as in the family), they went on
without minding me. I seated myself by the candle that stood on a table
at one end of the room; and, pretending to read a book that I took out
of my pocket, heard several dreadful stories of ghosts as pale as ashes,
that stood at the feet of a bed, or walked over a church-yard by
moonlight; and of others that had been conjured into the Red Sea, for
disturbing people's rest, and drawing their curtains at midnight; with
many other old women's fables of the like nature. As one spirit raised
another, I observed that at the end of every story the whole company
closed their ranks, and crowded about the fire. I took notice in
particular of a little boy, who was so attentive to every story, that I
am mistaken if he ventures to go to bed by himself this twelvemonth.
Indeed, they talked so long, that the imaginations of the whole assembly
were manifestly crazed, and, I am sure, will be the worse for it as long
as they live. I heard one of the girls, that had looked upon me over her
shoulder, asking the company how long I had been in the room, and
whether I did not look paler than I used to do. This put me under some
apprehensions that I should be forced to explain myself, if I did not
retire; for which reason I took the candle in my hand, and went up into
my chamber, not without wondering at this unaccountable weakness in
reasonable creatures, that they should love to astonish and terrify one
another. Were I a father, I should take particular care to preserve my
children from those little horrors of imagination, which they are apt to
contract when they are young, and are not able to shake off when they
are in years. I have known a soldier, that has entered a breach,
affrighted at his own shadow, and look pale upon a little scratching at
his door, who the day before had marched up against a battery of cannon.
There are instances of persons who have been terrified, even to
distraction, at the figure of a tree, or the shaking of a bulrush. The
truth of it is, I look upon a sound imagination as the greatest blessing
of life, next to a clear judgment and a good conscience. In the mean
time, since there are very few whose minds are not more or less subject
to these dreadful thoughts and apprehensions, we ought to arm ourselves
against them by the dictates of reason and religion, to _pull the old
woman out of our hearts_ (as Persius expresses it), and extinguish those
impertinent notions which we imbibed a