The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1863-02-06
A True Ghost Story.

A well-known Scotch artist, whose delinea-
tons of character delight his many friends, land
who is almost as remarkable in his anecdotes
as In his pictures, commences one OF his stories
by narrating how an old Scotch gamekeeper
once remarked to him in a slow, solemn voice,
"Do you know, sir, that myself have actilly
knawn men, ay, and respectable men, too, who
--did-not-beleve in ghasts ?" And he de-
Bcribes how the old keeper, on being question
ed as to his own belief in ghosts, replied with
face averted half in pity, half in sorrow for the
questioner, but with, if possiblemore solemnity,
81 howp dor'
/ am not sure if the gamekeeper stands alone
in his belief; and question whether, 1t the
great majority of the upper ten thousand
were asked regarding their faith as to appari-
tons, they would not agree with the lower ten
thousand who are assumed to be the only hon.
est believers in occasional visits from the in
habitants of the mysterious ghost land. Very
possibly in broad daylight, when driving in the
park-or shopping-or visiting the exhibition
-or, even when the candles are lighted, and
when seated round the dinner table--or in the
midst of the buzz and futter of an evening
party, the realities of the papable and prosaic
world may act as such opiates to the ideal fac
ulty, and so close the eyes and stop the ears of
the inner sense which can alone discern the
spiritual world, that all faith in its existence
may be denied or ridicnled. But take any
one of those persons singly, especially the most
thoughtful and gifted; let him or her remain
In the large drawing-room when it is emptied
Of its guests, with the lights extinguished, ex-
cept one or two sufficiently bright to project
Shadows on the wall" but not to illuminate
the darker recesses of the room-when the fire
burns low, and the cinders fall, and begin to
crumble audibly among the ashes-when the
midnight winds are creeping round the
the house, signing at the windows, or breaking
out into angry gusts which boom over the Chin
ney head and shake the huge trees on the
lawn, forcing one to think of ships fighting
with storms misty coasts, or dreDched
wretches creeping or splashing over moors-
and then let the thoughts gradually slide into
sad stories Of human suffering mingled with
anecdotes about presentiments, dreams, odd
condolences, unaccountable appearances, and
the like: and ever and anon let some strange
sounds of wind and rain and chatting foliage
be heard, with creaks in old timber no one
knows where-I ask with confidence whether
In such circumstances, at two in the morning,
the sceptic will not profess more faith in ghosts
than he or she would at two or three in the
afternoon?
The fact cannot be denied by anyone tolera-
bly, acquainted with humanlopinions that there
is an almost universal belief in ghosts. Or If
that Is too broad and vulgar way of express
ing the belief, let rather say, universal feel
ing verging on belief. If not reaching it, that
there are certainly more things in heaven
and earth" than our daylight philosophy ae-
cepts of or can account for that there are rev.
citations from world unseen by the carnal eve,
unheard by the carnal ear, which come to the
seeing and hearing faculties of the spirtin Ger
tain states Of mind and body which are alone
susceptible Of this intercourse: that these rev.
Citations assume divers forms, il may be of
strange sights and scenes, vivid dreams, sud-
den and overpowering impressions, apparitions,
ghosts, spirit-knockings. call them what you
please-which compel the belief that the ghost
world with which we are un Iuestionably sur
rounded, impinges occasionally on the familiar
or on what we call the actual, just as strange
and rare birds from another far-off cline are
sometimes driven by storms our coasts.
This Is subject to which have paid much
attention. Without, as far as can discover.
any prejudice to warp my judgment or want
OF such careful and cautious induction as a
detective might bestow in tracing out the
facts of a crime. and weighing the evidence in
the incest balance, have collected several I'M
questionable facts, in which have no hesita-
ton whatever in publicly acknowledging my
belief am also firmly persuaded that their
truth rests upon incomparably more satisfac-
tory proofs than those stories of spirit rappings
which are so firmly believed in by so many l
have listened patiently to the details of very
many remarkable phenomena connected with
spirt-rapping and table-turning related to me
circles of society" and by evangelical clergy
men whose word no one would think of doubt
ing, and whose judgment no one, / presume,
would once dare t, call in question. A cler-
gynan, for example, whose literary abilities,
sound sense, piety, observation-disclosures. and truth
fitness are sufficiently guaranteed by the fact
Of his being frequent contributor to the pa
ges OF leading religious" newspapers, while as
Stunning that any doubt as to the reality of spir-
it-rapping, apparitions, witches, &c. indicated
an infidel tendency, affirmed his belief that the
devil was the real person who pulled all those
strings. / took the bold step OF questioning
this, which fear has shaken his faith in nv
Christianity; and ! confessed to him frankly
that had such an opinion OF Satan's intellect.
and OF the immense amount of work he evil
IDENTIFY had to do in France, Italy, and Ameri-
ca, not to speak of our own country, as made /
me doubt how far he had himself the time or
could spare even the weakest and most imbe-
Gle of his spirits to anuse respectable, well-to-
do, idle ladies, to furnish arguments in favor
OF ghost world to sceptics, to paralyse weak
curates, or even to afford the best and most
popular cergymen Illustrations for their SER
mons.
also took the liberty of directing his atten-
ton to the following verses in the Prophecies
OF Isaiah, which seemed new to him ~
when they shall say unto you, Seek with
them that have familiar spirits, and with wiz
- uo tiiat peep anu tiidt iluileTs SHOULD mol a
people seek unto their God ? for the the living
TO the dead?" ITO the law and to the tes,i-
mony: If they speak not according TO this
word, it is because there is no light in them-
Strange to say, this passag made my clerical
friend hold more firmly to the alleged facts,
ard his devil theory regarding them, for he
maintained that many men whom he knew to
be a little more than skeptical regarding "the
law and the testimony" of Scripture, and who
staggered through nnbelief' in the miracles
there recorded, nevertheless sought for some
information "from the dead" and had perfect
faith In the truth of the revelations so obtain
ed. thus proving the devil TO be the real de-
ceiver
Granting for the present the truth of the al
legged facts of spirit rapping and of table-turn-
ing; yet amer hearing them, and comparing
them with some of the mysteries have nv
self collected, chiefly in the Highlands, CON
nected with second sight and ghostly appari-
tons. and with other similar phenomena no.
tced by me Ii some of the remoter valleys of
the Harz and Black FORESTS. cannot possibly
admit the one without admitting the other.
Both seem to me to rest on such evidence as
must compel them 10 stand or fall together.
have no wish whatever TO bring any read
er who has "made up his mind" on those mys-
terious topics, TO my way Of thinking. / shall
acknowledge it as a sign of progress in free
thought il am permitted to hold my own
views without being CONDEMNED as person
devoid OF all Judgment or common sense
But one fact is better than thousand mere
arguments in discussing such question: and
/ shali fhQrafnra davafa fha ~