This personal shape approached so near to Capt. Butler, that he put his hand upon it and it passed down through the apparition as through a body of light, in the view of six or seven witnesses. There were now thirteen persons present, who all saw the apparition except two.[19] And five others, whether they were looking another way, or were prevented by some standing before them, or whatever might be the cause, did not see this attempt of handling the apparition. But I attend to your reasoning. “If this extraordinary fact be true, what a pity it is that there were no more witnesses! would not the evidence have been greater had it been acquired by all the eleven.” The more extraordinary the fact, the more numerous should be the witnesses. This is the opinion naturally entertained by mankind every where. Hence it follows that _all_ of those eleven persons were not then practising artifice: for then they would all have seen this extraordinary fact. The five who did not see it, saw that which was very little short of it. They saw that which rose into personal form, face and features in a moment. Returned to a shapeless mass in a moment, resumed the person in a moment, and vanished again in a moment. They saw that which was not _afraid_ to be handled by them: For she passed slowly by them near enough for that purpose. The transfiguration of Christ was a very extraordinary fact. Out of all his twelve disciples, why chose he only three to be eyewitnesses of it? As to the six witnesses, not one of them has ever been accused or even suspected of being concerned in the supposed artifice. Some of them are aged, others young. They had, and still have, professions, employments and interests widely different and belong to four different families. It is the fixed and settled opinion of our opponents here, that two of them are not only persons of integrity, but were ensnared by others through the whole scene. These two persons soon after confirmed what they had now seen and experienced by solemn, practical and most deliberate oaths in the presence of eighty people. For one of them made a prayer at the reinterment, expressing his belief of what he had seen, and the other solemnly declared to all the assembly, as soon as the prayer was finished, that this solemnity was ordered by the Spectre, to be observed by his means. He also confirmed the same by an express verbal oath before the civil magistrate. * * * * * LETTER IV. _Evidence produced by the discourse of the Spectre._ _Dear Sir_:--I would now present to your consideration the conversation of the Spectre. But I shall first observe the objection urged against some part of it. At the time when she appeared to several persons at two o’clock in the day, she said, she must come into the room, where the company were; but was prevented by earnest entreaty. This, they say was a falsehood.