The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1868-11-22

boe.
aivss sndss my hard. q Mosst PIsssnt this |
TKAKcfs EPRrEaER, Judge.
Ass.t spirit.aiisA NJ. :.
We hsvn's sqsars foot Of insellsstual
ground that wasn't prs-empted BY some in-
cien, ever 50 long ago. We ought 10 Isl q
all our ideas and theorios, fsherited." II
10 vulgar belief that the living man who |
gets the murdered mans money will be-
haunted By the murdered mans ghost Il
the sams penalty attached TO getting dead
mems ideas what . crowd Of speetrse
would be about as al the time. And the
only thing that could prevent our latter day
books from being spirited away altossshse,
would be the 1iscord that would sxist b.
tween the multitude Of specsres Who would
claim original propristorship. Carlyle gavs
hero worship to the moderns, bu. the an
cient Greeks got along very we'll With i
without any Carlyle 1t all. Hero-worship
had bsen common thing with them 30 long,
shas, unlike u, they couldn't tell who Vas
responsible for its invention. They had no
doubt that the spin ~ Of thsir great men, *
listed - gods. after tbs great man disd.
Take away Jour Science, And mas b.
lieves, ever % nssurally, .has = Vie sun
goes down the shadow Of the spirit lAad
reaches 70 ~ and that If the spirit rays
strike oar syss right we caa catch slinpss6 Of
the 81 g sless inhabitants. Nan believes
!. ;nst;,,;,>1v <, ~ = ;,r-.H~~sal srv;o;hla
and spiritual ~ he does in the material, Wis
IDLE and natural To that belief in demons,
| aud spirits, you have to add thas strange but
! universal belief in those whimsical creations,
Dryads Of the Greeks, Fannii Of H. Roman,
Fee Of Il. French, 0nomss and Dwefsas Of
the Scandinsyians. and the Fairies OF tho
Celt and Saxon. Fsncifnl creatiobs al
skin. and no. 70 be confounded With spirits,
| or ghosts.
Witches we're u real a. anything il their
| Old World - we'll - New. Add the smoke
! of the New Salem burnings that wen. over
the sea. INST drifting clouds Of smoke from
France later than thai from the funeral pile
Of tho unhappy Msid Of Orleans; NET clouds
Of smoke from fagoss in England that were
consumed 10 the consuming Of those accused
| OF witchcrah. Until the middle Of the last
century England had solemn acts of Parlia-
ment against witches and witchcrah. Witch
% have had harder life Of il than ghcsts
I harder death Of it too, for the matter OF
that For We dare not say that ghosts are
| dead yet.
| We are otgoing TO try to cite even = rart
| Of the authorities on Ghosts, for great many
that believe reigiously in the Ghosts, would
cenaare Us for telling Ghost stories. They hare
the sanction Of Addison for this brain freak.
BE scolded roundy the practice Of telling
Ghcs. stories. He says: Many wise and
good men have believed tina, there are such
phaatoms and apparitionr." And he com
forts himself with the reflection that the Lord
won't let EN- hurt anybody. And he be.
comes further philosophical, and says: For
my own part am apt to join 10 opinion with
those who believe that all the regions Of Ma.
tire swarm with spirits and that We have
mulsitudss Of spectators on oil our actions
l
instead Of terrifying mJself With such mo-
ton, Am wonderfully pleased to think that
an always engaged with such IN innumera-
BILE society in searching out The wonders of Me
creation" And in one Of bis papsrs specially
devoted to Ghosts. Addison says: ~ shosld
not have been Thus particular npon these ri
dieu!ou. horrors did not fud them so very
much prevail in oil parts Of the country. At
the same time, | think : person who iAthus
terrified with the Imagination Of Ghosts and
spsctres much more reasonable than one who,
contrary to the reports Of I'll historians, ~
cred and profane, ancient and modern, and
to the traditions Of al nations, thinks the ap-
pearance Of spirits fabulous and groundlsss
Could not give nysslf up to this general
testimony Of mankind, I should 10 The rela
lions Of particular persons who are now liv,
ing, and whom l cannot distrust in other
matters OF fact That Was Addison in the
very beginning Of the last century. Right At
our hand, in Every SATURDAY, taken from
the Dublin University Magssine, 10 several
Ghost stories Of to-day. Que Of these de-
spite the reproof Of Tie Spectator, We shall
let the writer tell, to end this paper. He hes
already told enc story, aud he ,ays:
"This shossly child rssalls AnosAsr story Of
Juvenile fetch, or wrath, or whatever the
prope, 'e N msy be, lately sold to the pres
ent writer BY : friend, senior Of his own
standing, which presented itself to him =
long time ago in Wales, when he was fishing
in the river Usk. The teller Of the tale is
essentially practical, rather than IN
imaginative or romantic individual,
with nothing dreamy or superstitious
in his mental or cerebral asvslopm Mt
S,roling down tho bank On 6ns eum.
ner's day, rod in hand. on the lookout
for favorable spot in which to try caste,
he stopped st place which appeared invit-
ing. The Usk abonnds in rocky isle,s. Op-
posits 70 him and near the centre Of tho
stream, 1as one Of these, rather elevated.
On he other sds, bssvsss ,hs rock and the
main land. the current m With much rapid
II. and somewhat ssrbidly, o. II disturbed
and intercepted BY obstacles bslos the sur.
face. The depth Of the waller vss mech
greater THAI that on The side our fishermen
had sslectsd. This he knew from fefmss vib
its asd obssrvasions. esddsaly 10 lonl u
up, and sav . little sirl, of six Or ssvsa years
old, in : bonnet end elsak, With basket I 1
her arm, standing quite alone, On The suun-
nit Of the island. She remained for some
time, and be continued TO look steadily on
the unexpected object, wondering hos she
Got there, - without boat access to the
place where che stood wss uttsrly impossible.
He had his fishing boots on, and tried 70 wade
across to her. bnt lbs .;-sr ~as too deep.
Determined 70 satisfy himself. 10 moved fur
RI thar dovn until h rnaah>d 6n.3.h,.-.:.