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Lewes Lavater's Essay On Ghosts And Spirits Walking By Night '

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In Lewes Lavater’s essay, “On ghosts and Spirits Walking by Night” Lavater categorizes the English population’s superstitions on ghosts into four different criterias that discern “good spirits from evil.” The first being, “if he be a good spirit he will at the beginning somewhat terrify men but again soon revive and comfort them”. The second note is that if they appear in any form of a “lion, bear, dog, toad, serpent, cat, or black ghost, it is an evil spirit”. Thirdly, if the ghost acts against the laws of the holy Church of Rome it is evil. Fourthly, if the ghosts gestures show any “humility, acknowledging or confessing of his sins and punishments” it is a good spirit that desires help or deliverance. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet play, he presents

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