The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-02-12


portraits, nor yet secret doors. Oft no poet
can say
'That over all the being cloud of fear.
sense OF mystery, the spirit daunted,
And said, as plain as whisper in the ear,
The place is haunted"
On the contrary, the doomed mansion was
so false to all traditionary ghostly residences
as to be a shop. In it were sold ribbons by
the yard, and spools OF cotton; in it were
scents and perfumes; in it was tape instead
OF tapestry, and pins instead of oazen panel
lings. Had the ghost been ever so excellent,
had his demonstrations been both physical
and ocular, we would not have received him
as an accredited agent from the other world.
No real spirit would be so lost to decency as
to visit and haunt so plebeian a place as a
dry goods shop. The affidavits of all the
clergymen in creation would not have in
duced us to insult our ideal of ghost, for
with such degradation the idol must fall.
But not only was the alleged ghost thus
common in his tastes, but he was also low and
disgusting in his medium. We are not such
skeptics as to dare to doubt the appearance of
the spirit of murderous knight who "slewed"
his own brother, when he made himself known
by winLlng the eyes of his ancient picture,
done up in the pre-Raphaelite style, and ex-
tending his hand in a friendly way towards
his posterity, provided he does so at the hour
OF midnight. But for ghost to be so disre-
putable as to select, not an ancestral portrait,
but a cake Of soap as his medium, is too
shameful to be allowed even in that ill-ruled
place from which the spirit was sent as a
delegate. A cake of soap Atrocious
What could ghost want with cake OF soap?
Did his hands smell of sulphur, and did he
design to cleanse them, or was it with the
design of making the cake soft, and then
dealing it out to such oil the clergy as came to
exercise the residence of his visitation? This
question is one of Importance, and we are
surp ised that the reporters did not secure
solution, not of the soap, but of the pheno-
mena. This is but one reason why we doubt
the tale. There is another. How dare a
ghost take up PrayerBook and Bible, and
fling them on a chair ? True, his audacity
did not reach such pass as to fling them on
the floor Bat how dared he touch them,
when his chief, Mephistopheles," was cowed
down by the sign of a sacred emblem in the
shape of a cross? No follower of psychology
Will deny that we have his ghostship here in
tight place."
But, thanks be to ingenuity, our city is once
more tree. The power of Christianity has
triumphed, the fiend has been exercised, our
citizens are safe, at least for a little season,
and for this respite we have to thank the
Rev. S. DURBoRow. THIS sanity gentle
man "did up" the ghost in good style. There
was no halfway measure with him. He
secured an orange wood stick, the best sub
stitute for an ebony cross, attacked the devil
worshippers," and by the force OF his good right
arm put the fend- followers to flight! Then
came the impressive ceremony. Prayers were
said-we hope he was in his full canonicals-
and the "house formally taken possession of
| in the name of Jesus" Whether the gentle
man took hold of the knob of the door in the
presence of an adult of the household
as the law directs, we do not know
but after frankensence and spice were
spiritually offered, the house was declared
purified, and the fend departed, and
so did the minister. We thank Mr.. DUR
BORROW for his ingenuity and courage. Who
but an inspired man could have been so
Influenced as to exercise the spirit by prayer ?
While some doubt the reality of the ghost,
some facts seem to suggest that young and
vicious servant in the house caused all the
disturbance by playfully endeavoring to shield
herself from paying The costs of some broken
crockery by laying the blame on a ghost. Yet
those who believe this must be poor, deluded
skeptics; tor did not Mr. DURBoRoW secure
the flight OF the flend after his "taking posses
sion?" But to speak soberly, we consider the
course of MIR. DURBORow to be utterly
shameful, profane, and sacrilegious. For any
one in his sane mind, and calling himself a
minister OF the gospel, to go through an ab-
surd and childish mummery as that performed
by Mr.. DURBoRow, is an unutterable disgrace
We do not know what private reasons the
gentleman had, and if we do him injustice, we
viii be happy to correct ourselves but judg
ing from the published account Of his incanta-
ton, we should think he was educated in
Hindostan, and was playing the Dervish
tor the edihcation of the worshippers o.
Juggernaut. However, while frightening the
tend took care to frighten the servant; and
as both servant and tlend left the house toge
ther, we can console the anxious that as the
cost OF the broken crockery will not be laid or
MADELINE, We need not fear the return O
his Worshipful majesty, to whose advertise
ment at least three Of our papers have de-
voted several columns.