But when that Cloud was dispell'd, and the Day sprung up, those Spirits which wander'd in the Night of Ignorance and Error, did really vanish at the Dawn of Truth and the Light of Knowledge.

Another Tradition they hold, and which is often talk'd of, is, that there are particular Places allotted to Spirits to walk in. Thence it was that formerly, such frequent Reports were abroad of this and that particular Place being haunted by a Spirit, and that the common People say now and then, such a Place is dangerous to be pass'd through at Night, because a Spirit walks there. Nay, they'll further tell you, that some Spirits have lamented the Hardness of their Condition, in being obliged to walk in cold and uncomfortable Places, and have therefore desired the Person who was so hardy as to speak to them, to gift them with a warmer Walk, by some well grown Hedge, or in some shady Vale, where they might be shelter'd from the Rain and Wind.

The Stories, that Apparitions have been seen oftener than once in the same Place, have no Doubt been the Rise and Spring of the walking Places of Spirits; but why they are

said sometimes to cry out for Places that are more comfortable, is not so certainly known. It is however highly probable, that when the Ignorance and Superstition of the Romish Church, had filled the World with Apparitions and Ghosts, that this also was invented among them. For they seem to have the most Right to an Invention of this Nature, whose Brains were so fruitful of Folly, as to invent that * Dunstan took the Devil by the Nose, with a pair of hot Tongs till he roar'd again. For if the Devil may be burnt, he may also be starved; if he took such Pains to get his Nose out of the Pincers, without Doubt in a frosty Night, he would wish to be as warm as possible. He that believes the one, must necessarily believe the other. And therefore it very near amounts to a Demonstration, who were the Authors of this Opinion, viz. The Monks. We are sure they invented the one, and need little question but they invented the other.

There is a story in the Book of Tobit, (which they may believe that will) of the evil Spirits flying into the utmost Parts of Egypt. + For as Tobias went in unto his Wife, he remembered

* Fuller's Ch. Hist. Cen. 10.

† Tob. vi.

the

the Words of Raphael, and took the Ashes of the Perfumes, and put the Heart and Liver of the Fish thereupon, and made a Smoke therewith. The which Smell, when the evil Spirit had smelled, he fled unto the utmost Parts of Egypt, and the Angels bound him. Now from this it is evident, that the Spirit was obliged to forsake his good old Quarters and warm Lodgings, for inhospitable Desarts and open Air: And from this, perhaps, some of those doting Monks have persuaded themselves into a Belief of these Things.

When it is proved to us, that this Book of Tobit is the Word of God, we may entertain more Veneration for this vulgar Opinion; but till then, we must be indulg'd in wondering, how a Spirit, that is an immaterial Substance, can be affected with our Heat or Cold, or any Power or Quality of material Beings.

The last Topick of this Conversation I shall take Notice of, shall be the Tales of haunted Houses. And indeed it is not to be wonder'd at, that this is never omitted. For formerly almost every Place had a House of this Kind. If a House was seated on some melancholy Place, or built in some old romantic Manner; or if any particular Accident had happen'd in

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it, such as Murder, sudden Death, or the like, to be sure that House had a Mark set on it, and was afterwards esteemed the Habitation of a Ghost. In talking upon this Point, they generally show the Occasion of the House's being haunted, the merry Pranks of the Spirit, and how it was laid. Stories of this Kind are infinite, and there are few Villages which have not either had such an House in it, or near it.

And indeed there are Men of good Learning and Knowledge, who are as far as others from Superstition, who are inclinable to believe, that such Things have been upon particular Emergencies; tho', among the Stories that are told, they believe not one in a thousand. They know that Spirits have frequently appeared to Men out of Houses, and they can see no Reason why they may not have appeared in them: They know nothing in an House more than in another Place, to prevent, an Apparition, but an equal Help to its Visibility. The Air, which a Ghost is supposed to be wrapped in, when it becomes visible to Men, is there to be found, and they know of nothing else that may be an Argument against

it. An Author of good Credit tells us, * That when he was at Rome, he was taken with Illness, and obliged to keep his Bed; As he lay in this Condition, he observed, as he was once awake, a Woman of a very beautiful Person coming towards him. Upon this he was silent for some Time, and very thoughtful, weighing all the while with himself, whether it was not rather a deceptio visus than a real Being. But when he perceived his Senses sound and entire, and that the Object still continued; he asked, What she was? In Answer to which, she repeated the very Words he had spoken to her, in a sneering and disdainful Manner. After she had taken a good View of him, she departed.

The Commentator upon this Place, says, +He looks upon this Story, and the rest which are mentioned along with it, to be nothing but Dreams and Fancies. And for ought that I know to the contrary, they may be so; but however it must be confess'd, this

* Cum Romæ ægra valetudine oppressus forem, jaceremque in lectulo, speciem mulieris eleganti forma mihi plane vigilanti observatam fuisse, quam cum inspicerem, diu cogitabundus, &c.- -Cum meos sensus vigere, & figuram illam nusquam a me dilabi, &c.-Alex. ab Alex. Lib. 2. C. 9.

† Sed hæc semper mera somnia esse putavi. Ibid.

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