these delusions as the light of history and science spread over the
world. The present work is a translation from Calmet. It deals with
spectres, vampyres, and all that tribe of visionary monsters. We have
here the learning and opinion of the enlightened portion of the world
a century ago. M. Calmet traversed all history for his facts, and
gives us a mass of monkish inventions, which prove to what an extent
the Romish church fostered superstition for its own purposes. We have
dead men called from their graves to show the danger of neglecting
to pay tithes, and to rivet on the rich the necessity of building
churches, and paying liberally for masses. At p. 286 of vol. 1 we
have a proof that the "knockings" which have made so much noise in
the United States, are no novelty:--

"Humbert Birk, a burgess of note in the town of Oppenheim,
had a country-house, called Berenbach. He died in the month
of November, 1620, a few days before the feast of St. Martin.
On the Saturday which followed his funeral they began to
hear certain noises in the house where he had lived with his
first wife; for at the time of his death he had married
again. The master of this house, suspecting that it was his
brother-in-law who haunted it, said to him: 'If you are
Humbert, my brother-in-law, strike three times against the
wall.' At the same time they heard three strokes only, for
ordinarily he struck several times. Sometimes, also, he
was heard at the fountain where they went for water, and he
frightened all the neighborhood. He did not utter articulate
sounds; but he would knock repeatedly, make a noise, or
a groan or a shrill whistle, or sounds as of a person in
lamentation."