140 An EJfay on th&

would not, I think, be a greater absurdity,if we should say that a horse, if he be sound,can but walk , or gallop at most: but if hebe lame, it is not impossible but that he maysometimes jly ! For it seems equally absurd,to suppose that our bodies, which whenbest disposed can only be moved mechani-cally, should, by their indisposition, becomethe cause of life and Jpontaneity.

XLI. As to the particular, Why theseterrifying objects should be frequently exhi-bited to the soul, when the body laboursunder some disorder; reasons neither contra-dictory, nor improbable might be offered ;which therefore, from the considerations inN° 35. takeoff the weight of this scruple.These spirits may possibly be under a re-straint, and wait only an opportunity to gra-tify their enmity to us. Let us consider thedisease called the Incubus , or night-mare,which many persons are tormented with intheir steep (t). It is generally accompanied

with

complain of. Plutarch fays they were ’'a vfyts i/uGpi&rfiKj <piAo<ro<p<;i, ft) argo« s'tfev «x§o<r(pctA«“f, ov&" tv fault*vr»9sc.

(t) See the word Epbialtes 3 in Mr. Chambers’s Cycle *

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