An Essay Towards a Theory of Apparitions |
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Page vi
... readers of such stories , a view of the subject , which may ex- tend their enjoyment far beyond its for- mer limits . It has given me pain to see the most fearful and ghastly commence- ments of a tale of horror reduced to mere common ...
... readers of such stories , a view of the subject , which may ex- tend their enjoyment far beyond its for- mer limits . It has given me pain to see the most fearful and ghastly commence- ments of a tale of horror reduced to mere common ...
Page vii
... for mortifying explanations , and for those modifications of terror , which completely baulk the reader's curiosity , and disgust him with a second reading . Another great convenience will be found in my system ; A 2 PREFACE . vii.
... for mortifying explanations , and for those modifications of terror , which completely baulk the reader's curiosity , and disgust him with a second reading . Another great convenience will be found in my system ; A 2 PREFACE . vii.
Page viii
... reader should ima- gine that I am copying Echard's mock- panegyric on his own dialogues . Take courage , then , good reader , and knock VILE PREFACE .
... reader should ima- gine that I am copying Echard's mock- panegyric on his own dialogues . Take courage , then , good reader , and knock VILE PREFACE .
Page ix
John Ferriar. Take courage , then , good reader , and knock at the portal of my enchanted castle , which will be opened to you , not by a grinning demon , but by a very civil person , in a black velvet cap , with whom you may pass an ...
John Ferriar. Take courage , then , good reader , and knock at the portal of my enchanted castle , which will be opened to you , not by a grinning demon , but by a very civil person , in a black velvet cap , with whom you may pass an ...
Page 16
... reader to his treatise on ocular spectra . * In young persons , the effects resulting from this permanence of impression are extremely curious . I remember , that about the age of fourteen , it was a source of great amusement to myself ...
... reader to his treatise on ocular spectra . * In young persons , the effects resulting from this permanence of impression are extremely curious . I remember , that about the age of fourteen , it was a source of great amusement to myself ...
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Common terms and phrases
Achtermaunshohe affrighted afterwards alarm albæ appa appeared Arise Evans Armagh attended Baronius beheld Bezuel blood body Broken Caen called Cardan castle chamber Charles VII Circulus clouds coloured curious demons deposeth Desfontaines door dreadful dream drest drowned extraordinary eyes Ficinus figure fire forms frequently ghosts Guion hand Harz Harz mountains head heard horrible horror imagination incubis inquit insanity instance instar Jurat length light looked manner Mercato mind modum morning mountains nature never night nihil noise o'clock objects observed occasion Pancrates perceived persons phantasms pheno Phrenological physician Portnedown Bridge produced qu'elle quæ Quarrè reader recollected images repeated rition Saumur Scotland second-sighted seemed seen Seers servants shew sleep sometimes Sortoville spectral delusions spectral impressions spectre spirit or vision story supernatural Susannah Martin tasms terror THEORY OF APPARITIONS tion told unto vanished voice walked WARRINGTON window witchcraft
Popular passages
Page x - AND is there care in heaven ? And is there love In heavenly spirits to these creatures base, That may compassion of their evils move ? There is : else much more wretched were the case Of men than beasts. But O ! th...
Page x - But oh ! the exceeding grace Of highest God that loves his creatures so, And all his works with mercy doth embrace ; That blessed angels he sends to and fro, To serve to wicked man, to serve his wicked foe ! How oft do they their silver bowers leave, To come to succour us that succour want ! How oft do they with golden pinions cleave The flitting skies like flying pursuivant, Against foul fiends to aid us militant ! They for us fight ; they watch and duly ward, And their bright squadrons round about...
Page i - A thousand fantasies Begin to throng into my memory, Of calling shapes, and beck'ning shadows dire, And airy tongues, that syllable men's names On sands, and shores, and desert wildernesses.
Page 25 - Achtcrmannshohe, a human figure of a monstrous size. A violent gust of wind having almost carried away my hat, I clapped my hand to it by moving my arm towards my head, and the colossal figure did the same.
Page 51 - I opened my eyes. I conversed sometimes with my physician and my wife of the phantasms which at the moment surrounded me ; they appeared more frequently walking than at rest, nor were they constantly present. They frequently did not come for some time, but always reappeared for a longer or shorter period, either singly or in company, the latter, however, being most frequently the case.
Page 53 - ... short, and never of an unpleasant turn. At different times there appeared to me both dear and sensible friends of both sexes, whose addresses tended to appease my grief, which had not yet wholly subsided : their consolatory speeches were in general addressed to me when I was alone. Sometimes, however, I was accosted by these consoling friends while I was engaged in company, and not unfrequently while real persons were speaking to me.
Page 26 - We retained our position, kept our eyes fixed on the same spot, and in a little time the two figures again stood before us, and were joined by a third.
Page 48 - I might preserve a clear consciousness of the changes which should take place within myself; I observed these phantasms very closely, and frequently reflected on my antecedent thoughts to discover, if possible, by means of what association of ideas exactly these forms presented themselves to my imagination. I thought at times I had found a clue, but taking the whole together, I could not make out any natural...
Page 49 - After the first day the form of the deceased person no more appeared, but its place was supplied with many other phantasms, sometimes representing acquaintances, but mostly strangers : those whom I knew were composed of living and deceased persons, but the number of the latter was comparatively small. I observed the persons with whom I daily conversed did not appear as phantasms, these representing chiefly persons who lived at some distance from me.
Page 59 - ... comes there letters from his wife of the death of that boy in the plague. He appeared to him (he said) of a manly shape, and of that growth that he thinks he shall be at the resurrection.