The mountain Democrat., 1864-02-13
From the N. Y. Home Journal.
THE GHOSTS OF HISTORY.
To the magic regioh's eezSsre,
Ne are Vergfng it appears;
Lead US right that we may enter
Strange enchantmCnt's dreamy spheres.
-IATd +. Covers Faust.


Lead US right that we may enter
Strange enchantmCnt's dreamy spheres.
-Ard +. Covers Faust.
A belief in ghosts has existed in az
ages and nations from time immemorial,
the subject affording constant source of
investigation to the philosopher and phy-
sician Of modern days, who, each in his
turn, has puzzled even the sages of antiqui.
ty. The devils, for instance, which BenVe-
nutO Cellini saw when he got into the con-
Jurors circle, are now known to have been
produced hy magic lantern. The Gian.
of the Brocken, in the ElartZ mountains IN
Hanover, has lost all his teriors, since it
was discovered that the spectre which has
frightened men for ages, is nothing more
than the image Of the individual which
happens to he on the mountain.tOp at sun.
S;s+. n~aHas~@ G~~-- ~. -',a'r9,' ,h~I7-.,-1 IL
gigantic proportions; and the Fata NIGGA.
ma as well as the Mirage are now claSsed
as pseudo nVpafitions. While We write,
the spectral drama partially engrosSeS
public attrntion-for every theatre in and
out the nreeoNO(is hsv tffayosi!s S!sssel.
the present time may not, therefore, be in.
opportunc for us to take rapid glance at
few Of the ghosts recorded in history.
We read in the Bible of various appari-
tions permitted by the Alni ghty for the
revelation Of His wil-among others that
of Samuel to Saul, which, although it has
occaSioned much controversy, is quite ca.
pable Of explanation. The Witch of En-,
dor asked the monarch, "Whom she
should bring up" Saul replied, Bring
me up Samuel; "and, by miraculous rep
re>entation Of his person, the departed
spirit Of Samuel was suffered to appear to
Saul. and, as a punishment of his great
impiety, to reveal his impending fate
The terror and surprise Of the wretched
woman, at the unexpected appatition,
clearly proves that she designed deccp.
tion, well aware that she did not possess
supernatural powers. We are not war
ranted in prv>uming that direct converse
OF this nature has extended beyond the
apostolic age, SO that subs, qucnt vista
tinnS rc9nirc medical or philosophical,
rather than theological investigation.
There are but few gh st stories to be
depended upon. and such as have tn, ir or.
isin in spectral Illusions are generally cx
aegcratcI. The darkness Of night, the re-
cital of disasters, melancholy tempcra-
mrntS and bodily diseases have contrib
uted to originate the majority Of these ca
SeS. The ancientS entertained peculiar
nuti MS about the state Of the soul, on its
escape from the body, which favored the
tclrf in spirits. To these superstitions,
the Greeks and the Romans were iudcbt
ed for the Gcnli, which, for many ccntu.
trail illusions a phantasm Of this kind
appeared to BrutuS, while sitting detected
ia his trIt-prophe.ying that he should
be again seen at PhiIlppi-thc anticipa-
tonS uf n dubious battle, and the conv.c
ton that it must involve his own fate and
that of his country, were powerful enough
to conjure up to the anXi"uS eye Of Bru.
tn>, the spectre Gf his murdered friend
Caesar. Cornclous Sylla vas visited by an
apparition which accosted him by name
concluding, therefore. that his death was
at hand, he prepared for the event, which
occurred on the following evening.
The poet CaS>uS Sevcrus, short time
before he was Slain 10y order Of Augustus
saw during the night. a human form OF 81
eantic size; his conntenance squalid, his
beard grizz!cd a phantom. mot unlike that
one SO powerfully described by Lord BY
ron as aprea,iug to Manfred in the hour
Of his agony The Emperor Julian was
struck by spectre clad i'll rags, yet bearing
in his hand horn Of plenty; thus cm.
Dramatically attired the >uiiit stalk Il
muurnfuliy past the apa>tatcS tent. bio
If Syracuse was visited by one "f the Fn
rieS, in person, in the shape Of hoFrid
spectre, whose appearance the so"thSay.
erS regarded as indicative of the death Of
his son, nS well as Of his own approach
ing dissolution. Many other Instances. of
similar illusions, might be here given, ev.
iicn,iy coIjurtd up by the workings Of
excited imagination>, reacting on the or
ganS of sense, and believed to DC harbin-
gers of coming events.
The Jews tpundcd their belief in good
and evil spirit, partly on the evidence of
tn Scriptures, and partly on The notions
of the I'agahs; these n";ions-uuiortu-
natcly for the Christian World very ear
ly accompanied the spreading Of the G">
pFi. H' ti'l~ ~ Ii"A EtNht NV "'AN W
opinion prevailed among the fathers of the
Church with regard to spectral illusions,
which none Of them aitcupt to explain hy
natural causes. But at Il later period the
vagaiie> of the pagan>, aS well as the ira
ditinnS Of the Tamud, were adopted and
,nrthndiZed bv the Church, thu, original
ing that system Of drmonnl"Gy which
grrN 10 Such mon>trOuS height IN the
middle ages as almost to oycrwhclm
Christianity under it's revolving fictions.
At this time the belief in apparitionS was
almost universal belief which even the
Reformation failed to eradicate. On the
contrary, Martin Luther as firmly helicv-
ed in diabolical apparitionS, rs did the
most ilhterate monk in the Church which
tie SHOOK to It's very foundations; IN fact,
he himself relates several alterations
which he held with the evil one! Lnthrr
IS evidently affected by some organic
disease. owing to which, as well as to the
extraordinary intellectual eXert"nS to
which his mind was stimulated during his
career, the usual state of his thought ap'
pears to have been, at intervals. material
" disturbed. His lif. was a continual
warfare, being engaged against the united
forces of the papal world. Whilst we
acknowledge the many virtues OF this
Sonderful man, it cannot be concealed
that he ucssesSed an irritable temper of re-
sentment-to6 little sOfiened by the mild
tenetS Of Christianity. But Luther's re,
sentiment was not wholly concentrated
against the Pope; for he considered him
as invoking the aid Of the devil to diSsi
pate the dawning light of religious truth.
And when temporary plethoric state OF
the svstem-o occa>ioned by the sudden
change from spare to generous diet