Page:Nightmare Abbey (1818).djvu/184

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NIGHTMARE ABBEY.
173

Mr. Flosky.

By far the greater number, to a very great degree.

The Honorable Mr. Listless.

Really, that is very alarming!

Mr. Flosky.

Sunt geminæ somni portæ. There are two gates through which ghosts find their way to the upper air: fraud and self-delusion. In the latter case, a ghost is a deceptio visûs, an ocular spectrum, an idea with the force of a sensation. I have seen many ghosts myself. I dare say there are few in this company who have not seen a ghost.

The Honorable Mr. Listless.

I am happy to say, I never have, for one.

The Reverend Mr. Larynx.

We have such high authority for ghosts, that it is rank scepticism to disbelieve them.