The Sun.
London, England, 1829-08-31 00:00:00

APPARITIONS.

The philosophy of our age seems entirely to
have banished the faith in apparitions which was
so prevalent during the last age. As Dr. John-
son remarked, however, it is a question which
the experience of nearly six thousand years has
not been able satisfactor►ly to settle. The fol-
lowing narrative, we are assured, is founded on
fact, and is believed with implicit confidence in
that part of Scotland where it is said to have oc-
curred. On this point we can speak with per-
fect certainty, as we are ourselves well acquainted
with the localities, and have no reason to doubt
the veracity of the individual who is the subject
of it. Between thirty and forty years ago, a
shepherd in one of the southern counties of
Scotland, whilst tending his flock on the-side of
a beautiful green bill towards gloaming, saw, or
fancied he saw, a child running from the pur-
suit of an enraged mother. The appearance, we
may be sure, appalled him, and he stood for
some time mute with terror and astonishment,
and undecided regarding the course he ought to
pursue on so momentous an occasion. The
screams of the child pierced his ears and filled
his heart with agony. No human breast could
have beheld the innocent victim of a relentless
mother's unnatural rage imploring aid without
emotion. The cries of " nnther, dinna do't,"
rang for weeks after in his cars, and for some
days his acquaintances observed a very percep-
tible change upon his appearance. Whether he
had resolved to succour the child we have not
heard, though we think it more probable that, in
his agitation and anxiety, he would meditate a
retreat. At this moment the appearance sud-
denly vanished. When he came home he went
early to bed ; his friends saw he was labouring
under some mighty anxiety, though he persisted
obstinately against disclosing the cause of his
suffering. A few days afterwards, a person
traversing the same spot, found a child lately
murdered, with some large pins stuck into its
brain. This discovery spread among the neigh-
bourhood, and soon reached the shepherd's ears,
who from that moment to the present, had no '
doubt in his own mind that he had seen the
wraith of the murdered infant. Every effort was
made to discover the mother, but in vain. Many
a woman in the neighbourhood was examined,
but no trace of the delinquent could be dis
covered. Suspicion no doubt did attach to an in-
dividual, but nothing definite was ever proved
against her ; and thus the most unnatural crime,
and one of the most destructive which one
member of society can perpetrate against another,
passed without punishment ; and a wretch more
cruel than Medea, animated by the passions of a
fiend, was allowed to prowl among the haunts of
men in undisturbed security, and, it may be,
was afterwards united to a man of decent cha-
racter, a►►d enjoyed the external comforts of a
Scottish matron. But within there must have
been an agent at work to blast her happiness,
and freeze her soul with horror—the harbinger
of " the worm that dieth not."—Glasgotu Free
Press.

The Colombian Minister had a long confe-
rence with the Earl of ABERDEEN, on Saturday morning,
at the office of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
After the conference, the Earl of ABERDEEN visited Mr.
Secretary PEEL previous to the Right Hon. Gentleman's
departure for Windsor, to attend the KING. In the after-
noon► the Russian Ambassador and the French Charge
d'Affaires had a conference with the Earl of ABERDEEN, at
the Foreign-office, which lasted near two hours. The
Austrian Ambassador had also a long interview with the
Noble Earl on Saturday.