The history of the life and adventures of Mr. Duncan Campbell : $b a gentleman, who, tho' deaf and dumb, writes down any stranger's name at first sight, with their future contingencies of fortune
General
The history of the life and adventures of Mr. Duncan Campbell : $b a gentleman, who, tho' deaf and dumb, writes down any stranger's name at first sight, with their future contingencies of fortune
Campbell, Duncan, 1680?-1730; Deaf people -- Great Britain -- Biography; Occultism -- Early works to 1900; Prophets -- Great Britain -- Biography
This art of prediction is not attainable any otherwise, than by these
three ways; first, it is done by the company of familiar spirits and
genii, which are of two sorts; some good and some bad; who tell the
gifted person the things of which he informs other people. Secondly, it
is performed by the second-sight, which is very various, and differs in
most of the possessors, it being but a very little in some, very
extensive and constant in others; beginning with some in their infancy,
and leaving them before they come to years; happening to others in a
middle age, to others again in an old age, that never had it before, and
lasting only for a term of years, and now and then for a very short
period of time; and in some, intermitting, like fits as it were, of
vision, that leave them for a time, and then return to be as strong in
them as ever, and it being in a manner hereditary to some families,
whose children have it from their infancy, without intermission, to a
great old age, and even to the time of their death, which they often
foretell before it comes to pass, to a day, nay, even to an hour.
Thirdly, it is attained by the diligent study of the lawful part of the
art of magic.
Before I give the reader an account, as I shall do in three distinct
discourses, first, concerning the intercourse which familiar spirits,
viz., the good and bad genii, have had and continue to have to a great
degree with some select parts of mankind; secondly, concerning the
wonderful and almost miraculous power of a second-sight, with which
many, beyond all controversy, have been extraordinarily but visibly
gifted; and, thirdly, concerning the pitch of perfection to which the
magic science has been carried and promoted by some adepts in that
mysterious art; I will premise a few particulars about the genii which
attended our little Duncan Campbell, and about the second-sight which he
had when yet a child, and when we may much more easily believe that the
wonders he performed and wrote of, must have been rather brought about
by the intervention of such genii and the mediation of such a sight,
than that he could have invented such fables concerning them, and
compassed such predictions as seem to want their assistance, by the mere
dint of a child's capacity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account