in a general sense, denotes simply the appearance of a thing. In a more limited sense, it is used for a spectre or ghost.—Several instances of apparitions occur in the Bible; that of Samuel, raised by the witch of Endor, has occasioned great disputes. We find great controversies among authors, in relation to the reality, the existence or non-existence, the possibility or impossibility, of apparitions. The Chaldeans, the Jews, and other nations, have been the steady affterers of the belief of apparitions. The denial of spirits and apparitions is by some made one of the marks of infidelity, if not of atheism. Many of the apparitions we are told of in writers, are doubtless mere delusions of the senses; many others were seen but in dreams or deliriums; many others are fictitious, contrived merely to amuse, or answer some purpose. Apparitions, it is certain, are machines that on occasion have been of good service both to generals, to ministers of state, to priests, and others.