SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS. 127 



room, on one side of the fire-place, she saw the figure of 

 another deceased friend moving towards her from the 

 window at the farther end of the room. It approached 

 the fire-place, and sat down in the chair opposite. As 

 there were several persons in the room at the time, she 

 describes the idea uppermost in her mind to have been a 

 fear lest they should be alarmed at her staring, in the way 

 she was conscious of doing, at vacancy, and should fancy 

 her intellect disordered. Under the influence of this fear, 

 and recollecting a story of a similar effect in your work 

 on Demonology, which she had lately read, she summoned 

 up the requisite^resolution to enable her to cross the space 

 before the fire-place, and seat herself in the same chair with 

 the figure. The apparition remained perfectly distinct till 

 she sat down, as it were, in its lap, when it vanished." 



10. On the 26th of the same month, about two P.M., 

 Mrs. A. was sitting in a chair by the window in the same 

 room with her husband. He heard her exclaim " What 

 have I seen?" And on looking at her, he observed a 

 strange expression in her eyes and countenance. A 

 carriage and four had appeared to her to be driving up 

 the entrance road to the house. As it approached, she 

 felt inclined to go up stairs to prepare to receive com- 

 pany, but, as if spell-bound, she was unable to move or 

 speak. The carriage approached, and as it arrived within 

 a few yards of the window, she saw the figures of the 

 postilions and the persons inside take the ghastly appear- 

 ance of skeletons and other hideous figures. The whole 

 then vanished entirely, when she uttered the above- 

 mentioned exclamation. 



11. On the morning of the 30th October, when Mrs. A. 

 was sitting in her own room with a favourite dog in her 

 lap, she distinctly saw the same dog moving about the 

 room d uring the space of about a minute, or rather more. 



12. On the 3rd December, about 9 P.M., when Mr. and 



