APPARITIONS SEEKING THE PRAYERS OF THE LIVING.
WITH regard to the appearance of ghosts, the frequency of haunted
houses, presentiments, prognostics, and dreams, if we come to inquire
closely, it appears to me that all parts of the world are much on an
equality—only, that where people are most engaged in business or
pleasure, these things are, in the first place, less thought of and less
believed in, consequently less observed; and when they _are_ observed,
they are readily explained away: and in the second place—where the
external life, the life of the brain, wholly prevails—either they do
not happen, or they are not perceived—the rapport not existing, or the
receptive faculty being obscured.
But, although the above phenomena seem to be equally well known in all
countries, there is one peculiar class of apparitions of which I meet
with no records but in Germany. I allude to ghosts, who, like those
described in the “Seeress of Prevorst,” seek the prayers of the living.
In spite of the positive assertions of Kerner, Eschenmayer, and others,
that after neglecting no means to investigate the affair, they had been
forced into the conviction that the spectres that frequented Frederica
Hauffe were not subjective illusions, but real outstanding forms, still,
as she was in the somnambulic state, many persons remain persuaded that
the whole thing was delusion. It is true, that as those parties were not
there, and as all those who did go to the spot came to a different
conclusion, this opinion being only the result of preconceived notions
or prejudices, and not of calm investigation, is of no value whatever;
nevertheless, it is not to be denied that these narrations are very
extraordinary; but, perplexing as they are, they by no means stand
alone. I find many similar ones noticed in various works, where there
has been no somnambule in question. In all cases, these unfortunate
spirits appear to have been waiting for some one with whom they could
establish a rapport, so as to be able to communicate with them; and this
waiting has sometimes endured a century or more. Sometimes they are seen
by only one person, at other times by several, with varying degrees of
distinctness, appearing to one as a light, to another as a shadowy
figure, and to a third as a defined human form. Other testimonies of
their presence—as sounds, footsteps, lights, visible removing of solid
articles without a visible agent, odors, &c.—are generally perceived by
many; in short, the sounds seem audible to all who come to the spot,
with the exception of the voice, which in most instances is only heard
by the person with whom the rapport is chiefly established. Some cases
are related, where a mark like burning is left on the articles seen to
be lifted. This is an old persuasion, and has given rise to many a joke.
But, upon the hypothesis I have offered, the thing is simple enough: the
mark will probably be of the same nature as that left by the electrical
fluid;—and it is this particular, and the lights that often accompany
spirits, that have caused the notion of material flames, sulphur,
brimstone, &c., to be connected with the idea of a future state.
According to our views, there can be no difficulty in conceiving that a
happy and blessed spirit would emit a mild radiance; while anger or
malignity would necessarily alter the character of the effulgence.
As whoever wishes to see a number of these cases may have recourse to my
translation of the “Seeress of Prevorst,” I will here only relate one,
of a very remarkable nature, that occurred in the prison of Weinsberg,
in the year 1835.
Dr. Kerner, who has published a little volume containing a report of the
circumstances, describes the place where the thing happened to be such a
one as negatives at once all possibility of trick or imposture. It was
in a sort of block-house or fortress—a prison within a prison—with no
windows but what looked into a narrow passage, closed with several
doors. It was on the second floor; the windows were high up, heavily
barred with iron, and immovable without considerable mechanical force.
The external prison is surrounded by a high wall, and the gates are kept
closed day and night. The prisoners in different apartments are of
course never allowed to communicate with each other, and the
deputy-governor of the prison and his family, consisting of a wife,
niece, and one maid-servant, are described as people of unimpeachable
respectability and veracity. As depositions regarding this affair were
laid before the magistrates, it is on them I found my narration.
On the 12th September, 1835, the deputy-governor or keeper of the jail,
named Mayer, sent in a report to the magistrates that a woman called
Elizabeth Eslinger was every night visited by a ghost, which generally
came about eleven o’clock, and which left her no rest, as it said she
was destined to release it, and it always invited her to follow it; and
as she would not, it pressed heavily on her neck and side till it gave
her pain. The persons confined with her pretended also to have seen this
apparition.
Signed “MAYER.”
A woman named Rosina Schahl, condemned to eight days’ confinement for
abusive language, deposed, that about eleven o’clock, Eslinger began to
breathe hard as if she was suffocating; she said a ghost was with her,
seeking his salvation. “I did not trouble myself about it, but told her
to wake me when it came again. Last night I saw a shadowy form, between
four and five feet high, standing near the bed; I did not see it move.
Eslinger breathed very hard, and complained of a pressure on the side.
For several days she has neither ate nor drank anything.
Signed “SCHAHL.”
“COURT RESOLVES,
“That Eslinger is to be visited by the prison physician, and a report
made as to her mental and bodily health.
“Signed by the magistrates,
“ECKHARDT,
“THEURER,
“KNORR.”
“REPORT.
“Having examined the prisoner, Elizabeth Eslinger, confined here since
the beginning of September, I found her of sound mind, but possessed
with one fixed idea, namely, that she is and has been for a considerable
time troubled by an apparition, which leaves her no rest, coming chiefly
by night, and requiring her prayers to release it. It visited her before
she came to the prison, and was the cause of the offence that brought
her here. Having now, in compliance with the orders of the supreme
court, observed this woman for eleven weeks, I am led to the conclusion
that there is no deception in this case, and also that the persecution
is not a mere monomaniacal idea of her own, and the testimony not only
of her fellow-prisoners, but that of the deputy-governor’s family, and
even of persons in distant houses, confirms me in this persuasion.
“Eslinger is a widow, aged thirty-eight years, and declares that she
never had any sickness whatever, neither is she aware of any at present;
but she has always been a ghost-seer, though never till lately had any
communication with them; that now, for eleven weeks that she has been in
the prison, she is nightly disturbed by an apparition, that had
previously visited her in her own house, and which had been once seen
also by a girl of fourteen—a statement which this girl confirms. When
at home, the apparition did not appear in a defined human form, but as a
pillar of cloud, out of which proceeded a hollow voice, signifying to
her that she was to release it, by her prayers, from the cellar of a
woman in Wimmenthal, named Singhaasin, whither it was banished, or
whence it could not free itself. She (Eslinger) says that she did not
then venture to speak to it, not knowing whether to address it as _Sie_,
_Ihr_, or _Du_ (that is, whether she should address it in the second or
third person)—which custom among the Germans has rendered a very
important point of etiquette. It is to be remembered that this woman was
a peasant, without education, who had been brought into trouble by
treasure-seeking, a pursuit in which she hoped to be assisted by this
spirit. This digging for buried treasure is a strong passion in Germany.
“The ghost now comes in a perfect human shape, and is dressed in a loose
robe, with a girdle, and has on its head a four-cornered cap. It has a
projecting chin and forehead, fiery, deep-set eyes, a long beard, and
high cheek-bones, which look as if they were covered with parchment. A
light radiates about and above his head, and in the midst of this light
she sees the outlines of the spectre.
“Both she and her fellow-prisoners declare, that this apparition comes
several times in a night, but always between the evening and morning
bell. He often comes through the closed door or window, but they can
then see neither door nor window, nor iron bars; they often hear the
closing of the door, and can see into the passage when he comes in or
out that way, so that if a piece of wood lies there they see it. They
hear a shuffling in the passage as he comes and goes. He most frequently
enters by the window, and they then hear a peculiar sound there. He
comes in quite erect. Although their cell is entirely closed, they feel
a cool wind[5] when he is near them. All sorts of noises are heard,
particularly a crackling. When he is angry, or in great trouble, they
perceive a strange mouldering, earthy smell. He often pulls away the
coverlet, and sits on the edge of the bed. At first the touch of his
hand was icy cold, since he became brighter it is warmer; she first saw
the brightness of his finger-ends; it afterward spread further. If she
stretches out her hand she can not feel him, but when he touches her she
feels it. He sometimes takes her hands and lays them together, to make
her pray. His sighs and groans are like a person in despair; they are
heard by others as well as Eslinger. While he is making these sounds,
she is often praying aloud, or talking to her companions, so they are
sure it is not she who makes them. She does not see his mouth move when
he speaks. The voice is hollow and gasping. He comes to her for prayers,
and he seems to her like one in a mortal sickness, who seeks comfort in
the prayers of others. He says he was a catholic priest in Wimmenthal,
and lived in the year 1414.”
(Wimmenthal is still catholic; the woman Eslinger herself is a Lutheran,
and belongs to Backnang.)
“He says, that among other crimes, a fraud committed conjointly with his
father, on his brothers, presses sorely on him; he can not get quit of
it; it obstructs him. He always entreated her to go with him to
Wimmenthal, whither he was banished, or consigned, and pray there for
him.
“She says she can not tell whether what he says is true; and does not
deny that she thought to find treasures by his aid. She has often told
him that the prayers of a sinner, like herself, can not help him, and
that he should seek the Redeemer; but he will not forbear his
entreaties. When she says these things, he is sad, and presses nearer to
her, and lays his head so close that she is obliged to pray into his
mouth. _He seems hungry for prayers._ She has often felt his tears on
her cheek and neck; they felt icy cold; but the spot soon after burns,
and they have a bluish red mark. (These marks are visible on her skin.)
“One night this apparition brought with him a large dog, which leaped on
the beds, and was seen by her fellow-prisoners also, who were much
terrified, and screamed. The ghost, however, spoke, and said, ‘Fear not;
this is my father.’ He had since brought the dog with him again, which
alarmed them dreadfully, and made them quite ill.
“Both Mayer and the prisoners asserted, that Eslinger was scarcely seen
to sleep, either by night or day, for ten weeks. She ate very little,
prayed continually, and appeared very much wasted and exhausted. She
said she saw the spectre alike, whether her eyes were opened or closed,
which showed that it was a magnetic perception, and not _seeing_ by her
bodily organs. It is remarkable that a cat belonging to the jail, being
shut up in this room, was so frightened when the apparition came, that
it tried to make its escape by flying against the walls; and finding
this impossible, it crept under the coverlet of the bed, in extreme
terror. The experiment was made again, with the same result; and after
this second time the animal refused all nourishment, wasted away, and
died.
“In order to satisfy myself,” says Dr. Kerner, “of the truth of these
depositions, I went to the prison on the night of the 15th of October,
and shut myself up without light in Eslinger’s cell. About half-past
eleven I heard a sound as of some hard body being flung down, but not on
the side where the woman was, but the opposite; she immediately began to
breathe hard, and told me the spectre was there. I laid my hand on her
head, and adjured it as an evil spirit to depart. I had scarcely spoken
the words when there was a strange rattling, crackling noise, all round
the walls, which finally seemed to go out through the window; and the
woman said that the spectre had departed.
“On the following night it told her that it was grieved at being
addressed as an evil spirit, which it was not, but one that deserved
pity; and that what it wanted was prayers and redemption.
“On the 18th of October, I went to the cell again, between ten and
eleven, taking with me my wife, and the wife of the keeper, Madame
Mayer. When the woman’s breathing showed me the spectre was there, I
laid my hand on her, and adjured it, in gentle terms, not to trouble her
further. The same sort of sound as before commenced, but it was softer,
and this time continued all along the passage, where there was certainly
nobody. We all heard it.
“On the night of the 20th I went again, with Justice Heyd. We both heard
sounds when the spectre came, and the woman could not conceive why we
did not see it. We could not; but we distinctly felt a cool wind blowing
upon us when, according to her account, it was near, although there was
no aperture by which air could enter.”
On each of these occasions Dr. Kerner seems to have remained about a
couple of hours.
Madame Mayer now resolved to pass a night in the cell, for the purpose
of observation; and she took her niece, a girl aged nineteen, with her:
her report is as follows:—
“It was a rainy night, and, in the prison, pitch dark. My niece slept
sometimes; I remained awake all night, and mostly sitting up in bed.
“About midnight I saw a light come in at the window; it was a yellowish
light, and moved slowly; and though we were closely shut in, I felt a
cool wind blowing on me. I said to the woman, ‘The ghost is here, is he
not?’ She said ‘Yes,’ and continued to pray, as she had been doing
before. The cool wind and the light now approached me; my coverlet was
quite light, and I could see my hands and arms; and at the same time I
perceived an indescribable odor of putrefaction; my face felt as if ants
were running over it. (Most of the prisoners described themselves as
feeling the same sensation when the spectre was there.) Then the light
moved about, and went up and down the room; and on the door of the cell
I saw a number of little glimmering stars, such as I had never before
seen. Presently, I and my niece heard a voice which I can compare to
nothing I ever heard before. It was not like a human voice. The words
and sighs sounded as if they were drawn up out of a deep hollow, and
appeared to ascend from the floor to the roof in a column; while this
voice spoke, the woman was praying aloud: so I was sure it did not
proceed from her. No one could produce such a sound. They were strange,
superhuman sighs and entreaties for prayers and redemption.
“It is very extraordinary that, whenever the ghost spoke, I always _felt
it beforehand_. [Proving that the spirit had been able to establish a
rapport with this person. She was in a magnetic relation to him.] We
heard a crackling in the room also. I was perfectly awake, and in
possession of my senses; and we are ready to make oath to having seen
and heard these things.”
On the 9th of December, Madame Mayer spent the night again in the cell,
with her niece and her maid-servant; and her report is as follows:—
“It was moonlight, and I sat up in bed all night, watching Eslinger.
Suddenly I saw a white shadowy form, like a small animal, cross the
room. I asked her what it was; and she answered, ‘Don’t you see it’s a
lamb? It often comes with the apparition.’ We then saw a stool, that was
near us, lifted and _set down_ again on its legs. She was in bed, and
praying the whole time. Presently, there was such a noise at the window
that I thought all the panes were broken. She told us it was the ghost,
and that he was sitting on the stool. We then heard a walking and
shuffling up and down, although I could not see him; but presently I
felt a cool wind blowing on me, and out of this wind the same hollow
voice I had heard before, said, ‘In the name of Jesus, look on me!’
“Before this, the moon was gone, and it was quite dark; but when the
voice spoke to me, I saw a light around us, though still no form. Then
there was a sound of walking toward the opposite window, and I heard the
voice say, ‘Do you see me now?’ And then, for the first time, I saw a
shadowy form, stretching up as if to make itself visible to us, but
could distinguish no features.
“During the rest of the night, I saw it repeatedly, sometimes sitting on
the stool, and at others moving about; and I am perfectly certain that
there was no moonlight now, nor any other light from without. How I saw
it, I can not tell; it is a thing not to be described.
“Eslinger prayed the whole time, and the more earnestly she did so, the
closer the spectre went to her. It sometimes sat upon her bed.
“About five o’clock, when he came near to me, and I felt the cool air, I
said, ‘Go to my husband, in his chamber, and leave a sign that you have
been there!’ He answered distinctly, ‘Yes.’ Then we heard the door,
which was fast locked, open and shut; and we saw the shadow float out
(for he floated rather than walked), and we heard the shuffling along
the passage.
“In a quarter of an hour we saw him return, entering by the window; and
I asked him if he had been with my husband, and what he had done. He
answered by a sound like a short, low, hollow laugh. Then he hovered
about without any noise, and we heard him speaking to Eslinger, while
she still prayed aloud. Still, as before, I always knew when he was
going to speak. After six o’clock, we saw him no more. In the morning,
my husband mentioned, with great surprise, that his chamber door, which
he was sure he had fast bolted and locked, even taking out the key when
he went to bed, he had found wide open.”
On the 24th, Madame Mayer passed the night there again; but on this
occasion she only saw a white shadow coming and going, and standing by
the woman, who prayed unceasingly. She also heard the shuffling.
Between prisoners and the persons in authority who went to observe, the
number of those who testify to this phenomenon is considerable; and,
although the amount of what was perceived varied according to the
receptivity of the subject in each case, the evidence of all is
perfectly coincident as to the character of the phenomena. Some saw only
the light; others distinguished the form in the midst of it; all heard
the sound, and perceived the mouldering earthy smell.
That the receptivity of the women was greater than that of the men,
after what I have elsewhere said, should excite no surprise; the
preponderance of the sympathetic system in them being sufficient to
account for the difference.
Frederica Follen, from Lowenstein, who was eight weeks in the same cell
with Eslinger, was witness to all the phenomena, though she only once
arrived at seeing the spectre in its perfect human form, as the latter
saw it; but it frequently spoke to her, bidding her amend her life, and
remember that it was one who had tasted of death that give her this
counsel. This circumstance had a great effect upon her.
When any of them swore, the apparition always evinced much displeasure,
grasped them by the throat, and forced them to pray. Frequently, when he
came or went, they said it sounded like a flight of pigeons.
Catherine Sinn, from Mayenfels, was confined in an adjoining room for a
fortnight. After her release, she was interrogated by the minister of
her parish, and deposed that she had known nothing of Eslinger, or the
spectre; “but every night, being quite alone, I heard a rustling and a
noise at the window, which looked only into the passage. I felt and
heard, though I could not see anybody, that some one was moving about
the room; _these sounds_ were accompanied by a cool wind, though the
place was closely shut up. I heard also a crackling, and a shuffling,
and a sound as if gravel were thrown; but could find none in the
morning. Once it seemed to me that a hand was laid softly on my
forehead. I did not like staying alone, on account of these things, and
begged to be put into a room with others; so I was placed with Eslingen
and Follen. The same things continued here, and they told me about the
ghost; but not being alone, I was not so frightened. I often heard him
speak; it was hollow and slow, not like a human voice; but I could
seldom catch the words. When he left the prison, which was generally
about five in the morning, he used to say, ‘Pray!’ and when he did so,
he would add, ‘God reward you!’ I never saw him distinctly till the last
morning I was there; then I saw a white shadow standing by Eslinger’s
bed.
Signed,
“CATHERINE SINN.
“MINISTER BINDER, Mayenfels.”
It would be tedious, were I to copy the depositions of all the
prisoners, the experience of most of them being similar to the above. I
will therefore content myself with giving an abstract of the most
remarkable particulars.
Besides the crackling, rustling as of paper, walking, shuffling,
concussions of the windows and of their beds, &c., &c., they heard
sometimes a fearful cry, and not unfrequently the bed-coverings were
pulled from them; it appearing to be the object of the spirit to
manifest himself thus to those to whom he could not make himself
visible; and as I find this pulling off the bed-clothes, and heaving up
the bed as if some one were under it, repeated in a variety of cases,
foreign and English, I conclude the motive to be the same. Several of
the women heard him speak.
All these depositions are contained in Dr. Kerner’s report to the
magistrates; and he concludes by saying, that there can be no doubt of
the fact of the woman Elizabeth Eslinger suffering these annoyances, by
whatever name people may choose to call them.
Among the most remarkable phenomena, is the real or apparent opening of
the door, so that they could see what was in the passage. Eslinger said
that the spirit was often surrounded by a light, and his eyes looked
fiery; and there sometimes came with him two lambs, which occasionally
appeared as stars. He often took hold of Eslinger, and made her sit up,
put her hands together, that she might pray; and once he appeared to
take a pen and paper from under his gown, and wrote, laying it on her
coverled.
It is extremely curious that, on two occasions, Eslinger saw Dr. Kerner
and Justice Heyd enter with the ghost, when they were not there in the
body, and both times Heyd was enveloped in a black cloud. The ghost, on
being asked, told Eslinger that the cloud indicated that trouble was
impending. A few days afterward his child died very unexpectedly, and
Dr. Kerner now remembered, that the first time Eslinger said she had
seen Heyd in this way, his father had died directly afterward. Kerner
attended both patients, and was thus associated in the symbol. Follen
also saw these two images, and spoke, believing the one to be Dr. Kerner
himself.
On other occasions she saw strangers come in with the ghost, whom
afterward, when they _really_ came in the body, she recognised. This
seems to have been a sort of second sight.
Dr. K. says, I think justly enough, that if Eslinger had been feigning,
she never would have ventured on what seemed so improbable.
Some of the women, after the spectre had visibly leaned over them, or
had spoken into their ears, were so affected by the odor he diffused
that they vomited, and could not eat till they had taken an emetic; and
those parts of their persons that he touched became painful and swollen,
an effect I find produced in numerous other instances.
The following particulars are worth observing, in the evidence of a girl
sixteen years of age, called Margaret Laibesberg, who was confined for
ten days for plucking some grapes in a vineyard. She says she knew
nothing about the spectre, but that she was greatly alarmed the first
night at hearing the door burst open and something come shuffling in.
Eslinger bade her not fear, and said that it would not injure her. The
girl, however, being greatly terrified every night, and hiding her head
under the bed-clothes, on the fourth Eslinger got out of her own bed,
and, coming to her, said: “Do, in the name of God, look at him! He will
do you no harm, I assure you.”—“Then,” says the girl, “I looked out
from under the clothes, and I saw two white forms, like two lambs—so
beautiful that I could have looked at them for ever. Between them stood
a white, shadowy form, as tall as a man, but I was not able to look
longer, for my eyes failed me.” The terrors of this girl were so great,
that Eslinger had repeatedly occasion to get out of bed and fetch her to
lie with herself. When she could be induced to look, she always saw the
figure, and he bade her also pray for him. Whenever he touched her,
which he did on the forehead and eyes, she felt pain, but says nothing
of any subsequent swelling. Both this girl and another, called
Neidhardt, who was brought in on the last day of Margaret L——’s
imprisonment, testified that on the previous night they had heard
Eslinger ask the ghost why he looked so angry; and that they had heard
him answer that it was “because she had on the preceding night neglected
to pray for him as much as usual,” which neglect arose from two
gentlemen having passed the night in the cell.
When on the tenth day the girl Margaret L—— was released, she said
that there was something so awful to her in this apparition, that she
had firmly resolved and vowed to be pious and lead henceforth a virtuous
life.
Some of them seem to have felt little alarm; Maria Bar, aged forty-one,
said: “I was not afraid, for I have a good conscience.” The offences for
which these women were confined appear to have been very slight ones,
such as quarrelling, &c.
In a room that opened into the same passage, men were shut up for
disputing with the police, neglect of regulations, and similar
misdemeanors. These persons not only heard the noises as above
described, such as the walking, shuffling, opening and shutting the
door, &c., &c., but some of them saw the ghost. Christian Bauer deposed
that he had never heard anything about the ghost, but that, being
disturbed by a knocking and rustling toward three o’clock on the second
morning of his incarceration, he looked up and saw a white figure
bending over him, and heard a strange hollow voice say: “You must needs
have patience!” He said he thought it must be his grandfather, at which
Stricker, his companion, laughed. Stricker deposed that he heard a
hollow voice say: “You must needs have patience;” and that Bauer told
him that there was a white apparition near him, and that he supposed it
was his grandfather. Bauer said that he was frightened the first night,
but got used to it and did not mind.
It is worthy of observation, that when they heard the door of the
women’s room open, they also heard the voice of Eslinger praying, which
seems as if the door not only appeared to open, but actually did so. We
have already seen that this spirit could open doors. In the “Seeress of
Prevorst,” the doors were constantly _audibly_ and _visibly_ opened, as
by an unseen hand, when she saw a spectre enter; and I know to an
absolute certainty that the same phenomenon takes place in a house not
far from where I am writing; and this, sometimes, when there are two
people sleeping in the room—a lady and gentleman. The door having been
fast locked when they went to bed, the room thoroughly examined, and
every precaution taken—for they are unwilling to believe in the
spiritual character of the disturbances that annoy them—they are
aroused by a consciousness that it is opening, and they do find it open,
on rising to investigate the fact.
One of the most remarkable proofs, either of the force of volition or of
the electrical powers of the apparition that haunted Eslinger, or else
of his power to imitate sounds, was the real, or apparent, violent
shaking of the heavy, iron-barred window, which it is asserted the
united efforts of six men could not shake at all when they made the
experiment.
The supreme court having satisfied itself that there was no imposture in
this case, it was proposed that some men of science should be invited to
investigate the strange phenomenon, and endeavor if possible to explain
it. Accordingly, not only Dr. Kerner himself and his son, but many
others, passed nights in the prison for this purpose. Among these,
besides some ministers of the Lutheran church, there was an engraver
called Duttenhofer; Wagner, an artist; Kapff, professor of mathematics
at Heilbroun; Frass, a barrister; Doctors Seyffer and Sicherer,
physicians; Heyd, a magistrate; Baron von Hugel, &c., &c.: but their
perquisitions elicited no more than has been already narrated—all heard
the noises, most of them saw the lights, and some saw the figure.
Duttenhofer and Kapff saw it without a defined outline; it was itself
bright, but did not illuminate the room. Some of the sounds appeared to
them like the discharging of a Leyden jar. There was also a throwing of
gravel, and a heavy dropping of water, but neither to be found.
Professor Kapff says that he was quite cool and self-possessed, till
there was such a violent concussion of the heavy, barred window, that he
thought it must have come in; then both he and Duttenhofer felt
horror-struck.
As they could not see the light emitted by the spectre when the room was
otherwise lighted, they were in the dark; but they took every care to
ascertain that Eslinger was in her bed while these things were going on.
She prayed aloud the whole time, unless when speaking to them. By the
morning, she used to be dreadfully exhausted, from this continual
exertion.
It is also mentioned that the straw on which she lay was frequently
changed and examined, and every means taken to ascertain that there was
nothing whatever in her possession that could enable her to perform any
sort of jugglery. Her fellow-prisoners were also invited to tell all
they knew or could discover; and a remission of their sentences promised
to those who would make known the imposition, if there was one.
Dr. Sicherer, who was accompanied by Mr. Frass, says that, having heard
of these phenomena, which he thought the more unaccountable from the
circumstances of the woman’s age and condition, &c.—she being a
healthy, hard-working person, aged thirty-eight, who had never known
sickness—he was very desirous of inquiring personally into the affair.
While they were in the court of the prison, waiting for admittance, they
heard extraordinary noises, which could not be accounted for, and during
the night there was a repetition of those above described—especially
the apparent throwing of gravel, or peas, which seemed to fall so near
him that he involuntarily covered his face. Then followed the feeling of
a cool wind; and then the oppressive odor, for which, he says, he can
find no comparison, and which almost took away his breath. He was
perfectly satisfied that it was no smell originating in the locality or
the state of the prison. Simultaneously with the perception of this
odor, he saw a thick, gray cloud, of no defined shape, near Eslinger’s
bed. When this cloud disappeared, the odor was no longer perceptible. It
was a fine moonlight night, and there was light enough in the room to
distinguish the beds, &c.
The same phenomena recurred several times during the night: Eslinger was
heard, each time the ghost was there, praying and reciting hymns. They
also heard her say, “Don’t press my hands so hard together!”—“Don’t
touch me!” &c. The voice of the spirit they did not hear. Toward three
or four o’clock, they heard heavy blows, footsteps, opening and shutting
of the door, and a concussion of the whole house, that made them think
it was going to fall on their heads. About six o’clock, they saw the
phantom again; and altogether these phenomena recurred at least ten
times in the course of the night.
Dr. Sicherer concludes by saying that he had undertaken the
investigation with a mind entirely unprepossessed; and that in the
report he made, at the desire of the supreme court, he had recorded his
observations as conscientiously as if he had been upon a jury. He adds
that he had examined everything; and that neither in the person of the
woman, nor in any other of the inmates of the prison, could he find the
smallest grounds for suspicion, nor any clew to the mystery, which, in a
scientific point of view, appeared to him utterly inexplicable. Dr.
Sicherer’s report is dated Heilbronn, January 8, 1836.
Mr. Fraas, who accompanied him, confirms the above statement in every
particular, with the addition that he several times saw a light, of a
varying circumference, moving about the room; and that it was while he
saw this, that the woman told him the ghost was there. He also felt an
oppression of the breath and a pressure on his forehead each time before
the apparition came, especially once, when, although he had carefully
abstained from mentioning his sensations, she told him it was standing
close at his head. He stretched out his hand, but perceived nothing,
except a cool wind and an overpowering smell.
Dr. Seyffer being there one night, with Dr. Kerner, in order to exclude
the possibility of light entering through the window, they stopped it
up. They, however, saw the phosphorescent light of the spectre, as
before. It moved quietly about, and remained a quarter of an hour. The
room was otherwise perfectly dark; the sounds accompanying it were like
the dropping of water and the discharge of a Leyden jar. They fully
ascertained that these phenomena did not proceed from the woman.
I have already given the depositions of Madame Mayer, the wife of the
deputy-governor or keeper of the prison, who is spoken of as a highly
respectable person. Mayer himself, however, though quite unable to
account for all these extraordinary proceedings, found great difficulty
in believing that there was anything supernatural in the affair; and he
told Eslinger that, if she wished him to be convinced, she must send the
ghost to do it!
He says: “The night after I had said this, I went to bed and to sleep,
little expecting such a visiter; but, toward midnight, I was awakened by
something touching my left elbow. This was followed by a pain; and in
the morning, when I looked at the place, I saw several blue spots. I
told Eslinger that this was not enough, and that she must tell the ghost
to touch my other elbow. This was done on the following night, and, at
the same time, I perceived a smell like putrefaction. The blue spots
followed.” (It will be remembered that Eslinger had blue spots also.)
Mayer continues to say that the spectre made known its presence in his
chamber by various sounds, such as were heard in the other part of the
house. He never saw the figure distinctly, but his wife did: she always
prayed when it was there. He, however, felt the cool wind that they all
described.
The ghost told Eslinger that he should continue his visits to the prison
after she had quitted it, and he did so. The second night after her
release, they felt his approach, especially from the cool wind, and
Madame Mayer desired him to testify his presence to her husband.
Immediately there were sounds like a wind-instrument, and these were
repeated at her desire.
The prisoners also heard and felt the apparition after Eslinger’s
departure; and Mayer says he is perfectly assured that in this jail,
where the inmates were frequently changed, everybody was locked up, and
every place thoroughly examined, it was utterly impossible for any trick
to be played: besides which, all parties agreed that the sounds were
often of a description that could not have been produced by any known
means.
But it was not to the prison alone that this apparition confined his
visits. To whomsoever Eslinger sent him, he went—testifying his
presence by the same signs as above described. He visited the chambers
of several of the magistrates, of a teacher named Neuffer, of the
referendary burgher, of a citizen named Rummel, and many others. Of
these, some only perceived his presence by the noises, the cool air, the
smell, or the touch; others saw the light also, and others perceived the
figure with more or less distinctness.
A Mr. Dorr, of Heilbronn, seems to have scoffed very much at these
rumors, and Dr. Kerner bade Eslinger ask the ghost to convince him,
which she did.
Mr. Dorr says: “When I heard these things talked of, I always laughed at
them, and was thought very sensible for so doing. Now I shall be laughed
at in my turn, no doubt.” He then relates that, on the morning of the
30th of December, 1835, he awoke, as usual, about five o’clock, and was
thinking of some business he had in hand, when he became conscious that
there was something near him, and he felt as if it blew cold upon him.
He started up, thinking some animal had got into his room, but could
find nothing. Next he heard a noise, like sparks from an electrical
machine, and then a report close to his right ear. Had there been
anything visible, it was light enough to see it. This report was
frequently heard in the prison.
Wherever the apparition once made a visit, he generally continued to go
for several successive nights. He also visited Professor Kapff at
Heilbronn, and Baron von Hugel at Eschenau, without being desired to do
so by Eslinger; and Neuffer, whom he also went to, she knew nothing of.
When he visited Dr. Kerner’s chamber, his wife, who had prided herself
on her incredulity, and boasted of being born on St. Thomas’s day, was
entirely converted, for she not only heard him, but saw him distinctly.
He visited them for several nights, accompanied by the noises and the
light.
One night, while lying awake observing these phenomena, they fancied
they heard their horse come out of his stable, which was under their
room. In the morning, he was found standing outside, with his halter on;
it was not broken, and it was evident that the horse had not got loose
by any violence. Moreover, the door of the stable was closed behind him,
as it had been at night when he was shut up.
Dr. Kerner’s sister, who came from a distance to visit them, had heard
very little about this affair, yet she was awakened by a sound that
seemed like some one trying to speak into her ear; and, looking up, she
saw two stars, like those described by Margaret Laibesberg. She observed
that they emitted no rays. She also felt the cool air, and perceived the
corpse-like odor. This odor accompanied the ghost even when it appeared
at Heilbronn.
It is remarkable that some of these persons, both men and women, felt
themselves unable to move or call out while the spectre was there, and
that they were relieved the moment he went away. They appeared to be
magnetized; but this feeling was by no means universal. Many were
perfectly composed and self-possessed the whole time, and made their
observations to each other. All agreed that the speaking of the
apparition seemed like that of a person making efforts to speak. Now, as
we are to presume that he did not speak by means of organs, as we do,
but that he imitated the sounds of words as he imitated other sounds, by
some means with which we are unacquainted—for since the noises were
heard by everybody within hearing, we must suppose that they actually
existed—we, who know the extreme difficulty of imitating human speech,
may conceive how this imitation should be very defective.
Dutthenhofer and others remarked that there was no echo from the sounds,
as well as that the phosphorescence shed no light around; and though the
spectre could touch _them_, or produce the sensation that he did, they
could not feel _him_: but, as in all similar cases, could thrust their
hands through what appeared to be his body. The sensation of his falling
tears, and the marks they left, seem most unaccountable; and yet, in the
records of a ghost that haunted the countess of Eberstein, in 1685, we
find the same thing asserted. This account was made public by the
authority of the consistorial court, and with the consent of the family.
At length, on the 11th of February, the ghost took his departure from
Eslinger; at least, after that day he was no more seen or heard by her
or anybody else. He had always entreated her to go to Wimmenthal, where
he had formerly lived, to pray for him; and, after she was released from
the jail, by the advice of her friends, she did it. Some of them
accompanied her, and they saw the apparition near her while she was
kneeling in the open air, though not all with equal distinctness. A very
respectable woman, called Wörner—a stranger to Eslinger, whom she says
she never saw or spoke to till that day—offered to make oath that she
had accompanied her to Wimmenthal, and that, with the other friends, she
had stood about thirty paces off, quite silent and still, while the
woman knelt and prayed; and that she had seen the apparition of a man,
accompanied by two smaller spectres, hovering near her. “When the prayer
was ended, he went close to her, and there was a light like a falling
star; then I saw something like a white cloud, that seemed to float
away: and after that, we saw no more.”
Eslinger had been very unwilling to undertake this expedition: she took
leave of her children before she started, and evidently expected
mischief would befall her; and now, on approaching her, they found her
lying cold and insensible. When they had revived her, she told them
that, on bidding her farewell, before he ascended—which he did,
accompanied by two bright infantine forms—the ghost had asked her to
give him her hand; and that, after wrapping it in her handkerchief, she
had complied. “A small flame had arisen from the handkerchief when he
touched it; and we found the marks of his fingers like burns, but
without any smell.” This, however, was not the cause of her fainting;
but she had been terrified by a troop of frightful animals that she saw
rush past her, when the spirit floated away.
From this time, nobody, either in the prison or out of it, was troubled
with this apparition.
This is certainly a very extraordinary story; and what is more
extraordinary, such cases do not seem to be very uncommon in Germany. I
meet with many recorded: and an eminent German scholar of my
acquaintance tells me that he has also heard of several, and was
surprised that we have no similar instances here. If these things
occurred merely among the Roman catholics, we might be inclined to
suppose that they had some connection with their notion of purgatory:
but, on the contrary, it appears to be among the Lutheran population
they chiefly occur—insomuch that it has even been suggested that the
omission of prayers for the dead, in the Lutheran church, is the cause
of the phenomenon. But, on the other hand, as in the present case, and
in several others, the person that revisits the earth was of the
catholic persuasion when alive, we are bound to suppose that he had the
benefit of his own church’s prayers.
I am here assuming that all the above strange phenomena were really
produced by the agency of an apparition. If they were not, what were
they? The three physicians, who were among the visiters, must have been
perfectly aware of the contagious nature of some forms of nervous
disorder, and from the previous incredulity of two of them, they must
have been quite prepared to regard these phenomena from that point of
view; yet they seem unable to bring them under the category of sensuous
illusions.
The apparently electrical nature of the lights, and of several of the
sounds, is very remarkable, as are also the swellings produced on some
of the persons by the touch of the ghost, which remind us of Professor
Hofer’s case, mentioned in a former chapter. The apparition of the dog
and the lambs also, strange as they are, are by no means isolated cases.
These appearances seem to be symbolical: the father had been evil, and
had led his son to do evil, and he appeared in the degraded form of a
dog; and the innocence of the children, who had been, probably, in some
way wronged, was symbolized by their appearing as lambs. “If I had lived
as a beast,” said an apparition to the Seeress of Provorst, “I should
appear as a beast.” These symbolical transfigurations can not appear
very extravagant to those who accept the belief of many theologians,
that the serpent of the garden of Eden was an evil spirit incarnated in
that degraded form.
How for the removal of the horse out of the stable was connected with
the rest of the phenomena, it is impossible to say; but a similar
circumstance has very lately occurred with regard to a dog that was
locked up in the house in this neighborhood, which I have several times
alluded to, where footsteps and rustlings are heard, doors are opened,
and a feeling that some one is blowing or breathing upon them is felt by
the inhabitants.
The holes burnt in the handkerchief are also quite in accordance with
many other relations of the kind, especially that of the maid of Orlach,
and also that of the Hammerschan family, mentioned in “Stilling’s
Pneumatology,” when a ghost who had been, as he said, waiting one
hundred and twenty years for some one to release him by their prayers,
was seen to take a handkerchief, on which he left the marks of his five
fingers, appearing like burnt spots. A bible that he touched was marked
in the same manner; and these two mementoes of the apparition were
carefully retained in the family. This particularity, also, reminds us
of Lord Tyrone’s leaving the marks of his hand on Lady Beresord’s wrist,
on which she ever afterward wore a black riband. In several instances I
find it reported that when an apparition is requested to render himself
visible to, or to enter into communication with, other persons besides
those to whom he addresses himself, he answers that it is impossible;
and in other cases, that he could do it, but that the consequences to
those persons would be pernicious. This, together with the circumstance
of their waiting so long for the right person, tends strongly to support
the hypothesis that an intense magnetic rapport is necessary to any
facility of intercourse. It also appears that the power of establishing
this rapport with one or more persons, varies exceedingly among these
denizens of a spiritual world, some being only able to render themselves
audible, others to render themselves visible to one person, while a few
seem to possess considerably greater powers or privileges.
Another particular to be observed is, that in many instances, if not in
all, these spirits are what the Germans call _gebannt_, that is,
_banned_, or _proscribed_, or, as it were, _tethered_ to a certain spot,
which they can occasionally leave, as Anton did the cellar at
Wimmenthal, to which he was _gebannt_, but from which they can not free
themselves. To this spot they seem to be attached, as by an invisible
chain, whether by the memory of a crime committed there, or by a buried
treasure, or even by its being the receptacle of their own bodies. In
short, it seems perfectly clear, admitting them to be apparitions of the
dead, that, whatever the bond may be that keeps them down, they can not
quit the earth; they are, as St. Martin says, _remainers_, not
_returners_, and this seems to be the explanation of haunted houses.
In the year 1827, Christian Eisengrun, a respectable citizen of
Neckarsteinach, was visited by a ghost of the above kind, and the
particulars were judically recorded. He was at Eherbach, in Baden,
working as a potter, which was his trade, in the manufactory of Mr.
Gehrig, when he was one night awakened by a noise in his chamber, and,
on looking up, he saw a faint light, which presently assumed a human
form, attired in a loose gown; he could see no head. He had his own head
under the clothes; but it presently spoke, and told him that he was
destined to release it, and for that purpose he must go to the catholic
churchyard of Neckarsteinach, and there, for twenty-one successive days,
repeat the following verse from the New Testament, before the stone
sepulchre there:—
“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which
is in him? So, the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of
God.”—1 Cor. ii. 11.
The ghost having repeated his visits and his request, the man consulted
his master what he should do, and he advised him not to trifle with the
apparition, but to do what he required, adding that he had known many
similar instances. Upon this, Eisengrun went to Neckarsteinach, and
addressed himself to the catholic priest there, named Seitz, who gave
him the same counsel, together with his blessing and also a hymn of
Luther’s, which he bade him learn and repeat, as well as the verse, when
he visited the sepulchre.
As there was only one stone sepulchre in the churchyard, Eisengrun had
no difficulty in finding it; and while he performed the service imposed
on him by the ghost, the latter stood on the grave with his hands folded
as if in prayer; but when he repeated the hymn, he moved rapidly
backward and forward, but still not overstepping the limits of the
stone. The man, though very frightened, persevered in the thing for the
time imposed, twenty-one days; and during this period he saw the perfect
form of the apparition, which had no covering on its head except very
white hair. It always kept its hands folded, and had large eyes, in
which he never perceived any motion; this filled him with horror. Many
persons went to witness the ceremony.
The surviving nephews and nieces of the apparition brought an action
against Eisengrun, and they contrived to have him seized and carried to
the magistrate’s house, one day, at the time he should have gone to the
churchyard. But the ghost came and beckoned, and made signs to him to
follow him, till the man was so much affected and terrified that he
burst into tears. The two magistrates could not see the spectre, but
feeling themselves affected with a cold shudder, they consented to his
going.
He was then publicly examined in court, together with the offended
family and a number of witnesses; and the result was, that he was
permitted to continue the service for the twenty-one days, after which
he never saw or heard more of the ghost, who had been formerly a rich
timber-merchant. The terror and anxiety attendant on these daily visits
to the churchyard, affected Eisengrun so much, that it was some time
before he recovered his usual health. He had all his life been a
ghost-seer, but had never had communication with any before this event.
The catholic priest, in this instance, appears to have been more liberal
than the deceased timber-merchant, for the latter did not seem to like
the Lutheran hymn which the former prescribed. His dissatisfaction,
however, may have arisen from their making any addition to the formula
he had himself indicated.
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[5] It is to be observed that this is the sensation asserted to be felt
by Reichenbach’s patients on the approach of the magnet.