Part I, chapters 1–3: Concerning certaine vvordes vvhiche are often vsed in this Treatise of Spirits; and following chapters

¶ The firste parte of this Booke, concerning Spirites walking by night.

Wherein is declared, that Spirites and sightes do appeare, and that sundry strange and monstrous things do happen.

CHAP. I. Concerning certaine vvordes vvhiche are often vsed in this Treatise of Spirits, and diuers other diuinations of things to come.

TO the intente, that those men which occupie themselues in reading of this my Booke, and especially in perusing of other auncient writers, may the better vnderstande euerie thing, I will at the firste entrance briefly expound those thinges which shall seeme to concerne the proprietie of wordes and termes vsed in this my treatise of Spirits.

Spectrum amongst the Latines doth signifie a shape or forme of some thing presenting it selfe vnto our sight. Scaliger affirmeth that Spectrum is a thing which offereth it selfe to be séene, eyther truely, or by vaine imagination. The diuines take it to be a substance without a body, which béeing hearde or séene, maketh men afrayde.

Visum, signifieth an imagination or a certayne shewe, which men being in sléepe, yea and waking also, séeme in their iudgemente to beholde: as we reade of Brutus, who sawe his owne angell. Cicero in his first booke Acadaem. quest. writeth, that Visum, amongst the Grecians is called [non-Latin script], a fantasie, or vaine imagination.

Also the Latines call those things Visiones, whiche the Grecians name [non-Latin script].

Terriculamenta, are vayn visions or sightes, which make men afrayde. The Latins also call it Terriculum, bicause it bréedeth feare.

That whiche S. Math. 24. and Marke. 6. call [non-Latin script], Erasmus doth translate it Spectrum, but the olde interpreter vseth the Gréeke worde.

[non-Latin script] in lyke maner dothe signifie an else, a sighte or vaine apparition. Suidas maketh a difference betwéene Phantasma & Phantasia, saying, that Phantasma is an imagination, an apperance or sight of a thing which is not, as are those sightes whiche men in their sléepe do thinke they sée: but that Phantasia, is the séeing of that onely which is in very déede.

[non-Latin script] is taken in Luke. 24. chap. for a spirite or vaine imagination. Howbeit most cōmonly some other worde is ioyned vnto it, if it be put for an euill spirite: as [non-Latin script]. The Gentiles (as S. Augustine and other fathers doo testifie) supposed that the soules of men became Daemones, that is, good or euill angels: which if they had done wel, then were they called Lares, that is priuate gods: but if they haue done euill, then were they named Lemures, or Laru[…], bugs & Elues. But if it were douted whether they had liued well or yll, then were they called Manes. Apuleius and other olde writers affirme, that Genij and Lares were all one.

It was supposed (as Festus witnesseth) that Lares, were the soules of men, or else in[…]ernal gods. Lares were called Praestites, bicause they made all things safe with their eyes: that is, they saued and preserued all things.

And authors affirme, they were called Hostilij, for that they were supposed to driue away enimies. Neither were they thought to beare rule only in priuate houses, & in crosse méeting ways, but also to defend Cities. They were lykewise worshipped priuately in houses, and openly in the high wayes. As touching those that were called Lar[…]s you may reade more in Anthonius Constantius, of Fauentia his commentaries, and in Ouid. lib. 5. Fastorum.

Genius (saye the Grammarians) is the naturall god of euery place, of euery thing, or of euery man when we are borne, as it is written, we haue two Geni[…], wherof the one encourageth vs to doo well, the other […]o doo euill. Genius (saith Censorinus) is a god in whose gouernance euery man doth liue, so soone as he is borne: eyther bicause he taketh care for our begetting, or that he is ingēdred with vs, or els that he taketh charge and defence of vs when we are begotten. Sure it is, he is called Genius, à gignendo, that is, of begetting.

Penates lykewyse are domesticall gods. Macrobius affirmeth, that they are gods by whom we onely breathe, by whom we enioy this body, & by whō we possesse the reson of our minds. Nonius sayth, Lemures are spirites walking by night, & terrors rising of pictures of men & of beasts. Other say, that Lemures are euil & hurtful shapes which appere in the night, yea and that they be the soules of those that make men blacke and blew, called after that name.

Some men call the ghosts of al dead things by the name of Lemures. Thus sayeth Apuleius, Of those Lemures, he that hathe care of hys posteritie, and inhabiteth the house with a peaceable and quiet kinde of rule, was called Lar familiaris, god of the house. And bicause amongst the people of olde tyme, as they counted Lares good, so they supposed Lemures to be nought, therefore to driue them away, they did sacrifice vnto them.

Some other men affirme, that Lemures are soules which tarrie about the bodies. Porphyrius calle[…]h them the wandring soules of men departed before their tyme, as it were Remures, taking their name of Remus, whose soule folowed his brother Romulus: who to the intent he mighte pacifie them, instituted feastes called Lemuria.

Seruius writeth, that Vmbrae were called Laruae: and they called dead mens soules by the name of Vmbrae. Of Laruae men are called Laruat[…] that is to say, frantike men, and suche as are vexed with spirites. Who also (as Nonius witnesseth) are called Ceriti.

Seruius sayeth, that mennes soules are called Manes, at suche tyme as departyng from their bodies, they are not yet passed into other bodies. And he iudgeth that they are so called by the fygure [non-Latin script], (whiche is when one speaketh by contraries) of the olde adiectiue Manus, that is good, bicause they were nothing lesse than good. For the auncient people supposed, that Manes were infernall gods, and therfore did they number them amongst theyr euil gods, and pacified them with sacrifice, least they should hurt them. Some affirme that Manes are in déede infernall gods, but yet good: whereof commeth Mane, whiche signifieth good, and Dij Manes, as if you would say, good & prosperous gods, & therof also is said Jmmanes, for, not good.

Some other suppose, that soules separated from the bobodies, were called after this name: Whereby we sée the auncient monuments of tumbes haue ben dedicated to Dijs Manibu[…], to the infernal gods: In the which opinion Apuleius was, as we sayd a little before.

There are some that iudge Manes, to be the very same, that the olde people called Genij, and that there were two of these Manes assigned vnto mens bodies, euen immediatly after their begetting, which forsake them not whē they are dead, but continue in the graues after the bodies are consume[…]. […]or the whiche cause, those men who defaced Monumentes, were thoughte to doo wrong vnto the gods called Manes. The soothsayers called as well the celestiall as the infernall gods by the name of Manes, and that bicause they beleued (as Festus doth write) that all things did manare, that is, were deriued from them. Other thinke they were so called […] manandopunc; of […]lowing, bicause the places betwéene the circle of the Moone and the earth from whence they come, are full of soules.

Mani[…] are deformed creatures, as Festus saythe: and also vgly shapes, wherwith nursses make children afrayd.

[non-Latin script] is a woman with a face almost of a mōstrous fashion: hereof it is taken for a heg: as also [non-Latin script], doth signifie a terrible sight, a spirit, or an elfe. Nicephorus sayeth in his Ecclesiasticall historie, that a woman vsing to walke by night is called by the name of Gilo.

Lamiae were supposed of the aunciente people to be women hauing eyes to put out or in at their plesure, or rather certaine shapes of diuels, which taking on them the shew of beautifull women, deuoured children and yong men, allured vnto them with swéete inticementes.

Philostratus in his booke Appollonio, writeth a maruellous historie or fable of one Menippus, beloued of an heg. The same authour writeth, that Lamiae are called of some men Laruae, spirites walkyng by nighte: and Lemures, nighte spirites of horrible shapes: and of many Empusa, ghosts of variable fashion: and that nursses so named them to make their children afrayde.

Chrysostomus Dion writeth, that in the inmost parte of Affrike are certayn wylde beasts, hauing the countenance of a woman, whiche in lyke maner are called Lamiae: and he sayth that they haue their pappes and al the rest of their breast so fayre as any paynters witte can deuise, which being vncouered, they disceytfully allure men vnto them, and when they haue taken them, doo foorthwith deuoure them.

In the fourth chapter of the Lamentations of Hieremie it is sayde: Lamiae nudauerun[…] mammas suas &c. Apuleius writeth, that Lamiae are things that make Children afrayde.

Lamiae are also called Striges. Striges (as they saye) are vnluckie birdes, whiche sucke out the bloud of infants lying in their cradles. And hereof some men will haue witches take their name, who also are called Volaticae, as Festus writeth.

The name of Gorgon, was inuented to make childrē afraid: for they say these Gorgons are rauening spirites, such as men faine Lamiae to be.

Ephialtae, & Hyphialtae, that is Jncubi and Succubi, (which we cal Maares) are night spirits or rather Diuells, which leape vpon men in their sleepe. The phisitians do affirme that these are nothing else but a disease.

Empusa is an apparition of the Diuel, or a spirit which sheweth it selfe vnto such as are in misery, chaunging hys shape into diuers formes, and for the most parte appeareth at noone time. Read more hereof in Suidas.

Dicelon, is so called bicause it is sente to make men afraid: those kinds of terrors the Grecians cal Hecataea, as Apollonius writeth, bicause Hecate or Proserpina is the cause of them, who therfore is called [non-Latin script] that is of terrifying, and that by reason that terrours by night were thought to be stirred vp by hir.

Plutarchus writeth, that Acco and Alphito, were monstrous women, by naming of whome, mothers kepte their children in awe, and made them feare to do euill.

Cardanus calleth these Diuels whiche kepe vnder the earth, & many times kill men as they are vndermining, by the name of Telchinnes. Men vsing witchecrafte, and such as are possessed with a Spirite, and out of their wits, are called amongst the Grecians, [non-Latin script].

Of these sorte are those monsters, halfe lyke men and halfe like beastes, which men saye are founde in woods, and oftentimes haue appéered vnto men. It is sayde, that Panes and Fa[…]ni, are all one, hauing their nether partes lyke vnto Gaotes féete.

And menne saye, that Satyri, are almoste lyke vntoo menne: And those whiche are of full age are called Sileni.

Onocentaurus, is a beaste of a straunge fashion, whiche is reported to be lyke a man in the vpper parte, and downwarde lyke an asse.

Onosceli, as it is written in Plutarche, are Diuels hauyng legges like vnto asses.

The olde people imagined, that Hippocentauri, were creatures, who before were lyke to men, but the hinder partes had the similitude of horses.

And they doo fayne, that Sphinx is Animal [non-Latin script], a beast of the similitude of a man.

Scilla, and Harpyae, are rauening Dyuels, with faces lyke vnto maydens.

As touchyng menne lyuing in the Sea, as Tritones, Nereides and Syrenes, who as the auncient people affirmed, had faces lyke vnto menne, Reade Gesnerus in Historia Aquatilium, where hée intreateth of them. For he proueth oute of many authoures, that there are founde Monsters in the sea, hauyng shapes and countenaunces somewhat lyke vnto men.

Some of these monsters whiche are in déede, bée of the kynde of Apes, and some are onely fabulous, or false: yet notwithstandyng, it maye bée, that the Dyuell doothe deceyue men vnder the formes of them.

Thus muche concerning tearmes, whiche wée muste vse in this oure Treatyse of Spirites or Uisions Herevntoo haue I adioyned straunge happes, and foretokens, whyche for the moste parte chaunce before greate matters. And therefore I knitte them vnto these, bycause they haue greate resemblaunce vnto them. For vayne imaginations also appéere vnto our sights: armed men as it were are séene on earth, or in the aire: and other suche lyke shapes, voyces, noyses, crackes, and suche lyke. But as touching the very wordes, Portentum is that which forsheweth some thing to come, as when straunge bodies appere in the ayre, or blazing starres, or thunder in fayre weather, or whirlewindes do chaunce. Festus sayth, that albeit Portentum be a naturall thing, yet it happeneth seldome, and doth betoken some thing to come to passe after a certaine season.

Ostentum, is some straunge thing, whiche sheweth some thing to come to effecte spéedily. They giue the lyke examples of them bothe.

Prodigium, is a thing which albeit it often chaunce by course of nature, yet notwithstanding it doth always betoken some euill thing, being called Prodigium, as it were of porro agendum, to bée doone afterwarde.

Monstrum, is that whiche hapneth agaynst nature, as when any thing is brought foorthe hauyng membres béelonging to an other kynde: the whiche is also called Promonstrum, as who should saye, Porro aliquid monstrans, siue monens, that is, shewing or warnyng some thyng to happen afterward. Notwithstāding these termes are many tymes confounded togither, & taken in one signification, and that bicause they respect one ende, that is, to tell before or giue warning of things to come. The vayne visions wheron we here intreate, appertayne nothing to natural philosophers, neyther yet these things which we haue ioyned with them. For if a sodaine cracke, or sound, or groning, or rumbling, as though the house would fall, or if any other thing chaūce whiche standeth by natural reason, it doth not proprely belong vnto this matter which we haue in hand. But letting these things passe, we will by Gods helpe and ayde come néerer to the matter it selfe,

CHAP. II. Melancholike persons, and madde men, imagin many things vvhich in verie deede are not.

THere haue ben very many in al ages, which haue vtterly denied that there be any spirites or straunge sightes. The Philosophers of Epicurus sect did iest and laugh at al those things whiche were reported of them, and counted them as fayned and counterfeat, by the whiche only children and fooles, and playne simple men were made afrayd. When Cassius, who was an Epicurian, vnderstoode by Brutus, that he had séene a certain vision, he (as Plutarche doth testifie) indeuored to attribute the matter vnto naturall causes. We reade in the .23. chap. of the Actes of the Apostles, that the Sadduceys did not beléeue there shoulde be any Resurrection of the dead, and that they denyed there were any spirites or angels: Yea and at thys day, many good and godly men beleue those things to be but tales, which are talked of […]o and fro concerning those imagined visions: partly bicause in all their lyfe, they neuer sawe any suche, and partly or rather especially, bicause in time past men haue bin so often deceiued wt apparitiōs, visions and false miracles done by Monkes and Priests, that nowe they take things that are true, to bée as vtterly false. What soeuer the cause is, it may be proued, by witnesse o[…] many writers, & by dayly experience also, that spirites and straunge sightes doo sometyme appeare, and that in verye déede many straunge and maruellous things doo happen. True it is, that many men doo falsly per[…]uade themselues that they sée or heare ghostes: for that which they imagin they see or heare, procéedeth eyther of melancholie, madnesse, weaknesse of the senses, feare, or of some other perturbation: or else when they sée or heare beasts, vapors, or some other naturall things, then they vaynly suppose, they haue séene sightes I wote not what, as héereafter I will shewe particularly by many and notable examples.

There is no doute, but that almost al those things which the common people iudge to be wonderfull sightes, are nothing lesse than so. But in the meane season it can not be denied, but that straunge sightes, and many other suche lyke things, are sometymes hearde and also séene.

And fyrste it can not be denyed, but that some menne whiche eyther by dispositions of nature, or for that they haue susteyned greate miserie, are nowe become heauie and full of melancholie, imagine many tymes with them selues being alone, miraculous and straunge things. Sometimes they affirme in greate soothe, that they verily heare and sée this or that thing, whiche notwithstanding neyther they nor yet any other man dyd once sée or heare. Which thing we sometimes sée by experience to b[…]e true in those men, whiche be troubled with greate headache, or subiect to other diseases of the body, or cannot take rest in the night or are distraughted of their wittes. Those whiche dwell with suche kinde of men, when they héere them tell such obsurde tales, such straunge things, and suche maruelous visions, albeit they pittie their vnfortunate estate, yet can they not many tymes conteyn themselues from laughing. Aristotle in his booke de rebu[…] mirandis, writeth of a certaine man distraught of his wittes, who going into the Theatre of Abydos a Citie of Asia, when no man was therein, and there setting alone, by clapping of his handes, signified that he liked as well euery thing there, as if some commedie or tragedie had ben notablie sette forth on stage. The verie like Historie hath Horace, in his seconde booke of Epistles of a certain man, who comming into the Theatre at Argos, behaued him selfe euen as the other man did: And when his Kinsfolke through the helpe of good Phisitians, hadde restored him to his ryght wittes againe, he was verie angrie with them, saying, that he neuer liued more pleasantly than while he was beside him selfe. Atheneus lib. 12. writeth of one Tresilaus, whose braines were so distempered, that he verily supposed all the ships whiche aryued at Porte Piraeus, to be his owne: he would numbre them, he commaunded the Mariners to launch from shore, and when they returned after their voyage home againe, he as much reioyced as if he had ben owner of all wherewith they were laden. The same man affirmed, that in al the time of his madnesse he liued a verie pleasant life, vntill the Phisitian hadde cured him of his disease. I my selfe haue séene a man, Iohannes Leonardus Sertorius by name, whom verie honest and graue men, which knewe him wel, would testifie to be a godly man, which was throughly perswaded with him selfe, that he coulde proue our Religion which we nowe professe, to be true and catholicke, euen by a miracle from heauen as somtime Helias did. He desired the Magistrates of certaine Countries to cal togither their Papistes, and Protestantes: for he was readie (he sayde) to shewe this miracle, and in case he dyd it not openly before them all, he refused not to susteine any kind of punishment. The lyke reason is also of other men whiche are besides them selues: for they take on them maruelous things, eyther bycause they haue mused long time on some matter conceiued in their minds, as cunning Artificers often times do: or bycause they haue ben long weried with sicknesse, or else bycause they loue extremelie. You shal find some that imagine them self as it were armed with horns of an Oxe: other apéere to them selues to be erthen vessells, and therefore they will shun euerie thing for feare they be broken. Of such an one writeth Galene, De lo is affectis. lib. 3 ca 6. and also lib, 4 ca. 1, Other suppose them selues deade, other thinke them selues great Princes, other to be learned men, other to be Prophets & Apostles, & therfore they wil foretel things to come. The same he writeth of them yt are taken with frensie and namely, of one Theophilus a Phisitian, who in other things was wyse, and coulde dispute wel and perfectly knowe euery man: yet notwithstanding, he thought there were certein Minstrels did haunte that corner of his house where he vsed to lye, and that they tuned theyr pypes, and played on them euery daye: And hée verily thoughte, that he sawe them, some sittting, and some standing, and in suche sorte continually pyping without intermission, that they ceassed at no tyme, neither in the day, nor in the night. And therfore he neuer ceassed to crie, and to commaunde his seruantes to driue them out of his dores. When he was throughly recouered of his sicknesse, then he tolde all other things which euery one of them had sayd or done: and also he called to mynd the imaginations which he conceyued of the tediousnesse of the minstrels.

Paulus Aegineta writeth in his thirde booke and .xv. chap. that those that are taken with Lycanthropia, (whiche is a kynde of madnesse) leape oute of their houses in the night, in all things imitating the nature of wolues, and that vntill it wax[…] day, they kéep about the graues of dead men. Moreouer, somtimes the Diuel (enimie to mankind) so deceiueth men, that they séeme vnto them selues to bée beastes. Wherof Augustin writeth In Genesin ad literam lib 7, cap. 11. they which are bitten with madde Dogges are afrayde of water. This disease they call Hydrophobiam: out of which Aegineta lib. 5. ca. 3 reporteth, that they which are troubled wyth this disease, looking on the water, and béeing broughte vnto it, flée from them soone: other vtterly refuse all kynd of moysture: and that there are some whiche barke like Doggs, and bite them that come vnto them. Rufus shewing the cause of their feare, sayeth that they suppose they sée in the water the shadowe of the Dog whiche bitte them.

Ephialtes, which the Phisitions call the Maare, is a disease of the stomacke, concerning which reade Paulus Aegineta, li. 3. cap. 16. Many which are taken with this disease, imagine that a man of monstrous stature sitteth on them, which with his handes violentlye stoppeth their mouthe, that they can by no meanes crye out, and they striue with their armes and hands to driue him away, but al in vaine. Some led with vayne fantasie, thinke him who oppres[…]eth them, to créepe vp by little and little on the bed, as it were to deceyue them, and anon to runne downe agayne. They séeme also to themselues to he[…]re him. This disease is called by an other name [non-Latin script], and [non-Latin script].

Madde men which haue vtterly loste the vse of reason, or are vexed by Gods permission, with a Diuell, whome the Gospel calleth [non-Latin script], doo maruellous thinges, talke of many visions and diuers other matters. Theyr sight deceiueth them, in somuche as they mistake one man for an other: which thing we sée by experience, in Bedleme houses where mad and frantike men are kepte. We read that Aiax t[…]ke the matter so greuously, when Achilles armour was adiudged vnto Vlisses that becomming madde through griefe, and drawing out his sworde, he set vppon herds of swyne, supposing that he fought with the whole army of the Grecians. Afterwards hanging vp two of the greatest of them on postes, with rayling words he whipped them, thincking one of them to be Agamemnon, the other Vlisses, of whom with the first he was angry as an euil iudge, with the other bicause he was by him vanquished in iudgement. But afterwards when he came agayn to him selfe, for very shame he flewe him selfe. It hathe many times chaunced in battaile, that the souldiors falling into greate furie their captaine[…] haue ben forced to take away theyr armour, bicause by rage they toke their owne felowes for enimies, and began to set on them violently.

Tertullianus sayth thus: Those whiche are mad sée one man in an other, as Orestes sawe his mother in his sister, Aiax beheld Vlisses in an heard of swine, Athamas and Agaue wild beastes in their owne children &c.

CHAP. III. Fearefull men, imagine that they see and heare straunge things.

THat whiche we haue hytherto spoken concerning melancholicke men, and men out of their witts, may also be vnderstood of timorous and fearefull men. For if any man bée timorous by nature, or subiect to feare through great daungers, or by some other wayes, he also imagineth straunge things whiche in déede are not so, especially if he haue in him any store of melancholie. Wemen, which for the most parte are naturally geuen to feare more than men, (for which cause S. Peter in his first epistle speaking of the duety of married folks, calleth them the weaker ve[…]sell,) do more often suppose they sée or heare this or that thing, than men do. And so do yong wemen, bicause commonly they are afrayde. If when men sit at the table, mention be made of Spirits and elues, many times wemen and children are so afrayde that they dare scarce go out of dores alone, least they shoulde méete wyth some euyl thing: and if they chaunce to heare any kinde of noise, by and by they thinke there are some spirits behynde them, suche vaine persuasions haue they. A cowardly souldior iudgeth his enimies to be more in number than they are: the noyse of a leafe béeing moued so affrighteth hym (which thing God in his lawe threatneth his people of Israell except they do their dueties) that he betaketh him selfe to his héeles: if he but heare a woodspecke with his […]ill beating on a Trée, he straight thinketh the enemie readie to leape on his shoulders: yea if […]e heare but a mouse moue, by and by his harte is in his Hose. These and suche lyke things neuer trouble a stoute and coragious Souldiour.

And yet som[…] times in the chase, lustie souldiours flying away from their companie, are so troubled in minde, that they thinke their friends enimies, and cannot tell in the world where they are, and whether they go: all the which commeth by feare.

Plutarche in his booke De sera numinis vindicta, reporteth a maruellous and notable historie, of one called Bessus: who after he had murdered his father, hid him selfe a long season. But on a time as he went to supper, espying a swalowes nest, with his speare he thrust it downe: and when those which supped togither with him, misliked and abhorred his crueltie (for we like not those men that trouble litle birdes and other beasts, bicause we iudge them austerne and cruell) he aunswered: haue they not (saith he) falsly accused me, a greate while crying out on me, that I haue slayne and murdered my father. Those which wer[…] present being striken with greate admiration, reported these his words to the king, who immediatly caused hym to be tormented, and examining the matter diligently, at the last founde him giltie and punished him as a manquiller of his owne father. Hereof ye may gather what fear[…] can do: the swalowes coulde not speake, and yet he perswaded him selfe that they vpbrayed him with murdering his father. Euen so many through feare, imagine that they heare and sée many thinges whiche in deede are méer[…] trifles.

Procopius in the beginning of the warres of Italie declareth, that as Theodoricus sate at meate, after he had put to death Boethius and Symmachus his sonne in lawe, a fishes head being brought before him, he sawe in it the countenance of Symmachus looking horribly, which biting the nether lip with lowring eyes séemed to threaten him, wherewith the King béeing sore abashed fell into a gréeuous sicknesse, wherof he afterwards died. Yea feare if it be vnmeasurable maketh vs to abhorre those things, whiche otherwise should be comfortable vnto vs. The apostles of our lorde Jesu Christ may be examples hereof. Who in the night season being in greate daunger in the Sea, when they sawe Christe walking on the water approching towards them wer maruelously appalled. For they supposed they sawe a Spirit, and cried out for feare. But the Lorde came to deliuer them out of that present daunger wherein they were. After his resurrection they were maruellously affrayde, and as S. Luke saith, they verily supposed they saw a Spirit, when in deede he appeared vnto them in his owne body. Therfore the lord comforteth & hartneth them saying: Behold my hands & my féet, for I am euē he: hādle me and sée: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye sée I haue. They through great ioy could not beleue it, but maruelled at it. Héere thou séest, by feare it came to passe, that the Disciples supposed ye lord him self to haue ben a ghost. And therefore no man ought to maruell if we hindered by feare, mistake one man for an other, and perswade our selues that we haue séene spirits, whereas no suche were. They whiche are of stout and hautie corage, frée from all feare, seldome tymes sée any spirits. It is reported of the Scythiās, a warlike natiō dwelling in mountaynes (from whom it is thought the Turkes take their originall) that they neuer sée any vayne sightes of spirits. Authors write that Lions are not feared with any bugs: for they are full of stomacke and deuoide of feare.