Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1850-07-11

hau CoIiCIuuSd tHclT etl0enCe.
Mr. Rorer then opened the argument or
the part of the plaintiff, and was follow ed
by Mr. Morton for the defendants. To.
gether, they occupied the whole of the
afternoon. No notes Of these two speech
es were taken at the time, end, in con-
sequence, no attempt will be made to re-
port !hem. 1t is believed that the closing
speeches Of Mr. Hall and Mr. Rorer, con-
tain the substance Of what was said, and
they will be published in the full report Of
the trial in pamphlet form.
From the Home Journal.
GHOSTK KNOCKIyGs
THE damage to the renting of house
by the knowledge that there have been
mysterious noises heard in il, and the un-
willingness of most persons to become
subjects of public conjecture and curiosity
would prevent the making public Of most
of the instances-supposing that spirit
knockings were now becoming general
and frequent. CHANGING, ourself, to
know ofthree cases, the publicity Of which,
is carefully avoided for these reasons,
(and not seeing how or why we should
know more of such things than our neigh
bors,) we feel justified in thinking il
probable that the whatever
it be-is more common than has been sup
posed. II is not two ghosts nor twenty,
who have the monopoly Of it-not two
impostors nor twenty, imposture it be, J
who have hit on the same trick, with the
same manner of performing it, in different
and very distant places. Let it turn out
what it will, the topic is one so much dis
cussed, that all which throws light upon
it is interesting, and we will "scoop up''
for our readers, The bubble or so that has
floated from the general stream into our
eddy editorial.
The first story we have to tell is rather
to the disparagement Of ghosts, and goes
to show that the mind may remain pretty
much the same, for while, after death,
weaknesses and all. II was narrated in a
letter to private gentleman in this city,
by an English friend with whom he is in
familiar correspondence. Names cannot
be given, for the reasons we specified in
the first sentence Of this article, and it was
written with no thought Of publcity-but
the writer is a man of remarkable mind
and attainments, and the correspondence
is mainly upon topics Of religious and
moral progress. We briefly give the
facts -
been very much disturbed for some
months, by unaccountable knockings. An
occasional and inexplicable waving Of their
bed curtains was another phenomenon
which troubled them. They occupied an
old house, of which Mr. w. had a long
lease but, as he wished to dispose of his
lease and move to another part of London
and as he thought these phenomena were
tricks that would be explained, he forbade
a mention of the circumstances, as likely
to prejudice the lease, and they were q
family secret accordingly. Though not a
physician, he was man of considerable
medical knowledge, and, female cousin
being subject to fits Of epilepsy, he had
tried experiments Of animal magnetism for
her cure. These had been partially sue
cessful. when, on magnetzing her, in one
Of her fits, she changed from a passive
state to look of intelligence.
"What a singular old woman is in the
room - she suddenly exclaimed.
No one being present but Mr. w. and
his wife, he questioned the epileptic, get
ting gradually description by which they
recognized his grandmother, who had
been dead several years. He requested
her to ask the old lady what she wanted.
"She is most anxious to speak to your
self,' was the reply.
Farther parley induced the venerable
ghost 10 open her mind through second
person. She was distressed at the neg
lect with which her dresses and orna-
ments were treated, her favorite and val
liable things left to mould in out-of-the-
way corners, in way that was insuifer-
able. even where she was.
Having entirely forgotten the existence
Of these articles, Mr. w. inquired where
they were. The old lady at once gave
explicit directions where they could be
found, and found they rere, in the very
places described, and in the very condi-
ton which had vexed the unchanged
EleHluiS y VI tlc tePditou' lucy "S'C ot>
tended to, and there were no more super
natural noises for some months.
\ recurrence of an attack. while the
cousin was on visit TO the house, some
time afterwards, brought animal magnet
ism again into play, and at the moment Of
the patients subjecton to the influence, a
violent knocking was once more heard. -
The patient did not, this time, become
clair, oyant, and no communication was
received in any Ineligible shape from the
unlaid grandmother. The knockings at
night were resumed. however, and Mr. W.
determined to try if he could himself get a
demonstration. and, in that case. to speak
his mind, with the hope that deafness was
not among the ills that ex-lesh is heir 10.
He tool; book and kept himself awake
till after midnight, and then tried 10 uiH
up the knociiiDgs. At two, they sudden
ly resoundea. and he then proceeded to
give his grandmother a lecture. He laid
before her, in plain terms, the way she
was disturbing the family, the risk of
damaging his interests. and the better
things she ought, fer decency's sake. &c
appear to be thinking about, between this
and judgment day. AS he went on, the
knockings, by their increased rapidity a: