The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-08-01
singular Disappearances.
From Chambers JOurnaLl

lrfOn thafnDers JOURNAL
The sudden disappearance of individuals from
the midst of society implies in almost every in
stance mental alteration or crime. Skeletons
found in mines, c~oal-pits, in disused wells, in
quarries, in the walls of ruins, in p~loughed fields
Immediately beneath the surface of the soil, imply
so many social mysteries, which probably Occa-
stoned in their day a widespread of excitement, or
ut least agitated profoundly come small circle of
relatives and friends. BY some law scarcely IN
telligible To ordinary minds. many persons are
urged into the preparation of acts so little analo-
goUs 10 the general habits Of their species, that
TREY are held to proceed from madness, though, if
all the circumstances of the case were known, it
might be found that they were based on reasona-
BILE, or at least on Ineligible grounds.
Every man may say with the poet "My
mind 10 me n kingdom is" because within that
domain, whether limited or extensive, he bears
absolute sway, hs subjects being ideas, which he
can marshal and compel in this or that direction
ut pleasure but when his ideas rise in rebellion,
and refuse To obey his will, the kingdom is con-
verted into anarchy, and the man, from being the
master, becomes the slave of his own thoughts.
In this State there is no knowing what he may or
may not do. Ia nearly all conditions of mind,
men derive satisfaction from exciting establishment
or wonder among their %neighbOrs, and causing
themselves To lie talked of or speculated about,
since they thus become more acutely conscious of
their existence, and believe themselves To be of
some consequence III the world.
No matter To such persons how this il brought
about, whether the means be- diguiiicd or undig-
nIted, wise, or foolish one -four contemporaries,
To- whom nOtOriety las been always as the breath
Of life, finding the public flag in It's attention to
his dOings, forwarded to one of the Journals, in a
feighsd hand, AN account Of his own deatd. that
be- might gratiiy his vanity by becoming for n iew
days the subject of general conversation, and
reading the eulugiuIns which he felt certain would
be pronounced upon him. The plan succeeded
only in JaTt peDple certainly did talk a great
deal .tfYtut him Imf instead pi the 1tuuuIu.lsi
praises On which hc had rcckOned, he had the
modification to see himself severely ccnsured, and
10 discover that tie general estimate of hs abili-
ties was considerably lower than that which lac
himself made Of item.
About two hundred years ago n literary man of
some eminencc, distinguished ~ u scholar and adj
miTcd ~ n professor, who had visited the most
remarkable seats Of learning and schools Of philo5-
Ophy then in vogue, gave a shock to public Opin-
ION by vanishing, so To speak, in an instant.
Frdn MS own country, Flanders, then disturbed
10y civil war, ne had passed into France, where,
n n professor Of Greek, lac enjoyed considerable
distinction. Walking out Une day, while the
streets of the town in which he lived were full of
people, n gentleman standing at u door ON the op-
po=ite side Of The road bcckoncd to him, and in
the sight of many To whom lie was known lie
crossed and entered the house. From that mo-
ment ne WIS never again seen his friends, his
auditors, the magistrates, and other public au-
thOrities of the place made search anu instituted
NA lONAFAS AAHiAAAGS ~ NV pun
@Moons rolled on moons away,
Whether the worthy professor was murdered in
that house, or spOrted a Ia Spoke with public Gu
riOsity. or had committed some crime which rem
dered it advisable for him to disappear, or met his
death by accident, or changed his name and went
into a monastery, or Runaway with some neighbours
wife-or in whatever other way we may account
for it-such was the apparent end of Everhard
Feith, whose name, however, will be long remem-
hera1 hu nl lovers. of (.raaE araru hr nc
learned and interesting Antiquitatis Homericu. -
There Isl tradition-it may be nothing more
which attributes the mysterious disappearance of
another learned man to 4 very different cause. 1t
was not final, like that of Feith. but it seems to
have been sudden, and for a length of time com
pletc. \ young Oxford STUDENT, lookingf0rward,
1t seems, to eminencc in the church, and distinc-
ton rs n theOlogian, vanished suddenly from
among his friends, and the course he had taken
deficd at once all search and conjecture. Almost
simultaneously with the departure of the Oxford
scholar was the advent of u daring corslir on the
Mediterranean, who swept the waves like falcon,
plundered ships of all nations, and piled up i'm
mcnse wealth in a small barren island, which he
made his nest. Here he associated more or lc-s
freely with his followers, leaving them occasional
~ for the company Of a lady whom le had made
the partner of his wild life. When he had fulfill
ed tile object for which lac became a sca-rovcr, the
lady having died, the rock wIs left untenantcd,
the pirates dispersed. Not long after the student
~ Ao INV dIllAtA tiAINtI az I
before, to study, and, entering the church, grad
uaiiy rusc To Its highest bOnOrs, and died Arch
bishop Of York.
About the year 1912. an officer Of the Prevent
i've Service, living with his wife and family at
and known familiarity to tine whole town,
went forth, ~ his duty required, to walk along
the cliffs, and watch whatever appearances might
present themselves on the sea. The month was
November. the time of day. about four III the aE-
iemOUn the weather, wild and blusterous: he
in H.. nssyIVg If NI.-Ir- FrsFsfs uutc.rEu1 ha. ]
perfect, hs condition of mind analogous To-
that Of his body. With dOuble-brcasted coat
up To the chin, and tightly fitting cip-
with sIy-gLIss ia hand, a pair of pistols in his
pocket. and n heavy eutlass by hs sidc-hc moved
westward along the Downs, meeting and cOnveTs-
ing with several persons as lac sauntcrcd along.
Presently the night set in darksOmc ana driZxly,
rolling IN the big waves before them, dashed them
in thunder against the cliffs. Out OF the dark
ncss Of that terrible night tire officer never emIerg-
III. All possible search was made for him Or his
body, but without effect. IL was suspected, and
the suspicion seemed reasonable, that he had fallen
the cliff and been washed out To sea. His
and children lamcntcd him, another officer
pat into his place, and by degrees his disap-
pcarancc ceased to be spoken Of.
Thirty years later-that y, in the Summer OF
lSi2-walking with one Or my children along the
Downs, ! saw a farmer ploughmg at n short dis
ancc beyond the flagstaff, and stopped To- talk
with him ON the subject Of sca-wccd manure.
While we were cOnVcrSing, the man observed
glitter in the furrOw he had just made
was the button of n naval officer this led tO
urtler examinatiOn-the earth was removed, and,
title more than a foot beneath the surface, the
ikelctOn Ofa man. with several fragments Of his
iress, was discovered. Ii was ascertaincd that
.hc uniform he had worn was that of the Prevent
We officers and 1t seemed probable, from various
we had discovered the skeleton of
lac man who disappeared in 1872.
Sometimes IN moving about the world. yOu come
n contact with one end, - to speak, of Il disap-
,earance, while You occasionally witness the phe-
Ioncma which accompany the other end. While
quarantine ut Malta, the plague broke out in
nc hzarctto three doors from my apartments;
mi one man, a traveller from the East, died.
scarcely was the breath out of his body ere prcpa-
ations were made for his funeral; 4 coffin was
nprovised, placed on u bier, and four GUARDIAN,
ressed in black, and mufied, bore him hurriedly ;