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APPARITIONS;
OR,
THE MYSTERY OF
Ghosts, Hobgoblins,
AND
HAUNTED HOUSES,
_DEVELOPED_.
***
"Animum rege."
"This Collection of Stories is well chosen, and affords a
fund of amusement that is cheap at the price of five
shillings. By putting such a book as this into the hands of
children, parents will more effectually guard their minds
against weak credulity, than by grave philosophic
admonition." _Monthly Review, October 1814._
Printed by Macdonald and Son, Cloth Fair, Smithfield
[Illustration:
H Corbould _delint_ C Knight _sculpt_ 1814
_The Haunted Beach._]
APPARITIONS;
OR, THE MYSTERY OF
Ghosts,
_Hobgoblins_, _and Haunted Houses_,
DEVELOPED.
BEING A COLLECTION OF
ENTERTAINING STORIES,
_FOUNDED ON FACT_,
And selected for the purpose of
ERADICATING THOSE FEARS, WHICH THE IGNORANT, THE WEAK,
AND THE SUPERSTITIOUS, ARE BUT TOO APT TO ENCOURAGE,
FOR WANT OF PROPERLY EXAMINING INTO THE CAUSES
OF SUCH ABSURD IMPOSITIONS.
***
BY JOSEPH TAYLOR.
[Illustration]
_SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED._
***
London:
PRINTED FOR LACKINGTON, ALLEN, AND CO.
FINSBURY SQUARE.
***
1815.
INTRODUCTION.
The subsequent little Work owes its rise and progress to very trifling
circumstances.
In the early part of my life, having read many books in favour of Ghosts
and Spectral Appearances, the recollection remained so strong in my
mind, that, for _years_ after, the dread of phantoms bore irresistible
sway. This dread continued till about my twenty-third year, when the
following simple affair fully convinced me, how necessary it was
_thoroughly_ to investigate _every thing_ that tended to supernatural
agency, lest idle fear should gain a total ascendancy over my mind.
About this period, I had apartments in a large old-fashioned country
mansion. From my bed-chamber was a secret door leading to a private
staircase, which communicated with some of the lower rooms. This door
was fastened both within and without; consequently all fear of intrusion
from that quarter was entirely removed. However, at times, I could not
help ruminating on the malpractices that _might_ have been committed by
evil-disposed persons, through this communication; and "busy meddling
fancy" was fertile in conjuring up imaginary horrors. Every thing,
however, was quiet, and agreeable to my wishes, for some months after my
arrival. One moonlight night, in the month of June, I retired to my bed,
full of thought, but slept soundly till about one o'clock; when I awoke,
and discovered, by the help of the moon which shone full in my room, a
tall figure in white, with arms extended, at the foot of my bed. Fear
and astonishment overpowered me for a few seconds; I gazed on it with
terror, and was afraid to move. At length I had courage to take a
_second_ peep at this disturber of my rest, and still continued much
alarmed, and irresolute how to act. I hesitated whether to speak to the
figure, or arouse the family. The first idea I considered as a dangerous
act of heroism; the latter, as a risk of being laughed at, should the
subject of my story not prove supernatural. Therefore, after taking a
_third_ view of the phantom, I mustered up all my resolution, jumped out
of bed, and boldly went up to the figure, grasped it round and round,
and found it incorporeal. I then looked at it again, and felt it again;
when, reader, judge of my astonishment--this ghostly spectre proved to
be nothing more than a large new flannel dressing-gown which had been
sent home to me in the course of the day, and which had been hung on
some pegs against the wainscot at the foot of my bed. One arm
accidentally crossed two or three of the adjoining pegs, and the other
was nearly parallel by coming in contact with some article of furniture
which stood near. Now the mystery was developed: this dreadful
hobgoblin, which a few minutes before I began to think was an aerial
being, or sprite, and which must have gained admission either through
the key-hole, or under the door, turned out to be my own garment. I
smiled at my groundless fears, was pleased with any resolution, returned
light-hearted to my bed, and moralized nearly the whole of the night on
the simplicity of a great part of mankind in being so credulous as to
believe every idle tale, or conceive every noise to be a spectre,
without first duly examining into causes.
This very trifling accident was of great service to me as I travelled
onward through life. Similar circumstances transpired. Screams, and
shades, I encountered; which always, upon due investigation, ended in
"trifles light as air."
Nor did the good end here. My story circulated, and put other young men
upon the alert, to guard against similar delusions. They likewise
imparted to me their ghostly encounters, and those I thought deserving
of record I always committed to writing; and, as many of them are well
authenticated facts, and both instructive and amusing, they form a part
of the volume now presented to the Public.
The other stories are selected from history, and respectable
publications; forming in the whole, I hope, an antidote against a too
credulous belief in every village tale, or old gossip's story.
Though I candidly acknowledge to have received great pleasure in forming
this Collection, I would by no means wish it to be imagined, that I am
sceptical in my opinions, or entirely disbelieve and set my face against
all apparitional record. No; I do believe that, for certain purposes,
and on certain and all-wise occasions, such things _are_, and _have
been_ permitted by the Almighty; but by no means do I believe they are
suffered to appear half so frequently as our modern ghost-mongers
manufacture them. Among the various idle tales in circulation, nothing
is more common than the prevalent opinion concerning what is generally
called a _death-watch_, and which is vulgarly believed to foretel the
death of some one in the family. "This is," observes a writer in the
Philosophical Transactions, "a ridiculous fancy crept into vulgar heads,
and employed to terrify and affright weak people as a monitor of
approaching death." Therefore, to prevent such causeless fears, I shall
take this opportunity to undeceive the world, by shewing what it is, and
that no such thing is intended by it. It has obtained the name of
death-watch, by making a little clinking noise like a watch; which
having given some disturbance to a gentleman in his chamber, who was not
to be affrighted with such vulgar errors, it tempted him to a diligent
search after the true cause of this noise, which I shall relate in his
own words.
"I have been, some time since, accompanied with this little noise. One
evening, I sat down by a table from whence the noise proceeded, and laid
my watch upon the same, and perceived, to my admiration, that the sound
made by this invisible automaton was louder than that of the artificial
machine. Its vibrations would fall as regular, but much quicker. Upon a
strict examination, it was found to be nothing but a little beetle, or
spider, in the wood of a box." Sometimes they are found in the
plastering of a wall, and at other times in a rotten post, or in some
old chest or trunk; and the noise is made by beating its head on the
subject that it finds fit for sound. "The little animal that I found,"
says the gentleman, "was about two lines and a half long, calling a
line the eighth part of an inch. The colour was a dark brown, with spots
somewhat lighter, and irregularly placed, which could not easily be
rubbed off." It was sent to the publisher of the Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society.
Some people, influenced by common report, have fancied this little
animal a spirit sent to admonish them of their deaths; and, to uphold
the fancy, tell you of other strange monitors altogether as ridiculous.
Though, as I before observed, I do not deny but the Almighty may employ
unusual methods to warn us at times of our approaching ends, yet in
general, such common and unaccountable tales are mere nonsense,
originating from want of a proper investigation, and kept alive by an
infatuated delight in telling strange stories, rendered more ridiculous
by recapitulation. How charmingly does our poet Thomson touch upon this
subject--
"Meantime the village rouses up the fire;
While, well attested, and as well believ'd,
Heard solemn, goes the goblin story round;
Till superstitious horror creeps o'er all."
How cautious then ought parents and guardians to be over their children,
and the young people committed to their charge. For, says an elegant
writer, the superstitious impressions made upon their minds, by the
tales of weak and ignorant people in their infancy; a time when the
tender mind is most apt to receive the impressions of error and vice, as
well as those of truth and virtue, and, having once received either the
one or the other, is likely to retain them as long as it subsists in the
body. All these deplorable follies proceed from wrong and unworthy
apprehensions of God's providence, in his care of man, and government of
the world. Surely no reasonable creature can ever imagine, that the
all-wise God should inspire owls and ravens to hoot out the elegies of
dying men; that he should have ordained a fatality in numbers, inflict
punishment without an offence; and that being one amongst the fatal
number at a table, should be a crime (though contrary to no command) not
to be expiated but by death! Thus folly, like gunpowder, runs in a train
from one generation to another, preserved and conveyed by the perpetual
tradition of tattling gossips.
I now conclude this Introduction; and, in the following pages, shall
present my readers with some admirable Essays on the subject by eminent
writers: and a Collection of Stories will follow, which, I trust, will
not only entertain, but likewise convince the _thinking_ part of mankind
of the absurdity in believing every silly tale without first tracing
the promulgation to its original source; for
"Whatever warms the heart, or fills the head,
As the mind opens, and its functions spread,
Imagination plies her dangerous art,
And pours it all upon the peccant part."
J. TAYLOR.
_London, March 20, 1815._
AN
ESSAY
ON
GHOSTS AND APPARITIONS.
There is no folly more predominant, in the country at least, than a
ridiculous and superstitious fear of ghosts and apparitions. Servants,
nurses, old women, and others of the same standard of wisdom, to pass
away the tediousness of a winter's evening, please and terrify
themselves, and the children who compose their audience, with strange
relations of these things, till they are even afraid of removing their
eyes from one another, for fear of seeing a _pale spectre_ entering the
room. Frightful ideas raised in the minds of children take so strong a
possession of the faculties, that they often remain for ever fixed, and
all the arguments of reason are unable to remove them. Hence it is,
that so many grown-up people still keep the ridiculous fears of their
infancy. I know a lady, of very good sense in other things, who, if she
is left by herself after ten o'clock at night, will faint away at the
terror of thinking some horrid spectre, with eyes sunk, meagre
countenance, and threatening aspect, is standing at her elbow. And an
Officer in the Guards, of my acquaintance, who has often, abroad, shewn
no concern in marching up to the mouth of a cannon, has not courage
enough to be in the dark without company. As I take the fear of ghosts,
like all other prejudices, to be imbibed in our infancy, I would
recommend this advice to parents--to use the utmost care, that the minds
of their children are not vitiated by their servants' tales of ghosts,
hobgoblins, and bugbears; which, though told to please, or frighten them
into good, seldom fail of producing the very worst effects.
There are some who are ghost-mad, and terrify themselves, because the
Scripture has mentioned the appearance of ghosts. I shall not dispute,
but, by the power of God, an incorporeal being may be visible to human
eyes; but then, an all-wise Power would not have recourse to a
preternatural effect but on some important occasion. Therefore, my
intention is only to laugh a ridiculous fear out of the world, by
shewing on what absurd and improbable foundations the common nature of
ghosts and apparitions are built.
In the country, there are generally allowed to be two sorts of
ghosts;--the vulgar ghost, and the ghost of dignity. The latter is
always the spirit of some Lord of the Manor, or Justice of the Peace,
who, still desirous to see how affairs go on in his parish, rattles
through it in a coach and six, much about midnight. This ghost is, in
every respect, the very same man that the person whom he represents was
in his life-time. Nay, the spirit, though incorporeal, has on its body
all the marks which the Squire had on his; the scar on the cheek, the
dimple on the chin, and twenty other demonstrative signs, which are
visible to any old woman in the parish, that can _see clearly in a dark
night_!
The ghost keeps up to the character of a good old grave gentleman, who
is heartily sorry to think his son will not live upon his estate, but
rambles up to London, and runs it out, perhaps, in extravagance. He
therefore does nothing inconsistent with the gravity of his character;
but, still retaining the generous heart of a true Briton, keeps up his
equipage, and loves good living and hospitality; for, a little time
after the coach and six has, with a solemn rumble, passed through the
village into his own court-yard, there is a great noise heard in the
house, of servants running up and down stairs, the jacks going, and a
great clattering of plates and dishes. Thus he spends an hour or two
every midnight, in living well, after he has been some years dead; but
is complaisant enough to leave every thing, at his departure, in the
same position that he found them.
There is scarcely a little town in all England, but has an old female
spirit appertaining to it, who, in her high-crown hat, nicely clean
linen, and red petticoat, has been viewed by half the parish. This
article of dress is of mighty concern among some ghosts; wherefore a
skilful and learned apparition writer, in the Preface of Drelincourt on
Death, makes a very pious ghost talk to a lady upon the important
subject of scouring a mantua. Before I leave my ghost of dignity, I must
take notice of some who delight to seem as formidable as possible, and
who are not content with appearing without heads themselves, but their
coachmen and horses must be without their's too, and the coach itself
frequently all on fire. These spirits, I know not for what reason, are
universally allowed to have been people of first quality, and courtiers.
As for the vulgar ghost, it seldom appears in its own bodily likeness,
unless it be with a throat cut from ear to ear, or a winding-sheet; but
humbly contents itself with the body of a white horse, that gallops over
the meadows without legs, and grazes without a head. On other occasions,
it takes the appearance of a black shock dog, which, with great goggle,
glaring eyes, stares you full in the face, but never hurts you more than
unmannerly pushing you from the wall. Sometimes a friendly ghost
surprises you with a hand as cold as clay; at other times, that same
ghostly hand gives three solemn raps, with several particularities,
according to the different dispositions of the ghost.
The chief reason which calls them back again to visit the world by
night, is their fondness for some old broad pieces, or a pot of money,
they buried in their life-time; and they cannot rest to have it lie
useless, therefore the gold raises them before the resurrection.
Mr. Addison's charming Essay, in the _Spectator_, is so applicable and
prefatory to a work of this nature, that we cannot resist inserting that
inimitable production in his own words.
"Going to dine," says he, "with an old acquaintance, I had the
misfortune to find his whole family very much dejected. Upon asking him
the occasion of it, he told me that his wife had dreamt a strange dream
the night before, which they were afraid portended some misfortune to
themselves or to their children. At her coming into the room, I observed
a settled melancholy in her countenance, which I should have been
troubled for, had I not heard from whence it proceeded. We were no
sooner sat down, but, after having looked upon me a little while, 'My
dear,' says she, turning to her husband, 'you may now see the stranger
that was in the candle last night.' Soon after this, as they began to
talk of family affairs, a little boy at the lower end of the table told
her, that he was to go into join-hand on Thursday. 'Thursday!' says she;
'no, child; if it please God, you shall not begin upon Childermas-day;
tell your writing-master, that Friday will be soon enough.' I was
reflecting with myself on the oddness of her fancy, and wondering that
any body would establish it as a rule to lose a day in every week. In
the midst of these my musings, she desired me to reach her a little salt
upon the point of my knife, which I did in such a trepidation and hurry
of obedience, that I let it drop by the way; at which she immediately
startled, and said it fell towards her. Upon this I looked very blank;
and, observing the concern of the whole table, began to consider myself,
with some confusion, as a person that had brought a disaster upon the
family. The lady, however, recovering herself after a little space,
said to her husband, with a sigh, 'My dear, misfortunes never come
single.' My friend, I found, acted but an under part at his table; and,
being a man of more good-nature than understanding, thinks himself
obliged to fall in with all the passions and humours of his yoke-fellow.
'Do not you remember, child,' said she, 'that the pigeon-house fell the
very afternoon that our careless wench spilt the salt upon the table?'
'Yes,' says he, 'my dear; and the next post brought us an account of the
battle of Almanza.' The reader may guess at the figure I made, after
having done all this mischief. I dispatched my dinner as soon as I
could, with my usual taciturnity; when, to my utter confusion, the lady
seeing me quitting my knife and fork, and laying them across one another
upon the plate, desired me that I would humour her so far as to take
them out of that figure, and place them side by side. What the absurdity
was which I had committed, I did not know, but I suppose there was some
traditionary superstition in it; and therefore, in obedience to the lady
of the house, I disposed of my knife and fork in two parallel lines,
which is the figure I shall always lay them in for the future, though I
do not know any reason for it.
"It is not difficult for a man to see that a person has conceived an
aversion to him. For my own part, I quickly found, by the lady's looks,
that she regarded me as a very odd kind of fellow, with an unfortunate
aspect. For which reason I took my leave immediately after dinner, and
withdrew to my own lodgings. Upon my return home, I fell into a profound
contemplation on the evils that attend these superstitious follies of
mankind; how they subject us to imaginary afflictions and additional
sorrows, that do not properly come within our lot. As if the natural
calamities of life were not sufficient for it, we turn the most
indifferent circumstances into misfortunes, and suffer as much from
trifling accidents as from real evils. I have known the shooting of a
star spoil a night's rest; and have seen a man in love grow pale, and
lose his appetite, upon the plucking of a merry-thought. A screech-owl
at midnight has alarmed a family more than a band of robbers; nay, the
voice of a cricket hath struck more terror than the roaring of a lion.
There is nothing so inconsiderable, which may not appear dreadful to an
imagination that is filled with omens and prognostics. A rusty nail, or
a crooked pin, shoot up into prodigies.
"I remember, I was once in a mixed assembly, that was full of noise and
mirth, when on a sudden an old woman unluckily observed there were
thirteen of us in company. This remark struck a panic terror into
several who were present, insomuch that one or two of the ladies were
going to leave the room: but a friend of mine, taking notice that one of
our female companions was big with child, affirmed there were fourteen
in the room; and that, instead of portending one of the company should
die, it plainly foretold one of them should be born. Had not my friend
found out this expedient to break the omen, I question not but half the
women in the company would have fallen sick that very night.
"An old maid, that is troubled with the vapours, produces infinite
disturbances of this kind among her friends and neighbours. I once knew
a maiden aunt, of a great family, who is one of these antiquated sybils,
that forebodes and prophesies from one end of the year to the other. She
is always seeing apparitions, and hearing death-watches; and was the
other day almost frightened out of her wits by the great house-dog, that
howled in the stable at a time when she lay ill of the tooth-ach. Such
an extravagant cast of mind engages multitudes of people not only in
impertinent terrors, but in supernumerary duties of life; and arises
from that fear and ignorance which are natural to the soul of man. The
horror with which we entertain the thoughts of death or indeed of any
future evil, and the uncertainty of its approach, fill a melancholy mind
with innumerable apprehensions and suspicions, and consequently dispose
it to the observation of such groundless prodigies and predictions. For,
as it is the chief concern of wise men to retrench the evils of life by
the reasonings of philosophy, it is the employment of fools to multiply
them by the sentiments of superstition.
"For my own part, I should be very much troubled, were I endowed with
this divining quality, though it should inform me truly of every thing
that can befal me. I would not anticipate the relish of any happiness,
nor feel the weight of any misery, before it actually arrives.
"I know but one way of fortifying my soul against these gloomy presages
and terrors of mind; and that is, by securing to myself the friendship
and protection of that Being who disposes of events, and governs
futurity. He sees at one view the whole thread of my existence; not only
that part of it which I have already passed through, but that which runs
forward into all the depths of eternity. When I lay me down to sleep, I
recommend myself to his care; when I awake, I give myself up to his
direction. Amidst all the evils that threaten me, I will look up to him
for help and question not but he will either avert them, or turn them
to my advantage. Though I know neither the time nor the manner of the
death I am to die, I am not at all solicitous about it; because I am
sure that he knows them both, and that he will not fail to comfort and
support me under them."
In another paper, the same gentleman thus expresses himself on the same
subject:--
"I remember, last winter, there were several young girls of the
neighbourhood sitting about the fire with my landlady's daughters, and
telling stories of spirits and apparitions. Upon my opening the door,
the young women broke off their discourse; but my landlady's daughters
telling them it was nobody but the gentleman (for that is the name which
I go by in the neighbourhood as well as in the family), they went on
without minding me. I seated myself by the candle that stood on a table
at one end of the room; and, pretending to read a book that I took out
of my pocket, heard several dreadful stories of ghosts as pale as ashes,
that stood at the feet of a bed, or walked over a church-yard by
moonlight; and of others that had been conjured into the Red Sea, for
disturbing people's rest, and drawing their curtains at midnight; with
many other old women's fables of the like nature. As one spirit raised
another, I observed that at the end of every story the whole company
closed their ranks, and crowded about the fire. I took notice in
particular of a little boy, who was so attentive to every story, that I
am mistaken if he ventures to go to bed by himself this twelvemonth.
Indeed, they talked so long, that the imaginations of the whole assembly
were manifestly crazed, and, I am sure, will be the worse for it as long
as they live. I heard one of the girls, that had looked upon me over her
shoulder, asking the company how long I had been in the room, and
whether I did not look paler than I used to do. This put me under some
apprehensions that I should be forced to explain myself, if I did not
retire; for which reason I took the candle in my hand, and went up into
my chamber, not without wondering at this unaccountable weakness in
reasonable creatures, that they should love to astonish and terrify one
another. Were I a father, I should take particular care to preserve my
children from those little horrors of imagination, which they are apt to
contract when they are young, and are not able to shake off when they
are in years. I have known a soldier, that has entered a breach,
affrighted at his own shadow, and look pale upon a little scratching at
his door, who the day before had marched up against a battery of cannon.
There are instances of persons who have been terrified, even to
distraction, at the figure of a tree, or the shaking of a bulrush. The
truth of it is, I look upon a sound imagination as the greatest blessing
of life, next to a clear judgment and a good conscience. In the mean
time, since there are very few whose minds are not more or less subject
to these dreadful thoughts and apprehensions, we ought to arm ourselves
against them by the dictates of reason and religion, to _pull the old
woman out of our hearts_ (as Persius expresses it), and extinguish those
impertinent notions which we imbibed at a time that we were not able to
judge of their absurdity. Or, if we believe, as many wise and good men
have done, that there are such phantoms and apparitions as those I have
been speaking of, let us endeavour to establish to ourselves an interest
in Him who holds the reins of the whole creation in his hand, and
moderates them after such a manner, that it is impossible for one being
to break loose upon another without his knowledge and permission.
"For my own part, I am apt to join in opinion with those who believe
that all the regions of nature swarm with spirits; and that we have
multitudes of spectators on all our actions, when we think ourselves
most alone. But, instead of terrifying myself with such a notion, I am
wonderfully pleased to think that I am always engaged with such an
innumerable society, in searching out the wonders of the creation, and
joining in the same concert of praise and adoration.
"Milton has finely described this mixed communion of men and spirits in
Paradise; and had, doubtless, his eye upon a verse in old Hesiod, which
is almost, word for word, the same with his third line in the following
passage:--
'----Nor think, though men were none,
That Heav'n would want spectators, God want praise:
Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep;
All these with ceaseless praise his works behold,
Both day and night. How often from the steep
Of echoing hill or thicket have we heard
Celestial voices to the midnight air,
Sole, or responsive each to other's note,
Singing their great Creator? Oft in bands,
While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk,
With heav'nly touch of instrumental sounds,
In full harmonic number join'd, their songs
Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to heav'n.'--"
Another celebrated writer says--"Some are over credulous in these
stories, others sceptical and distrustful, and a third sort perfectly
infidel.
"Mr. Locke assures us, we have as clear an idea of spirit as of body.
But, if it be asked, how a spirit, that never was embodied, can form to
itself a body, and come up into a world where it has no right of
residence, and have all its organs perfected at once; or how a spirit,
once embodied, but now in a separate state, can take up its carcase out
of the grave, sufficiently repaired, and make many resurrections before
the last; or how the dead can counterfeit their own bodies, and make to
themselves an image of themselves; by what ways and means, since
miracles ceased, this transformation can be effected; by whose leave and
permission, or by what power and authority, or with what wise design,
and for what great ends and purposes, all this is done, we cannot easily
imagine; and the divine and philosopher together will find it very
difficult to resolve such questions.
"Before the Christian aera, some messages from the other world might be
of use, if not necessary, in some cases, and on some extraordinary
occasions; but since that time we want no new, nor can we have any
surer, informations.
"Conscience, indeed, is a frightful apparition itself; and I make no
question but it oftentimes haunts an oppressing criminal into
restitution, and is a ghost to him sleeping or waking: nor is it the
least testimony of an invisible world, that there is such a drummer as
that in the soul, that can beat an alarm when he pleases, and so loud,
as no other noise can drown it, no music quiet it, no power silence it,
no mirth allay it, and no bribe corrupt it."
Inexhaustible are the opinions on this subject: therefore we shall
conclude this Essay, and proceed to the more illustrative part of our
work, without any further quotations; for various are the methods
proposed by the learned for the laying of ghosts and apparitions.
Artificial ones are easily quieted, if we only take them for real and
substantial beings, and proceed accordingly. Thus, when a Friar,
personating an apparition, haunted the apartment of the late Emperor
Joseph, King Augustus, then at the Imperial court, flung him out of the
window, and laid him upon the pavement so effectually, that he never
rose or appeared again in this world.
THE
DOMINICAN FRIAR.
_An Extraordinary Event that happened lately at Aix-la-Chapelle._
As the following story, which is averred to be authentic, and to have
happened very lately, may serve to shew, that the stories of this kind,
with which the public are, from time to time, every now and then
alarmed, are nothing more than artful impostures, it is presumed, it
will be useful as well as entertaining to our readers to give it a
place.
A person who kept a lodging-house near the springs at Aix-la-Chapelle,
having lost his wife, committed the management of his family to his
daughter, a sprightly, well-made, handsome girl, about twenty.
There were, at that time, in the house, two ladies and their
waiting-woman, two Dutch officers, and a Dominican Friar.
It happened, that, as the young woman of the house was asleep one night
in her bed, she was awakened by something that attempted to draw the
clothes off the bed. She was at first frightened; but thinking, upon
recollection, that it might be the house-dog, she called him by his
name. The clothes, however, were still pulled from her; and she still
imagining it was by the dog, took up a brush that lay in her reach, and
attempted to strike him. At that moment she saw a flash of sudden light,
that filled the whole room; upon which she shrieked out; all was again
dark and silent, and the clothes were no longer drawn from her.
In the morning, when she related this story, every one treated it as a
dream; and the girl herself at last took it for granted, that it was no
more than an illusion.
The night following, she was again awakened by something that jogged
her, and she thought she felt a hand in the bed; upon endeavouring to
repress it, another flash of lightning threw her into a fit of terror:
she shut her eyes, and crossed herself. When she ventured to open her
eyes again, the light was vanished; but, in a short time, she felt what
she supposed to be a hand again in the bed: she again endeavoured to
repress it, and, looking towards the foot of the bed, saw a large
luminous cross, on which was written distinctly, as with light, the
words, "_Be Silent!_" She was now so terrified, that she had not power
to break the injunction, but shrunk down into the bed, and covered
herself over with the clothes.
In this situation she continued a considerable time; but, being again
molested, she ventured once more to peep out, when, to her unspeakable
astonishment, she saw a phantasm stand by the side of her bed, almost as
high as the ceiling: a kind of glory encircled its head, and the whole
was in the form of a crucifix, except that it seemed to have several
hands, one of which again approached the bed.
Supposing the phenomenon to be some celestial vision, she exerted all
her fortitude, and, leaping out of bed, threw herself upon her knees
before it; but she instantly found herself assaulted in a manner which
convinced her she was mistaken: she had not strength to disengage
herself from something that embraced her, and therefore screamed out as
loud as she could, to alarm the house, and bring somebody to her
assistance.
Her shrieks awakened the ladies who lay in an adjacent chamber, and they
sent their woman to see what was the matter. The woman, upon opening the
room, saw a luminous phantasm, which greatly terrified her, and heard,
in a deep threatening tone, the words--"_At thy peril be gone!_"
The woman instantly screamed out, and withdrew: the ladies rose in the
utmost consternation and terror, but nobody came to their assistance:
the old man, the father of the girl, was asleep in a remote part of the
house; the Friar also rested in a room at the end of a long gallery in
another story; and the two Dutch officers were absent on a visit, at a
neighbouring village.
No other violence, however, was offered to the girl that night. As soon
as the morning dawned, she got up, ran down to her father, and told all
that had happened: the two ladies were not long absent; they did not say
much, but quitted the house. The Friar asked the girl several questions,
and declared that he had heard other instances of the like nature, but
said, the girl would do well to obey the commands of the vision, and
that no harm would come of it. He said, he would remain to see the
issue; and, in the mean time, ordered proper prayers and masses to be
said at a neighbouring convent of his order, to which he most devoutly
joined his own.
The girl was comforted with this spiritual assistance; but,
notwithstanding, took one of the maids to be her bedfellow the next
night. In the dead of the night, the flaming cross was again visible,
but no attempt was made on either of the women. They were, however,
greatly terrified; and the servant said, she would rather leave her
place, than lie in the room again.
The Friar, the next morning, took the merit of the spirit's peaceable
behaviour to himself. The prayers and masses were renewed, and
application was made to the convents at Liege for auxiliary assistance.
The good Friar, in the mean time, was by no means idle at home: he
performed his devotions with great ardour, and towards evening bestowed
a plentiful libation of holy water on the chamber and the bed.
The girl not being able to persuade the servant to sleep with her again
in the haunted room, and being encouraged by the Friar to abide the
issue, having also great confidence herself in the prayers, masses, and
sprinklings, that had been used on the occasion, she ventured once more
to sleep in the same room by herself.
In the night, after hearing some slight noises, she saw the room all in
a blaze, and a great number of luminous crosses, with scraps of writing
here and there very legible, among which the precept _to be silent_ was
most conspicuous.
In the middle of the room she saw something of a human appearance, which
seemed covered only with a linen garment, like a shirt: it appeared to
diffuse a radiance round it; and, at length, by a slow and silent pace,
approached the bed.
When it came up to the bed-side, it drew the curtain more open, and,
lifting up the bed-clothes, was about to come in. The girl, now more
terrified than ever, screamed out with all her power. As every body in
the house was upon the watch, she was heard by them all; but the father
only had courage to go to her assistance, and his bravery was probably
owing to a considerable quantity of reliques, which he had procured from
the convent, and which he brought in his hand.
When he came, however, nothing was to be seen but some of the little
crosses and inscriptions, several of which were now luminous only in
part.
Being himself greatly terrified at these appearances, he ran to the
Friar's apartment, and with some difficulty prevailed upon him to go
with him to the haunted room. The Friar at first excused himself upon
account of the young woman's being there in bed. As soon as he entered,
and saw the crosses, he prostrated himself on the ground, and uttered
many prayers and incantations, to which the honest landlord most
heartily said _Amen_.
The poor girl, in the mean time, lay in a kind of trance; and her
father, when the prayers were over, ran down stairs for some wine, a
cordial being necessary to recover her: the Friar, at the same time,
ordered him to light and bring with him a consecrated taper; for
hitherto they had no light but that of the vision, which was still
strong enough to discover every thing in the room.
In a short time the old man entered with a taper in his hand; and in a
moment all the luminous appearances vanished. The girl, soon after,
recovered, and gave a very sensible account of all that had happened;
and the landlord and the Friar spent the rest of the night together.
The Friar, however, to shew the power of the daemon, and the holy virtue
of the taper, removed it several times from the chamber, before the day
broke, and the crosses and inscriptions were again visible, and remained
so till the taper was brought back, and then vanished as at first.
When the sun arose, the Friar took his leave to go to matins, and did
not return till noon. In the mean time the two Dutch officers came home,
and soon learnt what had happened, though the landlord took all the
pains he could to conceal it. The reports they heard were confirmed by
the pale and terrified appearance of the girl; their curiosity was
greatly excited, and they asked her innumerable questions. Her answers,
instead of extinguishing, increased it. They assured the landlord, they
would not leave his house, but, on the contrary, would afford him all
the assistance in their power.
As they were young gentlemen of a military profession, and Protestants,
they were at once bold and incredulous. They pretended, however, to
adopt the opinion of the landlord, that the appearances were
supernatural; but it happened that, upon going into the room, they found
the remainder of the taper, on the virtues of which the landlord had so
largely expatiated, and immediately perceived that it was only a common
candle of a large size, which he had brought by mistake in his fright.
This discovery convinced them that there was a fraud, and that
appearances that vanished at the approach of unconsecrated light must be
produced by mere human artifice.
They therefore consulted together, and at length agreed, that the masses
should be continued; that the landlord should not say one word of the
candle, or the suspicions it had produced; that his daughter, the next
night, should sleep in the apartment which had been quitted by the
ladies; and that one of the officers should lie in the girl's bed, while
the other, with the landlord, should wait in the kitchen, to see the
issue.
This plan was accordingly, with great secrecy, carried into execution.
For two hours after the officer had been in bed, all was silent and
quiet, and he began to suspect that the girl had either been fanciful,
or that their secret had transpired: when, all on a sudden, he heard
the latch of the door gently raised; and, perceiving something approach
the bed and attempt to take up the clothes, he resisted with sufficient
strength to frustrate the attempt, and immediately the room appeared to
be all in a flame; he saw many crosses, and inscriptions enjoining
silence and a passive acquiescence in whatever should happen; he saw
also, in the middle of the room, something of a human appearance, very
tall, and very luminous. The officer was at first struck with terror,
and the vision made a second approach to the bed-side; but the
gentleman, recovering his fortitude with the first moment of reflection,
dexterously threw a slip knot, which he had fastened to one of the
bed-posts, over the phantom's neck: he instantly drew it close, which
brought him to the ground, and then threw himself upon him. The fall and
the struggle made so much noise, that the other officer and the landlord
ran up with lights and weapons; and the goblin was found to be no other
than the good Friar, who, having conceived something more than a
spiritual affection for his landlord's pretty daughter, had played this
infernal farce, to gratify his passion.
Being now secured and detected, beyond hope of subterfuge or escape, he
made a full confession of his guilt, and begged earnestly for mercy.
It appeared that this fellow, who was near six feet high, had made
himself appear still taller, by putting upon his head a kind of _tiara_
of embossed paper, and had also thrust a stick through the sleeves of
his habit, which formed the appearance of a cross, and still left his
hands at liberty; and that he had rendered himself and his apparatus
visible in the dark by _phosphorus_.
The landlord contented himself with giving his reverence a hearty
drubbing, and then turning him out of doors, with a strict injunction to
quit the territory of Liege for ever, upon pain of being much more
severely treated.
When it is considered, that it is but a few years ago, that a poor
woman, within twenty miles of London, lost her life upon supposition
that she was a witch; and that it is not many years since the Cock-lane
ghost found advocates, even in the heart of London itself, among those
who, before, were never accounted fools; it cannot but be useful to put
down on record every imposition of this kind.
THE
SUPERSTITIOUS COUPLE.
In the letters from a gentleman on his travels in Italy to his friend in
England, is the following curious account of an experiment tried with
the Bolognian stone, of which phosphorus is made.
There was an English maid-servant in the house where we lodged,
(observes this gentleman), and her bed-chamber was immediately over the
one occupied by myself and friend. My companion having found his way
into it, or, at least, supposing he had done so, wrote with some paste
made merely with flour and water, the terrible words--"REMEMBER DEATH!"
in great capitals, on the inside of the bed-curtains. Over the wet
letters he strewed some of the crust prepared from this stone, which he
had powdered for that purpose in a mortar; and, when he had so done,
called me up, to see the words in letters of fire. We sat up for the
discovery; but something very different from what we had expected,
happened. The Italians are bigots, and consequently superstitious. It
happened that the room, into which my friend had found his way, was not,
as he imagined, that of the maid-servant, but of a couple of devout
people, who accidentally slept in the house. We heard them undress; and
followed our scheme, by getting on the upper stairs near the door of the
room: we heard two voices, and we saw the candle on a table near the
bed-side. The lady was first in bed; and the good man no sooner
followed, than the candle was put out. On the instant of its extinction,
appeared the terrible words. The lady screamed her prayers; the husband
trembled over his Ave-Marias. The letters were absolutely fire, and the
bed was not injured. The language was unintelligible to those who saw
the words; and, perhaps, it was in that respect more terrifying, than if
the admonition had been understood. The _Mene Tekel_ of the prophet came
into both their minds at once. They jumped out of bed, and alarmed the
whole house. We were first in the room. My friend took occasion, in
their confusion, to scrape off the whole matter very cleanly with his
pocket knife. The company brought candles--there was nothing to be seen.
Both husband and wife pointed to the place where the writing had
appeared; but nothing but some smeared dirt was visible there. My friend
kept his counsel, and the miracle was blazed all over Bologna the next
day; and we left a legion of wondering priests in the house at our
departure!
THE
HAUNTED BED-ROOM.
A young gentleman, going down from London to the west of England, to the
house of a very worthy gentleman, to whom he had the honour to be
related; it happened, that the gentleman's house was at that time full,
by season of a kinswoman's wedding, that had lately been kept there. He
therefore told the young gentleman, that he was very glad to see him,
and that he was very welcome to him: "But," said he, "I know not how I
shall do for a lodging for you; for my cousin's marriage has not left a
room free, save one, and that is haunted; but if you will lie there, you
shall have a very good bed, and all other accommodations." "Sir,"
replied the young gentleman, "you will very much oblige me by letting me
lie there; for I have often coveted to be in a place that was haunted."
The gentleman, very glad that his kinsman was so well pleased with his
accommodations, ordered the chamber to be got ready, and a good fire to
be made in it, it being winter-time. When bed-time came, the young
gentleman was conducted up into his chamber, which, besides a good fire,
was furnished with all suitable accommodations; and, having recommended
himself to the Divine protection, went to bed. Lying some time awake,
and finding no disturbance, he fell asleep; out of which, however, he
was awaked about three o'clock in the morning, by the opening of the
chamber-door, and the entrance of somebody in the appearance of a young
woman, having a night-dress on her head, and only her shift on: but he
had no perfect view of her, for his candle was burnt out; and though
there was a fire in the room, yet it gave not light enough to see her
distinctly. But this unknown visitant going to the chimney, took the
poker, and stirred up the fire; by the flaming light whereof, he could
discern the appearance of a young gentlewoman more distinctly; but
whether it was flesh and blood, or an airy phantom, he knew not. This
appearance having stood some time before the fire, as if to warm itself,
at last walked two or three times about the room, and then came to the
bed-side; where having stood a little while, she took up the
bed-clothes, and went into bed, pulling the bed-clothes upon her again,
and lying very quietly. The young gentleman was a little startled at
this unknown bed-fellow; and, upon her approach, lay on the further side
of the bed, not knowing whether he had best rise or not. At last, lying
very still, he perceived his bed-fellow to breathe; by which guessing
her to be flesh and blood, he drew nearer to her, and taking her by the
hand, found it warm, and that it was no airy phantom, but substantial
flesh and blood; and finding she had a ring on her finger, he took it
off unperceived. The gentlewoman being all this while asleep, he let her
lie without disturbing her, and patiently waited the result of this
singular situation. He had not long remained in suspense, when his fair
companion hastily flung off the bed-clothes again, and getting up,
walked three or four times about the room; as she had done before; and
then, standing awhile before the door, opened it, went out, and shut it
after her. The young gentleman, perceiving by this in what manner the
room was haunted, rose up, and locked the door on the inside; and then
lay down again, and slept till morning; at which time the master of the
house came to him, to know how he did, and whether he had seen any
thing, or not? He told him, that an apparition had appeared to him, but
begged the favour of him that he would not urge him to say any thing
further, till the whole family were all together. The gentleman complied
with his request, telling his young friend, that, having found him well,
he was perfectly satisfied.