surprising that the author should have taken so much trouble to put
these _facts_ together, and that he should evidently be altogether so
satisfied with the conclusion which he arrives at. But ghost stories,
like many other matters, where a foundation is once laid and
established in falsehood or nonsense, such builders may go on, adding
any amount of the same materials, upon this false basis. They may go
on, _working in the dark_--piling up one _story_ upon another, until
the structure assumes the appearance in the dusk of a well-established
and substantial edifice, and looking as if it would stand firm for
ever; but undermine this apparently stronghold, with that which is
always considered as a great _bore_, when used in working under the
foundations of long-established error or prejudice, namely, TRUTH,
guided by TRUE RELIGION, and when thus armed and prepared, "spring the
mine" with a good "blow-up" of COMMON SENSE, to let in the light of
Heaven and Christian civilized intelligence, and the whole mass of
ignorance and superstition is blown and scattered to the winds, "like
the baseless fabric of a vision."
It may be said that the truth of this ghost _story_ rests mainly on a
_stick_--_leans_ upon a "heavy white cane." Take away the _cane_ and
down comes the ghost! "white waistcoat," "high stiff shirt collar,"
"black coat," "blue eyes," and all!
The author of "Footfalls on the Boundary of another World" is evidently
a religious man, and had he but thought as deeply upon these matters as
I have done, I am sure he would never have been guilty of the impiety
of bringing forward such questions as to the _spirituality_ of
walking-sticks. But I am well pleased that this "heavy white cane" has
been introduced here, because it affords me a handle to cane or to
knock down and drive away entirely these hideous and unnatural myths;
and also because it enables me to _stick_ to the text, and to introduce
here to the public an old friend, as another illustration bearing upon
the stick question. This is the apparition of one Tom Straitshank,
drawn, as you will see, by your humble servant.
[Illustration: George Cruikshank]
This was a jolly bold daring spirit, and was seen when on board the
_Victory_ at the battle of Trafalgar to emerge, like Monsieur Caron,
out of some light bluish vapour, very much like the smoke of gunpowder;
and in that battle it appears, like one of the heroes in "Chevy Chase,"
his "legs were smitten off!" but, unlike that warrior, he found that
_he_ could not fight "upon his stumps," so he had a pair of wooden legs
made, and having bought two stout walking-sticks, was thus enabled to
hobble about on his "timber toes." He almost always appeared in various
different parts of "Greenwich Hospital," and very often surrounded by,
and sometimes emerging from, a vapour very like the smoke of tobacco. I
feel here that I ought to have given Tom his pipe, but the drawing of
this tar was done many years since, and until I read Mrs. Crowe's book
lately, I was not aware that ghosts smoked their pipes, but it actually
appears that they do smoke, for at page 210 of "The Night-side of
Nature," a ghost is introduced with a "short pipe," and it was found
out that the reason of his "walking by night" was, that he owed "a
_small debt for tobacco_!"
And when this little bacca-bill was paid,
This ghost, with his little bacca-pipe, was "laid;"
and we may suppose the spirit _laid_ down his pipe. This ghost of a
tobacco-pipe raises the question of what these spiritual pipes are
made--of what clay, or if the Meer Schum are only _mere shams_; what
sort of tobacco-leaves their cigars are made of, and if there are any
spiritual "cabbage-leaves" mixed up with them.
Yes, we'd just like to know, what weed 'tis they burns,
Whether "Shortcut," "Shag," "Bird's eye," or "Returns."
As the gents _here_, light their pipes and cigars with a kind of
_Lucifer_ match, we may be pretty sure that they will continue to
do so _elsewhere_; but one would like to know also if ghosts chaw
tobacco, if they take a quid of "pig-tail," and if the smokers use
spittoons--faugh!--and further, as ghosts do smoke, if they take a
pinch of snuff, if there is such a thing as spiritual snuff, if there
be such things as the spirit of "Irish blaguard" and "Scotch rappee?"
Some of these "_sensation_" melodramas, or rather _farces_, might vie
in the number of nights in which the performances took place, with some
of the "sensation" or popular theatrical pieces of the present day.
Here is one entitled, "The Drummer of Tedworth" (what a capital heading
for a "play bill!"), in which the ghost or evil spirit of a drummer, or
the ghost of a drum (for it does not appear clearly which of the two it
was), performed the principal part in this drama, with slight
intervals, for "_two entire years_."
Oh! this drummer, oh! this drummer,
I'll tell you what he used to do,
He used to beat upon his drum,
The "_Old Gentleman's_ tattoo."
The "plot" runs thus:--In March, 1661, Mr. Mompesson, a magistrate,
caused a vagrant drummer to be arrested, who had been annoying the
country by noisy demands for charity, and had ordered his drum, "oh
that drum!" to be taken from him and left in the bailiff's hands. About
the middle of April following (that is in 1661), when Mr. Mompesson was
preparing for a journey to London, the bailiff sent the drum to his
house. Upon his return home he was informed that noises had been
_heard_, and then he heard the noises himself, which were a "thumping
and _drumming_" accompanied by "a strange noise and hollow sound." The
sign of it when it came, was like a hurling in the air, over the house,
and at its going off, the beating of a drum, like that at the "breaking
up of a guard."
"After a month's disturbance _outside_ the house ('which was most of it
of board') it came _into the room where the drum lay_." "For an hour
together it would beat 'Roundheads and cockolds,' the 'tattoo,' and
several other points of war, as well as any drummer." Upon one
occasion, "when many were present, a gentleman said, 'Satan, if the
drummer set thee to work, give _three_ knocks,' which it did very
distinctly and no more." And for further trial, he bid it for
confirmation, if it were the drummer, to give _five_ knocks and no more
that night, which it did, and left the house quiet all the night after.
All this seems very strange, about this drummer and his drum,
But for myself, I really think this drumming ghost was "all a hum."
But strange as it certainly was, is it not still more strange, that
educated gentlemen, and even clergymen, as in this case also, should
believe that the ALMIGHTY would suffer an evil spirit to disturb and
affright a whole innocent family, because the head of that family had,
in his capacity as magistrate, thought it his duty to take away a
_drum_, from no doubt a drunken drummer, who by his noisy conduct had
become a nuisance and an annoyance to the neighbourhood?
The next case of supposed spiritual antics was not the drumming of a
drum, but a tune upon a warming-pan, the "clatter" of "a warming-pan,"
and a vast variety of other _earthly_ sounds, which it was proved to
have been heard at the Rev. Samuel Wesley's, who was the father of the
celebrated John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, at a place called
Epworth, in Lincolnshire. These sounds consisted of "knockings," and
"groanings," of "footsteps," and "rustling of silk trailing along" (the
"rustling of silk" seems to be a favourite air with the ghosts),
"_clattering_" of the "_iron casement_," and "_clattering_" of the
"_warming-pan_," and then as if a "vessel full of silver was poured
upon Mrs. Wesley's breast and ran jingling down to her feet;" and all
sorts of frightful noises, not only enough to "frighten anybody," but
which frightened even a big dog!--a large mastiff, who used at first,
when he heard the noises, "to bark and leap and snap on one side and
the other, and that frequently before any person in the room heard the
noises at all; but after two or three days, he used to tremble and
creep away before the noise began. And by this, the family knew it was
at hand; nor did the observation ever fail." Poor bow woo! what cruel
ghosts to be sure, to go and frighten a poor dog in this way.
Mrs. Wesley at one time thought it was "_rats_, and sent for a _horn_
to _blow_ them away;" but blowing the horn did not blow the ghosts
away. No; for at first it only came at night, but after the horn was
blown it came in the daytime as well.
There were many opinions offered as to the cause of these disturbances,
by different persons at different times. Dr. Coleridge "considered it
to be a contagious nervous disease, the acme or intensest form of which
is catalepsy." Mr. Owen here asks if the mastiff was cataleptic also?
It is rather curious that a _cat_ is mentioned in this narrative. Now
supposing the _dog_ could not have been _cat_aleptic, the cat might
perhaps have been so.
Some of the Wesley family believed it to be supernatural hauntings, and
give the following reason for it:--It appears that at morning and
evening family prayers, "when the Rev. Samuel Wesley, the father,
commenced the prayer for the king, a knocking began all round the room,
and a thundering knock attended the _Amen_." Mr. Wesley observed that
his wife did not say _amen_ to the prayer for the king. She said she
could not, for she did not believe that the Prince of Orange was king.
Mr. Wesley vowed he could not live with her until she did. He took his
horse and rode away, and she heard nothing of him for a twelvemonth. He
then came back and lived with her, as before, and although he did so,
they add, that they fear this vow was not forgotten before GOD.
If any religious persons were asked whether they thought that any law,
natural or divine, could be suspended or set aside without the
permission or sanction of the CREATOR, their answer would be, nay,
_must_ be, _certainly not_. Yes, this would be their answer. Then is it
not extraordinary that the members of this pious clergyman's family,
and from whence sprang the founder of such a large and respectable
religious sect, should have such a mean idea of the SUPREME BEING, as
to suppose that HE would allow the regular laws of the universe to be
suspended or set aside, and whole families (including unoffending
innocent children) to be disturbed, terrified, and sometimes seriously
injured, for such contemptible, ridiculous, and senseless reasons, or
purposes, such as those assigned in the various cases already alluded
to. It is indeed to me surprising that any one possessing an atom of
sound Christian religion, can suppose and maintain for one moment that
these silly, supposed supernatural sounds and appearances can be, as
they say, "of GOD."
We may defy the supporters of this apparition doctrine to bring forward
one circumstance in connection with these ghosts, which corresponds in
any way with the real character of the CREATOR, where any real benefit
has been known to result from such sounds and such appearances--none,
none, none; whereas we know that there has been a large amount of human
suffering, illness, folly, and mischief, and in former times, we know,
to a large and serious extent, but even now, in this "age of
intellect," when we come to investigate the causes of some of the most
painful diseases amongst children and young persons, particularly young
females, we find, on the authority of the first medical men, that they
are occasioned by being frightened by mischievous, thoughtless, or
cruel persons, mainly in consequence of being _taught in their
childhood to believe in ghosts_. I know a young lady who, when a child,
was placed in a dark closet by her nurse, and so terrified in this way
that the poor little girl lost her speech, and has been dumb ever
since. Dr. Elliotson, in one of his reports of the Mesmeric Hospital,
cites several most distressing and painful cases of "chorea," or St.
Vitus's dance, and dreadful fits, brought on through fright; and Dr.
Wood, physician to St. Luke's Hospital (for lunatics), assures me that
many cases of insanity are produced by terror from these causes; but
even supposing that there are not very many cases of positive insanity
brought on in this way, still the unnatural excitement thus acting on
the brain, or the mind dwelling upon such matters, must have an
unhealthy tendency.
If all rational and religious persons will give this subject the
attention which it demands, they will, I feel confident, see, that this
belief in ghosts should not only be discountenanced, but put an end to
altogether, if possible, as such notions not only have an injurious
effect upon the health and comfort of many persons, particularly those
of tender age, but it also debases the proper ideas which man ought to
have of the CREATOR; and not only so, but it also interferes with and
trenches upon that mysterious and sacred question, _the immortality of
the soul_; that it disturbs that belief which, with a firm trust and
reliance upon the goodness and mercy of GOD, is the only consolation
the afflicted mind can have, when mourning for the loss of those they
have loved dearer than themselves.
These hauntings of drumming and knocking, and thumping and bumping,
with thundering noises, almost shaking the houses down, accompanied by
the _delicate_ rustlings of silk and _trailing_ of gowns, etc., were at
the time suspected of being _tricks_; and by the perusal of the
following cases the reader will see that such tricks _can_ and _have_
been played, and such imposture carried on so successfully as to
deceive clergymen and others; and but for the severe _natural_ tests
brought to bear upon the supposed supernatural actors, would no doubt
have been quoted by Mr. Owen and others as well-attested,
well-established, veritable spiritual performances.
At the corner of a street which runs from Snow Hill into Smithfield,
stands what _I_ consider a public nuisance, commonly called a
"public-house," the sign of "The Cock," and that which is now a street
was formerly a rustic lane, and took its name from the sign of that
house, and therefore called to this day "Cock Lane," which locality, in
about the years 1754 to 1756, became one of the most celebrated places
in London, in consequence, as it was believed, of one of the houses
therein being taken possession of by a female ghost, who was designated
"the Cock Lane ghost."
A man of the name of Parsons kept the house, and in which lodged a
gentleman and his wife of the name of Kempe. This lady died at this
house, and after her death it was given out by Parsons that his
daughter, then eleven years of age (who used to sleep with Mrs. Kempe
when her husband was out of town), was "possessed" with the spirit of
the deceased lady, and that the spirit had informed the little girl
that she had been murdered by her husband--that she had been
"poisoned!" A vast number of respectable ladies and gentlemen,
including clergymen, were "taken in"--but happily for themselves not
"done for"--by this ghost; and it is said that even the celebrated Dr.
Samuel Johnson was _convinced_ of the spirituality of the "knocks"
which the ghost gave in answer to questions, for it kept up
conversations in precisely the same manner--that is, by "knocks" or
"raps"--as the "spirit-rappers" do at the present day. The
"scratchings" and "knocks" were only heard when Parson's little
daughter was in bed.
After this sort of thing had gone on for a considerable time, and a
_post-mortem_ examination of the body of the supposed murdered lady,
which had been deposited in the vaults of St. John's, Clerkenwell
Close, Mr. Kempe found it necessary to take steps to defend his
character. The child was removed to the house of a highly-respectable
lady, where "not a sound was heard," no "scratchings" or "knocks," for
several nights; but the girl Parsons, who was now a year or two older,
upon going to bed one night informed the watchers that the ghost would
pay a visit the following morning; but the servants of the house
informed the watchers that the young lady had taken a bit of wood, six
inches long by four inches broad, into bed with her, which she had
concealed in her stays. This bit of wood was used to "stand the kettle
on." The imposture was discovered, and the poor girl confessed to the
wicked trickery which her _parents_ had taught her to practise!
Mr. Kempe indicted Parsons and others for conspiracy against his life
and character, the case was tried before Lord Mansfield at Guildhall,
July 10th, 1756, and all the parties convicted. The Rev. Mr. More and a
printer, with others, were heavily fined. Parsons was set in the
pillory three times in one month and imprisoned for two years, his wife
for one year, and Mary Eraser, the "Medium," for six months in
Bridewell, and kept to hard labour. It came out in the course of
investigation that Master Parsons had borrowed some money of Mr. Kempe,
and it was rather suspected that he did not want to pay it back again.
Another celebrated spiritual farce was enacted in 1810, entitled "_The
Sampford Ghost_." This is a village near Tiverton, in Devonshire, and
the following striking performances were "attested by _affidavit_ of
the Rev. C. Cotton," who, by the by, was of opinion that "a belief in
ghosts is favourable to virtue."
Imprimis, "stamping on the boards answered by similar sounds underneath
the flooring, and these sounds followed the persons through the upper
apartments and answered the stamping of the feet. The servant women
were beaten in bed 'with a fist,' a candlestick thrown at the master's
head but did not hit him, heard footsteps, no one could be seen walking
round, candles were alight but could see no one, but steps were heard
'like a man's foot in a slipper,' with rapping at the doors, etc. etc.
After this the servants were slapped, pushed, and buffeted. The bed was
more than once stuck full of pins, loud repeated knockings were heard
in all the upper rooms, the house shook, the windows rattled in their
casements, and all the horrors of the most horrible of romances were
accumulated in this devoted habitation." Amongst other things it was
_declared_ by a man, of the rather suspicious name of "Dodge," that the
prentice boy had seen "an old woman descend through the ceiling."
The house was tenanted by a man of the name of Chave, a huckster. The
landlord was a Mr. Tully, who determined to investigate this matter
himself, and went to sleep, or rather to pass the night, at the house
for this purpose. The account says that "he took with him a reasonable
degree of scepticism, a considerable share of common sense;" and I
believe a good thick stick, which is, in my opinion, a much more
powerful instrument in _laying_ these kinds of ghosts than the
old-fashioned remedy of "bell, book, and candle."
When Mr. Tully went to the house he saw "Dodge" speaking to Mrs. Chave
in the shop, and also saw him leave the house; but when he went up
stairs by himself who should he see but this same "Dodge," who had got
up stairs by a private entrance, but who could not _dodge_ out of Mr.
Tully's way. So Mr. Tully pounced upon him and locked him in the room,
where he also found a mopstick "battered at the end into splinters and
covered with whitewash," and this was the ghost that answered the
stamping on the floors. Mr. Tully went to bed, and as no ghosts thumped
he went to sleep and had a good night's rest; and upon examining the
house the next day, found the ceilings below in "a state of
mutilation," from the ghostly thumps it had received.
Tho cause of the house being _haunted_ was a conspiracy on the part of
Chave and his friends to get the house at a _very low rent_, as _he_
would not mind living on the promises, but other persons would not, of
course, be likely to take a "haunted house."
A drunken mob one day met and assaulted Chave after this trick was
exposed, and he took refuge in his "haunted house," from whence he
fired a pistol and shot one man dead. Another man was also killed at
the same time, thus two lives were sacrificed to this "Sampford ghost."
The Rev. C. Cotton died shortly after this ghost was discovered to be a
flam, or _sham_ ghost; it was supposed of chagrin and vexation at being
made a _butt_ of by the vulgar for his simplicity and credulity.
Another sensation farce was "The Stockwell Ghost," which performed its
tricks very cleverly and successfully at a farm-house in that place in
the year 1772. It broke nearly every bit of glass, china, and crockery
in the house, and no discovery was made at the time of the _how_, the
_why_, or the _wherefore_. But in "The Every Day Book," edited and
published by W. Hone, the whole matter is explained in the confession
of a woman who lived at the house as servant girl at the time, and who
played the part of the ghost so well, that she escaped detection, and
came off, only suspected by a few.
The inutility of attempting to do away entirely with this popular
belief in ghosts by _arguments_, however well founded on reason and
science, has already been hinted at; but it will be only fair that
_science_ should just put a word in, as it can do no harm and may do
good.
In "Sketches of the Philosophy of Apparition, or an Attempt to Trace
such Illusions to their Physical Causes, by Samuel Hibbert, M.D.,
F.R.S.E.," the author states his opinion to be that "Apparitions are
nothing more than ideas or recollected images of the mind, which have
been rendered more vivid than actual impressions," perhaps by morbid
affections. It is also pointed out that "in ghost stories of a supposed
supernatural character which by disease are rendered so unduly intense
as to induce spectral illusions, may be traced to such fantastical
objects of prior belief as are incorporated in the various systems of
superstition which for ages have possessed the minds of the vulgar."
"Spectral illusions arise from a highly excited state of the nervous
irritability acting generally upon the system, or from inflammation of
the brain."
"The effect induced on the brain by intoxication from ardent spirits,
which have a strong tendency to inflame this organ, is attended with
very remarkable effects. These have lately been described as symptoms
of 'delirium tremens.' Many cases are recorded which show the liability
of the patient to long-continued spectral impressions."
Sir David Brewster represents these phenomena as images projected on
the retina--from the brain, and seen with the eyes open or shut.
Of the many causes assigned for spectral illusions the following may be
enumerated:--Holy ecstasies, various diseases of the brain, diseases of
the eye, extreme sensibility or nervous excitement from fright, various
degrees of fever, effects of opium, delirium tremens, ignorance and
superstition, catalepsy, and confused, indistinct, or uncomprehended
natural causes. Now all persons who suppose they see ghosts are at
liberty to select any of the foregoing causes for their being so
deluded, for delusion it is, as I hope presently to prove; but they may
rest assured that these supposed spectres are always produced either by
disease or by over-excited imagination, which in some cases it may be
said amounts to disease.
However, to return to the ghosts. A very common, or rather _the_
common, idea of a ghost is generally a very _thin_ and _scraggy_
figure; but if there are such things there must be _fat_ ghosts as well
as _thin_ ghosts; fat or thin people are equally eligible "to put in an
appearance" of this sort if they can; and to carry out this idea and
make it quite clear, I here introduce an old acquaintance of the
public, Mr. Daniel Lambert, as he appeared to _my_ _un_-excited
imagination whilst engaged on this work. Now if Daniel came as an
apparition, he must, according to the authorities in these matters, not
only "come in his habits as he lived," that is, in the clothes he wore,
but must also come in his _fat_, or he would not be recognized as the
fattest man "and the heaviest man that ever lived," and although he
weighed "52 stone 11 pounds" (14 lb. to the stone) in the flesh, in the
spirit, he would, of course, be "as light as a feather," or rather an
"air bubble;" and as he could not dance and jump about when alive, I
thought if I brought him in as a ghost, I'd give him a bit of a treat,
and let him dance upon the "tight rope."
Most persons will remember a story told by "Pliny the younger" of the
apparition of "an old" man appearing to Athenadorous, a Greek scholar.
This ghost was "lean, haggard, and _dirty_," with "dishevelled hair
and a long beard." He had "chains on," and came "shaking his chains"
at the Greek scholar, who heeded him not, but went on with his
studies. The old ghost, however, "came close to him and shook his
chains over his head as he sat at the table," whereupon Athenadorous
arose and followed the dirty old man in his chains, who went into the
courtyard and "stamped his foot upon a stone about the centre of it,
and--disappeared." The Greek scholar marked the spot, and next day had
the place dug up, when, lo and behold, they found there the skeleton
of a human being.