RECENT RECRUDESCENCE OF SUPERSTITION. 771 



tation bursts forth/' It therefore behooves purchasers of real 

 estate to ascertain not only that the deed to the property is valid 

 and the conveyance firm in law, but that it is also unencumbered 

 by devils as well as by debts since a Satanic lien may ultimately 

 be the source of greater annoyance than a mortgage or mortmain, 

 or any other sort of legal claim. On this principle, property that 

 has been in the hands of pious people from time immemorial 

 ought to have a higher market value than the dwelling places of 

 the notoriously wicked. Our author thus emphasizes the truth 

 of Holy Writ by showing that not only is " godliness profitable 

 unto all things," but also, as mediaeval writers were wont to say, 

 unto some things besides, which the apostle Paul in his admoni- 

 tions to his " son Timothy " never dreamed of. 



Exorcism may be practiced by any regularly consecrated 

 priest with the approval of the diocesan bishop. It is by no 

 means necessary to be a saint in order to possess this power. 

 " Such a demand would be absurd. Saints can not be stamped 

 out of the ground at pleasure, although it would be an excellent 

 thing if all priests were saints. . . . Priestly ordination and a 

 pure life suffice to overcome demons, at least in most cases." But 

 in addition to sacerdotal dignity and personal worthiness certain 

 physical qualities are desirable. A priest who is infirm or prone 

 to melancholy or of a timid disposition ought not to undertake 

 such duties. Strong faith, robust health, moral courage, force of 

 will, and a certain inventive genius in extemporizing expedients 

 within permissible limits are essential to the highest success in 

 coping with devils. " The instructions which precede the exorcis- 

 mus ad liberandos obsessos, in the Roman ritual, leave much to 

 the personal initiative and spontaneity of the exorcist, who, by 

 making a proper use of this freedom, is often able to confuse and 

 conquer the infernal adversary beyond the most sanguine expec- 

 tation." Dr. Bischofberger gives an example of what can be ac- 

 complished by such ingenuity from his own experience. In order 

 to expel the devils from a house in which a murder had been 

 committed fifty years before and gone unpunished, he bored holes 

 in the four corners of the doors, and after filling them with con- 

 secrated objects pegged them in. After a time, seeing that this 

 measure had proved ineffectual, he investigated the matter, and 

 found that the pegs had been pulled out and the contents of the 

 holes removed. He then replaced the holy objects, scorched the 

 pegs in the flame of a consecrated candle, dipped them in holy 

 water, and drove them into the holes. This ingenious device 

 threw the devils into the utmost confusion and compelled them to 

 vacate the premises, from which repeated efforts had been made 

 to expel them for more than three months. 



Demons are said to watch with lively interest the progress of 



