Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-04-10
A GhOstIy Epidemic.

A 6hOstly Epidemic.
How much truth is there In the
legends of supernatural manifesta-
tiOns, which are 50 plentifully found
among all nations? Every one has at
some time in his life asked himself
this question. Are all ghost stories
susceptible of an explanation which
will diVest them of their apparently
+. supernatural characterl Is there no
truth in any of the reported appear
ances of departed spirits? Is the
whole ghost literature Of the world
the result of either delusiOn OF impOs-
ture? There are few people, we
fancy,whe do not secretly believe that
at least some of these innumerable
legends of ghOstly apparitions are
literally and strictly true.
The strange story Of the Salem
Witchcraft Delusion, as it is generally
called, has never been satisfactorily
explained. While a greater part of
the sO-called supernatural manifesto
tiOns which characterized that shame
ful page of New England history were
unquestiOnably due either to malig-
nant fraud or crazy delusion, still
there remain certain well-attested in
Cidents which are yet totally ineXpli-
cable in any other theory than that
they were really the freaks of super
natural beings.
1t has often been objected by the
disbelievers in supernaturalism that
the Salem manifestations were con-
/ fined to a small locality in New Eng
land, and have never been repeated.
| If they were really supernatural, il Is
argued, they would occur in other To-
calities and at frequent intervals.
But this objection has no weight
whatever, if we suppose that ghOstly
V~isitatiOns are Of an epidemic nature;
that they occur only at rare intervals
and in isolated localities. The in
stances OF demOniacal possession men
toned in the New Testament, and to
which every believer in Christianity
does not hesitate to give credence,
however much he may disbelieve in
the ghost stories of secular literature
were confined to a small area of Pales. |
tine, and are universally thought to
have lasted only during the lifetime
of Christ. Here Is an admitted in
stance OF a ghOstly epidemic. The
spirits suddenly appeared on earth,
played their malignant and useless
pranks, and vanished again into the
unknown. Why may we not believe
that Salem was visited by a horde of
evil spirits, Just as Judea was eighteen
hundred years ago?
zWhy ghosts should be addicted to
making these sudden raids into the
territory of hlHving, it is of course
ar-11n-r q, fnyrrE4n If No npan admit ]
the truth of the sdppOsitiOn that they
do SO conduct themselves. Perhaps
there may be instructions in the
abyss where they are confined, and an
audaciOus band may break from their
shadOwy pTisOn-hOuse, and escape for
4 time to the scene Of their earthly
life. Perhaps these escaped spirits
may be pursued and recaptured by the
ghOstly authorities, and shut upagain
more securely than ever. This theory
would furnish a rational explanation
of the Sudd&e irruptiOns of ghostly le-
gioDs whick have, at various times,
annoyed RoyPuritanS Of New England
and the peasants Of Europe. 1t would
also give US reason to %apprehend new
visitations from the spiritual world at
any time and in any place.
There is no little reason to suppose
that we are about to have a e cpl
demic of ghosts. Within a few weeks
several Wen authenticated stories of
ghostly apparitions save been made
ThererisChe strange story of
the Boston girl who danced with the
Devils and afterWard committed sui
eide. She had been forbidden to at
tend the ball by her mother, but OBJ
stinately asserted that she would 20
if she went with the devil himself.
Soon after she went into the street,
where she met one whom she believed
to be a young man who lodged at her
mothers house. He urged her to ac-
company him to the ball, and she
consented. On her return when near
the house he handed her a
penknife and disappeared. Her
met her at the door and
asked her where she had been. She
that she had been to the ball
with the young ledger. The mother
asserted that the young man had been
in the house all the evening, and in
proof of her assertion led her daugh-
Ter to the door of his room, and con-
WINGED her that he was in bed and
The girl remembered her
rash speech, and believing that she
had really been in company with a
tend, went to her and cut her
throat with the knife the demon had I
given her. This tragedy, as wild and {
.rightful as any German legend of the 7
night, took place in Boston /
few weeks since, and there is no mOfS
to doubt the truth of the story !
han there is to disbelIeve the COM
nOnplaee items of news which Were4
published at its side in the columns of :
he Boston journals.
The other day a 4shing-schooner
rom the Banks returned to a New
England port. On a former voyage 4,
his schooner had run down another /
ishing-bOat from the same town, and =
he crew Of the unfortunate vessel, all
If which were fellOw-tOwnsmen
IF the crew of the sur
schooner, were drowned.
On her last voyage the latter vessel,
while on the Banks, was boarded on
successive nights by the silent, 4
yhostIy figures of the drowned men. =
The dead mingled with the living on
he deck Of the haunted schooner, and
10 chilled with horror were the crew 1
IF living men that they abandoned =
heir voyage and returned home. 4
And from the far Pacific comes
another weird story of an abandoned
sailed by ghOstly hands. May
rot these various stories be the first
of a new Eruption of disem-
bodied spirits? May not the ghosts,
)uraged by the silly impOsitiOns Of II
.he sO-called spiritual mediums, have J.
It last determined to vindicate their G
characters by paying Us a brief visit? :
Of course the scOfiers will mock at the
.dea of surprise parties Of ghosts, but !
heir mockery will not weigh against +
positive evidence. And certainly the
evidence which has lately been sub I
to US goes to show that a new +
Epidemic of ghosts, a new invasion of
legiOns, may be close at I
iand. What says our irritable friend !
the RgglneT Qf Lighty