{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_43346/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_43346","id":"gutenberg_43346","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43346","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Spiritualism","Supernatural"],"text":"GLIMPSES OF THE SUPERNATURAL.\n\n\n\n\n  The Other World;\n\n  OR, GLIMPSES OF THE SUPERNATURAL.\n\n  BEING FACTS, RECORDS, AND TRADITIONS\n\n  RELATING TO DREAMS, OMENS, MIRACULOUS OCCURRENCES,\n  APPARITIONS, WRAITHS, WARNINGS, SECOND-SIGHT,\n  WITCHCRAFT, NECROMANCY, ETC.\n\n\n  EDITED BY\n  THE REV. FREDERICK GEORGE LEE, D.C.L.\n  _Vicar of All Saints', Lambeth._\n\n\n  IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II.\n\n\n  HENRY S. KING AND CO., LONDON.\n  1875.\n\n\n\n\n(_All rights reserved._)\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF VOL. II.\n\n\n                                                Page\n\n  CHAPTER VI.\n\n    Spectral Appearances of Persons at the\n    Point of Death and Perturbed Spirits           1\n\n  CHAPTER VII.\n\n    Haunted Houses and Localities                 79\n\n  CHAPTER VIII.\n\n    Modern Spiritualism                          133\n\n  CHAPTER IX.\n\n    Modern Spiritualism (_continued_)            167\n\n  CHAPTER X.\n\n    Summary and Conclusion                       205\n\n  GENERAL INDEX                                  243\n\n\n\n\nSPECTRAL APPEARANCES.\n\n\n\"Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little\nthereof.\n\nIn thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,\n\nFear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.\n\nThen a Spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:\n\nIt stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an Image was\nbefore mine eyes.\"--_Job iv. 12-16._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nSPECTRAL APPEARANCES.\n\n\nExamples of Spectral Appearances are so numerous, and the Editor has\ncollected so many, both ancient and modern, that considerable difficulty\nhas been occasioned in determining which shall here be set forth. The\nfollowing, chosen from examples, some well known and well authenticated,\nand others now first published, but equally interesting and important, and\ncoming to the Editor upon very high authority, deserve the best\nconsideration of the reader.\n\nThe following record describes what is known as the \"Chester-le-Street\"\nApparition:--\n\n\"About the year of Our Lord 1632 (as near as I can remember, having lost\nmy notes and the copy of the letter to Serjeant Hutton, but I am sure that\nI do most perfectly remember the substance of the story), near unto\nChester-in-the-Street, there lived one Walker, a yeoman of good estate,\nand a widower, who had a young woman to his kinswoman, that kept his\nhouse, who was by the neighbours suspected to be with child, and was,\ntowards the dark of the evening one night, sent away with one Mark Sharp,\nwho was a collier, one who digged coals under ground, and one that had\nbeen born at Blackburn hundred in Lancashire; and so she was not heard of\na long time, and no noise, or little, was made about it. In the winter\ntime after, one James Graham, or Grime, for so in that country they call\nthem, being a miller, and living about two miles from the place where\nWalker lived, was one night alone very late in the mill grinding corn; and\nabout twelve or one of the clock at night, he came down the stairs from\nhaving been putting corn in the hopper; the mill doors being shut, there\nstood a woman upon the midst of the floor, with her hair about her head,\nhanging down and all bloody, with five large wounds on her head. He being\nmuch affrighted and amazed began to bless himself;[1] and at last asked\nher who she was, and what she wanted. To which she said, 'I am the spirit\nof such a woman who lived with Walker, and being got with child by him,\nhe promised to send me to a private place, where I should be well-looked\nto, till I was brought to bed, and well again; and then I should come\nagain and keep his house. And, accordingly,' said the apparition, 'I was\none night sent away with one Mark Sharp, who, upon a moor (naming a place\nthat the miller knew) slew me with a pick, such as men dig coals withal\nand gave me these five wounds, and after threw my body into a coal-pit\nhard by, and hid the pick under a bank; and his shoes and stockings being\nbloody, he endeavoured to wash them; but seeing the blood would not forth,\nhe hid them there.' And the apparition further told the miller that he\nmust be the man to reveal it, or else that she must still appear and haunt\nhim. The miller returned home very sad and heavy, but spoke not one word\nof what he had seen, but eschewed as much as he could to stay in the mill\nwithin night without company, thinking thereby to escape the seeing again\nof that frightful apparition. But notwithstanding, one night when it began\nto be dark, the apparition met him again and seemed very fierce and cruel,\nand threatened him that if he did not reveal the murder she would\ncontinually pursue and haunt him; yet, for all this, he still concealed it\nuntil S. Thomas' Eve before Christmas; when being soon after sunset\nwalking in his garden, she appeared again, and then so threatened him, and\naffrighted him, that he promised faithfully to reveal it next morning. In\nthe morning he went to a magistrate, and made the whole matter known with\nall the circumstances; and diligent search being made, the body was found\nin a coal-pit, with five wounds in the head, and the pick and shoes and\nstockings yet bloody; in every circumstance as the apparition had related\nunto the miller; whereupon Walker and Mark Sharp were both apprehended,\nbut would confess nothing. At the assizes following, I think it was at\nDurham, they were arraigned, found guilty, condemned and executed; but I\ncould never hear they confessed the fact. There were some that reported\nthe apparition did appear unto the judge, or the foreman of the jury, who\nwas alive in Chester-in-the-Street about ten years ago, as I have been\ncredibly informed, but of that I know no certainty. There are many persons\nyet alive that can remember this strange murder, and the discovery of it;\nfor it was, and sometimes yet is, as much discoursed of in the north\ncountry, as anything that almost hath ever been heard of, and the relation\nprinted, though now not to be gotten. I relate this with the greater\nconfidence (though I may fail in some of the circumstances) because I saw\nand read the letter that was sent to Serjeant Hutton, who then lived at\nGoldsburgh in Yorkshire, from the judge before whom Walker and Mark Sharp\nwere tried, and by whom they were condemned, and had a copy of it until\nabout the year 1658, when I had it and many other books and papers taken\nfrom me; and this I confess to be one of the most convincing stories,\nbeing of undoubted verity, that ever I read, heard, or knew of, and\ncarrieth with it the most evident force to make the most incredulous\nspirit to be satisfied that there are really, sometimes, such things as\napparitions.--William Lumley.\"[2]\n\nThe above account, in which the object of the Spectral Appearance is\nobvious enough, is taken from the well-known \"History of Durham,\" by that\ncelebrated antiquarian the late Mr. Robert Surtees. It needs no comment,\ntelling as it does so well, in quaint but plain language, its own\nremarkable story.\n\nThe next example to be recorded, the Apparition of the Rev. Mr. Naylor,\nmay be found in Mr. John Nichols' \"Literary Illustrations,\"[3] and, though\nless startling than that already given, is certainly not without its own\ninherent interest:--\n\n    \"Part of a Letter from Mr. Edward Walter, Fellow of S. John's College,\n    Cambridge, to his friend in the country, dated 'Dec. 6, 1706.'\n\n    \"'I should scarce have mentioned anything of the matter you write\n    about of my own accord; but, since you have given yourself the trouble\n    of an inquiry, I am, I think, obliged in friendship to relate all that\n    I know of the matter; and that I do the more willingly, because I can\n    so soon produce my authority.\n\n    \"'Mr. Shaw, to whom the apparition appeared, was Rector of Soldern, or\n    Souldern, in Oxfordshire, late of S. John's College aforesaid; on whom\n    Mr. Grove, his old Fellow Collegiate, called July last in his journey\n    to the West, where he stayed a day or two, and promised to see him\n    again on his return, which he did, and stayed three days with him; in\n    that time one night after supper, Mr. Shaw told him that there\n    happened a passage which he could not conceal from him, as being an\n    intimate friend, and one to whom this transaction might have something\n    more relation than another man. He proceeded therefore, and told him\n    that about a week before that time, viz. July the 28th, 1706, as he\n    was smoking and reading in his study about eleven or twelve at night,\n    there came to him the apparition of Mr. Naylor, formerly Fellow of the\n    said College, and dead some years ago, a friend of Mr. Shaw's, in the\n    same garb he used to be in, with his hands clasped before him. Mr.\n    Shaw, not being much surprised, asked him how he did and desired him\n    to sit down, which Mr. Naylor did. They both sat there a considerable\n    time and entertained one another with various discourses. Mr. Shaw\n    then asked him after what manner they lived in the separate state; he\n    answered, Far different from what they do here, but that he was very\n    well. He inquired further, whether there was any of their old\n    acquaintance in that place where he was? he answered, 'No, not one;'\n    and then proceeded and told him that one of their old friends, naming\n    Mr. Orchard, should die quickly, and he himself should not be long\n    after. There was mention of several people's names; but who they were,\n    or upon what occasion, Mr. Grove cannot or will not tell. Mr. Shaw\n    then asked him whether he would not visit him again before that time;\n    he answered, No, he could not; he had but three days allowed him, and\n    farther he could not go. Mr. Shaw said, \"_Fiat voluntas Domini_;\" and\n    the apparition left him. This is word for word as Mr. Shaw told Mr.\n    Grove, and Mr. Grove told me.\n\n    \"'_Note._--What surprised Mr. Grove was, that as he had in his journey\n    homewards occasion to ride through Clopton, or Claxton, he called upon\n    one Mr. Clark, Fellow of our College aforesaid and curate there, when\n    inquiring after College news, Mr. Clark told him Arthur Orchard[4]\n    died that week, Aug. 7, 1706, which very much shocked Mr. Grove, and\n    brought to his mind the story of Mr. Shaw afresh. About three weeks\n    ago Mr. Shaw died of apoplexy in the desk, [_i. e._ when ministering\n    in church,] of the same distemper poor Arthur Orchard died of.\n\n    \"'_Note._--Since this strange completion of matters, Mr. Grove has\n    told this relation, and stands to the truth of it; and that which\n    confirms the narrative is, that he told the same to Dr. Baldiston, the\n    present Vice-Chancellor and Master of Emanuel College, above a week\n    before Mr. Shaw's death; and when he came to the College he was no way\n    surprised as others were.\n\n    \"'What farthers my belief of its being a true vision and not a dream,\n    is Mr. Grove's incredulity of stories of this nature. Considering them\n    both as men of learning and integrity, the one would not first have\n    declared, nor the other have spread the same, were not the matter\n    serious and real.\n\n        \"'Edward Walter.'\"\n\nThe following example of an Apparition in Scotland, unlike those already\nrecorded, carries with it evidences of truth:--\n\n\"A gentleman of rank and property in Scotland served in his youth in the\narmy of the Duke of York in Flanders. He occupied the same tent with two\nother officers, one of whom was sent on some service. One night during his\nabsence, this gentleman while in bed saw the figure of his absent friend\nsitting on the vacant bed. He called to his companion, who also saw the\nfigure, which spoke to them, and said he had just been killed at a certain\nplace, pointing to his wound. He then requested them on returning to\nEngland, to call at a certain agent's house in a certain street, and to\nprocure from him a document of great importance for the family of the\ndeceased. If the agent, as was probable, should deny the possession of\nit, it would be found in a certain drawer of a cabinet in his room. Next\nday it appeared that the officer had been shot as he had told them, in the\nmanner and at the time and place indicated. After the return of the troops\nto England, the two friends walking together one day, found themselves in\nthe street where the agent lived, and the request of their friend recurred\nto both, they having hitherto forgotten it. They called on the agent, who\ndenied having the paper in question; when they compelled him in their\npresence to open the drawer of the cabinet, where it was found and\nrestored to the widow.\"[5]\n\nAn authentic record of the \"Tyrone,\" or \"Beresford Apparition,\" will now\nbe given. It created a very great sensation at the time of its occurrence;\nand the narrative which follows has been pronounced traditionally \"true\nand accurate\" by a member of the family:--\n\n\"Lord Tyrone and Miss ---- were born in Ireland, and were left orphans in\ntheir infancy to the care of the same person, by whom they were both\neducated in the principles of deism. Their guardian dying when they were\neach of them about fourteen years of age, they fell into very different\nhands.\n\n\"The persons on whom the care of them now devolved, used every means to\neradicate the erroneous principles they had imbibed, and to persuade them\nto embrace revealed religion, but in vain. Their arguments were strong\nenough to stagger their former faith. Though separated from each other,\ntheir friendship was unalterable, and they continued to regard each other\nwith a sincere and fraternal affection.\n\n\"After some years were elapsed, and both were grown up, they made a solemn\npromise to each other that whichever should die first, would, if\npermitted, appear to the other, to declare what religion was most approved\nby the Supreme Being.\n\n\"Miss ---- was shortly after addressed by Sir Martin Beresford, to whom\nshe was after a few years married, but a change of condition had no power\nto alter their friendship. The families visited each other, and often\nspent some weeks together. A short time after one of these visits, Sir\nMartin remarked, that when his lady came down to breakfast, her\ncountenance was disturbed, and inquired after her health. She assured him\nshe was quite well. He then asked her if she had hurt her wrist: 'Have you\nsprained it?' said he, observing a black ribbon round it. She answered in\nthe negative, and added, 'Let me conjure you, Sir Martin, never to inquire\nthe cause of my wearing this ribbon; you will never see me without it. If\nit concerned you as a husband to know, I would not for a moment conceal\nit: I never in my life denied you a request, but of this I entreat you to\nforgive me the refusal, and never to urge me further on the subject.'\n'Very well,' said he, smiling; 'since you beg me so earnestly, I will\ninquire no more.'\n\n\"The conversation here ended; but breakfast was scarcely over when Lady\nBeresford eagerly inquired if the post was come in; she was told it was\nnot. In a few minutes she rang again and repeated the inquiry. She was\nagain answered as at first. 'Do you expect letters?' said Sir Martin,\n'that you are so anxious for the arrival of the post?' 'I do,' she\nanswered, 'I expect to hear that Lord Tyrone is dead; he died last Tuesday\nat four o'clock.' 'I never in my life,' said Sir Martin, 'believed you\nsuperstitious; some idle dream has surely thus alarmed you.' At that\ninstant the servant entered and delivered to them a letter sealed with\nblack. 'It is as I expected,' exclaimed Lady Beresford, 'Lord Tyrone is\ndead.' Sir Martin opened the letter; it came from Lord Tyrone's steward,\nand contained the melancholy intelligence of his master's death, and on\nthe very day and hour Lady Beresford had before specified. Sir Martin\nbegged Lady Beresford to compose herself, and she assured him she felt\nmuch easier than she had done for a long time; and added, 'I can\ncommunicate intelligence to you which I know will prove welcome; I can\nassure you, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that I shall in some months\npresent you with a son.' Sir Martin received this news with the greatest\njoy.\n\n\"After some months Lady Beresford was delivered of a son (she had before\nbeen the mother of only two daughters). Sir Martin survived the birth of\nhis son little more than four years.\n\n\"After his decease his widow seldom left home; she visited no family but\nthat of a clergyman who resided in the same village; with them she\nfrequently passed a few hours; the rest of her time was spent in solitude,\nand she appeared determined for ever to banish all other society. The\nclergyman's family consisted of himself, his wife, and one son, who at the\ntime of Sir Martin's death was quite a youth; to this son, however, she\nwas after a few years married, notwithstanding the disparity of years and\nthe manifest imprudence of a connexion so unequal in every point of view.\n\n\"Lady Beresford was treated by her young husband with contempt and\ncruelty, while at the same time his conduct evinced him the most abandoned\nlibertine, utterly destitute of every principle of virtue and humanity. By\nthis, her second husband, she had two daughters; after which such was the\nbaseness of his conduct that she insisted on a separation. They parted for\na few years, when so great was the contrition he expressed for his former\nconduct, that, won over by his supplications, promises, and entreaties,\nshe was induced to pardon, and once more to reside with him, and was in\ntime the mother of a son.\n\n\"The day on which she had lain-in a month being the anniversary of her\nbirthday, she sent for Lady Betty Cobb (of whose friendship she had long\nbeen possessed), and a few other friends, to request them to spend the day\nwith her. About seven, the clergyman by whom she had been christened, and\nwith whom she had all her life been intimate, came into the room to\ninquire after her health. She told him she was perfectly well, and\nrequested him to spend the day with them; for, said she, 'This is my\nbirthday. I am forty-eight to-day.' 'No, madam,' answered the clergyman,\n'you are mistaken; your mother and myself have had many disputes\nconcerning your age, and I have at last discovered that I was right. I\nhappened to go last week into the parish where you were born; I was\nresolved to put an end to the dispute; I searched the register, and find\nthat you are forty-seven this day.' 'You have signed my death warrant,'\nshe exclaimed; 'I have then but a few hours to live. I must therefore\nentreat you to leave me immediately, as I have something of importance to\nsettle before I die.'\n\n\"When the clergyman had left her, Lady Beresford sent to forbid the\ncompany coming, and at the same time to request Lady Betty Cobb and her\nson (of whom Sir Martin was the father, and who was then about twenty-two\nyears of age), to come to her apartment immediately. Upon their arrival,\nhaving ordered the attendants to quit the room, 'I have something,' she\nsaid, 'of the greatest importance to communicate to you both before I die,\na period which is not far distant. You, Lady Betty, are no stranger to\nthe friendship which subsisted between Lord Tyrone and myself: we were\neducated under the same roof and in the same principles of deism. When the\nfriends, into whose hands we afterwards fell, endeavoured to persuade us\nto embrace Revealed Religion, their arguments, though insufficient to\nconvince, were powerful to stagger our former feelings, and to leave us\nwavering between the two opinions: in this perplexing state of doubt and\nuncertainty, we made a solemn promise to each other that whichever died\nfirst should (if permitted) appear to the other, and declare what religion\nwas most acceptable to God; accordingly, one night, while Sir Martin and\nmyself were in bed, I suddenly awoke and discovered Lord Tyrone sitting by\nmy bedside. I screamed out and endeavoured to awake Sir Martin. \"For\nHeaven's sake,\" I exclaimed, \"Lord Tyrone, by what means or for what\nreason came you hither at this time of night?\" \"Have you then forgotten\nour promise?\" said he; \"I died last Tuesday at four o'clock, and have been\npermitted by the Supreme Being to appear to you to assure you that the\nRevealed Religion is true, and the only religion by which we can be saved.\nI am further suffered to inform you that you will soon produce a son, who\nit is decreed will marry my daughter; not many years after his birth Sir\nMartin will die, and you will marry again, and to a man by whose\nill-treatment you will be rendered miserable: you will have two daughters\nand afterwards a son, in childbirth of whom you will die in the\nforty-seventh year of your age.\" \"Just Heavens!\" I exclaimed, \"and cannot\nI prevent this?\" \"Undoubtedly,\" returned the spectre; \"you are a free\nagent, and may prevent it all by resisting every temptation to a second\nmarriage; but your passions are strong, you know not their power; hitherto\nyou have had no trials. More I am not permitted to reveal, but if after\nthis warning you persist in your infidelity, your lot in another world\nwill be miserable indeed.\" \"May I not ask,\" said I, \"if you are happy?\"\n\"Had I been otherwise,\" he replied, \"I should not have been permitted to\nappear to you.\" \"I may, then, infer that you are happy?\" He smiled. \"But\nhow,\" said I, \"when morning comes, shall I know that your appearance to me\nhas been real, and not the mere representation of my own imagination?\"\n\"Will not the news of my death be sufficient to convince you?\" \"No,\" I\nreturned, \"I might have had such a dream, and that dream accidentally come\nto pass. I will have some stronger proofs of its reality.\" \"You shall,\"\nsaid he, and waving his hand, the bed curtains, which were crimson velvet,\nwere instantly drawn through a large iron hoop by which the tester of the\nbed was suspended. \"In that,\" said he, \"you cannot be mistaken; no mortal\narm could have performed this.\" \"True,\" said I, \"but sleeping we are often\npossessed of far more strength than when awake; though waking I could not\nhave done it, asleep I might; and I shall still doubt.\" \"Here is a\npocket-book; in this,\" said he, \"I will write my name; you know my\nhandwriting.\" I replied, \"Yes.\" He wrote with a pencil on one side of the\nleaves. \"Still,\" said I, \"in the morning I may doubt; though waking I\ncould not imitate your hand, asleep I might.\" \"You are hard of belief,\"\nsaid he. \"Touch would injure you irreparably; it is not for spirits to\ntouch mortal flesh.\" \"I do not,\" said I, \"regard a slight blemish.\" \"You\nare a woman of courage,\" said he, \"hold out your hand.\" _I did; he struck\nmy wrist: his hand was cold as marble; in a moment the sinews shrunk up,\nevery nerve withered._ \"Now,\" said he, \"while you live let no mortal eye\nbehold that wrist: to see it is sacrilege.\" He stopped; I turned to him\nagain; he was gone.\n\n\"'During the time I had conversed with him my thoughts were perfectly calm\nand collected; but the moment he was gone I felt chilled with horror, the\nvery bed moved under me. I endeavoured, but in vain, to awake Sir Martin;\nall my attempts were ineffectual, and in this state of agitation and\nterror I lay for some time, when a shower of tears came to my relief and I\nfell asleep.\n\n\"'In the morning Sir Martin arose and dressed himself as usual, without\nperceiving the state the curtains remained in. When I awoke I found Sir\nMartin gone down; I arose, and having put on my clothes, went to the\ngallery adjoining the apartment and took from thence a long broom (such as\ncornices are swept with); by the help of this I took down with some\ndifficulty the curtains, as I imagined their extraordinary position might\nexcite suspicion in the family. I then went to the bureau, took up my\npocket-book, and bound a piece of black ribbon round my wrist. When I came\ndown, the agitation of my mind had left an impression on my countenance\ntoo visible to pass unobserved by my husband. He instantly remarked it,\nand asked the cause; I informed him Lord Tyrone was no more, that he died\nat the hour of four on the preceding Tuesday, and desired him never to\nquestion me more respecting the black ribbon, which he kindly desisted\nfrom after. You, my son, as had been foretold, I afterwards brought into\nthe world, and in little more than four years after your birth your\nlamented father expired in my arms. After this melancholy event I\ndetermined, as the only probable chance to avoid the sequel of the\nprediction, for ever to abandon all society, to give up every pleasure\nresulting from it, and to pass the rest of my days in solitude and\nretirement. But few can long endure to exist in a state of perfect\nsequestration: I began an intimacy with a family, and one alone; nor could\nI foresee the fatal consequences which afterwards resulted from it. Little\ndid I think their son, their only son, then a mere youth, would form the\nperson destined by fate to prove my destruction. In a very few years I\nceased to regard him with indifference; I endeavoured by every possible\nway to conquer a passion, the fatal effects of which I too well knew. I\nhad fondly imagined I had overcome its influence, when the evening of one\nfatal day terminated my fortitude and plunged me in a moment down that\nabyss I had so long been meditating how to shun. He had often solicited\nhis parents for leave to go into the army, and at last obtained\npermission, and came to bid me adieu before his departure. The instant he\nentered the room he fell upon his knees at my feet, told me he was\nmiserable, and that I alone was the cause. At that moment my fortitude\nforsook me, I gave myself up as lost, and regarding my fate as inevitable,\nwithout further hesitation consented to a union, the immediate result of\nwhich I knew to be misery, and its end death. The conduct of my husband\nafter a few years amply justified a separation, and I hoped by these means\nto avoid the fatal sequel of the prophecy: but won over by his reiterated\nentreaties, I was prevailed upon to pardon and once more reside with him,\nthough not till after I had, as I thought, passed my forty-seventh year.\n\n\"'But alas! I have this day heard from indisputable authority that I have\nhitherto lain under a mistake with regard to my age, and that I am but\nforty-seven to-day. Of the near approach of my death then I entertain not\nthe slightest doubt; but I do not dread its arrival; armed with the sacred\nprecepts of Christianity I can meet the King of Terrors without dismay,\nand without fear bid adieu to mortality for ever.\n\n\"'When I am dead, as the necessity for concealment closes with my life, I\ncould wish that you, Lady Betty, would unbind my wrist, take from thence\nthe black ribbon, and let my son with yourself behold it.' Lady Beresford\nhere paused for some time, but resuming the conversation she entreated her\nson would behave himself so as to merit the high honour he would in future\nreceive from a union with the daughter of Lord Tyrone.\n\n\"Lady B. then expressed a wish to lay down on the bed and endeavour to\ncompose herself to sleep. Lady Betty Cobb and her son immediately called\nher domestics and quitted the room, having first desired them to watch\ntheir mistress attentively, and if they observed the smallest change in\nher, to call instantly.\n\n\"An hour passed and all was quiet in the room. They listened at the door\nand everything remained still, but in half an hour more a bell rang\nviolently; they flew to her apartment, but before they reached the door,\nthey heard the servants exclaim, 'Oh, she is dead!' Lady Betty then bade\nthe servants for a few minutes to quit the room, and herself with Lady\nBeresford's son approached the bed of his mother; they knelt down by the\nside of it; Lady Betty lifted up her hand and untied the ribbon,--_the\nwrist was found exactly as Lady Beresford had described it, every sinew\nshrunk, every nerve withered_.\n\n\"Lady Beresford's son, as had been predicted, is since married to Lord\nTyrone's daughter. The black ribbon and pocket-book were formerly in the\npossession of Lady Betty Cobb, Marlborough Buildings, Bath, who, during\nher long life, was ever ready to attest the truth of this narration, as\nare, to the present hour, the whole of the Tyrone and Beresford\nfamilies.\"[6]\n\nThree remarkable examples of Spectral Appearances must now be given,\nbecause of their inherent interest and corresponding likeness. The first\nis recorded by Glanville, a learned and pious author already referred to;\nthe second is the case of Dr. Ferrar, and the third that of the \"Wynyard\nGhost Story.\"\n\n(I.) Glanville tells a story regarding the appearance of a spirit in\nfulfilment of a promise made during lifetime, which is full of point and\npurpose. It runs thus. The substance, not the exact words, of the\nnarrative are here given:--In the seventeenth century there lived two\nfriends, Major George Sydenham of Dulverton in the county of Somerset, and\nCaptain William Dyke of the same county. They were both reputed to be\nunbelievers in the Christian religion, if not avowed atheists. During the\ncivil wars they had each served under the Parliamentary generals, and took\nan active part on the side of the rebels.\n\nHaving held many discussions both on the subject of religion and\nirreligion, they eventually argued out the fact of the immortality of the\nsoul, which each felt disposed to deny: and finally they agreed between\nthemselves that whichever of them died first, should (if such a\npossibility existed,) appear on the third day after death to the survivor\nin Major Sydenham's summer-house at Dulverton, and enlighten him as to the\nexistence of a future state of rewards and punishments.\n\nIn due course Major Sydenham died; and Captain Dyke, in company with a\ncousin of his own, a celebrated physician, who was attending a sick child\nat Major Sydenham's house, but who knew nothing of the matter in hand,\narrived there. Captain Dyke and his relative Dr. Dyke, the physician,\noccupied the same bedroom. The latter was surprised to hear the captain\nask of the servant for two of the largest candles that could be obtained,\nand sought an explanation. The captain then informed him of his promise to\nMajor Sydenham, and of his own determined resolution to fulfil it. Dr.\nDyke urged with considerable force that as there was no warrant for making\nsuch engagements, they were to be regarded as unquestionably wrong; and\npointed out, firstly, that evil spirits might take advantage of the\nsituation, and secondly, that such a tempting of the Almighty was\naltogether wrong.\n\n\"This may be all very true,\" responded Captain Dyke, \"but as I faithfully\npromised to go, go I will. If you will come and sit up with me, well and\ngood: and I shall be grateful. But if not, I shall certainly go alone.\"\n\nThen, placing his watch on the table, he waited until half-past eleven;\nwhen taking up the candles, he walked up and down in close proximity to\nthe entrance of the summer-house, until two o'clock, without either seeing\nor hearing anything extraordinary.\n\nUpon this he formed two conclusions; either that the soul perished with\nthe body, or that the laws of the spiritual world forbade his friend Major\nSydenham abiding by his pledge.\n\nSix weeks afterwards, however, Captain Dyke and his relation the physician\nhad occasion to go to Eton, where one of the sons of the former was to be\nplaced at the college. They lodged at the S. Christopher's Inn, occupying\ndifferent sleeping-rooms. On the last morning of their stay, Captain Dyke\nwas unusually late, and when he entered the doctor's room was like a man\nstruck with madness, his eyes staring, his knees refusing to support him,\nand his whole appearance altered.\n\n\"What is the matter?\" asked Dr. Dyke.\n\n\"I have seen the major,\" replied the captain; \"for if ever I saw him in my\nlife, I certainly saw him just now.\"\n\nUpon the doctor pressing for details, Captain Dyke gave the following\naccount:--\"After it was first light this morning, someone pulled back the\ncurtains of my bed suddenly, and I saw the major exactly as I had seen him\nin life. 'I could not,' he said, 'come at the time appointed, but I am\nhere now to tell you that there is a God, a very just and terrible God,\nand that if you do not turn over a new leaf you will find it so.' He then\ndisappeared.\"\n\nIt is said, finally, that Captain Dyke's truthfulness was so notorious, as\nto preclude the possibility of doubting his relation of the occurrence.\nFurthermore, the apparition and warnings of his departed friend exercised\na visible effect on his character and life, which latter was prolonged for\ntwo years; during which period he is said to have had the words then\nspoken to him always sounding in his ears.\n\n(II.) The celebrated Nicholas Ferrar, of Little Gidding, (who, in the\nseventeenth century, lived a most retired, religious, and pious life,) had\na brother, a physician in London. This physician made a compact with his\neldest and favourite daughter that whichever of them died first should, if\nhappy, appear to the other. This compact is said to have proved the\nsubject of many conversations and religious discussions between father and\nchild. The latter is reported to have been very averse to making any such\nagreement; but being overcome by arguments as to the reasonableness of\nsuch a course (if permitted by a gracious and merciful God) at last\nconsented. After this she married and settled with her husband at\nGillingham Lodge, in the county of Wiltshire. Here she was prematurely\nconfined; and during her illness, one night by mistake took poison, and\ndied quite suddenly. That very night her spirit appeared to her father in\nLondon, the curtains of whose bed she drew back, and with a sweet but\nmournful expression looked upon him, and then gradually faded away. In\nfact, and as a test of the objective reality of his daughter's apparition,\nDr. Ferrar, deeply impressed by the occurrence, announced the death of his\ndaughter to his family two days before he received intelligence of it by\nthe then tardy post.\n\n(III.) John Cope Sherbroke and George Wynyard appear in the \"Army List\" of\n1785, the one as a captain and the other lieutenant in the 33rd\nRegiment,--a corps which some years after had the honour to be commanded\nby the Hon. Arthur Wellesley, subsequently Duke of Wellington. The\nregiment was then on service in Canada, and Sherbroke and Wynyard, being\nof congenial tastes, had become great friends. It was their custom to\nspend in study much of the time which their brother officers devoted to\nidle pleasures. According to a narration[7] resting on the best authority\nnow attainable, they were one afternoon sitting in Wynyard's apartment.\nIt was perfectly light, the hour was about four o'clock: they had dined,\nbut neither of them had drunk wine, and they had retired from their mess\nto continue together the occupations of the morning. It ought to have been\nsaid that the apartment in which they were had two doors in it, the one\nopening into a passage and the other leading into Wynyard's bedroom. There\nwas no other means of entering the sitting-room, so that any person\npassing into the bedroom must have remained there unless he returned by\nthe way he entered. This point is of consequence to the story.\n\n\"As these two young officers were pursuing their studies, Sherbroke, whose\neyes happened accidentally to glance from the book before him towards the\ndoor which opened to the passage, all at once observed a tall youth of\nabout twenty years of age whose appearance was that of extreme emaciation.\nStruck with the presence of a perfect stranger, he immediately turned to\nhis friend, who was sitting near him, and directed his attention to the\nguest who had thus strangely broken in upon their studies. As soon as\nWynyard's eyes were turned towards the mysterious visitor his countenance\nbecame suddenly agitated. 'I have heard,' says Sir John Sherbroke, 'of a\nman's being as pale as death, but I never saw a living face assume the\nappearance of a corpse except Wynyard's at that moment.' As they looked\nsilently at the form before them--for Wynyard, who seemed to apprehend\nthe import of the appearance, was deprived of the faculty of speech, and\nSherbroke, perceiving the agitation of his friend, felt no inclination to\naddress it--as they looked silently upon the figure it proceeded slowly\ninto the adjoining apartment, and in the act of passing them cast its eyes\nwith an expression of somewhat melancholy affection on young Wynyard. The\noppression of this extraordinary presence was no sooner removed than\nWynyard, seizing his friend by the arm, and drawing a deep breath as if\nrecovering from the suffocation of intense astonishment and emotion,\nmuttered in a low and almost inaudible tone of voice, 'Great God, my\nbrother!' 'Your brother!' repeated Sherbroke, 'what can you mean? Wynyard,\nthere must be some deception; follow me;' and immediately taking his\nfriend by the arm, he preceded him into the bedroom, which, as before\nstated, was connected with the sitting-room, and into which the strange\nvisitor had evidently entered. It has already been said that from this\nchamber there was no possibility of withdrawing but by the way of the\napartment, through which the figure had certainly never returned. Imagine\nthen the astonishment of the young officers when, on finding themselves in\nthe chamber, they perceived that the room was perfectly untenanted.\nWynyard's mind had received an impression at the first moment of his\nobserving him, that the figure whom he had seen was the spirit of his\nbrother. Sherbroke still persevered in strenuously believing that some\ndelusion had been practised. They took note of the day and hour in which\nthe event had happened, but they resolved not to mention the occurrence in\nthe regiment, and gradually they persuaded each other that they had been\nimposed upon by some artifice of their fellow-officers, though they could\nneither account for the means of its execution. They were content to\nimagine anything possible rather than admit the possibility of a\nsupernatural appearance. But though they had attempted these stratagems of\nself-delusion, Wynyard could not help expressing his solicitude with\nrespect to the safety of the brother whose apparition he had either seen\nor imagined himself to have seen; and the anxiety which he exhibited for\nletters from England, and his frequent mention of his brother's health, at\nlength awakened the curiosity of his comrades, and eventually betrayed him\ninto a declaration of the circumstances which he had in vain determined to\nconceal. The story of the silent and unbidden visitor was no sooner\nbruited abroad than the arrival of Wynyard's letters from England were\nwelcomed with more than usual eagerness, for they promised to afford the\nclue to the mystery which had happened among themselves.\n\n\"By the first ships no intelligence relating to the story could have been\nreceived, for they had all departed from England previously to the\nappearance of the spirit. At length, the long wished-for vessel arrived;\nall the officers had letters except Wynyard. They examined the several\nnewspapers, but they contained no mention of any death or of any other\ncircumstance connected with his family that could account for the\npreternatural event. There was a solitary letter for Sherbroke still\nunopened. The officers had received their letters in the mess-room at the\nhour of supper. After Sherbroke had broken the seal of his last packet,\nand cast a glance on its contents, he beckoned his friend away from the\ncompany, and departed from the room. All were silent. The suspense of the\ninterest was now at its climax; the impatience for the return of Sherbroke\nwas inexpressible. They doubted not but that letter had contained the\nlong-expected intelligence.\n\n\"After the interval of an hour, Sherbroke joined them. No one dared\ninquire the nature of his correspondence; but they waited in mute\nattention, expecting that he would himself touch upon the subject. His\nmind was manifestly full of thoughts that pained, bewildered, and\noppressed him. He drew near to the fire-place, and leaning his head on the\nmantlepiece, after a pause of some moments, said in a low voice to the\nperson who was nearest him, Wynyard's brother was dead. 'Dear John, break\nto your friend Wynyard the death of his favourite brother.' _He had died\non the day and at the very hour on which the friends had seen his spirit\npass so mysteriously through the apartment._\n\n\"It might have been imagined that these events would have been sufficient\nto have impressed the mind of Sherbroke with the conviction of their\ntruth, but so strong was his prepossession against the existence or even\nthe possibility of any preternatural intercourse with the spirits of the\ndeparted, that he still entertained a doubt of the report of his senses,\nsupported as their testimony was by the coincidence of sight and event.\nSome years after, on his return to England, he was with two gentlemen in\nPiccadilly, when on the opposite side of the street he saw a person\nbearing the most striking resemblance to the figure which had been\ndisclosed to Wynyard and himself. His companions were acquainted with the\nstory, and he instantly directed their attention to the gentleman\nopposite, as the individual who had contrived to enter and depart from\nWynyard's apartment without their being conscious of the means.\n\n\"Full of this impression, he immediately went over and addressed the\ngentleman. He now fully expected to elucidate the mystery. He apologized\nfor the interruption, but excused it by relating the occurrence which had\ninduced him to the commission of this solecism in manners. The gentleman\nreceived him as a friend. He had never been out of the country, but he was\nthe twin brother of the youth whose spirit had been seen.\n\n\"From the interesting character of this narration--the facts of the vision\noccurring in daylight, and to two persons; and of the subsequent\nverification of likeness by the party not previously acquainted with the\nsubject of the vision, it is much to be regretted that no direct report of\nparticulars had come to us. There is all other desirable authentication\nfor the story, and sufficient evidence to prove that the two gentlemen\nbelieved and often told nearly what is here reported.\n\n\"Dr. Mayo makes the following statement on the subject: 'I have had\nopportunities of inquiring of two near relations of this General Wynyard,\nupon what evidence the above story rests. They told me that they had each\nheard it from his own mouth. More recently a gentleman, whose accuracy of\nrecollection exceeds that of most people, had told me that he had heard\nthe late Sir John Sherbroke, the other party in the ghost story, tell it\nin much the same way at the dinner-table. A writer in 'Notes and Queries'\nfor July 3, 1858, states that the brother, not twin-brother, whose spirit\nappeared to Wynyard and his friend, was John Otway Wynyard, Lieutenant in\nthe 3rd Regiment of Foot-guards, who died on the 15th of October, 1785. As\nthis gentleman writes with a minute knowledge of the family history, this\ndate may be considered as that of the alleged spiritual incident.\n\n\"In 'Notes and Queries' for July 2nd, 1859, appeared a correspondence,\ngiving the strongest testimony then attainable to the truth of the\nWynyard ghost story. A series of queries on the subject being drawn up at\nQuebec, by Sir John Harvey, Adjutant-General of the forces in Canada, was\nsent to Colonel Gore of the same garrison, who was understood to be a\nsurvivor of the officers who were with Sherbroke and Wynyard at the time\nof the occurrence, and Colonel Gore explicitly replied to the following\neffect: He was present at Sydney, in the island of Cape Breton, in the\nautumn of 1785 or 1786, when the incident happened. It was in the then new\nbarrack, and the place was blocked up by ice so as to have no\ncommunication with any part of the world. He was one of the first persons\nwho entered the room after the apparition was seen. The ghost passed them\nas they were sitting at coffee, between eight and nine in the evening, and\nwent into G. Wynyard's bed closet, the window of which was putt[i]ed down.\nHe next day suggested to Sherbroke the propriety of making a memorandum of\nthe incident, which was done. 'I remember the date, and on the 6th of June\nour first letters from England brought the news of John Wynyard's death,\n[which had happened] on the very night they saw his apparition.' Colonel\nGore was under the impression that the person afterwards seen in one of\nthe streets of London, by Sherbroke and William Wynyard, was not a brother\nof the latter family, but a gentleman named (he thought) Hayman, noted for\nbeing like the deceased John Wynyard, and who affected to dress like\nhim.\"\n\nSo much for these records and testimonies. The following, now to be\nnarrated, not altogether unlike them, and producing a good result on the\nperson who witnessed the apparition, is of almost equal interest:--\n\n\"Lord Chedworth[8] had living with him the orphan daughter of a sister of\nhis, a Miss Wright, who often related this circumstance: Lord Chedworth\nwas a good man, and seemed anxious to do his duty, but, unfortunately, he\nhad considerable intellectual doubts as to the existence of the soul in\nanother world. He had a great friendship for a gentleman, whom he had\nknown from his boyhood, and who was, like himself, one of those\nunbelieving mortals that must have ocular demonstration for everything.\nThey often met, and often, too, renewed the subject so interesting to\nboth; but neither could help the other to that happy conviction which was\nhonestly wished for by each.\n\n\"One morning Miss Wright observed on her uncle joining her at breakfast, a\nconsiderable gloom of thought and trouble displayed on his countenance.\nHe ate little, and was unusually silent. At last, he said, 'Molly' (for\nthus he familiarly called her), 'I had a strange visitor last night. My\nold friend B---- came to me.'\n\n\"'How?' said Miss Wright, 'did he come after I went to bed?'\n\n\"'His spirit did,' said Lord Chedworth, solemnly.\n\n\"'Oh! my dear uncle, how could the spirit of a living man appear?' said\nshe, smiling.\n\n\"'He is dead, beyond doubt,' replied his lordship; 'listen, and then laugh\nas much as you please. I had not entered my bedroom many minutes when he\nstood before me. Like you, I could not but think that I was looking on the\nliving man, and so accosted him; but he answered, \"Chedworth, I died this\nnight at eight o'clock; I come to tell you, that there is another world\nbeyond the grave; and that there is a righteous God Who judgeth all.\"'\n\n\"'Depend upon it, uncle, it was only a dream!' But while Miss Wright was\nthus speaking a groom on horseback rode up the avenue, and immediately\nafter delivered a letter to Lord Chedworth, announcing the sudden death of\nhis friend. Whatever construction the reader may be disposed to put upon\nthis narrative, it is not unimportant to add that the effect upon the mind\nof Lord Chedworth was as happy as it was permanent. All his doubts were at\nonce removed, and for ever.\"\n\nThe well-known Lyttelton Ghost Story may now be fitly recorded. It created\na great and widespread interest at the time of its occurrence, and was\ncriticised and commented upon by many. Several versions of it have already\nappeared in print, and they seem to vary in certain unimportant details.\nThe Editor, instead of writing out what has already appeared, prefers to\nset forth at length various documents containing independent evidence of\nthe truth of the several apparitions, which by the courtesy and kindness\nof the present accomplished bearer of the title, he is enabled to embody\n_verbatim_ in this volume, having been permitted to transcribe them from\nthe originals in Lord Lyttelton's possession.\n\nThe subject of this narrative was the son of George, Lord Lyttelton, who\nwas alike distinguished for the raciness of his wit and the profligacy of\nhis manners. The latter trait of his character has induced many persons to\nsuppose the apparition which he asserted he had seen, to have been the\neffect of a conscience quickened with remorse and misgivings, on account\nof many vices. The probability of the narrative[9] has, consequently, been\nmuch questioned; but two gentlemen, one of whom was at Pitt Place, the\nseat of Lord Lyttelton, and the other in the immediate neighbourhood, at\nthe time of his lordship's death, bore ample testimony to the veracity of\nthe whole affair. The several narratives of the singular occurrence\ncorrespond in material points; and the following are the circumstantial\nparticulars written by the gentleman who was at the time on a visit to his\nlordship:--\n\n\"I was at Pitt Place, Epsom, when Lord Lyttelton died; Lord Fortescue,\nMrs. Flood, and the two Miss Amphletts were also present. Lord Lyttelton\nhad not long been returned from Ireland, and frequently had been seized\nwith suffocating fits; he was attacked several times by them in the course\nof the preceding month, while he was at his house in Hill Street, Berkeley\nSquare. It happened that he dreamt, three days before his death, that he\nsaw a fluttering bird, and afterwards a woman appeared to him in white\napparel and said to him, 'Prepare to die, you will not exist three days!'\nHis lordship was much alarmed, and called to a servant from a closet\nadjoining, who found him much agitated and in a profuse perspiration; the\ncircumstance had a considerable effect all the next day on his lordship's\nspirits. On the third day, while his lordship was at breakfast with the\nabove personages, he said, 'If I live over to-night I shall have jockied\nthe ghost, for this is the third day.' The whole party presently set off\nfor Pitt Place, where they had not long arrived before his lordship was\nvisited by one of his accustomed fits. After a short interval he\nrecovered. He dined at five o'clock that day, and went to bed at eleven,\nwhen his servant was about to give him rhubarb and mint-water, but his\nlordship perceiving him stir it with a toothpick, called him a slovenly\ndog, and bade him go and fetch a teaspoon; but on the man's return he\nfound his Master in a fit, and the pillow being placed high, his chin\nbore hard upon his neck, when the servant, instead of relieving his master\non the instant from his perilous situation, ran in his fright and called\nout for help, but on his return he found his lordship dead.\n\n\"In explanation of this strange tale it is said that Lord Lyttelton\nacknowledged, previously to his death, that the woman he had seen in his\ndream was the 'mother' of the two Misses Amphletts mentioned above, whom,\ntogether with a third sister then in Ireland, his lordship had seduced and\nprevailed on to leave their parent, who resided near his country residence\nin Shropshire. It is further stated that Mrs. Amphlett died of grief\nthrough the desertion of her children at the precise time when the female\nvision appeared to his lordship. The most surprising part of the story,\nbecause the most difficult of explanation, yet remains to be related. On\nthe second day Miles Peter Andrews, one of Lord Lyttelton's most intimate\nfriends, left the dinner-party at an early hour, being called away upon\nbusiness to Dartford, where he was the owner of certain powder-mills. He\nhad all along professed himself one of the most determined sceptics as to\nthe vision, and therefore ceased to think of it. On the third night,\nhowever, when he had been in bed about half an hour, and still remained,\nas he imagined, wide awake, his curtains were suddenly pulled aside, and\nLord Lyttelton appeared before him in his robe-de-chambre and night-cap.\nMr. Andrews gazed at his visitor for some time in silent wonder, and then\nbegan to reproach him for so odd a freak in coming down to Dartford Mills\nwithout any previous notice, as he hardly knew how on the emergency to\nfind his lordship the requisite accommodation. 'Nevertheless,' said\nAndrews, 'I will get up and see what can be done for you.' With this view\nhe turned aside to ring the bell; but on looking round again he could see\nno signs of his strange visitor. Soon afterwards the bell was rung for his\nservant, and upon his asking what had become of Lord Lyttelton, the man,\nevidently much surprised at the question, replied that he had seen nothing\nof him since they had left Pitt Place. 'Psha, you fool,' exclaimed Mr.\nAndrews, 'he was here this moment at my bedside.' The servant, more\nastonished than ever, declared that he did not well understand how that\ncould be, since he must have seen him enter; whereupon Mr. Andrews rose,\nand having dressed himself, searched the house and grounds, but Lord\nLyttelton was nowhere to be found. Still, he could not help believing that\nhis friend, who was fond of practical jokes, had played him this trick for\nhis previously expressed scepticism in the matter of the dream. But he\nsoon viewed the whole affair in a different light. About four o'clock on\nthe same day an express arrived from a friend with the news of Lord\nLyttelton's death, and the whole manner of it, as related by the valet to\nthose who were in the house at the time. In Mr. Andrews's subsequent\nvisits to Pitt Place, no solicitations could ever induce him to sleep\nthere; he would invariably return, however late, to the Spread Eagle Inn,\nat Epsom, for the night.\"\n\n    REMARKABLE DREAM OF THOMAS, LORD LYTTELTON.[10]\n\n    \"On Thursday, the 25th of November, 1779, Thomas, Lord Lyttelton,\n    when he came to breakfast, declared to Mrs. Flood, wife of Frederick\n    Flood, Esq., of the kingdom of Ireland, and to the three Miss\n    Amphletts, who were lodged in his house in Hill Street, London (where\n    he then also was), that he had had an extraordinary dream the night\n    before. He said he thought he was in a room which a bird flew into,\n    which appearance was suddenly changed into that of a woman dressed in\n    white, who bade him prepare to die. To which he answered, 'I hope not\n    soon, not in two months.' She replied, 'Yes, in three days.' He said\n    he did not much regard it, because he could in some measure account\n    for it; for that a few days before he had been with Mrs. Dawson when a\n    robin-redbreast flew into her room.\n\n    \"When he had dressed himself that day to go to the House of Lords, he\n    said he thought he did not look as if he was likely to die. In the\n    evening of the following day, being Friday, he told the eldest Miss\n    Amphlett that she looked melancholy; but, said he, 'You are foolish\n    and fearful. I have lived two days, and, God willing, I will live out\n    the third.'\n\n    \"On the morning of Saturday he told the same ladies that he was very\n    well, and believed he should bilk the ghost. Some hours afterwards he\n    went with them, Mr. Fortescue, and Captain Wolseley, to Pitt Place, at\n    Epsom; withdrew to his bed-chamber soon after eleven o'clock at night,\n    talked cheerfully to his servant, and particularly inquired of him\n    what care had been taken to provide good rolls for his breakfast the\n    next morning, stepped into his bed with his waistcoat on, and as his\n    servant was pulling it off, put his hand to his side, sunk back and\n    immediately expired without a groan. He ate a good dinner after his\n    arrival at Pitt Place, took an egg for his supper, and did not seem to\n    be at all out of order, except that while he was eating his soup at\n    dinner he had a rising in his throat, a thing which had often happened\n    to him before, and which obliged him to spit some of it out. His\n    physician, Dr. Fothergill, told me Lord Lyttelton had in the summer\n    preceding a bad pain in his side, and he judged that some gut vessel\n    in the part where he felt the pain gave way, and to that he\n    conjectured his death was owing. His declaration of his dream and his\n    expressions above mentioned, consequential thereon, were upon a close\n    inquiry asserted to me to have been so, by Mrs. Flood, the eldest Miss\n    Amphlett, Captain Wolseley, and his valet-de-chambre Faulkner,[11] who\n    dressed him on the Thursday; and the manner of his death was related\n    to me by William Stuckey, in the presence of Mr. Fortescue and Captain\n    Wolseley, Stuckey being the servant who attended him in his\n    bed-chamber, and in whose arms he died.\n\n        \"Westcote.[12]\n\n    \"February the 13th, 1780.\"\n\nLord Lyttelton is also asserted to have appeared to Mr. Andrews, his\nfriend and boon companion, at the time of his lordship's sudden and\nmysterious death. Of this fact testimony is furnished by Mr. Plumer Ward,\nM.P., in his \"Illustrations of Human Life,\" from which (vol. i. p. 165)\nthe following narrative is taken:--\n\n\"I had often heard much and read much of Lord Lyttelton's seeing a ghost\nbefore his death, and of himself as a ghost appearing to Mr. Andrews; and\none evening, sitting near that gentleman, during a pause in the debates in\nthe House of Commons, I ventured to ask him whether there was any and what\ntruth in the detailed story so confidently related. Mr. Andrews, as\nperhaps I ought to have expected, did not much like the conversation. He\nlooked grave and uneasy, and I asked pardon for my impertinent curiosity.\nUpon this he good-naturedly said, 'It is not a subject I am fond of, and\nleast of all in such a place as this; but if you will come and dine with\nme, I will tell you what is true and what is false.' I gladly accepted the\nproposal, and I think my recollection is perfect as to the following\nnarrative:--'Mr. Andrews in his youth was the boon-companion, not to say\nfellow-rake, of Lord Lyttelton, who, as is well known, was a man\ndistinguished for abilities, but also for a profligacy of morals which few\ncould equal. With all this he was remarkable for what may be called\nunnatural cowardice in one so determinedly wicked. He never repented, yet\ncould never stifle his conscience. He never could allow, yet never could\ndeny, a world to come, and he contemplated with unceasing terror what\nwould probably be his own state in such a world if there was one. He was\nalways melancholy with fear, or mad in defiance; and probably his\nprincipal misery here was, that with all his endeavours, he never could\nextinguish the dread of an hereafter.... Andrews was at his house at\nDartford when Lord Lyttelton died at Pitt Place, Epsom, thirty miles off.\nAndrews' house was full of company, and he expected Lord Lyttelton, whom\nhe had left in his usual state of health, to join them the next day, which\nwas Sunday. Andrews himself feeling much indisposed on the Saturday\nevening, retired early to bed, and requested Mrs. Pigou, one of his\nguests, to do the honours of the supper-table. He admitted that, when in\nbed, he fell into a feverish sleep, but was waked between eleven and\ntwelve by somebody opening his curtains. It was Lord Lyttelton in a\nnight-gown and cap, which Andrews recognized. He also plainly spoke to\nhim, saying he was come to tell him all was over. The world said he\ninformed him there was another state, and bade him repent, &c. That was\nnot so. And I confine myself to the exact words of this relation.\n\n\"'Now it seems that Lord Lyttelton was fond of horse-play, or what we\nshould call _mauvaise plaisanterie_; and, having often made Andrews the\nsubject of it, the latter had threatened him with manual chastisement\nnext time it occurred. On the present occasion, thinking this annoyance\nrenewed, he threw the first thing he could find, which were his slippers,\nat Lord Lyttelton's head. The figure retreated towards a dressing-room\nwhich had no ingress or egress except through the bed-chamber, and\nAndrews, very angry, leapt out of bed, to follow it into the\ndressing-room. It was not there. Surprised, he returned to the bedroom,\nwhich he strictly searched. The door was locked on the inside, yet no Lord\nLyttelton was to be found. He was astonished, but not alarmed, so\nconvinced was he that it was some trick of Lord Lyttelton, who, he\nsupposed, had arrived, according to his engagement, but after he, Andrews,\nhad retired. He therefore rang for his servant, and asked if Lord\nLyttelton was not come. The man said, \"No.\" \"You may depend upon it,\"\nreplied he, out of humour, \"he is somewhere in the house, for he was here\njust now, and is playing some trick.\" But how he could have got into the\nbedroom with the door locked puzzled both master and man. Convinced,\nhowever, that he was somewhere in the house, Andrews, in his anger,\nordered that no bed should be given him, saying he might go to an inn, or\nsleep in the stables. Be that as it may, he never appeared again, and\nAndrews went to sleep.\n\n\"'It happened that Mrs. Pigou was to go to town early the next morning.\nWhat was her astonishment, having heard the disturbance of the night\nbefore, to hear on her arrival about nine o'clock that Lord Lyttelton had\ndied the very night he was supposed to have been seen. She immediately\nsent an express to Dartford with the news; upon the receipt of which,\nAndrews, (quite well, and remembering accurately all that had passed,)\nswooned away. He could not understand it, but it had a most serious effect\nupon him, so that--to use his own expression--he \"was not his own man\nagain for three years.\"'\n\n\"Such is the celebrated story; stript of its ornamentations and\nexaggerations; and for one, I own, if not convinced that this was a real\nmessage from Heaven, which certainly I am not, I at least think the hand\nof Providence was seen in it; working upon the imagination, if you please,\nand therefore suspending no law of Nature (though that after all is an\nambiguous term), but still Providence, in a character not to be mistaken.\"\n\nThe following remarkable occurrence of the Spectral Appearances of two\npersons, one recently dead and the other a canonized saint of the Roman\nCatholic Church, which occurred about thirty years ago, is now published\nfor the first time. It is known as \"The Weld Ghost Story:\"--\n\n\"Philip Weld was a younger son of Mr. James Weld of Archer's Lodge, near\nSouthampton, and a nephew of the late Cardinal Weld, the head of that\nancient family, whose chief seat is Lulworth Castle in Dorsetshire.[13] He\nwas sent by his father in 1844 to S. Edmund's college, near Ware in\nHertfordshire, for his education. He was a boy of great piety and virtue,\nand gave not only satisfaction to the masters of studies, but edification\nto all his fellow-students. It happened that on April 16, 1846, a play-day\nor whole holiday, the President of the college gave the boys leave to boat\nupon the river at Ware.\n\n\"In the morning of that day Philip Weld had been to the Holy Communion at\nthe early celebration of Mass, having just finished his retreat. In the\nafternoon of the same day he went with his companions and some of the\nmasters to boat on the river as arranged. This sport he enjoyed very much.\nWhen one of the masters remarked that it was time to return to the\ncollege, Philip asked whether they might not have one more row. The master\nconsented, and they rowed to the accustomed turning-point. On arriving\nthere, and in turning the boat, Philip accidentally fell out into a very\ndeep part of the river; and, notwithstanding that every effort was made to\nsave him, was drowned.\n\n\"His dead body was brought back to the college, and the Very Rev. Dr.\nCox, the President, was immensely shocked and grieved. He was very fond of\nPhilip; but what was most dreadful to him was to have to break this sad\nnews to the boy's parents. He scarcely knew what to do, whether to write\nby post, or to send a messenger. At last he determined to go himself to\nMr. Weld at Southampton. So he set off the same evening, and, passing\nthrough London, reached Southampton the next day, and drove from thence to\nArcher's Lodge, Mr. Weld's residence.\n\n\"On arriving there and being shown into his private study, Dr. Cox found\nMr. Weld in tears. The latter, rising from his seat and taking the doctor\nby the hand, said, 'My dear sir, you need not tell me what you are come\nfor. I know it already. Philip is dead. Yesterday I was walking with my\ndaughter Katharine on the turnpike road, in broad daylight, and Philip\nappeared to us both. He was standing on the causeway with another young\nman in a black robe by his side. My daughter was the first to perceive\nhim. She said to me, \"Look there, papa: there is Philip.\" I looked and saw\nhim. I said to my daughter, \"It is Philip, indeed; but he has the look of\nan angel.\" Not suspecting that he was dead, though greatly wondering that\nhe was there, I went towards him with my daughter to embrace him; but a\nfew yards being between us, while I was going up to him a labouring man,\nwho was walking on the same causeway, passed between the apparition and\nthe hedge, and as he went on I saw him pass through their apparent bodies,\nas if they were transparent. On perceiving this I at once felt sure that\nthey were spirits, and going forward with my daughter to touch them,\nPhilip sweetly smiled on us, and then both he and his companion vanished\naway.'\"\n\n\"The reader may imagine how deeply affected Dr. Cox was on hearing this\nremarkable statement. He of course corroborated it by relating to the\nafflicted father the circumstances attendant on his son's death, which had\ntaken place at the very hour in which he appeared to his father and\nsister. They all concluded that he had died in the grace of God, and that\nhe was in happiness, because of the placid smile on his face.[14]\n\n\"Dr. Cox asked Mr. Weld who the young man was in the black robe who had\naccompanied his son, and who appeared to have a most beautiful and angelic\ncountenance, but he said that he had not the slightest idea.\n\n\"A few weeks afterwards, however, Mr. Weld was on a visit to the\nneighbourhood of Stonyhurst in Lancashire. After hearing Mass one morning\nin the chapel, he, while waiting for his carriage, was shown into the\nguest-room, where, walking up to the fireplace, he saw a picture above the\nchimney-piece, which, as it pleased God, represented a young man in a\nblack robe with the very face, form, and attitude of the companion of\nPhilip as he saw him in the vision, and beneath the picture was inscribed\n'S. Stanislaus Kostka,'[15] one of the greatest saints of the Jesuit\norder, and the one whom Philip had chosen for his patron saint at his\nConfirmation. His father, overpowered with emotion, fell on his knees,\nshedding many tears, and thanking God for this fresh proof of his son's\nblessedness. For in what better company could he be than in that of his\npatron saint, leading him, as it were, into the presence of his Creator\nand his Saviour, from the dangers and temptations of this state of exile\nto a condition of endless blessedness and happiness?\"[16]\n\nThis is, perhaps, one of the most remarkable and best-authenticated recent\ncases of Spectral Appearances which has ever been narrated. The various\nindependent testimonies dove-tailing together so perfectly, centre in the\nleading supernatural fact--the actual apparition in the daytime of a\nperson just departed this life by sudden death, seen not by one only, but\nby two people, simultaneously; and seen in company with the spirit of a\nvery holy and renowned saint, the chosen patron of the youth who had just\nbeen drowned. A more clear and conclusive example of the Supernatural it\nwould be impossible to obtain.\n\nThe following case in certain particulars is not unlike that just\nrecorded; for two persons, at a distance of many hundred miles apart, saw\nthe Apparition of their departed relative who had just died in\nAustralia:--\n\n\"Circumstances, in the year 1848,\" writes a correspondent of the Editor,\n\"induced me to allow my youngest daughter to leave England, in order to\njoin a son of mine in Australia, who had left home about five years\npreviously, to seek his fortune in that country. In England, at home, he\nhad every opportunity of making his way in life, and settling\nadvantageously, but had availed himself of none that had offered. After\nleaving school, he was placed under a private tutor's care, and duly\nentered at Oxford. There he did nothing, or next to nothing, and left\nwithout taking any degree. Soon after this, at his own suggestion, in\ncompany with a friend, whose acquaintance he had made at the university,\nan acquaintance which eventually ripened into a warm friendship, he went\nto Australia; and he did not go empty-handed. A sum of money was placed to\nhis credit with a colonial bank in the city of London having agencies in\nthat colony, and nothing was left undone to secure for him a good start in\nhis self-chosen and new life. I ought to add here that my own wish always\nhad been that he should remain at home, and, after receiving orders,\nbecome vicar of a parish, the patronage of which was in the gift of a\nrelation. Man proposes, but God disposes.\n\n\"In Australia, as was not otherwise than I myself had anticipated, the\nmanner of life was utterly unlike that to which he had been accustomed.\nIll-luck and want of success met him at every turn, as we afterwards found\nout; and not only did want of success meet him, but he had to undergo\nprivations and hardships, which eventually weakened a constitution never\ntoo strong.\n\n\"At the time that I consented to my daughter going out, much of the above\nwas unknown to us. He had written complaining of ill-health and weakness,\nand she, with great self-denial and sisterly devotion, resolved to go. She\nwent with the understanding that she was soon to return. Just before she\nstarted, the mail brought us unexceptionally bad news of her brother's\nweak state of health, written by his college friend.\n\n\"About six weeks after her departure, I was sitting musing in my\narm-chair, on a summer afternoon, close to the window of my library, which\nlooked out upon a lawn, to the left of which were three large and\noverspreading cedar-trees. All of a sudden I saw the life-like apparition\nof my son standing below the cedar-trees. He looked very pale, thin, and\ncareworn, much altered, but my very son. He gazed at me intently, and with\na mournful gaze, for about the space of two minutes. I could not speak--I\ncould not move--I could not take my eyes off him. I seemed riveted to the\nspot; and, of course, I was at once convinced of the fact that he had\ndied. Then he seemed gradually to fade away. It was weeks before I could\nget the thoughts of his appearance out of my mind; and nothing that the\nmembers of my family could say served to remove the impression so\nindelibly stamped upon it of our loss.\n\n\"Some months afterwards, we received letters from my daughter (just\nlanded) and his other friends in Australia announcing his decease. He had\ndied somewhat suddenly, having expressed the most anxious desire to see me\nbefore his death--a desire repeated again and again, and regarding which\nhe seemed to be unquiet.\n\n\"The most remarkable feature yet to be told in the circumstance was\nthis,--that my daughter, who was reposing in the ladies' cabin of the\nship, on her way to Australia, saw the apparition of her brother come into\nthe cabin, move round it by a strange motion, and then, after looking at\nherself with a strained and mournful look, glide out again.\n\n\"Events afterwards showed that these appearances, both on shipboard and at\nmy own home, occurred at or about the very time of my dear boy's death.\nAnd nothing will convince me that the record here set down is not one of\nthe most remarkable and undoubted examples of supernatural apparitions.\nMay God Almighty join us all together again, after these earthly\nseparations, in His heavenly kingdom!\"\n\nThe following example, which has already appeared in print, is\nauthenticated by a personal acquaintance of the Editor, who has kindly\nwritten him a Letter on the subject. It was first given to Dr. William\nGregory,[17] who published it about twenty-three years ago. It is said to\nhave occurred in 1849:[18]--\n\n\"An officer occupied the same room with another officer in the West\nIndies. One night he awoke his companion, and asked him if he saw anything\nin the room, when the latter answered that he saw an old man in the corner\nwhom he did not know. 'That,' said the other, 'is my father, and I am sure\nhe is dead.' In due time news arrived of his death in England at that very\ntime. Long afterwards the officer took his friend who had seen the vision\nto visit the widow, when, on entering the room, he started, and said,\n'_That is the portrait of the old man I saw_.' It was, in fact, the\nportrait of the father, whom the friend had never seen except in the\nvision.\"\n\n\"This story,\" writes Dr. Gregory, \"I have on the best authority; and\neveryone knows that such stories are not uncommon. It is very easy, but\nnot satisfactory, to laugh at them as incredible ghost stories; but there\nis a natural truth in them, whatever they may be.\"\n\nExamples of Apparitions at the time of Death to friends and relations are,\nhowever, so numerous that a considerable number might readily be printed.\nHere are two, well and duly authenticated.\n\nThe following statement is vouched for by the person signing the same:--\n\n    \"In the summer of 1816, my father and mother having retired to bed\n    about nine o'clock, the latter was about to draw down the blind, when\n    she observed the figure of a female approaching their house by a\n    footpath which communicated with the village. Thinking the\n    circumstance unusual, she waited till the figure approached\n    sufficiently near to discern its features, when she exclaimed to my\n    father, 'Why, here is my sister B----; what can have induced her to\n    come here at this time of the evening?' She was about to prepare to go\n    downstairs to inquire the cause of such a visit at that late time of\n    night, when my mother observed the figure retracing its steps in the\n    same direction by which it had come. The following morning, early,\n    intelligence was brought to my mother that her sister B---- died at\n    the same hour at which her apparition appeared to my mother. This is a\n    simple statement of facts.\n\n    \"Signed by the son of the person to whom the apparition appeared.\n\n        \"C. J. Hanmer.\n\n    \"33, Henley Street, Camp Hill, Birmingham.\"\n\nThe following is another statement of facts vouched for by those who\nformally testify to its truth:--\n\n    \"One evening in the autumn of the year 1868, my wife retired to bed\n    early. On my entering the bedroom about midnight, I found her wide\n    awake, and in a very excited state. On inquiring the cause, she stated\n    that she believed most firmly she had seen our old friend Mrs. G----,\n    then residing at a distance, whom we believed to be in perfect health.\n    My wife gave a minute description of her dress, which I had remembered\n    to have seen her wear, and at the same time stated that when the\n    apparition appeared to her, every object in the bedroom was strangely\n    but distinctly visible. Of course I tried to allay my wife's\n    excitement by assuring her that she was suffering from the effects of\n    an unpleasant dream, but I failed to shake her conviction that she had\n    seen the spirit of our friend.\n\n    \"Nothing occurred during the next day, but on the following we\n    received a letter from a relative, stating that Mrs. G---- had died\n    the night before about twelve o'clock.\n\n    \"It appears that Mrs. G----, while in her garden, was observed to fall\n    upon one of the flower beds. Having been taken to her room, medical\n    aid was promptly procured, but without avail: she remained unconscious\n    from that time until the moment of her death, which occurred about\n    twelve o'clock the same evening.\n\n\n        \"(Signed) C. L. Hanmer,\n                  Catherine Hanmer\n                  (Wife of the above).\n\n    \"Branch Dispensary, Camp Hill, Birmingham,\n     Oct. 18, 1872.\"\n\nThe following Account of the Apparition of a murdered man, near the place\nof his death, is very remarkable. It has been published, though in another\nform, in Australia, and is there generally accepted as true. The version\ngiven below is from those who are thoroughly competent to furnish a true\nand faithful account of a very impressive narrative:--\n\n\"In Australia, about twenty-five years ago, two graziers, who had\nemigrated from England, and entered into partnership, became, as was\ngenerally believed, possessed of considerable property, by an unlooked-for\nsuccess in their precarious but not unprofitable occupation. One of them\nall of a sudden was missed, and could nowhere be found. Search was made\nfor him in every quarter, likely and unlikely, yet no tidings of him or\nhis whereabouts could be heard.\n\n\"One evening, about three weeks afterwards, his partner and companion was\nreturning to his hut along a bye-path which skirted a deep and broad sheet\nof water. The shadows of twilight were deepening, and the setting sun was\nalmost shut out by the tall shrubs, brushwood, and rank grass which grew\nso thick and wild. In a moment he saw the crouching figure of his\ncompanion, apparently as real and life-like as could be, sitting on the\nground by the very margin of the deep pond, with his left arm bent,\nresting on his left knee. He was about to rush forward and speak, when the\nfigure seemed to grow less distinct, and the ashen-coloured face wore an\nunusually sad and melancholy aspect; so he paused. On this the figure,\nbecoming again more palpable, raised its right arm, and, holding down the\nindex finger of the right hand, pointed to a dark and deep hole, where the\nwater was still and black, immediately beside an overhanging tree. This\naction was deliberately done, and then twice repeated, after which the\nfigure, growing more and more indistinct, seemed to fade away.\n\n\"The grazier was mortally terrified and alarmed. For a while he stood\nriveted to the spot, fearing either to go forward or backward; while the\nsilence of evening and the strange solitude, now for the first time in\nhis Australian life thoroughly experienced, overawed him completely.\nAfterwards he turned and went home. Night, which came on soon, brought him\nno sleep. He was restless, agitated, and disquieted.\n\n\"The next morning, in company with others, the pool was dragged, and the\nbody of his partner discovered, in the very spot towards which the figure\nof the phantom had twice pointed. It had been weighted and weighed down by\na large stone attached to the body; while from the same spot was recovered\na kind of axe or hatchet, with which the murder had evidently been\ncommitted. This was identified as having belonged to a certain adventurer,\nwho, on being taxed and formally charged with the murder, and found to be\npossessed of certain valuable documents belonging to the murdered man,\neventually confessed his crime, and was executed.\n\n\"This incident, and its supernatural occurrences, made a deep impression;\nand, having been abundantly testified to, in a court of justice, as well\nas in common and general conversation, is not likely to be soon forgotten\nin the neighbourhood of Ballarat, in Australia, where it occurred.\"\n\nHere, of course, the purpose of the Apparition was obvious enough; and the\nend attained was as just and proper as it was true and righteous; for\n\"whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.\"\n\nThe following example of the appearance of the spirit of a dying woman to\nher children, who were at a distance of some hundreds of miles from her,\nis a plain unvarnished narrative of facts. It is now published for the\nfirst time.\n\n\"A lady and her husband (who held a position of some distinction in India)\nwere returning home (A.D. 1854) after an absence of four years, to join a\nfamily of young children, when the former was seized in Egypt with an\nillness of a most alarming character; and, though carefully tended by an\nEnglish physician and nursed with the greatest care, grew so weak that\nlittle or no hope of her recovery existed. With that true kindness which\nis sometimes withheld by those about a dying bed, she was properly and\nplainly informed of her dangerous state, and bidden to prepare for the\nworst. Of a devout, pious, and reverential mind, she is reported to have\nmade a careful preparation for her latter end, though no clergyman was at\nhand to minister the last sacrament, or to afford spiritual consolation.\nThe only point which seemed to disturb her mind, after the delirium of\nfever had passed away, was a deep-seated desire to see her absent children\nonce again, which she frequently expressed to those who attended upon her.\nDay after day, for more than a week, she gave utterance to her longings\nand prayers, remarking that she would die happily if only this one wish\ncould be gratified.\n\n\"On the morning of the day of her departure hence, she fell into a long\nand heavy sleep, from which her attendants found it difficult to arouse\nher. During the whole period of it she lay perfectly tranquil. Soon after\nnoon, however, she suddenly awoke, exclaiming, 'I have seen them all: I\nhave seen them. God be praised for Jesus Christ's sake!' and then slept\nagain. Towards evening, in perfect peace and with many devout\nexclamations, she calmly yielded up her spirit to God Who gave it. Her\nbody was brought to England, and interred in the family burying-place.\n\n\"The most remarkable part of this incident remains to be told. The\nchildren of the dying lady were being educated at Torquay under the\nsupervision of a friend of the family. At the very time that their mother\nthus slept, they were confined to the house where they lived, by a severe\nstorm of thunder and lightning. Two apartments on one floor, perfectly\ndistinct, were then occupied by them as play and recreation rooms. All\nwere there gathered together. No one of the children was absent. They were\namusing themselves with games of chance, books, and toys, in company of a\nnursemaid who had never seen their parents. All of a sudden their mother,\nas she usually appeared, entered the larger room of the two, pausing,\nlooked for some moments at each and smiled, passed into the next room, and\nthen vanished away. Three of the elder children recognized her at once,\nbut were greatly disturbed and impressed at her appearance, silence, and\nmanner. The younger and the nursemaid each and all saw a lady in white\ncome into the smaller room, and then slowly glide by and fade away.\"\n\nThe date of this occurrence, September 10, 1854, was carefully noted, and\nit was afterwards found that the two events above recorded happened almost\ncontemporaneously. A record of the event was committed to paper, and\ntranscribed on a fly-leaf of the family Bible, from which the above\naccount was taken and given to the Editor of this book in the autumn of\nthe year 1871, by a relation of the lady in question, who is well\nacquainted with the fact of her spectral appearance at Torquay, and has\nvouched for the truth of it in the most distinct and formal manner. The\nhusband, who was reported to have been of a somewhat sceptical habit of\nmind, was deeply impressed by the occurrence. And though it is seldom\nreferred to now, it is known to have had a very deep and lasting religious\neffect on more than one person who was permitted directly to witness\nit.[19]\n\nA personal acquaintance of the Editor, whom he has had the pleasure of\nknowing for twenty years, most kindly furnishes the following example:--\n\n\"In the winter of 1872-3 I was afflicted with a long and severe illness,\nso severe indeed, that for six weeks I was hovering between life and\ndeath. A nurse of great knowledge and intelligence was in attendance on\nme; she had been brought up as a Socinian, and was entirely careless as to\nreligious belief. At the same time she was wholly devoted to her duties,\nand most attentive and assiduous in the same. Two days after her arrival\nshe was sitting up in the adjoining room, the folding-doors between which\nand the room where I was lying being open, and lights were burning in each\napartment. It had struck two o'clock a.m., and from my critical position\nshe was unwilling either to sleep or to secure temporary rest. On looking\nup at that moment she perceived a form bending over me. The figure was\nthat of an aged person with attenuated features, straggling grey hair, and\nthin clasped hands, which were placed in the attitude of prayer. For a\nwhile she thought it was someone who had entered the room; but, after\ngazing at it intently, she was smitten with a strange awe, and stood\nwatching it attentively for at least five minutes, when it gradually faded\naway and disappeared.\n\n\"On the first opportunity she mentioned this strange occurrence to the\npeople of the house, when she heard for the first time that my father had\nbeen lying dangerously ill at his own residence, more than a hundred\nmiles away. At the time of my own and my father's sickness, my dangerous\nstate, for medical and prudential reasons, was not communicated to him,\nand my illness was made light of, fearing the bad effect upon himself.\nThat it was his Spirit which then appeared seems undoubted: for at two\no'clock p.m. a relation came to see me from the City where my father had\nlived, to break to me the sad news of his decease. He had departed this\nlife exactly at the period when his apparition in the attitude of prayer\nhad been seen by my attendant. These facts were not made known to me until\nsome time afterwards.\"[20]\n\nThe following story, no less interesting and impressive, appears in \"The\nLife and Times of Lord Brougham, written by Himself,\" published a few\nyears ago by Messrs. Blackwood and Co.:--\n\n\"'A most remarkable thing happened to me--so remarkable that I must tell\nthe story from the beginning. After I left the High School [in Edinburgh],\nI went with G----, my most intimate friend, to attend the classes in the\nUniversity. There was no divinity class, but we frequently in our walks\ndiscussed and speculated upon many grave subjects--among others, on the\nimmortality of the soul, and on a future state. This question and the\npossibility, I will not say of ghosts walking, but of the dead appearing\nto the living, were subjects of much speculation; and we actually\ncommitted the folly of drawing up an agreement, written with our blood, to\nthe effect that whichever of us died first should appear to the other, and\nthus solve any doubts we had entertained of the \"life after death.\" After\nwe had finished our classes at the College, G---- went to India, having\ngot an appointment there in the Civil Service. He seldom wrote to me, and\nafter the lapse of a few years I had almost forgotten him; moreover, his\nfamily having little connection with Edinburgh, I seldom saw or heard\nanything of them, or of him through them, so that all the old schoolboy\nintimacy had died out and I had nearly forgotten his existence. I had\ntaken, as I have said, a warm bath; and while in it and enjoying the\ncomfort of the heat after the late freezing I had undergone, I turned my\nhead round towards the chair on which I had deposited my clothes, as I was\nabout to get out of the bath. On the chair sat G----, looking calmly at\nme. How I got out of the bath I know not, but on recovering my senses I\nfound myself sprawling on the floor. The apparition, or whatever it was\nthat had taken the likeness of G----, had disappeared. The vision produced\nsuch a shock that I had no inclination to talk about it, or to speak about\nit even to Stuart; but the impression it made upon me was too vivid to be\neasily forgotten; and so strongly was I affected by it, that I have here\nwritten down the whole history with the date, 19th December, and all the\nparticulars as they are now fresh before me. No doubt I had fallen asleep;\nand that the appearance presented so distinctly to my eyes was a dream, I\ncannot for a moment doubt, yet for years I had had no communication with\nG----, nor had there been anything to recall him to my recollection;\nnothing had taken place during our Swedish travels either connected with\nG---- or with India, or with anything relating to him or to any member of\nhis family. I recollected quickly enough our old discussion, and the\nbargain we had made. I could not discharge from my mind the impression\nthat G---- must have died, and that his appearance to me was to be\nreceived by me as a proof of a future state.' This was on December 19,\n1799. In October, 1862, Lord Brougham added as a postscript:--'I have just\nbeen copying out from my journal the account of this strange dream:\ncertissima mortis imago! And now to finish the story, begun about sixty\nyears since. Soon after my return to Edinburgh there arrived a letter from\nIndia announcing G----'s death! and stating that he had died on the 19th\nof December.'\"\n\nThe following example of the apparition of a departed friend is, for\nreasons which will be apparent from the narrative, not unlike the three\ncurious, but independent cases already recorded in the early part of the\npresent chapter, and not altogether unlike that told by the late Lord\nBrougham. It comes directly to the Editor from the pen of the person who\nsaw the spectral appearance:--\n\n\"I was sitting in my library one evening, towards the close of summer,\nsomewhat late. The shadow of evening had been deepening for some time, for\nthe sun had long gone down; and the expansive valley beyond and below my\nsloping garden was white with mist. Within, beyond the heavy folds of the\ncurtains which hung beside a single and rather small and open window,\nthere was a grey darkness which almost enshrouded the corners of the room\non either side. I had been musing and meditating on a variety of subjects,\ntheological, metaphysical, and moral, for more than an hour; while I\nreposed in a low arm-chair on one side of the fire-place.\n\n\"All of a sudden I saw what seemed to be an elongated perpendicular cloud\nof foggy-looking grey smoke, collected in the right-hand corner of the\nroom. I could not comprehend what it was. While looking steadily at it,\nand rubbing my eyes (doubting for a moment whether I was awake or asleep),\nit seemed to form itself, by a kind of circular rolling motion of the\nsmoke or luminous mist, into a human shape. There, before me, came out\nslowly, as it were, face, head, body, arms, hands and feet--at first a\nlittle indistinct in detail, but eventually so self-evident and clear\nthat it was impossible to doubt the fact--of a figure, which a moment or\ntwo afterwards was developed into the exact and unmistakeable form of an\nold fellow-student at Oxford, who had died soon after we left that\nuniversity, and of whom I had heard nothing whatever since the day of his\ndeath about seven years previously,[21] to that moment. Appearing just as\nhe had lived, though death-like and ashen, he looked at me with a fixed\nand strangely-vacant stare, which appeared to grow alternately vivid and\npiercing, and dull and nebulous. I seemed to feel the air all at once\nchill and unearthly; and an indescribable sensation came over me which I\nhad never experienced either before or afterwards. I felt almost\nparalyzed, and yet not altogether terrified. The form of my old college\ncompanion (who had been a very upright, devout and religious man) in a\nmoment smiled at me, and raising his hand, pointed for a few seconds\nupwards. At this action a very bright mist, not exactly a light, but a\nluminous mist, seemed to hover over him. I tried to speak, but could not.\nMy tongue clave to the roof of my mouth. Then, protecting myself with the\nsign of the Cross, and a mental invocation of the Blessed Trinity, I\nsheltered my eyes with my right hand for a few seconds, and then looking\nup again saw the apparition become more and more indistinct and soon\naltogether fade away.\n\n\"This is my ghost story, and I have always connected the appearance with\narguments and conversations which, against aggressive objectors, used to\nbe held at Oxford in defence of the Christian doctrines of the\nResurrection of the Body and the Immortality of the Soul, in which my dead\nfriend took so intelligent and earnest a part.\"\n\nNot less interesting is the following account of a Spectral Appearance\nwhich occurred in the latter part of the afternoon of a bright autumnal\nday, well authenticated, and here set forth for the first time:--\n\n\"The widow of a well-known Bristol merchant was, in 1856, acting as lady\nhousekeeper to a Berkshire clergyman. One of her sons was an officer in\nthe Indian army, and serving in the Madras Presidency. It was his custom\nto write to his mother by every fortnightly mail. He had not missed doing\nso with punctual regularity.\n\n\"One evening, however, between six and seven, in the month of October of\nthe above year, the lady in question was walking on the lawn before the\nhouse, in company with the curate of the parish, a well-known Oxford man,\nwhen all of a sudden both of them saw what appeared to be a dog-cart\ncontaining three men drive along the lane which skirted the lawn and\nflower-garden, and which was separated from it by a closely-cut\nbox-hedge, so low as to admit of those who were walking in the garden\nseeing with ease and distinctness any person approaching the house in a\nvehicle. It was driven in the direction of the carriage entrance, and,\nfrom the sound, appeared to have entered the court-yard of the house. One\nof the persons in it, he who sat behind, half rose, and looking towards\nhis mother and the clergyman, smiled, and waved his right hand as a\ngreeting. He looked very pale and ashy; otherwise there was nothing\nremarkable in his appearance. Both most distinctly observed the action\njust mentioned. Immediately on seeing it, the lady exclaimed with marked\nfeeling and excitement, 'Good heavens! why, there's Robert.' She at once\nrushed through a passage of the house, which led directly to the\ncourt-yard, only to find to her amazement and perplexity that no carriage\nnor dog-cart had arrived, and that the large gates of the house were, as\nusual, locked and fastened, and moreover had not been opened.\n\n\"The impression this remarkable incident made was deep and great. No doubt\nwhatever existed in the minds of those who had seen and heard the passing\nvehicle, that the form on the seat behind was the son of the lady in\nquestion. She consequently felt confident that some harm had happened to\nhim, became miserable, and was inconsolable. No remarks or reasoning to\nthe contrary, several of which were attempted, produced the slightest\neffect. A deep gloom settled over her. The sequel can soon be narrated. In\nthe course of a few weeks the mail _vi\u00e2_ Southampton, most anxiously\nlooked for, brought two letters to the lady in question, one intimating\nthat her son had been suddenly struck with a most severe fever, was\ndelirious and in great danger; the other intimating his death. This latter\noccurred on the very day at which the appearance in question was seen, but\nat a slightly different time.\"\n\nWith the following example, as strange in itself as it is painfully\ninteresting, this part of the subject will be brought to a close. It is\nonly right to add that a version of the incident which now follows has\nalready appeared in one of Mr. Henry Spicer's interesting volumes:--\n\n\"A young German lady of rank, still alive to tell the story, arriving with\nher friends at one of the most noted hotels in Paris, an apartment of\nunusual magnificence on the first floor was apportioned to her use. After\nretiring to rest, she lay awake a long while contemplating, by the dim\nlight of a night lamp, the costly ornaments in the room, when suddenly the\nfolding doors opposite the bed, which she had locked, were thrown open,\nand amid a flood of unearthly light there entered a young man in the dress\nof the French navy, having his hair dressed in the peculiar mode _\u00e0 la\nTitus_. Taking a chair, and placing it in the middle of the room, he sat\ndown, and took from his pocket a pistol of an uncommon make, which he\ndeliberately put to his forehead, fired, and fell back dead. At the moment\nof the explosion, the room became dark and still, and a low voice said\nsoftly, 'Say an _Ave Maria_ for his soul.'\n\n\"The young lady fell back, not insensible, but paralyzed with horror, and\nremained in a kind of cataleptic trance, fully conscious, but unable to\nmove or speak, until at nine o'clock, no answer having been given to\nrepeated calls of her maid, the doors were forced open. At the same\nmoment, the powers of speech returned, and the poor young lady shrieked\nout to her attendants that a man had shot himself in the night, and was\nlying dead on the floor. Nothing, however, was to be seen, and they\nconcluded that she was suffering from the effects of a dream.\n\n\"A short time afterwards, however, the proprietor of the hotel informed a\ngentleman of the party that the terrible scene witnessed by the young lady\nhad in reality been enacted only three nights previously in that very\nroom, when a young French officer put an end to his life with a pistol of\na peculiar description, which, together with the body, was then lying at\nthe Morgue, awaiting identification. The gentleman examined them both, and\nfound them exactly correspond with the description of the man and the\npistol seen in the apparition. The Archbishop of Paris, Monseigneur\nSibour, being exceedingly impressed by the story, called upon the young\nlady; and, directing her attention to the words spoken by the mysterious\nvoice, urged her to embrace the Roman Catholic faith, to whose teaching,\nas His Grace asserted, it pointed so clearly.\"\n\nThe various examples of Spectral Appearances now given (and they might\nhave been largely augmented) may certainly serve to provide cases, so\ninherently striking and conclusive in themselves, as to leave little or no\ndoubt of their intrinsic truth. Making every allowance for unintentional\nmisconceptions and exaggeration in the record of them, putting aside mere\nrhetorical ornaments and literary additions, it seems quite impossible,\nbeing guided by the ordinary rules of evidence, not to admit the force and\nvalue of such striking facts as the above. In the cases already set forth,\nit is quite irrational to maintain that the disturbed imagination or wild\nfancy of the persons who are said to have seen the Apparitions were the\nsole foundations of the things seen; more especially as in some instances\nthe Appearances were beheld by two or more persons at the same time, and\noften the same form presented itself to different people upon different\noccasions. It may be that some own a power of seeing disembodied spirits,\nwhich is not possessed by others, and it is tolerably certain that the\nlarge majority of people have never beheld anything of the sort. But this,\nafter all, is but negative testimony. That which is positive, covering, it\nmay be, a small area, is of considerable value and importance in aiding\nthose who are open to conviction in coming to a reasonable conclusion. For\nexisting positive evidence cannot be rudely and arrogantly set aside, when\nfound to be, as in the case under consideration, so completely in harmony\nwith many of the plain and specific statements of Holy Scripture, with the\nexpress testimony of the Fathers of the Christian Church, and the almost\nuniversal tradition of mankind in every age.\n\n\n\n\nHAUNTED HOUSES AND LOCALITIES.\n\n\n\"Nations civilized as well as uncivilized: barbarians of the rudest type,\nand Christians of the highest and deepest spirituality, have always\nbelieved that certain localities were the haunts of unquiet\nspirits.\"-_-Richard H. Froude._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nHAUNTED HOUSES AND LOCALITIES.\n\n\nMany who are unaffected by the demoralizing and degrading materialistic\ntheories of life, which are now enunciated by some who name themselves,\nand whom their flattering admirers style \"philosophers,\" will not be\nunwilling to allow that a considerable amount of evidence[22] is in\nexistence, indicating that certain localities are troubled by the presence\nof evil spirits, who from time to time manifest their powers, or sometimes\nappear to mankind in forms which give a shock to those who are enabled or\npermitted to perceive them.\n\nIf Christian tradition be accepted, a belief in the official ministry of\nunfallen spirits,--\"the armies of the Living God,\"--will be held,\nfirmly[23] and intelligibly, as a most reasonable and beautiful part of\nAlmighty God's revelation, Who \"has ordained and constituted the services\nof angels and men in a wonderful order.\" So, by consequence, the existence\nand action of fallen angels, the Legions of Satan, and of spirits,[24]\nwho, at the particular judgment following immediately upon death, have\nmerited the swift and righteous condemnation of an all-just Judge, will be\nfully admitted.\n\nThe power, activity, and malice of Satan is apparent from numerous\nstatements in Holy Scripture; and most Christian writers who have dealt\nwith the subject of evil spirits have maintained that their power and\ninfluence are unquestionably greater in some localities than others. It is\ncommonly held, that in lonely deserts, on lofty mountains, where the feet\nof men seldom tread, as well as in the mines of the earth,[25] and in vast\nforests where desolation reigns, the powers of the Devil and his angels,\nbeing unchecked and uncurbed by the positive energizing activity of\nChristianity, are vast. So, likewise, the universal instinct of mankind\nhas maintained that there are certain places in which the appearances of\nunquiet or lost souls might be reasonably looked for, rather than in\nothers. Deserted houses and lonely roads, where crimes of violence and\nspecial wickedness have been perpetrated; deep mines,[26] localities,\nunblessed by Holy Church, where the bodies of Christians have been placed\nto moulder away, instead of in God's holy acre, the consecrated\nchurchyard; battlefields, where it may be that so many have been cut off\nin deadly sin--\n\n  \"Unhouseled, disappointed, unanealed,\"\n\nhave each and all been regarded as the fitting haunts of disquieted and\nwandering spirits.\n\nOn this point Southey, in \"The Doctor,\" with much force thus writes:--\"The\npopular belief that _places_ are haunted where money has been concealed\n(as if, where the treasure was and the heart had been, there would the\nmiserable soul be also), or where some great and undiscovered crime has\nbeen committed, shows how consistent this is with our natural sense of\nfitness.\"\n\nOn a collateral detail of this subject (the constant and malignant\nactivity of evil spirits), Mr. John Wesley, a thorough believer in the\nSupernatural, put forth his faith and convictions with singular force and\nlucidity, plainly maintaining the reality and importance of all those\nexplicit statements of Holy Scripture which so directly and practically\nbear on the point under treatment.\n\n\"Let us consider,\" wrote Wesley, \"what may be the employment of unholy\nspirits from death to the resurrection. We cannot doubt but the moment\nthey leave the body, they find themselves surrounded by spirits of their\nown kind, probably human as well as diabolical. What power God may permit\nthese to exercise over them we do not distinctly know. But it is not\nimprobable [that] He may suffer Satan to employ them as he does his own\nangels, in inflicting death or evils of various kinds on the men that know\nnot God. For this end they may raise storms by sea or by land; they may\nshoot meteors through the air; they may occasion earthquakes; and in\nnumberless ways afflict those whom they are not suffered to destroy. Where\nthey are not permitted to take away life, they may inflict various\ndiseases; and many of these, which we may judge to be natural, are\nundoubtedly diabolical. I believe this is frequently the case with\nlunatics. It is observable that many of these, mentioned in the Scripture,\nwho are called 'lunatics' by one of the Evangelists, are termed\n'demoniacs' by another. One of the most eminent physicians I ever knew,\nparticularly in cases of insanity, the late Dr. Deacon, was clearly of\nopinion that this was the case with many, if not with most lunatics. And\nit is no valid objection to this, that these diseases are so often cured\nby natural means; for a wound inflicted by an evil spirit might be cured\nas any other, unless that spirit were permitted to repeat the blow. May\nnot some of these evil spirits be likewise employed, in conjunction with\nevil angels, in tempting wicked men to sin, and in procuring occasions for\nthem? Yea, and in tempting good men to sin, even after they have escaped\nthe corruption that is in the World. Herein, doubtless, they put forth all\ntheir strength, and greatly glory if they conquer.\"[27]\n\nAlthough some may maintain that this passage is perhaps wanting in\ntheological exactness, there can be little doubt that, with much force, it\ntruly and eloquently embodies the belief of all Christian people, and\ngives a simple and forcible explanation of Scripture statements regarding\nthe active and untiring energy of the legions of Hell.\n\nAgain, the Marquis de Marsay, a pious French Protestant writer of the last\ncentury, whose collected works were issued about the year 1735, sets forth\nfrom his own point of view a theory regarding the nature and character of\nspirits, which because it bears directly on the subject of Haunted\nLocalities, and in some respects follows the teaching of the schoolmen, it\nmay be well to quote here:--\n\n\"I believe,\" he writes, \"that there are three kind of spirits, which\nreturn to this World, after the death of their bodies. The spirits of such\nas are in a state of condemnation, and which are in a very miserable\ncondition, hover about, and _haunt the places where they have committed\ntheir evil deeds and iniquities_. They remain at these places by divine\npermission, and do all the evil they can; whilst, at the same time, they\nsuffer intolerable torments and are malignant. Some of this kind of\nspirits occasionally make themselves visible.... The second kind of\nspirits are those which roam about, because they seek to free themselves\nfrom their state of purification[28] by other means than by resignation\nto Divine Justice; hence they seek help from those that fear God, and in\nso doing, withdraw themselves from the Divine Order.... These are not evil\nspirits, but such as are still in their self-will, and therefore refuse to\nyield to the Divine Order, by voluntarily submitting themselves to the\npunishment imposed upon them.... _The third kind of spirits, or rather\nsouls that reappear, are those, whose punishment is to be at some certain\nplace in this world, because they have satisfied their passions in that\nplace, and lived according to their lusts in an idolatrous manner_; for\nthat which now causes a man lust and pleasure, must hereafter serve as his\npain and punishment. Of this we have several instances; amongst others,\nthat of a pious man, who after his death appeared to his daughter, who was\nlikewise a pious person, and after conversing with her some time on his\nstate, began to turn pale, to tremble, and be much distressed; and said to\nhis daughter that the time was now arrived when he must go and remain for\na time in his grave, with his putrefying and corrupting corpse; and that\nthis happened to him every day, because in his life-time he had had too\nmuch affection and tenderness for his body.\"\n\nThe dissertations of the schoolmen, and of certain English writers of the\nseventeenth century, are not unlike the above.[29] So, too, are several\nof their most reasonable deductions and conclusions. In fact, Dr. Joseph\nHall, sometime Bishop of Exeter (A.D. 1627-1641, and afterwards of\nNorwich, from 1641 until 1656), maintained that many souls, guilty both of\ndeadly sin (duly repented of during life), and of venial sin, in which not\nimprobably they died, might have to suffer, by lingering, unsatisfied,\nbecause away from their Creator, and about the places where they sinned\nin their lifetime, until their temporal punishment was complete; a theory\nwhich though from the pen of one suspected of favouring Puritanism, is\nvery like that embodied in the faith and practice of the Universal Church.\n\nHowever this may be, at all events there is scarcely a locality in which\nsome old tradition as regards Haunted Houses and Places does not exist;\nand which is not more or less accepted and believed in even now. A general\nrejection of the Supernatural may be the case with many, and a shallow\ndesire not to be thought superstitious or over-credulous by more, are\nobvious reasons why some traditions have become weakened and others\nobscure. But putting aside all such, half-lost, forgotten, or fading away,\nand making every allowance for exaggeration and hyperbole, the facts which\ncan still be testified to by credible witnesses, the evidence which is\neven now on record, coupled with that innate sentiment of awe, so common\nto many, and often strengthened by a sound religious belief, which gives\npoint to old traditions, are sufficient to induce the calm and the\nunprejudiced not too hastily to disavow the existence of a principle of\nalmost universal acceptance with mankind, and which neither the lame and\nlimping logic of the sceptic, nor the imperfectly marshalled facts and\nrandom conclusions of the materialist can, in the long run, either weaken\nor destroy.\n\nThe following curious record, a fair example of numerous others, may now\nbe suitably set forth:--\n\n\"Elizabeth, the third daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke (preceptor to Edward\nVI.) married Sir Thomas Hobby, of Bisham Abbey in Berkshire, and\naccompanied him to France, when as ambassador to Queen Elizabeth he went\nthither. On his death abroad in 1566 Lady Hobby brought his corpse home to\nBisham, where he was buried in a mortuary chapel. She afterwards married\nJohn, Lord Russell. By her first husband she had a son, who when quite\nyoung is said to have entertained the greatest dislike and antipathy to\nevery kind of learning; and such was his resolute repugnance to acquiring\nthe art of writing that in a fit of obstinacy he would wilfully and\ndeliberately blot his writing-books in the most slovenly manner. Such\nconduct so vexed and angered his mother, who was eminently intellectual,\nand like her three sisters, Lady Burleigh, Lady Bacon, and Lady Killigrew,\nan excellent classical scholar, that she beat him again and again on the\nshoulders and head, and at last so severely and unmercifully that he died.\n\n\"It is commonly reported that, as a punishment for her unnatural cruelty,\nher spirit is doomed to haunt the house where this cruel act of\nmanslaughter was perpetrated. Several persons have seen the apparition,\nthe likeness of which, both as regards feature and dress, to a pale\nportrait of her ladyship in antique widow's weeds still remaining at\nBisham, is said to be exact and lifelike. She is reported to glide through\na certain chamber, in the act of washing blood stains from her hands. And\non some occasions the apparition is said to have been seen in the grounds\nof the old mansion.\n\n\"A very remarkable occurrence in connection with this narrative, took\nplace about thirty years ago. In taking down an old oak window-shutter of\nthe latter part of the sixteenth century, _a packet of antique copy-books\nof that period were discovered pushed into the wall between the joists of\nthe skirting, and several of these books on which young Hobby's name was\nwritten, were covered with blots, thus supporting the ordinary\ntradition_.\"[30]\n\nCreslow in Buckinghamshire,[31] like so many old manor-houses, has its\nghost story. It is said to be the disturbed and restless spirit of a lady,\nwhich haunts a certain sleeping chamber in the oldest portion of the\nhouse. She has been seldom seen but often heard only too plainly by those\nwho have ventured to sleep in this room, or to enter it after midnight.\nShe appears to come up from the old groined crypt, and always enters by\nthe door at the top of the nearest staircase. After entering she is heard\nto walk about, sometimes in a gentle, stately manner, apparently with a\nlong silk train sweeping the floor. Sometimes her motion is quick and\nhurried, her silk dress rustling violently as if she were engaged in a\ndesperate struggle.\n\nThis chamber, though furnished as a bedroom, is seldom used, and is said\nto be never entered without trepidation and awe. Occasionally, however,\nsome persons have been found bold enough to dare the harmless noises of\nthe mysterious intruder; and many are the stories current in\nBuckinghamshire respecting such adventures. The following will suffice as\na specimen, and may be depended on as authentic:--\n\n\"About the year 1850, a gentleman, not many years ago High Sheriff of the\ncounty, who resides some few miles' distance from Creslow, rode over to a\ndinner-party; and, as the night became exceedingly dark and rainy, he was\nurged to stay over the night if he had no objection to sleep in the\nhaunted chamber. The offer of a bed in such a room, so far from deterring\nhim, induced him at once to accept the invitation. He was a strong-minded\nman of a powerful frame and undaunted courage, and like so many others,\nentertained a sovereign contempt for all haunted chambers, ghosts, and\napparitions. The room was prepared for him. He would neither have a fire\nnor a night-light, but was provided with a box of lucifers that he might\nlight a candle if he wished. Arming himself in jest with a cutlass and a\nbrace of pistols, he took a serio-comic farewell of the family and entered\nhis formidable dormitory.\n\n\"In due course, morning dawned; the sun rose, and a most beautiful day\nsucceeded a very wet and dismal night. The family and their guests\nassembled in the breakfast-room, and every countenance seemed cheered and\nbrightened by the loveliness of the morning. They drew round the table,\nwhen the host remarked that Mr. S--, the tenant of the haunted chamber,\nwas absent. A servant was sent to summon him to breakfast, but he soon\nreturned, saying he had knocked loudly at his door, but received no\nanswer, and that a jug of hot water left there was still standing unused.\nOn hearing this, two or three gentlemen ran up to the room, and, after\nknocking and receiving no answer, opened it and entered. It was empty.\nInquiry was made of the servants; they had neither seen nor heard anything\nof him. As he was a county magistrate, some supposed that he had gone to\nattend the Board which met that morning at an early hour. But his horse\nwas still in the stable; so that could not be. While they were at\nbreakfast, however, he came in, and gave the following account of his last\nnight's experiences:--'Having entered my room,' said he, 'I locked and\nbolted both the doors, carefully examined the whole room, and satisfied\nmyself that there was no living creature in it but myself, nor any\nentrance but those which I had secured. I got into bed, and, with the\nconviction that I should sleep soundly as usual till six in the morning,\nwas soon lost in a comfortable slumber. Suddenly I was awakened, and, on\nraising my head to listen, I certainly heard a sound resembling the light\nsoft tread of a lady's footstep, accompanied with the rustling as of a\nsilk gown. I sprang out of bed, and having lighted a candle, found that\nthere was nothing either to be seen or heard. I carefully examined the\nwhole room. I looked under the bed, into the fire-place, up the chimney,\nand at both the doors, which were fastened just as I had left them. I then\nlooked at my watch, and found it was a few minutes past twelve. As all was\nnow perfectly quiet again, I put out the candle, got into bed, and soon\nfell asleep. I was again aroused. The noise was now louder than before. It\nappeared like the violent rustling of a stiff silk dress. A second time I\nsprang out of bed, darted to the spot where the noise was, and tried to\ngrasp the intruder in my arms. My arms met together, but enclosed nothing.\nThe noise passed to another part of the room, and I followed it, groping\nnear the floor to prevent anything passing under my arms. It was in vain,\nI could feel nothing. The sound died at the doorway to the crypt, and all\nagain was still. I now left the candle burning, though I never sleep\ncomfortably with a light in my room, and went to bed again, but certainly\nfelt not a little perplexed at being unable to detect the cause of the\nnoise, nor to account for its cessation when the candle was lighted.'\"\n\nSo that this gentleman's experience (and as to ghosts, he was a sceptic)\nonly served to strengthen the old and unbroken tradition. Of its\nfoundation nothing very certain is known. The general facts, however, are\ncommonly received.\n\nAnother example, unusually curious, relating to the Castle at York, is\ntaken from the \"Memoirs of Sir John Reresby:\"--\n\n\"One of my soldiers being on guard about eleven in the night at the gate\nof Clifford Tower, the very night after the witch was arraigned, he heard\na great noise at the Castle; and, going to the porch, he saw there a\nscroll of paper creep from under the door, which, as he imagined by\nmoonshine, turned first into the shape of a monkey, and thence assumed the\nform of a turkey-cock, which passed to and fro by him. Surprised at this,\nhe went to the prison, and called the under-keeper, who came and saw the\nscroll dance up and down, and creep under the door, where there was scarce\nan opening of the thickness of half-a-crown. This extraordinary story I\nhad from the mouth both of one and the other.\"[32]\n\nAn account of the haunting of Spedlin's Tower was furnished to me by a\nScotch friend, who asserts and vouches for the authenticity of the\ntradition:--\n\n\"Spedlin's Tower, the scene of one of the best accredited and most curious\nghost stories perhaps ever printed, stands on the south-west bank of the\nAnnan, in Dumfriesshire. The ghost story is simply this:--Sir Alexander\nJardine, of Applegarth, in the time of Charles II., had confined in the\ndungeon of his tower of Spedlin's, a miller named Porteous, suspected of\nhaving wilfully set fire to his own premises. Sir Alexander being soon\nafter suddenly called away to Edinburgh, carried the key of the vault with\nhim, and did not recollect or consider his prisoner's case till he was\npassing through the West Port, where, perhaps, the sight of the warder's\nkeys brought the matter to his mind. He immediately sent back a courier to\nliberate the man, but Porteous had, in the meantime, died of hunger.\n\n\"No sooner was he dead, than his ghost began to torment the household, and\nno rest was to be had within Spedlin's Tower by day or by night. In this\ndilemma, Sir Alexander, according to old use and wont, summoned a whole\nlegion of ministers to his aid; and by their strenuous efforts, Porteous\nwas at length confined to the scene of his mortal agonies, where, however,\nhe continued to scream occasionally at night, 'Let me out, let me out,\nfor I'm deein' o' hunger!' He also used to flutter against the door of the\nvault, and was always sure to remove the bark from any twig that was\nsportively thrust through the key-hole. The spell which thus compelled the\nspirit to remain in bondage was attached to a large black-lettered Bible,\nused by the exorcists, and afterwards deposited in a stone niche, which\nstill remains in the wall of the staircase; and it is certain that, after\nthe lapse of many years, when the family repaired to a newer mansion\n(Jardine Hall), built on the other side of the river, the Bible was left\nbehind, to keep the restless spirit in order. On one occasion, indeed, the\nvolume requiring to be rebound, was sent to Edinburgh; but the ghost,\ngetting out of the dungeon, and crossing the river, made such a\ndisturbance in the new house, hauling the baronet and his lady out of bed,\n&c., that the Bible was recalled before it reached Edinburgh, and placed\nin its former situation. The good woman who told Grose this story in 1788,\ndeclared that should the Bible again be taken off the premises, no\nconsideration whatever should induce her to remain there a single night.\nBut the charm seems to be now broken, or the ghost must have become either\nquiet or disregarded, for the Bible is at present kept at Jardine Hall.\"\n\nAnother example from Scotland now follows, all the more remarkable,\nbecause it is still asserted that in a certain part of the mansion unusual\nvoices, and supernatural footsteps are said to be still heard, a fact to\nwhich the late Mr. Hope Scott often testified:--Sir Walter Scott relates a\nstriking occurrence which happened to him at the time Abbotsford was in\nthe course of erection. Mr. Bullock was then employed by him to fit the\ncastle up with proper appurtenances, when during that person's absence in\nLondon the following extraordinary circumstance took place:--In a letter\nto Mr. Terry in the year 1818 Scott wrote:--\"The night before last we were\nawakened by a violent noise like drawing heavy boards along the new part\nof the House. I fancied something had fallen and thought no more about it.\nThis was about two in the morning. Last night at the same witching hour\nthe same noise recurred. Mrs. S., as you know, is rather timbersome; so up\nI got with Beardy's broadsword under my arm,\n\n  'Sat bolt upright\n   And ready to fight.'\n\nBut nothing was out of order; neither could I discover what occasioned the\ndisturbance.\" Now, strangely enough on the morning that Mr. Terry received\nthis letter he was breakfasting with Mr. Erskine (afterwards Lord\nKinneder) and the chief subject of their conversation was the sudden death\nof Mr. Bullock, which on comparing dates must have happened on the same\nnight and as near as could possibly be ascertained at the same hour, these\ndisturbances occurred at Abbotsford. One might be induced to maintain that\nsome drunken workmen or disorderly persons were on the premises, but this\nmethod for accounting for the coincidence will at once be exploded on\nreading the following passage from Scott to the same gentleman:--\"Were you\nnot struck with the fantastical coincidence of our nocturnal disturbance\nat Abbotsford with the melancholy event that followed? I protest to you\nthat the noise resembled half-a-dozen men hard at work pulling up boards\nand furniture, _and nothing could be more certain than that there was\nnobody on the premises at the time_.\"\n\nThe following account of a haunted locality is from the pen of a scholarly\nand accomplished clergyman[33] in the diocese of Ripon:--\"Some years ago I\nwas residing in a village about eleven miles from York, and one mile and a\nhalf from another village, in which was the Post Office for the\nsurrounding district. Whenever I had reason to suppose a letter was lying\nthere for me, I used to anticipate the delivery of it on the following\nmorning, by calling for it myself in the evening before. One night, in the\nlatter end of November, I was going, for this purpose, along the path\nthrough the fields, and when I was midway between the two villages, I\npassed through a little hand-gate, and after going about twenty yards from\nit, I was startled and alarmed by a succession of the most horrible\nshrieks that can possibly be conceived. They seemed scarcely human, though\nI felt at the time that they were certainly uttered by some man or woman,\nimitating the piercing scream of a hog when the fatal knife is being\nplunged into its throat. The panic that seized me vanished in a moment, as\nthe thought instantaneously flashed across my mind that I was being made\nthe victim of some ploughman's joke. Being armed, as I then invariably\nwas, with a particularly tough and stout cudgel, I ran back to the little\nhand-gate on tip-toe, intending to take condign vengeance on some rustic,\nwhom I felt sure I should find crouching down behind the low hedge. Just\nas I reached the hand-gate, the sounds suddenly ceased, and to my utmost\nastonishment I could see no one, although it was quite impossible for any\nperson within the distance of two or three hundred yards to have escaped\nmy observation. The full moon was shining brightly, with the very thinnest\nof fleecy clouds before her face, which did not obscure her light, but\nonly made the whole country distinctly visible in every direction, from\nthe absence of all strongly-defined shadow. Then, again, I must confess,\nan unaccountably superstitious awe crept over me, and, instead of pursuing\nmy intended route, I returned to my own home.\n\n\"On the following morning, when reflecting on what had happened, I began\nto take a philosophical and reasonable view of the singular occurrence.\nIn passing through the little gate I might, as I thought, have left it\najar, and that soon after it lost its nice equilibrium, and swung back to\nits accustomed resting-place. The hinges might have given a creaking\nsound, which the lonely solitude of the night had intensely magnified in\nmy imagination. So much for the philosophical view. I then determined that\nI would put this view to the proof, and see if I could by any means get\nthe gate to produce any noise similar to what I fancied I had heard. This\nwas the reasonable view. I took care, however, to put my determination\ninto practice at the earliest period of the evening, just, in fact, as the\ndaylight had departed. Accordingly I was at the little gate between five\nand six o'clock, but in spite of all kinds of efforts it would make no\nsign, but swung backwards and forwards on its hinges with noiseless\nsmoothness. In the midst of my experiments a very intelligent man, a\nGardener by calling, came up. He was a resident of my own village, but had\nbeen working in the other village, and was then returning home from his\nday's labour. He expressed some surprise at seeing me there at that time\nof the evening, and I gave him a brief account of the reason. 'Well, sir,'\nsaid he; 'if you will walk back with me, I will tell you something more\nabout that little hand-gate.' I consented immediately, and he said to me\nas follows: 'Some years ago, when we were all children at home, my mother\nhad been to the other village, where she remained till night; on her\nreturn homewards, just as she passed through the little gate, she saw some\nkind of figure lying close by it, huddled together in a strange,\nmysterious manner. She was horror-stricken, and fled from the spot as fast\nas possible. On reaching her own cottage, she flung open the door, and\nfell fainting on the ground before her astonished and frightened children.\nWhen she came to herself, and was asked what had caused her evident\nterror, she told what she had seen, and where she had seen it. She could,\nhowever, give no definite description of the figure she had seen. She\ncould only say, \"It was something hideous.\" But never could she be induced\nto pass that place again after night-fall, as long as she lived.' 'Well,'\nsaid I, 'this is a very remarkable coincidence.' 'Yes,' said he, 'but I\nwill tell you something more remarkable still. About forty years ago the\nland between the two villages was unenclosed. It was nothing more than a\nwild, uncultivated common. One night, about that period, as the villagers\nwere going to bed, loud and piercing shrieks were heard coming from the\ncommon. Some of the men dressed themselves hastily, with the intention of\ngoing and seeing what was taking place. Some woman, as it seemed to them,\nwas evidently being ill-treated. They set off on their kindly-intentioned\nerrand, but as the sounds completely ceased, and the night was very dark,\nthey thought it impossible to reach the exact spot where their services\nmight be required. They went to bed, and slept soundly. On the following\nmorning one of them was going to work at the other village, and as he\npassed over the common he was almost distilled to a jelly with the effect\nof fright at the appalling sight that suddenly met his gaze. A woman was\nlying before him, huddled up on the ground, quite dead, with her throat\ncut from ear to ear. She had evidently been murdered, on the preceding\nnight. Who she was, whence she came, why or by whom she had been murdered,\nwas never known, and probably never will be in this world. When, a short\ntime after this dreadful event, the common was enclosed, it so happened\nthat the little hand-gate was put up close to the spot where the woman's\nlifeless body was found.'\n\n\"He finished his narrative. I thanked him for it, and internally resolved\nnever, if I could help it, to pass through those fields alone in the gloom\nof night, on any account whatever. I scrupulously kept my resolve.\"\n\nThe celebrated case of the Haunted Room in the Jewel House of the Tower of\nLondon created great interest, about fifty-five years ago. Additional\ninterest and importance have been given to it by the publication of the\nfollowing authentic account of Mr. E. Lenthal Swifte,[34] which in simple\nbut forcible language tells its own story:--\n\n\"I have often purposed to leave behind me a faithful record of all that I\nknow personally of this strange story.... Forty-three years have passed,\nand its impression is as vividly before me as on the moment of its\noccurrence.... In 1814 I was appointed keeper of the Crown Jewels in the\nTower, where I resided with my family until my retirement in 1852. One\nSaturday night in October, 1817, about 'the witching hour,' I was at\nsupper with my then wife, our little boy, and her sister, in the sitting\nroom of the Jewel House, which--then comparatively modernized--is said to\nhave been 'the doleful prison' of Anne Boleyn, and of the ten bishops whom\nOliver Cromwell piously accommodated therein.... The room was, as it still\nis, irregularly shaped, having three doors and two windows, which last are\ncut nearly nine feet deep into the outer wall; between these is a\nchimney-piece projecting far into the room, and (then) surmounted with a\nlarge oil picture. On the night in question the doors were all closed;\nheavy and dark cloth curtains were let down over the windows, and the only\nlight in the room was that of two candles on the table.... I sate at the\nfoot of the table, my son on my right hand, his mother fronting the\nchimney-piece, and her sister on the opposite side. I had offered a glass\nof wine and water to my wife, when, on putting it to her lips, she paused\nand exclaimed, 'Good God, what is that?' I looked up, and saw a\ncylindrical figure like a glass tube, seemingly about the thickness of my\narm, and hovering between the ceiling and the table. Its contents appeared\nto be a dense fluid, white and pale azure, like to the gathering of a\nsummer cloud, and incessantly rolling and mingling within the cylinder.\nThis lasted about two minutes, when it began slowly to move _before_ my\nsister-in-law, then following the oblong shape of the table, before my son\nand myself; passing _behind_ my wife it paused for a moment over her right\nshoulder (observe, there was no mirror opposite to her in which she could\nthen behold it). Instantly she crouched down, and, with both hands\ncovering her shoulder, she shrieked out, 'Oh, Christ! it has seized me.'\nEven now, while writing, I feel the fresh horror of that moment. I caught\nup my chair, struck at the wainscot behind her, rushed upstairs to the\nother children's room, and told the terrified nurse what I had seen....\nNeither my sister-in-law nor my son beheld this 'appearance.'... I am\nbound to add that shortly before this strange event some young lady\nresidents in the Tower had been, I know not wherefore, suspected of making\nphantasmagorical experiments at their windows, which, be it observed, had\nno command whatever on any windows in my dwelling. An additional sentry\nwas accordingly posted so as to overlook any such attempt. Happening,\nhowever, as it might, following hard at heel the visitation of my\nhousehold, one of the night sentries at the Jewel Office was, as he said,\nalarmed by a figure like a huge bear issuing from underneath the door. He\nthrust at it with his bayonet, which stuck in the door, even as my chair\ndinted the wainscot. He dropped in a fit, and was carried senseless to the\nguard-room. His fellow-sentry declared that the man was neither asleep nor\ndrunk, he himself having seen him the moment before awake and sober. Of\nall this I avouch nothing more than that I saw the poor man in the\nguard-house prostrated with terror, and that in two or three days the\nfatal result, be it of fact or fancy, was that he died. Let it be\nunderstood that to _all_ which I have herein set forth _as seen by\nmyself_, I absolutely pledge my faith and my honour.--Edmund Lenthal\nSwifte.\"\n\nAnother statement, regarding another apparition in the same part of the\nTower, stated by Mr. Offor to have been produced by some instrument, but\nwhich latter assertion is pronounced impossible by Mr. Lenthal Swifte,\nalso sufficiently illustrates the facts embodied in it:--\n\n    \"Before the burning of the armouries there was a paved yard in front\n    of the Jewel House, from which a gloomy and ghost-like doorway led\n    down a flight of steps to the Mint. Some strange noises were heard in\n    this gloomy corner; and on a dark night at twelve the sentry saw a\n    figure like a bear cross the pavement and disappear down the steps.\n    This so terrified him that he fell, and in a few hours after, having\n    recovered sufficiently to tell the tale, he died. It was fully\n    believed to have arisen from phantasmagoria.... The soldier bore a\n    high character for bravery and good conduct. I was then in my\n    thirtieth year, and was present when his body was buried with military\n    honours in the Flemish burial ground, St. Catherine's.\n\n        \"George Offor.\"\n\nOn this, however, Mr. Swifte thus writes:--\n\n    \"When on the morrow I saw the unfortunate soldier in the main\n    guard-room, his fellow sentinel was also there, and testified to\n    having seen him on his post just before the alarm, awake and alert,\n    and even spoken to him. Moreover, as I then heard the poor man tell\n    his own story, the figure did not cross the pavement and disappear\n    down the steps of the sally-port; but issued from underneath the Jewel\n    Room door--as ghostly a door, indeed, as ever was opened to or closed\n    on a doomed man; placed, too, beneath a stone archway as utterly out\n    of the reach of my young friends' apparatus (if any such they had) as\n    were my windows. I saw him once again on the following day, but\n    changed beyond my recognition; in another day or two--_not_ 'in a few\n    hours'--the brave and steady soldier, who would have mounted a breach\n    or led a forlorn hope with unshaken nerves, died at the presence of a\n    shadow, as the weakest woman might have died.\n\n        \"Edmund Lenthal Swifte.\"\n\nThe case of a Haunted House in Northamptonshire may now follow:--\n\n\"A house at Barby,[35] a small village about eight miles from Rugby, was\nreputed to be haunted, and this under the following circumstances:--An old\nwoman of the name of Webb, a native of the place, and above the usual\nheight, died on March 3, 1851, at two A.M. aged sixty-seven. Late in life\nshe had married a man of some means, who having predeceased her, left her\nhis property, so that she was in good circumstances. Her chief and\nnotorious characteristic, however, was excessive penuriousness, being\nremarkably miserly in her habits; and it is believed by many in the\nvillage that she thus shortened her days. Two of her neighbours, women of\nthe names of Griffin and Holding, nursed her during her last illness, and\nher nephew, Mr. Hart, a farmer in the village, supplied her temporal\nneeds; in whose favour she had made a will, by which she bequeathed to him\nall her possessions.\n\n\"About a month after the funeral Mrs. Holding, who, with her uncle, lived\nnext door to the house of the deceased (which had been entirely shut up\nsince the funeral), was alarmed and astonished at hearing loud and heavy\nthumps against the partition wall, and especially against the door of a\ncupboard in the room wall, while other strange noises, like the dragging\nof furniture about the rooms (though all the furniture had been removed),\nand the house was empty. These were chiefly heard about two o'clock in the\nmorning.\n\n\"Early in the month of April a family of the name of Accleton, much\nneeding a residence, took the deceased woman's house, the only one in the\nvillage vacant, and bringing their goods and chattels, proceeded to\ninhabit it. The husband was often absent, but he and his wife occupied the\nroom in which Mrs. Webb had died, while their daughter, a girl about ten\nyears of age, slept in a small bed in the corner. Violent noises in the\nnight were heard about two o'clock, thumps, tramps, and tremendous\ncrashes, as if all the furniture had been collected together, and then\nviolently banged on to the floor. One night at two A.M. the parents were\nsuddenly awakened by the violent screams of the child, 'Mother, mother,\nthere's a tall woman standing by my bed, a-shaking her head at me!' The\nparents could see nothing, so did their best to quiet and compose the\nchild. At four o'clock they were again awakened by the child's screams,\nfor she had seen the woman again; in fact she appeared to her no less than\nseven times, on seven subsequent nights.\n\n\"Mrs. Accleton, during her husband's absence, having engaged her mother to\nsleep with her one night, was suddenly aroused at the same hour of two by\na strange and unusual light in her room. Looking up she saw quite plainly\nthe spirit of Mrs. Webb, which moved towards her with a gentle appealing\nmanner, as though it would have said, 'Speak, speak!'\n\n\"This spectre appeared likewise to a Mrs. Radbourne, a Mrs. Griffiths, and\na Mrs. Holding. They assert that luminous balls of light hovered about the\nroom during the presence of the spirit, and that streams of light seemed\nto go up towards a trap-door in the ceiling, which led to the roof of the\ncottage. Each person who saw it testified likewise to hearing a low,\nunearthly, moaning noise,--'strange and unnatural-like,' but somewhat\nsimilar in character to the moans of the woman in her death-agony.\n\n\"The subject was, of course, discussed; and Mrs. Accleton suggested that\nits appearance might not impossibly be connected with the existence of\nmoney hoarded up in the roof, an idea which may have arisen from the\nmiserly habits of the dead woman. This hint having been given to and taken\nby her nephew, Mr. Hart, the farmer, he proceeded to the house, and with\nMrs. Accleton's personal help made a search. The loft above was totally\ndark, but by the aid of a candle there was discovered, firstly, a bundle\nof writings, old deeds, as they turned out to be, and afterwards a large\nbag of gold and bank-notes, out of which the nephew took a handful of\nsovereigns, and exhibited them to Mrs. Accleton. But the knockings,\nmoanings, strange noises, and other disturbances did not cease upon this\ndiscovery. They did cease, however, when Mr. Hart, having found that\ncertain debts were owing by her, carefully and scrupulously paid them. So\nmuch for the account of the Haunted House at Barby. The circumstances were\nmost carefully investigated by Sir Charles Isham, Bart., and others, the\nupshot of which was that the above facts were, to the complete\nsatisfaction of numerous enquirers, completely verified.\"\n\nThe following comes to the Editor from Scotland:--\n\n\"There is, without a doubt, a 'Haunted Room' in Glamis Castle. Access to\nit now is cut off by a stone wall, and none are supposed to know where it\nis, except Lord Strathmore, his eldest son, and the Factor on the estate.\nThis wall was built some years ago by the present proprietor. Strange,\nweird, and unearthly noises have been heard from time to time by numbers,\nand these by many persons wholly unprepared for the same. The following\nstatement is from the lips of a lady who was sleeping in the castle one\nnight, and who knew nothing of the reputation of the house:--She was\nundressing to retire for the night, when all of a sudden she was alarmed\nby a most violent noise, which made her fancy that one of the walls of the\nhouse had fallen. She rushed out into the passage, but no one but herself\nhad been aroused by it. So she went back, and slept until morning. She\nmentioned the circumstance at breakfast, but the subject was evidently an\nunpleasant one. The conversation was at once changed, and she received a\nhint to take no further notice of it. Some members of the family cannot\nbear the subject to be alluded to, and repel all inquiries.\"\n\n\"There is no doubt,\" writes another correspondent, \"about the reality of\nthe noises at Glamis Castle. On one occasion, some years ago, the head of\nthe family with several companions was determined to investigate the cause\none night, when the disturbance was greater and more violent and alarming\nthan usual. His lordship went to the Haunted Room (before it was walled\nup), opened the door with the key, and dropped back in a dead swoon into\nthe arms of his companions; nor could he be ever induced to open his lips\non the subject afterwards.\n\n\"On another occasion a lady and her child were staying for a few days at\nthe castle. The child was asleep in an adjoining dressing-room, and the\nlady, having gone to bed, lay awake for a while. Suddenly a cold blast\nstole into the room, extinguishing the night-light by her bedside, but not\naffecting the one in the dressing-room beyond, in which her child had its\ncot. By that light she saw a tall mailed figure pass into the\ndressing-room from that in which she was lying. Immediately thereafter\nthere was a shriek from the child. Her maternal instinct was aroused. She\nrushed into the dressing-room, and found the child in an agony of fear.\nIt described what it had seen as a giant, who came and leant over its\nface.\n\n\"An accomplished antiquarian, who has investigated this subject, writes as\nfollows:--There is a tradition that in olden times, during one of the\nfrequent feuds between the Lindsays and the Ogilvies, a large number of\nthe latter, in flying from their enemies, came to Glamis, and claimed\nhospitality. The master of the castle did not like to deny them the\nprotection of his castle walls. He therefore admitted them; and on plea of\nhiding them, is reported to have put them into this out-of-the-way\nchamber. There he let them starve, and it is said that their bones lie\nthere unto this day, the bodies never having been buried. This may have\nbeen the sight which startled the late Lord Strathmore on entering the\nhaunted room--a large number of skeletons lying in the various parts of\nthe place was a sight calculated to startle any man. And these are\ndeclared to be peculiarly revolting. Some had apparently died in the act\nof gnawing the flesh off their own arms.\"\n\nThe Editor is indebted to Henry Cope Caulfeild, Esq., of Clone House, St.\nLeonard's, for the following:--\n\n\"The account here set forth was recently told to me by a Captain\nS----living near Cardiff, South Wales.\n\n\"A few miles from Cardiff, on the Monmouth road, there is a narrow spot\nheld in awe by the peasantry; for a murder was committed there years ago,\nand it is said to be haunted by unquiet spirits.\n\n\"The brother of my friend, an officer in the army, who has seen active\nservice in India, was returning with his wife in a dog-cart, some few\nmonths ago, from a dinner with some friends in the country a few miles\nfrom Cardiff. It was late in the night; and as they entered the narrow\npart of the road just mentioned, they heard the sound of wheels behind\nthem. They looked back, and saw the lights of a carriage, and to avoid\nbeing overtaken and passed in such a narrow road, Captain S---- whipped\nhis horse, and tried to keep well in front. Presently the sounds of wheels\nceased; and to their great surprise, indeed consternation, they all of a\nsudden saw the lights and heard the wheels of a carriage some distance on\nin front of them. It was evidently the same; and yet it had never passed\nthem! It seemed to stop at the side of the road, and Captain S---- drove\nhis dog-cart past the strange carriage. He and his wife saw in it a dim\nlight; there were people in it, and they seemed to be without heads! Mrs.\nS---- was paralysed with terror; her husband told his brother that he\nwould rather face a battery of artillery than go through the horror of\nthat moment; and the horse evidently was in sympathy with them, for he\nwent like one mad.\n\n\"It appears that the very same spectral figures had been seen by a\ncountry surgeon when passing the same place; and that the land-owners in\nthose parts had cut down trees, and clipped and altered the appearance of\nthe hedges on each side of the road, in order to get rid, if possible, of\nthe ghastly horror, and of the hold which it has upon the popular mind.\nThe _appearance_ of the carriage and its occupants, in a dim, hazy light,\nwas to the last degree unearthly and spectral.\"\n\nA correspondent of the Editor furnishes him with the following:--\n\n\"A brother of mine, a man who is the last person in the world to believe\nover much, or to be in the least degree superstitious, wishing to be near\na particular town, and yet within easy reach of the permanent country\nresidence of his greatest friend, was induced (A.D. 1862) to take over the\nremainder of the lease of an old-fashioned furnished mansion in Cheshire,\nwhere he, with his wife, children, and servants, in due course, went to\nreside. He was advised to take the place as well because of the\nreasonableness of the rent--for it was spacious and comfortably\nfurnished--as by the recommendation of the London house-agents, a\nwell-known firm in the West End, with whom the letting of it rested.\n\n\"Soon after the arrival of the family and servants, the latter protested\nagain and again that they were disturbed almost every night by a continual\n'tramp, tramp, tramp' of heavy footsteps up the stairs, and along the\nnarrow passage, out of which were the doors which led to their bedrooms.\nThey would have it that the house was haunted. The sounds were sometimes\nso loud and alarming that, as one of the servants remarked, 'It seemed\nlike a regiment of foot soldiers marching over creaking boards.'\nComplaints were made to my brother, who merely said that the noises must\nbe the result of wind under the joists, or of rats, and he laughed at the\nwhole affair. Some of the servants gave warning, and left. Still the\nsounds went on: not always, and every night, but, with certain cessations,\nfrom time to time.\n\n\"In the autumn of the year 1863, a lady, her daughter of fourteen, and a\nmaid, came to stay in the House; and as the former was somewhat of an\ninvalid, a suite of rooms in the west wing, each communicating with the\nother, was apportioned to them. The second night after their arrival, the\nlady in question, suddenly awaking, saw in her bedroom a luminous cloud,\nwhich gradually appeared to be formed into the shape of an old man, with a\nmost painfully depressing countenance, full of the deepest sorrow, and\nwearing a large full-bottomed wig. She tried to raise herself in bed, to\nsee if it were not the effect of her half-waking fancy, or the result of a\ndisturbed dream, but could not. The room, in which there was no natural\nlight, seemed to be partially but quite sufficiently illuminated; and she\nfelt confident that a spectre was before her. She gazed at it for some\nminutes, three at least, hearing the ticking of her watch, and counting\nthe seconds. There the apparition stood, and seemed to be making an effort\nto speak, while a strange, dull, inarticulate groan seemed to come up as\nfrom the floor. Upon this, seeing the bell-rope hanging within the folds\nof the curtains at her right hand, she braced herself up to seize it and\ngive it a most violent pull. Immediately she did this, the face of the\nfigure bore an expression of anger, and by degrees it faded away. The\nbell, which hung some distance away, was heard by no one, and she was\ncompelled to lie alone, for she feared to rise (though the apparition did\nnot reappear) until the church clock near struck four, when, the morning\nhaving broken, she rose, and dressed herself.\n\n\"In the morning, before she had said a word, her daughter, on meeting her,\nsaid, 'Oh, mamma, an old man in a great wig tramped through my room twice\nin the night. Who could it have been?'\n\n\"The lady being so impressed by these occurrences, which her host and\nhostess would persist in saying were only the result of her own fancy,\ndetermined on leaving in the course of a few days (as she afterwards\nstated). On the following night, she slept with a night-light, and the\ndoor into her maid's room open. But the noise of tramping, which had been\nhitherto heard only in the servants' wing of the house, which was\nopposite, was now heard in the east side of it. 'Tramp, tramp, tramp!' the\nsounds were heard constantly, without cessation; so much so that the\nmaster of the house, my brother, rose suddenly that very night, thinking\nthat thieves had broken in, and rushed out to the east passage. But all in\na moment, they stopped; nothing was to be heard, nothing seen; all was\nstill. This occurred again and again.\n\n\"The lady left as arranged. The noises ceased for a while, and then began\nonce more. It was with difficulty that any of the servants could be\ninduced to remain, believing that the house was haunted.\n\n\"About ten months afterwards, my brother having forgotten all about the\nsupposed spectre and the noises, had been out for the day, and returned\nhome in a dog-cart, some time after midnight, in company with his groom.\nOnly the housekeeper had remained out of bed, as his return was quite\nuncertain. The horse and trap were put up, both the servants had gone to\ntheir rooms, and my brother was taking some refreshment in the\nhousekeeper's apartment, by the light of the fire, when all of a sudden, a\nloud and decisive rap was heard at the door. Thinking, of course, that it\nwas one of the servants, he replied, 'Come in.' Before the words were out\nof his mouth, the door opened, and the apparition of the old man in a\nlarge wig stood before him. My brother was paralysed with terror for a\nwhile. He could not speak; he tried hard, as he says, but his mouth was\ndry and his tongue motionless. 'Good God!' he exclaimed at length, 'am I\nawake or asleep, in my senses or gone mad?' The motionless figure, whose\nface was intensely sad, looked at him beseechingly. 'In God's Name, what\ndo you want, or what can I do for you?' 'Too late! nothing,' was the\nmournful, but somewhat inarticulate response. And with that the spectre\nsuddenly vanished away. At this moment a strong, loud, piercing, bitter\nwail, as of the voice of a woman, broke the awful silence. It seemed to\ncome from the courtyard outside, and was repeated again and again round\nthe upper part of the house. The scream was said to be like nothing human.\nThe servants heard it, my sister-in-law was awoke by it, and the groom and\nhousekeeper, with the others, as a consequence, came rushing downstairs.\nMy brother, who is as brave and bold as he is remarkable for common sense,\ndoes not now dispute the reality of haunted houses.\n\n\"A few months afterwards, he and his left. And after he had given up\npossession, he was informed, on good and credible authority, that\ntradition confidently asserted the mansion to have been the residence of a\ndisreputable Dutch hanger-on of William of Orange, who is represented to\nhave violently made away with one of his mistresses in that very house, in\na room which overlooked the park, now a disused lumber-room, at the east\nend of the old mansion.\"[36]\n\nAn American clergyman, of what is commonly termed \"the Protestant\nEpiscopal Church,\" sent the following, which, as he writes, \"went the\nround of the newspapers,\" and for the truth of which he himself vouches:--\n\n\"Few positions in life can be imagined more disagreeable than that of\nbeing imprisoned in a haunted cell in a police station. 'The New Orleans\nTimes' tells a most unpleasant story of a ghost-infested cell in the\nFourth Precinct police station in that city. It appears that several years\nago 'a little old woman,' named Ann Murphy, committed suicide by hanging\nherself in this cell; and since that event no fewer than thirteen persons\nhave attempted to destroy themselves in a similar manner; four of these\nattempts being attended with fatal results. One of those lately cut down\nbefore life was extinct was a girl named Mary Taylor, who, on recovering\nconsciousness, declared that while lying on the floor of the cell she was\naroused by a little old white woman in a faded calico dress, with no\nstockings and down-trodden slippers, with a faded handkerchief tied round\nher head. Her faded dress was bound with a sort of reddish-brown tape, and\nher hand was long, faded, and wrinkled, while on the fourth finger of her\nleft hand was a plain, thin gold ring. 'This little woman,' said the girl,\n'beckoned me to get up, and impelled me by some mysterious power to tear\nmy dress in strips, place one of the strips round my neck, and tie the\nother to the bars. I lifted my feet from the floor, and fell. I thought I\nwas choking, a thousand lights seemed to flash before my eyes, and I\nforgot all until I found myself in the room with the doctors and police\nbending over me. It was not until then that I really comprehended what I\nhad done, and was, I believe, under a kind of trance or influence at the\ntime, over which I had no control.' Mary Taylor had never heard of the\nsuicide of Ann Murphy, whose appearance, according to the police, tallied\nexactly with the description given by the girl. Others having complained\nin a like manner of the ghostly occupant of the cell, the police, to test\nthe real facts of the case, placed a night lodger who had just arrived in\nthe city in this cheerful apartment. Being thoroughly tired and worn out,\nhe fell asleep immediately, but shortly afterwards rushed into the office\nin a state of terrible alarm. He, too, had been visited by the little old\nwoman, and wisely declined to sleep another hour in the station.\"\n\nThe following case, as may be seen from an attestation at its conclusion,\nis likewise well authenticated:--\n\n\"An English clergyman, who was seeking a residence in a northern Scottish\ncity about ten years ago, had his attention accidentally called to an\nold-fashioned, pleasant-looking detached house, of some size and\nconvenience, which had been for some time vacant, about a mile and a-half\nfrom the city. It had considerable grounds round it well timbered, a\nhigh-walled garden, and was in many respects both commodious and\ncomfortable. One attraction, likewise, was the extremely moderate rent\nwhich was asked for it. So he secured a lease of it for a short term of\nyears. He and his family and servants came up from England in due course,\nand took up their abode in it. They were not there long before it soon\nbecame evident, to some of them at least, that the house was haunted.\nNoises of the most extraordinary character were heard in various parts.\nSometimes there came the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. At others\nthere were knocks, both violent and gentle, at the doors, none of which\ncould be accounted for. At midnight, on several occasions, there was a\nconstant, uninterrupted sound in one room, as if a large sledgehammer\n(having been wrapped in a blanket folded several times), was steadily and\nregularly struck against the wall, at the head of the bed in the room, by\nsome particularly powerful arms. 'Thump, thump, thump,' it sounded, as\nthough lifted and directed with tremendous force; and this noise often\nlasted, with only slight intermission, for two or three hours. On other\noccasions persons on the stairs or in the passages felt the air move, and\nheard the creaking of the floor close to them, as if someone invisible\nwere passing quickly by. One night, between twelve and two, the master and\nmistress of the family were awakened by a loud and startling noise, as if\nall the shutters of the windows of the house had been suddenly and\nsimultaneously burst open with the greatest violence. The crash was\nliterally tremendous; and each believed that thieves were breaking in. So\nthe clergyman, seizing a large presentation sword which hung on the wall\nof the landing, unsheathed it, and went downstairs with a light, expecting\nto face the intruders. He first examined the dining-room (from whence the\nnoise seemed chiefly to come), but everything was just as usual. No\nshutter was open; no cupboards forced. So, too, in hall and library.\nNothing was moved. Then he descended into the large cellars; but there,\nlikewise, everything was untouched, and nothing unusual was seen. A large\nretriever dog, which lay at the foot of the front stairs, however, was\ngreatly agitated, trembled and howled. But still nothing was to be seen.\nPerfect silence reigned. So the clergyman and his wife returned to their\nsleeping-room, only to hear, all of a sudden, precisely the same strange\nnoise repeated about ten minutes after their return, with, if anything,\neven greater violence.\n\nIt was currently reported, and commonly believed by several residents\nthereabouts, that many years previously, the cast-off mistress of a Scotch\nnobleman, having been handed over to a physician and university professor\nfor marriage, and the latter having received from the nobleman in\nconsideration of the marriage the gift of the house and lands in question,\nsubsequently murdered the woman, for whom he had conceived a special\ndislike, and buried her body on the premises. This story, with slight but\nunimportant variations, was told by several; and it is quite certain that\na young female Scotch servant, who once lived in the house, following the\nsound of heavy footsteps up to an attic in the front portion of the house,\nwhich she had pledged herself to do when next she heard them, fell down in\na swoon or fit at the top of the stairs; from that moment lost her reason,\nand is now in a lunatic asylum, near the City in question. These are facts\ntestified to by those who know the circumstances.[37] As to the general\naccuracy of the foregoing, the Editor is enabled, on the testimony of\nseveral, to pledge his word thereto.\n\nI am indebted for the following narrative to a friend,[38] who in her own\nwords has given all the details of another remarkable example of a Haunted\nHouse:--\n\n\"Monsieur de Goumo\u00ebns, a magistrate, or a gentleman holding a high\njudicial position at Berne in Switzerland, a man of undoubted and\nwell-established character for personal courage, as well as for moral\nrectitude, related to my father, Mr. Caulfeild of Bath, with whom he was\non the most intimate terms of personal friendship, the following\ncircumstance, at once so extraordinary and so painful, which had come\nwithin the precincts of his own house, as to drive him from his place of\nresidence. The account was given to my father in the year 1829, when he\nwas residing with his family at Berne. Noises and disturbances had been\nfrequently heard in M. de Goumo\u00ebns' bedroom, as of footsteps, the opening\nand shutting of drawers, and of an escritoire when papers were shuffled\nabout. The heavy curtains of the large old four-posted bed were drawn and\nundrawn by no human hand, and were sometimes suddenly flung up on to the\ntop of the bed; while the sound of the flapping of the wings of some very\nlarge bird was often heard. All these and other sounds so disturbed M. de\nGoumo\u00ebns and his wife, that the health of the latter began perceptibly and\nseriously to fail. Examinations of the house made by himself, in\nconjunction with the police, and special investigations of the bedroom and\nother adjoining apartments, afforded no solution whatsoever of the\nmystery. At length Madame de Goumo\u00ebns' maid gave warning to leave her\nservice, complaining that her sleep and peace were completely broken by\nthese supernatural occurrences. While consulting together as to what could\nbe done, and hesitating as to whether they might not be compelled to leave\nthe place, the strange sounds became louder than ever. One night they were\nsuddenly aroused by hearing sharp cries of distress from one of their\nchildren, a little boy, who slept in their room, and who in great terror\ncalled out fretfully again and again, 'Let me alone; let me alone; don't\nyou hurt me!' as he pointed into vacancy. This particular event was the\nlast straw which broke the camel's back, and led the child's parents to\ndetermine on leaving the house immediately.\n\n\"I may add that on a subsequent and more searching examination of the\nhouse, one room was found to be both locked and fastened up; regarding the\ncharacter of which the owner was somewhat reticent. However, the boarding\nbefore the door, which had been papered over, was removed, the keys were\nforthcoming, and the room was carefully examined. On the shutters being\nopened, it was found just as it had been left since its occupation by a\nprevious tenant, who had gone by the sobriquet of 'the Black Styger.' He\nwas a nobleman of bad reputation, and had committed suicide in that very\napartment by blowing out his brains; the traces of which with blood were\nfound scattered both on wall and floor. It was generally believed that his\ndisturbed spirit haunted the place.\"\n\nOne of the most singular recent examples, testified to by two independent\neye-witnesses, now deserves to be reproduced. The appearance of a large\nspectral bird is thus recorded by Mr. Henry Spicer in one of his curious\nand thoughtfully written volumes entitled \"Strange Things amongst Us:\"--\n\n\"Captain Morgan, a gentleman of the highest honour and veracity, and who\ncertainly was not over-gifted with ideality, arrived in London one evening\nin 18--, in company with a friend, and took up his lodgings in a large\nold-fashioned house of the last century, to which chance had directed\nthem. Captain Morgan was shown into a large bed-chamber, with a huge\nfour-posted bed, heavy hangings, and altogether that substantial\nappearance of good, solid respectability and comfort which associated\nitself with our ideas of the wealthy burghers and merchants of the time of\nQueen Anne and the first George, when so many strange crimes of romantic\ndaring or of deep treachery stained the annals of the day, and the\naccursed thirst for gold, the bane of every age, appeared to exercise its\nmost terrific influence.\n\n\"Captain Morgan retired to bed, and slept, but was very soon awaked by a\ngreat flapping of wings close beside him, and a cold, weird-like sensation\nsuch as he had never before experienced spread through his frame. He\nstarted, and sat upright in bed; when an extraordinary appearance declared\nitself in the shape of an immense black bird, with outstretched wings, and\nred eyes flashing as it were with fire.\n\n\"It was right before him and pecked furiously at his face and eyes so\nincessantly, that it seemed to him a wonder that he was enabled, with his\narms and the pillow, to ward off the creature's determined assaults.\nDuring the battle it occurred to him that some large pet bird belonging to\nthe family had effected its escape, and been accidentally shut up in the\napartment.\n\n\"Again and again the creature made at him with a malignant ferocity\nperfectly indescribable; but though he invariably managed to baffle the\nattack, he noticed that he never once succeeded in _touching_ his\nassailant. This strange combat having lasted several minutes, the gallant\nofficer, little accustomed to stand so long simply on the defensive, grew\nirritated, and leaping out of bed, dashed at his enemy. The bird\nretreated before him. The captain followed in close pursuit, driving his\nsable foe, fluttering and fighting, towards a sofa which stood in the\ncorner of the room. The moonlight shone full into the chamber, and Morgan\ndistinctly saw the creature settle down, as if in terror, upon the\nembroidered seat of the sofa.\n\n\"Feeling now certain of his prey he paused for a second or two, then flung\nhimself suddenly upon the black object, from which he had never removed\nhis gaze. To his utter amazement it seemed to fade and dissolve under his\nvery fingers. He was clutching the air; and in vain he searched, with\nlighted lamp, every nook and corner of the apartment, unwilling to believe\nthat his senses could be the victims of so gross a delusion--no bird was\nto be found. After a long scrutiny the baffled officer once more retired\nto rest, and met with no further disturbance.\n\n\"While dressing in the morning, he resolved to make no allusion to what he\nhad seen, but to induce his friend, on some pretext, to change rooms with\nhim. That unsuspecting individual readily complied, and the next day\nreported, with much disgust, that he had had to contend for possession of\nthe chamber with the most extraordinary and perplexing object[39] he had\never encountered, to all appearance a huge black bird, which constantly\neluded his grasp, and ultimately disappeared, leaving no clue to its mode\nof exit.\"[40]\n\nAnd with this, the present chapter is closed. Numerous other cases of\nHaunted Localities might have been provided; some which have long been in\nprint, others which have been heard from the lips of those whose\nexperience and good faith testify to the truth of their narratives. In so\nmany examples collected, almost every one owns certain features in common:\nand all in some measure are alike. Repetition, by consequence, becomes\nwearisome. The cases here put on record, therefore, while sufficiently\ndiversified, serve abundantly to set forth the reality of those facts, to\na brief record of which this chapter has been devoted.\n\n\n\n\nMODERN SPIRITUALISM.\n\n\n\"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that, in the latter times, some shall\ndepart from the Faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of\ndevils.\"--_1 Tim. iv. 1._\n\n\"Many believe that the final assault upon Christianity will be made by the\nenemies of God, bonded and compacted together into an universal kingdom.\nIt may be, as some have held, that another Incarnation shall take place;\nand that the Enemy of souls will be permitted to assume man's nature.\nAnyhow, we are told that Antichrist shall _reign_. Thousands, deluded by\nfalse miracles and lying wonders, will become his subjects, his willing\nvotaries; and own him as their king. His worship will be an adroit\ncounterfeit of the worship of the True God--his kingdom a parody of the\nCatholic Church; while its doctrines will be at once so attractive and\ndelusive to fallen man as that the predicted Apostasy will be great and\nwidespread.\"--_Sermons on Antichrist._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nMODERN SPIRITUALISM.\n\n\nWhen, in a country where for at least twelve centuries the Christian\nReligion has been accepted, and by which that country has received unknown\nblessings both temporal and spiritual, schools of thought arise, in which\nHistorical Christianity is not simply patronized, but put out of court,\nthe phenomenon is both portentous and noteworthy. That this is so at the\npresent time in England with many, need scarcely be pointed out. The\nscepticism which has deluged the Continent, coming upon a people whose\nreligious convictions had been so seriously disturbed by the Reformation,\nand whose conceptions of objective political truth had been so ruthlessly\ndisorganized by the events of the Commonwealth and the Revolution of 1688,\nhas found the ground well prepared for a scattering of the seeds of doubt.\nAbroad they were sown some generations ago, and brought forth deadly\nfruit. The French Revolution and its horrors followed as a matter of\ncourse. Events before our eyes tell in very plain language that our own\nturn has at last come.[41] The day of trial is now upon us. True, the\nvulgarity of the eighteenth-century unbelievers is not at present so\nmanifestly apparent; though it exists amongst certain active leaders of\nthe lower classes with whom scepticism is popular. But the tone and temper\nof public opinion, the bold utterances of serials and newspapers, the\npublic political policy now in vogue and popular, the too general\nunderstanding that Christianity is to be as far as possible ignored in\nlegislation--all indicate the steady and rapid progress of sceptical\nliberalism.\n\nThe Broad Church party in the established communion has done much, and\nwill no doubt do much more, to eliminate the Supernatural from the minds\nof its admirers and of the people of England. Disliking dogma, its\nteaching, when the fog which surrounds it allows that teaching to be\npartly comprehended, is of the earth earthy. It dovetails in with the low\nmaterial views and carnal desires of the money-grubbing many. Its ideal of\nbliss, not always wrapped up in philosophical jargon (and therefore\nsometimes intelligible), is simply commercial prosperity and temporal\nwealth; eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, comfort,\nmaterial pleasure and ease; the conquest of Nature by scientific research\nand progress; an enjoyment of the present and only the present; and a\ncomplete banishment of the old-world theology--useful, it may have been,\nin times gone by, when the World was being educated; but now to be thrown\naside as lumber, worn out and valueless. In place of that Historical\nChristianity accepted since the days of S. Augustine of Canterbury, we are\npromised doubt, disbelief, a refined as well as an unrefined intellectual\nPaganism; and in the end--though such an end may not now be contemplated\nby all members of that ecclesiastical school--a positive rejection of the\ndistinct nature of God.\n\nAt present, of course, the figure is decently draped. Its ugly proportions\nand hateful outline are not apparent. Its admirers have to accommodate\nthemselves with some skill to the strong prejudices of the age; to\ntolerate systems which they contemn, to carry out the silent but certain\noperation of destruction, under the hypocritical desire of assisting\nmankind to complete the work of temporal progress.\n\nAll this is before us and around us, if we would but note it. And this\nbeing so, the state of thought and of society, as few can fail to observe,\nis eminently calculated to afford those who disbelieve in the\nSupernatural, good opportunities of advance in the direction of negations.\nOn the other hand, the presence amongst us of a sect of persons who call\nthemselves \"Spiritualists,\" and whose notorious words and works may be\nnoted and criticized, is full of moment and importance. Spiritualism, when\nfirst it appeared and took shape, was treated with contempt. The facts\nurged by its supporters were denied; the manifestations almost universally\ndisbelieved in. It was declared to be the work of acute knaves, or the\noffspring of idle and imaginative dreamers. Public writers treated it with\nscornful contempt. Reports of its strange proceedings and extraordinary\ndevelopments were knowingly and deliberately suppressed. It was hastily\nhustled off the public stage, refused a hearing, and denied a defence.\nThis policy, however convenient to its promoters, has failed. Sneers have\nnot killed it. Its ideas and theories have been recently reduced to a\nformal system, while its votaries have increased to an extent scarcely\ncredited. Christians and non-Christians, Roman Catholics,\nChurch-of-England people and Protestants, have ranged themselves under\nits banner, and accept and propagate its views. To some the existence of\nspurious coin proves the value of the true; and the portents of these\nlatter times are surely full of warning and value.\n\nAt all periods, it should be observed, certain classes of leaders of men's\nthoughts have succeeded in banishing the Supernatural from the field of\nhuman action. For example, Thucydides, representing the World exclusively\nin its natural aspect, did this. He had neither ear nor eye for the\nmarvellous. In recent times, from the period of Locke to the beginning of\nthe present century, a similar course was adopted by a very influential\nschool of writers, remarkable for their careful dismissal of the\nmiraculous, both from ken and consideration. To such, the World was a\nmachine, wound up once for all by its Author, and needing no further\napplication of that power which appeared to have spent itself, so to\nspeak, in the act of creation. Like S. Peter's \"scoffers,\" \"walking after\ntheir own lusts,\" they practically declared, \"since the fathers fell\nasleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of\ncreation.\"[42]\n\nBut, of course, such a state of thought could only be transitory. The\nuniversal convictions of man's conscience, and the most earnest desires of\nhis heart, produced a reversion of opinion. The very dogmatic\nphilosophers soon found themselves at sea. Reason and Imagination were\nstarved, while the Understanding was profoundly flattered. This has so\nturned out, not once, nor twice, but continually. Scepticism has followed\nSuperstition, and Superstition Scepticism. Wherever the Catholic Religion,\nhaving once been had, has been deliberately cast out and denied, there, as\nin Scotland at the present day, Superstition is more than ordinarily\nwidespread and rampant. The Gnosticism and Manich\u00e6ism of the early\nChristian era have reproduced themselves in later times; while Materialism\nhas lived side by side with that Superstition which, on the surface, it\nseemed so necessary for the same Materialism to deny.\n\nThe following faithful account of the rise of the modern system of\nSpiritualism is borrowed from a contemporary record:--\n\n\"In December, 1847, a respectable farmer and his family, named Fox,\nsettled in a house at Hydesville, a hamlet near Newark, in the State of\nNew York. They were troubled from the first with noises, which in January,\n1848, assumed the definite character of knockings, like that of a hammer.\nTwo children, since so famous as the Misses Fox, felt something heavy,\nlike a dog, lie on their feet when in bed, and one of them felt as if a\ncold hand were passed over her face. The knockings went on increasing in\nviolence, and at length it was observed, on some occasion when Farmer Fox\ntried the windows to see if they could be caused by the wind, that the\nknockings exactly answered the rattle accidentally made by the moving\nsash. This suggested the idea of inviting the noises, or rather the beings\nwho caused them, to reply by rapping, on repetition of the letters of the\nalphabet, to questions put to them. This was first tried at a place called\nRochester, with which the family were connected, whence the term\n'Rochester knockings' came into use. The experiment succeeded perfectly,\nand this was the origin of 'spirit-rapping,' which has since grown into a\nregular system. The neighbours being called in, the affair soon thickened\nand developed into a 'movement.' The rappings revealed a murder which had\ntaken place in the house when in other hands. Public meetings were called,\ncommittees of ladies formed to examine the children, and prevent the\npossibility of deception. Similar phenomena began to show themselves in\nvarious parts of the country, and under yet more extraordinary conditions.\nRaps were heard on all sorts of objects--ceilings, tables, chairs, &c.,\nand it was discovered that certain persons were better fitted than others\nto communicate with the spirits, to whom these noises were now attributed.\nSuch persons were called _mediums_, a name with which the World is now\nsufficiently familiar, and when they were present, tables and chairs would\nmove about and rise from the ground. Many other astonishing things became\ncommon, as drawing and music, executed under this strange influence, by\npersons who knew nothing of these arts.\"\n\nAs to its principles and policy, no better nor fairer exposition of them\ncan be had than from the various publications which are so largely and\ngenerally circulated. From a pamphlet written with some system[43] by Mr.\nT. Grant of Maidstone, the following extracts, explanatory of the now\nformulated principles of Modern Spiritualism, are made:--\n\n\"TABLE OF MEDIA.\n\n  _Outward._\n\n  1. Vibratory Medium.\n  2. Motive Medium.\n  3. Gesticulating Medium.\n  4. Tipping Medium.\n  5. Pantomimic Medium.\n  6. Impersonating Medium.\n\n  _Inward._\n\n  7. Pulsatory Medium.\n  8. Manipulating Medium.\n  9. Neurological Medium.\n  10. Sympathetic Medium.\n  11. Clairlative Medium.\n  12. Homo-motor Medium.\n\n  _Onward._\n\n  13. Symbolic Medium.\n  14. Psychologic Medium.\n  15. Psychometric Medium.\n  16. Pictorial Medium.\n  17. Duodynamic Medium.\n  18. Developing Medium.\n\n  _Upward._\n\n  19. Therapeutic Medium.\n  20. Missionary Medium.\n  21. Telegraphic Medium.\n  22. Speaking Medium.\n  23. Clairvoyant Medium.\n  24. Impressional Medium.\n\n\"The _Outward_ stratum includes all kinds of mediumship in which spirits\nact only on the physical organism, first using simply the electrical or\nmagnetic emanations from the medium and others in the room to produce\nmovements of objects, or concussions called rappings, and to control\nmatter in various ways; and secondly, using portions or the whole of the\nmedium's body by direct action of spirits upon the bodily organs, the\nmedium's spirit being more or less passive, and not taking part in the\nperformance....\n\n\"_Vibratory Mediumship._ I have often met with instances in my experience,\nand multitudes of persons are sometimes attacked together, with variations\nin accordance with individual character. The physical excitement and\nconvulsive phenomena often witnessed at revival meetings are chiefly of\nthis kind....\n\n\"The _Motive Medium_ comes next in order; he furnishes the magnetic power\nby which spirits are enabled to move tables and other material objects....\n\n\"The third class is _Gesticulating Mediumship_, which appears to be a\ndevelopment of the vibratory. It is exhibited by the sect of 'Shakers' of\nthe present day in the initiatory stage of their development, and was a\nform of mediumship common amongst the prophets of the Cevennes, the\nvotaries of S. Vitus, and in most religious excitements.\n\n\"_Tipping Mediumship_ follows next, and this again is a step in advance\nfrom the _Motive_ mediumship, the movements of tables and other objects\nbeing so regulated by the intelligence of spirits as to produce\ntelegraphic communications....\n\n\"_Pantomimic media_ belong to the fifth class; they are made, by the\ncontrolling or guardian spirit, to put themselves in various postures, so\nas to represent any peculiarity belonging to spirit-friends who are\nstanding by, wishing to make their presence known and to communicate.\nLecturers on electro-biology produce, to some extent, the same effects.\n\n\"The last in this stratum is the _Impersonating Mediumship_, which is a\ndevelopment from the Pantomimic. In this case the communicating spirit\nenters and takes full possession of the medium's body, whilst his own\nspirit stands aside.\"\n\nThe writer then passes on to consider what he terms the \"Inward stratum,\"\nthus:--\n\n\"First we have _Pulsatory Mediumship_, in which the medium receives\ncommunications from spirits and answers to mental questions by means of\npulsations, like tiny raps, on different parts of the body, or by sounds\nheard only by himself. These manifestations, although very convincing to\nthe medium himself, afford but little satisfaction to anybody else.\n\n\"_Manipulating Mediumship_, which follows, is in fact Curative Mesmerism,\nin which, however, the will of the mesmeriser is strengthened and guided\nby spirits. Dr. Newton, of America, who visited Maidstone in 1870 and made\nseveral interesting and permanent cures, is a most remarkable and\nsuccessful medium of this class, many of his cures having, indeed, all the\nappearance of miracles.\n\n\"In the next form of mediumship, the _Neurological_, the spirit impresses\nthoughts upon the brain, and the medium puts them into words; thus the\ncommunications partake of the peculiarities of the medium, and if the\nmedium is impressed to write, he does so in his own handwriting and mode\nof diction and spelling.\n\n\"Next comes _Sympathetic Mediumship_, which is an extension of the\nNeurologic, but in which the spirits enter more intimately into sympathy\nwith the medium. Both of these last are transitional forms of mediumship,\nand not very reliable until carefully developed.\n\n\"In _Clairlative Mediumship_, which succeeds in order, scenes of the past\nare clearly reproduced, or original scenes pictured to the mind, as in\ndreams and visions.[44]\n\n\"The last of this Inward group is called the _Homo-motor_ medium, one who\nis in perfect sympathy and under the complete control of one individual\nspirit only, who, in fact, appears to live a second life on earth in union\nwith him.\"\n\nAnd then he defines and discusses the \"Onward stratum\":--\n\n\"We begin with _Symbolic Mediumship_, in which the interior vision is\nopened by spiritual aid, and the medium sees in a vision the almost exact\npre-figurations of things which will occur at some future time, or which\ndo in reality now exist, either in germ or in full or partial development.\n\n\"The second in this group, _Psychologic Mediumship_, is a very important\nform. A medium of this class is one who is in a condition to be impressed\nby a sympathetic spirit with any set of ideas which he desires to\nrepresent. It is sometimes done in a pictorial form, when the medium\nclearly sees and describes scenes which appear to the vision, such as the\nappearance and movements of an army, a landscape, a congregation in a\ncathedral, and so forth....\n\n\"The _Psychometric Medium_ has the power of feeling and correctly\ndescribing the characteristics of persons with whose spheres he or she is\nbrought into sympathy or contact. The power is generally exercised by\nplacing to the forehead, the perceptive region of the brain, anything\nwhich has been intimately connected with the person, as a piece of his\nhair, his handwriting, or a well-worn article of dress. Some will thus\nread a sealed letter or the mottoes enclosed in nuts....\n\n\"_Pictorial Mediumship_ differs from the Symbolic chiefly in the\ncircumstance that the things seen and described by the medium do not in\nreality exist as material facts, but are only representations, prefiguring\nor bodying-forth a spiritual or psychical truth....\n\n\"The next is the _Duodynamic Medium_, a word signifying two powers, he\nbeing capable of exhibiting two or more forms of mediumship at the same\ntime. These compound media, maturely developed, are said to be\ncomparatively rare.\n\n\"The last in this Onward stratum is the _Developing Medium_, through whom\nspirits can very usefully assist in developing the mediumistic faculty in\nothers. They have the power of harmonising the influences which affect\nthem, and of rendering media passive to the action of the spirits who are\nseeking the control of their organisms.\"\n\nAs regards the \"Upward stratum,\" the following definitions are given:--\n\n\"The _Therapeutic Medium_ is one who effects the cure of many diseases\nthrough the sympathetic power of seeing and describing minutely the\ndisorganized parts of the body, and directing the necessary treatment;\nsometimes the manipulating mediumship is added, when the medium not only\nsees the source of mischief, but also makes curative mesmeric passes at\nthe same time.\n\n\"Next, we have the _Missionary Medium_, who is irresistibly compelled to\ngo, without knowing why or whither, wherever the spirit guides him. Under\nthis controlling influence, media have been made to travel nearly all over\nthe civilized world, generally without purse or scrip, or any personal\nknowledge of the places; the spirits raising up friends and helpers at\nevery step as they are required.\" Writing of a Missionary Medium known to\nhimself, Mr. Grant adds the following:--\"I am acquainted with a medium of\nthis class in Maidstone, who is too weak in body to walk far in his\nordinary state, yet, under this influence, he is often made to walk long\ndistances without feeling fatigue, at the most unreasonable hours of day\nor night, and he has several times been instantaneously transported from\none place to another, miles apart.\"\n\n\"Speaking mediumship,\" writes the author quoted, \"is a most useful and\ninstructive faculty.... In most cases speakers have to be entranced, that\nis, their spirits have to be removed from the body for a time, in order to\ngive the acting spirit full control; but when this has to be done the\nmedium is but little advanced from the personating mediumship, which is\none of the successive stages which a fully-developed speaking medium\ngenerally passes through. Many of our most celebrated and effective\npreachers and speakers have been, or are, really speaking media, under the\nguidance of spirits, without its being suspected or understood even by\nthemselves. This is, indeed, 'inspiration.'\n\n\"The _Clairvoyant Medium_ follows next in order, and is in advance of the\ntelegraphic, because he is able to see the scenes that are actually\ntranspiring at the time in another place, no matter how far distant.\n\n\"The _Impressional Medium_ is generally one who has advanced through the\nneurologic, sympathetic, clairlative, and psychologic phases, and thus\nbecome so easily and thoroughly impressible by his guardian spirit that\nthe medium appears to live a double life, the conditions and circumstances\nof both states of existence finding a ready expression through his\norganism at all times without his being entranced, the spiritual\nexistence becoming as much as the physical his normal state.\" pp. 7-18.\n\nThe acts and deeds of Mr. Daniel Home, a Scotchman, and of the Davenport\nbrothers, Americans, who figure very prominently as mediums in the\nauthentic records of the spiritualists, are tolerably well known by report\nto many. From America, where the signs were first noticed, they came\neastwards to England and the European continent, in which places the\nspiritual manifestations were even more remarkable than those which had\noccurred and been testified to in the West. Under the direction of a\nmedium, people sat round a table, and by a silent invocation of spirits,\nby \"willing\"[45] that they should come, they came, and produced the\nfollowing amongst other equally strange phenomena.[46] Large tables rose\nto the ceiling, floating in the atmosphere with a sort of undulating\nmotion, and coming down again to the floor without noise; sprigs of\nflowers were torn off and presented to people by the spirit; accordions\nand other musical instruments were played without any visible hand holding\nor moving them; luminous stars and streaks of light appeared in various\nplaces, while \"spirit hands\" were seen and felt as palpably as mortal\nflesh and blood could be; answers to questions made, were given by a\nsystem of raps or by spelling out words on a child's alphabet placed on\nthe floor. Thus conversations, sometimes sensible, but frequently trivial\nand absurd,[47] were held with the spirits summoned. Spirit hands, using\nmaterial pens, ink and paper, wrote answers to queries; quoted verses\nfrom known authors, or put down original poems. In some cases the\nnarratives published were anonymous, and only authenticated by witnesses\nwho privately testified to the newspaper-editors their accuracy. But in\nsome instances persons of repute and ability came forward in support of\ntheir correctness.[48] Dr. Gully of Malvern, for example, publicly\ntestified that he had seen Mr. Home float about a room for several\nminutes, and guaranteed the accuracy of the facts set forth in a most\nremarkable fashion in an early number of the \"Cornhill Magazine.\" A\nwell-known clergyman of the High Church party in the Church of England,\ngives his testimony to the truth and strangeness of certain appearances\nand manifestations, in the following communication to the Editor of this\nvolume:--\n\n\"I was staying in the north of England with the Rev. ----, in 1850. During\nmy visit a well-known medium (at that period a clergyman of the diocese of\nLondon) spent the evening with us. Eight or ten other people were there at\nthe same time. 'Table-turning' was the subject of a long and animated\ndiscussion, in which those who accepted the facts and those who rejected\nthem were about equally divided. There was nothing to be done, therefore,\nbut to test the question. This was determined on. A circular table about\nfour feet in diameter, of considerable size and weight, was used. Seven\npeople sat round it, joining their hands on the table, and after\nconjointly _willing_ that it should turn itself in one direction or be\nturned, for about twelve minutes, it began to vibrate strangely and then\nslowly to move. At first its motion was in circles, then it moved from\nside to side of the room with dash and rapidity. Afterwards it was\nstrangely tilted on the other side. On one occasion later on, it rose\nseveral inches from the ground, and remained suspended in the air for\nnearly two minutes. As to the facts, no one could dispute them. Afterwards\na variety of questions were put, to which the table replied by knocking on\nthe floor. It was agreed beforehand that one knock should stand for 'No',\ntwo for 'Yes.' An alphabet was produced, and words in response were\nspelled out. Some of the queries were trivial, some arithmetical, some\nmomentous. The answers were usually accurate, sensible, and intelligible,\nbut not always so. After questions had been put concerning the future\nstate, heaven, hell, purgatory, the happiness of the good and the\npunishment of the wicked, a question was asked, 'Where did the spirit now\nanswering dwell when on earth?' The name of a place in Devonshire was\nspelled out. This reply greatly interested a clergyman present, who some\nfifteen years previously had been curate in that county. It was followed\nby another:--'What was the name of the person whose spirit is here?' Then\nthe table spelt out, by means of the alphabet, the name of a yeoman who\nhad died impenitent and blaspheming at the period before referred to. This\nwas sufficient for me,\" writes the above correspondent; \"what I had heard\nand seen convinced me that necromancy was practised. I left the house,\nprotecting myself by the sacred sign, convinced of the sin of the\npractice. And though I had been a spectator and not an actor, I made a\nresolution, which I have scrupulously kept, never to see nor sanction such\nproceedings again.\"\n\nAnother somewhat similar example is here recorded. A clergyman of the\nChurch of England, intimately known to the Editor of this volume, supplies\nthe following remarkable narrative regarding the action and authors of\nSpiritualistic manifestations:--\"Being a perfect and total sceptic as to\nthe supernatural character of so-called 'Spiritualism,' and believing that\nthe results asserted to be produced by its votaries were brought about by\npre-arranged trickery and the deception of confederates, I for a long time\ndeclined to be present at, or to take part in, a _s\u00e9ance_, though\nearnestly pressed to do so. However, circumstances led me to attend one in\nthe year 1862, at a house in Notting Hill Square, London, in the month of\nOctober. Prior to the operations, which were managed and conducted by a\n'medium,' I was invited to examine both the room where the _s\u00e9ance_ was to\nbe held, and the table by which the operations were to be conducted.\nConversations, held by a well-known spiritualist, were to be carried on,\n(by means of an alphabet, raps and knockings,) with the spirits who were\npresumed to be present, and who were declared to have miraculously moved\nthe table round which, for some time, seven persons, including myself, had\nbeen sitting. The room was about ten feet in height, and in the centre was\na gas chandelier of three lights, all of which were burning. During the\nsitting, after the table had made several most remarkable gyrations,\ntilting one side of itself upwards and downwards at an angle of at least\nforty-five degrees, at the command of the chief operator it slowly\nascended from the floor to the height of at least seven feet, viz. the\nbottom of the pendent gaselier. Its plane having caused the lamp glasses\nto rattle by contact, the table then with a strange throbbing and\nvibration and slow movement began to descend. We had all removed our\nchairs, to give room for its ascent, and standing close to the walls\naround, saw it slowly come down to its place. I was so shocked and\nhorrified at what I beheld, and now so firmly convinced that the\nremarkable actions we had witnessed were the result of the invocation and\nintervention of evil spirits, that I declined, in language most positive\nand unmistakable, to have any further part in such unlawful performances.\nWhen further attempts were made to obtain fresh manifestations, taking\nfrom my neck a small silver crucifix, which had been blessed by a high\necclesiastical dignitary, I made a mental act of faith in the Blessed\nTrinity, and holding the small crucifix in my closed hand, placed my hand\nclasping it on the table, saying mentally, 'If this be the work of evil\nspirits, may God Almighty, for Christ's sake, stop it!' The moment I did\nthis, the table, which had been moving about strangely in several\ndirections, and by varied singular motions, became suddenly and at once\nmotionless. Nor could it be made to stir afterwards. Being perfectly\nconvinced that such operations were of the nature of Necromancy, forbidden\nby the Church, as Scripture plainly testifies, I made an earnest\nexhortation to those in the room, after the last manifestation, not to\ncooperate in such deeds any further. Some maintained by rather blasphemous\narguments that Spiritualism was destined to, and would soon, take the\nplace of Christianity; and were kind enough to pity my ignorance,\nnarrowness, prejudice, and sectarianism, to which I made no reply. I then\nleft.\"\n\nFrom another source (a well-known country gentleman in one of the midland\ncounties) has been obtained a series of questions and answers which were\nput, given, and taken down in the year 1856, at a gathering at which the\npractice of table-turning and spirit invocation was tested by those whose\nconviction, in the main, regarding them, as the Editor is informed, agrees\nwith that of the correspondents already quoted. Similar strange phenomena\noccurred on this occasion likewise:--\n\n    \"Are you a Spirit who inhabited this earth? Yes.\n\n    How long have you been dead? No reply.\n\n    Have you been dead years? No.\n\n    Months? No.\n\n    Weeks? No.\n\n    Days? Yes.\n\n    How many? Five days.\n\n    Do you mean five days? Yes.\n\n    Did you live in this neighbourhood? Yes.\n\n    Did you know any at this table? Yes.\n\n    Will you point them out? Yes. (It then crossed the room three times\n    violently and stopped before three persons.)\n\n    Will you spell your name? Yes. R---- J----[49] (the way he always\n    spelt it).\n\n    Are you happy? No answer.\n\n    Can we do you any good? No.\n\n    Was the Baptist religion true? No.\n\n    Will you spell the true religion? Yes--Saients.\n\n    Is there a middle state of souls? Yes.\n\n    Will the end of the World be soon? Yes.\n\n    Will it be the end of the World or the end of wickedness? The end of\n    wickedness? Yes.\n\n    Will the World be destroyed by water? No.\n\n    By fire? No.\n\n    Will it be partly destroyed by fire? Yes.\n\n    Shall any of us see the Last Day? Yes.\n\n    In how many years? Twenty-five years.\n\n    Will the Last Judgment be then? No.\n\n    Will that be the Millennium? Yes.\n\n    Will Enoch and Elijah come again? Yes.\n\n    Will the Jews be restored? Yes.\n\n    Will Russia conquer England? Yes.\n\n    Will it be in the reign of Queen Victoria? No.\n\n    In the reign of her successor? Yes.\"\n\nThe testimony of Mr. Crookes, the discoverer of a new metal, and a Fellow\nof the Royal Society, may here be suitably recorded. Unlike some other\nso-called \"scientific investigators,\" he is reported to have resolved upon\na careful and thorough examination of the spiritualistic phenomena. He is\nsaid to have maintained originally that, even if the alleged facts were\ntrue, he might be able to explain them by some natural law. Accordingly he\nthoughtfully pursued his inquiries and investigations over a series of\nyears, taking unusual care to render deception out of the question and\nimpossible. The result has been given to the public in the \"Quarterly\nJournal of Science\" for January, 1874,[50] from which the following\nquotations are made:--\n\n\"The phenomena I am prepared to attest are so extraordinary and so\ndirectly oppose the most firmly-rooted articles of scientific\nbelief--amongst others, the ubiquity and invariable action of the law of\ngravitation--that, even now, on recalling the details of what I witnessed,\nthere is an antagonism in my mind between _reason_, which pronounces it to\nbe scientifically impossible, and the consciousness that my senses, both\nof touch and sight--and these corroborated, as they were, by the senses of\nall who were present--are not lying witnesses when they testify against my\npreconceptions. But the supposition that there is a sort of mania or\ndelusion which suddenly attacks a whole roomful of intelligent persons who\nare quite sane elsewhere, and that they all concur to the minutest\nparticulars in the details of the occurrences of which they suppose\nthemselves to be witnesses, seems to my mind more incredible than even the\nfacts they attest\" (pp. 77-78).\n\nUnder the heading of \"The Phenomena of Percussive and other Allied\nSounds,\" he makes reference to the raps and knocks of various kinds made\nand heard in different places, \"in a living tree, on a sheet of glass, on\na stretched iron wire, on a stretched membrane, a tambourine, on the roof\nof a cab, and on the floor of a theatre,\" and where no known law, and no\ncontrivance or trickery, could afford any clue to their cause. He then\ninquires whether the sounds thus heard are the result of some blind,\nirrational, hidden material force obeying the Laws of Nature. His\nconclusion, however, was that the varied phenomena being evidently\ngoverned by intelligence, a thinking being must have been concerned in\ntheir origination. \"The intelligence,\" he maintains, \"is sometimes of such\na character as to lead to the belief that it does not emanate from any\nperson present.\" The movement of heavy substances at a distance from the\nmedium is then discussed, and Mr. Crookes thus writes:--\n\n\"On three successive evenings a small table moved slowly across the room,\nunder conditions which I had specially pre-arranged, so as to answer any\nobjections which might be raised to the evidence\" (p. 84).\n\nAgain:--\"On five separate occasions a heavy dining-table rose between a\nfew inches and one and a half feet off the floor, under special\ncircumstances which rendered trickery impossible. On another occasion a\nheavy table rose from the floor in full light, while I was holding the\nmedium's hands and feet. On another occasion the table rose from the\nfloor, not only when no person was touching it, but under conditions that\nI had pre-arranged, so as to assure unquestionable proof of the fact\" (p.\n85).\n\nOnce more:--\n\n\"On one occasion I witnessed a chair, with a lady sitting on it, rise\nseveral inches from the ground. On another occasion, to avoid the\nsuspicion of this being in some way performed by herself, the lady knelt\non the chair in such manner that its four feet were visible to us. It then\nrose about three inches, remained suspended for about ten seconds, and\nthen slowly descended. At another time two children, on separate\noccasions, rose from the floor with their chairs, in full daylight, under\n(to me) most satisfactory conditions; for I was kneeling and keeping close\nwatch upon the feet of the chair, and observing that no one might touch\nthem\" (p. 85).\n\nRespecting another class of phenomena, said to be common enough with\nModern Spiritualists, which appeal to the sense of sight, under the head\nof \"Luminous Appearances,\" Mr. Crookes thus writes:--\n\n\"Under the strictest test conditions I have seen a solid self-luminous\nbody, the size and nearly the shape of a turkey's egg, float noiselessly\nabout the room, at one time higher than anyone present could reach\nstanding on tip-toe, and then gently descend to the floor. It was visible\nfor more than ten minutes, and before it faded away it struck the table\nthree times, with a sound like that of a hard, solid body. During this\ntime the medium was lying back, apparently insensible, in an easy-chair.\n\n\"I have seen luminous points of light darting about and settling on the\nheads of different persons; I have had questions answered by the flashing\nof a bright light a desired number of times in front of my face. I have\nseen sparks of light rising from the table to the ceiling, and again\nfalling upon the table, striking it with an audible sound. I have had an\nalphabetical communication given by luminous flashes occurring before me\nin the air, whilst my hand was moving about amongst them. I have seen a\nluminous cloud floating upwards to a picture. Under the strictest test\nconditions, I have more than once had a solid, self-luminous crystalline\nbody placed in my hand by a hand which did not belong to any person in the\nroom. In the light, I have seen a luminous cloud hover over a heliotrope\non a side-table, break a sprig off, and carry the sprig to a lady; and on\nsome occasions I have seen a similar luminous cloud visibly condense to\nthe form of a hand, and carry small objects about\" (p. 87).\n\nTwo pages later on the following occurs:--\n\n\"I was sitting next to the medium, Miss Fox, the only other persons\npresent being my wife and a lady relative, and I was holding the medium's\ntwo hands in one of mine, whilst her feet were resting on my feet. Paper\nwas on the table before us, and my disengaged hand was holding a pencil.\nA luminous hand came down from the upper part of the room, and after\nhovering near me for a few seconds, took the pencil from my hand, rapidly\nwrote on a sheet of paper, threw the pencil down, and then rose up over\nour heads, gradually fading into darkness\" (p. 89).\n\nAnd then Mr. Crookes testifies that not only spirit-hands, but spectres or\nspirit-persons in their entirety, were seen:--\n\n\"In the dusk of the evening, during a _s\u00e9ance_ with Mr. Home at my house,\nthe curtains of a window about eight feet from Mr. Home were seen to move.\nA dark, shadowy, semi-transparent form like that of a man was then seen by\nall present standing near the window, waving the curtain with his hand. As\nwe looked, the form faded away and the curtain ceased to move. The\nfollowing is a still more striking instance. As in the former case, Mr.\nHome was the medium. A phantom form came from a corner of the room, took\nan accordion in its hand, and then glided about the room playing the\ninstrument. The form was visible to all present for many minutes, Mr. Home\nalso being seen at the same time. Coming rather close to a lady who was\nsitting apart from the rest of the company, she gave a slight cry, upon\nwhich it vanished\" (p. 90).\n\nIn conclusion Mr. Crookes sets forth five current theories with regard to\nthese and similar phenomena; one of which theories is clearly expressed\nin the following sentence. These supernatural manifestations, he asserts,\nsome maintain to be \"the actions of Evil Spirits or Devils, personifying\nwho or what they please, in order to undermine Christianity and to ruin\nmen's souls\" (p. 96). Such a definition, it may be added, is in perfect\naccordance with ordinary experience, the testimony of Scripture, the\naction and teaching of the living Church, as well as a fulfilment of\nexpress and definite prophecies regarding \"the latter days.\"\n\n\n\n\nMODERN SPIRITUALISM.\n\nCONTINUED.\n\n\n\"Superstition, in its grossest form, is the worship of Evil\nSpirits.\"--_John Henry Newman._\n\n\"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except\nthere come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son\nof Perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called\nGod, or that is worshipped.... Whose coming is after the working of Satan,\nwith all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of\nunrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of\nthe Truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them\na strong delusion that they should believe a lie.\"--_2 Thess. ii. 3-11._\n\n\"The greatest intellectual triumph that can be achieved by the Devil is\ngained when men are prepared to believe that he is not.\"--_Sermons_, _Rev.\nT. T. Lee_ (A.D. 1796).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nMODERN SPIRITUALISM.\n\n(CONTINUED.)\n\n\nMore recently the manifestations have been still further developed. From\nthe \"Spiritual Magazine\" the following is quoted:--\n\n\"The _s\u00e9ance_ was held by appointment. Our object being that of\ninvestigation, we limited the number to three, and, I must add, used every\nprecaution we could think of to preclude the possibility of\nself-deception; we likewise guarded against any possible preparatory\narrangement. Accordingly, we changed from the library to the dining-room.\nWe were soon seated at a heavy square table. Twenty minutes passed without\nany manifestation; then came gentle raps, followed by the table being\nlifted, tilted, and gently vibrated. Then raps were heard simultaneously\nin different and opposite parts of the room. At my suggestion, the lamp\nwas partly turned down, when a cold current of air was felt to pass over\nour hands and faces. A pause ensued. The dining-room table leaf standing\nin the corner of the room then commenced to vibrate, and one of the leaves\nbeing taken from the stand, was passed between Mr. Home and the table at\nwhich we were seated. It was then raised straight up, and passing\nvertically over my friend, gently touched him; in passing over me, it\nstruck me on the crown of the head, but so gently, that I could hardly\nrealize it to be the heavy leaf of the dining-room table; the touch\nnevertheless caused the leaf to vibrate all but sonorously. I name this to\nprove how delicately balanced and suspended in the air the leaf of the\ntable must have been to have produced the vibration. It then passed over\nto the right, touching my shoulders, and finally was placed upon the table\nat which we were seated. The distance the leaf was carried I compute at\nnearly twelve yards (allowing for the circuit made), and at an elevation\nof six feet. A small round table was then moved from the corner of the\nroom, and placed next to my friend; and in reply to his question '_who it\nwas_,' he received the answer, audible to us all, '_Pa, Pa,--dear--darling\nPa_.' An arm-chair behind my friend, and at a distance of three yards, was\nraised up straight into the air, carried over our heads, and placed upon\nthe dining-room table to my left, a voice clearly and loudly repeating the\nwords, 'Papa's chair.' We then observed the wooden box of the accordion\nbeing carried from the extreme corner of the room up to my friend. In\npassing my right hand, I passed my hand under and over the box, as it\ntravelled suspended in the air to my front. I did this to make sure of the\nfact of its being moved by an invisible agency, and not by means of\nmechanical aid.... The accordion was then taken from Mr. Home, carried\nabout in the room, and played. Voices were distinctly heard; a low\nwhispering, and voices imitating the break of a wave on the shore.\nFinally, the accordion placed itself upon the table we were seated at, and\ntwo luminous hands were distinctly seen resting on the keys of the\ninstrument. They remained luminously visible for from twenty to thirty\nseconds, and then melted away. I had, in the meantime, and at the request\nof my friend, taken hold of the accordion; whilst so held by me, an\ninvisible hand laid hold of the instrument, and played for two or three\nminutes what appeared to me to be sacred music. Voices were then heard, a\nkind of murmuring or low whistling and breathing; at times in imitation of\nthe murmur of the waves of the sea, at other times more plaintively\nmelodious. The accordion was then a second time taken by an invisible\npower, carried over our heads, and a small piece of sacred music\nplayed,--then a hymn, voices in deep sonorous notes singing the\nhallelujah. I thought I could make out three voices, but my friend said he\ncould speak to four. A jet of light then crossed the room, after which a\nstar or brilliantly illuminated disk, followed by the appearance of a\nsoftly luminous column of light, which moved up between me and my friend.\nI cannot say that I could discern any distinct outline. The luminous\ncolumn appeared to me to be about five to six feet high, the subdued soft\nlight mounting from it half illumining the room. The column or luminous\nappearance then passed to my right, and a chair was moved and placed next\nto me. I distinctly heard the rustling as of a silk dress. Instinctively I\nput my hand forward to ascertain the presence of the guest, when a soft\nhand seized my hand and wrist. I then felt that the skirt of a dress had\ncovered my knees. I grasped it; it felt like thick silk, and melted away\nas I firmly clenched my hand on it. By this time I admit I shuddered. A\nheavy footstep then passed to my right, the floor vibrating to the\nfootfall; the spirit-form now walked up to the fire-place, clapping its\nhands as it passed me. I then felt something press against the back of my\nchair; the weight was so great, that as the form leaned on my shoulder, I\nhad to bend forward under the pressure. Two hands gently pressed my\nforehead; I noticed a luminous appearance at my right; I was kissed, and\nwhat to me at the time made my very frame thrill again, spoken to in a\nsweet, low, melodious voice. The words uttered by the spirit were\ndistinctly heard by all present. As the spirit-form passed away, it\nrepeated the words, 'I kissed you, I kissed you,' and I felt three taps\non each shoulder, audible to all present, as if in parting to reimpress me\nwith the reality of its presence. I shuddered again, and, in spite of all\nmy heroism, felt very 'uncanny.' My friend now called our attention to his\nbeing patted by a soft hand on his head. I heard a kiss, and then the\nwords, 'Papa, dear papa.' He said his left hand was being kissed, and that\na soft, child-like hand was caressing him. A cloud of light appeared to be\nstanding at his left.\"\n\nAnother example, from the same publication, deserves to be put on\nrecord:--\n\n\"The first group of the manifestations (I use the term 'group' to mark the\ncharacteristic difference of the phenomena on each occasion,) occurred at\na friend's house at Great Malvern. Those present had only incidentally\nmet; and, owing to a prohibition being laid upon Mr. Home by his medical\nman against trying his strength, no _s\u00e9ance_ was attempted. I name this as\ncharacteristic. Raps in different parts of the room, and the movement of\nfurniture, however, soon told the presence of the invisibles. The library\nin which the party had met communicated with the hall; and the door having\nbeen left half open, a broad stream of light from the burners of the\ngas-lamp lit up the room. At the suggestion of one of the party, the\ncandles were removed. The rapping, which had till then been heard in\ndifferent parts of the room, suddenly made a pause, and then the unusual\nphenomena of the appearance of spirit-forms manifested itself. The opening\nof the half-closed door was suddenly darkened by an invisible agency, the\nroom becoming pitch dark. Then the wall opposite became illumined, the\nlibrary now being lit up by a luminous element, for it cannot be described\notherwise. Between those present and the opposite and now illumined wall\ntwo spirit-forms were seen, their shadowy outline on the wall well\ndefined. The forms moved to and fro. They made an effort to speak; the\narticulation, however, was too imperfect to permit of the meaning of the\nwords to be understood. The darkening which had obscured the half-closed\ndoor was then removed, and the broad light from the hall lamp reappeared,\nlooking quite dim in comparison with the luminous brilliancy of the light\nthat had passed away. Again the room became darkened, then illumined, and\na colossal head and shoulders appeared to rise from the floor, visible\nonly by the shadow it cast upon the illumined wall. What added to the\ninterest was the apparent darkening and lighting up of the room at will,\nand that repeatedly, the library door remaining half open all the while.\nThe time occupied by these phenomena was perhaps five to ten minutes, the\nmanifestations terminating quite abruptly.\"\n\nA correspondent of the same serial gives the following facts:--\n\n\"On the 1st October, 1865, I attended a _s\u00e9ance_ at 13, Victoria Place,\nClifton, where the younger Mrs. Marshall, the well-known medium from\nLondon, was staying.\n\n\"I had previously prepared, as a test, a series of written questions\ninserted in a book and numbered consecutively; my wife, who was present,\nwas by the usual method put in communication with the spirit of her\nmother, and the following are a few of the results. It is important to\nobserve that no clue was given to the medium, or to the others present, as\nto the nature of the answer required, the questions being put in the\nfollowing form:--'Will you answer the question No. 33?' &c., and as the\nanswers were occasionally given in a different form from what was\nanticipated, though still quite correctly, these two facts taken together\nconclusively prove, as it appears to me, that the answers were neither the\nresult of any knowledge on the part of the medium, nor any 'reflex action'\nfrom the mind of the interrogator.\n\n\"The spirit having been requested to answer the question numbered 33,\nviz.:--'Will you spell the name of the place where we lived when you left\nthis state?' The reply, spelt through the alphabet, was 'Aust.'\n\n\"Question No. 34 having been put in the same manner, viz.:--'Where was\nyour body buried?' The reply was, 'Saint George's.'\n\n\"No. 35.--'While your body was lying in the coffin, was anything put in\nthe hand?'[51] Reply, 'Yes.'\n\n\"No. 36.--'What was it?' Reply, 'A sprig of myrtle.'\n\n\"No. 37.--'By whom was it put there?' Reply, 'Thomas Bowman.'\n\n\"No. 38.--'Who else were present at the time?' Reply, 'Ann, Tommy and Mary\nBowman Bryant.'\n\n\"Many other replies were given of an equally satisfactory character, but I\nmust not further trespass on your space. I would merely remark that the\nanswers in each case were quite correct, and that the events referred to\noccurred upwards of forty years since.\"\n\nAgain, Mr. James Howell, of 7, Guildford Road, Brighton, writes as follows\nin the \"Spiritual Magazine\" for November, 1867:--\n\n\"When I was at the Marshalls' last summer, a circumstance, unknown to\nanyone present save myself, was made known to me by unaccountable means.\nThe name of a young lady who suffered and died from spinal complaint in\nthe year 1843 was correctly spelled out, and the date of her death given.\nI was most intimately acquainted with her. She was good, pious, and highly\nintellectual. To her I owe my knowledge of the French language, and my\nlove of its literature. I was not thinking of her at the time; in fact,\nshe was furthest from my thoughts; yet her name--a very uncommon one, you\nwill admit--was given correctly, 'Aletta V----.' Now I am honest enough to\nconfess that a million guesses would not have guessed that name. I was\nastounded and affected; for it brought back to my mind a rush of thoughts,\nhappy and sad, of those evenings when I sat by her bedside listening to\nher sweet voice, and imbibing the original thoughts which sprang, not only\nfrom a well-stored mind, but one instinct with genius. Twenty-three years\nhad elapsed from the time of her death; she had often promised to\ncommunicate with me from the spirit-world, if it was possible, and now\nthat promise was fulfilled, even in the presence of others.\"\n\nAnd once more, the same writer gives the following record of facts:--\n\n\"I paid a visit on Monday, July 2nd, to Mrs. Parks, of Cornwall Terrace,\nRegent's Park, then staying at 7, Bedford Square. Miss Purcell, the\nmedium, went with me; and we three had some strong and wonderful\nmanifestations. The table was turned about merrily, and once whirled round\nin mid-air. It became as animated as a living being; it even ran about\nwhen not a single being touched it. Knockings were heard all over the\nroom; in chairs, in tables, under the floor, and along the wainscot. We\nhad great trouble to keep the tables from being smashed.\n\n\"During the evening, the 'Blue Bells of Scotland' and '_Marlbrook s'en\nva-t-en guerre_' were knocked out on the table in a beautiful and correct\nmanner, the table beating and dancing admirable time to each tune. At a\nprevious _s\u00e9ance_ a well-known tune was knocked out, and my wife was\nrequested to dance, the spirits stating that the table should accompany\nher; but as we could not induce her to do so, we lost the promised _pas de\ndeux_ between a human being and a table. At my request the table also gave\na series of knocks, viz. the footman's, the postman's, the tax-gatherer's,\nand the countryman's, which were perfect, and caused us much amusement. In\none part of the room there appeared a silvery, bluish star, shining\nbrilliantly. Mrs. Parks, strange to say, could not see it, but to the\nmedium and myself it was clearly visible, at the same time too; and a\nbrilliant member of the stellar creation it was, coming and going like\nthose of the sky, when for a moment a veil of clouds passes over them.\"\n\nThe conviction that such acts and deeds are the work of evil spirits is\nput on record in the same serial, a formal organ of the Spiritualists, in\nthe following narrative:--\n\n\"Mr. and Mrs. C---- attend a _s\u00e9ance_ at which the spirit of 'a darling\nchild' is manifestly present. They attend a second _s\u00e9ance_, and through\nthe same medium they are confirmed in the conviction of the real presence\nof their child. Mr. C---- then finds that he is himself a medium, and\nforthwith he purchases a small table for the exercise of his power.\n\n\"His first experiment proves to him beyond a doubt that an intelligent\nbeing, though invisible, is with him; but he speedily begins to suspect\nthat whatever the character may have been of the spirit which first\nmanifested to him through another medium, this, which is now communicating\nthrough himself, is an evil spirit. On his 'wishing it to walk to the\ndining-room, it started at once.' He was struck by its heavy tread, 'so\nvery unlike the footfalls of a young child,' and he exclaimed, 'This is\n_not_ the spirit of my child, if so, I want no other manifestation.'\nBecoming more and more suspicious of the character of this particular\nvisitant, he said, 'If thou art not the spirit of my child, march out of\nthe house.' 'The table did, indeed, march, making a noise like the loud\nand well-measured footfalls of a heavy dragoon--literally shaking\neverything in the room.'\n\n\"This gentleman then adjured the spirit in a variety of forms, and asked\nif it was not a bad spirit? and it said, 'Yes!' Then he said, 'Accursed\ndevil! by the living God I adjure thee to speak the truth! Has the spirit\nof my child _ever_ been put in communication with myself or her mother\nthrough this or any other table?' The 'accursed devil' said, 'No, never!'\nThen, after similar assurances, Mr. C---- made up his mind to believe the\ndevil; and he closed his experiments with an auto-da-f\u00e9, by breaking up\nand burning the table!\"\n\nMr. Chevalier, who was the first witness called before the committee\nappointed by the Dialectical Society, gives the following personal version\nof this experiment, 20th July, 1869. He stated that he had had seventeen\nyears' experience of Spiritualism, but it was not till 1866 that he\ncommenced experimenting on tables. He obtained the usual phenomena, such\nas raps and tiltings and answers to questions. On one occasion, the answer\nwhich was given being obviously untrue, the witness peremptorily inquired\nwhy a correct answer had not been given, and the spirit in reply said,\n\"Because I am Beelzebub.\" Mr. Chevalier, in continuation, said, \"I\ncontinued my experiments until I heard of the 'Spiritual Athen\u00e6um.' About\nthat time I lost a child, and heard my wife say she had been in\ncommunication with its spirit. I cautioned her, and yet was anxious to\ncommunicate also. I placed one finger on the table; it moved, and the name\nof the child was given. It was a French name. I told a friend of mine what\nhad happened, but was laughed at by him; he however came, sceptic as he\nwas. I placed one hand on the table asking mental questions, which were\nall answered. He then asked where my child went to school, not knowing\nhimself, and the answer 'Fenton' was given; this also was correct.\nFrequently after this, I obtained manifestations in French and English,\nand messages as a child could send to a parent. At my meals I constantly\nrested my hand on a small table, and it seemed to join in the\nconversation. One day the table turned at right angles, and went into the\ncorner of the room. I asked, 'Are you my child?' but obtained no answer. I\nthen said, 'Are you from God?' but the table was still silent. I then\nsaid, 'In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I command you to\nanswer--are you from God?' One loud rap, a negative, was then given. 'Do\nyou believe,' said I, 'that Christ died to save us from sin?' The answer\nwas 'No!' 'Accursed spirit,' said I, 'leave the room.' The table then\nwalked across the room, entered the adjoining one and quickened its steps.\nIt was a small tripod table. It walked with a sidelong walk. It went to\nthe door, shook the handle, and I opened it. The table then walked into\nthe passage, and I repeated the adjuration, receiving the same answer.\nFully convinced that I was dealing with an accursed spirit, I opened the\nstreet door, and the table was immediately silent; no movement or rap was\nheard. I returned alone to the drawing-room, and asked if there were any\nspirits present. Immediately I heard steps like those of a little child\noutside the door. I opened it, and the small table went into the corner as\nbefore, just as my child did when I reproved it for a fault. These\nmanifestations continued until I used the adjuration, and I always found\nthat they changed or ceased when the Name of God was mentioned. One night,\nwhen sitting alone in my drawing-room, I heard a noise at the top of the\nhouse; a servant who had heard it came into the room frightened. I went to\nthe nursery and found that the sounds came from a spot near the bed. I\npronounced the adjuration and they instantly ceased. The same sounds were\nafterwards heard in the kitchen, and I succeeded in restoring quiet as\nbefore.\n\n\"Reflecting on these singular facts, I determined to inquire further and\nreally satisfy myself that the manifestations were what I suspected them\nto be. I went to Mrs. Marshall, and took with me three clever men, who\nwere not at all likely to be deceived. I was quite unknown; we sat at a\ntable, and had a _s\u00e9ance_: Mrs. Marshall told me the name of my child. I\nasked the spirit some questions, and then pronounced the adjuration. We\nall heard steps, which sounded as if someone was mounting the wall; in a\nfew seconds the sounds ceased, and although Mrs. Marshall challenged again\nand again, the spirits did not answer, and she said she could not account\nfor the phenomenon. In this case, I pronounced the adjuration mentally; no\nperson knew what I had done. At a _s\u00e9ance_, held at the house of a friend\nof mine, at which I was present, manifestations were obtained, and, as I\nwas known to be hostile, I was entreated not to interfere. I sat for two\nhours a passive spectator. I then asked the name of the spirit, and it\ngave the name of my child. 'In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy\nGhost,' said I, 'are you the spirit of my child?' It answered, 'No!' and\nthe word 'Devil' was spelled out.\"\n\nDr. Edmunds: \"How were the names spelled out?\"\n\nMr. Chevalier: \"The legs rapped when the alphabet was called over. Mrs.\nMarshall used the alphabet herself, and the table rapped when her pencil\ncame to the letters. My opinion of the phenomena is that the intelligence\nwhich is put in communication with us is a fallen one. It is the Devil,\nthe Prince of the Powers of the air. I believe we commit the crime of\nNecromancy when we take part in these spiritual _s\u00e9ances_.\"\n\nWe obtain from these extracts, which might be multiplied thirty-fold from\nthe authorized publications of the Spiritualists, some idea of the nature\nof their _s\u00e9ances_ and proceedings. Our own statement at the outset has\nbeen more than justified as regards its moderation and accuracy from the\nexamples provided in the extracts in question. \"Necromancy\" has been well\ndefined to be \"The art of communicating with devils and of doing\nsurprising things by means of their aid; particularly that of calling up\nthe dead and extorting answers from them.\" Now this, it seems clear, in\none form or another, is precisely that which is carried on by a\nconsiderable and increasing section[52] of people in America, in England,\non the Continent, and elsewhere. It is practised mainly by persons who\nwere such extreme Protestants in previous times that, having almost\naltogether denied the Supernatural, they have been reluctantly won over to\na belief in it by communion with evil spirits. Father Perrone, the\ndistinguished Jesuit, has calculated that upwards of two thousand\ntreatises have been published in defence of the system of these\nmanifestations during the past fifteen years. It has been pointedly\nremarked by an English clergyman, of those people who once, like the\nancient Sadducees, rejected the idea of the existence of spirits, but who\nnow have accepted the Spiritualistic theory, that \"they have given up\nbelieving in nothing, and have taken to believe in the Devil.\"[53] And\nthis epigrammatic saying is hardly too pointed. According to Perrone, the\nmodern professors of divination frankly allow that the phenomena have\npassed through three phases. First, that of Mesmerism; secondly,\nartificial Somnambulism and Clairvoyance; and thirdly, Spiritualism,\nproperly so called. He gives five reasons for maintaining his theory of\ndiabolical agency with regard to the same. 1. From the nature of the\nphenomena. 2. From its effects. 3. From the manner in which Mesmerism\noperates. 4. From the malice and wickedness of the agent, who frequently\nutters anti-Christian and blasphemous doctrines; and lastly, 5. from the\nfrank and candid admission of the mediums or operators themselves.\n\nIn most cases it may be safely assumed that evil spirits personify the\nsouls of the departed. That such spirits are the deadly foes of man so\nlong as he is in his period of probation, may, for all Catholic\nChristians, be also assumed. That such spirits, moreover, constantly\nrepresent the departed as continually desiring the hand of Death to fall\nupon their earthly friends, in order, as is implied or stated, that a\nfuture of unclouded light and everlasting happiness may speedily link them\ntogether, can be seen from a careful study of the records of Spiritualism.\nSome of the facts already set forth teach this. The principle that men,\nwhether good or bad, righteous or unrighteous, will all be certainly\nsaved, and be for ever hereafter in bliss, is the practical heresy[54]\nthat Spiritualism in its theological aspect has most openly taught, and\nstill continues to teach. \"Spiritualism,\" writes Mr. William Howitt, a\nconvert to it from Quakerism, \"rejects the doctrine of eternal damnation\nas alike injurious to God and man. Injurious to God's noblest attributes,\nrepugnant to the principles of justice, and unavailing in men as a motive\nto repentance.... Spiritualism knows that there are isolated passages in\nthe Gospels and in the words of our Saviour capable of being made to bear\nan appearance favouring the doctrine of eternal punishment, but it knows\nthat the original terms bear no such latitude, and when Christ says there\nis a state 'where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,' it\nadmits the state, but denies that any of God's creatures will continue in\nthat state a minute longer than is necessary to purge the foulness of sin\nand the love of sin out of their spiritual constitutions. Were the\nsolution of this supposed difficulty much harder than it is, Spiritualism\nwould place the love of God and the love of Christ, and all the great and\ngracious attributes of God and His Saviour--justice and truth and wisdom,\nand a charity more immeasurable than God Himself recommends to mankind,\nconfidently and courageously against so horrible and senseless a\ndoctrine.\"\n\nNow, though Spiritualism be ignored by the press, Universalism, its own\noffspring, is constantly and persistently maintained. Spiritualism also\nflatly denies the great Christian doctrine of the Resurrection of the\nbody:--\n\n\"Spiritualism teaches, on the authority of Scripture and of all\nspirit-life, that there is no such thing as death: it is but a name given\nto the issue of the soul from the body. To those in bodies who witness\nthis change, the spirit is invisible, and they only see a body which\nceases all its living functions, has lost that intelligence which during\nso-called 'life' emanated from it, and lies stiff and cold, and to all\nappearance dead. But even the body is not dead. There is a law of life\neven in what is called dead matter, which is perpetually changing its\nparticles and converting them into mere black earth and water, and hence\ninto all the articles necessary for the physical life--corn, meat, wine,\nall foods, all fruits. The same law immediately begins to operate in the\ndead body, and, if unobstructed, speedily resolves it back into earth, and\nthen forms this again into food and clothing and fresh enveloping forms\nfor fresh human beings. The whole of the universe is in perpetual action,\nand the ever-revolving wheel of physical is subserving the perpetual\nevolution of spiritual life.\"[55]\n\nAnd again:--\n\n\"The Church of England and Spiritualism accord, but not in the doctrine of\nthe resurrection of the body. The spirits all assert with S. Paul, that\nthe body which rises from the death-bed is the spiritual body, and that\nthe soul needs no other, much less an earthly body, in its\nspirit-home--that, in fact, nothing of the earth can ever enter heaven.\nThat if the spirits of just men are _made perfect_, they can be nothing\nmore, and no addition of anything belonging to this earth can add to their\nhappiness, freedom, power, and perfection, but on the contrary. That so\nfar from receiving at some indefinite and, probably, very distant period,\ntheir earthly bodies back again, they are continually, as they advance,\ncasting off the subtler particles of matter that have interpenetrated\ntheir spiritual bodies.\"[56]\n\nWith regard to the influence of the Protestant Reformation on that temper\nof mind and habit of thought which have led sceptics and those whose faith\nhas been overturned by the blasphemies of Calvin or the immoral principle\nof the Lutheran systems and their offshoots, to become votaries of\nSpiritualism, we cannot do better than put on record Mr. Howitt's\ndeliberate judgment, expressed in language which, however painful to read\nin some parts, is at once forcible and pertinent:--\n\n\"By the denial of the intermediate states, the Protestant Reformers\nperpetrated a more monstrous outrage on the Divine justice, and more\nfrightfully libelled the Divine mercy, than by the broadest stretch of\nimagination one would have thought it possible. By this arbitrary\nextinction of some of the loveliest regions of creation, by this wiping\nout of vast kingdoms of God's tolerance and goodness by the sponge of\nProtestant reaction, God's whole being was blackened, and every one of His\neternal attributes dislocated and driven pell-mell into the limbo of\nAtheism. I say Atheism, for such a God could not possibly exist as this\nProtestant theory would have made Him--a God with less justice than the\nmost stupid country squire ever established in the chair of magistracy;\nwith less mercy than an inquisitor or a torturer with his red-hot pincers\nand iron boots. These atrocities were but the work of moments, but this\nsystem made the God of love and the Father of Jesus Christ sitting in\nendless bliss amid a favoured few, whilst below were incalculable\npopulations suffering the tortures of fires which no period even of\nmillions of years should extinguish, and that without any proportion\nwhatever to the offences of the sufferers! All who were not 'spirits of\njust men made perfect' were, according to this doctrine, only admissible\nto this common hell, this common receptacle of the middling, bad, and the\nmost bedevilled of devils! Never could any such monstrous, foul, and\ndetestable doctrine issue from any source but that of the hearts of\nfiends themselves. None but devils could breed up so black a fog of\nblasphemy to blot out the image of a loving and paternal God from the view\nof His creatures. And yet the mocking devil induced the zealous Protestant\nfathers to accept this most truly 'doctrine of devils,' as an antidote to\nPopish error. As some glimmering of the direst consequences of this\nshutting-up of the middle states of the invisible world began to dawn on\nthe Protestant mind, it set about to invent remedies and apply\npalliatives, and by a sort of spiritual hocus-pocus, it taught that if the\ngreatest sinners did but call on Christ at the last gasp, they were\nconverted into saints, and found themselves in heaven itself with God and\nthe Lamb. This was only making the matter worse, and holding out a premium\nfor the continuance in every sin and selfishness to the last moment. It\nwas an awful temptation to self-deception presented to human selfishness.\nMillions, no doubt, have trusted to this wretched Protestant reed.... Yet\ncommon sense in others rejected and rejects the cruel deceit. A country\npoet, writing the epitaph of the blacksmith in my native village,\nexpressed the truth on the Protestant theory of no middle regions:--\n\n  'Too bad for heaven, too good for hell,\n   So where he's gone we cannot tell.'\"\n\nAnd now to conclude this portion of our subject, regarding which not a\ntenth part of the examples of \"Spiritual\" manifestations gathered has been\ngiven. To have discussed the facts and theories provided on previous\npages, would have occupied several chapters. Sufficient, however, is\nrecorded to show that Spiritualism is directly antagonistic to the\nChristian Religion,[57] to point out the true character of many of the\nsigns and wonders which exist in this nineteenth century, and which\ntestify and witness to old and unchangeable truths. The ministry of \"men\nand of angels in a wonderful order,\"[58] the practice of exorcism, the\nfacts of diabolical agency, possession by evil spirits, the sins of\nWitchcraft and Necromancy, are all more or less intertwined with the\nDivine Revelation which God has been pleased to give to man. But the\nMaterialism of these latter days is blinding men's eyes, that they cannot\nsee, and successfully destroying their faith in all that is beyond their\ncramped and narrow temporal range. Intellectual Paganism, and a positive\ndisbelief in the distinct Nature of God, if not openly professed, is\nindirectly acknowledged; while the Faith of Pentecost, which for\ngenerations has regenerated the World, is cast aside as worn out, effete,\nand valueless. The possibility of miracle is derided; Providence is\nscouted as the fond dream of an exaggerated human self-love; belief in the\npower of prayer is asserted to be only a superstition, illustrative of\nman's ignorance of the scientific conception of law; the hypothesis of\nabsolute invariable law, and the cognate conception of Nature as a\nself-evolved system of self-existent forces and self-existent matter, are\nideas advancing with giant strides. Side by side with all this, however,\nstand the portentous phenomena referred to here. Let the existence of one\ncourse of such facts as those related be granted, and far more follows\nthan the pure Materialist or the Positivist would for a moment allow. Yet\nnone can deny the presence amongst us of such, evil in their essence and\nmischievous in their operations. The whole cycle represents the works of\nthe Devil and his angels--works opposed at every step in theory by the\nTruths of Christianity, and in fact by the sacraments of the Church\nUniversal. Man's highest and chiefest duty is to do the Will of the Most\nHigh: the practice of the Spiritualists, on the other hand (and let men\nlay the warning to heart), appears to be an intentional and systematic\ngiving up of their wills to the evil one; an invocation of evil spirits\nfor unlawful purposes, a \"willing\" for supernatural intervention in things\nwhich are not lawful, and a deliberate turning away from Him to Whom all\npower is given in Heaven and in Earth.\n\n\nAPPENDIX TO CHAPTER IX.\n\nSPIRITUALISM AND SCIENCE.\n\nThe following Letter appeared in \"The Times\" newspaper a few years ago:--\n\n\"SIR,--Having been named by several of your correspondents as one of the\nscientific men who believe in Spiritualism, you will perhaps allow me to\nstate briefly what amount of evidence has forced the belief upon me. I\nbegan the investigation about eight years ago, and I esteem it a fortunate\nthing that at that time the more marvellous phenomena were far less\ncommon and less accessible than they are now, because I was led to\nexperiment largely at my own house, and among friends whom I could trust,\nand was able to establish to my own satisfaction, by means of a great\nvariety of tests, the occurrence of sounds and movements not traceable to\nany known or conceivable physical cause. Having thus become thoroughly\nfamiliar with these undoubtedly genuine phenomena, I was able to compare\nthem with the more powerful manifestations of several public mediums, and\nto recognize an identity of cause in both by means of a number of minute\nbut highly characteristic resemblances. I was also able, by patient\nobservation, to obtain tests of the reality of some of the more curious\nphenomena which appeared at the time, and still appear to me, to be\nconclusive. To go into details as to those experiences would require a\nvolume, but I may, perhaps, be permitted briefly to describe one, from\nnotes kept at the time, because it serves as an example of the complete\nsecurity against deception which often occurs to the patient observer\nwithout seeking for it.\n\n\"A lady who had seen nothing of the phenomena asked me and my sister to\naccompany her to a well-known public medium. We went, and had a sitting\nalone in the bright light of a summer's day. After a number of the usual\nraps and movements, our lady friend asked if the name of the deceased\nperson she was desirous of communicating with, could be spelt out. On\nreceiving an answer in the affirmative, the lady pointed successively to\nthe letters of a printed alphabet while I wrote down those at which three\naffirmative raps occurred. Neither I nor my sister knew the name the lady\nwished for, nor even the names of any of her deceased relatives; her own\nname had not been mentioned, and she had never been near the medium\nbefore. The following is exactly what happened, except that I alter the\nsurname, which was a very unusual one, having no authority to publish it.\nThe letters I wrote down were of the following kind:--yrnehnospmoht. After\nthe first three--yrn--had been taken down, my friend said, \"This is\nnonsense, we had better begin again.\" Just then her pencil was at e, and\nraps came, when a thought struck me (having read of, but never witnessed,\na similar occurrence), and I said, 'Please go on, I think I see what is\nmeant.' When the spelling was finished I handed the paper to her, but she\ncould see no meaning in it till I divided it at the first h, and asked her\nto read each portion backwards, when to her intense astonishment the name\n'Henry Thompson' came out, that of a deceased son of whom she had wished\nto hear, correct in every letter. Just about that time I had been hearing\n_ad nauseam_ of the superhuman acuteness of mediums who detect the letters\nof the name the deluded visitors expect, notwithstanding all their care to\npass the pencil over the letters with perfect regularity. This experience,\nhowever (for the substantial accuracy of which as above narrated I vouch),\nwas and is, to my mind, a complete disproof of every explanation yet given\nof the means by which the names of deceased persons are rapped out. Of\ncourse I do not expect any sceptic, whether scientific or unscientific, to\naccept such facts, of which I could give many, on my testimony; but\nneither must they expect me, nor the thousands of intelligent men to whom\nequally conclusive tests have occurred, to accept their short and easy\nmethods of explaining them.\n\n\"If I am not occupying too much of your valuable space I should like to\nmake a few remarks on the misconceptions of many scientific men as to the\nnature of this inquiry, taking the Letters of your correspondent Mr. Dirks\nas an example. In the first place, he seems to think that it is an\nargument against the facts being genuine that they cannot all be produced\nand exhibited at will; and another argument against them, that they cannot\nbe explained by any known laws. But neither can catalepsy, the fall of\nmeteoric stones, nor hydrophobia be produced at will; yet these are all\nfacts, and none the less so that the first is sometimes imitated, the\nsecond was once denied, and the symptoms of the third are often greatly\nexaggerated, while none of them is yet brought under the domain of strict\nscience; yet no one would make this an argument for refusing to\ninvestigate these subjects. Again, I should not have expected a scientific\nman to state, as a reason for not examining it, that Spiritualism 'is\nopposed to every known natural law, especially the law of gravity,' and\nthat it 'sets chymistry, human physiology, and mechanics at open\ndefiance;' when the facts simply are that the phenomena, if true, depend\nupon a cause or causes which can overcome or counteract the action of\nthese several forces, just as some of these forces often counteract or\novercome others; and this should surely be a strong inducement to a man of\nscience to investigate the subject.\n\n\"While not laying any claim myself to the title of 'a really scientific\nman,' there are some who deserve that epithet who have not yet been\nmentioned by your correspondents as at the same time spiritualists. Such I\nconsider the late Dr. Robert Chambers, as well as Dr. Elliotson, Professor\nWilliam Gregory, of Edinburgh; and Professor Hare, of Philadelphia--all\nunfortunately deceased; while Dr. Gully, of Malvern, as a scientific\nphysician, and Judge Edmonds, one of the best American lawyers, have had\nthe most ample means of investigation; yet all these not only were\nconvinced of the reality of the most marvellous facts, but also accepted\nthe theory of Modern Spiritualism as the only one which would embrace and\naccount for the facts. I am also acquainted with a living physiologist, of\nhigh rank as an original investigator, who is an equally firm believer.\n\n\"In conclusion I may say that, although I have heard a great many\naccusations of imposture, I have never detected it myself; and, although a\nlarge proportion of the more extraordinary phenomena are such that, if\nimpostures, they could only be performed by means of ingenious apparatus\nor machinery, none has ever been discovered. I consider it no exaggeration\nto say that the main facts are now as well established and as easily\nverifiable as any of the more exceptional phenomena of nature which are\nnot yet reduced to law. They have a most important bearing on the\ninterpretation of History, which is full of narratives of similar facts,\nand on the nature of life and intellect, on which physical science throws\na very feeble and uncertain light; and it is my firm and deliberate belief\nthat every branch of philosophy must suffer till they are honestly and\nseriously investigated, and dealt with as constituting an essential\nportion of the phenomena of human nature.\n\n  \"I am, Sir, yours obediently,\n  \"ALFRED R. WALLACE.\"\n\nThe following Review, taken from the \"Weekly Register\" of August 1, 1874,\nwill be read with interest:--\n\n\"The May and June numbers of the 'Fortnightly Review' for 1874, contain\ntwo remarkable articles by Mr. Wallace, the eminent naturalist. They are\nentitled--'A Defence of Modern Spiritualism.' His aim in these is to prove\nthe objective reality of its phenomena in the first instance, and then to\nshow that the theory which explains them can be accepted by those who,\nlike himself, entirely disbelieve in a Supernatural order. He points out\nthat Modern Spiritualism is not in any way a survival or revival of old\nsuperstitions, but a completely new science. The facts upon which it rests\nhave been known and noted from the earliest beginnings of history, but,\nowing to the influence of Superstition, were almost universally\nmisinterpreted. Now, at last, these mists are clearing away. We have\nabundant materials upon which to work, and he looks forward with\nconfidence to the establishment of a satisfactory scientific theory of a\nfuture life. Such a theory will be a truly regenerating influence,\nresting, not on arbitrary beliefs, but on established facts, and will, for\nthe first time, make a true religion possible and a pure morality.\n\n\"At the close of the second essay, there is a sketch of the outline of the\ntheory up to the point which it has reached as yet. Of course there is\nstill much which requires to be explained and developed. The science is\nonly in its infancy; but still its principles can be understood and\nappreciated. It is taken for granted that there are no spirits but human\nones, these being the only spirits of which we can have any scientific\nknowledge. This being assumed, Mr. Wallace proceeds to give a short\nanalysis of human nature, drawn from generalizations from the 'phenomena\nin their entirety,' and the communications of the spirits themselves. This\nis contained in four propositions:--\n\n\"1. Man is a duality, consisting of an organized spiritual form evolved\ncoincidently with and permeating the physical body, and having\ncorresponding organs and development.\n\n\"2. Death is the separation of this duality, and effects no change in the\nspirit, morally or intellectually.\n\n\"3. Progressive evolution of the intellectual and moral nature is the\ndestiny of individuals; the knowledge, attainments, and experience of\nearth-life forming the basis of spirit-life.\n\n\"4. Spirits can communicate through properly-endowed mediums. They are\nattracted to those they love or sympathise with.... But, as follows from\nClause 2, their communications will be fallible, and must be judged and\ntested just as we do those of our fellow-men.\n\n\"From the acceptance of these propositions will result a far purer\nmorality than any which either Religious systems or Philosophy have yet\nput forth, and with sanctions far more powerful and effective--'For the\nessential teaching of Spiritualism is that we are all, in every act and\nthought, helping to build up a \"mental fabric\" which will be and\nconstitute ourselves more completely after the death of the body than it\ndoes now. Just as this fabric is well or ill built will our progress and\nhappiness be aided or retarded. There will be no imposed rewards and\npunishments; but everyone will suffer the inevitable consequences of a\nwell or ill spent life. The well-spent life is that in which those\nfaculties which concern our personal physical well-being are subordinated\nto those which regard our social and intellectual well-being and the\nwell-being of others; and that inherent feeling, which is so universal and\nso difficult to account for, that those latter constitute our higher\nnature, seems also to point to the conclusion that we are intended for a\ncondition in which the former will be almost wholly unnecessary, and will\ngradually become rudimentary through disuse, while the latter will receive\na corresponding development. This teaching will make a man dread to give\nway to passion, or falsehood, or a selfish and luxurious life--knowing\nthat the inevitable consequences of such habits are future misery and a\nlong and arduous struggle, in order to develop anew the faculties which\nhad been crippled by long disuse. He will be deterred from crime, knowing\nthat its unforeseen consequences may cause him ages of remorse, and his\nbad passions perpetual torment, in a state of being in which mental\nemotions cannot be drowned in the fierce struggles and sensual pleasures\nof a physical existence. And these beliefs (unlike those of theology) will\nhave a living efficacy, because depending on facts occurring again and\nagain within the family circle, and so bringing home the realities of the\nfuture life to the minds of even the most obtuse.' He asks us to 'contrast\nthis system of natural and inevitable reward and retribution, dependent\nwholly on the proportionate development of our higher mental and moral\nnature, with the arbitrary system of rewards and punishments dependent on\nstated acts and beliefs only, as set forth by all dogmatic religions; and\nwho can fail to see that the former is in harmony with the whole order of\nNature--the latter opposed to it?' We cannot enter on the religious and\nmoral questions which this brief survey of Mr. Wallace's theory suggests,\nbut we wish to make some remarks on the 'facts' on which it is founded,\nand his treatment of them. The point that strikes one most in these\narticles is their evident sincerity. Mr. Wallace has become a believer in\nSpiritualism in spite of deeply-rooted prejudices against it, and he is\nanxious to deal thoroughly and impartially with all the facts connected\nwith it as far as he can, without contradicting the first principles of\nhis scientific creed. We can understand this limitation, for we, too, have\nfirst principles--first principles of which we are so certain that no\nseeming contradiction of them by facts could shake our belief. But the\ndifference between our position and his is that our first principles are\nfounded, not on facts of experience, but on a _belief_ that God has spoken\nto us, and is speaking every day in the Church. Therefore, whatever God\nhas revealed becomes to us as a first principle, which, _\u00e0 priori_, cannot\ncontradict facts, and which, as our knowledge increases, we more and more\nfind experimentally to harmonize with them and explain them. But the whole\nof Mr. Wallace's theory is founded on the assumption that God does not\nspeak--that He, and all that concerns Him, is unknown and unknowable to\nus; and this assumption rests, he would tell us, on facts--_i. e._ on his\nview of the order of Nature. Now, what we wish to point out is, that\nnothing which thus rests only on experience can, in any true sense, be\ncalled a first principle. It is merely a wide generalization, which may,\nany moment, be displaced by a still wider one. Mr. Lecky, in his 'History\nof Rationalism,' asserts that the evidence in favour of the reality of\nwitchcraft would be irresistible, were we not convinced, on _\u00e0 priori_\ngrounds, that witchcraft is a delusion. Once Mr. Wallace fully shared this\nconviction, and found himself compelled, in his own words, to 'reject or\nignore' all this evidence. Now, Modern Spiritualism has enabled him to\naccept all these, and other facts of a similar nature; and he expatiates\non the relief he feels in being able to open his eyes to a whole host of\nthings which he had hitherto been obliged painfully and laboriously to\noverlook. There is quite a string of them. Socrates' Demon, the ancient\nOracles, all Miracles--those of the Bible, the lives of the Saints, and in\nthe present day, answers to prayer, all the phenomena of Second Sight,\nGhosts, and occult disturbances of all sorts. We cannot refer our readers\nto the articles themselves for the explanations, some of them very\ncurious, of all these things. But we should like to ask whether it may not\nbe possible that there may be some theory yet to be found still more\ncomprehensive than Spiritualism, and which may yield a still deeper joy\nand relief? The one before us seems to us still to require a considerable\namount of reserve, to say no more, in dealing with some of the facts.\nProfessor Huxley objects to the amount of twaddle that is talked by the\nspirits; but to this Mr. Wallace replies, very justly, we think, that it\nis no more than we must expect, considering the mental and moral calibre\nof the majority of mankind; and, consequently, of spirits, who are not\nmuch improved by the mere fact of dying, not to mention that of the\nspiritualists themselves; and we know that the proverb, 'Like attracts\nlike,' is especially applicable to mediums. But we confess that we are\nsurprised when we are told that 'sectarian' spirits continue to maintain\nspecial dogmas and doctrines, while yet quite unable to describe\nthemselves as being in any situation which at all corresponds to the\northodox teaching about a future life. We cannot understand what doctrines\nor dogmas could survive such a _d\u00e9sillusionnement_, whether agreeable or\nthe reverse, as Mr. Wallace's future life would be to a spirit whose\nconceptions on the subject had been moulded on any form of Christianity.\nNor can we conceive of any motive, except a diabolical maliciousness,\nwhich could prompt spirits to wish to keep up such delusions among their\nsurviving friends. And yet Mr. Wallace explains the apparitions of Our\nLady, &c., in modern times, as being produced by spirits with strong\nCatholic predilections, knowing that they would be very efficacious in\nstimulating the cultus which they prefer. And this is said without any\nmoral comment whatever. Also allowing, as he does, the reality of the\napparitions, though only of human origin, in the Bible and lives of the\nsaints, we are at a loss to see how he can say that orthodox notions of\nheaven are never confirmed by spirits. We should have said that it was\nprecisely by them that most of these had been originated, not to say\nconfirmed. If his spirits are spirits, so are ours, and quite as worthy of\ncredit. These are only a few of the difficulties on the surface of\nSceptical Spiritualism. But we have already exceeded our limits. We will\nonly add that we cannot but hope that, Spiritualism being so far an\napproach to truth that it admits an important class of facts which had\nlately been very much denied and ignored, may, by the difficulties which\nthey raise, lead some minds to reconsider the position they have taken up\nwith regard to the Supernatural. There is no bridge across the chasm which\ndivides Faith from Unbelief, and yet in this World the edges are so close\nthat it is but a step, and we pass from darkness into light.\"\n\n\n\n\nSUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.\n\n\n\"The Angel of the Lord tarrieth round about them that fear Him, and\ndelivereth them.\"--_Psalm xxxiv. 7._\n\n\"God sees at one view the whole thread of my existence, not only that part\nof it which I have already passed through, but that which runs forward\ninto all the depths of Eternity. When I lay me down to sleep I recommend\nmyself to His care; when I awake I give myself up to His direction. Amidst\nall the evils that threaten me, I look up to Him for help, and question\nnot that He will either avert them, or turn them to my advantage. Though I\nknow neither the time nor the manner of the death I am to die, I am not at\nall solicitous about it: because I am sure that He knows them both, and\nthat He will not fail to comfort and support me under them.\"--_Addison._\n\n\"Reverence the angels; shun the demons.\"--_Thomas Scott._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nSUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.\n\n\nBefore a brief summary is made of the contents and purport of this book,\nan account of a most remarkable event which occurred at Oxford about\nforty-five years ago may be fitly chronicled. It will be known, in its\ngeneral outline, by many Oxford men; and was given to the Editor in the\nmonth of June, 1854, by a member of Brasenose College, where it had\noccurred.\n\nIn the year 1829, a club, known as the \"Hell-Fire Club,\" consisting of\nmembers of the university _in statu pupillari_,--formed in some respects\non the model of that existing in the last century, which met at Medmenham\nAbbey,--was accustomed to meet twice a week at Brasenose College, in\nOxford. Unbelief at that time is said to have taken coarser forms there\nthan is the case now. Then it was less dangerous, because more gross and\nrevolting. The members of the Club, however, were not unsuccessful in\ntheir imitation of the blasphemy, drunkenness and other sins which had so\nnotoriously characterized the older society. They met twice a week, and\neach is reported to have endeavoured to outdo his fellow-member in rampant\nblasphemy and sceptical daring. The meetings were kept so private, and\nsuch judicious care was taken to preserve unity of thought and secrecy\namongst the various members, that the College authorities, though\npartially aware of its existence, were said to be unable to interfere.\n\nOn the north side of the College runs a narrow lane, connecting the square\nin which Brasenose College faces that of All Souls, with Turl Street.\nGoing towards the latter, on the left-hand side stands Brasenose, until it\nis joined by the north portion of Lincoln College. On the other side is\nthe high garden wall of Exeter College. It is a dreary and dismal-looking\nthoroughfare at best; and especially so at night. The windows of Brasenose\nCollege are of a narrow Jacobean type, protected both by horizontal as\nwell as perpendicular stanchions. The lower windows, being almost level\nwith the street, were further secured by a coarse wire netting.\n\nTowards midnight on a day in December in the year above-named, one of the\nFellows of Brasenose College was returning home, when as he approached he\nsaw a tall man apparently draped in a long cloak, and, as he imagined,\nhelping to assist some one to get out of the window. The window belonged\nto the rooms of one who was reported to be a leading member of the\nHell-Fire Club. Being one of the authorities of the College, he\ninstinctively rushed forward to detect what he imagined to be the\nperpetration of a distinct breach of the rules, when (as he himself\nafterwards declared) a thrill of horror seized him in a moment, and he\nfelt all at once convinced that it was no human being at whom, appalled\nand fear-stricken, he looked. As he rushed past he saw the owner of the\nrooms, as he conceived, being forcibly and strugglingly dragged between\nthe iron stanchions. The form, the features,[59] horribly distorted and\nstamped with a look of indescribable agony, were vividly before him; and\nthe tall figure seemed to hold the frantic struggler in a strong grasp.\n\nHe rushed past, round to the chief entrance, knocked at the gate, and then\nfell to the ground in a swoon. Just as the Porter opened it, there rose a\ncry from a crowd of men trooping out from a set of rooms immediately to\nthe right of the Porter's lodge. They were members of the notorious\nHell-Fire Club. In the middle of a violent speech, as profane as it is\nsaid to have been blasphemous, and with a frightful imprecation upon his\nlips, a chief speaker (the owner of the rooms) had suddenly broken a\nblood vessel, and was then lying dead on the floor.\n\nThe club in question, it is reported, never met again.[60]\n\nSo much on this point. A few words are perhaps needed upon another. It may\nbe held by some that what has already been written on Witchcraft and\nNecromancy is a melancholy instance of grovelling superstition on the part\nof its Author.[61] Be it so. He is quite ready to avow his entire belief\nin the express statements of Holy Scripture, and in the general Christian\ntradition and teaching on the subject itself and all that is necessarily\ninvolved in it. Those who believe in the existence of angels, \"the\nglorious battalions of the living God,\" and who frankly accept as truth\nthe various records of Holy Scripture, in which their ministry to mankind\nis set forth, will likewise believe that S. Peter's exhortation to the\nEarly Christians did not simply embody a sentiment but declared a fact,\nwhen he wrote: \"Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the Devil,\nas a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.\"[62]\n\nThat the pagan nations owning and serving the Prince of this World, and\nbeing supernaturally served by him in return, actively practised magic at\nthe time of our Blessed Saviour's first coming, is generally allowed. And\nthat the Christian writers of early times, more particularly S. Gregory\nThaumaturgus, admitted the reality and force of the sorcerers'\nincantations and powers, is abundantly evident from their words and\nreasoning. The case of the damsel of Thyatira, \"possessed with a spirit of\ndivination,\" who \"brought her masters much gain by soothsaying,\" clearly\nestablishes this point; and so does the apostle's authoritative\naction:--\"Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command\nthee in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the\nsame hour.\"[63]\n\nWhen, three centuries after the Day of Pentecost, the Church of God\ncommenced numbering up her earliest triumphs, the soothsayers, the\ndiviners, and the dealers with evil spirits began to experience her\nrighteous and beneficent power. Constantine, urged to action by those who\nsat in the seats of the apostles, formally sanctioned the condemnation of\nmagicians; but of course under Julian the Apostate, magic rites were not\nonly still commonly in vogue, but were publicly patronized. Later on,\nValentinian re-enacted the laws of Constantine; and under Theodosius the\nseverest penalties were likewise enforced against the practice of magic;\nand, in truth, against every phase of pagan worship. But a general belief\nin sorcery and divination remained powerful and active long after the\nsupreme and glorious victory of Christianity in the sixth century; and the\nmanner in which the authorities of the Christian Church met the belief,\nand, by Sacraments and Sacramentals, aided the faithful to withstand the\nlegions of the Devil and his human allies, is perfectly familiar to the\nstudent of history.\n\nThe well-known conviction that demons had appeared to mankind under the\nnames of sylvans, gnomes, and fauns was common enough amongst the Romans\nprior to the revelation of Christianity; while the conviction that these\ndemons had sometimes made women the object of their passion was arrived at\nby many. Justin Martyr and S. Augustine of Hippo[64] seem to imply\nsomething of the sort; and marriage or commerce with demons was a charge\nfrequently made against witches, even from the earliest times.[65] It was\nsaid that these demons owned a remarkable attachment to women with\nbeautiful hair,--a belief possibly founded on the passage in S. Paul's\nFirst Epistle to the Corinthians,[66] in which he exhorts women to cover\ntheir heads \"because of the angels.\" In the middle ages the intercourse\nof philosophers belonging to certain secret societies with sylphs and\nsalamanders was also believed by many:[67] and, later on, the study of\nastrology, with its fatalistic theories, and the restoration of the\nheresies of the Manichees, served to aid in more systematically\nformulating that belief in witchcraft and the supernatural which was for\ncenturies so universal, and which never could have become so without a\nsure and solid substratum of fact and truth.\n\nAgain, it is impossible to believe that the sorcerers of the Oriental\nnations have been and are impostors. As regards those of modern Egypt, Mr.\nLane, in his interesting volume upon that country,[68] appears to have\nsettled the question by expressing his conviction of the truth and reality\nof their supernatural performances. And similar conclusions have\nreluctantly but most certainly been arrived at by those who, with some\nknowledge and reasonable powers of observation, have witnessed the acts\nand deeds of the Eastern dealers with evil spirits.\n\nWith reference to Egypt, Mr. Lane's statement on the subject stands\nthus:--\n\n\"A few days after my arrival in this country my curiosity was excited on\nthe subject of magic by a circumstance related to me by Mr. Salt, our\nconsul-general. Having had reason to believe that one of his servants was\na thief, from the fact of several articles of property having been stolen\nfrom his house, he sent for a celebrated Maghrabee magician, with a view\nof intimidating them, and causing the guilty one, (if any of them were\nguilty,) to confess his crime. The magician came, and said that he would\ncause the exact image of the person who had committed the thefts to appear\nto any youth not arrived at the age of puberty; and desired the master of\nthe house to call in any boy whom he might choose. As several boys were\nthen employed in a garden adjacent to the house, one of them was called\nfor this purpose. In the palm of this boy's right hand, the magician drew\nwith a pen a certain diagram, in the centre of which he poured a little\nink. Into this ink he desired the boy steadfastly to look. He then burned\nsome incense, and several bits of paper inscribed with charms; and at the\nsame time called for various objects to appear in the ink. The boy\ndeclared that he saw all these objects, and, last of all, the image of the\nguilty person; he described his stature, countenance, and dress; said that\nhe knew him; and directly ran down into the garden, and apprehended one of\nthe labourers, who, when brought before the master, immediately confessed\nthat he was the thief.\"--P. 267.[69]\n\nThe performers themselves maintain, that they have been instructed in the\nart by those who have traditionally received the knowledge step by step,\nand period by period, from the old \"magicians of Egypt;\" and some frankly\nallow, that they themselves are constantly attended and waited on by a\nfamiliar spirit, demon, or genius, who actively aids them in their\nperformances, and who is, under certain circumstances, always prepared to\ndo their bidding.\n\nThese genii, or \"Ginn\" as they are called in Egypt, \"are said to be of\npre-Adamite origin, and in their general properties,\" remarks Mr. Lane,\n\"are an intermediate class of beings between angels and men, but inferior\nin dignity to both, created of fire, and capable of assuming the forms and\nmaterial fabric of men, brutes, and monsters; and of becoming invisible at\npleasure. They eat and drink, propagate their species (like or in\nconjunction with human beings,) and are subject to death.\"... \"The Ginn,\"\ncontinues Mr. Lane, \"are supposed to pervade the solid matter of the\nearth, as well as the firmament, where, approaching the confines of the\nlowest heaven, they often listen to the conversation of the angels\nrespecting future things, thus enabling themselves to assist diviners and\nmagicians.\"--P. 222.\n\nIn the twentieth chapter of his interesting and attractive volume, he\nwrites:--\"I have met with many persons among the more intelligent of the\nEgyptians who condemn these modern Psylli as impostors, but none who has\nbeen able to offer a satisfactory explanation of the most common and most\ninteresting of their performances.\"--P. 383.\n\nIn another part of the book Mr. Lane concludes his chapter on \"Magic\"\nthus:--\"Neither I nor others have been able to discover any clue by which\nto penetrate the mystery.\"[70]\n\nSo likewise as regards India,[71] it is impossible to set aside the facts,\nwhich are testified to not by one but by hundreds, as to the supernatural\npowers of the jugglers there. Identical in kind with the performances of\nthe magicians of Egypt before Pharaoh and in the presence of Moses and\nAaron, recorded in the Book of Exodus, the secret of the following\n\"tricks\" (familiar to any one who has been in India) has been handed down\nfrom father to son from the most remote ages; and we have no reason to\ndoubt that the source of the power by which these acts are done is one and\nthe same.\n\nFor instance:--The juggler, giving one of the spectators a coin to hold as\nsecurely as possible within his hands, after pronouncing incantations in a\nmonotonous voice for some minutes, suddenly stops, still keeping his seat,\nmakes a rapid motion with his right hand, as if in the act of throwing\nsomething at the person holding the coin, at the same time breathing with\nhis mouth upon him. Instantaneously the hands of the person taking part in\nthe performance are suddenly distended, while a horrible sensation of\nholding something cold and disagreeable and nasty, is immediately felt,\nforcing him to cast away the contents of his palms, which, to the horror\nand disgust of uninitiated persons, turns out to be, not the coin which\nbefore was there, but a live snake coiled up! The juggler then rises, and\ncatching the snake, which is now crawling and wriggling on the ground,\ntakes it by the tail, opens his mouth wide, and allows the snake to drop\ninto it. With deliberation he appears by degrees to swallow it, until the\nwhole, tail and all, completely disappears. He opens his mouth for the\nspectators to investigate; but nothing is to be seen, neither does the\nsnake appear again.\n\nHere is another instance:--A juggler will be brought to act before,\nperhaps, many hundreds of people, of all ages, degrees, and religions,\nincluding the soldiery of a garrison, in the public yard of a barrack. A\nguard of soldiers will be placed around him, to prevent either trickery or\ndeception on his part, or interruption from the spectators. A little girl,\nabout eight or nine years old, accompanies the man, who is also provided\nwith a tall, narrow basket, three or four feet high, little more than a\nfoot in width, and open all the way up. The juggler, after some\naltercation with the child, pretends to get angry, and lashing himself\ninto a fury, seizes hold of the child, and inverts the basket completely\nover her. Thus placed completely at his mercy, and in spite of her screams\nand entreaties, he draws his sword, and fiercely plunges it down into the\nbasket, and brings it out dripping with blood--or what apparently is such.\nThe child's screams become fainter and fainter, as again and again the\nsword is thrust through the basket; and at length they gradually cease,\nand everything is still. Then follows a critical moment for the supposed\nmurderer: and the exertions of the guard scarcely serve to save him from\nthe excited soldiery. When order is at length obtained, however, the man,\nraising his bloody sword for an instant, strikes the basket with it, which\nfalls, and reveals--not a murdered child weltering in blood, but an empty\nspace, with no vestige left of the supposed victim. In a few moments the\nidentical little girl comes rushing--from whence no one can tell--to the\nfeet of the performer, with every sign of affection, and perfectly unhurt.\nBe it observed that these performances commonly take place in India in\nplaces where it is impossible for any contrivances or trap-doors to exist,\nin the centre of court-yards at the various military stations, and before\ninnumerable witnesses.\n\nAgain: in Corea and China the practice of Necromancy is said to be almost\nuniversal. An intelligent modern writer upon China gives an account, in\nthe following passage, of one mode in which questions are put, and answers\nobtained, by a kind of divination:--Written communications from spirits\nare not unfrequently sought for in the following manner: after the\npresence and desired offices of some spirit are invoked, \"two or more\npersons support with their hands some object to which a pencil is attached\nin a vertical position, and extending to a table below covered with sand.\nIt is said that the movements of the pencil, involuntary as far as the\npersons holding it are concerned, but governed by the influences of\nspirits, describe certain characters which are easily deciphered, and\nwhich often bring to light remarkable disclosures and revelations. Many\nwho regard themselves as persons of superior intelligence are firm\nbelievers in this mode of consulting spirits.\"[72]\n\nHere, as illustrating the common principles and course of action which are\nadopted and followed in all parts of the World by those who seek\ninformation by forbidden means, the following may be set forth:--\n\nThere is a dreary-looking House in one of the London Squares which is\nreported to be haunted. And certainly this opinion, as the Editor can\ntestify from a careful personal enquiry, is tolerably current in the\nneighbourhood. A Lady, curious about the fact, was present on an occasion\nwhen certain inquiries were made regarding this House by means of\n\"Planchette,\"--the instrument just referred to as so commonly used in\nChina. It is a small board, in shape like a heart, which is made to run\non two wheels or castors, and a hole is provided for a pencil so to be\nplaced with its point downward as that, when put upon a sheet of white\npaper the point may just touch the surface. After the usual invocation or\nincantation (or whatever it be), the persons who practise modern\ndivination place their hands on the board. Questions are put, and answers\ngiven. No one touches the pencil, but the board is so guided, as the\nNecromancers and Spiritualists assert, that the pencil is made to write\nintelligible answers to expressed (and sometimes to mere mental) queries.\nThe following, printed _verbatim et literatim_, are in the handwriting of\nthe lady who witnessed them put and responded to, and are given as a fair\nspecimen of this mode of divination, now so generally practised in\nEngland:--\n\n    Is any house haunted in B---- Square? Yes.\n\n    What killed the two people in the haunted room? Fright.\n\n    What frightened them? Spirits.\n\n    What kind of spirits? Yourself.\n\n    How could any one be afraid of me? Without your body.\n\n    Did they see them? Spirits not visible.\n\n    How did they know they were there? Thought they saw them.\n\n    Did they make them feel them? No.\n\n    Then how did the spirits make themselves known--by what means?\n    Mesmeric.\n\n    Were you ever there? No.\n\n    Why do those spirits haunt that house? Murder was committed there.\n\n    Who was murdered, a man or a woman? A woman.\n\n    What was the name of the woman? (Writing not intelligible.)\n\n    Who murdered her? (Writing not intelligible.)\n\n    Is he alive or dead? Dead.\n\n    Is it the woman's spirit, or the man's, who haunts the house? Both.\n\n    Was the man hung? No.\n\n    Was the murder found out while he lived? No.\n\n    Are you a bad spirit? Bad.\n\n    Is it what the Bible calls \"divination\" to consult you in this way?\n    Yes.\n\n    Is it displeasing to God? Perhaps.\n\n    Is it wrong? You know.\n\nIt is only right to add that those who made and obtained the foregoing\nintelligible responses to intelligible questions, for good and sufficient\nreasons came to hold such practices to be unlawful and wicked, and threw\nthe instrument by which they had been given into the Thames.\n\nOn this subject, and all its details, no words of warning could be more\nforcible than the following, which are quoted, in the hope that some who\nmay have been thoughtlessly induced to adopt the practices of Modern\nSpiritualism, may be led at once to desist from the same:--\n\n\"Although good and evil spirits possess a powerful influence in the\ngovernment of the World, yet it is strictly forbidden, in the divine laws\nof the Old and New Testament, to seek any acquaintance with them, or to\nplace ourselves in connection with and relation to them; and it is just as\nlittle permitted for citizens of the world of spirits visibly to manifest\nthemselves to those who are still in the present state of existence,\nwithout the express command or permission of the Lord. He, therefore, that\nseeks intercourse with the invisible world sins deeply, and will soon\nrepent of it; whilst he that becomes acquainted with it, without his own\nseeking and by Divine guidance, ought to beg and pray for wisdom, courage,\nand strength, for he has need of all these; and let him that is introduced\ninto such a connection, by means of illness, or the aberration of his\nphysical nature, seek by proper means to regain his health, and detach\nhimself from intercourse with spirits.\"[73]\n\nYet, with many, and an increasing number, it is to be feared such advice\nis wholly unheeded. For more than five-and-twenty years the subject of\nModern Spiritualism has been under discussion in England, and the facts on\nwhich it has been founded have been before the World; but \"having eyes men\nsee not, and having ears they hear not.\" Or, guided by the superficial\nopinions of those whose one-eyed Materialism tinges so many of their\nhap-hazard theories, they put aside a consideration of the astonishing\nphenomena of the system of Spiritualism, and absolutely deny their\nexistence.[74] The age is shallow in its very incredulity. The wisdom of\nthe World is foolishness indeed.\n\nWhen it is too late, when thousands upon thousands have become the active\nvotaries of Spiritualism, perhaps the bishops and clergy of the Church of\nEngland may wake up to some realization of the enormous influence for\nevil,[75] both dogmatic and moral, which this diabolical system cannot do\nother than secure, and lift their testimony against it. Mahometanism is\nnot more directly anti-christian. Yet the numbers of those who believe in\nSpiritualism are daily increasing, and the purblind policy of ignoring its\nprinciples and action must very soon come to an end. Of course\nMaterialists and sceptics reasonably doubt; for otherwise their own\ninfallibility would ignominiously collapse. But for Christians, who\npossess a copy of the \"Holy Bible,\" and are able to read it, doubt seems\nto me (I write with all due humility) simply inconsequent and irrational.\n\nHere, let us turn from shadow to sunshine, from that which is evil to that\nwhich is good; from the \"lying wonders\" of designing evil spirits, to the\nglorious manifestations of God Almighty's power in the Christian\nChurch--for the one kind are but reasonable correlatives of the other.\n\nAnd, for myself, I am free to confess that the evidence in favour of\ncertain of the recent miracles said to have been wrought in the Roman\nCatholic portion of the One Family of God is not only convincing, but\nconclusive. Having long given up attributing any value to the slanders and\nmisstatements of Protestant and infidel writers, I have attempted for\nmyself to investigate the principle of action, in the reception of\nevidence and the decision of authority, which is taken at Rome, with\nregard to such events and occurrences; and briefly give it as follows:--\n\nThe Congregation of Rites, which enquires into all miracles which demand\nsanction, is presided over by the cardinal-vicar. It consists of\ntwenty-one cardinals of various nations, nine official prelates, nine\nconsulting prelates of various nations, all the fourteen Papal Masters of\nCeremonies, fourteen ordinary members, one secretary, one\ndeputy-secretary, and one notary and keeper of the archives--in all\nseventy people. Four miracles are required to be distinctly proved for\nBeatification; and two more for Canonization. All these must be proved by\neye, and not by ear-witnesses. In miracles where diseases have been cured,\nit is required, 1st, That the disease must have been of an aggravated\nnature, and difficult or impossible to be cured; 2ndly, that it was not on\nthe turn; 3rdly, that no medicine had been used, or if it had that it had\ndone no good; 4thly, the cure must be sudden; 5thly, it must be complete\nand perfect; and 6thly, there must have been no crisis. In the process of\nexamination and enquiry, no step is taken, no doubt propounded, no fact\nallowed, without many of the members of the Congregation being present:\nand a printed Report is sent to all who may have been absent. Besides the\nordinary cross-examinations, which are always of a most scrutinizing\ncharacter, it is the sole duty of one of the leading members of the\nCongregation, the _Promotor Fidei_, as he is termed, to raise objections,\nand if possible to disprove every reported miracle. The members of this\nCongregation are as keen, penetrating and business-like, and have as\ncomplete a knowledge of the unconscious delusions of the human heart, as\nany body of English jurymen. As ecclesiastical scholars they may be truly\nsaid to be equal to the same number of English barristers; and the head of\nthe Congregation, for shrewdness, acuteness of intellect, and judicial\nability, is equal to any judge in England, who by his interpretation of\nthe law, and his particular sentence in a special case, wills away the\nlife or property of any Englishman. The subject has been treated at length\nin the great work of Pope Benedict XIV. (A.D. 1740-1758) \"On\nBeatification,\" &c., as well as in the Decrees of Pope Urban VIII. and\nPope Clement XI.; and so sifting and careful has always been the\ninvestigation, that Alban Butler asserts, on the authority of Daubenton,\nthat an English gentleman (not a Roman Catholic) being present and seeing\nthe process of several miracles, maintained them to have been completely\nproved and perfectly incontestable, but was astonished beyond measure at\nthe scrupulosity of the scrutiny when authoritatively informed that _not\none of those which he had heard discussed_ had been allowed by the\nCongregation to have been sufficiently proved.\n\nFather Perrone, the distinguished living theologian, also asserts that\nhaving shown the formal process for certain miracles to a lawyer of some\neminence (not a Roman Catholic) who after examination was perfectly\nsatisfied with both the testimony and the reasoning, the latter declared\nthat they would certainly stand before a British jury; but was mightily\nastonished on hearing that the Congregation did not consider that evidence\nto be sufficiently convincing and conclusive.\n\nSimilar investigations have been made in England, since the Reformation,\nand this by ecclesiastical authority. For example: in the year before his\ntranslation to the see of Norwich (_i. e._ in 1640), Dr. Joseph Hall, then\nBishop of Exeter, made a strict and judicial inquiry into all the\ncircumstances of the sudden and miraculous cure of a cripple at S.\nMadron's Well, in Cornwall, and the following is the recorded conviction\nof this pious prelate:--\"The commerce which we have with the good spirits\nis not now discerned by the eye, but is, like themselves, spiritual. Yet\nnot so, but that even in bodily occasions we have many times insensible\nhelps from them; in such a manner as that by the effects we can boldly\nsay, 'Here hath been an angel, though we see him not.' Of this kind was\nthat (no less than miraculous) cure which at S. Madron's, in Cornwall, was\nwrought upon a poor cripple, John Trelille, where (besides the attestation\nof many hundreds of neighbours), I took a strict and personal examination\nin that last Visitation which I ever did or ever shall hold. This man,\nthat for sixteen years together was fain to walk upon his hands, by reason\nof the close contraction of the sinews of his legs, (upon three\nadmonitions in a dream to wash in that well) was suddenly so restored to\nhis limbs, that I saw him able to walk and get his own maintenance. I\nfound here was neither art nor collusion: the thing done, the author\ninvisible.\"[76]\n\nNow, whatever may be thought of the principles enunciated in Mr.\nLecky's[77] volumes on \"The Rise and Influence of Rationalism,\" none can\ndeny either the marvellous faculty exhibited for gathering and marshalling\nfacts; while some portions of his thoughtful reflections do but put into\nluminous language thoughts and convictions which find a cordial response\nfrom many.\n\nThe following remarkable passage is singularly true and accurate in its\nestimate of an unmistakeable historical fact, viz., that the Oxford\nmovement to a great extent left out of consideration[78] the continued\nexistence of modern miracles in the Christian Church. Mr. Lecky writes\nthus:--\"At Oxford these narratives (_i. e._ the record of patristic and\nmedi\u00e6val miracles) hardly exercised a serious attention. What little\ninfluence they had was chiefly an influence of repression; what little was\nwritten in their favour was written for the most part in the tone of an\napology, as if to attenuate a difficulty rather than to establish a creed.\nThis was surely a very remarkable characteristic of the Tractarian\nmovement, when we remember the circumstances and attainments of its\nleaders, and the great prominence which miraculous evidence had long\noccupied in England. It was especially remarkable when we reflect that one\nof the great complaints which the Tractarian party were making against\nmodern theology was, that the conception of the Supernatural had become\nfaint and dim, and that its manifestations were either explained away or\nconfined to a distant past. It would seem as if those who were most\nconscious of the character of their age were unable, in the very midst of\ntheir opposition, to free themselves from its tendencies.\"--Vol. i. pp.\n165-166.\n\nIt must be allowed that there is some amount of truth in this\ntemperately-made charge. Whatever else may have been pressed forward, and\nwith success, it is obvious that the active energy of the Supernatural has\nbeen kept somewhat in the background. At all events it has not been made\ntoo prominent. Even in books of devotion, adapted from Roman Catholic\nsources, examples of miracles have been omitted; and so the golden threads\nwhich were so rudely broken three centuries and a half ago, are still in\nthe mire; for few have cared to gather them up once more and weave them\ninto a perfect whole. That work has still to be done. Not until there be\nwhat a modern writer terms \"daring faith\"--faith which can move\nmountains--should the work be attempted.\n\nAnd now, fully alive to its imperfections, I bring my book to its close.\n\nIt has been briefly shown herein what a great influence the materialistic\nspeculations of a few bold and over-confident writers have recently\nexercised on current thought. At the same time the presence of the\nSupernatural in Church History has been made perfectly manifest, and\nabundant sources pointed out from which additional examples may readily be\ngathered for consideration by those who may desire to gather them. Side by\nside, however, with that which in the Supernatural order is good and\nbeneficial to man, energizes that which is evil. There are angels and\nthere are demons. There is light and there is darkness. Numberless armies\nof glorious spirits, as the Divine Revelation tells us,[79] stand, rank by\nrank and order by order, as the bright ornaments of the City of God. Their\nsubtlety, their quickness of penetration, their extensive knowledge of\nnatural things, are undoubtedly perfect in proportion to the excellency of\ntheir being, inasmuch as they are pure intelligences, perfect from the\nHand of their Maker. They know the concerns of mortal men.[80] They are\nour protectors, our patrons, our guides. For us they lift up their prayers\nto God, and they are near us in our trials and temptations. Their motion\nis swift as thought, their activity inconceivable. As they are the friends\nof mankind by God's decree, so specially do they become the guardians of\nthe regenerate and the particular protectors of the innocent and young.\nAnd their beneficent actions are not altogether unknown. The old records\ntell of their charity; man's experience testifies to their presence. And,\nfurthermore, for man's behoof in his time of trial, and for his eternal\nadvantage hereafter, were given those powers and properties which belong\nto the Church by the grace and efficacy of the Sacraments.\n\nYet, on the other hand, until the number of the Elect is accomplished, the\nEnemy of Souls, the Prince of the Powers of the Air, is permitted to wield\nan alarming influence; while too often the natural man, with his will\nfree, wills to remain his servant. Yea; and even the baptized, too. For by\nWitchcraft, Sorcery, and Necromancy Satan still works, men being his\ndirect agents and slaves. Sometimes in one form, sometimes in another, he\ndupes those who seek him; while his legions suggest to men's minds evil\nthoughts, paint dangerous objects to the imagination, frequently direct\nthe active current of the human heart to sin, and finally turn round and\naccuse their captives at the tribunal of God the Judge of all. So must it\nbe to the end, for this life is man's time of probation.\n\nOf Dreams and Warnings, Omens and Presentiments, much has been written.\nEach example must be considered on its own merits; for perhaps no coherent\ntheory will sufficiently cover and explain all the instances here already\nadduced.\n\nSo, too, with Spectral Appearances and Haunted Localities. While\nexperience testifies to the facts recorded, such Glimpses of the\nSupernatural may be well left to tell their own story, to leave their own\nimpression, and set forth their own teaching. To those who possess the\ngrace and habit of faith they will not seem over-strange, for as Hamlet\nremarked to his friend--\n\n  \"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio,\n   Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.\"\n\nAs I prepare to lay down my pen, I cannot but notice and put on record\nwhat amid \"the triumphs of Science,\" so frequently start up to confront\nus, viz. the sad records of calamity brought to notice, and the gloomy\nscenes of deepest misery which are yet so frequently depicted. \"Woe is\nme!\" is man's wail still. But with many the Supernatural, as we too well\nknow, is bidden to stand aside. The Catholic Religion is written of as\nantiquated, out of date, and effete. The truth of the Christian Revelation\nis openly denied. Yet may not the terrible disasters of which we hear, and\nthe miserable calamities which so constantly occur along the path of\n\"human progress\" and \"scientific triumph,\" be permitted by God Almighty as\nan intelligible and richly deserved rebuke to lofty looks and the impious\nand blasphemous thoughts of the proud?[81]\n\nMan's life in this country is certainly not longer than it was eight or\nten centuries ago. He dies as he died. Nor is the race of Englishmen\nsturdier, finer, or better grown than of old. The tombs of the Crusaders\ntell us this. Look at the stately figures of the Fitzalans in Bedale\nChurch, or at those of the Marmions in that of Tanfield, and it may be\nthat in this practical particular deterioration instead of progress should\nbe more fittingly and faithfully recorded. As is obvious enough, Science,\nwith all the boasting of its adherents, can, after all, effect but little.\nTrue it is that wonderful discoveries are made in the Realms of Nature.\nOperations untraced before, are now accurately apprehended; and secrets,\nlong hidden, are triumphantly brought to light. One might imagine from the\nrandom confidence of some (as guides more shallow than safe), that Science\nhad discovered an appliance for every human weakness, an antidote to every\nphysical evil or disease, an unfailing specific against every want and\nwoe. Yet, after all its researches and with all its supposed discoveries\n(for many may have been known and lost), never were failures so great or\nmisfortunes so heavy. The ugly iron ship of the present day, hideous in\nform and appearance, yet constructed with all the obtainable skill of\nmodern science, at an enormous sacrifice of expense, fitted with\nlife-boats and patent scientific life-preservers, divided into\ncompartments, after due calculations (on a scientific method), suddenly\ngoes down, where a fisherman of six centuries ago, in his wooden skiff,\nwould have ridden a storm securely, and becomes an iron coffin for five or\nsix hundred corpses, rotting where the seaweed grows. Again, War, with\nscientific appliances--in the invention and preparation of which the great\nnations are active rivals--marches over a great country, defended by the\nhighest military art and strength, and in a few short months reduces its\npeople to spoliation, tribute, and shame. Less than a century ago, nearly\na twenty years' struggle would have been made, ere such a sudden and\nsweeping contest could have been so securely sealed.\n\nHuman Art may do something, and Science may effect more: but how\nfrequently some little flaw or casualty defeats all! The boastings of\nScience, consequently, become vain and vapid: its works lie in the dust.\nPast ages have had their pride humbled; as Tyre and Alexandria and Babylon\ntoo eloquently tell. When God, by the insolence of intellect, is thrust\naside, He sometimes, nevertheless, mercifully but efficiently reminds men\nthat He is. When the Supernatural is deliberately denied and scornfully\nrejected, suffering may serve to open the eyes of the blind and make the\ndumb to speak. The general tendency in these days is to worship Mind,\nIntelligence, and Power, for Might, with too many, is Right. Literary\njargon setting forth this duty may be constantly read. The wisest action\nfor the truly wise is to turn away from such; for the noblest and proudest\nambition of a Christian's life should consist in being humble worshippers\nof Him the One Author of the Supernatural and the Natural, Whose only\npower is infinite, Whose knowledge and wisdom are boundless, and Whose\nabiding love and mercy are over all His works.\n\n\nAPPENDIX TO CHAPTER X.\n\nTHE CLAIMS OF SCIENCE AND FAITH.\n\nBy my friend Mr. Hawker's obliging kindness I am enabled to publish the\nfollowing remarkable Letter:--\n\n\"To Mr. S. J----, Merchant, Plymouth.\n\n\"MY DEAR NEPHEW,--You ask me 'to put into one of my nutshells' the pith\nand marrow of the controversy which at this time pervades the English mind\nas to the claims of Science and Faith. Let me try: The material\nuniverse--so the sages allege--is a vast assemblage of atoms or\nmolecules--'motes in the sunbeam' of Science, which has existed for\nmyriads of ages under a perpetual system of evolution, restructure, and\nchange. This mighty mass is traversed by the forces electrical, or\nmagnetic, or with other kindred names; and these by their incessant and\nindomitable action are adequate to account for all the phenomena of the\nworld of matter, and of man. The upheaval of a continent; the drainage of\na sea; the creation of a metal; nay, the origin of life, and the\ndevelopment of a species in plant, or animal, or man; these are the\nachievements of fixed and natural laws among the atomic materials, under\nthe vibration of the forces alone. Thus far the vaunted discoveries of\nScience are said to have arrived. Let us indulge them with the theory that\nthese results, for they are nothing more, are accurate and real. But\nstill, a thoughtful mind will venture to demand whence did these atoms\nderive their existence? and from what, and from whom, do they inherit the\npropensities wherewithal they are imbued? And tell me, most potent\nseigniors, what is the origin of these forces? And with whom resides the\nimpulse of their action and the guidance of their control? 'Nothing so\ndifficult as a beginning.' Your philosopher is mute! he has reached the\nhorizon of his domain, and to him all beyond is doubt, and uncertainty,\nand guess. We must lift the veil. We must pass into the border-land\nbetween two Worlds, and there inquire at the Oracles of Revelation\ntouching the Unseen and Spiritual powers which thrill through the mighty\nsacrament of the visible Creation. We perceive, being inspired, the realms\nof surrounding space peopled by immortal creatures of air--\n\n  'Myriads of spiritual things that walk unseen,\n   Both when we wake and when we sleep.'\n\nThese are the existences, in aspect as 'young men in white garments,' who\ninhabit the void place between the Worlds and their Maker, and their God.\nBehold the battalions of the Lord of Hosts! the Workers of the sky! the\nfaithful and intelligent Vassals of God the Trinity! We have named them in\nour own poor and meagre language 'the Angels,' but this title merely\ndenotes one of their subordinate offices--messengers from on high. The\nGentiles called them 'Gods,' but we ought to honour them by a name that\nshould embrace and interpret their lofty dignity as an intermediate army\nbetween the kingdom and the throne; the Centurions of the stars, and of\nmen; the Commanders of the forces and their Guides. These are they that,\neach with a delegated office, fulfil what their 'King invisible' decrees;\nnot with the dull, inert mechanism of fixed and natural law, but with the\nunslumbering energy and the rational obedience of spiritual life. They\nmould the atom; they wield the force; and, as Newton rightly guessed, they\nrule the World of matter beneath the silent Omnipotence of God.\n\n\"'And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of\nit reached to Heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and\ndescending on it. And behold the Lord stood above it.'--Genesis xxviii.\n12. _Tolle, Lege_, my dear nephew.\n\n  \"Your affectionate uncle,\n  \"R. S. HAWKER.\n\n\"Morwenstow Vicarage, Cornwall.\"\n\n\n\n\nGENERAL INDEX.\n\n\n  A Discerner of spirits, i. 81\n\n  Abimelech's dream, i. 210\n\n  Aerolites, i. 24\n\n  After-vision of a suicide, ii. 75\n\n  Alexander Macdonald's dream, i. 285\n\n  Amulet of the Grahams, i. 277\n\n  ---- of the Macdonald Lockharts, i. 278\n\n  Ann Thorne bewitched, i. 194\n\n  Apparition at Ballarat, ii. 61\n\n  ---- at time of death, ii. 59\n\n  ---- in the Jewel House, ii. 105\n\n  ---- near Cardiff, ii. 114\n\n  ---- of a college friend, ii. 71\n\n  ---- of a crow, ii. 131\n\n  ---- of a dying father, ii. 58\n\n  ---- of a dying lady to her children, ii. 64\n\n  ---- of a father to his son, ii. 58\n\n  ---- of a friend, ii. 60\n\n  ---- of a sister, ii. 59\n\n  ---- of a son to his mother and another, ii. 73\n\n  ---- of an officer, ii. 10\n\n  ---- of Dr. Ferrar's daughter, ii. 25\n\n  ---- of Philip Weld, ii. 51\n\n  ---- of Rev. W. Naylor, ii. 7\n\n  ---- of S. Stanislaus, ii. 51\n\n  ---- seven years after death, ii. 71\n\n  ---- to a gentleman, ii. 119\n\n  ---- to a lady and her child, ii. 113\n\n  ---- to a lady and her child, ii. 117\n\n  ---- to a sentry, and his death thereupon, ii. 108\n\n  ---- to Lord Brougham, ii. 68\n\n  ---- to Lord Chedworth, ii. 35\n\n  ---- to Mr. Andrews, ii. 41\n\n  Apparitions at Oxford, ii. 209\n\n  Arrowsmith, Trial of Rev. E., i. 91\n\n  Arrowsmith's Hand preserved, i. 95\n\n  Authentication of Lamb's cure, i. 96\n\n\n  Barony of Chedworth, ii. 34\n\n  Belief in God universal, i. 5\n\n  Benediction, The principle of, i. 90\n\n  Beresford apparition, The, ii. 11\n\n  Bird, The Spectral, ii. 128\n\n  Bisham Abbey, Ghost at, ii. 91\n\n  Bishop Joseph Hall on temporal punishment, ii. 89\n\n  Bishop Ken's hymn, ii. 82\n\n  Blessing and cursing, Power of, i. 90.\n\n  Bosworth's testimony, Mr. T., ii. 146\n\n  Bridget Bishop accused of witchcraft, i. 198\n\n  Bull of Pope Innocent VIII. against witchcraft, i. 162\n\n\n  Captain William Dyke, ii. 22\n\n  Cardan, Jerome, i. 282\n\n  Case of Annie Milner, i. 169\n\n  ---- of Martha Brossier, i. 165\n\n  Catharine Campbell accused of witchcraft, i. 197\n\n  Catholic claim to exclusive use of exorcism, i. 163\n\n  Causation, The law of, i. 3\n\n  Chamber, John, on \"Judiciall Astrologie,\" i. 200\n\n  Charles I., Omens concerning, i. 267, 271\n\n  Charles Ireland bewitched, i. 186\n\n  Chevalier's testimony concerning Spiritualism, Mr., ii. 180\n\n  \"Christ is coming\" quoted, ii. 136.\n\n  Christian Shaw bewitched, i. 197\n\n  Christian writers on the Supernatural, i. 31\n\n  Christianity, Morse on the decline of, ii. 137\n\n  Citation, Remarkable case of, i. 90\n\n  Club, The Hell-Fire, ii. 207\n\n  Colgarth, The Philipsons of, i. 90\n\n  Collins's Sermon, Rev. H., i. 135\n\n  Cometism, The Trinity of, i. 19\n\n  Constantine victorious, i. 38\n\n  Creslow, Haunted chamber at, ii. 92\n\n  Criticism upon Mr. Congreve, i. 20\n\n  Crookes, Mr. W., on Spiritualism, ii. 159, 162, 164\n\n  Cross of Constantine, The, i. 35\n\n  ---- fire seen in France in 1826, A, i. 16\n\n  Cure, Miraculous, i. 95\n\n  ---- Miraculous, by the Blessed Sacrament, i. 121, 125\n\n\n  Daimonomagia, i. 174\n\n  Dale-Owen, Mr., quoted, ii. 183, 185\n\n  Death of Captain Speer, i. 253\n\n  ---- of Rev. S. B. Drury, i. 251\n\n  De Lisle's, Miss, death, Supernatural music at, i. 135\n\n  De Lisle, Mr., on the Weld ghost story, ii. 54\n\n  ---- Mr. Edwin, on Strauss, i. 2\n\n  Demons, Belief in, ii. 212\n\n  Denial of the Supernatural, i. 1\n\n  Details of the Supernatural, i. 8\n\n  Discovery of a lost will, i. 204\n\n  Disease of witchcraft, i. 174\n\n  Double apparition at time of death, ii. 55\n\n  ---- in the West Indies, ii. 58\n\n  Dr. Lamb, the sorcerer, i. 202\n\n  Dr. Newman on ecclesiastical miracles, i. 36\n\n  Dr. Samuel Johnson on the Lyttelton story, ii. 45\n\n  Dr. William Harvey's escape from death, i. 284\n\n  Dream of a child, Warning given in the, i. 260\n\n  ---- of a dignitary realized, i. 257\n\n  ---- of a housekeeper realized, i. 240\n\n  ---- of a widow lady, i. 258\n\n  ---- of Adam Rogers, i. 219\n\n  ---- of Andrew Scott, i. 261\n\n  ---- of Mr. Matthew Talbot, i. 225\n\n  ---- of Mr. Williams of Scorrier, i. 226\n\n  ---- of the Princess Natgotsky, i. 255\n\n  ---- of the Swaffham tinker, i. 215\n\n  ---- Prognostication of death in a, i. 250\n\n  ---- Remarkable, of a clergyman, i. 247\n\n  ---- Warning given in a, i. 254\n\n  ---- Warning neglected, i. 244\n\n  Dreams and visions, i. 211\n\n  Dreams, Nature of, i. 210\n\n  ---- of James Jessop, i. 244, 245\n\n  ---- recorded in Scripture, i. 211\n\n  ---- reproduction of thoughts in, i. 215\n\n  ---- supernatural, i. 210\n\n  Dunbar's testimony, Rev. Dr., ii. 218\n\n  Dungeon at Glamis Castle, The, ii. 114\n\n\n  Early Popes martyrs, The, i. 31\n\n  Eastern form of exorcism, i. 162\n\n  Ecclesiastical miracles, i. 32\n\n  Effect of the Supernatural, i. 7\n\n  Elimination of God, The, i. 19\n\n  Elizabeth Gorham bewitched, i. 187\n\n  ---- Style accused of witchcraft, i. 177\n\n  ---- Tibbots bewitched, i. 178\n\n  ---- Treslar hung for witchcraft, i. 181\n\n  Ellinor Shaw and Mary Philips, i. 182\n\n  Emperor Julian thwarted, The, i. 42\n\n  English canon concerning exorcism, i. 164\n\n  ---- statutes against witchcraft, i. 163\n\n  \"Eternal,\" The term, i. 5\n\n  Execution of Frederick Caulfield, i. 223\n\n  ---- of Lamb's servant, i. 203\n\n  Exhumation of James Quin, i. 236\n\n  Exorcism, Power of, i. 57, 69, 82\n\n  ---- Latin form of, i. 138\n\n  ---- Oriental form of, i. 162\n\n\n  Facts of witchcraft and necromancy, i. 164\n\n  Faculty of Jerome Cardan, i. 283\n\n  Fall of aerolites, i. 25\n\n  False reasoning, i. 26\n\n  Ferrers family, Omen concerning, i. 272\n\n  Florence Newton accused of witchcraft, i. 180\n\n  Friday an unlucky day, i. 282\n\n\n  Ghost of Bisham Abbey, ii. 91\n\n  God and His creatures, i. 4\n\n  ---- The elimination of, i. 19\n\n  Guesses of Science, The, i. 14\n\n\n  Hand of Arrowsmith preserved, i. 95\n\n  Hanmer, Mr. C. L., on an apparition, ii. 60\n\n  Hannah Green's testimony, i. 242\n\n  Haunted houses and localities, ii. 82\n\n  ---- chamber at Creslow, ii. 92\n\n  ---- Glamis Castle, ii. 114\n\n  ---- house at Barby, ii. 109\n\n  ---- house at Berne, ii. 126\n\n  ---- house in Cheshire, ii. 116\n\n  ---- house in Scotland, ii. 123\n\n  ---- place at York Castle, ii. 96\n\n  ---- places, ii. 84\n\n  ---- police cell, ii. 121\n\n  ---- road near Cardiff, ii. 114\n\n  ---- room at Glamis Castle, ii. 112\n\n  ---- room in the Tower, ii. 104\n\n  ---- spot in Yorkshire, ii. 100\n\n  Hell-Fire Club, The, ii. 207\n\n  Henry Spicer's testimony, Mr., ii. 75\n\n  ---- IV. of France, Omen of death to, i. 267\n\n  Herder on Witchcraft, ii. 210\n\n  Heresies of the modern Spiritualists, ii. 185, 191\n\n  Home, Mr. Daniel, ii. 151, 153\n\n  Hospitals, Christian in their origin, i. 10\n\n  Howell, Mr. J., on Spiritualism, ii. 176, 177\n\n  Howitt, Mr. W., on eternal punishment, ii. 186, 188\n\n  Hume on miracles, i. 23\n\n\n  Increase Mather on the tests of demoniacal possession, i. 173\n\n  ---- Mather's \"Cases of Conscience,\" i. 195\n\n  Inquiries regarding Wynyard, ii. 33\n\n\n  Jane Brookes accused of witchcraft, i. 175\n\n  ---- Wenham accused of witchcraft, i. 192\n\n  Johnson, Dr. Samuel, on the Lyttelton ghost, ii. 45\n\n\n  Kostka's, S. Stanislaus, apparition, ii. 53\n\n  ---- picture at Stonyhurst, ii. 53\n\n\n  Labarum, The, i. 37\n\n  Lactantius on dreams, i. 213\n\n  Lady Betty Cobb, ii. 15\n\n  Lancashire demoniacs, The, i. 171\n\n  Lane, Mr., on Modern Necromancy, ii. 215, 217\n\n  Laud, Omens concerning Archbishop, i. 271\n\n  Law of causation, The, i. 3\n\n  Lecky, Mr. W. H. E., on the Oxford Movement, ii. 232\n\n  Legion, The Thundering, i. 34\n\n  Longdon, Mary, bewitched, i. 194\n\n  Lord Falkland, Omen concerning, i. 270\n\n  Lord Litchfield's note of a presentiment, i. 281\n\n  ---- testimony, i. 281\n\n  Lord Westcote's testimony, ii. 42\n\n  Lyttelton Ghost story, ii. 36, 42, 46\n\n\n  Macdonald's, A., case of second sight, i. 285\n\n  Macknish on dreams, i. 215\n\n  Major George Sydenham, ii. 22\n\n  Marquis de Marsay on Spirits, ii. 86\n\n  Mary of Medicis, Omen of death to, i. 267\n\n  Media, Table of Spiritual, ii. 143\n\n  Mines, Haunted, ii. 84\n\n  Ministry of Angels, ii. 82\n\n  Miracles at Rome in 1792, i. 17\n\n  ---- Bishop Hall on, ii. 230\n\n  ---- examination of at Rome, ii. 227\n\n  ---- of our Lord, i. 30\n\n  ---- of Prince Hohenlohe, i. 17\n\n  ---- wrought by the Blessed Sacrament, i. 123, 126\n\n  Miracle at Garswood, i. 96\n\n  ---- at Metz, i. 128\n\n  ---- at Typasa, i. 42\n\n  ---- under Marcus Aurelius, i. 33\n\n  Miraculous cure at Pontoise, i. 83\n\n  ---- facts, Tradition of, i. 32\n\n  ---- of Joseph Lamb, i. 95\n\n  ---- of Mary Wood, i. 114\n\n  ---- of Winifred White, i. 116\n\n  Mediumship, ii. 143\n\n  ---- Clairlative, ii. 146\n\n  ---- Clairvoyant, ii. 150\n\n  ---- Developing, ii. 148\n\n  ---- Duodynamic, ii. 148\n\n  ---- Gesticulating, ii. 144\n\n  ---- Homo-motor, ii. 147\n\n  ---- Impersonating, ii. 145\n\n  ---- Impressional, ii. 150\n\n  ---- Manipulating, ii. 145\n\n  ---- Missionary, ii. 149\n\n  ---- Motive, ii. 144\n\n  ---- Neurological, ii. 146\n\n  ---- Pantomimic, ii. 145\n\n  ---- Pictorial, ii. 148\n\n  ---- Psychologic, ii. 147\n\n  ---- Psychometric, ii. 148\n\n  ---- Pulsatory, ii. 145\n\n  ---- Speaking, ii. 150\n\n  ---- Symbolic, ii. 147\n\n  ---- Sympathetic, ii. 146\n\n  ---- Therapeutic, ii. 149\n\n  ---- Tipping, ii. 144\n\n  ---- Vibratory, ii. 144\n\n  Miss Weld's testimony, ii. 54\n\n  Modern scientific methods, i. 10\n\n  Monsignor Patterson's testimony, ii. 52\n\n  More's \"Antidote against Atheism,\" i. 173\n\n  Mr. De Lisle on Miracles, i. 15\n\n  Mr. De Lisle's testimony, ii. 54\n\n  Mr. Edwin De Lisle in reply to Strauss, i. 4\n\n  Mr. E. Lenthal Swifte's testimony, ii. 104\n\n  Mr. George Fortescue's declaration, ii. 43\n\n  Mr. Henry Cope Caulfeild's testimony, ii. 115\n\n  Mr. Herbert Spencer answered, i. 11\n\n  Mr. J. G. Godwin's declaration, ii. 68\n\n  Mr. Laxon's wife tormented, i. 189\n\n  Mr. M. P. Andrews' declaration, ii. 43\n\n  Mr. Ralph Davis on the Northampton witches, i. 182\n\n  Mr. Rutherford's declaration, i. 263\n\n  Mr. William Talbot's testimony, i. 226\n\n  Mrs. Baillie-Hamilton's testimony, ii. 66\n\n  Mrs. George Lee's testimony, i. 230\n\n  Mrs. Kempson's testimony, i. 254\n\n  Murder discovered by a dream, i. 221\n\n  ---- of Maria Martin discovered, i. 231\n\n  ---- of the crippled and imbecile, i. 9\n\n\n  Naturalistic materialism, i. 10\n\n  Nature of God, i. 6\n\n  ---- dreams, i. 210\n\n  Necromancy recognized by the fathers, i. 161\n\n  ---- in China, ii. 220\n\n  Northamptonshire witches, The, i. 182\n\n  Notions, reintroduction of Pagan, i. 13\n\n\n  Old traditions generally accepted, ii. 90\n\n  Omen concerning Archbishop Laud, i. 271\n\n  ---- concerning King Charles I., i. 268, 269, 270\n\n  ---- concerning Lord Falkland, i. 270\n\n  Omens and prognostications, i. 263\n\n  ---- The subject of, i. 263\n\n  Opinions of Strauss, i. 3\n\n  Oracles, The cessation of, i. 282\n\n  Ostrehan's, Captain, testimony, ii. 218\n\n  Oxenham omen, The, i. 273\n\n\n  Pagan notions, Reintroduction of, i. 13\n\n  Patterson's, Monsignor, information, ii. 52\n\n  Perrone, Father, on Spiritualism, ii. 184\n\n  Philipsons of Colgarth, The, i. 90\n\n  Planchette, Use of, ii. 220, 222\n\n  Plumer Ward's, Mr., account of the Lyttelton ghost, ii. 46\n\n  Plutarch on the \"Cessation of Oracles,\" i. 282\n\n  Popes martyrs, The early, i. 31\n\n  Portrait of S. Stanislaus, ii. 53\n\n  Power and malice of Satan, ii. 83\n\n  ---- of blessing and cursing, i. 90\n\n  ---- of exorcism claimed exclusively, i. 163\n\n  Presentiment of Lieutenant R----, i. 250\n\n  ---- of death, i. 262\n\n  ---- to Lady Warre's chaplain, i. 281\n\n  Principle of benediction, The, i. 88\n\n  Principles of the Broad Church party, ii. 137\n\n  Prognostication of death in a dream, i. 250\n\n  ---- of death to Captain Speer, i. 252\n\n  Prognostications and omens, i. 263\n\n  Propriety of a revelation, i. 5\n\n  Purbrick, Rev. E. J., on the Weld ghost story, ii. 54\n\n  Purport of dreams, i. 212\n\n\n  Rebuilding of the Temple, i. 42\n\n  \"Report on Spiritualism\" quoted, ii. 153\n\n  Rev. Dr. Cox's testimony, ii. 54\n\n  Rev. Dr. J. M. Neale's testimony i. 243\n\n  Rev. Edward Price on the World of Spirits, ii. 82\n\n  Rev. G. R. Winter on the Swaffham tinker, i. 215\n\n  Rev. H. N. Oxenham's testimony, i. 277\n\n  Rev. J. Richardson's testimony, i. 253\n\n  Rev. John Wesley on evil spirits, ii. 85\n\n  Rev. Joseph Jefferson's testimony, ii. 100\n\n  Rev. Mr. Perring's dream realized, i. 234\n\n  Rev. T. J. Morris's testimony, i. 240\n\n  \"Rules for the Spirit Circle\" quoted, ii. 151\n\n\n  S. Augustine on miracles, i. 30\n\n  S. Bernard on dreams, i. 214\n\n  S. Cyprian on dreams, i. 214\n\n  S. Cyril on dreams, i. 214\n\n  S. Iren\u00e6us on miracles, i. 41\n\n  S. John's College, Oxford, Founding of, i. 267\n\n  S. Pacian on miracles, i. 41\n\n  S. Thomas Aquinas on dreams, i. 214\n\n  Sacrilege discovered by a dream, i. 232\n\n  \"Sadducismus Triumphatus\" referred to, i. 199\n\n  Satan, power and malice of, ii. 83\n\n  Science and faith, Rev. R. S. Hawker on, ii. 239\n\n  Science of the Pagan oracles, i. 161\n\n  \"Scientific View of Modern Spiritualism\" quoted, ii. 143\n\n  Scott, Dream of Andrew, i. 261\n\n  Scripture on witchcraft and necromancy, i. 164\n\n  S\u00e9ance at the Marshalls', i. 203\n\n  ---- record of, from \"Spiritual Magazine,\" ii. 169\n\n  Second sight, Treatise on, i. 285\n\n  ---- at Cardiff, i. 286\n\n  ---- at Ramsbury, i. 288\n\n  ---- Jerome Cardan's gift of, i. 283\n\n  Sexton, Dr. G., on spiritualism, ii. 225\n\n  Shakespeare's conception of the supernatural, ii. 89\n\n  Singular prognostication, i. 250\n\n  Sir Christopher Heydon on astrology, i. 200\n\n  Sir George Caulfeild, i. 223\n\n  Sir Henry Chauncy trying witches, i. 193\n\n  Sir Henry Yelverton and his death, i. 95\n\n  Sir Martin Beresford, ii. 13\n\n  Sir Matthew Hale's evidence as to witchcraft, i. 163\n\n  Sir Thomas Brown's evidence against witchcraft, i. 163\n\n  Slade's, Sir Alfred, testimony, ii. 218\n\n  Somerset omen, The, i. 266\n\n  Sorcery of Dr. Lamb, i. 202\n\n  _Sortes Virgilian\u00e6_, The, i. 269, 270\n\n  Sound of a drum, The, i. 278\n\n  Southey on haunted localities, ii. 84\n\n  Spectral dog, The, i. 280\n\n  Spectre of Lady Hobby, The, ii. 91\n\n  Spedlin's Tower haunted, ii. 97\n\n  Spirits, perturbed, ii. 87\n\n  ---- World of, ii. 82\n\n  Spiritualism despised, ii. 139\n\n  ---- modern, ii. 135, 169\n\n  ---- Mr. W. Crookes on the phenomena of, ii. 159\n\n  ---- Origin of, ii. 141\n\n  Spiritualistic manifestations, i. 205;\n    ii. 151, 153, 155, 157, 160, 161, 163, 169, 173, 175, 176, 177, 178,\n        180\n\n  Statement of Lord Lyttelton's valet, ii. 45\n\n  Stigmatization, i. 98, 100, 101, 102, 105, 109\n\n  Strauss, Opinions of, i. 2\n\n  Successful exorcism by an English clergyman, i. 80\n\n  Sudden death of Ruth Pierce, i. 289\n\n  Supernatural banished, The, ii. 140\n\n  ---- basis of life, i. 12\n\n  ---- its work, i. 2\n\n  ---- noises at Abbotsford, ii. 99\n\n  ---- religion, i. 18\n\n  Surey demoniac, The, i. 177\n\n\n  Tertullian on dreams, i. 213\n\n  Testimony to the fulfilment of a solemn Curse, i. 117\n\n  The Chester-le-Street apparition, ii. 3\n\n  The Christian system, i. 26\n\n  The Lyttelton ghost story, ii. 35\n\n  The Misses Amphlett, ii. 39\n\n  The Oxenham omen, i. 274\n\n  The result of a solemn Curse, i. 117\n\n  The sound of a drum, i. 278\n\n  The spectral dog, i. 280\n\n  ---- bird, ii. 128\n\n  The use of the Sign of the Cross, ii. 4\n\n  The white bird of the Oxenhams, i. 274\n\n  Theories concerning dreams, i. 210\n\n  Thirteen to Dinner, i. 281\n\n  Thomas Aquinas on miracles, S., i. 28\n\n  Three men rescued by a dream, i. 231\n\n  Tichborne dole, The, i. 264\n\n  ---- Curse and Prophecy, The, i. 265\n\n  ---- Mabella, Lady, i. 264\n\n  ---- Sir Henry, i. 265\n\n  ---- Sir Roger, i. 264\n\n  Tinley, Dream of Samuel, i. 262\n\n  Tradition of miraculous powers, i. 32\n\n  Treatise on second sight, i. 285\n\n  Trial of Rev. E. Arrowsmith, i. 91\n\n  Trinity of Comteism, The, i. 19\n\n  Twice-repeated dream of a sailor, i. 231\n\n  Tyrone apparition, The, ii. 11\n\n\n  Unalterable experience, i. 24\n\n  Use of the Sign of the Cross, ii. 4\n\n\n  Wallace, Mr. A., on spiritualism and science, ii. 193\n\n  Wandering souls, ii. 87\n\n  Ward's account of the Lyttelton ghost, Mr., ii. 46\n\n  Warning given in a dream, i. 238, 254\n\n  ---- given to a lady by a dream, i. 242\n\n  ---- to a lady, i. 258\n\n  ---- to a little child, i. 260\n\n  ---- to two persons in dreams, i. 258\n\n  \"Weekly Register,\" The, on Mr. Wallace's theories, ii. 197\n\n  Weld ghost story, The, ii. 49\n\n  ---- Philip, drowned, ii. 50\n\n  ---- Very Rev. Alfred, S. J., on the Weld ghost story, ii. 54\n\n  Weld's, Philip, apparition, ii. 53\n\n  Westcote, Lord, on the Lyttelton ghost, i. 33\n\n  White's Dream, Sir Thomas, i. 266\n\n  Witchcraft and necromancy, i. 152\n\n  ---- and sorcery, Canon Melville on, i. 156\n\n  ---- common in non-Catholic countries, i. 201\n\n  ---- condemned in Scripture, i. 152, 155\n\n  ---- Definition of, i. 174\n\n  ---- Examples of, i. 176-201\n\n  ---- George More on, i. 171\n\n  ---- Herder on, ii. 210\n\n  ---- Jane Wenham accused of, i. 192\n\n  ---- Joseph Glanville on, i. 175\n\n  ---- recognized by the Fathers, i. 161\n\n  ---- Rev. John Wesley on, i. 160\n\n  Witches, The Northamptonshire, i. 182\n\n  \"Wonders of the Invisible World,\" i. 198\n\n  World of spirits, The, ii. 82\n\n  Wynyard ghost story, The, ii. 26\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n  CHISWICK PRESS:--PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS,\n  TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Here in Mr. Surtees' record is a remarkable example of the pious and\ndevout use of the sacred Sign of the Cross, which, having been universal\namongst all classes before the Reformation, was continued by many for long\ngenerations afterwards, and the use of which since the Catholic Revival in\nthe English Church has become common.\n\n[2] \"History of Durham,\" by Robert Surtees, Esq.: under\n\"Chester-le-Street.\" Vol. ii. pp. 147-148.\n\n[3] \"Nichols' Literary Illustrations.\" Vol. iv. p. 119, _et seq._ London,\n1822.\n\n[4] Arthur Orchard, of S. John's College, Cambridge, B.A. 1662; M.A. 1666;\nB.D. 1673.\n\n[5] \"Letters on Animal Magnetism,\" by Dr. W. Gregory, p. 487. London,\n1851.\n\n[6] A member of the noble family of Beresford thus wrote (A.D. 1873) to a\nfriend of the Editor, with reference to the above narrative:--\"The\ntradition in our family is entirely in favour of the truth of the Spectral\nAppearance, and the account which I have read, and return, is in my\nopinion a true and faithful narration of it.\"\n\n[7] The record of this came to the Editor, through a friend, from the late\nRev. W. Hastings Kelke, M.A., sometime Rector of Drayton Beauchamp, in the\ncounty of Bucks.\n\n[8] The barony of Chedworth was conferred upon John Howe, Esq., of\nChedworth, co. Gloucester, on May 12, 1741. He had two sons, John Thynne,\nthe nobleman referred to in the above account, and Henry Frederick, who in\nturn succeeded him in the title. His daughter Mary married Alexander\nWright, Esq., whose daughter Mary Wright is the lady mentioned in the\nabove narrative. Miss Wright's cousin John inherited as fourth baron, but\ndied unmarried, Oct. 29, 1804, when the peerage became extinct.\n\n[9] Another narrative of this remarkable event, which substantially\ncorresponds with those given in the text above is provided here. In\ncertain respects there are discrepancies, and just those kinds of\ndiscrepancies which might reasonably have been looked for in accounts\ndrawn up by different hands; but in the main facts, regarding which there\ncan be no reasonable doubt, there is a remarkable and notable identity in\nall the leading features: \"Two nights before, on Lord Lyttelton retiring\nto bed, after his servant was dismissed and his light extinguished, he had\nheard a noise resembling the fluttering of a dove at his chamber window.\nThis attracted his attention to the spot; when, looking in the direction\nof the sound, he saw the figure of an unhappy female whom he had seduced,\nand who, when deserted, had put a violent end to her own existence,\nstanding in the aperture of the window from which the fluttering sound had\nproceeded. The form approached the foot of the bed, the room was\npreternaturally light, the objects of the chamber were distinctly visible.\nRaising her hand and pointing to a dial which stood on the mantlepiece of\nthe chimney, the figure, with a severe solemnity of voice and manner,\nanswered to the appalled and conscience-stricken man that at that very\nhour, on the third day after the visitation, his life and his sins would\nbe concluded, and nothing but their punishment remain, if he availed\nhimself not of the warning to repentance which he had thus received. The\neye of Lord Lyttelton glanced upon the dial; the hand was on the stroke of\ntwelve: again the apartment was involved in total darkness--the warning\nspirit disappeared, and bore away at her departure all the lightness of\nheart and buoyancy of spirit, ready flow of wit, and vivacity of manner,\nwhich had formerly been the pride and ornament of the unhappy being to\nwhom she had delivered her tremendous summons. Such was the tale that Lord\nLyttelton delivered to his companions. They laughed at his superstition,\nand endeavoured to convince him that his mind must have been impressed\nwith this idea by some dream of a more consistent nature than dreams\ngenerally are, and that he had mistaken the visions of his sleep for the\nvisitation of a spirit. He was consoled, but not convinced; he felt\nrelieved by their distrust, and on the second night after the appearance\nof the spectre, he retreated to his apartment with his faith in the\nreality of the transaction somewhat shaken; and his spirits, though not\nrevived, certainly lightened of somewhat of their oppression. On the\nsucceeding day the guests of Lord Lyttelton, with the connivance of his\nattendant, had provided that the clocks throughout the house should be\nadvanced an hour; by occupying the host's attention during the whole day\nwith different and successive objects of amusement, they contributed to\nprevent his discovering the imposture. Ten o'clock struck: the nobleman\nwas silent and depressed. Eleven struck, the depression deepened, and now\nnot even a smile, or the slightest movement of his eye indicated him to be\nconscious of the efforts of his associates, as they attempted to dispel\nhis gloom. Twelve struck. 'Thank God! I am safe,' exclaimed Lord\nLyttelton, 'the ghost was a liar after all. Some wine, there. Congratulate\nme, my friends; congratulate me on my reprieve. Why, what a fool I was to\nbe cast down by so idle and absurd a circumstance! But, however, it is\ntime for bed. We'll be up early and out with the hounds to-morrow. By my\nfaith, it's half-past twelve, so good night!' and he returned to his\nchamber convinced of his security, and believing that the threatened hour\nof peril was now past. His guests remained together to await the\ncompletion of the time so ominously designated by the vision. A quarter of\nan hour had elapsed: they heard the valet descend from his master's room.\nIt was just twelve. Lord Lyttelton's bell rang violently. The company ran\nin a body to his apartment. The clock struck one at their entrance, the\nunhappy nobleman lay extended on the bed before them, pale and lifeless,\nand his countenance terribly convulsed.\"\n\nIn his \"Memoirs,\" Sir Nathaniel Wraxall has the following relating to this\noccurrence:--\n\n\"Dining at Pitt Place, about four years after the death of Lord Lyttelton,\nin the year 1783, I had the curiosity to visit the bed-chamber, where the\ncasement window, at which Lord Lyttelton asserted the dove appeared to\nflutter, was pointed out to me; and at his stepmother's, the Dowager Lady\nLyttelton's in Portugal Street, Grosvenor Square, who being a woman of\nvery lively imagination, lent an implicit faith to all the supernatural\nfacts which were supposed to have accompanied or produced Lord Lyttelton's\nend. I have frequently seen a painting which she herself executed in 1780,\nespecially to commemorate the event: it hung in a conspicuous part of her\ndrawing-room. There the dove appears at the window, while a female figure,\nhabited in white, stands at the foot of the bed, announcing to Lord\nLyttelton his dissolution. Every part of the picture was faithfully\ndesigned after the description given to her by the valet-de-chambre who\nattended him, to whom his master related all the circumstances.\"\n\n[10] Copied from a paper in the autograph of Lord Westcote, entitled\n\"Remarkable Circumstances attending the Death of Thomas, Lord Lyttelton,\"\nwhich the present Lord Lyttelton most courteously entrusted to the Editor\nof this volume, together with several other original documents relating to\nthe same, as follows:--1. Extract from Mr. Plumer Ward's \"Illustrations of\nHuman Life,\" vol. i. p. 165. 2. Written account given by Sir Digby Neave,\nbart., to Lord Lyttelton in 1860. 3. MS. containing Mr. George Fortescue's\ntestimony, signed S. L. 4. The following declaration:--\"Chiswick, May 6th,\n1867. Miles Peter Andrews told me the story of Lord Lyttelton's appearance\nto him, driving with me at Wingerworth, many years ago.--Anna Hunloke.\"\n\n[11] Lord Lyttelton's valet made the following statement:--\"That Lord\nLyttelton made his usual preparations for bed; that he kept every now and\nthen looking for his watch; that when he got into bed, he ordered his\ncurtains to be closed at the foot. It was now within a minute or two of\ntwelve by his watch; he asked to look at mine, and seemed pleased to find\nit nearly keep time with his own. His lordship then put them both to his\near, to satisfy himself if they went. When it was more than a quarter\nafter twelve by our watches, he said, 'This mysterious lady is not a true\nprophetess, I find.' When it was near the real hour of twelve, he said,\n'Come, I'll wait no longer; get me my medicine, I'll take it, and try to\nsleep.' I just stepped into the dressing-room to prepare the physic, and\nhad mixed it, when I thought I heard my lord breathing very hard. I ran to\nhim, and found him in the agonies of death.\"--\"Gentleman's Magazine,\" vol.\nlxxxv. part i. p. 598, A.D. 1815.\n\n[12] In Boswell's \"Life of Samuel Johnson\" (vol. iv. p. 313) the Doctor is\nrecorded to have said, \"It is the most extraordinary occurrence in my\ndays. I heard it from Lord Westcote, his uncle. I am so glad to have\nevidence of the spiritual world, that I am willing to believe it.\"\n\n[13] \"James Weld, Esq., seventh son of Thomas Weld, Esq., of Lulworth\nCastle, was born April 30, 1785, married July 15, 1812, the Hon. Juliana\nAnne, daughter of Robert Edward, tenth Lord Petre, and has had issue, 1.\nHenry, 2. Francis, a priest, 3. _Philip_, died 1846; 1. Anna Maria, 2.\nKatharine, 3. Agnes, a nun, 4. Charlotte.\"--See Burke's \"Landed Gentry,\"\nvol. ii. art. \"Weld of Lulworth Castle.\"\n\n[14] The Right Rev. Monsignor Patterson, the present President of S.\nEdmund's college (A.D. 1872), kindly informs me that there is a memorial\nbrass in front of the sanctuary of the chapel of that society, on which is\nfigured a floriated cross, rising out of waves, with a label appended to\nit,--\"Lord save me.\"\n\n[15] S. Stanislaus Kostka was born on Oct. 28, 1550, his parents being\nJohn and Margaret Kostka, Polish nobles of wealth and repute. Miraculous\nsigns foreshadowed his birth; and the holiness and purity of his early\nyears betokened in a marked manner the favour of God towards this child.\nIn his fourteenth year he went to Vienna to finish his studies at the\nJesuit college. Here, his saintliness was so manifested forth by his\nconduct, that the Fathers said, \"We have in our seminary an angel under\nthe form of Stanislaus.\" Many miraculous favours are said to have been\nbestowed upon him by the hands of saints and angels, too numerous and\nlengthy to be recorded. He commenced his noviciate in the Jesuit college\nat Rome; where, after a short but edifying sojourn, he joyfully departed\nthis life, aged 18 years, on the morning of August 15, 1568.\n\n[16] Mr. de Lisle, of Garendon Park, Leicestershire, in communicating to\nme the above narrative, writes as follows:--\"I send you my account of the\napparition of Philip Weld, according to my promise. I received it back\nthis morning (July 17, 1872) from the Benedictine Convent at Athenstone,\nin Warwickshire, where my daughter Gwendoline is a nun, and where one of\nthe Miss Welds, a cousin of Philip, is also a nun. She approves the\naccuracy of my account, and has added a paper with a few notes, which I\ninclose along with my own article, and from which you can correct mine so\nfar as needed. I add here my affirmation that the above recorded narrative\nis a true and faithful account of what the Very Rev. Dr. Cox, then\nPresident of S. Edmund's College, related to me and to Mrs. de Lisle in\nFebruary, 1847.\" The Editor is also greatly indebted to the Very Rev.\nAlfred Weld, S.J., for his courteous Letters upon the subject of the above\nnarrative, as likewise to the Rev. E. J. Purbrick, S.J.\n\n[17] \"Letters on Animal Magnetism,\" by Dr. W. Gregory, pp. 448-489.\nLondon, 1851.\n\n[18] \"The Apparition or Spectral Appearance of my friend's father to him\nin the West Indies--the old gentleman having died in England, and the fact\nof two officers having seen it simultaneously, shows that it could not\nhave been the result of their imagination, but that it was an objective\nappearance; in fact, the dead man's immortal spirit, indicating to one\nonce bound by Nature's ties to the living witness of it, that the\nseparation of soul and body had taken place. It is firmly believed by the\nfamily, who, however, all shrink from making their names public. So, my\ndear doctor, you must be content with this.\"--E. M. C., Cambridge, July\n15, 1873.\n\n[19] \"The narrative of the spectral appearance of a lady at Torquay,\nforwarded to Dr. F. G. Lee at his special request, is copied from, and\ncompared with that in, the family Bible of H. A. T. Baillie-Hamilton by\nthe undersigned,\n\n  \"C. Margaret Balfour,\n   Mary Baillie-Hamilton.\n   Witness, J. R. Grant.\n\n  \"Princes Street, Edinburgh,\n   October 7, 1871.\"\n\n[20] \"The above is a correct and truthful statement.\n\n  \"Witness my hand and seal.\n   John Gill Godwin.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n  \"76, Warwick Street,\n   South Belgravia, Nov. 6, 1874.\"\n\n[21] Special enquiry, made since the above was penned, shows conclusively\nthat this appearance was seen exactly seven years after the date of\ndeath.--Editor.\n\n[22] The Editor is in no degree concerned with Paganism or Pagan\nsuperstitions, nor has he gathered pr\u00e6-Christian examples. Yet such will\nhave been numerous to the ordinary student of classical history. The\nHaunted House of Damon, mentioned by Plutarch, will be familiar to many.\n\n[23] The following is the original of a most beautiful verse in Bishop\nKen's well-known \"Evening Hymn,\" either mutilated in the worst of taste in\nmost hymn-books, or else altogether eliminated and suppressed:--\n\n  \"You, my best guardian, while I sleep\n   Close to my bed your vigils keep;\n   Your love angelical instil,\n   Stop all the avenues of ill.\"\n\n[24] \"What do we know of the World of Spirits? Little or nothing, beyond\nwhat Faith and Revelation afford. Still we know that they surround us;\nthat they hover over us; that they accompany us whithersoever we go; and\nthat even in the innermost tabernacle of the soul they penetrate and have\ntheir being. Good spirits and bad are around us; good spirits to aid us,\nto waft our lame and imperfect prayers to heaven, and to protect us in the\nhour of temptation or peril. 'He shall give His angels charge over thee,\nlest thou dash thy foot against a stone.' Bad angels, too, are around us\nand against us, percolating through every avenue of the soul, inflaming\nthe imagination, warping the judgment, tainting the will, and too often,\nalas! perverting it to perdition. Bad angels are around us, even within\nthe protecting sanctuary of God's Church, when summoned, permitted there\nby the subdued and corrupted will of man. Bad angels are around us in\nevery walk and rank and condition and event of life: we see them not, but\nthey hover over us and around us, and they penetrate within the mysterious\nprecincts of the soul, by many a foul and unholy thought, by many an evil\nsuggestion to sin. And they triumph, and they gibber in their unholy glee\nwhenever they tempt and prevail. They triumph, and they laugh the\ninsulting laugh whenever they steep to the lips in sin an unhappy mortal,\nand fasten upon him the mocking thought and determination of a deathbed\nrepentance. That is their battle ground, the battle ground of victory. The\nstandard of deceit is then triumphant: the captive is delivered bound into\ntheir hands to do with as they list, to be tormented according to the\nrefinement of their infernal pleasure. 'He shall be delivered unto the\ntormentors.'\"--Rev. Edward Price.\n\n[25] This belief prevails extensively in Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland.\n\n[26] The souls of the dead, or spirits of some sort, are constantly heard\nand not unfrequently seen in mines. A Shropshire miner informed the Editor\nthat, of his own knowledge, he had heard supernatural sounds of moanings\nand mutterings underground, and had seemed to _feel_ the passing spirits\nas they swept by. On one occasion, after the violent and sudden death of a\ncomrade, the noises were unusually loud; while the horses employed\nunderground would stand trembling and covered with perspiration whenever\nthe spirits were heard.\n\n[27] \"The Life of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., by Robert Southey, Esq.,\"\nvol. ii. p. 370. London: 1858.\n\n[28] In many places on the continent, especially in France and Spain, it\nwas the custom to pray for departed souls, suffering (as their needful\npurification was incompleted) _in any particular locality_. Dr. Neale\ngives an example of this, occurring in a prayer which he saw printed and\nhung up in a church at Braganza in Spain, which ran thus:--\"We pray,\nlikewise, for the souls which are suffering in any place by the particular\nchastisement of God.\" And the following is translated from a French\nPrayer-Book of the last century:--\"Have mercy, O Lord God, good and\npitiful, on the souls of those who are being chastised for their\ntransgressions in the flesh, in those places where Thou willest them to\nsuffer;\" an evident reference in both cases to troubled spirits which\nhaunt definite spots.\n\n[29] When the tone of thought in Shakspeare's day is compared with that in\nour own, the contrast between the accurate and explicit religious\nstatements regarding the Supernatural, with the shallow and cynical\nscepticism of modern writers, can hardly be put down to the credit of the\nModern. At all events those who claim to range themselves on the side of\nthe Ancient and the True may be permitted to do so. Nothing could more\nforcibly set forth the current belief of the sixteenth century than the\nfollowing well-known utterance of the Ghost in \"Hamlet\":--\n\n                  \"I am thy Father's spirit;\n  Doom'd for a certain time to walk the night,\n  And for the day confined to fast in fires,\n  Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature\n  Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid\n  To tell the secrets of my prison-house,\n  I could a tale unfold whose lightest word\n  Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,\n  Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,\n  Thy knotted and combined locks to part,\n  And each particular hair to stand on end,\n  Like quills upon the fretful porcupine:\n  But this eternal blazon must not be\n  To ears of flesh and blood.\"\n                          \"Hamlet,\" pp. 22-23. Oxford: 1873.\n\n[30] The Editor is indebted to the late Revs. W. Hastings Kelke and H.\nRoundell of Buckingham, for the above curious example. It was intended to\nhave been published some years ago in \"The Records of Bucks.\"\n\n[31] For an accurate account by the late Rev. W. Hastings Kelke of this\ncurious and interesting old mansion, the property of Lord Clifford of\nChudleigh, see \"The Records of Bucks,\" vol. i. pp. 255-267. Aylesbury,\n1858.\n\n[32] \"Memoirs of Sir John Reresby,\" p. 238.\n\n[33] The Rev. Joseph Jefferson, M.A., Vicar of North Stainley, near Ripon,\nwho sent me the above--unaltered, and printed just as it was written--on\nthe 2nd of June, 1873.\n\n[34] \"Notes and Queries,\" vol. x. second series, Sept. 8, 1860, pp.\n192-193, and Sept. 22, 1860, p. 236.\n\n[35] Barby is a parish in the Hundred of Fawsley, in the county of\nNorthampton, a little more than five miles from Daventry. It contains\nbetween six and seven hundred inhabitants.\n\n[36] \"Your account, as about to be printed, is _true and exact_, as to all\nthe facts of the haunted house at ----, which came within my own personal\nknowledge. Don't mention names, or we shall perhaps be damaging the\nproperty, and lay ourselves open to an action at law. I may add that the\nlate Bishop of Chester [Dr. Graham] is said to have furnished a mutual\nfriend, the late Master of Trinity, with similar accounts, which had taken\nplace before I knew the place, verifying to an A B C the old and, no\ndoubt, perfectly true tradition. It is strange enough I know, _but it is\ntrue_.--Yours, &c., H. S. B., November, 1874.\"\n\n[37] The wife of the clergyman above alluded to, wrote to the Editor as\nfollows:--\"Having read the account which you contemplate publishing, I can\ntestify of my own personal knowledge that it is _neither understated nor\nexaggerated, but is in all its details strictly true and accurate_.--June,\n1874.\"\n\n[38] Miss S. F. Caulfeild, author of \"Avenele,\" \"Desmond,\" &c.\n\n[39] It seems that other places are reported to be haunted by appearances\nof Birds. A correspondent informs the Editor that this is the case with an\nold House in Dorsetshire, not far from Poole, where a wingless bird is\nsometimes seen. The same is said of a mansion in Essex, as another\ncorrespondent declares. In one room in an old house in Dean Street, Soho,\nlikewise, several persons have seen a large raven, three times the size of\nan ordinary raven, perched on the tester of the old-fashioned bed. The\ninmates of the house, in 1854, whose family had had the lease for eighty\nyears, are said to have been so accustomed to seeing it (though they knew\nit to be spectral) that they were undisturbed by its frequent appearance.\nDr. Neale's story as follows (not unlike the examples already given), is\nvery singular. Regarding it he wrote:--\"_It comes to me with a weight of\nevidence, which, strange as is the tale, I cannot disbelieve_. Three\nfriends, not very much distinguished by piety, had been dining together at\nthe residence of one of them in Norfolk. After dinner they went out and\nstrolled through the churchyard. 'Well,' said a clergyman, one of the\nthree, 'I wonder, after all, if there is any future state or not?' They\nagreed that whichever died first should appear to the others and inform\nthem. 'In what shape shall it be?' asked one of the friends. At that\nmoment a flight of crows arose from a neighbouring field. 'A crow is as\ngood a shape as any other,' said the clergyman; 'if I should be the first\nto die, I will appear in that.' He _did_ die first; and some time after\nhis death, the other two had been dining together, and were walking in the\ngarden afterwards. A crow settled on the head of one of them, stuck there\npertinaciously, and could only be torn off by main force. And when this\ngentleman's carriage came to take him home, the crow perched on it, and\naccompanied him back.\"\n\n[40] \"Strange Things Amongst Us.\" By Henry Spicer. 2nd ed., pp. 100-102.\nLondon: Chapman & Hall, 1864.\n\n[41] The following is taken from a small volume which has been\ngratuitously circulated very widely amongst the clergy and laity. It bears\na Christian title, but is altogether anti-Christian from end to end:--\n\n\"The unwise, idolatrous, early Christian priests, in their admiration of\nChrist, exalted him in their imagination to be God Himself, forgetting the\nCreator God, and exalting in their foolish imagination his Blessed Mother\nas the Mother of God--folly that has been widely perpetuated down to these\ndays. Oh, foolish churches, how great has been your folly, how widely you\nhave departed from the truth; therefore how little you have been able to\ncope with the wicked heart of man!\n\n\"In like manner as the Israelites, from the crucifixion down to these\ndays, have erred in disbelieving the Messiah-ship of Christ, so the\nspurious churches have, during many ages, exalted Christ in their\nimagination to be God. The Israelites and the spurious churches being\nequal in their great error--the one refusing to acknowledge him as the\nlong-promised Messiah, the other exalting him in their imagination as\nbeing the Messiah, the Holy Ghost, and God the Creator also; the\nIsraelites refusing to give any glory to Christ, the spurious churches\nmadly rushing, in their ancient antagonism towards the Jews, to the\nopposite extreme, by robbing, in their imagination, God the Creator of His\nGlory, and giving all glory to the Messiah, to the great grief of the\nMessiah.\n\n\"Now clearly understand, oh ye nations of the whole world! it was not God\nwho was born out of the Virgin Mary, and who was crucified, but the before\nholy angel Christ--understand this, and the Holy Scriptures will be plain\nto your comprehension--Christians have erred greatly during so many\ngenerations, in like manner as the followers of Mahomet and of Buddah have\nerred--errors that were carelessly accepted by powerful rulers, evil and\nignorant, and forced upon the priests and the people, generation after\ngeneration. The time is at hand, even knocking at the door, when your\nunderstanding shall be made clear, and neither the professing followers of\nChrist, nor of Buddah, nor of Mahomet, nor the unwise of other sects, will\ncontinue in their many errors.\"--\"Christ is Coming,\" pp. 135-6.\n\n\"Yet to-day, if one dare question the value of Christianity, what a howl\nis raised from one end of Christendom to the other! We say so advisedly,\nfor it is the howl of fear.... Though Christianity to-day declines and is\nlosing power and vigour, yet in its day it hath done great and glorious\ngood in the work of human redemption. It was an advance upon the religions\nwhich preceded it.\"--\"What of the Dead? An Address by Mr. J. J. Morse, in\nthe Trance State,\" p. 5. London: J. Burns. 1873.\n\n[42] 2 St. Peter iii. 3, 4.\n\n[43] \"A Scientific View of Modern Spiritualism: a Paper read by Mr. T.\nGrant to the Maidstone and Mid-Kent Natural History and Philosophical\nSociety on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 1872.\" London: J. Burns.\n\n[44] A remarkable example of this has been courteously given to me by Mr.\nThomas Bosworth, of 198, High Holborn, as follows:--\"Some seven or eight\nyears ago there appeared in one of the newspapers a story to the following\neffect:--A commercial firm at Bolton, in Lancashire, had found that a\nconsiderable sum of money which had been sent to their bank by a\nconfidential clerk, had not been placed to their credit. The clerk\nremembered the fact of taking the money, though not the particulars, but\nat the bank nothing was known of it. The clerk, feeling that he was liable\nto suspicion in the matter, and anxious to elucidate it, sought the help\nof spirit medium. The medium promised to do her best. Having heard the\nstory, she presently passed into a kind of trance. Shortly after she said,\n'I see you on your way to the bank--I see you go into the bank--I see you\ngo to such and such part of the bank--I see you hand some papers to a\nclerk--I see him put them in such and such a place under some other\npapers--and I see them there now.' The clerk went to the bank, directed\nthe cashier where to look for the money, and it was found; the cashier\nafterwards remembering that in the hurry of business he had there\ndeposited it. A relation of mine saw this story in a newspaper at the\ntime, and wrote to the firm in question, the name of which was given,\nasking whether the facts were as stated. He was told in reply that they\nwere. That gentleman who was applied to, having corrected one or two\nunimportant details in the above narration, wrote on November 9,\n1874:--'Your account is a correct one. I have the answer of the firm to my\nenquiry at home now.'\"\n\n[45] The term \"willer\" and \"necromancer\" are used as identical by Easterns\nas well as by the aborigines of New Zealand.\n\n[46] There have been published \"Rules to be Observed for the Spirit\nCircle,\" \"framed under the Direction and Impression of Spirits,\" by Emma\nHardinge, from which the following points are gathered. Firstly, there is\na definition, and it is stated that \"the Spirit Circle is the assembling\ntogether of a given number of persons for the purpose of seeking communion\nwith the spirits who have passed away from Earth into the higher world of\nsouls.\" A leading direction enjoins the inquiring votaries to \"_Avoid\nstrong_ light, which by producing excessive motion in the atmosphere,\ndisturbs the manifestations. A very subdued light is the most favourable\nfor any manifestations of a magnetic character, especially for spiritual\nmagnetism.\" \"Strongly positive persons of any kind\" and \"the dogmatical\"\nshould not be admitted. Furthermore, these \"Rules\" contain the\nfollowing:--\n\n\"Spirit control is often deficient, and at first almost always imperfect.\n_By often yielding to it, your organism becomes more flexible and the\nspirit more experienced_; and practice in control is absolutely necessary\nfor spirits as well as mortals. _If dark and evil-disposed spirits\nmanifest to you, never drive them away_, but always strive to elevate them\nand treat them as you would mortals under similar circumstances. Do not\nalways attribute falsehoods to 'lying spirits,' or deceiving mediums. Many\nmistakes occur in the communion of which you cannot always be aware.\n_Strive for Truth_, but rebuke Error gently, and do not always attribute\nit to design, but rather to mistake, in so difficult and experimental a\nstage of the communion as mortals at present enjoy with spirits.\"\n\n[47] The kind of communication made to those who first consult the\nspirits, is just of that nature calculated to allure the superficial, the\nfrivolous, the uninformed, triflers, and seekers after novelties; and to\nlead them on to a more frequent intercourse and a deeper kind of\ncommunion.\n\n[48] Dr. J. G. Davey, M.D., of Northwoods, Bristol, writes as follows:--\"I\nhave satisfied myself not only of the mere abstract truth of Spiritualism,\nbut of its great and marvellous power for good, both on moral and\nreligious grounds. The direct and positive communications vouchsafed to me\nfrom very many near and dear relatives and friends, said to be dead, have\nbeen of the most pleasing yet startling character.\"--_Report on\nSpiritualism_, p. 232. London: Longmans, 1871.\n\n[49] This person, whose name was most accurately given, had died five days\npreviously. He was a servant on the estate, and had belonged to the sect\nof the Anabaptists.\n\n[50] \"Notes of an Enquiry into the Phenomena called Spiritualism, during\nthe years 1870-73.\" By William Crookes, F.R.S.\n\n[51] \"The reader who has not been in the habit of attending _s\u00e9ances_\nshould be informed that the peculiar phraseology of some of the questions\nis rendered necessary by the fact that if you ask the spirits, 'Where did\n_you_ die?' or 'Where were _you_ buried?' they will sometimes tell you\nthat it was not _they_ who died and were buried, but merely the external\nshell or material covering of the real man.\"--Note by the Editor of the\n\"Spiritual Magazine.\"\n\n[52] \"There is scarcely a city or a considerable town in Continental\nEurope, at the present moment, where Spiritualists are not reckoned by\nhundreds if not by thousands; where regularly established communities do\nnot habitually meet for spiritual purposes: and they reckon among them\nindividuals of every class and avocation.\"--\"Scepticism and Spiritualism.\"\nIn a letter to the \"Spiritual Magazine,\" dated May 4th, 1867, Judge\nEdmunds, of America, estimated the number of Spiritualists in the United\nStates at ten millions. \"In London, ten years ago,\" writes Mr. R. Dale\nOwen, \"there was but a single Spiritual paper; to-day there are\nfive.\"--\"The Debatable Land,\" p. 175. London: Tr\u00fcbner, 1871.\n\n[53] The Rev. John Edwards, jun., M.A., Vicar of Prestbury, near\nCheltenham.\n\n[54] \"We do not, either by faith or works, _earn_ Heaven, nor are we\nsentenced, on any Day of Wrath, to Hell. In the next world we simply\ngravitate to the position for which, by life on earth, we have fitted\nourselves; and we occupy that position _because_ we are fitted for\nit.\"--\"The Debatable Land,\" by R. Dale Owen, p. 125. London, 1871.\n\n[55] Howitt's \"What Spiritualism has Taught,\" p. 8.\n\n[56] Howitt's \"What Spiritualism has Taught,\" p. 10.\n\n[57] \"Spiritualism is avowedly opposed to the Christian Religion. 'The\nCreed of the spirits' is published in the shape of a little tract, one of\nthose called 'Seed Corn,' which active agents love to distribute\ngratuitously wherever readers can be found, and these are its clauses: 'I\nbelieve in God'--'I believe in the immortality of the human soul'--'I\nbelieve in right and wrong'--'I believe in the communion of spirits as\nministering angels.' Nothing more. Those well-intending persons,\ntherefore--and we believe that among Protestants there are many--who go to\n_s\u00e9ances_ out of curiosity, and who are sometimes heard to say that if\nSpiritualism be true it must therefore be right, should be warned that\nthey are lending countenance to persons in whose writings the doctrines of\nthe Trinity and the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ are emphatically\ndenied--the Holy Ghost scoffed at in words too blasphemous for repetition,\nour Blessed Lady insulted, and the whole fabric of Religion attacked and\nundermined; and whether this is done by spirits who actually manifest\nthemselves for the purpose of leading people astray, or by impostors who\nwork upon the credulity of their audience, the thing can have but one\norigin, and that is the same as that of any other work by which the\nArch-enemy seeks to close the heart of man against the True Faith. It is\ntime therefore to use other weapons than that of ridicule against the\nbaneful and, we fear, widely increasing delusion.\"--\"Tablet,\" September 6,\n1873.\n\n[58] Collect for the Feast of S. Michael and All Angels, \"Book of Common\nPrayer.\"\n\n[59] \"The soul has a kind of body of a quality of its own.\"--Tertull.\ncont. Marc. lib. v. cap. xv.\n\n[60] This account is current, with slender and unimportant variations, at\nOxford; or at all events _was_ current in my days there (A.D. 1850-1854),\nand on what could not be regarded as other than good authority. One\nversion is already in print--that given by Mr. William Maskell, at pp.\n108-112 of his curious and interesting book, \"Odds and Ends,\" London,\n1872. He seems to imply that it was the late Archdeacon of Cleveland, the\nVen. Edward Churton, who saw the spectral apparitions in Brasenose Lane;\nbut the Archdeacon belonged to Christ Church, and, as his son, the Rev. W.\nR. Churton, of Cambridge, informs me, was not resident at Oxford at the\ntime of the occurrence. More probably it was the Archdeacon's brother, the\nRev. T. T. Churton, sometime Fellow of Brasenose.\n\n[61] As to the universality of the belief in Witchcraft, the reader may\nconsult Herder's \"Philosophy of History,\" bk. viii. ch. 2. And as regards\nthe convictions of some of the leading minds of Europe in times past on\nthe subject, Mr. Leckey in his \"History of Rationalism\" (vol. i. p. 66),\nmakes the following candid admission: \"It is, I think, impossible to deny\nthat the books in defence of the belief are not only far more numerous\nthan the later works against it, but that they also represent far more\nlearning, dialectic skill, and even general ability. For many centuries\nthe ablest men were not merely unwilling to repudiate the superstition;\nthey often pressed forward earnestly and with the most intense conviction\nto defend it. Indeed, during the period when Witchcraft was most prevalent\nthere were few writers of real eminence who did not, on some occasion,\ntake especial pains to throw the weight of their authority into the scale.\nThomas Aquinas was probably the ablest writer of the thirteenth century,\nand he assures us that diseases and tempests are often the direct acts of\nthe devil; that the devil can transport men at his pleasure through the\nair; and that he can transform them into any shape. Gerson, the Chancellor\nof the University of Paris, and, as many think, the author of 'The\nImitation,' is justly regarded as one of the master intellects of his age;\nand he, too, wrote in defence of the belief. Bodin was unquestionably the\nmost original political philosopher who had arisen since Machiavelli, and\nhe devoted all his learning and acuteness to crushing the rising\nscepticism 'on the subject of witches.'\"\n\n[62] 1 S. Peter v. 8.\n\n[63] Acts xvi. 16-18.\n\n[64] Apologia, cap. v. De Civit. Dei, lib. xv. cap. xxiii.\n\n[65] 1 Cor. xi. 10.\n\n[66] Ibid. xi. 15.\n\n[67] Luther, following the current tradition of his day, believed that the\nDevil could beget children on the bodies of women; and declared that he\nhimself had personally come across, and was well acquainted with, one of\nthe Devil's offspring. So too did Erasmus believe the fact of such\ngeneration. It is a tradition in the Catholic Church, that the last and\ngreat Antichrist--the final Antichrist--may be born of such an alliance.\nOf course Mahomet was _a_ great Antichrist; for though he borrowed certain\nChristian features and adopted many Jewish notions and Rabbinical\ntraditions in his system, yet he plainly and undoubtedly fulfilled the\nprophetic statement of S. John the Divine--\"_He is Antichrist, who denieth\nthe Father and the Son_.\" (1 S. John ii. 22.) Mahomet's great and leading\nheresy is expressed in the following dogmatic assertion of the Koran:\n\"_God neither begetteth nor is begotten_.\" Now no system has more\npertinaciously, successfully, and for so long a time opposed Christianity\nthan Mahometanism--not even Arianism. But modern \"Liberalism,\" so called,\nas still developing amongst ancient Christian nations, promises even to\noutstrip the system of Mahomet, and to be as blighting and baneful in its\nresults.\n\n[68] \"An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians.\" By\nE. W. Lane. 5th edition. London: 1860.\n\n[69] See the whole of this chapter, which is full of information and\ninterest. It gives a record of several other similar examples.\n\n[70] In No. 117 of the \"Quarterly Review,\" there is a criticism on Mr.\nLane's account of these necromancers; but the facts recorded by him are\nneither satisfactorily accounted for nor successfully explained away.\n\n[71] My brother-in-law, Captain Ostrehan, of the Bombay Staff Corps, Sir\nAlfred Slade, Bart., and the Rev. Dr. Dunbar, chaplain to Bishop\nClaughton, have furnished me with remarkable examples of the power of\nOriental necromancers.\n\n[72] Nevins' \"China and the Chinese,\" p. 167. New York, 1868.\n\n[73] \"Theory of Pneumatology,\" by J. H. Jung-Stilling, pp. 136-137.\nLondon: Longmans, 1834.\n\n[74] Dr. Sexton in his \"Defence of Modern Spiritualism\" (London: J.\nBurns), a tractate written with ability and frankness, remarks that \"it is\ntoo late in the day to sneer at this matter with a sort of\nself-complacency, which seems to say, 'You are a poor deluded creature:\nbehold my superior wisdom; I don't believe in such nonsense.' Here are the\nfacts, and we demand in the true spirit of Science to know what is to be\ndone with them. If you have any theory by which they can be explained, let\nus hear it, in order that we may judge of its merits; if you have not, we\nare all the more justified in clinging to our own.\" And, again, referring\nto the inquiries of a certain Dr. Hare in America, he writes:--\"The\nquestion with Dr. Hare was--Did the phenomena occur, and, if so, were they\nproduced by the direct action of those persons in whose presence they took\nplace? The nonsensical notions mooted by unscientific opponents, and which\nare still urged with as much gravity as though they had been made the\nsubject of mathematical demonstration, that electricity, magnetism, odic,\nor psychic forces are the agents by which the manifestations are produced,\nhe knew well enough could not bear a moment's investigation. Electricity\ncannot move tables, nor in fact act at all without cumbrous apparatus.\nMagnetism cannot give intelligent responses to questions, and odic force\nand its twin brother psychic are probably as imaginary as the\nphilosopher's stone; and even if their existence could be proved beyond\nthe shadow of a doubt, they could not in the slightest degree help us to\nthe solution of the great problem of the cause of the phenomena designated\nSpiritual.\"\n\n[75] A thoughtful writer, and one who is evidently far-seeing and awake to\nthe danger, recently made the following pertinent remarks in the _Church\nReview_:--\n\n\"The presence of Superstition is always the sign of a wandering from the\ntrue path; the _excess_ of Superstition almost invariably the precursor of\ngreat intellectual and religious changes, if not absolute convulsions.\nBefore the great crash of Paganism the necromancers and practisers of\ncurious arts were carrying on an unusually brisk trade among the Romans.\nWe all know how prevalent was the belief in witches, wizards, and\nastrology at the time immediately preceding the (so-called) Reformation.\nBefore the French Revolution the sect founded by Cagliostro and Lorenza\nFeliciani, which professed a knowledge of the ancient arts of the\nEgyptians, found great numbers of followers. And have we not a sign of a\nnational mental crisis in our own day in the prevalence of 'Spiritualism,'\nwhich is the form which necromancy at present takes? There may be many\npeople who are utterly unaware how large a number of their\nfellow-countrymen, and especially of their countrywomen, believe in\nSpiritualism, and attend _s\u00e9ances_. Those who do so are not usually very\nfond of parading their belief, because they have a lurking suspicion that\nthey may get laughed at; but this very reserve makes the bond between the\nvotaries of Spiritualism so much the stronger. It is no exaggeration to\nsay that the practice of dealing with familiar spirits is on the increase\nin Great Britain at the present moment.\" (A.D. 1873.)\n\n[76] \"On the Invisible World,\" by Joseph Hall, D.D., &c., book i. sec. 8.\nFather Christopher Davenport, better known as \"Sancta Clara,\" in one of\nhis most remarkable treatises, \"Paralipomena Philosophica de Mundo\nPeripatetico,\" chap. iv. p. 68 (A.D. 1652), confirms the account in the\ntext of the above-named Bishop of Exeter, giving all the details of this\nparticular miraculous cure. It seems that both the Well and Chapel of S.\nMadron were constantly visited by the faithful during the first part of\nthe seventeenth century, especially in the month of May and on the feast\nof Corpus Christi.\n\n[77] \"History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in\nEurope,\" by W. E. H. Lecky, M.A. Fourth edition in two volumes. London,\n1870.\n\n[78] Dr. Newman will, of course, be excepted; for his remarkable\nDissertation prefixed to the translation of Fleury's \"History\" is known to\nmany, more especially in its new form,--a volume already referred to at\nlength in chap. ii. pp. 35-36. It is certainly quite unjust to include the\nTractarian school amongst those who are referred to by Mr. Lecky in the\nfollowing passage:--\"At present nearly all educated men receive an account\nof a miracle taking place in their own day, with an absolute and even\nderisive incredulity which dispenses with all examination of the\nevidence.\"--Vol. i. p. 1. Though many are reticent, and many more shrink\nfrom publicity and rude criticism, it is known that the direct influence\nof the Miraculous and Supernatural is by no means unknown in the Church of\nEngland.\n\n[79] Job xxv. 5.\n\n[80] See a most remarkable Letter from the pen of my friend the Rev. R. S.\nHawker, of Morwenstow, on \"The Claims of Science and Faith,\" standing as\nan Appendix to this Chapter, in which the office of the angels is referred\nto.\n\n[81] Mr. Mill, who is now dead, wrote that \"this World was a bungled\nbusiness in which no clear-sighted man [meaning himself apparently, and\nmodestly] could see any signs either of wisdom or of God.\" Mr. Matthew\nArnold, son of Dr. Arnold of Rugby, has written that \"the existence of God\nis an unverifiable hypothesis.\" A third writer maintains that the \"great\nduty\" of the philosophers \"should be to eliminate the idea of God from the\nminds of men,\" a sentiment not unlike that of Mr. Congreve, already quoted\non p. 19 of vol. i.; while a popular publication, circulated by thousands\namongst the lower classes, declares that the mission of its Editors is \"to\nteach men to live without the fear of God; to die without the fear of the\nDevil; and to attain salvation without the Blood of the Lamb.\"","title":"The Other World; or, Glimpses of the Supernatural (Vol. 2 of 2): Being Facts, Records, and Traditions Relating to Dreams, Omens, Miraculous Occurrences, Apparitions, Wraiths, Warnings, Second-sight, Witchcraft, Necromancy, etc.","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":60985}