Thus, if we have been at one period believing, and at others skeptical, we have only imitated the great doctors of orthodoxy. We must not, however, lose sight of the fact, that the visions of the prophets have signs quite distinct from these particular hallucinations; they present a train of consecutive revelations, carried on through many centuries, with features perfectly identical, all announcing the regeneration of the world, and the birth of a Saviour; in a word, a complete system.

One more remark on this subject. It never occurred to us to make ourselves a defender of the Catholic religion; we have neither learning nor presumption enough to undertake such a task. We merely desired to protest against those principles which would overthrow the Bible, the gospels, dogmas, and revelation; in short, that religion which M. Emile Laisset, in his remarkable article, in the Revue des Deux Mondes, on the Introduction Phihsophique du Christianism, by Monseigneur, the Archbishop of Paris, proclaimed the latest religion of mankind. The Church does not need our co-operation. Her social constitution, which all the efforts of the encyclopedists, led by Voltaire, and seconded by a powerful and frenzied aristocracy, could not destroy; which the storms of '93 could not drown in its torrents of blood, and which now numbers charitable associations composed of many thousands of men; such an organization is strong enough to defend itself.

* De Profectu, relig. lib. 7, c. 8.

† De Canonis, § 3, lib. 3, c. 52; M. Michea, Da Delire des Sensations, p. 27.

Ecclesiastic authors have rejected the organic medical doctrine of hallucinations. The Abbe Bergier, desirous of reconciling hallucinations with reason, and of establishing certain among them considered as such, to be really miraculous, writes thus, in his able Dictionnaire de Theologie: "The brain of Moses may have been affected in a manner to make him believe that he saw, heard, and performed all that he relates. The family of Tobias, in like manner, may have thought that an angel appeared and spoke to them, and did such things as they saw and experienced. The organs of Saul may have been enlightened as much as if Samuel had indeed risen from the tomb. There is no ground to suspect the sincerity of those who have related these facts." No one, now, doubts the truth of religious hallucinations; the only difference lies in the mode of explaining them. Some attribute them to a diseased state of the brain, others to education, prejudice, and many other causes. Others, again, and ourselves amongst the number believe, that those mentioned in the Scriptures must be referred to divine interference; that some may be explained by the arguments which we have used in speaking of the hallucinations of Joan of Arc and Luther; and furthermore, that others may be attributed to an abnormal disposition. One remark, in conclusion: The doctors of the Church, Saint Bonaventura, Gerson, and Cardinal Lambertini allow, that pious but unenlightened persons, may be duped by their illusions. Saint Augustin has also asserted that visions and apparitions often arise from a diseased imagination. Lastly, certain books, very improperly cited as authorities, have never been placed in the list of canonized works; amongst others, The Golden Legend.

Recapitulation. - The hallucinations of many celebrated personages should be considered in relation to soundness of reason.

In making the conduct to depend on a state of health or disease, historic facts are brought beneath the empire of physiological laws, which is quite contrary to the philosophy of history.

A celebrated man, living in his age, is never the ruler of an epoch - he is but its incarnation; and he almost invariably falls, if he desires to substitute his own. will for that of others, or to turn the course of popular ideas to his own profit.

To pretend that the great actions often performed are those of monomaniacs, because the realization of a thought is irresistibly pursued and carried out, is to undervalue genius and the sublime transports of the heart. The absolute doctrine of the influence of the organs on moral actions is contradicted by daily observation, which shows mind to rise superior to bodily decay.

A sickly condition may influence temperament, humor, character, but has no action on the phenomena of consciousness.

Sensorial impressions appear, on reaching the brain, to be deprived of their sensible sign. Some persons, however, preserve the faculty of reproducing sensations in a lifelike form. Certain normal and abnormal states have similar results.

The mode of producing hallucination differs in the child, the dreamer, the poet, the thinker, the religious man; he who recognizes its deceptive character; he who does not allow it to influence his actions; the man who yields to it from the influence of his age, and the deranged man.

In the theory of hallucinations, it should not be forgotten that the nervous and sanguine systems should be taken into consideration, although they are only secondary causes, and their action unknown. Hallucinations cannot be so well understood as when the nature of the thought is studied; they may be classed in two sections - spiritual and sensual.

Ideas, which originate in the senses, are the first and most numerous, which does not at all imply their pre-existence. Having reached the brain, their images, their sensible signs may be instantly reflected, or reproduced long afterwards, or serve to form new combinations. Attention, comparison, imagination, memory, and association, have the greatest influence on these divers operations.

There are few men who do not frequently embody the thoughts which please them, and, for a few moments, consider them as realities; but the least effort of attention suffices to dispel these chimeras.

As association plays a prominent part in the production of hallucinations, it demands special attention.