The Other World; or, Glimpses of the Supernatural (Vol. 1 of 2): Being Facts, Records, and Traditions Relating to Dreams, Omens, Miraculous Occurrences, Apparitions, Wraiths, Warnings, Second-sight, Witchcraft, Necromancy, etc.
Religion
The Other World; or, Glimpses of the Supernatural (Vol. 1 of 2): Being Facts, Records, and Traditions Relating to Dreams, Omens, Miraculous Occurrences, Apparitions, Wraiths, Warnings, Second-sight, Witchcraft, Necromancy, etc.
Spiritualism; Supernatural
bodie during her extasies and furies, tried by the deepe prickings of long
pinnes, which were thrust into divers parts of her hands, and afterwards
plucked out againe, without any show that ever she made of feeling the
same, either in the putting in of them, or the taking out of them, a
griefe which, without majicke and without speech, could not, in our
opinion, be indured, without any countenance or show thereof, neither by
the constancie of the most courageous, nor by the stoutnesse of the most
wicked, nor by the stronge conceit of the most criminall malefactores,
took from us almost the suspicion of it, but much more persuaded us from
that opinion, the thin and slender foam that in her mad fits we saw issue
out of her mouth, which she had no means to be abel to counterfeit. And
yet more than all this, the very consideration before mentioned of the
little or no change at all that was seene in her person after all these
most sharpe and very long pangs, (a thing which nobody in the world did
ever trie in their most moderate exercises,) we are driven, even till this
houre, by all the lawes of discourse and knowledge, yea, and almost forced
to beleeve that this maide is a demoniacke, and the Devill dwelling in her
is the Author of these effects. If wee had seen that which my Lord of St.
Genefue and many others doe report,--that this maide was lifted up into
the ayre more than four foote above five or six strong persons that held
her,--it would have been an argument to us of an extraordinarie power,
over and beyond the common nature and condition of man. But not being
presente at that wonder, we doe give a testamonie of our knowledge, which
is as much or rather more admirable than that force and power was, viz.,
that being demanded, and in her exercising commanded, my Lord of Paris
furnishing the priest with questions and interrogatories, this maide
divers and sundrie times, by many persons of qualitie and worthie of
credit, was seene and heard to obey and answere to purpose, not only in
the Latin tongue, (wherein it had not been impertinent peradventure to
have suspected some collusion,) but also in Greeke and in English, and
that upon the sudden. She did, we say once againe, understande the Greeke
and English languages, wherein we beleeve, as it is very likely that she
was never studied, so that there was no collusion used with her, neither
could she invent or imagine the interpretations thereof. It resteth,
therefore, even in the judgment of Aristotle in the like case, that they
were inspired unto her.” The Report then concludes with this solemn
declaration: “By reason whereof, and considering also, under correction,
that Saint Luke, who was both a physician and an evangelist, describing
the persons out of whose bodies our Lord and his apostles did drive the
devils left unto us, none other or any greater signes than those which wee
think wee have seene in this case, wee are the more induced and almost
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