Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-01-26
ed. So beautifully established were the
home relations of this man,at once SO great
and so lowly"
The Cock Lane Ghost i'm London.

sation throughout England about hundred
years ago, and we doubt not brief histor,
of the event will be interesting to our read
ers. 1t appears that in the early part of tht
year 1850, there. resided in Cock Lane
near West Smithfeld, London, in the house
of one Parsons, the parish clerk of St. Sc
pulchre's, stock-broker named Kent
The wife of Ken. had but recently died
and her sister had arrived from anothe
part of England to keep house for him.
They soon conceived a mutual affection
and each made will in the others favor
They lived for several months in Parson'.
house, who, in the mean time, borrowed
considerable money of Kent. Some differ.
ence arose between them, and Kent lef
the lodgings and brought suit against Par.
sons for borrowed money. While the sui
was still pending, the young lady, whose
name was Miss Fanny, suddenly died, not.
withstanding every care and attention, and
was buried in vault under Clerkenwell
Church. Parsons now began to hint that
she had died by foul means, and that Mr.,
Kent from his great eagerness TO profit by
her last will and testament had occasioned
her death. Two. years elapsed, and not
much was said, although Parsons still nurs.
ed his revenge against Kent on account of
their former differences about the borrowed
money. Accordingly, in the early part of
the year 1862, an alarm was spread all a
bout the neighborhood Of Cock Lane that
Parsons house was haunted by the ghc st
of poor Fanny, and that the daughter OF
Parsons, a g RI of but twelve years of age,
had several times seen and conversed with
the spirit, who had informed her that small
poX was not, as had been currently report
ed, the cause of her death, but that Kent
had poisoned her. Parsons, who originated
these reports, took good care to countcn-
ance them, and in answer to numerous IN
quries aid that his house was, and had
been for two years, Gin fact, ever since
the death of Fanny troubled with knock
ings or rappings at the doors and in the
walls. Then the cunning Parsons, know
ing the importance and value of a respect
able endorser invited gentleman of high
standing to come and witness the extraor-
dinary phenomenon. He came. The daugh-
ter was in bed, trembling violently, having
just seen the ghost, and been again info M
ed that she had died by the hands of Kent
"a loud knocking as also heard from va
rious parts Of the chamber; all which, ia
ken together, so troubled and mystifed the
visitor, that. afraid to doubt and ashamed
to believe, he departed from the house,
promising to return next day with the par
ish clergyman and several gentlemen.-
On the following night he did return, bring
ing with him three clergymen, about TWEEN
ty other gentlemen, and two negroes, who
sat up to ava the ghosts coming. Par
sons, explained that although the ghost
would never appear 10 any person but his
daughter, it had no objection TO answer
such questions as might be put to it by any
individual present, and that it expressed
.'Yes" by one knock, "No 'by two knocks,
and its displeasure by kind Of scratching.
The girl was put to bed along with her lit
tie sister aud the bed and bed-clothes were
carefully examined by the clergymen 20
satisfy themselves that there was no trick.
The bed, however, soon oegan TO shake VI
olently, but the patient audience waited
several hours before the ghost appeared.
The knocking on the wall was finally heard,
and Par ons' daughter declared that she
saw the ghost, invisible, OF course, to every
eye but hers. The spirit was then serious
ly questioned by the clergymen about Miss
Fanny's death, and answers by knocks were
promptly returned, charging Kent with
murder. Various other questions, such as
"What is the color Of this watch 7" "How
many persons are in the room? ?" were ask
ed, to which correct answers were made by
the intelligent ghost. The story of these
extraordinary occurrences spread rapidly
over London, and soon became the engross-
ing topic in all classes of society. Parsons
gained his long coveted revenge, and made
no nconsiderable profit, for he drove Kent
nearly to despair and received quite rev.
enue out OF fees demanded of the Gro oXds
who now beseiged Cock Lane. Unhappilv,
however, for Parsons, the ghost was induc-
ed to make more promises than it could
perform. 1t promised, in addition TO many
other things, that it would follow any gen.
tleman into the vault under the church
where the body of the murdered woman lay
buried and there give tokens of its pres
ence by distinct knock upon the coffin.
Accordingly, at one hour past midnight,
two gentlemen ent3red the vault and took
position by the side of Fanny's coffin
The ghost was then summoned to appear,
but it appeared not; it was summoned to
knock, but it knocked not; it was Summon
ed to scratch, but it scratched not where
upon the two gentlemen retired, declaring
the whole affair to be humbug. Some
boobies present were determined not to
give it up. and suggested that Mr.. Kent
was the man to bring out the ghost, upon
which he went down and questioned it for
half an hour, but no answer or sign could
be extorted. A close SCRUTINY was then in
stituted into the whole affair, resulting in
the exposure of the humbng, the conviction
of Parsons, his wife, and others Of conspl-
racy, and the reprimand of the clergymen
in open court by Chief Justice Mansfield,
who presided at the trial. The knocking
appeared to be the work of Mrs. Parsons,
while the sca!ching was done by the daugh-
ter, although the precise manner in which
the deception was practised never received
a full explanation. All the conspirators
were imprisoned for long period.-Sun-
day Times.
DoUBLy CREDIrABLE.-An amusing
story, illustrative of the religion of military
promotion, is told in the new work, entitled
i)..,i.,