The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-10 00:00:00

LORD LYTTLETON AND THE GHOST.

Some years ago I met an oil gentleman at Ewell,
in Surrey, near which is Pitt'e-place, where his
lordship died. Ile gave me the foil,,wing account,
which he had from a gentleman who was in the
house at the time. This person was the organist
of a neighbouring town, whose company wes much
courted on accoe-e of his musical talent, and who
was a fro:inept eisitor to his lordship. The story
ordinarily told is this—that he dreamt the ghost of
a lady whom he bad seduced appeared to him, and
predicted his death at 12 at night on the third day
follewing. boy inroi rnant's story differs only thus
tar, that the supposed apparition Nas that of the
mother of the lady in question, who had died of a
broken heart in consequence of her daugliSer's dis-
honour. Lord Lyttleton was at this time in a very
bad state, of health in consequence of his excesaw,
and was subject to what my informant called
" suffocating tits"—probably nervous hysteria. Be
this as it may, it appears on the thy of his de.xtb,
the foretold thied day, he had a party of friends at
Pitt's-place, asneug whom was the organist, whence
my informant had the account. He says that
Lyttleton was in a state of some agieation, and had
told the story of his dream to his f: iends. As the
night wore on and midnight. approached his ner-
yousne,s increased pdefully ; and some of his visi-
tors said during his absence "Lyttleton will
frighten himself into another fit with this foolish
ghost story," and they deTeralimed to put a clock,
which stood in the room, forward, and when lie re-
turned to them they said, " Hurrah ! Lyttleton, 12
o'clock is past, you've jockeyed the ghost ; now the
the best thing is to go quietly to lesd, and in the
merniug you will be alt right." He accordingly
went upstairs ; and while some of ,his guests were
putting on their coats to depart his vslet
c one clown to fetch something—it was said
to get some mint water— which he was
in the habit of taking, leaving his lord-
sh;p alone. At this period the clock of the parish
church, which was not far off, and which of cow Fe
could not have been touched, began slo ,sly to p, al
forth the true midnight hour. The velet proceeded
upstairs, and shortly burst forth into !oud exelame-
tions. The party ran up and found his lordship had
fallen dead. My informant's impressi,n was that
the sudden revulsion of feeling from a state of fan-
cied security to finding himself at the moment in
the very instant of the dreaded danger had caused.
such a reaction as to bring on the fits which carried
him off. He, no doubt, had heard the first stroke
of the clock as well as otherb down s:airs, and as
each successive blew struck slowly upon the bell,
the sense of danger and the remembrance of the
dream became greater and greater, and to so wea-
kened a frame and so diseaeed a mind no doubt
these caused the catastrophe. It is not improbable
most ghost stories might he found to end in a
mi-
ler enteral solution. —Notes and Queries.

THE FRESH SOLIOITOR.GENERAL.—Eitnurvi Hayes,
E.g., LL.D., bas been appointed to the Solicitor
Gonerslibip of Ireland.
" MISS POLLY MARSHALL."—We are delighted to
see by the American papers that this charming young
actress is still starring it, in the United States, to very
general admiration. Those of our London playgoers
who bear her name in genial remembrance as one of the
prettiest and sprightliest of the soubrettes upon the me-
tropolitan stage, one, if not the least amongst the many
attractions to the eli7s and stalls of the Princess's, will
be glad no doubt to have pleasant tidings t.f their [ant
favourite, and to hear that she was, according to our
last advises, chief among the charms of the principal
theatre at Ws.shington, to a local journal,mehnt sume
entitled :The
States, we are amused to find a metrical rhapsody in her
honour, beginning and ending just as the might
the muse of cou.in Jonathan would begin And end in
any complimentary producti ,n of the like character :-
41 Whether tragic she, or j
Where's the like of Pretty Polly I"

While another paper of the same city, U. S:, records
with a zestful alliteration how "Plump, pretty, piquant
Polly Marshall was bewitching as Rosine. " The Yankee
lads are evidently " over head and earn," as the phrase
runs, with the young -English light comedy actress's
manifold fasciaatiGns—the glance of her eye and the
twinkle of her feet, her dimples and her dancing, her
winning looks and her gay laughter.
WILLS.—Tbe will of the Right Hon. George Augustus
Frederick Percy Smythe, Vlicount Strangford (Ireland),
I.nd Baron Penshuret (England), was proved in London
by the sole executor, the Earl cf Stamford and' War.
rington—pereonalty, 70001. To the Earl of Stamford he
has bequeathed his porphyry jars, presented by the King
of a wedest to his father, the sixth Earl of Strangford
when Ambassador at Sweden ; also specific bequests
are given to the Countess of Stamford, Lady Harry
Vane, and the C iuntess of Tankerville ; to Mrs.
B. Disraeli a collection of birds, butterflies and chry-
salysis, and to the Right Hon. B. Disraeli two
Turkish swords, as acknowledgments of their attention
during his illness. The will of the Rev. Phillip Bliss,
D.C. L., F.S.A., Principal of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford,
was proved, in London, under 14,0001, by his widow,
the sole executrix, who takes a life Interest in his pro-
perty ; he bequeaths his Geneva Bible (1560) to the
library of St. John the Baptist College, Oxford, and a
moiety of the dividends of the residue to the augmen-
tation of the librarian's place in St. Join the Baptist
College. The will of William Wallis Francis, E.g., of
Colchester, Elsex, has been proved under 18,0001, per-
sonalty.