The Apparitions and Miracles at Knock; also, the Official Depositions of the Eye-witnesses

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The chapel stands in a rather extensive yard, which is
bounded, opposite the gable, and distant from it some
twenty-five paces, by a dilapidated wall about four feet high.
Beyond this is a large field and the open country. Within
the yard, a little to the north of a line drawn from the north
angle of the gable to the low wall, stands a schoolhouse, its
gable directly facing towards the east. Obviously, therefore,
if the appearances alleged to have been seen on the chapel
wall were due to a magic lantern, the operator, supposing he
could have focussed his picture at such a distance, must have
taken post behind the low wall ; or, if stationed in the school,
must have thrown the image on the " screen " at a very con
siderable angle. The wall theory may be dismissed, because
over its tumbled stones the first witnesses passed to get a nearer
view, and the glare of the lantern would at once have been
detected by the observant policemen. There remains the
notion of a manipulator stationed in the schoolhouse. I gave
my best attention to the windowless gable of that building,
and could find no sign of hole or crack from chimney to
foundation. Going inside among the children, to look at
the wall from that point of view, the plaster appeared un
touched, and the roof too much open to admit of a man
working between its apex and what there was of ceiling. In
the result, and despite a wish to explain the wonder naturally,
I was obliged to conclude that the reported Apparitions, how
ever caused, could not have been, and, therefore, were not,
due to a magic lantern. With any theory not determinable
by a reference to considerations absolutely positive, such as
those just touched upon, I have nothing now to do.
Scenes at the Church.
Mondays and Thursdays are the times when Knock is
overwhelmed with pilgrims, many thousands being frequently