of air, or water, to evaporate through the ground--in
short, to put them in the same state in which we believe the bodies of
the blessed will be after the resurrection, and in which was that of
our Saviour after his resurrection, who showed himself only to those
whom he thought proper, and who without opening the doors,[610]
appeared suddenly in the midst of his disciples.

But should it be allowed that the demon could reanimate these bodies,
and give them the power of motion for a time, could he also lengthen,
diminish, rarefy, subtilize the bodies of these ghosts, and give them
the faculty of penetrating through the ground, the doors and windows?
There is no appearance of his having received this power from God, and
we cannot even conceive that an earthly body, material and gross, can
be reduced to that state of subtility and spiritualization without
destroying the configuration of its parts and spoiling the economy of
its structure; which would be contrary to the intention of the demon,
and render this body incapable of appearing, showing itself, acting
and speaking, and, in short, of being cut to pieces and burned, as is
commonly seen and practiced in Moravia, Poland, and Silesia. These
difficulties exist in regard to those persons of whom we have made
mention, who, being excommunicated, rose from their tombs, and left
the church in sight of everybody.

We must then keep silence on this article, since it has not pleased
God to reveal to us either the extent of the demon's power, or the way
in which these things can be done. There is even much appearance of
illusion; and even if some reality were mixed up with it, we may
easily console ourselves for our ignorance in that respect, since
there are so many natural things which take place within us and around
us, of which the cause and manner are unknown to us.

Footnotes:

[607] Plin. Hist. Natur. lib. vii. c. 52.

[608] Orig. de Resurrect. Fragment. lib. i. p. 35. Nov. edit. Et
contra Celsum, lib. vii. p. 679.

[609] Luke xvi. 22, 23.

[610] John xx. 26.

CHAPTER LII.

EXAMINATION OF THE OPINION THAT THE DEMON FASCINATES THE EYES OF THOSE
TO WHOM VAMPIRES APPEAR.

Those who have recourse to the fascination of the senses to explain
what is related concerning the apparition of vampires, throw
themselves into as great a perplexity as those who acknowledge
sincerely the reality of these events; for fascination consists either
in the suspension of th