_On the Lingering of the Spirit._--Perhaps you may think the following
story worthy of insertion in your paper.
There is a common belief among the poor, that the spirit will linger in the
body of a child a long time when the parent refuses to part with it. I said
to Mrs. B., "Poor little H. lingered a long time; I thought, when I saw
him, that he must have died the same day, but he lingered on!"
"Yes," said Mrs. B., "it was a great shame of his mother. He wanted to die,
and she would not let him die: she couldn't part with him. There she stood,
fretting over him, and couldn't give him up; and so we said to her, 'He'll
never die till you give him up.' And then she gave him up; and he died
quite peaceably."