and I give it you because it stands connected in my mind with the
knowledge of a singular psychical fact which I am confident will greatly
interest you, if you have not yet fallen upon it in the course of your
reading. About a fortnight ago I thought I saw in my sleep, a young man,
who is assistant to our principal surgeon, come into my room, looking
exceedingly unwell. He laid himself on the other bed in my chamber, and
I thought that he had come there to linger out his last illness, at
which I felt not the least surprise or objection. He seemed to be
perfectly resigned, and presently he began to converse with me, and
after we had talked for some time, whilst he was replying to something I
had said, I distinctly saw his spirit rise up out of his body. He gazed
at the corpse with the deepest interest and pleasure. One moment he
would stand by the head and survey the face, and the next move to the
feet, and then gaze at the entire body. He called me to come and stand
by his side and view this lifeless frame, which I did with as much
placidity as he seemed himself to possess, and without the slightest
idea of their being anything absurd in what I saw. I could not,
however, help saying "O, that I could leave my body and have such a view
of it as you have now of yours!" I remember no more. In the morning I
had occasion to call on a friend, who has a large library containing
many rare books. Not being in the humour for close reading (for I spend
many hours at a time there) I took up from a centre table a volume of a
lighter kind. It happened to be Mrs. Child's "Letters from New York."
Turning the leaves over carelessly, my eye lighted on a chapter headed
"The spirit surveying its own body!" She there says that she was told by
a pious lady, that when once in a swoon, she felt that she left the body
and was _standing by it_ during the whole time it lasted; that she
distinctly heard every word spoken by the doctor and her family, and saw
every movement of their countenances, and all that was done with her
body. I may observe that I have not heard that anything has occurred to
the young man I saw. If I have not already tired your patience you may
draw on my memory for something more. A line to that effect will oblige,
Yours very truly,
Mrs. Crowe, R. I. O.
* * * * *
LETTER IV.
_Edinburgh, Aug. 10th._
MADAM,
In consequence of a long absence abroad, I never had, till recently, an
opportunity of reading your agreeable work, "The Night side of Nature,"
which contains a mass of evidence in favour of your theories, to which I
take the liberty of adding a few cases from my own experience.
Many years ago I lived in a house in Edinburgh, which belonged to my
mother's relatives, and in which my maternal grandfather had died,
several years antecedent to my own birth. The room in which I slept was
that (but at the time unknown to me) in which my relative had expired.
There were two beds in the room--one a large four-poster and the other a
sort of couch. The latter was next the door, and both lay between it and
the window, which was barred and bolted, and opposite to them was the
fireplace, with rather a high mantlepiece. Being summer, the "board" was
on the chimney. It was about eleven o'clock at night; the rest of the
family had retired to rest. As there were only about two inches of
candle left, I placed the candlestick on the mantlepiece, intending to
allow it to burn out, and went to my bed, which was on the couch. I had
just lain down, and was looking towards the candle, when, to my extreme
horror, I perceived a tall old man in his night dress, standing by the
mantlepiece. His sight seemed impaired, for he put forth his hand _and
felt for something_, and then moved across the fireplace, in doing
which, _he obscured the light on passing it_. My gaze was riveted on
him. He then turned towards the large bed on my left, and stretching out
his hands attempted with a feeble effort to lay himself down, and in
doing so I heard him _sigh_ distinctly. He disappeared almost at the
same moment. He did not appear to have noticed me. I immediately sprang
out of bed and opening the door on my right hand, called out loudly, but
_never left the doorway_, as I was resolved that if the figure were that
of a living person there should be no means of egress. On the assembling
of the family in my room, a search was made; but there was nothing to be
seen, and there had been no possibility of a human being having been in
the room; the affair was put down to an _illusion_. Yet so strong an
impression did it leave on my mind, that a few years since (1851 or 52),
when in India, I published in "Saunder's Magazine," printed at the Delhi
Gazette press, an account of this apparition, in a narrative, which I
wrote called "Idone, or Incidents in the life of a dreamer," and which
with the exception of this introductory vision, was, in reality, a
series of actual dreams of which I had kept a record, and this I
endeavoured to weave into a vague story, with the view of illustrating
how a person might live _two distinct lives_!
Sometime after the above were published, I read with much interest,
"Swedenborg's Theory of the Spiritual World;" and lately when reading
your work, I was struck with some peculiar resemblances between my own
experience and the cases you cite.
But to return to the family and house in Edinburgh, of my grandfather.
Other members of the family have seen unaccountable figures in the same
house. An aunt of mine and a cousin, one night, met an old woman on the
stairs with a large bunch of keys, and were in the greatest alarm. On
another occasion, on going to open a room which had been locked up for
some time, in order to prepare it for the reception of my eldest uncle,
who had just returned that night from abroad, two members of the family
started back and locked the door again, for on entering they had both
seen the _mattrass &c. violently heaved up_. On returning with the
servants, nothing was visible of an unusual description. Again, two
relatives occupied the same room, and one night, as the fire was burning
low, after they had gone to bed (the door being locked) they were
alarmed by a sound like wings, over their beds, and by a _dusky form_
moving about the room. It walked up to the fireplace and seemed
restless. When it had disappeared, they both rose and _unlocked_ the
door, called for assistance, but, as usual, nothing of their visitor was
to be seen. A still more remarkable incident occurred in the same house.
As two of my aunts were sitting opposite the window, at night, they were
startled by the apparition of an absent brother-in-law looking in, and
with a pen in his hand. A few days afterwards the intelligence of his
death arrived. He had been _signing his will_ at the exact time they
had seen his apparation. My eldest uncle shortly after his return from
abroad went to Musselburgh to visit an old school-master, and as he
entered the yard he observed him limping into the school. He tried to
overtake him, and on reaching the door he met one of the tutors, who
informed him that the Dr. had been confined to his bed for some time
with a broken leg.
The same uncle, who was an officer in the army, dreamt that he had
obtained his captaincy by the retirement of an officer of the name of
Patterson (so far as I remember.) There was no such officer then in the
regiment, and he mentioned it as strange that he should have dreamt of a
_particular_ name. A few Gazettes afterwards my uncle obtained his
promotion by an officer of _this_ name being _brought in from the
half-pay to sell out in the same Gazette_.
I have myself heard the most remarkable and unaccountable noises in my
grandfather's house. The servants were often in the greatest terror. I
have heard, seemingly, the whole of the furniture, in a particular room,
thrown violently about, accompanied with the noise of something rolling
on the floor. At other times I have distinctly heard, as it were, a
boy's marble falling step by step down the stairs and striking against
my door, which was at the foot of them, and yet this was at night, and
there were no children in the house. This annoyance, with that of steps
heard round my bed, was so common as to cease to make any impression on
me.
I may mention that my grandfather was not happy in his family relations,
and died in an uneasy frame of mind, on Christmas eve, 1820. Since my
family sold his house, I have never heard that its new occupants were
disturbed.
I have at different periods of my life had _groups_, as it were, of very
remarkable allegorical dreams.
It is somewhat singular that involuntary efforts may be made during
sleep, which are I believe beyond the bounds of possibility during
waking moments. Indeed the curious phenomena which you have so ably
criticised, are without limit.
Though you do not approve of the concealment of names, I hope you will
excuse my asking you to do so in the present instance as many of the
parties concerned might be displeased.
I have the honour to remain,
Madam,
Your obedient servant,
Mrs. Catherine Crowe. H. A.
"P.S. I know two remarkable instances of prophetic denunciation or the
power of will, under, of course, the control of Providence. In one
instance, the death of the party denounced, followed on the week
predicted, although at the time he was well. Moreover, the denunciation
was never mentioned to him.
"In the other instance, the accomplishment of the denunciation was
accomplished to the exact day, and under very remarkable circumstances.
I believe this power to be _involuntary_, and more of the nature of
inspiration."
SECOND PART.
LEGENDS OF THE EARTHBOUND.
THE ITALIAN'S STORY.
"How well your friend speaks English!" I remarked one day to an
acquaintance when I was abroad, alluding to a gentleman who had just
quitted the room. "What is his name?"
"Count Francesco Ferraldi."
"I suppose he has been in England?"
"Oh, yes; he was exiled and taught Italian there. His history is very
curious and would interest you, who like wonderful things."
"Can you tell it me."
"Not correctly, as I never heard it from himself. But I believe he has
no objection to tell it--with the exception of the political
transactions in which he was concerned, and which caused his being sent
out of the Austrian dominions; that part of it I believe he thinks it
prudent not to allude to. We'll ask him to dinner, if you'll meet him,
and perhaps we may persuade him to tell the story."
Accordingly, the meeting took place; we dined _en petit comite_,--and
the Count very good-naturedly yielded to our request; "but you must
excuse me," he said, "beginning a long way back for my story commences
three hundred years ago.
"Our family claims to be of great antiquity, but we were not very
wealthy till about the latter half of the 16th century, when Count
Jacopo Ferraldi made very considerable additions to the property; not
only by getting, but also by saving--he was in fact a miser. Before that
period the Ferraldis had been warriors, and we could boast of many
distinguished deeds of arms recorded in our annals; but Jacopo, although
by the death of his brother, he ultimately inherited the title and the
estates, had begun life as a younger son, and being dissatisfied with
his portion, had resolved to increase it by commerce.
"Florence then was a very different city to what it is now; trade
flourished, and its merchants had correspondence and large dealings with
all the chief cities of Europe. My ancestor invested his little fortune
so judiciously, or so fortunately, that he trebled it in his first
venture; and as people grow rapidly rich who gain and don't spend, he
soon had wealth to his heart's content--but I am wrong in using that
term as applied to him--he was never content with his gains but still
worked on to add to them, for he grew to love the money for itself, and
not for what it might purchase.
"At length, his two elder brothers died, and as they left no issue he
succeeded to their inheritance, and dwelt in the palace of his
ancestors; but instead of circulating his riches he hoarded them; and
being too miserly to entertain his friends and neighbours, he lived like
an anchorite in his splendid halls, exulting in his possessions but
never enjoying them. His great pleasure and chief occupation seems to
have been counting his money, which he kept either hidden in strange
out-of-the-way places, or in strong iron chests, clamped to the floors
and walls. But notwithstanding those precautions and that he guarded it
like a watch dog, to his great dismay he one day missed a sum of two
thousand pounds which he had concealed in an ingeniously contrived
receptacle under the floor of his dining-room, the existence of which
was only known to the man who made it; at least, so he believed. Small
as was this sum in proportion to what he possessed, the shock was
tremendous; he rushed out of his house like a madman with the intention
of dragging the criminal to justice, but when he arrived at the man's
shop he found him in bed and at the point of death. His friends and the
doctor swore that he had not quitted it for a fortnight; in short,
according to their shewing, he was taken ill on his return from working
at the Count's, the very day he finished the job.
"If this were true, he could not be the thief, as the money was not
deposited there till some days afterwards, and although the Count had
his doubts, it was not easy to disprove what everybody swore, more
especially as the man died on the following day, and was buried. Baffled
and furious, he next fell foul of his two servants--he kept but two, for
he only inhabited a small part of the palace. There was not the smallest
reason to suspect them, nor to suppose they knew anything of the hiding
place, for every precaution had been used to conceal it; moreover, he
had found it locked as he himself had locked it after depositing the
money, and he was quite sure the key had never been absent from his own
person. Nevertheless, he discharged them and took no others. The thief,
whoever he was, had evinced so much ingenuity, that he trembled to think
what such skill might compass with opportunity. So he resolved to afford
none; and henceforth to have his meals sent in from a neighbouring
eating-house, and to have a person once a week to sweep and clean his
rooms, whom he could keep an eye on while it was doing. As he had no
clue to the perpetrators of the robbery, and the man whom he had most
reason to suspect was dead, he took no further steps in the business,
but kept it quiet lest he should draw too much attention towards his
secret hoards; nevertheless, though externally calm, the loss preyed
upon his mind and caused him great anguish.
"Shortly after this occurrence, he received a letter from a sister of
his who had several years before married an Englishman, saying that her
husband was dead, and it being advisable that her dear and only son
should enter into commerce, that she was going to send him to Florence,
feeling assured that her brother would advise him for the best, and
enable him to employ the funds he brought with him advantageously.
"This was not pleasing intelligence; he did not want to promote any
body's interest but his own, and he felt that the young man would be a
spy on his actions, an intruder in his house, and no doubt an expectant
and greedy heir, counting the hours till he died; for this sister and
her family were his nearest of kin, and would inherit if he left no will
to the contrary. However, his arrival could not be prevented; letters
travelled slowly in those days, and ere his could reach England his
nephew would have quitted it, so he resolved to give him a cold
reception and send him back as soon as he could.
"In the mean time, the young man had started on his journey, full of
hope and confidence, and immediately on his arrival hastened to present
himself to this rich uncle who was to shew him the path he had himself
followed to fortune. It was not for his own sake alone he coveted
riches, but his mother and sister were but poorly provided for, and they
had collected the whole of their little fortune and risked it upon this
venture, hoping, with the aid of their relative, to be amply repaid for
the present sacrifice.
"A fine open countenanced lad was Arthur Allen, just twenty years of
age; such a face and figure had not beamed upon those old halls for many
a day. Well brought up and well instructed too; he spoke Italian as well
as English, his mother having accustomed him to it from infancy.
"Though he had heard his uncle was a miser, he had no conception of the
amount to which the mania had arisen; and his joyous anticipations were
somewhat damped when he found himself so coldly received, and when he
looked into those hard grey eyes and contracted features that had never
expanded with a genial smile; so fearing the old man might be
apprehensive that he had come as an applicant for assistance to set him
up in trade, he hastened to inform him of the true state of the case,
saying that they had got together two thousand pounds.
"'Of course, my mother,' he said, 'would not have entrusted my
inexperience with such a sum; but she desired me to place it in your
hands, and to act entirely under your direction.
"To use the miser's own expression--for we have learnt all these
particulars from a memoir left by himself--'When I heard these words the
devil entered into me, and I bade the youth bring the money and dine
with me on the following day.'
"I daresay you will think the devil had entered into him long before;
however, now he recognized his presence, but that did not deter him from
following his counsel.
"Pleased that he had so far thawed his uncle's frigidity, Arthur arrived
the next day with his money bags at the appointed hour, and was received
in an inner chamber; their contents were inspected and counted, and then
placed in one of the old man's iron chests. Soon afterwards the tinkle
of a bell announced that the waiter from the neighbouring traiteur's had
brought the dinner, and the host left the room to see that all was
ready. Presently he re-entered, and led his guest to the table. The
repast was not sumptuous, but there was a bottle of old Lacryma Christi
which he much recommended, and which the youth tasted with great
satisfaction. But strange! He had no sooner swallowed the first glass,
than his eyes began to stare--there was a gurgle in his throat--a
convulsion passed over his face--and his body stiffened.
"'I did not look up,' says the old man in his memoir, 'for I did not
like to see the face of the boy that had sat down so hearty to his
dinner, so I kept on eating mine--but I heard the gurgle, and I knew
what had happened; and presently lest the servant should come to fetch
the dinner things, I pushed the table aside and opened the receptacle
from which my two thousand pounds had been stolen--curses on the thief!
and I laid the body in it, and the wine therewith. I locked it and drove
in two strong nails. Then I put back the table--moved away the lad's
chair and plate, unlocked the door which was fast, and sat down to
finish my dinner. I could not help chuckling as I ate, to think how his
had been spoilt.
"'I closed up that apartment, as I thought there might be a smell that
would raise observation, and I selected one on the opposite side of the
gallery for my dining-room. All went well till the following day. I
counted my two thousand pounds again and again, and I kept gloating
over the recovery of it--for I felt as if it was my own money, and that
I had a right to seize it where I could. I wrote also to my sister,
saying, that her son had not arrived; but that when he did, I would do
my best to forward his views. My heart was light that day--they say
that's a bad sign.
"'Yes, all was so far well; but the next day we were two of us at
dinner! And yet I had invited no guest; and the next and the next, and
so on always! As I was about to sit down, he entered and took a chair
opposite me, an unbidden guest. I ceased dining at home, but it made no
difference; he came, dine where I would. This preyed upon me; I tried
not to mind, but I could not help it. Argument was vain. I lost my
appetite, and was reduced nearly to death's door. At last, driven to
desperation, I consulted Fra Guiseppe. He had been a fast fellow in his
time, and it was said had been too impatient for his father's
succession; howbeit, the old man died suddenly; Guiseppe spent the money
and then took to religion. I thought he was a proper person to consult,
so I told him my case. He recommended repentance and restitution. I
tried, but I could not repent, for I had got the money; but I thought,
perhaps, if I parted with it to another, I might be released; so I
looked about for an advantageous purchase, and hearing that Bartolomeo
Malfi was in difficulties, I offered him two thousand pounds, money
down, for his land--I knew it was worth three times the sum. We signed
the agreement, and then I went home and opened the door of the room
where it was; but lo! he sat there upon the chest where the money was
fast locked, and I could not get it. I peeped in two or three times, but
he was always there; so I was obliged to expend other moneys in this
purchase, which vexed me, albeit the bargain was a good one. Then I
consulted friend Guiseppe again, and he said nothing would do but
restitution--but that was hard, so I waited; and I said to myself, I'll
eat and care not whether he sit there or no. But woe be to him! he
chilled the marrow of my bones, and I could not away with him; so I said
one day, "What if I go to England with the money?" and he bowed his
head.'
"The old man accordingly took the moneybags from the chest and started
for England. His sister and her daughter were still living in the house
they had inhabited during the husband's lifetime; in short, it was their
own; and being attached to the place they hoped, if the young man
succeeded in his undertakings, to be able to keep it. It was a small
house with a garden full of flowers, which the ladies cultivated
themselves. The village church was close at hand, and the churchyard
adjoined the garden. The poor ladies had become very uneasy at not
hearing of Arthur's arrival; and when the old man presented himself and
declared he had never seen anything of him, great was their affliction
and dismay; for it was clear that either some misfortune had happened to
the boy, or he had appropriated the money and gone off in some other
direction. They scarcely admitted the possibility of the last
contingency, although it was the one their little world universally
adopted, in spite of his being a very well conducted and affectionate
youth; but people said it was too great a temptation for his years, and
blamed his mother for entrusting him with so much money. Whichever it
was, the blow fell very heavy on them in all ways, for Arthur was their
sole stay and support, and they loved him dearly.
"Since he had set out on this journey, the old man had been relieved
from the company of his terrible guest, and was beginning to recover
himself a little, but it occasioned him a severe pang when he remembered
that this immunity was to be purchased with the sacrifice of two
thousand pounds, and he set himself to think how he could jockey the
ghost. But while he was deliberating on this subject, an event happened
that alarmed him for the immediate safety of the money.
"He had found on the road, that the great weight of a certain chest he
brought with him, had excited observation whenever his luggage had to be
moved; on his arrival two labouring men had been called in to carry it
into the house, and he had overheard some remarks that induced him to
think they had drawn a right conclusion with regard to its contents.
Subsequently, he saw these two men hovering about the house in a
suspicious manner, and he was afraid to leave it or to go to sleep at
night, lest he should be robbed.
"So far we learn from Jocopo Ferraldi himself; but there the memoir
stops. Tradition says that he was found one morning murdered in his bed
and his chest rifled. All the family, that is the mother and daughter
and their one servant, were accused of the murder; and notwithstanding
their protestation of innocence were declared guilty and executed.