the demon, by
the mouth of the girl, "I am a follower and disciple of
Satan, and for a long time I was gatekeeper (janitor) in
hell; but for some years, along with eleven companions, I
have ravaged the kingdom of the Franks." (Cap. v. 49.)

He then goes on to tell how they blasted the crops and scattered
pestilence among beasts and men, because of the prevalent wickedness
of the people.[39]

The enumeration of all these iniquities, in oratorical style, takes up
a whole octavo page; and at the end it is stated, "All these things
the demon spoke in Latin by the mouth of the girl."

And when the priest imperatively ordered him to come out, "I
shall go," said he, "not in obedience to you, but on account
of the power of the saints, who do not allow me to remain
any longer." And having said this, he threw the girl down on
the floor and there compelled her to lie prostrate for a
time, as though she slumbered. After a little while,
however, he going away, the girl, by the power of Christ and
the merits of the blessed martyrs, as it were awaking from
sleep, rose up quite well, to the astonishment of all
present; nor after the demon had gone out was she able to
speak Latin: so that it was plain enough that it was not she
who had spoken in that tongue, but the demon by her mouth.
(Cap. v. 51.)

If the "Historia Translationis" contained nothing more than has been
laid before the reader, up to this time, disbelief in the miracles of
which it gives so precise and full a record might well be regarded as
hyper-scepticism. It might fairly be said, Here you have a man, whose
high character, acute intelligence, and large instruction are
certified by eminent contemporaries; a man who stood high in the
confidence of one of the greatest rulers of any age, and whose other
works prove him to be an accurate and judicious narrator of ordinary
events. This man tells you, in language which bears the stamp of
sincerity, of things which happened within his own knowledge, or
within that of persons in whose veracity he has entire confidence,
while he appeals to his sovereign and the court as witnesses of
others; what possible ground can there be for disbelieving him?

Well, it is hard upon Eginhard to say so, but it is exactly the
honesty and sincerity of the man which are his undoing as a witness to
the miraculous. He himself makes it quite obvious that when h