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the Jauguis, or enlightened faints of India, fee all their vifions by help of an acquired ftraining and preffure of the eyes. Secondly, the art of fee-faw on a beam, and swinging by feffion upon a cord, in order to raise artificial ecftafies, hath been derived to us from our Scythian ancestors, ‡ where it is practifed at this day among the women. Laftly, the whole proceeding, as I have here related it, is performed by the natives of Ireland, with a confiderable improvement; and it is granted, that this noble nation hath of all others admitted fewer corruptions, and degenerated leaft from the purity of the old Tartars. Now, it is ufual for a knot of Irish, men and women, to abftract themselves from matter, bind up all their fenfes, grow vifionary and spiritual, by influence of a fhort pipe of tobacco handed round the company; each preferving the smoke in his mouth, till it comes again to his turn to take in fresh. At the fame time, there is a concert of a continued gentle hum, repeated and renewed by inftinct, as occafion requires; and they move their bodies up and down to a degree, that fometimes their heads and points lie parallel to the horizon. Mean while, you may observe their eyes turned up in the pofture of one who endeavours to keep himself awake; by which, and many other symptoms among them, it manifeftly appears, that the reasoning faculties are all fufpended

Bernier mem. de Mogol. ‡ Guagnini hist. Sarmat.

fufpended and fuperfeded; that imagination hath ufurped the feat, fcattering a thousand deliriums over the brain. Returning from this digreffion, I fhall defcribe the methods by which the spirit approaches. The eyes being disposed according to art, at first you can see nothing; but, after a short pause, a small glimmering light begins to appear, and dance before you. Then, by frequently moving your body up and down, you perceive the vapours to afcend very fast, till you are perfectly dofed, and fluftered like one who drinks too much in a morning. Mean while the preacher is also at work; he begins a loud hum, which pierces you quite through this is immediately returned by the audience; and you find yourself prompted to imitate them, by a mere fpontaneous impulfe, without knowing what you do. The interftitia are duly filled up by the preacher, to prevent too long a paufe, under which the Spirit would foon faint and grow languid.

This is all I am allowed to discover about the progrefs of the Spirit, with relation to that part which is borne by the affembly; but in the methods of the preacher, to which I now proceed, 1 shall be more large and particular.

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SECT. II.

OU will read it very gravely remarked in the books of those illuftrious and right eloquent penmen, the modern travellers, that the fundamental difference, in point of religion, between

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the wild Indians and us, lies in this; that we worship God, and they worship the devil. But there are certain critics, who will by no means admit of this diftinction; rather believing, that all nations whatfoever adore the true God, because they seem to intend their devotions to fome invifible power, of greatest goodness and ability to help them; which perhaps will take in the brighteft attributes afcribed to the Divinity. Others again inform us, that those idolaters adore two principles; the principle of good, and that of evil : which indeed I am apt to look upon as the most univerfal notion that mankind, by the mere light of nature, ever entertained of things invifible. How this idea hath been managed by the Indians and us, and with what advantage to the underftandings of either, may well deferve to be examined. To me, the difference appears little more than this, that they are put oftener upon their knees by their fears, and we by our defires; that the former fet them a praying, and us a curfing. What I applaud them for, is their difcretion, in limiting their devotions and their deities to their feveral diftricts; nor ever fuffering the liturgy of the white god, to crofs or to interfere with that of the black. Not fo with us; who, pretending, by the lines and measures of our reason, to extend the dominion of one invifible power, and contract that of the other, have difcovered a grofs ignorance in the natures of good and evil, and most horribly confounded the frontiers of both. After men have lifted up the throne of

their Divinity to the cœlum empyreum, adorned with all fuch qualities and accomplishments as themselves feem most to value and poffefs; after they have funk their principle of evil to the lowest centre, bound him with chains, loaded him with curfes, furnished him with viler difpofitions than any rake-hell of the town, accoutred him with tail, and horns, and huge claws, and faucer eyes; I laugh aloud to fee thefe reafoners at the fame time. engaged in wife difpute about certain walks and purlieus, whether they are in the verge of God or the devil; feriously debating, whether fuch and fuch influences come into mens minds from above or below; whether certain paffions and affections are guided by the evil spirit or the good:

Dum fas atque nefas exiguo fine libidinum
Difcernunt avidi-

Thus do men establish a fellowship of Chrift with Belial, and fuch is the analogy they make between. cloven tongues and cloven feet. Of the like nature is the difquifition before us. It hath continued thefe hundred years an even debate, whether the deportment and the cant of our English enthusias tic preachers were poffeffion or infpiration; and a world of argument has been drained on either fide, perhaps to little purpofe. For I think it is. in life as in tragedy, where it is held a conviction of great defect, both in order and invention, to interpofe the affiftance of preternatural power, without an abfolute and laft neceffity. However, it is a sketch of human vanity, for every indiviB 3 dual

dual to imagine the whole univerfe is interested in his meaneft concern. If he hath got cleanly over a kennel, fome angel unfeen defcended on purpose to help him by the hand; if he hath knocked his head against a poft, it was the devil, for his fins, let loofe from hell on purpose to buffet him. Who, that fees a little paltry mortal droning, and dreaming, and drivelling to a multitude, can think it agreeable to common good fenfe, that either heaven or hell fhould be put to the trouble of influence or inspection upon what he is about? Therefore I am refolved immediately to weed this error out of mankind, by making it clear, that this mystery of vending fpiritual gifts is nothing but a trade, acquired by as much inftruction, and maftered by equal practice and application, as others are. This will best appear by defcribing and deducing the whole process of the operation, as variously as it hath fallen under my knowledge or experience.

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Here the whole fcheme of Spiritual mechanism was deduced and explained, with an appearance of great reading and obfervation; but it was thought neither fafe nor convenient to print it.

Here

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