cer-
tain— namely, that the supposition of coincident
cerebral irritation is possible; while that of a
heavenly agency, to produce a false impression^
painful and useless, upon the mind, is untenable,
X
306 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
nay, impossible. And if the inference from a
single instance of well-authenticated fact can
be thus proved to be false, the usual conse-
quence is subverted ; and then, the essential
character of the Divine proceeding being want-
ing— namely, truth and immutability — the effect
cannot be ascribed to an Almighty agency. The
position that such assumed appearances may
be ascribed to the evil spirit is equally unte-
nable, because it would be wanting in that cha-
racter of malignity, and that perversion of good,
which must attach to demoniacal influence.
The present seems to be a fit opportunity for
mentioning what has happened to G. H. a
lady, who many years since thought she saw
the children of a friend of her's, at some dis-
tance, in the grounds, in deep mourning, and
concluded that this was a warning of the de-
cease of her friend ; but no such consequence
followed. At another time, this same lady saw
her own coachman pass through her room
dressed in the usual habiliments of woe, and
her thoughts turned anxiously to her hus-
band, whose health was at that time preca-
rious ; but no occasion for mourning happened
in the family. This lady, it is true, was not
carried away by these appearances; but had they
happened to a person of a different mental
CHAPTER XV. 307
calibre, they would have been viewed as
mournful presages, and would have been con-
sidered as apparitions.
It is not many weeks since one of my patients,
who believed herself dying, and who was in fact
at that time in a very precarious state, accosted
me at my evening visit with the inquiry, — " Is
your dear little boy gone to heaven ?" The lit-
tle creature, to whom this question applied, had
been most dangerously ill, but was recovering,
and- 1 therefore stated he was better. ** Are you
(with great emphasis) ^mYe sure of that ?^ **Yes."
— " How long is it since you saw him ?" " Six
or seven hours." — ** Well, I cannot help think-
ing that he is gone, for he has been brought to me
this evening ; but he said he could not wait for me,
and fluttered his wings, and disappeared."^ It is
perhaps needless to remark, that this little pa-
tient has convalesced. The value of the narra-
tive consists in the complete illusion which was
thus produced, during a highly-excited state of
the nervous system ; inducing so firm a belief,
that it could not be superseded at the time. If
the death of the little boy had taken place at that
period, coincidence would have offered a suffi-
cient ground of explanation : but by all believers
in apparitions, it would have been quoted in
proof of the reality of appearance of those just
X 2
308 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
dead, to others who are living. As it really is, it
affords a beautiful illustration of the physical
origin of these morbid manifestations of mind.
But, secondly, the history of Colonel Gardi-
ner affords an example of our second division ;
and, indeed, it is perhaps one of the most ex-
traordinary upon record. The circumstances
are too well known to require recapitulation.
Yet let it be recollected, that the impression
resulting from this circumstance, however be-
neficial to the party, was immediately attended
by a most powerful influence upon the nervous
system, and was followed by very severe ill-
ness ; and, according to the views maintained
in this Essay, was produced by the approach of
that malady, through a peculiar, but not un-
common, agency, exerted upon the brainular
system during the incubation of disease.
That the brain is liable to illusory excitement
under such circumstances, is shown by the
well-known fact of the fallacious feeling of
high health, and comfort, and hilarity, which
often precedes, scarcely by an interval of five
minutes, all the miserable sensations of indi-
gestion, acidity, heart-burn, sinking, and
wretchedness, which accompany certain states
of disordered function of the stomach. Now,
if this acknowledged illusion be dependent
CHAPTER XV. 309
upon a slight disturbance of the general har-
mony of the system, can it be deemed extra-
ordinary that the approach of its more serious
and threatening invasions should be attended
by more important illusions, and more deeply
shadowed creations of a morbid brain ?
To this view of the subject it may be replied,
that in the instance of Colonel Gardiner it was
followed by the conversion of a sinner, and that
therefore it must have owned a supernatural
origin. But this is by no means a consecutive
result, and cannot be admitted in the argument.
For it is perfectly possible, and consistent with
all we know of the mysterious wisdom and
goodness of a God of order and of infinite mercy,
who works by the agency of means, that this
sickness, and the effect produced upon the
nervous system by its approach, should be
employed as the very means of arresting the
sinner in his headlong course of vice and widen-
ing alienation from God, and of recalling him
to better thoughts and principles ; awakening
him to repentance, to a sense of his lost and
ruined state, and to the only hope of salvation,
through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the only refuge for the convinced unpar-
doned sinner, the only means of obtaining peace.
In the order of God's providence, nothing is
310 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
more usual than that affliction, and especially
sickness, should be employed to accomplish
spiritual good, even the purposes of Divine
mercy towards the sufferers ; for we well know
how greatly the heart is softened and rendered
impressible by sorrow. Sometimes even wicked
men are permitted, unintentionally on their
parts, to bring about these designs ; at other
times, we become ourselves the authors of our mis-
fortunes, by our imprudence, or neglect, or vices.
God is not the author of evil, and does not
employ evil in his service. But the wicked
agents of their own desires and devices are per-
mitted, in following their own willSy to bring
about the designs of the Almighty. So, also,
impressions upon the nervous system, which
result from a physical influence, as well as the
calamity of insanity itself, may be overruled for
good, and may be instrumental to the convic-
tion and conversion of the sinner. And al-
though it is desirable for us to form just views
of these cases, it might not always be advisable
to combat opinions of this kind, where we found
them referred to a supernatural agency; pro-
vided always, that we could trace their holi/
influence upon the heart and conduct of those
who verily thought they owed their *• second
thoughts'' to some such special miracle. The
CHAPTER XV. 311
feverish heat of enthusiasm is certainly not to be
desired, but it is infinitely less to be deprecated
than the torpor of unbelief; that gloomy col-
lapse of action which scarcely admits of hope.
Still, enthusiasm is an evil, which admits of pre-
vention rather than cure; and the first of these ob-
jects forms the great purpose of the present Essay.
How delightful is the reflection, that all our
affairs are in the hands of such an omnipotent
and all-wise Jehovah, whose merciful designs
cannot be circumvented, and who deigns to
overrule for good even the wicked devices of
his rebellious creatures. Without, therefore,
the necessity of supposing any supernatural in-
fluence, we have a most rational explanation of
this mystery — one which enlarges our views,
and fixes them upon the infinite goodness of the
Almighty, who doth all things well ; instead of
upon a very questionable agency, which has
often been perverted to bad purposes.
Besides, a similar appearance has been often
made without being followed by a similar re-
sult. And if the Almighty should have con-
descended to employ this extraordinary revela-
tion in bringing about his designs of mercy, it
can scarcely be supposed that this can ever
have occurred without being followed by the
alleged consequence. For however, under
312 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
common circumstances, the sinner, in the hard-
ness of his heart, may resist the striving of the
Spirit in all ordinary means of impression, it
cannot be allowed that this would be the case
when a miracle — that is, an interference with
the customary laws of nature — had been pro-
duced for this express purpose ; for the Omni-
potent does nothing in vain. Now two cases,
very nearly similar to that of Colonel Gardiner,
have occurred in the experience of the writer
of these remarks, and the supposed consequences
have not taken place. They were the following:—
A farmer, in returning from market, was
deeply affected by a most extraordinary bril-
liant light, which he thought he saw upon the
road, and by an appearance in that light, which
he conceived to be our Saviour. He was greatly
alarmed, and spurring his horse, galloped
home ; remained agitated during the evening ;
was seized with typhus fever, then prevailing
in the neighbourhood ; and died in about ten
days. Be it observed, that on the morning of
the day of the supposed vision, he had com-
plained, before he left home, of head-ache,
languor, and general weariness. In fact, this
is only to be accounted for, rationally, by
supposing the existence of the nervous im-
pression preceding the open attack of severe
CHAPTER XV. 313
disease. It would be well if we would some-
times borrow caution from a heathen ; " Nee
Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus in-
cident." An analogous case has been related
to me, in which there was an appearance of
the evil one, and which was followed by severe
illness and death ; but as this has not happened
within the sphere of my own investigation, it
is merely mentioned as showing the frequency
of such impressions.
Another instance, but which was not follow-
ed by a fatal result, occurred in the case of
I. K., who has several times witnessed a lu-
minous appearance, only without a visible re-
presentation of any particular form. This has
happened almost immediately after going to
bed ; and although the individual may be said
to be free from superstitious fears, and religion
cannot bear the unjust blame of inducing them,
for he is hesitating on the subject of some of
the grand truths of Christianity; yet it has
been difficult, nay, impossible, to convince
him that the light was not real ; and that the
apparent vividness with which he saw every
surrounding object, although he was really in
the dark, was the actual result of recollected
impressions previously made upon the sen-
sorium, and now associated with the ocular
spectrum produced by a peculiar state of the
314 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
optic nerve ; that condition being the result of
disordered health, since upon all these occasions
the general health has been manifestly deranged.
Again : L. M. is a young gentleman, who
had for years been subject to paroxysms of
epilepsy, and, I apprehend too, of maniacal
hallucination. His history, so far as it fell
under my own observation, is shortly this.
He came into my neighbourhood for change
of air. He had been one day to visit a friend
of his, residing in a village a few miles distant,
and had left that house about eleven o'clock
at night. He did not return to his lodgings
until five the next morning, and then in a state
of great exhaustion, with his clothes in so wet,
and dirty, and disordered a condition, as in-
dicated that he must have spent a considerable
portion of the night upon the wild commons
with which this locality is surrounded. Be it
observed, that, on account of his head, he had
taken only one glass of wine ; so that the ex-
citement of intoxication is entirely out of the
question. His account of himself was, that
he had been met by a light of the most ex-
traordinary brilliance, in the centre of which
was a female form of exceeding beauty ; and
that he had followed this light, until, when it
finally disappeared, he found himself com-
pletely bewildered, and knew not where he
CHAPTER XV. 315
was. He then wandered about, until at length
he came to a cottage, and there remained, till
with the assistance of day-light and of the
cottagers, he found his way home.
Two days after this occurrence, I was sum-
moned in the night to see him, on account of
an extraordinary state of insensibility in which
he appeared to be, and of the impossibility of
his friends getting him to bed. I found him
in a paroxysm of ecstacy, with his Bible in his
hands, opened, and too firmly grasped to be
relinquished without the use of great violence ;
his eyes fixed on a particular part of the room,
with the utmost intensity of eager desire ; his
lips quivering in imaginary conversation ; his
feet cold, though it was a very hot night ; and
the head greatly heated with an accelerated
and excited circulation through its vessels.
This state was only the precursor of a regular
attack of insanity, which gave way, after a few
days, to cupping, leeches, blistering, cold ap-
plications to the head, mustard plasters to the
feet, the usual medicines, and rational treat-
ment of a mental and moral complexion. And
what do these circumstances prove, if they do
not show that these supposed supernatural
appearances are the result of disordered action
of the brainular system, arising for the most
part from the incubation of disease ? At least.
316 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
we have traced back several instances of the
kind to this peculiar condition of the nervous
system ; and it becomes the objector to show
why we may not argue from circumstances
which we can fathom, to analogous circum-
stances, which are beyond the reach of our
bounded vision, but which admit of easy ex-
planation upon this principle, while on any
other hypothesis they are wholly and entirely
inexplicable.
It is related, in the Memoirs of Pastor Ober-
lin, that there appeared nightly to the family
of one of his parishioners the ghost of an an-
cient knight, who gave information of a trea-
sure hidden in the cellar. Pastor Oberlin was
called in his ministerial capacity to witness
this appearance. It is needless to add, that
he could see nothing : but he very wisely ad-
dressed the supposed apparition in a com-
manding tone, desiring it to delude these poor
people no longer; and most prudently intro-
duced into his address the only legitimate
means of acquiring riches, by persevering
industry. The nocturnal visitor never again
appeared ; clearly showing that his pastoral
influence was enough to supersede the morbid
hallucination which had been produced upon
several brains, by the agency of that com-
munity of feeling and interest which exists
CHAPTER XV. 317
between the different branches of the same
family.
A young man, within the circle of my ac-
quaintance, was severely ill, and suffered large
loss of blood. This was succeeded by irregu-
larity in the distribution of that fluid, and the
head got an undue proportion ; the conse-
quence of which was an excited state of the
brain, and what he termed a happiness on
religious subjects, which rendered him full of
gratitude and hope. This was followed, in a
day or two, by his assertion that he had had
an extraordinary revelation from God, in which
he was called by name in an audible voice,
and had received a commission to teach and
preach by every means : in fact, a paroxysm
of insanity had set in. He burst into a rhap-
sodical, incoherent prayer ; laid his hands on
a little girl, and blessed her, as in the charac-
ter of our Saviour. The instant the Bible is
mentioned, he asserts that he no longer needs
it, because he has received a special revelation,
which supersedes its necessity ; — in itself an
abundant proof of the patient's delusion, and
showing, on the whole, the influence of phy-
sical causes in disturbing the manifestations of
mind. This patient is just dismissed conva-
lescent from a private lunatic asylum.
CHAPTER XVI.
The same subject continued. — Examination of some popular
histories of supernatural visitation ; — Lord Tyrone and
Lady Beresford ; — Lord Lyttleton, &c. &c.
In the prosecution of our argument, we now
advance a step further, and we assert, that if
these supernatural appearances be considered
as the commissioned agents of the Omnipotent
to convince the hardened heart, it is quite im-
possible to resist the conclusion that the same
agency has been employed as a weapon against
the spread of true religion in the world. But
it is impossible to allow that any portion of
God's providential arrangements can be directly
opposed to his most holy will: therefore an
event can never have occurred which would
involve this solecism : consequently the ap-
parition cannot be traced to spiritual agency,
without involving a tremendous absurdity;
CHAPTER XVI. 319
whereas, if it be considered as of bodily origin,
though its consequences may have been such
as, in the hands of a God of infinite grace, to
be sometimes rendered the means of stopping
the sinner in his maddening career, all is com-
prehensible, all is in keeping with the revealed
and ordinary methods of God's providence.
The instance to which I particularly allude,
is that of the well-known Lord Herbert of Cher-
bury, who, while meditating the publication
of his work. " De Veritate, prout distinguitur a
Revelatione verisimili, possibiliy eta /also;** and,
indeed, while hesitating as to the propriety of
publishing, what he knew would attach some
considerable odium to its author, prayed thus :
" O thou eternal God, Author of the light
which now shines upon me, and Giver of all
inward illuminations, I do beseech thee, of thy
infinite goodness, to pardon a greater request
than a sinner ought to make. I am not satis-
fied enough, whether I shall publish this book,
De Veritate : if it be for thy glory, I beseech
thee give me some sign from heaven ; if not,
I shall suppress it." He had no sooner spoken
these words, than a loud, though gentle, noise
came from the heavens; which so comforted
and supported him, that he took his petition
320 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
as granted, considered that he had the sign asked
for, and resolved to print the work in question.
Now, it is quite impossible to gainsay this fact,
since it rests on the same basis with others of
similar pretensions, though of an opposite cast
of character — namely, human testimony, which,
if admitted as evidence in the one case, must
also be allowed in the other.
It may indeed be said, that God overrules all
things for the promotion of his kingdom in the
world ; and therefore, that, as every event
redounds to his glory, this was among the
number. But it cannot be supposed that the
Almighty would actually commission an enemy
to the cause of truth to make an attack upon
that cause (which would ultimately triumph,)
for the purpose of obtaining a refutation ; al-
though he may have made the devices of man's
froward heart contribute, by His power, to
some real and substantial good, and to the set-
ting forth of his glory.
If, then, we separate these results in any one
instance from the immediate agency of God's
providence, so do we legitimately in others :
we estimate them aright; we refer them to a
peculiar state of morbid cerebral irritation ; and
the individual so acting is to be considered as
CHAPTER XVI. 321
entirely under a bodily influence, however he
may be deceived into a contrary opinion, by
feeling, prejudice, ignorance, or passion.
We have next to notice more particularly the
appearance of individuals to others, and espe-
cially of the dead or dying to their distant
friends.
We shall observe, that these appearances
occur in a disordered state of the brainular sys-
tem arising from bodily disease, or in the par-
ticular condition of that organ which results
from intense mental excitement. In either
case, there will be remarked a 'peculiar suscep-
tibility to impression of every kind, and a pre-
disposition towards the indulgence of emotions
of a painful character. But this is a morbid
state, not of the immaterial, indestructible spi-
rit, but of the organ through which its mani-
festations of action are made, by which its per-
ceptions are received, and its impressions are
conveyed. This may exist in a greater or less
degree, as will be best illustrated by the history
of some cases which have fallen under my own
observation.
A. B. had been blind for some years before
she discovered that she was constantly sur-
rounded by many bright and spiritual beings.
She acknowledged they were inoffensive, but
^22 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
their constant presence became troublesome.
It was useless to reason with her : her constant
appeal from the force of every argument em-
ployed was to demo7istration : *' See, sir; there
they are.'' No defined purpose for their ap-
pearance was ever ascertained. — In this case,
there was chronic disease of the brain, which
ultimately proved fatal, through the lengthened
shadows of declining reason, the gradually
deepening gloom of mental imbecility, to the
total extinction of that light which mental
manifestation sheds upon the pathway of mor-
tality. Here, therefore, we have one instance
of supposed spiritual appearance distinctly
traced to disorder of the function of the brain.
CD. became the subject of a severe attack
of apoplexy, on recovering from which he had
lost the power of recollecting the names, or
even of distinguishing the different individuals,
of which his family was composed : he would
weep bitterly, or laugh heartily, without any
adequate cause ; would frequently address one
part of his household for another ; and would
almost constantly hold imaginary conversations
with some spiritual attendant, to whose agency
he would attribute all his misdemeanors in
diet, and all the deviations from the rules pre-
scribed by his medical friend. So that here
CHAPTER XVI. 323
again we have traced back an alleged spiritual
agency to disease of the brain. The sequel of
this history is instructive ; for C. D, conva-
lesced imperfectly ; and in proportion as he did
so, became more rational, and less frequently
assailed by the visitation of his spiritual con-
ductor, till the impression was entirely super-
seded by returning health and strength.
But there may be some excellent persons,
who may fear lest, in thus referring supposed
spiritual agency to a purely physical state,
1 may be undervaluing one of the most import-
ant doctrines of our holy religion — namely, the
influence of the sacred Spirit. By no means : my
only object is to vindicate this doctrine, and
to separate it from those adventitious states
with which it has no connexion, though it has
too frequently been associated with them.
For a moment let the differences be consi-
dered. The office of the Holy Spirit is to lead
us into truth ; while the effect of this pseudo-
spiritual agency is to leave us in the darkness of
error. The Spirit of God operates upon our
spirits through the medium of his word and
ordinances : while these are generally lost sight
of, or perhaps even opposed, by this super-
natural influence. The teaching of the Spirit
will lead us to follow Christ, and to strive to
\ 2
324 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
be like him, with intense desire; while this
physical state concentrates the thoughts and
feelings upon selfish objects and pursuits, and
abstracts them from the only satisfying good.
The Holy Spirit is the comforter of the people
of God ; while this morbid state disturbs the
peace, produces error, and surrounds its subject
with the impenetrable gloom of disordered
brainular function. The Spirit of grace ex-
erts a holy, sanctifying influence upon the
heart and conduct; while the alleged super-
natural agency, to which it is opposed, more
commonly leads the mind from that which is
holy and just and good, and besets it with the
fearfully morbid creations of a distempered fancy.
The Spirit of God helpeth our infirmities ;
while this physical load increases their weight,
augments their influence, diminishes the power
of volition, and renders the Christian an easier
prey to temptation, by taking away the natural
safeguards which a gracious God has communi-
cated in those faculties, which are talents, that,
well employed, are capable of large augmentation.
Again : E. F. a clergyman of considerable
talent and acquirements, had lived as an old
fellow and private tutor in his college for many
years, and had realized considerable property
by these pursuits ; but he sighed for independ-
CHAPTER XVI. 325
ence, for absence from the duties and respon-
sibilities of teaching, and for family com-
forts : he accordingly accepted the first good
living that became vacant, and retired from
his college, to the regret of all who knew him.
Too soon, however, he found that he had acted
indiscreetly ; and that, in fact, he had fled from
peace. For the first month he established
himself in his princely parsonage, and endea-
voured to persuade himself that he was happy ;
but happiness could not be found. Already
his books ceased to interest him, and to beguile
the many hours of his leisure ; he had not even
spirits enough to unpack the cases which con-
tained them. His parsonage required the tem-
porary occupancy of some workmen, in order
to render it exactly what he wished, and these
harassed him by delays. Some difference of
opinion arose with his parishioners on the sub-
ject of tithes ; and he found, or seemed to
find, that he had actually given up income,
and all the comforts of life without care, and
with good society of his own literary habits,
for an excellent house which he could not enjoy ;
for literary leisure which he had ceased to
relish ; for domestic pleasures, which his present
miserable state o{ m\n^ forbade him to think of
on account of its injustice ; for the cares of a
386 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
household; and for all the annoyances attendant
upon an uncertain income, to be squeezed out
of grudging farmers, who most unwillingly paid
him their dues, and cheated him as often as
they could do so with impunity. The black
clouds of melancholy deepened around him ;
sleep, that common friend of the wretched,
fled from his pillow, and was exchanged for
brooding care and unvarying regret for the
past, grief for the present, and despondency for
the future. In this state (there existed family
predisposition to insanity) the integrity of the
brain gave way ; he was haunted by visions of
distress ; the dread of poverty became a promi-
nent idea ; and the possessor of many hundreds
a year in private property, in addition to a
very valuable living, spoke of ruin as inevitable.
He was assailed by the most painful suggestions,
and was attended every where by one parti-
cular supernatural form, which day and night
upbraided him as the author of his own mis-
fortunes. On my representation, his aged
diocesan granted him licence of non-residence,
and after a time he was so far relieved as
to enjoy life again. But a few years after-
wards, mental causes of anxiety once more
disturbed the equilibrium of the brainular func-
tion, and the same spiritual attendant was
CHAPTER XVI. 327
again visible. — Thus, as I proceed in detailing
the facts and observations out of which my own
principles have grown, does the connexion be-
tween disorder of the brain, and supposed spi-
ritual, supernatural appearances, become more
clearly demonstrated.
G. H. was assailed by unearthly visitants,
who used to choose the night for their appear-
ance> and to awaken him by calling loudly
his Christian name, and by bringing before
him various accusations on the ground of
his moral character. So deep was the con-
viction of the reality of these voices, and of the
beings with which they were associated, that he
could never tolerate a doubt of their existence,
and became angry if the accuracy of the testimony
of his senses was impugned. The manifestations
of mind, at first only slightly disturbed, became
more and more erroneous, till disease of the
brain was prominent, under which he sank
eventually.
But I proceed. — I. K., an intimate friend of
my early years, and most happy in his domestic
arrangements, lost his wife under the most
painful circumstances, suddenly, just after she
had apparently escaped from the dangers of an
untoward confinement with her first child.
Under these circumstances, it will easily be
328 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
believed that he laboured under considerable
mental excitation, and consequent brainular
irritation. A few weeks after this melancholy-
event, while travelling during the night on
horseback, and in all probability thinking over
his sorrows, and contrasting his present cheer-
less prospects with the joy which so lately
gilded the hours of his happy home, the
form of his lost relative appeared to be
presented to him, at a little distance in ad-
vance: he stopped his horse, and contem-
plated the vision with great trepidation, till in
a few seconds it vanished away. Within a few
days of this appearance, while he was sitting in
his solitary parlour late at night, reading by the
light of a shaded taper, the door, he thought,
opened, and again the form of his deceased part-
ner entered ; assured him of her complete happi-
ness ; conjured him to follow her footsteps;
and added many points of the greatest indivi-
dual interest, but of a nature too sacred to be
submitted to public inspection. Now on both
these occasions my friend assured me that he
knew and felt that it was the peculiar state of
his bodily system which had occasioned these
apparitions. Particularly in the latter case, he
doubts not that he had fallen asleep, and had
been attacked by nightmare, from which he
CHAPTER XVI. 329
awakened, springing up much agitated, and
palpitating. That same ni^t, however, im-
pressed with the extraordinary nature of these
circumstances, he committed them to paper;
and they certainly afford a good illustration
of the visionary irritation of the brain, when
dependent upon the morbid influence of mental
causes.
L. M., during the progress of fever, conti-
nually saw persons come to her room, and fre-
quently rang her bell to have them shown to
the door ; or to have her children removed be-
cause they were a disturbance to her visitors.
The endless forms of unusual beings which were
presented to this patient, during the course of
her malady, aflbrd a convincing proof that irri-
tation of the brain has the power of producing
this state : and, if it be shown to possess the
power, it is most illogical to deny its agency in
the confection of the spiritual appearance, when
no other cause can be given, attended with so
few difficulties as the present.
Again; N. O. for a considerable period, saw
the cross of our Saviour planted at a particular
corner of her bed-room ; and, although tho-
roughly incapable of reason, yet believed it
was placed there for her comfort, on some in-
explicable principle.
330 ESSAT ON SUPERSTITFON.
Lastly; P. Q.duringasevere illness, repeatedly
saw her father, residing at the distance of many
hundred miles from her home, come to her bed-
side, and, withdrawing the curtain, address her
in his usual voice and manner.
Instances of this kind might be indefinitely
multiplied, from the writer's professional expe-
rience ; but their accumulation is unnecessary ;
enough, surely, have been brought forward to
establish the position, that disturbance of the
cerebral system will occasion a peculiar condi-
tion of the brain, in which these apparitions are
produced. In many of the foregoing cases
supernatural visitations have been traced to
this source, and Nicholai's ghosts were evi-
dently of the same character ; the result of
nervous irritability, brought into action by the
violent emotions which had preceded the at-
tack. The author of the present Essay is not
prepared to affirm that this is the case in every
instance, and that there can he no spiritual ap-
pearance. But, granting its possibility, the
question will then be, — If in some cases these
supposed supernatural appearances are to be
accounted for on physical principles, who is to
deny that the same origin may be applicable to
all others ? Who is to decide as to what is sen-
sorial illusion, and what is spiritual and superna -
CHAPTER XVI. 331
tvral agency ? And then, is it not better, more
rational, more Christian, to take up an hypo-
thesis which ejcplains many of the phenomena,
and reconciles many diflficulties, and vindicates
the moral government of the Almighty, and is
supported by the most powerful arguments and
experience ; than to adopt another mode of
explanation which assumes every thing, but </e-
^nes and e.rplains nothing : which is involved in
inextricable difficulty; which throws a cloud
over the government of the Omnipotent ; which
is opposed to reason, and is not sanctioned by ex-
perience ?
It now only remains for me to notice one or
two of the most popular ghost stories, and to
account for them upon the principles laid down
in the preceding pages. And in the first place,
the oft-cited history of the appearance of Lord
Tyrone to Lady Beresford. The alleged facts
of this case are as follow : an intimate friend-
ship had subsisted between the parties, and
they both entertained doubts on the subject of
revealed religion. A mutual promise had
been given, that whichever should die first,
should, if permitted by the Almighty, appear to
the survivor, in order to declare what religion
was most acceptable to Him. Accordingly,
Lady Beresford awakened one night and found
332 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Lord Tyrone sitting by her bed-side ; she
screamed violently and endeavoured in vain to
awaken Sir Marcus Beresford. Upon her in-
quiring of Lord Tyrone the cause of his appear-
ance, he reminds her of their pledge, and in-
forms her that he died at a certain period, and
has been permitted to appear to her, in order
to assure her of the truth of the revealed reli-
gion. He informs her of various circumstances
which are to happen in her future life : and,
finally, that she will die in child-bed in the
forty-seventh year of her age. He further
warns her, that, if she persists in her infidelity,
her lot will be most miserable ; but gives her
reason to believe that he (who died in his infidel
principles) is happy. Lady Beresford expresses
her doubts as to the reality of Lord Tyrone's
appearance, and her fears that in the morning
she might be induced to ascribe it to the mere
phantom of her imagination ; and, moreover,
states that she will not be convinced by the in-
telligence of Lord Tyrone's death, by his having
thrown the curtain through a large iron hoop by
which the tester of the bed was supported, by
his handwriting in her pocket book — in fact,
by nothing but by a personal blemish produced
by spiritual contact with mortal flesh. ** Now,"
said he, ** while you live let no mortal eye be-
CHAPTER XVI. 333
hold that wrist ; to see it would be sacrilege.
He stopped — I turned to him again — he was
gone !" It is added^ that Lady Beresford ever
afterwards wore a black band upon the injured
wrist.
Now there can be no reasonable doubt that
all this arose from a state of morbid cerebral
excitement. The objections to the consistency
of the narrative are, that Lady Beresford, upon
discovering Lord Tyrone sitting by her bed-side,
screamed out, and endeavoured, but in vain, to
awaken Sir Marcus Beresford, This, then,
was either that form of nightmare in which the
patient seems to attempt the accomplishment of
an object he most ardently desires, but ineffec-
tually ; or it involves the supposition that a most
extraordinary sleep rested on Sir Marcus ;
thus requiring a further stretch of superstitious
belief, and to no conceivable purpose; for if
the appearance of Lord Tyrone was permittedby
the Almighty in order to convince Lady Beres-
ford of the truth of the Christian revelation, there
would have been every rational motive why Sir
Marcus should have been a party to this con-
viction, and no semblance of reason why the
same beneficent Providence which vouchsafed
a special communication to his Lady, should
have withheld it from Sir Marcus. Which, I
334 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
would ask, of these two consequences is most
consistent with truth; which may be most
easily referred to the great maxim of a very
prevalent superstition, " Credo, quia impos-
sibileest?"
The next feat of Lord Tyrone, was to throw
the bed-curtain through an iron hoop suspend-
ing the tester, for the purpose of convincing
Lady Beresford that his appearance was real ;
grounding his proof on the impossibility of this
being accomplished by mortal agency ; there-
by laying claim to this interference with na-
ture's laws as being a miracle, and therefore
subjecting it to the same principles as other
miraculous agency : by these let it be tested —
and particularly by the fact that it was a private
miracle, wrought for the conviction of one in-
dividual, and carefully concealed even from a
second — and then will it be pronounced un-
worthy of belief.
But the crowning absurdity yet remains.
Lady Beresford was still unconvinced. *' You
are hard of belief," said he : *' I must not touch
you ; it would injure you irreparably : it is not for
spirits to touch mortal flesh." Lady Beresford
remarked, that she did not regard a small
blemish. "You are a woman of courage,"
said he : ** hold out your hand." ** I did so ;
CHAPTER XVI. 335
he touched my wrist ; his hand was cold as
marble ; in a moment the sinews shrank up,
every nerve withered. ' Now,' said he, ' while
you live let no mortal eye behold that wrist ;
to see it would be sacrilege.'" After this.
Lady Beresford endeavoured, but in vain, to
awaken Sir Marcus; all her efforts were in-
effectual.
Now, is there here another miracle ? or is
this spiritual being, whose body was dead, and
who, by the supposition of his appearance under
such circumstances, was deprived of physical
properties, gifted with extraordinary physical
power, so as to leave an indelible brand from
his disorganizing touch upon the wrist? The
stupendous absurdity about spirits not touching
mortal flesh, and the sacrilege of beholding the
arm thus indelibly marked by physico-spiritual
agency, is only in keeping with the other parts
of the tale, but is surely enough to destroy the
credibility of the narration, at least to every
Christian, who can never reconcile the message
of mercy of a happy spirit, with a result so
strangely inconsistent with all the attributes
of our long-suffering God.
The proof that this was a physical state, i»
again repeated, by the supposed ineffectual
attempts to waken Sir Marcus Beresford.
33G ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
The sequel of the history is not surprising ;
common circumstances will account for it,
particularly for Lady Beresford's sudden death,
produced by the powerful impression made
upon the nervous system, at a period when
it must have been in a peculiarly excitable
state, through the immediate and unexpected
conviction that she was only forty-seven, in-
stead of forty-eight. We have on record one
instance of voluntary death, without any per-
sonal violence ; how much more probable the
extinction of life from the full and superstitious
belief that she must die. Yet, in the close
prospect of dissolution, and in the entire re-
ception of the prophecy alluded to, and there-
fore in the certainty of its being sacrilege to al-
low her arm to be seen, she desired Lady ,
and her son by Sir Marcus, to examine her
arm after her death. It is not reported that
any means were employed to avert the threat-
ened calamity, and she died ; — an event ren-
dered still more probable by the susceptibility
of the nervous system induced by her recent
accouchement ; a period in which sudden death
from slight, and inconceivably slight, mental
emotion, sometimes even from a perfectly in-
explicable cause, has often happened.
In concluding my strictures upon this narra-
CHAPTER xvr. 337
tive, I may mention, as points of minor con-
sideration, the description of the injury sus-
tained. " That every nerve withered, and
every sinew shrank," is evidently got up, to
add to the interest of the tale ; since, at all
events, the withering of the nerves would not,
could not, be visible. Besides, the prediction
of Lord Tyrone was not verified, inasmuch as
Lady Beresford did not die in child-birth, nor till
she had completed her forty-seventh year.
Next of Lord Lyttleton, the circumstances
of whose death are well known. It is manifest
that this case is very analogous to that of Co-
lonel Gardiner, in many of its circumstances.
The disordered state of Lord Lyttleton's health
will fully account for the appearance : and his
lordship's sudden death cannot be considered
as extraordinary, under any circumstances,
subjected as he was to those fits of suffocation ;
how much less so, when the influence of this
morbid state must doubtless have been im-
mensely increased by the powerful impression
which had been made upon the nervous sys-
tem ; while the depressing agency of the same
cause, would have greatly tended to diminish
the power of re-action, and consequently to
extinguish the chance that the energies of the
constitution mi^ht be able to surmount the
338 ESSAY OK SUPERSTITION.
destructive agency of the disease. There is
nothing at all extraordinary in Lord Lyttleton's
not believing that the hour of midnight had
passed, as his friends wished him to believe ;
because it is difficult to conceive any man, of
common sensibility, losing one hour out of
twelve, under such circumstances ; while, as
the period of midnight drew on, the feelings
must have been wrought up by suspense, and
susceptibility must have been accumulated
about the brain, even to its highest pitch of
excitation.
It is, however, necessary to put a limit to
the investigation of histories of this kind, or
I should unduly trespass upon the patience of
my readers, and I would not willingly draw
further on their kindness. With regard to
these cases it must be said, however, that some
of them admit of immediate reference to the
principles laid down in the foregoing Essay; —
others are so defective in circumstantial de-
tails, that they allow of no reasoning at all
upon them ; — while others are the manifest
creations of the designing ; of the involuntary
dupes to themselves; or of the dupes of others.
It may be that some are inexplicable ; but do
we not act wisely in referring such cases to
principles which we can explain, rather than
CHAPTER XVI. 339
to adopt the incomprehensible hypothesis of a
spiritual appearance ? — In conclusion, I will
only request their attention for a few more
pages, in order to the completion of my de-
sign in this Essay, and to take a general re-
view of the whole argument, with the infer-
ences to be drawn from it.
z 2
CHAPTER XVII.
Summary review of the preceding argument.
Before I proceed to the conclusions I would
draw from a consideration of this whole sub-
ject, it will be useful shortly to review the
ground already travelled over, and to point out
the successive steps of our progress.
We have seen that the cause of true religion
always suffers in proportion as it is associated
with any system of irrational belief This
proposition is shown by reason ; and it is con-
firmed by experience : witness the examples
of the Roman Catholic worshipper, the Mo-
hammedan, the Hindoo, and the North Ame-
rican devotee ; all showing, that man is super-
stitious in proportion as he deviates from re-
CHAPTER XVII. 341
leaved religion ; and hence arises a very strong
presumption, that superstition is opposed, in
its nature and essence, to the genius of Chris-
tianity.
Real religion always gains by inquiry, since
it is based on truth ; and the more the belief
of it is founded on knowledge, the firmer and
broader will be its basis ; the more secure its
elevation ; the greater the protection afforded
to those who seek a shelter from the influence
of sin, and the perplexities of this world's con-
tumely; the more mature, the more highly
and delicately flavoured, will be its fruits:
while the blight of superstition withers every
spiritual manifestation, and renders religion
the subject of morbid action ; the object of
fear, aversion, and disgust, rather than of the
highest hopes, the most permanent satisfaction,
and the purest delight.
The honour of God is vindicated, and the
decrees of his moral government are justified,
by referring to their true cause various circum-
stances which have often been ascribed to su-
pernatural influence ; and in consequence of
which, the human mind has been enthralled
by superstition ; unjust and injurious views of
the Almighty Governor have been produced ;
342 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
and man has been left at the sport of his pas-
sions, rather than restored to the guidance of
rational motive and principle.
By so doing, we do not rest in second causes,
— forgetting the First Great Cause, and refer-
ring every thing to physical agency; — but we
claim its proper influence for that material
medium, through which mental operations can
alone be manifested ; and upon which, since sin
entered into the world, and death hy sin, this in-
fluence of the Fall has been mainly exerted.
The essential character of superstition con-
sists in a belief of the existence of some super-
natural power, superadded or opposed to the
providence of God, — that God, who is infinite
in wisdom, and mercy, and love, and who re-
quires the submission of the heart and under-
standing to his revealed will ; while the in-
fluence of superstition subjugates the reason,
obscures the perception of what is holy, and
just, and true; perverts the understanding,
and sets aside the volition and responsible
agency of man.
Superstition may be referred to the following
causes; namely,
False and irrational views on the subject of
the agency of a Divine power :
CHAPTER XVII. 343
Ignorance of the phenomena of nature ; and
still more so, of the providential government
of God :
Fear, from whatever cause arising :
Coincidence :
Fraud and hypocrisy :
Influence of the imagination, and of external
circumstances operating upon it: and.
The agency of brainular action and irritation.
Most of the causes which have been men-
tioned tend to produce this latter state, and to
occasion considerable excitement of the brain,
terminating in irritation. And since this organ
is under the controul of early habit and as-
sociation, every disturbance of the brainular
function may overturn the balance of healthy
action in every department of mental mani-
festation ; while the latter effect will be pro-
portioned to the intensity and continuance of
the former cause.
This disturbance of organ and function may
be primary and immediate ; or it may be se-
condary and sympathetic ; but in either case,
a peculiar irritation of the brain will be set up,
in consequence of which, that organ will have
escaped the controul of the presiding mind,
and will continue to act on without its guid-
ance and direction.
344 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
That the brain is thus liable to irritation
from various physical causes, is proved from
its material properties ; from its peculiar adap-
tation to its functions in different individuals,
and in varying states of the same individual ;
of health or disease, energy or feebleness, acti-
vity or indolence ; from its requiring a due
supply of pure and healthy blood ; and by the
completeness of its functions, or its different
degrees of imperfection, accordingly as that
supply may have been only just sufficient, or
redundant, or defective ; and still further, as
it may or may not have undergone its purify-
ing change in the lungs ; from the fact of its
suffering as an organ of mind in all the reflex
irritations of all the organs of the body, sto-
mach, skin, lungs, &c. &c. ; from the unwonted
irritability of convalescents ; from the varying
effect of certain articles of food, according to
the prevailing temperament ; and from the in-
fluence of too much or too little sleep, and
differing accordingly as the one or the other
state of too much or too little blood may have
prevailed.
A precisely similar effect may be produced
by mental emotion ; thus proving that the brain
may be similarly acted upon from within and
without, from the body and the mind.
CHAPTER XVII. 345
This material organ, thus extensively con-
nected, and thus variously liable to irritation,
is the ojily organ for mental manifestation; not,
indeed, that brain itself reasons, remembers,
imagines, distinguishes, or associates : but that
it is the only medium through which we be-
come conscious of these mental operations ;
wanting which, we should know nothing of
their existence : when defective, they also would
be incomplete ; and, when irritated, they would
become perverted.
Intense thought excites brainular action, and
requires a large supply of blood, in order to
keep up that excitement ; therefore its more
important intellectual functions cannot be car-
ried on perfectly, except by supposing the per-
fect integrity of the sanguiferous system, — de-
pendent as it is upon the functions of digestion,
assimilation, nutrition, and various other pro-
cesses, which, if interrupted, produce uneasi-
ness in their respective organs, and consequent
sympathetic irritation of the brain.
The brain is subjected to a variety of morbid
impressions, which will occasion correspond-
ing changes upon the mental manifestations.
The morbid impressions thus produced, will
be characterized by the particular bodily or
mental source whence they were originally
346 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
derived, and therefore will admit of many
and great diiferences ; witness the sanguine
expectations and predominant hopes of the
consumptive patient : the dark clouds, melan-
cholic vapours, and gloomy images of the dy-
speptic ; and the anxieties and solicitudes of
the sufferer from cardiac disease, yet his oc-
casional good spirits even to the end.
If this be the case certainly and avowedly
with regard to a few forms of disease, which we
can trace with a certain degree of presumed
accuracy, may we not infer that analogous ef-
fects will be produced by every corresponding
morbid change of every organ of the body,
though we may have been unable as yet to
trace its agency? And this being granted,
may not many erroneous mental manifestations
be referrible to an irritating cause of this kind ?
The brain, so circumstanced, is liable to
many causes of irritation, excitement, and ex-
haustion.
Simple excitement will occasion more or
less of permanent disorder of this organ, and
by so doing will interrupt a due supply of
nervous influence to the various viscera of the
body ; their functions are feebly performed :
and this want of energy is directly. propagated
to the brain, by a retrograde movement. This
CHAPTER XVII. 347
action and reaction produce incalculable de-
viations from health of body, as well as from
the aptitude for correct mented operations ; the
balance of power is destroyed, and disorder of
the general health is the result.
Thus feebleness of the brain results from a
lavish expenditure of its energies : it is not
recruited by rest, because its supply of healthy
blood is diminished as a consequence of this
very feebleness. In order tp answer this in-
creased demand, the heart and arterial system
are called upon for augmented action : then
febrile commotion is produced ; the brain is
liable to become the slave of any other organ
of the body in a state of irritation ; and morbid
images are occasioned.
These morbid images are not to be removed
by reasoning, because they result from organic
agencies, which have escaped from the presi-
d^nce of the will, and have usurped its au-
thority.
Since, under these circumstances, the brain
is not accessible to reasoning, no bounds can
be set to the creation of unreal and discon-
nected images ; and since the function of com-
parison, and the judgment which results from
its exercise, are now utterly useless, a con-
dition of the brain, and therefore of the mani-
348 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
festations of mind, has been produced, which
is most favourable to the creation of super-
natural appearances.
Actual consciousness may be suspended by
a powerful cause acting upon the brain, even
during its waking and healthy state ; much
more when enfeebled by disease, or by any
other oppressing cause. Hence unreal images
may be produced by the brain, without any
consciousness of the action by which they are
called into being ; and when this consciousness
is lost for the time, the mind is prepared for
receiving as rea/, any and all the creations of a
vivid fancy.
If simple excitement be exchanged for that
which is morbid, especially if the brain be suf-
fering from the oppression of invading disease
(more particularly if that disease be of a specific
threatening or destructive character,) mental
manifestation is more disturbed, and there hap-
pens a greater perversion of sensorial, intellec-
tual, and moral movements; which will only
be gradually restored by the slow return of
bodily health.
In this state of disturbance, fearful images
will claim the pre-eminence ; and the imagina-
tion is rendered unduly active in their confec-
tion.
CHAPTER XVII. 349
Farther : The brain is an organ of most ex-
tensive sympathy : it suffers with the maladies
of other organs ; and reflects its own suffer-
ings, so as to produce morbid action upon
them; and then itself becomes the subject
of secondary excitement, from the associa-
tions thus induced.
Moreover, it is liable to peculiar irritation,
not only from the character of every cause of
disturbance to the organ which forms the first
link in the chain of morbid action, but also
from every kind and degree of such irrita-
tion.
In all its own diseases, the functions of the
brain suffer most deeply, and are accompanied
by a frightful degree of debility. It is quite
impossible to predicate the way in which its
own morbid actions will be shown ; since they
are commonly opposed to the general character,
and will even vary, according to the portion
of brain which happens to become the seat of
irritation ; and, after all, many minuter shades
of perversion will escape our observation.
In fact, the manifestations of spiritual exist-
ence are characterized by the material medium
through which they become cognizable ; and
the perversion which these have suffered forms
a consequence of man's primal sin, and now
350 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
becomes a portion of his state of trial here
below.
The sympathies of the brain are most ex-
tensive ; particularly —
With the heart; the disturbance of whose
function may occasion the apparent abolition,
and the real suspension, of all mental mani-
festation.
With the blood; in relation to its quantity, and
vital principles : any sudden alteration in the
one or the other may occasion the entire sus-
pension of the intellectual faculties, and give
rise to various perversions, according to chang-
ing circumstances.
With the organs of respiration ; these are sub-
jected to many states of disordered action; and
for every one of these there may be a corres-
ponding variety of cerebral irritation ; and this
will be followed by disturbance of the intellec-
tual functions, so that many forms of morbid
cerebral manifestation may be the result ; and
these again will tend to produce disturbance
of the chest, which in its turn will irritate the
brain.
With the stomach and alimentary canal ; not
only from their diseases, but from the influence
of many articles of diet or medicine ; produc-
ing extraordinary irritations of the brain, and
CHAPTER XVH. 351
various spectral illusions. This is shown by
the influence of tea, coffee, alcoholic fluids,
and opium, upon which last has been sometimes
dependent alleged visions of angels, and the
agency of heavenly spirits.
With the liver ; which is justly suspected of
giving rise to many forms of melancholy.
With the function of secretion in general ; which
is shown in the familiar instance of the excite-
ment of a flow of saliva, by the mental impres-
sion of pleasant food ; and its immediate arrest
from any cause, mental or bodily, which inter-
feres with the digestive process ; and also by
the copious secretion of tears, from the emotion
of grief, aye, even from that sorrow which
springs from listening to a history of fictitious
woe.
With the muscular system; witness the almost
incredible eflbrts which will be made from a
violent exercise of volition, and the influence
of a powerful will in sustaining muscular ac-
tions of a less intense character, for a very
long time, as in the acts of reading, writing,
speaking, or walking: witness also the mus-
cular weariness arising from fatigue of the
brain ; and the violent convulsive efforts which
accompany certain forms of cerebral disease,
such as hysteria, epilepsy, and convulsions.
352 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
With the skin ; as is shown by the different
effects of passion in producing paleness, or red-
ness, or suffusion, and even blackness of the
surface ; and the influence of a chill upon the
skin, in occasioning morbid mental manifest-
ations, which are again followed by reaction and
febrile excitement.
With many other organs of the body ; whose
expression of morbid action may not be so well
suited for popular discussion.
This sympathetic communion with many
organs, occasions the brain physically to rejoice
in their health, and to sorrow in their diseases ;
and forms the link of communication between
them ; so that if action of any kind be inter-
rupted any where, or if a new action be set up,
it is immediately known and felt throughout
the whole system.
The brain is liable to disturbance from irri-
tation excited in any one of these organs, how-
ever slight its degree, and however remote
its situation in the economy ; and again, it is
especially subjected to morbid action, from any
uneasiness or imperfection occurring in any one
portion of that system of nerves which exists
for the purpose of uniting all these separate
functions into one harmonious whole.
The peculiar character of this cerebral dis-
CHAPTER XVII. 353
turbance is determined by the particular organ
which proves the source of irritation, and by
the kind and degree of morbid action to which
it is exposed.
As a consequence of this organic irritation,
there is much functional disorder ; in fact, much
perverted action, much partial or incipient de-
rangement in the world ; and it may be cha-
ritably hoped that much of the insane conduct,
much of the strange manner, much of the dis-
torted feeling and emotion, many of the errors
and prejudices we encounter, may be referred
to this cause.
Only, it must here be recollected that, how-
ever we may indulge this hope towards others,
we must be rigid towards ourselves ; always
remembering that we are responsible for the use
we make of the function of volition ; since upon
this faculty depends our accountability, and
since, were it not for the influence of sin, it
would always enable us to choose the good and
refuse the evil ; and if we follow the converse
of this proposition, it is because we do not
exercise this function with full purpose of heart.
It is, indeed, true, that we are now become so
perverted by sin, that we are unable to employ
this faculty to the glory of God; but then it is
equally our duty to endeavour to do so, and nar-
A A
354 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
rowly to scrutinize our motives and actions, in
order that we may be able, by Divine assist-
ance, to controul every tendency to morbid
mental manifestation.
If this incipient morbid action should be
very intense, or if it should be long-continued,
the integrity of the brain may be destroyed ;
and escaping the controul of the presiding will,
cerebral disorder of greater magnitude will be
produced.
Cerebral disorder is not mental^ requiring and
admitting only of moral remedies : these form
only one class of curative agents. The brain is
merely the organ of mind, not mind itself; and
the disorder of its function arises from its ceasing
to be a proper medium for the expression of
the varied action and passion of the presiding
spirit.
The symptoms of this disorder are often
termed mental alienation, lunacy, fatuity, and
other names, which lead the attention away
from bodily disturbance, to certain mental states,
and they identify those states with the brainular
disorder, instead of perceiving that the spiritual
principle is incapable of any disease, except
that of sin ; and instead of referring the actual
morbid manifestations of mind to their organic
cause.
CHAPTER XVII. 355
But if the mental manifestations always be-
come disordered during the prevalence of a
certain morbid condition of the brain ; and if
some of these may be clearly traced to this
source, it is not unfair to infer, that certain
others, which have usually been ascribed to
spiritual agency, may properly be referred to
a similar disease of structure.
The slightest congestion in the vessels of the
brain, may occasion an alteration in the mani-
festation of mind.
The perversion of the latter is increased in pro-
portion to the deepening shades of the former.
Hence, certain other morbid states, besides
that of congestion, may occasion other devia-
tions from healthy manifestation, and may per-
haps account for visions, spectral illusions,
apparitions, &c.
Cerebral disorder is marked by feebleness, or
perversion, or suspension of the correct in-
formation afforded by the organs of sense.
Cerebral disorder is sometimes accompanied
by the excessive susceptibility, and morbid
creations of these sentinels of the body : hence
the frequency of sensorial illusion.
In this state of disturbance originates mental
hallucination : the perverted image is brooded
over, and recalled, and associated in various
A A 2
356 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
ways, till its reality seems undeniable, and till
the patient is carried away by its impulse.
At other times, similar hallucinations are
found, as the result of antecedent impressions*
and their associated groups ; and these also are
invested with all the air of truth and reality.
In this state, actual feelings are disregarded ;
while the morbid images supply their place, and
really seem to be the positive results of sensa-
tion ; and they thus gain the supremacy over
the reasoning powers.
These hallucinations, however fugitive at
first, may become permanent, and they then
constitute delirium or insanity.
Cerebral disorder is often attended by un-
conquerable wakefulness, great restlessness, and
irritability.
The attendant condition of the brain is pecu-
liarly favourable to the production of morbid
sensorial and intellectual impressions, and easily
glides into a more formidable state of disease.
Cerebral disorder is accompanied by certain
deviations from the usual manners and habits
of the individual : he is not the same creature,
but is commonly absorbed by one dominant
idea.
Moral causes, especially powerful mental
emotion, will often produce cerebral disorder ;
CUAPTER XVII. 357
and this being originated, there will follow
deepening and more multiplied morbid mani-
festations, till the patient, becoming decidedly
insane, ceases to be an accountable agent.
Yet moral treatment^ and all the high sanc-
tions of religious motive, wiil be insufficient to
remove cerebral disorder, unless other remedies
be directed likewise to the brain, with all its
associated sympathies.
This state of cerebral disorder, however
originating in moral causes, and however im-
pressed with a sacredness of character, from
the high value and importance of religious mo-
tive and management, is yet accompanied with
certain other bodily effects, which cannot with
any semblance of truth be referred to any
other than a bodily cause ; such, for instance,
as feebleness of the function of volition, palsy,
various muscular irritations, and, above all,
the expression of the countenance.
If these bodily effects can be easily traced
to primary irritation of the brain, it must be
remembered, that they will also operate a re-
flective influence upon that organ, and will
place it in a situation peculiarly favourable to
erroneous and perverted mental manifestations ;
and peculiarly liable to the development of all
its morbid sympathies.
358 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
The intermittent, and remittent character of
several of the maladies of the brain, cannot
attach to the influence of a spiritual immaterial
principle ; and therefore they more clearly
connect the morbid manifestations of mind
with their organic medium.
Hence, cerebral disorder may be allowed to
be capable of producing the perversion of men-
tal manifestation, and of giving rise to those
unreal images which have been termed appari-
tions.
Various causes produce diseased manifesta-
tions of mind ; and first, original malconformation
will occasion idiotcy, in which there is an ap-
parent obliteration of mental power; yet it
cannot be believed for a moment, that the idiot
has no soul.
So, in old age, the brain undergoes a change,
which unfits it for mental operation ; but surely
the light of the spiritual principle is not ex-
tinguished ; nor has its power become limited
and diseased, just as it is approaching its
transition from the veil of materiality, to the
infinite brightness of unfading glory.
A similar obliteration of healthy cerebral
function is produced by water on the brain.
Wounds of the brain will produce morbid
symptoms of different, and even opposite cha-
CHAPTER XVII. 359
racters, according to the precise portion of
brainular structure which may have become
the subject of injury; according as the brain
shall be subjected to, or free from, the pressure
of surrounding bone ; according to the general
shock which the brain may have received from
the accident ; according tD the greater or less
loss of blood at the moment, and the greater
or less degree of congestion in its vessels ; and
according to the intensity of the subsequent
re-action, and febrile constitutional irritation.
Concussion of the brain simply, is generally
attended by a complete loss of power and of
recollection, together with the abolition of all
the energy and integrity of mental manifesta-
tion : carried to a certain length, death will
ensue ; but more frequently reaction takes
place, and is attended by delirium, or insanity,
the traces of which are commonly to be found
in the existence of perverted action, long after
the first effects have ceased.
Compression of the brain will be attended
with more or less alteration, and even abolition,
of mental manifestation ; but commonly differ-
ing in kind from the usual effects of concussion.
These symptoms of spiritual disturbance are
sometimes instantly relieved by taking off the
360 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
pressure; but at others, especially if inflam-
mation shall have taken place, the return to
perfect health is only through a lengthened
series of perverted manifestations.
Fever will occasion large deviations from
healthy brainular function ; and this, too, dif-
fering according to the peculiar agency of the
febrile morbific cause, but in every instance at-
tended by perverted mental manifestation.
Supposed visions are thefrequent consequence
of this state ; persons and situations appearing
either as they w^ould do in reality, or associated
with some erroneous attribute.
Hence, apparitions are traced^ under certain
circumstances, to a bodily morbid cause.
But if this be granted, it can scarcely be
denied, that other supernatural appearances
may equally be referred to similar, or at least
analogous, causes.
Local inflammation of a slow disorganizing
character, attacking the brain, or its mem-
branes, perverts or destroys the power of in-
tellectual operation.
The whole class of nervous disorders con-
tribute to impair, and under extreme circum-
stances, to destroy, the manifestations of mind.
Many of these may be effectually resisted
CHAPTER XVII. 361
by a powerful effort of the will, thus showing
the submission of the brain to the presiding
spirit or mind.
The same consequence is deduced from the
good effect of certain remedies upon the men-
tal manifestations, and especially by the sim-
ple action of cold ; so totally inconsistent with
all our ideas of spiritual essence.
In hypochondriasis, in some instances, a
primary effect is produced upon the brain, and,
in others, that which is secondary, through the
medium of the stomach ; but the ultimate effect
in both cases is purely cerebral. Mental causes
will also produce the same disturbing effects.
Hence again, mental and bodily causes are
found to produce the same consequences ; they
are originally of a distinct nature, and how can
they produce identical effects, but by acting
upon one intermediate organ, common to both,
and capable alike of receiving impressions from
body and mind ? No other organ than the brain
can occupy such a relative situation.
The hypochondriac loses the power of the
will over his mental manifestations : they are
perverted, and present to the mind, images of
the most unreal character :
Yet hypochondriasis is produced by primary
or secondary irritation of the brain :
362 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Therefore, irritation of the brain is the com-
mon accompaniment of these unreal images.
It is reasonable to infer, that irritation of the
brain, which we know exists, is the cause of
these unreal images, rather than to assume
that it is some peculiar state of the spiritual
principle, concerning the mode of whose real
existence we can know nothing.
The hypocondriac hears voices, sees visions,
is assailed by unearthly visitants, and receives
admonitions; and, moreover, all these voices,
visions, and revelations, are capable of being
superseded, and swept away by medical treat-
ment ; a clear proof of their origin and ten-
dency.
Hence, a certain state of the brain always
occasions disordered manifestations of mind ;
and again, these have been traced back to
functional diseases of the brain.
In both states, unreal and perverted images,
even veritable apparitions, the offspring of
brainular disturbance, are presented to the
mind, with a degree of impressiveness which
is superior to that of reason, and which there-
fore supersedes its power, and annihilates the
influence of judgment.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Same subject continued.
In proceeding with our analysis of the preced-
ing argument, we shall observe, that the same
view is confirmed by attending to the phenomena
o( sleep, and especially of its morbid states.
Sleep is not a state of absolute quiescence;
of the negation, or even the suspension of ac-
tion : indeed, some organs appear to possess
a greater degree of activity than usual, because,
the intellectual function being less employed,
a greater supply of nervous energy can be af-
forded without destroying the balance of con-
stitutional power.
Thus is shown the unwearied action of the
brain during sleep, inasmuch as it gives oiF
such an amount of nervous energy as shall be
suflficient to maintain the activity and integrity
of those functions.
But many of its intellectual manifestations
are absolutely laid aside ; and hence it should
seem, that, as an intellectual organ, it is more
364 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
liable to exhaustion than as a corporeal agent ;
and this is confirmed, day by day, by the
greater fatigue, and the more rapid failure of
power, which attaches to mental exertion, than
to bodily labour.
Therefore, sleep seems to have been provided
for the intellectual brain ; and, in consequence
of this state, it ceases to be the servant of the
spiritual principle, and is no longer obedient
to the will.
This repose of the brain is often incomplete ;
and then it continues a certain kind of action,
without the guidance of the judgment, or the
government of the will.
Whenever the brain is in a state of irritation,
uiet sleep is impossible ; and a state of morbid
wakefulness is not unfrequently the result.
The brain may be roused to a state of ex-
citation by various stimuli ; and therefore i
may be acted upon by different disturbing
causes, with which we are at present unac-
quainted ; because we know not the mode of
relation subsisting between that viscus and its
distant associated organs.
Thus, then, the brain is excited by various
causes, producing corresponding varied effects,
yet all agreeing in disturbing the manifesta-
tions of mind.
In reverie there is a continued action of the
CHAPTER XVII I. 365
brain, without the support of volition or the
corrective influence of the judgment; and in
this state unreal images are presented to the
mind, with all the semblance of truth and
reality. Under these circumstances, therefore,
it is capable of producing images, imagining
situations, and inventing consequences without
reason or truth.
But if so, some other analogous, though un-
known, process may be the result ; and this
unknown action may be the creation of spec-
tral forms : at least, there is nothing irrational
in this supposition.
This view is supported by the phenomena
of nightmare, which are purely cerebral, and
always disappear upon perfect wakening. It
is most frequent and severe in that peculiar
condition of the brain which has arisen from
intellectual over-action, — namely, the irritabi-
lity which is the consequence of specific ex-
haustion.
During this state, the distress of the patient
is occasioned by his being placed in some
situation of danger, and by his inability to es-
cape from it; and he awakes in violent agitation,
with palpitation of the heart, and perspiration,
which point out the really intense agony he
has suffered from this visionary impression.
366 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
produced by a physical condition of the organ
of mind.
Nightmare is generally preceded by un-
wonted drowsiness, aud brainular oppression,
which enables those who are acquainted with
its history, to predict its arrival.
Nightmare may be sometimes dependent
upon the irritation of a distant organ : but
where this is the case, still, it can only be ac-
complished through the intervention of the
brain ; for the patient must be asleep, or he
does not suffer from the attack.
Any powerfully exciting cause applied to
the brain late at night will alnaost unerringly
bring on the attack in those who are so pre-
disposed, and its intensity will be regulated by
the greater or less morbid susceptibility of the
cerebral organ, becoming aggravated in its
maladies, and receding in its convalescence.
The illusions which accompany nightmare
are so complete, that the patient verily believes
in their actual existence ; and it is only by
the influence of the judgment, reason, and ex-
perience, that he can be disenchanted of their
fallacious impression, or can be convinced of
the contrary truth.
These illusions involve the appearance of dif-
ferent individuals ; their speaking and acting
CHAPTER XVIII. 367
according to certain supposed circumstances,
and all the consequences of such words and
actions.
But if so, there is nothing unreasonable in
supposing that similar illusions may attend
other morbid conditions of the brain, during
the continuance of which it is even more com-
pletely abstracted from the salutary influence
of judgment, reason, and experience.
I proceed to the phenomena of dreaming.
There is great activity of the brain during
sleep : and this is not a consequence of the
increased energy of the immaterial principle ;
because, if it were so, we should have to re-
cord perfect ideas, refined images, and correct
notices, resulting from the agency of the spi-
ritual principle disencumbered of its material
shackles ; instead of the common result, im-
perfect ideas, confused images, and incorrect
impressions.
Here again, therefore, we trace dreaming to
a peculiar action of the material brain, not of
the immaterial principle.
The immaterial spirit is not necessarily en-
gaged in the phenomena of dreaming : in sleep,
the brain is not its servant, because, during
that state, it is unfitted for intellectual opera-
tions. When it does act, it is without the
368 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
controul of the presiding mind ; and therefore
the pathological state of dreaming, instead of
the healthy process of correct thinking, is pro-
duced.
The modes of association, and the habits of
brainular action, are shown by the phenomena
of dreaming, especially by that kind of dream
which occurs upon being first wakened in the
morning.
Dreams result from some uncontrolled or
morbid action of the brain ; either primary,
from its own disorders, or secondary and sym-
pathetic, arising from irritation of a distant
organ, in close communion with itself.
This position is confirmed by the dreams of
animals, surely not arising from spiritual
agency ; and yet they will in consequence bark,
and utter various automatic expressions of joy
or sorrow.
Farther, this tendency to dreaming in ani-
mals is increased by any cause of powerful ex-
citation to the brain.
The great variety of dreams may be accounted
for by the kind and degree of disturbance to
which the brain has been subjected, whether
from primary or secondary irritation ; each se-
parate disorder of every organ and function of
the body thus forming a source of dreaming ;
CHAPTER XVIFI. 369
and all combine in establishing a groundwork
capable of constant change, and of almost end-
less extension and variation.
There are no dreams in sound and quiet
sleep, when the body is healthy and the mind
at ease, because there exists no cause of organic
irritation to the brain ; but dreams will be
found among the very first symptoms of ma-
lady.
In sleep, the manifestation of the intellectual
faculties is suspended ; and therefore these do
not enter into the component parts of dream-
ing. There is always something wanting to
constitute dreams perfect mental operations,
and which absent, something stamps them with
the character of deviation from correct think-
ing ; consequently the apparently intellectual
trains of dreams, are really and truly mere or-
ganic associations.
Dreams are not sleeping thoughts, influenced
by that sinful change which has passed upon
all men ; for since in this process there is no
exercise of the will, there can be no responsi-
bility : the organ of mind has suffered from the
perverting influence of the Fall ; its manifesta-
tions are become disordered, and dreaming con-
stitutes one of its diseases.
During sleep, the senses are incapable of con-
B B
370 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
trolling the wanderings of the intellectual
function : but they are capable of receiving
impressions, which will irritate the nerves, and
form the basis of a dream, in the course of
which may be produced, according to circum-
stances of varied irritation, but not according
to any principle of choice or selection, a mul-
titude of ideas, thoughts, opinions, and halluci-
nations.
But these trains are imperfect, undefined,
absurd, indifferently true or false, incoherent
and extravagant.
Therefore, they are not the production of the
immaterial spirit, disencumbered of its material
organ ; but do truly result from a continued
action of the brain, after it has escaped the
controul of the immaterial principle.
An impression of bodily uneasiness received
during the day, will often form the germ of a
nocturnal dream ; and thus affords another
proof, that organic irritation, not mental opera-
tion, is the proximate cause of dreaming.
Many other circumstances will operate as
exciting causes of dreams: such as, the act
of turning in bed ; change of temperature
during the night ; medicines, particularly of
the narcotic character ; mental emotion ; pro-
tracted study ; intemperance of every kind ;
CHAPTER XVIII. 371
fever of every description ; in fact, every point
of local and constitutional irritation, in pro-
portion to the intimacy of its communion with
the brain.
All these causes agree in producing a pe-
culiar excitement and commotion of the brain,
though often differing in kind and degree, and
therefore giving rise to varying results in the
complexion of the consequent images.
In approaching sleep, under the influence
of some one of these irritants, unreal images
appear, fade, and pass away, sometimes with
a great indistinctness of recollection ; while,
upon other occasions, they leave an impression
so vivid as to retain the semblance of truth,
and so strong, that the individual cannot be
convinced of its fallacy.
This state is elucidated by the condition of
the mildly insane ; in whom a very slight de-
viation from the integrity of the brain will pro-
duce amazing changes in its functions, in its
intellectual power, and in its disposition to
produce monstrous and incoherent images ;
and these alterations will be increased during
sleep.
Brainular disease, or the disorder of any and
every organ associated with it by nervous sym-
pathy, will produce dreaming ; and this mor-
B B 2
372 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
bid state will derive its peculiarities from what-
ever disturbance may form the first link in the
chain of morbid function.
The dreams of disease will be varied accord-
ing to the nature and extent, duration, period,
simplicity, or complication of the morbid ac-
tion which produces them ; and also according
to the temperament, habits, education, and
peculiarities of the dreamer.
To such a characteristic extent does this
occur, that, although our knowledge is as yet
too limited for such a purpose, it is most pro-
bable that dreams will become symptoms, in
a more advanced state of medical science, and
that they will assist us in localizing disease.
It is at least certain, that dreams do actually
mark the approach, development, intensity,
and gradual decline of malady, as well as the
return to convalescence.
The illusions which occur in dreaming, may
frequently be shown to have been the ex-
aggerated or sophisticated expression of a re^/
sensation; thus again showing the connexion
between dreams and their organic cause.
The illusions attendant upon the dreams of
insanity are most complete ; as also in that
form of fever which more particularly attacks
the nervous system. In both these cases, the
CHAPTER XVIII. 373
peculiar state of the brain, which occasions
this morbid condition of its manifestations, is
often suspended during the day, and again re-
newed at night, so soon as the organ of mind
shall have lost the opportunity of verifying its
impressions through the medium of the senses.
There is a manifest difference between
dreams which arise from a primary, or se-
condary irritation of the brain ; and between
those which attend a hyper-energetic, or a
depressed state of the organ, modified like-
wise by the prevailing cast of constitution and
character.
These states may alternate, not only during
one night, but also during one dream ; which
will serve to account for the greater or less
degree of cohesion and rationality, which is
often remarkable in the same dream.
Dreams will be modified by a variety of
physical and moral causes operating upon the
brain ; particularly by literary labour, by the
pursuits of benevolence, by the follies and fri-
volities of the age, by the provocatives of so-
ciety, and by various other analogous in-
fluences.
Now all these causes operate upon the brain,
and modify its actions ; and many of them
374 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
create irritation, produce dreaming, and cha-
racterize its images.
During sleep, man is unable to oppose the
agency of these mental causes upon the brain ;
because the combination of ideas is then in-
voluntary, and becomes a stimulus to the men-
tal organ to enter into new associations, and
to give a greater variety of character to the
dreams.
Thus, in order to the production of dream-
ing, brainular action must be dissociated from
the will ; and then, being subjected to its own
agency, or to the impulse it has received from
organic causes, these phenomena occur.
Dreams are also frequently produced from
the recollected impressions of the preceding,
or of some antecedent day ; for impressions
once made upon the brain, may ever after-
wards be revived by its own action, spontane-
ously and without effort ; yet here also, brainu-
lar action must precede, as well as in the case
of accidental association, such as in dreams of
hunger, and thirst, &c.
Somnambulism is a kind of dream, in which
certain intimately associated habits, rendered
automatic by reiterated employment during
the waking state, are re-produced in sleep,
CHAPTER XVIII.
375
without apparent volition; these actions cor-
responding with the feelings, emotions, or sen-
timents, which constitute the mental fabric of
the dream.
This peculiar excitement of the brain may
be referred for its cause to the influence of
some intellectual stimulus ; or to some morbid
agency, under the impression of its own dis-
eases; or to the sympathetic disturbance,
arising from some other suffering organ.
To this may be added the operation of cus-
tom, and of having had the organ of mind
intensely fixed upon one object. But custom,
or habit, is a purely cerebral impression, and
is associated in every instance with a peculiar
state of the brain, to such an extent, that its
influence becomes instinctive, and that its as-
sociated actions are performed without the as-
sistance of the will.
Second sight is a faculty which may be refer-
red to a species of somnambulism, in which
the mental manifestations confer with them-
selves, and produce a prospective result. Many
instances of second sight, no doubt, depend
upon that knowledge of circumstances which,
in spite of every precaution, will creep abroad
when any great events are about to be accom-
plished. But this will by no means account
376 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
wholly for the many circumstances in which
the seer claims, that
"The sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
Anci coming events cast their shadows before."
This alleged faculty attaches only to advanced
life, when the brainular function is already im-
paired : it is commonly associated with cerebral
excitement, and is peculiarly remarkable **when
the hour is on him ;" and its occurrence is to be
found principally among a most superstitious
people, where every glen is inhabited by an
endless variety of spirits, good or bad. Let
these characteristic circumstances be appre-
ciated, and let there be added to their effect
the influence exerted upon the seer and his
auditors, by having been brought up with the
full belief in the existence of this faculty ; and
the silent, unseen, but most deeply influential
operation of this firm belief, upon the mental
organ : and then will it be unhesitatingly class-
ed with other phenomena, which result from
similar states of cerebral excitement, when the
brain has escaped from the guidance of the
will and the judgment, and continues its mor-
bid function without any safeguard or direction
from the immortal principle.
Animal magnetism, another very analogous
condition, is most easily produced upon a
CHAPTER XVIII. 377
brain in an irritable and excited state ; more
readily in females than in males. The concur-
rence of the magnetizer and magnetized is
necessary to the completion of the process,
as well as the full determination of their will
towards its accomplishment : and certain actions
of the hands appear to be a very important
adjuvant to the perfect formation of magnetic
somnambulism.
During the magnetic orgasm there occurs a
highly excited and disturbed action of the
brain.
gf Hence the preceding and accompanying phe-
nomena of this state are purely physical, and
result from the operation of brain upon brain.
Doubtless the production of magnetic phe-
nomena is greatly assisted by the powerful im-
pression upon the mind : but they can never be
fully manifested without the intervention of the
material organ ; and therefore they may safely
be referred to a physical, not a spiritual agency.
During the continuance of magnetic somnam-
bulism, there occurs (so it is alleged) a power of
predicting certain physical future events ; an
impression very analogous to the function of
second sight, or even to presentiment, &c.
Thus the effects, produced by a known phy-
sical condition, are similar to those for which a
378 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
spiritual and supernatural agency has been
claimed : if it be granted to the one, it cannot
be withheld from the other ; and if it be denied
to one, it must be so to both.
And since, in one instance, it has been clearly
traced to a physical origin^ there is good ground
for believing the same origin for the similar
condition.
In all these, and analogous states, the imagi-
nation has a wonderful influence in occasioning
that peculiar excitement of the brain which is
favourable to the production of such mental
manifestations : especially to all the undefined
creations of fear; and, above all, to the belief
in apparitions.
This excited state of the imagination pro-
duces a susceptibility to morbid brainular ac-
tion, and is, in itself, a frequent cause of dream-
ing ; because it constitutes the precise state of
peculiar adaptation to erroneous and spectral
impressions.
Visions during trances, or prolonged slum-
bers, where they are not the offspring of impos-
ture or self-delusion, can only be ascribed to
a peculiar morbid action of the brain.
These visions will be characterized by the
predominance of the essential attributes of the
physical temperament of the individual, accord-
CHAPTER XVIIl. 5179
ing as this may have been simply sanguineous,
or melancholic, or choleric, or phlegmatic ; or
as these simpler states may have been more or
less combined in the same character.
These facts show^ that a morbid condition
of the brain will occasion the creation of unreal
images ; and that their influence upon the
manifestations of mind is very extensive and
mischievous.
In what consists this peculiar morbid condi-
tion of the brain, we know not ; because we
are unacquainted with the mode of its healthy
action, and therefore cannot ascertain the devi-
ations from its perfect functions.
But the same truth will apply to all the
organic functions of the body. This only do
we certainly know, that all these functions will
be disturbed by any cause which prevents the
quiet calm of the organ.
And, if so, may not the same cause, that is,
organic irritation, disturb the function of the
brain, in its most complex office ; namely, that
of manifesting the powers and attainments of
the mind ?
All histories of apparitions, &c. rest on a basis
of human testimony, rather than on any pro-
cess of reasoning: and facts are alleged in sup-
port of supernatural visitations ; these facts
380 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
forming the evidence of so many persons of
assumed health of body and soundness of
mind.
But in some instances this supernatural in-
fluence, which was fully believed to exist in an
earlier state of society, and which then was not
wanting in facts for its support, has utterly
vanished before the " morning air" of educa-
tion, science, and religion.
If so, doubt is thrown on human testimony ;
and we are constrained to believe, that these
histories have been fabricated by the designing,
or that their authors have been self-deceived :
and if we adopt the latter and more pleasing
alternative, what is so likely to have occasioned
such delusion, with rightly-intentioned indivi-
duals, as a peculiar state of brainular irritation,
giving rise to spectral appearances?
Dreams are sometimes supposed to have been
commissioned by Divine Providence, for the
discovery of crime; a revelation having been
thus made to some individuals of circumstances
which have led to the detection of the criminal ;
and this is made to rest upon the justice of the
Almighty, whose vengeance pursues the wicked,
and suffereth not a murderer to live. But God
16 merciful as well as just, and rejoices to
extend the day of grace : he willeth not the
CHAPTER XVIII. 381
death of a sinner, but rather that he should
turn unto him and live.
Moreover, the present life is not the day of
judgment or of retribution, but of proffered par-
don in Christ Jesus. This is not that approach-
ing period, when the Divine justice will be fully-
displayed : there is now an inequality in the lot
of the righteous and the wicked, which will
only be rendered right at the last great day of
account ; so that it is not inconsistent with the
dealings of Providence, that the wicked should
escape punishment in the present life.
Moreover, it has happened, that the innocent
have suffered, instead of the really guilty, in
consequence of error arising from a judgment
formed upon circumstantial evidence ; another
proof, that errors are permitted here, in order
that we may cast our eyes forward, for the
full display of God's perfect and impartial
justice.
On the contrary supposition, the perfect
holiness of Jehovah would be impugned by the
present escape of the actual perpetrator of
crime, and by the destruction of the innocent.
Besides, this result of discovery is by no means
invariable ; and if it be neither necessary nor
undeviating, we may well question the existence
of any special interference of Providence, in '
382 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
order to its being obtained, since these would
be qualities of such providential agency.
Finally, dreaming may be almost always, if
not alwaySy accounted for on other principles,
less liable to objection, and particularly upon
primary or sympathetic irritation of the brain,
arising from organic disturbance of some one
of the viscera of the body ; or from moral causes
operating immediately or intermediately upon
the mental organ, the brain. This has been
exemplified in the narrative of the discovery
of the murder of Maria Marten by William
Corder.
Besides, it is really a greater instance of pro-
vidential wisdom and care, when events are
brought about by the agency of ordinary means,
concurring to an end, rather than by any
special interference with God's established or-
der of nature.
CHAPTER XIX.
The same subject continued.
With regard to the vision of angels, &c., the
grounds on which this vision is not to be
expected, in these latter days, have been
already stated ; and it may be further argued,
that in the early period of the Christian church,
there was always an object to be accomplished,
which was necessary to the completion of the
whole will of God ; but that now, no such end
is to be effected by that species of revelation to
expiring mortality, for which Divine authority
has been claimed.
There is also another striking difference be-
tween the two states : in the former , the indivi-
duals were in high health, with unimpaired
faculties, and were enabled to perceive what it
pleased God to reveal ; but in the latter, the
384 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
spirit is just hovering on the verge of an eternal
scene, yet is still confined to its material tene-
ment, though crumbling down around it ; and
whatever it may perceive, is through the me-
dium of that corporeal habitation.
This surely is easily conceivable : an inward
revelation is not perceived by the external
senses ; yet the recipient of such revelation can
only be conscious of its existence, by attending
to, and perceiving it, by reflecting upon, and
remembering it, and by a determination, in the
strength of divine grace, to act upon it. But
attention, perception, reflection, memory, judg-
ment, and volition, are intellectual faculties,
whose functions are performed through the me-
dium of the brainular organ : therefore it is
only through it, that man become sconscious of
such revelation ; and therefore, according to all
the analogy of the Divine government, such
communication would not be made to an ex-
piring organ, but rather at a period when the
full tide of its faculties was unbroken.
The day of such revelation is now only
marked on the page of prophetic history.
Still further, these visions, when they do
occur, are referred to the bodilij senses, in proof
of their presence ; and, at the same time, the
patient suffers from other ocular spectra, and
CHAPTER XIX. 385
sees before him objects which have no real
existence.
Moreover, these visions are not confined to
the death-bed of the Christian, but are com-
mon to the closing scene of those over whose
ashes the flickering and feeble flame of hope
dares not linger, and expires in gloomy un-
certainty ; because their lives had been a con-
tinuous tissue of disobedience, and they had
come to their end, in wilful rebellion against
the Most High.
And lastly, this vision of angels is also, com-
mon to the maniac, who mixes up himself with
the glorious scenes of his own hallucinative
creations.
But if these premises be correct, it is surely
more conducive to the glory of God, to believe
that these appearances own a bodili/ origin; and
that they are ascribable to the imperfect, fail-
ing, disordered, or perverted powers of the or-
gan of mental manifestation.
This train of reasoning will not, in any de-
gree, apply to the revelations of Scripture,
which are of a totally different order ; and
have been vouchsafed to man, for the founda-
tion of his faith, the regulation of his heart, and
the conduct of his life.
c c
386 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Fet, although truth cannot be influenced, in
any measure, by the peculiar state of the phy-
sical temperament, and more particularly of
the intellectual organ, still the impression of
that truth may be so affected and altered, and
the consequent zeal and earnestness with which
it is received ; or the caution, hesitancy, doubt,
and prejudice, which absorb and enthral the mind.
Presentiment very generally results from some
antecedent physical or moral impression, and
involves a peculiar state of the brain, either oc-
casioned by the actual development or threat-
ened approach of primary or sympathetic dis-
ease ; or artificially induced by the agency of
animal magnetism, during which state it is
enabled to feel the approach of any great dis-
aster to the constitution.
Presentiments are supported by a vartiey of
warnings or omens ; and these are occasionally
rendered true by the influence of the terror
they excite : generally speaking, the predicted
consequences do not follow; and, when they
do, they form the exception, and not the rule.
Presentiments are sometimes to be found
existing without any traceable basis, and they
are then generally arising from a physical state
attending the incubation of disease.
CHAPTER XIX. 387
The case of martyrs is not depending upon
supernatural agency ; neither can it be re-
ferred, without great absurdity, and a grievous
sophistication of sound reasoning, to a physical
condition, in which great suffering not only
ceases to be painful, but actually becomes the
source of grateful sensation (Dr. Hibbert in
loco). The highly-elevated state of the martyr's
mind, and the glory which is to follow ; the
desire to be found faithful unto death, and to
afford an example of sure trust and confidence
in God, and reliance upon his promises ; added
to the corporeal agency of these powerful im-
pressions upon the brain ; would increase its
energy, and confer extraordinary powers of
manifestation, and keep up a degree of animal
excitement, by which the patient is carried out
of himself, and his feelings are wrought up to
ecstacy. But this is a brainular state, and one
which predisposes to the creation of super-
natural appearances.
The Christians support under trials, and in
death, in the fires and the waters of temptation,
is derived from the ordinary operations of the
Holy Spirit, and not from the intervention of
supernatural creations.
There is no instance of endurance recorded
on the part of the Christian martyr, which has
c c 2
388
ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
not been paralleled by the serenity of the hea-
then under torture ; consequently the fallacious
argument from experience is here quite in-
applicable.
The agency of evil spirits is generally refer-
red to possession and temptation.
In the former case, it is commonly supposed
that there is a contention between good and
evil spirits for the supremacy, and for command
over the soul. This state is to be referred to
insanity, dependent upon a morbid condition
of the brain, and is usually accompanied by a
disposition to suicide.
Temptation may be ascribed to a physical or
a moral cause ; but in neither case does it own
a supernatural origin. Its peculiar agency
is exerted upon the same principle which pro-
duced the fall of our first parents, and which
now operates upon their posterity, as it did
also upon them, through the medium of- their
sensorial and intellectual capacities ; its pre-
sent influence being augmented by the con-
sequences of that fall, and by the introduction
of those depraved mental conditions which
render the spiritual principle assailable to the
assaults of sin ; or which, in other words, pre-
pare it for listening to the voice of temptation.
Satan, as the agent in presenting temptation
CHAPTER XIX. 389
to the mind, avails himself of his knowledge
of these particular aptitudes ; — and suggests
precisely that form of disobedience to the com-
mands of the Most High, which will find the
readiest access to the spiritual principle, through
the intervention of constitutional, or habitual
tendencies. But these form no excuse for
yielding to temptation ; because the presiding
mind, and its peculiar attribute, the will, are
given to man for his guidance and government,
and therefore he is responsible for his choice
of evil, and his preference of that broad road
which leadeth to destruction.
The foregoing principles apply themselves
naturally to the doctrine and belief of appari-
tions.
There is a peculiar state of the brain, and
that a morbid state, in which these appearances
are not infrequent. This is generally the re-
sult of impending disease, but may be produced
by the action of certain remedies.
In many cases of supposed apparitions, the
anticipated results have not followed ; and of
those instances in which these seem to have
been consecutive, the most remarkable may
be accounted for on natural principles.
Apparitions are presented to spiritual con-
temptation only ; they have no real existence ;
390 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
and therefore the senses which give them
form and substance, and other material pro-
perties, must be deceived ; and this illusion
must be attended by deviation from healthy
action of the mental manifestations, and there-
fore of the manifesting organ.
Dr. Hibbert's hypothesis of a renovation of
past feelings is untenable, because it will not
account for all the cases which it ought to ex-
plain : it will not account for recalling these
impressions at the particular moment : it will
not say why this apparent recollection is found
to be invariable only during the continuance of
a state of irritation of the brain ; and it will
not explain the fear with which such an ap-
parition is viewed, a principle so greatly op-
posed to the delight with which we dwell upon
the form, and look, and expression, of those
whom we have loved and esteemed.
Sceptical opinions are not fostered by refer-
ring dreams, visions, voices, apparitions, &c.
to a state of morbid irritation of the organ of
mind.
When the brain is disordered, the sensations
impressed upon it are not lost, but perverted :
the senses themselves are mere sentinels,
placed as safeguards to the system ; and the
power of receiving or combining, considering
CHAPTER XIX. 391
and weighing the results, rests entirely with
the brain as the organ of mind, and depends
upon its attention to the notices it receives.
Mere impression is at all times unsatisfactory,
till it has been referred to, and judged of, and
estimated by the presiding mind, which deter-
mines its truth and value, its fallacy and worth-
lessness, according to its possessing or to its
wanting certain attributes of reality.
The loss of sensation must depend upon a
certain degree of paralysis of the sentient ex-
tremities of the nerves ; a state of disease,
which is much more frequently referrible to
irritation of the brain, than of the local organ
of sense.
And supposing the disorder to be confined
to the local organ, it will much more frequently
happen that its function is unduly excited, than
that it should be obliterated.
This great activity and perversion do, not-
withstanding, very generally result from pri-
mary irritation of the brain ; and are accom-
panied by sensorial illusions, and by the crea-
tion of unreal images.
But apparitions are intellectual illusions,
and proceed from an irritated intellectual or-
gan : hence the analogy of sensorial disease is
392 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
in favour of the position assumed in the pre-
sent Essay.
This question is not one which involves the
existence of spiritual beings : this is not de-
nied ; nor as to the nature of their functions,
for of this we have no means of judging. But
it is this, whether certain apparitions, for which
a spiritual origin has been claimed, may not
be accounted for, more simply, on another
principle.
Spiritual beings are not cognisable by the
corporeal eye ; their existence, therefore, can-
not be demonstrated ; it must be received as
a matter of faith. Of the mode of their access
to the mind, or of their agency upon it, nothing
is revealed ; but, so far as we are taught in Holy
Scripture concerning spiritual influence, it
differs in its essential character, and in every
particular attribute, from that which is as-
cribed to the modern ghost.
Since the latter apparitions do not lead to
any beneficial result, we believe them to differ,
in their very nature, from the commissioned
messengers of God's holy will.
As instances of these alleged supernatural
appearances have been distinctly traced to
phenomena of bodily agency, it is most rational
CHAPTER XIX. 393
to refer certain other unknown but analogous
conditions to an identical or a similar cause.
It is unnecessary to call in the aid of spiritual
agency, where a peculiar morbid state of the
brain will account for the disordered mental
manifestation.
Nor is this explanation to be abandoned,
because it does not solve all the difficulties of
the subject: this is scarcely to be expected
of any natural process. How much less, there-
fore, can we hope to unravel all the hidden
laws of the finest and most complicated portion
of the living machinery, — even the brain!
Neither is it just to call in the aid of spiritual
influence, which cannot be explained at all, in
order to account for a physical morbid state,
which may be partly explained upon natural
principles, but of which we cannot fathom all
the peculiarities.
No proof has ever yet been attempted, of
the identity of the modern apparition with the
spiritual influence of the sacred writings.
It is allowed that man has no faculty by
which he can perceive spiritual objects ; and
therefore some deviation from perfect health,
that is, some morbid state, must be necessary
to this perception.
It then only becomes a question whether
394 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
apparitions are the creation of a peculiar mode
of cerebral irritation ; or whether, they being
real spiritual eo'istences, this peculiar morbid
irritation is necessary to their perception ?
But if in either case morbid action must
exist, it is surely much more agreeable to
reason and revelation, that intellectual and sen-
sorial illusions should be the production of irri-
tated brain ; rather than that this form of disease
should be developed, in order to confer an
additional power upon the brain, to enlarge its
faculties, and to enable it to receive notices which
could in no other way be obtained.
If the opposite conclusion be maintained,
surely none can decide the kind and degree of this
morbid state, which may be necessary to confer
the newly-created faculty ; and who is to dis-
tinguish between it and many forms of inci-
pient insanity?
The instance referred to in the history of
Elisha is, throughout, the relation of a miracu-
lous interference of the Most High on behalf
of his servant ; and is, therefore, classed with
other miracles, which have long since ceased
from the present age of the Christian church.
The tendency to scepticism, as connected
with this question, arises, not from the belief
of the dependance of mind upon matter for its
CHAPTER XIX. 395
manifestation, but from the prevalence of prac-
tical infidelity : from the desire of the heart
to lose sight of its accountability, and from the
wish to refer its wanderings to some kind of
supernatural influence, involuntary, and there-
fore in every instance irresponsible.
This fatal tendency is corrected by uphold-
ing man's accountability, and the supremacy
of his will; and by separating the results of
simple brainular action, after it has escaped
the control of the presiding mind, from the
effects of spiritual influence. Thus man is left
without excuse, and is brought back to the
broken law of God, and its consequences, the
wrath of that holy Being, the necessity for re-
pentance, and the need of a Saviour.
Far from this explanation leading man to
undervalue the intervention of a superintending
Providence, the more deeply he becomes ac-
quainted with nature's operations, the more does
he see of the wisdom, and power, and mercy,
and love, of every appointment ; the more fully
therefore does he receive the revelations of His
will, with meekness and obedience.
It has been stated that all the histories
of apparitions rest on the same basis of human
testimony. But this is not a safe foundation
for belief, since it is liable to be acted upon by
396 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
prejudice, — is subject to error, is disturbed by
feeling and passion, and is acted upon by many
hidden motives.
It is absurd to claim the authority of indivi-
duals so circumstanced in favour of ghosts ; and
yet, on the other hand, to reject the explana-
tions of reason and science ; and to set at
nought the experience, not of those who have
never seen apparitions, but of those v^ho, having
seen them, have not been deluded into a belief
of their real and spiritual existence, but who
have accounted for them upon physical princi-
ples. Surely these demand, at least, an equal
share of attention ; and if each were fairly
dealt by, there would be no fear for the result ;
and reason and common sense would triumph
over groundless apprehension and superstitious
fear.
By these results, the existence of a supreme
superintending Providence is established, and
its ways towards man are justified; for God is
infinitely holy and wise and good.
When a natural explanation can be found for
that which is difficultly conceivable upon any
other principle, it is the duty of the Christian
humbly to accept such explanation ; especially
when it offers a beautiful exposition of the
CHAPTER XIX. 397
debasing influence of the Fall upon the mani.
Testations of the spiritual principle.
Thus, by withdrawing the agency of Omni-
potence from the shadowy wand of superstition,
its perfect knowledge and its holy operations
are vindicated from the unhallowed creations of
mortality ; and the influence of the word and
Spirit of God is for ever separated from the
mimotic influence, which results from a disor-
dered state of the animal fibre.
In fact, they only impugn the power of
Omnipotence, who question the agenc3'", upon
spiritual mind, of its organic medium of mani-
festation ; and who deny that disorder of such
medium must be followed by defective, or ex-
cessive, or perverted manifestations ; and con-
sequently, who disbelieve that primary or sym-
pathetic irritation of the brain may suffice for
the creation of apparitions.
The inhalation of nitrous-oxyde gas produces
an effect upon the brain, admirably adapted to
the calling up of visions and apparitions.
But what is still more important to remark
is, that the eff'ect of this impression differs
according to the peculiarity of the physical tem-
perament of each individual ; or to the varying
condition of that temperament (of health and
disease) at the hour of its exhibition.
398 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
• These facts afford two important conclusions:
first, apparitions and unreal images are pro-
duced by a cause operating exclusively upon
the brain ; and next, the specific character of
these apparitions, arising from the same source
of cerebral irritation, will vary according to the
predominant constitution, or to its fluctuating
state of organic function.
Nay, more : the peculiar temperament being
given, the precise effect of this agent may be
calculated beforehand.
Other medicines of a similar, though not
identical nature, will produce other morbid
states of the nervous system, which will concur
in the creation of this particular influence : some
illustrations of this fact have been given from
the agency of belladona, stramonium, hyosci-
amus, aconite, opium, &c.
But, if so, many phenomena usually ascribed
to spiritual agency may be more correctly shown
to be dependent upon a peculiar condition of
the brain.
Nor is this extraordinary, since it is the ap-
pointed organ for the manifestation of mind;
since it is subjected to the general laws of
organic life ; and since the curse of original sin
has introduced disease and disorder of that
organ, and associated with it all the sufferings of
CHAPTER XIX. 399
all the other organs of the body : hence really
every morbid change of organic function, or of
mental manifestation, may be said to result from
this fell influence.
The general histories of apparitions may
be referred for their cause to cerebral irrita-
tion, arising from a morbid impression, prima-
rily made either upon the mind or body.
Some accounts may be traced to the agency
of superstitious influence impressed upon the
mental organ in early childhood, and recalled in
after life, with an unnatural degree of vivid-
ness.
The recollection of such impression is pro-
portioned to its original intensity ; to the atten-
tion which it engaged at the time ; and to the
number and interest of its subsequent associa-
tions. But, if so, early impressions are of the
first consequence, because their intensity is
proportioned to their novelty and freshness ;
they insure the undivided attention; and they
operate upon unsophisticated mind, animated
by the glowing desire of youthful sensa-
tion, and by an^ intense craving after excite-
ment.
Besides, it is the nature of the organ upon
which these impressions are made, that they do
not weaken by the lapse of time, and by the
400 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
common effect of distance in diminishing influ-
ence ; but that they re-appear with original, if
not with augmented power, however long may
have been the interval. For this reason, the
brain never thoroughly supersedes the effect of
early over-excitement ; and by it, in fact, it is
prepared for morbid trains of thought, and for
the creation of unreal images of terror.
Cerebral irritation from bodily causes will
likewise be another fruitful source of spiritual
appearances ; the brain will cease to be a per-
fect organ for mental manifestation ; and in this
state of imperfection it will continue to act on
without the guidance of the presiding mind,
and will produce images, which have usually
been attributed to supernatural agency.
The most important of these cases are those
in which there is a supposed appearance of
departed spirits to distant friends, at the mo-
ment of their dissolution from the expiring
body ; and those which have been ascribed to
the immediate personal intervention of the
Deity.
In the former class, if the spirits thus appear-
ing be commissioned, or even permitted by Provi-
dence, as a notice or warning of the death of
certain individuals, the effect must be invaria-
ble ; or it must form a portion of the govern-
CHAPTER XIX. 401
ment of a Being of infinite and immutable
truth ; and therefore the whole hypothesis will
be overturned by one such history of well-au-
thenticated facts, in which the expected re-
sult did not occur. This argument is furnished
by the narrative of the Rev. Joseph Wilkins,
published in the Record of September 2, 1828.
Viewed as a consequence of cerebral irrita-
tion in two distant individuals, it is only an
extraordinary coincidence ; it is possible : but
contemplated as the result of supernatural
agency to produce a. false impression, and at the
same time one which was painful and useless, it
is impossible.
The fallacy of the present instance being ad-
mitted, and the essential characters of the divine
proceeding, namely, truth and immutability, being
wanting, the effect cannot justly be ascribed to
the agency of the Almighty.
Neither can it be referred to the influence of
the evil spirit, because it wants that attribute of
malignity, and that perversion of good, which
must attach to demoniacal agency.
This view of the subject is supported by the
failure of the expected result in the history
of A. B.
The second position is illustrated by the nar-
rative of the conversion of Colonel Gardiner.
D D
402 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
This case was attended by a most powerful dis-
turbance of the nervous system, and was fol-
lowed by severe illness ; and according to the
views of the present Essay, was produced by
the approach of that malady, through a peculiar
agency exerted upon the brainular system during
the incubation of disease.
That the brain may be liable to illusory ex-
citement, under such circumstances, is shown
by the fact of the fallacious feeling of high health,
which often precedes, scarcely by an interval of
five minutes, all the miserable feelings of
indigestion.
And if this acknowledged illusion be depend-
ent upon so slight a disturbance of the general
harmony of the system, it is not extraordinary
that its more serious and threatening invasions
should be preceded by the more deeply sha-
dowed creations of a morbid brain.
That this state proved the means of convict-
ing a sinner, of arresting him in his course, and
of making him feel and acknowledge the great
power of God, is not a fact opposed to the pre-
ceding argument ; because sickness, and espe-
cially that which should make a deep impres-
sion upon habitual associations, is precisely one
of the most powerful means employed by Infi-
nite Goodness, in its designs of wisdom and
CHAPTER XIX. ^)8
mercy, to awaken the sinner to a sense of his
miserable condition, in order that he might be
enabled to appreciate the suitableness of the
provided ransom.
Even affliction, induced by our own avoidable
misconduct, is often the minister of good. Not
that God can be the author of evil, or that He
can employ evil in his service. But the wicked
agents of their own desires and devices are per-
mitted, in following their own wills, to bring
about the designs of the Almighty, and are thus
overruled to his glory.
So also, other powerful impressions upon the
nervous system ; nay, even insanity itself, has
been frequently rendered instrumental in the
conviction and conversion of the sinner.
Without, therefore, supposing any superna-
tural influence, we have a most rational expla-
nation of this mystery ; one which enlarges the
heart, and fixes it upon the infinite goodness of
God, instead of upon a very questionable agency,
which has often been perverted to doubtful
purposes.
Besides, a similar appearance has often hap-
pened, without its being followed by a corres-
ponding result.
And if the Almighty had condescended to
employ this extraordinary revelation in bringing
D D 2
404
ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
about his designs of mercy, it can scarcely
be supposed that this would occur, without
being followed by the alleged consequences.
For, however under ordinary circumstances the
sinner, in the hardness of his heart, may resist
the striving of the Spirit, it cannot be allowed
that this would have been the case where
a miracle had been produced for this express
purpose.
Yet some very similar cases have happen-
ed to the Atuhor, which were not followed by
a similar consequence. Thus then the Almighty
and all-wise Jehovah worked a miracle in vain !
— or rather will not natural circumstances ac-
count for the physical origin of phenomena
which, in the infinite mercy of God, were
over-ruled to the everlasting benefit of the
sinner ?
But further; if these supernatural appear-
ances be considered as the commissioned agents
of the Omnipotent, to convince the hardened
heart, it is impossible to resist the conclusion,
that the same agency has been employed as a
weapon against the spread of true religion in the
world. Witness the revelation to the deistical
Lord Herbert ; a fact which rests on the same
basis with all other analogous facts of an oppo-
site tendency, — namely, human testimony.
CHAPTER XIX. 495
No portion of the providence of God can be
opposed to his holy will ; yet this event in-
volves (if it be admitted) such a false conclu-
sion ; consequently apparitions cannot be re-
ferred to spiritual agency without implicating
the most alarming results: whereas, if they be
ascribed to a bodily origin, although they may
have been rendered a means of grace, and ef-
fectual in arresting the sinner in his downward
course, all is comprehensible and complete ;
and we contemplate the ways of God to man
with largely expanded feelings of gratitude and
joy-
The appearance of the dead or dying to their
distant friends occurs during a disordered state
of the brainular system, arising either from dis-
ease of body, or in the peculiar condition of
that organ which results from intense mentaj
emotion. In either case, there will be re-
marked a peculiar susceptibility to impressions
of every kind, and a predisposition towards the
indulgence of painful emotion.
And this is a morbid state, not of the immate-
rial, indestructible spirit, but of the organ
through which its manifestations of action are
made, its perceptions are received, and its
impressions are conveyed : examples in proof
406 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
of these positions have been given in the fore-
going pages.
By thus referring supposed spiritual agency
to a purely bodily origin, I do not question or
undervalue the injiutnce of the Holy Spirit : my
object is to vindicate this doctrine, to separate
it from the adventitious states with which it
has too frequently been associated ; and to dis-
tinguish between the former irregular effects of
supernatural agency, and the latter constant
holy influence.
This connexion of supernatural agency and
unearthly visitants with bodily disease, has been
clearly traced in many instances which have
happened under the Author's own cognizance ;
and enough surely has been adduced to esta-
blish the position, that disorder of the cerebral
system does occasion that peculiar condition of
the mental organ, during the continuance of
which these apparitions are sometimes pro-
duced.
It is not asserted that this is the case in every
instance ; or that there can be no spiritual ap-
pearance— but only thus : if these supernatural
visitations may in any instance be satisfactorily
accounted for on physical principles, who can
deny the possibility of applying similar prin-
CHAPTER XIX. 4W
ciples to all cases ? who is to define the dis-
tinctive limits between sensorial illusion, and
spiritual supernatural agency ?
Hence, it is better to yield assent to an hypo-
thesis which explains many phenomena, and
reconciles many difficulties, and vindicates the
conduct of the righteous Governor of the uni-
verse ; than to adopt another mode of argu-
mentation which assumes every thing, but de-
fines and explains nothing ; which is involved
in inextricable difficulty, which throws a cloud
over the moral government of the Omnipotent,
which is opposed to reason, and which is not
sanctioned by experience.
The narrative of the appearance of Lord
Tyrone to Lady Beresford has been examined
on account of its absurdity in detail, and of its
forming one of the best authenticated ghost
stories on record ; and it has been shown that
this case falls strictly within the general rule,
and did actually arise from morbid cerebral
excitement. This is evinced by the nature of
the symptoms, clearly indicating the existence
of night-mare ; by the want of truth and con-
sistency in this narrative; by the absurd and
impossible notions which it upholds ; by the
physical effects said to have been pro-
duced by this spiritual agency ; and by the
408 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
alleged consequences of the visitation — conse-
quences most easily accounted for by other
natural causes.
The circumstances of the death of Lord Lyt-
tleton have also been briefly examined by the
same tests, and have been shown to be ascrib-
able to similar physical causes.
It is indeed true, that some cases may be at
present inexplicable upon this principle, and
with our limited amount of knowledge; but
even then, which is the wiser plan ? to adopt
a conclusion which does not admit of reasoning
and explanation, or to embrace one which ex-
plains much, though it may fail of accounting
for the whole of the phenomena ?
Mr]
CHAPTER XX.
Conclusions arising from a review of the whole subject.
We must just notice the inferences which
arise from reviewing this train of argumentation,
and some consequences which flow from it.
The whole history of apparitions rests upon
morbid brainular excitement, and, as far as the
individual patient is concerned, is an illusion.
The author of '' Past Feelings Renovated" as-
sumes, that "an apparition is that only which
is susceptible of mental perception, and is not
subject to corporeal proof; illusion being, on
the contrary, a visual deception, or miscon-
ception of material objects ; phantasms being
the unreal fancies of the mind." And this is
a very convenient process, because it assumes
the reality of the point in question, and at the
same time affirms that it is not subjected to
410 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
proof, thus furtively abstracting it from the
province of reason. But suppose for a moment,
that every apparition be not real, would not
such exception to a general rule be classed as
illusion? And since it is too much to affirm
the reality of every history of supernatural ap-
pearance, there must be cases in which indi-
viduals deceive others, or are themselves de-
ceived. In either case, illusion is produced ;
and where then are the defined boundaries of
the apparition which is real, and that which is
illusory? Again, why limit illusion to a mis-
conception of material objects, when reason,
experience, and religion, loudly proclaim, that,
in the present state of his existence, man is
subject to a variety of physical, intellectual,
and moral illusions ? The only answer that
can be justly given to this inquiry, is, that it
was convenient to get rid of the idea that an
apparition might possibly be an illusion. Thus
fails the fundamental position of the respected
author of "Past Feelings Renovated."
If the present hypothesis will not account
for all the well-authenticated histories of super-
natural appearances, and spiritual communi-
cations; it will at least unravel very many,
and would probably explain the remainder, if
we were in possession of all the circumstances,
CHAPTER XX. 411
and if we were capable of detecting the al-
most infinitely varied sophistications of truth,
which are the product of superstition. Thus
at least it is reasonable to conclude, and to
place the absence of complete explanation
upon the failure of our intellectual powers,
rather than upon the route of investigation
which may have been adopted. But even sup-
posing it granted that all these relations were
ultimately inexplicable, still the attempt to
find a ratiojiale for them is loaded with fewer
difficulties than that of establishing the reality
of apparitions.
There is no ground for applying the admitted
events of the apostolic age to the occurrences of
the present period ; because the former were
miraculous y and produced for an especial purpose ;
and the period of miraculous interposition has
been superseded by the ordinary operations of
the Word, and Providence, and Spirit of God
— namely, through the agency of appointed
means.
But apparitions are justly classed as mira-
cles, because they are deviations from the es-
tablished course of nature : and the converse
of this proposition can only be maintained by
supposing, that all alleged spectral appear-
ances really formed a portion of the common
412 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
course of events, established by Infinite Wis-
dom, at the creation of the world ; which is
again assuming the point in dispute, and which
is rendered to the last degree improbable, be-
cause inconsistent with all that is known of
the moral government of God.
The contrary opinion is not established by
any supposed difference between our mental
and corporeal natures, because these are so
interwoven, that each is dependent upon the
other, and the former cannot act without in-
fluencing the latter. We have this treasure
in houses of clay ; and if the material tene-
ment be impaired, there will be no adequate
manifestation of mind. It is absurd, therefore,
to talk of an essential difference in our ^* mental
existence, and organic formation,'"' when the first
can only be demonstrated by the integrity of
the latter, and is obscured, perverted, appa-
rently lost, as soon as the organ ceases to be
capable of correct mental manifestation.
The possibility of spectral appearances is not
denied, but only its probability. Now in sup-
port of this probability, the value of human
testimony has been weighed in the balance of
reason and Christianity, and has been found
wanting. And to plead the general and uni-
versally extended belief of every nation and
CHAPTER XX. 413
people in supernatural visitations (see "Past
Feelings Renovated"), is no argument in its fa-
vour, since it might be claimed for idolatry,
and for almost every error under the sun ; and ,
to adduce the prevalence of error in its own
support, is absolutely to assert that it dimi-
nishes in importance, in proportion to its ex-
tension; or that it ceases to be injurious ac-
cording to the multiplication of its victims.
This mode of argumentation is not charge-
able with a sceptical tendency ; but, on the
contrary, by separating truth from error; by
defining physical influence, and distinguishing
it from spiritual agency ; and by placing the
offspring of superstitious impression at an im-
measurable distance from the operations of the
Holy Spirit, and of the providence of God; it
tends to vindicate the moral Governor of the
universe, and to fix our faith, and hope, and
confidence, and love, on the only secure rest-
ing place for a conscious sinner.
The impossibility of accounting for some
supernatural appearances is only the common
lot of humanity, and is to be placed with many
— nay with almost all nature's secret opera-
tions— with the interior movement and imme-
diate cause of which we are utterly unac-
quainted.
414 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
It has been shown that apparitions do arise
out of the compound nature of our spiritual
and material conformation, because their ex-
istence depends upon the irritation of the organ
of mind from its own diseases ; from sympa-
thetic suffering, arising from the maladies of
other functions of the body ; or from the in-
vasion of any important morbid action.
The position thus admitted is not at all in
favour of the belief in a ** permitted mental
communication of our spiritual nature, with
other spiritual existences," independently of,
and excluding the medium, or agency, of the
organic senses of materiality : in fact, their
agency cannot be excluded, since mind has
not possibly another medium of communica-
tion with external nature, or with itself; that
is, with its own manifestatiotis.
Credulity is not simply the error of contract-
ed minds : it exists at both extremities of the
scale of intellect, and will be found, under
varying modifications, in the individual who is
credulous, because he is unable to see and to
comprehend and embrace many points of a
subject; and in him who is conspicuous for his
large measure of surpassing belief, because he
looks down from an eminence on the immensity
of the subject before him, and, from estimating
CHAPTER YX. 416
the small portion which he can thoroughly
comprehend, gives the reins to imagination
over that larger hidden territory which eludes
the utmost grasp of finite mind.
Among these unknown portions of science,
over which the darkness of ignorance broods,
and the ignis fatuus of a lawless imagination
delights to revel, is the function of the nervous
system. Of this we know very little; and the
discoveries of the last few years, with regard to
the double function of nerves, and to the phy-
siology of the respiratory nerves, are sufficient
to prove that as yet we know very little. But
this subject must be only just hinted at: we
dare not now venture upon its more extended
consideration ; and we proceed, finally, to the
moral conclusions to be drawn from the whole
argument.
This disturbance of brainular function is no
excuse for peevishness or impatience; as in
itself it forms no proof of a want of interest in
the atoning sacrifice of Christ, or of the ab-
sence of the transforming influence of the Holy
Spirit.
But it is a constant, living proof of the de-
basing influence of sin, upon all the manifes-
tations of mind.
416 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Thus it forms a portion of that trial of the
Christian's faith and patience, for which he is
placed in the world ; and it therefore teaches
him to be watchful, and to pray, lest he enter
into temptation ; while the consciousness of its
existence should lead him to the exertion of
unwonted energy in his course, and should in-
vite him to seek for strength where alone it
can be truly found.
Man's moral responsibility rests on the fact of
his possessing some mode of communication be-
tween all his organs and functions, and the
supreme presiding Mind. The brain is sub-
jected to the power of volition, and is therefore
under the controul of the will : hence, for all
its actions and promptings, and for all its
associated sympathies, and for all its mental
manifestations, man is minutely answerable.
From these considerations should arise a
deep sentiment of gratitude to God, for the
preservation of health, and, above all, for the
integrity of the brainular function, and its
mental manifestations ; and thus will neces-
sarily follow the devotion of every power to
the love and service of the most high God ;
diligence and circumspection in the employ-
ment of every talent ; and a firm resolution, in
CHAPTER XX. 417
the strength of the Lord God, to work while it
is day, for ** the night cometh when no man
can work."
With this sentiment will be closely asso-
ciated the principles of benevolence and com-
passion towards those who suffer from brainu-
lar irritation, and the associated morbid mani-
festations of mind.
The origin of cerebral irritation may often
be traced to the influence of moral causes ; and
moral management will always be found use-
ful in its treatment, because these means exert
considerable influence over the function of the
brain, and through it upon the irritated organ
of mind.
Hence will follow the great importance of
watchfulness and prayer, to be preserved from
sin and its awful consequences ; from those
moral causes which may disturb the equilibrium
of brainular function, and lead to the most fear-
ful present results ; and which, if unchanged,
may conduct to the night of death, a night of
the gloomiest hopelessness, and to a futurity of
interminable misery.
How all-important, therefore, is religious
principle, in preserving the mind from those
causes which conduct to cerebral disorder !
E E
418 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
The spiritual principle can be subject only
to one moral taint y pervading all the manifesta-
tions of mind, producing the disorder of sinful
action and passion, and thus necessarily dis-
turbing the function of the brain.
For this spiritual disease a remedy has been
provided. Man has not the inherent power of
recovering himself from this state ; he has
nothing of his own to offer. But a ransom has
been found, and a remedy has been applied.
The Son of God has offered himself a sacrifice
for sin ; and his atoning blood cleanses from
all iniquity. To this fountain sinners are in-
vited to come, and, believing in him, to be
saved, from the love, and power, and penalty
of sin ; and to find pardon, and peace, and
holiness, and love, and joy.
By referring dreaming, nightmare, &c. to a
peculiar condition of the material brain, we
vindicate the honour of God, and we do not
derogate from his power, or wisdom, or good-
ness.
If dreaming be produced by a bodily con-
dition, the organ so disturbed may have been,
and in fact has been, subjected to the pervert-
ing agency which accompanied the Fall ; and
thus it becomes a portion of the natural punish-
CHAPTER XX. 419
ment of sin, is actually a proof of its debasing
influence, and forms a highly important part
of the moral government of the world.
If dreaming were referred to the uninfluenced
associations of the immaterial spirit, it would
follow that it possesses very limited powers of
intelligence; and,
That these require to be aided by the ma-
terial connexions of the brain ; results which
experience contradicts, and which, if allowed,
would terminate in materialism.
Man is not directly responsible for his
dreams ; but he is awfully so for any allowed
trains of thought, for any indulgence of un-
hallowed passion, which may be revived dur-
ing sleep, by an irritated brain, and which may
present to the mind polluting images : — hence
the great necessity for watchfulness, lest the
enemy insidiously approach, and guilt be con-
tracted, because Christian vigilance slumbered.
Against the disturbing eff'ect of indigestion
and brainular irritation, upon the common
manifestations of mind, we are called upon
to struggle ; to ** watch and pray," lest we
** enter into temptation," This duty forms a
portion of our daily trial, and it preserves the
mind humble and dependent; determined, in
E E 2
420 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
the strength of the Lord, to grapple with in-
firmity, and yet conscious, that it is in his
strength alone we can ultimately come off more
than conquerors, or produce fruit to the praise
of the glory of his grace.
The best antidote against superstitious fear
is to be found in the principle of quiet confi-
dence in a superintending Providence ; recol-
lecting that nothing can hurt the children of
God, except as permitted or commissioned by
him to bring them back, if wanderers from his
fold. Even the power of wicked men to harm
us is limited by the designs of an all-wise, and
gracious, and merciful Jehovah.
A lesson of humility may be drawn from our
ignorance and helplessness, which so daily
teach us the necessity for dependance on Christ
for grace, and wisdom, and strength : from
Him alone can they be obtained ; but they
must be diligently sought, and humbly prayed
for, and perseveringly striven after.
It is most unequivocally admitted, that the
Almighty Ruler over all can interfere with the
laws of nature ; and the proofs of his having
done so, in evidence of his Divine mission,
rest on the most unequivocal foundation ; but
then a particular purpose was to be accom-
CHAPTER XX. 421
plished, — a portion of the great scheme of re-
demption, the grand design of mercy and of
love to fallen apostate man.
But these interferences appear to have been
limited to certain portions of the history of the
church in its early infancy.
And now that we have the sure word of God
for our guide; and that the canon of Scripture
is complete; and that woe is denounced against
those who add to what has been revealed ; and
that there are appointed ministers and means
of grace ; miracles are no longer necessary,
the voice of prophecy has ceased, the gift of
tongues and the fervour of inspiration have given
way to the ordinary operations of Divine grace,
— by the teaching of the Spirit, by the written
and preached word of God, by obedience, and
prayer, and faith, and waiting upon Hhuy sin-
cerely desirous of being led into all truth.
Dreams and visions are to be ranged in the
same class of extraordinary communication :
they have ceased with the peculiarities of the
age which gave them birth ; therefore they do
not now form the rule for our guidance.
As well might we expect apostles gifted with
superhuman powers, as that the Almighty
would now employ dreams as the medium of
spiritual communication : and as we would
422 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
treat the pretensions of the former, if assumed,
with discredit, so no one at this hour of the
Christian day should appeal to dreams as evi-
dence of a communication from the Almighty
and sovereign Disposer of all things.
There is no excuse for temptation to sin, on
the ground of any extraordinary supernatural
tempter. Temptation consists in the adapta-
tion of circumstances to man's natural faculties,
which have been debased by the Fall, having
lost all their original purity and excellence,
their likeness to the image of God ; and having
become corrupt with a constant propensity to
evil, which reigns in our mortal bodies, because
the heart loves it, and fondly clasps the chain
by which it is enthralled.
To this influence is to be added that of habit
and association : the thoughts of the heart are
only evil, and that continually.
But the heart must be renewed by Divine
grace ; and there is implanted that living prin-
ciple of hatred to sin, and love of holiness,
which will produce a never-failing opposition
to the influence of evil tendency, and to the
suggestions of the Devil.
Thus, then, it is, that the gift of God is freely
offered to all those who seek for his blessing :
but this asking can only arise from good de-
CHAPTER XX. 423
sires ; and these good desires are not naturally
found in the bosom, and can only spring from
the influence of the Spirit of God ; but when
once received into the heart, and implanted
there, the will becomes changed, and the
whole power of that function is to be devoted
to the love and service of God.
It is no excuse that man is prone to corrup-
tion, and that he may be led into temptation ;
because the sanctifying influence of the Holy
Spirit is a power superior to the voice of pas-
sion, or to any supposed agency of the evil
spirit ; the Christian must be found struggling
after holiness, and daily mortifying sin, so that
he may grow in grace, live in obedience to
Christ, and be found humbly, yet firmly, imi-
tating his example. For a moment let it be
recollected how powerful an exertion of the
will, and what almost incredible efforts a man
will make to save himself when his life is in
danger : he does not then quietly wait the
destructive agent till its force has become over-
whelming, and escape impossible ; but he flees
for his life. So when spiritual life is in danger,
and enemies threaten, and temptations assail,
and zeal is languid, and faith is feeble, the
Christian is not only to wait upon God, but,
by a powerful effort of the will, to save him-
''ft^ ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
self from danger — well knowing, that the
strength of the Lord God, strength equal to
his day, has been promised. But then, it is
promised only to those who are found in the
path of duty : in fact, exertion is to the Chris-
tian the appointed means of obtaining all his
blessings.
A similar train of reasoning will apply to
errors of judgment and opinion: these arise
from the debasing change which has passed on
man, which has quenched the light of life in
his soul, and has most strangely perverted the
manifestations of the organ of mind.
Man's duty, therefore, with regard to this
source of fallacy in thought and action, is to re-
ceive with caution the notices conveyed by this
perverted function; to pray to be led into all
truth, and to strive earnestly to redeem the
time ; to resist the propensity to evil ; and to
recover, as far as may be, that original per-
fection of the spiritual principle, in which our
first parents were created, from which they fell
by disobedience, and which we, their degene-
rate offspring, have perpetuated, by following
the wayward imaginations of our unrenewed
hearts.
By this view of the subject, man is not only
rendered accountable for all his thoughts and
CHAPTER XX. 425
actions, but he is left without excuse if he neg-
lect so great salvation ; if he obstinately refuse
to receive Christ, and to obey his laws.
Thus is the voice of practical infidelity si-
lenced : man is rendered responsible for the
employment of his intellectual and affective
faculties, for his preference of evil to good, and
for his abuse or disuse of the talents entrusted
to him : but he is not accountable for those
actions and expressions which result from the
continued operation of the brain, when from
some change in its relations of health or disease,
it has escaped the controul of the presiding
spirit.
With what deeply-felt adoration and gratitude
should the heart be raised to the Author of all
our blessings, for the preservation of the brainu-
lar function from disorder!
The creation of apparitions depends upon
primary or sympathetic irritation of the brain ;
and is one of those evil consequences which
flowed from the debasing influence of the Fall
upon the organ appointed for the manifestations
of mind, and upon those manifestations them-
selves.
How consoling is it to the Christian, that in
all the difficulties arising from this perversion,
he enjoys the comforting presence of the Holy
426 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
Spirit ; and is refreshed and sustained by the
recollection, that he has before the throne of
God a great High Priest, Advocate, and Inter-
cessor, who was partaker of his infirmities, yet
without sin ; and who has now entered within
the veil, there to plead for the errors of his
people.
In judging of death-bed scenes, it is neces-
sary to recollect what a large admixture o^ phy-
sical influence is to be traced ; and it must not
be expected that the manifestations of mind
should be perfect. When the sun is fast sink-
ing from our view, the lengthened shadow first
proclaims that we may not trust to this mode of
judging of the correct outline of natural bodies:
in a little time, a still greater uncertainty per-
vades the undefined forms of twilight, till they
are presently shrouded from our view altogether
by the deepening obscurity of night. So when
the Christian's sun is setting on earth, its mani-
festations become imperfect — they lose the de-
fined outline of health — and more or less of
physical disorder involves the manifestations of
mind in greater and deeper obscurity, till they
are lost to us in the darkness of death. Granted
that this is only a temporary abstraction of light,
and that the Christian's sun is no sooner set on
earth, than it rises in a more glorious and ever-
CHAPTER XX. 427
lasting day, where the sun shall no more go
down. But we see not this change : it occurs
in another hemisphere, of which we know only
by faith and not by sight, and in which the
Lamb is the light thereof. It is true, that some-
times the spiritual principle seems carried above
the influence of physical causes ; but this is
rare, and usually depends on a state of physical
exaltation. Errors on this subject arise com-
monly from looking at death as taking place in
consequence of the soul quitting its material
tenement. But this is a mistake; physical
death occurs ; and in consequence of this
change, the body being no longer fitted for the
manifestation of mind, the soul returns to God,
who gave it. Now, therefore, where the braia
is ihejirst organ to die, the perfect action of that
viscus will be early impaired, and the manifest-
ations of mind will be perverted or destroyed :
where a state of brainular excitement is pre-
sent, they will be marked by an increased degree
of intensity, amounting to exaltation of spiritual
action : and where it is the last to die, it will
happen that its function seems to be unim-
paired, and to be quietly and perfectly con-
tinued, till positive death has extinguished the
channel for the exhibition of its power.
Where there is so much scope for physical
428 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
influence, great caution should be observed
in drawing any inferences from a man's last
words.
Great care should be taken in early life not to
excite the brain too much ; health, and strength,
and peace of mind are often sacrificed at the
shrine of parental vanity, in the desire after
precocious talent for their children, and thus is
produced a state favourable for the creation of
apparitions of every shape.
The same may be said of powerfully excitant
reading, especially of interesting fiction, adapted
to infantile imagination ; when that active and
uncontrollable faculty has been endeavouring
to clothe ideal personages, with such a sem-
blance of truth and nature, as that it shall be-
deceived into interest, on the several puppets
before it, — but which, considered as puppets,
would fail to interest beyond the earliest years.
The mischief arising from the development of
this faculty for unreal creation is incalculable ;
and its impression is probably never lost ; — then
it is revived in after life, and forms a ground-
work for superstition, and for false notions of
men and things, as well as for a feebleness and
irritability of brain, which predispose that or-
gan to morbid manifestation.
Great evil in this point of view arises in after-
CHAPTER XX. 429
life from the too great admixture of fiction in the
reading of the young ; especially of the fashion-
able religious fictions of the day. Almost all the
children's books are now little novels, and thus
false views of real life are produced ; and,
which is worse, an irritability of brain that is
never effaced, and which, in one way or other,
pursues its unconscious victim through life.
The brain never loses the effect of these early
impressions ; and a warning voice, against their
increasing influence, is recorded as an act of
duty to the present and the rising generation.
Enthusiasm is an evil infinitely less than the-
oretical or practical infidelity ; but still it is an
evil, because it leads to the formation of erro-
neous views on the character and moral govern-
ment of the divine Being; and it excites a pre-
judice against both in the minds of those, who
are almost persuaded to be Christians.
Finally : all our affairs are in the hands of an
all-powerful, all-wise, and all-mercifulJehovah.
It is only under the influence of true religion,
and of the love of God shed abroad in the
heart, that the mind can be at peace. Here is
a counterpoise to the physical evils with which
we are surrounded ; a soother amidst all the
calamities of life, and the turmoils of society; a
hiding-place from the creations of fear; a resto-
430 ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.
rative amidst the exhausting cravings of intel-
lectual appetite, and the morbid manifestations
which result from its indulgence : here alone is
the only refuge from all the dreams, visions,
voices, spectral appearances, and every other
creation of distempered fancy : there is repose in
God ; *'for so he giveth his beloved sleep." — May
God in his infinite mercy grant that the prece-
ding attempt may redound to the honour and
glory of his holy name ; may it be blessed to
the conviction and support of the feeble Chris-
tian ; and may the writer deeply and increasingly
feel his own awful responsibility for the measure
of talent entrusted to his care ; and may *' he
find mercy in that day !"
THE END.
LONDON :
ID01SON AND PAIMFR, PBINTERS. SAVOY STREET, STRAND.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
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