{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_54532/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_54532","id":"gutenberg_54532","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54532","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Ghosts","Parapsychology"],"text":"THE NIGHT-SIDE OF NATURE\n\nOr,\n\nGhosts and Ghost-Seers.\n\nby\n\nCATHERINE CROWE\n\nAuthoress of \u201cSusan Hopley,\u201d \u201cLilly Dawson,\u201d \u201cAristodemus,\u201d etc.\n\n\n   \"Thou com\u2019st in such a questionable shape,\n   That I will speak to thee.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew York:\nJ. S. Redfield, Clinton Hall.\nBoston:\u2014B. B. Mussey & Co.\n1850.\n\n\n\n\n                            P R E F A C E .\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nIN my late novel of \u201cLilly Dawson,\u201d I announced my intention of\npublishing a work to be called \u201cThe Night-Side of Nature;\" this is it.\n\nThe term \u201cNight-Side of Nature\u201d I borrow from the Germans, who derive it\nfrom the astronomers, the latter denominating that side of a planet\nwhich is turned from the sun, its _night-side_. We are in this condition\nfor a certain number of hours out of every twenty-four; and as, during\nthis interval, external objects loom upon us but strangely and\nimperfectly, the Germans draw a parallel between these vague and misty\nperceptions, and the similar obscure and uncertain glimpses we get of\nthat veiled department of nature, of which, while comprising as it does,\nthe solution of questions concerning us more nearly than any other, we\nare yet in a state of entire and wilful ignorance. For science, at least\nscience in this country, has put it aside as beneath her notice, because\nnew facts that do not fit into old theories are troublesome, and not to\nbe countenanced.\n\nWe are encompassed on all sides by wonders, and we can scarcely set our\nfoot upon the ground, without trampling upon some marvellous production\nthat our whole life and all our faculties would not suffice to\ncomprehend. Familiarity, however, renders us insensible to the ordinary\nworks of nature; we are apt to forget the miracles they comprise, and\neven, sometimes, mistaking words for conceptions, commit the error of\nthinking we understand their mystery. But there is one class of these\nwonders with which, from their comparatively rare occurrence, we do not\nbecome familiar; and these, according to the character of the mind to\nwhich they are presented, are frequently either denied as ridiculous and\nimpossible, or received as evidences of supernatural\ninterference\u2014interruptions of those general laws by which God governs\nthe universe; which latter mistake arises from our only seeing these\nfacts without the links that connect them with the rest of nature, just\nas in the faint light of a starlit night we might distinguish the tall\nmountains that lift their crests high into the sky, though we could not\ndiscern the low chain of hills that united them with each other.\n\nThere are two or three books by German authors, entitled \u201cThe\nNight-Side,\u201d or \u201cThe Night-Dominion of Nature,\u201d which are on subjects,\nmore or less analogous to mine. Heinrick Schubert\u2019s is the most\ncelebrated among them; it is a sort of cosmogony of the world, written\nin a spirit of philosophical mysticism\u2014too much so for English readers\nin general.\n\nIn undertaking to write a book on these subjects myself, I wholly\ndisclaim the pretension of _teaching_ or of enforcing opinions. My\nobject is to suggest inquiry and stimulate observation, in order that we\nmay endeavor, if possible, to discover something regarding our psychical\nnature, as it exists here in the flesh; and as it is to exist hereafter,\nout of it.\n\nIf I could only induce a few capable persons, instead of laughing at\nthese things, to look at them, my object would be attained, and I should\nconsider my time well spent.\n\n\n\n\n                           C O N T E N T S .\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\n  CHAPTER                                                            PAGE\n      I. \u2014  Introduction                                                7\n     II. \u2014  The Dwellers in the Temple                                 19\n    III. \u2014  Waking and Sleeping, and how the Dweller in the Temple\n              sometimes looks abroad                                   29\n     IV. \u2014  Allegorical Dreams, Presentiments, &c.                     48\n      V. \u2014  Warnings                                                   66\n     VI. \u2014  Double Dreaming and Trance, Wraiths, &c.                   98\n    VII. \u2014  Wraiths                                                   130\n   VIII. \u2014  Doppelg\u00e4ngers, or Doubles                                 149\n     IX. \u2014  Apparitions                                               171\n      X. \u2014  The Future that awaits us                                 204\n     XI. \u2014  The Power of Will                                         238\n    XII. \u2014  Troubled Spirits                                          252\n   XIII. \u2014  Haunted Houses                                            273\n    XIV. \u2014  Spectral Lights, and Apparitions attached to Certain\n              Families                                                319\n     XV. \u2014  Apparitions seeking the Prayers of the Living             345\n    XVI. \u2014  The Poltergeist of the Germans, and Possession            376\n   XVII. \u2014  Miscellaneous Phenomena                                   411\n  XVIII. \u2014  Conclusion                                                434\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n               N I G H T - S I D E   O F   N A T U R E .\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n\n\n                             INTRODUCTION.\n\n    \u201cKnow ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit\n    of God dwelleth in you?\u201d\n\n                                            \u20141 CORINTHIANS, iii. 16.\n\nMOST persons are aware that the Greeks and Romans entertained certain\nnotions regarding the state of the soul, or the immortal part of man,\nafter the death of the body, which have been generally held to be purely\nmythological. Many of them doubtless are so, and of these I am not about\nto treat; but among their conceptions, there are some which, as they\ncoincide with the opinions of many of the most enlightened persons of\nthe present age, it may be desirable to consider more closely. I allude\nhere particularly to their belief in the tripartite kingdom of the dead.\nAccording to this system, there were the Elysian fields, a region in\nwhich a certain sort of happiness was enjoyed; and Tartarus, the place\nof punishment for the wicked; each of which was, comparatively, but\nthinly inhabited. But there was also a mid-region, peopled with\ninnumerable hosts of wandering and mournful spirits, who, although\nundergoing no torments, are represented as incessantly bewailing their\ncondition, pining for the life they once enjoyed in the body, longing\nafter the things of the earth, and occupying themselves with the same\npursuits and objects as had formerly constituted their business or their\npleasure. Old habits are still dear to them, and they can not snap the\nlink that binds them to the earth.\n\nNow, although we can not believe in the existence of Charon, the\nthree-headed dog, or Alecto, the serpent-haired fury, it may be worth\nwhile to consider whether the persuasion of the ancients with regard to\nthat which concerns us all so nearly\u2014namely, the destiny that awaits us\nwhen we have shaken off this mortal coil\u2014may not have some foundation\nin truth: whether it might not be a remnant of a tradition transmitted\nfrom the earliest inhabitants of the earth, wrested by observation from\nnature, if not communicated from a higher source: and also whether\ncircumstances of constant recurrence in all ages and in all nations,\nfrequently observed and recorded by persons utterly ignorant of\nclassical lore, and unacquainted, indeed, with the dogmas of any creed\nbut their own, do not, as well as various passages in the Scriptures,\nafford a striking confirmation of this theory of a future life; while\nit, on the other hand, offers a natural and convenient explanation of\ntheir mystery.\n\nTo minds which can admit nothing but what can be explained and\ndemonstrated, an investigation of this sort must appear perfectly idle:\nfor while, on the one hand, the most acute intellect or the most\npowerful logic can throw little light on the subject, it is, at the same\ntime\u2014though I have a confident hope that this will not always be the\ncase\u2014equally irreducible within the present bounds of science;\nmeanwhile, experience, observation, and intuition, must be our principal\nif not our only guides. Because, in the seventeenth century, credulity\noutran reason and discretion; the eighteenth century, by a natural\nreaction, threw itself into an opposite extreme. Whoever closely\nobserves the signs of the times, will be aware that another change is\napproaching. The contemptuous skepticism of the last age is yielding to\na more humble spirit of inquiry; and there is a large class of persons\namong the most enlightened of the present, who are beginning to believe\nthat much which they had been taught to reject as fable, has been, in\nreality, ill-understood truth. Somewhat of the mystery of our own being,\nand of the mysteries that compass us about, are beginning to loom upon\nus\u2014as yet, it is true, but obscurely; and, in the endeavor to follow\nout the clew they offer, we have but a feeble light to guide us. We must\ngrope our way through the dim path before us, ever in danger of being\nled into error, while we may confidently reckon on being pursued by the\nshafts of ridicule\u2014that weapon so easy to wield, so potent to the weak,\nso weak to the wise\u2014which has delayed the births of so many truths, but\nnever stifled one. The pharisaical skepticism which denies without\ninvestigation, is quite as perilous, and much more contemptible, than\nthe blind credulity which accepts all that it is taught without inquiry;\nit is, indeed, but another form of ignorance assuming to be knowledge.\nAnd by _investigation_, I do not mean the hasty, captious, angry notice\nof an unwelcome fact, that too frequently claims the right of\npronouncing on a question; but the slow, modest, pains-taking\nexamination, that is content to wait upon Nature, and humbly follow out\nher disclosures, however opposed to preconceived theories or mortifying\nto human pride. If scientific men could but comprehend how they\ndiscredit the science they really profess, by their despotic arrogance\nand exclusive skepticism, they would surely, for the sake of that very\nscience they love, affect more liberality and candor. This reflection,\nhowever, naturally suggests another, namely, do they really love\nscience, or is it not too frequently with them but the means to an end?\nWere the love of science genuine, I suspect it would produce very\ndifferent fruits to that which we see borne by the tree of knowledge, as\nit flourishes at present; and this suspicion is exceedingly strengthened\nby the recollection that, among the numerous students and professors of\nscience I have at different times encountered, the real worshippers and\ngenuine lovers of it, for its own sake, have all been men of the most\nsingle, candid, unprejudiced, and inquiring minds, willing to listen to\nall new suggestions, and investigate all new facts; not bold and\nself-sufficient, but humble and reverent suitors, aware of their own\nignorance and unworthiness, and that they are yet but in the primer of\nNature\u2019s works, they do not permit themselves to pronounce upon her\ndisclosures, or set limits to her decrees. They are content to admit\nthat things new and unsuspected may yet be true; that their own\nknowledge of facts being extremely circumscribed, the systems attempted\nto be established on such uncertain data, must needs be very imperfect,\nand frequently altogether erroneous; and that it is therefore their\nduty, as it ought to be their pleasure, to welcome as a stranger every\ngleam of light that appears in the horizon, let it loom from whatever\nquarter it may.\n\nBut, alas! poor Science has few such lovers! _Les beaux yeux de sa\ncassette_, I fear, are much more frequently the objects of attraction\nthan her own fair face.\n\nThe belief in a God, and in the immortality of what we call the soul, is\ncommon to all nations; but our own intellect does not enable us to form\nany conception of either one or the other. All the information we have\non these subjects is comprised in such hints as the Scripture here and\nthere give us: whatever other conclusions we draw, must be the result of\nobservation and experience. Unless founded upon these, the opinion of\nthe most learned theologian or the most profound student of science that\never lived, is worth no more than that of any other person. They know\nnothing whatever about these mysteries; and all _a priori_ reasoning on\nthem is utterly valueless. The only way, therefore, of attaining any\nglimpses of the truth in an inquiry of this nature, where our intellect\ncan serve us so little, is to enter on it with the conviction that,\nknowing nothing, we are not entitled to reject any evidence that may be\noffered to us, till it has been thoroughly sifted, and proved to be\nfallacious. That the facts presented to our notice appear to us absurd,\nand altogether inconsistent with the notions our intellects would have\nenabled us to form, should have no weight whatever in the investigation.\nOur intellects are no measure of God Almighty\u2019s designs; and, I must\nsay, that I do think one of the most irreverent, dangerous, and sinful\nthings man or woman can be guilty of, is to reject with scorn and\nlaughter any intimation which, however strangely it may strike upon our\nminds, and however adverse it may be to our opinions, may possibly be\nshowing us the way to one of God\u2019s truths. Not knowing all the\nconditions, and wanting so many links of the chain, it is impossible for\nus to pronounce on what is probable and consistent, and what is not;\nand, this being the case, I think the time is ripe for drawing attention\nto certain phenomena, which, under whatever aspect we may consider them,\nare, beyond doubt, exceedingly interesting and curious; while, if the\nview many persons are disposed to take of them be the correct one, they\nare much more than this. I wish, also, to make the English public\nacquainted with the ideas entertained on these subjects by a large\nproportion of German minds of the highest order. It is a distinctive\ncharacteristic of the thinkers of that country, that, in the first\nplace, they do think independently and courageously; and, in the second,\nthat they never shrink from promulgating the opinions they have been led\nto form, however new, strange, heterodox, or even absurd, they may\nappear to others. They do not succumb, as people do in this country, to\nthe fear of ridicule; nor are they in danger of the odium that here\npursues those who deviate from established notions; and the consequence\nis, that, though many fallacious theories and untenable propositions may\nbe advanced, a great deal of new truth is struck out from the collision;\nand in the result, as must always be the case, what is true lives and is\nestablished, and what is false dies and is forgotten. But here, in\nBritain, our critics and colleges are in such haste to strangle and put\ndown every new discovery that does not emanate from themselves, or which\nis not a fulfilling of the ideas of the day, but which, being somewhat\nopposed to them, promises to be troublesome from requiring new thought\nto render it intelligible, that one might be induced to suppose them\ndivested of all confidence in this inviolable law; while the more\nimportant and the higher the results involved may be, the more angry\nthey are with those who advocate them. They do not quarrel with a new\nmetal or a new plant, and even a new comet or a new island stands a fair\nchance of being well received; the introduction of a planet appears,\nfrom late events, to be more difficult; while phrenology and mesmerism\ntestify that any discovery tending to throw light on what most deeply\nconcerns us, namely, our own being, must be prepared to encounter a\nstorm of angry persecution. And one of the evils of this hasty and\nprecipitate opposition is, that the passions and interests of the\nopposers become involved in the dispute: instead of investigators, they\nbecome partisans; having declared against it in the outset, it is\nimportant to their petty interests that the thing shall not be true; and\nthey determine that it _shall_ not, if they can help it. Hence, these\nhasty, angry investigations of new facts, and the triumph with which\nfailures are recorded; and hence the wilful overlooking of the axiom\nthat a thousand negatives can not overthrow the evidence of one\naffirmative experiment. I always distrust those who have declared\nthemselves strongly in the beginning of a controversy. Opinions which,\nhowever rashly avowed, may have been honest at first, may have been\nchanged for many a long day before they are retracted. In the meantime,\nthe march of truth is obstructed, and its triumph is delayed; timid\nminds are alarmed; those who dare not or can not think for themselves,\nare subdued; there is much needless suffering incurred, and much good\nlost; but the truth goes quietly on its way, and reaches the goal at\nlast.\n\nWith respect to the subjects I am here going to treat of, it is not\nsimply the result of my own reflections and convictions that I am about\nto offer. On the contrary, I intend to fortify my position by the\nopinions of many other writers; the chief of whom will, for the reasons\nabove given, namely, that it is they who have principally attended to\nthe question, be Germans. I am fully aware that in this country a very\nconsiderable number of persons lean to some of these opinions, and I\nthink I might venture to assert that I have the majority on my side, as\nfar as regards ghosts\u2014for it is beyond a doubt that many more are\ndisposed to believe than to confess\u2014and those who do confess, are not\nfew. The deep interest with which any narration of spiritual appearances\nbearing the stamp, or apparent stamp, of authenticity is listened to in\nevery society, is one proof that, though the fear of ridicule may\nsuppress, it can not extinguish that intuitive persuasion, of which\nalmost every one is more or less conscious.\n\nI avow, that in writing this book, I have a higher aim than merely to\nafford amusement. I wish to engage the earnest attention of my readers;\nbecause I am satisfied that the opinions I am about to advocate,\nseriously entertained, would produce very beneficial results. We are all\neducated in the belief of a future state, but how vague and ineffective\nthis belief is with the majority of persons, we too well know; for\nalthough, as I have said above, the number of those who are what is\ncalled believers in ghosts and similar phenomena is very large, it is a\nbelief that they allow to sit extremely lightly on their minds. Although\nthey feel that the evidence from within and from without is too strong\nto be altogether set aside, they have never permitted themselves to\nweigh the significance of the facts. They are afraid of that bugbear,\nSuperstition\u2014a title of opprobrium which it is very convenient to\nattach to whatever we do not believe ourselves. They forget that nobody\nhas a right to call any belief superstitious, till he can prove that it\nis unfounded. Now, no one that lives can assert that the reappearance of\nthe dead is impossible; all he has a right to say is, that he does not\nbelieve it; and the interrogation that should immediately follow this\ndeclaration is, \u201cHave you devoted your life to sifting all the evidence\nthat has been adduced on the other side, from the earliest periods of\nhistory and tradition?\u201d and even though the answer were in the\naffirmative, and that the investigation had been conscientiously\npursued, it would be still a bold inquirer that would think himself\nentitled to say, the question was no longer open. But the rashness and\nlevity with which mankind make professions of believing and\ndisbelieving, are, all things considered, phenomena much more\nextraordinary than the most extraordinary ghost-story that ever was\nrelated. The truth is, that not one person in a thousand, in the proper\nsense of the word, believes anything; they only fancy they believe,\nbecause they have never seriously considered the meaning of the word and\nall that it involves. That which the human mind can not conceive of, is\napt to slip from its grasp like water from the hand; and life out of the\nflesh falls under this category. The observation of any phenomena,\ntherefore, which enabled us to master the idea, must necessarily be\nextremely beneficial; and it must be remembered, that one single\nthoroughly well-established instance of the reappearance of a deceased\nperson, would not only have this effect, but that it would afford a\ndemonstrative proof of the deepest of all our intuitions, namely, that a\nfuture life awaits us.\n\nNot to mention the modern Germans of eminence, who have devoted\nthemselves to this investigation, there have been men remarkable for\nintellect in all countries, who have considered the subject worthy of\ninquiry. Among the rest, Plato, Pliny, and Lucien; and in our own\ncountry, that good old divine, Dr. Henry Moore, Dr. Johnson, Addison,\nIsaac Taylor, and many others. It may be objected that the\neternally-quoted case of Nicolai, the bookseller at Berlin, and Dr.\nFerriar\u2019s \u201cTheory of Apparitions,\u201d had not then settled the question;\nbut nobody doubts that Nicolai\u2019s was a case of disease; and he was well\naware of it himself, as it appears to me, everybody so afflicted, is. I\nwas acquainted with a poor woman, in Edinburgh, who suffered from this\nmalady, brought on, I believe, by drinking; but she was perfectly\nconscious of the nature of the illusions; and that temperance and a\ndoctor were the proper exorcists to lay the spirits. With respect to Dr.\nFerriar\u2019s book, a more shallow one was assuredly never allowed to settle\nany question; and his own theory can not, without the most violent\nstraining, and the assistance of what he calls _coincidences_, meet even\nhalf the cases he himself adduces. That such a disease, as he describes,\nexists, nobody doubts; but I maintain that there are hundreds of cases\non record, for which the explanation does not suffice; and if they have\nbeen instances of spectral illusion, all that remains to be said, is,\nthat a fundamental reconstruction of the theory on that subject is\ndemanded.\n\nLa Place says, in his \u201cEssay on Probabilities,\u201d that \u201cany case, however\napparently incredible, if it be a recurrent case, is as much entitled,\nunder the laws of induction, to a fair valuation, as if it had been more\nprobable beforehand.\u201d Now, no one will deny that the case in question\npossesses this claim to investigation. Determined skeptics may, indeed,\ndeny that there exists any well-authenticated instance of an apparition;\nbut that, at present, can only be a mere matter of opinion; since many\npersons, as competent to judge as themselves, maintain the contrary; and\nin the meantime, I arraign their right to make this objection till they\nhave qualified themselves to do so, by a long course of patient and\nhonest inquiry; always remembering that every instance of error or\nimposition discovered and adduced, has no positive value whatever in the\nargument, but as regards that single instance; though it may enforce\nupon us the necessity of strong evidence and careful investigation. With\nrespect to the evidence, past and present, I must be allowed here to\nremark on the extreme difficulty of producing it. Not to mention the\nacknowledged carelessness of observers and the alleged incapacity of\npersons to distinguish between reality and illusion, there is an\nexceeding shyness in most people, who, either have seen, or fancied they\nhave seen, an apparition, to speak of it at all, except to some intimate\nfriend; so that one gets most of the stories second-hand; while even\nthose who are less chary of their communications, are imperative against\ntheir name and authority being given to the public. Besides this, there\nis a great tendency in most people, after the impression is over, to\nthink they may have been deceived; and where there is no communication\nor other circumstance rendering this conviction impossible, it is not\ndifficult to acquire it, or at least so much of it as leaves the case\nvalueless. The seer is glad to find this refuge from the unpleasant\nfeelings engendered; while surrounding friends, sometimes from genuine\nskepticism, and sometimes from good-nature, almost invariably lean to\nthis explanation of the mystery. In consequence of these difficulties\nand those attending the very nature of the phenomena, I freely admit\nthat the facts I shall adduce, as they now stand, can have no scientific\nvalue; they can not in short, enter into the region of science at all,\nstill less into that of philosophy. Whatever conclusions we may be led\nto form, can not be founded on pure induction. We must confine ourselves\nwholly within the region of opinion; if we venture beyond which, we\nshall assuredly founder. In the beginning, all sciences have been but a\ncollection of facts, afterward to be examined, compared, and weighed, by\nintelligent minds. To the vulgar, who do not see the universal law which\ngoverns the universe, everything out of the ordinary course of events,\nis a prodigy; but to the enlightened mind there are no prodigies; for it\nperceives that in both the moral and the physical world, there is a\nchain of uninterrupted connection; and that the most strange and even\napparently contradictory or supernatural fact or event will be found, on\ndue investigation, to be strictly dependent on its antecedents. It is\npossible, that there may be a link wanting, and that our investigations\nmay, consequently, be fruitless; but the link is assuredly there,\nalthough our imperfect knowledge and limited vision can not find it.\n\nAnd it is here the proper place to observe, that, in undertaking to\ntreat of the phenomena in question, I do not propose to consider them as\nsupernatural; on the contrary, I am persuaded that the time will come,\nwhen they will be reduced strictly within the bounds of science. It was\nthe tendency of the last age to reject and _deny_ everything they did\nnot understand; I hope it is the growing tendency of the present one to\n_examine_ what we do not understand. Equally disposed with our\npredecessors of the eighteenth century to reject the supernatural, and\nto believe the order of nature inviolable, we are disposed to extend the\nbounds of nature and science, till they comprise within their limits all\nthe phenomena, ordinary and extraordinary, by which we are surrounded.\nScarcely a month passes that we do not hear of some new and important\ndiscovery in science. It is a domain in which nothing is stable, and\nevery year overthrows some of the hasty and premature theories of the\npreceding ones; and this will continue to be the case as long as\nscientific men occupy themselves each with his own subject, without\nstudying the great and primal truths\u2014what the French call _les v\u00e9rit\u00e9s\nm\u00e8res_\u2014which link the whole together. Meantime, there is a continual\nunsettling. Truth, if it do not emanate from an acknowledged authority,\nis generally rejected; and error, if it do, is as often accepted; while,\nwhoever disputes the received theory, whatever it be\u2014we mean especially\nthat adopted by the professors of colleges\u2014does it at his peril. But\nthere is a day yet brooding in the bosom of time, when the sciences will\nbe no longer isolated; when we shall no longer deny, but be able to\naccount for, phenomena apparently prodigious, or have the modesty, if we\ncan not explain them, to admit that the difficulty arises solely from\nour own incapacity. The system of centralization in statistics seems to\nbe of doubtful advantage; but a greater degree of centralization appears\nto be very much needed in the domain of science. Some improvement in\nthis respect might do wonders, particularly if reinforced with a slight\ninfusion of patience and humility into the minds of scientific men;\ntogether with the recollection that facts and phenomena, which do not\ndepend on our will, must be waited for\u2014that we must be at their\ncommand, for they will not be at ours.\n\nBut to return once more to our own subject. If we do believe that a\nfuture life awaits us, there can be nothing more natural than the desire\nto obtain some information as to what manner of life that is to be for\nwhich any one of us may, before this time to-morrow, have exchanged his\npresent mode of being. That there does not exist a greater interest with\nregard to this question in the mind of man, arises partly from the\nvague, intangible kind of belief he entertains of the fact; partly from\nhis absorption in worldly affairs, and the hard and indigestible food\nupon which his clerical shepherds pasture him\u2014for, under dogmatic\ntheology, religion seems to have withered away to the mere husk of\nspiritualism; and partly, also, from the apparent impossibility of\npursuing the inquiry to any purpose. As I said before, observation and\nexperience can alone guide us in such an inquiry; for, though most\npeople have a more or less intuitive sense of their own immortality,\nintuition is silent as to the mode of it; and the question I am anxious\nhere to discuss with my readers is, whether we have any facts to\nobserve, or any experience from which, on this most interesting of all\nsubjects, a conclusion may be drawn. Great as the difficulty is of\nproducing evidence, it will, I think, be pretty generally admitted that,\nalthough each individual case, as it stands alone, may be comparatively\nvalueless, the amount of recurrent cases forms a body of evidence that,\non any other subject, would scarcely be rejected; and since, if the\nfacts are accepted, they imperatively demand an explanation\u2014for,\nassuredly, the present theory of spectral illusions can not comprise\nthem\u2014our inquiry, let it terminate in whatever conclusion it may, can\nnot be useless or uninteresting. Various views of the phenomena in\nquestion may be taken; and although I shall offer my own opinions and\nthe theories and opinions of others, I insist upon none. I do not write\nto dogmatise, but to suggest reflection and inquiry. The books of Dr.\nFerriar, Dr. Hibbert, and Dr. Thatcher, the American, are all written to\nsupport one exclusive theory; and they only give such cases as serve to\nsustain it. They maintain that the whole phenomena are referrible to\nnervous or sanguineous derangement, and are mere subjective illusions;\nand whatever instance can not be covered by this theory, they reject as\nfalse, or treat as a case of extraordinary coincidence. In short, they\narrange the facts to their theory, not their theory to the facts. Their\nbooks can not, therefore, claim to be considered as anything more than\nessays on a special disease; they have no pretence whatever to the\ncharacter of investigations. The question, consequently, remains as much\nan open one as before they treated it; while we have the advantage of\ntheir experience and information, with regard to the peculiar malady\nthat forms the subject of their works. On that subject it is not my\nintention to enter; it is a strictly medical one, and every information\nmay be obtained respecting it in the above-named treatises, and others\nemanating from the faculty.\n\nThe subjects I do intend to treat of are the various kinds of prophetic\ndreams, presentiments, second-sight, and apparitions; and, in short, all\nthat class of phenomena which appears to throw some light on our\nphysical nature, and on the probable state of the soul after death. In\nthis discussion, I shall make free use of my German authorities, Doctors\nKerner, Stilling, Werner, Eschenmayer, Ennemoser, Passavent, Schubert,\nVon Meyer, &c., &c.; and I here make a general acknowledgment to that\neffect, because it would embarrass my book too much to be constantly\ngiving names and references, although, when I quote their words\nliterally, I shall make a point of doing so; and because, also, that, as\nI have been both thinking and reading much on these subjects for a\nconsiderable time past, I am, in fact, no longer in a condition to\nappropriate, either to them or to myself, each his own. This, however,\nis a matter of very little consequence, as I am not desirous of claiming\nany idea as mine that can be found elsewhere. It is enough for me, if I\nsucceed in making a tolerably clear exposition of the subject, and can\ninduce other people to reflect upon it.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n\n                       THE DWELLER IN THE TEMPLE.\n\nIT is almost needless to observe, that the Scriptures repeatedly speak\nof man as a tripartite being, consisting of spirit, soul, and body: and\nthat, according to St. Paul, we have two bodies\u2014a natural body and a\nspiritual body; the former being designed as our means of communication\nwith the external world\u2014an instrument to be used and controlled by our\nnobler parts. It is this view of it, carried to a fanaticism, which has\nled to the various and extraordinary mortifications recorded of\nascetics. As is remarked by the Rev. Hare Townshend, in a late edition\nof his book on mesmerism, in this fleshly body consists our organic\nlife; in the body which we are to retain through eternity, consists our\nfundamental life. May not the first, he says, \u201cbe a temporary\ndevelopment of the last, just as leaves, flowers, and fruits, are the\ntemporary developments of a tree? And in the same manner that these pass\nand drop away, yet leave the principle of reproduction behind, so may\nour present organs be detached from us by death, and yet the ground of\nour existence be spared to us continuously.\u201d\n\nWithout entering into the subtle disputes of philosophers, with regard\nto the spirit, a subject on which there is a standing controversy\nbetween the disciples of Hegel and those of other teachers, I need only\nobserve that the Scriptures seem to indicate what some of the heathen\nsages taught, that the spirit that dwells within us is the spirit of\nGod, incorporated in us for a period, for certain ends of his own, to be\nthereby wrought out. What those ends are, it does not belong to my\npresent subject to consider. In this spirit so imparted to us, dwells,\nsays Eschenmayer, the conscience, which keeps watch over the body and\nthe soul, saying, \u201cThus shalt thou do!\u201d And it is to this Christ\naddresses himself when he bids his disciples become perfect, like their\nFather in heaven. The soul is subject to the spirit; and its functions\nare, _to will_, or _choose_, _to think_, and _to feel_, and to become\nthereby cognizant of the true, the beautiful, and the good;\ncomprehending the highest principle, the highest ideal, and the most\nperfect happiness. The _Ego_, or _I_, is the resultant of the three\nforces, Pneuma, Psyche, Soma\u2014spirit, soul, and body.\n\nIn the spirit or soul, or rather in both conjoined, dwells, also, the\npower of _spiritual seeing_, or _intuitive knowing_; for, as there is a\nspiritual body, there is a spiritual eye, and a spiritual ear, and so\nforth; or, to speak more correctly, all these sensuous functions are\ncomprised in one universal sense, which does not need the aid of the\nbodily organs; but, on the contrary, is most efficient when most freed\nfrom them. It remains to be seen whether, or in what degree, such\nseparation can take place during life; complete it can not be till\ndeath; but whoever believes sincerely that the divine spirit dwells\nwithin him, can, I should think, find no difficulty in conceiving that,\nalthough from the temporary conditions to which that spirit is\nsubjected, this universal faculty is limited and obscured, it must still\nretain its indefeasible attribute.\n\nWe may naturally conclude that the most perfect state of man on earth\nconsists in the most perfect unity of the spirit and the soul; and to\nthose who in this life have attained the nearest to that unity will the\nentire assimilation of the two, after they are separated from the body,\nbe the easiest; while to those who have lived only their intellectual\nand external life, this union must be extremely difficult, the soul\nhaving chosen its part with the body, and divorced itself, as much as in\nit lay, from the spirit. The voice of conscience is then scarcely heard;\nand the soul, degraded and debased, can no longer perform its functions\nof discerning the true, the beautiful, and the good.\n\nOn these distinct functions of the soul and spirit, however, it is not\nmy intention to insist, since it appears to me a subject on which we are\nnot yet in a condition to dogmatize. We know rather more about our\nbodies, by means of which the soul and spirit are united and brought\ninto contact with the material world, and which are constructed wholly\nwith a view to the conditions of that world; such as time, space,\nsolidity, extension, &c., &c. But we must conceive of God as necessarily\nindependent of these conditions. To Him, all times and all places must\nbe for ever present; and it is _thus_ that he is omniscient and\nomnipresent; and since we are placed by the spirit in immediate relation\nwith God and the spiritual world, just as we are placed by the body in\nimmediate relation with the material world, we may, in the first place,\nform a notion of the possibility that some faint gleams of these\ninherent attributes may, at times, shoot up through the clay in which\nthe spirit has taken up its temporary abode; and we may also admit, that\nthrough the connection which exists between us and the spiritual world,\nit is not impossible but that we may, at times, and under certain\nconditions, become cognizant of, and enter into more immediate relation\nwith it. This is the only postulate I ask; for, as I said before, I do\nnot wish to enforce opinions, but to suggest probabilities, or at least\npossibilities, and thus arouse reflection and inquiry.\n\nWith respect to the term _invisible world_, I beg to remind my readers,\nthat what we call _seeing_ is merely the function of an organ\nconstructed for that purpose in relation to the external world; and so\nlimited are its powers, that we are surrounded by many things in that\nworld which we can not see without the aid of artificial appliances and\nmany other things which we can not see even with them; the atmosphere in\nwhich we live, for example, although its weight and mechanical forces\nare the subjects of accurate calculation, is entirely imperceptible to\nour visual organs. Thus, the fact that we do not commonly see them,\nforms no legitimate objection to the hypothesis of our being surrounded\nby a world of spirits, or of that world being inter-diffused among us.\nSupposing the question to be decided that we do sometimes become\ncognizant of them, which, however, I admit it is not, since, whether the\napparitions are subjective, or objective, that is, whether they are the\nmere phenomena of disease, or real out-standing appearances, is the\ninquiry I desire to promote\u2014but, I say, supposing that question were\ndecided in the affirmative, the next that arises is, how, or by what\nmeans do we see them; or, if they address us, hear them? If that\nuniversal sense which appears to me to be inseparable from the idea of\nspirit, be once admitted, I think there can be no difficulty in\nanswering this question; and if it be objected that we are conscious of\nno such sense, I answer, that both in dreams and in certain abnormal\nstates of the body, it is frequently manifested. In order to render this\nmore clear, and, at the same time, to give an interesting instance of\nthis sort of phenomenon, I will transcribe a passage from a letter of\nSt. Augustine to his friend Evadius (Epistola 159. Antwerp edition).\n\n\u201cI will relate to you a circumstance,\u201d he writes, \u201cwhich will furnish\nyou matter for reflection. Our brother Sennadius, well known to us all\nas an eminent physician, and whom we especially love, who is now at\nCarthage, after having distinguished himself at Rome, and with whose\npiety and active benevolence you are well acquainted, could yet,\nnevertheless, as he has lately narrated to us, by no means bring himself\nto believe in a life after death. Now, God, doubtless, not willing that\nhis soul should perish, there appeared to him one night, in a dream, a\nradiant youth of noble aspect, who bade him follow him; and as Sennadius\nobeyed, they came to a city where, on the right side, he heard a chorus\nof the most heavenly voices. As he desired to know whence this divine\nharmony proceeded, the youth told him that what he heard were the songs\nof the blessed; whereupon he awoke, and thought no more of his dream\nthan people usually do. On another night, however, behold! the youth\nappears to him again, and asks him if he knows him; and Sennadius\nrelated to him all the particulars of his former dream, which he well\nremembered. \u2018Then,\u2019 said the youth, \u2018was it while sleeping or waking\nthat you saw these things?\u2019\u2014\u2018I was sleeping,\u2019 answered Sennadius. \u2018You\nare right,\u2019 returned the youth, \u2018it was in your sleep that you saw these\nthings; and know, O Sennadius, that what you see now is also in your\nsleep. But if this be so, tell me where then is your body?\u2019\u2014\u2018In my\nbed-chamber,\u2019 answered Sennadius. \u2018But know you not,\u2019 continued the\nstranger, \u2018that your eyes, which form a part of your body, are closed\nand inactive?\u2019\u2014\u2018I know it,\u2019 answered he. \u2018Then,\u2019 said the youth, \u2018with\nwhat eyes see you these things?\u2019 And Sennadius could not answer him; and\nas he hesitated, the youth spoke again, and explained to him the motive\nof his questions. \u2018As the eyes of your body,\u2019 said he, \u2018which lies now\non your bed and sleeps, are inactive and useless, and yet you have eyes\nwherewith you see me and these things I have shown unto you; so after\ndeath, when these bodily organs fail you, you will have a vital power,\nwhereby you will live, and a sensitive faculty, whereby you will\nperceive. Doubt, therefore, no longer that there is a life after death.\u2019\nAnd thus,\u201d said this excellent man, \u201cwas I convinced, and all doubts\nremoved.\u201d\n\nI confess there appears to me a beauty and a logical truth in this dream\nthat I think might convince more than the dreamer.\n\nIt is by the hypothesis of this universal sense, latent within us\u2014an\nhypothesis which, whoever believes that we are immortal spirits,\nincorporated for a season in a material body, can scarcely reject\u2014that\nI seek to explain those perceptions which are not comprised within the\nfunctions of our bodily organs. It seems to me to be the key to all or\nnearly all of them, as far as our own part in the phenomena extends.\nBut, supposing this admitted, there would then remain the difficulty of\naccounting for the partial and capricious glimpses we get of it; while\nin that department of the mystery which regards apparitions, except such\nas are the pure result of disease, we must grope our way, with very\nlittle light to guide us, as to the conditions and motives which might\npossibly bring them into any immediate relation with us.\n\nTo any one who has been fortunate enough to witness one genuine case of\nclairvoyance, I think the conception of this universal sense will not be\ndifficult, however the mode of its exercise may remain utterly\nincomprehensible. As I have said above\u2014to the great Spirit and Fountain\nof life, all things, in both space and time, must be present. However\nimpossible it is to our finite minds to conceive this, we must believe\nit. It may, in some slight degree, facilitate the conception to remember\nthat action, once begun, never ceases\u2014an impulse given is transmitted\non for ever; a sound breathed reverberates in eternity; and thus the\npast is always present, although, for the purpose of fitting us for this\nmortal life, our ordinary senses are so constituted as to be\nunperceptive of these phenomena. With respect to what we call _the\nfuture_, it is more difficult still for us to conceive it as present;\nnor, as far as I know, can we borrow from the sciences the same\nassistance as mechanical discoveries have just furnished me with in\nregard to the past. How a spirit sees that which has not yet, to our\nsenses, taken place, seems certainly inexplicable. _Foreseeing_ it is\nnot inexplicable: we foresee many things by arguing on given premises,\nalthough, from our own finite views, we are always liable to be\nmistaken. Louis Lambert says: \u201cSuch events as are the product of\nhumanity, and the result of its intelligence, have their own causes, in\nwhich they lie latent, just as our actions are accomplished in our\nthoughts previous to any outward demonstration of them; presentiments\nand prophecies consist in the intuitive perception of these causes.\u201d\nThis explanation, which is quite conformable with that of Cicero, may\naid us in some degree as regards a certain small class of phenomena; but\nthere is something involved in the question much more subtle than this.\nOur dreams can give us the only idea of it; for there we do actually see\nand hear, not only that which never was, but that which never will be.\nActions and events, words and sounds, persons and places, are as clearly\nand vividly present to us as if they were actually what they seem; and I\nshould think that most people must be somewhat puzzled to decide in\nregard to certain scenes and circumstances that live in their memory,\nwhether the images are the result of their waking or sleeping\nexperience. Although by no means a dreamer, and without the most remote\napproximation to any faculty of presentiment, I know this is the case\nwith myself. I remember also a very curious effect being produced upon\nme, when I was abroad, some years ago, from eating the unwholesome bread\nto which we were reduced, in consequence of a scarcity. Some five or six\ntimes a day I was seized with a sort of vertigo, during which I seemed\nto pass through certain scenes, and was conscious of certain words,\nwhich appeared to me to have a strange connection, with either some\nformer period of my life, or else some previous state of existence. The\nwords and the scenes were on each occasion precisely the same: I was\nalways aware of that, and I always made the strongest efforts to grasp\nand retain them in my memory, but I could not. I only knew that the\nthing _had been_; the words and the scenes were gone. I seemed to pass\nmomentarily into another sphere and back again. This was purely the\nresult of disorder; but, like a dream, it shows how we may be perceptive\nof that which is not, and which never may be; rendering it, therefore,\npossible to conceive that a spirit may be equally perceptive of that\nwhich shall be. I am very far from meaning to imply that these examples\nremove the difficulty: they do not explain the thing; they only show\nsomewhat the mode of it. But it must be remembered that when\nphysiologists pretend to settle the whole question of apparitions by the\ntheory of spectral illusions, they are exactly in the same predicament.\nThey can supply examples of similar phenomena; but how a person,\nperfectly in his senses, should receive the spectral visits of, not only\nfriends, but strangers, when he is thinking of no such matter\u2014or by\nwhat process, mental or optical, the figures are conjured up\u2014remains as\nmuch a mystery as before a line was written on the subject.\n\nAll people and all ages have believed, more or less, in prophetic\ndreams, presentiments, and apparitions; and all historians have\nfurnished examples of them. That the truths may be frequently distorted\nand mingled with fable, is no argument against those traditions; if it\nwere, all history must be rejected on the same plea. Both the Old and\nNew Testaments furnish numerous examples of these phenomena; and\nalthough Christ and the apostles reproved all the superstitions of the\nage, these persuasions are not included in their reprehensions.\n\nNeither is the comparative rarity of these phenomena any argument\nagainst their possibility. There are many strange things which occur\nstill more rarely, but which we do not look upon as supernatural or\nmiraculous. Of nature\u2019s ordinary laws, we yet know but little; of their\naberrations and perturbations, still less. How should we, when the world\nis a miracle and life a dream, of which we know neither the beginning\nnor the end! We do not even know that we see anything as it is, or\nrather, we know that we do not. We see things but as our visual organs\nrepresent them to us; and were those organs differently constructed, the\naspect of the world would to us be changed. How, then, can we pretend to\ndecide upon what is and what is not?\n\nNothing could be more perplexing to any one who read them with\nattention, than the trials for witchcraft of the seventeenth century.\nMany of the feats of the ancient thaumaturgists and wonder-workers of\nthe temples might have been nearly as much so, but these were got rid of\nby the easy expedient of pronouncing them fables and impostures; but,\nduring the witch-mania, so many persons proved their faith in their own\nmiraculous powers by the sacrifice of their lives, that it was scarcely\npossible to doubt their having some foundation for their own persuasion,\nthough what that foundation could be, till the late discoveries in\nanimal magnetism, it was difficult to conceive; but here we have a new\npage opened to us which concerns both the history of the world and the\nhistory of man, as an individual; and we begin to see that that which\nthe ignorant thought supernatural, and the wise impossible, has been\nboth natural and true. While the scientific men of Great Britain, and\nseveral of our journalists, have been denying and ridiculing the reports\nof these phenomena, the most eminent physicians of Germany have been\nquietly studying and investigating them, and giving to the world, in\ntheir works, the results of their experience. Among the rest, Dr. Joseph\nEnnemoser, of Berlin, has presented to us in his two books on \u201cMagic,\u201d\nand on \u201cThe Connection of Magnetism with Nature and Religion,\u201d the\nfruits of his thirty years\u2019 study of this subject\u2014during the course of\nwhich he has had repeated opportunities of investigating all the\nphenomena, and of making himself perfectly familiar with even the most\nrare and perplexing. To any one who has studied these works, the\nmysteries of the temples and of the witch-trials are mysteries no\nlonger; and he writes with the professed design, not to make science\nmystical, but to bring the mysterious within the bounds of science. The\nphenomena, as he justly says, are as old as the human race. Animal\nmagnetism is no new development, no new discovery. Inseparable from\nlife, although, like many other vital phenomena, so subtle in its\ninfluences, that only in abnormal cases it attracts attention, it has\nexhibited itself more or less in all ages and in all countries. But its\nvalue as a medical agent is only now beginning to dawn on the civilized\nworld, while its importance in a higher point of view is yet perceived\nby but few. Every human being who has ever withdrawn himself from the\nstrife, and the turmoil, and the distraction, of the world without, in\norder to look within, must have found himself perplexed by a thousand\nquestions with regard to his own being, which he would find no one able\nto solve. In the study of animal magnetism, he will first obtain some\ngleams of a light which will show him that he is indeed the child of\nGod! and that, though a dweller on the earth, and fallen, some traces of\nhis divine descent, and of his unbroken connection with a higher order\nof being, still remain to comfort and encourage him. He will find that\nthere exists in his species the germs of faculties that are never fully\nunfolded here on earth, and which have no reference to this state of\nbeing. They exist in all men, but in most cases are so faintly elicited\nas not to be observable; and when they do shoot up here and there, they\nare denied, disowned, misinterpreted, and maligned. It is true that\ntheir development is often the symptom and effect of disease, which\nseems to change the relations of our material and immaterial parts; it\nis true that some of the phenomena resulting from these faculties are\nstimulated by disease, as in the case of spectral illusions; and it is\ntrue that imposture and folly intrude their unhallowed footsteps into\nthis domain of science, as into that of all others; but there is a deep\nand holy well of truth to be discovered in this neglected by-path of\nnature, by those who seek it, from which they may draw the purest\nconsolations for the present, the most ennobling hopes for the future,\nand the most valuable aid in penetrating through the letter into the\nspirit of the Scriptures.\n\nI confess it makes me sorrowful when I hear men laughing, scorning, and\ndenying this their birthright; and I can not but grieve to think how\nclosely and heavily their clay must be wrapped about them, and how the\nexternal and sensuous life must have prevailed over the internal, when\nno gleam from within breaks through to show them that these things are\ntrue.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III.\n\n\n         WAKING AND SLEEPING; AND HOW THE DWELLER IN THE TEMPLE\n                         SOMETIMES LOOKS ABROAD.\n\nTO begin with the most simple\u2014or rather, I should say, the most\nordinary\u2014class of phenomena, for we can scarcely call that simple, the\nmystery of which we have never been able to penetrate\u2014I mean\ndreaming\u2014everybody\u2019s experience will suffice to satisfy them that their\nordinary dreams take place in a state of imperfect sleep, and that this\nimperfect sleep may be caused by any bodily or mental derangement\nwhatever, or even from an ill-made bed, or too much or too little\ncovering; and it is not difficult to conceive that the strange,\nconfused, and disjointed visions we are subject to on these occasions,\nmay proceed from some parts of the brain being less at rest than the\nothers; so that, assuming phrenology to be fact, one organ is not in a\nstate to correct the impressions of another. Of such vain and\ninsignificant visions, I need scarcely say it is not my intention to\ntreat; but, at the same time, I must observe, that when we have admitted\nthe above explanation, as far as it goes, we have not, even in regard to\n_them_, made much progress toward removing the difficulty. If dreaming\nresembled thinking, the explanations might be quite satisfactory; but\nthe truth is, that dreaming is not thinking, as we think in our waking\nstate, but is more analogous to thinking in delirium or acute mania, or\nin that chronic condition which gives rise to sensuous illusions. In our\nordinary normal state, conceiving of places or persons does not enable\nus to see them or hold communion with them, nor do we fancy that we do\neither. It is true, that I have heard some painters say that, by closing\ntheir eyes and concentrating their thoughts on an object, they can bring\nit more or less vividly before them, and Blake professed actually to see\nhis sitters when they were not present; but whatever interpretations we\nmay put upon this curious faculty, his case was clearly abnormal, and\nconnected with some personal peculiarity, either physical or psychical;\nand, after making the most of it, it must be admitted that it can enter\ninto no sort of comparison with that we possess in sleep, when, in our\nmost ordinary dreams, untrammelled by time or space, we visit the\nuttermost ends of the earth, fly in the air, swim in the sea, listen to\nbeautiful music and eloquent orations, behold the most charming as well\nas the most loathsome objects; and not only see, but converse with our\nfriends, absent or present, dead or alive. Every one, I think, will\ngrant that there is the widest possible difference between conceiving of\nthese things when awake, and dreaming them. When we dream, we do, we\nsee, we say, we hear, &c., &c., that is, we believe at the time we do\nso; and what more can be said of us when we are awake, than that we\n_believe_ we are doing, seeing, saying, hearing, &c. It is by external\ncircumstances, and the results of our actions, that we are able to\ndecide whether we have actually done a thing or seen a place, or only\ndreamt that we have done so; and as I have said above, after some lapse\nof time we are not always able to distinguish between the two. While\ndreaming, we frequently ask ourselves whether we are awake or asleep;\nand nothing is more common than to hear people say, \u201cWell, I think I\ndid, or heard, so and so; but I am not sure whether it was so, or\nwhether I dreamt it.\u201d Thus, therefore, the very lowest order of\ndreaming, the most disjointed and perplexed, is far removed from the\nmost vivid presentations of our waking thoughts; and it is in this\nrespect, I think, that the explanations of the phenomena hitherto\noffered by phrenologists, and the metaphysicians of this country, are\ninadequate and unsatisfactory; while, as regards the analogy between the\nvisions of sleep and delirium, whatever similarity there may be in the\neffects, we can not suppose the cause to be identical: since, in\ndelirium the images and delusions are the result of excessive action of\nthe brain, which we must conclude to be the very reverse of its\ncondition in sleep. Pinel certainly has hazarded an opinion that sleep\nis occasioned by an efflux of blood to the head, and consequent\ncompression of the brain\u2014a theory which would have greater weight were\nsleep more strictly periodical than it is; but which, at present, it\nseems impossible to reconcile with many established facts.\n\nSome of the German physiologists and psychologists have taken a deeper\nview of this question of dreaming, from considering it in connection\nwith the phenomena of animal magnetism; and although their theories\ndiffer in some respects, they all unite in looking toward that\ndepartment of nature for instruction. While one section of these\ninquirers, the Exegetical Society of Stockholm included, calls in the\naid of supernatural agency, another, among whom Dr. Joseph Ennemoser, of\nBerlin, appears to be one of the most eminent, maintains that the\nexplanation of the mystery is to be chiefly sought in the great and\nuniversal law of polarity, which extends not only beyond the limits of\nthis earth, but beyond the limits of this system, which must necessarily\nbe in connection with all others; so that there is thus an eternal and\nnever-ceasing inter-action, of which, from the multiplicity and\ncontrariety of the influences, we are insensible, just as we are\ninsensible to the pressure of the atmosphere, from its impinging on us\nequally on all sides.\n\nWaking and sleeping are the day and night sides of organic life, during\nwhich alternations an animal is placed in different relations to the\nexternal world, and to these alternations all organisms are subject. The\ncompleteness and independence of each individual organism, are in exact\nratio to the number and completeness of the organs it develops; and thus\nthe locomotive animal has the advantage of the plant or the zoophyte,\nwhile, of the animal kingdom, man is the most complete and independent;\nand, although still a member of the universal whole, and therefore\nincapable of isolating himself, yet better able than any other organism\nto ward off external influences, and comprise his world within himself.\nBut, according to Dr. Ennemoser, one of the consequences of this very\ncompleteness is a weak and insignificant development of instinct; and\nthus the healthy, waking, conscious man, is, of all organisms, the least\nsensible to the impressions of this universal inter-communication and\npolarity; although, at the same time, partaking of the nature of the\nplant and the animal, he is subject, like the first, to all manner of\natmospheric, telluric, and periodic influences; and frequently exhibits,\nlike the second, peculiar instinctive appetites and desires, and, in\nsome individual organizations, very marked antipathies and\nsusceptibilities with regard to certain objects and influences, even\nwhen not placed in any evident relation with them.\n\nAccording to this theory, sleep is a retrograde step\u2014a retreating into\na lower sphere; in which condition, the sensuous functions being in\nabeyance, the instincts somewhat resume their sway. \u201cIn sleep and in\nsickness,\u201d he says, \u201cthe higher animals and man fall in a\nphysico-organical point of view, from their individual independence, or\npower of self-sustainment; and their polar relation, that is, their\nrelation to the healthy and waking man, becomes changed from a positive\nto a negative one; all men, in regard to each other, as well as all\nnature, being the subjects of this polarity.\u201d It is to be remembered,\nthat this theory of Dr. Ennemoser\u2019s was promulgated before the\ndiscoveries of Baron von Reichenback in magnetism were made public, and\nthe susceptibility to magnetic influences in the animal organism, which\nthe experiments of the latter go to establish, is certainly in its\nfavor; but while it pretends to explain the condition of the sleepers,\nand may possibly be of some service in our investigations into the\nmystery of dreaming, it leaves us as much in the dark as ever, with\nrespect to the cause of our falling into this negative state; an inquiry\nin which little progress seems to have been hitherto made.\n\nWith respect to dreaming, Dr. Ennemoser rejects the physiological\ntheory, which maintains, that in sleep, magnetic or otherwise, the\nactivity of the brain is transferred to the ganglionic system, and that\nthe former falls into a subordinate relation. \u201cDreaming,\u201d he says, \u201cis\nthe gradual awakening of activity in the organs of imagination, whereby\nthe presentation of sensuous objects to the spirit, which had been\ndiscontinued in profound sleep, is resumed. Dreaming,\u201d he adds, \u201calso\narises from the secret activity of the spirit in the innermost sensuous\norgans of the brain, busying the fancy with subjective sensuous images,\nthe objective conscious day-life giving place to the creative dominion\nof the poetical genius, to which night becomes day, and universal nature\nits theatre of action; and thus the super-sensuous or transcendent\nnature of the spirit becomes more manifest in dreaming than in the\nwaking state. But, in considering these phenomena, man must be viewed in\nboth his psychical and physical relations, and as equally subject to\nspiritual as to natural operations and influences; since, during the\ncontinuance of life, neither soul nor body can act quite independently\nof the other; for, although it be the immortal spirit which perceives,\nit is through the instrumentality of the sensuous organs that it does\nso; for of absolute spirit without body, we can form no conception.\u201d\n\nWhat is here meant seems to be, that the brain becomes the world to the\nspirit, before the impressions from the external world do actually come\nstreaming through by means of the external sensuous organs. The inner\nspiritual light illumines, till the outward physical light overpowers\nand extinguishes it. But in this state the brain, which is the\nstorehouse of acquired knowledge, is not in a condition to apply its\nacquisitions effectively; while the intuitive knowledge of the spirit,\nif the sleep be imperfect, is clouded by its interference.\n\nOther physiologists, however, believe, from the numerous and\nwell-attested cases of the transference of the senses, in disease, to\nthe pit of the stomach, that the activity of the brain in sleep _is_\ntransferred to the epigastric region. The instances of this phenomenon,\nas related by Dr. Petetin and others, having been frequently published,\nI need not here quote. But, as Dr. Passavant observes, it is well known\nthat the functions of the nerves differ in some animals; and that one\nset can supply the place of another; as in those cases where there is a\ngreat susceptibility to light, though no eyes can be discovered.\n\nThese physiologists believe, that, even during the most profound sleep,\nthe spirit retains its activity, a proposition which, indeed, we can not\ndoubt; \u201cit wakes, though the senses sleep, retreating into its infinite\ndepths, like the sun at night; living on its spiritual life undisturbed,\nwhile the body sinks into a state of vegetative tranquillity. Nor does\nit follow that the soul is unconscious in sleep because in waking we\nhave frequently lost all memory of its consciousness; since, by the\nrepose of the sensuous organs, the bridge between waking and sleeping is\nremoved, and the recollections of one state are not carried into the\nother.\u201d\n\nIt will occur here to every one, how often in the instant of waking we\nare not only conscious that we have been dreaming, but are also\nconscious of the subject of the dream, which we try in vain to grasp,\nbut which eludes us, and is gone for ever the moment we have passed into\na state of complete wakefulness.\n\nNow, with respect to this so-called dreaming in profound sleep, it is a\nthing no one can well doubt who thoroughly believes that his body is a\ntemple built for the dwelling of an immortal spirit; for we can not\nconceive of spirit sleeping, or needing that restoration which we know\nto be the condition of earthly organisms. If, therefore, the spirit\nwakes, may we not suppose that the more it is disentangled from the\nobstructions of the body the more clear will be its perceptions; and\nthat, therefore, in the profound natural sleep of the sensuous organs we\nmay be in a state of clear-seeing. All who have attended to the subject\nare aware that the clear seeing of magnetic patients depends on the\ndepth of their sleep; whatever circumstance, internal or external, tends\nto interrupt this profound repose of the sensuous organs, inevitably\nobscures their perceptions.\n\nAgain, with respect to the not carrying with us the recollections of one\nstate into the other, should not this lead us to suspect that sleeping\nand waking are two different spheres of existence; partaking of the\nnature of that _double life_, of which the records of human physiology\nhave presented us with various instances wherein a patient finds himself\nutterly divested of all recollection of past events and acquired\nknowledge, and has to begin life and education anew, till another\ntransition takes place, wherein he recovers what he had lost, while he\nat the same time loses all he had lately gained, which he only recovers,\nonce more, by another transition, restoring to him his lately-acquired\nknowledge, but again obliterating his original stock, thus alternately\npassing from one state to the other, and disclosing a double life\u2014an\neducated man in one condition, a child learning his alphabet in the\nnext!\n\nWhere the transition from one state to another is complete, memory is\nentirely lost; but there are cases in which the change, being either\ngradual or modified, the recollections of one life are carried more or\nless into the other. We know this to be the case with magnetic sleepers,\nas it is with ordinary dreamers; and most persons have met with\ninstances of the dream of one night being continued in the next.\nTreviranus mentions the case of a student who regularly began to talk\nthe moment he fell asleep, the subject of his discourse being a dream,\nwhich he always took up at the exact point at which he had left it the\nprevious morning. Of this dream he had never the slightest recollection\nin his waking state. A daughter of Sir George Mackenzie, who died at an\nearly age, was endowed with a remarkable genius for music, and was an\naccomplished organist. This young lady dreamed, during an illness, that\nshe was at a party, where she had heard a new piece of music, which made\nso great an impression on her by its novelty and beauty, that, on\nawaking, she besought her attendants to bring her some paper, that she\nmight write it down before she had forgotten it\u2014an indulgence which,\napprehensive of excitement, her medical attendant unfortunately forbade;\nfor, apart from the additional psychological interest that would have\nbeen attached to the fact, the effects of compliance, judging from what\nensued, would probably have been soothing rather than otherwise. About\nten days afterward, she had a second dream, wherein she again found\nherself at a party, where she descried on the desk of a pianoforte, in a\ncorner of the room, an open book, in which, with astonished delight, she\nrecognised the same piece of music, which she immediately proceeded to\nplay, and then awoke. The piece was not of a short or fugitive\ncharacter, but in the style of an overture. The question, of course,\nremains, as to whether she was composing the music in her sleep, or, by\nan act of clairvoyance, was perceiving some that actually existed.\nEither is possible, for, although she might have been incapable of\ncomposing so elaborate a piece in her waking state, there are many\ninstances on record of persons performing intellectual feats in dreams,\nto which they were unequal when awake. A very eminent person assured me\nthat he had once composed some lines in his sleep (I think it was a\nsonnet) which far exceeded any of his waking performances of that\ndescription.\n\nSomewhat analogous to this sort of double life is the case of the young\ngirl mentioned by Dr. Abercrombie and others, whose employment was\nkeeping cattle, and who slept for some time, much to her own annoyance,\nin the room adjoining one occupied by an itinerant musician. The man,\nwho played exceedingly well, being an enthusiast in his art, frequently\npractised the greater part of the night, performing on his violin very\ncomplicated and difficult compositions; while the girl, so far from\ndiscovering any pleasure in his performances, complained bitterly of\nbeing kept awake by the noise. Some time after this, she fell ill, and\nwas removed to the house of a charitable lady, who undertook the charge\nof her; and here, by-and-by, the family were amazed by frequently\nhearing the most exquisite music in the night, which they at length\ndiscovered to proceed from the girl. The sounds were those of a violin,\nand the tuning and other preliminary processes were accurately imitated.\nShe went through long and elaborate pieces, and afterward was heard\nimitating, in the same way, the sounds of a pianoforte that was in the\nhouse. She also talked very cleverly on the subjects of religion and\npolitics, and discussed with great judgment the characters and conduct\nof persons, public and private. Awake, she knew nothing of these things;\nbut was, on the contrary, stupid, heavy, and had no taste whatever for\nmusic. Phrenology would probably interpret this phenomenon by saying\nthat the lower elements of the cerebral spinal axis, as organs of\nsensation, &c., &c., being asleep, the cluster of the higher organs\nrequisite for the above combinations were not only awake, but rendered\nmore active from the repose of the others: but to me it appears that we\nhere see the inherent faculties of the spirit manifesting themselves,\nwhile the body slept. The same faculties must have existed when it was\nin a waking state, but the impressions and manifestations were then\ndependent on the activity and perfection of the sensuous organs, which\nseem to have been of an inferior order; and consequently, no rays of\nthis in-dwelling genius could pierce the coarse integument in which it\nwas lodged.\n\nSimilar unexpected faculties have been not unfrequently manifested by\nthe dying, and we may conclude to a certain degree from the same cause,\nnamely, that the incipient death of the body is leaving the spirit more\nunobstructed. Dr. Steinbech mentions the case of a clergyman, who, being\nsummoned to administer the last sacraments to a dying peasant, found\nhim, to his surprise, praying aloud in Greek and Hebrew, a mystery which\ncould be no otherwise explained than by the circumstance of his having,\nwhen a child, frequently heard the then minister of the parish praying\nin those languages. He had, however, never understood the prayers, nor\nindeed paid any attention to them; still less had he been aware that\nthey lived in his memory. It would give much additional interest to this\nstory had Dr. Steinbech mentioned how far the man now, while uttering\nthe words, understood their meaning; whether he was aware of what he was\nsaying, or was only repeating the words by rote.\n\nWith regard to the extraordinary faculty of memory manifested in these\nand similar cases, I shall have some observations to make in a\nsubsequent part of this book.\n\nParallel instances are those of idiots, who, either in a somnambulic\nstate, or immediately previous to death, have spoken as if inspired. At\nSt. Jean de Maurinne, in Savoy, there was a dumb _cretin_, who, having\nfallen into a natural state of somnambulism, not only was found to speak\nwith ease, but also to the purpose; a faculty which disappeared,\nhowever, whenever he awoke. Dumb persons have likewise been known to\nspeak when at the point of death.\n\nThe possibility of suggesting dreams to some sleepers by whispering in\nthe ear, is a well-known fact; but this can doubtless only be\npracticable where the sensuous organs are partly awake. Then, as with\nmagnetic patients in a state of incomplete sleep, we have only revery\nand imagination in place of clear-seeing.\n\nThe next class of dreams are those which partake of the nature of second\nsight, or prophecy, and of these there are various kinds; some being\nplain and literal in their premonitions, others allegorical and obscure;\nwhile some also regard the most unimportant, and others the most grave\nevents of our lives. A gentleman engaged in business in the south of\nScotland, for example, dreams that on entering his office in the\nmorning, he sees seated on a certain stool a person formerly in his\nservice as clerk, of whom he had neither heard nor thought for some\ntime. He inquires the motive of the visit, and is told that such and\nsuch circumstances having brought the stranger to that part of the\ncountry, he could not forbear visiting his old quarters, expressing at\nthe same time a wish to spend a few days in his former occupation, &c.,\n&c. The gentleman, being struck with the vividness of the illusion,\nrelates his dream at breakfast, and, to his surprise, on going to his\noffice, there sits the man, and the dialogue that ensues is precisely\nthat of the dream! I have heard of numerous instances of this kind of\ndream, where no previous expectation nor excitement of mind could be\nfound to account for them, and where the fulfilment was too exact and\nliteral, in all particulars, to admit of their being explained away by\nthe ready resource of \u201can extraordinary coincidence.\u201d There are also on\nrecord, in both this country and others, many perfectly\nwell-authenticated cases of people obtaining prizes in the lottery,\nthrough having dreamed of the fortunate numbers. As many numbers,\nhowever, may have been dreamed of that were not drawn prizes, we can\nderive no conclusion from this circumstance.\n\nA very remarkable instance of this kind of dreaming occurred a few years\nsince to Mr. A\u2014\u2014 F\u2014\u2014, an eminent Scotch advocate, while staying in\nthe neighborhood of Loch Fyne, who dreamed one night that he saw a\nnumber of people in the street following a man to the scaffold. He\ndiscovered the features of the criminal in the cart distinctly; and, for\nsome reason or other, which he could not account for, felt an\nextraordinary interest in his fate\u2014insomuch that he joined the throng,\nand accompanied him to the place that was to terminate his earthly\ncareer. This interest was the more unaccountable, that the man had an\nexceedingly unprepossessing countenance, but it was nevertheless so\nvivid as to induce the dreamer to ascend the scaffold, and address him,\nwith a view to enable him to escape the impending catastrophe. Suddenly,\nhowever, while he was talking to him, the whole scene dissolved away,\nand the sleeper awoke. Being a good deal struck with the lifelike\nreality of the vision, and the impression made on his mind by the\nfeatures of this man, he related the circumstance to his friends at\nbreakfast, adding that he should know him anywhere, if he saw him. A few\njests being made on the subject, the thing was forgotten.\n\nOn the afternoon of the same day, the advocate was informed that two men\nwanted to speak to him, and, on going into the hall, he was struck with\namazement at perceiving that one of them was the hero of his dream!\n\n\u201cWe are accused of a murder,\u201d said they, \u201cand we wish to consult you.\nThree of us went out, last night, in a boat; an accident has happened;\nour comrade is drowned, and they want to make us accountable for him.\u201d\nThe advocate then put some interrogations to them, and the result\nproduced in his mind by their answers was a conviction of their guilt.\nProbably the recollection of his dream rendered the effects of this\nconviction more palpable; for one addressing the other, said in Gaelic,\n\u201cWe have come to the wrong man; he is against us.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is a higher power than I against you,\u201d returned the gentleman;\n\u201cand the only advice I can give you is, if you are guilty, fly\nimmediately.\u201d Upon this, they went away; and the next thing he heard\nwas, that they were taken into custody on suspicion of the murder.\n\nThe account of the affair was, that, as they said, the three had gone\nout together on the preceding evening, and that in the morning the body\nof one of them had been found on the shore, with a cut across his\nforehead. The father and friend of the victim had waited on the banks of\nthe lake till the boat came in, and then demanded their companion; of\nwhom, however, they professed themselves unable to give any account.\nUpon this, the old man led them to his cottage for the purpose of\nshowing them the body of his son. One entered, and, at the sight of it,\nburst into a passion of tears; the other refused to do so, saying his\nbusiness called him immediately home, and went sulkily away. This last\nwas the man seen in the dream.\n\nAfter a fortnight\u2019s incarceration, the former of these was liberated;\nand he then declared to the advocate his intention of bringing an action\nof damages for false imprisonment. He was advised not to do it. \u201cLeave\nwell alone,\u201d said the lawyer; \u201cand if you\u2019ll take my advice, make off\nwhile you can.\u201d The man, however, refused to fly: he declared that he\nreally did not know what had occasioned the death of his comrade. The\nlatter had been at one end of the boat, and he at the other; when he\nlooked round, he was gone; but whether he had fallen overboard, and cut\nhis head as he fell, or whether he had been struck and pushed into the\nwater, he did not know. The advocate became finally satisfied of this\nman\u2019s innocence; but the authorities, thinking it absurd to try one and\nnot the other, again laid hands on him: and it fell to Mr. A\u2014\u2014 F\u2014\u2014\nto be the defender of both. The difficulty was, not to separate their\ncases in his pleading; for, however morally convinced of the different\nground on which they stood, his duty, professionally, was to obtain the\nacquittal of both, in which he finally succeeded, as regarded the charge\nof murder. They were, therefore, sentenced to two years\u2019 imprisonment;\nand, so far as the dream is concerned, here ends the story. There\nremains, however, a curious sequel to it.\n\nA few years afterward, the same gentleman being in a boat on Loch Fyne,\nin company with Sir T\u2014\u2014 D\u2014\u2014 L\u2014\u2014, happened to be mentioning these\ncurious circumstances, when one of the boatmen said that he \u201cknew well\nabout those two men; and that a very strange thing had occurred in\nregard to one of them.\u201d This one, on inquiry, proved to be the subject\nof the dream; and the strange thing was this: On being liberated, he had\nquitted that part of the country, and in process of time had gone to\nGreenock, and thence embarked in a vessel for Cork. But the vessel\nseemed fated never to reach its destination; one misfortune happened\nafter another, till at length the sailors said: \u201cThis won\u2019t do; there\nmust be a murderer on board with us!\u201d As is usual, when such a\npersuasion exists, they drew lots three times, and each time it fell on\nthat man! He was consequently put on shore, and the vessel went on its\nway without him. What had become of him afterward was not known.\n\nA friend of mine, being in London, dreamed that she saw her little boy\nplaying on the terrace of her house in Northumberland; that he fell and\nhurt his arm, and she saw him lying apparently dead. The dream recurred\ntwo or three times on the same night, and she awoke her husband, saying\nshe \u201cfeared something must have happened to Henry.\u201d In due course of\npost, a letter arrived from the governess, saying that she was sorry to\nhave to communicate that, while playing on the terrace that morning,\nMaster Henry had fallen over a heap of stones, and broken his arm;\nadding that he had fainted after the accident, and had lain for some\ntime insensible. The lady to whom this dream occurred is not aware\nhaving ever manifested this faculty before or since.\n\nMrs. W\u2014\u2014 dreamed that she saw people ascending by a ladder to the\nchamber of her step-son John; wakes, and says she is afraid he is dead,\nand that there was something odd in her dream about a watch and a\ncandle. In the morning a messenger is sent to inquire for the gentleman,\nand they find people ascending to his chamber-window by a ladder, the\ndoor of the room being locked. They discover him dead on the floor, with\nhis watch in his hand, and the candle between his feet. The same lady\ndreamed that she saw a friend in great agony, and that she heard him say\nthey were tearing his flesh from his bones. He was some time afterward\nseized with inflammation, lay as she had seen him, and made use of those\nexact words.\n\nA friend of mine dreamed lately that somebody said her nephew must not\nbe bled, as it would be dangerous. The young man was quite well, and\nthere had been no design of bleeding him; but on the following morning\nhe had a tooth drawn, and an effusion of blood ensued, which lasted some\ndays, and caused a good deal of uneasiness.\n\nA farmer, in Worcestershire, dreamed that his little boy, of twelve\nyears old, had fallen from the wagon and was killed. The dream recurred\nthree times in one night; but, unwilling to yield to superstitious\nfears, he allowed the child to accompany the wagoner to Kidderminster\nfair. The driver was very fond of the boy, and he felt assured would\ntake care of him; but, having occasion to go a little out of the road to\nleave a parcel, the man bade the child walk on with the wagon, and he\nwould meet him at a certain spot. On arriving there, the horses were\ncoming quietly forward, but the boy was not with them; and on retracing\nthe road, he was found dead, having apparently fallen from the shafts,\nand been crushed by the wheels.\n\nA gentleman, who resided near one of the Scottish lakes, dreamed that he\nsaw a number of persons surrounding a body, which had just been drawn\nout of the water. On approaching the spot, he perceives that it is\nhimself, and the assistants are his own friends and retainers. Alarmed\nat the lifelike reality of the vision, he resolved to elude the\nthreatened destiny by never venturing on the lake again. On one\noccasion, however, it became quite indispensable that he should do so;\nand, as the day was quite calm, he yielded to the necessity, on\ncondition that he should be put ashore at once on the opposite side,\nwhile the rest of the party proceeded to their destinations, where he\nwould meet them. This was accordingly done: the boat skimmed gayly over\nthe smooth waters, and arrived safely at the rendezvous, the gentlemen\nlaughing at the superstition of their companion, while he stood smiling\non the bank to receive them. But, alas! the fates were inexorable: the\nlittle promontory that supported him had been undermined by the water;\nit gave way beneath his feet, and life was extinct before he could be\nrescued. This circumstance was related to me by a friend of the family.\n\nMr. S\u2014\u2014 was the son of an Irish bishop, who set somewhat more value on\nthe things of this world than became his function. He had always told\nhis son that there was but one thing he could not forgive, and that was,\na bad marriage\u2014meaning, by a bad marriage, a poor one. As cautions of\nthis sort do not, by any means, prevent young people falling in love,\nMr. S\u2014\u2014 fixed his affections on Lady O\u2014\u2014, a fair young widow,\nwithout any fortune; and, aware that it would be useless to apply for\nhis father\u2019s consent, he married her without asking it. They were\nconsequently exceedingly poor; and, indeed, nearly all they had to live\non was a small sinecure of forty pounds per annum, which Dean Swift\nprocured for him. While in this situation, Mr. S\u2014\u2014 dreamed one night\nthat he was in the cathedral in which he had formerly been accustomed to\nattend service; that he saw a stranger, habited as a bishop, occupying\nhis father\u2019s throne; and that, on applying to the verger for an\nexplanation, the man said that the bishop was dead, and that he had\nexpired just as he was adding a codicil to his will in his son\u2019s favor.\nThe impression made by the dream was so strong, that Mr. S\u2014\u2014 felt that\nhe should have no repose till he had obtained news from home; and as the\nmost speedy way of doing so was to go there himself, he started on\nhorseback, much against the advice of his wife, who attached no\nimportance whatever to the circumstance. He had scarcely accomplished\nhalf his journey, when he met a courier, bearing the intelligence of his\nfather\u2019s death; and when he reached home, he found that there was a\ncodicil attached to the will, of the greatest importance to his own\nfuture prospects; but the old gentleman had expired, with the pen in his\nhand, just as he was about to sign it!\n\nIn this unhappy position, reduced to hopeless indigence, the friends of\nthe young man proposed that he should present himself at the vice-regal\npalace, on the next levee day, in hopes that some interest might be\nexcited in his favor; to which, with reluctance, he consented. As he was\nascending the stairs, he was met by a gentleman whose dress indicated\nthat he belonged to the church.\n\n\u201cGood Heavens!\u201d said he, to the friend who accompanied him, \u201cwho is\nthat?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is Mr. \u2014\u2014, of so and so.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen he will be bishop of L\u2014\u2014!\u201d returned Mr. S\u2014\u2014; \u201cfor that is the\nman I saw occupying my father\u2019s throne.\u201d\n\n\u201cImpossible!\u201d replied the other; \u201che has no interest whatever, and has\nno more chance of being a bishop than I have.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will see,\u201d replied Mr. S\u2014\u2014; \u201cI am certain he will.\u201d\n\nThey had made their obeisance above, and were returning, when there was\na great cry without, and everybody rushed to the doors and windows to\ninquire what had happened. The horses attached to the carriage of a\nyoung nobleman had become restiff, and were endangering the life of\ntheir master, when Mr. \u2014\u2014 rushed forward, and, at the peril of his\nown, seized their heads, and afforded Lord C\u2014\u2014 time to descend, before\nthey broke through all restraint, and dashed away. Through the interest\nof this nobleman and his friends, to whom Mr. \u2014\u2014 had been previously\nquite unknown, he obtained the see of L\u2014\u2014. These circumstances were\nrelated to me by a member of the family.\n\nIt would be tedious to relate all the instances of this sort of dreaming\nwhich have come to my knowledge, but were they even much more rare than\nthey are, and were there none of a graver and more mysterious kind, it\nmight certainly occasion some surprise that they should have excited so\nlittle attention. When stories of this sort are narrated, they are\nlistened to with wonder for the moment, and then forgotten, and few\npeople reflect on the deep significance of the facts, or the important\nconsequences to us involved in the question, of how, with our limited\nfaculties, which can not foretell the events of the next moment, we\nshould suddenly become prophets and seers.\n\nThe following dream, as it regards the fate of a very interesting\nperson, and is, I believe, very little known, I will relate, though the\nstory is of somewhat an old date:\u2014Major Andr\u00e9, the circumstances of\nwhose lamented death are too well known to make it necessary for me to\ndetail them here, was a friend of Miss Seward\u2019s, and, previously to his\nembarkation for America, he made a journey into Derbyshire, to pay her a\nvisit, and it was arranged that they should ride over to see the wonders\nof the Peak, and introduce Andr\u00e9 to Newton, her minstrel, as she called\nhim, and to Mr. Cunningham, the curate, who was also a poet.\n\nWhile these two gentlemen were awaiting the arrival of their guests, of\nwhose intentions they had been apprised, Mr. Cunningham mentioned to\nNewton, that on the preceding night, he had had a very extraordinary\ndream, which he could not get out of his head. He had fancied himself in\na forest; the place was strange to him; and, while looking about, he\nperceived a horseman approaching at great speed, who had scarcely\nreached the spot where the dreamer stood, when three men rushed out of\nthe thicket, and, seizing his bridle, hurried him away, after closely\nsearching his person. The countenance of the stranger being very\ninteresting, the sympathy felt by the sleeper for his apparent\nmisfortune awoke him; but he presently fell asleep again, and dreamed\nthat he was standing near a great city, among thousands of people, and\nthat he saw the same person he had seen seized in the wood brought out\nand suspended to a gallows. When Andr\u00e9 and Miss Seward arrived, he was\nhorror-struck to perceive that his new acquaintance was the antitype of\nthe man in the dream.\n\nMr. C\u2014\u2014, a friend of mine, told me the other day, that he had dreamed\nhe had gone to see a lady of his acquaintance, and that she had\npresented him with a purse. In the morning he mentioned the circumstance\nto his wife, adding that he wondered what should have made him dream of\na person he had not been in any way led to think of; and, above all,\nthat she should give him a purse. On that same day, a letter arrived\nfrom that lady to Mrs. C\u2014\u2014, containing a purse, of which she begged\nher acceptance. Here was the imperfect foreshadowing of the fact,\nprobably from unsound sleep.\n\nAnother friend lately dreamed, one Thursday night, that he saw an\nacquaintance of his thrown from his horse; and that he was lying on the\nground with the blood streaming from his face, which was much cut. He\nmentioned his dream in the morning, and being an entire disbeliever in\nsuch phenomena, he could not account for the impression made on his\nmind. This was so strong, that on Saturday, he could not forbear calling\nat his friend\u2019s house; who, he was told, was in bed, having been thrown\nfrom his horse on the previous day, and much injured about the face.\n\nRelations of this description having been more or less familiar to the\nworld in all times and places, and the recurrence of the phenomena too\nfrequent to admit of their reality being disputed, various theories were\npromulgated to account for them; and indeed, there scarcely seems to be\na philosopher or historian among the Greeks and Romans who does not make\nsome allusion to this ill-understood department of nature; while, among\nthe eastern nations, the faith in such mysterious revelations remains\neven yet undiminished. Spirits, good and evil, or the divinities of the\nheathen mythology, were generally called in to remove the difficulty;\nthough some philosophers, rejecting this supernatural interference,\nsought the explanation in merely physical causes.\n\nIn the druidical rites of the northern nations, women bore a\nconsiderable part: there were priestesses, who gave forth oracles and\nprophecies, much after the manner of the Pythonesses of the Grecian\ntemples, and no doubt drawing their inspiration from the same sources;\nnamely, from the influences of magnetism, and from narcotics. When the\npure rites of Christianity seperseded the heathen forms of worship,\ntradition kept alive the memory of these vaticinations, together with\nsome of the arcana of the druidical groves; and hence, in the middle\nages, arose the race of so-called witches and sorcerers, who were partly\nimpostors, and partly self-deluded. Nobody thought of seeking the\nexplanation of the facts they witnessed in natural causes; what had\nformerly been attributed to the influence of the gods, was now\nattributed to the influence of the devil; and a league with Satan was\nthe universal solvent of all difficulties.\n\nPersecution followed, of course; and men, women, and children, were\noffered up to the demon of superstition, till the candid and rational\npart of mankind, taking fright at the holocaust, began to put in their\nprotest, and lead out a reaction, which, like all reactions, ran right\ninto the opposite extreme. From believing everything, they ceased to\nbelieve anything; and, after swallowing unhesitatingly the most\nmonstrous absurdities, they relieved themselves of the whole difficulty,\nby denying the plainest facts; while what it was found impossible to\ndeny, was referred to _imagination_\u2014that most abused word, which\nexplained nothing, but left the matter as obscure as it was before.\nMan\u2019s spiritual nature was forgotten; and what the senses could not\napprehend, nor the understanding account for, was pronounced to be\nimpossible. Thank God! we have lived through that age, and in spite of\nthe struggles of the materialistic school, we are fast advancing to a\nbetter. The traditions of the saints who suffered the most appalling\ntortures, and slept or smiled the while, can scarcely be rejected now,\nwhen we are daily hearing of people undergoing frightful operations,\neither in a state of insensibility, or while they believe themselves\nrevelling in delight; nor can the psychological intimations which these\nfacts offer, be much longer overlooked. One revelation must lead to\nanother; and the wise men of the world will, ere long, be obliged to\ngive in their adherence to Shakspere\u2019s much quoted axiom, and confess\nthat \u201cthere _are_ more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in\ntheir philosophy.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n\n                 ALLEGORICAL DREAMS, PRESENTIMENT, ETC.\n\nIT has been the opinion of many philosophers, both ancient and modern,\nthat in the original state of man, as he came forth from the hands of\nhis Creator, that knowledge which is now acquired by pains and labor was\nintuitive. His material body was given him for the purpose of placing\nhim in relation with the material world, and his sensuous organs for the\nperception of material objects, but his soul was a mirror of the\nuniverse, in which everything was reflected, and, probably, is so still,\nbut that the spirit is no longer in a condition to perceive it. Degraded\nin his nature, and distracted by the multiplicity of the objects and\ninterests that surround him, man has lost his faculty of spiritual\nseeing; but in sleep, when the body is in a state of passivity, and\nexternal objects are excluded from us by the shutting up of the senses\nthrough which we perceive them, the spirit, to a certain degree freed\nfrom its impediments, may enjoy somewhat of its original privilege. \u201cThe\nsoul, which is designed as the mirror of a superior spiritual order\u201d (to\nwhich it belongs), still receives in dreams, some rays from above, and\nenjoys a foretaste of its future condition; and, whatever interpretation\nmay be put upon the history of the Fall, few will doubt that, before it,\nman must have stood in a much more intimate relation to his Creator than\nhe has done since. If we admit this, and that, for the above-hinted\nreasons, the soul in sleep may be able to exercise somewhat of its\noriginal endowment, the possibility of what is called prophetic dreaming\nmay be better understood.\n\n\u201cSeeing in dreams,\u201d says Ennemoser, \u201cis a self-illumining of things,\nplaces, and times;\u201d for relations of time and space form no obstruction\nto the dreamer: things, near and far, are alike seen in the mirror of\nthe soul, according to the connection in which they stand to each other;\nand, as the future is but an unfolding of the present, as the present is\nof the past, one being necessarily involved in the other, it is not more\ndifficult to the untrammelled spirit to see what is to happen, than what\nhas _already_ happened. Under what peculiar circumstances it is that the\nbody and soul fall into this particular relative condition, we do not\nknow, but that certain families and constitutions are more prone to\nthese conditions than others, all experience goes to establish.\nAccording to the theory of Dr. Ennemoser, we should conclude that they\nare more susceptible to magnetic influences, and that the body falls\ninto a more complete state of negative polarity.\n\nIn the histories of the Old Testament we constantly find instances of\nprophetic dreaming, and the voice of God was chiefly heard by the\nprophets in sleep; seeming to establish that man is in that state more\nsusceptible of spiritual communion, although the being thus made the\nspecial organ of the Divine will, is altogether a different thing from\nthe mere disfranchisement of the embodied spirit in ordinary cases of\nclear seeing in sleep. Profane history, also, furnishes us with various\ninstances of prophetic dreaming, which it is unnecessary for me to refer\nto here. But there is one thing very worthy of remark, namely, that the\nallegorical character of many of the dreams recorded in the Old\nTestament, occasionally pervades those of the present day. I have heard\nof several of this nature, and Oberlin, the good pastor of Ban de la\nRoche, was so subject to them, that he fancied he had acquired the art\nof interpreting the symbols. This characteristic of dreaming is in\nstrict conformity with the language of the Old Testament, and of the\nmost ancient nations. Poets and prophets, heathen and Christian, alike\nexpress themselves symbolically, and, if we believe that this language\nprevailed in the early ages of the world, before the external and\nintellectual life had predominated over the instinctive and emotional,\nwe must conclude it to be the natural language of man, who must,\ntherefore, have been gifted with a conformable faculty of comprehending\nthese hieroglyphics; and hence it arose that the interpreting of dreams\nbecame a legitimate art. Long after these instinctive faculties were\nlost, or rather obscured, by the turmoil and distractions of sensuous\nlife, the memories and traditions of them remained, and hence the\nsuperstructure of jugglery and imposture that ensued, of which the\ngipsies form a signal example, in whom, however, there can be no doubt\nthat some occasional gleams of this original endowment may still be\nfound, as is the case, though more rarely, in individuals of all races\nand conditions. The whole of nature is one large book of symbols, which,\nbecause we have lost the key to it, we can not decipher. \u201cTo the first\nman,\u201d says Hamann, \u201cwhatever his ear heard, his eye saw, or his hand\ntouched, was a living word; with this word in his heart and in his\nmouth, the formation of language was easy. Man saw things in their\nessence and properties, and named them accordingly.\u201d\n\nThere can be no doubt that the heathen forms of worship and systems of\nreligion were but the external symbols of some deep meanings, and not\nthe idle fables that they have been too frequently considered; and it is\nabsurd to suppose that the theology which satisfied so many great minds\nhad no better foundation than a child\u2019s fairy tale.\n\nA maid-servant, who resided many years in a distinguished family in\nEdinburgh, was repeatedly warned of the approaching death of certain\nmembers of that family, by dreaming that one of the walls of the house\nhad fallen. Shortly before the head of the family sickened and died, she\nsaid she had dreamed that the main wall had fallen.\n\nA singular circumstance which occurred in this same family, from a\nmember of which I heard it, is mentioned by Dr. Abercrombie. On this\noccasion the dream was not only prophetic, but the symbol was actually\ntranslated into fact.\n\nOne of the sons being indisposed with a sore throat, a sister dreamed\nthat a watch, of considerable value, which she had borrowed from a\nfriend, had stopped; that she had awakened another sister and mentioned\nthe circumstance, who answered that \u201csomething much worse had happened,\nfor Charles\u2019s breath had stopped.\u201d She then awoke, in extreme alarm, and\nmentioned the dream to her sister, who, to tranquillize her mind, arose\nand went to the brother\u2019s room, where she found him asleep and the watch\ngoing. The next night the same dream recurred, and the brother was again\nfound asleep and the watch going. On the following morning, however,\nthis lady was writing a note in the drawing-room, with the watch beside\nher, when, on taking it up, she perceived it had stopped; and she was\njust on the point of calling her sister to mention the circumstance,\nwhen she heard a scream from her brother\u2019s room, and the sister rushed\nin with the tidings that he had just expired. The malady had not been\nthought serious; but a sudden fit of suffocation had unexpectedly proved\nfatal.\n\nThis case, which is established beyond all controversy, is extremely\ncurious in many points of view; the acting out of the symbol,\nespecially. Symbolical events of this description have been often\nrelated, and as often laughed at. It is easy to laugh at what we do not\nunderstand; and it gives us the advantage of making the timid narrator\nashamed of his fact, so that if he do not wholly suppress it, he at\nleast insures himself by laughing, too, the next time he relates it. It\nis said that Goethe\u2019s clock stopped the moment he died; and I have heard\nrepeated instances of this strange kind of synchronism, or magnetism, if\nit be by magnetism that we are to account for the mystery. One was told\nme very lately by a gentleman to whom the circumstances occurred.\n\nOn the 16th of August, 1769, Frederick II., of Prussia, is said to have\ndreamed that a star fell from heaven and occasioned such an\nextraordinary glare that he could with great difficulty find his way\nthrough it. He mentioned the dream to his attendants, and it was\nafterward observed that it was on that day Napoleon was born.\n\nA lady, not long since, related to me the following circumstance: Her\nmother, who was at the time residing in Edinburgh, in a house one side\nof which looked into a wynd, while the door was in the High street,\ndreamed that, it being Sunday morning, she had heard a sound which\nattracted her to the window; and, while looking out, had dropped a ring\nfrom her finger into the wynd below; that she had, thereupon, gone down\nin her night-clothes to seek it, but when she reached the spot it was\nnot to be found. Returning, extremely vexed at her loss, as she\nre-entered her own door she met a respectable looking young man,\ncarrying some loaves of bread. On expressing her astonishment at finding\na stranger there at so unseasonable an hour, he answered by expressing\nhis at seeing her in such a situation. She said she had dropped her\nring, and had been round the corner to seek it; whereupon, to her\ndelighted surprise, he presented her with her lost treasure. Some months\nafterward, being at a party, she recognized the young man seen in her\ndream, and learned that he was a baker. He took no particular notice of\nher on that occasion; and, I think, two years elapsed before she met him\nagain. This second meeting, however, led to an acquaintance, which\nterminated in marriage.\n\nHere the ring and the bread are curiously emblematic of the marriage,\nand the occupation of the future husband.\n\nMiss L\u2014\u2014, residing at Dalkeith, dreamed that her brother, who was ill,\ncalled her to his bedside and gave her a letter, which he desired her to\ncarry to their aunt, Mrs. H\u2014\u2014, with the request that she would\n\u201cdeliver it to John.\u201d (John was another brother, who had died\npreviously, and Mrs. H\u2014\u2014 was at the time ill.) He added that \u201che\nhimself was going _there_ also, but that Mrs. H\u2014\u2014 would be _there_\nbefore him.\u201d Accordingly, Miss L\u2014\u2014 went, in her dream, with the letter\nto Mrs. H\u2014\u2014, whom she found dressed in white, and looking quite\nradiant and happy. She took the letter, saying she was going _there_\ndirectly, and would deliver it.\n\nOn the following morning Miss L\u2014\u2014 learned that her aunt had died in\nthe night. The brother died some little time afterward.\n\nA gentleman who had been a short time visiting Edinburgh, was troubled\nwith a cough, which, though it occasioned him no alarm, he resolved to\ngo home to nurse. On the first night of his arrival he dreamed that one\nhalf of the house was blown away. His bailiff, who resided at a\ndistance, dreamed the same dream on the same night. The gentleman died\nwithin a few weeks.\n\n\u201cThis symbolical language, which the Deity appears to have used\u201d\n(witness Peter\u2019s dream, Acts ii., and others) \u201cin all his revelations to\nman, is in the highest degree, what poetry is in a lower, and the\nlanguage of dreams, in the lowest, namely, the original natural language\nof man; and we may fairly ask whether this language, which here plays an\ninferior part, be not, possibly, the proper language of a higher sphere,\nwhile we, who vainly think ourselves awake, are, in reality, buried in a\ndeep, deep sleep, in which, like dreamers who imperfectly hear the\nvoices of those around them, we occasionally apprehend, though\nobscurely, a few words of this divine tongue.\u201d (_Vide Schubert._)\n\nThis subject of sleeping and waking is a very curious one, and might\ngive rise to strange questionings. In the case of those patients\nabovementioned, who seem to have two different spheres of existence, who\nshall say which is the waking one, or whether either of them be so? The\nspeculations of Mr. Dove on this subject merited more attention, I\nthink, than they met with when he lectured in Edinburgh. He maintained\nthat, long before he had paid any attention to magnetism, he had arrived\nat the conclusion that there are as many states or conditions of mind\nbeyond sleep as there are on this side of it; passing through the\ndifferent stages of dreaming, revery, contemplation, &c., up to perfect\nvigilance. However this be, in this world of appearance, where we see\nnothing as it is, and where, both as regards our moral and physical\nrelations, we live in a state of continual delusion, it is impossible\nfor us to pronounce on this question. It is a common remark, that some\npeople seem to live in a dream, and never to be quite awake; and the\nmost cursory observer can not fail to have been struck with examples of\npersons in this condition, especially in the aged.\n\nWith respect to this allegorical language, Ennemoser observes, that,\n\u201csince no dreamer learns it of another, and still less from those who\nare awake, it must be natural to all men.\u201d How different too, is its\ncomprehensiveness and rapidity, to our ordinary language! We are\naccustomed, and with justice, to wonder at the admirable mechanism by\nwhich, without fatigue or exertion, we communicate with our\nfellow-beings; but how slow and ineffectual is human speech compared to\nthis spiritual picture-language, where a whole history is understood at\na glance! and scenes that seem to occupy days and weeks, are acted out\nin ten minutes. It is remarkable that this hieroglyphic language appears\nto be the same among all people; and that the dream-interpreters of all\ncountries construe the signs alike. Thus, the dreaming of deep water\ndenotes trouble, and pearls are a sign of tears.\n\nI have heard of a lady who, whenever a misfortune was impending, dreamed\nthat she saw a large fish. One night she dreamed that this fish had\nbitten two of her little boy\u2019s fingers. Immediately afterward a\nschoolfellow of the child\u2019s injured those two very fingers by striking\nhim with a hatchet; and I have met with several persons who have\nlearned, by experience, to consider one particular dream as the certain\nprognostic of misfortune.\n\nA lady who had left the West Indies when six years old, came one night,\nfourteen years afterward, to her sister\u2019s bedside, and said, \u201cI know\nuncle is dead. I have dreamed that I saw a number of slaves in the large\nstore-room at Barbadoes, with long brooms, sweeping down immense\ncobwebs. I complained to my aunt, and she covered her face and said,\n\u2018Yes, he is no sooner gone than they disobey him.\u2019\u201d It was afterward\nascertained that Mr. P\u2014\u2014 had died on that night, and that he had never\npermitted the cobwebs in this room to be swept away, of which, however,\nthe lady assures me she knew nothing; nor could she or her friends\nconceive what was meant by the symbol of the cobwebs, till they received\nthe explanation subsequently from a member of the family.\n\nThe following very curious allegorical dream I give, not in the words of\nthe dreamer, but in those of her son, who bears a name destined, I\ntrust, to a long immortality:\u2014\n\n                \u201cWOOER\u2019S ABBEY-COTTAGE, DUNFERMLINE-IN-THE-WOODS, }\n                               \u201c_Monday morning, 31st May, 1847_. }\n\n    \u201cDEAR MRS. CROWE: _That_ dream of my mother\u2019s was as follows:\n    She stood in a long, dark, empty gallery: on her one side was my\n    father, and on the other my eldest sister Amelia; then myself,\n    and the rest of the family, according to their ages. At the foot\n    of the hall stood my youngest sister Alexes, and above her my\n    sister Catherine\u2014a creature, by-the-way, in person and mind,\n    more like an angel of heaven than an inhabitant of earth. We all\n    stood silent and motionless. At last IT entered\u2014the unimagined\n    _something_, that, casting its grim shadow before, had enveloped\n    all the trivialities of the preceding dream in the stifling\n    atmosphere of terror. It entered, stealthily descending the\n    three steps that led from the entrance down into the chamber of\n    horror: and my mother _felt_ IT _was Death_! He was dwarfish,\n    bent, and shrivelled. He carried on his shoulder a heavy axe;\n    and had come, she thought, to destroy \u2018all her little ones at\n    one fell swoop.\u2019 On the entrance of the shape, my sister Alexes\n    leaped out of the rank, interposing herself between him and my\n    mother. He raised his axe and aimed a blow at Catherine\u2014a blow\n    which, to her horror, my mother could not intercept, though she\n    had snatched up a three-legged stool, the sole furniture of the\n    apartment, for that purpose. She could not, she felt, fling the\n    stool at the figure without destroying Alexes, who kept shooting\n    out and in between her and the ghastly thing. She tried in vain\n    to scream; she besought my father, in agony, to avert the\n    impending stroke; but he did not hear, or did not heed her, and\n    stood motionless, as in a trance. Down came the axe, and poor\n    Catherine fell in her blood, cloven to \u2018the white halse bane.\u2019\n    Again the axe was lifted, by the inexorable shadow, over the\n    head of my brother, who stood next in the line. Alexes had\n    somewhere disappeared behind the ghastly visitant; and, with a\n    scream, my mother flung the footstool at his head. He vanished,\n    and she awoke.\n\n    \u201cThis dream left on my mother\u2019s mind a fearful apprehension of\n    impending misfortune, \u2018which would not pass away.\u2019 It was\n    _murder_ she feared; and her suspicions were not allayed by the\n    discovery that a man (some time before discarded by my father\n    for bad conduct, and with whom she had, somehow, associated the\n    _Death_ of her dream) had been lurking about the place, and\n    sleeping in an adjoining outhouse on the night it occurred, and\n    for some nights previous and subsequent to it. Her terror\n    increased. Sleep forsook her; and every night, when the house\n    was still, she arose and stole, sometimes with a candle,\n    sometimes in the dark, from room to room, listening, in a sort\n    of waking nightmare, for the breathing of the assassin, who, she\n    imagined, was lurking in some one of them. This could not last.\n    She reasoned with herself; but her terror became intolerable,\n    and she related her dream to my father, who, of course, called\n    her a fool for her pains, whatever might be his real opinion of\n    the matter.\n\n    \u201cThree months had elapsed, when we children were all of us\n    seized with scarlet fever. My sister Catherine died almost\n    immediately\u2014sacrificed, as my mother in her misery thought, to\n    her (my mother\u2019s) over-anxiety for Alexes, whose danger seemed\n    more imminent. The dream-prophecy was in part fulfilled. I also\n    was at death\u2019s door\u2014given up by the doctors, but not by my\n    mother: she was confident of my recovery; but for my brother,\n    who was scarcely considered in danger at all, but on whose head\n    _she had seen_ the visionary axe impending, her fears were\n    great; for she could not recollect whether the blow had or had\n    not descended when the spectre vanished. My brother recovered,\n    but relapsed, and barely escaped with life; but Alexes did not.\n    For a year and ten months the poor child lingered, and almost\n    every night I had to sing her asleep\u2014often, I remember, through\n    bitter tears, for I knew she was dying, and I loved her the more\n    as she wasted away. I held her little hand as she died; I\n    followed her to the grave\u2014the last thing that I have _loved_ on\n    earth. And _the dream was fulfilled_.\n\n       \u201cTruly and sincerely yours,\n                                                    J. NOEL PATON.\u201d\n\nThe dreaming of coffins and funerals, when a death is impending, must be\nconsidered as examples of this allegorical language. Instances of this\nkind are extremely numerous. Not unfrequently the dreamer, as in cases\nof second-sight, sees either the body in the coffin, so as to be\nconscious of who is to die, or else is made aware of it from seeing the\nfuneral-procession at a certain house, or from some other significant\ncircumstance. This faculty, which has been supposed to belong peculiarly\nto the highlanders of Scotland, appears to be fully as well known in\nWales and on the continent, especially in Germany.\n\nThe language of dreams, however, is not always symbolical. Occasionally,\nthe scene, that is transacting at a distance, or that is to be\ntransacted at some future period, is literally presented to the sleeper,\nas things appear to be presented in many cases of second-sight, and also\nin clairvoyance; and, since we suppose him (that is, the sleeper) to be\nin a temporarily magnetic state, we must conclude that the degree of\nperspicuity, or translucency of the vision, depends on the degree of\nthat state. Nevertheless, there are considerable difficulties attending\nthis theory. A great proportion of the prophetic dreams we hear of are\nconnected with the death of some friend or relative. Some, it is true,\nregard unimportant matters, as visits, and so forth; but this is\ngenerally, though not exclusively, the case only with persons who have a\nconstitutional tendency to this kind of dreaming, and with whom it is\nfrequent; but it is not uncommon for those who have not discovered any\nsuch tendency, to be made aware of a death: and the number of dreams of\nthis description I meet with is very considerable. Now, it is difficult\nto conceive what the condition is that causes this perception of an\napproaching death; or why, supposing, as we have suggested above, that,\nwhen the senses sleep, the untrammelled spirit _sees_, the memory of\nthis revelation, if I may so call it, so much more frequently survives\nthan any other, unless, indeed, it be the force of the shock\nsustained\u2014which shock, it is to be remarked, always wakes the sleeper;\nand this may be the reason that, if he fall asleep again, the dream is\nalmost invariably repeated.\n\nI could fill pages with dreams of this description which have come to my\nknowledge, or been recorded by others.\n\nMr. H\u2014\u2014, a gentleman with whom I am acquainted\u2014a man engaged in\nactive business, and apparently as little likely as any one I ever knew\nto be troubled with a faculty of this sort\u2014dreamed that he saw a\ncertain friend of his dead. The dream was so like reality, that,\nalthough he had no reason whatever to suppose his friend ill, he could\nnot forbear sending in the morning to inquire for him. The answer\nreturned was, that Mr. A\u2014\u2014 was out, and was quite well. The\nimpression, however, was so vivid, that, although he had nearly three\nmiles to send, Mr. H\u2014\u2014 felt that he could not start for Glasgow,\nwhither business called him, without making another inquiry. This time\nhis friend was at home, and answered for himself, that he was very well,\nand that somebody must have been hoaxing H\u2014\u2014, and making him believe\notherwise. Mr. H\u2014\u2014 set out on his journey, wondering at his own\nanxiety, but unable to conquer it. He was absent but a few days (I think\nthree); and the first news he heard on his return was, that his friend\nhad been seized with an attack of inflammation, and was dead.\n\nA German professor lately related to a friend of mine, that, being some\ndistance from home, he dreamed that his father was dying, and was\ncalling for him. The dream being repeated, he was so far impressed as to\nalter his plans, and return home, where he arrived in time to receive\nhis parent\u2019s last breath. He was informed that the dying man had been\ncalling upon his name repeatedly, in deep anguish at his absence.\n\nA parallel case to this is that of Mr. R\u2014\u2014 E\u2014\u2014 S\u2014\u2014, an accountant\nin Edinburgh, and a shrewd man of business, who relates the following\ncircumstance as occurring to himself. He is a native of Dalkeith, and\nwas residing there, when, being about fifteen years of age, he left home\non a Saturday, to spend a few days with a friend at Prestonpans. On the\nSunday night he dreamed that his mother was extremely ill, and started\nout of his sleep with an impression that he must go to her immediately.\nHe even got out of bed with the intention of doing so, but, reflecting\nthat he had left her quite well, and that it was only a dream, he\nreturned to bed, and again fell asleep. But the dream returned, and,\nunable longer to control his anxiety, he arose, dressed himself in the\ndark, quitted the house, leaping the railings that surrounded it, and\nmade the best of his way to Dalkeith. On reaching home, which he did\nbefore daylight, he tapped at the kitchen-window, and, on gaining\nadmittance, was informed that on the Saturday evening, after he had\ndeparted, his mother had been seized with an attack of British cholera,\nand was lying above, extremely ill. She had been lamenting his absence\nextremely, and had scarcely ceased crying, \u201cOh, Ralph, Ralph! what a\ngrief that you are away!\u201d At nine o\u2019clock he was admitted to her room;\nbut she was no longer in a condition to recognise him, and she died\nwithin a day or two.\n\nInstances of this sort are numerous, but it would be tedious to narrate\nthem, especially as there is little room for variety in the details. I\nshall therefore content myself with giving one or two specimens of each\nclass, confining my examples to such as have been communicated to\nmyself, except where any case of particular interest leads me to deviate\nfrom this plan. The frequency of such phenomena may be imagined, when I\nmention that the instances I shall give, with few exceptions, have been\ncollected with little trouble, and without seeking beyond my own small\ncircle of acquaintance.\n\nIn the family of the above-named gentleman (Mr. R\u2014\u2014 E\u2014\u2014 S\u2014\u2014),\nthere probably existed a faculty of presentiment; for, in the year 1810,\nhis elder brother being assistant-surgeon on board the \u201cGorgon,\u201d\nwar-brig, his father dreamed that he was promoted to the \u201cSparrowhawk,\u201d\na ship he had then never heard of\u2014neither had the family received any\nintelligence of the young man for several months. He told his dream, and\nwas well laughed at for his pains; but in a few weeks a letter arrived\nannouncing the promotion.\n\nWhen Lord Burghersh was giving theatrical parties at Florence, a lady\n(Mrs. M\u2014\u2014, whose presence was very important) excused herself one\nevening, being in great alarm from having dreamed in the night that her\nsister, in England, was dead, which proved to be the fact.\n\nMr. W\u2014\u2014, a young man at Glasgow college, not long since dreamed that\nhis aunt in Russia was dead. He noted the date of his dream on the\nwindow-shutter of his chamber. In a short time the news of the lady\u2019s\ndeath arrived. The dates, however, did not accord; but, on mentioning\nthe circumstance to a friend, he was reminded that the adherence of the\nRussians to the old style reconciled the difference.\n\nA man of business, in Glasgow, lately dreamed that he saw a coffin, on\nwhich was inscribed the name of a friend, with the date of his death.\nSome time afterward he was summoned to attend the funeral of that\nperson, who, at the time of the dream, was in good health, and he was\nstruck with surprise on seeing the plate of the coffin bearing the very\ndate he had seen in his dream.\n\nA French gentleman, Monsieur de V\u2014\u2014, dreamed, some years since, that\nhe saw a tomb, on which he read very distinctly, the following date\u201423d\nJune, 184\u2014; there were, also, some initials, but so much effaced that\nhe could not make them out. He mentioned the circumstance to his wife;\nand for some time, they could not help dreading the recurrence of the\nominous month; but, as year after year passed, and nothing happened,\nthey had ceased to think of it, when at last the symbol was explained.\nOn the 23d of June, 1846, their only daughter died at the age of\nseventeen.\n\nThus far the instances I have related seem to resolve themselves into\ncases of simple clairvoyance, or second sight in sleep, although, in\nusing these words, I am very far from meaning to imply that I explain\nthe thing, or unveil its mystery. The theory above alluded to, seems as\nyet, the only one applicable to the facts, namely, that the senses,\nbeing placed in a negative and passive state, the universal sense of the\nimmortal spirit within, which sees, and hears, and knows, or rather, in\none word, _perceives_, without organs, becomes more or less free to work\nunclogged. That the soul is a mirror in which the spirit sees all things\nreflected, is a modification of this theory; but I confess I find myself\nunable to attach any idea to this latter form of expression. Another\nview, which I have heard suggested by an eminent person, is, that if it\nbe true, as maintained by Dr. Wigan, and some other physiologists, that\nour brains are double, it is possible that a polarity may exist between\nthe two sides, by means of which the negative side may, under certain\ncircumstances, become a mirror to the positive. It seems difficult to\nreconcile this notion with the fact, that these perceptions occur most\nfrequently when the brain is asleep. How far the sleep is perfect and\ngeneral, however, we can never know; and of course, when the powers of\nspeech and locomotion continue to be exercised, we are aware that it is\nonly partial, in a more or less degree. In the case of magnetic\nsleepers, observation shows us, that the auditory nerves are aroused by\nbeing addressed, and fall asleep again as soon as they are left\nundisturbed. In most cases of natural sleep, the same process, if the\nvoice were heard at all, would disperse sleep altogether; and it must be\nremembered that, as Dr. Holland says, sleep is a fluctuating condition,\nvarying from one moment to another, and this allowance must be made when\nconsidering magnetic sleep also.\n\nIt is by this theory of the duality of the brain, which seems to have\nmany arguments in its favor, and the alternate sleeping and waking of\nthe two sides, that Dr. Wigan seeks to account for the state of double\nor alternate consciousness above alluded to; and also, for that strange\nsensation which most people have experienced, of having witnessed a\nscene, or heard a conversation, at some indefinite period before, or\neven in some earlier state of existence. He thinks that one half of the\nbrain being in a more active condition than the other, it takes\ncognizance of the scene first; and that thus the perceptions of the\nsecond, when they take place, appear to be a repetition of some former\nexperiences. I confess this theory, as regards this latter phenomenon,\nis to me eminently unsatisfactory, and it is especially defective in not\naccounting for one of the most curious particulars connected with it,\nnamely, that on these occasions people not only seem to recognise the\ncircumstances as having been experienced before; but they have, very\nfrequently, an actual foreknowledge of what will be next said or done.\n\nNow, the explanation of this mystery, I incline to think, may possibly\nlie in the hypothesis I have suggested; namely, that in profound, and\nwhat appears to us generally to have been dreamless sleep, we are\nclear-seers. The map of coming events lies open before us, the spirit\nsurveys it; but with the awaking of the sensuous organs, this\ndream-life, with its aerial excursions, passes away, and we are\ntranslated into our other sphere of existence. But, occasionally, some\nflash of recollection, some ray of light from this visionary world, in\nwhich we have been living, breaks in upon our external objective\nexistence, and we recognise the locality, the voice, the very words, as\nbeing but a reacting of some foregone scenes of a drama.\n\nThe faculty of presentiment, of which everybody must have heard\ninstances, seems to have some affinity to the phenomenon last referred\nto. I am acquainted with a lady, in whom this faculty is in some degree\ndeveloped, who has evinced it by a consciousness of the moment when a\ndeath was taking place in her family, or among her connections, although\nshe does not know who it is that has departed. I have heard of several\ncases of people hurrying home from a presentiment of fire; and Mr. M\u2014\u2014\nof Calderwood was once, when absent from home, seized with such an\nanxiety about his family, that without being able in any way to account\nfor it, he felt himself impelled to fly to them and remove them from the\nhouse they were inhabiting; one wing of which fell down immediately\nafterward. No notion of such a misfortune had ever before occurred to\nhim, nor was there any reason whatever to expect it; the accident\noriginating from some defect in the foundations.\n\nA circumstance, exactly similar to this, is related by Stilling, of\nProfessor B\u00f6hm, teacher of mathematics at Marburg; who being one evening\nin company, was suddenly seized with a conviction that he ought to go\nhome. As however, he was very comfortably taking his tea, and had\nnothing to do at home, he resisted the admonition; but it returned with\nsuch force that at length he was obliged to yield. On reaching his\nhouse, he found everything as he had left it; but he now felt himself\nurged to remove his bed from the corner in which it stood to another;\nbut as it had always stood there, he resisted this impulsion also.\nHowever, the resistance was vain, absurd as it seemed, he felt he must\ndo it; so he summoned the maid, and with her aid, drew the bed to the\nother side of the room; after which he felt quite at ease and returned\nto spend the rest of the evening with his friends. At ten o\u2019clock the\nparty broke up, and he retired home and went to bed and to sleep. In the\nmiddle of the night, he was awakened by a loud crash, and on looking\nout, he saw that a large beam had fallen, bringing part of the ceiling\nwith it, and was lying exactly on the spot his bed had occupied.\n\nA young servant-girl in this neighborhood, who had been several years in\nan excellent situation, where she was much esteemed, was suddenly seized\nwith a presentiment that she was wanted at home; and, in spite of all\nrepresentations, she resigned her place, and set out on her journey\nthither; where, when she arrived, she found her parents extremely ill,\none of them mortally, and in the greatest need of her services. No\nintelligence of their illness had reached her, nor could she herself in\nany way account for the impulse. I have heard of numerous\nwell-authenticated cases of people escaping drowning from being seized\nwith an unaccountable presentiment of evil when there were no external\nsigns whatever to justify the apprehension. The story of Cazotte, as\nrelated by La Harpe, is a very remarkable instance of this sort of\nfaculty; and seems to indicate a power like that possessed by Zschokke,\nwho relates, in his autobiography, that frequently while conversing with\na stranger, the whole circumstances of that person\u2019s previous life were\nrevealed to him, even comprising details of places and persons. In the\ncase of Cazotte, it was the future that was laid open to him, and he\nforetold, to a company of eminent persons, in the year 1788, the fate\nwhich awaited each individual, himself included, in consequence of the\nrevolution then commencing. As this story is already in print, I forbear\nto relate it.\n\nOne of the most remarkable cases of presentiment I know, is, that which\noccurred, not very long since, on board one of her majesty\u2019s ships, when\nlying off Portsmouth. The officers being one day at the mess-table,\nyoung Lieutenant P\u2014\u2014 suddenly laid down his knife and fork, pushed\naway his plate, and turned extremely pale. He then rose from the table,\ncovering his face with his hands, and retired from the room. The\npresident of the mess, supposing him to be ill, sent one of the young\nmen to inquire what was the matter. At first Mr. P\u2014\u2014 was unwilling to\nspeak, but on being pressed, he confessed that he had been seized by a\nsudden and irresistible impression that a brother he had then in India\nwas dead. \u201cHe died,\u201d said he, \u201con the 12th of August, at six o\u2019clock; I\nam perfectly certain of it!\u201d No arguments could overthrow this\nconviction, which, in due course of post, was verified to the letter.\nThe young man had died at Cawnpore, at the precise period mentioned.\n\nWhen any exhibition of this sort of faculty occurs in animals, which is\nby no means unfrequent, it is termed _instinct_; and we look upon it, as\nwhat it probably is, only another and more rare development of that\nintuitive knowledge which enables them to seek their food, and perform\nthe other functions necessary for the maintenance of their existence and\nthe continuance of their race. Now, it is remarkable, that the life of\nan animal is a sort of dream-life; their ganglionic system is more\ndeveloped than that of man, and the cerebral less; and since it is,\ndoubtless, from the greater development of the ganglionic system in\nwomen that they exhibit more frequent instances of such abnormal\nphenomena as I am treating of, than men, we may be, perhaps, justified\nin considering the faculty of presentiment in a human being as a\nsuddenly-awakened instinct; just as in an animal it is an intensified\ninstinct.\n\nEverybody has either witnessed or heard of instances of this sort of\npresentiment, in dogs especially. For the authenticity of the following\nanecdote I can vouch, the traditions being very carefully preserved in\nthe family concerned, from whom I have it. In the last century, Mr.\nP\u2014\u2014, a member of this family, who had involved himself in some of the\nstormy affairs of this northern part of the island, was one day\nsurprised by seeing a favorite dog, that was lying at his feet, start\nsuddenly up and seize him by the knee, which he pulled\u2014not with\nviolence, but in a manner that indicated a wish that his master should\nfollow him to the door. The gentleman resisted the invitation for some\ntime, till at length, the perseverance of the animal rousing his\ncuriosity, he yielded, and was thus conducted by the dog into the most\nsequestered part of a neighboring thicket, where, however, he could see\nnothing to account for his dumb friend\u2019s proceeding, who now lay himself\ndown, quite satisfied, and seemed to wish his master to follow his\nexample, which, determined to pursue the adventure and find out, if\npossible, what was meant, he did. A considerable time now elapsed before\nthe dog would consent to his master\u2019s going home; but at length he arose\nand led the way thither, when the first news Mr. P\u2014\u2014 heard was, that a\nparty of soldiers had been there in quest of him; and he was shown the\nmarks of their spikes, which had been thrust through the bed-clothes in\ntheir search. He fled, and ultimately escaped, his life being thus\npreserved by his dog.\n\nSome years ago, at Plymouth, I had a brown spaniel that regularly, with\ngreat delight, accompanied my son and his nurse in their morning\u2019s walk.\nOne day she came to complain to me that Tiger would not go out with\nthem. Nobody could conceive the reason of so unusual a caprice; and,\nunfortunately, we did not yield to it, but forced him to go. In less\nthan a quarter of an hour he was brought back, so torn to pieces, by a\nsavage dog that had just come ashore from a foreign vessel, that it was\nfound necessary to shoot him immediately.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V.\n\n\n                               WARNINGS.\n\nTHIS comparison between the power of presentiment in a human being and\nthe instincts of an animal, may be offensive to some people; but it must\nbe admitted, that, as far as we can see, the manifestation is the same,\nwhatever be the cause. Now, the body of an animal must be informed by an\nimmaterial principle\u2014let us call it soul or spirit, or anything else;\nfor it is evident that their actions are not the mere result of\norganization; and all I mean to imply is, that this faculty of\nforeseeing must be inherent in intelligent spirit, let it be lodged in\nwhat form of flesh it may; while, with regard to what instinct is, we\nare, in the meanwhile, in extreme ignorance, _Instinct_ being a word\nwhich, like _Imagination_, everybody uses, and nobody understands.\n\nEnnemoser and Schubert believe, that the instinct by which animals seek\ntheir food, consists in polarity, but I have met with only two modern\ntheories which pretend to explain the phenomena of presentiment; the one\nis, that the person is in a temporarily magnetic state, and that the\npresentiment is a kind of clairvoyance. That the faculty, like that of\nprophetic dreaming, is constitutional, and chiefly manifested in certain\nfamilies, is well established; and the very unimportant events, such as\nvisits, and so forth, on which it frequently exercises itself, forbid us\nto seek an explanation in a higher source. It seems, also, to be quite\nindependent of the will of the subject, as it was in the case of\nZschokke, who found himself thus let into the secrets of persons in whom\nhe felt no manner of interest, while, where the knowledge might have\nbeen of use to him, he could not command it. The theory of one half of\nthe brain in a negative state, serving as a mirror to the other half, if\nadmitted at all, may answer as well, or better, for these waking\npresentiments, than for clear-seeing in dreams. But, for my own part, I\nincline very much to the views of that school of philosophers who adopt\nthe first and more spiritual theory, which seems to me to offer fewer\ndifficulties, while, as regards our present nature, and future hopes, it\nis certainly more satisfactory. Once admitted that the body is but the\ntemporary dwelling of an immaterial spirit, the machine through which,\nand by which, in its normal states, the spirit alone can manifest\nitself, I can not see any great difficulty in conceiving that, in\ncertain conditions of that body, their relations may be modified, and\nthat the spirit may perceive, by its own inherent quality, without the\naid of its material vehicle; and, as this condition of the body may\narise from causes purely physical, we see at once why the revelations\nfrequently regard such unimportant events.\n\nPlutarch, in his dialogue between Lamprius and Ammonius, observes, that\nif the demons, or protecting spirits, that watch over mankind, are\ndisembodied souls, we ought not to doubt that those spirits, even when\nin the flesh, possessed the faculties they now enjoy, since we have no\nreason to suppose that any new ones are conferred at the period of\ndissolution; for these faculties must be inherent, although temporarily\nobscured, and weak and ineffective in their manifestations. As it is not\nwhen the sun breaks from behind the clouds that he first begins to\nshine, so it is not when the soul issues from the body, as from a cloud\nthat envelops it, that it first attains the power of looking into the\nfuture.\n\nBut the events foreseen are not always unimportant, nor is the mode of\nthe communication always of the same nature. I have mentioned above some\ninstances wherein danger was avoided, and there are many of the same\nkind recorded in various works; and it is the number of instances of\nthis description, corroborated by the universal agreement of all\nsomnambulists of a higher order, which has induced a considerable\nsection of the German psychologists to adopt the doctrine of guardian\nspirits\u2014a doctrine which has prevailed, more or less, in all ages, and\nhas been considered by many theologians to be supported by the Bible.\nThere is in this country, and I believe in France, also, though with\nmore exceptions, such an extreme aversion to admit the possibility of\nanything like what is called supernatural agency, that the mere avowal\nof such a persuasion is enough to discredit one\u2019s understanding with a\nconsiderable part of the world, not excepting those who profess to\nbelieve in the Scriptures. Yet, even apart from this latter authority, I\ncan not see anything repugnant to reason in such a belief. As far as we\nsee of nature, there is a continued series from the lowest to the\nhighest; and what right have we to conclude that we are the last link of\nthe chain? Why may there not be a gamut of beings? That such should be\nthe case, is certainly in accordance with all that we see; and that we\ndo not see them, affords, as I have said above, not a shadow of argument\nagainst their existence; man, immersed in business and pleasure, living\nonly his sensuous life, is too apt to forget how limited those senses\nare, how merely designed for a temporary purpose, and how much may exist\nof which they can take no cognizance.\n\nThe _possibility_ admitted, the chief arguments against the\n_probability_ of such a guardianship, are the interference it implies\nwith the free-will of man, on the one hand, and the rarity of this\ninterference, on the other. With respect to the first matter of\nfree-will, it is a subject of acknowledged difficulty, and beyond the\nscope of my work. Nobody can honestly look back upon his past life\nwithout feeling perplexed by the question, of how far he was, or was\nnot, able at the moment to resist certain impulsions, which caused him\nto commit wrong or imprudent actions; and it must, I fear, ever remain a\n_qu\u00e6stio vexata_, how far our virtues and vices depend upon our\norganization\u2014an organization whose constitution is beyond our own\npower, in the first instance, although we may certainly improve or\ndeteriorate it; but which we must admit, at the same time, to be, in its\npresent deteriorated form, the ill result of the world\u2019s corruption, and\nthe inherited penalty of the vices of our predecessors, whereby the sins\nof the fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth\ngeneration.\n\nThere is, as the Scriptures say, but one way to salvation, though there\nare many to perdition\u2014that is, though there are many wrongs, there is\nonly one right; for truth is one, and our true liberty consists in being\nfree to follow it; for we can not imagine that anybody seeks his own\nperdition, and nobody, I conceive, loves vice for its own sake, as\nothers love virtue, that is, because it _is_ vice: so that, when they\nfollow its dictates, we must conclude that they are not free, but in\nbondage, whose ever bond-slave they be, whether of an evil spirit, or of\ntheir own organization; and I think every human being, who looks into\nhimself, will feel that he is in effect then only _free_ when he is\nobeying the dictates of virtue; and that the language of Scripture,\nwhich speaks of sin as a bondage, is not only metaphorically but\nliterally true.\n\nThe warning a person of an impending danger or error implies no\nconstraint; the subject of the warning is free to take the hint or not,\nas he pleases; we receive many cautions, both from other people and from\nour own consciences, which we refuse to benefit by.\n\nWith regard to the second objection, it seems to have greater weight;\nfor although the instances of presentiment are very numerous, taken\napart, they are certainly, as far as we know, still but exceptional\ncases. But here we must remember that an influence of this sort might be\nvery continuously, though somewhat remotely, exercised in favor of an\nindividual, without the occurrence of any instance of so striking a\nnature as to render the interference manifest; and certain it is that\nsome people\u2014I have met with several, and very sensible persons\ntoo\u2014have all their lives an intuitive persuasion of such a guardianship\nexisting in relation to themselves. That in our normal states it was not\nintended we should hold sensible communion with the invisible world,\nseems evident; but nature abounds in exceptions; and there may be\nconditions regarding both parties, the incorporated and the\nunincorporated spirit, which may at times bring them into a more\nintimate relation. No one who believes that consciousness is to survive\nthe death of the body, can doubt that the released spirit will then hold\ncommunion with its congeners; it being the fleshly tabernacles we\ninhabit which alone disables us from doing so at present. But since the\nconstitutions of bodies vary exceedingly, not only in different\nindividuals, but in the same individuals at different times, may we not\nconceive the possibility of there existing conditions which, by\ndiminishing the obstructions, render this communion practicable within\ncertain limits? For there certainly are recorded and authentic instances\nof presentiments and warnings, that with difficulty admit of any other\nexplanation; and that these admonitions are more frequently received in\nthe state of sleep than of vigilance, rather furnishes an additional\nargument in favor of the last hypothesis; for if there be any foundation\nfor the theories above suggested, it is then that, the sensuous\nfunctions being in abeyance and the external life thereby shut out from\nus, the spirit would be most susceptible to the operations of spirit,\nwhether of our deceased friends or of appointed ministers, if such there\nbe. Jung Stelling is of opinion that we must decide from the aim and\nobject of the revelation, whether it be a mere development of the\nfaculty of presentiment, or a case of spiritual intervention; but this\nwould surely be a very erroneous mode of judging, since the presentiment\nthat foresees a visit may foresee a danger, and show us how to avoid it,\nas in the following instance:\u2014\n\nA few years ago, Dr. W\u2014\u2014, now residing at Glasgow, dreamed that he\nreceived a summons to attend a patient at a place some miles from where\nhe was living; that he started on horseback; and that, as he was\ncrossing a moor, he saw a bull making furiously at him, whose horns he\nonly escaped by taking refuge on a spot inaccessible to the animal,\nwhere he waited a long time, till some people, observing his situation,\ncame to his assistance and released him. While at breakfast on the\nfollowing morning, the summons came; and, smiling at the odd\n_coincidence_, he started on horseback. He was quite ignorant of the\nroad he had to go; but by-and-by he arrived at the moor, which he\nrecognised, and presently the bull appeared, coming full tilt toward\nhim. But his dream had shown him the place of refuge, for which he\ninstantly made; and there he spent three or four hours, besieged by the\nanimal, till the country people set him free. Dr. W\u2014\u2014 declares that,\nbut for the dream, he should not have known in what direction to run for\nsafety.\n\nA butcher named Bone, residing at Holytown, dreamed a few years since\nthat he was stopped at a particular spot on his way to market, whither\nhe was going on the following day to purchase cattle, by two men in blue\nclothes, who cut his throat. He told the dream to his wife, who laughed\nat him; but, as it was repeated two or three times and she saw he was\nreally alarmed, she advised him to join somebody who was going the same\nroad. He accordingly listened till he heard a cart passing his door, and\nthen went out and joined the man, telling him the reason for so doing.\nWhen they came to the spot, there actually stood the two men in blue\nclothes, who, seeing he was not alone, took to their heels and ran.\n\nNow, although the dream was here probably the means of saving Bone\u2019s\nlife, there is no reason to suppose that this is a case of what is\ncalled _supernatural intervention_. The phenomenon would be sufficiently\naccounted for by the admission of the hypothesis I have suggested,\nnamely, that he was aware of the impending danger in his sleep, and had\nbeen able, from some cause unknown to us, to convey the recollection\ninto his waking state.\n\nI know instances in which, for several mornings previous to the\noccurrence of a calamity, persons have awakened with a painful sense of\nmisfortune, for which they could not account, and which was dispersed as\nsoon as they had time to reflect that they had no cause for uneasiness.\nThis is the only kind of presentiment I ever experienced myself; but it\nhas occurred to me twice, in a very marked and unmistakable manner. As\nsoon as the intellectual life, the life of the brain, and the external\nworld, broke in, the instinctive life receded, and the intuitive\nknowledge was obscured. Or, according to Dr. Ennemoser\u2019s theory, the\npolar relations changed, and the nerves were busied with conveying\nsensuous impressions to the brain, their sensibility or positive state\nnow being transferred from the internal to the external periphery. It is\nby the contrary change that Dr. Ennemoser seeks to explain the\ninsensibility to pain of mesmerized patients.\n\nA circumstance of a similar kind to the above occurred in a well-known\nfamily in Scotland, the Rutherfords of E\u2014\u2014. A lady dreamed that her\naunt, who resided at some distance, was murdered by a black servant.\nImpressed with the liveliness of the vision, she could not resist going\nto the house of her relation, where the man she had dreamed of (whom I\nthink she had never before seen) opened the door to her. Upon this, she\ninduced a gentleman to watch in the adjoining room during the night; and\ntoward morning, hearing a foot upon the stairs, he opened the door and\ndiscovered the black servant carrying up a coal-scuttle full of coals,\nfor the purpose, as he said, of lighting his mistress\u2019s fire. As this\nmotive did not seem very probable, the coals were examined, and a knife\nfound hidden among them, with which, he afterward confessed, he intended\nto have murdered his mistress, provided she made any resistance to a\ndesign he had formed of robbing her of a large sum of money which he was\naware she had that day received.\n\nThe following case has been quoted in several medical works, at least in\nworks written by learned doctors, and on that account I should not\nmention it here, but for the purpose of remarking on the extraordinary\nfacility with which, while they do not question the fact, they dispose\nof the mystery:\u2014\n\nMr. D\u2014\u2014, of Cumberland, when a youth, came to Edinburgh, for the\npurpose of attending college, and was placed under the care of his uncle\nand aunt, Major and Mrs. Griffiths, who then resided in the castle. When\nthe fine weather came, the young man was in the habit of making frequent\nexcursions with others of his own age and pursuits; and one afternoon he\nmentioned that they had formed a fishing-party, and had bespoken a boat\nfor the ensuing day. No objections were made to this plan; but in the\nmiddle of the night, Mrs. Griffiths screamed out, \u201cThe boat is\nsinking!\u2014oh, save them!\u201d Her husband said he supposed she had been\nthinking of the fishing-party, but she declared she had never thought\nabout it at all, and soon fell asleep again. But, ere long, she awoke a\nsecond time, crying out that she \u201csaw the boat sinking!\u201d\u2014\u201cIt must have\nbeen the remains of the impression made by the other dream,\u201d she\nsuggested to her husband, \u201cfor I have no uneasiness whatever about the\nfishing-party.\u201d But on going to sleep once more, her husband was again\ndisturbed by her cries: \u201cThey are gone!\u201d she said, \u201cthe boat has sunk!\u201d\nShe now really became alarmed, and, without waiting for morning, she\nthrew on her dressing-gown, and went to Mr. D\u2014\u2014, who was still in bed,\nand whom with much difficulty she persuaded to relinquish his proposed\nexcursion. He consequently sent his servant to Leith with an excuse, and\nthe party embarked without him. The day was extremely fine when they put\nto sea, but some hours afterward a storm arose, in which the boat\nfoundered\u2014nor did any one of the number survive to tell the tale!\n\n\u201cThis dream is easily accounted for,\u201d say the learned gentlemen above\nalluded to, \u201cfrom the dread all women have of the water, and the danger\nthat attends boating on the firth of Forth!\u201d Now, I deny that all women\nhave a dread of the water, and there is not the slightest reason for\nconcluding that Mrs. Griffiths had. At all events, she affirms that she\nfelt no uneasiness at all about the party, and one might take leave to\nthink that her testimony upon that subject is of more value than that of\npersons who never had any acquaintance with her, and who were not so\nmuch as born at the time the circumstance occurred, which was in the\nyear 1731. Besides, if Mrs. Griffiths\u2019s dread arose simply from \u201cthe\ndread all women have of the water,\u201d and that its subsequent verification\nwas a mere coincidence, since women constantly risk their persons for\nvoyages and boating excursions, such dreams should be extremely\nfrequent\u2014the fact of there being any accident impending or not, having,\naccording to this theory, no relation whatever to the phenomenon. And as\nfor the danger that attends boating on the firth of Forth, we must\nnaturally suppose that, had it been considered so imminent, Major\nGriffiths would have at least endeavored to dissuade a youth that was\nplaced under his protection from risking his life so imprudently. It\nwould be equally reasonable to explain away Dr. W\u2014\u2014\u2019s dream, by saying\nthat all gentlemen who have to ride across commons are in great dread of\nencountering a bull\u2014commons in general being infested by that animal!\n\nMiss D\u2014\u2014, a friend of mine, was some time since invited to join a\npic-nic excursion into the country. Two nights before the day fixed for\nthe expedition, she dreamed that the carriage she was to go in was\noverturned down a precipice. Impressed with her dream, she declined the\nexcursion, confessing her reason, and advising the rest of the party to\nrelinquish their project. They laughed at her, and persisted in their\nscheme. When, subsequently, she went to inquire how they had spent the\nday, she found the ladies confined to their beds from injuries received,\nthe carriage having been overturned down a precipice. Still, this was\nonly a coincidence!\n\nAnother specimen of the haste with which people are willing to dispose\nof what they do not understand, is afforded by a case that occurred not\nmany years since in the north of Scotland, where a murder having been\ncommitted, a man came forward, saying that he had dreamed that the pack\nof the murdered pedlar was hidden in a certain spot; where, on a search\nbeing made, it was actually found. They at first concluded he was\nhimself the assassin, but the real criminal was afterward discovered;\nand it being asserted (though I have been told erroneously) that the two\nmen had passed some time together, since the murder, in a state of\nintoxication, it was decided that the crime and the place of concealment\nhad been communicated to the pretended dreamer\u2014and all who thought\notherwise were laughed at; \u201cfor why,\u201d say the rationalists, \u201cshould not\nProvidence have so ordered the dream as to have prevented the murder\naltogether?\u201d\n\nWho can answer that question, and whither would such a discussion lead\nus? Moreover, if this faculty of presentiment be a natural one, though\nonly imperfectly and capriciously developed, there may have been no\ndesign in the matter: it is an accident, just in the same sense as an\nillness is an accident; that is, not without cause, but without a cause\nthat we can penetrate. If, on the other hand, we have recourse to the\nintervention of spiritual beings, it may be answered that we are\nentirely ignorant of the conditions under which any such communication\nis possible; and that we can not therefore come to any conclusions as to\nwhy so much is done, and no more.\n\nBut there is another circumstance to be observed in considering the\ncase, which is, that the dreamer is said to have passed some days in a\nstate of intoxication. Now, even supposing this had been true, it is\nwell known that the excitement of the brain caused by intoxication has\noccasionally produced a very remarkable exaltation of certain faculties.\nIt is by means of either intoxicating draughts or vapors that the\nsoothsayers of Lapland and Siberia place themselves in a condition to\nvaticinate; and we have every reason to believe that drugs, producing\nsimilar effects, were resorted to by the thaumaturgists of old, and by\nthe witches of later days, of which I shall have more to say hereafter.\nBut, as a case in point, I may here allude to the phenomena exhibited in\na late instance of the application of ether, by Professor Simpson, of\nEdinburgh, to a lady who was at the moment under circumstances not\nusually found very agreeable. She said that she was amusing herself\ndelightfully by playing over a set of quadrilles which she had known in\nher youth, but had long forgotten them; but she now perfectly remembered\nthem, and had played them over several times. Here was an instance of\nthe exaltation of a faculty from intoxication, similar to that of the\nwoman who, in her delirium, spoke a language which she had only heard in\nher childhood, and of which, in her normal state, she had no\nrecollection.\n\nThat the inefficiency of the communication, or presentiment, or whatever\nit may be, is no argument against the fact of such dreams occurring, I\ncan safely assert, from cases which have come under my own knowledge. A\nprofessional gentleman, whose name would be a warrant for the truth of\nwhatever he relates, told me the following circumstance regarding\nhimself. He was, not very long since, at the seaside with his family,\nand, among the rest, he had with him one of his sons, a boy about twelve\nyears of age, who was in the habit of bathing daily, his father\naccompanying him to the water-side. This had continued during the whole\nof their visit, and no idea of danger or accident had ever occurred to\nanybody. On the day preceding the one appointed for their departure, Mr.\nH\u2014\u2014, the gentleman in question, felt himself after breakfast surprised\nby an unusual drowsiness, which, having vainly struggled to overcome, he\nat length fell asleep in his chair, and dreamed that he was attending\nhis son to the bath as usual, when he suddenly saw the boy drowning, and\nthat he himself had rushed into the water, dressed as he was, and\nbrought him ashore. Though he was quite conscious of the dream when he\nawoke, he attached no importance to it; he considered it merely a\ndream\u2014no more; and when, some hours afterward, the boy came into the\nroom, and said, \u201cNow, papa, it\u2019s time to go\u2014this will be my last\nbath\u201d\u2014his morning\u2019s vision did not even recur to him. They walked down\nto the sea, as usual, and the boy went into the water, while the father\nstood composedly watching him from the beach, when suddenly the child\nlost his footing, a wave had caught him, and the danger of his being\ncarried away was so imminent, that, without even waiting to take off his\ngreatcoat, boots, or hat, Mr. H\u2014\u2014 rushed into the water, and was only\njust in time to save him.\n\nHere is a case of undoubted authenticity, which I take to be an instance\nof clear-seeing, or second-sight, in sleep. The spirit, with its\nintuitive faculty, saw what was impending; the sleeper remembered his\ndream, but the intellect did not accept the warning; and, whether that\nwarning was merely a subjective process\u2014the clear-seeing of the\nspirit\u2014or whether it was effected by any external agency, the free-will\nof the person concerned was not interfered with.\n\nI quote the ensuing similar case from the \u201cFrankfort Journal,\u201d June 25,\n1837: \u201cA singular circumstance is said to be connected with the late\nattempt on the life of the archbishop of Autun. The two nights preceding\nthe attack, the prelate dreamed that he saw a man who was making\nrepeated efforts to take away his life, and he awoke in extreme terror\nand agitation from the exertions he had made to escape the danger. The\nfeatures and appearance of the man were so clearly imprinted on his\nmemory, that he recognised him the moment his eye fell upon him, which\nhappened as he was coming out of church. The bishop hid his face, and\ncalled his attendants, but the man had fired before he could make known\nhis apprehensions. Facts of this description are far from uncommon. It\nappears that the assassin had entertained designs against the lives of\nthe bishops of Dijon, Burgos, and Nevers.\u201d\n\nThe following case, which occurred a few years since in the north of\nEngland, and which I have from the best authority, is remarkable from\nthe inexorable fatality which brought about the fulfilment of the dream:\nMrs. K\u2014\u2014, a lady of family and fortune in Yorkshire, said to her son,\none morning on descending to breakfast: \u201cHenry, what are you going to do\nto-day?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going to hunt,\u201d replied the young man.\n\n\u201cI am very glad of it,\u201d she answered. \u201cI should not like you to go\nshooting, for I dreamed last night that you did so, and were shot.\u201d The\nson answered, gayly, that he would take care not to be shot, and the\nhunting party rode away; but, in the middle of the day, they returned,\nnot having found any sport. Mr. B\u2014\u2014, a visiter in the house, then\nproposed that they should go out with their guns and try to find some\nwoodcocks. \u201cI will go with you,\u201d returned the young man, \u201cbut I must not\nshoot, to-day, myself; for my mother dreamed last night I was shot; and,\nalthough it is but a dream, she would be uneasy.\u201d\n\nThey went, Mr. B\u2014\u2014 with his gun, and Mr. K\u2014\u2014 without. But shortly\nafterward the beloved son was brought home dead: a charge from the gun\nof his companion had struck him in the eye, entered his brain, and\nkilled him on the spot. Mr. B\u2014\u2014, the unfortunate cause of this\naccident and also the narrator of it, died but a few weeks since.\n\nIt is well known that the murder of Mr. Percival, by Bellingham, was\nseen in sleep by a gentleman at York, who actually went to London in\nconsequence of his dream, which was several times repeated. He arrived\ntoo late to prevent the calamity; neither would he have been believed,\nhad he arrived earlier.\n\nIn the year 1461, a merchant was travelling toward Rome by Sienna, when\nhe dreamed that his throat was cut. He communicated his dream to the\ninnkeeper, who did not like it, and advised him to pray and confess. He\ndid so, and then rode forth, and was presently attacked by the priest he\nhad confessed to, who had thus learned his apprehensions. He killed the\nmerchant, but was betrayed, and disappointed of his gains, by the horse\ntaking fright and running back to the inn with the money-bags.\n\nI have related this story, though not a new one, on account of its\nsingular resemblance to the following, which I take from a newspaper\nparagraph, but which I find mentioned as a fact in a continental\npublication:\u2014\n\n\u201cSINGULAR VERIFICATION OF A DREAM.\u2014A letter from Hamburgh contains the\nfollowing curious story relative to the verification of a dream. It\nappears that a locksmith\u2019s apprentice, one morning lately, informed his\nmaster (Claude Soller) that on the previous night he dreamed that he had\nbeen assassinated on the road to Bergsdorff, a little town at about two\nhours\u2019 distance from Hamburgh. The master laughed at the young man\u2019s\ncredulity, and, to prove that he himself had little faith in dreams,\ninsisted upon sending him to Bergsdorff with one hundred and forty rix\ndollars, which he owed to his brother-in-law, who resided in the town.\nThe apprentice, after in vain imploring his master to change his\nintention, was compelled to set out at about 11 o\u2019clock. On arriving at\nthe village of Billwaerder, about half-way between Hamburgh and\nBergsdorff, he recollected his dream with terror; but perceiving the\nbaillie of the village at a little distance, talking to some of his\nworkmen, he accosted him, and acquainted him with his singular dream, at\nthe same time requesting that, as he had money about his person, one of\nhis workmen might be allowed to accompany him for protection across a\nsmall wood which lay in his way. The baillie smiled, and, in obedience\nto his orders, one of his men set out with the young apprentice. The\nnext day, the corpse of the latter was conveyed by some peasants to the\nbaillie, along with a reaping-hook which had been found by his side, and\nwith which the throat of the murdered youth had been cut. The baillie\nimmediately recognised the instrument as one which he had on the\nprevious day given to the workman who had served as the apprentice\u2019s\nguide, for the purpose of pruning some willows. The workman was\napprehended, and, on being confronted with the body of his victim, made\na full confession of his crime, adding that the recital of the dream had\nalone prompted him to commit the horrible act. The assassin, who is\nthirty-five years of age, is a native of Billwaerder, and, previously to\nthe perpetration of the murder, had always borne an irreproachable\ncharacter.\u201d\n\nThe life of the great Harvey was saved by the governor of Dover refusing\nto allow him to embark for the continent with his friends. The vessel\nwas lost, with all on board; and the governor confessed to him, that he\nhad detained him in consequence of an injunction he had received in a\ndream to do so.\n\nThere is a very curious circumstance related by Mr. Ward, in his\n\u201cIllustrations of Human Life,\u201d regarding the late Sir Evan Nepean, which\nI believe is perfectly authentic. I have at least been assured, by\npersons well acquainted with him, that he himself testified to its\ntruth.\n\nBeing, at the time, secretary to the admiralty, he found himself one\nnight unable to sleep, and urged by an undefinable feeling that he must\nrise, though it was then only two o\u2019clock. He accordingly did so, and\nwent into the park, and from that to the home office, which he entered\nby a private door, of which he had the key. He had no object in doing\nthis; and, to pass the time, he took up a newspaper that was lying on\nthe table, and there read a paragraph to the effect that a reprieve had\nbeen despatched to York, for the men condemned for coining.\n\nThe question occurred to him, was it indeed despatched? He examined the\nbooks and found it was not; and it was only by the most energetic\nproceedings that the thing was carried through, and reached York in time\nto save the men.\n\nIs not this like the agency of a protecting spirit, urging Sir Evan to\nthis discovery, in order that these men might be spared, or that those\nconcerned might escape the remorse they would have suffered for their\ncriminal neglect?\n\nIt is a remarkable fact, that somnambules of the highest order believe\nthemselves attended by a protecting spirit. To those who do not believe,\nbecause they have never witnessed, the phenomena of somnambulism, or who\nlook upon the disclosures of persons in that state as the mere raving of\nhallucination, this authority will necessarily have no weight; but even\nto such persons the universal coincidence must be considered worthy of\nobservation, though it be regarded only as a symptom of disease. I\nbelieve I have remarked elsewhere, that many persons, who have not the\nleast tendency to somnambulism or any proximate malady, have all their\nlives an intuitive feeling of such a guardianship; and, not to mention\nSocrates and the ancients, there are, besides, numerous recorded cases\nin modern times, in which persons, not somnambulic, have declared\nthemselves to have seen and held communication with their spiritual\nprotector.\n\nThe case of the girl called Ludwiger, who, in her infancy, had lost her\nspeech and the use of her limbs, and who was earnestly committed by her\nmother, when dying, to the care of her elder sisters, is known to many.\nThese young women piously fulfilled their engagement till the\nwedding-day of one of them caused them to forget their charge. On\nrecollecting it, at length, they hastened home, and found the girl, to\ntheir amazement, sitting up in her bed, and she told them that her\nmother had been there and given her food. She never spoke again, and\nsoon after died. This circumstance occurred at Dessau, not many years\nsince, and is, according to Schubert, a perfectly-established fact in\nthat neighborhood. The girl at no other period of her life exhibited any\nsimilar phenomena, nor had she ever displayed any tendency to spectral\nillusions.\n\nThe wife of a respectable citizen, named Arnold, at Heilbronn, held\nconstant communications with her protecting spirit, who warned her of\nimpending dangers, approaching visiters, and so forth. He was only once\nvisible to her, and it was in the form of an old man; but his presence\nwas felt by others as well as herself, and they were sensible that the\nair was stirred, as by a breath.\n\nJung Stilling publishes a similar account, which was bequeathed to him\nby a very worthy and pious minister of the church. The subject of the\nguardianship was his own wife, and the spirit first appeared to her\nafter her marriage, in the year 1799, as a child, attired in a white\nrobe, while she was busy in her bed-chamber. She stretched out her hand\nto take hold of the figure, but it disappeared. It frequently visited\nher afterward, and in answer to her inquiries it said, \u201cI died in my\nchildhood!\u201d It came to her at all hours, whether alone or in company,\nand not only at home, but elsewhere, and even when travelling, assisting\nher when in danger; it sometimes floated in the air, spake to her in its\nown language, which somehow, she says, she understood, and could speak,\ntoo; and it was once seen by another person. He bade her call him\n_Immanuel_. She earnestly begged him to show himself to her husband, but\nhe alleged that it would make him ill, and cause his death. On asking\nhim _wherefore_, he answered, \u201cFew persons are able to see such things.\u201d\n\nHer two children, one six years old, and the other younger, saw this\nfigure as well as herself.\n\nSchubert, in his \u201cGeschichte der Seele,\u201d relates that the ecclesiastical\ncouncillor Schwartz, of Heidelberg, when about twelve years of age, and\nat a time that he was learning the Greek language, but knew very little\nabout it, dreamed that his grandmother, a very pious woman, to whom he\nhad been much attached, appeared to him, and unfolded a parchment\ninscribed with Greek characters which foretold the fortunes of his\nfuture life. He read it off with as much facility as if it had been in\nGerman, but being dissatisfied with some particulars of the prediction,\nhe begged they might be changed. His grandmother answered him in Greek,\nwhereupon he awoke, remembering the dream, but, in spite of all the\nefforts to arrest them, he was unable to recall the particulars the\nparchment had contained. The answer of his grandmother, however, he was\nable to grasp before it had fled his memory, and he wrote down the\nwords; but the meaning of them he could not discover without the\nassistance of his grammar and lexicon. Being interpreted, they proved to\nbe these: \u201cAs it is prophesied to me, so I prophesy to thee!\u201d He had\nwritten the words in a volume of Gessner\u2019s works, being the first thing\nhe laid his hand on; and he often philosophized on them in later days,\nwhen they chanced to meet his eye. How, he says, should he have been\nable to read and produce that in his sleep, which, in his waking state,\nhe would have been quite incapable of? \u201cEven long after, when I left\nschool,\u201d he adds, \u201cI could scarcely have put together such a sentence;\nand it is extremely remarkable that the feminine form was observed in\nconformity with the sex of the speaker.\u201d The words were these: \u03b1\u1fe6\u03c4\u03b1\n\u03a7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03bc\u1ffe\u03c9\u03b4\u03b7\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03c3\u03b1 \u03a7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03bc\u03c9\u03b4\u1f72\u03c9 \u03c3\u03bf\u03b9.\n\nGrotius relates, that when Mr. de Saumaise was councillor of the\nparliament at Dijon, a person, who knew not a word of Greek, brought him\na paper on which was written some words in that language, but not in the\ncharacter. He said that a voice had uttered them to him in the night,\nand that he had written them down, imitating the sound as well as he\ncould. Mons de Saumaise made out that the signification of the words\nwas, \u201cBegone! do you not see that death impends?\u201d Without comprehending\nwhat danger was predicted, the person obeyed the mandate and departed.\nOn that night the house that he had been lodging in fell to the ground.\n\nThe difficulty in these two cases is equally great, apply to it whatever\nexplanation we may; for even if the admonitions proceeded from some\nfriendly guardian, as we might be inclined to conclude, it is not easy\nto conceive why they should have been communicated in a language the\npersons did not understand.\n\nAfter the death of Dante, it was discovered that the thirteenth canto of\nthe \u201cParadiso\u201d was missing; great search was made for it, but in vain;\nand to the regret of everybody concerned, it was at length concluded\nthat it had either never been written, or had been destroyed. The quest\nwas therefore given up, and some months had elapsed, when Pietro\nAllighieri, his son, dreamed that his father had appeared to him and\ntold him that if he removed a certain panel near the window of the room\nin which he had been accustomed to write, the thirteenth canto would be\nfound. Pietro told his dream, and was laughed at, of course; however, as\nthe canto did not turn up, it was thought as well to examine the spot\nindicated in the dream. The panel was removed, and there lay the missing\ncanto behind it; much mildewed, but, fortunately, still legible.\n\nIf it be true that the dead do return sometimes to solve our\nperplexities, here was not an unworthy occasion for the exercise of such\na power. We can imagine the spirit of the great poet still clinging to\nthe memory of his august work, immortal as himself\u2014the record of those\nhigh thoughts which can never die.\n\nThere are numerous curious accounts extant of persons being awakened by\nthe calling of a voice which announced some impending danger to them.\nThree boys are sleeping in the wing of a castle, and the eldest is\nawakened by what appears to him to be the voice of his father calling\nhim by name. He rises and hastens to his parent\u2019s chamber, situated in\nanother part of the building, where he finds his father asleep, who, on\nbeing awakened, assures him that he had not called him, and the boy\nreturns to bed. But he is scarcely asleep, before the circumstance\nrecurs, and he goes again to his father with the same result. A third\ntime he falls asleep, and a third time he is aroused by the voice, too\ndistinctly heard for him to doubt his senses; and now, alarmed at he\nknows not what, he rises and takes his brothers with him to his father\u2019s\nchamber; and while they are discussing the singularity of the\ncircumstance, a crash is heard, and that wing of the castle in which the\nboys slept falls to the ground. This incident excited so much attention\nin Germany that it was recorded in a ballad.\n\nIt is related by Amyraldus, that Monsieur Calignan, chancellor of\nNavarre, dreamed three successive times in one night, at Berne, that a\nvoice called to him and bade him quit the place, as the plague would\nsoon break out in that town; that, in consequence, he removed his\nfamily, and the result justified his flight.\n\nA German physician relates, that a patient of his told him, that he\ndreamed repeatedly, one night, that a voice bade him go to his\nhop-garden, as there were thieves there. He resisted the injunction some\ntime, till at length he was told that if he delayed any longer he would\nlose all his produce. Thus urged, he went at last, and arrived just in\ntime to see the thieves, loaded with sacks, making away from the\nopposite side of the hop-ground.\n\nA Madame Von Militz found herself under the necessity of parting with a\nproperty which had long been in her family. When the bargain was\nconcluded, and she was preparing to remove, she solicited permission of\nthe new proprietor to carry away with her some little relic as a memento\nof former days\u2014a request which he uncivilly denied. On one of the\nnights that preceded her departure from the home of her ancestors, she\ndreamed that a voice spoke to her, and bade her go to the cellar and\nopen a certain part of the wall, where she would find something that\nnobody would dispute with her. Impressed with her dream, she sent for a\nbricklayer, who, after long seeking, discovered a place which appeared\nless solid than the rest. A hole was made, and in a niche was found a\ngoblet, which contained something that looked like a pot pourri. On\nshaking out the contents, there lay at the bottom a small ring, on which\nwas engraven the name _Anna Von Militz_.\n\nA friend of mine, Mr. Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, has some coins that\nwere found exactly in the same manner. The child of a Mr. Christison, in\nwhose house his father was lodging, in the year 1781, dreamed that there\nwas a treasure hid in the cellar. Her father had no faith in the dream;\nbut Mr. Sharpe had the curiosity to have the place dug up, and a copper\npot was found, full of coins.\n\nA very singular circumstance was related to me by Mr. J\u2014\u2014, as having\noccurred not long since to himself. A tonic had been prescribed to him\nby his physician, for some slight derangement of the system, and as\nthere was no good chemist in the village he inhabited, he was in the\nhabit of walking to a town about five miles off, to get the bottle\nfilled as occasion required. One night, that he had been to M\u2014\u2014 for\nthis purpose, and had obtained his last supply, for he was now\nrecovered, and about to discontinue the medicine, a voice seemed to warn\nhim that some great danger was impending, his life was in jeopardy; then\nhe heard, but not with his outward ear, a beautiful prayer. \u201cIt was not\nmyself that prayed,\u201d he said, \u201cthe prayer was far beyond anything I am\ncapable of composing\u2014it spoke of me in the third person, always as\n_he_; and supplicated that for the sake of my widowed mother this\ncalamity might be averted. My father had been dead some months. I was\nsensible of all this, yet I can not say whether I was asleep or awake.\nWhen I rose in the morning, the whole was present to my mind, although I\nhad slept soundly in the interval; I felt, however, as if there was some\nmitigation of the calamity, though what the danger was with which I was\nthreatened, I had no notion. When I was dressed, I prepared to take my\nmedicine, but on lifting the bottle, I fancied that the color was not\nthe same as usual. I looked again, and hesitated, and finally, instead\nof taking two tablespoonfuls, which was my accustomed dose, I took but\none. Fortunate it was that I did so; the apothecary had made a mistake;\nthe drug was poison; I was seized with a violent vomiting, and other\nalarming symptoms, from which I was with difficulty recovered. Had I\ntaken the two spoonfuls, I should, probably, not have survived to tell\nthe tale.\u201d\n\nThe manner in which I happened to obtain these particulars is not\nuninteresting. I was spending the evening with Mr. Wordsworth, at Ridal,\nwhen he mentioned to me that a stranger, who had called on him that\nmorning, had quoted two lines from his poem of \u201cLaodamia,\u201d which, he\nsaid, to him had a peculiar interest. They were these:\u2014\n\n    \u201cThe invisible world with thee hath sympathized;\n    Be thy affections raised and solemnized.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know what he alludes to,\u201d said Mr. Wordsworth; \u201cbut he gave me\nto understand that these lines had a deep meaning for him, and that he\nhad himself been the subject of such a sympathy.\u201d\n\nUpon this, I sought the stranger, whose address the poet gave me, and\nthus learned the above particulars from himself. His very natural\npersuasion was, that the interceding spirit was his father. He described\nthe prayer as one of earnest anguish.\n\nOne of the most remarkable instances of warning that has come to my\nknowledge, is that of Mr. M\u2014\u2014, of Kingsborough. This gentleman, being\non a voyage to America, dreamed, one night, that a little old man came\ninto his cabin and said, \u201cGet up! Your life is in danger!\u201d Upon which,\nMr. M\u2014\u2014 awoke; but considering it to be only a dream, he soon composed\nhimself to sleep again. The dream, however, if such it were, recurred,\nand the old man urged him still more strongly to get up directly; but he\nstill persuaded himself it was only a dream; and after listening a few\nminutes, and hearing nothing to alarm him, he turned round and addressed\nhimself once more to sleep. But now the old man appeared again, and\nangrily bade him rise instantly, and take his gun and ammunition with\nhim, for he had not a moment to lose. The injunction was now so distinct\nthat Mr. M\u2014\u2014 felt he could no longer resist it; so he hastily dressed\nhimself, took his gun, and ascended to the deck, where he had scarcely\narrived, when the ship struck on a rock, which he and several others\ncontrived to reach. The place, however, was uninhabited, and but for his\ngun, they would never have been able to provide themselves with food\ntill a vessel arrived to their relief.\n\nNow these can scarcely be looked upon as instances of clear-seeing, or\nof second-sight in sleep, which, in Denmark, is called _first-seeing_, I\nbelieve; for in neither case did the sleeper perceive the danger, much\nless the nature of it. If, therefore, we refuse to attribute them to\nsome external protecting influence, they resolve themselves into cases\nof vague presentiment; but it must then be admitted that the mode of the\nmanifestation is very extraordinary; so extraordinary, indeed, that we\nfall into fully as great a difficulty as that offered by the supposition\nof a guardian spirit.\n\nAn American clergyman told me that an old woman, with whom he was\nacquainted, who had two sons, heard a voice say to her in the night,\n\u201cJohn\u2019s dead!\u201d This was her eldest son. Shortly afterward, the news of\nhis death arriving, she said to the person who communicated the\nintelligence to her, \u201cIf John\u2019s dead, then I know that David is dead,\ntoo, for the same voice has since told me so;\u201d and the event proved that\nthe information, whence ever it came, was correct.\n\nNot many years since, Captain S\u2014\u2014 was passing a night at the Manse of\nStrachur, in Argyleshire, then occupied by a relation of his own;\nshortly after he retired, the bed-curtains were opened, and somebody\nlooked in upon him. Supposing it to be some inmate of the house, who was\nnot aware that the bed was occupied, he took no notice of the\ncircumstance, till it being two or three times repeated, he at length\nsaid, \u201cWhat do you want? Why do you disturb me in this manner?\u201d\n\n\u201cI come,\u201d replied a voice, \u201cto tell you, that this day twelvemonth you\nwill be with your father!\u201d\n\nAfter this, Captain S\u2014\u2014 was no more disturbed. In the morning, he\nrelated the circumstance to his host, though, being an entire\ndisbeliever in all such phenomena, without attaching any importance to\nthe warning.\n\nIn the natural course of events, and quite irrespective of this\nvisitation, on that day twelvemonth he was again at the Manse of\nStrachur, on his way to the north, for which purpose it was necessary\nthat he should cross the ferry to Craigie. The day was, however, so\nexceedingly stormy, that his friend begged him not to go; but he pleaded\nhis business, adding that he was determined not to be withheld from his\nintention by the ghost, and, although the minister delayed his\ndeparture, by engaging him in a game of backgammon, he at length started\nup, declaring he could stay no longer. They, therefore, proceeded to the\nwater, but they found the boat moored to the side of the lake, and the\nboatman assured them that it would be impossible to cross. Captain\nS\u2014\u2014, however, insisted, and, as the old man was firm in his refusal,\nhe became somewhat irritated, and laid his cane lightly across his\nshoulders.\n\n\u201cIt ill becomes you, sir,\u201d said the ferryman, \u201cto strike an old man like\nme; but, since you will have your way, you must; I can not go with you,\nbut my son will; but you will never reach the other side; he will be\ndrowned, and you too.\u201d\n\nThe boat was then set afloat, and Captain S\u2014\u2014, together with his horse\nand servant, and the ferryman\u2019s son, embarked in it.\n\nThe distance was not great, but the storm was tremendous; and, after\nhaving with great difficulty got half way across the lake, it was found\nimpossible to proceed. The danger of tacking was, of course,\nconsiderable; but, since they could not advance, there was no\nalternative but to turn back, and it was resolved to attempt it. The\nman\u0153uvre, however, failed; the boat capsized, and they were all\nprecipitated into the water.\n\n\u201cYou keep hold of the horse\u2014I can swim,\u201d said Captain S\u2014\u2014 to his\nservant, when he saw what was about to happen.\n\nBeing an excellent swimmer, and the distance from the shore\ninconsiderable, he hoped to save himself, but he had on a heavy\ntop-coat, with boots and spurs. The coat he contrived to take off in the\nwater, and then struck out with confidence; but, alas! the coat had got\nentangled with one of the spurs, and, as he swam, it clung to him,\ngetting heavier and heavier as it became saturated with water, ever\ndragging him beneath the stream. He, however, reached the shore, where\nhis anxious friend still stood watching the event; and, as the latter\nbent over him, he was just able to make a gesture with his hand, which\nseemed to say, \u201cYou see, it was to be!\u201d and then expired.\n\nThe boatman was also drowned; but, by the aid of the horse, the servant\nescaped.\n\nAs I do not wish to startle my readers, nor draw too suddenly on their\nfaith, I have commenced with this class of phenomena, which it must be\nadmitted are sufficiently strange, and, if true, must also be admitted\nto be well worthy of attention. No doubt these cases, and still more\nthose to which I shall next proceed, give a painful shock to the\nreceived notions of polished and educated society in general\u2014especially\nin this country, where the analytical or scientifical psychology of the\neighteenth century has almost superseded the study of synthetic or\nphilosophical psychology. It has become a custom to look at all the\nphenomena regarding man in a purely physiological point of view; for\nalthough it is admitted that he has a mind, and although there is such a\nscience as metaphysics, the existence of what we call _mind_ is never\nconsidered but as connected with the body. We know that body can exist\nwithout mind; for, not to speak of certain living conditions, the body\nsubsists without mind when the spirit has fled; albeit, without the\nliving principle it can subsist but for a short period, except under\nparticular circumstances; but we seem to have forgotten that mind,\nthough dependent upon body as long as the connection between them\ncontinues, can yet subsist without it. There have indeed been\nphilosophers, purely materialistic, who have denied this, but they are\nnot many; and not only the whole Christian world, but all who believe in\na future state, must perforce admit it; for even those who hold that\nmost unsatisfactory doctrine that there will be neither memory nor\nconsciousness till a second incorporation takes place, will not deny\nthat the mind, however in a state of abeyance and unable to manifest\nitself, must still subsist as an inherent property of man\u2019s immortal\npart. Even if, as some philosophers believe, the spirit, when freed from\nthe body by death, returns to the Deity and is reabsorbed in the being\nof God, not to become again a separate entity until reincorporated,\nstill what we call mind can not be disunited from it. And when once we\nhave begun to conceive of mind, and consequently of perception, as\nseparated from and independent of bodily organs, it will not be very\ndifficult to apprehend that those bodily organs must circumscribe and\nlimit the view of the spiritual in-dweller, which must otherwise be\nnecessarily perceptive of spirit like itself, though perhaps\nunperceptive of material objects and obstructions.\n\n\u201cIt is perfectly evident to me,\u201d said Socrates, in his last moments,\n\u201cthat, to see clearly, we must detach ourselves from the body, and\nperceive by the soul alone. Not while we live, but when we die, will\nthat wisdom which we desire and love be first revealed to us; it must be\nthen, or never, that we shall attain to true understanding and\nknowledge, since by means of the body we never can. But if, during life,\nwe would make the nearest approaches possible to its possession, it must\nbe by divorcing ourselves as much as in us lies from the flesh and its\nnature.\u201d In their spiritual views and apprehension of the nature of man,\nhow these old heathens shame us!\n\nThe Scriptures teach us that God chose to reveal himself to his people\nchiefly in dreams, and we are entitled to conclude that the reason of\nthis was, that the spirit was then more free to the reception of\nspiritual influences and impressions; and the class of dreams to which I\nnext proceed seem to be best explained by this hypothesis. It is also to\nbe remarked that the awe or fear which pervades a mortal at the mere\nconception of being brought into relation with a spirit, has no place in\nsleep, whether natural or magnetic. There is no fear then, no surprise;\nwe seem to meet on an equality\u2014is it not that we meet spirit to spirit?\nIs it not that our spirit being then released from the trammels\u2014the\ndark chamber of the flesh\u2014it does enjoy a temporary equality? Is not\nthat true, that some German psychologist has said\u2014\u201c_The magnetic man is\na spirit!_\u201d\n\nThere are numerous instances to be met with of persons receiving\ninformation in their sleep, which either is, or seems to be,\ncommunicated by their departed friends. The approach of danger, the\nperiod of the sleeper\u2019s death, or of that of some persons beloved, has\nbeen frequently made known in this form of dream.\n\nDr. Binns quotes, from Cardanus, the case of Johannes Maria Maurosenus,\na Venetian senator, who, while governor of Dalmatia, saw in a dream one\nof his brothers, to whom he was much attached: the brother embraced him\nand bade him farewell, because he was going into the other world.\nMaurosenus having followed him a long way weeping, awoke in tears, and\nexpressed much anxiety respecting this brother. Shortly afterward he\nreceived tidings from Venice that this Domatus, of whom he had dreamed,\nhad died on the night and at the hour of the dream, of a pestilential\nfever, which had carried him off in three days.\n\nOn the night of the 21st of June, in the year 1813, a lady, residing in\nthe north of England, dreamed that her brother, who was then with his\nregiment in Spain, appeared to her, saying, \u201cMary, I die this day at\nVittoria!\u201d\n\nVittoria was a town which, previous to the famous battle, was not\ngenerally known even by name in this country, and this dreamer, among\nothers, had never heard of it; but, on rising, she eagerly resorted to a\ngazetteer for the purpose of ascertaining if such a place existed. On\nfinding that it was so, she immediately ordered her horses, and drove to\nthe house of a sister, some eight or nine miles off, and her first words\non entering the room were, \u201cHave you heard anything of John?\u201d\u2014\u201cNo,\u201d\nreplied the second sister, \u201cbut I know he is dead! He appeared to me\nlast night, in a dream, and told me that he was killed at Vittoria. I\nhave been looking into the gazetteer and the atlas, and I find there is\nsuch a place, and I am sure that he is dead!\u201d And so it proved: the\nyoung man died that day at Vittoria, and, I believe, on the field of\nbattle. If so, it is worthy of observation that the communication was\nnot made till the sisters slept.\n\nA similar case to this is that of Miss D\u2014\u2014, of G\u2014\u2014, who one night\ndreamed that she was walking about the washing-greens, when a figure\napproached, which she recognised as that of a beloved brother who was at\nthat time with the British army in America. It gradually faded away into\na kind of anatomy, holding up its hands, through which the light could\nbe perceived, and asking for clothes to dress a body for the grave. The\ndream recurred more than once in the same night, and, apprehending some\nmisfortune, Miss D\u2014\u2014 noted down the date of the occurrence. In due\ncourse of post, the news arrived that this brother had been killed at\nthe battle of Bunker\u2019s hill. Miss D\u2014\u2014, who died only within the last\nfew years, though unwilling to speak of the circumstance, never refused\nto testify to it as a fact.\n\nHere, supposing this to be a real apparition, we see an instance of that\ndesire for decent obsequies so constantly attributed by the ancients to\nthe souls of the dead.\n\nWhen the German poet Collin died at Vienna, a person named Hartmann, who\nwas his friend, found himself very much distressed by the loss of a\nhundred and twenty florins, which he had paid for the poet, under a\npromise of reimbursement. As this sum formed a large portion of his\nwhole possessions, the circumstance was occasioning him considerable\nanxiety, when he dreamed one night that his deceased friend appeared to\nhim, and bade him immediately set two florins on No. 11, on the first\ncalling of the little lottery, or loto, then about to be drawn. He was\nbade to confine his venture to two florins, neither less nor more; and\nto communicate this information to nobody. Hartmann availed himself of\nthe hint, and obtained a prize of a hundred and thirty florins.\n\nSince we look upon lotteries, in this country, as an immoral species of\ngambling, it may be raised as an objection to this dream, that such\nintelligence was an unworthy mission for a spirit, supposing the\ncommunication to have been actually made by Collin. But, in the first\nplace, we have only to do with facts, and not with their propriety or\nimpropriety, according to our notions; and, by-and-by, I shall endeavor\nto show that such discrepancies possibly arise from the very erroneous\nnotions commonly entertained of the state of those who have disappeared\nfrom the terrestrial life.\n\nSimonides the poet, arriving at the seashore with the intention of\nembarking on board a vessel on the ensuing day, found an unburied body,\nwhich he immediately desired should be decently interred. On the same\nnight, this deceased person appeared to him, and bade him by no means go\nto sea, as he had proposed. Simonides obeyed the injunction, and beheld\nthe vessel founder, as he stood on the shore. He raised a monument on\nthe spot to the memory of his preserver, which is said still to exist,\non which are engraven some lines, to the effect that it was dedicated by\nSimonides, the poet of Cheos, in gratitude to the dead who had preserved\nhim from death.\n\nA much-esteemed secretary died a few years since, in the house of Mr.\nR\u2014\u2014 von N\u2014\u2014. About eight weeks afterward, Mr. R\u2014\u2014 himself being\nill, his daughter dreamed that the house-bell rang, and that, on looking\nout, she perceived the secretary at the door. Having admitted him, and\ninquired what he was come for, he answered, \u201cTo fetch somebody.\u201d Upon\nwhich, alarmed for her father, she exclaimed, \u201cI hope not my father!\u201d He\nshook his head solemnly, in a manner that implied it was not the old man\nhe had come for, and turned away toward a guest-chamber, at that time\nvacant, and there disappeared at the door. The father recovered, and the\nlady left home for a few days, on a visit. On her return, she found her\nbrother had arrived in the interval to pay a visit to his parents, and\nwas lying sick in that room, where he died.\n\nI will here mention a curious circumstance regarding Mr. H\u2014\u2014, the\ngentleman alluded to in a former page, who, being at the seaside, saw,\nin a dream, the danger that awaited his son when he went to bathe. This\ngentleman has frequently, on waking, felt a consciousness that he had\nbeen conversing with certain persons of his acquaintance\u2014and, indeed,\nwith some of whom he knew little\u2014and has afterward, not without a\nfeeling of awe, learned that these persons had died during the hours of\nhis sleep.\n\nDo not such circumstances entitle us to entertain the idea that I have\nsuggested above, namely, that in sleep the spirit is free to see, and to\nknow, and to communicate with spirit, although the memory of this\nknowledge is rarely carried into the waking state?\n\nThe story of the two Arcadians, who travelled together to Megara, though\nreprinted in other works, I can not omit here. One of these established\nhimself, on the night of their arrival, at the house of a friend, while\nthe other sought shelter in a public lodging-house for strangers. During\nthe night, the latter appeared to the former, in a dream, and besought\nhim to come to his assistance, as his villanous host was about to take\nhis life, and only the most speedy aid could save him. The dreamer\nstarted from his sleep, and his first movement was to obey the summons,\nbut, reflecting that it was only a dream, he presently lay down, and\ncomposed himself again to rest. But now his friend appeared before him a\nsecond time, disfigured by blood and wounds, conjuring him, since he had\nnot listened to his first entreaties, that he would, at least, avenge\nhis death. His host, he said, had murdered him, and was, at that moment,\ndepositing his body in a dung-cart, for the purpose of conveying it out\nof the town. The dreamer was thoroughly alarmed, arose, and hastened to\nthe gates of the city, where he found, waiting to pass out, exactly such\na vehicle as his friend had described. A search being instituted, the\nbody was found underneath the manure; and the host was consequently\nseized, and delivered over to the chastisement of the law.\n\n\u201cWho shall venture to assert,\u201d says Dr. Ennemoser, \u201cthat this communing\nwith the dead in sleep is merely a subjective phenomenon, and that the\npresence of these apparitions is a pure illusion?\u201d\n\nA circumstance fully as remarkable as any recorded, occurred at Odessa,\nin the year 1842. An old blind man, named Michel, had for many years\nbeen accustomed to get his living by seating himself every morning on a\nbeam in one of the timber-yards, with a wooden bowl at his feet, into\nwhich the passengers cast their alms. This long-continued practice had\nmade him well known to the inhabitants, and, as he was believed to have\nbeen formerly a soldier, his blindness was attributed to the numerous\nwounds he had received in battle. For his own part, he spoke little, and\nnever contradicted this opinion.\n\nOne night, Michel, by some accident, fell in with a little girl of ten\nyears old, named Powleska, who was friendless, and on the verge of\nperishing with cold and hunger. The old man took her home, and adopted\nher; and, from that time, instead of sitting in the timber-yards, he\nwent about the streets in her company, asking alms at the doors of the\nhouses. The child called him _father_, and they were extremely happy\ntogether. But when they had pursued this mode of life for about five\nyears, a misfortune befell them. A theft having been committed in a\nhouse which they had visited in the morning, Powleska was suspected and\narrested, and the blind man was left once more alone. But, instead of\nresuming his former habits, he now disappeared altogether; and this\ncircumstance causing the suspicion to extend to him, the girl was\nbrought before the magistrate to be interrogated with regard to his\nprobable place of concealment.\n\n\u201cDo you know where Michel is?\u201d said the magistrate.\n\n\u201cHe is dead!\u201d replied she, shedding a torrent of tears.\n\nAs the girl had been shut up for three days, without any means of\nobtaining information from without, this answer, together with her\nunfeigned distress, naturally excited considerable surprise.\n\n\u201cWho told you he was dead?\u201d they inquired.\n\n\u201cNobody!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen how can you know it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI saw him killed!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you have not been out of the prison?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I saw it, nevertheless!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how was that possible? Explain what you mean!\u201d\n\n\u201cI can not. All I can say is, that I saw him killed.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen was he killed, and how?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was the night I was arrested.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat can not be: he was alive when you were seized!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, he was; he was killed an hour after that. They stabbed him with a\nknife.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere were you then?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t tell; but I saw it.\u201d\n\nThe confidence with which the girl asserted what seemed to her hearers\nimpossible and absurd, disposed them to imagine that she was either\nreally insane, or pretending to be so. So, leaving Michel aside, they\nproceeded to interrogate her about the robbery, asking her if she was\nguilty.\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d she answered.\n\n\u201cThen how came the property to be found about you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know: I saw nothing but the murder.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut there are no grounds for supposing Michel is dead: his body has not\nbeen found.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is in the aqueduct.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do you know who slew him?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes\u2014it is a woman. Michel was walking very slowly, after I was taken\nfrom him. A woman came behind him with a large kitchen-knife; but he\nheard her, and turned round: and then the woman flung a piece of gray\nstuff over his head, and struck him repeatedly with the knife; the gray\nstuff was much stained with the blood. Michel fell at the eighth blow,\nand the woman dragged the body to the aqueduct and let it fall in\nwithout ever lifting the stuff which stuck to his face.\u201d\n\nAs it was easy to verify these latter assertions, they despatched people\nto the spot; and there the body was found, with the piece of stuff over\nhis head, exactly as she described. But when they asked her how she knew\nall this, she could only answer, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you know who killed him?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot exactly: it is the same woman that put out his eyes; but, perhaps,\nhe will tell me her name to-night; and if he does, I will tell it to\nyou.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhom do you mean by _he_?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, Michel, to be sure!\u201d\n\nDuring the whole of the following night, without allowing her to suspect\ntheir intention, they watched her; and it was observed that she never\nlay down, but sat upon the bed in a sort of lethargic slumber. Her body\nwas quite motionless, except at intervals, when this repose was\ninterrupted by violent nervous shocks, which pervaded her whole frame.\nOn the ensuing day, the moment she was brought before the judge, she\ndeclared that she was now able to tell them the name of the assassin.\n\n\u201cBut stay,\u201d said the magistrate: \u201cdid Michel never tell you, when he was\nalive, how he lost his sight?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo\u2014but the morning before I was arrested, he promised me to do so; and\nthat was the cause of his death.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow could that be?\u201d\n\n\u201cLast night, Michel came to me, and he pointed to the man hidden behind\nthe scaffolding on which he and I had been sitting. He showed me the man\nlistening to us, when he said, \u2018I\u2019ll tell you all about that to-night;\u2019\nand then the man\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you know the name of this man?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is _Luck_. He went afterward to a broad street that leads down to\nthe harbor, and he entered the third house on the right\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is the name of the street?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know: but the house is one story lower than the adjoining ones.\nLuck told Catherine what he had heard, and she proposed to him to\nassassinate Michel; but he refused, saying, \u2018It was bad enough to have\nburnt out his eyes fifteen years before, while he was asleep at your\ndoor, and to have kidnapped him into the country.\u2019 Then I went in to ask\ncharity, and Catherine put a piece of plate into my pocket, that I might\nbe arrested; then she hid herself behind the aqueduct to wait for\nMichel, and she killed him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, since you say all this, why did you keep the plate\u2014why didn\u2019t you\ngive information?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I didn\u2019t see it then. Michel showed it me last night.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what should induce Catherine to do this?\u201d\n\n\u201cMichel was her husband, and she had forsaken him to come to Odessa and\nmarry again. One night, fifteen years ago, she saw Michel, who had come\nto seek her. She slipped hastily into her house, and Michel, who thought\nshe had not seen him, lay down at her door to watch; but he fell asleep,\nand then Luck burnt out his eyes, and carried him to a distance.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd is it Michel who has told you this?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes: he came, very pale, and covered with blood; and he took me by the\nhand and showed me all this with his fingers.\u201d\n\nUpon this, Luck and Catherine were arrested; and it was ascertained that\nshe had actually been married to Michel in the year 1819, at Kherson.\nThey at first denied the accusation, but Powleska insisted, and they\nsubsequently confessed the crime. When they communicated the\ncircumstances of the confession to Powleska, she said, \u201cI was told it\nlast night.\u201d\n\nThis affair naturally excited great interest, and people all round the\nneighborhood hastened into the city to learn the sentence.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\n\n                      DOUBLE-DREAMING AND TRANCE.\n\nAMONG the phenomena of the dream-life which we have to consider, that of\ndouble-dreaming forms a very curious department. A somewhat natural\nintroduction to this subject may be found in the cases above-recorded,\nof Professor Herder and Mr. S\u2014\u2014, of Edinburgh, who appear, in their\nsleep, to have received so lively an impression of those earnest wishes\nof their dying friends to see them, that they found themselves\nirresistibly impelled to obey the spiritual summons. These two cases\noccurred to men engaged in active daily life, and in normal physical\nconditions, on which account I particularly refer to them here, although\nmany similar ones might be adduced.\n\nWith respect to this subject of double-dreaming, Dr. Ennemoser thinks\nthat it is not so difficult to explain as might appear on a first view,\nsince he considers that there exists an indisputable sympathy between\ncertain organisms, especially where connected by relationship or by\naffection, which may be sufficient to account for the supervention of\nsimultaneous thoughts, dreams, or presentiments; and I have met with\nsome cases where the magnetiser and his patient have been the subjects\nof this phenomenon. With respect to the power asserted to have been\nfrequently exercised by causing or suggesting dreams by an operator at a\ndistance from the sleeper, Dr. E. considers the two parties to stand in\na positive and negative relation to each other; the antagonistic power\nof the sleeper being = 0, he becomes a perfectly passive recipient of\nthe influence exerted by his positive _half_, if I may use the\nexpression; for, where such a polarity is established, the two beings\nseem to be almost blended into one; while Dr. Passavent observes, that\nwe can not pronounce what may be the limits of the nervous force, which\ncertainly is not bounded by the termination of its material conductors.\n\nI have yet, myself, met with no instance of dream compelling by a person\nat a distance; but Dr. Ennemoser says that Agrippa von Nettesheim\nasserts that this can assuredly be done, and also that the abbot\nTrithemius and others possessed the power. In modern times, Wesermann,\nin Dusseldorf, pretended to the same faculty, and affirms that he had\nfrequently exercised it.\n\nAll such phenomena, Dr. Passavent attributes to the interaction of\nimponderables\u2014or of one universal imponderable under different\nmanifestations\u2014which acts not only within the organism, but beyond it,\nindependently of all material obstacles; just as a sympathy appears\nbetween one organ and another, unobstructed by the intervening ones; and\nhe instances the sympathy which exists between the mother and the f\u0153tus,\nas an example of this sort of double life, and standing as midway\nbetween the sympathy between two organs in the same body and that\nbetween two separate bodies, each having its own life, and its life also\nin and for another, as parts of one whole. The sympathy between a bird\nand the eggs it sits upon, is of the same kind; many instances having\nbeen observed, wherein eggs, taken from one bird and placed under\nanother, have produced a brood feathered like the foster instead of the\nreal parent.\n\nThus, this vital force may extend dynamically the circle of its\ninfluence, till, under favorable circumstances, it may act on other\norganisms, making their organs its own.\n\nI need scarcely remind my readers of the extraordinary sympathies\nmanifested by the Siamese twins, Chang and Eng. I never saw them myself;\nand, for the benefit of others in the same situation, I quote the\nfollowing particulars from Dr. Passavent: \u201cThey were united by a\nmembrane which extended from the breast-bone to the navel; but, in other\nrespects, were not different from their countrymen in general. They were\nexceedingly alike, only that Eng was rather the more robust of the two.\nTheir pulsations were not always coincident. They were active and agile,\nand fond of bodily exercises; their intellects were well developed, and\ntheir tones of voice and accent were precisely the same. As they never\nconversed together, they had nearly forgotten their native tongue. If\none was addressed, they both answered. They played some games of skill,\nbut never with each other; as that, they said, would have been like the\nright hand playing with the left. They read the same book at the same\ntime, and sang together in unison. In America they had a fever, which\nran precisely a similar course with each. Their hunger, thirst,\nsleeping, and waking, were alway coincident, and their tastes and\ninclinations were identical. Their movements were so simultaneous, that\nit was impossible to distinguish with which the impulse had originated;\nthey appeared to have but one will. The idea of being separated by an\noperation was abhorrent to them; and they consider themselves much\nhappier in their duality than are the individuals who look upon them\nwith pity.\u201d\n\nThis admirable sympathy, although necessarily in an inferior degree, is\ngenerally manifested, more or less, between all persons twin-born. Dr.\nPassavent and other authorities mention several instances of this kind,\nin which, although at some distance from each other, the same malady\nappeared simultaneously in both, and ran precisely a similar course. A\nvery affecting instance of this sort of sympathy was exhibited, not very\nlong ago, by a young lady, twin-born, who was suddenly seized with an\nunaccountable horror, followed by a strange convulsion, which the\ndoctor, who was hastily called in, said exactly resembled the struggles\nand sufferings of a person drowning. In process of time, the news\narrived that her twin-brother, then abroad, had been drowned precisely\nat that period.\n\nIt is probably a link of the same kind that is established between the\nmagnetiser and his patient, of which, besides those recorded in various\nworks on the subject, some curious instances have come to my knowledge,\nsuch as uncontrollable impulses to go to sleep, or to perform certain\nactions, in subservience to the will of the distant operator. Mr. W\u2014\u2014\nW\u2014\u2014, a gentleman well known in the north of England, related to me\nthat he had been cured, by magnetism, of a very distressing malady.\nDuring part of the process of cur\u00e9, after the _rapport_ had been well\nestablished, the operations were carried on while he was at Malvern, and\nhis magnetiser at Cheltenham, under which circumstances the existence of\nthis extraordinary dependence was frequently exhibited in a manner that\nleft no possibility of doubt. On one occasion, I remember that Mr. W\u2014\u2014\nW\u2014\u2014 being in the magnetic sleep, he suddenly started from his seat,\nclasping his hands as if startled, and presently afterward burst into a\nviolent fit of laughter. As, on waking, he could give no account of\nthese impulses, his family wrote to the magnetiser to inquire if he had\nsought to excite any particular manifestations in his patient, as the\nsleep had been somewhat disturbed. The answer was, that no such\nintention had been entertained, but that the disturbance might possibly\nhave arisen from one to which he had himself been subjected. \u201cWhile my\nmind was concentrated on you,\u201d said he, \u201cI was suddenly so much startled\nby a violent knock at the door, that I actually jumped off my seat,\nclasping my hands with affright. I had a hearty laugh at my own folly,\nbut am sorry if you were made uncomfortable by it.\u201d\n\nI have met with some accounts of a sympathy of this kind existing\nbetween young children and their parents, so that the former have\nexhibited great distress and terror at the moment that death or danger\nhave supervened to the latter; but it would require a great number of\ninstances to establish this particular fact, and separate it from cases\nof accidental coincidence. Dr. Passavent, however, admits the phenomena.\n\nI shall return to these mysterious influences by-and-by; but to revert,\nin the meanwhile, to the subject of double dreams, I will relate one\nthat occurred to two ladies, a mother and daughter, the latter of whom\nrelated it to me. They were sleeping in the same bed at Cheltenham, when\nthe mother, Mrs. C\u2014\u2014, dreamed that her brother-in-law, then in\nIreland, had sent for her; that she entered his room, and saw him in\nbed, apparently dying. He requested her to kiss him, but, owing to his\nlivid appearance, she shrank from doing so, and awoke with the horror of\nthe scene upon her. The daughter awoke at the same moment, saying, \u201cOh,\nI have had such a frightful dream!\u201d \u201cOh, so have I!\u201d returned the\nmother; \u201cI have been dreaming of my brother-in-law!\u201d\u2014\u201cMy dream was\nabout him, too,\u201d added Miss C\u2014\u2014. \u201cI thought I was sitting in the\ndrawing-room, and that he came in wearing a shroud, trimmed with black\nribands, and, approaching me, he said: \u2018My dear niece, your mother has\nrefused to kiss me, but I am sure you will not be so unkind!\u2019\u201d\n\nAs these ladies were not in habits of regular correspondence with their\nrelative, they knew that the earliest intelligence likely to reach them,\nif he were actually dead, would be by means of the Irish papers; and\nthey waited anxiously for the following Wednesday, which was the day\nthese journals were received in Cheltenham. When that morning arrived,\nMiss C\u2014\u2014 hastened at an early hour to the reading-room, and there she\nlearned what the dreams had led them to expect: their friend was dead;\nand they afterward ascertained that his decease had taken place on that\nnight. They moreover observed, that neither one nor the other of them\nhad been speaking or thinking of this gentleman for some time previous\nto the occurrence of the dreams; nor had they any reason whatever for\nuneasiness with regard to him. It is a remarkable peculiarity in this\ncase, that the dream of the daughter appears to be a continuation of\nthat of the mother. In the one, he is seen alive; in the other, the\nshroud and black ribands seem to indicate that he is dead, and he\ncomplains of the refusal to give him a farewell kiss.\n\nOne is almost inevitably led here to the conclusion that the thoughts\nand wishes of the dying man were influencing the sleepers, or that the\nreleased spirit was hovering near them.\n\nPomponius Mela relates, that a certain people in the interior of Africa\nlay themselves down to sleep on the graves of their forefathers, and\nbelieve the dreams that ensue to be the unerring counsel of the dead.\n\nThe following dream, from St. Austin, is quoted by Dr. Binns:\nPr\u00e6stantius desired from a certain philosopher the solution of a doubt,\nwhich the latter refused to give him; but, on the following night, the\nphilosopher appeared at his bedside and told him what he desired to\nknow. On being asked, the next day, why he had chosen that hour for his\nvisit, he answered: \u2018I came not to you truly, but in my dream I appeared\nto you to do so.\u2019 In this case, however, only one of the parties seems\nto have been asleep, for Pr\u00e6stantius says that he was awake; and it is\nperhaps rather an example of another kind of phenomena, similar to the\ninstance recorded of himself by the late Joseph Wilkins, a dissenting\nminister, who says that, being one night asleep, he dreamed that he was\ntravelling to London, and that, as it would not be much out of his way,\nhe would go by Gloucestershire and call upon his friends. Accordingly he\narrived at his father\u2019s house, but, finding the front door closed, he\nwent round to the back and there entered. The family, however, being\nalready in bed, he ascended the stairs and entered his father\u2019s\nbed-chamber. Him he found asleep; but to his mother, who was awake, he\nsaid, as he walked round to her side of the bed, \u2018Mother, I am going a\nlong journey, and am come to bid you good-by;\u2019 to which she answered,\n\u2018Oh, dear son, thee art dead!\u2019 Though struck with the distinctness of\nthe dream, Mr. Wilkins attached no importance to it, till, to his\nsurprise, a letter arrived from his father, addressed to himself, if\nalive\u2014or, if not, to his surviving friends\u2014begging earnestly for\nimmediate intelligence, since they were under great apprehensions that\ntheir son was either dead, or in danger of death; for that, on such a\nnight (naming that on which the above dream had occurred), he, the\nfather, being asleep, and Mrs. Wilkins awake, she had distinctly heard\nsomebody try to open the fore door, which being fast, the person had\ngone round to the back and there entered. She had perfectly recognised\nthe footstep to be that of her son, who had ascended the stairs, and\nentering the bed-chamber, had said to her, \u2018Mother, I am going a long\njourney, and am come to bid you good-by;\u2019 whereupon she had answered,\n\u2018Oh, dear son, thee art dead!\u2019 Much alarmed, she had awakened her\nhusband and related what had occurred, assuring him that it was not a\ndream, for that she had not been asleep at all. Mr. Wilkins mentions\nthat this curious circumstance took place in the year 1754, when he was\nliving at Ottery; and that he had frequently discussed the subject with\nhis mother, on whom the impression made was even stronger than on\nhimself. Neither death nor anything else remarkable ensued.\n\nA somewhat similar instance to this, which I also quote from Dr. Binns,\nis that of a gentleman who dreamed that he was pushing violently against\nthe door of a certain room, in a house with which he was well\nacquainted; while the people in that room were, at the same time,\nactually alarmed by a violent pushing against the door, which it\nrequired their utmost force effectually to resist. As soon as the\nattempt to burst open the door had ceased, the house was searched, but\nnothing discovered to account for the disturbance.\n\nThese examples are extremely curious, and they conduct us by a natural\ntransition to another department of this mysterious subject.\n\nThere must be few persons who have not heard, among their friends and\nacquaintance, instances of what is called a _wraith_; that is, that in\nthe moment of death, a person is seen in a place where _bodily_ he is\nnot. I believe the Scotch use this term also in the same sense as the\nIrish word _fetch_; which is a person\u2019s double seen at some indefinite\nperiod previous to his death, of which such an appearance is generally\nsupposed to be a prognostic. The Germans express the same thing by the\nword _doppelg\u00e4nger_.\n\nWith respect to the appearance of wraiths, at the moment of death, the\ninstances to be met with are so numerous and well-authenticated, that I\ngenerally find the most skeptical people unable to deny that some such\nphenomenon exists, although they evade, without I think, diminishing the\ndifficulty, by pronouncing it to be of a subjective, and not of an\nobjective, nature; that is, that the image of the dying person is, by\nsome unknown operation, presented to the imagination of the seer,\nwithout the existence of any real outstanding figure, from which it is\nreflected; which reduces such instances so nearly to the class of mere\nsensuous illusion, that it seems difficult to draw the distinction. The\ndistinction these theorists wish to imply, however, is that the latter\nare purely subjective and self-originating, while the others have an\nexternal cause, although not an external visible object\u2014the image seen\nbeing protruded by the imagination of the seer, in consequence of an\nunconscious intuition of the death of the person whose wraith is\nperceived.\n\nInstances of this kind of phenomenon have been common in all ages of the\nworld, insomuch that Lucretius, who did not believe in the immortality\nof the soul, and was yet unable to deny the facts, suggested the strange\ntheory that the superficial surfaces of all bodies were continually\nflying off, like the coats of an onion, which accounted for the\nappearance of wraiths, ghosts, doubles, &c.; and a more modern author,\nGaffarillus, suggests that corrupting bodies send forth vapors, which\nbeing compressed by the cold night air, appear visible to the eye in the\nforms of men.\n\nIt will not be out of place, here, to mention the circumstance recorded\nin Professor Gregory\u2019s \u201cAbstract of Baron von Reichenbach\u2019s Researches\nin Magnetism,\u201d regarding a person called Billing, who acted in the\ncapacity of amanuensis to the blind poet Pfeffel, at Colmar. Having\ntreated of various experiments, by which it was ascertained that certain\nsensitive persons were not only able to detect electric influences of\nwhich others were unconscious, but could also perceive, emanating from\nthe wires and magnets, flames which were invisible to people in general;\n\u201cthe baron,\u201d according to Dr. Gregory, \u201cproceeded to a useful\napplication of the results, which is, he says, so much the more welcome,\nas it utterly eradicates one of the chief foundations of superstition,\nthat worst enemy to the development of human enlightenment and liberty.\nA singular occurrence, which took place at Colmar, in the garden of the\npoet Pfeffel, has been made generally known by various writings. The\nfollowing are the essential facts. The poet, being blind, had employed a\nyoung clergyman, of the evangelical church, as amanuensis. Pfeffel, when\nhe walked out, was supported and led by this young man, whose name was\nBilling. As they walked in the garden, at some distance from the town,\nPfeffel observed, that as often as they passed over a particular spot,\nthe arm of Billing trembled, and he betrayed uneasiness. On being\nquestioned, the young man reluctantly confessed, that as often as he\npassed over that spot, certain feelings attacked him, which he could not\ncontrol, and which he knew well, as he always experienced the same, in\npassing over any place where human bodies lay buried. He added, that at\nnight, when he came near such places, he saw supernatural appearances.\nPfeffel, with the view of curing the youth of what he looked on as\nfancy, went that night with him to the garden. As they approached the\nspot in the dark, Billing perceived a feeble light, and when still\nnearer, he saw a luminous ghostlike figure floating over the spot. This\nhe described as a female form, with one arm laid across the body, the\nother hanging down, floating in the upright posture, but tranquil, the\nfeet only a hand-breadth or two above the soil. Pfeffel went alone, as\nthe young man declined to follow him, up to the place where the figure\nwas said to be, and struck about in all directions with his stick,\nbesides running actually through the shadow; but the figure was not more\naffected than a flame would have been; the luminous form, according to\nBilling always returned to its original position after these\nexperiments. Many things were tried during several months, and numerous\ncompanies of people were brought to the spot, but the matter remained\nthe same, and the ghost-seer adhered to his serious assertion, and to\nthe opinion founded on it, that some individual lay buried there. At\nlast, Pfeffel had the place dug up. At a considerable depth was found a\nfirm layer of white lime, of the length and breadth of a grave, and of\nconsiderable thickness, and when this had been broken into, there were\nfound the bones of a human being. It was evident that some one had been\nburied in the place, and covered with a thick layer of lime (quicklime),\nas is generally done in times of pestilence, of earthquakes, and other\nsimilar events. The bones were removed, the pit filled up, the lime\nscattered abroad, and the surface again made smooth. When Billing was\nnow brought back to the place, the phenomena did not return, and the\nnocturnal spirit had for ever disappeared.\n\n\u201cIt is hardly necessary to point out to the reader what view the author\ntakes of this story, which excited much attention in Germany, because it\ncame from the most truthful man alive, and theologians and psychologists\ngave to it sundry terrific meanings. It obviously falls into the\nprovince of chemical action, and thus meets with a simple and clear\nexplanation from natural and physical causes. A corpse is a field for\nabundant chemical changes, decompositions, fermentation, putrefaction,\ngasification, and general play of affinities. A stratum of quicklime, in\na narrow pit, unites its powerful affinities to those of the organic\nmatters, and gives rise to a long-continued working of the whole.\nRain-water filters through and contributes to the action: the lime on\nthe outside of the mass first falls to a fine powder, and afterward,\nwith more water, forms lumps which are very slowly penetrated by the\nair. Slaked lime prepared for building, but not used, on account of some\ncause connected with a warlike state of society some centuries since,\nhas been found in subterraneous holes or pits, in the ruins of old\ncastles; and the mass, except on the outside, was so unaltered that it\nhas been used for modern buildings. It is evident, therefore, that in\nsuch circumstances there must be a very slow and long-continued chemical\naction, partly owing to the slow penetration of the mass of lime by the\nexternal carbonic acid, partly to the change going on in the remains of\nanimal matter, at all events as long as any is left. In the above case,\nthis must have gone on in Pfeffel\u2019s garden, and, as we know that\nchemical action is invariably associated with light, visible to the\nsensitive, this must have been the origin of the luminous appearance,\nwhich again must have continued until the mutual affinities of the\norganic remains, the lime, the air, and water, had finally come to a\nstate of chemical rest or equilibrium. As soon, therefore, as a\nsensitive person, although otherwise quite healthy, came that way, and\nentered into the sphere of the force in action, he must feel, by day,\nlike Mdlle. Maix, the sensations so often described, and see by night,\nlike Mdlle. Reichel, the luminous appearance. Ignorance, fear, and\nsuperstition, would dress up the feebly shining, vaporous light into a\nhuman form, and furnish it with human limbs and members; just as we can\nat pleasure fancy every cloud in the sky to represent a man or a demon.\n\n\u201cThe wish to strike a fatal blow at the monster superstition, which, at\nno distant period, poured out upon European society from a similar\nsource, such inexpressible misery, when, in trials for witchcraft, not\nhundreds, not thousands, but hundreds of thousands of innocent human\nbeings perished miserably, either on the scaffold, at the stake, or by\nthe effects of torture\u2014this desire induced the author to try the\nexperiment of bringing, if possible, a highly-sensitive patient by night\nto a churchyard. It appeared possible that such a person might see, over\ngraves in which mouldering bodies lie, something similar to that which\nBilling had seen. Mdlle. Reichel had the courage, rare in her sex, to\ngratify this wish of the author. On two very dark nights she allowed\nherself to be taken from the castle of Reisenberg, where she was living\nwith the author\u2019s family, to the neighboring churchyard of Grunzing. The\nresult justified his anticipation in the most beautiful manner. She very\nsoon saw a light, and observed on one of the graves, along its length, a\ndelicate, breathing flame: she also saw the same thing, only weaker on\nthe second grave. But she saw neither witches nor ghosts; she described\nthe fiery appearances as a shining vapor, one to two spans high,\nextending as far as the grave, and floating near its surface. Some time\nafterward she was taken to two large cemeteries near Vienna, where\nseveral burials occur daily, and graves lie about by thousands. Here she\nsaw numerous graves provided with similar lights. Wherever she looked,\nshe saw luminous masses scattered about. But this appearance was most\nvivid over the newest graves, while in the oldest it could not be\nperceived. She described the appearance less as a clear flame than as a\ndense, vaporous mass of fire, intermediate between fog and flame. On\nmany graves the flames were four feet high, so that when she stood on\nthem, it surrounded her up to the neck. If she thrust her hand into it,\nit was like putting it into a dense, fiery cloud. She betrayed no\nuneasiness, because she had all her life been accustomed to such\nemanations, and had seen the same, in the author\u2019s experiments, often\nproduced by natural causes.\n\n\u201cMany ghost-stories will now find their natural explanation. We can also\nsee that it was not altogether erroneous, when old women declared that\nall had not the gift to see the departed wandering about their graves;\nfor it must have always been the sensitive alone who were able to\nperceive the light given out by the chemical action going on in the\ncorpse. The author has thus, he hopes, succeeded in tearing down one of\nthe most impenetrable barriers erected by dark ignorance and\nsuperstitious folly against the progress of natural truth.\u201d\n\n\u201c(The reader will at once apply the above most remarkable experiments to\nthe explanation of corpse-lights in churchyards, which were often\nvisible to the gifted alone\u2014to those who had the second-sight, for\nexample. Many nervous or hysterical females must often have been alarmed\nby white, faintly-luminous objects in dark churchyards, to which objects\nfear has given a defined form. In this, as well as in numerous other\npoints, which will force themselves on the attention of the careful\nreader of both works, Baron Reichenbach\u2019s experiments illustrate the\nexperiences of the Seeress of Prevorst.\u2014W. G.)\u201d[1]\n\nThat the flames here described may have originated in chemical action,\nis an opinion I have no intention of disputing; the fact may possibly be\nso; such a phenomenon has frequently been observed hovering over coffins\nand decomposing flesh: but I confess I can not perceive the slightest\ngrounds for the assertion that it was the ignorance, fear, and\nsuperstition, of Billing, who was an evangelical clergyman, that caused\nhim to dress up this vaporous light in a human form and supply it with\nmembers, &c. In the first place, I see no proof adduced that Billing was\neither ignorant or superstitious, or even afraid\u2014the feelings he\ncomplained of appearing to be rather physical than moral; and it must be\na weak person indeed, who, in company with another, could be excited to\nsuch a freak of the imagination. It is easily comprehensible that that\nwhich appeared only a luminous vapor by day, might, when reflected on a\ndarker atmosphere, present a defined form; and the suggestion of this\npossibility might lead to some curious speculations with regard to a\nmystery called the PALINGANESIA, said to have been practised by some of\nthe chemists and alchemists of the sixteenth century.\n\nGaffarillus, in his book, entitled \u201c_Curiosit\u00e9s Inouies_,\u201d published in\n1650, when speaking on the subject of talismans, signatures, &c.,\nobserves that, since in many instances the plants used for these\npurposes were reduced to ashes, and no longer retained their form, their\nefficacy, which depended on their figure, should inevitably be\ndestroyed; but this, he says, is not the case, since, by an admirable\npotency existing in nature, the form, though invisible, is still\nretained in the ashes. This, he observes, may appear strange to those\nwho have never attended to the subject; but he asserts that an account\nof the experiment will be found in the works of Mr. Du Chesne, one of\nthe best chemists of the period, who had been shown, by a Polish\nphysician at Cracow, certain vials containing ashes, which, when duly\nheated, exhibited the forms of various plants. A small obscure cloud was\nfirst observed, which gradually took on a defined form, and presented to\nthe eye a rose, or whatever plant or flower the ashes consisted of. Mr.\nDu Chesne, however, had never been able to repeat the experiment, though\nhe had made several unsuccessful attempts to do so; but at length he\nsucceeded, by accident, in the following manner: Having for some purpose\nextracted the salts from some burnt nettles, and having left the ley\noutside the house all night, to cool, in the morning he found it frozen;\nand, to his surprise, the form and figure of the nettles were so exactly\nrepresented on the ice, that the living plant could not be more perfect.\nDelighted at this discovery, he summoned Mr. De Luynes, parliamentary\ncouncillor, to behold this curiosity; whence, he says, they both\nconcluded that, when a body dies, its form or figure still resides in\nits ashes.\n\nKircher, Vallemont, Digby, and others, are said to have practised this\nart of resuscitating the forms of plants from their ashes and at the\nmeeting of naturalists at Stuttgard, in 1834, a Swiss savant seems to\nhave revived the subject, and given a receipt for the experiment,\nextracted from a work by Oetinger, called \u201cThoughts on the Birth and\nGeneration of Things.\u201d\u2014\u201cThe earthly husk,\u201d says Oetinger, \u201cremains in\nthe retort, while the volatile essence ascends, like a spirit, perfect\nin form, but void of substance.\u201d\n\nBut Oetinger also records another discovery of this description, which,\nhe says, he fell upon unawares. A woman having brought him a large bunch\nof balm, he laid it under the tiles, which were yet warm with the\nsummer\u2019s heat, where it dried in the shade. But, it being in the month\nof September, the cold soon came, and contracted the leaves, without\nexpelling the volatile salts. They lay there till the following June,\nwhen he chopped up the balm, put it into a glass retort, poured\nrain-water upon it, and placed a receiver above. He afterward heated it\ntill the water boiled, and then increased the heat\u2014whereupon there\nappeared on the water a coat of yellow oil, about the thickness of the\nback of a knife, and this oil shaped itself into the forms of\ninnumerable balm-leaves, which did not run one into another, but\nremained perfectly distinct and defined, and exhibited all the marks\nthat are seen in the leaves of the plant. Oetinger says he kept the\nfluid some time, and showed it to a number of people. At length, wishing\nto throw it away, he shook it, and the leaves ran into one another with\nthe disturbance of the oil, but resumed their distinct shape again as\nsoon as it was at rest, the fluid form retaining the perfect signature.\n\nNow, how far these experiments are really practicable, I can not say;\ntheir not being repeated, or not being repeated successfully, is no very\ndecided argument against their possibility, as all persons acquainted\nwith the annals of chemistry well know; but there is certainly a curious\ncoincidence between these details and the experience of Billing, where\nit is to be observed that, according to his account\u2014and what right have\nwe to dispute it?\u2014the figure, after being disturbed by Pfeffel, always\nresumed its original form. The same peculiarity has been observed with\nrespect to some apparitions, where the spectator has been bold enough to\ntry the experiment. In a letter to Dr. Bentley, from the Rev. Thomas\nWilkins, curate of Warblington, in Hampshire, written in the year 1695,\nwherein he gives an account of an apparition which haunted the\nparsonage-house, and which he himself and several other persons had\nseen, he particularly mentions that, thinking it might be some fellow\nhid in the room, he put his arm out to feel it, and his hand seemingly\nwent through the body of it, and felt no manner of substance, until it\nreached the wall. \u201cThen I drew back my hand, but still the apparition\nwas in the same place.\u201d\n\nYet this spectre did not appear above or near a grave, but moved from\nplace to place, and gave considerable annoyance to the inhabitants of\nthe rectory.\n\nWith respect to the lights over the graves, sufficing to account for the\npersuasion regarding what are called _corpse-candles_, they certainly,\nup to a certain point, afford a very satisfactory explanation, but that\nexplanation does not comprehend the whole of the mystery; for most of\nthose persons who have professed to see corpse-candles, have also\nasserted that they were not always stationary over the graves, but\nsometimes moved from place to place, as in the following instance,\nrelated to me by a gentleman who assured me that he received the account\nfrom the person who witnessed the phenomenon. Now, this last fact\u2014I\nmean the locomotion of the lights\u2014will, of course, be disputed; but so\nwas their existence: yet they exist, for all that, and may travel from\nplace to place, for anything we know to the contrary.\n\nThe story related to me, or a similar instance, is, I think, mentioned\nby Mrs. Grant; but it was to the effect that a minister, newly inducted\nin his cur\u00e9, was standing one evening leaning over the wall of the\nchurchyard which adjoined the manse, when he observed a light hovering\nover a particular spot. Supposing it to be somebody with a lantern, he\nopened the wicket and went forward to ascertain who it might be; but\nbefore he reached the spot, the light moved onward; and he followed, but\ncould see nobody. It did not rise far from the ground, but advanced\nrapidly across the road, entered a wood, and ascended a hill, till it at\nlength disappeared at the door of a farmhouse. Unable to comprehend of\nwhat nature this light could be, the minister was deliberating whether\nto make inquiries at the house or return, when it appeared again,\nseeming to come out of the house, accompanied by another, passed him,\nand, going over the same ground, they both disappeared on the spot where\nhe had first observed the phenomenon. He left a mark on the grave by\nwhich he might recognise it, and the next day inquired of the sexton\nwhose it was. The man said it belonged to a family that lived up the\nhill (indicating the house the light had stopped at), named M\u2019D\u2014\u2014, but\nthat it was a considerable time since any one had been buried there. The\nminister was extremely surprised to learn, in the course of the day,\nthat a child of that family had died of scarlet fever on the preceding\nevening.\n\nWith respect to the class of phenomena accompanied by this\nphosphorescent light, I shall have more to say by-and-by. The above will\nappear a very incredible story to many people, and there was a time that\nit would have appeared equally so to myself; but I have met with so much\nstrange corroborative evidence, that I no longer feel myself entitled to\nreject it. I asked the gentleman who told me the story, whether he\nbelieved it; he said that he could not believe in anything of the sort.\nI then inquired if he would accept the testimony of that minister on any\nother question, and he answered, \u201cMost assuredly.\u201d As, however, I shall\nhave occasion to recur to this subject in a subsequent chapter, I will\nleave it aside for the present, and relate some of the facts which led\nme to the consideration of the above theories and experiments.\n\nDr. S\u2014\u2014 relates that a Madame T\u2014\u2014, in Prussia, dreamed, on the 16th\nof March, 1832, that the door opened, and her god-father, Mr. D\u2014\u2014, who\nwas much attached to her, entered the room, dressed as he usually was\nwhen prepared for church on Sundays; and that, knowing him to be in bad\nhealth, she asked him what he was doing abroad at such an early hour,\nand whether he was quite well again. Whereupon, he answered that he was;\nand, being about to undertake a very long journey, he had come to bid\nher farewell, and to intrust her with a commission, which was, that she\nwould deliver a letter he had written to his wife; but accompanying it\nwith an injunction that she (the wife) was not to open it till that day\nfour years, when he would return himself, precisely at five o\u2019clock in\nthe morning, to fetch the answer, till which period he charged her not\nto break the seal. He then handed her a letter, sealed with black, the\nwriting on which shone through the paper, so that she (the dreamer) was\nable to perceive that it contained an announcement to Mrs. D\u2014\u2014, the\nwife, with whom, on account of the levity of her character, he had long\nlived unhappily, that she would die at that time four years.\n\nAt this moment, the sleeper was awakened by what appeared to her a\npressure of the hand; and, feeling an entire conviction that this was\nsomething more than an ordinary dream, she was not surprised to learn\nthat her god-father was dead. She related the dream to Madame D\u2014\u2014,\nomitting, however, to mention the announcement contained in the letter,\nwhich she thought the dream plainly indicated was not to be\ncommunicated. The widow laughed at the story, soon resumed her gay life,\nand married again. In the winter of 1835-\u20196, however, she was attacked\nby an intermittent fever, on which occasion Dr. S\u2014\u2014 was summoned to\nattend her. After various vicissitudes, she finally sunk; and, on the\n16th of March, 1836, exactly at five o\u2019clock in the morning, she\nsuddenly started up in her bed, and, fixing her eyes apparently on some\none she saw standing at the foot, she exclaimed: \u201cWhat are you come for?\nGod be gracious to me! I never believed it!\u201d She then sank back, closed\nher eyes, which she never opened again, and, in a quarter of an hour\nafterward, expired very calmly.\n\nA friend of mine, Mrs. M\u2014\u2014, a native of the West Indies, was at Blair\nLogie at the period of the death of Dr. Abercrombie, in Edinburgh, with\nwhom she was extremely intimate. Dr. A. died quite suddenly, without any\nprevious indisposition, just as he was about to go out in his carriage,\nat 11 o\u2019clock on a Thursday morning. On the night between the Thursday\nand Friday, Mrs. M\u2014\u2014 dreamed that she saw the family of Dr. A. all\ndressed in white, dancing a solemn funereal dance; upon which she awoke,\nwondering that she should have dreamed a thing so incongruous, since it\nwas contrary to their custom to dance on any occasion. Immediately\nafterward, while speaking to her maid who had come to call her, she saw\nDr. Abercrombie against the wall, with his jaw fallen, and a livid\ncountenance, mournfully shaking his head as he looked at her. She passed\nthe day in great uneasiness, and wrote to inquire for the doctor,\nrelating what had happened, and expressing her certainty that he was\ndead; the letter was seen by several persons in Edinburgh on the day of\nits arrival.\n\nThe two following cases seem rather to belong to what is called, in the\neast, _second hearing_,\u2014although sympathy was probably the exciting\ncause of the phenomena. A lady and gentleman in Berwickshire were\nawakened one night by a loud cry, which they both immediately recognised\nto proceed from the voice of their son, who was then absent and at a\nconsiderable distance. Tidings subsequently reached them, that exactly\nat that period their son had fallen overboard and was drowned. On\nanother occasion, in Perthshire, a person aroused her husband one night,\nsaying that their son was drowned, for she had been awakened by the\nsplash. Her presentiment also proved too well founded, the young man\nhaving fallen from the mast-head of the ship. In both cases, we may\nnaturally conclude that the thoughts of the young men, at the moment of\nthe accident, would rush homeward; and, admitting Dr. Ennemoser\u2019s theory\nof polarity, the passive sleepers became the recipients of the force. I\nconfess, however, that the opinions of another section of philosophers\nappear to me to be more germain to the matter; although, to many\npersons, they will doubtless be difficult of acceptance, from their\nappertaining to those views commonly called mystical.\n\nThese psychologists then believe, as did Socrates and Plato, and others\nof the ancients, that in certain conditions of the body, which\nconditions may arise naturally, or be produced artificially, the links\nwhich unite it with the spirit may be more or less loosened; and that\nthe latter may thus be temporarily disjoined from the former, and so\nenjoy a foretaste of its future destiny. In the lowest or first degree\nof this disunion, we are awake, though scarcely conscious, while the\nimagination is vivified to an extraordinary amount, and our fancy\nsupplies images almost as lively as the realities. This probably is the\ntemporary condition of inspired poets and eminent discoverers.\n\nSleep is considered another stage of this disjunction; and the question\nhas ever been raised whether, when the body is in profound sleep, the\nspirit is not altogether free and living in another world, while the\norganic life proceeds as usual, and sustains the temple till the return\nof its inhabitant. Without at present attempting to support or refute\nthis doctrine, I will only observe, that once admitting the possibility\nof the disunion, all consideration of _time_ must be set aside as\nirrelevant to the question; for spirit, freed from matter, must move\nwith the rapidity of thought;\u2014in short, _a spirit must be where its\nthoughts and affections are_.\n\nIt is the opinion of these psychologists, however, that in the normal\nand healthy condition of man, the union of body, soul, and spirit, is\nmost complete, and that all the degrees of disunion in the waking state\nare degrees of morbid derangement. Hence it is that somnambulists and\nclairvoyants are chiefly to be found among sickly women. There have been\npersons who have appeared to possess a power which they could exert at\nwill, whereby they withdrew from their bodies, these remaining during\nthe absence of the spirit in a state of catalepsy, scarcely if at all to\nbe distinguished from death.\n\nI say _withdrew from their bodies_, assuming that to be the explanation\nof the mystery; for, of course, it is but an assumption. Epimenides is\nrecorded to have possessed this faculty; and Hermotinus, of Clazomenes,\nis said to have wandered, in spirit, over the world, while his body lay\napparently dead. At length his wife, taking advantage of this absence of\nhis soul, burned his body and thus intercepted its return: so say Lucien\nand Pliny the elder;\u2014and Varro relates, that the eldest of two\nbrothers, named Corfidius, being supposed to die, his will was opened\nand preparations were made for his funeral by the other brother, who was\ndeclared his heir. In the meantime, however, Corfidius revived, and told\nthe astonished attendants, whom he summoned by clapping his hands, that\nhe had just come from his younger brother, who had committed his\ndaughter to his care, and informed him where he had buried some gold,\nrequesting that the funeral preparations he had made might be converted\nto his own use. Immediately afterward, the news arrived that the younger\nbrother was unexpectedly deceased, and the gold was found at the place\nindicated. The last appears to have been a case of natural trance; but\nthe two most remarkable instances of voluntary trance I have met with in\nmodern times is that of Colonel Townshend, and the dervish who allowed\nhimself to be buried. With regard to the former, he could, to all\nappearance, die whenever he pleased; his heart ceased to beat; there was\nno perceptible respiration; and his whole frame became cold and rigid as\ndeath itself; the features being shrunk and colorless, and the eyes\nglazed and ghastly. He would continue in this state for several hours\nand then gradually revive; but the revival does not appear to have been\nan effort of will\u2014or rather, we are not informed whether it was so or\nnot. Neither are we told whether he brought any recollections back with\nhim, nor how this strange faculty was first developed or discovered\u2014all\nvery important points, and well worthy of investigation.[2]\n\nWith respect to the dervish, or fakeer, an account of his singular\nfaculty was, I believe, first presented to the public in the Calcutta\npapers about nine or ten years ago. He had then frequently exhibited it\nfor the satisfaction of the natives; but subsequently he was put to the\nproof by some of the European officers and residents. Captain Wade,\npolitical agent at Loodhiana, was present when he was disinterred, ten\nmonths after he had been buried by General Ventura, in presence of the\nmaharajah and many of his principal sirdars.\n\nIt appears that the man previously prepared himself by some processes,\nwhich, he says, temporarily annihilate the powers of digestion, so that\nmilk received into the stomach undergoes no change. He next forces all\nthe breath in his body into his brain, which becomes very hot, upon\nwhich the lungs collapse, and the heart ceases to beat. He then stops\nup, with wax, every aperture of the body through which air could enter,\nexcept the mouth, but the tongue is so turned back as to close the\ngullet, upon which a state of insensibility ensues. He is then stripped\nand put into a linen bag; and, on the occasion in question, this bag was\nsealed with Runjeet Sing\u2019s own seal. It was then placed in a deal box,\nwhich was also locked and sealed, and the box being buried in a vault,\nthe earth was thrown over it and trod down, after which a crop of barley\nwas sown on the spot, and sentries placed to watch it. The maharajah,\nhowever, was so skeptical, that, in spite of all these precautions, he\nhad him, twice in the course of the ten months, dug up and examined, and\neach time he was found to be exactly in the same state as when they had\nshut him up.\n\nWhen he is disinterred, the first step toward his recovery is to turn\nback his tongue, which is found quite stiff, and requires for some time\nto be retained in its proper position by the finger; warm water is\npoured upon him, and his eyes and lips moistened with ghee, or oil. His\nrecovery is much more rapid than might be expected, and he is soon able\nto recognise the bystanders, and converse. He says, that, during this\nstate of trance, his dreams are ravishing, and that it is very painful\nto be awakened; but I do not know that he has ever disclosed any of his\nexperiences. His only apprehension seems to be, lest he should be\nattacked by insects, to avoid which accident the box is slung to the\nceiling. The interval seems to be passed in a complete state of\nhibernation; and when he is taken up, no pulse is perceptible, and his\neyes are glazed like those of a corpse.\n\nHe subsequently refused to submit to the conditions proposed by some\nEnglish officers, and thus incurred their suspicions, that the whole\nthing was an imposition; but the experiment has been too often repeated\nby people very well capable of judging, and under too stringent\nprecautions, to allow of this mode of escaping the difficulty. The man\nassumes to be _holy_, and is very probably a worthless fellow, but that\ndoes not affect the question one way or the other. Indian princes do not\npermit themselves to be imposed on with impunity; and, as Runjeet Sing\nwould not value the man\u2019s life at a pin\u2019s point, he would neglect no\nmeans of debarring him all access to food or air.\n\nIn the above-quoted cases, except in those of Corfidius and Hermotinus,\nthe absence of the spirit is alone suggested to the spectator by the\ncondition of the body; since the memory of one state does not appear to\nhave been carried into the other\u2014if the spirit wandered into other\nregions it brings no tidings back; but we have many cases recorded where\nthis deficient evidence seems to be supplied. The magicians and\nsoothsayers of the northern countries, by narcotics, and other means,\nproduce a cataleptic state of the body, resembling death, when their\nprophetic faculty is to be exercised; and although we know that an alloy\nof imposition is generally mixed up with these exhibitions, still it is\npast a doubt, that a state of what we call clear-seeing is thus induced;\nand that on awaking, they bring tidings from various parts of the world\nof actions then performing and events occurring, which subsequent\ninvestigations have verified.\n\nOne of the most remarkable cases of this kind, is that recorded by Jung\nStilling, of a man, who about the year 1740, resided in the neighborhood\nof Philadelphia, in the United States. His habits were retired, and he\nspoke little; he was grave, benevolent, and pious, and nothing was known\nagainst his character, except that he had the reputation of possessing\nsome secrets that were not altogether _lawful_. Many extraordinary\nstories were told of him, and among the rest, the following: The wife of\na ship-captain, whose husband was on a voyage to Europe and Africa, and\nfrom whom she had been long without tidings, overwhelmed with anxiety\nfor his safety, was induced to address herself to this person. Having\nlistened to her story, he begged her to excuse him for awhile, when he\nwould bring her the intelligence she required. He then passed into an\ninner room, and she sat herself down to wait; but his absence continuing\nlonger than she expected, she became impatient, thinking he had\nforgotten her; and so softly approaching the door, she peeped through\nsome aperture, and to her surprise, beheld him lying on a sofa, as\nmotionless as if he was dead. She of course, did not think it advisable\nto disturb him, but waited his return, when he told her that her husband\nhad not been able to write to her for such and such reasons; but that he\nwas then in a coffeehouse in London, and would shortly be home again.\nAccordingly, he arrived, and as the lady learned from him that the\ncauses of his unusual silence had been precisely those alleged by the\nman, she felt extremely desirous of ascertaining the truth of the rest\nof the information; and in this she was gratified; for he no sooner set\nhis eyes on the magician than he said that he had seen him before, on a\ncertain day, in a coffeehouse in London; and that he had told him his\nwife was extremely uneasy about him; and that he, the captain, had\nthereon mentioned how he had been prevented writing; adding that he was\non the eve of embarking for America. He had then lost sight of the\nstranger among the throng, and knew nothing more about him.\n\nI have no authority for this story, but that of Jung Stilling; and if it\nstood alone, it might appear very incredible; but it is supported by so\nmany parallel examples of information given by people in somnambulic\nstates, that we are not entitled to reject it on the score of\nimpossibility.\n\nThe late Mr. John Holloway, of the bank of England, brother to the\nengraver of that name, related of himself that being one night in bed\nwith his wife and unable to sleep, he had fixed his eyes and thoughts\nwith uncommon intensity on a beautiful star that was shining in at the\nwindow, when he suddenly found his spirit released from his body and\nsoaring into that bright sphere. But, instantly seized with anxiety for\nthe anguish of his wife, if she discovered his body apparently dead\nbeside her, he returned, and re-entered it with _difficulty_ (hence,\nperhaps, the violent convulsions with which some somnambules of the\nhighest order are awakened). He described that returning, was returning\nto darkness; and that while the spirit was free, he was _alternately in\nthe light or the dark, accordingly as his thoughts were with his wife or\nwith the star_. He said that he always avoided anything that could\nproduce a repetition of this accident, the consequences of it being very\ndistressing.\n\nWe know that by intense contemplation of this sort, the dervishes\nproduce a state of ecstasy, in which they pretend to be transported to\nother spheres; and not only the seeress of Prevorst, but many other\npersons in a highly magnetic state, have asserted the same thing of\nthemselves; and certainly the singular conformity of the intelligence\nthey bring is not a little remarkable.\n\nDr. Kerner relates of his somnambule, Frederica Hauffe, that one day, at\nWeinsberg, she exclaimed in her sleep, \u201cOh! God!\u201d She immediately awoke,\nas if aroused by the exclamation, and said that she seemed to have heard\ntwo voices proceeding from herself. At this time her father was lying\ndead in his coffin, at Oberstenfeld, and Dr. Fohr, the physician, who\nhad attended him in his illness, was sitting with another person in an\nadjoining room, with the door open, when he heard the exclamation \u201cOh,\nGod!\u201d so distinctly, that, feeling certain there was nobody there, he\nhastened to the coffin, whence the sound had appeared to proceed,\nthinking that Mr. W\u2014\u2014\u2019s death had only been apparent, and that he was\nreviving. The other person, who was an uncle of Frederica, had heard\nnothing. No person was discovered from whom the exclamation could have\nproceeded, and the circumstance remained a mystery till an explanation\nensued. Plutarch relates, that a certain man, called Thespesius, having\nfallen from a great height, was taken up apparently dead from the shock,\nalthough no external wound was to be discovered. On the third day after\nthe accident, however, when they were about to bury him, he unexpectedly\nrevived; and it was afterward observed, to the surprise of all who knew\nhim, that, from being a vicious reprobate, he became one of the most\nvirtuous of men. On being interrogated with respect to the cause of the\nchange, he related that, during the period of his bodily insensibility,\nit appeared to him that he was dead, and that he had been first plunged\ninto the depths of an ocean, out of which however, he soon emerged, and\nthen, at one view, the whole of space was disclosed to him. Everything\nappeared in a different aspect, and the dimensions of the planetary\nbodies, and the intervals between them, were tremendous, while his\nspirit seemed to float in a sea of light, like a ship in calm waters. He\nalso described many other things that he had seen. He said that the\nsouls of the dead, on quitting the body, appeared like a bubble of\nlight, out of which a human form was quickly evolved. That of these,\nsome shot away at once in a direct line, with great rapidity, while\nothers, on the contrary, seemed unable to find their due course, and\ncontinued to hover about, going hither and thither, till at length they\nalso darted away in one direction or another. He recognised few of these\npersons he saw, but those whom he did, and sought to address, appeared\nas if they were stunned and amazed, and avoided him with terror. Their\nvoices were indistinct, and seemed to be uttering vague lamentings.\nThere were others, also, who floated farther from the earth, who looked\nbright, and were gracious; these avoided the approach of the last. In\nshort, the demeanor and appearance of these spirits manifested clearly\ntheir degrees of joy or grief. Thespesius was then informed by one of\nthem, that he was not dead, but that he had been permitted to come there\nby a Divine decree, and that his soul, which was yet attached to his\nbody, as by an anchor, would return to it again. Thespesius then\nobserved that he was different to the dead by whom he was surrounded,\nand this observation seemed to restore him to his recollection. They\nwere transparent, and environed by a radiance, but he seemed to trail\nafter him a dark ray, or line of shadow. These spirits also presented\nvery different aspects; some were entirely pervaded by a mild, clear\nradiance, like that of the full moon; through others there appeared\nfaint streaks, that diminished this splendor; while others, on the\ncontrary, were distinguished by spots, or stripes of black, or of a dark\ncolor, like the marks on the skin of a viper.\n\nThere is a circumstance which I can not help here mentioning in\nconnection with this history of Thespesius, which on first reading\nstruck me very forcibly.\n\nAbout three years ago, I had several opportunities of seeing two young\ngirls, then under the care of a Mr. A\u2014\u2014, of Edinburgh, who hoped,\nchiefly by means of magnetism, to restore them to sight. One was a\nmaid-servant afflicted with amaurosis, whom he had taken into his house\nfrom a charitable desire to be of use to her; the other, who had been\nblind from her childhood, was a young lady in better circumstances, the\ndaughter of respectable tradespeople in the north of England. The girl\nwith amaurosis was restored to sight, and the other was so far benefited\nthat she could distinguish houses, trees, carriages, &c., and at length,\nthough obscurely, the features of a person near her. At this period of\nthe cur\u00e9 she was, unhappily, removed, and may possibly have relapsed\ninto her former state. My reason, however, for alluding to these young\nwomen on this occasion is, that they were in the habit of saying, when\nin the magnetic state\u2014for they were both, more or less,\n_clairvoyantes_\u2014that the people whom Dr. A\u2014\u2014 was magnetizing, in the\nsame room, presented very different appearances. Some of them they\ndescribed as looking bright, while others were, in different degrees,\nstreaked with black.\n\nOne or two they mentioned over whom there seemed to hang a sort of\ncloud, like a ragged veil of darkness. They also said, though this was\nbefore any tidings of Baron von Reichenbach\u2019s discoveries had reached\nthis country, that they saw light streaming from the fingers of Mr.\nA\u2014\u2014 when he magnetized them; and that sometimes his whole person\nseemed to them radiant. Now, I am positively certain that neither Mr.\nA\u2014\u2014 nor these girls had ever heard of this story of Thespesius;\nneither had I, at that time; and I confess, when I did meet with it I\nwas a good deal struck by the coincidence. These young people said that\nit was the \u201cgoodness or badness,\u201d meaning the moral state, of the\npersons that was thus indicated. Now, surely, this concurrence between\nthe man mentioned by Plutarch, and these two girls\u2014one of whom had no\neducation whatever, and the other very little\u2014is worthy of some regard.\n\nI once asked a young person in a highly clairvoyant state, whether she\never \u201csaw the spirits of them that had passed away;\u201d for so _she_\ndesignated the dead, never using the word _death_ herself, in any of its\nforms. She answered me that she did.\n\n\u201cThen where are they?\u201d I inquired.\n\n\u201cSome are waiting, and some are gone on before.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you speak to them?\u201d I asked.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she replied, \u201cthere is no meddling nor direction.\u201d\n\nIn her waking state she would have been quite incapable of these\nanswers; and that \u201csome are waiting and some gone on before,\u201d seems to\nbe much in accordance with the vision of Thespesius.\n\nDr. Passavent mentions a peasant-boy who, after a short but painful\nillness, apparently died, his body being perfectly stiff. He, however,\nrevived, complaining bitterly of being called back to life. He said he\nhad been in a delightful place, and seen his deceased relations. There\nwas a great exaltation of the faculties after this; and having been\nbefore rather stupid, he now, while his body lay stiff and immoveable\nand his eyes closed, prayed and discoursed with eloquence. He continued\nin this state for seven weeks, but finally recovered.\n\nIn the year 1733, Johann Schwerzeger fell into a similar state of\ntrance, after an illness, but revived. He said he had seen his whole\nlife, and every sin he had committed, even those he had quite\nforgotten\u2014everything had been as present to him as when it happened. He\nalso lamented being recalled from the happiness he was about to enter\ninto; but said that he had only two days to spend in this valley of\ntears, during which time he wished everybody that would, should come and\nlisten to what he had to tell them. His before sunken eyes now looked\nbright, his face had the bloom of youth, and he discoursed so\neloquently, that the minister said they had exchanged offices, and the\nsick man had become his teacher. He died at the time he had foretold.\n\nThe most frightful cases of trance recorded are those in which the\npatient retains entire consciousness, although utterly unable to exhibit\nany evidence of life; and it is dreadful to think how many persons may\nhave been actually buried, hearing every nail that was screwed into\ntheir own coffin, and as perfectly aware of the whole ceremony as those\nwho followed them to the grave.\n\nDr. Binns mentions a girl, at Canton, who lay in this state, hearing\nevery word that was said around her, but utterly unable to move a\nfinger. She tried to cry out, but could not, and supposed that she was\nreally dead. The horror of finding herself about to be buried at length\ncaused a perspiration to appear on her skin, and she finally revived.\nShe described that she felt that her soul had no power to act upon her\nbody, and that it seemed to be _in her body and out of it, at the same\ntime_!\n\nNow, this is very much what the somnambulists say: their soul is out of\nthe body, but is still so far in rapport with it, that it does not leave\nit entirely. Probably magnetism would be the best means of reviving a\nperson from this state.\n\nThe custom of burying people before there are unmistakable signs of\ndeath, is a very condemnable one. A Mr. M\u2019G\u2014\u2014 fell into a trance, some\nfew years since, and remained insensible for five days, his mother being\nmeanwhile quite shocked that the physician would not allow him to be\nburied. He had afterward a recurrence of the malady, which continued\nseven days.\n\nA Mr. S\u2014\u2014, who had been some time out of the country, died,\napparently, two days after his return. As he had eaten of a pudding\nwhich his stepmother had made for his dinner with her own hands, people\ntook into their heads she had poisoned him; and, the grave being opened\nfor purposes of investigation, the body was found lying on its face.\n\nOne of the most frightful cases extant is that of Dr. Walker, of Dublin,\nwho had so strong a presentiment on this subject, that he had actually\nwritten a treatise against the Irish customs of hasty burial. He himself\nsubsequently died, as was believed, of a fever. His decease took place\nin the night, and on the following day he was interred. At this time,\nMrs. Bellamy, the once-celebrated actress, was in Ireland; and as she\nhad promised him, in the course of conversation, that she would take\ncare he should not be laid in the earth till unequivocal signs of\ndissolution had appeared, she no sooner heard of what had happened than\nshe took measures to have the grave reopened; but it was, unfortunately,\ntoo late; Dr. Walker had evidently revived, and had turned upon his\nside; but life was now quite extinct.\n\nThe case related by Lady Fanshawe, of her mother, is very remarkable,\nfrom the confirmation furnished by the event of her death. \u201cMy mother,\nbeing sick of a fever,\u201d says Lady Fanshawe, in her memoirs, \u201cher friends\nand servants thought her deceased, and she lay in that state for two\ndays and a night; but Mr. Winslow, coming to comfort my father, went\ninto my mother\u2019s room, and, looking earnestly in her face, said, \u2018She\nwas so handsome, and looked so lovely, that he could not think her\ndead;\u2019 and, suddenly taking a lancet out of his pocket, he cut the sole\nof her foot, which bled. Upon this, he immediately caused her to be\nremoved to the bed again, and to be rubbed, and such means used that she\ncame to life, and, opening her eyes, saw two of her kinswomen standing\nby her (Lady Knollys and Lady Russell), both with great wide sleeves, as\nthe fashion then was; and she said, \u2018Did you not promise me fifteen\nyears, and are you come again already?\u2019\u2014which they, not understanding,\nbade her keep her spirits quiet in that great weakness wherein she was;\nbut, some hours after, she desired my father and Dr. Howlesworth might\nbe left alone with her, to whom she said: \u2018I will acquaint you, that,\nduring my trance, I was in great grief, but in a place I could neither\ndistinguish nor describe; but the sense of leaving my girl, who is\ndearer to me than all my children, remained a trouble upon my spirits.\nSuddenly I saw two by me, clothed in long white garments, and methought\nI fell down upon my face in the dust, and they asked me why I was so\ntroubled in so great happiness. I replied, \u201cOh, let me have the same\ngrant given to Hezekiah, that I may live fifteen years to see my\ndaughter a woman!\u201d\u2014to which they answered, \u201cIt is done!\u201d\u2014and then at\nthat instant I awoke out of my trance!\u2019 And Dr. Howlesworth did affirm\nthat the day she died made just fifteen years from that time.\u201d\n\nI have met with a somewhat similar case to this, which occurred to the\nmother of a very respectable person now living in Edinburgh. She having\nbeen ill, was supposed to be dead, and preparations were making for her\nfuneral, when one of her fingers was seen to move, and restoratives\nbeing applied, she revived. As soon as she could speak, she said she had\nbeen at the gates of heaven, where she saw some going in, but that they\ntold her she was not ready. Among those who had passed her, and been\nadmitted, she said _she had seen Mr. So-and-so, the baker_, and the\nremarkable thing was, that during the time she had been in the trance,\nthis man had died.\n\nOn the 10th of January, 1717, Mr. John Gardner, a minister, at Elgin,\nfell into a trance, and, being to all appearance dead, he was put into a\ncoffin, and on the second day was carried to the grave. But,\nfortunately, a noise being heard, the coffin was opened, and he was\nfound alive and taken home again, where, according to the record, \u201che\nrelated many strange and amazing things which he had seen in the other\nworld.\u201d\n\nNot to mention somnambules, there are numerous other cases recorded of\npersons who have said, on awaking from a trance, that they had been in\nthe other world; though frequently the freed spirit\u2014supposing that to\nbe the interpretation of the mystery\u2014seems busied with the affairs of\nthe earth, and brings tidings from distant places, as in the case of the\nAmerican above mentioned. Perhaps, in these latter cases, the disunion\nis less complete. Dr. Werner relates of his somnambule, that it was\nafter those attacks of catalepsy, in which her body had lain stiff and\ncold, that she used to say she had been wandering away through other\nspheres. Where the catalepsy is spontaneous and involuntary, and\nresembles death so nearly as not to be distinguished from it, we may\nnaturally conclude, if we admit this hypothesis at all, that the seeing\nof the spirit would be clear in proportion to its disentanglement from\nthe flesh.\n\nI have spoken above of dream compelling or suggesting, and I have heard\nof persons who have a power of directing their own dreams to any\nparticular subject.\n\nThis faculty may be in some degree analogous to that of the American,\nand a few somnambulic persons, who appear to carry the recollections of\none state into the other. The effects produced by the witch-potions seem\nto have been somewhat similar, inasmuch as they dreamed what they wished\nor expected to dream. Jung Stilling mentions that a woman gave in\nevidence, on a witch-trial, that having visited the so-called witch, she\nhad found her concocting a potion over the fire, of which she had\nadvised her (the visiter) to drink, assuring her that she would then\naccompany her to the S\u00e2bbath. The woman said, lest she should give\noffence, she had put the vessel to her lips, but had not drunk of it.\nThe witch, however, swallowed the whole, and immediately afterward sunk\ndown upon the hearth in a profound sleep, where she had left her. When\nshe went to see her on the following day, she declared she had been to\nthe Brocken.\n\nPaolo Minucci relates that a woman accused of sorcery, being brought\nbefore a certain magistrate at Florence, she not only confessed her\nguilt, but she declared that, provided they would let her return home\nand anoint herself, she would attend the S\u00e2bbath that very night. The\nmagistrate, a man more enlightened than the generality of his\ncontemporaries, consented. The woman went home, used her unguent, and\nfell immediately into a profound sleep; whereupon they tied her to the\nbed, and tested the reality of the sleep by burns, blows, and pricking\nher with sharp instruments. When she awoke on the following day, she\nrelated that she had attended the S\u00e2bbath.\n\nI could quote several similar facts; and Gassendi actually endeavored to\nundeceive some peasants who believed themselves witches, by composing an\nointment that produced the same effects as their own magical\napplications.\n\nIn the year 1545, Andr\u00e9 Laguna, physician to Pope Julius III., anointed\na patient of his, who was suffering from frenzy and sleeplessness, with\nan unguent found in the house of a sorcerer, who had been arrested. The\npatient slept for thirty-six hours consecutively, and when, with much\ndifficulty, she was awakened, she complained that they had torn her from\nthe most ravishing delights\u2014delights which seem to have rivalled the\nheaven of the Mohammedan. According to Llorente, the women who were\ndedicated to the service of the mother of the gods, heard continually\nthe sounds of flutes and tambourines, beheld the joyous dances of the\nfauns and satyrs, and tasted of intoxicating pleasures, doubtless from a\nsimilar cause.\n\nIt is difficult to imagine that all the unfortunate wretches who\nsuffered death at the stake in the middle ages, for having attended the\nunholy assemblies they described, had no faith in their own stories;\nyet, in spite of the unwearied vigilance of public authorities and\nprivate malignity, no such assemblage was ever detected. How, then, are\nwe to account for the pertinacity of their confessions, but by supposing\nthem the victims of some extraordinary delusion? In a paper addressed to\nthe Inquisition, by Llorente, he does not scruple to assert that the\ncrimes imputed to and confessed by witches have most frequently no\nexistence but in their dreams, and that their dreams are produced by the\ndrugs with which they anointed themselves.\n\nThe recipes for these compositions, which had descended traditionally\nfrom age to age, have been lost since witchcraft went out of fashion,\nand modern science has no time to investigate secrets which appear to be\nmore curious than profitable; but in the profound sleep produced by\nthese applications, it is not easy to say what phenomena may have\noccurred to justify, or, at least, account for, their self-accusations.\n\n-----\n\n[1] This very curious work I have translated from the German. Published\nby Moore, London.\u2014C. C. Also republished in this country.\u2014AM. ED.\n\n[2] Since the above was penned, I find from the account of Dr. Cheyne,\nwho attended him, that Colonel Townshend\u2019s own way of describing the\nphenomenon to which he was subject, was, that he \u201ccould die, or expire,\nwhen he pleased; and yet, by an effort or _somehow_, he could come to\nlife again.\u201d He performed the experiment in the presence of three\nmedical men, one of whom kept his hand on his heart, another held his\nwrist, and the third placed a looking-glass before his lips; and they\nfound that all traces of respiration and pulsation gradually ceased,\ninsomuch that, after consulting about his condition for some time, they\nwere leaving the room, persuaded that he was really dead, when signs of\nlife appeared and he slowly revived. He did not die while repeating this\nexperiment, as has been sometimes stated.\n\nThis reviving \u201cby an effort or somehow,\u201d seems to be better explained by\nthe hypothesis I have suggested, than by any other\u2014namely, that, as in\nthe case of Mr. Holloway (mentioned on page 120), his spirit, or soul,\nwas released from his body, but a sufficient _rapport_ was maintained to\nreunite them.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII.\n\n\n                                WRAITHS.\n\nSUCH instances as that of Lady Fanshawe, and other similar ones,\ncertainly seem to favor the hypothesis that the spirit is freed from the\nbody when the latter becomes no longer a fit habitation for it. It does\nso when actual death supervenes, and the reason of its departure we may\nnaturally conclude to be, that the body has ceased to be available for\nits manifestations; and in these cases, which seem so nearly allied to\ndeath, that frequently there would actually be no revival but for the\nexertions used, it does not seem very difficult to conceive that this\nseparation may take place. When we are standing by a death-bed, all we\nsee is the death of the body\u2014of the going forth of the spirit we see\nnothing: so, in cases of apparent death, it may depart and return, while\nwe are aware of nothing but the reanimation of the organism. Certain it\nis, that the Scriptures countenance this view of the case in several\ninstances; thus, Luke says, viii. 34: \u201cAnd he put them all out, and took\nher by the hand, and called, saying, \u2018Maid, arise!\u2019 And her spirit came\nagain, and she arose straightway,\u201d &c., &c.\n\nDr. Wigan observes, when speaking of the effects of temporary pressure\non the brain, that the mind is not annihilated, because, if the pressure\nis timely removed, it is restored, though, if continued too long, the\nbody will be resolved into its primary elements: and he compares the\nhuman organism to a watch, which we can either stop or set going at\nwill\u2014which watch, he says, will also be gradually resolved into its\noriginal elements by chemical action; and he adds that, to ask where the\nmind is, during the interruption, is like asking where the motion of the\nwatch is. I think a wind-instrument would be a better simile, for the\nmotion of the watch is purely mechanical. It requires no informing,\nintelligent spirit to breathe into its apertures, and make it the\nvehicle of the harshest discords, or of the most eloquent discourses.\n\u201cThe divinely mysterious essence, which we call the soul,\u201d he adds, \u201cis\nnot, then, the mind, from which it must be carefully distinguished, if\nwe would hope to make any progress in mental philosophy. Where the soul\nresides during the suspension of the mental powers by asphyxia, I know\nnot, any more than I know where it resided before it was united with\nthat specific compound of bones, muscles, and nerve.\u201d\n\nBy a temporary pressure on the brain, the mind is certainly not\nannihilated, but its manifestations by means of the brain are\nsuspended\u2014the source of these manifestations being the soul, or anima,\nin which dwells the life, fitting the temple for its divine inhabitant,\nthe spirit. The connection of the soul and the body is probably a much\nmore intimate one than that of the latter with the spirit,\u2014though the\nsoul, as well as the spirit, is immortal, and survives when the body\ndies. Somnambulic persons seem to intimate that the soul of the fleshly\nbody becomes hereafter the body of the spirit, as if the _imago_ or\n_idolon_ were the soul.\n\nDr. Wigan and indeed psychologists in general do not appear to recognise\nthe old distinction between the pneuma, or anima, and the psyches\u2014the\nsoul and the spirit; and, indeed, the Scriptures occasionally seem to\nuse the terms indifferently. But still there are passages enough which\nmark the distinction; as where St. Paul speaks of a \u201cliving soul and a\nquickening spirit:\u201d 1 Cor. xv. 45;\u2014again, 1 Thess. v. 23: \u201cI pray God\nyour whole spirit, and soul, and body,\u201d &c.;\u2014and also Heb. iv. 12,\nwhere he speaks of the sword of God \u201cdividing asunder the soul and\nspirit.\u201d In Genesis, chap. ii., we are told that \u201cman became a living\nsoul;\u201d but it is distinctly said, 1 Cor. xii., that the gifts of\nprophecy, the discerning of spirits, &c., &c., belong to the spirit.\nThen, with regard to the possibility of the spirit absenting itself from\nthe body, St. Paul says, in referring to his own vision\u20142 Cor. xii.\u2014\u201cI\nknew a man in Christ, about fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I\ncan not tell; or out of the body, I can not tell: God knoweth); such a\none caught up to the third heaven:\u201d and we are told, also, that to be\n\u201cabsent from the body is to be present with the Lord;\u201d and that when we\nare \u201cat home in the body we are absent from the Lord.\u201d We are told,\nalso, \u201cthe spirit returns to God, who gave it;\u201d but it depends on\nourselves whether or not our souls shall perish. We must suppose,\nhowever, that even in the worst cases, some remnant of this divine\nspirit remains with the soul as long as the latter is not utterly\nperverted and rendered incapable of salvation.\n\nSt. John also says, that when he prophesied, he was in the _spirit;_ but\nit was the \u201c_souls of the slain_\u201d that he saw, and that \u201ccried with a\nloud voice,\u201d &c., &c.; _souls_, here, being probably used in the sense\nof individuals,\u2014as we say, so many \u201csouls perished by shipwreck,\u201d &c.\n\nIn the _Revue de Paris_, 29th July, 1838, it is related that a child\n_saw_ the soul of a woman, who was lying insensible in a magnetic crisis\nin which death nearly ensued, depart out of her; and I find recorded in\nanother work that a somnambule, who was brought to give advice to a\npatient, said: \u201cIt is too late\u2014her soul is leaving her: I see the vital\nflame quitting her brain.\u201d\n\nFrom some of the cases I have above related, we are led to the\nconclusion that in certain conditions of the body, the spirit, in a\nmanner unknown to us, resumes a portion of its freedom, and is enabled\nto exercise more or less of its inherent properties. It is somewhat\nreleased from those inexorable conditions of time and space which bound\nand limit its powers, while in close connection with matter, and it\ncommunes with other spirits who are also liberated. How far this\nliberation (if such it be), or reintegration of natural attributes, may\ntake place in ordinary sleep, we can only conclude from examples. In\nprophetic dreams, and in those instances of information apparently\nreceived from the dead, this condition seems to occur; as also in such\ncases as that of the gentleman mentioned in a former chapter, who has\nseveral times been conscious, on awaking, that he had been conversing\nwith some one, whom he has been subsequently startled to hear had died\nat that period, and this is a man apparently in excellent health,\nendowed with a vigorous understanding, and immersed in active business.\n\nIn the story of the American, quoted in a former chapter from Jung\nStilling, there was one point which I forebore to comment on at the\nmoment, but to which I must now revert: this is the assertion that the\nvoyager had seen the man, and even conversed with him, in the\ncoffeehouse in London whence the desired intelligence was brought. Now,\nthis single case, standing alone, would amount to nothing, although Jung\nStilling, who was one of the most conscientious of men, declares himself\nto have been quite satisfied with the authority on which he relates it;\nbut, strange to say\u2014for undoubtedly the thing is very strange\u2014there\nare numerous similar instances recorded; and it seems to have been\nbelieved in all ages of the world, that people were sometimes seen where\nbodily they were not\u2014seen, not by sleepers alone, but by persons in a\nperfect state of vigilance; and that this phenomenon, though more\nfrequently occurring at the moment that the individual seen is at the\npoint of death, does occasionally occur at indefinite periods anterior\nto the catastrophe, and sometimes where no such catastrophe is\nimpending. In some of these cases, an earnest desire seems to be the\ncause of the phenomenon. It is not very long since a very estimable\nlady, who was dying in the Mediterranean, expressed herself perfectly\nready to meet death, if she could but once more behold her children, who\nwere in England. She soon afterward fell into a comatose state, and the\npersons surrounding her were doubtful whether she had not already\nbreathed her last; at all events, they did not expect her to revive. She\ndid so, however, and now cheerfully announced that, having seen her\nchildren, she was ready to depart. During the interval that she lay in\nthis state, her family saw her in England, and were thus aware of her\ndeath before the intelligence reached them. As it is a subject, I\nunderstand, they are unwilling to speak of, I do not know precisely\nunder what circumstances she was seen;\u2014but this is an exactly analogous\ncase to that already recorded of Maria Goffe, of Rochester, who, when\ndying away from home, expressed precisely the same feelings. She said\nshe could not die happy till she had seen her children. By-and-by she\nfell into a state of coma, which left them uncertain whether she was\ndead or alive. Her eyes were open and fixed, her jaw fallen, and there\nwas no perceptible respiration. When she revived, she told her mother,\nwho attended her, that she had been home and seen her children; which\nthe other said was impossible, since she had been lying there in bed the\nwhole time. \u201cYes,\u201d replied the dying woman, \u201cbut I was there in my\nsleep.\u201d A widow woman, called Alexander, who had the care of these\nchildren, declared herself ready to take oath upon the sacrament, that,\nduring this period, she had seen the form of Maria Goffe come out of the\nroom where the oldest child slept, and approach the bed where she\nherself lay with the younger beside her. The figure had stood there\nnearly a quarter of an hour, as far as she could judge; and she remarked\nthat the eyes and the mouth moved, though she heard no sound. She\ndeclared herself to have been perfectly awake, and that, as it was the\nlongest night in the year, it was quite light. She sat up in bed, and\nwhile she was looking on the figure the clock on the bridge struck two.\nShe then adjured the form in the name of God, whereupon it moved. She\nimmediately arose and followed it, but could not tell what had become of\nit. She then became alarmed, and throwing on her clothes, went out and\nwalked on the quay, returning to the house ever and anon to look at the\nchildren. At five o\u2019clock she knocked at a neighbor\u2019s door, but they\nwould not let her in. At six she knocked again and was then admitted,\nand related to them what she had seen, which they, of course, endeavored\nto persuade her was a dream or an illusion. She declared herself,\nhowever, to have been perfectly awake, and said that if she had ever\nseen Maria Goffe in her life she had seen her that night.\n\nThe following story has been currently related in Rome, and is already\nin print. I take it from a German work, and I do not know how far its\nauthenticity can be established. It is to the effect that two friends\nhaving agreed to attend confession together, one of them went at the\nappointed time to the Abbate B\u2014\u2014, and made his confession; after which\nthe priest commenced the usual admonition, in the midst of which he\nsuddenly ceased speaking. After waiting a short time, the penitent\nstepped forward and perceived him lying in the confessional in a state\nof insensibility. Aid was summoned and means used to restore him, which\nwere for some time ineffectual; at length, when he opened his eyes, he\nbade the penitent recite a prayer for his friend, who had just expired.\nThis proved to be the case, on inquiry; and when the young man, who had\nnaturally hastened to his friend\u2019s house, expressed a hope that he had\nnot died without the last offices of the church, he was told in\namazement, that the Abbate B\u2014\u2014 had arrived just as he was in\n_extremis_, and had remained with him till he died.\n\nThese appearances seem to have taken place when the corporeal condition\nof the person seen elsewhere, permits us to conceive the possibility of\nthe spirit\u2019s having withdrawn from the body; but the question then\nnaturally arises, what is it that was seen; and I confess, that of all\nthe difficulties that surround the subject, I have undertaken to treat\nof, this seems to me the greatest; for we can not suppose that a spirit\ncan be visible to the human eye, and both in the above instances and\nseveral others I have to narrate, there is nothing that can lead us to\nthe conclusion, that the persons who saw the wraith or double, were in\nany other than a normal state; the figure, in short, seems to have been\nperceived through their external organs of sense. Before I discuss this\nquestion, however, any further, I will relate some instances of a\nsimilar kind, only with this difference, that the wraith appearing as\nnearly as could be ascertained at the moment of death, it remains\nuncertain whether it was seen before or after the dissolution had taken\nplace. As in both these cases above related and those that follow, the\nmaterial body was visible in one place, while the wraith was visible in\nanother, they appear to be strictly analogous; especially, as in both\nclass of examples, the body itself was either dead or in a state that\nclosely resembled death.\n\nInstances of people being seen at a distance from the spot on which they\nare dying, are so numerous, that in this department I have positively an\n_embarras de richesse_, and find it difficult to make a selection; more\nespecially as there is in each case little to relate, the whole\nphenomenon being comprised in the fact of the form being observed and\nthe chief variations consisting in this, that the seer, or seers,\nfrequently entertain no suspicion that what they have seen is any other\nthan a form of flesh and blood; while on other occasions the assurance\nthat the person is far away, or some peculiarity connected with the\nappearance itself, produces the immediate conviction that the shape is\nnot corporeal.\n\nMrs. K\u2014\u2014, the sister of Provost B\u2014\u2014, of Aberdeen, was sitting one\nday with her husband, Dr. K\u2014\u2014, in the parlor of the manse, when she\nsuddenly said, \u201cOh! there\u2019s my brother come! he has just passed the\nwindow,\u201d and, followed by her husband, she hastened to the door to meet\nthe visiter. He was however not there. \u201cHe is gone round to the back\ndoor,\u201d said she; and thither they went; but neither was he there, nor\nhad the servants seen anything of him. Dr. K\u2014\u2014 said she must be\nmistaken, but she laughed at the idea; her brother had passed the window\nand looked in; he must have gone somewhere, and would doubtless be back\ndirectly. But he came not; and the intelligence shortly arrived from St.\nAndrew\u2019s, that at that precise time, as nearly as they could compare\ncircumstances, he had died quite suddenly at his own place of residence.\nI have heard this story from connections of the family, and also from an\neminent professor of Glasgow, who told me that he had once asked Dr.\nK\u2014\u2014, whether he believed in these appearances. \u201cI can not choose but\nbelieve,\u201d returned Dr. K\u2014\u2014, and then he accounted for his conviction\nby narrating the above particulars.\n\nLord and Lady M\u2014\u2014 were residing on their estate in Ireland: Lord M\u2014\u2014\nhad gone out shooting in the morning, and was not expected to return\ntill toward dinner-time. In the course of the afternoon, Lady M\u2014\u2014 and\na friend were walking on the terrace that forms a promenade in front of\nthe castle, when she said, \u201cOh, there is M\u2014\u2014 returning!\u201d whereupon she\ncalled to him to join them. He, however, took no notice, but walked on\nbefore them, till they saw him enter the house, whither they followed\nhim;\u2014but he was not to be found: and before they had recovered their\nsurprise at his sudden disappearance, he was brought home dead, having\nbeen killed by his own gun. It is a curious fact, in this case, that\nwhile the ladies were walking behind the figure on the terrace, Lady\nM\u2014\u2014 called the attention of her companion to the shooting-jacket,\nobserving that it was a convenient one, and that she had the credit of\nhaving contrived it for him herself.\n\nA person in Edinburgh, busied about her daily work, saw a woman enter\nher house, with whom she was on such ill terms that she could not but be\nsurprised at the visit; but while she was expecting an explanation, and\nunder the influence of her resentment avoiding to look at her, she found\nshe was gone. She remained quite unable to account for the visit, and,\nas she said, \u201cwas wondering what had brought her there,\u201d when she heard\nthat the woman had expired at that precise time.\n\nMadame O\u2014\u2014 B\u2014\u2014 was engaged to marry an officer who was with his\nregiment in India; and, wishing to live in privacy till the union took\nplace, she retired to the country and boarded with some ladies of her\nacquaintance, awaiting his return. She at length heard that he had\nobtained an appointment, which, by improving his prospects, had removed\nsome difficulties out of the way of the marriage, and that he was\nimmediately coming home. A short time after the arrival of this\nintelligence, this lady, and one of those with whom she was residing,\nwere walking over a bridge, when the friend said, alluding to an officer\nshe saw on the other side of the way, \u201cWhat an extraordinary expression\nof face!\u201d But, without pausing to answer, Madame O\u2014\u2014 B\u2014\u2014 darted\nacross the road to meet the stranger\u2014but he was gone: where? they could\nnot conceive. They ran to the toll-keepers at the ends of the bridge, to\ninquire if they had observed such a person, but they had not. Alarmed\nand perplexed\u2014for it was her intended husband that she had seen\u2014Madame\nO\u2014\u2014 B\u2014\u2014 returned home; and in due time the packet which should have\nbrought himself, brought the sad tidings of his unexpected death.\n\nMadame O\u2014\u2014 B\u2014\u2014 never recovered the shock, and died herself of a\nbroken heart not long afterward.\n\nMr. H\u2014\u2014, an eminent artist, was walking arm in arm with a friend in\nEdinburgh, when he suddenly left him, saying, \u201cOh, there\u2019s my brother!\u201d\nHe had seen him with the most entire distinctness; but was confounded by\nlosing sight of him, without being able to ascertain whither he had\nvanished. News came, ere long, that at that precise period his brother\nhad died.\n\nMrs. T\u2014\u2014, sitting in her drawing-room, saw her nephew, then at\nCambridge, pass across the adjoining room. She started up to meet him,\nand, not finding him, summoned the servants to ask where he was. They,\nhowever, had not seen him, and declared he could not be there; while she\nas positively declared he was. The young man had died at Cambridge quite\nunexpectedly.\n\nA Scotch minister went to visit a friend who was dangerously ill. After\nsitting with the invalid for some time, he left him to take some rest,\nand went below. He had been reading in the library some little time,\nwhen, on looking up, he saw the sick man standing at the door. \u201cGod\nbless me!\u201d he cried, starting up, \u201chow can you be so imprudent?\u201d The\nfigure disappeared; and, hastening up stairs, he found his friend had\nexpired.\n\nThree young men at Cambridge had been out hunting, and afterward dined\ntogether in the apartments of one of them. After dinner, two of the\nparty, fatigued with their morning\u2019s exercise, fell asleep, while the\nthird, a Mr. M\u2014\u2014, remained awake. Presently the door opened, and a\ngentleman entered and placed himself behind the sleeping owner of the\nrooms, and, after standing there a minute, proceeded to the gyp-room\u2014a\nsmall inner chamber, from which there was no egress. Mr. M\u2014\u2014 waited a\nlittle while, expecting the stranger would come out again; but, as he\ndid not, he awoke his host, saying, \u201cThere\u2019s somebody gone into your\nroom: I don\u2019t know who it can be.\u201d\n\nThe young man rose and looked into the gyp-room; but, there being nobody\nthere, he naturally accused Mr. M\u2014\u2014 of dreaming; but the other assured\nhim he had not been asleep. He then described the stranger\u2014an elderly\nman, &c., dressed like a country squire, with gaiters on, &c. \u201cWhy\nthat\u2019s my father,\u201d said the host, and he immediately made inquiry,\nthinking it possible the old gentleman had slipped out unobserved by Mr.\nM\u2014\u2014. He was not, however, to be heard of; and the post shortly brought\na letter announcing that he had died at the time he had been seen in his\nson\u2019s chamber at Cambridge.\n\nMr. C\u2014\u2014 F\u2014\u2014 and some young ladies, not long ago, were standing\ntogether looking in at a shop window at Brighton,\u2014when he suddenly\ndarted across the way, and they saw him hurrying along the street,\napparently in pursuit of somebody. After waiting a little while, as he\ndid not return, they went home without him; and, when he was come, they\nof course arraigned him for his want of gallantry.\n\n\u201cI beg your pardon,\u201d said he; \u201cbut I saw an acquaintance of mine that\nowes me money, and I wanted to get hold of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd did you?\u201d inquired the ladies.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d returned he; \u201cI kept sight of him some time; but I suddenly missed\nhim\u2014I can\u2019t think how.\u201d\n\nNo more was thought of the matter; but, by the next morning\u2019s post, Mr.\nC\u2014\u2014 F\u2014\u2014 received a letter enclosing a draft, from the father of the\nyoung man he had seen, saying that his son had just expired, and that\none of his last requests had been that he would pay Mr. C\u2014\u2014 F\u2014\u2014 the\nmoney that he owed him.\n\nTwo young ladies, staying at the Queen\u2019s Ferry, arose one morning early\nto bathe; as they descended the stairs, they each exclaimed: \u201cThere\u2019s my\nuncle!\u201d They had seen him standing by the clock. He died at that time.\n\nVery lately, a gentleman living in Edinburgh, while sitting with his\nwife, suddenly arose from his seat and advanced toward the door with his\nhand extended, as if about to welcome a visiter. On his wife\u2019s inquiring\nwhat he was about, he answered that he had seen so-and-so enter the\nroom. She had seen nobody. A day or two afterward, the post brought a\nletter announcing the death of the person seen.\n\nA regiment, not very long since, stationed at New Orleans, had a\ntemporary mess-room erected, at one end of which was a door for the\nofficers, and at the other, a door and a space railed off for the\nmessman. One day, two of the officers were playing at chess, or\ndraughts, one sitting with his face toward the centre of the room, the\nother with his back to it. \u201cBless me! why, surely that is your brother!\u201d\nexclaimed the former to the latter, who looked eagerly round, his\nbrother being then, as he believed, in England. By this time the figure,\nhaving passed the spot where the officers were sitting, presented only\nhis back to them. \u201cNo,\u201d replied the second, \u201cthat is not my brother\u2019s\nregiment; that\u2019s the uniform of the rifle-brigade. By heavens! it _is_\nmy brother, though,\u201d he added, starting up and eagerly pursuing the\nstranger, who at that moment turned his head and looked at him, and\nthen, somehow, strangely disappeared among the people standing at the\nmessman\u2019s end of the room. Supposing he had gone out that way, the\nbrother pursued him, but he was not to be found; neither had the\nmessman, nor anybody there, observed him. The young man died at that\ntime in England, having just exchanged into the rifle-brigade.\n\nI could fill pages with similar instances, not to mention those recorded\nin other collections and in history. The case of Lord Balcarres is\nperhaps worth alluding to, from its being so perfectly well established.\nNobody has ever disputed the truth of it, only they get out of the\ndifficulty by saying that it was a spectral illusion! Lord Balcarres was\nin confinement in the castle of Edinburgh, under suspicion of\nJacobitism, when one morning, while lying in bed, the curtains were\ndrawn aside by his friend, Viscount Dundee, who looked upon him\nsteadfastly, leaned for some time on the mantel-piece, and then walked\nout of the room. Lord Balcarres, not supposing that what he saw was a\nspectre, called to Dundee to come back and speak to him, but he was\ngone; and shortly afterward the news came that he had fallen about that\nsame hour at Killicranky.\n\nFinally, I have met with three instances of persons who are so much the\nsubjects of this phenomenon, that they see the wraiths of most people\nthat die belonging to them, and frequently of those who are merely\nacquaintance. They see the person as if he were alive, and unless they\nknow him positively to be elsewhere, they have no suspicion but that it\nis himself, in the flesh, that is before them, till the sudden\ndisappearance of the figure brings the conviction. Sometimes, as in the\ncase of Mr. C\u2014\u2014 F\u2014\u2014, above alluded to, no suspicion arises till the\nnews of the death arrives; and they mention, without reserve, that they\nhave met so and so, but he did not stop to speak, and so forth.\n\nOn other occasions, however, the circumstances of the appearance are\nsuch that the seer is instantly aware of its nature. In the first place,\nthe time and locality may produce the conviction.\n\nMrs. J\u2014\u2014 wakes her husband in the night, and tells him she has just\nseen her father pass through the room\u2014she being in the West Indies and\nher father in England. He died that night. Lord T\u2014\u2014 being at sea, on\nhis way to Calcutta, saw his wife enter his cabin.\n\nMrs. Mac\u2014\u2014, of Skye, went from Lynedale, where she resided, to pay a\nvisit in Perthshire. During her absence there was a ball given at\nLynedale, and when it was over, three young ladies, two of them her\ndaughters, assembled in their bed-room to talk over the evening\u2019s\namusement. Suddenly, one of them cried, \u201cO God! my mother.\u201d They all saw\nher pass across the room toward a chest of drawers, where she vanished.\nThey immediately told their friends what they had seen, and afterward\nlearned that the lady died that night.\n\nLord M\u2014\u2014 being from home, saw Lady M\u2014\u2014, whom he had left two days\nbefore, perfectly well, standing at the foot of his bed; aware of the\nnature of the appearance, but wishing to satisfy himself that it was not\na mere spectral illusion, he called his servant, who slept in the\ndressing-room, and said, \u201cJohn, who\u2019s that?\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s my lady!\u201d replied the\nman. Lady M\u2014\u2014 had been seized with inflammation, and died after a few\nhours\u2019 illness. This circumstance awakened so much interest at the time,\nthat, as I am informed by one of the family, George the Third was not\nsatisfied without hearing the particulars from Lord M\u2014\u2014 and from the\nservant also.\n\nBut, besides time and locality, there are very frequently other\ncircumstances accompanying the appearance, which not only show the form\nto be spectral, but also make known to the seer the nature of the death\nthat has taken place.\n\nA lady, with whose family I am acquainted, had a son abroad. One night\nshe was lying in bed, with a door open which led into an adjoining room,\nwhere there was a fire. She had not been asleep, when she saw her son\ncross this adjoining room and approach the fire, over which he leaned,\nas if very cold. She saw that he was shivering and dripping wet. She\nimmediately exclaimed, \u201cThat\u2019s my G\u2014\u2014!\u201d The figure turned its face\nround, looked at her sadly, and disappeared. That same night the young\nman was drowned.\n\nMr. P\u2014\u2014, the American manager, in one of his voyages to England, being\nin bed one night, between sleeping and waking, was disturbed by somebody\ncoming into his cabin, dripping with water. He concluded that the person\nhad fallen overboard, and asked him why he came there to disturb him,\nwhen there were plenty of other places for him to go to. The man\nmuttered something indistinctly, and Mr. P\u2014\u2014 then perceived that it\nwas his own brother. This roused him completely, and feeling quite\ncertain that somebody had been there, he got out of bed to feel if the\ncarpet was wet on the spot where his brother stood. It was not, however;\nand when he questioned his shipmates, the following morning, they\nassured him that nobody had been overboard, nor had anybody been in his\ncabin. Upon this, he noted down the date and the particulars of the\nevent, and, on his arrival at Liverpool, sent the paper sealed to a\nfriend in London, desiring it might not be opened till he wrote again.\nThe Indian post, in due time, brought the intelligence that on that\nnight Mr. P\u2014\u2014\u2019s brother was drowned.\n\nA similar case to this is that of Captain Kidd, which Lord Byron used to\nsay he heard from the captain himself. He was one night awakened in his\nhammock, by feeling something heavy lying upon him. He opened his eyes,\nand saw, or thought he saw, by the indistinct light in the cabin, his\nbrother, in uniform, lying across the bed. Concluding that this was only\nan illusion arising out of some foregone dream, he closed his eyes again\nto sleep; but again he felt the weight, and there was the form still\nlying across the bed. He now stretched out his hand, and felt the\nuniform, which was quite wet. Alarmed, he called out for somebody to\ncome to him; and, as one of the officers entered, the figure\ndisappeared. He afterward learned that his brother was drowned on that\nnight in the Indian ocean.\n\nBen Jonson told Drummond, of Hawthornden, that, being at Sir Robert\nCotton\u2019s house, in the country, with old Cambden, he saw, in a vision,\nhis eldest son, then a child at London, appear to him with a mark of a\nbloody cross on his forehead; at which, amazed, he prayed to God; and,\nin the morning, mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Cambden, who persuaded\nhim it was fancy. In the meantime, came letters announcing that the boy\nhad died of the plague. The custom of indicating an infected house by a\nred cross is here suggested, the cross apparently symbolizing the manner\nof the death.\n\nMr. S\u2014\u2014 C\u2014\u2014, a gentleman of fortune, had a son in India. One fine,\ncalm summer\u2019s morning, in the year 1780, he and his wife were sitting at\nbreakfast, when she arose and went to the window; upon which, turning\nhis eyes in the same direction, he started up and followed her, saying,\n\u201cMy dear, do you see that?\u201d\u2014\u201cSurely,\u201d she replied, \u201cit is our son. Let\nus go to him!\u201d As she was very much agitated, however, he begged her to\nsit down and recover herself; and when they looked again, the figure was\ngone. The appearance was that of their son, precisely as they had last\nseen him. They took note of the hour, and afterward learned that he had\ndied in India at that period.\n\nA lady, with whose family I am acquainted, was sitting with her son,\nnamed Andrew, when she suddenly exclaimed that she had seen him pass the\nwindow, in a white mantle. As the window was high from the ground, and\noverhung a precipice, no one could have passed; else, she said, \u201cHad\nthere been a path, and he not beside her at the moment, she should have\nthought he had walked by on stilts.\u201d Three days afterward, Andrew was\nseized with a fever which he had caught from visiting some sick\nneighbors, and expired after a short illness.\n\nIn 1807, when several people were killed in consequence of a false alarm\nof fire, at Sadler\u2019s Wells, a woman named Price, in giving her evidence\nat the inquest, said that her little girl had gone into the kitchen\nabout half-past ten o\u2019clock, and was surprised to see her brother there,\nwhom she supposed to be at the theatre. She spoke to him, whereupon he\ndisappeared. The child immediately told her mother, who, alarmed, set\noff to the theatre, and found the boy dead.\n\nIn the year 1813, a young lady in Berlin, whose intended husband was\nwith the army at Dusseldorf, heard some one knock at the door of her\nchamber, and her lover entered in a white _neglig\u00e9_, stained with blood.\nThinking that this vision proceeded from some disorder in herself, she\narose and quitted the room, to call a servant; who not being at hand,\nshe returned, and found the figure there still. She now became much\nalarmed, and having mentioned the circumstance to her father, inquiries\nwere made of some prisoners that were marching through the town, and it\nwas ascertained that the young man had been wounded, and carried to the\nhouse of Dr. Ehrlick, in Leipsic, with great hopes of recovery. It\nafterward proved, however, that he had died at that period, and that his\nlast thoughts were with her. This lady earnestly wished and prayed for\nanother such visit, but she never saw him again.\n\nIn the same year, a woman in Bavaria, who had a brother with the army in\nRussia, was one day at field-work, on the skirts of a forest, and\neverything quiet around her, when she repeatedly felt herself hit by\nsmall stones, though, on looking round, she could see nobody. At length,\nsupposing it was some jest, she threw down her implements, and stepped\ninto the wood whence they had proceeded, when she saw a headless figure,\nin a soldier\u2019s mantle, leaning against a tree. Afraid to approach, she\nsummoned some laborers from a neighboring field, who also saw it; but on\ngoing up to it, it disappeared. The woman declared her conviction that\nthe circumstance indicated her brother\u2019s death; and it was afterward\nascertained that he had, on that day, fallen in a trench.\n\nSome few years ago, a Mrs. H\u2014\u2014, residing in Limerick, had a servant\nwhom she much esteemed, called Nelly Hanlon. Nelly was a very steady\nperson, who seldom asked for a holy-day, and consequently Mrs. H\u2014\u2014 was\nthe less disposed to refuse her when she requested a day\u2019s leave of\nabsence for the purpose of attending a fair that was to take place a few\nmiles off. The petition was therefore favorably heard; but when Mr.\nH\u2014\u2014 came home and was informed of Nelly\u2019s proposed excursion, he said\nshe could not be spared, as he had invited some people to dinner for\nthat day, and he had nobody he could trust with the keys of the cellar\nexcept Nelly, adding that it was not likely his business would allow him\nto get home time enough to bring up the wine himself.\n\nUnwilling, however, after giving her consent, to disappoint the girl,\nMrs. H\u2014\u2014 said that she would herself undertake the cellar department\non the day in question; so when the wished-for morning arrived, Nelly\ndeparted in great spirits, having faithfully promised to return that\nnight, if possible, or, at the latest, the following morning.\n\nThe day passed as usual, and nothing was thought about Nelly, till the\ntime arrived for fetching up the wine, when Mrs. H\u2014\u2014 proceeded to the\ncellar-stairs with the key, followed by a servant carrying a\nbottle-basket. She had, however, scarcely begun to descend, when she\nuttered a loud scream and dropped down in a state of insensibility. She\nwas carried up stairs and laid upon the bed, while, to the amazement of\nthe other servants, the girl who had accompanied her said that they had\nseen Nelly Hanlon, dripping with water, standing at the bottom of the\nstairs. Mr. H\u2014\u2014 being sent for, or coming home at the moment, this\nstory was repeated to him, whereupon he reproved the woman for her\nfolly; and, proper restoratives being applied, Mrs. H\u2014\u2014 at length\nbegan to revive. As she opened her eyes, she heaved a deep sigh, saying,\n\u201cOh, Nelly Hanlon!\u201d and as soon as she was sufficiently recovered to\nspeak, she corroborated what the girl had said: she had seen Nelly at\nthe foot of the stairs, dripping as if she had just come out of the\nwater. Mr. H\u2014\u2014 used his utmost efforts to persuade his wife out of\nwhat he looked upon to be an illusion; but in vain. \u201cNelly,\u201d said he,\n\u201cwill come home by-and-by and laugh at you;\u201d while she, on the contrary,\nfelt sure that Nelly was dead.\n\nThe night came, and the morning came, but there was no Nelly. When two\nor three days had passed, inquiries were made; and it was ascertained\nthat she had been seen at the fair, and started to return home in the\nevening; but from that moment all traces of her were lost till her body\nwas ultimately found in the river. How she came by her death was never\nknown.\n\nNow, in most of these cases which I have above detailed, the person was\nseen where his dying thoughts might naturally be supposed to have flown,\nand the visit seems to have been made either immediately before or\nimmediately after the dissolution of the body: in either case, we may\nimagine that the final parting of the spirit had taken place, even if\nthe organic life was not quite extinct.\n\nI have met with some cases in which we are not left in any doubt with\nrespect to the last wishes of the dying person. For example: a lady,\nwith whom I am acquainted, was on her way to India; when near the end of\nher voyage, she was one night awakened by a rustling in her cabin, and a\nconsciousness that there was something hovering about her. She sat up,\nand saw a bluish, cloudy form moving away; but persuading herself it\nmust be fancy, she addressed herself again to sleep; but as soon as she\nlay down, she both heard and felt the same thing: it seemed to her as if\nthis cloudy form hung over and enveloped her. Overcome with horror, she\nscreamed. The cloud then moved away, assuming distinctly a human shape.\nThe people about her naturally persuaded her that she had been dreaming;\nand she wished to think so; but when she arrived in India, the first\nthing she heard was, that a very particular friend had come down to\nCalcutta to be ready to receive her on her landing, but that he had been\ntaken ill and died, saying he only wished to live to see his old friend\nonce more. He had expired on the night she saw the shadowy form in her\nroom.\n\nA very frightful instance of this kind of phenomenon is related by Dr.\nH. Werner, of Baron Emilius von O\u2014\u2014. This young man had been sent to\nprosecute his studies in Paris; but, forming some bad connections, he\nbecame dissipated, and neglected them. His father\u2019s counsels were\nunheeded, and his letters remained unanswered. One day the young baron\nwas sitting alone on a seat, in the Bois de Boulogne, and had fallen\nsomewhat into a revery, when, on raising his eyes, he saw his father\u2019s\nform before him. Believing it to be a mere spectral illusion, he struck\nat the shadow with his riding-whip, upon which it disappeared. The next\nday brought him a letter, urging his return home instantly, if he wished\nto see his parent alive. He went, but found the old man already in his\ngrave. The person who had been about him said that he had been quite\nconscious, and had a great longing to see his son; he had, indeed,\nexhibited one symptom of delirium, which was, that after expressing this\ndesire, he had suddenly exclaimed, \u201cMy God! he is striking at me with\nhis riding-whip!\u201d and immediately expired.\n\nIn this case, the condition of the dying man resembles that of a\nsomnambulist, in which the patient describes what he sees taking place\nat a distance; and the archives of magnetism furnish some instances,\nespecially that of Auguste M\u00fcller, of Carlsruhe, in which, by the force\nof will, the sleeper has not only been able to bring intelligence from a\ndistance, but also, like the American magician, to make himself visible.\nThe faculties of prophecy and clear or far seeing, frequently disclosed\nby dying persons, is fully acknowledged by Dr. Abercrombie and other\nphysiologists.\n\nMr. F\u2014\u2014 saw a female relative, one night, by his bedside. Thinking it\nwas a trick of some one to frighten him, he struck at the figure;\nwhereon she said: \u201cWhat have I done? I know I should have told it you\nbefore.\u201d This lady was dying at a distance, earnestly desiring to speak\nto Mr. F\u2014\u2014 before she departed.\n\nI will conclude this chapter with the following extract from \u201cLockhart\u2019s\nLife of Scott:\u201d\u2014\n\n    \u201cWALTER SCOTT _to_ DANIEL TERRY, _April 30, 1818._ (_The new\n    house at Abbotsford being then in progress,_ SCOTT _living in an\n    older part, close adjoining._)\n\n    \u201c\u2018.....The exposed state of my house has led to a mysterious\n    disturbance. The night before last we were awakened by a violent\n    noise, like drawing heavy boards along the new part of the\n    house. I fancied something had fallen, and thought no more about\n    it. This was about _two_ in the morning. Last night, at the same\n    witching hour, the very same noise occurred. Mrs. Scott, as you\n    know, is rather timbersome; so up I got, with Beardie\u2019s\n    broadsword under my arm\u2014\n\n        \u201cBolt upright,\n        And ready to fight.\u201d\n\n    But nothing was out of order, neither can I discover what\n    occasioned the disturbance.\u2019\u201d\n\nMr. Lockhart adds: \u201cOn the morning that Mr. Terry received the foregoing\nletter, in London, Mr. William Erskine was breakfasting with him, and\nthe chief subject of their conversation was the sudden death of George\nBullock, which had occurred on the same night, and, as nearly as they\ncould ascertain, at the very hour when Scott was roused from his sleep\nby the \u2018mysterious disturbance\u2019 here described. This coincidence, when\nScott received Erskine\u2019s minute detail of what had happened in Tenterdon\nstreet (that is, the death of Bullock, who had the charge of furnishing\nthe new rooms at Abbotsford), made a much stronger impression on his\nmind than might be gathered from the tone of an ensuing communication.\u201d\n\nIt appears that Bullock had been at Abbotsford, and made himself a great\nfavorite with old and young. Scott, a week or two afterward, wrote thus\nto Terry: \u201cWere you not struck with the fantastical coincidence of our\nnocturnal disturbances at Abbotsford, with the melancholy event that\nfollowed? I protest to you, the noise resembled half a dozen men hard at\nwork, putting up boards and furniture; and nothing can be more certain\nthan that there was nobody on the premises at the time. With a few\nadditional touches, the story would figure in Glanville or Aubrey\u2019s\ncollection. In the meantime, you may set it down with poor Dubisson\u2019s\nwarnings, as a remarkable coincidence coming under your own\nobservation.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VIII.\n\n\n                       DOPPELG\u00c4NGERS, OR DOUBLES.\n\nIN the instances detailed in the last chapter, the apparition has shown\nitself, as nearly as could be discovered, at the moment of dissolution;\nbut there are many cases in which the wraith is seen at an indefinite\nperiod before or after the catastrophe. Of these I could quote a great\nnumber; but as they generally resolve themselves into simply seeing a\nperson where they were not, and death ensuing very shortly afterward, a\nfew will suffice.\n\nThere is a very remarkable story of this kind, related by Macnish, which\nhe calls \u201ca case of hallucination, arising without the individual being\nconscious of any physical cause by which it might be occasioned.\u201d If\nthis case stood alone, strange as it is, I should think so too: but when\nsimilar instances abound, as they do, I can not bring myself to dispose\nof it so easily. The story is as follows: Mr. H\u2014\u2014 was one day walking\nalong the street, apparently in perfect health, when he saw, or supposed\nhe saw, his acquaintance, Mr. C\u2014\u2014, walking before him. He called to\nhim aloud; but he did not seem to hear him, and continued moving on. Mr.\nH\u2014\u2014 then quickened his pace for the purpose of overtaking him; but the\nother increased his, also, as if to keep ahead of his pursuer, and\nproceeded at such a rate that Mr. H\u2014\u2014 found it impossible to make up\nto him. This continued for some time, till, on Mr. C\u2014\u2014\u2019s reaching a\ngate, he opened it and passed in, slamming it violently in Mr. H\u2014\u2014\u2019s\nface. Confounded at such treatment from a friend, the latter instantly\nopened the gate, and looked down the long lane into which it led, where,\nto his astonishment, no one was to be seen. Determined to unravel the\nmystery, he then went to Mr. C\u2014\u2014\u2019s house, and his surprise was great\nto hear that he was confined to his bed, and had been so for several\ndays. A week or two afterward, these gentlemen met at the house of a\ncommon friend, when Mr. H\u2014\u2014 related the circumstance, jocularly\ntelling Mr. C\u2014\u2014 that, as he had seen his wraith, he of course could\nnot live long. The person addressed laughed heartily, as did the rest of\nthe party; but, in a few days, Mr. C\u2014\u2014 was attacked with putrid sore\nthroat and died; and within a short period of his death, Mr. H\u2014\u2014 was\nalso in the grave.\n\nThis is a very striking case; the hastening on, and the actually opening\nand shutting the gate, evincing not only _will_ but _power_ to produce\nmechanical effects, at a time the person was bodily elsewhere. It is\ntrue he was ill, and it is highly probable was at the time asleep. The\nshowing himself to Mr. H\u2014\u2014, who was so soon to follow him to the\ngrave, is another peculiarity which appears frequently to attend these\ncases, and which seems like what was in old English, and is still in\nScotch, called a _tryst_\u2014an appointment to meet again between those\nspirits, so soon to be free. Supposing Mr. C\u2014\u2014 to have been asleep, he\nwas possibly, in that state, aware of what impended over both.\n\nThere is a still more remarkable case given by Mr. Barham in his\nreminiscences. I have no other authority for it: but he relates, as a\nfact, that a respectable young woman was awaked, one night, by hearing\nsomebody in her room, and that on looking up she saw a young man to whom\nshe was engaged. Extremely offended by such an intrusion, she bade him\ninstantly depart, if he wished her ever to speak to him again. Whereupon\nhe bade her not be frightened, but said he was come to tell her that he\nwas to die that day six weeks,\u2014and then disappeared. Having ascertained\nthat the young man himself could not possibly have been in her room, she\nwas naturally much alarmed, and, her evident depression leading to some\ninquiries, she communicated what had occurred to the family with whom\nshe lived\u2014I think as dairy-maid; but I quote from memory. They attached\nlittle importance to what seemed so improbable, more especially as the\nyoung man continued in perfectly good health, and entirely ignorant of\nthis prediction, which his mistress had the prudence to conceal from\nhim. When the fatal day arrived, these ladies saw the girl looking very\ncheerful, as they were going for their morning\u2019s ride, and observed to\neach other that the prophecy did not seem likely to be fulfilled; but\nwhen they returned, they saw her running up the avenue toward the house\nin great agitation, and learned that her lover was either dead or dying,\nfrom an accident.\n\nThe only key I can suggest as the explanation of such a phenomenon as\nthis, is, that the young man in his sleep was aware of the fate that\nawaited him,\u2014and that while the body lay in his bed, in a state\napproaching to trance or catalepsy, the freed spirit\u2014free as the\nspirits of the actual dead\u2014went forth to tell the tale to the mistress\nof his soul.\n\nFranz von Baader says, in a letter to Dr. Kerner, that Eckartshausen,\nshortly before his death, assured him that he possessed the power of\nmaking a person\u2019s double or wraith appear, while his body lay elsewhere\nin a state of trance or catalepsy. He added that the experiment might be\ndangerous, if care were not taken to prevent intercepting the rapport of\nthe ethereal form with the material one.\n\nA lady, an entire disbeliever in these spiritual phenomena, was one day\nwalking in her own garden with her husband, who was indisposed, leaning\non her arm, when seeing a man with his back toward them, and a spade in\nhis hand, digging, she exclaimed, \u201cLook there! who\u2019s that?\u201d \u201cWhere?\u201d\nsaid her companion; and at that moment the figure leaning on the spade\nturned round and looked at her, sadly shaking its head, and she saw it\nwas her husband. She avoided an explanation, by pretending she had made\na mistake. Three days afterward the gentleman died,\u2014leaving her\nentirely converted to a belief she had previously scoffed at.\n\nHere, again, the foreknowledge and evident design, as well as the power\nof manifesting it, are extremely curious\u2014more especially as the\nantitype of the figure was neither in a trance nor asleep, but perfectly\nconscious, walking and talking. If any particular purpose were to be\ngained by the information indicated, the solution might be less\ndifficult. One object, it is true, may have been, and indeed was\nattained, namely, the change in the opinions of the wife; and it is\nimpossible to say what influence such a conversion may have had on her\nafter-life.\n\nIt must be admitted that these cases are very perplexing. We might,\nindeed, get rid of them by denying them; but the instances are too\nnumerous, and the phenomenon has been too well known in all ages, to be\nset aside so easily. In the above examples, the apparition, or wraith,\nhas been in some way connected with the death of the person whose\nvisionary likeness is seen; and, in most of these instances, the earnest\nlonging to behold those beloved seems to have been the means of\neffecting the object. The mystery of death is to us so awful and\nimpenetrable, and we know so little of the mode in which the spiritual\nand the corporeal are united and kept together during the continuance of\nlife, or what condition may ensue when this connection is about to be\ndissolved, that while we look with wonder upon such phenomena as those\nabove alluded to, we yet find very few persons who are disposed to\nreject them as utterly apocryphal. They feel that in that department,\nalready so mysterious, there may exist a greater mystery still; and the\nvery terror with which the thoughts of present death inspires most\nminds, deters people from treating this class of facts with that\nscornful skepticism with which many approximate ones are denied and\nlaughed at. Nevertheless, if we suppose the person to have been dead,\nthough it be but an inappreciable instant of time before he appears, the\nappearance comes under the denomination of what is commonly called a\nghost; for whether the spirit has been parted from the body one second\nor fifty years, ought to make no difference in our appreciation of the\nfact, nor is the difficulty less in one case than the other.\n\nI mention this because I have met with, and do meet with, people\nconstantly, who admit this class of facts, while they declare they can\nnot believe in ghosts; the instances, they say, of people being seen at\na distance at the period of their death, are too numerous to permit of\nthe fact being denied. In granting it, however, they seem to me to grant\neverything. If, as I have said above, the person be dead, the form seen\nis a ghost or spectre, whether he has been dead a second or a century;\nif he be alive, the difficulty is certainly not diminished; on the\ncontrary, it appears to me to be considerably augmented; and it is to\nthis perplexing class of facts that I shall next proceed, namely, those\nin which the person is not only alive, as in some of the cases above\nrelated, but where the phenomenon seems to occur without any reference\nto the death of the subject, present or prospective.\n\nIn either case, we are forced to conclude that the thing seen is the\nsame; the questions are, what is it that we see, and how does it render\nitself visible? and, still more difficult to answer, appears the\nquestion, of how it can communicate intelligence, or exert a mechanical\nforce. As, however, this investigation will be more in its place when I\nhave reached that department of my subject commonly called ghosts, I\nwill defer it for the present, and merely confine myself to that of\ndoubles, or doppelg\u00e4ngers, as the Germans denominate the appearance of a\nperson out of his body.\n\nIn treating of the case of Auguste M\u00fcller, a remarkable somnambule, who\npossessed the power of appearing elsewhere, while his body lay cold and\nstiff in his bed, Professor Keiser, who attended him, says, that the\nphenomenon, as regards the seer, must be looked upon as purely\nsubjective\u2014that is, that there was no outstanding form of Auguste\nM\u00fcller visible to the sensuous organs, but that the magnetic influence\nof the somnambule, by the force of his will, acted on the imagination of\nthe seer, and called up the image which he believed he saw. But then,\nallowing this to be possible, as Dr. Werner says, how are we to account\nfor those numerous cases in which there is no somnambule concerned in\nthe matter, and no especial rapport, that we are aware of, established\nbetween the parties? And yet these latter cases are much the most\nfrequent; for, although I have met with numerous instances recorded by\nthe German physiologists, of what is called far-working on the part of\nthe somnambules, this power of appearing out of the body seems to be a\nvery rare one. Many persons will be surprised at these allusions to a\nkind of magnetic phenomena, of which, in this country, so little is\nknown or believed; but the physiologists and psychologists of Germany\nhave been studying this subject for the last fifty years, and the\nvolumes filled with their theoretical views and records of cases, are\nnumerous beyond anything the English public has an idea of.\n\nThe only other theory I have met with, which pretends to explain the\nmode of this double appearance, is that of the spirit leaving the body,\nas we have supposed it to do in cases of dreams and catalepsy; in which\ninstances the nerve-spirit, which seems to be the arch\u00e6us or astral\nspirit of the ancient philosophers, has the power of projecting a\nvisible body out of the imponderable matter of the atmosphere. According\nto this theory, this nerve-spirit, which seems to be an embodiment\nof\u2014or rather, a body constructed out of the nervous fluid, or ether\u2014in\nshort, the spiritual body of St. Paul, is the bond of union between the\nbody and the soul, or spirit; and has the plastic force of raising up an\naerial form. Being the highest organic power, it can not by any other,\nphysical or chemical, be destroyed; and when the body is cast off, it\nfollows the soul; and as, during life, it is the means by which the soul\nacts upon the body, and is thus enabled to communicate with the external\nworld, so when the spirit is disembodied, it is through this\nnerve-spirit that it can make itself visible, and even exercise\nmechanical powers.\n\nIt is certain, that not only somnambules, but sick persons, are\noccasionally sensible of a feeling that seems to lend some countenance\nto this latter theory.\n\nThe girl at Canton, for example, mentioned in a former chapter, as well\nas many somnambulic patients, declare, while their bodies are lying\nstiff and cold, that they see it, as if out of it; and, in some\ninstances, they describe particulars of its appearance, which they could\nnot see in the ordinary way. There are also numerous cases of sick\npersons seeing themselves double, where no tendency to delirium or\nspectral illusion has been observed. These are, in this country, always\nplaced under the latter category; but I find various instances recorded\nby the German physiologists, where this appearance has been seen by\nothers, and even by children, at the same that it was _felt_ by the\ninvalid. In one of these cases, I find the sick person saying, \u201cI can\nnot think how I am lying. It seems to me that I am divided and lying in\ntwo places at once.\u201d It is remarkable, that a friend of my own, during\nan illness in the autumn of 1845, expressed precisely the same feeling;\nwe, however, saw nothing of this second _ego_; but it must be\nremembered, that the seeing of these things, as I have said in a former\nchapter, probably depends on a peculiar faculty or condition of the\nseer. The servant of Elisha was not blind, but yet he could not see what\nhis master saw, till his eyes were opened\u2014that is, till he was rendered\ncapable of perceiving spiritual objects.\n\nWhen Peter was released from prison by the angel\u2014and it is not amiss\nhere to remark, that even he \u201cwist not that it was true which was done\nby the angel, but thought he saw a vision,\u201d that is, he did not believe\nhis senses, but supposed himself the victim of a spectral illusion\u2014but\nwhen he was released, and went and knocked at the door of the gate,\nwhere many of his friends were assembled, they, not conceiving it\npossible he could have escaped, said, when the girl who had opened the\ndoor insisted that he was there, \u201cIt is his angel.\u201d What did they mean\nby this? The expression is not _an_ angel, but _his_ angel. Now, it is\nnot a little remarkable, that in the East, to this day, a double, or\ndoppelg\u00e4nger, is called a man\u2019s angel, or messenger. As we can not\nsuppose that this term was used otherwise than seriously by the\ndisciples that were gathered together in Mark\u2019s house, for they were in\ntrouble about Peter, and, when he arrived, were engaged in prayer, we\nare entitled to believe they alluded to some recognised phenomenon. They\nknew, either that the likeness of a man\u2014his spiritual self\u2014sometimes\nappeared where bodily he was not; and that this _imago_ or _idolon_ was\ncapable of exerting a mechanical force, or else that other spirits\nsometimes assumed a mortal form, or they would not have supposed it to\nbe Peter\u2019s angel that had _knocked_ at the gate.\n\nDr. Ennemoser, who always leans to the physical rather than the\npsychical explanation of a phenomenon, says, that the faculty of\nself-seeing, which is analogous to seeing another person\u2019s double, is to\nbe considered an illusion; but that this imago of another seen at a\ndistance, at the moment of death, must be supposed to have an objective\nreality. But if we are capable of thus perceiving the imago of another\nperson, I can not comprehend why we may not see our own; unless, indeed,\nthe former was never perceived but when the body of the person seen was\nin a state of insensibility; but this does not always seem to be a\nnecessary condition, as will appear by some examples I am about to\ndetail. The faculty of perceiving the object, Dr. Ennemoser considers\nanalogous to that of second sight, and thinks it may be evolved by\nlocal, as well as idiosyncratical conditions. The difficulty arising\nfrom the fact that some persons are in the habit of seeing the wraiths\nof their friends and relations, must be explained by his hypothesis. The\nspirit, as soon as liberated from the body, is adapted for communion\nwith _all_ spirits, embodied or otherwise; but all embodied spirits are\nnot prepared for communion with it.\n\nA Mr. R\u2014\u2014, a gentleman who has attracted public attention by some\nscientific discoveries, had had a fit of illness at Rotterdam. He was in\na state of convalescence, but was still so far taking care of himself as\nto spend part of the day in bed, when, as he was lying there one\nmorning, the door opened, and there entered in tears, a lady with whom\nhe was intimately acquainted, but whom he believed to be in England. She\nwalked hastily to the side of his bed, wrung her hands, evincing by her\ngestures extreme anguish of mind, and before he could sufficiently\nrecover his surprise to inquire the cause of her distress and sudden\nappearance, she was gone. She did not disappear, but walked out of the\nroom again, and Mr. R\u2014\u2014 immediately summoned the servants of the\nhotel, for the purpose of making inquiries about the English lady\u2014when\nshe came, what had happened to her, and where she had gone to, on\nquitting his room? The people declared there was no such person there;\nhe insisted there was, but they at length convinced him that they, at\nleast, knew nothing about her. When his physician visited him, he\nnaturally expressed the great perplexity into which he had been thrown\nby this circumstance; and, as the doctor could find no symptoms about\nhis patient that could warrant a suspicion of spectral illusion, they\nmade a note of the date and hour of the occurrence, and Mr. R\u2014\u2014 took\nthe earliest opportunity of ascertaining if anything had happened to the\nlady in question. Nothing had happened to herself, but at that precise\nperiod her son had expired, and she was actually in the state of\ndistress in which Mr. R\u2014\u2014 beheld her. It would be extremely\ninteresting to know whether her thoughts had been intensely directed to\nMr. R\u2014\u2014 at the moment; but that is a point which I have not been able\nto ascertain. At all events the impelling cause of the form projected,\nbe the mode of it what it may, appears to have been violent emotion. The\nfollowing circumstance, which is forwarded to me by the gentleman to\nwhom it occurred, appears to have the same origin:\u2014\n\n\u201cOn the evening of the 12th of March, 1792,\u201d says Mr. H\u2014\u2014, an artist,\nand a man of science, \u201cI had been reading in the \u2018Philosophical\nTransactions,\u2019 and retired to my room somewhat fatigued, but not\ninclined to sleep. It was a bright moonlight night and I had\nextinguished my candle and was sitting on the side of the bed,\ndeliberately taking off my clothes, when I was amazed to behold the\nvisible appearance of my half-uncle, Mr. R. Robertson, standing before\nme; and, at the same instant, I heard the words, \u2018_Twice will be\nsufficient!_\u2019 The face was so distinct that I actually saw the\npock-pits. His dress seemed to be made of a strong twilled sort of\nsackcloth, and of the same dingy color. It was more like a woman\u2019s dress\nthan a man\u2019s\u2014resembling a petticoat, the neck-band close to the chin,\nand the garment covering the whole person, so that I saw neither hands\nnor feet. While the figure stood there, I twisted my fingers till they\ncracked, that I might be sure I was awake.\n\n\u201cOn the following morning, I inquired if anybody had heard lately of Mr.\nR., and was well laughed at when I confessed the origin of my inquiry. I\nconfess I thought he was dead; but when my grandfather heard the story,\nhe said that the dress I described, resembled the strait-jacket Mr. R.\nhad been put in formerly, under an attack of insanity. Subsequently, we\nlearned that on the night, and at the very hour I had seen him, he had\nattempted suicide, and been actually put into a strait-jacket.\n\n\u201cHe afterward recovered, and went to Egypt with Sir Ralph Abercrombie.\nSome people laugh at this story, and maintain that it was a delusion of\nthe imagination; but surely this is blinking the question! Why should my\nimagination create such an image, while my mind was entirely engrossed\nwith a mathematical problem?\u201d\n\nThe words \u201c_Twice will be sufficient._\u201d probably embodied the thought,\nuttered or not, of the maniac, under the influence of his emotion\u2014two\nblows or two stabs would be sufficient for his purpose.\n\nDr. Kerner relates a case of a Dr. John B\u2014\u2014, who was studying medicine\nin Paris, seeing his mother one night, shortly after he had got into\nbed, and before he had put out his light. She was dressed after a\nfashion in which he had never seen her; but she vanished,\u2014and thus,\naware of the nature of the appearance, he became much alarmed, and wrote\nhome to inquire after her health. The answer he received was that she\nwas extremely unwell, having been under the most intense anxiety on his\naccount, from hearing that several medical students in Paris had been\narrested as resurrectionists; and, knowing his passion for anatomical\ninvestigations, she had apprehended he might be among the number. The\nletter concluded with an earnest request that he would pay her a visit.\nHe did so; and his surprise was so great on meeting her, to perceive\nthat she was dressed exactly as he had seen her in his room at Paris,\nthat he could not at first embrace her, and was obliged to explain the\ncause of his astonishment and repugnance.\n\nAn analogous case to these is that of Dr. Donne,\u2014which is already\nmentioned in so many publications, that I should not allude to it here\nbut for the purpose of showing that these examples belong to a _class_\nof facts, and that it is not to be supposed that similarity argues\nidentity, or that one and the same story is reproduced with new names\nand localities. I mention this because, when circumstances of this kind\nare related, I sometimes hear people say, \u201cOh, I have heard that story\nbefore, but it was said to have happened to Mr. So-and-so, or at such a\nplace;\u201d the truth being, that these things happen in all places and to a\ngreat variety of people.\n\nDr. Donne was with the embassy in Paris, where he had been but a short\ntime, when his friend Mr. Roberts, entering the _salon_, found him in a\nstate of considerable agitation. As soon as he was sufficiently\nrecovered to speak, he said that his wife had passed twice through the\nroom with a dead child in her arms. An express was immediately\ndespatched to England to inquire for the lady, and the intelligence\nreturned was that, after much suffering, she had been delivered of a\ndead infant. The delivery had taken place at the time that her husband\nhad seen her in Paris. Nobody has ever disputed Dr. Donne\u2019s assertion\nthat he saw his wife: but, as usual, the case is crammed into the theory\nof spectral illusions. They say Dr. Donne was naturally very anxious\nabout his wife\u2019s approaching confinement, of which he must have been\naware, and that his excited imagination did all the rest. In the first\nplace, I do not find it recorded that he was suffering any particular\nanxiety on the subject; and, even if he were, the coincidences in time\nand in the circumstance of the dead child remain unexplained. Neither\nare we led to believe that the doctor was unwell, or living the kind of\nlife that is apt to breed thick-coming fancies. He was attached to the\nembassy in the gay city of Paris; he had just been taking luncheon with\nothers of the _suite_, and had been left alone but a short time, when he\nwas found in the state of amazement above described. If such\nextraordinary cases of spectral illusion as this, and many others I am\nrecording, can suddenly arise in constitutions apparently healthy, it is\ncertainly high time that the medical world reconsider the subject, and\ngive us some more comprehensible theory of it; if they are not cases of\nspectral illusion, but are to be explained under that vague and abused\nterm _imagination_, let us be told something more about imagination\u2014a\nservice which those who consider the word sufficient to account for\nthese strange phenomena, must of course be qualified to perform. If,\nhowever, both these hypotheses\u2014for they are but simple hypotheses,\nunsupported by any proof whatever, only, being delivered with an air of\nauthority in a rationalistic age, they have been allowed to pass\nunquestioned\u2014if, however, they are not found sufficient to satisfy a\nvast number of minds, which I know to be the case, I think the inquiry I\nam instituting can not be wholly useless or unacceptable, let it lead us\nwhere it may. The _truth_ is all I seek; and I think there is a very\nimportant truth to be deduced from the further investigation of this\nsubject in its various relations\u2014in short, a truth of paramount\nimportance to all others; one which contains evidence of a fact in which\nwe are more deeply concerned than in any other, and which, if well\nestablished, brings demonstration to confirm intuition and tradition. I\nam very well aware of all the difficulties in the way\u2014difficulties\ninternal and external,\u2014many inherent to the subject itself, and others\nextraneous but inseparable from it; and I am very far from supposing\nthat my book is to settle the question even with a single mind. All I\nhope or expect is to show that the question is not disposed of yet,\neither by the rationalists or the physiologists, and that it is still an\nopen one; and all I desire is to arouse inquiry and curiosity, and that\nthus some mind, better qualified than mine to follow out the\ninvestigation, may be incited to undertake it.\n\nDr. Kerner mentions the case of a lady named Dillenius, who was awakened\none night by her son, a child six years of age; her sister-in-law, who\nslept in the same room, also awoke at the same time, and all three saw\nMadame Dillenius enter the room, attired in a black dress, which she had\nlately bought. The sister said, \u201cI see you double! you are in bed, and\nyet you are walking about the room.\u201d They were both extremely alarmed,\nwhile the figure stood between the doors in a melancholy attitude with\nthe head leaning on the hand. The child\u2014who also saw it, but seems not\nto have been terrified\u2014jumped out of bed, and running to the figure,\nput his hand through it as he attempted to push it, exclaiming, \u201cGo\naway, you black woman.\u201d The form, however, remained as before; and the\nchild, becoming alarmed, sprung into bed again. Madame Dillenius\nexpected that the appearance foreboded her own death; but that did not\nensue. A serious accident immediately afterward occurred to her husband,\nand she fancied there might be some connection between the two events.\n\nThis is one of those cases which, from their extremely perplexing\nnature, have induced some psychologists to seek an explanation in the\nhypothesis that other spirits may for some purpose, or under certain\nconditions, assume the form of a person with a view to giving an\nintimation or impression, which the gulf separating the material from\nthe spiritual world renders it difficult to convey. As regards such\ninstances as that of Madame Dillenius, however, we are at a loss to\ndiscover any motive\u2014unless, indeed, it be sympathy\u2014for such an\nexertion of power, supposing it to be possessed. But in the famous case\nof Catherine of Russia, who is said, while lying in bed, to have been\nseen by the ladies to enter the throne-room, and, being informed of the\ncircumstance, went herself and saw the figure seated on the throne, and\nbade her guards fire on it, we may conceive it possible that her\nguardian-spirit, if such she had, might adopt this mode of warning her\nto prepare for a change, which, after such a life as hers, we are\nentitled to conclude she was not very fit to encounter.\n\nThere are numerous examples of similar phenomena to be met with.\nProfessor Stilling relates that he heard from the son of a Madame M\u2014\u2014,\nthat his mother, having sent her maid up stairs on an errand, the woman\ncame running down in a great fright, saying that her mistress was\nsitting above, in her arm-chair, looking precisely as she had left her\nbelow. The lady went up stairs, and saw herself as described by the\nwoman, very shortly after which she died.\n\nDr. Werner relates that a jeweller at Ludwigsburg, named Ratzel, when in\nperfect health, one evening, on turning the corner of a street, met his\nown form, face to face. The figure seemed as real and lifelike as\nhimself; and he was so close as to look into its very eyes. He was\nseized with terror, and it vanished. He related the circumstance to\nseveral people, and endeavored to laugh, but, nevertheless, it was\nevident he was painfully impressed with it. Shortly afterward, as he was\npassing through a forest, he fell in with some wood-cutters, who asked\nhim to lend a hand to the ropes with which they were pulling down an\noak-tree. He did so, and was killed by its fall.\n\nBecker, professor of mathematics at Rostock, having fallen into argument\nwith some friends regarding a disputed point of theology, on going to\nhis library to fetch a book which he wished to refer to, saw himself\nsitting at the table in the seat he usually occupied. He approached the\nfigure, which appeared to be reading, and, looking over its shoulder, he\nobserved that the book open before it was a bible, and that, with one of\nthe fingers of the right hand, it pointed to the passage\u2014\u201cMake ready\nthy house, for thou must die!\u201d He returned to the company, and related\nwhat he had seen, and, in spite of all their arguments to the contrary,\nremained fully persuaded that his death was at hand. He took leave of\nhis friends, and expired on the following day, at six o\u2019clock in the\nevening. He had already attained a considerable age.\n\nThose who would not believe in the appearance, said he had died of the\nfright; but, whether he did so or not, the circumstance is sufficiently\nremarkable: and, if this were a real, outstanding apparition, it would\ngo strongly to support the hypothesis alluded to above, while, if it\nwere a spectral illusion, it is certainly an infinitely strange one.\n\nAs I am aware how difficult it is, except where the appearance is seen\nby more persons than one, to distinguish cases of actual self-seeing\nfrom those of spectral illusion, I do not linger longer in this\ndepartment; but, returning to the analogous subject of _doppelg\u00e4ngers_,\nI will relate a few curious instances of this kind of phenomena:\u2014\n\nStilling relates that a government-officer, of the name of Triplin, in\nWeimar, on going to his office to fetch a paper of importance, saw his\nown likeness sitting there, with the deed before him. Alarmed, he\nreturned home, and desired his maid to go there and fetch the paper she\nwould find on the table. The maid saw the same form, and imagined that\nher master had gone by another road, and got there before her. His mind\nseems to have preceded his body.\n\nThe landrichter, or sheriff, F\u2014\u2014, in Frankfort, sent his secretary on\nan errand. Presently afterward, the secretary re-entered the room, and\nlaid hold of a book. His master asked him what had brought him back,\nwhereupon the figure vanished, and the book fell to the ground. It was a\nvolume of Linn\u00e6us. In the evening, when the secretary returned, and was\ninterrogated with regard to his expedition, he said that he had fallen\ninto an eager dispute with an acquaintance, as he went along, about some\nbotanical question, and had ardently wished he had had his Linn\u00e6us with\nhim to refer to.\n\nDr. Werner relates that Professor Happach had an elderly maid-servant,\nwho was in the habit of coming every morning to call him, and on\nentering the room, which he generally heard her do, she usually looked\nat a clock which stood under the mirror. One morning, she entered so\nsoftly, that, though he saw her, he did not hear her foot. She went, as\nwas her custom, to the clock, and came to his bedside, but suddenly\nturned round and left the room. He called after her, but she not\nanswering, he jumped out of bed and pursued her. He could not see her,\nhowever, till he reached her room, where he found her fast asleep in\nbed. Subsequently, the same thing occurred frequently with this woman.\n\nAn exactly parallel case was related to me, as occurring to himself, by\na publisher in Edinburgh. His housekeeper was in the habit of calling\nhim every morning. On one occasion, being perfectly awake, he saw her\nenter, walk to the window, and go out again without speaking. Being in\nthe habit of fastening his door, he supposed he had omitted to do so;\nbut presently afterward he heard her knocking to come in, and he found\nthe door was still locked. She assured him she had not been there\nbefore. He was in perfectly good health at the time this happened.\n\nOnly a few nights since, a lady, with whom I am intimately acquainted,\nwas in bed, and had not been to sleep, when she saw one of her\ndaughters, who slept in an upper room, and who had retired to rest some\ntime before, standing at the foot of her bed. \u201cH\u2014\u2014,\u201d she said, \u201cwhat\nis the matter? what are you come for?\u201d The daughter did not answer, but\nmoved away. The mother jumped out of bed, but not seeing her, got in\nagain: but the figure was still there. Perfectly satisfied it was really\nher daughter, she spoke to her, asking if anything had happened; but\nagain the figure moved silently away, and again the mother jumped out of\nbed, and actually went part of the way up stairs: and this occurred a\nthird time! The daughter was during the whole of this time asleep in her\nbed, and the lady herself is quite in her usual state of health\u2014not\nrobust, but not by any means sickly, nor in the slightest degree\nhysterical or nervous; yet she is perfectly convinced that she saw the\nfigure of her daughter on that occasion, though quite unable to account\nfor the circumstance. Probably the daughter was dreaming of the mother.\n\nEdward Stern, author of some German works, had a friend who was\nfrequently seen _out of the body_, as the Germans term it; and the\nfather of that person was so much the subject of this phenomenon, that\nhe was frequently observed to enter his house while he was yet working\nin the fields! His wife used to say to him, \u201cWhy, papa, you came home\nbefore;\u201d and he would answer, \u201cI dare say, I was so anxious to get away\nearlier, but it was impossible!\u201d\n\nThe cook in a convent of nuns, at Ebersdorf, was frequently seen picking\nherbs in the garden, when she was in the kitchen and much in need of\nthem.\n\nA Danish physician, whose name Dr. Werner does not mention, is said to\nhave been frequently seen entering a patient\u2019s room, and on being spoken\nto, the figure would disappear, with a sigh. This used to occur when he\nhad made an appointment which he was prevented keeping, and was rendered\nuneasy by the failure. The hearing of it, however, occasioned him such\nan unpleasant sensation, that he requested his patients never to tell\nhim when it happened.\n\nA president of the supreme court, in Ulm, named Pfizer, attests the\ntruth of the following case: A gentleman, holding an official situation,\nhad a son at G\u00f6ttingen, who wrote home to his father, requesting him to\nsend him, without delay, a certain book, which he required to aid him in\npreparing a dissertation he was engaged in. The father answered that he\nhad sought but could not find the work in question. Shortly afterward,\nthe latter had been taking a book from his shelves, when, on turning\nround, he beheld, to his amazement, his son just in the act of\nstretching up his hand toward one on a high shelf in another part of the\nroom. \u201cHallo!\u201d he exclaimed, supposing it to be the young man himself,\nbut the figure disappeared; and, on examining the shelf, the father\nfound there the book that was required, which he immediately forwarded\nto G\u00f6ttingen; but before it could arrive there, he received a letter\nfrom his son, describing the exact spot where it was to be found.\n\nA case of what is called spectral illusion is mentioned by Dr. Paterson,\nwhich appears to me to belong to the class of phenomena I am treating\nof. One Sunday evening, Miss N\u2014\u2014 was left at home, the sole inmate of\nthe house, not being permitted to accompany her family to church on\naccount of her delicate state of health. Her father was an infirm old\nman, who seldom went from home, and she was not aware whether, on this\noccasion, he had gone out with the rest or not. By-and-by, there came on\na severe storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, and Miss N\u2014\u2014 is\ndescribed as becoming very uneasy about her father. Under the influence\nof this feeling, Dr. Paterson says she went into the back room, where he\nusually sat, and there saw him in his arm-chair. Not doubting but it was\nhimself, she advanced and laid her hand upon his shoulder, but her hand\nencountered vacancy; and, alarmed, she retired. As she quitted the room,\nhowever, she looked back, and there still sat the figure. Not being a\nbeliever in what is called the \u201csupernatural,\u201d Miss N\u2014\u2014 resolved to\novercome her apprehensions, and return into the room, which she did, and\nsaw the figure as before. For the space of fully half an hour she went\nin and out of the room in this manner, before it disappeared. She did\nnot see it vanish, but the fifth time she returned, it was gone.\n\nDr. Paterson vouches for the truth of this story, and no doubt of its\nbeing a mere illusion occurs to him, though the lady had never before or\nsince, as she assured him, been troubled with the malady. It seems to me\nmuch more likely that, when the storm came on, the thoughts of the old\nman would be intensely drawn homeward: he would naturally wish himself\nin his comfortable arm-chair, and, knowing his young daughter to be\nalone, he would inevitably feel some anxiety about her too. There was a\nmutual projection of their spirits toward each other; and the one that\nwas most easily freed from its bonds, was seen where in the spirit it\nactually was; for, as I have said above, a spirit out of the flesh, to\nwhom space is annihilated, must be where its thoughts and affections\nare, for its thoughts and affections are _itself_.\n\nI observe that Sir David Brewster and others, who have written on this\nsubject, and who represent all these phenomena as images projected on\nthe retina from the brain, dwell much on the fact that they are seen\nalike, whether the eye be closed or open. There are, however, two\nanswers to be made to this argument: first, that even if it were so, the\nproof would not be decisive, since it is generally with closed eyes that\nsomnambulic persons see, whether natural somnambules or magnetic\npatients; and, secondly, I find in some instances, which appear to me to\nbe genuine cases of an objective appearance, that where the experiment\nhas been tried, the figure is not seen when the eyes are closed.\n\nThe author of a work entitled \u201cAn Inquiry into the Nature of Ghosts,\u201d\nwho adopts the illusion theory, relates the following story, as one he\ncan vouch for, though not permitted to give the names of the parties:\u2014\n\n\u201cMiss \u2014\u2014, at the age of seven years, being in a field not far from her\nfather\u2019s house, in the parish of Kirklinton, in Cumberland, saw what she\nthought was her father in the field, at a time that he was in bed, from\nwhich he had not been removed for a considerable period. There were in\nthe field also, at the same moment, George Little, and John, his\nfellow-servant. One of these cried out, \u2018Go to your father, miss!\u2019 She\nturned round, and the figure had disappeared. On returning home, she\nsaid, \u2018Where is my father?\u2019 The mother answered, \u2018In bed, to be sure,\nchild!\u2019\u2014out of which he had not been.\u201d\n\nI quote this case, because the figure was seen by two persons. I could\nmention several similar instances, but when only seen by one, they are,\nof course, open to another explanation.\n\nGoethe (whose family, by-the-way, were ghost-seers) relates that as he\nwas once in an uneasy state of mind, riding along the footpath toward\nDrusenheim, he saw, \u201cnot with the eyes of his body, but with those of\nhis spirit,\u201d himself on horseback coming toward him, in a dress that he\nthen did not possess. It was gray, and trimmed with gold. The figure\ndisappeared; but eight years afterward he found himself, quite\naccidentally, on that spot, on horseback, and in precisely that attire.\nThis seems to have been a case of second-sight.\n\nThe story of Byron\u2019s being seen in London when he was lying in a fever\nat Patras, is well known; but may possibly have arisen from some\nextraordinary personal resemblance, though so firm was the conviction of\nits being his actual self, that a bet of a hundred guineas was offered\non it.\n\nSome time ago, the \u201cDublin University Magazine\u201d related a case\u2014I know\nnot on what authority\u2014as having occurred at Rome, to the effect that a\ngentleman had, one night on going home to his lodging, thrown his\nservant into great amazement, the man exclaiming, \u201cGood Lord, sir, you\ncame home before!\u201d He declared that he had let his master into the\nhouse, attended him up stairs, and, I think, undressed him, and seen him\nget into bed. When they went to the room, they found no clothes; but the\nbed appeared to have been lain in, and there was a strange mark upon the\nceiling, as if from the passage of an electrical fluid. The only thing\nthe young man could remember, whereby to account for this extraordinary\ncircumstance, was, that while abroad, and in company, he had been\novercome with ennui, fallen into a deep reverie, and had for a time\nforgotten that he was not at home.\n\nWhen I read this story, though I have learned from experience to be very\ncautious how I pronounce that impossible which I know nothing about, I\nconfess it somewhat exceeded my receptive capacity, but I have since\nheard of a similar instance, so well authenticated, that my incredulity\nis shaken.\n\nDr. Kerner relates that a canon of a catholic cathedral, of somewhat\ndissipated habits, on coming home one evening, saw a light in his\nbed-room. When the maid opened the door, she started back with surprise,\nwhile he inquired why she had left a candle burning up stairs; upon\nwhich she declared that he had come home just before, and gone to his\nroom, and she had been wondering at his unusual silence. On ascending to\nhis chamber, he saw himself sitting in the arm-chair. The figure rose,\npassed him, and went out at the room-door. He was extremely alarmed,\nexpecting his death was at hand. He, however, lived many years\nafterward, but the influence on his moral character was very beneficial.\n\nNot long since, a professor, I think of theology, at a college at\nBerlin, addressed his class, saying, that, instead of his usual lecture,\nhe should relate to them a circumstance which, the preceding evening,\nhad occurred to himself, believing the effects would be no less\nsalutary.\n\nHe then told them that, as he was going home the last evening, he had\nseen his own imago, or double, on the other side of the street. He\nlooked away, and tried to avoid it, but, finding it still accompanied\nhim, he took a short cut home, in hopes of getting rid of it, wherein he\nsucceeded, till he came opposite his own house, when he saw it at the\ndoor.\n\nIt rang, the maid opened, it entered, she handed it a candle, and, as\nthe professor stood in amazement, on the other side of the street, he\nsaw the light passing the windows, as it wound its way up to his own\nchamber. He then crossed over and rang; the servant was naturally\ndreadfully alarmed on seeing him, but, without waiting to explain, he\nascended the stairs. Just as he reached his own chamber, he heard a loud\ncrash, and, on opening the door, they found no one there, but the\nceiling had fallen in, and his life was thus saved. The servant\ncorroborated this statement to the students; and a minister, now\nattached to one of the Scotch churches, was present when the professor\ntold his tale. Without admitting the doctrine of protecting spirits, it\nis difficult to account for these latter circumstances.\n\nA very interesting case of an apparent friendly intervention occurred to\nthe celebrated Dr. A\u2014\u2014 T\u2014\u2014, of Edinburgh. He was sitting up late one\nnight, reading in his study, when he heard a foot in the passage, and\nknowing the family were, or ought to be, all in bed, he rose and looked\nout to ascertain who it was, but, seeing nobody, he sat down again.\nPresently, the sound recurred, and he was sure there was somebody,\nthough he could not see him. The foot, however, evidently ascended the\nstairs, and he followed it, till it led him to the nursery-door, which\nhe opened, and found the furniture was on fire; and thus, but for this\nkind office of his good angel, his children would have been burned in\ntheir beds.\n\nThe most extraordinary history of this sort, however, with which I am\nacquainted, is the following, the facts of which are perfectly\nauthentic:\u2014\n\nSome seventy or eighty years since, the apprentice, or assistant, of a\nrespectable surgeon in Glasgow, was known to have had an illicit\nconnection with a servant-girl, who somewhat suddenly disappeared. No\nsuspicion, however, seems to have been entertained of foul play. It\nappears rather to have been supposed that she had retired for the\npurpose of being confined, and, consequently, no inquiries were made\nabout her.\n\nGlasgow was, at that period, a very different place to what it is at\npresent, in more respects than one; and, among its peculiarities, was\nthe extraordinary strictness with which the observance of the sabbath\nwas enforced, insomuch, that nobody was permitted to show themselves in\nthe streets or public walks during the hours dedicated to the church\nservices, and there were actually inspectors appointed to see that this\nregulation was observed, and to take down the names of defaulters.\n\nAt one extremity of the city, there is some open ground, of rather\nconsiderable extent, on the north side of the river, called \u201cThe Green,\u201d\nwhere people sometimes resort for air and exercise; and where lovers not\nunfrequently retire to enjoy as much solitude as the proximity to so\nlarge a town can afford.\n\nOne Sunday morning, the inspectors of public piety above alluded to\nhaving traversed the city, and extended their perquisitions as far as\nthe lower extremity of the Green, where it was bounded by a wall,\nobserved a young man lying on the grass, whom they immediately\nrecognised to be the surgeon\u2019s assistant. They, of course, inquired why\nhe was not at church, and proceeded to register his name in their books,\nbut, instead of attempting to make any excuse for his offence, he only\nrose from the ground, saying, \u201cI am a miserable man; look in the water!\u201d\nHe then immediately crossed a stile, which divided the wall, and led to\na path extending along the side of the river toward the Rutherglen road.\nThey saw him cross the stile, but, not comprehending the significance of\nhis words, instead of observing him further, they naturally directed\ntheir attention to the water, where they presently perceived the body of\na woman. Having with some difficulty dragged it ashore, they immediately\nproceeded to carry it into the town, assisted by several other persons,\nwho by this time had joined them. It was now about one o\u2019clock, and, as\nthey passed through the streets, they were obstructed by the\ncongregation that was issuing from one of the principal places of\nworship; and, as they stood up for a moment, to let them pass, they saw\nthe surgeon\u2019s assistant issue from the church door. As it was quite\npossible for him to have gone round some other way, and got there before\nthem, they were not much surprised. He did not approach them, but\nmingled with the crowd, while they proceeded on their way.\n\nOn examination, the woman proved to be the missing servant-girl. She was\npregnant, and had evidently been murdered with a surgeon\u2019s instrument,\nwhich was found entangled among her clothes. Upon this, in consequence\nof his known connection with her, and his implied self-accusation to the\ninspectors, the young man was apprehended on suspicion of being the\nguilty party, and tried upon the circuit. He was the last person seen in\nher company, immediately previous to her disappearance; and there was,\naltogether, such strong presumptive evidence against him, as\ncorroborated by what occurred on the green would have justified a\nverdict of guilty. But, strange to say, this last most important item in\nthe evidence failed, and he established an incontrovertible _alibi_; it\nbeing proved, beyond all possibility of doubt, that he had been in\nchurch from the beginning of the service to the end of it. He was,\ntherefore, acquitted; while the public were left in the greatest\nperplexity, to account as they could for this extraordinary discrepancy.\nThe young man was well known to the inspectors, and it was in broad\ndaylight that they had met him and placed his name in their books.\nNeither, it must be remembered, were they seeking for him, nor thinking\nof him, nor of the woman, about whom there existed neither curiosity nor\nsuspicion. Least of all, would they have sought her where she was, but\nfor the hint given to them.\n\nThe interest excited, at the time, was very great; but no natural\nexplanation of the mystery has ever been suggested.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IX.\n\n\n                              APPARITIONS.\n\nTHE number of stories on record, which seem to support the views I have\nsuggested in my last chapter, is, I fancy, little suspected by people in\ngeneral; and still less is it imagined that similar occurrences are yet\nfrequently taking place. I had, indeed, myself no idea of either one\ncircumstance or the other, till my attention being accidentally turned\nin this direction, I was led into inquiries, the result of which has\nextremely surprised me. I do not mean to imply that all my acquaintance\nare ghost-seers, or that these things happen every day; but the amount\nof what I do mean, is this: first, that besides the numerous instances\nof such phenomena alluded to in history, which have been treated as\nfables by those who profess to believe the rest of the narratives,\nthough the whole rests upon the same foundation, that is, tradition and\nhearsay; besides these, there exists in one form or another, hundreds\nand hundreds of recorded cases, in all countries, and in all languages,\nexhibiting that degree of similarity which mark them as belonging to a\nclass of facts, many of these being of a nature which seems to preclude\nthe possibility of bringing them under the theory of spectral illusions;\nand, secondly, that I scarcely meet any one man or woman, who, if I can\ninduce them to believe I will not publish their names, and am not going\nto laugh at them, is not prepared to tell me of some occurrence of the\nsort, as having happened to themselves, their family, or their friends.\nI admit that in many instances they terminate their narration, by\nsaying, that they think it must have been an illusion, _because_ they\ncan not bring themselves to believe in ghosts; not unfrequently adding,\nthat they _wish_ to think so; since to think otherwise would make them\nuncomfortable. I confess, however, that this seems to me a very unwise,\nas well as a very unsafe way of treating the matter. Believing the\nappearance to be an illusion, _because_ they can not bring themselves to\nbelieve in ghosts, simply amounts to saying, \u201cI don\u2019t believe, because I\ndon\u2019t believe;\u201d and is an argument of no effect, except to invalidate\ntheir capacity for judging the question, at all; but the second reason\nfor not believing, namely, that they do not wish to do so, has not only\nthe same disadvantage, but is liable to much more serious objections;\nfor it is our duty to ascertain the truth in an affair that concerns\nevery soul of us so deeply; and to shrink from looking at it, lest it\nshould disclose something we do not like, is an expedient as childish as\nit is desperate.\n\nIn reviewing my late novel of \u201cLilly Dawson,\u201d where I announce the\npresent work, I observe that while some of the reviewers scout the very\nidea of anybody\u2019s believing in ghosts, others, less rash, while they\nadmit that it is a subject we know nothing about, object to further\ninvestigation, on account of the terrors and uncomfortable feelings that\nwill be engendered. Now, certainly, if it were a matter in which we had\nno personal concern, and which belonged merely to the region of\nspeculative curiosity, everybody would be perfectly justified in\nfollowing their inclinations with regard to it; there would be no reason\nfor frightening themselves, if they did not like it; but, since it is\nperfectly certain that the fate of these poor ghosts, be what it may,\nwill be ours some day\u2014perhaps before another year or another week has\npassed over our heads\u2014to shut our eyes to the truth, because it may\nperchance occasion us some uncomfortable feelings, is surely a strange\nmixture of contemptible cowardice and daring temerity. If it be true\nthat, by some law of nature, departed souls occasionally revisit the\nearth, we may be quite certain that it was intended we should know it,\nand that the law is to some good end; for no law of God can be\npurposeless or mischievous; and is it conceivable that we should say we\nwill not know it, because it is disagreeable to us? Is not this very\nlike saying, \u201cLet us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die!\u201d\nand yet refusing to inquire what is to become of us when we do die?\nrefusing to avail ourselves of that demonstrative proof which God has\nmercifully placed within our reach? And, with all this obstinacy, people\ndo not get rid of the apprehension; they go on struggling against it and\nkeeping it down by argument and reason; but there are very few persons\nindeed, men or women, who, when placed in a situation calculated to\nsuggest the idea, do not feel the intuitive conviction striving within\nthem. In the ordinary circumstances of life, nobody suffers from this\nterror; in the extraordinary ones, I find the professed disbelievers not\nmuch better off than the believers. Not long ago, I heard a lady\nexpressing the great alarm she should have felt, had she been exposed to\nspend a whole night on Ben Lomond, as Margaret Fuller, the American\nauthoress, did lately; \u201cfor,\u201d said she, \u201cthough I don\u2019t believe in\nghosts, I should have been dreadfully afraid of seeing one then!\u201d\n\nMoreover, though I do not suppose that man, in his normal state, could\never encounter an incorporeal spirit without considerable awe, I am\ninclined to think that the extreme terror the idea inspires arises from\nbad training. The ignorant frighten children with ghosts, and the better\neducated assure them there is no such thing. Our understanding may\nbelieve the latter, but our instincts believe the former; so that, out\nof this education, we retain the terror, and just belief enough to make\nit very troublesome whenever we are placed in circumstances that awaken\nit. Now, perhaps, if the thing were differently managed, the result\nmight be different. Suppose the subject were duly investigated, and it\nwere ascertained that the views which I and many others are disposed to\nentertain with regard to it are correct,\u2014and suppose, then, children\nwere calmly told that it is not impossible but that, on some occasion,\nthey may see a departed friend again\u2014that the laws of nature,\nestablished by an allwise Providence, admit of the dead sometimes\nrevisiting the earth, doubtless for the benevolent purpose of keeping\nalive in us our faith in a future state\u2014that death is merely a\ntransition to another life, which it depends on ourselves to make happy\nor otherwise\u2014and that while those spirits which appear bright and\nblessed may well be objects of our envy, the others should excite only\nour intense compassion: I am persuaded that a child so educated would\nfeel no terror at the sight of an apparition, more especially as there\nvery rarely appears to be anything terrific in the aspect of these\nforms; they generally come in their \u201chabits as they lived,\u201d and appear\nso much like the living person in the flesh, that where they are not\nknown to be already dead, they are frequently mistaken for them. There\nare exceptions to this rule,\u2014but the forms in themselves rarely exhibit\nanything to create alarm.\n\nAs a proof that a child would not naturally be terrified at the sight of\nan apparition, I will adduce the following instance, the authenticity of\nwhich I can vouch for:\u2014\n\nA lady with her child embarked on board a vessel at Jamaica, for the\npurpose of visiting her friends in England, leaving her husband behind\nher quite well. It was a sailing packet; and they had been some time at\nsea, when one evening, while the child was kneeling before her saying\nhis prayers previous to going to rest, he suddenly said: \u201cMamma, papa!\u201d\n\u201cNonsense, my dear!\u201d the mother answered, \u201cyou know your papa is not\nhere!\u201d\u2014\u201cHe is indeed, mamma,\u201d returned the child, \u201che is looking at us\nnow.\u201d Nor could she convince him to the contrary. When she went on deck,\nshe mentioned the circumstance to the captain, who thought it so\nstrange, that he said he would note down the date of the occurrence. The\nlady begged him not to do so, saying it was attaching a significance to\nit which would make her miserable. He did it, however; and, shortly\nafter her arrival in England, she learned that her husband had died\nexactly at that period.\n\nI have met with other instances in which children have seen apparitions\nwithout exhibiting any alarm; and in the case of Fredericka Hauffe, the\ninfant in her arms was frequently observed to point smilingly to those\nwhich she herself said she saw. In the above related case, we find a\nvaluable example of an apparition which we can not believe to have been\na mere subjective phenomenon, being seen by one person and not by\nanother. The receptivity of the child may have been greater, or the\nrapport between it and its father stronger; but this occurrence\ninevitably leads us to suggest, how often our departed friends may be\nnear us, and we not see them!\n\nA Mr. B\u2014\u2014, with whom I am acquainted, informed me that, some years\nago, he lost two children. There was an interval of two years between\ntheir deaths; and about as long a period had elapsed since the decease\nof the second, when the circumstance I am about to relate took place. It\nmay be conceived that at that distance of time, however vivid the\nimpression had been at first, it had considerably faded from the mind of\na man engaged in business; and he assures me that, on the night this\nevent occurred, he was not thinking of the children at all; he was,\nmoreover, perfectly well, and had neither eaten nor drank anything\nunusual, nor abstained from eating or drinking anything to which he was\naccustomed. He was therefore in his normal state; when shortly after he\nhad lain down in bed, and before he had fallen asleep, he heard the\nvoice of one of the children say: \u201cPapa\u2014papa!\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you hear that?\u201d he said to his wife, who lay beside him\u2014\u201cI hear\nArchy calling me, as plain as ever I heard him in my life!\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d returned the lady; \u201cyou are fancying it.\u201d\n\nBut presently he again heard \u201cPapa, papa!\u201d and now both voices spoke.\nUpon which\u2014exclaiming, \u201cI can stand this no longer\u201d\u2014he started up,\nand, drawing back the curtains, saw both children in their\nnight-dresses, standing near the bed. He immediately jumped out;\nwhereupon they retreated slowly, and with their faces toward him, to the\nwindow, where they disappeared. He says that the circumstance made a\ngreat impression upon him at the time; and, indeed, that it was one that\ncould never be effaced; but he did not know what to think of it, not\nbelieving in ghosts, and therefore concluded it must have been some\nextraordinary spectral illusion, especially as his wife heard nothing.\nIt may have been so; but that circumstance by no means proves it.\n\nFrom these varying degrees of susceptibility, or affinity, there seems\nto arise another consequence, namely, that more than one person may see\nthe same object, and yet see it differently, and I mention this\nparticularly, because it is one of the objections that unreflecting\npersons make to phenomena of this kind, second sight especially. In the\nremarkable instance which is recorded to have occurred at Ripley, in the\nyear 1812, to which I shall allude more particularly in a future\nchapter, much stress was laid on the fact, that the first seer said,\n\u201cLook at those beasts!\u201d While the second answered, they were \u201cnot\nbeasts, but men.\u201d In a former chapter, I mentioned the case of a lady,\non board a ship, seeing and feeling a sort of blue cloud hanging over\nher, which afterward, as it retired, assumed a human form, though still\nappearing a vapory substance. Now, possibly, had her receptivity, or the\nrapport, been greater, she might have seen the distinct image of her\ndying friend. I have met with several instances of these cloudy figures\nbeing seen, as if the spirit had built itself up a form of atmospheric\nair; and it is remarkable, that when other persons perceived the\napparitions that frequented the Seeress of Prevorst, some saw those as\ncloudy forms, which she saw distinctly attired in the costume they wore\nwhen alive; and thus, on some occasions, apparitions are represented as\nbeing transparent, while on others they have not been distinguishable\nfrom the real corporeal body. All these discrepancies, and others, to be\nhereafter alluded to, are doubtless only absurd to our ignorance; they\nare the results of physical laws, as absolute, though not so easily\nascertained, as those by which the most ordinary phenomena around us are\nfound explicable.\n\nWith respect to these cloudy forms, I have met with four instances\nlately, two occurring to ladies, and two to gentlemen; the one a\nminister, and the other a man engaged in business; and although I am\nquite aware that these cases are not easily to be distinguished from\nthose of spectral illusion, yet I do not think them so myself; and as\nthey occurred to persons in their normal state of health, who never\nbefore or since experienced anything of the kind, and who could find\nnothing in their own circumstances to account for its happening then, I\nshall mention them. In the instances of the gentlemen and one of the\nladies, they were suddenly awakened, they could not tell by what, and\nperceived bending over them a cloudy form, which immediately retreated\nslowly to the other end of the room, and disappeared. In the fourth\ncase, which occurred to an intimate friend of my own, she had not been\nasleep; but having been the last person up in the house, had just\nstepped into the bed, where her sister had already been some time\nasleep. She was perfectly awake, when her attention was attracted by\nhearing the clink of glass, and, on looking up, she saw a figure\nstanding on the hearth, which was exactly opposite her side of the bed,\nand as there was water and a tumbler there, she concluded that her\nsister had stepped out at the bottom, unperceived by her, and was\ndrinking. While she was carelessly observing the figure, it moved toward\nthe bed, and laid a heavy hand upon her, pressing her arm in a manner\nthat gave her pain. \u201cOh, Maria, don\u2019t!\u201d she exclaimed; but as the form\nretreated, and she lost sight of it, a strange feeling crept over her,\nand she stretched out her hand to ascertain if her sister was beside\nher. She was, and asleep; but this movement awoke her, and she found the\nother now in considerable agitation. She, of course, tried to persuade\nher that it was a dream, or night-mare, as did the family the next day;\nbut she was quite clear in her mind at the time, as she then assured me,\nthat it was neither one nor the other; though now, at the distance of a\nyear from the occurrence, she is very desirous of putting that\nconstruction upon it. As somebody will be ready to suggest that this was\na freak played by one of the family, I can only answer that that is an\nexplanation that no one who is acquainted with all the circumstances,\ncould admit; added to which, the figure did not disappear in the\ndirection of the door, but in quite an opposite one.\n\nA very singular thing happened to the accomplished authoress of \u201cLetters\nfrom the Baltic,\u201d on which my readers may put what interpretation they\nplease, but I give it here as a pendant to the last story. The night\nbefore she left Petersburgh she passed in the house of a friend. The\nroom appropriated to her use was a large dining-room, in which a\ntemporary bed was placed, and a folding screen was so arranged as to\ngive an air of comfort to the nook where the bed stood. She went to bed,\nand to sleep, and no one who knows her can suspect her of seeing\nspectral illusions, or being incapable of distinguishing her own\ncondition when she saw anything whatever. As she was to commence her\njourney on the following day, she had given orders to be called at an\nearly hour, and, accordingly, she found herself awakened toward morning\nby an old woman in a complete Russian costume, who looked at her,\nnodding and smiling, and intimating, as she supposed, that it was time\nto rise. Feeling, however, very sleepy, and very unwilling to do so, she\ntook her watch from behind her pillow, and, looking at it, perceived\nthat it was only four o\u2019clock. As, from the costume of the old woman,\nshe knew her to be a Russian, and therefore not likely to understand any\nlanguage she could speak, she shook her head, and pointed to the watch,\ngiving her to understand that it was too early. The woman looked at her,\nand nodded, and then retreated, while the traveller lay down again and\nsoon fell asleep. By-and-by, she was awakened by a knock at the door and\nthe voice of the maid whom she had desired to call her. She bade her\ncome in, but, the door being locked on the inside, she had to get out of\nbed to admit her. It now occurred to her to wonder how the old woman had\nentered, but, taking it for granted that there was some other mode of\ningress she did not trouble herself about it, but dressed, and descended\nto breakfast. Of course, the inquiry usually addressed to a stranger was\nmade\u2014they hoped she had slept well! \u201cPerfectly,\u201d she said, \u201conly that\none of their good people had been somewhat over anxious to get her up in\nthe morning;\u201d and she then mentioned the old woman\u2019s visit, but to her\nsurprise, they declared they had no such person in the family. \u201cIt must\nhave been some old nurse, or laundress, or something of that sort,\u201d she\nsuggested. \u201cImpossible!\u201d they answered; \u201cyou must have dreamed the whole\nthing; we have no old woman in the house; nobody wearing that costume;\nand nobody could have got in, since the door must have been fastened\nlong after that!\u201d And these assertions the servants fully confirmed;\nadded to which, I should observe, that the house, like foreign houses in\ngeneral, consisted of a flat, or floor, shut in by a door, which\nseparated it entirely from the rest of the building, and, being high up\nfrom the street, nobody could even have gained access by a window. The\nlady now beginning to get somewhat puzzled, inquired if there were any\nsecond entrance into the room; but, to her surprise, she heard there was\nnot; and she then mentioned that she had locked the door on going to\nbed, and had found it locked in the morning. The thing has ever remained\nutterly inexplicable, and the family, who were much more amazed by it\nthan she was, would willingly believe it to have been a dream; but,\nwhatever the interpretation of it may be, she feels quite certain that\nthat is not the true one.\n\nI make no comments on the above case, though a very inexplicable one;\nand I scarcely know whether to mention any of those well-established\ntales, which appear to be certainly as satisfactorily attested as any\ncircumstance which is usually taken simply on report. I allude\nparticularly to the stories of General Wynyard; Lord Tyrone and Lady\nBeresford; the case which took place at Havant, in Hampshire, and which\nis related in a letter from Mr. Caswell the mathematician to Dr.\nBentley; that which occurred in Cornwall, as narrated by the Rev. Mr.\nRuddle, one of the prebendaries of Exeter, whose assistance and advice\nwere asked, and who himself had two interviews with the spirit; and many\nothers, which are already published in different works; especially in a\nlittle book entitled \u201cAccredited Ghost-Stories.\u201d I may, however, mention\nthat, with respect to those of Lady Beresford and General Wynyard, the\nfamilies of the parties have always maintained their entire belief in\nthe circumstances; as do the family of Lady Betty Cobb, who took the\nriband from Lady Beresford\u2019s arm, after she was dead\u2014she having always\nworn it since her interview with the apparition, in order to conceal the\nmark he had left by touching her.\n\nThere have been many attempts to explain away the story of Lord\nLittleton\u2019s warning, although the evidence for it certainly satisfied\nthe family, as we learn from Dr. Johnson, who said, in regard to it,\nthat it was the most extraordinary thing that had happened in his day,\nand that he heard it from the lips of Lord Westcote, the uncle of Lord\nLittleton.\n\nThere is a sequel, however, to this story, which is extremely well\nauthenticated, though much less generally known. It appears that Mr.\nMiles Peter Andrews, the intimate friend of Lord Littleton, was at his\nhouse, at Dartford, when Lord L. died at Pitt-place, Epsom, thirty miles\noff. Mr. Andrews\u2019 house was full of company, and he expected Lord\nLittleton, whom he had left in his usual state of health, to join him\nthe next day, which was Sunday.\n\nMr. Andrews himself feeling rather indisposed on the Saturday evening,\nretired early to bed, and requested Mrs. Pigou, one of his guests, to do\nthe honors of his supper-table. He admitted (for he is himself the\nauthority for the story) that he fell into a feverish sleep on going to\nbed, but was awakened between eleven and twelve by somebody opening his\ncurtains, which proved to be Lord Littleton, in a night-gown and cap,\nwhich Mr. Andrews recognised. Lord Littleton spoke, saying that he was\ncome to tell him _all was over_. It appears that Lord Littleton was fond\nof practical joking, and as Mr. Andrews entertained no doubt whatever of\nhis visiter being Lord Littleton himself, in the body, he supposed that\nthis was one of his tricks; and, stretching his arm out of bed, he took\nhold of his slippers, the nearest thing he could get at, and threw them\nat him, whereupon the figure retreated to a dressing-room, which had no\ningress or egress except through the bed-chamber. Upon this, Mr. Andrews\njumped out of bed to follow him, intending to chastise him further, but\nhe could find nobody in either of the rooms, although the door was\nlocked on the inside; so he rang his bell, and inquired who had seen\nLord Littleton. Nobody had seen him; but, though how he had got in or\nout of the room remained an enigma, Mr. Andrews asserted that he was\ncertainly there; and, angry at the supposed trick, he ordered that they\nshould give him no bed, but let him go and sleep at the inn. Lord\nLittleton, however, appeared no more, and Mr. Andrews went to sleep, not\nentertaining the slightest suspicion that he had seen an apparition.\n\nIt happened that, on the following morning, Mrs. Pigou had occasion to\ngo at an early hour to London, and great was her astonishment to learn\nthat Lord Littleton had died on the preceding night. She immediately\ndespatched an express to Dartford with the news, upon the receipt of\nwhich, Mr. Andrews, then quite well, and remembering perfectly all that\nhad happened, swooned away. He could not understand it, but it had a\nmost serious effect upon him, and, to use his own expression, he was not\nhis own man again for three years.\n\nThere are various authorities for this story, the correctness of which\nis vouched for by some members of Mrs. Pigou\u2019s family, with whom I am\nacquainted, who have frequently heard the circumstances detailed by\nherself, and who assure me it was always believed by the family. I\nreally, therefore, do not see what grounds we have for doubting either\nof these facts. Lord Westcote, on whose word Dr. Johnson founded his\nbelief of Lord Littleton\u2019s warning, was a man of strong sense; and that\nthe story was not looked upon lightly by the family, is proved by the\nfact that the dowager Lady Littleton had a picture\u2014which was seen by\nSir Nathaniel Wraxhall in her house in Portugal street, as mentioned in\nhis memoirs\u2014wherein the event was commemorated. His lordship is in bed;\nthe dove appears at the window; and a female figure stands at the foot\nof the couch, announcing to the unhappy profligate his approaching\ndissolution. That he mentioned the warning to his valet, and some other\npersons, and that he talked of _jockeying_ the ghost by surviving the\ntime named, is certain; as also that he died with his watch in his hand,\nprecisely at the appointed period! Mr. Andrews says that he was subject\nto fits of strangulation, from a swelling in the throat, which might\nhave killed him at any moment; but his decease having proceeded from a\nnatural and obvious cause, does not interfere one way or the other with\nthe validity of the prediction, which simply foretold his death at a\nparticular period, not that there was to be anything preternatural in\nthe manner of it.\n\nAs I find so many people willing to believe in wraiths, who can not\nbelieve in ghosts\u2014that is, they are overpowered by the numerous\nexamples, and the weight of evidence for the first\u2014it would be\ndesirable if we could ascertain whether these wraiths are seen before\nthe death occurs or after it; but, though the day is recorded, and seems\nalways to be the one on which the death took place, and the hour about\nthe same, minutes are not sufficiently observed to enable us to answer\nthat question. It would be an interesting one, because the argument\nadvanced by those who believe that the dead never are seen, is, that it\nis the strong will and desire of the expiring person which enables him\nso to act on the nervous system of his distant friend, that the\nimagination of the latter projects the form, and sees it as if\nobjectively. By _imagination_ I do not simply mean to convey the common\nnotion implied by that much-abused word, which is only _fancy_, but the\n_constructive_ imagination, which is a much higher function, and which,\ninasmuch as man is made in the likeness of God, bears a distant relation\nto that sublime power by which the Creator projects, creates, and\nupholds, his universe; while the far-working of the departing spirit\nseems to consist in the strong will to do, reinforced by the strong\nfaith that it can be done. We have rarely the strong will, and still\nmore rarely the strong faith, without which the will remains\nineffective. In the following case, which is perfectly authentic, the\napparition of Major R\u2014\u2014 was seen several hours after his death had\noccurred.\n\nIn the year 1785, some cadets were ordered to proceed from Madras to\njoin their regiments up the country. A considerable part of the journey\nwas to be made in a barge, and they were under the conduct of a senior\nofficer, Major R\u2014\u2014. In order to relieve the monotony of the voyage,\nthis gentleman proposed, one day, that they should make a shooting\nexcursion inland, and walk round to meet the boat at a point agreed on,\nwhich, owing to the windings of the river, it would not reach till\nevening. They accordingly took their guns, and as they had to cross a\nswamp, Major R\u2014\u2014, who was well acquainted with the country, put on a\nheavy pair of top-boots, which, together with an odd limp he had in his\ngait, rendered him distinguishable from the rest of the party at a\nconsiderable distance. When they reached the jungle, they found there\nwas a wide ditch to leap, which all succeeded in doing except the major,\nwho being less young active, jumped short of the requisite distance; and\nalthough he scrambled up unhurt, he found his gun so crammed full of wet\nsand that it would be useless till thoroughly cleansed. He therefore\nbade them walk on, saying he would follow; and taking off his hat, he\nsat down in the shade, where they left him. When they had been beating\nabout for game some time, they began to wonder why the major did not\ncome on, and they shouted to let him know whereabouts they were; but\nthere was no answer, and hour after hour passed without his appearance,\ntill at length they began to feel somewhat uneasy.\n\nThus the day wore away, and they found themselves approaching the\nrendezvous. The boat was in sight, and they were walking down to it,\nwondering how their friend could have missed them, when suddenly, to\ntheir great joy, they saw him before them, making toward the barge. He\nwas without his hat or gun, limping hastily along in his top-boots, and\ndid not appear to observe them. They shouted after him, but as he did\nnot look round, they began to run, in order to overtake him; and,\nindeed, fast as he went, they did gain considerably upon him. Still he\nreached the boat first, crossing the plank which the boatmen had placed\nready for the gentlemen they saw approaching. He ran down the\ncompanion-stairs, and they after him; but inexpressible was their\nsurprise when they could not find him below! They ascended again, and\ninquired of the boatmen what had become of him; but they declared he had\nnot come on board, and that nobody had crossed the plank till the young\nmen themselves had done so.\n\nConfounded and amazed at what appeared so inexplicable, and doubly\nanxious about their friend, they immediately resolved to retrace their\nsteps in search of him; and, accompanied by some Indians who knew the\njungle, they made their way back to the spot where they had left him.\nThence some footmarks enabled them to trace him, till, at a very short\ndistance from the ditch, they found his hat and his gun. Just then the\nIndians called out to them to beware, for that there was a sunken well\nthereabouts, into which they might fall. An apprehension naturally\nseized them that this might have been the fate of their friend; and on\nexamining the edge, they saw a mark as of a heel slipping up. Upon this,\none of the Indians consented to go down, having a rope with which they\nhad provided themselves tied round his waist; for, aware of the\nexistence of the wells, the natives suspected what had actually\noccurred, namely, that the unfortunate gentleman had slipped into one of\nthese traps, which, being overgrown with brambles, were not discernible\nby the eye. With the assistance of the Indian, the body was brought up\nand carried back to the boat, amid the deep regrets of the party, with\nwhom he had been a great favorite. They proceeded with it to the next\nstation, where an inquiry was instituted as to the manner of his death,\nbut of course there was nothing more to be elicited.\n\nI give this story as related by one of the parties present, and there is\nno doubt of its perfect authenticity. He says he can in no way account\nfor the mystery\u2014he can only relate the fact; and not one, but the whole\n_five_ cadets, saw him as distinctly as they saw each other. It was\nevident, from the spot where the body was found, which was not many\nhundred yards from the well, that the accident must have occurred very\nshortly after they left him. When the young men reached the boat, Major\nR\u2014\u2014 must have been, for some seven or eight hours, a denizen of the\nother world, yet he kept the rendezvous!\n\nThere was a similar occurrence in Devonshire, some years back, which\nhappened to the well-known Dr. Hawker, who, one night in the street,\nobserved an old woman pass him, to whom he was in the habit of giving a\nweekly charity. Immediately after she had passed, he felt somebody pull\nhis coat, and on looking round saw it was her, whereupon he put his hand\nin his pocket to seek for a sixpence, but on turning to give it to her\nshe was gone. He thought nothing about it; but when he got home, he\ninquired if she had had her money that week,\u2014when, to his amazement, he\nheard she was dead, but his family had forgotten to mention the\ncircumstance. I have met with two curious cases, occurring in Edinburgh,\nof late years; in one, a young man and his sister were in their kitchen,\nwarming themselves over the fire before they retired to bed, when, on\nraising their eyes, they both saw a female figure, dressed in white,\nstanding in the door-way and looking at them; she was leaning against\none of the door-posts. Miss E\u2014\u2014, the young lady, screamed; whereupon\nthe figure advanced, crossed the kitchen toward a closet, and\ndisappeared. There was no egress at the closet: and as they lived in a\nflat, and the door was closed for the night, a stranger could neither\nhave entered the house nor got out of it. In the other instance, there\nwere two houses on one flat, the doors opposite each other. In one of\nthe houses there resided a person with her two daughters, grown-up\nwomen: in the other lived a shoemaker and his wife. The latter died, and\nit was said her husband had ill-treated her and worried her out of the\nworld. He was a drunken, dissipated man, and used to be out till a late\nhour most nights, while this poor woman sat up for him, and when she\nheard a voice on the stairs, or a bell, she used often to come out and\nlook over to see if it were her husband returned. One night, when she\nhad been dead some weeks, the two young women were ascending the stairs\nto their own door, when, to their amazement, they both saw her standing\nat the top, looking over as she used to do in her lifetime. At the same\nmoment their mother opened the door and saw the figure also; the girls\nrushed past, overcome with terror, and one if not both fainted as soon\nas they got into the door. The youngest fell on her face in the passage.\n\nAnother case, which occurred in this town, I mention\u2014although I know it\nis liable to be called a spectral illusion\u2014because it bears a\nremarkable similarity to one which took place in America. A respectable\nwoman lost her father, for whom she had a great affection; she was of a\nserious turn, and much attached to the tenets of her church, in which\nparticulars she thought her father had been deficient. She was therefore\nvery unhappy about him, fearing that he had not died in a proper state\nof mind. A considerable time had elapsed since his death, but her\ndistrust of his condition was still causing her uneasiness; when one\nday, while she was sitting at her work, she felt something touch her\nshoulder, and on looking round she perceived her father, who bade her\ncease to grieve about him, as he was not unhappy. From that moment she\nbecame perfectly resigned and cheerful. The American case\u2014I have\nomitted to write down the name of the place, and forget it\u2014was that of\na mother and son. She was also a highly respectable person, and was\ndescribed to me as perfectly trustworthy by one who knew her. She was a\nwidow, and had one son, to whom she was extremely attached. He however\ndisappeared one day, and she never could learn what had become of him;\nshe always said that if she did but know his fate she should be happier.\nAt length, when he had been dead a considerable time, her attention was\none day, while reading, attracted by a slight noise, which induced her\nto look round, and she saw her son, dripping with water, and with a sad\nexpression of countenance. The features, however, presently relaxed, and\nthey assumed a more pleasing aspect before he disappeared. From that\ntime she ceased to grieve, and it was subsequently ascertained that the\nyoung man had run away to sea; but no more was known of him. Certain it\nwas, however, that she attributed her recovered tranquillity to having\nseen her son as above narrated.\n\nA lady with whom I am acquainted was one day, when a girl, standing at\nthe top of the stairs, with two others, discussing their games, when\nthey each suddenly exclaimed: \u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d There was a fourth among\nthem\u2014a girl in a checked pinafore; but she was gone again. They had all\nseen her. One day a younger brother, in the same house, was playing with\na whip, when he suddenly laughed at something, and cried \u201cTake that;\u201d\nand described having seen the same girl. This led to some inquiry, and\nit was said that such a girl as they described had lived in that house,\nand had died from the bite of a mad dog; or, rather, had been smothered\nbetween two feather-beds: but whether that was actually done, or was\nonly a report, I can not say. Supposing this to have been no illusion,\nand I really can not see how it could be one, the memory of past sports\nand pleasures seems to have so survived as to have attracted the young\nsoul, prematurely cut off, to the spot where the same sports and\npleasures were being enjoyed by the living.\n\nA maid-servant in one of the midland counties of England, being up early\none morning, heard her name called in a voice that seemed to be her\nbrother\u2019s, a sailor then at sea; and running up, she found him standing\nin the hall; he said he was come from afar, and was going again, and\nmentioned some other things; when her mistress, hearing voices, called\nto know who she was talking to: she said it was her brother from sea.\nAfter speaking to her for some time, she suddenly lost sight of him, and\nfound herself alone. Amazed and puzzled, she told her mistress what had\nhappened, who being led thus to suspect the kind of visiter it was,\nlooked out of the window to ascertain if there were any marks of\nfootsteps, the ground being covered with snow. There were, however,\nnone,\u2014and it was therefore clear that nobody could have entered the\nhouse. Intelligence afterward arrived of the young man\u2019s death.\n\nThis last is a case of wraith, but a more complicated one, from the\ncircumstance of speech being superadded. But this is not by any means an\nisolated particular; there are many such. The author of the book called\n\u201cAccredited Ghost Stories\u201d\u2014whose name I at this moment forget, and I\nhave not the book at hand\u2014gives, on his own authority, the following\ncircumstance, professing to be acquainted with the parties. A company\nwere visiting York cathedral, when a gentleman and lady, who had\ndetached themselves from the rest, observed an officer wearing a naval\nuniform approaching them; he walked quickly, saying to the lady, as he\npassed, \u201cThere _is_ another world.\u201d The gentleman, seeing her greatly\nagitated, pursued the stranger, but lost sight of him, and nobody had\nseen such a person but themselves. On returning to his companion, she\ntold him that it was her brother, who was then abroad with his ship, and\nwith whom she had frequently held discussions as to whether there was or\nwas not a future life. The news of the young man\u2019s death shortly reached\nthe family. In this case the brother must have been dead; the spirit\nmust have passed out of this world into that other, the existence of\nwhich he came to certify. This is one of those cases which\u2014happening\nnot long ago\u2014leads one especially to regret the want of moral courage\nwhich prevents people giving up their names and avowing their\nexperience. The author of the abovementioned book, from which I borrow\nthis story, says that the sheet had gone to the press with the real\nnames of the parties attached, but that he was requested to withdraw\nthem, as it would be painful to the family. My view of this case is so\ndifferent, that, had it occurred to myself, I should have felt it my\nimperative duty to make it known and give every satisfaction to\ninquirers.\n\nSome years ago, during the war, when Sir Robert H. E\u2014\u2014 was in the\nNetherlands, he happened to be quartered with two other officers, one of\nwhom was despatched into Holland on an expedition. One night, during his\nabsence, Sir R. H. E\u2014\u2014 awoke, and, to his great surprise, saw this\nabsent friend sitting on the bed which he used to occupy, with a wound\nin his breast. Sir Robert immediately awoke his companion, who saw the\nspectre also. The latter then addressed them, saying that he had been\nthat day killed in a skirmish, and that he had died in great anxiety\nabout his family, wherefore he had come to communicate that there was a\ndeed of much consequence to them deposited in the hands of a certain\nlawyer in London, whose name and address he mentioned, adding that this\nman\u2019s honesty was not to be altogether relied on. He therefore requested\nthat, on their return to England, they would go to his house and demand\nthe deed, but that, if he denied the possession of it, they were to seek\nit in a certain drawer in his office, which he described to them. The\ncircumstance impressed them very much at the time, but a long time had\nelapsed ere they reached England, during which period they had gone\nthrough so many adventures and seen so many friends fall around them,\nthat this impression was considerably weakened, insomuch that each went\nto his own home and his own pursuits without thinking of fulfilling the\ncommission they had undertaken. Some time afterward, however, it\nhappened that they both met in London, and they then resolved to seek\nthe street that had been named to them, and ascertain if such a man\nlived there. They found him, requested an interview, and demanded the\ndeed, the possession of which he denied; but their eyes were upon the\ndrawer that had been described to them, where they asserted it to be,\nand being there discovered, it was delivered into their hands. Here,\nalso, the soul had parted from the body, while the memory of the past\nand an anxiety for the worldly prosperity, of those left behind,\nsurvived; and we thus see that the condition of mind in which this\nperson had died, remained unchanged. He was not indifferent to the\nworldly prosperity of his relatives, and he found his own state rendered\nunhappy by the fear that they might suffer from the dishonesty of his\nagent. It may here be naturally objected that hundreds of much-loved\nwidows and orphans have been ruined by dishonest trustees and agents,\nwhere no ghost came back to instruct them in the means of obviating the\nmisfortune. This is, no doubt, a very legitimate objection, and one\nwhich it is very difficult to answer. I must, however, repeat what I\nsaid before, nature is full of exceptional cases, while we know very\nlittle of the laws which regulate these exceptions; but we may see a\nvery good reason for the fact that such communications are the\nexception, and not the rule; for if they were the latter, the whole\neconomy of this earthly life would be overturned, and its affairs must\nnecessarily be conducted in a totally different manner to that which\nprevails at present. What the effects of such an arrangement of nature\nwould be, had it pleased God to make it, he alone knows; but certain it\nis, that man\u2019s freedom, as a moral agent, would be in a great degree\nabrogated, were the barriers that impede our intercourse with the\nspiritual world removed.\n\nIt may be answered, that this is an argument which may be directed\nagainst the fact of such appearances being permitted at all; but that is\na fallacious objection. Earthquakes and hurricanes are occasionally\npermitted, which overthrow the work of man\u2019s hands for centuries; but if\nthese convulsions of nature were of every-day occurrence, nobody would\nthink it worth their while to build a house or cultivate the earth, and\nthe world would be a wreck and a wilderness. The apparitions that do\nappear, are not without their use to those who believe in them; while\nthere is too great an uncertainty attending the subject, generally to\nallow of its ever being taken into consideration in mundane affairs.\n\nThe old, so-called, superstition of the people, that a person\u2019s \u201cdying\nwith something on his mind\u201d is one of the frequent causes of these\nrevisitings, seems, like most other of their superstitions, to be\nfounded on experience. I meet with many cases in which some apparently\ntrivial anxiety, or some frustrated communication, prevents the uneasy\nspirit flinging off the bonds that bind it to the earth. I could quote\nmany examples characterized by this feature, but will confine myself to\ntwo or three.\n\nJung Stilling gives a very curious one, which occurred in the year 1746,\nand for the authenticity of which he vouches. A gentleman of the name of\nDorrien, of most excellent character and amiable disposition, who was\ntutor in the Carolina Colleges, at Brunswick, died there in that year;\nand immediately previous to his death he sent to request an interview\nwith another tutor, of the name of Hofer, with whom he had lived on\nterms of friendship. Hofer obeyed the summons, but came too late, the\ndying man was already in the last agonies. After a short time, rumors\nbegan to circulate that Herr Dorrien had been seen by different persons\nabout the college; but as it was with the pupils that these rumors\noriginated, they were supposed to be mere fancies, and no attention\nwhatever was paid to them. At length, however, in the month of October,\nthree months after the decease of Herr Dorrien, a circumstance occurred\nthat excited considerable amazement among the professors. It formed part\nof the duty of Hofer to go through the college every night, between the\nhours of eleven and twelve, for the purpose of ascertaining that all the\nscholars were in bed, and that nothing irregular was going on among\nthem. On the night in question, on entering one of the ante-rooms in the\nexecution of this duty, he saw, to his great amazement, Herr Dorrien,\nseated, in the dressing-gown and white cap he was accustomed to wear,\nand holding the latter with his right hand, in such a manner as to\nconceal the upper part of the face; from the eyes to the chin, however,\nit was distinctly visible. This unexpected sight naturally startled\nHofer, but, summoning resolution, he advanced into the young men\u2019s\nchamber, and, having ascertained that all was in order, closed the door;\nhe then turned his eyes again toward the spectre, and there it sat as\nbefore, whereupon he went up to it, and stretched out his arm toward it;\nbut he was now seized with such a feeling of indescribable horror, that\nhe could scarcely withdraw his hand, which became swollen to a degree\nthat for some months he had no use of it. On the following day he\nrelated this circumstance to the professor of mathematics, Oeder, who of\ncourse treated the thing as a spectral illusion. He, however, consented\nto accompany Hofer on his rounds the ensuing night, satisfied that he\nshould be able either to convince him it was a mere phantasm, or else a\nspectre of flesh and blood that was playing him a trick. They\naccordingly went at the usual hour, but no sooner had the professor set\nhis foot in that same room, than he exclaimed, \u201cBy Heavens! it is\nDorrien himself!\u201d Hofer, in the meantime, proceeded into the chamber as\nbefore, in the pursuance of his duties, and, on his return, they both\ncontemplated the figure for some time; neither of them had, however, the\ncourage to address or approach it, and finally quitted the room, very\nmuch impressed, and perfectly convinced that they had seen Dorrien.\n\nThis incident soon got spread abroad, and many people came in hopes of\nsatisfying their own eyes of the fact, but their pains were fruitless;\nand even Professor Oeder, who had made up his mind to speak to the\napparition, sought it repeatedly in the same place in vain. At length,\nhe gave it up, and ceased to think of it, saying, \u201cI have sought the\nghost long enough; if he has anything to say, he must now seek me.\u201d\nAbout a fortnight after this, he was suddenly awakened, between three\nand four o\u2019clock in the morning, by something moving in his chamber, and\non opening his eyes, he beheld a shadowy form, having the same\nappearance as the spectre, standing in front of a press which was not\nmore than two steps from his bed. He raised himself, and contemplated\nthe figure, the features of which he saw distinctly for some minutes,\ntill it disappeared. On the following night he was awakened in the same\nmanner, and saw the figure as before, with the addition that there was a\nsound proceeded from the door of the press, as if somebody was leaning\nagainst it. The spectre also stayed longer this time, and Professor\nOeder, no doubt frightened and angry, addressing it as an evil spirit,\nbade it begone, whereon it made gestures with its head and hands that\nalarmed him so much, that he adjured it in the name of God to leave him,\nwhich it did. Eight days now elapsed without any further disturbance,\nbut, after that period, the visits of the spirit were resumed, and he\nwas awakened by it repeatedly about three in the morning, when it would\nadvance from the press to the bed, and hang its head over him in a\nmanner so annoying, that he started up and struck at it, whereupon it\nwould retire, but presently advance again. Perceiving now, that the\ncountenance was rather placid and friendly than otherwise, the professor\nat length addressed it, and, having reason to believe that Dorrien had\nleft some debts unpaid, he asked him if that were the case, upon which\nthe spectre retreated some steps, and seemed to place itself in an\nattitude of attention. Oeder reiterated the inquiry, whereupon the\nfigure drew its hand across its mouth, in which the professor now\nobserved a short pipe. \u201cIs it to the barber you are in debt?\u201d he\ninquired. The spectre slowly shook its head. \u201cIs it to the tobacconist,\nthen?\u201d asked he, the question being suggested by the pipe. Hereupon the\nform retreated, and disappeared. On the following day, Oeder narrated\nwhat had occurred to Councillor Erath, one of the curators of the\ncollege, and also to the sister of the deceased, and arrangements were\nmade for discharging the debt. Professor Seidler, of the same college,\nnow proposed to pass the night with Oeder, for the purpose of observing\nif the ghost came again, which it did about five o\u2019clock, and awoke\nOeder as usual, who awoke his companion, but just then the form\ndisappeared, and Seidler said he only saw something white. They then\nboth disposed themselves to sleep, but presently Seidler was aroused by\nOeder\u2019s starting up and striking out, while he cried, with a voice\nexpressive of rage and horror, \u201cBegone! You have tormented me long\nenough! If you want anything of me, say what it is, or give me an\nintelligible sign, and come here no more!\u201d\n\nSeidler heard all this, though he saw nothing; but as soon as Oeder was\nsomewhat appeased, he told him that the figure had returned, and not\nonly approached the bed, but stretched itself upon it. After this, Oeder\nburned a light, and had some one in the room every night. He gained this\nadvantage by the light, that he saw nothing; but about four o\u2019clock, he\nwas generally awakened by noises in his room, and other symptoms that\nsatisfied him the ghost was there. At length, however, this annoyance\nceased also; and trusting that his unwelcome guest had taken his leave,\nhe dismissed his bedfellow, and dispensed with his light. Two nights\npassed quietly over; on the third, however, the spectre returned; but\nvery perceptibly darker. It now presented another sign, or symbol, which\nseemed to represent a picture, with a hole in the middle, through which\nit thrust its head. Oeder was now so little alarmed, that he bade it\nexpress its wishes more clearly, or approach nearer. To these\nrequisitions the apparition shook its head, and then vanished. This\nstrange phenomenon recurred several times, and even in the presence of\nanother curator of the college; but it was with considerable difficulty\nthey discovered what the symbol was meant to convey. They at length,\nhowever, found that Dorrien just before his illness, had obtained, on\ntrial, several pictures for a magic lantern, which had never been\nreturned to their owner. This was now done, and from that time the\napparition was neither seen nor heard again. Professor Oeder made no\nsecret of these circumstances; he related them publicly in court and\ncollege; he wrote the account to several eminent persons, and declared\nhimself ready to attest the facts upon his oath.\n\nStilling, who relates this story, has been called superstitious; he may\nbe so; but his piety and his honesty are above suspicion; he says the\nfacts are well known, and that he can vouch for their authenticity; and\nas he must have been a contemporary of the parties concerned, he had,\ndoubtless, good opportunities of ascertaining what foundation there was\nfor the story. It is certainly a very extraordinary one, and the\ndemeanor of the spirit as little like what we should have naturally\napprehended as possible; but, as I have said before, we have no right to\npronounce any opinion on this subject, except from experience, and there\nare two arguments to be advanced in favor of this narration; the one\nbeing, that I can not imagine anybody setting about to invent a\nghost-story, would have introduced circumstances so apparently\nimprobable and inappropriate; and the other consisting in the fact, that\nI have met with numerous relations, coming from very opposite quarters,\nwhich seem to corroborate the one in question.\n\nWith respect to the cause of the spectre\u2019s appearance, Jung Stilling, I\nthink, reasonably enough, suggests that the poor man had intended to\ncommission Hofer to settle these little affairs for him, but that\ndelaying this duty too long, his mind had been oppressed by the\nrecollection of them in his last moments\u2014he had carried his care with\nhim, and it bound him to the earth. Wherefore, considering how many\npersons die with duties unperformed, this anxiety to repair the neglect,\nis not more frequently manifested, we do not know; some reasons we have\nalready suggested as possible; there may be others of which we can form\nno idea, any more than we can solve the question, why in some cases\ncommunication and even speech seems easy, while in this instance, the\nspirit was only able to convey its wishes by gestures and symbols. Its\naddressing itself to Oeder instead of Hofer, probably arose from its\nfinding communication with him less difficult; the swelling of Hofer\u2019s\narm indicating that his physical nature was not adapted for this\nspiritual intercourse. With respect to Oeder\u2019s expedient of burning a\nlight in his room, in order to prevent his seeing this shadowy form, we\ncan comprehend, that the figure would be discerned more easily on the\ndark ground of comparative obscurity, and that clear light would render\nit invisible. Dr. Kerner mentions, on one occasion, that while sitting\nin an adjoining room, with the door open, he had seen a shadowy figure,\nto whom his patient was speaking, standing beside her bed; and catching\nup a candle, he had rushed toward it; but as soon as he thus illuminated\nthe chamber, he could no longer distinguish it.\n\nThe ineffective and awkward attempts of this apparition to make itself\nunderstood, are not easily to be reconciled to our ideas of a spirit,\nwhile, at the same time, that which it could do, and that which it could\nnot\u2014the powers it possessed and those it wanted\u2014tend to throw some\nlight on its condition. As regards space, we may suppose that, in this\ninstance, what St. Martin said of ghosts in general, may be applicable:\n\u201c_Je ne crois pas aux revenants, mais je crois aux restants_;\u201d that is,\nhe did not believe that spirits who had once quitted the earth returned\nto it, but he believed that some did not quit it, and thus, as the\nsomnambule mentioned in a former chapter said to me, \u201cSome are waiting\nand some are gone on before.\u201d\n\nDorrien\u2019s uneasiness and worldly care chained him to the earth, and he\nwas a _restant_\u2014but, being a spirit, he was inevitably inducted into\nsome of the inherent properties of spirit; matter to him was no\nimpediment, neither doors nor walls could keep him out; he had the\nintuitive perception of whom he could most easily communicate with, or\nhe was brought into rapport with Oeder by the latter\u2019s seeking him; and\nhe could either so act on Oeder\u2019s constructive imagination as to enable\nit to project his own figure, with the short pipe and the pictures, or\nhe could, by the magical power of his will, build up these images out of\nthe constituents of the atmosphere. The last seems the most probable,\nbecause, had the rapport with Oeder, or Oeder\u2019s receptivity, been\nsufficient to enable the spirit to act potently upon him, it would have\nbeen also able to infuse into his mind the wishes it desired to convey,\neven without speech, for speech, as a means of communication between\nspirits, must be quite unnecessary. Even in spite of these dense bodies\nof ours, we have great difficulty in concealing our thoughts from each\nother; and the somnambule reads the thoughts of not only his magnetizer,\nbut of others with whom he is placed in rapport. In cases where speech\nappears to be used by a spirit, it is frequently not audible speech, but\nonly this transference of thought, which appears to be speech from the\nmanner in which the thought is borne in and enters the mind of the\nreceiver; but it is not through his ears, but through his universal\nsupplementary sense, that he receives it; and it is no more like what we\nmean by _hearing_, than is the seeing of a _clairvoyant_, or a spirit,\nlike our seeing by means of our bodily organs. In those cases where the\nspeech is audible to other persons, we must suppose that the magical\nwill of the spirit can, by means of the atmosphere, simulate these\nsounds as it can simulate others, of which I shall have to treat\nby-and-by. It is remarkable that, in some instances, this magical power\nseems to extend so far as to represent to the eye of the seer a form\napparently so real, solid, and lifelike, that it is not recognisable\nfrom the living man; while in other cases the production of a shadowy\nfigure seems to be the limit of its agency, whether limited by its own\nfaculty or the receptivity of its subject: but we must be quite sure\nthat the form is, in either instance, equally ethereal or immaterial.\nAnd it will not be out of place here to refer to the standing joke of\nthe skeptics, about ghosts appearing in coats and waistcoats. Bentham\nthought he had settled the question for ever by that objection; and I\nhave heard it since frequently advanced by very acute persons; but,\nproperly considered, it has not the least validity.\n\nWhether or not the soul on leaving its earthly tabernacle finds itself\nat once clothed with that spiritual body which St. Paul refers to, is\nwhat we can not know, though it seems highly probable; but if it be so,\nwe must be sure that this body resembles in its nature that fluent,\nsubtle kind of matter, called by us imponderables, which are capable of\npenetrating all substances; and unless there be no visible body at all,\nbut only the will of a disembodied spirit acting upon one yet in the\nflesh (in which case it were as easy to impress the imagination with a\nclothed figure as an unclothed one), we must conclude that this ethereal\nflexible form, whether permanent or temporary, may be held together and\nretain its shape by the volition of the spirit, as our bodies are held\ntogether by the principle of life that is in them; and we see in various\ninstances, where the spectator has been bold enough to try the\nexperiment, that though the shadowy body was pervious to any substance\npassed through it, its integrity was only momentarily interrupted, and\nit immediately recovered its previous shape.\n\nNow, as a spirit\u2014provided there be no especial law to the contrary,\npartial or universal, absolute or otherwise, governing the spiritual\nworld\u2014must be where its thoughts and wishes are, just as we should be\nat the place we intently think of, or desire, if our solid bodies did\nnot impede us, so must a spirit appear as it is, or as it _conceives_ of\nitself. Morally, it can only conceive of itself as it is, good or bad,\nlight or dark; but it may conceive of itself clothed as well as\nunclothed; and if it can conceive of its former body, it can equally\nconceive of its former habiliments, and so represent them by its power\nof will to the eye, or present them to the constructive imagination of\nthe seer: and it will be able to do this with a degree of distinctness\nproportioned to the receptivity of the latter, or to the intensity of\nthe rapport which exists between them. Now, considered in this way, the\nappearance of a spirit \u201cin its habit as it lived\u201d is no more\nextraordinary than the appearance of a spirit at all, and it adds no\ncomplexity to the phenomenon. If it appears at all in a recognisable\nform, it must come naked or clothed: the former, to say the least of it,\nwould be much more frightful and shocking; and if it be clothed, I do\nnot see what right we have to expect it shall be in a fancy costume,\nconformable to our ideas (which are no ideas at all) of the other world;\nnor why, if it be endowed with the memory of the past, it should not be\nnatural to suppose it would assume the external aspect it wore during\nits earthly pilgrimage. Certain it is, whether consistent with our\nnotions or not, all tradition seems to show that this is the appearance\nthey assume; and the very fact that on the first view of the case, and\nuntil the question is philosophically considered, the addition of a suit\nof clothes to the phenomenon not only renders its acceptance much more\ndifficult, but throws an air of absurdity and improbability on the whole\nsubject, furnishes a very strong argument in favor of the persuasion\nthat this notion has been founded on experience, and is not the result\nof either fancy or gratuitous invention.\n\nThe idea of spirits appearing like angels, with wings, &c., seems to be\ndrawn from these relations in the Bible, when messengers were sent from\nGod to man; but those departed spirits are not angels, though probably\ndestined in the course of ages to become so: in the meantime, their\nmoral state continues as when they quitted the body, and their memories\nand affections are with the earth\u2014and so, earthly they appear, more or\nless. We meet with some instances in which bright spirits have been\nseen\u2014protecting spirits, for example, who have shaken off their earth\nentirely, clinging to it yet but by some holy affection or mission of\nmercy\u2014and these appear, not with wings, which whenever seen are merely\nsymbolical, for we can not imagine they are necessary to the motion of a\nspirit, but clothed in robes of light. Such appearances, however, seem\nmuch more rare than the others.\n\nIt will seem to many persons very inconsistent with their ideas of the\ndignity of a spirit that they should appear and act in the manner I have\ndescribed, and shall describe further; and I have heard it objected that\nwe can not suppose God would permit the dead to return merely to\nfrighten the living, and that it is showing him little reverence to\nimagine he would suffer them to come on such trifling errands, or demean\nthemselves in so undignified a fashion. But God permits men of all\ndegrees of wickedness, and of every kind of absurdity, to exist, and to\nharass and disturb the earth, while they expose themselves to its\nobloquy or its ridicule.\n\nNow, as I have observed in a former chapter, there is nothing more\nperplexing to us in regarding man as a responsible being, than the\ndegree to which we have reason to believe his moral nature is influenced\nby his physical organization; but leaving this difficult question to be\ndecided (if ever it can be decided in this world) by wiser heads than\nmine, there is one thing of which we may rest perfectly assured, namely,\nthat let the fault of an impure, or vicious, or even merely sensuous\nlife, lie where it will\u2014whether it be the wicked spirit within, or the\nill-organized body without, or a _tertium quid_ of both combined\u2014still\nthe soul that has been a party to this earthly career, must be soiled\nand deteriorated by its familiarity with evil; and there seems much\nreason to believe that the dissolution of the connection between the\nsoul and body produces far less change in the former than has been\ncommonly supposed. People generally think\u2014if they think on the subject\nat all\u2014that as soon as they are dead, if they have lived tolerably\nvirtuous lives, or indeed been free from any great crimes, they will\nimmediately find themselves provided with wings, and straightway fly up\nto some delightful place, which they call heaven, forgetting how unfit\nthey are for heavenly fellowship; and although I can not help thinking\nthat the Almighty has mercifully permitted occasional relaxations of the\nboundaries that separate the dead from the living, for the purpose of\nshowing us our error, we are determined not to avail ourselves of the\nadvantage. I do not mean that these spirits\u2014these _revenants_ or\n_restants_\u2014are special messengers sent to warn us: I only mean that\ntheir occasionally \u201crevisiting the glimpses of the moon\u201d form the\nexceptional cases in a great general law of nature which divides the\nspiritual from the material world; and that, in framing this law, these\nexceptions may have been designed for our benefit.\n\nThere are several stories extant in the English, and a vast number in\nthe German records, which, supposing them to be well founded\u2014and I\nrepeat, that for many of them we have just as good evidence as for\nanything else we believe as hearsay or tradition\u2014would go to confirm\nthe fact that the spirits of the dead are sometimes disturbed by what\nappear to us very trifling cares. I give the following case from Dr.\nKerner, who says it was related to him by a very respectable man, on\nwhose word he can entirely rely:\u2014\n\n\u201cI was,\u201d said Mr. St. S\u2014\u2014, of S\u2014\u2014, \u201cthe son of a man who had no\nfortune but his business, in which he was ultimately successful. At\nfirst, however, his means being narrow, he was perhaps too anxious and\ninclined to parsimony; so that when my mother, careful housewife as she\nwas, asked him for money, the demand generally led to a quarrel. This\noccasioned her great uneasiness, and having mentioned this\ncharacteristic of her husband to her father, the old man advised her to\nget a second key made to the money-chest, unknown to her husband,\nconsidering this expedient allowable and even preferable to the\ndestruction of their conjugal felicity, and feeling satisfied that she\nwould make no ill use of the power possessed. My mother followed his\nadvice, very much to the advantage of all parties; and nobody suspected\nthe existence of this second key except myself, whom she had admitted\ninto her confidence.\n\n\u201cTwo-and-twenty years my parents lived happily together, when I, being\nat the time about eighteen hours\u2019 journey from home, received a letter\nfrom my father informing me that she was ill\u2014that he hoped for her\nspeedy amendment\u2014but that if she grew worse he would send a horse to\nfetch me home to see her. I was extremely busy at that time, and\ntherefore waited for further intelligence; and as several days elapsed\nwithout any reaching me, I trusted my mother was convalescent. One\nnight, feeling myself unwell, I had lain down on the bed with my clothes\non to take a little rest. It was between 11 and 12 o\u2019clock, and I had\nnot been asleep, when some one knocked at the door, and my mother\nentered, dressed as she usually was. She saluted me, and said: \u2018We shall\nsee each other no more in this world: but I have an injunction to give\nyou. I have given that key to R\u2014\u2014 (naming a servant we then had), and\nshe will remit it to you. Keep it carefully, or throw it into the water,\nbut never let your father see it\u2014it would trouble him. Farewell, and\nwalk virtuously through life.\u2019 And with these words she turned and\nquitted the room by the door, as she had entered it. I immediately\narose, called up my people, expressed my apprehension that my mother was\ndead, and, without further delay, started for home. As I approached the\nhouse, R\u2014\u2014, the maid, came out and informed me that my mother had\nexpired between the hours of 11 and 12 on the preceding night. As there\nwas another person present at the moment, she said nothing further to\nme, but she took an early opportunity of remitting me the key, saying\nthat my mother had given it to her just before she expired, desiring her\nto place it in my hands, with an injunction that I should keep it\ncarefully, or fling it into the water, so that my father might never\nknow anything about it. I took the key, kept it for some years, and at\nlength threw it into the Lahne.\u201d\n\nI am aware that it may be objected by those who believe in wraiths, but\nin no other kind of apparition, that this phenomenon occurred before the\ndeath of the lady, and that it was produced by her energetic anxiety\nwith regard to the key. It may be so, or it may not; but, at all events,\nwe see in this case how a comparatively trifling uneasiness may disturb\na dying person, and how, therefore\u2014if memory remains to them\u2014they may\ncarry it with them, and seek, by such means as they have, to obtain\nrelief from it.\n\nA remarkable instance of anxiety for the welfare of those left behind,\nis exhibited in the following story, which I received from a member of\nthe family concerned: Mrs. R\u2014\u2014, a lady very well connected, lost her\nhusband when in the prime of life, and found herself with fourteen\nchildren, unprovided for. The overwhelming nature of the calamity\ndepressed her energies to such a degree as to render her incapable of\nthose exertions which could alone redeem them from ruin. The flood of\nmisfortune seemed too strong for her, and she yielded to it without\nresistance. She had thus given way to despondency some time, when one\nday, as she was sitting alone, the door opened, and her mother, who had\nbeen a considerable time dead, entered the room and addressed her,\nreproving her for this weak indulgence of useless sorrow, and bidding\nher exert herself for the sake of her children. From that period she\nthrew off the depression, set actively to work to promote the fortunes\nof her family, and succeeded so well that they ultimately emerged from\nall their difficulties. I asked the gentleman who related this\ncircumstance to me whether he believed it. He answered, that he could\nonly assure me that she herself affirmed the fact, and that she avowedly\nattributed the sudden change in her character and conduct to this\ncause;\u2014for his own part, he did not know what to say, finding it\ndifficult to believe in the possibility of such a visit from the dead.\n\nA somewhat similar instance is related by Dr. Kerner, which he says he\nreceived from the party himself, a man of sense and probity. This\ngentleman, Mr. F\u2014\u2014, at an early age lost his mother. Two-and-twenty\nyears afterward he formed an attachment to a young person, whose hand he\nresolved to ask in marriage. Having one evening seated himself at his\ndesk, for the purpose of writing his proposal, he was amazed, on\naccidentally lifting his eyes from the paper, to see his mother, looking\nexactly as if alive, seated opposite to him, while she, raising her\nfinger with a warning gesture, said: \u201cDo not that thing!\u201d Not the least\nalarmed, Mr. F\u2014\u2014 started up to approach her, whereupon she\ndisappeared. Being very much attached to the lady, however, he did not\nfeel disposed to follow her counsel; but having read the letter to his\nfather, who highly approved of the match and laughed at the ghost, he\nreturned to his chamber to seal it; when, while he was adding the\nsuperscription, she again appeared as before and reiterated her\ninjunction. But love conquered; the letter was despatched, the marriage\nensued, and, after ten years of strife and unhappiness, was dissolved by\na judicial process.\n\nA remarkable circumstance occurred about forty years ago, in the family\nof Dr. Paulus, at Stuttgard. The wife of the head of the family having\ndied, they, with some of their connections, were sitting at table a few\ndays afterward, in the room adjoining that in which the corpse lay;\nsuddenly the door of the latter apartment opened, and the figure of the\nmother clad in white robes entered, and, saluting them as she passed,\nwalked slowly and noiselessly through the room, and then disappeared\nagain through the door by which she had entered. The whole company saw\nthe apparition; but the father, who was at that time quite in health,\ndied eight days afterward.\n\nMadame R\u2014\u2014 had promised an old wood-cutter\u2014who had a particular\nhorror of dying in the poor-house, because he knew his body would be\ngiven to the surgeons\u2014that she would take care to see him properly\ninterred. The old man lived some years afterward, and she had quite lost\nsight of him, and indeed forgotten the circumstance, when she was one\nnight awakened by the sound of some one cutting wood in her bed-chamber;\nand so perfect was the imitation, that she heard, every log flung aside\nas separated. She started up, exclaiming, \u201cThe old man must be dead!\u201d\nand so it proved,\u2014his last anxiety having been that Madame R\u2014\u2014 should\nremember her promise.\n\nThat our interest in whatever has much concerned us in this life\naccompanies us beyond the grave, seems to be proved by many stories I\nmeet with, and the following is of undoubted authenticity: Some years\nago, a music-master died at Erfert at the age of seventy. He was a\nmiser, and had never looked with very friendly eyes on Professor Rinck,\nthe composer, who he knew was likely to succeed to his classes. The old\nman had lived and died in an apartment adjoining the class-room; and the\nfirst day that Rinck entered on his office, while the scholars were\nsinging _Aus der tiefe ruf ich dich_, which is a paraphrase of the _De\nprofundis_, he thought he saw, through a hole or bull\u2019s eye in the door,\nsomething moving about the inner chamber. As the room was void of every\nkind of furniture, and nobody could possibly be in it, Rinck looked more\nfixedly, when he distinctly saw a shadow, whose movements were\naccompanied by a strange rustling sound. Perplexed at the circumstance,\nhe told his pupils that on the following day he should require them to\nrepeat the same choral. They did so; and while they were singing, Rinck\nsaw a person walking backward and forward in the next room, who\nfrequently approached the hole in the door. Very much struck with so\nextraordinary a circumstance, Rinck had the choral repeated on the\nensuing day,\u2014and this time his suspicions were fully confirmed; the old\nman, his predecessor, approaching the door, and gazing steadfastly into\nthe class-room. \u201cHis face,\u201d said Rinck\u2014in relating the story to Dr.\nMainzer, who has obligingly furnished it to me as entered in his journal\nat the time\u2014\u201cwas of an ashy-gray. The apparition,\u201d he added, \u201cnever\nmore appeared to me, although I frequently had the choral repeated.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am no believer in ghost-stories,\u201d he added, \u201cnor in the least\nsuperstitious; nevertheless, I can not help admitting that I have seen\nthis: it is impossible for me ever to doubt or to deny that which I know\nI saw.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X.\n\n\n                       THE FUTURE THAT AWAITS US.\n\nIN all ages of the world, and in all parts of it, mankind have earnestly\ndesired to learn the fate that awaited them when they had \u201cshuffled off\nthis mortal coil;\u201d and those pretending to be their instructors have\nbuilt up different systems which have stood in the stead of knowledge,\nand more or less satisfied the bulk of the people. The interest on this\nsubject is, at the present period, in the most highly civilized portions\nof the globe, less than it has been at any preceding one. The great\nproportion of us live for this world alone, and think very little of the\nnext: we are in too great a hurry of pleasure or business to bestow any\ntime on a subject of which we have such vague notions\u2014notions so vague,\nthat, in short, we can scarcely by any effort of the imagination bring\nthe idea home to ourselves; and when we are about to die, we are seldom\nin a situation to do more than resign ourselves to what is inevitable,\nand blindly meet our fate; while, on the other hand, what is generally\ncalled the religious world is so engrossed by its struggles for power\nand money, or by its sectarian disputes and enmities, and so narrowed\nand circumscribed by dogmatic orthodoxies, that it has neither\ninclination nor liberty to turn back or look around, and endeavor to\ngather up from past records and present observation such hints as are\nnow and again dropped in our path, to give us an intimation of what the\ntruth may be. The rationalistic age, too, out of which we are only just\nemerging, and which succeeded one of gross superstition, having settled,\nbeyond appeal, that there never was such a thing as a ghost\u2014that the\ndead never do come back to tell us the secrets of their prison-house,\nand that nobody believes such idle tales but children and old\nwomen\u2014seemed to have shut the door against the only channel through\nwhich any information could be sought. Revelation tells us very little\non this subject\u2014reason can tell us nothing; and if Nature is equally\nsilent, or if we are to be deterred from questioning her from the fear\nof ridicule, there is certainly no resource left us but to rest\ncontented in our ignorance, and each wait till the awful secret is\ndisclosed to ourselves.\n\nA great many things have been pronounced untrue and absurd, and even\nimpossible, by the highest authorities of the age in which they lived,\nwhich have afterward, and indeed within a very short period, been found\nto be both possible and true. I confess myself, for one, to have no\nrespect whatever for these dogmatic denials and affirmations, and I am\nquite of opinion that vulgar incredulity is a much more contemptible\nthing than vulgar credulity. We know very little of what _is_, and still\nless of what may be; and till a thing has been proved, by induction,\nlogically impossible, we have no right whatever to pronounce that it is\nso. As I have said before, _a priori_ conclusions are perfectly\nworthless; and the sort of investigation that is bestowed upon subjects\nof the class of which I am treating, something worse\u2014inasmuch as they\ndeceive the timid and the ignorant, and that very numerous class which\npins its faith on authority and never ventures to think for itself, by\nan assumption of wisdom and knowledge, which, if examined and analyzed,\nwould very frequently prove to be nothing more respectable than\nobstinate prejudice and rash assertion.\n\nFor my own part, I repeat, I insist upon nothing. The opinions I have\nformed, from the evidence collected, may be quite erroneous; if so, as I\nseek only the truth, I shall be glad to be undeceived, and shall be\nquite ready to accept a better explanation of these facts, whenever it\nis offered to me: but it is in vain to tell me that this explanation is\nto be found in what is called imagination, or in a morbid state of the\nnerves, or an unusual excitement of the organs of color and form, or in\nimposture; or in all these together. The existence of all such sources\nof error and delusion I am far from denying, but I find instances that\nit is quite impossible to reduce under any one of those categories, as\nwe at present understand them. The multiplicity of these instances,\ntoo\u2014for, not to mention the large number that are never made known or\ncarefully concealed, if I were to avail myself liberally of cases\nalready recorded in various works, many of which I know, and many others\nI hear of as existing, but which I can not conveniently get access to, I\nmight fill volumes (German literature abounds in them)\u2014the number of\nthe examples, I repeat, even on the supposition that they are not facts,\nwould of itself form the subject of a very curious physiological or\npsychological inquiry. If so many people in respectable situations of\nlife, and in apparently a normal state of health, are capable of either\nsuch gross impostures, or the subjects of such extraordinary spectral\nillusions, it would certainly be extremely satisfactory to learn\nsomething of the conditions that induce these phenomena in such\nabundance; and all I expect from my book at present is, to induce a\nsuspicion that we are not quite so wise as we think ourselves; and that\nit might be worth while to inquire a little seriously into reports,\nwhich may perchance turn out to have a deeper interest for us than all\nthose various questions, public and private, put together, with which we\nare daily agitating ourselves.\n\nI have alluded, in an earlier part of this work, to the belief\nentertained by the ancients that the souls of men, on being disengaged\nfrom the bodies, passed into a middle state, called Hades, in which\ntheir portions seemed to be neither that of complete happiness nor of\ninsupportable misery. They retained their personality, their human form,\ntheir memory of the past, and their interest in those that had been dear\nto them on earth. Communications were occasionally made by the dead to\nthe living: they mourned over their duties neglected and their errors\ncommitted; many of their mortal feelings, passions, and propensities,\nseemed to survive; and they sometimes sought to repair, through the\ninstrumentality of the living, the injuries they had formerly inflicted.\nIn short, death was merely a transition from one condition of life to\nanother; but in this latter state, although we do not see them condemned\nto undergo any torments, we perceive that they are not happy. There are,\nindeed, compartments in this dark region: there is Tartarus for the\nwicked, and the Elysian fields for the good, but they are comparatively\nthinly peopled. It is in the mid-region that these pale shades abound,\nconsistently with the fact that here on earth, moral as well as\nintellectual mediocrity is the rule, and extremes of good or evil the\nexceptions.\n\nWith regard to the opinion entertained of a future state by the Hebrews,\nthe Old Testament gives us very little information; but what glimpses we\ndo obtain of it appear to exhibit notions analogous to those of the\nheathen nations, inasmuch as that the personality and the form seem to\nbe retained, and the possibility of these departed spirits revisiting\nthe earth and holding commune with the living is admitted. The request\nof the rich man, also, that Lazarus might be sent to warn his brethren,\nyet alive, of his own miserable condition, testifies to the existence of\nthese opinions; and it is worthy of remark that the favor is denied, not\nbecause its performance is impossible, but because the mission would be\nunavailing\u2014a prediction which, it appears to me, time has singularly\njustified.\n\nAltogether, the notion that in the state entered upon after we leave\nthis world, the personality and form are retained, that these shades\nsometimes revisit the earth, and that the memory of the past still\nsurvives, seems to be universal; for it is found to exist among all\npeople, savage and civilized: and if not founded on observation and\nexperience, it becomes difficult to account for such unanimity on a\nsubject which I think, speculatively considered, would not have been\nproductive of such results; and one proof of this is, that those who\nreject such testimony and tradition as we have in regard to it, and rely\nonly on their own understandings, appear to be pretty uniformly led to\nform opposite conclusions. They can not discern the mode of such a\nphenomenon; it is open to all sorts of scientific objections, and the\n_cui bono_ sticks in their teeth.\n\nThis position being admitted, as I think it must be, we have but one\nresource left, whereby to account for the universality of this\npersuasion\u2014which is, that in all periods and places, both mankind and\nwomankind, as well in health as in sickness, have been liable to a\nseries of spectral illusions of a most extraordinary and complicated\nnature, and bearing such a remarkable similarity to each other in regard\nto the objects supposed to be seen or heard, that they have been\nuniversally led to the same erroneous interpretation of the phenomenon.\nIt is manifestly not impossible that this may be the case; and if it be\nso, it becomes the business of physiologists to inquire into the matter,\nand give us some account of it. In the meantime, we may be permitted to\ntake the other view of the question, and examine what probabilities seem\nto be in its favor.\n\nWhen the body is about to die, that which can not die, and which, to\nspare words, I will call THE SOUL, departs from it\u2014whither? We do not\nknow: but, in the first place, we have no reason to believe that the\nspace destined for its habitation is far removed from the earth, since,\nknowing nothing about it, we are equally entitled to suppose the\ncontrary; and, in the next, that which we call distance is a condition\nthat merely regards material objects, and of which a spirit is quite\nindependent, just as our thoughts are, which can travel from here to\nChina, and back again, in a second of time.\n\nWell, then, supposing this being to exist somewhere\u2014and it is not\nunreasonable to suppose that the souls of the inhabitants of each planet\ncontinue to hover within the sphere of that planet, to which, for\nanything we can tell, they may be attached by a magnetic\nattraction\u2014supposing it to find itself in space, free of the body,\nendowed with the memory of the past, and consequently with a\nconsciousness of its own deserts, able to perceive that which we do not\nordinarily perceive, namely, those who have passed into a similar state\nwith itself\u2014will it not naturally seek its place among those spirits\nwhich most resemble itself, and with whom, therefore, it must have the\nmost affinity? On earth, the good seek the good, and the wicked the\nwicked: and the axiom that \u201clike associates with like,\u201d we can not doubt\nwill be as true hereafter as now. \u201cIn my Father\u2019s house there are many\nmansions,\u201d and our intuitive sense of what is fit and just must needs\nassure us that this is so. There are too many degrees of moral worth and\nof moral unworth among mankind, to permit of our supposing that justice\ncould be satisfied by an abrupt division into two opposite classes. On\nthe contrary, there must be infinite shades of desert; and, as we must\nconsider that that which a spirit enters into on leaving the body is not\nso much a _place_ as a _condition_, so there must be as many degrees of\nhappiness or suffering as there are individuals, each carrying with him\nhis own heaven or hell. For it is a vulgar notion to imagine that heaven\nand hell are _places_; they are states; and it is in ourselves we must\nlook for both. When we leave the body, we carry them with us: \u201cAs the\ntree falls, so it shall lie.\u201d The soul which here has wallowed in\nwickedness or been sunk in sensuality, will not be suddenly purified by\nthe death of the body: its moral condition remains what its earthly\nsojourn has trained it to, but its means of indulging its propensities\nare lost. If it has had no godly aspirations here, it will not be drawn\nto God there; and if it has so bound itself to the body that it has\nknown no happiness but that to which the body ministered, it will be\nincapable of happiness when deprived of that enjoyment. Here we see at\nonce what a variety of conditions must necessarily ensue\u2014how many\ncomparatively negative states there must be between those of positive\nhappiness or positive misery!\n\nWe may thus conceive how a soul, on entering upon this new condition,\nmust find its own place or state; if its thoughts and aspirations here\nhave been heavenward, and its pursuits noble, its conditions will be\nheavenly. The contemplation of God\u2019s works, seen not as by our mortal\neyes, but in their beauty and their truth and ever-glowing sentiments of\nlove and gratitude\u2014and, for aught we know, good offices to souls in\nneed\u2014would constitute a suitable heaven or happiness for such a being;\nan incapacity for such pleasures, and the absence of all others, would\nconstitute a negative state, in which the chief suffering would consist\nin mournful regrets and a vague longing for something better, which the\nuntrained soul, that never lifted itself from the earth, knows not how\nto seek; while malignant passions and unquenchable desires would\nconstitute the appropriate hell of the wicked; for we must remember,\nthat although a spirit is independent of those physical laws which are\nthe conditions of matter, the moral law, which is indestructible,\nbelongs peculiarly to it\u2014that is, to the spirit\u2014and is inseparable\nfrom it.\n\nWe must next remember, that this earthly body we inhabit is more or less\na mask, by means of which we conceal from each other those thoughts\nwhich, if constantly exposed, would unfit us for living in community;\nbut when we die, this mask falls away, and the truth shows nakedly:\nthere is no more disguise; we appear as we are\u2014spirits of light, or\nspirits of darkness;\u2014and there can be no difficulty, I should think, in\nconceiving this, since we know that even our present opaque and\ncomparatively inflexible features, in spite of all efforts to the\ncontrary, will be the index of the mind; and that the expression of the\nface is gradually moulded to the fashion of the thoughts. How much more\nmust this be the case with the fluent and diaphanous body which we\nexpect is to succeed the fleshly one!\n\nThus, I think, we have arrived at forming some conception of the state\nthat awaits us hereafter: the indestructible moral law fixes our place\nor condition; affinity governs our associations; and the mask under\nwhich we conceal ourselves having fallen away, we appear to each other\nas we are;\u2014and I must here observe, that in this last circumstance must\nbe comprised one very important element of happiness or misery; for the\nlove of the pure spirits for each other will be for ever excited, by\nsimply beholding that beauty and brightness which will be the\ninalienable expression of their goodness;\u2014while the reverse will be the\ncase with the spirits of darkness; for no one loves wickedness, in\neither themselves or others, however we may practise it. We must also\nunderstand, that the words \u201cdark\u201d and \u201clight\u201d\u2014which, in this world of\nappearance, we use metaphorically to express good and evil\u2014must be\nunderstood literally when speaking of that other world where everything\nwill be seen as it is. Goodness is truth, and truth is light\u2014and\nwickedness is falsehood, and falsehood is darkness; and so it will be\nseen to be. Those who have not the light of truth to guide them, will\nwander darkly through this valley of the shadow of death; those in whom\nthe light of goodness shines will dwell in the light, which is inherent\nin themselves. The former will be in the kingdom of darkness\u2014the latter\nin the kingdom of light. All the records existing of the blessed spirits\nthat have appeared, ancient or modern, exhibit them as robed in light,\nwhile their anger or sorrow is symbolized by their darkness. Now, there\nappears to me nothing incomprehensible in this view of the future; on\nthe contrary, it is the only one which I ever found myself capable of\nconceiving or reconciling with the justice and mercy of our Creator. He\ndoes not punish us\u2014we punish ourselves: we have built up a heaven or a\nhell to our own liking, and we carry it with us. The fire that for ever\nburns without consuming, is the fiery evil in which we have chosen our\npart; and the heaven in which we shall dwell, will be the heavenly peace\nwhich will dwell in us. We are our own judges and our own chastisers.\nAnd here I must say a few words on the subject of that apparently (to\nus) preternatural memory which is developed under certain circumstances,\nand to which I alluded in a former chapter. Every one will have heard\nthat persons who have been drowned and recovered, have had\u2014in what\nwould have been their last moments, if no means had been used to revive\nthem\u2014a strange vision of the past, in which their whole life seemed to\nfloat before them in review; and I have heard of the same phenomenon\ntaking place, in moments of impending death, in other forms. Now, as it\nis not during the struggle for life, but immediately before\ninsensibility ensues, that this vision occurs, it must be the act of a\nmoment; and this renders incomprehensible to us what is said by the\nseeress of Prevorst, and other somnambules of the highest order, namely,\nthat the instant the soul is freed from the body, it sees its whole\nearthly career in a single sign: it knows that it is good or evil, and\npronounces its own sentence. The extraordinary memory occasionally\nexhibited in sickness, where the link between the soul and the body is\nprobably loosened, shows us an adumbration of this faculty.\n\nBut this self-pronounced sentence we are led to hope is not final; nor\ndoes it seem consistent with the love and mercy of God that it should be\nso. There must be few, indeed, who leave this earth fit for heaven; for,\nalthough the immediate frame of mind in which dissolution takes place is\nprobably very important, it is surely a pernicious error, encouraged by\njail chaplains and philanthropists, that a late repentance and a few\nparting prayers can purify a soul sullied by years of wickedness. Would\nwe at once receive such a one into our intimate communion and love?\nShould we not require time for the stains of vice to be washed away and\nhabits of virtue to be formed? Assuredly we should! And how can we\nimagine that the purity of heaven is to be sullied by that approximation\nwhich the purity of earth would forbid? It would be cruel to say, and\nirrational to think, that this late repentance is of no avail; it is\ndoubtless so far of avail, that the straining upward and the heavenly\naspirations of the parting soul are carried with it, so that when it is\nfree, instead of choosing the darkness it will flee to as much light as\nis in itself, and be ready, through the mercy of God and the ministering\nof brighter spirits, to receive more. But in this case, as also in the\ninnumerable instances of those who die in what may be called a negative\nstate, the advance must be progressive; though, wherever the desire\nexists, I must believe that this advance is possible. If not, wherefore\ndid Christ, after being \u201cput to death in the flesh,\u201d go and \u201cpreach to\nthe spirits in prison\u201d? It would have been a mockery to preach salvation\nto those who had no hope; nor would they, having no hope, have listened\nto the preacher.\n\nI think these views are at once cheering, encouraging, and beautiful;\nand I can not but believe, that were they more generally entertained and\nmore intimately conceived, they would be very beneficial in their\neffects. As I have said before, the extremely vague notions people have\nof a future life prevent the possibility of its exercising any great\ninfluence upon the present. The picture, on one side, is too revolting\nand inconsistent with our ideas of Divine goodness to be deliberately\naccepted; while, with regard to the other, our feelings somewhat\nresemble those of a little girl I once knew, who, being told by her\nmother what was to be the reward of goodness if she were so happy as to\nreach heaven, put her finger in her eye and began to cry, exclaiming,\n\u201cOh, mamma, how tired I shall be singing!\u201d\n\nThe question which will now naturally arise, and which I am bound to\nanswer, is, how have these views been formed? and what is the authority\nfor them? And the answer I have to make will startle many minds when I\nsay, that they have been gathered from two sources; first and chiefly\nfrom the state in which those spirits appear to be, and sometimes avow\nthemselves to be, who, after quitting the earth, return to it and make\nthemselves visible to the living; and, secondly, from the revelations of\nnumerous somnambules of the highest order, which entirely conform in all\ncases, not only with the revelations of the dead, but with each other. I\ndo not mean to imply, when I say this, that I consider the question\nfinally settled as to whether somnambules are really clear-seers or only\nvisionaries; nor that I have by any means established the fact that the\ndead do sometimes actually return; but I am obliged to beg the question\nfor the moment, since, whether these sources be pure or impure, it is\nfrom them the information has been collected. It is true that these\nviews are extremely conformable with those entertained by Plato and his\nschool of philosophers, and also with those of the mystics of a later\nage; but the latter certainly, and the former probably, built up their\nsystems on the same foundation; and I am very far from using the term\n_mystics_ in the opprobrious, or at least contemptuous, tone in which it\nhas of late years been uttered in this country; for, although abounding\nin errors, as regarded the concrete, and although their want of an\ninductive _methodology_ led them constantly astray in the region of the\nreal, they were sublime teachers in that of the ideal; and they seem to\nhave been endowed with a wonderful insight into this veiled department\nof our nature.\n\nIt may be here objected, that we only admire their insight, because,\nbeing in entire ignorance of the subject of it, we accept raving for\nrevelation; and that no weight can be attached to the conformity of\nlater disclosures with theirs, since they have no doubt been founded\nupon them. As to the ignorance, it is admitted; and, simply looking at\ntheir views, as they stand, they have nothing to support them but their\nsublimity and consistency; but, as regards the value of the evidence\nafforded by conformity, it rests on very different grounds; for the\nreporters from whom we collect our intelligence are, with very few\nexceptions, those of whom we may safely predicate, that they were wholly\nunacquainted with the systems promulgated by the Platonic philosophers,\nor the mystics either, nor, in most instances, had ever heard of their\nnames; for, as regards that peculiar somnambulic state which is here\nreferred to, the subjects of it appear to be generally very young people\nof either sex, and chiefly girls; and, as regards ghost-seeing, although\nthis phenomenon seems to have no connection with the age of the seer,\nyet it is not usually from the learned or the cultivated that we collect\nour cases, inasmuch as the apprehension of ridicule on the one hand, and\nthe fast hold the doctrine of spectral illusions has taken of them on\nthe other, prevent their believing in their own senses, or producing any\nevidence they might have to furnish.\n\nAnd here will be offered another subtle objection, namely, that the\ntestimony of such witnesses as I have above described is perfectly\nworthless; but this I deny. The somnambulic states I allude to, are such\nas have been developed, not artificially, but naturally; and often,\nunder very extraordinary nervous diseases, accompanied with catalepsy,\nand various symptoms far beyond feigning. Such cases are rare, and, in\nthis country, seem to have been very little observed, for doubtless they\nmust occur, and when they do occur they are very carefully concealed by\nthe families of the patient, and not followed up or investigated as a\npsychological phenomenon by the physician; for it is to be observed\nthat, without questioning, no revelations are made; they are not, as far\nas I know, ever spontaneous. I have heard of two such cases in this\ncountry, both occurring in the higher classes, and both patients being\nyoung ladies; but, although surprising phenomena were exhibited,\ninterrogation was not permitted, and the particulars were never allowed\nto transpire.\n\nNo doubt there are examples of error and examples of imposture, so there\nare in everything where room is to be found for them; and I am quite\naware of the propensity of hysterical patients to deceive, but it is for\nthe judicious observers to examine the genuineness of each particular\ninstance; and it is perfectly certain and well established by the German\nphysiologists and psychologists, who have carefully studied the subject,\nthat there are many above all suspicion. Provided, then, that the case\nbe genuine, it remains to be determined how much value is to be attached\nto the revelations, for they may be quite honestly delivered, and yet be\nutterly worthless\u2014the mere ravings of a disordered brain; and it is\nhere that conformity becomes important, for I can not admit the\nobjection that the simple circumstance of the patients being diseased\ninvalidates their evidence so entirely as to annul even the value of\ntheir unanimity, because, although it is not logically impossible that a\ncertain state of nervous derangement should occasion all somnambules, of\nthe class in question, to make similar answers, when interrogated\nregarding a subject of which, in their normal condition, they know\nnothing, and on which they have never reflected, and that these answers\nshould be not only consistent, but disclosing far more elevated views\nthan are evolved by minds of a very superior order which _have_\nreflected on it very deeply\u2014I say, although this is not logically\nimpossible, it will assuredly be found, by most persons, an hypothesis\nof much more difficult acceptance than the one I propose; namely, that\nwhatever be the cause of the effect, these patients are in a state of\nclear-seeing, wherein they have \u201cmore than mortal knowledge;\u201d that is,\nmore knowledge than mortals possess in their normal condition: and it\nmust not be forgotten, that we have some facts confessed by all\nexperienced physicians and physiologists, even in this country, proving\nthat there are states of disease in which preternatural faculties have\nbeen developed, such as no theory has yet satisfactorily accounted for.\n\nBut Dr. Passavent, who has written a very philosophical work on the\nsubject of vital magnetism and clear-seeing, asserts, that it is an\nerror to imagine that the ecstatic condition is merely the product of\ndisease. He says, that it has sometimes exhibited itself in persons of\nvery vigorous constitutions, instancing Joan of Arc, a woman, whom\nhistorians have little understood, and whose memory Voltaire\u2019s\ndetestable poem has ridiculed and degraded, but who was, nevertheless, a\ngreat psychological phenomenon.\n\nThe circumstance, too, that phenomena of this kind are more frequently\ndeveloped in women than in men, and that they are merely the consequence\nof her greater nervous irritability, has been made another objection to\nthem\u2014an objection, however, which Dr. Passavent considers founded on\nignorance of the essential difference between the sexes, which is not\nmerely a physical but a psychological one. Man is more productive than\nreceptive. In a state of perfectibility, both attributes would be\nequally developed in him; but in this terrestrial life, only imperfect\nphases of the entire sum of the soul\u2019s faculties are so. Mankind are but\nchildren, male or female, young or old; of man, in his totality, we have\nbut faint adumbrations, here and there.\n\nThus the ecstatic woman will be more frequently a seer, instinctive and\nintuitive; man, a doer and a worker; and as all genius is a degree of\necstasy or clear-seeing, we perceive the reason wherefore in man it is\nmore productive than in woman, and that our greatest poets and artists,\nin all kinds, are of the former sex, and even the most remarkable women\nproduce but little in science or art; while on the other hand, the\nfeminine instinct, and tact, and intuitive seeing of truth, are\nfrequently more sure than the ripe and deliberate judgment of man; and\nit is hence that solitude and such conditions as develop the passive or\nreceptive at the expense of the active, tend to produce this state, and\nto assimilate the man more to the nature of the woman; while in her they\nintensify these distinguishing characteristics; and this is also the\nreason that simple and child-like people and races are the most frequent\nsubjects of these phenomena.\n\nIt is only necessary to read Mozart\u2019s account of his own moments of\ninspiration, to comprehend not only the similarity, but the positive\nidentity, of the ecstatic state with the state of genius in activity.\n\u201cWhen all goes well with me,\u201d he says\u2014\u201cwhen I am in a carriage, or\nwalking, or when I can not sleep at night, the thoughts come streaming\nin upon me most fluently: whence, or how, is more than I can tell. What\ncomes, I hum to myself as it proceeds. Then follow the counterpoint and\nthe clang of the different instruments; and, if I am not disturbed, my\nsoul is fixed, and the thing grows greater, and broader, and clearer;\nand I have it all in my head, even when the piece is a long one; and I\nsee it like a beautiful picture\u2014not hearing the different parts in\nsuccession as they must be played, but the whole at once. That is the\ndelight! The composing and the making is like a beautiful and vivid\ndream; but this hearing of it is the best of all.\u201d\n\nWhat is this but clear-seeing, backward and forward, the past and the\nfuture? The one faculty is not a whit more surprising and\nincomprehensible than the other, to those who possess neither; only we\nsee the material product of one, and therefore believe in it. But, as\nPassavent justly observes, these coruscations belong not to genius\nexclusively\u2014they are latent in all men. In the highly-gifted this\ndivine spark becomes a flame to light the world withal; but even in the\ncoarsest and least-developed organizations, it may and does momentarily\nbreak forth. The germ of the highest spiritual life is in the rudest,\naccording to its degree, as well as in the highest form of man we have\nyet seen;\u2014he is but a more imperfect type of the race, in whom this\nspiritual germ has not unfolded itself.\n\nThen, with respect to our second source of information, I am quite aware\nthat it is equally difficult to establish its validity; but there are a\nfew arguments in our favor here, too. In the first place, as Dr. Johnson\nsays, though all reason is against us, all tradition is for us; and this\nconformity of tradition is surely of some weight, since I think it would\nbe difficult to find any parallel instance of a universal tradition that\nwas entirely without a foundation in truth; for with respect to\nwitchcraft, the belief in which is equally universal, we now know that\nthe phenomena were generally facts, although the interpretations put\nupon them were fables. It may certainly be objected that this universal\nbelief in ghosts only arises from the universal prevalence of spectral\nillusions; but if so, as I have before observed, these spectral\nillusions become a subject of very curious inquiry; for, in the first\nplace, they frequently occur under circumstances the least likely to\ninduce them, and to people whom we should least expect to find the\nvictims of them; and, in the second, there is a most remarkable\nconformity here, too, not only between the individual cases occurring\namong all classes of persons, who had never exhibited the slightest\ntendency to nervous derangement or somnambulism, but also between these\nand the revelations of the somnambules. In short, it seems to me that\nlife is reduced to a mere phantasmagoria, if spectral illusions are so\nprevalent, so complicated in their nature, and so delusive as they must\nbe if all the instances of ghost-seeing that come before us are to be\nreferred to that theory. How numerous these are, I confess myself not to\nhave had the least idea, till my attention was directed to the inquiry;\nand that these instances have been equally frequent in all periods and\nplaces we can not doubt, from the variety of persons that have given in\ntheir adhesion, or at least that have admitted, as Addison did, that he\ncould not refuse the universal testimony in favor of the reappearance of\nthe dead, strengthened by that of many credible persons with whom he was\nacquainted. Indeed, the testimony in favor of the facts has been at all\nperiods too strong to be wholly rejected; so that even the materialists,\nlike Lucretius and the elder Pliny, find themselves obliged to\nacknowledge them; while, on the other hand, the extravagant admissions\nthat are demanded of us by those who endeavor to explain them away,\nprove that their disbelief rests on no more solid foundation than their\nown prejudices. I acknowledge all the difficulty of establishing the\nfacts\u2014such difficulties as indeed encompass few other branches of\ninquiry; but I maintain that the position of the opponents is still\nworse, although, by their high tone and contemptuous laugh, they assume\nto have taken up one that, being fortified by reason, is quite\nimpregnable, forgetting that the wisdom of man is pre-eminently\n\u201cfoolishness before God,\u201d when it wanders into this region of unknown\nthings;\u2014forgetting, also, that they are just serving this branch of\ninquiry, as their predecessors, whom they laughed at, did physiology;\nconcocting their systems out of their own brains, instead of the\nresponses of nature\u2014and with still more rashness and presumption, this\ndepartment of her kingdom being more inaccessible, more incapable of\ndemonstration, and more entirely beyond our control; for these spirits\nwill not \u201ccome when we do call them;\u201d\u2014and I confess it often surprises\nme to hear the very shallow nonsense that very clever men talk upon the\nsubject, and the inefficient arguments they use to disprove what they\nknow nothing about. I am quite conscious that the facts I shall adduce\nare open to controversy: I can bring forward no evidence that will\nsatisfy a scientific mind; but neither are my opponents a whit better\nfortified. All I do hope to establish is, not a proof, but a\npresumption; and the conviction I desire to awaken in people\u2019s minds is,\nnot that these things _are_ so, but that they _may be_ so, and that it\nis well worth our while to inquire whether they are or not.\n\nIt will be seen that these views of a future state are extremely similar\nto those of Isaac Taylor, as suggested in his physical theory of another\nlife\u2014at least, as far as he has entered upon the subject;\u2014and it is\nnatural that they should be so, because he seems also to have been a\nconvert to the opinion that \u201cthe dead do sometimes break through the\nboundaries that hem in the ethereal crowds; and if so, as if by\ntrespass, may in single instances infringe upon the ground of common\ncorporeal life.\u201d\n\nLet us now fancy this dispossessed soul entering on its new career,\namazed, and no more able than when it was in the body to accommodate\nitself at once to conditions of existence for which it was unprepared.\nIf its aspirations had previously been heavenward, these conditions\nwould not be altogether new, and it would speedily find itself at home\nin a sphere in which it had dwelt before; for, as I have formerly said,\na spirit must be where its thoughts and affections are, and the soul,\nwhose thoughts and affections had been directed to heaven, would only\nawaken after death into a more perfect and unclouded heaven. But imagine\nthe contrary of all this. Conceive what this awakening must be to an\nearth-bound spirit\u2014to one altogether unprepared for its new\nhome\u2014carrying no light within it\u2014floating in the dim obscure\u2014clinging\nto the earth, where all its affections were garnered up: for where its\ntreasure is, there shall it be also. It will find its condition evil,\nmore or less, according to the degree of its moral light or darkness,\nand in proportion to the amount of the darkness will be its incapacity\nto seek for light. Now, there seems nothing offensive to our notions of\nthe Divine goodness in this conception of what awaits us when the body\ndies. It appears to me, on the contrary, to offer a more comprehensible\nand coherent view than any other that has been presented to me; yet the\nstate I have depicted is very much the hades of the Greeks and Romans.\nIt is the middle state, on which all souls enter\u2014a state in which there\nare many mansions; that is, there are innumerable states\u2014probably not\npermanent, but ever progressive or retrograde; for we can not conceive\nof any moral state being permanent, since we know perfectly well that\nours is never so; it is always advancing or retroceding. When we are not\nimproving, we are deteriorating; and so it must necessarily be with us\nhereafter.\n\nNow, if we admit the probability of this middle state, we have removed\none of the great objections which are made to the belief in the\nreappearance of the dead: namely, that the blest are too happy to return\nto the earth, and that the wicked have it not in their power to do so.\nThis difficulty arises, however, very much from the material ideas\nentertained of heaven and hell\u2014the notion that they are places instead\nof states. I am told that the Greek word _hades_ is derived from\n_\u00e6ides_, _invisible_; and that the Hebrew word _sche\u00f4l_, which has the\nsame signification, also implies a state, not a place, since it may be\ninterpreted into _desiring_, _longing_, _asking_, _praying_. These words\nin the Septuagint are translated _grave_, _death_, and _hell_; but\npreviously to the Reformation they seem to have borne their original\nmeaning\u2014that is, the state into which the soul entered at the death of\nthe body. It was probably to get rid of the purgatory of the Roman\nChurch, which had doubtless become the source of many absurd notions and\ncorrupt practices, that the doctrine of a middle state or hades was set\naside: besides which, the honest desire for reformation, in all\nreforming churches, being alloyed by the _odium theologicum_, the\npurifying besom is apt to take too discursive a sweep, exercising less\nmodesty and discrimination than might be desirable, and thus not\nuncommonly wiping away truth and falsehood together.\n\nDismissing the idea, therefore, that heaven and hell are places in which\nthe soul is imprisoned, whether in bliss or woe, and supposing that, by\na magnetic relation, it may remain connected with the sphere to which it\npreviously belonged, we may easily conceive that, if it have the memory\nof the past, the more entirely sensuous its life in the body may have\nbeen, the closer it will cling to the scene of its former joys; or even\nif its sojourn on earth were not a period of joy, but the contrary,\nstill, if it have no heavenward aspirations, it will find itself, if not\nin actual wo, yet aimless, objectless, and out of a congenial element.\nIt has no longer the organs whereby it perceived, communicated with, and\nenjoyed, the material world and its pleasures. The joys of heaven are\nnot its joys; we might as well expect a hardened prisoner in Newgate,\nassociating with others as hardened as himself, to melt into ecstatic\ndelight at the idea of that which he can not apprehend! How helpless and\ninefficient such a condition seems! and how natural it is to us to\nimagine that, under such circumstances, there might be awakened a\nconsiderable desire to manifest itself to those yet living in the flesh,\nif such a manifestation be possible! And what right have we, in direct\ncontradiction to all tradition, to assert that it is not? We may raise\nup a variety of objections from physical science, but we can not be sure\nthat these are applicable to the case; and of the laws of spirit we know\nvery little, since we are only acquainted with it as circumscribed,\nconfined, and impeded, in its operations, by the body; and whenever such\nabnormal states occur as enable it to act with any degree of\nindependence, man, under the dominion of his all-sufficient reason,\ndenies and disowns the facts.\n\nThat the manifestation of a spirit to the living, whether seen or heard,\nis an exception, and not the rule, is evident; for, supposing the desire\nto exist at all, it must exist in millions and millions of instances\nwhich never take effect. The circumstances must therefore no doubt be\nvery peculiar, as regards both parties in which such a manifestation is\npossible. What these are, we have very little means of knowing; but, as\nfar as we do know, we are led to conclude that a certain magnetic\nrapport or polarity constitutes this condition, while, at the same time,\nas regards the seer, there must be what the prophet called the \u201copening\nof the eye,\u201d which may perhaps signify the seeing of the spirit without\nthe aid of the bodily organ\u2014a condition which may temporarily occur to\nany one under we know not what influence, but which seems, to a certain\ndegree, hereditary in some families.\n\nThe following passage is quoted from Sir William Hamilton\u2019s edition of\nDr. Reid\u2019s works, published in 1846:\u2014\n\n\u201cNo man can show it to be impossible to the Supreme Being to have given\nus the power of perceiving external objects, without any such\norgans\u201d\u2014that is, our organs of sense. \u201cWe have reason to believe that\nwhen we put off these bodies, and all the organs belonging to them, our\nperceptive powers shall rather be improved than destroyed or impaired.\nWe have reason to believe that the Supreme Being perceives everything in\na much more perfect manner than we do, without bodily organs. We have\nreason to believe that there are other created beings endowed with\npowers of perception more perfect and more extensive than ours, without\nany such organs as we find necessary;\u201d and Sir William Hamilton adds the\nfollowing note:\u2014\n\n\u201cHowever astonishing, it is now proved beyond all rational doubt that in\ncertain abnormal states of the nervous organism, perceptions are\npossible through other than the ordinary channels of the sense.\u201d\n\nOf the existence of this faculty in nature, any one, who chooses, may\nsatisfy himself by a very moderate degree of trouble, provided he\nundertake the investigation honestly; and this being granted, another\nobjection, if not altogether removed, is considerably weakened. I allude\nto the fact that, in numerous reported cases of ghost-seeing, the forms\nwere visible to only one person, even though others were present, which,\nof course, rendered them undistinguishable from cases of spectral\nillusion, and indeed unless some additional evidence be afforded, they\nmust remain so still, only we have gained thus much, that this objection\nis no longer unanswerable; for whether the phenomenon is to be referred\nto a mutual rapport, or to the opening of the spiritual eye, we\ncomprehend how one may see what others do not. But really, if the seeing\ndepended upon ordinary vision, I can not perceive that the difficulty is\ninsurmountable; for we perfectly well know that some people are endowed\nwith an acuteness of sense, or power of perception, which is utterly\nincomprehensible to others; for, without entering into the disputed\nregion of clear-seeing, everybody must have met with instances of those\nstrange antipathies to certain objects, accompanied by an extraordinary\ncapacity for perceiving their presence, which remain utterly\nunexplained. Not to speak of cats and hares, where some electrical\neffects might be conceived, I lately heard of a gentleman who fainted if\nhe were introduced into a room where there was a raspberry tart; and\nthat there have been persons endowed with a faculty for discovering the\nproximity of water and metals, even without the aid of the divining\nrod\u2014which latter marvel seems to be now clearly established as an\nelectrical phenomenon\u2014will scarcely admit of further doubt.\n\nA very eminent person, with whom I am acquainted, possessing extremely\nacute olfactory powers, is the subject of one single exception. He is\ninsensible to the odor of a beanfield, however potent: but it would\nsurely be very absurd in him to deny that the beanfield emits an odor,\nand the evidence of the majority against him is too strong to admit of\nhis doing so.\n\nNow, we have only the evidence of a minority with regard to the\nexistence of certain faculties not generally developed, but surely it\nargues great presumption to dispute their possibility. We might, I\nthink, with more appearance of reason, insist upon it that my friend\n_must_ be mistaken, and that he does smell the beanfield, for we have\nthe majority against him there most decidedly. The difference is, that\nnobody cares whether the odor of the beanfield is perceptible or not:\nbut if the same gentleman asserted that he had seen a ghost, beyond all\ndoubt his word would be disputed.\n\nThough we do not know what the conditions are that develop the faculty\nof what St. Paul calls the discerning of spirits, there is reason to\nbelieve that the approach of death is one. I have heard of too many\ninstances of this kind, where the departing person has been in the\nentire possession of his or her faculties, to doubt that in our last\nmoments we are frequently visited by those who have gone before us; and\nit being admitted by all physiologists that preternatural faculties are\nsometimes exhibited at this period, we can have no right to say that\n\u201cthe discerning of spirits\u201d is not one of them.\n\nThere is an interesting story recorded by Beaumont, in his \u201cWorld of\nSpirits,\u201d and quoted by Dr. Hibbert with the remark that no reasonable\ndoubt can be placed on the authenticity of the narrative, as it was\ndrawn up by the bishop of Gloucester from the recital of the young\nlady\u2019s father; and I mention it here, not for any singularity attending\nit, but first, because its authenticity is admitted, and next, on\naccount of the manner in which\u2014so much being granted\u2014the fact is\nattempted to be explained away:\u2014\n\n\u201cSir Charles Lee, by his first lady, had only one daughter, of which she\ndied in childbirth; and when she was dead, her sister, the Lady Everard,\ndesired to have the education of the child, and she was very well\neducated till she was marriageable, and a match was concluded for her\nwith Sir W. Parkins, but was then prevented in an extraordinary manner.\nUpon a Thursday night, she thinking she saw a light in her chamber after\nshe was in bed, knocked for her maid, who presently came to her, and she\nasked why she left a candle burning in her room. The maid answered that\nshe had left none, and that there was none but what she had brought with\nher at that time. \u2018Then,\u2019 she said, \u2018it must be the fire;\u2019 but that, her\nmaid told her, was quite out, adding she believed it was only a dream,\nwhereupon Miss Lee answered that it might be so, and composed herself\nagain to sleep. But, about two of the clock, she was awakened again, and\nsaw the apparition of a little woman between her curtains and her\npillow, who told her she was her mother, that she was happy, and that,\nby twelve of the clock that day, she should be with her. Whereupon, she\nknocked again for her maid, called for her clothes, and when she was\ndressed, went into her closet, and came not out again till nine, and\nthen brought out with her a letter, sealed, to her father, carried it to\nher aunt, the Lady Everard, told her what had happened, and desired that\nas soon as she was dead it might be sent to him. The lady thought she\nwas suddenly fallen mad, and therefore sent presently away to Chelmsford\nfor a physician and surgeon, who both came immediately, but the\nphysician could discern no indication of what the lady imagined, or of\nany indisposition of her body; notwithstanding, the lady would needs\nhave her let blood, which was done accordingly; and when the young woman\nhad patiently let them do what they would with her, she desired that the\nchaplain might be called to read prayers; and when the prayers were\nended, she took her guitar and psalm-book, and sat down upon a chair\nwithout arms, and played and sung so melodiously and admirably, that her\nmusic-master, who was then there, admired at it. And near the stroke of\ntwelve, she rose and sat herself down in a great chair with arms, and\npresently fetching a strong breathing or two, she immediately expired,\nand was so suddenly cold as was much wondered at by the physician and\nsurgeon. She died at Waltham, in Essex, three miles from Chelmsford, and\nthe letter was sent to Sir Charles, at his house in Warwickshire; but he\nwas so afflicted at the death of his daughter, that he came not till she\nwas buried; but when he came, he caused her to be taken up, and to be\nburied with her mother, at Edmonton, as she desired in her letter.\u201d\n\nThis circumstance occurred in the year 1662, and is, as Dr. Hibbert\nobserves, \u201cone of the most interesting ghost-stories on record;\u201d yet he\ninsists on placing it under the category of spectral illusions, upon the\nplea that, let the physician (whose skill he arraigns) say what he\nwould, her death within so short a period proves that she must have been\nindisposed at the time she saw the vision, and that probably \u201cthe\nlanguishing female herself might have unintentionally contributed to the\nmore strict verification of the ghost\u2019s prediction,\u201d concluding with\nthese words: \u201cAll that can be said of it is, that the coincidence was a\n_fortunate one_; for, without it, the story would probably never have\nmet with a recorder,\u201d &c., &c.\n\nNow, I ask if this is a fair way of treating any fact, transmitted to us\non authority which the objector himself admits to be perfectly\nsatisfactory\u2014more especially as the assistants on the occasion appear\nto have been quite as unwilling to believe in the _supernatural_\ninterpretation of it as Dr. Hibbert could have been himself, had he been\npresent; for what more could he have done than conclude the young lady\nto be mad, and bled her?\u2014a line of practice which is precisely what\nwould be followed at the present time, and which proves that they were\nvery well aware of the sensuous illusions produced by a disordered state\nof the nervous system; and with respect to his conclusion that the\n\u201clanguishing female\u201d contributed to the verification of the prediction,\nwe are entitled to ask, where is the proof that she was languishing? A\nvery clever watchmaker once told me that a watch may go perfectly well\nfor years, and at length stop suddenly, in consequence of an organic\ndefect in its construction, which only becomes perceptible, even to the\neye of a watchmaker, when this effect takes place; and we do know that\nmany persons have suddenly fallen dead immediately after declaring\nthemselves in the best possible health: and we have therefore no right\nto dispute what the narrator implies, namely, that there were no\nsensible indications of the impending catastrophe.\n\nThere was either some organic defect or derangement in this lady\u2019s\nphysical economy, which rendered her death inevitable at the hour of\nnoon, on that particular Thursday, or there was not. If there was, and\nher certain death was impending at that hour, how came she acquainted\nwith the fact? Surely it is a monstrous assumption to say that it was \u201ca\nfortunate coincidence,\u201d when no reason whatever is given us for\nconcluding that she felt otherwise than perfectly well! If, on the\ncontrary, we are to take refuge in the supposition that there was no\ndeath impending, and that she only died of the fright, how came\nshe\u2014feeling perfectly well, and, in this case, we have a right to\nconclude _being_ perfectly well\u2014to be the subject of such an\nextraordinary spectral illusion? And if such spectral illusions can\noccur to people in a good normal state of health, does it not become\nvery desirable to give us some clearer theory of them than we have at\npresent?\n\nBut there is a third presumption to which the skeptical may have\nrecourse, in order to get rid of this well-established, and therefore\nvery troublesome fact, namely, that Miss Lee _was_ ill, although\nunconscious of it herself, and indicating no symptoms that could guide\nher physician to an enlightened diagnosis; and that the proof of this is\nto be found in the occurrence of the spectral illusion; and that this\nspectral illusion so impressed her that it occasioned the precise\nfulfilment of the imaginary prediction\u2014an hypothesis which appears to\nme to be pressing very hard on the spectral illusion; for it is first\ncalled upon to establish the fact of an existing indisposition of no\nslight character, of which neither patient nor physician was aware, and\nit is next required to kill the lady with unerring certainty, at the\nhour appointed, she being, according to the only authority we have for\nthe story, in a perfectly calm and composed state of mind! for there is\nnothing to be discerned in the description of her demeanor but an entire\nand willing submission to the announced decree, accompanied by that\npleasing exaltation, which appears to me perfectly natural under the\ncircumstances; and I do not think that anything we know of human\nvitality can justify us in believing that life can be so easily\nextinguished. But to such straits people are reduced, who write with a\npredetermination to place their facts on a Procrustean bed till they\nhave fitted them into their own cherished theory.\n\nIn the above-recorded case of Miss Lee, the motive for the visit is a\nsufficient one; but one of the commonest objections to such narrations,\nis the insignificance of the motive when any communication is made, or\nthere being apparently no motive at all, when none is made. Where any\nprevious attachment has subsisted, we need seek no further for an\nimpelling cause; but in other cases this impelling cause must probably\nbe sought in the earthly rapport still subsisting and the urgent desire\nof the spirit to manifest itself and establish a communication where its\nthoughts and affections still reside; and we must consider that,\nprovided there be no law of God prohibiting its revisiting the earth,\nwhich law would of course supersede all other laws, then, as I have\nbefore observed, where its thoughts and affections are it must be also.\nWhat is it but our heavy material bodies that prevents us from being\nwhere our thoughts are? But the being near us, and the manifesting\nitself to us, are two very different things, the latter evidently\ndepending on conditions we do not yet understand.\n\nAs I am not writing a book on vital magnetism, and there are so many\nalready accessible to everybody who chooses to be informed on it, I\nshall not here enter into the subject of _magnetic rapport_, it being, I\nbelieve, now generally admitted, except by the most obstinate skeptics,\nthat such a relation can be established between two human beings. In\nwhat this relation consists, is a more difficult question, but the most\nrational view appears to be that of a magnetic polarity, which is\nattempted to be explained by two theories\u2014the dynamical and the\nethereal, the one viewing the phenomena as simply the result of the\ntransmission of forces, the other hypothetizing an ether which pervades\nall space and penetrates all substance, maintaining the connection\nbetween body and soul, and between matter and spirit. To most minds this\nlatter hypothesis will be the most comprehensible; on which account,\nsince the result would be the same in either case, we may adopt for the\nmoment; and there will then be less difficulty in conceiving that the\ninfluence or ether of every being or thing, animate or inanimate, must\nextend beyond the periphery of its own terminations: and that this must\nbe eminently the case where there is animal life, the nerves forming the\nreadiest conductors for this supposed imponderable. The proofs of the\nexistence of this ether are said to be manifold, and more especially to\nbe found in the circumstances that every created thing sheds an\natmosphere around it, after its kind; this atmosphere becoming, under\ncertain conditions, perceptible or even visible, as in the instances of\nelectric fish, &c., the fascinations of serpents, the influence of human\nbeings upon plants, and _vice versa_; and finally, the phenomena of\nanimal magnetism, and the undoubted fact, to which I myself can bear\nwitness, that the most ignorant girls, when in a state of somnambulism,\nhave been known to declare that they saw their magnetiser surrounded by\na halo of light; and it is doubtless this halo of light, that, from\ntheir being strongly magnetic men, has frequently been observed to\nsurround the heads of saints and eminently holy persons: the temperament\nthat produced the internal fervor, causing the visible manifestation of\nit. By means of this ether, or force, a never-ceasing motion and an\ninter-communication are sustained between all created things, and\nbetween created things and their Creator, who sustains them and creates\nthem ever anew, by the constant exertion of his Divine will, of which\nthis is the messenger and the agent as it is between our will and our\nown bodies; and without this sustaining will, so exerted, the whole\nwould fall away, dissolve, and die; for it is the life of the universe.\nThat all inanimate objects emit an influence, greater or less, extending\nbeyond their own peripheries, is established by their effects on various\nsusceptible individuals, as well as on somnambules; and thus there exist\na universal polarity and rapport, which are however stronger between\ncertain organisms; and every being stands in a varying relation of\npositive and negative to every other.\n\nWith regard to these theories, however, where there is so much obscurity\neven in the language, I do not wish to insist; more especially as I am\nfully aware that this subject may be discussed in a manner much more\ncongruous with the dynamical spirit of the philosophy of this century:\nbut, in the meanwhile, as either of the causes alluded to is capable of\nproducing the effects, we adopt the hypothesis of an all-pervading ether\nas the one most easily conceived.\n\nAdmitting this, then, to be the case, we begin to have some notion of\nthe _modus operandi_ by which a spirit may manifest itself to us,\nwhether to our internal universal sense, or even to our sensuous organs;\nand we also find one stumbling-block removed out of our way, namely,\nthat it shall be visible or even audible to one person and not to\nanother, or at one time and not at another; for by means of this ether,\nor force, we are in communication with all spirit, as well as with all\nmatter; and since it is the vehicle of will, a strong exertion of will\nmay reinforce its influence to a degree far beyond our ordinary\nconceptions: but man is not acquainted with his own power, and has,\nconsequently, no faith in his own will: nor is it probably the design of\nProvidence, in ordinary cases, that he should. He can not therefore\nexert it; if he could, he \u201cmight remove mountains.\u201d Even as it is, we\nknow something of the power of will in its effect on other organisms, as\nexhibited by certain strong-willed individuals; also in popular\nmovements; and more manifestly in the influence and far-working of the\nmagnetizer on his patient. The power of will, like the seeing of the\nspirit, is latent in our nature, to be developed in God\u2019s own time; but\nmeanwhile, slight examples are found, shooting up here and there, to\nkeep alive in man the consciousness that he is a spirit, and give\nevidence of his Divine origin.\n\nWhat especial laws may appertain to this supersensuous domain of nature,\nof course we can not know, and it is therefore impossible for us to\npronounce how far a spirit is free, or not free, at all times to\nmanifest itself; and we can, therefore, at present, advance no reason\nfor these manifestations not being the rule instead of the exception.\nThe law which restrains more frequent intercourse may, for anything we\nknow to the contrary, have its relaxations and its limitations, founded\nin nature; and a rapport with, or the power of acting on, particular\nindividuals, may arise from causes of which we are equally ignorant.\nUndoubtedly, the receptivity of the corporeal being is one of the\nnecessary conditions, while, on the part of the incorporeal, the will is\nat once the cause and the agent that produces the effect; while\nattachment, whether to individuals or to the lost joys of this world, is\nthe motive. The happy spirits in whom this latter impulse is weak, and\nwho would float away into the glorious light of the pure moral law,\nwould have little temptation to return, and at least would only be\nbrought back by their holy affections, or desire to serve mankind. The\nless happy, clinging to their dear corporeal life, would hover nearer to\nthe earth; and I do question much whether the often-ridiculed idea of\nthe mystics, that there is a moral _weight_, as well as a moral\n_darkness_, be not founded in truth. We know very well that even these\nsubstantial bodies of ours are, to our own sensations (and, very\npossibly, if the thing could be tested, would prove to be in fact),\nlighter or heavier, according to the lightness or heaviness of the\nspirit\u2014terms used figuratively, but perhaps capable of a literal\ninterpretation; and thus the common idea of _up_ and _down_, as applied\nto heaven or hell, is founded in truth, though not mathematically\ncorrect, we familiarly using the words _up_ and _down_ to express\n_farther_ or _nearer_, as regards the planet on which we live.\n\nExperience seems to justify this view of the case; for, supposing the\nphenomena I am treating of to be facts, and not spectral illusions, all\ntradition shows that the spirits most frequently manifested to man have\nbeen evidently not in a state of bliss; while, when bright ones appeared\nit has been to serve him; and hence the old persuasion, that they were\nchiefly the wicked that haunted the earth, and hence, also, the\nfoundation for the belief that not only the murderer but the murdered\nreturned to vex the living, and the just view, that in taking away life\nthe injury is not confined to the body, but extends to the surprised and\nangry soul, which is\u2014\n\n    \u201cCut off, even in the blossom of its sin,\n    Unhouselled, disappointed, unaneled;\n    No reckoning made, but sent to its account\n    With all its imperfections on its head.\u201d\n\nIt seems also to be gathered from experience, that those whose lives\nhave been rendered wretched, \u201crest not in their graves;\u201d at least,\nseveral accounts I have met with, as well as tradition, countenance this\nview; and this may originate in the fact that cruelty and ill-usage\nfrequently produce very pernicious effects on the mind of the sufferer,\nin many instances inspiring, not resignation or a pious desire for\ndeath, but resentment, and an eager longing for a fair share of earthly\nenjoyment. Supposing, also, the feelings and prejudices of the earthly\nlife to accompany this dispossessed soul\u2014for, though the liberation\nfrom the body inducts it into certain privileges inherent in spirit, its\nmoral qualities remain as they were (\u201cas the tree falls, so it shall\nlie\u201d)\u2014supposing, therefore, that these feelings, and prejudices, and\nrecollections, of its past life, are carried with it, we see at once why\nthe discontented spirits of the heathen world could not rest till their\nbodies had obtained sepulture, why the buried money should torment the\nsoul of the miser, and why the religious opinions, whatever they may\nhave been, believed in the flesh, seem to survive with the spirit. There\nare two remarkable exceptions, however, and these are precisely such as\nmight be expected. Those who, during their corporeal life, have not\nbelieved in a future state, return to warn their friends against the\nsame error. \u201cThere is another world!\u201d said the brother of the young lady\nwho appeared to her in the cathedral of York, on the day he was drowned;\nand there are several similar instances recorded. The belief that this\nlife \u201cis the be-all and the end-all here,\u201d is a mistake that death must\ninstantly rectify. The other exception I allude to is, that that\ntoleration, of which, unfortunately, we see much less than is desirable\nin this world, seems happily to prevail in the next; for, among the\nnumerous narrations I meet with, in which the dead have returned to ask\nthe prayers or the services of the living, they do not seem, as will be\nseen by-and-by, to apply by any means exclusively to members of their\nown church. The _attrait_ which seems to guide their selection of\nindividuals is evidently not of a polemical nature. The pure worship of\nGod, and the inexorable moral law, are what seem to prevail in the other\nworld, and not the dogmatic theology which makes so much of the misery\nof this.\n\nThere is a fundamental truth in all religions: the real end of all is\nmorality, however the means may be mistaken, and however corrupt,\nselfish, ambitious, and sectarian, the mass of their teachers may and\ngenerally do become; while the effect of prayer\u2014in whatever form, or to\nwhatever ideal of the Deity it may be offered, provided that offering be\nhonestly and earnestly made\u2014is precisely the same to the supplicant and\nin its results.\n\nI have reserved the following story, which is not a fiction, but the\nrelation of an undoubted and well-attested fact, till the present\nchapter, as being particularly applicable to this branch of my\nsubject:\u2014\n\nSome ninety years ago, there flourished in Glasgow a club of young men,\nwhich, from the extreme profligacy of its members, and the\nlicentiousness of their orgies, was commonly called the \u201cHell-Club!\u201d\nBesides their nightly or weekly meetings, they held one grand annual\nsaturnalia, in which each tried to excel the other in drunkenness and\nblasphemy; and on these occasions there was no star among them whose\nlurid light was more conspicuous than that of young Mr. Archibald B\u2014\u2014,\nwho, endowed with brilliant talents and a handsome person, had held out\ngreat promise in his boyhood, and raised hopes, which had been\ncompletely frustrated by his subsequent reckless dissipations.\n\nOne morning, after returning from this annual festival, Mr. Archibald\nB\u2014\u2014 having retired to bed, dreamed the following dream:\u2014\n\nHe fancied that he himself was mounted on a favorite black horse, that\nhe always rode, and that he was proceeding toward his own house\u2014then a\ncountry-seat embowered by trees, and situated upon a hill, now entirely\nbuilt over, and forming part of the city\u2014when a stranger, whom the\ndarkness of night prevented his distinctly discerning, suddenly seized\nhis horse\u2019s rein, saying, \u201cYou must go with me!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd who are you?\u201d exclaimed the young man, with a volley of oaths,\nwhile he struggled to free himself.\n\n\u201cThat you will see by-and-by!\u201d returned the other, in a tone that\nexcited unaccountable terror in the youth, who, plunging his spurs into\nhis horse, attempted to fly. But in vain: however fast the animal flew,\nthe stranger was still beside him, till at length, in his desperate\nefforts to escape, the rider was thrown; but instead of being dashed to\nthe earth, as he expected, he found himself falling\u2014falling\u2014falling\nstill, as if sinking into the bowels of the earth.\n\nAt length, a period being put to this mysterious descent, he found\nbreath to inquire of his companion, who was still beside him, whither\nthey were going: \u201cWhere am I? where are you taking me?\u201d he exclaimed.\n\n\u201cTo hell!\u201d replied the stranger, and immediately interminable echoes\nrepeated the fearful sound, \u201cTo hell!\u2014to hell!\u2014to hell!\u201d\n\nAt length a light appeared, which soon increased to a blaze; but,\ninstead of the cries, and groans, and lamentings, which the terrified\ntraveller expected, nothing met his ear but sounds of music, mirth, and\njollity; and he found himself at the entrance of a superb building, far\nexceeding any he had seen constructed by human hands. Within, too, what\na scene! No amusement, employment, or pursuit of man on earth, but was\nhere being carried on with a vehemence that excited his unutterable\namazement. \u201cThere the young and lovely still swam through the mazes of\nthe giddy dance! There the panting steed still bore his brutal rider\nthrough the excitements of the goaded race! There, over the midnight\nbowl, the intemperate still drawled out the wanton song or maudlin\nblasphemy! The gambler plied for ever his endless game, and the slaves\nof Mammon toiled through eternity their bitter task; while all the\nmagnificence of earth paled before that which now met his view!\u201d\n\nHe soon perceived that he was among old acquaintances, whom he knew to\nbe dead, and each he observed was pursuing the object, whatever it was,\nthat had formerly engrossed him; when, finding himself relieved of the\npresence of his unwelcome conductor, he ventured to address his former\nfriend Mrs. D\u2014\u2014, whom he saw sitting, as had been her wont on earth,\nabsorbed at loo, requesting her to rest from the game, and introduce him\nto the pleasures of the place, which appeared to him to be very unlike\nwhat he had expected, and, indeed, an extremely agreeable one. But, with\na cry of agony, she answered that there was no rest in hell; that they\nmust ever toil on at those very pleasures: and innumerable voices echoed\nthrough the interminable vaults, \u201cThere is no rest in hell!\u201d\u2014while,\nthrowing open their vests, each disclosed in his bosom an ever-burning\nflame! These, they said, were the pleasures of hell: their choice on\nearth was now their inevitable doom! In the midst of the horror this\nscene inspired, his conductor returned, and at his earnest entreaty,\nrestored him again to earth; but, as he quitted him, he said,\n\u201cRemember!\u2014in a year and a day we meet again!\u201d\n\nAt this crisis of his dream, the sleeper awoke, feverish and ill; and,\nwhether from the effect of his dream, or of his preceding orgies, he was\nso unwell as to be obliged to keep his bed for several days, during\nwhich period he had time for many serious reflections, which terminated\nin a resolution to abandon the club and his licentious companions\naltogether.\n\nHe was no sooner well, however, than they flocked around him, bent on\nrecovering so valuable a member of their society; and having wrung from\nhim a confession of the cause of his defection, which, as may be\nsupposed, appeared to them eminently ridiculous, they soon contrived to\nmake him ashamed of his good resolutions. He joined them again, resumed\nhis former course of life, and when the annual saturnalia came round, he\nfound himself with his glass in his hand at the table\u2014when the\npresident, rising to make the accustomed speech, began with saying,\n\u201cGentlemen, this being leap-year, it is a year and a day since our last\nanniversary,\u201d &c., &c. The words struck upon the young man\u2019s ear like a\nknell; but, ashamed to expose his weakness to the jeers of his\ncompanions, he sat out the feast, plying himself with wine even more\nliberally than usual, in order to drown his intrusive thoughts; till, in\nthe gloom of a winter\u2019s morning, he mounted his horse to ride home. Some\nhours afterward, the horse was found, with his saddle and bridle on,\nquietly grazing by the roadside, about half way between the city and Mr.\nB\u2014\u2014\u2019s house; while, a few yards off, lay the corpse of his master!\n\nNow, as I have said in introducing this story, it is no fiction: the\ncircumstance happened as here related. An account of it was published at\nthe time, but the copies were bought up by the family. Two or three,\nhowever, were preserved, and the narrative has been reprinted.\n\nThe dream is evidently of a symbolical character, and accords in a very\nremarkable degree with the conclusions to be drawn from the sources I\nhave above indicated. The interpretation seems to be, that the evil\npassions and criminal pursuits which have been indulged in here, become\nour curse hereafter. I do not mean to imply that the ordinary amusements\nof life are criminal\u2014far from it. There is no harm in dancing, nor in\nplaying at loo either; but if people make these things the whole\nbusiness of their lives, and think of nothing else, cultivating no\nhigher tastes, nor forming no higher aspirations, what sort of\npreparation are they making for another world? I can hardly imagine that\nanybody would wish to be doing these things to all eternity, the more\nespecially that it is most frequently _ennui_ that drives their votaries\ninto excesses, even here; but if they have allowed their minds to be\nentirely absorbed in such frivolities and trivialities, surely they can\nnot expect that God will, by a miracle, suddenly obliterate these tastes\nand inclinations, and inspire them with others better suited to their\nnew condition! It was their business to do that for themselves, while\nhere; and such a process of preparation is not in the slightest degree\ninconsistent with the enjoyment of all manner of harmless pleasures; on\nthe contrary, it gives the greatest zest to them; for a life, in which\nthere is nothing serious\u2014in which all is play and diversion\u2014is, beyond\ndoubt, next to a life of active, persevering wickedness, the saddest\nthing under the sun! But let everybody remember that we see in nature no\nviolent transitions; everything advances by almost insensible steps\u2014at\nleast everything that is to endure: and therefore to expect that because\nthey have quitted their fleshly bodies, which they always knew were but\na temporary appurtenance, doomed to perish and decay, they themselves\nare to undergo a sudden and miraculous conversion and purification,\nwhich is to elevate them into fit companions for the angels of heaven,\nand the blessed that have passed away, is surely one of the most\ninconsistent, unreasonable, and pernicious errors, that mankind ever\nindulged in!\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XI.\n\n\n                           THE POWER OF WILL.\n\nTHE power, be it what it may, whether of dressing up an ethereal visible\nform, or of acting on the constructive imagination of the seer, which\nwould enable a spirit to appear \u201cin his habit as he lived,\u201d would also\nenable him to present any other object to the eye of the seer, or\nhimself in any shape, or fulfilling any function he willed; and we thus\nfind in various instances, especially those recorded in the Seeress of\nPrevorst, that this is the case. We not only see changes of dress, but\nwe see books, pens, writing materials, &c., in their hands; and we find\na great variety of sounds imitated\u2014which sounds are frequently heard,\nnot only by those who have the faculty of \u201cdiscerning of spirits,\u201d as\nSt. Paul says, but also by every other person on the spot, for the\nhearing these sounds does not seem to depend on any particular faculty\non the part of the auditor, except it be in the case of speech. The\nhearing the speech of a spirit, on the contrary, appears in most\ninstances to be dependent on the same conditions as the seeing it, which\nmay possibly arise from there being, in fact, no _audible_ voice at all,\nbut the same sort of spiritual communication which exists between a\nmagnetizer and his patient, wherein the sense is conveyed without words.\n\nThis imitating of sounds I shall give several instances of in a future\nchapter. It is one way in which a death is frequently indicated. I could\nquote a number of examples of this description, but shall confine myself\nto two or three.\n\nMrs. D\u2014\u2014, being one night in her kitchen, preparing to go to bed,\nafter the house was shut up and the rest of the family retired, was\nstartled by hearing a foot coming along the passage, which she\nrecognised distinctly to be that of her father, who she was quite\ncertain was not in the house. It advanced to the kitchen-door, and she\nwaited with alarm to see if the door was to open; but it did not, and\nshe heard nothing more. On the following day, she found that her father\nhad died at that time; and it was from her niece I heard the\ncircumstance.\n\nA Mr. J\u2014\u2014 S\u2014\u2014, belonging to a highly respectable family, with whom I\nam acquainted, having been for some time in declining health, was sent\nabroad for change of air. During his absence, one of his sisters, having\nbeen lately confined, an old servant of the family was sitting half\nasleep in an arm-chair, in a room adjoining that in which the lady\nslept, when she was startled by hearing the foot of Mr. J\u2014\u2014 S\u2014\u2014\nascending the stairs. It was easily recognisable, for, owing to his\nconstant confinement to the house, in consequence of his infirm health,\nhis shoes were always so dry that their creaking was heard from one end\nof the house to the other. So far surprised out of her recollection as\nto forget he was not in the country, the good woman started up, and,\nrushing out with her candle in her hand, to light him, she followed the\nsteps up to Mr. J\u2014\u2014 S\u2014\u2014\u2019s own bed-chamber, never discovering that he\nwas not preceding her till she reached the door. She then returned,\nquite amazed, and having mentioned the occurrence to her mistress, they\nnoted the date; and it was afterward ascertained that the young man had\ndied at Lisbon on that night.\n\nMrs. F\u2014\u2014 tells me that, being one morning, at eleven o\u2019clock, engaged\nin her bed-room, she suddenly heard a strange, indescribable, sweet, but\nunearthly sound, which apparently proceeded from a large open box which\nstood near her. She was seized with an awe and a horror which there\nseemed nothing to justify, and fled up stairs to mention the\ncircumstance, which she could not banish from her mind. At that precise\nday and hour, eleven o\u2019clock, her brother was drowned. The news reached\nher two days afterward.\n\nInstances of this kind are so well known that it is unnecessary to\nmultiply them further. With respect to the mode of producing these\nsounds, however, I should be glad to say something more definite if I\ncould; but, from the circumstance of their being heard not only by one\nperson, who might be supposed to be _en rapport_, or whose constructive\nimagination might be acted upon, but by any one who happens to be within\nhearing, we are led to conclude that the sounds are really reverberating\nthrough the atmosphere. In the strange cases recorded in \u201cThe Seeress of\nPrevorst,\u201d although the apparitions were visible only to certain\npersons, the sounds they made were audible to all; and the seeress says\nthey are produced by means of the nerve-spirit, which I conclude is the\nspiritual body of St. Paul and the atmosphere, as we produce sound by\nmeans of our _material_ body and the atmosphere.\n\nIn this plastic power of the spirit to present to the eye of the seer\nwhatever object it wills, we find the explanation of such stories as the\nfamous one of Ficinus and Mercatus, related by Baronius in his annals.\nThese two illustrious friends, Michael Mercatus and Marcellinus Ficinus,\nafter a long discourse on the nature of the soul, had agreed that, if\npossible, whichever died first should return to visit the other. Some\ntime afterward, while Mercatus was engaged in study at an early hour in\nthe morning, he suddenly heard the noise of a horse galloping in the\nstreet, which presently stopped at his door, and the voice of his friend\nFicinus exclaimed: \u201cOh, Michael! oh, Michael! _vera sunt illa!_\u2014those\nthings are true!\u201d Whereupon Mercatus hastily opened his window and\nespied his friend Ficinus on a white steed. He called after him, but he\ngalloped away out of his sight. On sending to Florence to inquire for\nFicinus, he learned that he had died about that hour he called to him.\nFrom this period to that of his death, Mercatus abandoned all profane\nstudies, and addicted himself wholly to divinity. Baronius lived in the\nsixteenth century; and even Dr. Ferrier and the spectral illusionists\nadmit that the authenticity of this story can not be disputed, although\nthey still claim it for their own.\n\nNot very many years ago, Mr. C\u2014\u2014, a staid citizen of Edinburgh\u2014whose\nson told me the story\u2014was one day riding gently up Corstorphine hill,\nin the neighborhood of the city, when he observed an intimate friend of\nhis own, on horseback also, immediately behind him; so he slackened his\npace to give him an opportunity of joining company. Finding he did not\ncome up so quickly as he should, he looked round again, and was\nastonished at no longer seeing him, since there was no side road into\nwhich he could have disappeared. He returned home, perplexed at the\noddness of the circumstance, when the first thing he learned was that\nduring his absence this friend had been killed, by his horse falling, in\nCandlemaker\u2019s row.\n\nI have heard of another circumstance, which occurred some years ago in\nYorkshire, where, I think, a farmer\u2019s wife was seen to ride into a\nfarm-yard on horseback, but could not be afterward found, or the thing\naccounted for, till it was ascertained that she had died at that period.\n\nThere are very extraordinary stories extant in all countries, of persons\nbeing annoyed by appearances in the shape of different animals, which\none would certainly be much disposed to give over altogether to the\nillusionists; though, at the same time, it is very difficult to reduce\nsome of the circumstances under that theory\u2014especially one mentioned\npage 307 of my \u201cTranslation of the Seeress of Prevorst.\u201d If they are not\nillusions, they are phenomena, to be attributed either to this plastic\npower, or to that magico-magnetic influence in which the belief in\nlycanthropy and other strange transformations have originated. The\nmultitudes of unaccountable stories of this description recorded in the\nwitch-trials, have long furnished a subject of perplexity to everybody\nwho was sufficiently just to human nature to conclude, that there must\nhave been some strange mystery at the bottom of an infatuation that\nprevailed so universally, and in which so many sensible, honest, and\nwell-meaning persons were involved. Till of late years, when some of the\narcana of animal or vital magnetism have been disclosed to us, it was\nimpossible for us to conceive by what means such strange conceptions\ncould prevail; but since we now know, and many of us have witnessed,\nthat all the senses of a patient are frequently in such subjection to\nhis magnetiser, that they may be made to convey any impressions to the\nbrain that magnetiser wills, we can without much difficulty conceive how\nthis belief in the power of transformation took its rise; and we also\nknow how a magician could render himself visible or invisible at\npleasure. I have seen the sight or hearing of a patient taken away, and\nrestored by Mr. Spencer Hall in a manner that could leave no doubt on\nthe mind of the beholder\u2014the evident paralysis of the eye of the\npatient testifying to the fact. Monsieur Eus\u00e8be Salverte, the most\ndetermined of rationalistic skeptics, admits that we have numerous\ntestimonies to the existence of an art, which he confesses himself at\nsome loss to explain, although the opposite quarters from which the\naccounts of it reach us, render it difficult to imagine that the\nhistorians have copied each other. The various transformations of the\ngods into eagles, bulls, &c., have been set down as mere mythological\nfables; but they appear to have been founded on an art, known in all\nquarters of the world, which enabled the magician to take on a form that\nwas not his own, so as to deceive his nearest and dearest friends. In\nthe history of Gengis Khan, there is mention of a city which he\nconquered\u2014\u201cin which dwelt,\u201d says Suidas, \u201ccertain men, who possessed\nthe secret of surrounding themselves with deceptive appearances,\ninsomuch that they were able to represent themselves to the eyes of\npeople quite different to what they really were.\u201d Saxo Grammaticus, in\nspeaking of the traditions connected with the religion of Odin, says\nthat \u201cthe magi were very expert in the art of deceiving the eyes, being\nable to assume, and even to enable others to assume, the forms of\nvarious objects, and to conceal their real aspects under the most\nattractive appearances.\u201d\n\nJohn of Salisbury, who seems to have drawn his information from sources\nnow lost, says that Mercury, the most expert of magicians, had the art\nof fascinating the eyes of men to such a degree as to render people\ninvisible, or make them appear in forms quite different to what they\nreally bore. We also learn from an eye-witness that Simon, the magician,\npossessed the secret of making another person resemble him so perfectly\nthat every eye was deceived. Pomponius Mela affirms that the druidesses\nof the island of Sena could transform themselves into any animal they\nchose, and Proteus has become a proverb by his numerous metamorphoses.\n\nThen, to turn to another age and another hemisphere, we find Joseph\nAcosta, who resided a long time in Peru, assuring us that there existed\nat that period magicians who had the power of assuming any form they\nchose. He relates that the predecessor of Montezuma, having sent to\narrest a certain chief, the latter successively transformed himself into\nan eagle, a tiger, and an immense serpent; and so eluded the envoys,\ntill, having consented to obey the king\u2019s mandate, he was carried to\ncourt and instantly executed.\n\nThe same perplexing exploits are confidently attributed to the magicians\nof the West Indies; and there were two men eminent among the natives,\nthe one called Gomez and the other Gonzalez, who possessed this art in\nan eminent degree; but both fell victims to the practice of it, being\nshot during the period of their apparent transformations.\n\nIt is also recorded that Nanuk, the founder of the Sikhs\u2014who are not\nproperly a nation, but a religious sect\u2014was violently opposed by the\nHindoo zealots; and at one period of his career, when he visited Vatala,\nthe Yogiswaras\u2014who were recluses, that, by means of corporeal\nmortifications, were supposed to have acquired command over the powers\nof nature\u2014were so enraged against him, that they strove to terrify him\nby their enchantments, assuming the shapes of tigers and serpents. But\nthey could not succeed, for Nanuk appears to have been a real\nphilosopher, who taught a pure theism, and inculcated universal peace\nand toleration. His tenets, like the tenets of the founders of all\nreligions, have been since corrupted by his followers. We can scarcely\navoid concluding that the power by which these feats were performed is\nof the same nature as that by which a magnetiser persuades his patient\nthat the water he drinks is beer, or the beer wine; and the analogy\nbetween it and that by which I have supposed a spirit to present\nhimself, with such accompaniments as he desires, to the eye of a\nspectator, is evident. In those instances where female figures are seen\nwith children in their arm, the appearance of the child we must suppose\nto be produced in this manner.\n\nSpirits of darkness, however, can not, as I have before observed, appear\nas spirits of light; the moral nature can not be disguised. On one\noccasion, when Frederica Hauffe asked a spirit if he could appear in\nwhat form he pleased, he answered \u201cNo\u201d\u2014that if he had lived as a brute,\nhe should appear as a brute: \u201cas our dispositions are, so we appear to\nyou.\u201d\n\nThis plastic power is exhibited in those instances I have related, where\nthe figure appeared dripping with water, indicating the kind of death\nthat had been suffered; and also in such cases as that of Sir Robert H.\nE\u2014\u2014, where the apparition showed a wound in his breast. There are a\nvast number of similar ones on record in all countries;\u2014but I will here\nmention one which I received from the lips of a member of the family\nconcerned, wherein one of the trivial actions of life was curiously\nrepresented.\n\nMiss L\u2014\u2014 lived in the country with her three brothers, to whom she was\nmuch attached, as they were to her. These young men, who amused\nthemselves all the morning with their out-door pursuits, were in the\nhabit of coming to her apartment most days before dinner, and conversing\nwith her till they were summoned to the dining-room. One day, when two\nof them had joined her as usual, and they were chatting cheerfully over\nthe fire, the door opened, and the third came in, crossed the room,\nentered an adjoining one, took off his boots, and then, instead of\nsitting down beside them as usual, passed again through the room,\nwent out, leaving the door open, and they saw him ascend the\nstairs toward his own chamber, whither they concluded he was gone\nto change his dress. These proceedings had been observed by the whole\nparty: they saw him enter\u2014saw him take off his boots\u2014saw him ascend the\nstairs,\u2014continuing the conversation, without the slightest suspicion of\nanything extraordinary. Presently afterward the dinner was announced;\nand as this young man did not make his appearance, the servant was\ndesired to let him know they were waiting for him. The servant answered\nthat he had not come in yet; but, being told that he would find him in\nhis bed-room, he went up stairs to call him. He was, however, not there\nnor in the house; nor were his boots to be found where he had been seen\nto take them off. While they were yet wondering what could have become\nof him, a neighbor arrived to break the news to the family that their\nbeloved brother had been killed while hunting, and that the only wish he\nexpressed was that he could live to see his sister once more.\n\nI observed in a former chapter, while speaking of wraiths, now very\ndesirable it would be to ascertain whether the phenomenon takes place\nbefore or after the dissolution of the bond between soul and body: I\nhave since received the most entire satisfaction on that head, so far as\nthe establishing the fact that it does sometimes occur after the\ndissolution. Three cases have been presented to me, from the most\nundoubted authority, in which the wraith was seen at intervals varying\nfrom one to three days after the decease of the person whose image it\nwas; very much complicating the difficulty of that theory which\nconsiders these phenomena the result of an interaction, wherein the\nvital principle of one person is able to influence another within its\nsphere, and thus make the organs of that other the subjects of its\nwill\u2014a magical power, by the way, which far exceeds that which we\npossess over our own organs. There is here, however, where death has\ntaken place, no living organism to produce the effect, and the\nphenomenon becomes, therefore, purely subjective\u2014a mere spectral\nillusion, attended by a coincidence, or else the influence is that of\nthe disembodied spirit; and those who will take the trouble of\ninvestigating this subject will find that the number of these\ncoincidences would violate any theory of probabilities, to a degree that\nprecludes the acceptance of that explanation. I do not see, therefore,\non what we are to fall back, except it be the willing agency of the\nreleased spirit, unless we suppose that the operation of the will of the\ndying person travelled so slowly, that it did not take effect till a day\nor two after it was exerted\u2014an hypothesis too extravagant to be\nadmitted.\n\nDr. Passavent, whose very philosophical work on this occult department\nof nature is well worth attention, considers the fact of these\nappearances far too well established to be disputed; and he enters into\nsome curious disquisitions with regard to what the Germans call\n_far-working_, or the power of acting on bodies at a distance without\nany sensible conductor, instancing the case of a gymnotus, which was\nkept alive for four months in Stockholm, and which, when urged by\nhunger, could kill fish at a distance without contact, adding that it\nrarely miscalculated the amount of the shock necessary to its purpose.\nThese and all such effects are attributed by this school of\nphysiologists to the supposed imponderable\u2014the nervous ether I have\nelsewhere mentioned\u2014which Dr. Passavent conceives, in cases of\nsomnambulism, certain sicknesses, and the approach of death, to be less\nclosely united to its material conductors, the nerves, and therefore\ncapable of being more or less detached, and acting at a distance,\nespecially on those with whom relationship, friendship, or love,\nestablishes a rapport, or polarity; and he observes that intervening\nsubstances or distance can no more impede this agency than they do the\nagency of mineral magnetism. And he considers that we must here seek for\nthe explanation of those curious so-called coincidences of pictures\nfalling, and clocks and watches stopping, at the moment of a death,\nwhich we frequently find recorded.\n\nWith respect to the wraiths, he observes that the more the ether is\nfreed, as by trance or the immediate approach of death, the more easily\nthe soul sets itself in rapport with distant persons; and that thus it\neither acts magically, so that the seer perceives the real actual body\nof the person that is acting upon him, or else that he sees the ethereal\nbody, which presents the perfect form of the fleshly one, and which,\nwhile the organic life proceeds, can be momentarily detached and appear\nelsewhere; and this ethereal body he holds to be the fundamental form,\nof which the external body is only the copy, or husk.\n\nI confess, I much prefer this theory of Dr. Passavent\u2019s, which seems to\nme to go very much to the root of the matter. We have here the\n\u201cspiritual body\u201d of St. Paul, and the \u201cnerve-spirit\u201d of the\nsomnambulists, and their magical effects are scarcely more\nextraordinary, if properly considered, than their agency on our own\n_material_ bodies. It is this ethereal body which obeys the intelligent\nspirit within, and which is the intermediate agent between the spirit\nand the fleshly body. We here find the explanation of wraiths, while\npersons are in trance, or deep sleep, or comatose, this ethereal body\ncan be detached and appear elsewhere; and I think there can be no great\ndifficulty for those who can follow us so far, to go a little further,\nand admit that this ethereal body must be indestructible, and survive\nthe death of the material one; and that it may, therefore, not only\nbecome visible to us under given circumstances, but that it may, also,\nproduce effects bearing some similarity to those it was formerly capable\nof, since, in acting on our bodies during life, it is already acting on\na material substance in a manner so incomprehensible to us, that we\nmight well apply the word _magical_ when speaking of it, were it not\nthat custom has familiarized us to the marvel.\n\nIt is to be observed, that this idea of a spiritual body is one that\npervaded all Christendom in the earlier and purer ages of Christianity,\nbefore priestcraft\u2014and by priestcraft I mean the priestcraft of all\ndenominations\u2014had overshadowed and obscured, by its various sectarian\nheresies, the pure teaching of Jesus Christ.\n\nDr. Ennemoser mentions a curious instance of this _actio in distans_, or\nfar-working. It appears that Van Helmont having asserted that it was\npossible for a man to extinguish the life of an animal by the eye alone\n(_oculis intentis_), Rousseau, the naturalist, repeated the experiment,\nwhen in the East, and in this manner killed several toads; but on a\nsubsequent occasion, while trying the same experiment at Lyons, the\nanimal, on finding it could not escape, fixed its eyes immovably on him,\nso that he fell into a fainting fit, and was thought to be dead. He was\nrestored by means of theriacum and viper powder\u2014a truly homeopathic\nremedy! However, we here probably see the origin of the universal\npopular persuasion, that there is some mysterious property in the eye of\na toad; and also of the so called, superstition of the _evil eye_.\n\nA very remarkable circumstance occurred some years ago, at Kirkaldy,\nwhen a person, for whose truth and respectability I can vouch, was\nliving in the family of a Colonel M\u2014\u2014, at that place. The house they\ninhabited was at one extremity of the town, and stood in a sort of\npaddock. One evening when Colonel M\u2014\u2014 had dined out, and there was\nnobody at home but Mrs. M\u2014\u2014, her son (a boy about twelve years old),\nand Ann the maid (my informant), Mrs. M\u2014\u2014 called the latter, and\ndirected her attention to a soldier, who was walking backward and\nforward in the drying ground, behind the house, where some linen was\nhanging on the lines. She said she wondered what he could be doing\nthere, and bade Ann fetch in the linen, lest he should purloin any of\nit. The girl, fearing he might be some ill-disposed person, felt afraid;\nMrs. M\u2014\u2014, however, promising to watch from the window, that nothing\nhappened to her, she went; but still apprehensive of the man\u2019s\nintentions, she turned her back toward him, and hastily pulling down the\nlinen, she carried it into the house; he continuing his walk the while,\nas before, taking no notice of her whatever. Ere long the colonel\nreturned, and Mrs. M\u2014\u2014 lost no time in taking him to the window to\nlook at the man, saying she could not conceive what he could mean by\nwalking backward and forward there all that time; whereupon Ann added,\njestingly, \u201cI think it\u2019s a ghost, for my part!\u201d Colonel M\u2014\u2014 said \u201che\nwould soon see that,\u201d and calling a large dog that was lying in the\nroom, and accompanied by the little boy, who begged to be permitted to\ngo also, he stepped out and approached the stranger; when, to his\nsurprise, the dog, which was an animal of high courage, instantly flew\nback, and sprung through the glass-door, which the colonel had closed\nbehind him, shivering the panes all around.\n\nThe colonel, meantime, advanced and challenged the man, repeatedly,\nwithout obtaining any answer or notice whatever, till, at length,\ngetting irritated, he raised a weapon with which he had armed himself,\ntelling him he \u201cmust speak or take the consequences,\u201d when, just as he\nwas preparing to strike, lo! there was nobody there! The soldier had\ndisappeared, and the child sunk senseless to the ground. Colonel M\u2014\u2014\nlifted the boy in his arms, and as he brought him into the house, he\nsaid to the girl, \u201cYou are right, Ann; it _was_ a ghost!\u201d He was\nexceedingly impressed with this circumstance, and much regretted his own\nbehavior, and also the having taken the child with him, which he thought\nhad probably prevented some communication that was intended. In order to\nrepair, if possible, these errors, he went out every night, and walked\non that spot for some time, in hopes the apparition would return. At\nlength he said that he had seen and conversed with it; but the purport\nof the conversation he would never communicate to any human being, not\neven to his wife. The effect of this occurrence on his own character was\nperceptible to everybody that knew him. He became grave and thoughtful,\nand appeared like one who had passed through some strange experience.\nThe above-named Ann H\u2014\u2014, from whom I have the account, is now a\nmiddle-aged woman. When the circumstance occurred, she was about twenty\nyears of age. She belongs to a highly-respectable family, and is, and\nalways has been, a person of unimpeachable character and veracity.\n\nIn this instance, as in several others I meet with, the animal had a\nconsciousness of the nature of the appearance, while the persons around\nhim had no suspicion of anything unusual. In the following singular case\nwe must conclude that attachment counteracted this instinctive\napprehension. A farmer in Argyleshire lost his wife, and a few weeks\nafter her decease, as he and his son were crossing a moor, they saw her\nsitting on a stone, with their house-dog lying at her feet, exactly as\nhe used to do when she was alive. As they approached the spot the woman\nvanished, and supposing the dog must be equally visionary, they expected\nto see him vanish, also; when, to their surprise, he rose and joined\nthem, and they found it was actually the very animal of flesh and blood.\nAs the place was at least three miles from any house, they could not\nconceive what could have taken him there. It was, probably, the\ninfluence of her will.\n\nThe power of _will_ is a phenomenon that has been observed in all ages\nof the world, though of late years much less than at an earlier period;\nand, as it was then more frequently exerted for evil than good, it was\nlooked upon as a branch of the art of black magic, while the philosophy\nof it being unknown, the devil was supposed to be the real agent, and\nthe witch, or wizard, only his instrument. The profound belief in the\nexistence of this art is testified by the twelve tables of Rome, as well\nas by the books of Moses, and those of Plato, &c. It is extremely absurd\nto suppose that all these statutes were enacted to suppress a crime\nwhich never existed: and, with regard to these witches and wizards, we\nmust remember, as Dr. Ennemoser justly remarks, that the force of will\nhas no relation to the strength or weakness of the body: witness the\nextraordinary feats occasionally performed by feeble persons under\nexcitement, &c.; and, although these witches and wizards were frequently\nweak, decrepit people, they either believed in their own arts, or else\nthat they had a friend or coadjutor in the devil, who was able and\nwilling to aid them. They, therefore, did not doubt their own power, and\nthey had the one great requisite, _faith_. To _will and to believe_, was\nthe explanation given by the Marquis de Puys\u00e9gur of the cures he\nperformed; and this unconsciously becomes the recipe of all such men as\nGreatrix, the Shepherd of Dresden, and many other wonder-workers, and\nhence we see why it is usually the humble, the simple and the\nchild-like, the solitary, the recluse, nay, the ignorant, who exhibit\ntraces of these occult faculties; for he who can not believe can not\n_will_, and the skepticism of the intellect disables the magician; and\nhence we say, also, wherefore, in certain parts of the world and in\ncertain periods of its history, these powers and practices have\nprevailed. They were believed in because they existed; and they existed\nbecause they were believed in. There was a continued interaction of\ncause and effect\u2014of faith and works. People who look superficially at\nthese things, delight in saying that the more the witches were\npersecuted the more they abounded; and that when the persecution ceased\nwe heard no more of them. Naturally, the more they were persecuted the\nmore they believed in witchcraft and in themselves; when persecution\nceased, and men in authority declared that there was no such thing as\nwitchcraft or witches, they lost their faith, and with it that little\nsovereignty over nature that that faith had conquered.\n\nHere we also see an explanation of the power attributed to blessings and\ncurses. The Word of God is creative, and man is the child of God, made\nin his image; who never outgrows his childhood, and is often most a\nchild when he thinks himself the wisest, for \u201cthe wisdom of this world,\u201d\nwe can not too often repeat, \u201cis foolishness before God\u201d\u2014and being a\nchild, his faculties are feeble in proportion; but though limited in\namount, they are divine in kind, and are latent in all of us; still\nshooting up here and there, to amaze and perplex the wise, and make\nmerry the foolish, who have nearly all alike forgotten their origin, and\ndisowned their birthright.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XII.\n\n\n                           TROUBLED SPIRITS.\n\nA VERY curious circumstance, illustrative of the power of will, was\nlately narrated to me by a Greek gentleman, to whose uncle it occurred.\nHis uncle, Mr. M\u2014\u2014, was some years ago travelling in Magnesia with a\nfriend, when they arrived one evening at a caravanserai, where they\nfound themselves unprovided with anything to eat. It was therefore\nagreed that one should go forth and endeavor to procure food; and the\nfriend offering to undertake the office, Mr. M\u2014\u2014 stretched himself on\nthe floor to repose. Some time had elapsed, and his friend had not yet\nreturned, when his attention was attracted by a whispering in the room.\nHe looked up, but saw nobody, though still the whispering continued,\nseeming to go round by the wall. At length it approached him; but though\nhe felt a burning sensation on his cheek, and heard the whispering\ndistinctly, he could not catch the words. Presently he heard the\nfootsteps of his friend, and thought he was returning; but though they\nappeared to come quite close to him, and it was perfectly light, he\nstill saw nobody. Then he felt a strange sensation\u2014an irresistible\nimpulse to rise: he felt himself _drawn up_, across the room, out of the\ndoor, down the stairs\u2014he must go, he could not help it\u2014to the gate of\nthe caravanserai, a little farther; and there he found the dead body of\nhis friend, who had been suddenly assailed and cut down by robbers,\nunhappily too plenty in the neighborhood at that period.\n\nWe here see the desire of the spirit to communicate his fate to the\nsurvivor; the imperfection of the rapport, or the receptivity, which\nprevented a more direct intercourse; and the exertion of a magnetic\ninfluence, which Mr. M\u2014\u2014 could not resist, precisely similar to that\nof a living magnetizer over his patient.\n\nThere is a story extant in various English collections, the\ncircumstances of which are said to have occurred about the middle of the\nlast century, and which I shall here mention, on account of its\nsimilarity to the one that follows it.\n\nDr. Bretton, who was, late in life, appointed rector of Ludgate, lived\npreviously in Herefordshire, where he married the daughter of Dr.\nSanter, a woman of great piety and virtue. This lady died; and one day,\nas a former servant of hers\u2014to whom she had been attached, and who had\nsince married\u2014was nursing her child in her own cottage, the door\nopened, and a lady entered so exactly resembling the late Mrs. Bretton\nin dress and appearance, that she exclaimed: \u201cIf my mistress were not\ndead, I should think you were she!\u201d Whereupon the apparition told her\nthat she was, and requested her to go with her, as she had business of\nimportance to communicate. Alice objected, being very much frightened,\nand entreated her to address herself rather to Dr. Bretton; but Mrs. B.\nanswered that _she had endeavored to do so, and had been several times\nin his room for that purpose, but he was still asleep, and she had no\npower to do more toward awakening him than once uncover his feet_. Alice\nthen pleaded that she had nobody to leave with her child; but Mrs. B.\npromising that the child should sleep till her return, she at length\nobeyed the summons; and having accompanied the apparition into a large\nfield, the latter bade her observe how much she measured off with her\nfeet, and, having taken a considerable compass, she bade her go and tell\nher brother that all that portion had been wrongfully taken from the\npoor by their father, and that he must restore it to them, adding that\nshe was the more concerned about it, since her name had been used in the\ntransaction. Alice then asking how she should satisfy the gentleman of\nthe truth of her mission, Mrs. B. mentioned to her some circumstance\nknown only to herself and this brother; she then entered into much\ndiscourse with the woman, and gave her a great deal of good advice,\nremaining till, hearing the sound of horse-bells, she said: \u201cAlice, I\nmust be seen by none but yourself,\u201d and then disappeared. Whereupon\nAlice proceeded to Dr. Bretton, who admitted that he had actually heard\nsome one walking about his room, in a way he could not account for. On\nmentioning the thing to the brother, he laughed heartily, till Alice\ncommunicated the secret which constituted her credentials, upon which he\nchanged his tone, and declared himself ready to make the required\nrestitution.\n\nDr. Bretton seems to have made no secret of this story, but to have\nrelated it to various persons; and I think it is somewhat in its favor,\nthat it exhibits a remarkable instance of the various degrees of\nreceptivity of different individuals, where there was no suspicion of\nthe cause, nor any attempt made to explain why Mrs. Bretton could not\ncommunicate her wishes to her husband as easily as to Alice. The\npromising that the child should sleep, was promising no more than many a\nmagnetiser could fulfil. There are several curious stories extant, of\nlame and suffering persons suddenly recovering, who attributed their\nrestoration to the visit of an apparition which had stroked their limbs,\n&c.; and these are the more curious from the fact that they occurred\nbefore Mesmer\u2019s time, when people in general knew nothing of vital\nmagnetism. Dr. Binns quotes the case of a person named Jacob Olaffson, a\nresident in some small island subject to Denmark, who, after lying very\nill for a fortnight, was found quite well, which he accounted for by\nsaying that a person in shining clothes had come to him in the night and\nstroked him with his hand, whereupon he was presently healed. But the\nstroking is not always necessary, since we know that the eye and the\nwill can produce the same effect.\n\nThe other case to which I alluded, as similar to that of Mrs. Bretton,\noccurred in Germany, and is related by Dr. Kerner.\n\nThe late Mr. L\u2014\u2014 St. \u2014\u2014, he says, quitted this world with an\nexcellent reputation, being at the time superintendent of an institution\nfor the relief of the poor in B\u2014\u2014. His son inherited his property,\nand, in acknowledgment of the faithful services of his father\u2019s old\nhousekeeper, he took her into his family and established her in a\ncountry-house, a few miles from B\u2014\u2014, which formed part of his\ninheritance. She had been settled there but a short time, when she was\nawakened in the night, she knew not how, and saw a tall, haggard-looking\nman in her room, who was rendered visible to her by a light that seemed\nto issue from himself. She drew the bed-clothes over her head; but, as\nthis apparition appeared to her repeatedly, she became so much alarmed\nthat she mentioned it to her master, begging permission to resign her\nsituation. He however laughed at her\u2014told her it must be all\nimagination\u2014and promised to sleep in the adjoining apartment, in order\nthat she might call him whenever this terror seized her. He did so; but,\nwhen the spectre returned, she was so much oppressed with horror that\nshe found it impossible to raise her voice. Her master then advised her\nto inquire the motive of its visits. This she did: whereupon, it\nbeckoned her to follow, which, after some struggles, she summoned\nresolution to do. It then led the way down some steps to a passage,\nwhere it pointed out to her a concealed closet, which it signified to\nher, by signs, she should open. She represented that she had no key:\nwhereupon, it described to her, in sufficiently articulate words, where\nshe would find one. She procured the key, and, on opening the closet,\nfound a small parcel, which the spirit desired her to remit to the\ngovernor of the institution for the poor, at B\u2014\u2014, with the injunction\nthat the contents should be applied to the benefit of the inmates,\u2014this\nrestitution being the only means whereby he could obtain rest and peace\nin the other world. Having mentioned these circumstances to her master,\nwho bade her do what she had been desired, she took the parcel to the\ngovernor and delivered it, without communicating by what means it had\ncome into her hands. Her name was entered in their books and she was\ndismissed; but, after she was gone, they discovered to their surprise\nthat the packet contained an order for thirty thousand florins, of which\nthe late Mr. St. \u2014\u2014 had defrauded the institution and converted to his\nown use.\n\nMr. St. \u2014\u2014, jr., was now called upon to pay the money, which he\nrefusing to do, the affair was at length referred to the authorities;\nand the housekeeper being arrested, he and she were confronted in the\ncourt, where she detailed the circumstances by which the parcel had come\ninto her possession. Mr. St. \u2014\u2014 denied the possibility of the thing,\ndeclaring the whole must be, for some purpose or other, an invention of\nher own. Suddenly, while making this defence, he felt a blow upon his\nshoulder, which caused him to start and look round, and at the same\nmoment the housekeeper exclaimed: \u201cSee! there he stands, now\u2014there is\nthe ghost!\u201d None perceived the figure excepting the woman herself and\nMr. St. \u2014\u2014; but everybody present heard the following words: \u201cMy son,\nrepair the injustice I have committed, that I may be at peace!\u201d The\nmoney was paid; and Mr. St. \u2014\u2014 was so much affected by this painful\nevent, that he was seized with a severe illness, from which he with\ndifficulty recovered.\n\nDr. Kerner says that these circumstances occurred in the year 1816, and\ncreated a considerable sensation at the time, though, at the earnest\nrequest of the family of Mr. St. \u2014\u2014, there was an attempt made to hush\nthem up; adding, that in the month of October, 1819, he was himself\nassured by a very respectable citizen of B\u2014\u2014, that it was universally\nknown in the town that the ghost of the late superintendent had appeared\nto the housekeeper, and pointed out to her where she would find the\npacket; that she had consulted the minister of her parish, who bade her\ndeliver it as directed; that she had been subsequently arrested, and the\naffair brought before the authorities, where, while making his defence,\nMr. St. \u2014\u2014 had received a blow from an invisible hand; and that Mr.\nSt. \u2014\u2014 was so much affected by these circumstances, which got abroad\nin spite of the efforts to suppress them, that he did not long survive\nthe event.\n\nGrose, the antiquary, makes himself very merry with the observation that\nghosts do not go about their business like other people; and that in\ncases of murder, instead of going to the nearest justice of peace, or to\nthe nearest relation of the deceased, a ghost addresses itself to\nsomebody who had nothing to do with the matter, or hovers about the\ngrave where its body is deposited. \u201cThe same circuitous mode is\npursued,\u201d he says, \u201cwith respect to redressing injured orphans or\nwidows; where it seems as if the shortest and most certain way would be\nto go and haunt the person guilty of the injustice, till he were\nterrified into restitution.\u201d We find the same sort of strictures made on\nthe story of the ghost of Sir George Villiers, which\u2014instead of going\ndirectly to his son, the duke of Buckingham, to warn him of his\ndanger\u2014addressed himself to an inferior person; while the warning was,\nafter all, inefficacious, as the duke would not take counsel;\u2014but\nsurely such strictures are as absurd as the conduct of the ghost: at\nleast I think there can be nothing more absurd than pretending to\nprescribe laws to nature, and judging of what we know so little about.\n\nThe proceedings of the ghost in the following case will doubtless be\nequally displeasing to the critics. The account is extracted verbatim\nfrom a work published by the Bannatyne Club, and is entitled, \u201cAuthentic\nAccount of the Appearance of a Ghost in Queen Ann\u2019s County, Maryland,\nUnited States of North America, proved in the following remarkable\ntrial, from attested notes taken in court at the time by one of the\ncounsel.\u201d\n\nIt appears that Thomas Harris had made some alteration in the disposal\nof his property, immediately previous to his death; and that the family\ndisputed the will and raised up difficulties likely to be injurious to\nhis children.\n\n\u201cWilliam Brigs said, that he was forty-three years of age; that Thomas\nHarris died in September, in the year 1790. In the March following he\nwas riding near the place where Thomas Harris was buried, on a horse\nformerly belonging to Thomas Harris. After crossing a small branch, his\nhorse began to walk on very fast. It was between the hours of eight and\nnine o\u2019clock in the morning. He was alone: it was a clear day. He\nentered a lane adjoining to the field where Thomas Harris was buried.\nHis horse suddenly wheeled in a panel of the fence, looked over the\nfence into the field where Thomas Harris was buried, and neighed very\nloud. Witness then saw Thomas Harris coming toward him, in the same\napparel he had last seen him in in his lifetime; he had on a sky-blue\ncoat. Just before he came to the fence, he varied to the right and\nvanished; his horse immediately took the road. Thomas Harris came within\ntwo panels of the fence to him; he did not see his features, nor speak\nto him. He was acquainted with Thomas Harris when a boy, and there had\nalways been a great intimacy between them. He thinks the horse knew\nThomas Harris, because of his neighing, pricking up his ears, and\nlooking over the fence.\n\n\u201cAbout the first of June following, he was ploughing in his own field,\nabout three miles from where Thomas Harris was buried. About dusk Thomas\nHarris came alongside of him, and walked with him about two hundred\nyards. He was dressed as when first seen. He made a halt about two steps\nfrom him. J. Bailey who was ploughing along with him, came driving up,\nand he lost sight of the ghost. He was much alarmed: not a word was\nspoken. The young man Bailey did not see him; he did not tell Bailey of\nit. There was no motion of any particular part: he vanished. It preyed\nupon his mind so as to affect his health. He was with Thomas Harris when\nhe died, but had no particular conversation with him. Some time after,\nhe was lying in bed, about eleven and twelve o\u2019clock at night, when he\nheard Thomas Harris groan; it was like the groan he gave a few minutes\nbefore he expired: Mrs. Brigs, his wife, heard the groan. She got up and\nsearched the house: he did not, because he knew the groan to be from\nThomas Harris. Some time after, when in bed, and a great fire-light in\nthe room, he saw a shadow on the wall, and at the same time he felt a\ngreat weight upon him. Some time after, when in bed and asleep, he felt\na stroke between his eyes, which blackened them both: his wife was in\nbed with him, and two young men were in the room. The blow awaked him,\nand all in the room were asleep; is certain no one in the room struck\nhim: the blow swelled his nose. About the middle of August he was alone,\ncoming from Hickey Collins\u2019s, after dark, about one hour in the night,\nwhen Thomas Harris appeared, dressed as he had seen him when going down\nto the meeting-house branch, three miles and a half from the graveyard\nof Thomas Harris. It was starlight. He extended his arms over his\nshoulders. Does not know how long he remained in this situation. He was\nmuch alarmed. Thomas Harris disappeared. Nothing was said. He felt no\nweight on his shoulders. He went back to Collins\u2019s, and got a young man\nto go with him. After he got home he mentioned it to the young man. He\nhad, before this, told James Harris he had seen his brother\u2019s ghost.\n\n\u201cIn October, about twilight in the morning, he saw Thomas Harris about\none hundred yards from the house of the witness; his head was leaned to\none side; same apparel as before; his face was toward him; he walked\nfast and disappeared: there was nothing between them to obstruct the\nview; he was about fifty yards from him, and alone; he had no conception\nwhy Thomas Harris appeared to him. On the same day, about eight o\u2019clock\nin the morning, he was handing up blades to John Bailey, who was\nstacking them; he saw Thomas Harris come along the garden fence, dressed\nas before; he vanished, and always to the east; was within fifteen feet\nof him; Bailey did not see him. An hour and a half afterward, in the\nsame place, he again appeared, coming as before; came up to the fence;\nleaned on it within ten feet of the witness, who called to Bailey to\nlook there (pointing toward Thomas Harris). Bailey asked what was there.\nDon\u2019t you see Harris? Does not recollect what Bailey said. Witness\nadvanced toward Harris. One or the other spoke as witness got over the\nfence on the same panel that Thomas Harris was leaning on. They walked\noff together about five hundred yards; a conversation took place as they\nwalked; he has not the conversation on his memory. He could not\nunderstand Thomas Harris, his voice was so low. He asked Thomas Harris a\nquestion, and he forbid him. Witness then asked, \u2018Why not go to your\nbrother, instead of me?\u2019 Thomas Harris said, \u2018Ask me no questions.\u2019\nWitness told him his will was doubted. Thomas Harris told him to ask his\nbrother if he did not remember the conversation which passed between\nthem on the east side of the wheat-stacks, the day he was taken with his\ndeath-sickness; that he then declared that he wished all his property\nkept together by James Harris, until his children arrived at age, then\nthe whole should be sold and divided among his children; and, should it\nbe immediately sold, as expressed in his will, that the property would\nbe most wanting to his children while minors, therefore he had changed\nhis will, and said that witness should see him again. He then told\nwitness to turn, and disappeared. He did not speak to him with the same\nvoice as in his lifetime. He was not daunted while with Thomas Harris,\nbut much afterward. Witness then went to James Harris and told him that\nhe had seen his brother three times that day. Related the conversation\nhe had with him. Asked James Harris if he remembered the conversation\nbetween him and his brother, at the wheat-stack; he said he did; then\ntold him what had passed. Said he would fulfil his brother\u2019s will. He\nwas satisfied that witness had seen his brother, for that no other\nperson knew the conversation. On the same evening, returning home about\nan hour before sunset, Thomas Harris appeared to him, and came alongside\nof him. Witness told him that his brother said he would fulfil his will.\nNo more conversation on this subject. He disappeared. He had further\nconversation with Thomas Harris, but not on this subject. He was always\ndressed in the same manner. He had never related to any person the last\nconversation, and never would.\n\n\u201cBailey, who was sworn in the cause, declared that as he and Brigs were\nstacking blades, as related by Brigs, he called to witness and said,\n\u2018Look there! Do you not see Thomas Harris?\u2019 Witness said, \u2018No.\u2019 Brigs\ngot over the fence, and walked some distance\u2014appeared by his action to\nbe in deep conversation with some person. Witness saw no one.\n\n\u201cThe counsel was extremely anxious to hear from Mr. Brigs the whole of\nthe conversation of the ghost, and on his cross-examination took every\nmeans, without effect, to obtain it. They represented to him, as a\nreligious man, he was bound to disclose the whole truth. He appeared\nagitated when applied to, declaring nothing short of life should make\nhim reveal the whole conversation, and, claiming the protection of the\ncourt, that he had declared all he knew relative to the case.\n\n\u201cThe court overruled the question of the counsel. Hon. James Tilgman,\njudge.\n\n\u201cHis excellency Robert Wright, late governor of Maryland, and the Hon.\nJoseph H. Nicholson, afterward judge of one of the courts in Maryland,\nwere the counsel for the plaintiff.\n\n\u201cJohn Scott and Richard T. Earl, Esqs., were counsel for the defendant.\u201d\n\nHere, as in the case of Col. M\u2014\u2014, mentioned in a former chapter, and\nsome others I have met with, we find disclosures made that were held\nsacred.\n\nDr. Kerner relates the following singular story, which he declares\nhimself to have received from the most satisfactory authority. Agnes\nB\u2014\u2014, being at the time eighteen years of age, was living as servant in\na small inn at Undenheim, her native place. The host and hostess were\nquiet old people, who generally went to bed about eight o\u2019clock, while\nshe and the boy, the only other servant, were expected to sit up till\nten, when they had to shut up the house and retire to bed also. One\nevening, as the host was sitting on a bench before the door, there came\na beggar, requesting a night\u2019s lodging. The host, however, refused, and\nbade him seek what he wanted in the village; whereon the man went away.\n\nAt the usual hour the old people went to bed; and the two servants,\nhaving closed the shutters, and indulged in a little gossip with the\nwatchman, were about to follow their example, when the beggar came round\nthe corner of the neighboring street, and earnestly entreated them to\ngive him a lodging for the night, since he could find nobody that would\ntake him in. At first the young people refused, saying they dared not,\nwithout their master\u2019s leave; but at length the entreaties of the man\nprevailed, and they consented to let him sleep in the barn, on condition\nthat, when they called him in the morning, he would immediately depart.\nAt three o\u2019clock they rose, and when the boy entered the barn, to his\ndismay, he found that the old man had expired in the night. They were\nnow much perplexed with the apprehension of their master\u2019s displeasure;\nso, after some consultation, they agreed that the lad should convey the\nbody out of the barn, and lay it in a dry ditch that was near at hand,\nwhere it would be found by the laborers, and excite no question, as they\nwould naturally conclude he had laid himself down there to die.\n\nThis was done, the man was discovered and buried, and they thought\nthemselves well rid of the whole affair; but, on the following night,\nthe girl was awakened by the beggar, whom she saw standing at her\nbedside. He looked at her, and then quitted the room by the door. \u201cGlad\nwas I,\u201d she says, \u201cwhen the day broke; but I was scarcely out of my room\nwhen the boy came to me, trembling and pale, and, before I could say a\nword to him of what I had seen, he told me that the beggar had been to\nhis room in the night, had looked at him, and then gone away. He said he\nwas dressed as when we had seen him alive, only he looked blacker, which\nI also had observed.\u201d\n\nStill afraid of incurring blame, they told nobody, although the\napparition returned to them every night; and although they found\nremoving to the other bed-chambers did not relieve them from his visits.\nBut the effects of this persecution became so visible on both, that much\ncuriosity was awakened in the village with respect to the cause of the\nalteration observed in them; and at length the boy\u2019s mother went to the\nminister, requesting him to interrogate her son, and endeavor to\ndiscover what was preying on his mind. To him the boy disclosed their\nsecret; and this minister, who was a protestant, having listened with\nattention to the story, advised him, when next he went to Mayence, to\nmarket, to call on Father Joseph, of the Franciscan convent, and relate\nthe circumstance to him. This advice was followed; and Father Joseph,\nassuring the lad that the ghost could do him no harm, recommended him to\nask him, in the name of God, what he desired. The boy did so; whereupon\nthe apparition answered, \u201cYe are children of mercy, but I am a child of\nevil; in the barn, under the straw, you will find my money. Take it; it\nis yours.\u201d In the morning, the boy found the money accordingly, in an\nold stocking hid under the straw; but having a natural horror of it,\nthey took it to their minister, who advised them to divide it into three\nparts, giving one to the Franciscan convent at Mayence, another to the\nreformed church in the village, and the other third to that to which\nthey themselves belonged, which was of the Lutheran persuasion. This\nthey did, and were no more troubled with the beggar. With respect to the\nminister who gave them this good advice, I can only say, all honor be to\nhim! I wish there were many more such! The circumstance occurred in the\nyear 1750, and is related by the daughter of Agnes B\u2014\u2014, who declared\nthat she had frequently heard it from her mother.\n\nThe circumstance of this apparition looking darker than the man had done\nwhen alive, is significant of his condition, and confirms what I have\nsaid above, namely, that the moral state of the disembodied soul can no\nlonger be concealed as it was in the flesh, but that as he is, he must\nnecessarily appear.\n\nThere is an old saying, that we should never lie down to rest at enmity\nwith any human being; and the story of the ghost of the Princess Anna of\nSaxony, who appeared to Duke Christian of Saxe-Eisenburg, is strongly\nconfirmatory of the wisdom of this axiom.\n\nDuke Christian was sitting one morning in his study, when he was\nsurprised by a knock at his door\u2014an unusual circumstance, since the\nguards as well as the people in waiting were always in the ante-room.\nHe, however, cried, \u201cCome in!\u201d when there entered, to his amazement, a\nlady in an ancient costume, who, in answer to his inquiries, told him\nthat she was no evil spirit, and would do him no harm; but that she was\none of his ancestors, and had been the wife of Duke John Casimer, of\nSaxe-Coburg. She then related that she and her husband had not been on\ngood terms at the period of their deaths, and that, although she had\nsought a reconciliation, he had been inexorable; pursuing her with\nunmitigated hatred, and injuring her by unjust suspicions; and that,\nconsequently, although _she_ was happy, _he_ was still wandering in cold\nand darkness, between time and eternity. She had, however, long known\nthat one of their descendants was destined to effect this reconciliation\nfor them, and they were rejoiced to find the time for it had at length\narrived. She then gave the duke eight days to consider if he were\nwilling to perform this good office, and disappeared; whereupon he\nconsulted a clergyman, in whom he had great confidence, who, after\nfinding the ghost\u2019s communication verified, by a reference to the annals\nof the family, advised him to comply with her request.\n\nAs the duke had yet some difficulty in believing it was really a ghost\nhe had seen, he took care to have his door well watched; she, however,\nentered at the appointed time, unseen by the attendants, and, having\nreceived the duke\u2019s promise, she told him she would return with her\nhusband on the following night; for that, though she could come by day,\nhe could not; that then, having heard the circumstances, the duke must\narbitrate between them, and then unite their hands, and bless them. The\ndoor was still watched, but nevertheless the apparitions both came, the\nDuke Casimer in full royal costume, but of a livid paleness; and when\nthe wife had told her story, he told his. Duke Christian decided for the\nlady, in which judgment Duke Casimer fully acquiesced. Christian then\ntook the ice-cold hand of Casimer and laid it in that of his wife, which\nfelt of a natural heat. They then prayed and sang together, and the\napparitions disappeared, having foretold that Duke Christian would ere\nlong be with them. The family records showed that these people had lived\nabout one hundred years before Duke Christian\u2019s time, who himself died\nin 1707, two years after these visits of his ancestors. He desired to be\nburied in quicklime\u2014it is supposed from an idea that it might prevent\nhis ghost walking the earth.\n\nThe costume in which they appeared was precisely that they had worn when\nalive, as was ascertained by a reference to their portraits.\n\nThe expression that her husband was _wandering in cold and darkness,\nbetween time and eternity_, is here very worthy of observation, as are\nthe circumstances that his hand was cold, while hers was warm; and also,\nthe greater privilege she seemed to enjoy. The hands of the unhappy\nspirits appear, I think, invariably to communicate a sensation of cold.\n\nI have heard of three instances of persons now alive, who declare that\nthey hold continual intercourse with their deceased partners. One of\nthese is a naval officer, whom the author of a book lately published,\ncalled \u201cThe Unseen World,\u201d appears to be acquainted with. The second is\na professor in a college in America, a man of eminence and learning, and\nfull of activity and energy\u2014yet he assured a friend of mine that he\nreceives constant visits from his departed wife, which afford him great\nsatisfaction. The third example is a lady in this country. She is united\nto a second husband, has been extremely happy in both marriages, and\ndeclares that she receives frequent visits from her first. Oberlin, the\ngood pastor of _Ban de la Roche_, asserted the same thing of himself.\nHis wife came to him frequently after her death; was seen by the rest of\nhis household, as well as himself; and warned him beforehand of many\nevents that occurred.\n\nMrs. Mathews relates in the memoirs of her husband, that he was one\nnight in bed and unable to sleep, from the excitement that continues\nsome time after acting, when, hearing a rustling by the side of the bed,\nhe looked out, and saw his first wife, who was then dead, standing by\nthe bedside, dressed as when alive. She smiled, and bent forward as if\nto take his hand; but in his alarm he threw himself out on the floor to\navoid the contact, and was found by the landlord in a fit. On the same\nnight, and at the same hour, the present Mrs. Mathews, who was far away\nfrom him, received a similar visit from her predecessor, whom she had\nknown when alive. She was quite awake, and in her terror seized the\nbell-rope to summon assistance, which gave way, and she fell with it in\nher hand to the ground.\n\nProfessor Barthe, who visited Oberlin in 1824, says, that while he spoke\nof his intercourse with the spiritual world as familiarly as of the\ndaily visits of his parishioners, he was at the same time perfectly free\nfrom fanaticism, and eagerly alive to all the concerns of this earthly\nexistence. He asserted, what I find many somnambules and deceased\npersons also assert, that everything on earth is but a copy, of which\nthe antitype is to be found in the other.\n\nHe said to his visiter, that he might as well attempt to persuade him\nthat that was not a table before them, as that he did not hold\ncommunication with the other world. \u201cI give you credit for being honest\nwhen you assure me that you never saw anything of the kind,\u201d said he;\n\u201cgive me the same credit when I assure you that I do.\u201d\n\nWith respect to the faculty of ghost-seeing, he said, it depends on\nseveral circumstances, external and internal. People who live in the\nbustle and glare of the world seldom see them, while those who live in\nstill, solitary, thinly-inhabited places, like the mountainous districts\nof various countries, do. So if I go into the forest by night, I see the\nphosphoric light of a piece of rotten wood; but if I go by day I can not\nsee it; yet it is still there. Again, there must be a rapport. A tender\nmother is awakened by the faintest cry of her infant, while the maid\nslumbers on and never hears it; and if I thrust a needle among a parcel\nof wood-shavings, and hold a magnet over them, the needle is stirred\nwhile the shavings are quite unmoved. There must be a particular\naptitude; what it consists in I do not know; for of my people, many of\nwhom are ghost-seers, some are weak and sickly, others vigorous and\nstrong. Here are several pieces of flint: I can see no difference in\nthem; yet some have so much iron in them that they easily become\nmagnetic; others have little or none. So it is with the faculty of\nghost-seeing. People may laugh as they will, but the thing is a fact,\nnevertheless.\n\nThe visits of his wife continued for nine years after her death, and\nthen ceased.\n\nAt length she sent him a message, through another deceased person, to\nsay that she was now elevated to a higher state, and could therefore no\nlonger revisit the earth.\n\nNever was there a purer spirit, nor a more beloved human being, than\nOberlin. When first he was appointed to the cur\u00e9 of Ban de la Roche, and\nfound his people talking so familiarly of the reappearance of the dead,\nhe reproved them and preached against the superstition; nor was he\nconvinced, till after the death of his wife. She had, however,\npreviously received a visit from her deceased sister, the wife of\nProfessor Oberlin, of Strasburg, who had warned her of her approaching\ndeath, for which she immediately set about preparing, making extra\nclothing for her children, and even laying in provision for the funeral\nfeast. She then took leave of her husband and family, and went quietly\nto bed. On the following morning she died; and Oberlin never heard of\nthe warning she had received, till she disclosed it to him in her\nspectral visitations.\n\nIn narrating the following story, I am not permitted to give the names\nof the place or parties, nor the number of the regiment, with all of\nwhich, however, I am acquainted. The account was taken down by one of\nthe officers, with whose family I am also acquainted; and the\ncircumstance occurred within the last ten years.\n\n\u201cAbout the month of August,\u201d says Captain E\u2014\u2014, \u201cmy attention was\nrequested by the schoolmaster-sergeant, a man of considerable worth, and\nhighly esteemed by the whole corps, to an event which had occurred in\nthe garrison hospital. Having heard his recital, which, from the serious\nearnestness with which he made it, challenged attention, I resolved to\ninvestigate the matter; and, having communicated the circumstances to a\nfriend, we both repaired to the hospital for the purpose of inquiry.\n\n\u201cThere were two patients to be examined\u2014both men of good character, and\nneither of them suffering from any disorder affecting the brain; the one\nwas under treatment for consumptive symptoms, and the other for an\nulcerated leg: and they were both in the prime of life.\n\n\u201cHaving received a confirmation of the schoolmaster\u2019s statement from the\nhospital-sergeant, also a very respectable and trustworthy man, I sent\nfor the patient principally concerned, and desired him to state what he\nhad seen and heard, warning him, at the same time, that it was my\nintention to take down his deposition, and that it behooved him to be\nvery careful, as possibly serious steps might be taken for the purpose\nof discovering whether an imposition had been practised in the wards of\nthe hospital\u2014a crime for which, he was well aware, a very severe\npenalty would be inflicted. He then proceeded to relate the\ncircumstances, which I took down in the presence of Mr. B\u2014\u2014 and the\nhospital-sergeant, as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201c\u2018It was last Tuesday night, somewhere between eleven and twelve, when\nall of us were in bed, and all lights out except the rush-light that was\nallowed for the man with the fever, when I was awoke by feeling a weight\nupon my feet, and at the same moment, as I was drawing up my legs,\nPrivate W\u2014\u2014, who lies in the cot opposite mine, called out, \u201cI say,\nQ\u2014\u2014, there\u2019s somebody sitting upon your legs!\u201d\u2014and as I looked to the\nbottom of my bed, I saw some one get up from it, and then come round and\nstand over me, in the passage between my cot and the next. I felt\nsomewhat alarmed, for the last few nights the ward had been disturbed by\nsounds as of a heavy foot walking up and down; and as nobody could be\nseen, it was beginning to be supposed among us that it was haunted, and\nfancying this that came up to my bed\u2019s head might be the ghost, I called\nout, \u201cWho are you, and what do you want?\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018The figure then, leaning with one hand on the wall, over my head, and\nstooping down, said, in my ear, \u201cI am Mrs. M\u2014\u2014;\u201d and I could then\ndistinguish that she was dressed in a flannel gown, edged with black\nriband, exactly similar to a set of grave-clothes in which I had\nassisted to clothe her corpse, when her death took place a year\npreviously.\n\n\u201c\u2018The voice, however, was not like Mrs. M\u2014\u2014\u2019s, nor like anybody\nelse\u2019s, yet it was very distinct, and seemed somehow to sing through my\nhead. I could see nothing of a face beyond a darkish color about the\nhead, and it appeared to me that I could see through her body against\nthe window-glasses.\n\n\u201c\u2018Although I felt very uncomfortable, I asked her what she wanted. She\nreplied, \u201cI am Mrs. M\u2014\u2014, and I wish you to write to him that was my\nhusband, and tell him.....\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018I am not, sir,\u2019 said Corporal Q\u2014\u2014, \u2018at liberty to mention to anybody\nwhat she told me, except to her husband. He is at the d\u00e9p\u00f4t in Ireland,\nand I have written and told him. She made me promise not to tell any one\nelse. After I had promised secrecy, she told me something of a matter\nthat convinced me I was talking to a spirit, for it related to what only\nI and Mrs. M\u2014\u2014 knew, and no one living could know anything whatever of\nthe matter; and if I was now speaking my last words on earth, I say\nsolemnly that it was Mrs. M\u2014\u2014\u2019s spirit that spoke to me then, and no\none else. After promising that if I complied with her request, she would\nnot trouble me or the ward again, she went from my bed toward the\nfireplace, and with her hands she kept feeling about the wall over the\nmantel-piece. After a while, she came toward me again; and while my eyes\nwere upon her, she somehow disappeared from my sight altogether, and I\nwas left alone.\n\n\u201c\u2018It was then that I felt faint-like, and a cold sweat broke out over\nme; but I did not faint, and after a time I got better, and gradually I\nwent off to sleep.\n\n\u201c\u2018The men in the ward said, next day, that Mrs. M\u2014\u2014 had come to speak\nto me about purgatory, because she had been a Roman catholic, and we had\noften had arguments on religion: but what she told me had no reference\nto such subjects, but to a matter only she and I knew of.\u2019\n\n\u201cAfter closely cross-questioning Corporal Q\u2014\u2014, and endeavoring without\nsuccess to reason him out of his belief in the ghostly character of his\nvisiter, I read over to him what I had written, and then, dismissing\nhim, sent for the other patient.\n\n\u201cAfter cautioning him, as I had done the first, I proceeded to take down\nhis statement, which was made with every appearance of good faith and\nsincerity:\u2014\n\n\u201c\u2018I was lying awake,\u2019 said he, \u2018last Tuesday night, when I saw some one\nsitting on Corporal Q\u2014\u2014\u2019s bed. There was so little light in the ward,\nthat I could not make out who it was, and the figure looked so strange\nthat I got alarmed, and felt quite sick. I called out to Corporal Q\u2014\u2014\nthat there was somebody sitting upon his bed, and then the figure got\nup; and as I did not know but it might be coming to me, I got so much\nalarmed, that being but weakly\u2019 (this was the consumptive man), \u2018I fell\nback, and I believe I fainted away. When I got round again, I saw the\nfigure standing and apparently talking to the corporal, placing one hand\nagainst the wall and stooping down. I could not, however, hear any\nvoice; and being still much alarmed, I put my head under the clothes for\na considerable time. When I looked up again I could only see Corporal\nQ\u2014\u2014, sitting up in bed alone, and he said he had seen a ghost; and I\ntold him I had also seen it. After a time he got up and gave me a drink\nof water, for I was very faint. Some of the other patients being\ndisturbed by our talking, they bade us be quiet, and after some time I\ngot to sleep. The ward has not been disturbed since.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe man was then cross-questioned; but his testimony remaining quite\nunshaken, he was dismissed, and the hospital-sergeant was interrogated\nwith regard to the possibility of a trick having been practised. He\nasserted, however, that this was impossible; and, certainly, from my own\nknowledge of the hospital regulations, and the habits of the patients, I\nshould say that a practical joke of this nature was too serious a thing\nto have been attempted by anybody, especially as there were patients in\nthe ward very ill at the time, and one very near his end. The punishment\nwould have been extremely severe, and discovery almost certain, since\neverybody would have been adverse to the delinquent.\n\n\u201cThe investigation that ensued was a very brief one, it being found that\nthere was nothing more to be elicited; and the affair terminated with\nthe supposition that the two men had been dreaming. Nevertheless, six\nmonths afterward, on being interrogated, their evidence and their\nconviction were as clear as at first, and they declared themselves ready\nat any time to repeat their statement upon oath.\u201d\n\nSupposing this case to be as the men believed it, there are several\nthings worthy of observation. In the first place, the ghost is guilty of\nthat inconsistency so offensive to Francis Grose and many others.\nInstead of telling her secret to her husband, she commissions the\ncorporal to tell it him, and it is not till a year after her departure\nfrom this life that she does even that; and she is heard in the ward two\nor three nights before she is visible. We are therefore constrained to\nsuppose that, like Mrs. Bretton, she could not communicate with her\nhusband, and that, till that Tuesday night, the necessary conditions for\nattaining her object, as regarded the corporal, were wanting. It is also\nremarkable that, although the latter heard her speak distinctly, and\nspoke to her, the other man heard no voice, which renders it probable\nthat she had at length been able to produce that impression upon him\nwhich a magnetizer does on his somnambule, enabling each to understand\nthe other by a transference of thought, which was undistinguishable to\nthe corporal from speech, as it is frequently to the somnambule. The\nimitating the actions of life by leaning against the wall and feeling\nabout the mantel-piece, are very unlike what a person would have done\nwho was endeavoring to impose on the man; and equally unlike what they\nwould have reported, had the thing been an invention of their own.\n\nAmong the established jests on the subject of ghosts, their sudden\nvanishing is a very fruitful one; but, I think, if we examine this\nquestion, we shall find that there is nothing comical in the matter\nexcept the ignorance or want of reflection of the jesters.\n\nIn the first place, as I have before observed, a spirit must be where\nits thoughts and affections are, for they are itself; our spirits are\nwhere our thoughts and affections are, although our solid bodies remain\nstationary: and no one will suppose that walls or doors, or material\nobstacles of any kind, could exclude a spirit any more than they can\nexclude our thoughts.\n\nBut, then, there is the visible body of the spirit\u2014what is that, and\nhow does it retain its shape?\u2014for we know that there is a law\n(discovered by Dalton) that two masses of gaseous matter can not remain\nin contact, but they will immediately proceed to diffuse themselves into\none another; and accordingly, it may be advanced that a gaseous\ncorporeity in the atmosphere is an impossibility, because it could not\nretain its form, but would inevitably be dissolved away, and blend with\nthe surrounding air. But precisely the same objection might be made by a\nchemist to the possibility of our fleshly bodies retaining their\nintegrity and compactness: for the human body, taken as a whole, is\nknown to be an impossible chemical compound, except for the vitality\nwhich upholds it; and no sooner is life withdrawn from it, than it\ncrumbles into putrescence; and it is undeniable that the aeriform body\nwould be an impossible mechanical phenomenon, but for the vitality\nwhich, we are entitled to suppose, may uphold it. But, just as the state\nor condition of organization protects the fleshly body from the natural\nreactions which would destroy it, so may an analogous condition of\norganization protect a spiritual ethereal body from the destructive\ninfluence of the mutual interdiffusion of gases.\n\nThus, supposing this aeriform body to be a permanent appurtenance of the\nspirit, we see how it may subsist and retain its integrity; and it would\nbe as reasonable to hope to exclude the electric fluid by walls or doors\nas to exclude by them this subtle, fluent form. If, on the contrary, the\nshape be only one constructed out of the atmosphere by an act of will,\nthe same act of will, which is a vital force, will preserve it entire,\nuntil, the will being withdrawn, it dissolves away. In either case, the\nmoment the will or thought of the spirit is elsewhere, it is gone\u2014it\nhas vanished.\n\nFor those who prefer the other hypothesis\u2014namely, that there is no\noutstanding shape at all, but that the will of the spirit, acting on the\nconstructive imagination of the seer, enables him to conceive the form,\nas the spirit itself conceives of it\u2014there can be no difficulty in\nunderstanding that the becoming invisible will depend merely on a\nsimilar act of will.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XIII.\n\n\n                            HAUNTED HOUSES.\n\nEVERYBODY has heard of haunted houses; and there is no country, and\nscarcely any place, in which something of the sort is not known or\ntalked of; and I suppose there is no one who, in the course of their\ntravels, has not seen very respectable, good-looking houses shut up and\nuninhabited, because they had this evil reputation assigned to them. I\nhave seen several such, for my own part; and it is remarkable that this\n_mala fama_ does not always, by any means, attach itself to buildings\none would imagine most obnoxious to such a suspicion. For example, I\nnever heard of a ghost being seen or heard in Haddon hall, the most\nghostly of houses; nor in many other antique, mysterious-looking\nbuildings, where one might expect them, while sometimes a house of a\nvery prosaic aspect remains uninhabited, and is ultimately allowed to\nfall to ruin, for no other reason, we are told, than that nobody can\nlive in it. I remember, in my childhood, such a house in Kent\u2014I think\nit was on the road between Maidstone and Tunbridge\u2014which had this\nreputation. There was nothing dismal about it: it was neither large nor\nold, and it stood on the borders of a well-frequented road; yet I was\nassured it had stood empty for years; and as long as I lived in that\npart of the country it never had an inhabitant, and I believe was\nfinally pulled down\u2014and all for no other reason than that it was\nhaunted, and nobody could live in it. I have frequently heard of people,\nwhile travelling on the continent, getting into houses at a rent so low\nas to surprise them, and I have, moreover, frequently heard of very\nstrange things occurring while they were there. I remember, for\ninstance, a family of the name of S\u2014\u2014 S\u2014\u2014, who obtained a very\nhandsome house at a most agreeably cheap rate, somewhere on the coast of\nItaly\u2014I think it was at Mola de Gaeta. They lived very comfortably in\nit till one day, while Mrs. S\u2014\u2014 S\u2014\u2014 was sitting in the drawing-room,\nwhich opened into a balcony overhanging the sea, she saw a lady dressed\nin white pass along before the windows, which were all closed.\nConcluding it was one of her daughters, who had been accidentally shut\nout, she arose and opened the window, to allow her to enter; but on\nlooking out, to her amazement there was nobody there, although there was\nno possible escape from the balcony unless by jumping into the sea! On\nmentioning this circumstance to somebody in the neighborhood, they were\ntold that \u201cthat was the reason they had the house so cheap: nobody liked\nto live in it.\u201d\n\nI have heard of several houses, even in populous cities, to which some\nstrange circumstance of this sort is attached\u2014some in London even, and\nsome in this city and neighborhood; and, what is more, unaccountable\nthings actually do happen to those who inhabit them. Doors are strangely\nopened and shut, a rustling of silk, and sometimes a whispering, and\nfrequently footsteps, are heard. There is a house in Ayrshire to which\nthis sort of thing has been attached for years, insomuch that it was\nfinally abandoned to an old man and woman, who said that they were so\nused to it that they did not mind it. A distinguished authoress told me\nthat some time ago she passed a night at the house of an acquaintance,\nin one of the midland counties of England. She and her sister occupied\nthe same room, and in the night they heard some one ascending the\nstairs. The foot came distinctly to the door, then turned away, ascended\nthe next flight, and they heard it overhead. In the morning, on being\nasked if they had slept well, they mentioned this circumstance. \u201cThat is\nwhat everybody hears who sleeps in that room,\u201d said the lady of the\nhouse. \u201cMany a time I have, when sleeping there, drawn up the\nnight-bolt, persuaded that the nurse was bringing the baby to me; but\nthere was nobody to be seen. We have taken every pains to ascertain what\nit is, but in vain; and are now so used to it, that we have ceased to\ncare about the matter.\u201d\n\nI know of two or three other houses in this city, and one in the\nneighborhood, in which circumstances of this nature are transpiring, or\nhave transpired very lately; but people hush them up, from the fear of\nbeing laughed at, and also from an apprehension of injuring the\ncharacter of a house; on which account, I do not dwell on the\nparticulars. But there was, some time since, a _fama_ of this kind\nattached to a house in St. J\u2014\u2014 street, some of the details of which\nbecame very public. It had stood empty a long time, in consequence of\nthe annoyances to which the inhabitants had been subjected. There was\none room, particularly, which nobody could occupy without disturbance.\nOn one occasion, a youth who had been abroad a considerable time, either\nin the army or navy, was put there to sleep on his arrival, since,\nknowing nothing of these reports, it was hoped his rest might not be\ninterrupted. In the morning, however, he complained of the dreadful time\nhe had had, with people looking in at him between the curtains of his\nbed all night\u2014avowing his resolution to terminate his visit that same\nday, as he would not sleep there any more. After this period, the house\nstood empty again for a considerable time, but was at length taken and\nworkmen sent in to repair it. One day, when the men were away at dinner,\nthe master tradesman took the key and went to inspect progress, and,\nhaving examined the lower rooms, he was ascending the stairs, when he\nheard a man\u2019s foot behind him. He looked round, but there was nobody\nthere, and he moved on again; still there was somebody following, and he\nstopped and looked over the rails; but there was no one to be seen. So,\nalthough feeling rather queer, he advanced into the drawing-room, where\na fire had been lighted; and, wishing to combat the uncomfortable\nsensation that was creeping over him, he took hold of a chair, and\ndrawing it resolutely along the floor, he slammed it down upon the\nhearth with some force and seated himself in it; when, to his amazement,\nthe action, in all its particulars of sound, was immediately repeated by\nhis unseen companion, who seemed to seat himself beside him on a chair\nas invisible as himself. Horror-struck, the worthy builder started up\nand rushed out of the house.\n\nThere is a house in S\u2014\u2014 street, in London, which, having stood empty a\ngood while, was at length taken by Lord B\u2014\u2014. The family were annoyed\nby several unpleasant occurrences, and by the sound of footsteps, which\nwere often audible, especially in Lady B\u2014\u2014\u2019s bed-room\u2014who, though she\ncould not see the form, was occasionally conscious of its immediate\nproximity.\n\nSome time since, a gentleman having established himself in a lodging in\nLondon, felt, the first night he slept there, that the clothes were\nbeing dragged off his bed. He fancied he had done it himself in his\nsleep, and pulled them on again;\u2014but it happens repeatedly: he gets out\nof bed each time\u2014can find nobody, no string, no possible\nexplanation\u2014nor can obtain any from the people of the house, who only\nseem distressed and annoyed. On mentioning it to some one in the\nneighborhood, he is informed that the same thing has occurred to several\npreceding occupants of the lodging, which, of course, he left.\n\nThe circumstances that happened at New House, in Hampshire\u2014as detailed\nby Mr. Barham in the third volume of the \u201cIngoldsby Legends\u201d\u2014are known\nto be perfectly authentic; as are the following, the account of which I\nhave received from a highly respectable servant, residing in a family\nwith whom I am well acquainted: she informs me that she was, not very\nlong since, living with a Colonel and Mrs. W\u2014\u2014, who, being at\nCarlisle, engaged a furnished house, which they obtained at an\nexceedingly cheap rate, because nobody liked to live in it. This family,\nhowever, met with no annoyance, and attached no importance to the rumor\nwhich had kept the house empty. There were, however, two rooms in it\nwholly unfurnished; and as the house was large, they were dispensed with\ntill the recurrence of the race week, when, expecting company, these two\nrooms were temporarily fitted up for the use of the nurses and children.\nThere were heavy Venetian blinds to the windows; and, in the middle of\nthe night, the person who related the circumstance to me, was awakened\nby the distinct sound of these blinds being pulled up and down with\nviolence, perhaps as many as twenty times. The fire had fallen low, and\nshe could not see whether they were actually moved or not, but lay\ntrembling in indescribable terror. Presently feet were heard in the\nroom, and a stamping as if several men were moving about without\nstockings. While lying in this state of agony, she was comforted by\nhearing the voice of a nurse, who slept in another bed in the same\nchamber, exclaiming: \u201cThe Lord have mercy upon us!\u201d This second woman\nthen asked the first if she had courage to get out of bed and stir up\nthe fire, so that they might be able to see; which by a great effort she\ndid, the chimney being near her bed. There was, however, nothing to be\ndiscovered, everything being precisely as when they went to bed. On\nanother occasion, when they were sitting in the evening at work, they\ndistinctly heard some one counting money, and the chink of the pieces as\nthey were laid down. The sound proceeded from the inner room of the two,\nbut there was nobody there. This family left the house, and though a\nlarge and commodious one, she understood it remained unoccupied, as\nbefore.\n\nA respectable citizen of Edinburgh, not long ago, went to America to\nvisit his son, who had married and settled there. The morning after his\narrival, he declared his determination to return immediately to\nPhiladelphia, from which the house was at a considerable distance; and,\non being interrogated as to the cause of this sudden departure, he said\nthat in the previous night he had heard a man walking about his room,\nwho had approached the bed, drawn back the curtains, and bent over him.\nThinking it was somebody who had concealed himself there with ill\nintentions, he had struck out violently at the figure, when, to his\nhorror, his arm passed unimpeded through it.\n\nOther extraordinary things happened in that house, which had the\nreputation of being haunted, although the son had not believed it, and\nhad therefore not mentioned the report to the father. One day the\nchildren said they had been running after \u201csuch a queer thing in the\ncellar; it was like a goat, and not like a goat; but it seemed to be\nlike a shadow.\u201d\n\nA few years ago, some friends of mine were taking a house in this city,\nwhen the servants of the people who were leaving advised them not to\nhave anything to do with it, for that there was a ghost in it that\nscreamed dreadfully, and that they never could keep a stitch of clothes\non them at night\u2014the bed-coverings were always pulled off. My friends\nlaughed heartily and took the house; but the cries and groans all over\nit were so frequent, that they at length got quite used to them. It is\nto be observed that the house was a _flat_, or _floor_, shut in; so that\nthere could be no draughts of air nor access for tricks. Besides, it was\na woman\u2019s voice, sometimes close to their ears, sometimes in a closet,\nsometimes behind their beds\u2014in short, in all directions. Everybody\nheard it that went to the house.\n\nThe tenant that succeeded them, however, has never been troubled with\nit.\n\nThe story of the Brown Lady at the Marquis of T\u2014\u2014\u2019s, in Norfolk, is\nknown to many. The Hon. H. W\u2014\u2014 told me that a friend of his, while\nstaying there, had often seen her, and had one day inquired of his host,\n\u201cWho was the lady in brown that he had met frequently on the stairs?\u201d\nTwo gentlemen, whose names were mentioned to me, resolved to watch for\nher and intercept her. They at length saw her but she eluded them by\nturning down a staircase, and when they looked over she had disappeared.\nMany persons have seen her.\n\nThere is a Scotch family of distinction, who, I am told, are accompanied\nby an unseen attendant, whom they call \u201cSpinning Jenny.\u201d She is heard\nspinning in their house in the country, and when they come into town she\nspins here; servants and all hear the sound of her wheel. I believe she\naccompanies them no further than to their own residences, not to those\nof other people. Jenny is supposed to be a former housemaid of the\nfamily, who was a great spinner, and they are so accustomed to her\npresence as to feel it no annoyance.\n\nThe following very singular circumstance was related to me by the\ndaughter of the celebrated Mrs. S\u2014\u2014: Mrs. S\u2014\u2014 and her husband were\ntravelling into Wales, and had occasion to stop on their way, some days,\nat Oswestry. There they established themselves in a lodging, to reach\nthe door of which they had to go down a sort of close, or passage. The\nonly inhabitants of the house were the mistress, a very handsome woman,\nand two maids. Mr. and Mrs. S\u2014\u2014, however, very soon had occasion to\ncomplain of the neglected state of the rooms, which were apparently\nnever cleaned or dusted; though, strange to say, to judge by their own\nears, the servants were doing nothing else all night, their sleep being\nconstantly disturbed by the noise of rubbing, sweeping, and the moving\nof furniture. When they complained to these servants of the noise in the\nnight, and the dirt of the rooms, they answered that the noise was not\nmade by them, and that it was impossible for them to do their work,\nexhausted as they were by sitting up all night with their mistress, who\ncould not bear to be alone when she was in bed. Mr. and Mrs. S\u2014\u2014\nafterward discovered that she had her room lighted up every night; and\none day, as they were returning from a walk, and she happened to be\ngoing down the close before them, they heard her saying, as she turned\nher head sharply from side to side, \u201cAre you there again? What, the\ndevil! Go away, I tell you!\u201d &c., &c. On applying to the neighbors for\nan explanation of these mysteries, the good people only shook their\nheads, and gave mysterious answers. Mr. and Mrs. S\u2014\u2014 afterward learned\nthat she was believed to have murdered a girl who formerly lived in her\nservice.\n\nThere is nothing in the conduct of this unhappy woman which may not be\nperfectly well accounted for, by the supposition of a guilty conscience;\nbut the noises heard by Mr. and Mrs. S\u2014\u2014 at night, are curiously in\naccordance with a variety of similar stories, wherein this strange\nvisionary repetition of the trivial actions of daily life, or of some\nparticular incident, has been observed. The affair of Lord St. Vincent\u2019s\nwas of this nature; and there is somewhere extant, an account of the\nghost of Peter the Great, of Russia, having appeared to Doctor Doppelio,\ncomplaining to him of the sufferings he endured from having to act over\nagain his former cruelties; a circumstance which exhibits a remarkable\ncoincidence with the Glasgow dream, mentioned in a preceding chapter. We\nmust, of course, attach a symbolical meaning to these phenomena, and\nconclude that these reactings are somewhat of the nature of our dreams.\nCertainly, there would need no stronger motive to induce us to spend the\nperiod allotted to us on earth, in those pure and innocent pleasures and\noccupations, which never weary or sicken the soul, than the belief that\nsuch a future awaits us!\n\nA family in one of the English counties, was a few years ago terribly\ntroubled by an unseen inmate who chiefly seemed to inhabit a large\ncellar, into which there was no entrance except the door which was kept\nlocked. Here there would be a loud knocking\u2014sometimes a voice\ncrying\u2014heavy feet walking, &c., &c. At first, the old trustworthy\nbutler would summon his accolytes, and descend, armed with sword and\nblunderbuss; but no one was to be seen. They could often hear the feet\nfollowing them up stairs from this cellar; and once, when the family had\ndetermined to watch, they found themselves accompanied up stairs not\nonly by the sound of the feet, but by a _visible_ shadowy companion!\nThey rushed up, flew to their chamber, and shut the door, when instantly\nthey felt and saw the handle turned in their hand by a hand outside.\nWindows and doors were opened in spite of locks and keys; but\nnotwithstanding the most persevering investigations, the only clew to\nthe mystery was the appearance of that spectral figure.\n\nThe knockings and sounds of people at work, asserted to be heard in\nmines, is a fact maintained by many very sensible men, overseers, and\nsuperintendents, &c., as well as by the workmen themselves; and there is\na strong persuasion, I know, among the miners of Cornwall, and those of\nMendip, that these visionary workmen are sometimes heard among them; on\nwhich occasions the horses evince their apprehensions by trembling and\nsweating; but as I have no means of verifying these reports, I do not\ndwell upon them further.\n\nWhen the mother of George Canning, then Mrs. Hunn, was an actress in the\nprovinces, she went, among other places, to Plymouth, having previously\nrequested her friend, Mr. Bernard, of the theatre, to procure her a\nlodging. On her arrival Mr. B. told her that if she was not afraid of a\nghost, she might have a comfortable residence at a very low rate, \u201cFor\nthere is,\u201d said he, \u201ca house belonging to our carpenter, that is\nreported to be haunted, and nobody will live in it. If you like to have\nit, you may, and for nothing, I believe, for he is so anxious to get a\ntenant; only you must not let it be known that you do not pay rent for\nit.\u201d\n\nMrs. Hunn, alluding to the theatrical apparitions, said it would not be\nthe first time she had had to do with a ghost, and that she was very\nwilling to encounter this one; so she had her luggage taken to the house\nin question, and the bed prepared. At her usual hour, she sent her maid\nand her children to bed, and, curious to see if there was any foundation\nfor the rumor she had heard, she seated herself, with a couple of\ncandles and a book, to watch the event. Beneath the room she occupied\nwas the carpenter\u2019s workshop, which had two doors. The one which opened\ninto the street was barred and bolted within; the other, a smaller one,\nopening into the passage, was only on the latch; and the house was, of\ncourse, closed for the night. She had read something more than half an\nhour, when she perceived a noise issuing from this lower apartment,\nwhich sounded very much like the sawing of wood. Presently other such\nnoises as usually proceed from a carpenter\u2019s workshop were added, till\nby-and-by, there was a regular concert of knocking and hammering, and\nsawing and planing, &c.; the whole sounding like half a dozen busy men\nin full employment. Being a woman of considerable courage, Mrs. Hunn\nresolved, if possible, to penetrate the mystery; so taking off her\nshoes, that her approach might not be heard, with her candle in her\nhand, she very softly opened her door and descended the stairs, the\nnoise continuing as loud as ever, and evidently proceeding from the\nworkshop, till she opened the door, when instantly all was silent\u2014all\nwas still\u2014not a mouse was stirring; and the tools and the wood, and\neverything else, lay as they had been left by the workmen when they went\naway. Having examined every part of the place, and satisfied herself\nthat there was nobody there, and that nobody could get into it, Mrs.\nHunn ascended to her room again, beginning almost to doubt her own\nsenses, and question with herself whether she had really heard the noise\nor not, when it recommenced and continued, without intermission, for\nabout half an hour. She however went to bed, and the next day told\nnobody what had occurred, having determined to watch another night\nbefore mentioning the affair to any one. As, however, this strange scene\nwas acted over again, without her being able to discover the cause of\nit, she now mentioned the circumstance to the owner of the house and to\nher friend Bernard; and the former, who would not believe it, agreed to\nwatch with her, which he did. The noise began as before, and he was so\nhorror-struck that, instead of entering the workshop as she wished him\nto do, he rushed into the street. Mrs. Hunn continued to inhabit the\nhouse the whole summer; and, when referring afterward to the adventure,\nshe observed that use was second nature, and that she was sure if any\nnight these ghostly carpenters had not pursued their visionary labors,\nshe should have been quite frightened, lest they should pay her a visit\nup stairs.\n\nFrom many recorded cases, I find the vulgar belief, that buried money is\nfrequently the cause of these disturbances, is strongly borne out by\nfacts. This certainly does seem to us very strange, and can only be\nexplained by the hypothesis suggested, that the soul awakes in the other\nworld in exactly the same state in which it quitted this.\n\nIn the abovementioned instances, of what are called _haunted houses_,\nthere is generally nothing seen; but those are equally abundant where\nthe ghostly visiter is visible.\n\nTwo young ladies were passing the night in a house in the north, when\nthe youngest, then a child, awoke and saw an old man, in a Kilmarnock\nnightcap, walking about their bed-room. She said, when telling the story\nin after-life, that she was not the least frightened\u2014she was only\nsurprised! but she found that her sister, who was several years older\nthan herself, was in a state of great terror. He continued some time\nmoving about, and at last went to a chest of drawers, where there lay a\nparcel of buttons, belonging to a travelling tailor who had been at work\nin the house. Whether the old man threw them down or not, she could not\nsay; but, just then, they all fell rattling off the drawers to the\nfloor, whereupon he disappeared. The next morning, when they mentioned\nthe circumstance, she observed that the family looked at each other in a\nsignificant manner; but it was not till she was older she learned that\nthe house was said to be haunted by this old man. \u201cIt never occurred to\nme,\u201d she said, \u201cthat it was a ghost. Who could have thought of a ghost\nin a Kilmarnock nightcap!\u201d\n\nAt the Leipsic fair, lodgings are often very scarce, and on one occasion\na stranger, who had arrived late in the evening, had some difficulty in\nfinding a bed. At length he found a vacant chamber in the house of a\ncitizen. It was one they made no use of, but they said he was welcome to\nit; and, weary and sleepy, he gladly accepted the offer. Fatigued as he\nwas, however, he was disturbed by some unaccountable noises, of which he\ncomplained to his hosts in the morning. They pacified him by some\nexcuses; but the next night, not long after he had gone to bed, he came\ndown stairs in great haste, with his portmanteau on his shoulder,\ndeclaring he would not stay there another hour for the world; for that a\nlady, in a strange old-fashioned dress, had come into the room with a\ndagger in her hand, and made threatening gestures at him. He accordingly\nwent away, and the room was shut up again; but some time afterward, a\nservant-girl in the family of this citizen, being taken ill, they were\nobliged to put her into that room, in order to separate her from the\nrest of the family. Here she recovered her health rapidly; and as she\nhad never complained of any annoyance, she was asked, when she was quite\nwell, whether anything particular had happened while she inhabited that\nchamber. \u201cOh, yes,\u201d she answered; \u201cevery night there came a strange lady\ninto the room, who sat herself on the bed and stroked me with her hand,\nand I believe it is to her I owe my speedy recovery; but I could never\nget her to speak to me\u2014she only sighs and weeps.\u201d\n\nNot very long since, a gentleman set out, one fine midsummer\u2019s evening,\nwhen it is light all night in Scotland, to walk from Montrose to\nBrechin. As he approached a place called Dunn, he observed a lady\nwalking on before, which, from the lateness of the hour, somewhat\nsurprised him. Sometime afterward, he was found by the early laborers\nlying on the ground, near the churchyard, in a state of insensibility.\nAll he could tell them was, that he had followed this lady till she had\nturned her head and looked round at him, when, seized with horror, he\nhad fainted. \u201cOh,\u201d said they, \u201cyou have seen the lady of Dunn.\u201d What is\nthe legend attached to this lady of Dunn, I do not know.\n\nMonsieur De S. had been violently in love with Hippolyte Clairon, the\ncelebrated French actress, but she rejected his suit, in so peremptory a\nmanner, that even when he was at the point of death, she refused his\nearnest entreaties, that she would visit him. Indignant at her cruelty,\nhe declared that he would haunt her, and he certainly kept his word. I\nbelieve she never saw his ghost, but he appears to have been always near\nher; at least, on several occasions when other people doubted the fact,\nhe signalized his presence at her bidding, by various sounds, and this,\nwherever she happened to be at the moment. Sometimes it was a cry, at\nothers, a shot, and at others, a clapping of hands or music. She seems\nto have been slow to believe in the extra-natural character of these\nnoises; and even when she was ultimately convinced, to have been divided\nbetween horror on the one hand, and diversion, at the oddness of the\ncircumstance, on the other. The sounds were heard by everybody in her\nvicinity; and I am informed by Mr. Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, that the\nmargrave of Anspach, who was subsequently her lover, and Mr. Keppel\nCraven, were perfectly well acquainted with the circumstances of this\nhaunting, and entertained no doubt of the facts above alluded to.\n\nThe ghost known by the designation of \u201cthe White Lady,\u201d which is\nfrequently seen in different castles or palaces belonging to the royal\nfamily of Prussia, has been mentioned in another publication, I think.\nShe was long supposed to be a Countess Agnes, of Orlamunde; but a\npicture of a princess called Bertha, or Perchta von Rosenberg,\ndiscovered some time since, was thought so exceedingly to resemble the\napparition, that it is now a disputed point which of the two ladies it\nis, or whether it is or is not the same apparition that is seen at\ndifferent places. Neither of these ladies appears to have been very\nhappy in their lives: but the opinion of its being the Princess Bertha,\nwho lived in the fifteenth century, was somewhat countenanced by the\ncircumstance, that at a period when, in consequence of the war, an\nannual benefit which she had bequeathed to the poor was neglected, the\napparition seemed to be unusually disturbed, and was seen more\nfrequently. She is often observed before a death; and one of the\nFredericks said, shortly before his decease, that he should \u201cnot live\nlong, for he had met the White Lady.\u201d She wears a widow\u2019s band and veil,\nbut it is sufficiently transparent to show her features, which do not\nexpress happiness, but placidity. She has only been twice heard to\nspeak. In December, 1628, she appeared in the palace at Berlin, and was\nheard to say, \u201c_Veni, judica vivos et mortuos! Judicium mihi adhuc\nsuperest._\u201d\u2014\u201cCome, judge the quick and the dead! I wait for judgment.\u201d\nOn the other occasion, which is more recent, one of the princesses at\nthe castle of Neuhaus, in Bohemia, was standing before a mirror, trying\non a new head-dress, when, on asking her waiting-maid what the hour was,\nthe white lady suddenly stepped from behind a screen and said: \u201cZehn uhr\nist es ihr liebden!\u201d\u2014\u201cIt is ten o\u2019clock, your love!\u201d which is the mode\nin which the sovereign princes address each other, instead of \u201cyour\nhighness.\u201d The princess was much alarmed, soon fell sick, and died in a\nfew weeks. She has frequently evinced displeasure at the exhibition of\nimpiety or vice; and there are many records of her different appearances\nto be found in the works of Balbinus and of Erasmus Francisci; and in a\npublication called \u201cThe Iris,\u201d published in Frankfort in 1819, the\neditor, George Doring, who is said to have been a man of great\nintegrity, gives the following account of one of her later appearances,\nwhich he declares he received just as he gives it, from the lips of his\nown mother, on whose word and judgment he could perfectly rely; and\nshortly before his death, an inquiry being addressed to him with regard\nto the correctness of the narration, he vouched for its authenticity.\n\nIt seems that the elder sister of his mother was companion to one of the\nladies of the court, and that the younger ones were in the habit of\nvisiting her frequently. Two of these (Doring\u2019s mother and another),\naged fourteen and fifteen, were once spending a week with her, when she\nbeing out and they alone with their needlework, chattering about the\ncourt diversions, they suddenly heard the sound of a stringed\ninstrument, like a harp, which seemed to proceed from behind a large\nstove that occupied one corner of the room. Half in fear and half in\nfun, one of the girls took a yard measure that lay beside them, and\nstruck the spot, whereupon the music ceased, but the stick was wrested\nfrom her hand. She became alarmed; but the other, named Christina,\nlaughed and said she must have fancied it, adding that the music\ndoubtless proceeded from the street, though they could not descry any\nmusicians. To get over her fright, of which she was half ashamed, the\nformer now ran out of the room to visit a neighbor for a few minutes;\nbut when she returned, she found Christina lying on the floor in a\nswoon, who, on being revived with the aid of the attendants who had\nheard a scream, related, that no sooner had her sister left her than the\nsound was repeated, close to the stove, and a white figure had appeared\nand advanced toward her, whereupon she had screamed and fainted.\n\nThe lady who owned the apartments flattered herself that this apparition\nbetokened that a treasure was hidden under the stove, and, imposing\nsilence on the girls, she sent for a carpenter and had the planks\nlifted. The floor was found to be double, and below was a vault, from\nwhich issued a very unwholesome vapor, but no treasure was found, nor\nanything but a quantity of quicklime. The circumstance being now made\nknown to the king, he expressed no surprise; he said that the apparition\nwas doubtless that of a countess of Orlamunde, who had been buried alive\nin that vault. She was the mistress of a margrave of Brandenburg, by\nwhom she had two sons. When the prince became a widower, she expected he\nwould marry her; but he urged as an objection that he feared, in that\ncase, her sons might hereafter dispute the succession with the lawful\nheirs. In order to remove this obstacle out of her way, she poisoned the\nchildren; and the margrave, disgusted and alarmed, had her walled up in\nthat vault for her pains. He added that she was usually seen every seven\nyears, and was preceded by the sound of a harp, on which instrument she\nhad been a proficient; and also that she more frequently appeared to\nchildren than to adults,\u2014as if the love she had denied her own\noffspring in life was now her torment, and that she sought a\nreconciliation with childhood in general. I know from the best authority\nthat the fact of these appearances is not doubted by those who have the\nfullest opportunities of inquiry and investigation; and I remember\nseeing in the English papers, a few years since, a paragraph copied from\nthe foreign journals, to the effect that the White Lady had been seen\nagain, I think at Berlin.\n\nThe following very curious relation I have received from the gentleman\nto whom the circumstance occurred, who is a professional man residing in\nLondon:\u2014\n\n    \u201cI was brought up by a grandfather and four aunts, all\n    ghost-seers and believers in supernatural appearances. The\n    former had been a sailor, and was one of the crew that sailed\n    round the world with Lord Anson. I remember, when I was about\n    eight years old, that I was awakened by the screams of one of\n    these ladies, with whom I was sleeping, which summoned all the\n    family about her to inquire the cause of the disturbance. She\n    said that she had \u2018seen Nancy by the side of the bed, and that\n    she was slipping into it.\u2019 We had scarcely got down stairs in\n    the morning, before intelligence arrived that that lady had\n    died, precisely at the moment my aunt said she saw her. Nancy\n    was her brother\u2019s wife. Another of my aunts, who was married and\n    had a large family, foretold my grandfather\u2019s death, at a time\n    that we had no reason to apprehend it. He, also, had appeared at\n    her bedside; he was then alive and well, but he died a fortnight\n    afterward. But it would be tedious were I to enumerate half the\n    instances I could recall of a similar description; and I will\n    therefore proceed to the relation of what happened to myself.\n\n    \u201cI was, some few years since, invited to pass a day and night at\n    the house of a friend in Hertfordshire, with whom I was\n    intimately acquainted. His name was B\u2014\u2014, and he had formerly\n    been in business as a saddler, in Oxford street, where he\n    realized a handsome fortune, and had now retired to enjoy his\n    _otium cum dignitate_, in the rural and beautiful village of\n    Sarratt.\n\n    \u201cIt was a gloomy Sunday, in the month of November, when I\n    mounted my horse for the journey, and there was so much\n    appearance of rain, that I should certainly have selected some\n    other mode of conveyance, had I not been desirous of leaving the\n    animal in Mr. E\u2014\u2014\u2019s straw-yard for the winter. Before I got as\n    far as St. John\u2019s wood, the threatening clouds broke, and by the\n    time I reached Watford I was completely soaked. However, I\n    proceeded, and arrived at Sarratt before my friend and his wife\n    had returned from church. The moment they did so, they furnished\n    me with dry clothes, and I was informed that we were to dine at\n    the house of Mr. D\u2014\u2014, a very agreeable neighbor. I felt some\n    little hesitation about presenting myself in such a costume, for\n    I was decked out in a full suit of Mr. B\u2014\u2014\u2019s, who was a stout\n    man, of six feet in height, while I am rather of the diminutive\n    order; but my objections were overruled; we went, and my\n    appearance added not a little to the hilarity of the party. At\n    ten o\u2019clock we separated, and I returned with Mr. and Mrs. B\u2014\u2014\n    to their house, where I was shortly afterward conducted to a\n    very comfortable bed-room.\n\n    \u201cFatigued with my day\u2019s ride, I was soon in bed, and soon\n    asleep, but I do not think I could have slept long before I was\n    awakened by the violent barking of dogs. I found that the noise\n    had disturbed others as well as myself, for I heard Mr. B\u2014\u2014,\n    who was lodged in the adjoining room, open his window and call\n    to them to be quiet. They were obedient to his voice, and as\n    soon as quietness ensued I dropped asleep again; but I was again\n    awakened by an extraordinary pressure upon my feet; _that I was\n    perfectly awake, I declare_; the light that stood in the\n    chimney-corner shone strongly across the foot of the bed, and I\n    saw the figure of a well-dressed man in the act of stooping, and\n    supporting himself in so doing by the bed-clothes. He had on a\n    blue coat, with bright gilt buttons, but I saw no head; the\n    curtains at the foot of the bed, which were partly looped back,\n    just hung so as to conceal that part of his person. At first I\n    thought it was my host, and as I had dropped my clothes, as is\n    my habit, on the floor at the foot of the bed, I supposed he was\n    come to look after them, which rather surprised me: but, just as\n    I had raised myself upright in bed, and was about to inquire\n    into the occasion of his visit, the figure passed on. I then\n    recollected that I had locked the door; and, becoming somewhat\n    puzzled, I jumped out of bed; but I could see nobody; and on\n    examining the room I found no means of ingress but the door\n    through which I had entered, and one other; both of which were\n    locked on the inside. Amazed and puzzled I got into bed again,\n    and sat some time ruminating on the extraordinary circumstance,\n    when it occurred to me that I had not looked under the bed; so I\n    got out again, fully expecting to find my visiter, whoever he\n    was, there; but I was disappointed. So, after looking at my\n    watch, and ascertaining that it was ten minutes past two, I\n    stepped into bed again, hoping now to get some rest. But, alas!\n    sleep was banished for that night; and after turning from side\n    to side, and making vain endeavors at forgetfulness, I gave up\n    the point, and lay till the clocks struck seven, perplexing my\n    brain with the question of who my midnight visiter could be, and\n    also how he had got in and how he had got out of my room. About\n    eight o\u2019clock I met my host and his wife at the breakfast-table,\n    when, in answer to their hospitable inquiries of how I had\n    passed the night, I mentioned, first, that I had been awaked by\n    the barking of some dogs, and that I had heard Mr. B\u2014\u2014 open\n    his window and call to them. He answered that two strange dogs\n    had got into the yard and had disturbed the others. I then\n    mentioned my midnight visiter, expecting that they would either\n    explain the circumstance, or else laugh at me and declare I must\n    have dreamed it. But, to my surprise, my story was listened to\n    with grave attention, and they related to me the tradition with\n    which this spectre, for such I found they deemed it to be, was\n    supposed to be connected. This was to the effect, that many\n    years ago a gentleman so attired had been murdered there, under\n    some frightful circumstances, and that his head had been cut\n    off. On perceiving that I was very unwilling to accept this\n    explanation of the mystery, for, in spite of my family\n    peculiarity, I had always been an entire disbeliever in\n    supernatural appearances, they begged me to prolong my visit for\n    a day or two, when they would introduce me to the rector of the\n    parish, who could furnish me with such evidence with regard to\n    circumstances of a similar nature, as would leave no doubt on my\n    mind as to the possibility of their occurrence. But I had made\n    an engagement to dine at Watford, on my way back, and I confess,\n    moreover, that after what I had heard I did not feel disposed to\n    encounter the chance of another visit from the mysterious\n    stranger; so I declined the proffered hospitality, and took my\n    leave.\n\n    \u201cSome time after this, I happened to be dining at C\u2014\u2014 street,\n    in company with some ladies resident in the same county, when,\n    chancing to allude to my visit to Sarratt, I added, that I had\n    met with a very extraordinary adventure there, which I had never\n    been able to account for, when one of these ladies immediately\n    said that she hoped I had not had a visit from the headless\n    gentleman, in a blue coat and gilt buttons, who was said to have\n    been seen by many people in that house.\n\n    \u201cSuch is the conclusion of this marvellous tale as regards\n    myself; and I can only assure you that I have related facts as\n    they occurred, and that I had never heard a word about this\n    apparition in my life, till Mr. B\u2014\u2014 related to me the\n    tradition above alluded to. Still, as I am no believer, in\n    supernatural appearances, I am constrained to suppose that the\n    whole affair was the product of my imagination.\n\n    \u201cI must add, that Mr. B\u2014\u2014 mentioned some strange circumstances\n    connected with another house in the county, inhabited by a Mr.\n    M\u2014\u2014, which were corroborated by the ladies above alluded to.\n    Both parties agreed that, from the unaccountable noises, &c.,\n    &c., which were heard there, that gentleman had the greatest\n    difficulty in persuading any servants to remain with him.\n\n                                                      \u201cA\u2014\u2014 W\u2014\u2014 M\u2014\u2014.\n\n    \u201c_C\u2014\u2014 street, 5th September, 1846._\u201d\n\nThis is one of those curious instances of determined skepticism that\nfully justify the patriarch\u2019s prediction.\n\nThe following interesting letter, written by a member of a very\ndistinguished English family, will furnish its own explanation:\u2014\n\n\u201cAs you express a wish to know what degree of credit is to be attached\nto a garbled tale which has been sent forth, after a lapse of between\nthirty and forty years, as an \u2018accredited ghost-story,\u2019 I will state the\nfacts as they were recalled to my mind last year by a daughter of Sir\nWilliam A. C\u2014\u2014, who sent the book to me, requesting me to tell her if\nthere was any foundation for the story, which she could scarcely\nbelieve, since she had never heard my mother allude to it. I read the\nnarrative with surprise, it being evidently not furnished by any of the\nfamily, nor indeed by any one who was with us at the time! yet, though\nfull of mistakes in names, &c., &c., some particulars come so near the\ntruth as to puzzle me. The facts are as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cSir James, my mother, with myself and my brother Charles, went abroad\ntoward the end of the year 1786. After trying several different places,\nwe determined to settle at Lille, where we found the masters\nparticularly good, and where we had also letters of introduction to\nseveral of the best French families. There Sir James left us, and, after\npassing a few days in an uncomfortable lodging, we engaged a nice, large\nfamily house, which we liked very much, and which we obtained at a very\nlow rent, even for that part of the world.\n\n\u201cAbout three weeks after we were established in our new residence, I\nwalked one day with my mother to the bankers, for the purpose of\ndelivering our letter of credit from Sir Robert Herries, and drawing\nsome money, which, being paid in heavy five-franc pieces, we found we\ncould not carry, and therefore requested the banker to send, saying, \u2018We\nlive in the Place du Lion D\u2019or.\u2019 Whereupon he looked surprised, and\nobserved that he knew of no house there fit for us, \u2018except, indeed,\u2019 he\nadded, \u2018the one that has been long uninhabited, on account of the\n_revenant_ that walks about it.\u2019 He said this quite seriously, and in a\nnatural tone of voice, in spite of which we laughed, and were quite\nentertained at the idea of a ghost; but at the same time we begged him\nnot to mention the thing to our servants, lest they should take any\nfancies into their heads; and my mother and I resolved to say nothing\nabout the matter to any one. \u2018I suppose it is the ghost,\u2019 said my\nmother, laughing, \u2018that wakes us so often by walking over our heads.\u2019 We\nhad, in fact, been awakened several nights by a heavy foot, which we\nsupposed to be that of one of the men-servants, of whom we had three\nEnglish and four French; of women-servants we had five English, and all\nthe rest were French. The English ones, men and women, every one of\nthem, returned ultimately to England with us.\n\n\u201cA night or two afterward, being again awakened by the step, my mother\nasked Creswell, \u2018Who slept in the room above us?\u2019 \u2018No one, my lady,\u2019 she\nreplied\u2014\u2018it is a large, empty garret.\u2019\n\n\u201cAbout a week or ten days after this, Creswell came to my mother, one\nmorning, and told her that all the French servants talked of going away,\nbecause there was a _revenant_ in the house; adding that there seemed to\nbe a strange story attached to the place, which was said, together with\nsome other property, to have belonged to a young man, whose guardian,\nwho was also his uncle, had treated him cruelly and confined him in an\niron cage; and as he had subsequently disappeared, it was conjectured he\nhad been murdered. This uncle, after inheriting the property, had\nsuddenly quitted the house and sold it to the father of the man of whom\nwe had hired it. Since that period, though it had been several times\nlet, nobody had ever stayed in it above a week or two, and for a\nconsiderable time past it had had no tenant at all.\n\n\u201c\u2018And do you really believe all this nonsense, Creswell?\u2019 said my\nmother.\n\n\u201c\u2018Well, I don\u2019t know, my lady,\u2019 answered she; \u2018but there\u2019s the iron cage\nin the garret over your bed-room, where you may see it, if you please.\u2019\n\n\u201cOf course we rose to go; and as just at that moment an old officer,\nwith his Croix de St. Louis, called on us, we invited him to accompany\nus and we ascended together. We found, as Creswell had said, a large\nempty garret with bare brick walls; and in the further corner of it\nstood an iron cage, such as wild beasts are kept in, only higher; it was\nabout four feet square, and eight in height, and there was an iron ring\nin the wall at the back, to which was attached an old rusty chain with a\ncollar fixed to the end of it. I confess it made my blood creep when I\nthought of the possibility of any human being having inhabited it! And\nour old friend expressed as much horror as ourselves, assuring us that\nit must certainly have been constructed for some such dreadful purpose.\nAs, however, we were no believers in ghosts, we all agreed that the\nnoises must proceed from somebody who had an interest in keeping the\nhouse empty; and since it was very disagreeable to imagine that there\nwere secret means of entering it at night, we resolved, as soon as\npossible, to look out for another residence, and in the meantime to say\nnothing about the matter to anybody. About ten days after this\ndetermination, my mother, observing one morning that Creswell, when she\ncame to dress her, looked exceedingly pale and ill, inquired if anything\nwas the matter with her. \u2018Indeed, my lady,\u2019 she answered, \u2018we have been\nfrightened to death, and neither I nor Mrs. Marsh can sleep again in the\nroom we are now in.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Well,\u2019 returned my mother, \u2018you shall both come and sleep in the\nlittle spare room next us; but what has alarmed you?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Some one, my lady, went through our room in the night; we both saw the\nfigure, but we covered our heads with the bed-clothes, and lay in a\ndreadful fright till morning.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn hearing this, I could not help laughing, upon which Creswell burst\ninto tears; and seeing how nervous she was, we comforted her by saying\nwe had heard of a good house, and that we should very soon abandon our\npresent habitation.\n\n\u201cA few nights afterward, my mother requested me and Charles to go to her\nbed-room and fetch her frame, that she might prepare her work for the\nnext day. It was after supper, and we were ascending the stairs by the\nlight of a lamp which was always kept burning, when we saw going up\nbefore us a tall, thin figure, with hair flowing down his back, and\nwearing a loose powdering gown. We both at once concluded it was my\nsister Hannah, and called out: \u2018It won\u2019t do, Hannah\u2014you can not\nfrighten us!\u2019 Upon which the figure turned into a recess in the wall;\nbut, as there was nobody there when we passed, we concluded that Hannah\nhad contrived, somehow or other, to slip away and make her escape by the\nback stairs. On telling this to my mother, she said: \u2018It is very odd,\nfor Hannah went to bed with a headache before you came in from your\nwalk;\u2019 and sure enough, on going to her room, there we found her fast\nasleep; and Alice, who was at work there, assured us that she had been\nso for more than an hour. On mentioning this circumstance to Creswell,\nshe turned quite pale and exclaimed that that was precisely the figure\nshe and Marsh had seen in their bed-room.\n\n\u201cAbout this time, my brother Harry came to spend a few days with us, and\nwe gave him a room up another pair of stairs, at the opposite end of the\nhouse. A morning or two after his arrival, when he came down to\nbreakfast, he asked my mother angrily whether she thought he went to bed\ndrunk and could not put out his own candle, that she sent those French\nrascals to watch him. My mother assured him that she never thought of\ndoing such a thing; but he persisted in the accusation, adding: \u2018Last\nnight I jumped up and opened the door, and, by the light of the moon\nthrough the skylight, I saw the fellow in his loose gown at the bottom\nof the stairs. If I had not been in my shirt, I would have gone after\nhim and made him remember coming to watch me.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe were now preparing to quit the house, having secured another,\nbelonging to a gentleman who was going to spend some time in Italy; but,\na few days before our removal, it happened that Mr. and Mrs. Atkyns,\nsome English friends of ours, called, to whom we mentioned these\ncircumstances, observing how extremely unpleasant it was to live in a\nhouse that somebody found means of getting into, though how they\ncontrived it we could not discover, nor what their motive could be\nexcept it was to frighten us; adding, that nobody could sleep in the\nroom Marsh and Creswell had been obliged to give up. Upon this Mrs.\nAtkyns laughed heartily, and said she should like, of all things, to\nsleep there, if my mother would allow her, adding, that with her little\nterrier she should not be afraid of any ghost that ever appeared. As my\nmother had, of course, no objection to this fancy of hers, she requested\nMrs. Atkyns to ride home with the groom, in order that the latter might\nbring her night-things before the gates of the town would be shut, as\nthey were then residing a little way in the country. Mr. Atkyns smiled\nand said she was very bold; but he made no difficulties, and sent the\nthings,\u2014and his wife retired with her dog to her room when we retired\nto ours, apparently without the least apprehension.\n\n\u201cWhen she came down in the morning, we were immediately struck at seeing\nher look very ill; and on inquiring if she too had been frightened, she\nsaid she had been awakened in the night by something moving in her room,\nand that, by the light of the night-lamp, she saw most distinctly a\nfigure, and that the dog, which was spirited and flew at everything,\nnever stirred, although she had endeavored to make him. We saw clearly\nthat she had been very much alarmed; and when Mr. Atkyns came, and\nendeavored to dissipate the feeling by persuading her that she might\nhave dreamed it, she got quite angry. We could not help thinking that\nshe had actually seen something; and my mother said, after she was gone,\nthat though she could not bring herself to believe it was really a\nghost, still she earnestly hoped that she might get out of the house\nwithout seeing this figure, which frightened people so much.\n\n\u201cWe were now within three days of the one fixed for our removal. I had\nbeen taking a long ride, and, being tired, had fallen asleep the moment\nI lay down; but, in the middle of the night, I was suddenly awakened\u2014I\ncan not tell by what, for the steps over our heads we had become so used\nto that it no longer disturbed us. Well, I awoke. I had been lying with\nmy face toward my mother, who was asleep beside me, and, as one usually\ndoes on awaking, I turned to the other side, where, the weather being\nwarm, the curtain of the bed was undrawn, as it was, also, at the foot;\nand I saw standing by a chest of drawers, which were betwixt me and the\nwindow, a thin, tall figure, in a loose powdering gown, one arm resting\non the drawers, and the face turned toward me. I saw it quite distinctly\nby the night-light, which burned clearly. It was a long, thin, pale,\nyoung face, with, oh, such a melancholy expression as can never be\neffaced from my memory! I was, certainly, very much frightened; but my\ngreat horror was, lest my mother should awake and see the figure. I\nturned my head gently toward her, and heard her breathing high in a\nsound sleep. Just then the clock on the stairs struck four. I dare say\nit was nearly an hour before I ventured to look again, and when I did\ntake courage to turn my eyes toward the drawers, there was nothing; yet\nI had not heard the slightest sound, though I had been listening with\nthe greatest intensity.\n\n\u201cAs you may suppose, I never closed my eyes again; and glad I was when\nCreswell knocked at the door, as she did every morning, for we always\nlocked it, and it was my business to get out of bed and let her in; but\non this occasion, instead of doing so, I called out, \u2018Come in; the door\nis not fastened;\u2019 upon which she answered that it was, and I was obliged\nto get out of bed and admit her as usual.\n\n\u201cWhen I told my mother what had happened, she was very grateful to me\nfor not waking her, and commended me much for my resolution; but as she\nwas always my first object, that was not to be wondered at. She however\nresolved not to risk another night in the house; and we got out of it\nthat very day, after instituting, with the aid of the servants, a\nthorough search, with a view to ascertain if there was any possible\nmeans of getting into the rooms except by the usual modes of ingress;\nbut our search was vain\u2014none could be discovered.\n\n\u201cI think, from the errors in the names, &c., that the publisher of the\n\u2018Accredited Ghost-Stories\u2019 must have obtained his account from the\ninhabitants of Lille.\u201d\n\nConsidering the number of people that were in the house, the\nfearlessness of the family, and their disinclination to believe in what\nis called _the supernatural_, together with the great interest the owner\nof this large and handsome residence must have had in discovering the\ntrick, if there had been one, I think it is difficult to find any other\nexplanation of this strange story, than that the sad and disappointed\nspirit of this poor, injured, and probably murdered boy, had never been\ndisengaged from its earthly relations, to which regret for its\nfrustrated hopes and violated rights still held it attached.\n\nThere is a story told by Pliny the younger, of a house at Athens, in\nwhich nobody could live, from its being haunted. At length the\nphilosopher Athenadorus took it; and the first night he was there, he\nseems to have comported himself very much as the courageous Mrs. Canning\ndid, on a similar occasion, at Plymouth. He sent his servants to bed,\nand set himself seriously to work with his writing materials, determined\nthat fancy should not be left free to play him false. For some time all\nwas still, and his mind was wholly engaged in his labors, when he heard\na sound like the rattling of chains\u2014which was the sound that had\nfrightened everybody out of the house; but Athenadorus closed his ears,\nkept his thoughts collected, and wrote on, without lifting up his eyes.\nThe noise, however, increased; it approached the door; it entered the\nroom; then he looked round, and beheld the figure of an old man, lean,\nhaggard, and dirty, with dishevelled hair, and a long beard, who held up\nhis finger and beckoned him. Athenadorus made a gesture with his own\nhand in return, signifying that he should wait, and went on with his\nwriting. Then the figure advanced and shook his chains over the\nphilosopher\u2019s head, who, on looking up, saw him beckoning as before;\nwhereupon he arose and followed him. The apparition walked slowly, as if\nobstructed by his chains; and having conducted him to a certain spot in\nthe court, which separated the two divisions of an ancient Greek house,\nhe suddenly disappeared. Athenadorus gathered together some grass and\nleaves, in order to mark the place; and the next day he recommended the\nauthorities to dig there, which they did, and found the skeleton of a\nhuman being encircled with chains. It being taken up, and the rights of\nsepulture duly performed, the house was no longer disturbed.\n\nThis was, probably, some poor prisoner also; and in his desire to direct\nnotice to his body, we see the prejudices of his age and country\nsurviving dissolution. Grose, the antiquary, who is, as I have before\nobserved, very facetious on the subject of ghosts, remarks that\n\u201cDragging chains is not the custom of English ghosts, chains and black\nvestments being chiefly the accoutrements of foreign spectres, seen in\narbitrary governments.\u201d Now, this is a very striking observation.\nGrose\u2019s studies had, doubtless, introduced him to many histories of this\ndescription; and the different characteristics of these apparitions,\nunder different governments, is a circumstance in remarkable conformity\nwith the views of those who have been led to take a much more serious\nview of the subject. They appear as they lived, and as they conceive of\nthemselves; and when rapport or receptivity enable them to see, and to\nrender themselves visible to those yet living in the flesh, it is by so\nappearing that they tell their story, and ask for sympathy and\nassistance. I say enable them _to see_, because there seem many reasons\nfor concluding that they do not, under ordinary circumstances, see us,\nany more than we see them. Whether it be rapport with certain\ninhabitants, or whether the phenomenon be dependent on certain periods,\nor any other condition, we can not tell; but I have met with several\naccounts of houses in which an annoyance of this sort has recurred more\nthan once, at different intervals, sometimes at a distance of seven or\nten years, the intermediate time being quite free from it.\n\nOne of the most melancholy and impressive circumstances of this sort I\nhave met with, occurred to Mrs. L\u2014\u2014, a lady with whose family I am\nacquainted; Mrs. L\u2014\u2014 herself having been kind enough to furnish me\nwith the particulars: A few years since, she took a furnished house in\nStevenson street, North Shields, and she had been in it but a very few\nhours before she was perplexed by hearing feet in the passage, though,\nwhenever she opened the door, she could see nobody. She went to the\nkitchen, and asked the servant if she had not heard the same sound. She\nsaid she had not, but that there seemed to be strange noises in the\nhouse. When Mrs. L\u2014\u2014 went to bed, she could not go to sleep for the\nnoise of a child\u2019s rattle, which seemed to be inside her curtains. It\nrattled round her head, first on one side, then on the other; then there\nwere sounds of feet, and of a child crying, and a woman sobbing; and, in\nshort, so many strange noises that the servant became frightened and\nwent away. The next girl Mrs. L\u2014\u2014 engaged came from Leith, and was a\nstranger to the place; but she had only passed a night in the house,\nwhen she said to her mistress, \u201cThis is a troubled house you\u2019ve got\ninto, ma\u2019am;\u201d and she described, among the rest, that she had repeatedly\nheard her own name called by a voice near her, though she could see\nnobody.\n\nOne night Mrs. L\u2014\u2014 heard a voice, like nothing human, close to her,\ncry, \u201cWeep! weep! weep!\u201d Then there was a sound like some one struggling\nfor breath, and again \u201cWeep! weep! weep!\u201d Then the gasping, and a third\ntime, \u201cWeep! weep! weep!\u201d She stood still, and looked steadfastly on the\nspot whence the voice proceeded, but could see nothing; and her little\nboy, who held her hand, kept saying, \u201cWhat is that, mamma? What is\nthat?\u201d She describes the sound as most frightful. All the noises seemed\nto suggest the idea of childhood, and of a woman in trouble. One night,\nwhen it was crying round her bed, Mrs. L\u2014\u2014 took courage and adjured\nit; upon which the noise ceased, for that time, but there was no answer.\nMr. L\u2014\u2014 was at sea when she took the house, and when he came home he\nlaughed at the story at first, but soon became so convinced the account\nshe gave was correct, that he wanted to have the boards taken up,\nbecause, from the noises seeming to hover much about one spot, he\nthought perhaps some explanation of the mystery might be found. But Mrs.\nL\u2014\u2014 objected that if anything of a painful nature were discovered she\nshould not be able to continue in the house, and as she must pay the\nyear\u2019s rent, she wished, if possible, to make out the time.\n\nShe never saw anything but twice; once, the appearance of a child seemed\nto fall from the ceiling, close to her, and then disappear; and another\ntime she saw a child run into a closet in a room at the top of the\nhouse; and it was most remarkable that a small door in that room, which\nwas used for going out on to the roof, always stood open. However often\nthey shut it, it was opened again immediately by an unseen hand, even\nbefore they got out of the room; and this continued the whole time they\nwere in the house; while, night and day, some one in creaking shoes was\nheard pacing backward and forward in the room over Mr. and Mrs. L\u2014\u2014\u2019s\nheads.\n\nAt length the year expired; and to their great relief they quitted the\nhouse; but five or six years afterward, a person who had bought it\nhaving taken up the floor of that upper room to repair it, there was\nfound, close to the small door above alluded to, the skeleton of a\nchild. It was then remembered that some years before a gentleman of\nsomewhat dissolute habits had resided there, and that he was supposed to\nhave been on very intimate terms with a young woman-servant who lived\nwith him, but there had been no suspicion of anything more criminal.\n\nAbout six years ago, Mr. C\u2014\u2014, a gentleman engaged in business in\nLondon, heard of a good country-house in the neighborhood of the\nmetropolis, which was to be had at a low rent. It was rather an\nold-fashioned place, and was surrounded by a garden and pleasure-ground;\nand having taken a lease of it for seven years, furnished as it was, his\nfamily removed thither, and he joined them once or twice a week, as his\nbusiness permitted.\n\nThey had been some considerable time in the house without the occurrence\nof anything remarkable, when one evening, toward dusk, Mrs. C\u2014\u2014, on\ngoing into what was called the oak bed-room, saw a female figure near\none of the windows. It was apparently a young woman with dark hair\nhanging over her shoulders, a silk petticoat, and a short, white robe,\nand she appeared to be looking eagerly through the window, as if\nexpecting somebody. Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 clapped her hand upon her eyes, \u201cas\nthinking she had seen something she ought not to have seen,\u201d and when\nshe looked again the figure had disappeared.\n\nShortly after this, a young girl who filled the situation of under\nnursery-maid, came to her in great agitation, saying that she had had a\nterrible fright, from seeing a very ugly old woman looking in upon her\nas she passed the window in the lobby. The girl was trembling violently,\nand almost crying, so that Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 entertained no doubts of the\nreality of her alarm. She, however, thought it advisable to laugh her\nout of her fear, and went with her to the window, which looked into a\nclosed court, but there was no one there, neither had any of the other\nservants seen such a person. Soon after this, the family began to find\nthemselves disturbed with strange, and frequently very loud, noises\nduring the night. Among the rest, there was something like the beating\nof a crow-bar upon the pump in the abovementioned court; but, search as\nthey would, they could discover no cause for the sound. One day, when\nMr. C\u2014\u2014 had brought a friend from London to stay the night with him,\nMrs. C\u2014\u2014 thought proper to go up to the oak bed-room, where the\nstranger was to sleep, for the purpose of inspecting the arrangements\nfor his comfort, when, to her great surprise, some one seemed to follow\nher up to the fireplace, though, on turning round, there was nobody to\nbe seen. She said nothing about it, however, and returned below, where\nher husband and the stranger were sitting. Presently, one of the\nservants (not the one mentioned above) tapped at the door and requested\nto speak with her, and Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 going out, she told her, in great\nagitation, that in going up stairs to the visiter\u2019s room, a footstep had\nfollowed her all the way to the fireplace, although she could see\nnobody. Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 said something soothing, and that matter passed, she,\nherself, being a good deal puzzled, but still unwilling to admit the\nidea that there was anything extra-natural in these occurrences.\nRepeatedly, after this, these footsteps were heard in different parts of\nthe house, when nobody was to be seen; and often, while she was lying in\nbed, she heard them distinctly approach her door, when, being a very\ncourageous woman, she would start out with a loaded pistol in her hand,\nbut there was never any one to be seen. At length it was impossible to\nconceal from herself and her servants that these occurrences were of an\nextraordinary nature, and the latter, as may be supposed, felt very\nuncomfortable. Among other unpleasant things, while sitting all together\nin the kitchen, they used to see the latch lifted and the door open,\nthough no one came in that they could see; and when Mr. C\u2014\u2014 himself\nwatched for these events, although they took place, and he was quite on\nthe alert, he altogether failed in detecting any visible agent.\n\nOne night, the same servant who had heard the footsteps following her to\nthe bed-room fireplace, happening to be asleep in Mrs. C\u2014\u2014\u2019s chamber,\nshe became much disturbed, and was heard to murmur, \u201cWake me! wake me!\u201d\nas if in great mental anguish. Being aroused, she told her mistress a\ndream she had had, which seemed to throw some light upon these\nmysteries. She thought she was in the oak bed-room, and at one end of it\nshe saw a young female in an old-fashioned dress, with long dark hair,\nwhile in another part of the room was a very ugly old woman, also in\nold-fashioned attire. The latter addressing the former said, \u201cWhat have\nyou done with the child, Emily? What have you done with the child?\u201d To\nwhich the younger figure answered, \u201cOh, I did not kill it. He was\npreserved, and grew up, and joined the \u2014\u2014 regiment, and went to\nIndia.\u201d Then addressing the sleeper, the young lady continued, \u201cI have\nnever spoken to mortal before; but I will tell you all. My name is Miss\nBlack; and this old woman is Nurse Black. Black is not her name, but we\ncall her so because she has been so long in the family.\u201d Here the old\nwoman interrupted the speaker by coming up and laying her hand on the\ndreaming girl\u2019s shoulder, while she said something; but she could not\nremember what, for, feeling excruciating pain from the touch, she had\nbeen so far aroused as to be sensible she was asleep, and to beg to be\nwholly awakened.\n\nAs the old woman seemed to resemble the figure that one of the other\nservants had seen looking into the window, and the young one resembled\nthat she had herself seen in the oak chamber, Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 naturally\nconcluded that there was something extraordinary about this dream, and\nshe consequently took an early opportunity of inquiring in the\nneighborhood what was known as to the names or circumstances of the\nformer inhabitants of this house; and, after much investigation, she\nlearned that, about seventy or eighty years before, it had been in the\npossession of a Mrs. Ravenhall, who had a niece, named Miss Black,\nliving with her. This niece Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 supposed might be the younger of\nthe two persons who was seen. Subsequently, she saw her again in the\nsame room, wringing her hands, and looking with a mournful significance\nto one corner. They had the boards taken up on that spot, but nothing\nwas found.\n\nOne of the most curious incidents, connected with this story, remains to\nbe told. After occupying the house three years, they were preparing to\nquit it\u2014not on account of its being haunted, but for other\nreasons\u2014when on awaking one morning, a short time before their\ndeparture, Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 saw, standing at the foot of her bed, a\ndark-complexioned man, in a working dress, a fustian jacket, and red\ncomforter round his neck\u2014who, however, suddenly disappeared. Mr. C\u2014\u2014\nwas lying beside her at the time, but asleep. This was the last\napparition seen. But the strange thing is, that a few days after this,\nit being necessary to order in a small quantity of coals to serve till\ntheir removal, Mr. C\u2014\u2014 undertook to perform the commission on his way\nto London. Accordingly, the next day, she mentioned to him that the\ncoals had arrived; which he said was very fortunate, since he had\nentirely forgotten to order them. Wondering whence they had come, Mrs.\nC\u2014\u2014 hereupon inquired of the servants, who none of them knew anything\nabout the matter; but on interrogating a person in the village, by whom\nthey had frequently been provided with this article, he answered that\nthey had been ordered by a dark man, in a fustian jacket and red\ncomfort, who had called for the purpose.\n\nAfter this last event, Mr. and Mrs. C\u2014\u2014 quitted the house; but I have\nheard that its subsequent tenants encountered some similar annoyances,\nalthough I have no means of ascertaining the particulars.\n\nBut perhaps one of the most remarkable cases of haunting in modern\ntimes, is that of Willington, near Newcastle, in my account of which,\nhowever, I find myself anticipated by Mr. Howitt; and as he has had the\nadvantage of visiting the place, which I have not, I shall take the\nliberty of borrowing his description of it, prefacing the account with\nthe following letter from Mr. Proctor, the owner of the house, who it\nwill be seen vouches for the general authenticity of the narrative. The\nletter was written in answer to one from me, requesting some more\nprecise information than I had been able to obtain:\u2014\n\n\u201cJosh. Proctor hopes C. Crowe will excuse her note having remained two\nweeks unanswered, during which time J. P. has been from home, or\nparticularly engaged. Feeling averse to add to the publicity the\ncircumstances occurring in his house, at Willington, have already\nobtained, J. P. would rather not furnish additional particulars; but if\nC. C. is not in possession of the number of \u2018Howitt\u2019s Journal,\u2019 which\ncontains a variety of details on the subject, he will be glad to forward\nher one. He would, at the same time, assure C. Crowe of the strict\naccuracy of that portion of W. Howitt\u2019s narrative which is extracted\nfrom \u2018Richardson\u2019s Table Book.\u2019 W. Howitt\u2019s statements, derived from his\nrecollection of verbal communications with branches of J. Proctor\u2019s\nfamily, are likewise essentially correct, though, as might be expected\nin some degree, erroneous circumstantially.\n\n\u201cJ. P. takes leave to express his conviction that the unbelief of the\neducated classes in apparitions of the deceased and kindred phenomena is\nnot grounded on a fair philosophic examination of the facts, which have\ninduced the popular belief of all ages and countries; and that it will\nbe found by succeeding ages to have been nothing better than unreasoning\nand unreasonable prejudice.\n\n \u201c_Willington, near Newcastle-on-Tyne_,\n   _7th mo. 22, 1847_.\u201d\n\n                     \u201cVISITS TO REMARKABLE PLACES.\n\n                          \u201cBY WILLIAM HOWITT.\n\n       \u201cTHE HAUNTED HOUSE AT WILLINGTON, NEAR NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.\n\n\u201cWe have of late years settled it as an established fact that ghosts and\nhaunted houses were the empty creation of ignorant times. We have\ncomfortably persuaded ourselves that such fancies only hovered in the\ntwilight of superstition, and that in these enlightened days they had\nvanished for ever. How often has it been triumphantly referred to, as a\nproof that all such things were the offspring of ignorance, that nothing\nof the kind is heard of now? What shall we say, then, to the following\nfacts? Here we have ghosts and a haunted house still. We have them in\nthe face of our vaunted noonday light\u2014in the midst of a busy and a\npopulous neighborhood\u2014in the neighborhood of a large and most\nintelligent town\u2014and in a family neither ignorant nor in any other\nrespect superstitious. For years have these ghosts and hauntings\ndisturbed the quiet of a highly respectable family, and continue to\nhaunt and disturb, spite of the incredulity of the wise, the\ninvestigations of the curious, and the anxious vigilance of the\nsuffering family itself.\n\n\u201cBetween the railway running from Newcastle-on-Tyne to North Shields,\nand the river Tyne, there lie in a hollow some few cottages, a\nparsonage, a mill, and a miller\u2019s house: these constitute the hamlet of\nWillington. Just above these the railway is carried across the valley on\nlofty arches, and from it you look down on the mill and cottages, lying\nat a considerable depth below. The mill is a large steam flour-mill,\nlike a factory, and the miller\u2019s house stands near it, but not adjoining\nit. None of the cottages which lie between these premises and the\nrailway, either, are in contact with them. The house stands on a sort of\nlittle promontory, round which runs the channel of a water-course, which\nappears to fill and empty with the tides. On one side of the mill and\nhouse, slopes away upward a field to a considerable distance, where it\nis terminated by other enclosures; on the other stands a considerable\nextent of ballast-hill\u2014_i. e._, one of the numerous hills on the banks\nof the Tyne made by the deposite of ballast from the vessels trading\nthither. At a distance, the top of the mill seems about level with the\ncountry around it. The place lies about half-way between Newcastle and\nNorth Shields.\n\n\u201cThis mill is, I believe, the property of, and is worked by, Messrs.\nUnthank and Procter. Mr. Joseph Procter resides on the spot in the house\njust by the mill, as already stated. He is a member of the society of\nfriends\u2014a gentleman in the very prime of life\u2014and his wife, an\nintelligent lady, is of a family of friends in Carlisle. They have\nseveral young children. This very respectable and well-informed family,\nbelonging to a sect which of all others is most accustomed to control,\nto regulate, and to put down even the imagination\u2014the last people in\nthe world, as it would appear, in fact, to be affected by any mere\nimaginary terrors or impressions\u2014have for years been persecuted by the\nmost extraordinary noises and apparitions.\n\n\u201cThe house is not an old house, as will appear; it was built about the\nyear 1800. It has no particularly spectral look about it. Seeing it in\npassing, or within, ignorant of its real character, one should by no\nmeans say that it was a place likely to have the reputation of being\nhaunted. Yet looking down from the railway, and seeing it and the mill\nlying in a deep hole, one might imagine various strange noises likely to\nbe heard in such a place in the night, from vessels on the river\u2014from\nwinds sweeping and howling down the gulley in which it stands\u2014from\nengines in the neighborhood connected with coal-mines, one of which, I\ncould not tell where, was making at the time I was there a wild sighing\nnoise, as I stood on the hill above. There is not any passage, however,\nknown of under the house, by which subterranean noises could be heard;\nnor are they merely noises that are heard,\u2014distinct apparitions are\ndeclared to be seen.\n\n\u201cSpite of the unwillingness of Mr. Procter, that these mysterious\ncircumstances should become quite public, and averse as he is to make\nknown himself these strange visitations, they were of such a nature that\nthey soon became rumored over the whole neighborhood. Numbers of people\nhurried to the place to inquire into the truth of them, and at length a\nremarkable occurrence brought them into print. What this occurrence was,\nthe pamphlet which appeared, and which was afterward reprinted in \u2018The\nLocal Historian\u2019s Table-Book,\u2019 published by Mr. M. A. Richardson, of\nNewcastle, and which I here copy, will explain. It will be seen that the\nwriter of this article has the fullest faith in the reality of what he\nrelates, as, indeed, vast numbers of the best informed inhabitants of\nthe neighborhood have.\n\n           \u201cAUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO THE HAUNTED HOUSE\n                             AT WILLINGTON.\n\n\u201cWere we to draw an inference from the number of cases of reported\nvisitations from the invisible world that have been made public of late,\nwe might be led to imagine that the days of supernatural agency were\nabout to recommence, and that ghosts and hobgoblins were about to resume\ntheir sway over the fears of mankind. Did we, however, indulge in such\nan apprehension, a glance at the current tone of the literature and\nphilosophy of the day, when treating of these subjects, would show a\nmeasure of unbelief regarding them as scornful and uncompromising as the\nveriest atheist or materialist could desire. Notwithstanding the\nprevalence of this feeling among the educated classes, there is a\ncuriosity and interest manifested in every occurrence of this nature,\nthat indicate a lurking faith at bottom, which an affected skepticism\nfails entirely to conceal. We feel, therefore, that we need not\napologise to our readers for introducing the following particulars of a\n_visit_ to a house in this immediate neighborhood, which had become\nnotorious for some years previous, as being \u2018haunted;\u2019 and several of\nthe reputed deeds, or misdeeds, of its supernatural visitant had been\npublished far and wide by rumor\u2019s thousand tongues. We deem it as worthy\nto be chronicled as the doings of its contemporary _genii_ at Windsor,\nDublin, Liverpool, Carlisle, and Sunderland, and which have all likewise\nhitherto failed, after public investigation, to receive a solution\nconsistent with a rejection of spiritual agency.\n\n\u201cWe have visited the house in question, which is well known to many of\nour readers, as being near a large steam corn-mill, in full view of\nWillington viaduct, on the Newcastle and Shields railway; and it may not\nbe irrelevant to mention that it is quite detached from the mill, or any\nother premises, and has no cellaring under it. The proprietor of the\nhouse, who lives in it, declines to make public the particulars of the\ndisturbance to which he has been subjected, and it must be understood\nthat the account of the visit we are about to lay before our readers is\nderived from a friend to whom Dr. Drury presented a copy of his\ncorrespondence on the subject, with power to make such use of it as he\nthought proper. We learned that the house had been reputed, at least one\nroom in it, to have been haunted forty years ago, and had afterward been\nundisturbed for a long period, during some years of which quietude the\npresent occupant lived in it unmolested. We are also informed that about\nthe time that the premises were building, viz., in 1800 or 1801, there\nwere reports of some deed of darkness having been committed by some one\nemployed about them. We should extend this account beyond the limits we\nhave set to ourselves, did we now enter upon a full account of the\nstrange things which have been seen and heard about the place by several\nof the neighbors, as well as those which are reported to have been seen,\nheard, and felt, by the inmates, whose servants have been changed, on\nthat account, many times. We proceed, therefore, to give the following\nletters which have been passed between individuals of undoubted\nveracity, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions on the\nsubject.\u201d\n\n                            \u201c(COPY, NO. 1.)\n                                                \u201c_17th June, 1840._\n\n    \u201cTO MR. PROCTER:\n\n    \u201cSIR: Having heard from indisputable authority, viz., that of my\n    excellent friend, Mr. Davison, of Low Willington, farmer, that\n    you and your family are disturbed by most unaccountable noises\n    at night, I beg leave to tell you that I have read attentively\n    Wesley\u2019s account of such things, but with, I must confess, no\n    great belief; but an account of this report coming from one of\n    your sect, which I admire for candor and simplicity, my\n    curiosity is excited to a high pitch, which I would fain\n    satisfy. My desire is to remain alone in the house all night\n    with no companion but my own watch-dog, in which, as far as\n    courage and fidelity are concerned, I place much more reliance\n    than upon any three young gentlemen I know of. And it is also my\n    hope that, if I have a fair trial, I shall be able to unravel\n    this mystery. Mr. Davison will give you every satisfaction if\n    you take the trouble to inquire of him concerning me.\n\n    \u201cI am, sir, yours most respectfully,\n\n                                                     \u201cEDWARD DRURY.\n    \u201cAt C. C. Embleton\u2019s, Surgeon,\n     \u201c_No. 10 Church street, Sunderland_.\u201d\n                            \u201c(COPY, NO. 2.)\n\n    \u201cJoseph Procter\u2019s respects to Edward Drury, whose note he\n    received a few days ago, expressing a wish to pass a night in\n    his house at Willington. As the family is going from home on the\n    23d instant, and one of Unthank and Procter\u2019s men will sleep in\n    the house, if Edward Drury feel inclined to come on or after the\n    24th, to spend a night in it, he is at liberty so to do, with or\n    without his faithful dog, which, by-the-by, can be of no\n    possible use, except as company. At the same time, Joseph\n    Procter thinks it best to inform him that particular\n    disturbances are far from frequent at present, being only\n    occasional, and quite uncertain, and therefore the satisfaction\n    of Edward Drury\u2019s curiosity must be considered as problematical.\n    The best chance will be afforded by sitting up alone in the\n    third story, till it be fairly daylight, say two or three A. M.\n\n     \u201c_Willington, 6th mo. 21st, 1840.\u201d_\n\n    \u201cJoseph Procter will leave word with T. Maun, foreman, to admit\n    Edward Drury.\n\n    \u201cMr. Procter left home with his family on the 23d of June, and\n    got an old servant, who was then out of place in consequence of\n    ill-health, to take charge of the house during their absence.\n    Mr. Procter returned alone, on account of business, on the 3d of\n    July, on the evening of which day Mr. Drury and his companion\n    also unexpectedly arrived. After the house had been locked up,\n    every corner of it was minutely examined. The room out of which\n    the apparition issued is too shallow to contain any person. Mr.\n    Drury and his friend had lights by them, and were satisfied that\n    there was no one in the house besides Mr. Procter, the servant,\n    and themselves.\u201d\n\n                            \u201c(COPY, NO. 3.)\n                                 \u201cMONDAY MORNING, _July 6th, 1840_.\n\n    \u201c_To Mr. Procter_:\n\n    \u201cDEAR SIR: I am sorry I was not at home to receive you\n    yesterday, when you kindly called to inquire for me. I am happy\n    to state, that I am really surprised that I have been so little\n    affected as I am, after that horrid and most awful affair. The\n    only bad effect that I feel is a heavy dullness in one of my\n    ears, the right one. I call it heavy dullness because I not only\n    do not hear distinctly, but feel in it a constant noise. This I\n    never was affected with before; but I doubt not it will go off.\n    I am persuaded that no one went to your house at any time more\n    _disbelieving in respect to seeing anything peculiar_; and now\n    no one can be more satisfied than myself. I will, in the course\n    of a few days, send you a full detail of all I saw and heard.\n    Mr. Spence and two other gentlemen came down to my house in the\n    afternoon to hear my detail; but, sir, could I account for these\n    noises from natural causes, yet so firmly am I persuaded of the\n    horrid apparition, that I would affirm that what I saw with my\n    eyes was a punishment to me for my scoffing and unbelief; that I\n    am assured that, as far as the horror is concerned, they are\n    happy that believe and have not seen. Let me trouble you, sir,\n    to give me the address of your sister, from Cumberland, who was\n    alarmed, and also of your brother. I would feel a satisfaction\n    in having a line from them; and, above all things, it will be a\n    great cause of joy to me, if you never allow your young family\n    to be in that horrid house again. Hoping you will write a few\n    lines at your leisure,\n\n                 \u201cI remain, dear sir, yours very truly,\n                                                    \u201cEDWARD DRURY.\u201d\n                            \u201c(COPY, NO. 4.)\n                                    \u201cWILLINGTON, _7th mo. 9, 1840_.\n\n    \u201cRESPECTED FRIEND, E. DRURY: Having been at Sunderland, I did\n    not receive thine of the 6th till yesterday morning. I am glad\n    to hear thou art getting well over the effects of thy\n    unlooked-for visitation. I hold in respect thy bold and manly\n    assertion of the truth, in the face of that ridicule and\n    ignorant conceit with which that which is called the\n    supernatural, in the present day, is usually assailed.\n\n    \u201cI shall be glad to receive thy detail, in which it will be\n    needful to be very particular in showing that thou couldst not\n    be asleep or attacked by nightmare, or mistake a reflection of\n    the candle, as some sagaciously suppose.\n\n                  \u201cI remain, respectfully, thy friend,\n                                                    \u201cJOSH. PROCTER.\n\n    \u201cP. S.\u2014I have about thirty witnesses to various things which\n    can not be satisfactorily accounted for on any other principle\n    than that of spiritual agency.\u201d\n\n                            \u201c(COPY, NO. 5.)\n                                      \u201cSUNDERLAND, _July 13, 1840_.\n\n    \u201cDEAR SIR: I hereby, according to promise in my last letter,\n    forward you a true account of what I heard and saw at your\n    house, in which I was led to pass the night from various rumors\n    circulated by most respectable parties\u2014particularly from an\n    account by my esteemed friend Mr. Davison, whose name I\n    mentioned to you in a former letter. Having received your\n    sanction to visit your mysterious dwelling, I went on the 3d of\n    July, accompanied by a friend of mine, T. Hudson. This was not\n    according to promise, nor in accordance with my first intent, as\n    I wrote to you I would come alone; but I felt gratified at your\n    kindness in not alluding to the liberty I had taken, as it\n    ultimately proved for the best. I must here mention that, not\n    expecting you at home, I had in my pocket a brace of pistols,\n    determining in my mind to let one of them drop before the\n    miller, as if by accident, for fear he should presume to play\n    tricks upon me; but, after my interview with you, I felt there\n    was no occasion for weapons, and did not load them, after you\n    had allowed us to inspect as minutely as we pleased every\n    portion of the house. I sat down on the third story landing,\n    fully expecting to account for any noises that I might hear, in\n    a philosophical manner. This was about eleven o\u2019clock P. M.\n    About ten minutes to twelve, we both heard a noise, as if a\n    number of people were pattering with their bare feet upon the\n    floor; and yet so singular was the noise, that I could not\n    minutely determine whence it proceeded. A few minutes afterward\n    we heard a noise, as if some one was knocking with his knuckles\n    among our feet; this was followed by a hollow cough from the\n    very room from which the apparition proceeded. The only noise\n    after this, was as if a person was rustling against the wall in\n    coming up stairs. At a quarter to one, I told my friend that,\n    feeling a little cold, I would like to go to bed, as we might\n    hear the noise equally well there; he replied that he would not\n    go to bed till daylight. I took up a note which I had\n    accidentally dropped, and began to read it, after which I took\n    out my watch to ascertain the time, and found that it wanted ten\n    minutes to one. In taking my eyes from the watch, they became\n    riveted upon a closet-door, which I distinctly saw open, and saw\n    also the figure of a female attired in grayish garments, with\n    the head inclining downward, and one hand pressed upon the chest\n    as if in pain, and the other, viz., the right hand, extended\n    toward the floor, with the index finger pointing downward. It\n    advanced with an apparently cautious step across the floor\n    toward me; immediately as it approached my friend, who was\n    slumbering, its right hand was extended toward him: I then\n    rushed at it, giving, as Mr. Procter states, a most awful yell;\n    but, instead of grasping it, I fell upon my friend, and I\n    recollected nothing distinctly for nearly three hours afterward.\n    I have since learned that I was carried down stairs in an agony\n    of fear and terror.\n\n    \u201cI hereby certify that the above account is strictly true and\n    correct in every respect.\n\n                                                     \u201cEDWARD DRURY.\n     \u201c_North Shields.\u201d_\n\n    \u201cThe following more recent case of an apparition seen in the\n    window of the same house from the outside, by four credible\n    witnesses, who had the opportunity of scrutinizing it for more\n    than ten minutes, is given on most unquestionable authority. One\n    of these witnesses is a young lady, a near connection of the\n    family, who, for obvious reasons, did not sleep in the house;\n    another, a respectable man, who has been many years employed in,\n    and is foreman of, the manufactory; his daughter, aged about\n    seventeen; and his wife, who first saw the object and called out\n    the others to view it. The appearance presented was that of a\n    bareheaded man, in a flowing robe like a surplice, who glided\n    backward and forward about three feet from the floor, or level\n    with the bottom of the second story window, seeming to enter the\n    wall on each side, and thus present a side view in passing. It\n    then stood still in the window, and a part of the body came\n    through both the blind, which was close down, and the window, as\n    its luminous body intercepted the view of the framework of the\n    window. It was semi-transparent, and as bright as a star,\n    diffusing a radiance all around. As it grew more dim, it assumed\n    a blue tinge, and gradually faded away from the head downward.\n    The foreman passed twice close to the house under the window,\n    and also went to inform the family, but found the house locked\n    up. There was no moonlight, nor a ray of light visible anywhere\n    about, and no person near. Had any magic lantern been used, it\n    could not possibly have escaped detection; and it is obvious\n    nothing of that kind could have been employed on the inside, as\n    in that case the light could only have been thrown upon the\n    blind, and not so as to intercept the view both of the blind and\n    of the window from without. The owner of the house slept in that\n    room, and must have entered it shortly after this figure had\n    disappeared.\n\n    \u201cIt may well be supposed what a sensation the report of the\n    visit of Mr. Drury and its result must have created. It flew far\n    and wide, and when it appeared in print, still wider; and, what\n    was not a little singular, Mr. Procter received, in consequence,\n    a great number of letters from individuals of different ranks\n    and circumstances, including many of much property, informing\n    him that their residences were, and had been for years, subject\n    to annoyances of precisely a similar character.\n\n    \u201cSo, the ghosts and the hauntings are not gone, after all! We\n    have turned our backs on them, and, in the pride of our\n    philosophy, have refused to believe in them; but they have\n    persisted in remaining, notwithstanding!\n\n    \u201cThese singular circumstances being at various times related by\n    parties acquainted with the family at Willington, I was curious,\n    on a tour northward some time ago, to pay this haunted house a\n    visit, and to solicit a night\u2019s lodging there. Unfortunately the\n    family was absent, on a visit to Mrs. Procter\u2019s relatives in\n    Carlisle, so that my principal purpose was defeated; but I found\n    the foreman and his wife, mentioned in the foregoing narrative,\n    living just by. They spoke of the facts above detailed with the\n    simple earnestness of people who had no doubts whatever on the\n    subject. The noises and apparitions in and about this house\n    seemed just like any other facts connected with it\u2014as matters\n    too palpable and positive to be questioned, any more than that\n    the house actually stood, and the mill ground. They mentioned to\n    me the circumstance of the young lady, as above stated, who took\n    up her lodging in their house, because she would no longer\n    encounter the annoyances of the haunted house\u2014and what trouble\n    it had occasioned the family in procuring and retaining\n    servants.\n\n    \u201cThe wife accompanied me into the house, which I found in charge\n    of a recently-married servant and her husband, during the\n    absence of the family. This young woman\u2014who had, previous to\n    her marriage, lived some time in the house\u2014had never seen\n    anything, and therefore had no fear. I was shown over the house,\n    and especially into the room on the third story, the main haunt\n    of the unwelcome visiters, and where Dr. Drury had received such\n    an alarm. This room, as stated, was and had been for some time\n    abandoned as a bed-room, from its bad character, and was\n    occupied as a lumber-room.\n\n    \u201cAt Carlisle, I again missed Mr. Procter: he had returned to\n    Willington, so that I lost the opportunity of hearing from him\n    or Mrs. Procter any account of these singular matters. I saw,\n    however, various members of his wife\u2019s family, most intelligent\n    people, of the highest character for sound and practical sense,\n    and they were unanimous in their confirmation of the particulars\n    I had heard, and which are here related.\n\n    \u201cOne of Mrs. Procter\u2019s brothers\u2014a gentleman in middle life, and\n    of a peculiarly sensible, sedate, and candid disposition, a\n    person apparently most unlikely to be imposed on by fictitious\n    alarms or tricks\u2014assured me that he had himself, on a visit\n    there, been disturbed by the strangest noises; that he had\n    resolved, before going, that if any such noises occurred, he\n    would speak, and demand of the invisible actor who he was, and\n    why he came thither: but the occasion came, and he found himself\n    unable to fulfil his intention. As he lay in bed one night, he\n    heard a heavy step ascend the stairs toward his room, and some\n    one striking, as it were, with a thick stick on the banisters,\n    as he went along. It came to his door, and he essayed to call,\n    but his voice died in his throat. He then sprang from his bed,\n    and, opening the door, found no one there\u2014but now heard the\n    same heavy steps deliberately descending, though invisible, the\n    steps before his face, and accompanying the descent with the\n    same loud blows on the banisters.\n\n    \u201cMy informant now proceeded to the room-door of Mr. Procter, who\n    he found had also heard the sounds, and who now also arose, and\n    with a light they made a speedy descent below, and a thorough\n    search there, but without discovering anything that could\n    account for the occurrence.\n\n    \u201cThe two young ladies, who, on a visit there, had also been\n    annoyed by this invisible agent, gave me this account of it: The\n    first night, as they were sleeping in the same bed, they felt\n    the bed lifted up beneath them. Of course, they were much\n    alarmed. They feared lest some one had concealed himself there\n    for the purpose of robbery. They gave an alarm, search was made,\n    but nothing was found. On another night, their bed was violently\n    shaken, and the curtains suddenly hoisted up[3] all round to the\n    very tester, as if pulled by cords, and as rapidly let down\n    again, several times! Search again produced no evidence of the\n    cause. The next, they had the curtains totally removed from the\n    bed, resolving to sleep without them, as they felt as though\n    evil eyes were lurking behind them. The consequences of this,\n    however, were still more striking and terrific. The following\n    night, as they happened to awake, and the chamber was light\n    enough (for it was summer) to see everything in it, they both\n    saw a female figure, of a misty substance, and bluish-gray hue,\n    come out of the wall at the bed\u2019s head, and through the\n    head-board, in a horizontal position, and lean over them. They\n    saw it most distinctly\u2014they saw it as a female figure come out\n    of, and again pass into, the wall. Their terror became intense,\n    and one of the sisters from that night refused to sleep any more\n    in the house, but took refuge in the house of the foreman during\n    her stay; the other shifting her quarters to another part of the\n    house. It was the young lady who slept at the foreman\u2019s who saw,\n    as above related, the singular apparition of the luminous figure\n    in the window, along with the foreman and his wife.\n\n    \u201cIt would be too long to relate all the forms in which this\n    nocturnal disturbance is said by the family to present itself.\n    When a figure appears, it is sometimes that of a man, as already\n    described, which is often very luminous, and passes through the\n    walls as though they were nothing. This male figure is well\n    known to the neighbors by the name of \u201cOld Jeffrey!\u201d At other\n    times, it is the figure of a lady, also in gray costume, and as\n    described by Mr. Drury. She is sometimes seen sitting wrapped in\n    a sort of mantle, with her head depressed, and her hands crossed\n    on her lap. The most terrible fact is, that she is without eyes.\n\n    \u201cTo hear such sober and superior people gravely relate to you\n    such things, gives you a very odd feeling. They say that the\n    noise made is often like that of a pavior with his rammer\n    thumping on the floor. At other times it is coming down stairs,\n    making a similar loud sound. At others it coughs, sighs, and\n    groans, like a person in distress; and, again, there is the\n    sound of a number of little feet pattering on the floor of the\n    upper chamber, where the apparition has more particularly\n    exhibited itself, and which, for that reason, is solely used as\n    a lumber-room. Here these little footsteps may be often heard as\n    if careering a child\u2019s carriage about, which in bad weather is\n    kept up there. Sometimes, again, it makes the most horrible\n    laughs. Nor does it always confine itself to the night. On one\n    occasion, a young lady, as she assured me herself, opened the\n    door in answer to a knock, the housemaid being absent, and a\n    lady in fawn-colored silk entered, and proceeded up stairs. As\n    the young lady, of course, supposed it a neighbor come to make a\n    morning call on Mrs. Procter, she followed her up to the\n    drawing-room, where, however, to her astonishment, she did not\n    find her, nor was anything more seen of her.\n\n    \u201cSuch are a few of the \u2018questionable shapes\u2019 in which this\n    troublesome guest comes. As may be expected, terror of it is\n    felt by the neighboring cottagers, though it seems to confine\n    its malicious disturbance almost solely to the occupants of this\n    one house. There is a well, however, near to which no one\n    ventures after it is dark, because it has been seen near it.\n\n    \u201cIt is useless to attempt to give any opinion respecting the\n    real causes of these strange sounds and sights. How far they may\n    be real or imaginary, how far they may be explicable by natural\n    causes or not\u2014the only thing which we have here to record is,\n    the very singular fact of a most respectable and intelligent\n    family having for many years been continually annoyed by them,\n    as well as their visiters. They express themselves as most\n    anxious to obtain any clew to the true cause, as may be seen by\n    Mr. Procter\u2019s ready acquiescence in the experiment of Mr. Drury.\n    So great a trouble is it to them, that they have contemplated\n    the necessity of quitting the house altogether, though it would\n    create great inconvenience as regarded business. And it only\n    remains to be added that we have not heard very recently whether\n    these visitations are still continued, though we have a letter\n    of Mr. Procter\u2019s to a friend of ours, dated September, 1844, in\n    which he says: \u2018Disturbances have for a length of time been only\n    very unfrequent, which is a comfort, as the elder children are\n    getting old enough (about nine or ten years) to be more\n    injuriously affected by anything of the sort.\u2019\n\n    \u201cOver these facts let the philosophers ponder, and if any of\n    them be powerful enough to exorcise \u2018Old Jeffrey,\u2019 or the\n    bluish-gray and misty lady, we are sure that Mr. Joseph Procter\n    will hold himself deeply indebted to them. We have lately heard\n    that Mr. Procter has discovered an old book, which makes it\n    appear that the very same \u2018hauntings\u2019 took place in an old\n    house, on the very same spot, at least two hundred years ago.\u201d\n\nTo the above information, furnished by Mr. Howitt, I have to subjoin\nthat the family of Mr. Procter are now quitting the house, which he\nintends to divide into small tenements for the work-people. A friend of\nmine who lately visited Willington, and who went over the house with Mr.\nProcter, assures me that the annoyances still continue, though less\nfrequent than formerly. Mr. Procter informed her that the female figure\ngenerally appeared in a shroud, and that it had been seen in that guise\nby one of the family only a few days before. A wish being expressed by a\ngentleman visiting Mr. Procter that some natural explanation of these\nperplexing circumstances might be discovered, the latter declared his\nentire conviction, founded on an experience of fifteen years, that no\nsuch elucidation was possible.\n\n-----\n\n[3] It is remarkable that this hoisting of the bed-curtains is similar\nto an incident recorded in the account of the visit of Lord Tyrone\u2019s\nghost to Lady Beresford.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIV.\n\n\n     SPECTRAL LIGHTS, AND APPARITIONS ATTACHED TO CERTAIN FAMILIES.\n\nIN commencing another chapter, I take the opportunity of repeating what\nI have said before, viz., that in treating of these phenomena, I find it\nmost convenient to assume what I myself believe\u2014that they are to be\nexplained by the existence and appearance of what are called GHOSTS; but\nin so doing, I am not presuming to settle the question: if any one will\nexamine into the facts and furnish a better explanation of them, I shall\nbe ready to receive it.\n\nIn the meantime, assuming this hypothesis, there is one phenomenon\nfrequently attending their appearance, which has given rise to a great\ndeal of thoughtless ridicule, but which, in the present state of\nscience, merits very particular attention. Grose, whom Dr. Hibbert\nquotes with particular satisfaction, says: \u201cI can not learn that ghosts\ncarry tapers in their hands, as they are sometimes depicted; though the\nroom in which they appear, even when without fire or candle, is\nfrequently said to be as light as day.\u201d\n\nMost persons will have heard of this peculiarity attending the\nappearance of ghosts. In the case of Professor Dorrien\u2019s apparition,\nmentioned in a former chapter, Professor Oeder saw it, when there was no\nlight in the room, by a flame which proceeded from itself. When he had\nthe room lighted, he saw it no longer, the light of the lamp rendering\ninvisible the more delicate phosphorescent light of the spectre: just as\nthe bright glare of the sun veils the feebler lustre of the stars, and\nobscures to our senses many chemical lights which are very perceptible\nin darkness. Hence the notion, so available to those who satisfy\nthemselves with scoffing without inquiring, that broad daylight banishes\napparitions, and that the belief in them is merely the offspring of\nphysical as well as moral darkness.\n\nI meet with innumerable cases in which this phosphorescent light is one\nof the accompaniments, the flame sometimes proceeding visibly from the\nfigure; while in others, the room appeared pervaded with light, without\nits seeming to issue from any particular object.\n\nI remember a case of the servants in a country-house, in Aberdeenshire,\nhearing the door-bell ring after their mistress was gone to bed; on\ncoming up to open it, they saw through a window that looked into a hall\nthat it was quite light, and that their master, Mr. F\u2014\u2014, who was at\nthe time absent from home, was there in his travelling dress. They ran\nto tell their mistress what they had seen; but when they returned, all\nwas dark, and there was nothing unusual to be discovered. That night Mr.\nF\u2014\u2014 died at sea, on his voyage to London.\n\nA gentleman, some time ago, awoke in the middle of a dark winter\u2019s\nnight, and perceived that his room was as light as if it were day. He\nawoke his wife and mentioned the circumstance, saying he could not help\napprehending that some misfortune had occurred to his fishing-boats,\nwhich had put to sea. The boats were lost that night.\n\nOnly last year, there was a very curious circumstance happened in the\nsouth of England, in which these lights were seen. I give the account\nliterally as I extracted it from the newspaper, and also the answer of\nthe editor to my further inquiries. I know nothing more of this story;\nbut it is singularly in keeping with others proceeding from different\nquarters.\n\n\u201cA GHOST AT BRISTOL.\u2014We have this week a ghost-story to relate. Yes, a\nghost-story; a real ghost-story, and a ghost-story without, as yet, any\nclew to its elucidation. After the dissolution of the Calendars, their\nancient residence, adjoining and almost forming a part of All-Saint\u2019s\nchurch, Bristol, was converted into a vicarage-house, and it is still\ncalled by that name, though the incumbents have for many years ceased to\nreside there. The present occupants are Mr. and Mrs. Jones, the sexton\nand sextoness of the church, and one or two lodgers; and it is to the\nformer and their servant-maid that the strange visiter has made his\nappearance, causing such terror by his nightly calls, that all three\nhave determined on quitting the premises, if indeed they have not\nalready carried their resolution into effect. Mr. and Mrs. Jones\u2019s\ndescription of the disturbance as given to the landlord, on whom they\ncalled in great consternation, is as distinct as any ghost-story could\nbe. The nocturnal visiter is heard walking about the house when the\ninhabitants are in bed; and Mr. Jones, who is a man of by no means\nnervous constitution, declares he has several times seen a light\nflickering on one of the walls. Mrs. Jones is equally certain that she\nhas heard a man with creaking shoes walking in the bed-room above her\nown, when no man was on the premises (or at least ought to be), and \u201cwas\nnearly killed with the fright.\u201d To the servant-maid, however, was\nvouchsafed the unenvied honor of seeing this restless night-visiter; she\ndeclares she has repeatedly had her bed-room door unbolted at night\nbetween the hours of twelve and two o\u2019clock\u2014the period when such beings\nusually make their promenades\u2014by something in human semblance; she can\nnot particularize his dress, but describes it as something antique, and\nof a fashion \u201clang syne gane,\u201d and to some extent corresponding to that\nof the ancient Calendars, the former inhabitants of the house. She\nfurther says he is a \u201cwhiskered gentleman\u201d (we give her own\nwords)\u2014which whiskered gentleman has gone the length of shaking her\nbed, and she believes would have shaken herself also, but that she\ninvariably puts her head under the clothes when she sees him approach.\nMrs. Jones declares she believes in the appearance of the whiskered\ngentleman, and she had made up her mind, the night before she called on\nher landlord, to leap out of the window (and it is not a trifle that\nwill make people leap out of the windows) as soon as he entered the\nroom. The effect of the \u2018flickering light\u2019 on Mr. Jones was quite\nterrific, causing excessive trembling, and the complete doubling up of\nhis whole body into a round ball, like.\u201d\u2014_Bristol Times._\n\n                             \u201cBRISTOL TIMES OFFICE, _June 3, 1846_.\n\n    \u201cMADAM: In reply to your inquiries respecting the ghost-story, I\n    have to assure you that the whole affair remains wrapped in the\n    same mystery as when chronicled in the pages of the _Bristol\n    Times_.\n\n                    \u201cI am, madam, yours obediently,\n                                                      \u201cTHE EDITOR.\u201d\n\nI subsequently wrote to Mrs. Jones, who I found was not a very dexterous\nscribe; but she confirmed the above account\u2014adding, however, that the\nRev. Mr. \u2014\u2014, the clergyman of the parish, said I had better write to\nhim about it, and that he does not believe in such things. Of course he\ndoes not, and it would have been useless to have asked his opinion.\n\nThere never was, perhaps, a more fearless human being than Madame\nGottfried, the empoisonneuse of Bremen; at least, she felt no\nremorse\u2014she feared nothing but discovery; and yet, when after years of\nsuccessful crime she was at length arrested, she related that soon after\nthe death of her first husband, Miltenburg, whom she had poisoned, as\nshe was standing, in the dusk of the evening, in her drawing-room, she\nsuddenly saw a bright light hovering at no great distance above the\nfloor, which advanced toward her bed-room door and then disappeared.\nThis phenomenon occurred on three successive evenings. On another\noccasion, she saw a shadowy appearance hovering near her\u2014\u201cAch! denke\nich, das ist Miltenburg, seine erscheinung!\u201d\u2014(Alas! thought I, that is\nthe ghost of Miltenburg!) Yet did not this withhold her murderous hand.\n\nThe lady who met with the curious adventure in Petersburgh, mentioned in\na former chapter, had no light in her room; yet she saw the watch\ndistinctly by the old woman\u2019s light, though of what nature it was, she\ndoes not know. Of the lights seen over graves, familiarly called\n\u201ccorpse-candles,\u201d I have spoken elsewhere\u2014as also of the luminous form\nperceived by Rilling in the garden at Colmar, as mentioned by Baron von\nReichenbach. Most people have heard the story of the Radiant Boy seen by\nLord Castlereagh\u2014an apparition which the owner of the castle admitted\nto have been visible to many others. Dr. Kerner mentions a similar fact,\nwherein an advocate and his wife were awakened by a noise and a light,\nand saw a beautiful child enveloped by the sort of glory that is seen\nsurrounding the heads of saints. It disappeared, and they never had a\nrepetition of the phenomenon, which they afterward heard was believed to\nrecur every seven years in that house, and to be connected with the\ncruel murder of a child by its mother.\n\nTo these instances I will add an account of the ghost seen in C\u2014\u2014\ncastle, copied from the handwriting of C\u2014\u2014 M\u2014\u2014 H\u2014\u2014 in a book of\nmanuscript extracts, dated C\u2014\u2014 castle, December 22, 1824, and\nfurnished to me by a friend of the family:\u2014\n\n\u201cIn order to introduce my readers to the haunted room, I will mention\nthat it forms part of the old house, with windows looking into the\ncourt, which in early times was deemed a necessary security against an\nenemy. It adjoins a tower built by the Romans for defence; for C\u2014\u2014 was\nproperly more a border tower than a castle of any consideration. There\nis a winding staircase in this tower, and the walls are from eight to\nten feet thick.\n\n\u201cWhen the times became more peaceable, our ancestors enlarged the\narrow-slit windows, and added to that part of the building which looks\ntoward the river Eden; the view of which, with its beautiful banks, we\nnow enjoy. But many additions and alterations have been made since that.\n\n\u201cTo return to the room in question, I must observe that it is by no\nmeans remote or solitary, being surrounded on all sides by chambers that\nare constantly inhabited. It is accessible by a passage cut through a\nwall eight feet in thickness, and its dimensions are twenty-one by\neighteen. One side of the wainscoting is covered with tapestry; the\nremainder is decorated with old family-pictures, and some ancient pieces\nof embroidery, probably the handiwork of nuns. Over a press, which has\ndoors of Venetian glass, is an ancient oaken figure, with a battle-axe\nin his hand, which was one of those formerly placed on the walls of the\ncity of Carlisle, to represent guards. There used to be, also, an\nold-fashioned bed and some dark furniture in this room; but, so many\nwere the complaints of those who slept there, that I was induced to\nreplace some of these articles of furniture by more modern ones, in the\nhope of removing a certain air of gloom, which I thought might have\ngiven rise to the unaccountable reports of apparitions and extraordinary\nnoises which were constantly reaching us. But I regret to say I did not\nsucceed in banishing the nocturnal visiter, which still continues to\ndisturb our friends.\n\n\u201cI shall pass over numerous instances, and select one as being\nespecially remarkable, from the circumstance of the apparition having\nbeen seen by a clergyman well known and highly respected in this county,\nwho, not six weeks ago, repeated the circumstances to a company of\ntwenty persons, among whom were some who had previously been entire\ndisbelievers in such appearances.\n\n\u201cThe best way of giving you these particulars, will be by subjoining an\nextract from my journal, entered at the time the event occurred.\n\n\u201cSEPT. 8, 1803.\u2014Among other guests invited to C\u2014\u2014 castle, came the\nRev. Henry A\u2014\u2014, of Redburgh, and rector of Greystoke, with Mrs. A\u2014\u2014,\nhis wife, who was a Miss S\u2014\u2014, of Ulverstone. According to previous\narrangements, they were to have remained with us for some days; but\ntheir visit was cut short in a very unexpected manner. On the morning\nafter their arrival, we were all assembled at breakfast, when a chaise\nand four dashed up to the door in such haste that it knocked down part\nof the fence of my flower-garden. Our curiosity was, of course, awakened\nto know who could be arriving at so early an hour; when, happening to\nturn my eyes toward Mr. A\u2014\u2014, I observed that he appeared extremely\nagitated. \u2018It is our carriage!\u2019 said he; \u2018I am very sorry, but we must\nabsolutely leave you this morning.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe naturally felt and expressed considerable surprise, as well as\nregret at this unexpected departure; representing that we had invited\nColonel and Mrs. S\u2014\u2014, some friends whom Mr. A\u2014\u2014 particularly desired\nto meet, to dine with us on that day. Our expostulations, however, were\nvain; the breakfast was no sooner over than they departed, leaving us in\nconsternation to conjecture what could possibly have occasioned so\nsudden an alteration in their arrangements. I really felt quite uneasy\nlest anything should have given them offence; and we reviewed all the\noccurrences of the preceding evening in order to discover, if offence\nthere was, whence it had arisen. But our pains were vain; and after\ntalking a great deal about it for some days, other circumstances\nbanished it from our minds.\n\n\u201cIt was not till we some time afterward visited the part of the country\nin which Mr. A\u2014\u2014 resides, that we learned the real cause of his sudden\ndeparture from C\u2014\u2014. The relation of the fact, as it here follows, is\nin his own words:\u2014\n\n\u201cSoon after we went to bed, we fell asleep: it might have been between\none and two in the morning when I awoke. I observed that the fire was\ntotally extinguished; but although that was the case, and we had no\nlight, I saw a glimmer in the centre of the room, which suddenly\nincreased to a bright flame. I looked out, apprehending that something\nhad caught fire, when, to my amazement, I beheld a beautiful boy,\nclothed in white, with bright locks, resembling gold, standing by my\nbedside, in which position he remained some minutes, fixing his eyes\nupon me with a mild and benevolent expression. He then glided gently\naway toward the side of the chimney, where it is obvious there is no\npossible egress, and entirely disappeared. I found myself again in total\ndarkness, and all remained quiet until the usual hour of rising. I\ndeclare this to be a true account of what I saw at C\u2014\u2014 castle, upon my\nword as a clergyman.\u201d\n\nI am acquainted with some of the family, and with several of the friends\nof Mr. A\u2014\u2014, who is still alive, though now an old man, and I can most\npositively assert that his own conviction, with regard to the nature of\nthis appearance, has remained ever unshaken. The circumstance made a\nlasting impression upon his mind, and he never willingly speaks of it;\nbut when he does, it is always with the greatest seriousness, and he\nnever shrinks from avowing his belief, that what he saw admits of no\nother interpretation than the one he then put upon it.\n\nNow, let us see whether in this department of the phenomenon of\nghost-seeing, namely, the lights that frequently accompany the\napparitions, there is anything so worthy of ridicule as Grose and other\nsuch commentators seem to think.\n\nOf God, the uncreated, we know nothing; but the created spirit, man, we\ncan not conceive of independent of some organism or organ, however\ndifferent that organ may be to those which form our means of\napprehension and communication at present. This organ, we may suppose to\nbe that pervading ether which is now the germ of what St. Paul calls the\n_spiritual body_, the _astral spirit_ of the mystics, the _nerve-spirit_\nof the clear-seers; the fundamental body, of which the external fleshly\nbody is but the copy and husk\u2014an organ comprehending all those distinct\nones which we now possess in the one universal, or, as some of the\nGerman physiologists call it, the _central_ sense, of which we\noccasionally obtain some glimpses in somnambulism, and in other peculiar\nstates of nervous derangement; especially where the ordinary senses of\nsight, hearing, feeling, &c., are in abeyance; an effect which Dr.\nEnnemoser considers to be produced by a change of polarity, the external\nperiphery of the nerves taking on a negative state; and which Dr.\nPassavent describes as the retreating of the ether from the external to\nthe internal, so that the nerves no longer receive impressions, or\nconvey information to the brain; a condition which may be produced by\nvarious causes, as excess of excitement, great elevation of the spirit,\nas we see in the ecstatics and martyrs, over-irritation producing\nconsequent exhaustion; and also artificially, by certain manipulations,\nnarcotics, and other influences. All somnambules of the highest\norder\u2014and when I make use of this expression, I repeat that I do not\nallude to the subjects of mesmeric experiments, but to those\nextraordinary cases of disease, the particulars of which have been\nrecorded by various continental physicians of eminence\u2014all persons in\nthat condition describe themselves as hearing and seeing, not by their\nordinary organs, but by some means the idea of which they can not convey\nfurther than that they are pervaded by light, and that this is not the\n_ordinary_ physical light is evident, inasmuch as they generally see\nbest in the dark, a remarkable instance of which I myself witnessed.\n\nI never had the slightest idea of this internal light, till, in the way\nof experiment, I inhaled the sulphuric ether; but I am now very well\nable to conceive it: for, after first feeling an agreeable warmth\npervading my limbs, my next sensation was to find myself, I can not say\nin this heavenly light, for the light was in _me_\u2014I was pervaded by it:\nit was not perceived by my eyes, which were closed, but perceived\ninternally, I can not tell how. Of what nature this heavenly light\nwas\u2014and I can not forbear calling it _heavenly_, for it was like\nnothing on earth\u2014I know not, nor how far it may be related to those\nluminous emanations occasionally seen around ecstatics, saints, martyrs,\nand dying persons; or to the flames seen by somnambules issuing from\nvarious objects, or to those observed by Von Reichenbach\u2019s patients\nproceeding from the ends of the fingers, &c. But at all events, since\nthe process which maintains life is of the nature of combustion, we have\nno reason to be amazed at the presence of luminous emanations; and as we\nare the subjects of various electrical phenomena, nobody is surprised\nwhen, on combing their hair or pulling off their silk-stockings, they\nhear a crackling noise, or even see sparks.\n\nLight, in short, is a phenomenon which seems connected with all forms of\nlife; and I need not here refer to that emitted by glow-worms,\nfire-flies, and those marine animals which illuminate the sea. The eyes\nalso of many animals shine with a light which is not merely a reflected\none\u2014as has been ascertained by Rengger, a German naturalist, who found\nhimself able to distinguish objects in the most profound darkness, by\nthe flaming eyes of a South American monkey.\n\n\u201cThe seeing of a clear-seer,\u201d says Dr. Passavent, \u201cmay be called a\n_solar_ seeing, for he lights and inter-penetrates his object with his\n_own_ organic light, viz., his nervous ether, which becomes the organ of\nthe spirit;\u201d and under certain circumstances this organic light becomes\nvisible, as in those above alluded to. Persons recovering from deep\nswoons and trances, frequently describe themselves as having been in\nthis region of light\u2014this light of the spirit, if I may so call\nit\u2014this palace of light, in which it dwells, which will hereafter be\nits proper light; for the physical or solar light, which serves us while\nin the flesh, will be no longer needed, when out of it, nor probably be\nperceived by the spirit, which will then, I repeat, be a light to\nitself: and as this organic light\u2014this germ of our future spiritual\nbody\u2014occasionally becomes partially visible now, there can not, I\nthink, be any great difficulty in conceiving that it may, under given\ncircumstances, be so hereafter.\n\nThe use of the word _light_, in the Scriptures, must not be received in\na purely symbolical sense. We shall dwell in light, or we shall dwell in\ndarkness, in proportion as we have shaken off the bonds that chain us to\nthe earth; according, in short, to our moral state, we shall be pure and\nbright, or impure and dark.\n\nMonsieur Arago mentions, in his treatise on lightning and the electrical\nfluid, that all men are not equally susceptible of it, and that there\nare different degrees of receptivity, verging from total insensibility\nto the extreme opposite; and he also remarks that animals are more\nsusceptible to it than men. He says the fluid will pass through a chain\nof persons, of whom perhaps one (though forming only the second link)\nwill be wholly insensible of the shock. Such persons would be rarely\nstruck by lightning, while another would be in as great danger from a\nflash as if he were made of metal. Thus it is not only the situation of\na man, during a storm, but also his physical constitution, that\nregulates the amount of his peril. The horse and the dog are\nparticularly susceptible.\n\nNow, this varying susceptibility is analogous to, if not the very same,\nthat causes the varying susceptibility to such phenomena as I am\ntreating of; and, accordingly, we know that in all times, horses and\ndogs have been reputed to have the faculty of seeing spirits: and when\npersons who have the second-sight see a vision, these animals, if in\ncontact with them, perceive it also, and frequently evince symptoms of\ngreat terror. We also here find the explanation of another mystery,\nnamely, what the Germans call _ansteckung_, and the English (skeptics\nwhen alluding to these phenomena) _contagion_\u2014meaning simply\n_contagious fear_; but, as when several persons form a chain, the shock\nfrom an electrical machine will pass through the whole of them\u2014so, if\none person is in such a state as to become sensible of an apparition or\nsome similar phenomenon, he may be able to communicate that power to\nanother; and thus has arisen the conviction among the highlanders, that\na seer, by touching a person near him, enables him frequently to\nparticipate in his vision.\n\nA little girl, in humble life, called Mary Delves, of a highly nervous\ntemperament, has been frequently punished for saying that the cat was on\nfire, and that she saw flames issuing from various persons and objects.\n\nWith regard to the perplexing subject of corpse-lights, there would be\nlittle difficulty attending it if they always remained stationary over\nthe graves; but it seems very well established that that is not the\ncase. There are numerous stories, proceeding from very respectable\nquarters, proving the contrary; and I have heard two from a dignitary of\nthe church, born in Wales, which I will relate:\u2014\n\nA female relation of his had occasion to go to Aberystwith, which was\nabout twenty miles from her home, on horseback; and she started at a\nvery early hour for that purpose, with her father\u2019s servant. When they\nhad nearly reached the half-way, fearing the man might be wanted at\nhome, she bade him return, as she was approaching the spot where the\nservant of the lady she was going to visit was to meet her, in order to\nescort her the other half.\n\nThe man had not long left her, when she saw a light coming toward her,\nthe nature of which she suspected. It moved, according to her\ndescription, steadily on, about three feet from the ground. Somewhat\nawestruck, she turned her horse out of the bridle-road, along which it\nwas coming, intending to wait till it had passed; but, to her dismay,\njust as it came opposite to her, it stopped, and there remained\nperfectly fixed for nearly half an hour, at the end of which period it\nmoved on as before.\n\nThe servant presently came up, and she proceeded to the house of her\nfriend, where she related what she had seen. A few days afterward, the\nvery servant who came to meet her was taken ill and died: his body was\ncarried along that road; and, at the very spot where the light had\npaused, an accident occurred, which caused a delay of half an hour.\n\nThe other story was as follows: A servant in the family of Lady Davis,\nmy informant\u2019s aunt, had occasion to start early for market. Being in\nthe kitchen, about three o\u2019clock in the morning, taking his breakfast\nalone, when everybody else was in bed, he was surprised at hearing a\nsound of heavy feet on the stairs above; and, opening the door to see\nwho it could be, he was struck with alarm at perceiving a great light,\nmuch brighter than could have been shed by a candle, at the same time\nthat he heard a violent thump, as if some very heavy body had hit the\nclock, which stood on the landing. Aware of the nature of the light, the\nman did not await its further descent, but rushed out of the\nhouse\u2014whence he presently saw it issue from the front door, and proceed\non its way to the churchyard.\n\nAs his mistress, Lady Davis, was at that period in her bed, ill, he made\nno doubt that her death impended; and when he returned from the market\nat night, his first question was, whether she was yet alive: and though\nhe was informed she was better, he declared his conviction that she\nwould die, alleging as his reason what he had seen in the morning\u2014a\nnarration which led everybody else to the same conclusion.\n\nThe lady, however, recovered; but, within a fortnight, another member of\nthe family died: and as his coffin was brought down the stairs, the\nbearers ran it violently against the clock\u2014upon which the man instantly\nexclaimed, \u201cThat is the very noise I heard!\u201d\n\nI could relate numerous stories wherein the appearance of a ghost was\naccompanied by a light; but as there is nothing that distinguishes them\nfrom those abovementioned, I will not dilate further on this branch of\nthe subject, on which, perhaps, I have said enough to suggest to the\nminds of my readers that, although we know little _how_ such things are,\nwe do know enough of analogous phenomena to enable us to believe, at\nleast, their possibility.\n\nI confess I find much less difficulty in conceiving the existence of\nsuch facts as those above described, than those of another class, of\nwhich we meet with occasional instances.\n\nFor example, a gentleman of fortune and station, in Ireland, was one day\nwalking along the road, when he met a very old man, apparently a\npeasant, though well-dressed, and looking as if he had on his Sunday\nhabiliments. His great age attracted the gentleman\u2019s attention the more,\nthat he could not help wondering at the alertness of his movements, and\nthe ease with which he was ascending the hill. He consequently accosted\nhim, inquiring his name and residence; and was answered that his name\nwas Kirkpatrick, and that he lived at a cottage, which he pointed out.\nWhereupon the gentleman expressed his surprise that he should be unknown\nto him, since he fancied he had been acquainted with every man on his\nestate. \u201cIt is odd you have never seen me before,\u201d returned the old man,\n\u201cfor I walk here every day.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow old are you?\u201d asked the gentleman.\n\n\u201cI am one hundred and five,\u201d answered the other; \u201cand have been here all\nmy life.\u201d\n\nAfter a few more words, they parted; and the gentleman, proceeding\ntoward some laborers in a neighboring field, inquired if they knew an\nold man of the name of Kirkpatrick. They did not; but on addressing the\nquestion to some older tenants, they said, \u201cOh, yes;\u201d they had known\nhim, and had been at his funeral; he had lived at the cottage on the\nhill, but had been dead twenty years.\n\n\u201cHow old was he when he died?\u201d inquired the gentleman, much amazed. \u201cHe\nwas eighty-five,\u201d said they: so that the old man gave the age that he\nwould have reached had he survived to the period of this rencontre.\n\nThis curious incident is furnished by the gentleman himself and all he\ncan say is, that it certainly occurred, and that he is quite unable to\nexplain it. He was in perfect health at the time, and had never heard of\nthis man in his life, who had been dead several years before the estate\ncame into his possession.\n\nThe following is another curious story. The original will be found in\nthe register of the church named, from which it has been copied for my\nuse:\u2014\n\n         EXTRACT FROM THE REGISTER IN BRISLEY CHURCH, NORFOLK.\n\n    \u201cDECEMBER 12, 1706.\u2014I, Robert Withers, M. A., vicar of Gately,\n    do insert here a story which I had from undoubted hands; for I\n    have all the moral certainty of the truth of it possible:\u2014\n\n    \u201cMr. Grose went to see Mr. Shaw on the 2d of August last. As\n    they sat talking in the evening, says Mr. Shaw: \u2018On the 21st of\n    the last month, as I was smoking a pipe, and reading in my\n    study, between eleven and twelve at night, in comes Mr. Naylor\n    (formerly fellow of St. John\u2019s college, but had been dead full\n    four years). When I saw him, I was not much affrighted, and I\n    asked him to sit down, which accordingly he did for about two\n    hours, and we talked together. I asked him how it fared with\n    him. He said, \u201cVery well.\u201d\u2014\u201cWere any of our old acquaintances\n    with him?\u201d\u2014\u201cNo!\u201d (at which I was much alarmed), \u201cbut Mr.\n    Orchard will be with me soon, and yourself not long after.\u201d As\n    he was going away, I asked him if he would not stay a little\n    longer, but he refused. I asked him if he would call again.\n    \u201cNo;\u201d he had but three days\u2019 leave of absence, and he had other\n    business.\u2019\n\n    \u201cN. B.\u2014Mr. Orchard died soon after. Mr. Shaw is now dead: he\n    was formerly fellow of St. John\u2019s college\u2014an ingenious, good\n    man. I knew him there; but at his death he had a college-living\n    in Oxfordshire, and here he saw the apparition.\u201d\n\nAn extraordinary circumstance occurred some years ago, in which a very\npious and very eminent Scotch minister, Ebenezer Brown of Inverkeithing,\nwas concerned. A person of ill character in the neighborhood having\ndied, the family very shortly afterward came to him to complain of some\nexceedingly unpleasant circumstances connected with the room in which\nthe dissolution had taken place, which rendered it uninhabitable, and\nrequesting his assistance. All that is known by his family of what\nfollowed, is that he went and entered the room alone; came out again, in\na state of considerable excitement and in a great perspiration; took off\nhis coat and re-entered the room; a great noise and I believe voices\nwere then heard by the family, who remained the whole time at the door;\nwhen he came out finally, it was evident that something very\nextraordinary had taken place; what it was, he said, he could never\ndisclose; but that perhaps after his death some paper might be found\nupon the subject. None, however, as far as I can learn, has been\ndiscovered.\n\nA circumstance of a very singular nature is asserted to have occurred,\nnot very many years back, in regard to a professor in the college of\nA\u2014\u2014, who had seduced a girl and married another woman. The girl became\ntroublesome to him; and being found murdered, after having been last\nseen in his company, he was suspected of being some way concerned in the\ncrime. But the strange thing is, that, from that period, he retired\nevery evening at a particular hour to a certain room, where he stayed a\ngreat part of the night, and where it was declared that _her_ voice was\ndistinctly heard in conversation with him: a strange, wild story, which\nI give as I have it, without pretending to any explanation of the belief\nthat seems to have prevailed, that he was obliged to keep this fearful\ntryst.\n\nVisitations of this description\u2014which seem to indicate that the\ndeceased person is still, in some way incomprehensible to us, an\ninhabitant of the earth\u2014are more perplexing than any of the stories I\nmeet with. In the time of Frederick II. of Prussia, the cook of a\ncatholic priest residing at a village named Quarrey, died, and he took\nanother in her place; but the poor woman had no peace or rest from the\ninterference of her predecessor, insomuch that she resigned her\nsituation, and the minister might almost have done without any servant\nat all. The fires were lighted, and the rooms swept and arranged, and\nall the needful services performed, by unseen hands. Numbers of people\nwent to witness the phenomena, till at length the story reached the ears\nof the king, who sent a captain and a lieutenant of his guard to\ninvestigate the affair. As they approached the house, they found\nthemselves preceded by a march, though they could see no musicians; and\nwhen they entered the parlor and witnessed what was going on, the\ncaptain exclaimed: \u201cIf that doesn\u2019t beat the devil!\u201d upon which he\nreceived a smart slap on the face, from the invisible hand that was\narranging the furniture.\n\nIn consequence of this affair, the house was pulled down, by the king\u2019s\norders, and another residence built for the minister at some distance\nfrom the spot.\n\nNow, to impose on Frederick II. would have been no slight matter, as\nregarded the probable consequences; and the officers of his guard would\ncertainly not have been disposed to make the experiment; and it is not\nlikely that the king would have ordered the house to be pulled down\nwithout being thoroughly satisfied of the truth of the story.\n\nOne of the most remarkable stories of this class I know\u2014excepting\nindeed the famous one of the Grecian bride\u2014is that which is said to\nhave happened at Crossen, in Silesia, in the year 1659, in the reign of\nthe Princess Elizabeth Charlotte. In the spring of that year, an\napothecary\u2019s man, called Christopher Monig\u2014a native of Serbest, in\nAnhalt\u2014died, and was buried with the usual ceremonies of the Lutheran\nchurch. But, to the amazement of everybody, a few days afterward, he, at\nleast what seemed to be himself, appeared in the shop, where he would\nsit himself down, and sometimes walk, and take from the shelves boxes,\npots, and glasses, and set them again in other places; sometimes try and\nexamine the goodness of the medicines, weigh them with the scales, pound\nthe drugs with a mighty noise\u2014nay, serve the people that came with\nbills to the shop, take their money and lay it up in the counter: in a\nword, do all things that a journeyman in such cases used to do. He\nlooked very ghostly upon his former companions, who were afraid to say\nanything to him, and his master being sick at that time, he was very\ntroublesome to him. At last he took a cloak that hung in the shop, put\nit on and walked abroad, but minding nobody in the streets; he entered\ninto some of the citizen\u2019s houses, especially such as he had formerly\nknown, yet spoke to no one but to a maid-servant, whom he met with hard\nby the church-yard, whom he desired to go home and dig in a lower\nchamber of her master\u2019s house, where she would find an inestimable\ntreasure. But the girl, amazed at the sight of him, swooned away;\nwhereupon he lifted her up, but left a mark upon her, in so doing, that\nwas long visible. She fell sick in consequence of the fright, and having\ntold what Monig had said to her, they dug up the place indicated, but\nfound nothing but a decayed pot with a hemarites or bloodstone in it.\nThe affair making a great noise, the reigning princess caused the man\u2019s\nbody to be taken up, which being done, it was found in a state of\nputrefaction, and was reinterred. The apothecary was then recommended to\nremove everything belonging to Monig\u2014his linen, clothes, books,\n&c.\u2014after which the apparition left the house and was seen no more.\n\nThe fact of the man\u2019s reappearance in this manner was considered to be\nso perfectly established at the time, that there was actually a public\ndisputation on the subject in the academy of Leipsic. With regard to the\nimportance the apparition attached to the bloodstone, we do not know but\nthat there may be truth in the persuasion that this gem is possessed of\nsome occult properties of much more value than its beauty.\n\nThe story of the Grecian bride is still more wonderful, and yet it comes\nto us so surprisingly well authenticated, inasmuch as the details were\nforwarded by the prefect of the city in which the thing occurred, to the\nproconsul of his province, and by the latter were laid before the\nemperor Hadrian\u2014and as it was not the custom to mystify Roman\nemperors\u2014we are constrained to believe that what the prefect and\nproconsul communicated to him, they had good reason for believing\nthemselves.\n\nIt appears that a gentleman, called Demostrates, and Charito, his wife,\nhad a daughter called Philinnion, who died; and that about six months\nafterward, a youth named Machates, who had come to visit them, was\nsurprised on retiring to the apartments destined to strangers, by\nreceiving the visits of a young maiden who eats and drinks and exchanges\ngifts with him. Some accident having taken the nurse that way, she,\namazed by the sight, summons her master and mistress to behold their\ndaughter, who is there sitting with the guest.\n\nOf course, they do not believe her; but at length, wearied by her\nimportunities, the mother follows her to the guest\u2019s chamber; but the\nyoung people are now asleep, and the door closed; but looking through\nthe keyhole, she perceives what she believes to be her daughter. Still\nunable to credit her senses, she resolves to wait till morning before\ndisturbing them; but when she comes again the young lady had departed;\nwhile Machates, on being interrogated, confesses that Philinnion had\nbeen with him, but that she had admitted to him that it was unknown to\nher parents. Upon this, the amazement and agitation of the mother were\nnaturally very great; especially when Machates showed her a ring which\nthe girl had given him, and a bodice which she had left behind her; and\nhis amazement was no less, when he heard the story they had to tell. He,\nhowever, promised that if she returned the next night, he would let them\nsee her; for he found it impossible to believe that his bride was their\ndead daughter. He suspected, on the contrary, that some thieves had\nstripped her body of the clothes and ornaments in which she had been\nburied, and that the girl who came to his room had bought them. When,\ntherefore, she arrived, his servant having had orders to summon the\nfather and mother, they came; and perceiving that it was really their\ndaughter, they fell to embracing her, with tears. But she reproached\nthem for the intrusion, declaring that she had been permitted to spend\nthree days with this stranger, in the house of her birth; but that now\nshe must go to the appointed place; and immediately fell down dead, and\nthe dead body lay there visible to all.\n\nThe news of this strange event soon spread abroad, the house was\nsurrounded by crowds of people, and the prefect was obliged to take\nmeasures to avoid a tumult. On the following morning, at an early hour,\nthe inhabitants assembled in the theatre, and thence they proceeded to\nthe vault, in order to ascertain if the body of Philinnion was where it\nhad been deposited six months before. It was not; but on the bier there\nlay the ring and cap which Machates had presented to her the first night\nshe visited him; showing that she had returned there in the interim.\nThey then proceeded to the house of Democrates, where they saw the body,\nwhich it was decreed must now be buried without the bounds of the city.\nNumerous religious ceremonies and sacrifices followed, and the\nunfortunate Machates, seized with horror, put an end to his own life.\n\nThe following very singular circumstance occurred in this country toward\nthe latter end of the last century, and excited, at the time,\nconsiderable attention; the more so, as it was asserted by everybody\nacquainted with the people and the locality, that the removal of the\nbody was impossible by any recognised means; besides, that no one would\nhave had the hardihood to attempt such a feat:\u2014\n\n\u201cMr. William Craighead, author of a popular system of arithmetic, was\nparish-schoolmaster of Monifieth, situate upon the estuary of the Tay,\nabout six miles east from Dundee. It would appear that Mr. Craighead was\nthen a young man, fond of a frolic, without being very scrupulous about\nthe means, or calculating the consequences. There being a lykewake in\nthe neighborhood, according to the custom of the times, attended by a\nnumber of his acquaintance, Craighead procured a confederate, with whom\nhe concerted a plan to draw the watchers from the house, or at least\nfrom the room where the corpse lay. Having succeeded in this, he\ndexterously removed the dead body to an outer house, while his companion\noccupied the place of the corpse in the bed where it had lain. It was\nagreed upon between the confederates, that when the company were\nreassembled Craighead was to join them, and, at a concerted signal the\nimpostor was to rise, shrouded like the dead man, while the two were to\nenjoy the terror and alarm of their companions. Mr. Craighead came in,\nand, after being some time seated, the signal was made, but met no\nattention; he was rather surprised; it was repeated, and still\nneglected. Mr. Craighead, in his turn, now became alarmed; for he\nconceived it impossible that his companion could have fallen asleep in\nthat situation; his uneasiness became insupportable; he went to the bed,\nand found his friend lifeless! Mr. Craighead\u2019s feelings, as may well be\nimagined, now entirely overpowered him, and the dreadful fact was\ndisclosed. Their agitation was extreme, and it was far from being\nalleviated when every attempt to restore animation to the thoughtless\nyoung man proved abortive. As soon as their confusion would permit, an\ninquiry was made after the original corpse, and Mr. Craighead and\nanother went to fetch it in, but it was not to be found. The alarm and\nconsternation of the company were now redoubled; for some time a few\nsuspected that some hardy fellow among them had been attempting a\nRowland for an Oliver, but when every knowledge of it was most solemnly\ndenied by all present, their situation can be more easily imagined than\ndescribed; that of Mr. Craighead was little short of distraction.\nDaylight came without relieving their agitation; no trace of the corpse\ncould be discovered, and Mr. Craighead was accused as the _primum\nmobile_ of all that had happened: he was incapable of sleeping, and\nwandered several days and nights in search of the body, which was at\nlast discovered in the parish of Tealing, deposited in a field, about\nsix miles distant from the place whence it was removed.\n\n\u201cIt is related that this extraordinary affair had a strong and lasting\neffect upon Mr. Craighead\u2019s mind and conduct; that he immediately became\nserious and thoughtful, and ever after conducted himself with great\nprudence and sobriety.\u201d\n\nAmong what are called _superstitions_, there are a great many curious\nones attached to certain families; and from some members of these\nfamilies I have been assured that experience has rendered it impossible\nfor them to forbear attaching importance to these persuasions.\n\nA very remarkable circumstance occurred lately in this part of the\nworld, the facts of which I had an opportunity of being well acquainted\nwith.\n\nOne evening, somewhere about Christmas, of the year 1844, a letter was\nsent for my perusal, which had been just received from a member of a\ndistinguished family, in Perthshire. The friend who sent it me, an\neminent literary man, said, \u201cRead the enclosed; and we shall now have an\nopportunity of observing if any event follows the prognostics.\u201d The\ninformation contained in the letter was to the following effect:\u2014\n\nMiss D\u2014\u2014, a relative of the present Lady C\u2014\u2014, who had been staying\nsome time with the earl and countess, at their seat near Dundee, was\ninvited to spend a few days at C\u2014\u2014 castle, with the earl and countess\nof A\u2014\u2014. She went: and while she was dressing for dinner, the first\nevening of her arrival, she heard a strain of music under her window,\nwhich finally resolved itself into a well-defined sound of a drum. When\nher maid came up stairs, she made some inquiries about the drummer that\nwas playing near the house; but the maid knew nothing on the subject.\nFor the moment, the circumstance passed from Miss D\u2014\u2014\u2019s mind; but\nrecurring to her again during the dinner, she said, addressing Lord\nA\u2014\u2014, \u201cMy lord, who is your drummer?\u201d\u2014upon which his lordship turned\npale, Lady A\u2014\u2014 looked distressed, and several of the company (who all\nheard the question) embarrassed; while the lady, perceiving that she had\nmade some unpleasant allusion, although she knew not to what their\nfeelings referred, forbore further inquiry till she reached the\ndrawing-room, when, having mentioned the circumstance again to a member\nof the family, she was answered, \u201cWhat! have you never heard of the\ndrummer-boy?\u201d\u2014\u201cNo,\u201d replied Miss D\u2014\u2014; \u201cwho in the world is\nhe?\u201d\u2014\u201cWhy,\u201d replied the other, \u201che is a person who goes about the house\nplaying his drum whenever there is a death impending in the family. The\nlast time he was heard was shortly before the death of the last countess\n(the earl\u2019s former wife), and that is why Lord A\u2014\u2014 became so pale when\nyou mentioned it. \u2018The drummer\u2019 is a very unpleasant subject in this\nfamily, I assure you!\u201d\n\nMiss D\u2014\u2014 was naturally much concerned, and, indeed, not a little\nfrightened at this explanation, and her alarm being augmented by hearing\nthe sounds on the following day, she took her departure from C\u2014\u2014\ncastle and returned to Lord C\u2014\u2014\u2019s, stopping on her way to call on some\nfriends, where she related this strange circumstance to the family,\nthrough whom the information reached me.\n\nThis affair was very generally known in the north, and we awaited the\nevent with interest. The melancholy death of the countess about five or\nsix months afterward, at Brighton, sadly verified the prognostic. I have\nheard that a paper was found in her desk after her death, declaring her\nconviction that the drum was for her; and it has been suggested that\nprobably the thing preyed upon her mind and caused the catastrophe: but\nin the first place, from the mode of her death, that does not appear to\nbe the case; in the second, even if it were, the fact of the\nverification of the prognostic remains unaffected; besides which, those\nwho insist upon taking refuge in this hypothesis must admit that, before\npeople living in the world like Lord and Lady A\u2014\u2014, could attach so\nmuch importance to the prognostic as to entail such fatal effects, they\nmust have had very good reason for believing in it.\n\nThe legend connected with \u201cthe drummer\u201d is, that either himself, or some\nofficer whose emissary he was, had become an object of jealousy to a\nformer Lord A\u2014\u2014, and that he was put to death by being thrust into his\nown drum and flung from the window of the tower in which Miss D\u2014\u2014\u2019s\nroom was situated. It is said that he threatened to haunt them if they\ntook his life; and he seems to have been as good as his word, having\nbeen heard several times in the memory of persons yet living.\n\nThere is a curious legend attached to the family of G\u2014\u2014, of R\u2014\u2014, to\nthe effect that, when a lady is confined in that house, a little old\nwoman enters the room when the nurse is absent, and strokes down the\nbed-clothes; after which the patient, according to the technical phrase,\n\u201cnever does any good,\u201d and dies. Whether the old lady has paid her\nvisits or not I do not know, but it is remarkable that the results\nattending several late confinements there have been fatal.\n\nThere was a legend, in a certain family, that a single swan was seen on\na particular lake before a death. A member of this family told me that\non one occasion, the father, being a widower, was about to enter into a\nsecond marriage. On the wedding-day, his son appeared so exceedingly\ndistressed, that the bridegroom was offended, and, expostulating with\nhim, was told by the young man that his low spirits were caused by his\nhaving seen the swan. He (the son) died that night quite unexpectedly.\n\nBesides Lord Littleton\u2019s dove, there are a great many very curious\nstories recorded in which birds have been seen in a room when a death\nwas impending; but the most extraordinary prognostic I know is that of\n\u201cthe black dog,\u201d which seems to be attached to some families:\u2014\n\nA young lady of the name of P\u2014\u2014, not long since was sitting at work,\nwell and cheerful, when she saw, to her great surprise, a large black\ndog close to her. As both door and window were closed, she could not\nunderstand how he had got in; but when she started up to put him out,\nshe could no longer see him.\n\nQuite puzzled, and thinking it must be some strange illusion, she sat\ndown again and went on with her work, when, presently, he was there\nagain. Much alarmed, she now ran out and told her mother, who said she\nmust have fancied it, or be ill. She declared neither was the case; and,\nto oblige her, the mother agreed to wait outside the door, and if she\nsaw it again, she was to call her. Miss P\u2014\u2014 re-entered the room, and\npresently there was the dog again; but when she called her mother, he\ndisappeared. Immediately afterward, the mother was taken ill and died.\nBefore she expired, she said to her daughter, \u201cRemember the black dog!\u201d\n\nI confess I should have been much disposed to think this a spectral\nillusion, were it not for the number of corroborative instances; and I\nhave only this morning read in the review of a work called \u201cThe Unseen\nWorld,\u201d just published, that there is a family in Cornwall who are also\nwarned of an approaching death by the apparition of a black dog: and a\nvery curious example is quoted, in which a lady newly married into the\nfamily, and knowing nothing of the tradition, came down from the nursery\nto request her husband would go up and drive away a black dog that was\nlying on the child\u2019s bed. He went up, and found the child dead!\n\nI wonder if this phenomenon is the origin of the French phrase \u201c_b\u00eate\nnoir_,\u201d to express an annoyance, or an augury of evil?\n\nMost persons will remember the story of Lady Fanshawe, as related by\nherself\u2014namely, that while paying a visit to Lady Honor O\u2019Brien, she\nwas awakened the first night she slept there by a voice, and, on drawing\nback the curtain, she saw a female figure standing in the recess of the\nwindow, attired in white, with red hair and a pale and ghastly aspect.\n\u201cShe looked out of the window,\u201d says Lady Fanshawe, \u201cand cried in a loud\nvoice, such as I never before heard, \u2018A horse!\u2014a horse!\u2014a horse!\u2019 and\nthen with a sigh, which rather resembled the wind than the voice of a\nhuman being, she disappeared. Her body appeared to me rather like a\nthick cloud than a real solid substance. I was so frightened,\u201d she\ncontinues, \u201cthat my hair stood on end, and my night-cap fell off. I\npushed and shook my husband, who had slept all the time, and who was\nvery much surprised to find me in such a fright, and still more so when\nI told him the cause of it, and showed him the open window. Neither of\nus slept any more that night, but he talked to me about it, and told me\nhow much more frequent such apparitions were in that country than in\nEngland.\u201d\n\nThis was, however, what is called a _banshee_: for in the morning Lady\nHonor came to them, to say that one of the family had died in the night,\nexpressing a hope that they had not been disturbed: \u201cfor,\u201d said she,\n\u201cwhenever any of the O\u2019Briens is on his death-bed, it is usual for a\nwoman to appear at one of the windows every night till he expires; but\nwhen I put you into this room, I did not think of it.\u201d This apparition\nwas connected with some sad tale of seduction and murder.\n\nI could relate many more instances of this kind, but I wish as much as\npossible to avoid repeating cases already in print; so I will conclude\nthis chapter with the following account of \u201cPearlin Jean,\u201d whose\npersevering annoyances, at Allanbank, were so thoroughly believed and\nestablished, as to have formed at various times a considerable\nimpediment to letting the place. I am indebted to Mr. Charles\nKirkpatrick Sharpe for the account of Jean, and the anecdote that\nfollows.\n\nA housekeeper, called Bettie Norrie, that lived many years at Allanbank,\ndeclared she and various other people had frequently seen Jean, adding\nthat they were so used to her, as to be no longer alarmed at her noises.\n\n\u201cIn my youth,\u201d says Mr. Sharpe, \u201cPearlin Jean was the most remarkable\nghost in Scotland, and my terror when a child. Our old nurse, Jenny\nBlackadder, had been a servant at Allanbank, and often heard her\nrustling in silks up and down stairs, and along the passage. She never\nsaw her\u2014but her husband did.\n\n\u201cShe was a French woman, whom the first baronet of Allanbank (then Mr.\nStuart) met with at Paris, during his tour to finish his education as a\ngentleman. Some people said she was a nun, in which case she must have\nbeen a sister of charity, as she appears not to have been confined to a\ncloister. After some time, young Stuart became either faithless to the\nlady, or was suddenly recalled to Scotland by his parents, and had got\ninto his carriage, at the door of the hotel, when his Dido unexpectedly\nmade her appearance, and stepping on the fore-wheel of the coach to\naddress her lover, he ordered the postillion to drive on; the\nconsequence of which was, that the lady fell, and one of the wheels\ngoing over her forehead, killed her!\n\n\u201cIn a dusky autumnal evening, when Mr. Stuart drove under the arched\ngateway of Allanbank, he perceived Pearlin Jean sitting on the top, her\nhead and shoulders covered with blood.\n\n\u201cAfter this, for many years, the house was haunted: doors shut and\nopened with great noise at midnight; and the rustling of silks, and\npattering of high-heeled shoes, were heard in bed-rooms and passages.\nNurse Jenny said there were seven ministers called together at one time,\nto _lay_ the spirit; \u2018but they did no mickle good, my dear.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe picture of the ghost was hung between those of her lover and his\nlady, and kept her comparatively quiet; but when taken away, she became\nworse-natured than ever. This portrait was in the present Sir J\u2014\u2014\nG\u2014\u2014\u2019s possession. I am unwilling to record its fate.\n\n\u201cThe ghost was designated \u2018Pearlin,\u2019 from always wearing a great\nquantity of that sort of lace.[4]\n\n\u201cNurse Jenny told me that when Thomas Blackadder was her lover (I\nremember Thomas very well), they made an assignation to meet one\nmoonlight night in the orchard at Allanbank. True Thomas, of course, was\nthe first comer; and, seeing a female figure, in a light-colored dress,\nat some distance, he ran forward with open arms to embrace his Jenny.\nLo, and behold! as he neared the spot where the figure stood, it\nvanished; and presently he saw it again, at the very end of the orchard,\na considerable way off. Thomas went home in a fright; but Jenny, who\ncame last, and saw nothing, forgave him, and they were married.\n\n\u201cMany years after this, about the year 1790, two ladies paid a visit at\nAllanbank\u2014I think the house was then let\u2014and passed a night there.\nThey had never heard a word about the ghost; but they were disturbed the\nwhole night with something walking backward and forward in their\nbed-chamber. This I had from the best authority.\n\n\u201cSir Robert Stuart was created a baronet in the year 1687.\n\n\u201cLady Stapleton, grandmother of the late Lord le Despencer, told me that\nthe night Lady Susan Fane (Lord Westmoreland\u2019s daughter) died in London,\nshe appeared to her father, then at Merriworth, in Kent. He was in bed,\nbut had not fallen asleep. There was a light in the room; she came in,\nand sat down on a chair at the foot of the bed. He said to her, \u2018Good\nGod, Susan! how came you here? What has brought you from town?\u2019 She made\nno answer; but rose directly, and went to the door, and looked back\ntoward him very earnestly: then she retired, shutting the door behind\nher. The next morning he had notice of her death. This, Lord\nWestmoreland himself told to Lady Stapleton, who was by birth a Fane,\nand his near relation.\u201d\n\n-----\n\n[4] \u201cA species of lace made of thread.\u201d\u2014JAMIESON.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XV.\n\n\n             APPARITIONS SEEKING THE PRAYERS OF THE LIVING.\n\nWITH regard to the appearance of ghosts, the frequency of haunted\nhouses, presentiments, prognostics, and dreams, if we come to inquire\nclosely, it appears to me that all parts of the world are much on an\nequality\u2014only, that where people are most engaged in business or\npleasure, these things are, in the first place, less thought of and less\nbelieved in, consequently less observed; and when they _are_ observed,\nthey are readily explained away: and in the second place\u2014where the\nexternal life, the life of the brain, wholly prevails\u2014either they do\nnot happen, or they are not perceived\u2014the rapport not existing, or the\nreceptive faculty being obscured.\n\nBut, although the above phenomena seem to be equally well known in all\ncountries, there is one peculiar class of apparitions of which I meet\nwith no records but in Germany. I allude to ghosts, who, like those\ndescribed in the \u201cSeeress of Prevorst,\u201d seek the prayers of the living.\nIn spite of the positive assertions of Kerner, Eschenmayer, and others,\nthat after neglecting no means to investigate the affair, they had been\nforced into the conviction that the spectres that frequented Frederica\nHauffe were not subjective illusions, but real outstanding forms, still,\nas she was in the somnambulic state, many persons remain persuaded that\nthe whole thing was delusion. It is true, that as those parties were not\nthere, and as all those who did go to the spot came to a different\nconclusion, this opinion being only the result of preconceived notions\nor prejudices, and not of calm investigation, is of no value whatever;\nnevertheless, it is not to be denied that these narrations are very\nextraordinary; but, perplexing as they are, they by no means stand\nalone. I find many similar ones noticed in various works, where there\nhas been no somnambule in question. In all cases, these unfortunate\nspirits appear to have been waiting for some one with whom they could\nestablish a rapport, so as to be able to communicate with them; and this\nwaiting has sometimes endured a century or more. Sometimes they are seen\nby only one person, at other times by several, with varying degrees of\ndistinctness, appearing to one as a light, to another as a shadowy\nfigure, and to a third as a defined human form. Other testimonies of\ntheir presence\u2014as sounds, footsteps, lights, visible removing of solid\narticles without a visible agent, odors, &c.\u2014are generally perceived by\nmany; in short, the sounds seem audible to all who come to the spot,\nwith the exception of the voice, which in most instances is only heard\nby the person with whom the rapport is chiefly established. Some cases\nare related, where a mark like burning is left on the articles seen to\nbe lifted. This is an old persuasion, and has given rise to many a joke.\nBut, upon the hypothesis I have offered, the thing is simple enough: the\nmark will probably be of the same nature as that left by the electrical\nfluid;\u2014and it is this particular, and the lights that often accompany\nspirits, that have caused the notion of material flames, sulphur,\nbrimstone, &c., to be connected with the idea of a future state.\nAccording to our views, there can be no difficulty in conceiving that a\nhappy and blessed spirit would emit a mild radiance; while anger or\nmalignity would necessarily alter the character of the effulgence.\n\nAs whoever wishes to see a number of these cases may have recourse to my\ntranslation of the \u201cSeeress of Prevorst,\u201d I will here only relate one,\nof a very remarkable nature, that occurred in the prison of Weinsberg,\nin the year 1835.\n\nDr. Kerner, who has published a little volume containing a report of the\ncircumstances, describes the place where the thing happened to be such a\none as negatives at once all possibility of trick or imposture. It was\nin a sort of block-house or fortress\u2014a prison within a prison\u2014with no\nwindows but what looked into a narrow passage, closed with several\ndoors. It was on the second floor; the windows were high up, heavily\nbarred with iron, and immovable without considerable mechanical force.\nThe external prison is surrounded by a high wall, and the gates are kept\nclosed day and night. The prisoners in different apartments are of\ncourse never allowed to communicate with each other, and the\ndeputy-governor of the prison and his family, consisting of a wife,\nniece, and one maid-servant, are described as people of unimpeachable\nrespectability and veracity. As depositions regarding this affair were\nlaid before the magistrates, it is on them I found my narration.\n\nOn the 12th September, 1835, the deputy-governor or keeper of the jail,\nnamed Mayer, sent in a report to the magistrates that a woman called\nElizabeth Eslinger was every night visited by a ghost, which generally\ncame about eleven o\u2019clock, and which left her no rest, as it said she\nwas destined to release it, and it always invited her to follow it; and\nas she would not, it pressed heavily on her neck and side till it gave\nher pain. The persons confined with her pretended also to have seen this\napparition.\n\n                                            Signed            \u201cMAYER.\u201d\n\nA woman named Rosina Schahl, condemned to eight days\u2019 confinement for\nabusive language, deposed, that about eleven o\u2019clock, Eslinger began to\nbreathe hard as if she was suffocating; she said a ghost was with her,\nseeking his salvation. \u201cI did not trouble myself about it, but told her\nto wake me when it came again. Last night I saw a shadowy form, between\nfour and five feet high, standing near the bed; I did not see it move.\nEslinger breathed very hard, and complained of a pressure on the side.\nFor several days she has neither ate nor drank anything.\n\n                                            Signed            \u201cSCHAHL.\u201d\n\n                            \u201cCOURT RESOLVES,\n\n\u201cThat Eslinger is to be visited by the prison physician, and a report\nmade as to her mental and bodily health.\n\n               \u201cSigned by the magistrates,\n                                                      \u201cECKHARDT,\n                                                      \u201cTHEURER,\n                                                      \u201cKNORR.\u201d\n\n                                \u201cREPORT.\n\n\u201cHaving examined the prisoner, Elizabeth Eslinger, confined here since\nthe beginning of September, I found her of sound mind, but possessed\nwith one fixed idea, namely, that she is and has been for a considerable\ntime troubled by an apparition, which leaves her no rest, coming chiefly\nby night, and requiring her prayers to release it. It visited her before\nshe came to the prison, and was the cause of the offence that brought\nher here. Having now, in compliance with the orders of the supreme\ncourt, observed this woman for eleven weeks, I am led to the conclusion\nthat there is no deception in this case, and also that the persecution\nis not a mere monomaniacal idea of her own, and the testimony not only\nof her fellow-prisoners, but that of the deputy-governor\u2019s family, and\neven of persons in distant houses, confirms me in this persuasion.\n\n\u201cEslinger is a widow, aged thirty-eight years, and declares that she\nnever had any sickness whatever, neither is she aware of any at present;\nbut she has always been a ghost-seer, though never till lately had any\ncommunication with them; that now, for eleven weeks that she has been in\nthe prison, she is nightly disturbed by an apparition, that had\npreviously visited her in her own house, and which had been once seen\nalso by a girl of fourteen\u2014a statement which this girl confirms. When\nat home, the apparition did not appear in a defined human form, but as a\npillar of cloud, out of which proceeded a hollow voice, signifying to\nher that she was to release it, by her prayers, from the cellar of a\nwoman in Wimmenthal, named Singhaasin, whither it was banished, or\nwhence it could not free itself. She (Eslinger) says that she did not\nthen venture to speak to it, not knowing whether to address it as _Sie_,\n_Ihr_, or _Du_ (that is, whether she should address it in the second or\nthird person)\u2014which custom among the Germans has rendered a very\nimportant point of etiquette. It is to be remembered that this woman was\na peasant, without education, who had been brought into trouble by\ntreasure-seeking, a pursuit in which she hoped to be assisted by this\nspirit. This digging for buried treasure is a strong passion in Germany.\n\n\u201cThe ghost now comes in a perfect human shape, and is dressed in a loose\nrobe, with a girdle, and has on its head a four-cornered cap. It has a\nprojecting chin and forehead, fiery, deep-set eyes, a long beard, and\nhigh cheek-bones, which look as if they were covered with parchment. A\nlight radiates about and above his head, and in the midst of this light\nshe sees the outlines of the spectre.\n\n\u201cBoth she and her fellow-prisoners declare, that this apparition comes\nseveral times in a night, but always between the evening and morning\nbell. He often comes through the closed door or window, but they can\nthen see neither door nor window, nor iron bars; they often hear the\nclosing of the door, and can see into the passage when he comes in or\nout that way, so that if a piece of wood lies there they see it. They\nhear a shuffling in the passage as he comes and goes. He most frequently\nenters by the window, and they then hear a peculiar sound there. He\ncomes in quite erect. Although their cell is entirely closed, they feel\na cool wind[5] when he is near them. All sorts of noises are heard,\nparticularly a crackling. When he is angry, or in great trouble, they\nperceive a strange mouldering, earthy smell. He often pulls away the\ncoverlet, and sits on the edge of the bed. At first the touch of his\nhand was icy cold, since he became brighter it is warmer; she first saw\nthe brightness of his finger-ends; it afterward spread further. If she\nstretches out her hand she can not feel him, but when he touches her she\nfeels it. He sometimes takes her hands and lays them together, to make\nher pray. His sighs and groans are like a person in despair; they are\nheard by others as well as Eslinger. While he is making these sounds,\nshe is often praying aloud, or talking to her companions, so they are\nsure it is not she who makes them. She does not see his mouth move when\nhe speaks. The voice is hollow and gasping. He comes to her for prayers,\nand he seems to her like one in a mortal sickness, who seeks comfort in\nthe prayers of others. He says he was a catholic priest in Wimmenthal,\nand lived in the year 1414.\u201d\n\n(Wimmenthal is still catholic; the woman Eslinger herself is a Lutheran,\nand belongs to Backnang.)\n\n\u201cHe says, that among other crimes, a fraud committed conjointly with his\nfather, on his brothers, presses sorely on him; he can not get quit of\nit; it obstructs him. He always entreated her to go with him to\nWimmenthal, whither he was banished, or consigned, and pray there for\nhim.\n\n\u201cShe says she can not tell whether what he says is true; and does not\ndeny that she thought to find treasures by his aid. She has often told\nhim that the prayers of a sinner, like herself, can not help him, and\nthat he should seek the Redeemer; but he will not forbear his\nentreaties. When she says these things, he is sad, and presses nearer to\nher, and lays his head so close that she is obliged to pray into his\nmouth. _He seems hungry for prayers._ She has often felt his tears on\nher cheek and neck; they felt icy cold; but the spot soon after burns,\nand they have a bluish red mark. (These marks are visible on her skin.)\n\n\u201cOne night this apparition brought with him a large dog, which leaped on\nthe beds, and was seen by her fellow-prisoners also, who were much\nterrified, and screamed. The ghost, however, spoke, and said, \u2018Fear not;\nthis is my father.\u2019 He had since brought the dog with him again, which\nalarmed them dreadfully, and made them quite ill.\n\n\u201cBoth Mayer and the prisoners asserted, that Eslinger was scarcely seen\nto sleep, either by night or day, for ten weeks. She ate very little,\nprayed continually, and appeared very much wasted and exhausted. She\nsaid she saw the spectre alike, whether her eyes were opened or closed,\nwhich showed that it was a magnetic perception, and not _seeing_ by her\nbodily organs. It is remarkable that a cat belonging to the jail, being\nshut up in this room, was so frightened when the apparition came, that\nit tried to make its escape by flying against the walls; and finding\nthis impossible, it crept under the coverlet of the bed, in extreme\nterror. The experiment was made again, with the same result; and after\nthis second time the animal refused all nourishment, wasted away, and\ndied.\n\n\u201cIn order to satisfy myself,\u201d says Dr. Kerner, \u201cof the truth of these\ndepositions, I went to the prison on the night of the 15th of October,\nand shut myself up without light in Eslinger\u2019s cell. About half-past\neleven I heard a sound as of some hard body being flung down, but not on\nthe side where the woman was, but the opposite; she immediately began to\nbreathe hard, and told me the spectre was there. I laid my hand on her\nhead, and adjured it as an evil spirit to depart. I had scarcely spoken\nthe words when there was a strange rattling, crackling noise, all round\nthe walls, which finally seemed to go out through the window; and the\nwoman said that the spectre had departed.\n\n\u201cOn the following night it told her that it was grieved at being\naddressed as an evil spirit, which it was not, but one that deserved\npity; and that what it wanted was prayers and redemption.\n\n\u201cOn the 18th of October, I went to the cell again, between ten and\neleven, taking with me my wife, and the wife of the keeper, Madame\nMayer. When the woman\u2019s breathing showed me the spectre was there, I\nlaid my hand on her, and adjured it, in gentle terms, not to trouble her\nfurther. The same sort of sound as before commenced, but it was softer,\nand this time continued all along the passage, where there was certainly\nnobody. We all heard it.\n\n\u201cOn the night of the 20th I went again, with Justice Heyd. We both heard\nsounds when the spectre came, and the woman could not conceive why we\ndid not see it. We could not; but we distinctly felt a cool wind blowing\nupon us when, according to her account, it was near, although there was\nno aperture by which air could enter.\u201d\n\nOn each of these occasions Dr. Kerner seems to have remained about a\ncouple of hours.\n\nMadame Mayer now resolved to pass a night in the cell, for the purpose\nof observation; and she took her niece, a girl aged nineteen, with her:\nher report is as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cIt was a rainy night, and, in the prison, pitch dark. My niece slept\nsometimes; I remained awake all night, and mostly sitting up in bed.\n\n\u201cAbout midnight I saw a light come in at the window; it was a yellowish\nlight, and moved slowly; and though we were closely shut in, I felt a\ncool wind blowing on me. I said to the woman, \u2018The ghost is here, is he\nnot?\u2019 She said \u2018Yes,\u2019 and continued to pray, as she had been doing\nbefore. The cool wind and the light now approached me; my coverlet was\nquite light, and I could see my hands and arms; and at the same time I\nperceived an indescribable odor of putrefaction; my face felt as if ants\nwere running over it. (Most of the prisoners described themselves as\nfeeling the same sensation when the spectre was there.) Then the light\nmoved about, and went up and down the room; and on the door of the cell\nI saw a number of little glimmering stars, such as I had never before\nseen. Presently, I and my niece heard a voice which I can compare to\nnothing I ever heard before. It was not like a human voice. The words\nand sighs sounded as if they were drawn up out of a deep hollow, and\nappeared to ascend from the floor to the roof in a column; while this\nvoice spoke, the woman was praying aloud: so I was sure it did not\nproceed from her. No one could produce such a sound. They were strange,\nsuperhuman sighs and entreaties for prayers and redemption.\n\n\u201cIt is very extraordinary that, whenever the ghost spoke, I always _felt\nit beforehand_. [Proving that the spirit had been able to establish a\nrapport with this person. She was in a magnetic relation to him.] We\nheard a crackling in the room also. I was perfectly awake, and in\npossession of my senses; and we are ready to make oath to having seen\nand heard these things.\u201d\n\nOn the 9th of December, Madame Mayer spent the night again in the cell,\nwith her niece and her maid-servant; and her report is as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cIt was moonlight, and I sat up in bed all night, watching Eslinger.\nSuddenly I saw a white shadowy form, like a small animal, cross the\nroom. I asked her what it was; and she answered, \u2018Don\u2019t you see it\u2019s a\nlamb? It often comes with the apparition.\u2019 We then saw a stool, that was\nnear us, lifted and _set down_ again on its legs. She was in bed, and\npraying the whole time. Presently, there was such a noise at the window\nthat I thought all the panes were broken. She told us it was the ghost,\nand that he was sitting on the stool. We then heard a walking and\nshuffling up and down, although I could not see him; but presently I\nfelt a cool wind blowing on me, and out of this wind the same hollow\nvoice I had heard before, said, \u2018In the name of Jesus, look on me!\u2019\n\n\u201cBefore this, the moon was gone, and it was quite dark; but when the\nvoice spoke to me, I saw a light around us, though still no form. Then\nthere was a sound of walking toward the opposite window, and I heard the\nvoice say, \u2018Do you see me now?\u2019 And then, for the first time, I saw a\nshadowy form, stretching up as if to make itself visible to us, but\ncould distinguish no features.\n\n\u201cDuring the rest of the night, I saw it repeatedly, sometimes sitting on\nthe stool, and at others moving about; and I am perfectly certain that\nthere was no moonlight now, nor any other light from without. How I saw\nit, I can not tell; it is a thing not to be described.\n\n\u201cEslinger prayed the whole time, and the more earnestly she did so, the\ncloser the spectre went to her. It sometimes sat upon her bed.\n\n\u201cAbout five o\u2019clock, when he came near to me, and I felt the cool air, I\nsaid, \u2018Go to my husband, in his chamber, and leave a sign that you have\nbeen there!\u2019 He answered distinctly, \u2018Yes.\u2019 Then we heard the door,\nwhich was fast locked, open and shut; and we saw the shadow float out\n(for he floated rather than walked), and we heard the shuffling along\nthe passage.\n\n\u201cIn a quarter of an hour we saw him return, entering by the window; and\nI asked him if he had been with my husband, and what he had done. He\nanswered by a sound like a short, low, hollow laugh. Then he hovered\nabout without any noise, and we heard him speaking to Eslinger, while\nshe still prayed aloud. Still, as before, I always knew when he was\ngoing to speak. After six o\u2019clock, we saw him no more. In the morning,\nmy husband mentioned, with great surprise, that his chamber door, which\nhe was sure he had fast bolted and locked, even taking out the key when\nhe went to bed, he had found wide open.\u201d\n\nOn the 24th, Madame Mayer passed the night there again; but on this\noccasion she only saw a white shadow coming and going, and standing by\nthe woman, who prayed unceasingly. She also heard the shuffling.\n\nBetween prisoners and the persons in authority who went to observe, the\nnumber of those who testify to this phenomenon is considerable; and,\nalthough the amount of what was perceived varied according to the\nreceptivity of the subject in each case, the evidence of all is\nperfectly coincident as to the character of the phenomena. Some saw only\nthe light; others distinguished the form in the midst of it; all heard\nthe sound, and perceived the mouldering earthy smell.\n\nThat the receptivity of the women was greater than that of the men,\nafter what I have elsewhere said, should excite no surprise; the\npreponderance of the sympathetic system in them being sufficient to\naccount for the difference.\n\nFrederica Follen, from Lowenstein, who was eight weeks in the same cell\nwith Eslinger, was witness to all the phenomena, though she only once\narrived at seeing the spectre in its perfect human form, as the latter\nsaw it; but it frequently spoke to her, bidding her amend her life, and\nremember that it was one who had tasted of death that give her this\ncounsel. This circumstance had a great effect upon her.\n\nWhen any of them swore, the apparition always evinced much displeasure,\ngrasped them by the throat, and forced them to pray. Frequently, when he\ncame or went, they said it sounded like a flight of pigeons.\n\nCatherine Sinn, from Mayenfels, was confined in an adjoining room for a\nfortnight. After her release, she was interrogated by the minister of\nher parish, and deposed that she had known nothing of Eslinger, or the\nspectre; \u201cbut every night, being quite alone, I heard a rustling and a\nnoise at the window, which looked only into the passage. I felt and\nheard, though I could not see anybody, that some one was moving about\nthe room; _these sounds_ were accompanied by a cool wind, though the\nplace was closely shut up. I heard also a crackling, and a shuffling,\nand a sound as if gravel were thrown; but could find none in the\nmorning. Once it seemed to me that a hand was laid softly on my\nforehead. I did not like staying alone, on account of these things, and\nbegged to be put into a room with others; so I was placed with Eslingen\nand Follen. The same things continued here, and they told me about the\nghost; but not being alone, I was not so frightened. I often heard him\nspeak; it was hollow and slow, not like a human voice; but I could\nseldom catch the words. When he left the prison, which was generally\nabout five in the morning, he used to say, \u2018Pray!\u2019 and when he did so,\nhe would add, \u2018God reward you!\u2019 I never saw him distinctly till the last\nmorning I was there; then I saw a white shadow standing by Eslinger\u2019s\nbed.\n\n                                Signed,\n                                                       \u201cCATHERINE SINN.\n\n\u201cMINISTER BINDER, Mayenfels.\u201d\n\nIt would be tedious, were I to copy the depositions of all the\nprisoners, the experience of most of them being similar to the above. I\nwill therefore content myself with giving an abstract of the most\nremarkable particulars.\n\nBesides the crackling, rustling as of paper, walking, shuffling,\nconcussions of the windows and of their beds, &c., &c., they heard\nsometimes a fearful cry, and not unfrequently the bed-coverings were\npulled from them; it appearing to be the object of the spirit to\nmanifest himself thus to those to whom he could not make himself\nvisible; and as I find this pulling off the bed-clothes, and heaving up\nthe bed as if some one were under it, repeated in a variety of cases,\nforeign and English, I conclude the motive to be the same. Several of\nthe women heard him speak.\n\nAll these depositions are contained in Dr. Kerner\u2019s report to the\nmagistrates; and he concludes by saying, that there can be no doubt of\nthe fact of the woman Elizabeth Eslinger suffering these annoyances, by\nwhatever name people may choose to call them.\n\nAmong the most remarkable phenomena, is the real or apparent opening of\nthe door, so that they could see what was in the passage. Eslinger said\nthat the spirit was often surrounded by a light, and his eyes looked\nfiery; and there sometimes came with him two lambs, which occasionally\nappeared as stars. He often took hold of Eslinger, and made her sit up,\nput her hands together, that she might pray; and once he appeared to\ntake a pen and paper from under his gown, and wrote, laying it on her\ncoverled.\n\nIt is extremely curious that, on two occasions, Eslinger saw Dr. Kerner\nand Justice Heyd enter with the ghost, when they were not there in the\nbody, and both times Heyd was enveloped in a black cloud. The ghost, on\nbeing asked, told Eslinger that the cloud indicated that trouble was\nimpending. A few days afterward his child died very unexpectedly, and\nDr. Kerner now remembered, that the first time Eslinger said she had\nseen Heyd in this way, his father had died directly afterward. Kerner\nattended both patients, and was thus associated in the symbol. Follen\nalso saw these two images, and spoke, believing the one to be Dr. Kerner\nhimself.\n\nOn other occasions she saw strangers come in with the ghost, whom\nafterward, when they _really_ came in the body, she recognised. This\nseems to have been a sort of second sight.\n\nDr. K. says, I think justly enough, that if Eslinger had been feigning,\nshe never would have ventured on what seemed so improbable.\n\nSome of the women, after the spectre had visibly leaned over them, or\nhad spoken into their ears, were so affected by the odor he diffused\nthat they vomited, and could not eat till they had taken an emetic; and\nthose parts of their persons that he touched became painful and swollen,\nan effect I find produced in numerous other instances.\n\nThe following particulars are worth observing, in the evidence of a girl\nsixteen years of age, called Margaret Laibesberg, who was confined for\nten days for plucking some grapes in a vineyard. She says she knew\nnothing about the spectre, but that she was greatly alarmed the first\nnight at hearing the door burst open and something come shuffling in.\nEslinger bade her not fear, and said that it would not injure her. The\ngirl, however, being greatly terrified every night, and hiding her head\nunder the bed-clothes, on the fourth Eslinger got out of her own bed,\nand, coming to her, said: \u201cDo, in the name of God, look at him! He will\ndo you no harm, I assure you.\u201d\u2014\u201cThen,\u201d says the girl, \u201cI looked out\nfrom under the clothes, and I saw two white forms, like two lambs\u2014so\nbeautiful that I could have looked at them for ever. Between them stood\na white, shadowy form, as tall as a man, but I was not able to look\nlonger, for my eyes failed me.\u201d The terrors of this girl were so great,\nthat Eslinger had repeatedly occasion to get out of bed and fetch her to\nlie with herself. When she could be induced to look, she always saw the\nfigure, and he bade her also pray for him. Whenever he touched her,\nwhich he did on the forehead and eyes, she felt pain, but says nothing\nof any subsequent swelling. Both this girl and another, called\nNeidhardt, who was brought in on the last day of Margaret L\u2014\u2014\u2019s\nimprisonment, testified that on the previous night they had heard\nEslinger ask the ghost why he looked so angry; and that they had heard\nhim answer that it was \u201cbecause she had on the preceding night neglected\nto pray for him as much as usual,\u201d which neglect arose from two\ngentlemen having passed the night in the cell.\n\nWhen on the tenth day the girl Margaret L\u2014\u2014 was released, she said\nthat there was something so awful to her in this apparition, that she\nhad firmly resolved and vowed to be pious and lead henceforth a virtuous\nlife.\n\nSome of them seem to have felt little alarm; Maria Bar, aged forty-one,\nsaid: \u201cI was not afraid, for I have a good conscience.\u201d The offences for\nwhich these women were confined appear to have been very slight ones,\nsuch as quarrelling, &c.\n\nIn a room that opened into the same passage, men were shut up for\ndisputing with the police, neglect of regulations, and similar\nmisdemeanors. These persons not only heard the noises as above\ndescribed, such as the walking, shuffling, opening and shutting the\ndoor, &c., &c., but some of them saw the ghost. Christian Bauer deposed\nthat he had never heard anything about the ghost, but that, being\ndisturbed by a knocking and rustling toward three o\u2019clock on the second\nmorning of his incarceration, he looked up and saw a white figure\nbending over him, and heard a strange hollow voice say: \u201cYou must needs\nhave patience!\u201d He said he thought it must be his grandfather, at which\nStricker, his companion, laughed. Stricker deposed that he heard a\nhollow voice say: \u201cYou must needs have patience;\u201d and that Bauer told\nhim that there was a white apparition near him, and that he supposed it\nwas his grandfather. Bauer said that he was frightened the first night,\nbut got used to it and did not mind.\n\nIt is worthy of observation, that when they heard the door of the\nwomen\u2019s room open, they also heard the voice of Eslinger praying, which\nseems as if the door not only appeared to open, but actually did so. We\nhave already seen that this spirit could open doors. In the \u201cSeeress of\nPrevorst,\u201d the doors were constantly _audibly_ and _visibly_ opened, as\nby an unseen hand, when she saw a spectre enter; and I know to an\nabsolute certainty that the same phenomenon takes place in a house not\nfar from where I am writing; and this, sometimes, when there are two\npeople sleeping in the room\u2014a lady and gentleman. The door having been\nfast locked when they went to bed, the room thoroughly examined, and\nevery precaution taken\u2014for they are unwilling to believe in the\nspiritual character of the disturbances that annoy them\u2014they are\naroused by a consciousness that it is opening, and they do find it open,\non rising to investigate the fact.\n\nOne of the most remarkable proofs, either of the force of volition or of\nthe electrical powers of the apparition that haunted Eslinger, or else\nof his power to imitate sounds, was the real, or apparent, violent\nshaking of the heavy, iron-barred window, which it is asserted the\nunited efforts of six men could not shake at all when they made the\nexperiment.\n\nThe supreme court having satisfied itself that there was no imposture in\nthis case, it was proposed that some men of science should be invited to\ninvestigate the strange phenomenon, and endeavor if possible to explain\nit. Accordingly, not only Dr. Kerner himself and his son, but many\nothers, passed nights in the prison for this purpose. Among these,\nbesides some ministers of the Lutheran church, there was an engraver\ncalled Duttenhofer; Wagner, an artist; Kapff, professor of mathematics\nat Heilbroun; Frass, a barrister; Doctors Seyffer and Sicherer,\nphysicians; Heyd, a magistrate; Baron von Hugel, &c., &c.: but their\nperquisitions elicited no more than has been already narrated\u2014all heard\nthe noises, most of them saw the lights, and some saw the figure.\nDuttenhofer and Kapff saw it without a defined outline; it was itself\nbright, but did not illuminate the room. Some of the sounds appeared to\nthem like the discharging of a Leyden jar. There was also a throwing of\ngravel, and a heavy dropping of water, but neither to be found.\nProfessor Kapff says that he was quite cool and self-possessed, till\nthere was such a violent concussion of the heavy, barred window, that he\nthought it must have come in; then both he and Duttenhofer felt\nhorror-struck.\n\nAs they could not see the light emitted by the spectre when the room was\notherwise lighted, they were in the dark; but they took every care to\nascertain that Eslinger was in her bed while these things were going on.\nShe prayed aloud the whole time, unless when speaking to them. By the\nmorning, she used to be dreadfully exhausted, from this continual\nexertion.\n\nIt is also mentioned that the straw on which she lay was frequently\nchanged and examined, and every means taken to ascertain that there was\nnothing whatever in her possession that could enable her to perform any\nsort of jugglery. Her fellow-prisoners were also invited to tell all\nthey knew or could discover; and a remission of their sentences promised\nto those who would make known the imposition, if there was one.\n\nDr. Sicherer, who was accompanied by Mr. Frass, says that, having heard\nof these phenomena, which he thought the more unaccountable from the\ncircumstances of the woman\u2019s age and condition, &c.\u2014she being a\nhealthy, hard-working person, aged thirty-eight, who had never known\nsickness\u2014he was very desirous of inquiring personally into the affair.\n\nWhile they were in the court of the prison, waiting for admittance, they\nheard extraordinary noises, which could not be accounted for, and during\nthe night there was a repetition of those above described\u2014especially\nthe apparent throwing of gravel, or peas, which seemed to fall so near\nhim that he involuntarily covered his face. Then followed the feeling of\na cool wind; and then the oppressive odor, for which, he says, he can\nfind no comparison, and which almost took away his breath. He was\nperfectly satisfied that it was no smell originating in the locality or\nthe state of the prison. Simultaneously with the perception of this\nodor, he saw a thick, gray cloud, of no defined shape, near Eslinger\u2019s\nbed. When this cloud disappeared, the odor was no longer perceptible. It\nwas a fine moonlight night, and there was light enough in the room to\ndistinguish the beds, &c.\n\nThe same phenomena recurred several times during the night: Eslinger was\nheard, each time the ghost was there, praying and reciting hymns. They\nalso heard her say, \u201cDon\u2019t press my hands so hard together!\u201d\u2014\u201cDon\u2019t\ntouch me!\u201d &c. The voice of the spirit they did not hear. Toward three\nor four o\u2019clock, they heard heavy blows, footsteps, opening and shutting\nof the door, and a concussion of the whole house, that made them think\nit was going to fall on their heads. About six o\u2019clock, they saw the\nphantom again; and altogether these phenomena recurred at least ten\ntimes in the course of the night.\n\nDr. Sicherer concludes by saying that he had undertaken the\ninvestigation with a mind entirely unprepossessed; and that in the\nreport he made, at the desire of the supreme court, he had recorded his\nobservations as conscientiously as if he had been upon a jury. He adds\nthat he had examined everything; and that neither in the person of the\nwoman, nor in any other of the inmates of the prison, could he find the\nsmallest grounds for suspicion, nor any clew to the mystery, which, in a\nscientific point of view, appeared to him utterly inexplicable. Dr.\nSicherer\u2019s report is dated Heilbronn, January 8, 1836.\n\nMr. Fraas, who accompanied him, confirms the above statement in every\nparticular, with the addition that he several times saw a light, of a\nvarying circumference, moving about the room; and that it was while he\nsaw this, that the woman told him the ghost was there. He also felt an\noppression of the breath and a pressure on his forehead each time before\nthe apparition came, especially once, when, although he had carefully\nabstained from mentioning his sensations, she told him it was standing\nclose at his head. He stretched out his hand, but perceived nothing,\nexcept a cool wind and an overpowering smell.\n\nDr. Seyffer being there one night, with Dr. Kerner, in order to exclude\nthe possibility of light entering through the window, they stopped it\nup. They, however, saw the phosphorescent light of the spectre, as\nbefore. It moved quietly about, and remained a quarter of an hour. The\nroom was otherwise perfectly dark; the sounds accompanying it were like\nthe dropping of water and the discharge of a Leyden jar. They fully\nascertained that these phenomena did not proceed from the woman.\n\nI have already given the depositions of Madame Mayer, the wife of the\ndeputy-governor or keeper of the prison, who is spoken of as a highly\nrespectable person. Mayer himself, however, though quite unable to\naccount for all these extraordinary proceedings, found great difficulty\nin believing that there was anything supernatural in the affair; and he\ntold Eslinger that, if she wished him to be convinced, she must send the\nghost to do it!\n\nHe says: \u201cThe night after I had said this, I went to bed and to sleep,\nlittle expecting such a visiter; but, toward midnight, I was awakened by\nsomething touching my left elbow. This was followed by a pain; and in\nthe morning, when I looked at the place, I saw several blue spots. I\ntold Eslinger that this was not enough, and that she must tell the ghost\nto touch my other elbow. This was done on the following night, and, at\nthe same time, I perceived a smell like putrefaction. The blue spots\nfollowed.\u201d (It will be remembered that Eslinger had blue spots also.)\n\nMayer continues to say that the spectre made known its presence in his\nchamber by various sounds, such as were heard in the other part of the\nhouse. He never saw the figure distinctly, but his wife did: she always\nprayed when it was there. He, however, felt the cool wind that they all\ndescribed.\n\nThe ghost told Eslinger that he should continue his visits to the prison\nafter she had quitted it, and he did so. The second night after her\nrelease, they felt his approach, especially from the cool wind, and\nMadame Mayer desired him to testify his presence to her husband.\nImmediately there were sounds like a wind-instrument, and these were\nrepeated at her desire.\n\nThe prisoners also heard and felt the apparition after Eslinger\u2019s\ndeparture; and Mayer says he is perfectly assured that in this jail,\nwhere the inmates were frequently changed, everybody was locked up, and\nevery place thoroughly examined, it was utterly impossible for any trick\nto be played: besides which, all parties agreed that the sounds were\noften of a description that could not have been produced by any known\nmeans.\n\nBut it was not to the prison alone that this apparition confined his\nvisits. To whomsoever Eslinger sent him, he went\u2014testifying his\npresence by the same signs as above described. He visited the chambers\nof several of the magistrates, of a teacher named Neuffer, of the\nreferendary burgher, of a citizen named Rummel, and many others. Of\nthese, some only perceived his presence by the noises, the cool air, the\nsmell, or the touch; others saw the light also, and others perceived the\nfigure with more or less distinctness.\n\nA Mr. Dorr, of Heilbronn, seems to have scoffed very much at these\nrumors, and Dr. Kerner bade Eslinger ask the ghost to convince him,\nwhich she did.\n\nMr. Dorr says: \u201cWhen I heard these things talked of, I always laughed at\nthem, and was thought very sensible for so doing. Now I shall be laughed\nat in my turn, no doubt.\u201d He then relates that, on the morning of the\n30th of December, 1835, he awoke, as usual, about five o\u2019clock, and was\nthinking of some business he had in hand, when he became conscious that\nthere was something near him, and he felt as if it blew cold upon him.\nHe started up, thinking some animal had got into his room, but could\nfind nothing. Next he heard a noise, like sparks from an electrical\nmachine, and then a report close to his right ear. Had there been\nanything visible, it was light enough to see it. This report was\nfrequently heard in the prison.\n\nWherever the apparition once made a visit, he generally continued to go\nfor several successive nights. He also visited Professor Kapff at\nHeilbronn, and Baron von Hugel at Eschenau, without being desired to do\nso by Eslinger; and Neuffer, whom he also went to, she knew nothing of.\n\nWhen he visited Dr. Kerner\u2019s chamber, his wife, who had prided herself\non her incredulity, and boasted of being born on St. Thomas\u2019s day, was\nentirely converted, for she not only heard him, but saw him distinctly.\nHe visited them for several nights, accompanied by the noises and the\nlight.\n\nOne night, while lying awake observing these phenomena, they fancied\nthey heard their horse come out of his stable, which was under their\nroom. In the morning, he was found standing outside, with his halter on;\nit was not broken, and it was evident that the horse had not got loose\nby any violence. Moreover, the door of the stable was closed behind him,\nas it had been at night when he was shut up.\n\nDr. Kerner\u2019s sister, who came from a distance to visit them, had heard\nvery little about this affair, yet she was awakened by a sound that\nseemed like some one trying to speak into her ear; and, looking up, she\nsaw two stars, like those described by Margaret Laibesberg. She observed\nthat they emitted no rays. She also felt the cool air, and perceived the\ncorpse-like odor. This odor accompanied the ghost even when it appeared\nat Heilbronn.\n\nIt is remarkable that some of these persons, both men and women, felt\nthemselves unable to move or call out while the spectre was there, and\nthat they were relieved the moment he went away. They appeared to be\nmagnetized; but this feeling was by no means universal. Many were\nperfectly composed and self-possessed the whole time, and made their\nobservations to each other. All agreed that the speaking of the\napparition seemed like that of a person making efforts to speak. Now, as\nwe are to presume that he did not speak by means of organs, as we do,\nbut that he imitated the sounds of words as he imitated other sounds, by\nsome means with which we are unacquainted\u2014for since the noises were\nheard by everybody within hearing, we must suppose that they actually\nexisted\u2014we, who know the extreme difficulty of imitating human speech,\nmay conceive how this imitation should be very defective.\n\nDutthenhofer and others remarked that there was no echo from the sounds,\nas well as that the phosphorescence shed no light around; and though the\nspectre could touch _them_, or produce the sensation that he did, they\ncould not feel _him_: but, as in all similar cases, could thrust their\nhands through what appeared to be his body. The sensation of his falling\ntears, and the marks they left, seem most unaccountable; and yet, in the\nrecords of a ghost that haunted the countess of Eberstein, in 1685, we\nfind the same thing asserted. This account was made public by the\nauthority of the consistorial court, and with the consent of the family.\n\nAt length, on the 11th of February, the ghost took his departure from\nEslinger; at least, after that day he was no more seen or heard by her\nor anybody else. He had always entreated her to go to Wimmenthal, where\nhe had formerly lived, to pray for him; and, after she was released from\nthe jail, by the advice of her friends, she did it. Some of them\naccompanied her, and they saw the apparition near her while she was\nkneeling in the open air, though not all with equal distinctness. A very\nrespectable woman, called W\u00f6rner\u2014a stranger to Eslinger, whom she says\nshe never saw or spoke to till that day\u2014offered to make oath that she\nhad accompanied her to Wimmenthal, and that, with the other friends, she\nhad stood about thirty paces off, quite silent and still, while the\nwoman knelt and prayed; and that she had seen the apparition of a man,\naccompanied by two smaller spectres, hovering near her. \u201cWhen the prayer\nwas ended, he went close to her, and there was a light like a falling\nstar; then I saw something like a white cloud, that seemed to float\naway: and after that, we saw no more.\u201d\n\nEslinger had been very unwilling to undertake this expedition: she took\nleave of her children before she started, and evidently expected\nmischief would befall her; and now, on approaching her, they found her\nlying cold and insensible. When they had revived her, she told them\nthat, on bidding her farewell, before he ascended\u2014which he did,\naccompanied by two bright infantine forms\u2014the ghost had asked her to\ngive him her hand; and that, after wrapping it in her handkerchief, she\nhad complied. \u201cA small flame had arisen from the handkerchief when he\ntouched it; and we found the marks of his fingers like burns, but\nwithout any smell.\u201d This, however, was not the cause of her fainting;\nbut she had been terrified by a troop of frightful animals that she saw\nrush past her, when the spirit floated away.\n\nFrom this time, nobody, either in the prison or out of it, was troubled\nwith this apparition.\n\nThis is certainly a very extraordinary story; and what is more\nextraordinary, such cases do not seem to be very uncommon in Germany. I\nmeet with many recorded: and an eminent German scholar of my\nacquaintance tells me that he has also heard of several, and was\nsurprised that we have no similar instances here. If these things\noccurred merely among the Roman catholics, we might be inclined to\nsuppose that they had some connection with their notion of purgatory:\nbut, on the contrary, it appears to be among the Lutheran population\nthey chiefly occur\u2014insomuch that it has even been suggested that the\nomission of prayers for the dead, in the Lutheran church, is the cause\nof the phenomenon. But, on the other hand, as in the present case, and\nin several others, the person that revisits the earth was of the\ncatholic persuasion when alive, we are bound to suppose that he had the\nbenefit of his own church\u2019s prayers.\n\nI am here assuming that all the above strange phenomena were really\nproduced by the agency of an apparition. If they were not, what were\nthey? The three physicians, who were among the visiters, must have been\nperfectly aware of the contagious nature of some forms of nervous\ndisorder, and from the previous incredulity of two of them, they must\nhave been quite prepared to regard these phenomena from that point of\nview; yet they seem unable to bring them under the category of sensuous\nillusions.\n\nThe apparently electrical nature of the lights, and of several of the\nsounds, is very remarkable, as are also the swellings produced on some\nof the persons by the touch of the ghost, which remind us of Professor\nHofer\u2019s case, mentioned in a former chapter. The apparition of the dog\nand the lambs also, strange as they are, are by no means isolated cases.\nThese appearances seem to be symbolical: the father had been evil, and\nhad led his son to do evil, and he appeared in the degraded form of a\ndog; and the innocence of the children, who had been, probably, in some\nway wronged, was symbolized by their appearing as lambs. \u201cIf I had lived\nas a beast,\u201d said an apparition to the Seeress of Provorst, \u201cI should\nappear as a beast.\u201d These symbolical transfigurations can not appear\nvery extravagant to those who accept the belief of many theologians,\nthat the serpent of the garden of Eden was an evil spirit incarnated in\nthat degraded form.\n\nHow for the removal of the horse out of the stable was connected with\nthe rest of the phenomena, it is impossible to say; but a similar\ncircumstance has very lately occurred with regard to a dog that was\nlocked up in the house in this neighborhood, which I have several times\nalluded to, where footsteps and rustlings are heard, doors are opened,\nand a feeling that some one is blowing or breathing upon them is felt by\nthe inhabitants.\n\nThe holes burnt in the handkerchief are also quite in accordance with\nmany other relations of the kind, especially that of the maid of Orlach,\nand also that of the Hammerschan family, mentioned in \u201cStilling\u2019s\nPneumatology,\u201d when a ghost who had been, as he said, waiting one\nhundred and twenty years for some one to release him by their prayers,\nwas seen to take a handkerchief, on which he left the marks of his five\nfingers, appearing like burnt spots. A bible that he touched was marked\nin the same manner; and these two mementoes of the apparition were\ncarefully retained in the family. This particularity, also, reminds us\nof Lord Tyrone\u2019s leaving the marks of his hand on Lady Beresord\u2019s wrist,\non which she ever afterward wore a black riband. In several instances I\nfind it reported that when an apparition is requested to render himself\nvisible to, or to enter into communication with, other persons besides\nthose to whom he addresses himself, he answers that it is impossible;\nand in other cases, that he could do it, but that the consequences to\nthose persons would be pernicious. This, together with the circumstance\nof their waiting so long for the right person, tends strongly to support\nthe hypothesis that an intense magnetic rapport is necessary to any\nfacility of intercourse. It also appears that the power of establishing\nthis rapport with one or more persons, varies exceedingly among these\ndenizens of a spiritual world, some being only able to render themselves\naudible, others to render themselves visible to one person, while a few\nseem to possess considerably greater powers or privileges.\n\nAnother particular to be observed is, that in many instances, if not in\nall, these spirits are what the Germans call _gebannt_, that is,\n_banned_, or _proscribed_, or, as it were, _tethered_ to a certain spot,\nwhich they can occasionally leave, as Anton did the cellar at\nWimmenthal, to which he was _gebannt_, but from which they can not free\nthemselves. To this spot they seem to be attached, as by an invisible\nchain, whether by the memory of a crime committed there, or by a buried\ntreasure, or even by its being the receptacle of their own bodies. In\nshort, it seems perfectly clear, admitting them to be apparitions of the\ndead, that, whatever the bond may be that keeps them down, they can not\nquit the earth; they are, as St. Martin says, _remainers_, not\n_returners_, and this seems to be the explanation of haunted houses.\n\nIn the year 1827, Christian Eisengrun, a respectable citizen of\nNeckarsteinach, was visited by a ghost of the above kind, and the\nparticulars were judically recorded. He was at Eherbach, in Baden,\nworking as a potter, which was his trade, in the manufactory of Mr.\nGehrig, when he was one night awakened by a noise in his chamber, and,\non looking up, he saw a faint light, which presently assumed a human\nform, attired in a loose gown; he could see no head. He had his own head\nunder the clothes; but it presently spoke, and told him that he was\ndestined to release it, and for that purpose he must go to the catholic\nchurchyard of Neckarsteinach, and there, for twenty-one successive days,\nrepeat the following verse from the New Testament, before the stone\nsepulchre there:\u2014\n\n\u201cFor what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which\nis in him? So, the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of\nGod.\u201d\u20141 Cor. ii. 11.\n\nThe ghost having repeated his visits and his request, the man consulted\nhis master what he should do, and he advised him not to trifle with the\napparition, but to do what he required, adding that he had known many\nsimilar instances. Upon this, Eisengrun went to Neckarsteinach, and\naddressed himself to the catholic priest there, named Seitz, who gave\nhim the same counsel, together with his blessing and also a hymn of\nLuther\u2019s, which he bade him learn and repeat, as well as the verse, when\nhe visited the sepulchre.\n\nAs there was only one stone sepulchre in the churchyard, Eisengrun had\nno difficulty in finding it; and while he performed the service imposed\non him by the ghost, the latter stood on the grave with his hands folded\nas if in prayer; but when he repeated the hymn, he moved rapidly\nbackward and forward, but still not overstepping the limits of the\nstone. The man, though very frightened, persevered in the thing for the\ntime imposed, twenty-one days; and during this period he saw the perfect\nform of the apparition, which had no covering on its head except very\nwhite hair. It always kept its hands folded, and had large eyes, in\nwhich he never perceived any motion; this filled him with horror. Many\npersons went to witness the ceremony.\n\nThe surviving nephews and nieces of the apparition brought an action\nagainst Eisengrun, and they contrived to have him seized and carried to\nthe magistrate\u2019s house, one day, at the time he should have gone to the\nchurchyard. But the ghost came and beckoned, and made signs to him to\nfollow him, till the man was so much affected and terrified that he\nburst into tears. The two magistrates could not see the spectre, but\nfeeling themselves affected with a cold shudder, they consented to his\ngoing.\n\nHe was then publicly examined in court, together with the offended\nfamily and a number of witnesses; and the result was, that he was\npermitted to continue the service for the twenty-one days, after which\nhe never saw or heard more of the ghost, who had been formerly a rich\ntimber-merchant. The terror and anxiety attendant on these daily visits\nto the churchyard, affected Eisengrun so much, that it was some time\nbefore he recovered his usual health. He had all his life been a\nghost-seer, but had never had communication with any before this event.\n\nThe catholic priest, in this instance, appears to have been more liberal\nthan the deceased timber-merchant, for the latter did not seem to like\nthe Lutheran hymn which the former prescribed. His dissatisfaction,\nhowever, may have arisen from their making any addition to the formula\nhe had himself indicated.\n\n-----\n\n[5] It is to be observed that this is the sensation asserted to be felt\nby Reichenbach\u2019s patients on the approach of the magnet.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVI.\n\n\n            THE POLTERGEIST OF THE GERMANS, AND POSSESSION.\n\nWITH regard to the so-called _hauntings_, referred to in the preceding\nchapter, there seems reason to believe that the invisible guest was\nformerly a dweller upon earth, in the flesh, who is prevented by some\ncircumstance which we are not qualified to explain, from pursuing the\ndestiny of the human race, by entering freely into the next state\nprepared for him. He is like an unfortunate caterpillar that \u2018can not\nentirely free itself from the integuments of its reptile life which\nchain it to the earth, while its fluttering wings vainly seek to bear it\ninto the region to which it now belongs.\u2019 But there is another kind of\n_haunting_, which is still more mysterious and strange, though by no\nmeans unfrequent, and which, from the odd, sportive, mischievous nature\nof the disturbances created, one can scarcely reconcile to our notions\nof what we understand by the term _ghost_; for in those cases where the\nunseen visitant appears to be the spirit of a person deceased, we see\nevidences of grief, remorse, and dissatisfaction, together with, in many\ninstances, a disposition to repeat the acts of life\u2014or at least to\nsimulate a repetition of them: but there is nothing sportive or\nmischievous, nor, except where an injunction is disobeyed or a request\nrefused, are there generally any evidences of anger or malignity. But in\nthe other cases alluded to, the annoyances appear rather like the tricks\nof a mischievous imp. I refer to what the Germans call the\n_poltergeist_, or racketing spectre, for the phenomenon is known in all\ncountries, and has been known in all ages.\n\nSince hearing of the phenomenon of the electric girl, which attracted so\nmuch attention and occasioned so much controversy in Paris lately, and\nother similar cases which have since reached me, I feel doubtful whether\nsome of these strange circumstances may not have been connected with\nelectricity in one form or another. The famous story of what is\nfamiliarly called the Stockwell ghost, for example, might possibly be\nbrought under this category. I have heard some people assert that the\nmystery of this affair was subsequently explained away, and the whole\nfound to be a trick: but that is a mistake. Some years ago, I was\nacquainted with persons whose parents were living on the spot at that\ntime, who knew all the details, and to them it remained as great a\nmystery as ever; not the smallest light had ever been thrown upon it.\nPeople are so glad to get rid of troublesome mysteries of this\ndescription, that they are always ready to say, \u201cThe trick has been\nfound out!\u201d and those who pride themselves on not believing idle\nstories, are to the last degree credulous when \u201cthe idle story\u201d flatters\ntheir skepticism.\n\nThe circumstances of the so-called Stockwell ghost, which I extract from\na report published at the time, are as follows:\u2014\n\nThe pamphlet was entitled: \u201cAn authentic, candid, and Circumstantial\nNarrative of the astonishing Transactions at Stockwell, in the County of\nSurrey, on Monday and Tuesday, the 6th and 7th days of January, 1772;\ncontaining a Series of the most surprising and unaccountable Events that\never happened, which continued, from first to last, upward of twenty\nhours, and at different places: published with the consent and\napprobation of the family and other parties concerned, to authenticate\nwhich the original copy is signed by them.\n\n\u201cBefore we enter upon a description of the most extraordinary\ntransactions that perhaps ever happened, we shall begin with an account\nof the parties who were principally concerned, and, in justice to them,\ngive their characters, by which means the impartial world may see what\ncredit is due to the following narrative:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe events, indeed, are of so strange and singular a nature, that we\ncan not be at all surprised the public should be doubtful of the truth\nof them, more especially as there have been too many impositions of this\nsort; but, let us consider, here are no sinister ends to be answered, no\ncontributions to be wished for, nor would be accepted, as the parties\nare in reputable situations and good circumstances, particularly Mrs.\nGolding, who is a lady of an independent fortune: Richard Fowler and his\nwife might be looked upon as an exception to this assertion; but, as\ntheir loss was trivial, they must be left out of the question, except so\nfar as they appear corroborating evidences. Mr. Pain\u2019s maid lost\nnothing.\n\n\u201cHow or by what means these transactions were brought about, has never\ntranspired: we have only to rest our confidence on the veracity of the\nparties, whose descriptions have been most strictly attended to, without\nthe least deviation: nothing here offered is either exaggerated or\ndiminished\u2014the whole stated in the clearest manner, just as they\noccurred: as such only we lay them before the candid and impartial\npublic.\n\n\u201cMrs. Golding, an elderly lady at Stockwell, in Surrey, at whose house\nthe transactions began, was born in the same parish (Lambeth), has lived\nin it ever since, and has always been well known and respected as a\ngentlewoman of unblemished honor and character. Mrs. Pain, a niece of\nMrs. Golding, has been married several years to Mr. Pain, a farmer, at\nBrixton causeway, a little above Mr. Angel\u2019s\u2014has several children, and\nis well known and respected in the parish. Mary Martin, Mr. Pain\u2019s\nservant, an elderly woman, has lived two years with them and four years\nwith Mrs. Golding, where she came from. Richard Fowler lives almost\nopposite to Mr. Pain, at the Brick pound\u2014an honest, industrious, and\nsober man. And Sarah Fowler, wife to the above, is an industrious and\nsober woman.\n\n\u201cThese are the subscribing evidences that we must rest the truth of the\nfacts upon; yet there are numbers of other persons who were\neye-witnesses of many of the transactions during the time they happened,\nall of whom must acknowledge the truth of them.\n\n\u201cAnother person who bore a principal part in these scenes was Ann\nRobinson, Mrs. Golding\u2019s maid, a young woman about twenty years old, who\nhad lived with her but one week and three days. So much for the\n_histori\u00e6 person\u00e6_, and now for the narrative.\n\n\u201cOn Monday, January the 6th, 1772, about ten o\u2019clock in the forenoon, as\nMrs. Golding was in her parlor, she heard the china and glasses in the\nback kitchen tumble down and break; her maid came to her and told her\nthe stone plates were falling from the shelf; Mrs. Golding went into the\nkitchen and saw them broke. Presently after, a row of plates from the\nnext shelf fell down likewise, while she was there, and nobody near\nthem; this astonished her much, and while she was thinking about it,\nother things in different places began to tumble about, some of them\nbreaking, attended with violent noises all over the house; a clock\ntumbled down and the case broke; a lantern that hung on the staircase\nwas thrown down and the glass broken to pieces; an earthen pan of salted\nbeef broke to pieces and the beef fell about: all this increased her\nsurprise and brought several persons about her, among whom was Mr.\nRowlidge, a carpenter, who gave it as his opinion that the foundation\nwas giving way and that the house was tumbling down, occasioned by the\ntoo great weight of an additional room erected above: so ready are we to\ndiscover natural causes for everything! But no such thing happened, as\nthe reader will find; for whatever was the cause, that cause ceased\nalmost as soon as Mrs. Golding and her maid left any place, and followed\nthem wherever they went. Mrs. Golding ran into Mr. Gresham\u2019s house, a\ngentleman living next door to her, where she fainted.\n\n\u201cIn the interim, Mr. Rowlidge and other persons were removing Mrs.\nGolding\u2019s effects from her house, for fear of the consequences he had\nprognosticated. At this time all was quiet; Mrs. Golding\u2019s maid,\nremaining in the house, was gone up stairs, and when called upon several\ntimes to come down, for fear of the dangerous situation she was thought\nto be in, she answered very coolly, and after some time came down as\ndeliberately, without any seeming fearful apprehensions.\n\n\u201cMrs. Pain was sent for from Brixton Causeway, and desired to come\ndirectly, as her aunt was supposed to be dead: this was the message to\nher. When Mrs. Pain came, Mrs. Golding was come to herself, but very\nfaint.\n\n\u201cAmong the persons who were present was Mr. Gardner, a surgeon, of\nClapham, whom Mrs. Pain desired to bleed her aunt, which he did. Mrs.\nPain asked him if the blood should be thrown away: he desired it might\nnot, as he would examine it when cold. These minute particulars would\nnot be taken notice of, but as a chain to what follows. For the next\ncircumstance is of a more astonishing nature than anything that had\npreceded it: the blood that was just congealed, sprang out of the basin\nupon the floor, and presently after the basin broke to pieces! This\nchina basin was the only thing broke belonging to Mr. Gresham; a bottle\nof rum that stood by it broke at the same time.\n\n\u201cAmong the things that were removed to Mr. Gresham\u2019s, was a tray full of\nchina, a japan bread-basket, some mahogany waiters, with some bottles of\nliquors, jars of pickles, &c., and a pier-glass, which was taken down by\nMr. Saville (a neighbor of Mrs. Golding\u2019s); he gave it to one Robert\nHames, who laid it on the grass-plat at Mrs. Gresham\u2019s: but, before he\ncould put it out of his hands, some parts of the frame on each side flew\noff! It rained at that time; Mrs. Golding desired it might be brought\ninto the parlor, where it was put under a sideboard, and a\ndressing-glass along with it. It had not been there long, before the\nglasses and china which stood on the sideboard began to tumble about and\nfall down, and broke both the glasses to pieces. Mr. Saville and others\nbeing asked to drink a glass of wine or rum, both the bottles broke in\npieces before they were uncorked!\n\n\u201cMrs. Golding\u2019s surprise and fear increasing, she did not know what to\ndo, or where to go. Wherever she and her maid were, these strange,\ndestructive circumstances followed her, and how to help or free herself\nfrom them was not in her power or any other person\u2019s present. Her mind\nwas one confused chaos, lost to herself and everything about her\u2014drove\nfrom her own home, and afraid there would be no other to receive her. At\nlast she left Mr. Gresham\u2019s and went to Mr. Mayling\u2019s, a gentleman at\nthe next door; here she stayed about three quarters of an hour, during\nwhich time nothing happened. Her maid stayed at Mr. Gresham\u2019s to put up\nwhat few things remained unbroken of her mistress\u2019s, in a back\napartment, when a jar of pickles that stood upon a table turned upside\ndown; then a jar of raspberry jam broke to pieces; next two mahogany\nwaiters and a quadrille-box likewise broke in pieces.\n\n\u201cMrs. Pain, not choosing her aunt should stay too long at Mr. Mayling\u2019s,\nfor fear of being troublesome, persuaded her to go to her house at Rush\nCommon, near Brixton Causeway, where she would endeavor to make her as\nhappy as she could, hoping by this time all was over, as nothing had\nhappened at that gentleman\u2019s house while she was there. This was about\ntwo o\u2019clock in the afternoon.\n\n\u201cMr. and Miss Gresham were at Mr. Pain\u2019s house when Mrs. Pain, Mrs.\nGolding, and her maid, went there. It being about dinner-time, they all\ndined together; in the interim, Mrs. Golding\u2019s servant was sent to her\nhouse to see how things remained. When she returned, she told them\nnothing had happened since they left it. Some time after, Mr. Gresham\nand miss went home, everything remaining quiet at Mr. Pain\u2019s; but about\neight o\u2019clock in the evening a fresh scene began. The first thing that\nhappened was, a whole row of pewter dishes, except one, fell from off a\nshelf to the middle of the floor, rolled about a little while, then\nsettled; and, what is almost beyond belief, as soon as they were quiet,\nturned upside down! They were then put on the dresser, and went through\nthe same a second time. Next fell a whole row of pewter plates from off\nthe second shelf over the dresser to the ground, and, being taken up and\nput on the dresser one in another, they were thrown down again.\n\n\u201cThe next thing was, two eggs that were upon one of the pewter shelves,\none of them flew off, crossed the kitchen, struck a cat on the head, and\nthen broke in pieces.\n\n\u201cNext, Mary Martin, Mrs. Pain\u2019s servant, went to stir the kitchen fire;\nshe got to the right-hand side of it, being a large chimney, as is usual\nin farmhouses. A pestle and mortar that stood nearer the left-hand end\nof the chimney-shelf, jumped about six feet on the floor! Then went\ncandlesticks and other brasses, scarcely anything remaining in its\nplace. After this, the glasses and china were put down on the floor for\nfear of undergoing the same fate: they presently began to dance and\ntumble about, and then broke to pieces. A teapot that was among them\nflew to Mrs. Golding\u2019s maid\u2019s foot, and struck it.\n\n\u201cA glass tumbler that was put on the floor jumped about two feet and\nthen broke. Another that stood by it jumped about at the same time, but\ndid not break till some hours after, when it jumped again, and then\nbroke. A china bowl that stood in the parlor jumped from the floor to\nbehind a table that stood there. This was most astonishing, as the\ndistance from where it stood was between seven and eight feet, but was\nnot broke. It was put back by Richard Fowler to its place, where it\nremained some time, and then flew to pieces.\n\n\u201cThe next thing that followed was a mustard-pot, that jumped out of a\ncloset and was broke. A single cup that stood upon the table (almost the\nonly thing remaining) jumped up, flew across the kitchen, ringing like a\nbell, and then was dashed to pieces against the dresser. A candlestick\nthat stood on the chimney-shelf flew across the kitchen to the\nparlor-door, at about fifteen feet distance. A teakettle under the\ndresser was thrown out about two feet; another kettle, that stood at one\nend of the range, was thrown against the iron that is fixed to prevent\nchildren from falling into the fire. A tumbler with rum-and-water in it,\nthat stood upon a waiter upon a table in the parlor, jumped about ten\nfeet, and was broke. The table then fell down, and along with it a\nsilver tankard belonging to Mrs. Golding\u2014the waiter in which stood the\ntumbler, and a candlestick. A case-bottle then flew to pieces.\n\n\u201cThe next circumstance was, a ham that hung in one side of the\nkitchen-chimney raised itself from the hook and fell down to the ground.\nSome time after, another ham, that hung on the other side of the\nchimney, likewise underwent the same fate. Then a flitch of bacon, which\nhung up in the same chimney, fell down.\n\n\u201cAll the family were eye-witnesses to these circumstances, as well as\nother persons, some of whom were so alarmed and shocked, that they could\nnot bear to stay, and were happy in getting away, though the unhappy\nfamily were left in the midst of their distresses. Most of the genteel\nfamilies around were continually sending to inquire after them, and\nwhether all was over or not. Is it not surprising that some among them\nhad not the inclination and resolution to try to unravel this most\nintricate affair, at a time when it would have been in their power to\nhave done so? There certainly was sufficient time for so doing, as the\nwhole, from first to last, continued upward of twenty hours.\n\n\u201cAt all the times of action, Mrs. Golding\u2019s servant was walking backward\nand forward, in either the kitchen or parlor, or wherever some of the\nfamily happened to be. Nor could they get her to sit down five minutes\ntogether, except at one time for about half an hour toward the morning,\nwhen the family were at prayers in the parlor; then all was quiet: but\nin the midst of the greatest confusion, she was as much composed as at\nany other time, and with uncommon coolness of temper advised her\nmistress not to be alarmed or uneasy, as she said these things could not\nbe helped. Thus she argued, as if they were common occurrences, which\nmust happen in every family!\n\n\u201cThis advice surprised and startled her mistress almost as much as the\ncircumstances that occasioned it. For how can we suppose that a girl of\nabout twenty years old (an age when female timidity is too often\nassisted by superstition) could remain in the midst of such calamitous\ncircumstances (except they proceed from causes best known to herself),\nand not be struck with the same terror as every other person was who was\npresent? These reflections led Mr. Pain (and, at the end of the\ntransactions, likewise Mrs. Golding) to think that she was not\naltogether so unconcerned as she appeared to be; but, hitherto, the\nwhole remains mysterious and unrivalled.\n\n\u201cAbout ten o\u2019clock at night, they sent over the way to Richard Fowler,\nto desire he would come and stay with them. He came and continued till\none in the morning, and was so terrified that he could remain no longer.\n\n\u201cAs Mrs. Golding could not be persuaded to go to bed, Mrs. Pain at that\ntime (one o\u2019clock) made an excuse to go up stairs to her youngest child,\nunder pretence of getting it to sleep, but she really acknowledges it\nwas through fear, as she declares she could not sit up to see such\nstrange things going on, as everything, one after another, was broke,\ntill there was not above two or three cups and saucers remaining out of\na considerable quantity of china, &c, which was destroyed to the amount\nof some pounds.\n\n\u201cAbout five o\u2019clock on Tuesday morning, Mrs. Golding went up to her\nniece, and desired her to get up, as the noises and destruction were so\ngreat, she could continue in the house no longer. At this time all the\ntables, chairs, drawers, &c., were tumbling about. When Mrs. Pain came\ndown, it was amazing beyond all description. Their only security then\nwas to quit the house, for fear of the same catastrophe as had been\nexpected the morning before at Mrs. Golding\u2019s. In consequence of this\nresolution, Mrs. Golding and her maid went over the way to Richard\nFowler\u2019s. When Mrs. Golding\u2019s maid had seen her safe to Richard\nFowler\u2019s, she came back to Mrs. Pain, to help her to dress the children\nin the barn, where she had carried them for fear of the house falling.\nAt this time all was quiet. They then went to Fowler\u2019s, and then began\nthe same scene as had happened at the other places. It must be remarked,\nall was quiet here as well as elsewhere, till the maid returned.\n\n\u201cWhen they got to Mr. Fowler\u2019s, he began to light a fire in his back\nroom. When done, he put the candle and candlestick upon a table in the\nfore-room. This apartment Mrs. Golding and her maid had passed through.\nAnother candlestick, with a tin lamp in it, that stood by it, were both\ndashed together, and fell to the ground. A lantern, with which Mrs.\nGolding was lighted across the road, sprang from a hook to the ground,\nand a quantity of oil spilled on the floor. The last thing was, the\nbasket of coals tumbled over, the coals rolling about the room The maid\nthen desired Richard Fowler not to let her mistress remain there, as she\nsaid wherever she was the same things would follow. In consequence of\nthis advice, and fearing greater losses to himself, he desired she would\nquit his house; but first begged her to consider within herself, for her\nown and the public\u2019s sake, whether or not she had been guilty of some\natrocious crime, for which Providence was determined to pursue her on\nthis side of the grave: for he could not help thinking she was the\nobject that was to be made an example to posterity, by the all-seeing\neye of Providence, for crimes which but too often none but that\nProvidence can penetrate, and by such means as these bring to light.\n\n\u201cThus was the poor gentlewoman\u2019s measure of affliction complete, not\nonly to have undergone all which has been related, but to have added to\nit the character of a bad and wicked woman, when till this time she was\nesteemed as a most deserving person. In candor to Fowler, he could not\nbe blamed. What could he do? what would any man have done that was so\ncircumstanced? Mrs. Golding soon satisfied him: she told him she would\nnot stay in his house or any other person\u2019s, as her conscience was quite\nclear, and she could as well wait the will of Providence in her own\nhouse as in any other place whatever; upon which she and her maid went\nhome. Mr. Pain went with them. After they had got to Mrs. Golding\u2019s the\nlast time, the same transactions once more began upon the remains that\nwere left.\n\n\u201cA nine-gallon cask of beer, that was in the cellar, the door being\nopen, and no person near it, turned upside down. A pail of water, that\nstood on the floor, boiled like a pot! A box of candles fell from a\nshelf in the kitchen to the floor; they rolled out, but none were broke:\nand a round mahogany table overset in the parlor.\n\n\u201cMr. Pain then desired Mrs. Golding to send her maid for his wife to\ncome to them. When she was gone, all was quiet. Upon her return she was\nimmediately discharged, and no disturbances have happened since. This\nwas between six and seven o\u2019clock on Tuesday morning.\n\n\u201cAt Mrs. Golding\u2019s were broke the quantity of three pailfuls of glass,\nchina, &c. At Mrs. Pain\u2019s they filled two pails.\n\n\u201cThus ends the narrative\u2014a true, circumstantial, and faithful account\nof which we have laid before the public; and have endeavored as much as\npossible, throughout the whole, to state only facts, without presuming\nto obtrude any opinion on them. If we have in part hinted anything that\nmay appear unfavorable to the girl, it is not from a determination to\ncharge her with the cause, right or wrong, but only from a strict\nadherence to truth, most sincerely wishing this extraordinary affair may\nbe unravelled.\n\n\u201cThe above narrative is absolutely and strictly true, in witness whereof\nwe have set our hands this eleventh day of January, 1772:\u2014\n\n                                       \u201cMARY GOLDING,\n                                       \u201cJOHN PAIN,\n                                       \u201cMARY PAIN,\n                                       \u201cRICHARD FOWLER,\n                                       \u201cSARAH FOWLER,\n                                       \u201cMARY MARTIN.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe original copy of this narrative, signed as above, with the parties\u2019\nown hands, was put into the hands of Mr. Marks, bookseller, in St.\nMartin\u2019s Lane, to satisfy persons who choose to inspect the same.\u201d\n\nSuch phenomena as this of the Stockwell ghost are by no means uncommon,\nand I am acquainted with many more instances than I can allude to here.\nOne occurred very lately in the neighborhood of London, as I learned\nfrom the following newspaper paragraph. I subsequently heard that the\nlittle girl had been sent away; but whether the phenomena then ceased,\nor whether she carried the disturbance with her, I have not been able to\nascertain, nor does it appear certain that she had anything to do with\nit:\u2014\n\n\u201cA MISCHIEVOUS AND MYSTERIOUS GHOST.\u2014(From a correspondent.)\u2014The whole\nof the neighborhood of Black Lion-lane, Bayswater, is ringing with the\nextraordinary occurrences that have recently happened in the house of a\nMr. Williams, in the Moscow-road, and which bear a strong resemblance to\nthe celebrated Stockwell ghost affair in 1772. The house is inhabited by\nMr. and Mrs. Williams, a grown-up son and daughter, and a little girl\nbetween ten and eleven years of age. On the first day, the family, who\nare remarkable for their piety, were startled all at once by a\nmysterious movement among the things in the sitting-rooms and kitchen,\nand other parts of the house. At one time, without any visible agency,\none of the jugs came off the hook over the dresser, and was broken; then\nfollowed another, and next day another. A china teapot, with the tea\njust made in it, and placed on the mantel-piece, whisked off on to the\nfloor, and was smashed. A pewter one, which had been substituted\nimmediately after, did the same, and, when put on the table, was seen to\nhop about as if bewitched, and was actually held down while the tea was\nmade for Mr. Williams\u2019s breakfast, before leaving for his place of\nbusiness. When for a time all had been quiet, off came from its place on\nthe wall, a picture in a heavy gilt frame, and fell to the floor without\nbeing broken. All was now amazement and terror, for the old people are\nvery superstitious, and ascribing it to a supernatural agency, the other\npictures were removed, and stowed away on the floor. But the spirit of\nlocomotion was not to be arrested. Jugs and plates continued at\nintervals to quit their posts, and skip off their hooks and shelves into\nthe middle of the room, as though they were inspired by the magic flute,\nand at supper, when the little girl\u2019s mug was filled with beer, the mug\nslided off the table on to the floor. Three times it was replaced, and\nthree times it moved off again. It would be tedious to relate the\nfantastic tricks which have been played by household articles of every\nkind. An Egyptian vase jumped off the table suddenly, when no soul was\nnear, and was smashed to pieces. The teakettle popped off the fire into\nthe grate as Mr. Williams had filled the teapot, which fell off the\nchimney-piece. Candlesticks, after a dance on the table, flew off, and\nornaments from the shelves, and bonnets and cap-boxes flung about in the\noddest manner. A looking-glass hopped off a dressing-table, followed by\ncombs and brushes and several bottles, and a great pincushion has been\nremarkably conspicuous for its incessant jigs from one part to another.\nThe little girl, who is a Spaniard, and under the care of Mr. and Mrs.\nWilliams, is supposed by their friends to be the cause of it all,\nhowever extraordinary it may seem in one of her age, but up to the\npresent time it continues a mystery, and the _modus operandi_ is\ninvisible.\u201d\u2014_Morning Post._\n\nTo imagine that these extraordinary effects were produced by the\nvoluntary agency of the child, furnishes one of those remarkable\ninstances of the credulity of the skeptical, to which I have referred.\nBut when we read a true statement of the effects involuntarily exhibited\nby Angelique Cottin, we begin to see that it is just possible the other\nstrange phenomena may be provided by a similar agency.\n\nThe French Academy of Sciences had determined, as they had formerly done\nby Mesmerism, that the thing should not be true. Monsieur Arago was\nnonsuited; but although it is extremely possible that either the\nphenomenon had run its course and arrived at a natural termination, or\nthat the removal of the girl to Paris had extinguished it, there appears\nno doubt that it had previously existed.\n\nAngelique Cottin was a native of La Perriere, aged fourteen, when, on\nthe 15th of January, 1846, at eight o\u2019clock in the evening, while\nweaving silk-gloves at an oaken frame, in company with other girls, the\nframe began to jerk, and they could not by any efforts keep it steady.\nIt seemed as if it were alive, and becoming alarmed, they called in the\nneighbors, who would not believe them; but desired them to sit down and\ngo on with their work. Being timid, they went one by one, and the frame\nremained still till Angelique approached, when it recommenced its\nmovements, while she was also attracted by the frame: thinking she was\nbewitched or possessed, her parents took her to the presbytery that the\nspirit might be exorcised. The curate, however, being a sensible man,\nrefused to do it, but set himself, on the contrary, to observe the\nphenomenon, and being perfectly satisfied of the fact, he bade them take\nher to a physician.\n\nMeanwhile, the intensity of the influence, whatever it was, augmented;\nnot only articles made of oak, but all sorts of things were acted upon\nby it and reacted upon her, while persons who were near her, even\nwithout contact, frequently felt electric shocks. The effects, which\nwere diminished when she was on a carpet or a waxed cloth, were most\nremarkable when she was on the bare earth. They sometimes entirely\nceased for two or three days, and then recommenced. Metals were not\naffected. Anything touched by her apron or dress would fly off, although\na person held it; and Monsieur Hebert, while seated on a heavy tub or\ntrough, was raised up with it. In short, the only place she could repose\non, was a stone covered with cork; they also kept her still by isolating\nher. When she was fatigued the effects diminished. A needle suspended\nhorizontally, oscillated rapidly with the motion of her arm, without\ncontact, or remained fixed, while deviating from the magnetic direction.\nGreat numbers of enlightened medical and scientific men witnessed these\nphenomena, and investigated them with every precaution to prevent\nimposition. She was often hurt by the violent involuntary movements she\nwas thrown into, and was evidently afflicted by chorea.\n\nUnfortunately, her parents, poor and ignorant, insisted much against the\nadvice of the doctors, on exhibiting her for money; and under these\ncircumstances, she was brought to Paris; and nothing is more probable\nthan that after the phenomena had really ceased, the girl may have been\ninduced to simulate what had originally been genuine. The thing avowedly\nceased altogether on the 10th of April, and there has been no return of\nit.\n\nIn 1831, a young girl, also aged fourteen, who lived as under\nnursery-maid in a French family, exhibited the same phenomena, and when\nthe case of Angelique Cottin was made public, her master published hers.\nHe says that things of such an extraordinary nature occurred as he dare\nnot repeat, since none but an eye-witness could believe them. The thing\nlasted for three years, and there was ample time for observation.\n\nIn the year 1686, a man at Brussels, called Breekmans, was similarly\naffected. A commission was appointed by the magistrates to investigate\nhis condition; and, being pronounced a sorcerer, he would have been\nburnt, had he not luckily made his escape.\n\nMany somnambulic persons are capable of giving an electric shock; and I\nhave met with one person, not somnambulic, who informs me that he has\nfrequently been able to do it by an effort of the will.\n\nDr. Ennemoser relates the case of a Mademoiselle Emmerich, sister to the\nprofessor of theology at Strasburg, who also possessed this power. This\nyoung lady, who appears to have been a person of very rare merit and\nendowments, was afflicted with a long and singular malady, originating\nin a fright, in the course of which she exhibited many very curious\nphenomena, having fallen into a state of natural somnambulism,\naccompanied by a high degree of lucidity. Her body became so surcharged\nwith electricity, that it was necessary to her relief to discharge it;\nand she sometimes imparted a complete battery of shocks to her brother\nand her physician, or whoever was near her, and that frequently when\nthey did not touch her. Professor Emmerich mentions also that she sent\nhim a smart shock, one day, when he was several rooms off. He started up\nand rushed into her chamber, where she was in bed; and as soon as she\nsaw him she said, laughing: \u201cAh, you felt it, did you?\u201d Mademoiselle\nEmmerich\u2019s illness terminated in death.\n\nCotugno, a surgeon, relates that, having touched with his scalpel the\nintercostal nerve of a mouse that had bitten his leg, he received an\nelectric shock; and where the torpedo abounds, the fishermen, in pouring\nwater over the fish they have caught for the purpose of washing them,\nknow if one is among them by the shock they sustain.\n\nA very extraordinary circumstance, which we may possibly attribute to\nsome such influence as the above, occurred at Rambouillet in November,\n1846. The particulars are furnished by a gentleman residing on the spot\nat the time, and were published by the Baron Dupotel\u2014who, however,\nattempts no explanation of the mystery:\u2014\n\nOne morning some travelling merchants, or pedlars, came to the door of a\nfarmhouse, belonging to a man named Bottel, and asked for some bread,\nwhich the maid-servant gave them, and they went away. Subsequently one\nof the party returned to ask for more, and was refused. The man, I\nbelieve, expressed some resentment and uttered vague threats, but she\nwould not give him anything and he departed. That night at supper the\nplates began to dance and roll off the table, without any visible cause,\nand several other unaccountable phenomena occurred; and the girl going\nto the door and chancing to place herself just where the pedlar had\nstood, she was seized with convulsions and an extraordinary rotatory\nmotion. The carter who was standing by laughed at her, and out of\nbravado placed himself on the same spot, when he felt almost suffocated,\nand was so unable to command his movements that he was overturned into a\nlarge pool in front of the house.\n\nUpon this they rushed to the cur\u00e9 of the parish for assistance; but he\nhad scarcely said a prayer or two before he was attacked in the same\nmanner, though in his own house; and his furniture beginning to\noscillate and crack as if it were bewitched, the poor people were\nfrightened out of their wits.\n\nBy-and-by the phenomena intermitted, and they hoped all was over; but\npresently it began again, and this occurred more than once before it\nsubsided wholly.\n\nOn the 8th December, 1836, at Stuttgard, Carl Fischer, a baker\u2019s boy,\naged seventeen, of steady habits and good character, was fixed with a\nbasket on his shoulders, in some unaccountable way, in front of his\nmaster\u2019s house. He foresaw the thing was to happen when he went out with\nhis bread very early in the morning; earnestly wished that the day was\nover, and told his companion that if he could only cross the threshold,\non his return, he should escape it. It was about six when he did return;\nand his master, hearing a fearful noise which he could not describe\u2014\u201cas\nif proceeding from a multitude of beings\u201d\u2014looked out of the window,\nwhere he saw Carl violently struggling and fighting with his apron,\nthough his feet were immoveably fixed to one spot. A hissing sound\nproceeded from his mouth and nose, and a voice, which was neither his\nnor that of any person present, was heard to cry, \u201cStand fast, Carl!\u201d\nThe master says that he could not have believed such a thing; and he was\nso alarmed that he did not venture into the street, where numerous\npersons were assembled. The boy said he must remain there till eleven\no\u2019clock; and the police kept guard over him till that time, as the\nphysician said he must not be interfered with, and the people sought to\npush him from the spot. When the time had expired, he was carried to the\nhospital, where he seemed exceedingly exhausted and fell into a profound\nsleep.\n\nI meet with numerous extraordinary records of a preternatural ringing of\nall the bells in a house; sometimes occurring periodically for a\nconsiderable time, and continuing after precautions have been taken\nwhich precluded the possibility of trick or deception, the wires being\ncut, and vigilant eyes watching them; and yet they rung on, by day or\nnight, just the same.\n\nIt is certainly very difficult to conceive, but at the same time it is\nnot impossible, that such strange phenomena as that of the Stockwell\nghost, and many similar ones, may be the manifestations of some\nextraordinary electrical influence; but there are other cases of\npoltergeist which it is impossible to attribute to the same cause, since\nthey are accompanied by evident manifestations of will and intelligence.\nSuch was the instance related in Southey\u2019s Life of Wesley, which\noccurred in the year 1716, beginning with a groaning, and subsequently\nproceeding to all manner of noises, lifting of latches, clattering of\nwindows, knockings of a most mysterious kind, &c., &c. The family were\nnot generally frightened, but the young children, when asleep, showed\nsymptoms of great terror. This annoyance lasted, I think, two or three\nmonths, and then ceased. As in most of these cases, the dog was\nextremely frightened, and hid himself when the visitations commenced.\n\nIn the year 1838, a circumstance of the same kind occurred in Paris, in\nthe Rue St. Honor\u00e9; and not very long ago there was one in Caithness, in\nwhich most unaccountable circumstances transpired. Among the rest,\nstones were flung, which never hit people, but fell at their feet, in\nrooms perfectly closed on all sides. A gentleman who witnessed these\nextraordinary phenomena, related the whole story to an advocate of my\nacquaintance, who assured me that, however impossible he found it to\ncredit such things, he should certainly place entire reliance on that\ngentleman\u2019s word in any other case.\n\nThen there is the famous story of the drummer of Tedworth;[6] and the\npersecution of Professor Schuppart, at Giessen, in Upper Hesse, which\ncontinued, with occasional intermission, for six years. This affair\nbegan with a violent knocking at the door one night; next day stones\nwere sent whizzing through closed rooms in all directions, so that,\nalthough no one was struck, the windows were all broken; and no sooner\nwere new panes put in, than they were broken again. He was persecuted\nwith slaps on the face, by day and by night, so that he could get no\nrest; and when two persons were appointed by the authorities to sit by\nhis bed to watch him, they got the slaps also. When he was reading at\nhis desk, his lamp would suddenly rise up and remove to the other end of\nthe room\u2014not as if thrown, but evidently carried. His books were torn\nto pieces and flung at his feet; and when he was lecturing, this\nmischievous sprite would tear out the leaf he was reading; and it is\nvery remarkable, that the only thing that seemed available as a\nprotection, was a drawn sword brandished over his head by himself or\nothers, which was one of the singularities attending the case of the\ndrummer of Tedworth. Schuppart narrated all these circumstances in his\npublic lectures, and nobody ever disputed the facts.\n\nA remarkable case of this sort occurred in the year 1670, at Keppock,\nnear Glasgow. There, also, stones were thrown which hit nobody, but the\nannoyance only continued eight days; and there are several more to be\nfound recorded in works of that period. The disturbance that happened in\nthe house of Gilbert Cambell, at Glenluce, excited considerable notice.\nHere, as elsewhere, stones were thrown; but, as in most similar\ninstances I meet with, no human being was damaged\u2014the license of these\nspirits, or goblins, or whatever they be, seeming to extend no further\nthan worrying and tormenting their victims. In this case, however, the\nspirit spoke to them, though he was never seen. The annoyance commenced\nin November, of the year 1654, I think, and continued till April, when\nthere was some intermission till July, when it recommenced. The loss of\nthe family from the things destroyed was ruining; for their household\ngoods and chattels were rendered useless, their food was polluted and\nspoiled, and their very clothes cut to pieces while on their backs, by\ninvisible hands; and it was in vain that all the ministers about the\ncountry assembled to exorcise this troublesome spirit, for whoever was\nthere the thing continued exactly the same.\n\nAt length poor Cambell applied to the synod of presbyters for advice;\nand a meeting was convened in October, 1655, and a solemn day of\nhumiliation was imposed through the whole bounds of the presbytery, for\nthe sake of the afflicted family. Whether it was owing to this or not,\nthere ensued an alleviation from that time till April, and from April\ntill August they were entirely free, and hoped all was over; but then it\nbegan again worse than ever, and they were dreadfully tormented through\nthe autumn; after which the disturbance ceased, and although the family\nlived in the house many years afterward, nothing of the sort ever\nhappened again.\n\nThere was another famous case, which occurred at a place called\nRing-Croft, in Kirkcudbright, in the year 1695. The afflicted family\nbore the name of Mackie. In this instance, the stones did sometimes hit\nthem, and they were beaten as if by staves; they, as well as strangers\nwho came to the house, were lifted off the ground by their clothes;\ntheir bed-coverings were taken off their beds; things were visibly\ncarried about the house by _in_visible hands; several people were hurt,\neven to the effusion of blood, by stones and blows; there were\nfire-balls seen about the house, which were several times ignited;\npeople, both of the family and others, felt themselves grasped as if by\na hand; then there was groaning, crying, whistling, and a voice that\nfrequently spoke to them. Crowds of people went to the house; but the\nthing continued just the same whether there were many or few, and\nsometimes the whole building shook as if it were coming down.\n\nA day of humiliation was appointed in this case also, but without the\nleast effect. The disturbance commenced in February, and ended on the\n1st of May. Numberless people witnessed the phenomenon, and the account\nof it is attested by fourteen ministers and gentlemen.\n\nThe same sort of thing occurred in the year 1659, in a place inhabited\nby an evangelical bishop, called Schlotterbeck. It began in the same\nmanner, by throwing of stones and other things, many of which came\nthrough the roof, insomuch that they believed at first that some animal\nwas concealed there. However, nothing could be found, and the invisible\nguest soon proceeded to other annoyances similar to those\nabovementioned; and though they could not see him, his footsteps were\nfor ever heard about the house. At length, wearied out, the bishop\napplied to the government for aid; and they sent him a company of\nsoldiers to guard the house by day and night, out of which he and his\nfamily retired. But the goblin cared no more for the soldiers than it\nhad done for the city watch; the thing continued without intermission,\nwhoever was there, till it ceased of its own accord. There was a house\nat Aix-la-Chapelle that was for several years quite uninhabitable from a\nsimilar cause.\n\nI could mention many other cases, and, as I have said before, they occur\nin all countries; but these will suffice as specimens of the class. It\nis in vain for people who were not on the spot to laugh, and assert that\nthese were the mischievous tricks of servants or others, when those who\nwere there, and who had such a deep interest in unravelling the mystery,\nand such abundance of time and opportunity for doing it, could find no\nsolution whatever. In many of the above cases, the cattle were unloosed,\nthe horses were turned out of their stables, and uniformly all the\nanimals in the way exhibited great terror, sweating and trembling, while\nthe visitation continued.\n\nSince we can not but believe that man forms but one class in an immense\nrange of existences, do not these strange occurrences suggest the idea\nthat occasionally some individual out of this gamut of beings comes into\nrapport with us, or crosses our path like a comet, and that, while\ncertain conditions last, it can hover about us, and play these\n_puckish_, mischievous tricks, till the charm is broken, and then it\nre-enters its own sphere, and we are cognizant of it no more!\n\nBut one of the most extraordinary examples of this kind of annoyance is\nthat which occurred, in the year 1806, in the castle of Prince\nHohenlohe, in Silesia. The account is given at length by Councillor\nHahn, of Ingelfingen, who witnessed the circumstances; and in\nconsequence of the various remarks that have been since made on the\nsubject, in different publications, he has repeatedly reasserted the\nfacts in letters, which have been printed and laid before the public. I\ncan not, therefore, see what right we have to disbelieve a man of honor\nand character, as he is said to be, merely because the circumstances he\nnarrates are unaccountable, more especially as the story, strange as it\nis, by no means stands alone in the annals of demonology. The following\ndetails were written down at the time the events occurred, and they were\ncommunicated by Councillor Hahn to Dr. Kerner in the year 1828:\u2014\n\n\u201cAfter the campaign of the Prussians against the French, in the year\n1806, the reigning prince of Hohenlohe gave orders to Councillor Hahn,\nwho was in his service, to proceed to Slawensick, and there to wait his\nreturn. His serene highness advanced from Leignitz toward his\nprincipality, and Hahn also commenced his journey toward Upper Silesia\non the 19th November. At the same period, Charles Kern, of Kuntzlau, who\nhad fallen into the hands of the French, being released on parole, and\narriving at Leignitz in an infirm condition, he was allowed to spend\nsome time with Hahn, while awaiting his exchange.\n\n\u201cHahn and Kern had been friends in their youth, and their destinies\nhaving brought them both at this time into the Prussian states, they\nwere lodged together in the same apartment of the castle, which was one\non the first floor, forming an angle at the back of the building, one\nside looking toward the north and the other to the east. On the right of\nthe door of this room was a glass door, which led into a chamber divided\nfrom those which followed by a wainscot partition. The door in this\nwainscot, which communicated to those adjoining rooms, was entirely\nclosed up, because in them all sorts of household utensils were kept.\nNeither in this chamber, nor in the sitting-room which preceded it, was\nthere any opening whatever which could furnish the means of\ncommunication from without; nor was there anybody in the castle besides\nthe two friends, except the prince\u2019s two coachmen and Hahn\u2019s servant.\nThe whole party were fearless people; and as for Hahn and Kern, they\nbelieved in nothing less than ghosts or witches, nor had any previous\nexperience induced them to turn their thoughts in that direction. Hahn,\nduring his collegiate life, had been much given to philosophy\u2014had\nlistened to Fichte, and earnestly studied the writings of Kant. The\nresult of his reflections was a pure materialism; and he looked upon\ncreated man, not as an aim, but merely as a means to a yet undeveloped\nend. These opinions he has since changed, like many others who think\nvery differently in their fortieth year to what they did in their\ntwentieth. The particulars here given are necessary in order to obtain\ncredence for the following extraordinary narrative; and to establish the\nfact that the phenomena were not merely accepted by ignorant\nsuperstition, but coolly and courageously investigated by enlightened\nminds. During the first days of their residence in the castle, the two\nfriends, living together in solitude, amused their long evenings with\nthe works of Schiller, of whom they were both great admirers; and Hahn\nusually read aloud. Three days had thus passed quietly away, when, as\nthey were sitting at the table, which stood in the middle of the room,\nabout nine o\u2019clock in the evening, their reading was interrupted by a\nsmall shower of lime which fell around them. They looked at the ceiling,\nconcluding it must have come thence, but could perceive no abraded\nparts; and while they were yet seeking to ascertain whence the lime had\nproceeded, there suddenly fell several larger pieces, which were quite\ncold, and appeared as if they had belonged to the external wall. At\nlength, concluding the lime must have fallen from some part of the wall,\ngiving up further inquiry, they went to bed, and slept quietly till\nmorning, when, on awaking, they were somewhat surprised at the quantity\nwhich strewed the floor, more especially as they could still discover no\npart of the walls or ceiling from which it could have fallen. But they\nthought no more of the matter till evening, when, instead of the lime\nfalling as before, it was thrown, and several pieces struck Hahn. At the\nsame time they heard heavy blows, sometimes below, and sometimes over\ntheir heads, like the sound of distant guns; still, attributing these\nsounds to natural causes, they went to bed as usual, but the uproar\nprevented their sleeping, and each accused the other of occasioning it\nby kicking with his feet against the foot-board of his bed, till,\nfinding that the noise continued when they both got out and stood\ntogether in the middle of the room, they were satisfied that this was\nnot the case. On the following evening, a third noise was added, which\nresembled the faint and distant beating of a drum. Upon this, they\nrequested the governess of the castle to send them the key of the\napartments above and below, which was brought them by her son; and while\nhe and Kern went to make their investigations, Hahn remained in their\nown room. Above, they found an empty room; below, a kitchen. They\nknocked, but the noise they made was very different to that which Hahn\ncontinued all the while to hear around him. When they returned, Hahn\nsaid, jestingly, \u2018The place is haunted!\u2019 On this night, when they went\nto bed, with a light burning, they heard what seemed like a person\nwalking about the room with slippers on, and a stick, with which he\nstruck the floor as he moved step by step. Hahn continued to jest, and\nKern to laugh, at the oddness of these circumstances, for some time,\nwhen they both, as usual, fell asleep, neither in the slightest degree\ndisturbed by these events, nor inclined to attribute them to any\nsupernatural cause. But on the following evening the affair became more\ninexplicable: various articles in the room were thrown about; knives,\nforks, brushes, caps, slippers, padlocks, funnel, snuffers,\nsoap\u2014everything, in short, that was moveable; while lights darted from\nthe corners, and everything was in confusion; at the same time, the lime\nfell and the blows continued. Upon this, the two friends called up the\nservants, Knittel, the castle watch, and whoever else was at hand, to be\nwitnesses of these mysterious operations. In the morning all was quiet,\nand generally continued so till after midnight. One evening, Kern going\ninto the chamber to fetch something, and hearing an uproar that almost\ndrove him backward to the door, Hahn caught up the light, and both\nrushed into the room, where they found a large piece of wood lying close\nto the wainscot. But supposing this to be the cause of the noise, who\nhad set it in motion? For Kern was sure the door was shut, even while\nthe noise was making; neither had there been any wood in the room.\nFrequently, before their eyes, the knives and snuffers rose from the\ntable, and fell, after some minutes, to the ground; and Hahn\u2019s large\nshears were once lifted in this manner between him and one of the\nprince\u2019s cooks, and falling to the ground, stuck into the floor. As some\nnights, however, passed quite quietly, Hahn was determined not to leave\nthe rooms; but when, for three weeks, the disturbance was so constant\nthat they could get no rest, they resolved on removing their beds into\nthe large room above, in hopes of once more enjoying a little quiet\nsleep. Their hopes were vain\u2014the thumping continued as before; and not\nonly so, but articles flew about the room which they were quite sure\nthey had left below. \u2018They may fling as they will,\u2019 cried Hahn, \u2018sleep I\nmust;\u2019 while Kern began to undress, pondering on these matters as he\nwalked up and down the room. Suddenly Hahn saw him stand, as if\ntransfixed, before the looking-glass on which he had accidentally cast\nhis eyes. He had so stood for some time, when he was seized with a\nviolent trembling, and turned from the mirror with his face as white as\ndeath. Hahn, fancying the cold of an uninhabited room had seized him,\nhastened to throw a cloak over him, when Kern, who was naturally very\ncourageous, recovered himself, and related, though with trembling lips,\nthat as he had accidentally looked in the glass, he had seen a white\nfemale figure looking out of it; she was in front of his own image,\nwhich he distinctly saw behind her. At first he could not believe his\neyes; he thought it must be fancy, and for that reason he had stood so\nlong; but when he saw that the eyes of the figure moved, and looked into\nhis, a shudder had seized him, and he had turned away. Hahn, upon this,\nadvanced with firm steps to the front of the mirror, and called upon the\napparition to show itself to him; but he saw nothing, although he\nremained a quarter of an hour before the glass, and frequently repeated\nhis exhortation. Kern then related that the features of the apparition\nwere very old, but not gloomy or morose; the expression was that of\nindifference; but the face was very pale, and the head was wrapped in a\ncloth which left only the features visible.\n\n\u201cBy this time it was four o\u2019clock in the morning; sleep was banished\nfrom their eyes, and they resolved to return to the lower room and have\ntheir beds brought back again: but the people who were sent to fetch\nthem returned, declaring they could not open the door, although it did\nnot appear to be fastened. They were sent back again; but a second and a\nthird time they returned with the same answer. Then Hahn went himself,\nand opened it with the greatest ease. The four servants, however,\nsolemnly declared that all their united strength could make no\nimpression on it.\n\n\u201cIn this way a month had elapsed: the strange events at the castle had\ngot spread abroad; and among others who desired to convince themselves\nof the facts were two Bavarian officers of dragoons, namely, Captain\nCornet and Lieutenant Magerle, of the regiment of Minuci. Magerle\noffering to remain in the room alone, the others left him; but scarcely\nhad they passed into the next apartment, when they heard Magerle\nstorming like a man in a passion, and cutting away at the tables and\nchairs with his sabre, whereupon the captain thought it advisable to\nreturn, in order to rescue the furniture from his rage. They found the\ndoor shut, but he opened it on their summons, and related, in great\nexcitement, that as soon as they had quitted the room, some cursed thing\nhad begun to fling lime and other matters at him, and, having examined\nevery part of the room without being able to discover the agent of the\nmischief, he had fallen into a rage and cut madly about him.\n\n\u201cThe party now passed the rest of the evening together in the room, and\nthe two Bavarians closely watched Hahn and Kern in order to satisfy\nthemselves that the mystery was no trick of theirs. All at once, as they\nwere quietly sitting at the table, the snuffers rose into the air and\nfell again to the ground behind Magerle, and a leaden ball flew at Hahn\nand hit him upon the breast, and presently afterward they heard a noise\nat the glass-door, as if somebody had struck his fist through it,\ntogether with a sound of falling glass. On investigation they found the\ndoor entire, but a broken drinking-glass on the floor. By this time the\nBavarians were convinced, and they retired from the room to seek repose\nin one more peaceful.\n\n\u201cAmong other things, the following, which occurred to Hahn, is\nremarkable. One evening about eight o\u2019clock, being about to shave\nhimself, the implements for the purpose, which were lying on a pyramidal\nstand in a corner of the room, flew at him, one after the other\u2014the\nsoap-box, the razor, the brush, and the soap\u2014and fell at his feet,\nalthough he was standing several paces from the pyramid. He and Kern,\nwho was sitting at the table, laughed, for they were now so accustomed\nto these events that they only made them subjects of diversion. In the\nmeantime, Hahn poured some water, which had been standing on the stove,\nin a basin, observing, as he dipped his finger into it, that it was of a\nnice heat for shaving. He seated himself before the table and strapped\nhis razor, but when he attempted to prepare the lather, the water was\nclean vanished out of the basin. Another time, Hahn was awakened by\ngoblins throwing at him a squeezed-up piece of sheet-lead in which\ntobacco had been wrapped, and when he stooped to pick it up, the\nself-same piece was flung at him again. When this was repeated a third\ntime, Hahn flung a heavy stick at his invisible assailant.\n\n\u201cDorfel, the book-keeper, was frequently a witness to these strange\nevents. He once laid his cap on the table by the stove; when, being\nabout to depart, he sought for it, it had vanished. Four or five times\nhe examined the table in vain; presently afterward he saw it lying\nexactly where he had placed it when he came in. On the same table,\nKnittel having once placed his cap and drawn himself a seat, suddenly,\nalthough there was nobody near the table, he saw the cap flying through\nthe room to his feet, where it fell.\n\n\u201cHahn now determined to find out the secret himself, and for this\npurpose seated himself, with two lights before him, in a position where\nhe could see the whole of the room and all the doors and windows it\ncontained;\u2014but the same things occurred, even when Kern was out, the\nservants in the stables, and nobody in the room but himself; and the\nsnuffers were as usual flung about, although the closest observation\ncould not detect by whom.\n\n\u201cThe forest-master, Radzensky, spent a night in the room, but, although\nthe two friends slept, he could get no rest. He was bombarded without\nintermission, and in the morning his bed was found full of all manner of\nhousehold articles.\n\n\u201cOne morning, in spite of all the drumming and flinging, Hahn was\ndetermined to sleep; but a heavy blow on the wall close to his bed soon\nawoke him from his slumbers. A second time he went to sleep, and was\nawaked by a sensation as if some person had dipped his finger in water\nand was sprinkling his face with it. He pretended to sleep again, while\nhe watched Kern and Knittel, who were sitting at the table; the\nsensation of sprinkling returned, but he could find no water on his\nface.\n\n\u201cAbout this time, Hahn had occasion to make a journey as far as Breslau;\nand when he returned he heard the strangest story of all. In order not\nto be alone in this mysterious chamber, Kern had engaged Hahn\u2019s servant,\na man of about forty years of age, and of entire singleness of\ncharacter, to stay with him. One night as Kern lay in his bed, and this\nman was standing near the glass-door in conversation with him, to his\nutter amazement he beheld a jug of beer, which stood on a table in the\nroom at some distance from him, slowly lifted to a height of about three\nfeet, and the contents poured into a glass that was standing there also,\nuntil the latter was half full. The jug was then gently replaced, and\nthe glass lifted and emptied as by some one drinking; while John, the\nservant, exclaimed in terrified surprise, \u2018Lord Jesus! it swallows!\u2019 The\nglass was quietly replaced, and not a drop of beer was to be found on\nthe floor. Hahn was about to require an oath of John in confirmation of\nthis fact; but forbore, seeing how ready the man was to take one, and\nsatisfied of the truth of the relation.\n\n\u201cOne night Knetsch, an inspector of the works, passed the night with the\ntwo friends, and in spite of the unintermitting flinging they all three\nwent to bed. There were lights in the room, and presently all three saw\ntwo napkins, in the middle of the room, rise slowly up to the ceiling,\nand, having there spread themselves out, flutter down again. The china\nbowl of a pipe belonging to Kern flew about and was broken. Knives and\nforks were flung, and at last one of the latter fell on Hahn\u2019s head,\nthough fortunately with the handle downward: and having now endured this\nannoyance for two months, it was unanimously resolved to abandon this\nmysterious chamber, for this night at all events. John and Kern took up\none of the beds and carried it into the opposite room, but they were no\nsooner gone than a pitcher for holding chalybeate-water flew to the feet\nof the two who remained behind, although no door was open, and a brass\ncandlestick was flung to the ground. In the opposite room the night\npassed quietly, although some sounds still issued from the forsaken\nchamber. After this there was a cessation to these strange proceedings,\nand nothing more remarkable occurred, with the exception of the\nfollowing circumstance. Some weeks after the abovementioned removal, as\nHahn was returning home and crossing the bridge that leads to the\ncastle-gate, he heard the foot of a dog behind him. He looked round, and\ncalled repeatedly on the name of a grayhound that was much attached to\nhim, thinking it might be her; but, although he still heard the foot,\neven when he ascended the stairs, as he could see nothing, he concluded\nit was an illusion. Scarcely, however, had he set his foot within the\nroom, than Kern advanced and took the door out of his hand, at the same\ntime calling the dog by name,\u2014immediately adding, however, that he\nthought he had seen the dog, but that he had no sooner called her than\nshe disappeared. Hahn then inquired if he had really seen the dog.\n\u2018Certainly I did,\u2019 replied Kern, \u2018she was close behind you\u2014half within\nthe door\u2014and that was the reason I took it out of your hand, lest, not\nobserving her, you should have shut it suddenly and crushed her. It was\na white dog, and I took it for Flora.\u2019 Search was immediately made for\nthe dog, but she was found locked up in the stable and had not been out\nof it the whole day. It is certainly remarkable\u2014even supposing Hahn to\nhave been deceived with respect to the footsteps\u2014that Kern should have\nseen a white dog behind him, before he had heard a word on the subject\nfrom his friend, especially as there was no such animal in the\nneighborhood; besides, it was not yet dark, and Kern was very\nsharp-sighted.\n\n\u201cHahn remained in the castle for half a year after this, without\nexperiencing anything extraordinary; and even persons who had possession\nof the mysterious chambers were not subjected to any annoyance.\n\n\u201cThe riddle, however, in spite of all the perquisitions and\ninvestigations that were set on foot remained unsolved\u2014no explanation\nof these strange events could be found; and even supposing any motive\ncould exist, there was nobody in the neighborhood clever enough to have\ncarried on such a system of persecution, which lasted so long, that the\ninhabitants of the chamber became almost indifferent to it.\n\n\u201cIn conclusion, it is only necessary to add that Councillor Hahn wrote\ndown this account for his own satisfaction, with the strictest regard to\ntruth. His words are:\u2014\n\n\u201c\u2018I have described these events exactly as I heard and saw them: from\nbeginning to end I observed them with the most entire self-possession. I\nhad no fear, nor the slightest tendency to it; yet the whole thing\nremains to me perfectly inexplicable. Written the 19th of November,\n1808.\n\n                                        \u201c\u2018AUGUSTUS HAHN, _Councillor_.\u2019\n\n\u201cDoubtless many natural explanations of these phenomena will be\nsuggested by those who consider themselves above the weakness of\ncrediting stories of this description. Some say that Kern was a\ndexterous juggler, who contrived to throw dust in the eyes of his friend\nHahn; while others affirm that both Hahn and Kern were intoxicated every\nevening! I did not fail to communicate these objections to Hahn, and\nhere insert his answer:\u2014\n\n\u201c\u2018After the events alluded to, I resided with Kern for a quarter of a\nyear in another part of the castle of Slawensick (which has since been\nstruck by lightning, and burnt), without finding a solution of the\nmystery, or experiencing a repetition of the annoyance, which\ndiscontinued from the moment we quitted those particular apartments.\nThose persons must suppose me very weak, who can imagine it possible\nthat, with only one companion, I could have been the subject of his\nsport for two months without detecting him. As for Kern himself, he was,\nfrom the first, very anxious to leave the rooms; but as I was unwilling\nto resign the hope of discovering some natural cause for these\nphenomena, I persisted in remaining; and the thing that at last induced\nme to yield to his wishes was the vexation at the loss of his\nchina-pipe, which had been flung against the wall and broken. Besides,\njugglery requires a juggler, and I was frequently quite alone when these\nevents occurred. It is equally absurd to accuse us of intoxication. The\nwine there was too dear for us to drink at all, and we confined\nourselves wholly to weak beer. All the circumstances that happened are\nnot set down in the narration; but my recollection of the whole is as\nvivid as if it had occurred yesterday. We had also many witnesses, some\nof whom have been mentioned. Councillor Klenk also visited me at a later\nperiod, with every desire to investigate the mystery; and when, one\nmorning, he had mounted on a table, for the purpose of doing so, and was\nknocking at the ceiling with a stick, a powder-horn fell upon him, which\nhe had just before left on the table in another room. At that time Kern\nhad been for some time absent. I neglected no possible means that could\nhave led to a discovery of the secret; and at least as many people have\nblamed me for my unwillingness to believe in a supernatural cause as the\nreverse. Fear is not my failing, as all who are acquainted with me know;\nand, to avoid the possibility of error, I frequently asked others what\nthey saw when I was myself present; and their answers always coincided\nwith what I saw myself. From 1809 to 1811 I lived in Jacobswald, very\nnear the castle where the prince himself was residing. I am aware that\nsome singular circumstances occurred while he was there; but as I did\nnot witness them myself, I can not speak of them more particularly.\n\n\u201c\u2018I am still as unable as ever to account for those events, and I am\ncontent to submit to the hasty remarks of the world, knowing that I have\nonly related the truth, and what many persons now alive witnessed as\nwell as myself.\n\n                                                     \u201c\u2018COUNCILLOR HAHN.\n \u201c\u2018INGELFINGER, _August 24, 1828_.\u2019\u201d[7]\n\nThe only key to this mystery ever discovered was, that after the\ndestruction of the castle by lightning, when the ruins were removed,\nthere was found the skeleton of a man without a coffin. His skull had\nbeen split, and a sword lay by his side!\n\nNow, I am very well aware how absurd and impossible these events will\nappear to many people, and that they will have recourse to any\nexplanation rather than admit them for facts. Yet, so late as the year\n1835, a suit was brought before the sheriff of Edinburgh, in which\nCaptain Molesworth was defendant, and the landlord of the house he\ninhabited (which was at Trinity, about a couple of miles from Edinburgh)\nwas plaintiff, founded upon circumstances not so varied, certainly, but\nquite as inexplicable. The suit lasted two years, and I have been\nfavored with the particulars of the case by Mr. M\u2014\u2014 L\u2014\u2014, the\nadvocate employed by the plaintiff, who spent many hours in examining\nthe numerous witnesses, several of whom were officers of the army, and\ngentlemen of undoubted honor and capacity for observation.\n\nCaptain Molesworth took the house of a Mr. Webster, who resided in the\nadjoining one, in May or June, 1835; and when he had been in it about\ntwo months, he began to complain of sundry extraordinary noises, which,\nfinding it impossible to account for, he took it into his head\n(strangely enough) were made by Mr. Webster. The latter naturally\nrepresented that it was not probable he should desire to damage the\nreputation of his own house, and drive his tenant out of it, and\nretorted the accusation. Still, as these noises and knockings continued,\nCaptain Molesworth not only lifted the boards in the room most infected,\nbut actually made holes in the wall which divided his residence from Mr.\nWebster\u2019s, for the purpose of detecting the delinquent\u2014of course\nwithout success. Do what they would, the thing went on just the same:\nfootsteps of invisible feet, knockings, and scratchings, and rustlings,\nfirst on one side, and then on the other, were heard daily and nightly.\nSometimes this unseen agent seemed to be knocking to a certain tune, and\nif a question were addressed to it which could be answered\nnumerically\u2014as, \u201cHow many people are there in this room?\u201d for\nexample\u2014it would answer by so many knocks. The beds, too, were\noccasionally heaved up, as if somebody were underneath, and where the\nknockings were, the wall trembled visibly, but, search as they would, no\none could be found.\n\nCaptain Molesworth had had two daughters, one of whom, named Matilda,\nhad lately died; the other, a girl between twelve and thirteen, called\nJane, was sickly, and generally kept her bed; and, as it was observed\nthat, wherever she was, these noises most frequently prevailed, Mr.\nWebster, who did not like the _mala fama_ that was attaching itself to\nhis house, declared that she made them, while the people in the\nneighborhood believed that it was the ghost of Matilda, warning her\nsister that she was soon to follow.\n\nSheriff\u2019s officers, masons, justices of peace, and the officers of the\nregiment quartered at Leith, who were friends of Captain Molesworth, all\ncame to his aid, in hopes of detecting or frightening away his\ntormentor, but in vain. Sometimes it was said to be a trick of somebody\noutside the house, and then they formed a cordon round it; and next, as\nthe poor sick girl was suspected, they tied her up in a bag\u2014but it was\nall to no purpose.\n\nAt length, ill and wearied out by the annoyances and the anxieties\nattending the affair, Captain Molesworth quitted the house, and Mr.\nWebster brought an action against him for the damages committed by\nlifting the boards, breaking the walls, and firing at the wainscoat, as\nwell as for the injury done to his house by saying it was haunted, which\nprevented other tenants taking it.\n\nThe poor young lady died, hastened out of the world, it is said, by the\nsevere measures used while she was under suspicion; and the persons that\nhave since inhabited the house have experienced no repetition of the\nannoyance.\n\nThe manner in which these strange persecutions attach themselves to\ncertain persons and places, seems somewhat analogous to another class of\ncases, which bear a great similarity to what was formerly called\nPOSSESSION: and I must here observe that many German physicians maintain\nthat, to this day, instances of genuine possession occur, and there are\nseveral works published in their language on the subject; and for this\nmalady they consider magnetism the only remedy, all others being worse\nthan useless. Indeed, they look upon _possession_ itself as a\ndemono-magnetic state, in which the patient is in rapport with\nmischievous or evil spirits; as, in the _agatho_ (or good) magnetic\nstate, which is the opposite pole, he is in rapport with good ones: and\nthey particularly warn their readers against confounding this infliction\nwith cases of epilepsy or mania. They assert that, although instances\nare comparatively rare, both sexes and all ages are equally subject to\nthis misfortune; and that it is quite an error to suppose, either, that\nit has ceased since the resurrection of Christ, or that the expression\nused in the Scriptures, \u201cpossessed by a devil,\u201d meant merely insanity or\nconvulsions.\n\nThis disease, which is not contagious, was well known to the Greeks; and\nin later times Hoffmann has recorded several well-established instances.\nAmong the distinguishing symptoms, they reckon the patient\u2019s speaking in\na voice that is not his own; frightful convulsions and motions of the\nbody, which arise suddenly, without any previous indisposition;\nblasphemous and obscene talk; a knowledge of what is secret, and of the\nfuture; a vomiting of extraordinary things such as hair, stones, pins,\nneedles, &c., &c. I need scarcely observe that this opinion is not\nuniversal in Germany; still, it obtains among many who have had\nconsiderable opportunities for observation.\n\nDr. Bardili had a case in the year 1830, which he considered decidedly\nto be one of possession. The patient was a peasant-woman, aged\nthirty-four, who never had any sickness whatever, and the whole of whose\nbodily functions continued perfectly regular while she exhibited the\nfollowing strange phenomena: I must observe that she was happily\nmarried, and had three children\u2014was not a fanatic, and bore an\nexcellent character for regularity and industry\u2014when, without any\nwarning or perceptible cause, she was seized with the most extraordinary\nconvulsions, while a strange voice proceeded from her, which assumed to\nbe that of an unblessed spirit, who had formerly inhabited a human form.\nWhile these fits were on her, she entirely lost her own individuality,\nand became this person: on returning to herself, her understanding and\ncharacter were as entire as before. The blasphemy and cursing, and\nbarking and screeching, were dreadful. She was wounded and injured\nseverely by the violent falls and blows she gave herself; and when she\nhad an intermission, she could do nothing but weep over what they told\nher had passed, and the state in which she saw herself. She was,\nmoreover, reduced to a skeleton; for when she wanted to eat, the spoon\nwas turned round in her hand, and she often fasted for days together.\n\nThis affliction lasted for three years; all remedies failed, and the\nonly alleviation she obtained was by the continued and earnest prayers\nof those about her, and her own: for although this demon did not like\nprayers, and violently opposed her kneeling down, even forcing her to\noutrageous fits of laughter, still they had a power over him. It is\nremarkable that pregnancy, confinement, and the nursing her child, made\nnot the least difference in this woman\u2019s condition: all went on\nregularly, but the demon kept his post. At length, being magnetized, the\npatient fell into a partially somnambulic state, in which another voice\nwas heard to proceed from her, being that of her protecting spirit,\nwhich encouraged her to patience and hope, and promised that the evil\nguest would be obliged to vacate his quarters. She often now fell into a\nmagnetic state without the aid of a magnetizer. At the end of three\nyears she was entirely relieved and as well as ever.\n\nIn the case of Rosina Wildin, aged ten years, which occurred at\nPleidelsheim, in 1834, the demon used to announce himself by crying out,\n\u201cHere I am again!\u201d Whereupon the weak, exhausted child, who had been\nlying like one dead, would rage and storm in a voice like a man\u2019s,\nperform the most extraordinary movements and feats of violence and\nstrength, till he would cry out, \u201cNow I must be off again!\u201d This spirit\nspoke generally in the plural number, for he said she had another\nbesides himself, a dumb devil, who plagued her most. \u201cHe it is that\ntwirls her round and round, distorts her features, turns her eyes, locks\nher teeth, &c. What he bids me, I must do!\u201d This child was at length\ncured by magnetism.\n\nBarbara Rieger, of Steinbach, aged ten, in 1834, was possessed by two\nspirits, who spoke in two distinctly different male voices and dialects;\none said he had formerly been a mason, the other gave himself out for a\ndeceased provisor; the latter of whom was much the worst of the two.\nWhen they spoke, the child closed her eyes, and when she opened them\nagain, she knew nothing of what they had said. The mason confessed to\nhave been a great sinner, but the provisor was proud and hardened, and\nwould confess nothing. They often commanded food, and made her eat it,\nwhich, when she recovered her individuality, she felt nothing of, but\nwas very hungry. The mason was very fond of brandy and drank a great\ndeal; and if not brought when he ordered it, his raging and storming was\ndreadful. In her own individuality the child had the greatest aversion\nto this liquor. They treated her for worms, and other disorders, without\nthe least effect; till at length, by magnetism, the mason was cast out.\nThe provisor was more tenacious, but finally they got rid of him too,\nand the girl remained quite well.\n\nIn 1835, a respectable citizen, whose full name is not given, was\nbrought to Dr. Kerner. He was aged thirty-seven, and till the last seven\nyears had been unexceptionable in conduct and character. An\nunaccountable change had, however, come over him in his thirtieth year,\nwhich made his family very unhappy; and at length, one day, a strange\nvoice suddenly spoke out of him, saying that he was the late magistrate\nS\u2014\u2014, and that he had been in him six years. When this spirit was\ndriven out, by magnetism, the man fell to the earth, and was almost torn\nto pieces by the violence of the struggle; he then lay for a space as if\ndead, and arose quite well and free.\n\nIn another case, a young woman at Gruppenbach, was quite in her senses,\nand heard the voice of her demon (who was also a deceased person) speak\nout of her, without having any power to suppress it.\n\nIn short, instances of this description seem by no means rare; and if\nsuch a phenomenon as possession ever did exist, I do not see what right\nwe have to assert that it exists no longer, since, in fact, we know\nnothing about it; only, that being determined to admit nothing so\ncontrary to the ideas of the present day, we set out by deciding that\nthe thing is impossible.\n\nSince these cases occur in other countries, no doubt they must do so in\nthis; and, indeed, I have met with one instance much more remarkable in\nits details than any of those abovementioned, which occurred at\nBishopwearmouth, near Sunderland, in the year 1840; and as the\nparticulars of this case have been published and attested by two\nphysicians and two surgeons, not to mention the evidence of numerous\nother persons, I think we are bound to accept the facts, whatever\ninterpretation we may choose to put upon them.\n\nThe patient, named Mary Jobson, was between twelve and thirteen years of\nage; her parents, respectable people in humble life, and herself an\nattendant on a Sunday-school. She became ill in November, 1839, and was\nsoon afterward seized with terrific fits, which continued, at intervals,\nfor eleven weeks. It was during this period that the family first\nobserved a strange knocking, which they could not account for. It was\nsometimes in one place, and sometimes in another; and even about the\nbed, when the girl lay in a quiet sleep, with her hands folded outside\nthe clothes. They next heard a strange voice, which told them\ncircumstances they did not know, but which they afterward found to be\ncorrect. Then there was a noise like the clashing of arms, and such a\nrumbling that the tenant below thought the house was coming down;\nfootsteps where nobody was to be seen, water falling on the floor, no\none knew whence, locked doors opened, and above all, sounds of ineffably\nsweet music. The doctors and the father were suspicious, and every\nprecaution was taken, but no solution of the mystery could be found.\nThis spirit, however, was a good one, and it preached to them, and gave\nthem a great deal of good advice. Many persons went to witness this\nstrange phenomenon, and some were desired to go by the voice, when in\ntheir own homes. Thus Elizabeth Gauntlett, while attending to some\ndomestic affairs at home, was startled by hearing a voice say, \u201cBe thou\nfaithful, and thou shalt see the works of thy God, and shalt hear with\nthine ears!\u201d She cried out, \u201cMy God! what can this be!\u201d and presently\nshe saw a large white cloud near her. On the same evening the voice said\nto her, \u201cMary Jobson, one of your scholars is sick; go and see her, and\nit will be good for you.\u201d This person did not know where the child\nlived, but having inquired the address, she went: and at the door she\nheard the same voice bid her go up. On entering the room she heard\nanother voice, soft and beautiful, which bade her be faithful, and said,\n\u201cI am the Virgin Mary.\u201d This voice promised her a sign at home; and\naccordingly, that night, while reading the Bible, she heard it say,\n\u201cJemima, be not afraid; it is I: if you keep my commandments it shall be\nwell with you.\u201d When she repeated her visit the same things occurred,\nand she heard the most exquisite music.\n\nThe same sort of phenomena were witnessed by everybody who went\u2014the\nimmoral were rebuked, the good encouraged. Some were bidden instantly to\ndepart, and were forced to go. The voices of several deceased persons of\nthe family were also heard, and made revelations.\n\nOnce the voice said, \u201cLook up, and you shall see the sun and moon on the\nceiling!\u201d and immediately there appeared a beautiful representation of\nthese planets in lively colors, viz., green, yellow, and orange.\nMoreover, these figures were permanent; but the father, who was a long\ntime skeptical, insisted on whitewashing them over; however, they still\nremained visible.\n\nAmong other things, the voice said, that though the child appeared to\nsuffer, she did not; that she did not know where her body was; and that\nher own spirit had left it, and another had entered; and that her body\nwas made a speaking trumpet. The voice told the family and visiters many\nthings of their distant friends, which proved true.\n\nThe girl twice saw a divine form standing by her bedside who spoke to\nher, and Joseph Ragg, one of the persons who had been invited by the\nvoice to go, saw a beautiful and heavenly figure come to his bedside\nabout eleven o\u2019clock at night, on the 17th of January. It was in male\nattire, surrounded by a radiance; it came a second time on the same\nnight. On each occasion it opened his curtains and looked at him\nbenignantly, remaining about a quarter of an hour. When it went away,\nthe curtains fell back into their former position. One day, while in the\nsick child\u2019s room, Margaret Watson saw a lamb, which passed through the\ndoor and entered a place where the father, John Jobson, was; but he did\nnot see it.\n\nOne of the most remarkable features in this case is the beautiful music\nwhich was heard by all parties, as well as the family, including the\nunbelieving father; and indeed it seems to have been, in a great degree,\nthis that converted him at last. This music was heard repeatedly during\na space of sixteen weeks: sometimes it was like an organ, but more\nbeautiful; at others there was singing of holy songs, in parts, and the\nwords distinctly heard. The sudden appearance of water in the room too\nwas most unaccountable; for they felt it, and it was really water. When\nthe voice desired that water should be sprinkled, it immediately\nappeared as if sprinkled. At another time, a sign being promised to the\nskeptical father, water would suddenly appear on the floor; this\nhappened \u201cnot once, but twenty times.\u201d\n\nDuring the whole course of this affair, the voices told them that there\nwas a miracle to be wrought on this child; and accordingly on the 22d of\nJune, when she was as ill as ever and they were only praying for her\ndeath, at five o\u2019clock the voice ordered that her clothes should be laid\nout, and that everybody should leave the room except the infant, which\nwas two years and a half old. They obeyed; and having been outside the\ndoor a quarter of an hour, the voice cried, \u201cCome in!\u201d and when they\nentered, they saw the girl completely dressed and quite well, sitting in\na chair with the infant on her knee, and she had not had an hour\u2019s\nillness from that time till the report was published, which was on the\n30th of January, 1841.\n\nNow, it is very easy to laugh at all this, and assert that these things\nnever happened, because they are absurd and impossible; but while\nhonest, well-meaning, and intelligent people, who were on the spot,\nassert that they did, I confess I find myself constrained to believe\nthem, however much I find in the case which is discrepant with my\nnotions. It was not an affair of a day or an hour\u2014there was ample time\nfor observation\u2014for the phenomena continued from the 9th of February to\nthe 22d of June; and the determined unbelief of the father regarding the\npossibility of spiritual appearances, insomuch that he ultimately\nexpressed great regret for the harshness he had used, is a tolerable\nsecurity against imposition. Moreover, they pertinaciously refused to\nreceive any money or assistance whatever, and were more likely to suffer\nin public opinion than otherwise by the avowal of these circumstances.\n\nDr. Clanny, who publishes the report with the attestations of the\nwitnesses, is a physician of many years\u2019 experience, and is also, I\nbelieve, the inventor of the improved Davy lamp; and he declares his\nentire conviction of the facts, assuring his readers that \u201cmany persons\nholding high rank in the established church, ministers of other\ndenominations, as well as many lay-members of society, highly respected\nfor learning and piety, are equally satisfied.\u201d When he first saw the\nchild lying on her back, apparently insensible, her eyes suffused with\nflorid blood, he felt assured that she had a disease of the brain; and\nhe was not in the least disposed to believe in the mysterious part of\nthe affair, till subsequent investigation compelled him to do so: and\nthat his belief is of a very decided character we may feel assured, when\nhe is content to submit to all the obloquy he must incur by avowing it.\n\nHe adds that, since the girl has been quite well, both her family and\nthat of Joseph Ragg have frequently heard the same heavenly music as\nthey did during her illness; and Mr. Torbock, a surgeon, who expresses\nhimself satisfied of the truth of the above particulars, also mentions\nanother case, in which he, as well as a dying person he was attending,\nheard divine music just before the dissolution.\n\nOf this last phenomenon\u2014namely, sounds as of heavenly music being heard\nwhen a death was occurring\u2014I have met with numerous instances.\n\nFrom the investigation of the above case, Dr. Clanny has arrived at the\nconviction that the spiritual world do occasionally identify themselves\nwith our affairs; and Dr. Drury asserts that, besides this instance, he\nhas met with another circumstance which has left him firmly convinced\nthat we live in a world of spirits, and that he has been in the presence\nof an unearthly being, who had \u201cpassed that bourne from which,\u201d it is\nsaid, \u201cno traveller returns.\u201d[8]\n\nBut the most extraordinary case I have yet met with is the following;\nbecause it is one which can not, by any possibility, be attributed to\ndisease or illusion. It is furnished to me from the most undoubted\nauthority, and I give it as I received it, with the omission of the\nnames. I have indeed, in this instance, thought it right to change the\ninitial, and substitute G. for the right one\u2014the particulars being of a\nnature which demand the greatest delicacy, as regards the parties\nconcerned:\u2014\n\n\u201cMrs. S. C. Hall, in early life, was intimately acquainted with a\nfamily, one of whom, Richard G\u2014\u2014, a young officer in the army, was\nsubject to a harassing visitation of a kind that is usually regarded as\nsupernatural. Mrs. H. once proposed to pay a visit to her particular\nfriend, Catherine G\u2014\u2014, but was told that it would not be convenient\nexactly at that time, as Richard was on the point of coming home. She\nthought the inconvenience consisted in the want of a bed-room, and spoke\nof sleeping with Miss G\u2014\u2014, but found that the objection really lay in\nthe fact of Richard being \u2018haunted,\u2019 which rendered it impossible for\nanybody else to be comfortable in the same house with him. A few weeks\nafter Richard\u2019s return, Mrs. Hall heard of Mrs. G\u2014\u2014\u2019s being extremely\nill; and found, on going to call, that it was owing to nothing but the\ndistress the old lady suffered in consequence of the strange\ncircumstance connected with her son. It appeared that Richard, wherever\nhe was\u2014at home, in camp, in lodgings, abroad, or in his own\ncountry\u2014was liable to be visited in his bed-room at night by certain\nextraordinary noises. Any light he kept in the room was sure to be put\nout. Something went beating about the walls and his bed, making a great\nnoise, and often shifting close to his face, but never becoming visible.\nIf a cage-bird was in his room, it was certain to be found dead in the\nmorning. If he kept a dog in the apartment, it would make away from him\nas soon as released, and never come near him again. His brother, even\nhis mother, had slept in the room, but the visitation took place as\nusual. According to Miss G\u2014\u2014\u2019s report, she and other members of the\nfamily would listen at the bed-room door, after Richard had gone to\nsleep, and would hear the noises commence; and they would then hear him\nsit up and express his vexation by a few military execrations. The young\nman, at length, was obliged by this pest to quit the army and go upon\nhalf-pay. Under its influence he became a sort of Cain; for, wherever he\nlived, the annoyance was so great that he was quickly obliged to remove.\nMrs. Hall heard of his having ultimately gone to settle in Ireland,\nwhere, however, according to a brother whom she met about four years\nago, the visitation which afflicted him in his early years was in no\ndegree abated.\u201d\n\nThis can not be called a case of possession, but seems to be one of a\nrapport, which attaches this invisible tormentor to his victim.\n\n-----\n\n[6] There was also a remarkable case of this sort at Mr. Chaves, in\nDevonshire, in the year 1810, where affidavits were made before the\nmagistrates attesting the facts, and large rewards offered for\ndiscovery, but in vain. The phenomena continued several months, and the\nspiritual agent was frequently seen in the form of some strange animal.\n\n[7] Translated from the original German.\u2014C. C.\n\n[8] Alluding, I conclude, to the affair at Willington.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XVII.\n\n\n                        MISCELLANEOUS PHENOMENA.\n\nIN a former chapter, I alluded to the forms seen floating over graves,\nby Billing, Pfeffel\u2019s amanuensis. By some persons, this luminous form is\nseen only as a light, just as occurs in many of the apparition cases I\nhave related. How far Baron Reichenbach is correct in his conclusion,\nthat these figures are merely the result of the chemical process going\non below, it is impossible for any one at present to say. The fact that\nthese lights do not always hover over the graves, but sometimes move\nfrom them, militates against this opinion, as I have before observed;\nand the insubstantial nature of the form which reconstructed itself\nafter Pfeffel had passed his stick through it proves nothing, since the\nsame thing is asserted of all apparitions I meet with, let them be seen\nwhere they may, except in such very extraordinary cases as that of the\nBride of Corinth, supposing that story to be true.\n\nAt the same time, although these cases are not made out to be chemical\nphenomena, neither are we entitled to class them under the head of what\nis commonly understood by the word _ghost_; whereby we comprehend a\nshadowy shape, informed by an intelligent spirit. But there are some\ncases, a few of which I will mention, that it seems extremely difficult\nto include under one category or the other.\n\nThe late Lieutenant-General Robertson, of Lawers, who served during the\nwhole of the American war, brought home with him, at its termination, a\nnegro, who went by the name of Black Tom, and who continued in his\nservice. The room appropriated to the use of this man, in the general\u2019s\ntown residence (I speak of Edinburgh), was on the ground floor; and he\nwas heard frequently to complain that he could not rest in it, for that\nevery night the figure of a headless lady, with a child in her arms,\nrose out of the hearth and frightened him dreadfully. Of course nobody\nbelieved this story, and it was supposed to be the dream of\nintoxication, as Tom was not remarkable for sobriety; but, strange to\nsay, when the old mansion was pulled down to build Gillespie\u2019s hospital,\nwhich stands on its site, there was found, under the hearth-stone in\nthat apartment, a box containing the body of a female, from which the\nhead had been severed; and beside her lay the remains of an infant,\nwrapped in a pillow-case trimmed with lace. She appeared, poor lady, to\nhave been cut off in the \u201cblossom of her sins;\u201d for she was dressed, and\nher scissors were yet hanging by a riband to her side, and her thimble\nwas also in the box, having, apparently, fallen from the shrivelled\nfinger.\n\nNow, whether we are to consider this a ghost, or a phenomenon of the\nsame nature as that seen by Billing, it is difficult to decide. Somewhat\nsimilar is the following case, which I have borrowed from a little work\nentitled \u201cSupernaturalism in New England.\u201d Not only does this little\nextract prove that the same phenomena, be they interpreted as they may,\nexist in all parts of the world, but I think it will be granted me that,\nalthough we have not here the confirmation that time furnished in the\nformer instance, yet it is difficult to suppose that this unexcitable\nperson should have been the subject of so extraordinary a spectral\nillusion.\n\n\u201cWhoever has seen Great pond, in the east parish of Haverhill, has seen\none of the very loveliest of the thousand little lakes or ponds of New\nEngland. With its soft slopes of greenest verdure\u2014its white and\nsparkling sand-rim\u2014its southern hem of pine and maple, mirrored, with\nspray and leaf, in the glassy water\u2014its graceful hill-sentinels round\nabout, white with the orchard-bloom of spring, or tasselled with the\ncorn of autumn\u2014its long sweep of blue waters, broken here and there by\npicturesque headlands\u2014it would seem a spot, of all others, where\nspirits of evil must shrink, rebuked and abashed, from the presence of\nthe beautiful. Yet here, too, has the shadow of the supernatural fallen.\nA lady of my acquaintance, a staid, unimaginative church-member, states\nthat, a few years ago, she was standing in the angle formed by two\nroads, one of which traverses the pond-shore, the other leading over the\nhill which rises abruptly from the water. It was a warm summer evening,\njust at sunset. She was startled by the appearance of a horse and cart,\nof the kind used a century ago in New England, driving rapidly down the\nsteep hill-side, and crossing the wall a few yards before her, without\nnoise or displacing of a stone. The driver sat sternly erect, with a\nfierce countenance, grasping the reins tightly, and looking neither to\nthe right nor the left. Behind the cart, and apparently lashed to it,\nwas a woman of gigantic size, her countenance convulsed with a blended\nexpression of rage and agony, writhing and struggling, like Laocoon in\nthe folds of the serpent. Her head, neck, feet, and arms, were naked;\nwild locks of gray hair streamed back from temples corrugated and\ndarkened. The horrible cavalcade swept by across the street, and\ndisappeared at the margin of the pond.\u201d\n\nMany persons will have heard of the \u201cWild Troop of Rodenstein,\u201d but few\nare aware of the curious amount of evidence there is in favor of the\nstrange belief which prevails among the inhabitants of that region. The\nstory goes, that the former possessors of the castles of Rodenstein and\nSchnellert were robbers and pirates, who committed, in conjunction, all\nmanner of enormities; and that, to this day, the troop, with their\nhorses and carriages, and dogs, are heard, every now and then, wildly\nrushing along the road between the two castles. This sounds like a fairy\ntale; yet so much was it believed, that, up to the middle of the last\ncentury, regular reports were made to the authorities in the\nneighborhood of the periods when the troop had passed. Since that, the\nlandgericht, or court leet, has been removed to Furth, and they trouble\nthemselves no longer about the Rodenstein troop; but a traveller, named\nWirth, who a few years ago undertook to examine into the affair,\ndeclares the people assert that the passage of the visionary cavalcade\nstill continues; and they assured him that certain houses, that he saw\nlying in ruins, were in that state because, as they lay directly in the\nway of the troop, they were uninhabitable. There is seldom anything\nseen; but the noise of carriage-wheels, horses\u2019 feet, smacking of whips,\nblowing of horns, and the voice of these fierce hunters of men urging\nthem on, are the sounds by which they recognise that the troop is\npassing from one castle to the other; and at a spot which was formerly a\nblacksmith\u2019s, but is now a carpenter\u2019s, the invisible lord of Rodenstein\nstill stops to have his horse shod. Mr. Wirth copied several of the\ndepositions out of the court records, and they are brought down to June,\n1764. This is certainly a strange story; but it is not much more so than\nthat of the black man, which I know to be true.\n\nDuring the seven years\u2019 war in Germany, a drover lost his life in a\ndrunken squabble on the high road. For some time there was a sort of\nrude tombstone, with a cross on it, to mark the spot where his body was\ninterred; but this has long fallen, and a milestone now fills its place.\nNevertheless, it continues commonly asserted by the country people, and\nalso by various travellers, that they have been deluded in that spot by\nseeing, as they imagine, herds of beasts, which, on investigation, prove\nto be merely visionary. Of course, many people look upon this as a\nsuperstition; but a very singular confirmation of the story occurred in\nthe year 1826, when two gentlemen and two ladies were passing the spot\nin a post-carriage. One of these was a clergyman, and none of them had\never heard of the phenomenon said to be attached to the place. They had\nbeen discussing the prospects of the minister, who was on his way to a\nvicarage, to which he had just been appointed, when they saw a large\nflock of sheep, which stretched quite across the road, and was\naccompanied by a shepherd and a long-haired black dog. As to meet cattle\non that road was nothing uncommon, and indeed they had met several\ndroves in the course of the day, no remark was made at the moment, till,\nsuddenly, each looked at the other and said, \u201cWhat is become of the\nsheep?\u201d Quite perplexed at their sudden disappearance, they called to\nthe postillion to stop, and all got out in order to mount a little\nelevation and look around; but still unable to discover them, they now\nbethought themselves of asking the postillion where they were, when, to\ntheir infinite surprise, they learned that he had not seen them. Upon\nthis, they bade him quicken his pace, that they might overtake a\ncarriage that had passed them shortly before, and inquire if that party\nhad seen the sheep; but they had not.\n\nFour years later, a postmaster, named J\u2014\u2014, was on the same road,\ndriving a carriage, in which were a clergyman and his wife, when he saw\na large flock of sheep near the same spot. Seeing they were very fine\nwethers, and supposing them to have been bought at a sheep-fair that was\nthen taking place a few miles off, J\u2014\u2014 drew up his reins and stopped\nhis horse, turning at the same time to the clergyman to say, that he\nwanted to inquire the price of the sheep, as he intended going next day\nto the fair himself. While the minister was asking him what sheep he\nmeant, J\u2014\u2014 got down and found himself in the midst of the animals, the\nsize and beauty of which astonished him. They passed him at an unusual\nrate, while he made his way through them to find the shepherd, when, on\ngetting to the end of the flock, they suddenly disappeared. He then\nfirst learned that his fellow-travellers had not seen them at all.\n\nNow, if such cases as these are not pure illusions, which I confess I\nfind it difficult to believe, we must suppose that the animals and all\nthe extraneous circumstances are produced by the magical will of the\nspirit, either acting on the constructive imagination of the seers, or\nelse actually constructing the ethereal forms out of the elements at its\ncommand, just as we have supposed an apparition able to present himself\nwith whatever dress or appliances he conceives; or else we must conclude\nthese forms to have some relation to the mystery called PALINGNESIA,\nwhich I have previously alluded to, although the motion and change of\nplace render it difficult to bring them under this category. As for the\nanimals, although the drover was slain, they were not; and therefore,\neven granting them to have souls, we can not look upon them as the\napparitions of the flock. Neither can we consider the numerous instances\nof armies seen in the air to be apparitions; and yet these phenomena are\nso well established that they have been accounted for by supposing them\nto be atmospherical reflections of armies elsewhere, in actual motion.\nBut how are we to account for the visionary troops which are not seen in\nthe air, but on the very ground on which the seers themselves stand,\nwhich was the case especially with those seen in Havarah park, near\nRipley, in the year 1812? These soldiers wore a white uniform, and in\nthe centre was a personage in a scarlet one.\n\nAfter performing several evolutions, the body began to march in perfect\norder to the summit of a hill, passing the spectators at the distance of\nabout one hundred yards. They amounted to several hundreds, and marched\nin a column, four deep, across about thirty acres; and no sooner were\nthey passed, than another body, far more numerous, but dressed in dark\nclothes, arose and marched after them, without any apparent hostility.\nBoth parties having reached the top of the hill, and there formed what\nthe spectators called an L, they disappeared down the other side, and\nwere seen no more; but at that moment a volume of smoke arose like the\ndischarge of a park of artillery, which was so thick that the men could\nnot, for two or three minutes, discover their own cattle. They then\nhurried home to relate what they had seen, and the impression made on\nthem is described as so great, that they could never allude to the\nsubject without emotion.\n\nOne of them was a farmer of the name of Jackson, aged forty-five; the\nother was a lad of fifteen, called Turner: and they were at the time\nherding cattle in the park. The scene seems to have lasted nearly a\nquarter of an hour, during which time they were quite in possession of\nthemselves, and able to make remarks to each other on what they saw.\nThey were both men of excellent character and unimpeachable veracity,\ninsomuch that nobody who knew them doubted that they actually saw what\nthey described, or, at all events, believed that they did. It is to be\nobserved, also, that the ground is not swampy, nor subject to any\nexhalations.\n\nAbout the year 1750, a visionary army of the same description was seen\nin the neighborhood of Inverness, by a respectable farmer, of Glenary,\nand his son. The number of troops was very great, and they had not the\nslightest doubt that they were otherwise than substantial forms of flesh\nand blood. They counted at least sixteen pairs of columns, and had\nabundance of time to observe every particular. The front ranks marched\nseven abreast, and were accompanied by a good many women and children,\nwho were carrying tin cans and other implements of cookery. The men were\nclothed in red, and their arms shone brightly in the sun. In the midst\nof them was an animal\u2014a deer or a horse, they could not distinguish\nwhich\u2014that they were driving furiously forward with their bayonets. The\nyounger of the two men observed to the other that every now and then the\nrear ranks were obliged to run to overtake the van; and the elder one,\nwho had been a soldier, remarked that that was always the case, and\nrecommended him, if he ever served, to try and march in the front. There\nwas only one mounted officer: he rode a gray dragoon horse, and wore a\ngold-laced hat and blue hussar cloak, with wide, open sleeves, lined\nwith red. The two spectators observed him so particularly, that they\nsaid afterward they should recognise him anywhere. They were, however,\nafraid of being ill-treated, or forced to go along with the troops, whom\nthey concluded had come from Ireland, and landed at Kyntyre; and while\nthey were climbing over a dike to get out of their way, the whole thing\nvanished.\n\nSome years since, a phenomenon of the same sort was observed at\nPaderborn, in Westphalia, and seen by at least thirty persons, as well\nas by horses and dogs, as was discovered by the demeanor of these\nanimals. In October, 1836, on the very same spot, there was a review of\ntwenty thousand men; and the people then concluded that the former\nvision was a second-sight.\n\nA similar circumstance occurred in Stockton forest, some years ago; and\nthere are many recorded elsewhere\u2014one especially, in the year 1686,\nnear Lanark, where, for several afternoons, in the months of June and\nJuly, there were seen, by numerous spectators, companies of men in arms,\nmarching in order by the banks of the Clyde, and other companies meeting\nthem, &c., &c.; added to which there were showers of bonnets, hats,\nguns, swords, &c., which the seers described with the greatest\nexactness. All who were present could not see these things, and Walker\nrelates that one gentleman, particularly, was turning the thing into\nridicule, calling the seers \u201cdamned witches and warlocks, with the\nsecond-sight!\u201d\u2014boasting that \u201cthe devil a thing he could see!\u201d\u2014when he\nsuddenly exclaimed, with fear and trembling, that he now saw it all; and\nentreated those who did not see, to say nothing\u2014a change that may be\neasily accounted for, be the phenomenon of what nature it may, by\nsupposing him to have touched one of the seers, when the faculty would\nbe communicated like a shock of electricity.\n\nWith regard to the palinganesia, it would be necessary to establish that\nthese objects had previously existed, and that, as Oetinger says, the\nearthly husk having fallen off, \u201cthe volatile essence had ascended\nperfect in form, but void of substance.\u201d\n\nThe notion supported by Baron Reichenbach, that the lights seen in\nchurchyards and over graves are the result of a process going on below,\nis by no means new, for Gaffarillus suggested the same opinion in 1650;\nonly he speaks of the appearances over graves and in churchyards as\nshadows, _ombres_, as they appeared to Billing; and he mentions,\ncasually, as a thing frequently observed, that the same visionary forms\nare remarked on ground where battles have been fought, which he thinks\narise out of a process between the earth and the sun. When a limb has\nbeen cut off, some somnambules still discern the form of the member as\nif actually attached.\n\nBut this magical process is said to be not only the work of the\nelements, but also possible to man; and that as the forms of plants can\nbe preserved after the substance is destroyed, so can that of man be\neither preserved or reproduced from the elements of his body. In the\nreign of Louis XIV., three alchemists, having distilled some earth taken\nfrom the cemetery of the Innocents, in Paris, were forced to desist, by\nseeing the forms of men appearing in their vials, instead of the\nphilosopher\u2019s stone, which they were seeking; and a physician, who,\nafter dissecting a body, and pulverizing the cranium (which was then an\narticle admitted into the materia medica), had left the powder on the\ntable of his laboratory, in charge of his assistant, the latter, who\nslept in an adjoining room, was awakened in the night by hearing a\nnoise, which, after some search, he ultimately traced to the powder\u2014in\nthe midst of which he beheld, gradually constructing itself, a human\nform! First appeared the head, with two open eyes, then the arms and\nhands, and, by degrees, the rest of the person, which subsequently\nassumed the clothes it had worn when alive! The man was, of course,\nfrightened out of his wits\u2014the rather, as the apparition planted itself\nbefore the door, and would not let him go away till it had made its own\nexit, which it speedily did. Similar results have been said to arise\nfrom experiments performed on blood. I confess I should be disposed to\nconsider these apparitions, if ever they appeared, cases of genuine\nghosts, brought into rapport by the operation, rather than forms\nresiding in the bones or blood. At all events, these things are very\nhard to believe; but seeing we were not there, I do not think we have\nany right to say they did not happen; or at least that some phenomena\ndid not occur, that were open to this interpretation.\n\nIt is highly probable that the seeing of those visionary armies and\nsimilar prodigies is a sort of second-sight; but having admitted this,\nwe are very little nearer an explanation. Granting that, as in the above\nexperiments, the essence of things may retain the forms of the\nsubstance, this does not explain the seeing that which has not yet taken\nplace, or which is taking place at so great a distance, that neither\nOetinger\u2019s essence nor the superficial films of Lucretius can remove the\ndifficulty.\n\nIt is the fashion to say that second-sight was a mere superstition of\nthe highlanders, and that no such thing is ever heard of now; but those\nwho talk in this way know very little of the matter. No doubt, if they\nset out to look for seers, they may not find them; such phenomena,\nthough known in all countries and in all ages, are _comparatively_ rare,\nas well as uncertain and capricious, and not to be exercised at will:\nbut I know of too many instances of the existence of this faculty in\nfamilies, as well as of isolated cases occurring to individuals above\nall suspicion, to entertain the smallest doubt of its reality. But the\ndifficulty of furnishing evidence is considerable: because, when the\nseers are of the humbler classes, they are called impostors and not\nbelieved; and when they are of the higher, they do not make the subject\na matter of conversation, nor choose to expose themselves to the\nridicule of the foolish; and consequently the thing is not known beyond\ntheir own immediate friends. When the young duke of Orleans was killed,\na lady, residing here, saw the accident, and described it to her husband\nat the time it was occurring in France. She had frequently seen the\nduke, when on the continent.\n\nCaptain N\u2014\u2014 went to stay two days at the house of Lady T\u2014\u2014. After\ndinner, however, he announced that he was under the necessity of going\naway that night, nor could he be induced to remain. On being much\npressed for an explanation, he confided to some of the party that,\nduring the dinner, he had seen a female figure with her throat cut,\nstanding behind Lady T\u2014\u2014\u2019s chair. Of course, it was thought an\nillusion, but Lady T\u2014\u2014 was not told of it, lest she should be alarmed.\nThat night the household was called up for the purpose of summoning a\nsurgeon\u2014Lady T\u2014\u2014 had cut her own throat!\n\nMr. C\u2014\u2014, who, though a Scotchman, was an entire skeptic with regard to\nthe second-sight, was told by a seer whom he had been jeering on the\nsubject, that, within a month, he (Mr. C\u2014\u2014) would be a pall-bearer at\na funeral; that he would go by a certain road, but that, before they had\ncrossed the brook, a man in a drab coat would come down the hill and\ntake the pall from him. The funeral occurred, Mr. C\u2014\u2014 was a bearer,\nand they went by the road described; but he firmly resolved that he\nwould disappoint the seer by keeping the pall while they crossed the\nbrook; but shortly before they reached it, the postman overtook them,\nwith letters, which in that part of the country arrived but twice a\nweek, and Mr. C\u2014\u2014, who was engaged in some speculations of importance,\nturned to received them\u2014at which moment the pall was taken from him,\nand on looking round, he saw it was by a man in a drab coat!\n\nA medical friend of mine, who practised some time at Deptford, was once\nsent for to a girl who had been taken suddenly ill. He found her with\ninflammation of the brain, and the only account the mother could give of\nit was, that shortly before, she had run into the room, crying, \u201cOh,\nmother, I have seen Uncle John drowned in his boat under the fifth arch\nof Rochester bridge!\u201d The girl died a few hours afterward; and, on the\nfollowing night, the uncle\u2019s boat ran foul of the bridge, and he was\ndrowned, exactly as she had foretold.\n\nMrs. A\u2014\u2014, an English lady, and the wife of a clergyman, relates that,\nprevious to her marriage, she with her father and mother being at the\nseaside, had arranged to make a few days\u2019 excursion to some races that\nwere about to take place; and that the night before they started, the\nfather having been left alone, while the ladies were engaged in their\npreparations, they found him, on descending to the drawing-room, in a\nstate of considerable agitation\u2014which, he said, had arisen from his\nhaving seen a dreadful face at one corner of the room. He described it\nas a bruised, battered, crushed, discolored face, with the two eyes\nprotruding frightfully from their sockets; but the features were too\ndisfigured to ascertain if it were the face of any one he knew. On the\nfollowing day, on their way to the races, an accident occurred; and he\nwas brought home with his own face exactly in the condition he had\ndescribed. He had never exhibited any other instance of this\nextraordinary faculty, and the impression made by the circumstance\nlasted the remainder of his life, which was unhappily shortened by the\ninjuries he had received.\n\nThe late Mrs. V\u2014\u2014, a lady of fortune and family, who resides near Loch\nLomond, possessed this faculty in an extraordinary degree, and displayed\nit on many remarkable occasions. When her brother was shipwrecked in the\nchannel, she was heard to exclaim, \u201cThank God, he is saved!\u201d and\ndescribed the scene with all its circumstances.\n\nColonel David Steward, a determined believer in what he calls the\nsupernatural, in his book on the highlanders, relates the following fact\nas one so remarkable, that \u201ccredulous minds\u201d may be excused for\nbelieving it to have been prophetic. He says that, late in an autumnal\nevening of the year 1773, the son of a neighbor came to his father\u2019s\nhouse, and soon after his arrival inquired for a little boy of the\nfamily, then about three years old. He was shown up to the nursery, and\nfound the nurse putting a pair of new shoes on the child, which she\ncomplained did not fit. \u201cNever mind,\u201d said the young man, \u201cthey will fit\nhim before he wants them\u201d\u2014a prediction which not only offended the\nnurse, but seemed at the moment absurd, since the child was apparently\nin perfect health. When he joined the party in the drawing-room, he\nbeing much jeered upon this new gift of second-sight, explained that the\nimpression he had received originated in his having just seen a funeral\npassing the wooden bridge which crossed a stream at a short distance\nfrom the house. He first observed a crowd of people, and on coming\nnearer he saw a person carrying a small coffin, followed by about twenty\ngentlemen, all of his acquaintance, his own father and a Mr. Stewart\nbeing among the number. He did not attempt to join the procession, which\nhe saw turn off into the churchyard: but knowing his own father could\nnot be actually there, and that Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were then at Blair,\nhe felt a conviction that the phenomenon portended the death of the\nchild: a persuasion which was verified by its suddenly expiring on the\nfollowing night;\u2014and Colonel Stewart adds that the circumstances and\nattendants at the funeral were precisely such as the young man had\ndescribed. He mentions, also, that this gentleman was not a seer; that\nhe was a man of education and general knowledge; and that this was the\nfirst and only vision of the sort he ever had.\n\nI know of a young lady who has three times seen funerals in this way.\n\nThe old persuasion that fasting was a means of developing the spirit of\nprophecy, is undoubtedly well founded, and the annals of medicine\nfurnish numerous facts which establish it. A man condemned to death at\nViterbo, having abstained from food in the hope of escaping execution,\nbecame so clairvoyant, that he could tell what was doing in any part of\nthe prison; the expression used in the report is that he \u201csaw through\nthe walls:\u201d this, however, could not be with his natural organs of\nsight.\n\nIt is worthy of observation, that idiots often possess some gleams of\nthis faculty of second-sight or presentiment; and it is probably on this\naccount that they are in some countries held sacred. Presentiment, which\nI think may very probably be merely the vague and imperfect recollection\nof what we _knew_ in our sleep, is often observed in drunken people.\n\nIn the great plague at Basle, which occurred toward the end of the\nsixteenth century, almost everybody who died called out in their last\nmoments the name of the person that was to follow them next.\n\nNot long ago, a servant girl on the estate of D\u2014\u2014, of S\u2014\u2014, saw with\namazement five figures ascending a perpendicular cliff, quite\ninaccessible to human feet; one was a boy wearing a cap with red\nbinding. She watched them with great curiosity till they reached the\ntop, where they all stretched themselves on the earth, with countenances\nexpressive of great dejection. While she was looking at them they\ndisappeared, and she immediately related her vision. Shortly afterward,\na foreign ship, in distress, was seen to put off a boat with four men\nand a boy: the boat was dashed to pieces in the surf, and the five\nbodies, exactly answering the description she had given, were thrown on\nshore at the foot of the cliff, which they had perhaps climbed in the\nspirit!\n\nHow well what we call clairvoyance was known, though how little\nunderstood, at the period of the witch persecution, is proved by what\nDr. Henry More says in his \u201cAntidote against Atheism\u201d:\u2014\n\n\u201cWe will now pass to those supernatural effects which are observed in\nthem that are bewitched or possessed; and such as foretelling things to\ncome, telling what such and such persons speak or do, as exactly as if\nthey were by them, when the party possessed is at one end of the town,\nand sitting in a house within doors, and those parties that act and\nconfer together are without, at the other end of the town; to be able to\nsee some and not others; to play at cards with one certain person, and\nnot to discern anybody else at the table beside him; to act and talk,\nand go up and down, and tell what will become of things, and what\nhappens in those fits of possession; and then, as soon as the possessed\nor bewitched party is out of them, to remember nothing at all, but to\ninquire concerning the welfare of those whose faces they seemed to look\nupon just before, when they were in their fits;\u201d\u2014a state which he\nbelieves to arise from the devil\u2019s having taken possession of the body\nof the magnetic person, which is precisely the theory supported by many\nfanatical persons in our own day. Dr. More was not a fanatic: but these\nphenomena, though very well understood by the ancient philosophers, as\nwell as by Paracelsus, Van Helmont, Cornelius Agrippa, Jacob Behmen, a\nScotch physician (called Maxwell) who published on the subject in the\nseventeenth century, and many others, were still, when observed, looked\nupon as the effects of diabolical influence by mankind in general.\n\nWhen Monsieur Six Deniers, the artist, was drowned in the Seine in 1846,\nafter his body had been vainly sought, a somnambule was applied to, in\nwhose hands they placed a portfolio belonging to him; and being asked\nwhere the owner was, she evinced great terror, held up her dress as if\nwalking in the water, and said that he was between two boats, under the\nPont des Arts, with nothing on but a flannel waistcoat: and there he was\nfound.\n\nA friend of mine knows a lady who, early one morning\u2014being in a natural\nstate of clairvoyance without magnetism\u2014saw the porter of the house\nwhere her son lodged ascend to his room with a carving-knife, go to his\nbed where he lay asleep, lean over him, then open a chest, take out a\nfifty-pound note, and retire. On the following day, she went to her son\nand asked him if he had any money in the house; he said, \u201cYes, I have\nfifty pounds:\u201d whereupon she bade him seek it, but it was gone. They\nstopped payment of the note; but did not prosecute, thinking the\nevidence insufficient. Subsequently, the porter being taken up for other\ncrimes, the note was found crumpled up at the bottom of an old purse\nbelonging to him.\n\nDr. Ennemoser says that there is no doubt of the ancient Sibyls having\nbeen _clairvoyant_ women, and that it is impossible so much value could\nhave been attached to their books, had not their revelations been\nverified.\n\nA maid-servant residing in a family in Northumberland, one day last\nwinter was heard to utter a violent scream immediately after she had\nleft the kitchen. On following her to inquire what had happened, she\nsaid that she had just seen her father in his night-clothes, with a most\nhorrible countenance, and she was sure something dreadful had happened\nto him. Two days afterward there arrived a letter, saying he had been\nseized with _delirium tremens_, and was at the point of death; which\naccordingly ensued.\n\nThere are innumerable cases of this sort recorded in various\ncollections, not to mention the much more numerous ones that meet with\nno recorder; and I could myself mention many more, but these will\nsuffice\u2014one, however, I will not omit, for, though historical, it is\nnot generally known. A year before the rebellion broke out, in\nconsequence of which Lord Kilmarnock lost his head, the family were one\nday startled by a scream, and on rushing out to inquire what had\noccurred, they found the servants all assembled, in amazement, with the\nexception of one maid, who they said had gone up to the garrets to hang\nsome linen on the lines to dry. On ascending thither, they found the\ngirl on the floor, in a state of insensibility; and they had no sooner\nrevived her than, on seeing Lord Kilmarnock bending over her, she\nscreamed and fainted again. When ultimately recovered, she told them\nthat while hanging up her linen, and singing, the door had burst open\nand his lordship\u2019s bloody head had rolled in. I think it came twice.\nThis event was so well known at the time, that on the first rumors of\nthe rebellion, Lord Saltoun said, \u201cKilmarnock will lose his head.\u201d It\nwas answered, \u201cthat Kilmarnock had not joined the rebels.\u201d \u201cHe will, and\nwill be beheaded,\u201d returned Lord Saltoun.\n\nNow, in these cases we are almost compelled to believe that the\nphenomenon is purely subjective, and there is no veritable outstanding\nobject seen; yet, when we have taken refuge in this hypothesis, the\ndifficulty remains as great as ever; and is to me much more\nincomprehensible than ghost-seeing, because in the latter we suppose an\nexternal agency acting in some way or other on the seer.\n\nI have already mentioned that Oberlin, the good pastor of Ban de la\nRoche, himself a ghost-seer, asserted that everything earthly had its\ncounterpart, or antitype, in the other world, not only organized, but\nunorganized matter. If so, do we sometimes see these antitypes?\n\nDr. Ennemoser, in treating of second-sight\u2014which, by the way, is quite\nas well known in Germany, and especially in Denmark, as in the highlands\nof Scotland\u2014says, that as in natural somnambulism there is a partial\ninternal vigilance, so does the seer fall, while awake, into a\ndream-state. He suddenly becomes motionless and stiff: his eyes are\nopen, and his senses are, while the vision lasts, unperceptive of all\nexternal objects; the vision may be communicated by the touch, and\nsometimes persons at a distance from each other, but connected by blood\nor sympathy, have the vision simultaneously. He remarks, also, that, as\nwe have seen in the above case of Mr. C\u2014\u2014, any attempt to frustrate\nthe fulfilment of the vision never succeeds, inasmuch as the attempt\nappears to be taken into the account.\n\nThe seeing in glass and in crystals is equally inexplicable; as is the\nmagical seeing of the Egyptians. Every now and then we hear it said that\nthis last is discovered to be an imposition, because some traveller has\neither actually fallen into the hands of an impostor\u2014and there are\nimpostors in all trades\u2014or because the phenomenon was imperfectly\nexhibited; a circumstance which, as in the exhibitions of clairvoyants\nand somnambulists, where all the conditions are not under command, or\neven recognised, must necessarily happen. But not to mention the\naccounts published by Mr. Lane and Lord Prudhoe, whoever has read that\nof Monsieur L\u00e9on Laborde must be satisfied that the thing is an\nindisputable fact. It is, in fact, only another form of the seeing in\ncrystals, which has been known in all ages, and of which many modern\ninstances have occurred among somnambulic patients.\n\nWe see by the forty-fourth chapter of Genesis that it was by his cup\nthat Joseph prophesied: \u201cIs not this it in which my lord drinketh, and\nwhereby indeed he divineth?\u201d But, as Dr. Passavent observes, and as we\nshall presently see, in the anecdote of the boy and the gipsy, the\nvirtue does not lie in the glass nor in the water, but in the seer\nhimself, who may possess a more or less developed faculty. The external\nobjects and ceremonies being only the means of concentrating the\nattention and intensifying the power.\n\nMonsieur L\u00e9on Laborde witnessed the exhibition, at Cairo, before Lord\nP\u2014\u2014\u2019s visit; the exhibitor, named Achmed, appeared to him a\nrespectable man, who spoke simply of his science, and had nothing of the\ncharlatan about him. The first child employed was a boy eleven years\nold, the son of a European; and Achmed having traced some figures on the\npalm of his hand, and poured ink over them, bade him look for the\nreflection of his own face. The child said he saw it; the magician then\nburnt some powders in a brazier, and bade him tell him when he saw a\nsoldier sweeping a place; and while the fumes from the brazier diffused\nthemselves, he pronounced a sort of litany. Presently the child threw\nback his head, and screaming with terror, sobbed out, while bathed in\ntears, that he had seen a dreadful face. Fearing the boy might be\ninjured, Monsieur Laborde now called up a little Arab servant, who had\nnever seen or heard of the magician. He was gay and laughing, and not at\nall frightened; and the ceremony being repeated, he said he saw the\nsoldier sweeping in the front of a tent. He was then desired to bid the\nsoldier bring Shakspere, Colonel Cradock, and several other persons; and\nhe described every person and thing so exactly as to be entirely\nsatisfactory. During the operations the boy looked as if intoxicated,\nwith his eyes fixed and the perspiration dripping from his brow. Achmed\ndisenchanted him by placing his thumbs on his eyes. He gradually\nrecovered, and gayly related all he had seen, which he perfectly\nremembered.\n\nNow this is merely another form of what the Laplanders, the African\nmagicians, and the Schaamans of Siberia, do by taking narcotics and\nturning round till they fall down in a state of insensibility, in which\ncondition they are clear-seers, and besides vaticinating, describe\nscenes, places, and persons, they have never seen. In Barbary they\nanoint their hands with a black ointment, and then holding them up in\nthe sun, they see whatever they desire, like the Egyptians.\n\nLady S\u2014\u2014 possesses somewhat of a singular faculty, naturally. By\nwalking rapidly round a room several times, till a certain degree of\nvertigo is produced, she will name to you any person you have privately\nthought of or agreed upon with others. Her phrase is: \u201cI _see_\u201d so and\nso.\n\nMonsieur Laborde purchased the secret of Achmed, who said he had learned\nit from two celebrated scheicks of his own country, which was Algiers.\nMonsieur L. found it connected with both physics and magnetism, and\npractised it himself afterward with perfect success; and he affirms,\npositively, that under the influence of a particular organization and\ncertain ceremonies, among which he can not distinguish which are\nindispensable and which are not, that a child, without fraud or\ncollusion, can see, as through a window or peep-hole, people moving, who\nappear and disappear at their command, and with whom they hold\ncommunication\u2014and they remember everything after the operation. He\nsays: \u201cI narrate, but explain nothing; I produced those effects, but can\nnot comprehend them; I only affirm in the most positive manner that what\nI relate is true. I performed the experiment in various places, with\nvarious subjects, before numerous witnesses, in my own room or other\nrooms, in the open air, and even in a boat on the Nile. The exactitude\nand detailed descriptions of persons, places, and scenes, could by no\npossibility be feigned.\u201d\n\nMoreover, Baron Dupotet has very lately succeeded in obtaining these\nphenomena in Paris, from persons not somnambulic selected from his\naudience,\u2014the chief difference being that they did not recollect what\nthey had seen when the crisis was over.\n\nCagliostro, though a charlatan, was possessed of this secret, and it was\nhis great success in it that chiefly sustained his reputation; the\nspectators, convinced he could make children see distant places and\npersons in glass, were persuaded he could do other things, which\nappeared to them no more mysterious. Dr. Dee was perfectly honest with\nregard to his mirror, in which he could _see_ by concentrating his mind\non it; but, as he could not remember what he saw, he employed Kelly to\n_see_ for him, while he himself wrote down the revelations: and Kelly\nwas a rogue, and deceived and ruined him.\n\nA friend of Pfeffel\u2019s knew a boy, apprenticed to an apothecary at\nSchoppenweyer, who, having been observed to amuse himself by looking\ninto vials filled with water, was asked what he saw; when it was\ndiscovered that he possessed this faculty of _seeing_ in glass, which\nwas afterward very frequently exhibited for the satisfaction of the\ncurious. Pfeffel also mentions another boy who had this faculty, and who\nwent about the country with a small mirror, answering questions,\nrecovering stolen goods, &c. He said that he one day fell in with some\ngipsies, one of whom was sitting apart and staring into this glass. The\nboy, from curiosity, looked over his shoulder and exclaimed that he saw\n\u201ca fine man who was moving about;\u201d whereupon the gipsy, having\ninterrogated him, gave him the glass; \u201cfor,\u201d said he, \u201cI have been\nstaring in it long enough, and can see nothing but my own face.\u201d\n\nIt is almost unnecessary to observe that the sacred books of the Jews\nand of the Indians testify to their acquaintance with this mode of\ndivination, as well as many others.\n\nMany persons will have heard or read an account of Mr. Canning and Mr.\nHuskisson having seen, while in Paris, the visionary representation of\ntheir own deaths in water, as exhibited to them by a Russian or Polish\nlady there: as I do not, however, know what authority there is for this\nstory, I will not insist on it here. But St. Simon relates a very\ncurious circumstance of this nature, which occurred at Paris, and was\nrelated to him by the duke of Orleans, afterward regent. The latter said\nthat he had sent on the preceding evening for a man, then in Paris, who\npretended to exhibit whatever was desired in a glass of water. He came,\nand a child of seven years old, belonging to the house, being called up,\nthey bade her tell what she saw doing in certain places. She did; and as\nthey sent to these places and found her report correct, they bade her\nnext describe under what circumstances the king would die, without,\nhowever, asking when the death would take place.\n\nThe child knew none of the court, and had never been at Versailles; yet\nshe described everything exactly\u2014the room, bed, furniture, and the king\nhimself, Madame de Maintenon, Fagon, the physician, the princes and\nprincesses\u2014everybody, in short, including a child, wearing an order, in\nthe arms of a lady whom she recognised as having seen; this was Madame\nde Ventadour.\n\nIt was remarkable that she omitted the dukes de Bourgogne and Berry, and\nMonseigneur, and also the duchess de Bourgogne. Orleans insisted they\nmust be there, describing them; but she always said \u201c_No._\u201d These\npersons were then all well, but they died before the king. She also saw\nthe children of the prince and princess of Conti, but not\nthemselves\u2014which was correct, as they also died shortly after this\noccurrence.\n\nOrleans then wished to see his own destiny; and the man said, if he\nwould not be frightened he could show it to him, as if painted on the\nwall; and after fifteen minutes of conjuration, the duke appeared, of\nthe natural size, dressed as usual, but with a _couronne ferm\u00e9e_ or\nclosed crown on his head, which they could not comprehend, as it was not\nthat of any country they knew of. It covered his head, had only four\ncircles, and nothing at the top. They had never seen such a one. When he\nbecame regent, they understood that that was the interpretation of the\nprediction.\n\nIn connection with this subject, the aversion to glass frequently\nmanifested by dogs is well worthy of observation.\n\nWhen facts of this kind are found to be recorded or believed in, in all\nparts of the world, from the beginning of it up to the present time, it\nis surely vain for the so-called _savants_ to deny them; and, as Cicero\njustly says in describing the different kinds of magic, \u201cWhat we have to\ndo with is the facts, since of the cause we know little. Neither,\u201d he\nadds, \u201care we to repudiate these phenomena, because we sometimes find\nthem imperfect, or even false, any more than we are to distrust that the\nhuman eye sees, although some do this very imperfectly, or not at all.\u201d\n\nWe are part spirit and part matter: by the former we are allied to the\nspiritual world and to the absolute spirit; and as nobody doubts that\nthe latter can work magically, that is, by the mere act of will\u2014for by\nthe mere act of will all things were created, and by its constant\nexertion all things are sustained\u2014why should we be astonished that we,\nwho partake of the Divine nature and were created after God\u2019s own image,\nshould also, within certain limits, partake of this magical power? That\nthis power has been frequently abused, is the fault of those who, being\ncapable, refuse to investigate, and deny the existence of these and\nsimilar phenomena; and, by thus casting them out of the region of\nlegitimate science, leave them to become the prey of the ignorant and\ndesigning.\n\nDr. Ennemoser, in his very learned work on magic, shows us that all the\nphenomena of magnetism and somnambulism, and all the various kinds of\ndivination, have been known and practised in every country under the\nsun; and have been intimately connected with, and indeed may be traced\nup to the fountain-head of every religion.\n\nWhat are the limits of these powers possessed by us while in the\nflesh\u2014how far they may be developed\u2014and whether, at the extreme verge\nof what we can effect, we begin to be aided by God or by spirits of\nother spheres of existence bordering on ours\u2014we know not; but, with\nrespect to the morality of these practices, it suffices that what is\ngood in act or intention, must come of good; and what is evil in act or\nintention, must come of evil: which is true now, as it was in the time\nof Moses and the prophets, when miracles and magic were used for\npurposes holy and unholy, and were to be judged accordingly. God works\nby natural laws, of which we yet know very little, and, in some\ndepartments of his kingdom, nothing; and whatever appears to us\nsupernatural, only appears so from our ignorance; and whatever faculties\nor powers he has endowed us with, it must have been designed we should\nexercise and cultivate for the benefit and advancement of our race: nor\ncan I for one moment suppose that, though like everything else, liable\nto abuse, the legitimate exercise of these powers, if we knew their\nrange, would be useless, much less pernicious or sinful.\n\nOf the magical power of WILL, as I have said before, we know nothing;\nand it does not belong to a purely rationalistic age to acknowledge what\nit can not understand. In all countries men have arisen, here and there,\nwho _have_ known it, and some traces of it have survived both in\nlanguage and in popular superstitions. \u201cIf ye have faith as a grain of\nmustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, \u2018Remove hence,\u2019 and it\nshall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. Howbeit, this kind\ngoeth not out but by prayer and fasting.\u201d And, _veuillez et\ncroyez_\u2014will and believe\u2014was the solution Puys\u00e9gur gave of his magical\ncures; and no doubt the explanation of those affected by royal hands is\nto be found in the fact that they believed in _themselves_; and having\n_faith_, they could exercise _will_. But, with the belief in the divine\nright of kings, the faith and the power would naturally expire together.\n\nWith respect to what Christ says, in the above-quoted passage, of\n_fasting_, numerous instances are extant, proving that clear-seeing and\nother magical or spiritual powers are sometimes developed by it.\n\nWilhelm Krause, a doctor of philosophy and a lecturer at Jena, who died\nduring the prevalence of the cholera, cultivated these powers and\npreached them. I have not been able to obtain his works, they being\nsuppressed as far as is practicable by the Prussian government. Krause\ncould leave his body, and, to all appearance, die whenever he pleased.\nOne of his disciples, yet living, Count von Eberstein, possesses the\nsame faculty.\n\nMany writers of the sixteenth century were well acquainted with the\npower of will, and to this was attributed the good or evil influence of\nblessings and curses. They believed it to be of great effect in curing\ndiseases, and that by it alone life might be extinguished. That,\n_subjectively_, life may be extinguished, we have seen by the cases of\nColonel Townshend, the dervish that was buried, Hermotinus, and others:\nfor doubtless the power that could perform so much, could, under an\nadequate motive, have performed more: and since all things in nature,\nspiritual and material, are connected, and that there is an unceasing\ninteraction between them, we being members of one great whole, only\nindividualized by our organisms, it is possible to conceive that the\npower which can be exerted on our own organism might be extended to\nothers: and since we can not conceive man to be an isolated being\u2014the\nonly intelligence besides God\u2014none above us and none below\u2014but must,\non the contrary, believe that there are numerous grades of\nintelligences, it seems to follow, of course, that we must stand in some\nkind of relation to them, more or less intimate; nor is it at all\nsurprising that with some individuals this relation should be more\nintimate than with others. Finally, we are not entitled to deny the\nexistence of this magical or spiritual power, as exerted by either\nincorporated or unincorporated spirits, because we do not comprehend how\nit can be exerted; since, in spite of all the words that have been\nexpended on the subject, we are equally ignorant of the mode in which\nour own will acts upon our own muscles. We know the fact, but not the\nmode of it.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n\n                              CONCLUSION.\n\nOF the power of the mind over matter, we have a remarkable example in\nthe numerous well-authenticated instances of the _stigmata_. As in most\ncases this phenomenon has been connected with a state of religious\nexaltation, and has been appropriated by the Roman church as a miracle,\nthe fact has been in this country pretty generally discredited, but\nwithout reason. Ennemoser, Passavent, Schubert, and other eminent German\nphysiologists, assure us that not only is the fact perfectly\nestablished, as regards many of the so-called saints, but also that\nthere have been indubitable modern instances, as in the case of the\necstaticas of the Tyrol, Catherine Emmerich (commonly called the Nun of\nDulmen), Maria Morl, and Domenica Lazzari, who have all exhibited the\nstigmata.\n\nCatherine Emmerich, the most remarkable of the three, began very early\nto have visions, and to display unusual endowments. She was very pious;\ncould distinguish the qualities of plants, reveal secrets or distant\ncircumstances, and knew people\u2019s thoughts; but was, however, extremely\nsickly, and exhibited a variety of extraordinary and distressing\nsymptoms, which terminated in her death. The wounds of the crown of\nthorns round her head, and those of the nails in her hands and feet,\nwere as perfect as if painted by an artist, and they bled regularly on\nFridays. There was also a double cross on her breast. When the blood was\nwiped away, the marks looked like the puncture of flies. She seldom took\nany nourishment but water; and, having been but a poor cow-keeper, she\ndiscoursed, when in the ecstatic state, as if inspired.\n\nI am well aware that on reading this, many persons who never saw her,\nwill say it was all imposture. It is very easy to say this; but it is as\nabsurd as presumptuous to pronounce on what they have had no opportunity\nof observing. I never saw these women either; but I find myself much\nmore disposed to accept the evidence of those who did, than of those who\nonly \u201cdo not believe, because they do not believe.\u201d\n\nNeither Catherine Emmerich nor the others made their sufferings a source\nof profit, nor had they any desire to be exhibited\u2014but quite the\ncontrary. She could see in the dark as well as the light, and frequently\nworked all night at making clothes for the poor, without lamp or candle.\n\nThere have been instances of magnetic patients being stigmatized in this\nmanner. Madame B. von N\u2014\u2014 dreamed one night that a person offered her\na red and a white rose, and that she chose the latter. On awaking she\nfelt a burning pain in her arm, and by degrees there arose there the\nfigure of a rose perfect in form and color. It was rather raised above\nthe skin. The mark increased in intensity till the eighth day, after\nwhich it faded away, and by the fourteenth was no longer perceptible.\n\nA letter from Moscow, addressed to Dr. Kerner, in consequence of reading\nthe account of the \u201cNun of Dulmen,\u201d relates a still more extraordinary\ncase. At the time of the French invasion, a Cossack having pursued a\nFrenchman into a _cul de sac_\u2014an alley without an outlet\u2014there ensued\na terrible conflict between them, in which the latter was severely\nwounded. A person who had taken refuge in this close and could not get\naway, was so dreadfully frightened, that when he reached home, there\nbroke out on his body the very same wounds that the Cossack had\ninflicted on his enemy!\n\nThe signatures of the f\u0153tus are analogous facts; and if the mind of the\nmother can thus act on another organism, why not the minds of the\nsaints, or of Catherine Emmerich, on their own? From the influence of\nthe mother on the child, we have but one step to that asserted to be\npossible between two organisms not visibly connected for the difficulty\ntherein lies, that we do not see the link that connects them, though\ndoubtless it exists. Dr. Blacklock, who lost his eyesight at an early\nperiod, said that, when awake, he distinguished persons by hearing and\nfeeling them; but when asleep, he had a distinct impression of another\nsense. He then seemed to himself united to them by a kind of distant\ncontact, which was effected by threads passing from their bodies to his,\nwhich seems to be but a metaphorical expression of the fact; for,\nwhether the connection be maintained by an all-pervading ether, or be\npurely dynamic, that the intertraction exists between both organic and\ninorganic bodies, is made evident wherever there is sufficient\nexcitability to render the effects sensible.\n\nTill very lately, the powers of the divining-rod were considered a mere\nfable; yet, that this power exists, though not in the rod, but in the\nperson that holds it, is now perfectly well established. Count Tristan,\nwho has written a book on the subject, says that about one in forty have\nit, and that a complete course of experiments has proved the phenomenon\nto be electric. The rod seems to serve, in some degree, the same purpose\nas the magical mirror and conjurations, and it is also serviceable in\npresenting a result visible to the eye of the spectator. But numerous\ncases are met with, in which metals or water are perceived beneath the\nsurface of the earth, without the intervention of the rod. A man, called\nBleton, from Dauphiny, possessed this divining power in a remarkable\ndegree, as did a Swiss girl, called Katherine Beutler. She was strong\nand healthy, and of a phlegmatic temperament, yet so susceptible of\nthese influences that, without the rod, she pointed out and traced the\ncourse of water, veins of metal, coal-beds, salt-mines, &c. The\nsensations produced were sometimes on the soles of her feet, sometimes\non her tongue, or in her stomach. She never lost the power wholly, but\nit varied considerably in intensity at different times, as it did with\nBleton. She was also rendered sensible of the bodily pains of others, by\nlaying her hand on the affected part, or near it; and she performed\nseveral magnetic cures.\n\nA person now alive, named Dussange, in the Ma\u00e7onn\u00e9s, possesses this\npower. He is a simple, honest man, who can give no account of his own\nfaculty. The Abb\u00e9s Chatelard and Paramelle can also discover\nsubterraneous springs; but they say it is effected by means of their\ngeological science. Monsieur D\u2014\u2014, of Cluny, however, found the faculty\nof Dussange much more to be relied on. The Greeks and Romans made\nhydroscopy an art; and there are works alluded to as having existed on\nthis subject, especially one by Marcellus. The caduceus of Mercury, the\nwand of Circe, and the wands of the Egyptian sorcerers, show that the\nwand or rod was always looked upon as a symbol of divination. One of the\nmost remarkable instances of the use of the divining-rod, is that of\nJacques Aymar.\n\nOn the 5th of July, 1692, a man and his wife were murdered in a cellar\nat Lyons, and their house was robbed. Having no clew whatever to the\ncriminal, this peasant, who had the reputation of being able to discover\nmurderers, thieves, and stolen articles, by means of the divining-rod,\nwas sent for from Dauphiny. Aymar undertook to follow the footsteps of\nthe assassins, but he said he must first be taken into the cellar where\nthe murder was committed. The procurator royal conducted him thither;\nand they gave him a rod out of the first wood that came to hand. He\nwalked about the cellar, but the rod did not move till he came to the\nspot where the man had been killed. Then Aymar became agitated, and his\npulse beat as if he were in a high fever; and all these symptoms were\naugmented when he approached the spot on which they had found the body\nof the woman. From this, he, of his own accord, went into a sort of shop\nwhere the robbery had been committed; thence he proceeded into the\nstreet, tracing the assassin, step by step, first to the court of the\narchbishop\u2019s palace, then out of the city, and along the right side of\nthe river. He was escorted all the way by three persons appointed for\nthe purpose, who all testified that sometimes he detected the traces of\nthree accomplices, sometimes only of two. He led the way to the house of\na gardener, where he insisted that they had touched a table and one of\nthree bottles that were yet standing upon it. It was at first denied;\nbut two children, of nine or ten years old, said that three men had been\nthere, and had been served with wine in that bottle. Aymar then traced\nthem to the river where they had embarked in a boat; and, what is very\nextraordinary, he tracked them as surely on the water as on the land. He\nfollowed them wherever they had gone ashore, went straight to the places\nthey had lodged at, pointed out their beds, and the very utensils of\nevery description that they had used. On arriving at Sablon, where some\ntroops were encamped, the rod and his own sensations satisfied him that\nthe assassins were there; but fearing the soldiers would ill treat him,\nhe refused to pursue the enterprise further, and returned to Lyons. He\nwas, however, promised protection, and sent back by water, with letters\nof recommendation. On reaching Sablon, he said they were no longer\nthere; but he tracked them into Languedoc, entering every house they had\nstopped at, till he at length reached the gate of the prison, in the\ntown of Beaucaire, where he said one of them would be found. They\nbrought all the prisoners before him, amounting to fifteen; and the only\none his rod turned on was a little _Bossu_, or deformed man, who had\njust been brought in for a petty theft. He then ascertained that the two\nothers had taken the road to Nimes, and offered to follow them; but as\nthe man denied all knowledge of the murder, and declared he had never\nbeen at Lyons, it was thought best that they should return there; and as\nthey went the way they had come, and stopped at the same houses, where\nhe was recognised, he at length confessed that he had travelled with two\nmen who had engaged him to assist in the crime. What is very remarkable,\nit was found necessary that Jacques Aymar should walk in front of the\ncriminal, for when he followed him he became violently sick. From Lyons\nto Beaucaire is forty-five miles.\n\nAs the confession of the _Bossu_ confirmed all Aymar had asserted, the\naffair now created an immense sensation; and a great variety of\nexperiments were instituted, every one of which proved perfectly\nsatisfactory. Moreover, two gentlemen, one of them the controller of the\ncustoms, were discovered to possess this faculty, though in a minor\ndegree. They now took Aymar back to Beaucaire, that he might trace the\nother two criminals; and he went straight again to the prison-gate,\nwhere he said that now another would be found. On inquiry, however, it\nwas discovered that a man had been there to inquire for the _Bossu_, but\nwas gone again. He then followed them to Toulon, and finally to the\nfrontier of Spain, which set a limit to further researches. He was often\nso faint and overcome with the effluvia, or whatever it was that guided\nhim, that the perspiration streamed from his brow, and they were obliged\nto sprinkle him with water to prevent his fainting.\n\nHe detected many robberies in the same way. His rod moved whenever he\npassed over metals or water, or stolen goods; but he found that he could\ndistinguish the track of a murderer from all the rest, by the horror and\npain he felt. He made this discovery accidentally, as he was searching\nfor water. They dug up the ground, and found the body of a woman that\nhad been strangled.\n\nI have myself met with three or four persons in whose hands the rod\nturned visibly; and there are numerous very remarkable cases recorded in\ndifferent works. In the Hartz, there is a race of people who support\nthemselves entirely by this sort of divination; and as they are paid\nvery highly, and do nothing else, they are generally extremely worthless\nand dissipated.\n\nThe extraordinary susceptibility to atmospheric changes in certain\norganisms, and the faculty by which a dog tracks the foot of his master,\nare analogous facts to those of the divining-rod. Mr. Boyle mentions a\nlady who always perceived if a person that visited her came from a place\nwhere snow had lately fallen. I have seen one who, if a quantity of\ngloves are given her, can tell to a certainty to whom each belongs; and\na particular friend of my own, on entering a room, can distinguish\nperfectly who has been sitting in it, provided these be persons he is\nfamiliarly acquainted with. Numerous extraordinary stories are extant\nrespecting this kind of faculty in dogs.\n\nDoubtless not only our bodies, but all matter, sheds its atmosphere\naround it; the sterility of the ground where metals are found is\nnotorious; and it is asserted that, to some persons, the vapors that\nemanate from below are visible, and that, as the height of the mountains\nround a lake furnishes a measure of its depth, so does the height to\nwhich these vapors ascend show how far below the surface the mineral\ntreasures or the waters lie. The effect of metals on somnambulic persons\nis well known to all who have paid any attention to these subjects; and\nsurely may be admitted, when it is remembered that Humboldt has\ndiscovered the same sensibility in zoophytes, where no traces of nerves\ncould be detected; and, many years ago, Frascatorius asserted that\nsymptoms resembling apoplexy were sometimes induced by the proximity of\na large quantity of metal. A gentleman is mentioned who could not enter\nthe mint at Paris without fainting. In short, so many well-attested\ncases of idiosyncratic sensibilities exist, that we have no right to\nreject others because they appear incomprehensible.\n\nNow, we may not only easily conceive, but we know it to be a fact, that\nfear, grief, and other detrimental passions, vitiate the secretions,[9]\nand augment transpiration; and it is quite natural to suppose that,\nwhere a crime has been committed which necessarily aroused a number of\nturbulent emotions, exhalations perceptible to a very acute sense may\nfor some time hover over the spot; while the anxiety, the terror, the\nhaste, in short, the general commotion of system, that must accompany a\nmurderer in his flight, is quite sufficient to account for his path\nbeing recognisable by such an abnormal faculty, \u201cfor the wicked flee\nwhen no man pursueth.\u201d We also know that a person perspiring with open\npores is more susceptible than another to contagion; and we have only to\nsuppose the pores of Jacques Aymar so constituted as easily to imbibe\nthe emanations shed by the fugitive, and we see why he should be\naffected by the disagreeable sensations he describes.\n\nThe disturbing effect of odors on some persons, which are quite\ninnoxious to others, must have been observed by everybody. Some people\ndo actually almost \u201cdie of a rose in aromatic pain.\u201d Boyle says that, in\nhis time, many physicians avoided giving drugs to children, having found\nthat external applications, to be imbibed by the skin, or by\nrespiration, were sufficient; and the homeopaths occasionally use the\nsame means now. Sir Charles Bell told me that Mr. F\u2014\u2014, a gentleman\nwell known in public life, had only to hold an old book to his nose to\nproduce all the effects of a cathartic. Elizabeth Okey was oppressed\nwith most painful sensations when near a person whose frame was sinking.\nWhenever this effect was of a certain intensity, Dr. Elliotson observed\nthat the patient invariably died.\n\nHerein lies the secret of amulets and talismans, which grew to be a vain\nsuperstition, but in which, as in all popular beliefs, there was a germ\nof truth. Somnambulic persons frequently prescribe them; and absurd as\nit may seem to many, there are instances in which their efficacy has\nbeen perfectly established, be the interpretation of the mystery what it\nmay. In a great plague which occurred in Moravia, a physician, who was\nconstantly among the sufferers, attributed the complete immunity of\nhimself and his family to their wearing amulets composed of the powder\nof toads, \u201cwhich,\u201d says Boyle, \u201ccaused an emanation adverse to the\ncontagion.\u201d A Dutch physician mentions, that in the plague at Nimeguen,\nthe pest seldom attacked any house till they had used soap in washing\ntheir linen. Wherever this was done it appeared immediately.\n\nIn short, we are the subjects, and so is everything around us, of all\nmanner of subtle and inexplicable influences: and if our ancestors\nattached too much importance to these ill-understood arcana of the\nnight-side of nature, we have attached too little. The sympathetic\neffects of multitudes upon each other, of the young sleeping with the\nold, of magnetism on plants and animals, are now acknowledged facts: may\nnot many other asserted phenomena that we yet laugh at be facts also,\nthough probably too capricious in their nature\u2014by which I mean,\ndepending on laws beyond our apprehension\u2014to be very available? For I\ntake it, that as there is no such thing as chance, but all would be\ncertainty if we knew the whole of the conditions, so no phenomena are\nreally capricious and uncertain: they only appear so to our ignorance\nand shortsightedness.\n\nThe strong belief that formerly prevailed in the efficacy of sympathetic\ncures, can scarcely have existed, I think, without some foundation: nor\nare they a whit more extraordinary than the sympathetic falling of\npictures and stopping of clocks and watches, of which such numerous\nwell-attested cases are extant that several learned German physiologists\nof the present day pronounce the thing indisputable. I have myself heard\nof some very perplexing instances.\n\nGaffarillus alludes to a certain sort of magnet, not resembling iron,\nbut of a black-and-white color, with which if a needle or knife were\nrubbed, the body might be punctured or cut without pain. How can we know\nthat this is not true? Jugglers who slashed and cauterized their bodies\nfor the amusement of the public were supposed to avail themselves of\nsuch secrets.\n\nHow is it possible for us, either, to imagine that the numerous recorded\ncases of the _Blood Ordeal_, which consisted in the suspected assassin\ntouching the body of his victim, can have been either pure fictions or\ncoincidences? Not very long ago, an experiment of a frightful nature is\nsaid to have been tried in France on a somnambulic person, by placing on\nthe epigastric region a vial filled with the arterial blood of a\ncriminal just guillotined. The effect asserted to have been produced was\nthe establishment of a rapport between the somnambule and the deceased\nwhich endangered the life of the former.\n\nFranz von Baader suggests the hypothesis of a _vis sanguinis ultra\nmortem_, and supposes that a rapport or _communio vit\u00e6_ may be\nestablished between the murderer and his victim; and he conceives the\nidea of this mutual relation to be the true interpretation of the\nsacrificial rites common to all countries, as also of the _Blutschuld_,\nor the requiring blood for blood.\n\nWith regard to the blood ordeal, the following are the two latest\ninstances of it recorded to have taken place in this country; they are\nextracted from \u201cHargrave\u2019s State Trials:\u201d\u2014\n\n\u201cEvidence having been given with respect to the death of Jane Norkott,\nan ancient and grave person, minister of the parish in Hertfordshire\nwhere the murder took place, being sworn, deposed, that the body being\ntaken up out of the grave, and the four defendants being present, were\nrequired each of them, to touch the dead body. Okeman\u2019s wife fell upon\nher knees, and prayed God to show token of her innocency. The appellant\ndid touch the body, whereupon the brow of the deceased, which was before\nof a livid and carrion color, began to have a dew, or gentle sweat on\nit, which increased by degrees till the sweat ran down in drops on the\nface, the brow turned to a lively and fresh color, and the deceased\nopened one of her eyes and shut it again, and this opening the eye was\ndone three several times; she likewise thrust out the ring, or marriage\nfinger, three times, and pulled it in again, and blood dropped from the\nfinger on the grass.\n\n\u201cSir Nicholas Hyde, the chief justice, seeming to doubt this evidence,\nhe asked the witness who saw these things besides him, to which he, the\nwitness, answered, \u2018My lord, I can not swear what others saw, but I do\nbelieve the whole company saw it; and if it had been thought a doubt,\nproof would have been made, and many would have attested with me. My\nlord,\u2019 added the witness, observing the surprise his evidence awakened,\n\u2018I am minister of the parish, and have long known all the parties, but\nnever had displeasure against any of them, nor they with me, but as I\nwas minister. The thing was wonderful to me, but I have not interest in\nthe matter, except as called on to testify to the truth. My lord, my\nbrother, who is minister of the next parish, is here present, and, I am\nsure, saw all that I have affirmed.\u2019\u201d\n\nHereupon, the brother, being sworn, he confirmed the above evidence in\nevery particular, and the first witness added, that having dipped his\nfinger into what appeared to be blood, he felt satisfied that it was\nreally so. It is to be observed, that this extraordinary circumstance\nmust have occurred, if it occurred at all, when the body had been upward\nof a month dead; for it was taken up in consequence of various rumors\nimplicating the prisoners, after the coroner\u2019s jury had given in a\nverdict of _felo de se_. On their first trial, they were acquitted, but\nan appeal being brought, they were found guilty and executed. It was on\nthis latter occasion that the above strange evidence was given, which,\nbeing taken down at the time by Sir John Maynard, then sergeant-at-law,\nstands recorded, as I have observed, in Hargrave\u2019s edition of \u201cState\nTrials.\u201d\n\nThe above circumstances occurred in the year 1628, and in 1688 the blood\nordeal was again had recourse to in the trial of Sir Philip Stansfield\nfor parricide, on which occasion the body had also been buried, but for\na short time. Certain suspicions arising, it was disinterred and\nexamined by the surgeons, and, from a variety of indications, no doubt\nremained that the old man had been murdered, nor that his son was guilty\nof his death. When the body had been washed and arrayed in clean linen,\nthe nearest relations and friends were desired to lift it and replace it\nin the coffin; and when Sir Philip placed his hand under it, he suddenly\ndrew it back, stained with blood, exclaiming, \u201cOh, God!\u201d and letting the\nbody fall, he cried, \u201cLord, have mercy upon me!\u201d and went and bowed\nhimself over a seat in the church, in which the corpse had been\ninspected. Repeated testimonies are given to this circumstance in the\ncourse of the trial; and it is very remarkable that Sir John Dalrymple,\na man of strong intellect, and wholly free from superstition, admits it\nas an established fact in his charge to the jury.\n\nIn short, we are all, though in different degrees, the subjects of a\nvariety of subtle influences, which, more or less, neutralize each\nother, and many of which, therefore, we never observe; and frequently\nwhen we do observe the effects, we have neither time nor capacity for\ntracing the cause; and when in more susceptible organisms such effects\nare manifested, we content ourselves with referring the phenomena to\ndisease or imposture. The exemption, or the power, whichever it may be,\nby which certain persons or races are enabled to handle venomous animals\nwith impunity, is a subject that deserves much more attention than it\nhas met with; but nobody thinks of investigating secrets that seem\nrather curious than profitable; besides which, to believe these things\nimplies a reflection on one\u2019s sagacity. Yet, every now and then, I hear\nof facts so extraordinary, which come to me from undoubted authority,\nthat I can see no reason in the world for rejecting others that are not\nmuch more so. For example, only the other day, Mr. B. C\u2014\u2014, a gentleman\nwell known in Scotland, who has lived a great deal abroad, informed me,\nthat having frequently heard of the singular phenomenon to be observed\nby placing a scorpion and a mouse together under a glass, he at length\ntried the experiment; and the result perfectly established what he had\nbeen previously unable to believe. Both animals were evidently\nfrightened, but the scorpion made the first attack, and stung the mouse,\nwhich defended itself bravely, and killed the scorpion. The victory,\nhowever, was not without its penalties, for the mouse swelled to an\nunnatural size, and seemed in danger of dying from the poison of its\ndefeated antagonist, when it relieved itself and was cured by eating the\nscorpion, which was thus proved to be an antidote to its own venom;\nfurnishing a most interesting and remarkable instance of isopathy.\n\nThere is a religious sect in Africa, not far from Algiers, who eat the\nmost venomous serpents alive, and certainly, it is said, without\nextracting their fangs. They declare they enjoy the privilege from their\nfounder. The creatures writhe and struggle between their teeth; but\npossibly, if they do bite them, the bite is innocuous.\n\nThen, not to mention the common expedients of extracting the poisonous\nfangs, or forcing the animal by repeated bitings to exhaust their venom,\nthe fact seems too well established to be longer doubted, that there are\npersons in whom the faculty of charming, or, in other words, disarming\nserpents, is inherent, as the psylli and marsi of old, and the people\nmentioned by Bruce, Hassequist, and Lempriere, who were themselves\neye-witnesses of the facts they relate. With respect to the marsi, it\nmust be remembered, that Heliogabalus made their priests fling venomous\nserpents into the circus when it was full of people, and that many\nperished by the bites of these animals, which the marsi had handled with\nimpunity. The modern charmers told Bruce that their immunity was born\nwith them; and it was established beyond a doubt, during the French\nexpedition into Egypt, that these people go from house to house to\ndestroy serpents, as men do rats in this country. They declare that some\nmysterious instinct guides them to the animals, which they immediately\nseize with fury and tear to pieces with their hands and teeth. The\nnegroes of the Antilles can smell a serpent which they do not see, and\nof whose presence a European is quite insensible; and Madame Calderon de\nla Barca mentions, in her letters from Mexico, some singular cases of\nexemption from the pernicious effects of venomous bites; and further\nrelates, that in some parts of America, where rattlesnakes are extremely\nabundant, they have a custom of innoculating children with the poison,\nand that this is a preservative from future injury. This may or may not\nbe true; but it is so much the fashion in these days to set down to the\naccount of fable everything deviating from our daily experience, that\ntravellers may repeat these stories for ages before any competent person\nwill take the trouble of verifying the report. However, taking the\nevidence altogether, it appears clear that there does exist in some\npersons a faculty of producing in these animals a sort of numbness, or\n_engourdissement_, which renders them for the time incapable of\nmischief; though of the nature of the power we are utterly ignorant,\nunless it be magnetic. The senses of animals, although generally\nresembling ours, are yet extremely different in various instances; and\nwe know that many of them have one faculty or another exalted to an\nintensity of which we have no precise conception. Galen asserted, on the\nauthority of the marsi and psylli themselves, that they obtained their\nimmunity by feeding on the flesh of venomous animals: but Pliny, Elian,\nSilius Italicus, and others, account for the privilege by attributing it\nto the use of some substance of a powerful nature, with which they\nrubbed their bodies; and most modern travellers incline to the same\nexplanation. But if this were the elucidation of the mystery, I suspect\nit would be easily detected.\n\nIt is observable that in all countries where a secret of this sort\nexists, there is always found some custom which may be looked upon as\neither the cause or the consequence of the discovery. In Hindostan, for\nexample, in order to test the truth of an accusation, the cobra capello\nis flung into a deep pot of earth with a ring; and if the supposed\ncriminal succeeds in extracting the ring without being bitten by the\nserpent, he is accounted innocent. So the sacred asps in Egypt inflicted\ndeath upon the wicked, but spared the good. Dr. Allnut mentions that he\nsaw a negro in Africa touch the protruded tongue of a snake with the\nblack matter from the end of his pipe, which he said was tobacco-oil.\nThe effects were as rapid as a shock of electricity. The animal never\nstirred again, but stiffened, and was as rigid and hard as if it had\nbeen dried in the sun.\n\nIt is related of Machamut, a Moorish king, that he fed on poisons till\nhis bite became fatal and his saliva venomous. C\u0153lius Rhodiginus\nmentions the same thing of a woman who was thus mortal to all her\nlovers; and Avicenna mentions a man whose bite was fatal in the same\nway.\n\nThe boy that was found in the forest of Arden, in 1563, and who had been\nnourished by a she-wolf, made a great deal of money for a short time,\nafter he was introduced to civilized life, by exempting the flocks and\nherds of the shepherds from the peril they nightly ran of being devoured\nby wolves. This he did by stroking them with his hands, or wetting them\nwith his saliva, after which they for some time enjoyed an immunity. His\nfaculty was discovered from the circumstance of the beasts he kept never\nbeing attacked. It left him, however, when he was about fourteen, and\nthe wolves ceased to distinguish him from other human beings.\n\nHowever, my readers will, I think, ere now have supped full with\n_wonders_, if not with _horrors_\u2014and it is time I should bring this\nbook to a conclusion. If I have done no more, I trust I shall at least\nhave afforded some amusement; but I shall be better pleased to learn\nthat I have induced any one, if it be _but_ one, to look upon life and\ndeath, and the mysteries that attach to both, with a more curious and\ninquiring eye than they have hitherto done. I can not but think that it\nwould be a great step if mankind could familiarize themselves with the\nidea that they are spirits incorporated for a time in the flesh; but\nthat the dissolution of the connection between soul and body, though it\nchanges the external conditions of the former, leaves its moral state\nunaltered. What a man has made himself, he will be; his state is the\nresult of his past life, and his heaven or hell is in himself. At death\nwe enter upon a new course of life, and what that life shall be depends\nupon ourselves. If we have provided oil for our lamps, and fitted\nourselves for a noble destiny and the fellowship of the great and good\nspirits that have passed away, such will be our portion; and if we have\nmisused our talent, and sunk our souls in the sensual pleasures or base\npassions of this world, we shall carry our desires and passions with us,\nto make our torment in the other\u2014or perhaps be tethered to the earth by\nsome inextinguishable remorse or disappointed scheme, like those unhappy\nspirits I have been writing about\u2014and that perhaps for hundreds of\nyears; for, although they be evidently freed from many of the laws of\nspace and matter, while unable to leave the earth, they are still the\nchildren of time and have not entered into eternity. It is surely absurd\nto expect that because our bodies have decayed and fallen away, or been\ndestroyed by an accident, that a miracle is to be wrought in our favor,\nand that the miser\u2019s love of gold, or the profligate\u2019s love of vice, is\nto be immediately extinguished, and be superseded by inclinations and\ntastes better suited to his new condition! New circumstances do not so\nrapidly engender a new mind here, that we should hope they will do so\nthere: more especially as, in the first place, we do not know what\nfacilities of improvement may remain in us; and in the second, since the\nlaw that like seeks like must be undeviating, the blind will seek the\nblind, and not those who could help them to light.\n\nI think, too, that if people would learn to remember that they are\nspirits, and acquire the habit of conceiving of themselves as\nindividuals, apart from the body, that they would not only be better\nable to realize this view of a future life, but they would also find it\nmuch less difficult to imagine, that, since they belong to the spiritual\nworld on the one hand, quite as much as they belong to the material\nworld on the other, that these extraordinary faculties, which they\noccasionally see manifested by certain individuals, or in certain\nstates, may possibly be but faint rays of those properties which are\ninherent in spirit, though temporarily obscured by its connection with\nthe flesh\u2014and designed to be so, for the purposes of this earthly\nexistence. The most ancient nations of the world knew this, although we\nhave lost sight of it, as we learn by the sacred books of the Hebrews.\n\nAccording to the _Cabbalah_, \u201cMankind are endowed by nature, not only\nwith the faculty of penetrating into the regions of the supersensuous\nand invisible, but also of working magically above and below, or in the\nworlds of light and darkness. As the Eternal fills the world, sees, and\nis not seen, so does the soul (_N\u2019schamach_) fill the body, and sees\nwithout being seen. The soul perceives that which the bodily eye can\nnot. Sometimes a man is seized suddenly with a fear, for which he can\nnot account, which is because the soul descries an impending misfortune.\nThe soul possesses also the power of working with the elementary matter\nof the earth, so as to annihilate one form and produce another. Even by\nthe force of imagination, human beings can injure other things; yea,\neven to the slaying of a man!\u201d (The new platonist, Paracelsus, says the\nsame thing.) The \u201cCabbalah\u201d teaches that there have in all times existed\nmen endowed with powers, in a greater or less degree, to work good or\nevil; for, to be a virtuoso in either, requires a peculiar spiritual\nvigor: thence, such men as heroes and priests in the kingdom of Tumah\n(the kingdom of the clean and unclean). \u201cIf a man therefore sets his\ndesires on what is godly, in proportion as his efforts are not selfish,\nbut purely a seeking of holiness, he will be endowed, by the free grace\nof God, with supernatural faculties; and it is the highest aim of\nexistence, that man should regain his connection with his inward,\noriginal source, and exalt the material and earthly into the spiritual.\u201d\nThe highest degree of this condition of light and spirit is commonly\ncalled \u201cthe holy ecstasy,\u201d which is apparently the degree attained by\nthe ecstatics of the Tyrol.\n\nI am very far from meaning to imply that it is our duty, or in any way\ndesirable, that we should seek to bring ourselves into this state of\nholy ecstasy, which seems to involve some derangement of the normal\nrelations between the soul and body; but it is at least equally unwise\nin us to laugh at, or deny it or its proximate conditions, where they\nreally exist. It appears perfectly clear that, as by giving ourselves up\nwholly to our external and sensuous life, we dim and obscure the spirit\nof God that is in us\u2014so, by annihilating, as far as in us lies, the\nnecessities of the body, we may so far subdue the flesh as to loosen the\nbonds of the spirit, and enable it to manifest some of its inherent\nendowments. Ascetics and saints have frequently done this voluntarily;\nand disease, or a peculiar constitution, sometimes does this for us\ninvoluntarily: and it is far from desirable that we should seek to\nproduce such a state by either means, but it _is_ extremely desirable\nthat we should avail ourselves of the instruction to be gained by the\nsimple knowledge that such phenomena have existed and been observed in\nall ages; and that thereby our connection with the spiritual world may\nbecome a demonstrated fact to all who choose to open their eyes to it.\n\nWith regard to the cases of apparitions I have adduced, they are not, as\nI said before, one hundredth part of those I could have brought forward,\nhad I resorted to a few of the numerous printed collections that exist\nin all languages.\n\nWhether the view I acknowledge myself to take of the facts be or not the\ncorrect one\u2014whether we are to look to the region of the psychical or\nthe hyperphysical for the explanation\u2014the facts themselves are\ncertainly well worthy of observation; the more so, as it will be seen\nthat, although ghosts are often said to be out of fashion, such\noccurrences are, in reality, as rife as ever: while, if these shadowy\nforms be actually visiters from the dead, I think we can not too soon\nlend an attentive ear to the tale their reappearance tells us.\n\nThat we do not all see them, or that those who promise to come do not\nall keep tryst, amounts to nothing. We do not know why they can come,\nnor why they can not; and as for not seeing them, I repeat, we must not\nforget how many other things there are that we do not see: and since, in\nscience, we know that there are delicate manifestations which can only\nbe rendered perceptible to our organs by the application of the most\ndelicate electrometers, is it not reasonable to suppose that there may\nexist certain susceptible or diseased organisms, which, judiciously\nhandled, may serve as electrometers to the healthy ones?\n\nAs my book is designed as an inquiry, with a note of interrogation I\ncharacteristically bid adieu to my readers.\n\n                                                                  C. C.\n\n-----\n\n[9] In the \u201cMedical Annals,\u201d a case is recorded of a young lady whose\naxillary excretions were rendered so offensive, by the fright and horror\nshe had experienced in seeing some of her relations assassinated in\nIndia, that she was unable to go into society.\n\n\n\n\n      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nMisspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple\nspellings occur, majority use has been employed.\n\nPunctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors\noccur.","title":"The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-Seers","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":169156}