The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-08-07
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bmetnlhg bans tn loity and awful, and though Der
nalH nop1 aoo uIead function 10 stimulate ordj-
| go ioi''on, SUN one honorable affer its
e.i: anu lending to keep a noisy. and
lanlllar, and vulgar-mnded eenera, ion nnds. 10
natural. "'iiu Vi tne super
or.,is but . such has been the progress of demo-
changed Modern ghosts are hail fellow wsI,' xI1
met not only with human beings. but WITH
each other. If we are not mistaken H..
/ not long ago declared it would be a slsrti y,
pring MIS-. Guppy through the air from her
| house IN Hlghbury to Lambs Conduit street.
,G;eltalniy there was, according to the autben-
llc account OF the story, much spiritual pjg-
slins amongst the preternatural agencies en-
Sa9eu IN that manpuvre before they accom-
pushed it. The ghost sometimes called Katie
hing, VINO professes, we believe, to be the
laughter OF buccaneer of Eizabetb's or
oaiheS LIS reign, permitted Mr. Crookes 10
take hef provisional and temporary body
round the waist aad kiss her. and then. ac.
Goralhg both to his evidence and that of Mrs.
r.i noss Onurcn, temporary human heart was
nu.. aeiU oe&sinS beneath the temporary ghostly
orSSslizatlon. There are stories in myriads
oil the extreme matter offactness and even
rulSarlty OF the modern ghosts. Some of
them insist on aspirating unasprated yowels-
ana snow by violent raps their objection 10
the authorized and more polite mode of spell-
lng Others OF them delight in pinching
your knees Oh neck like a child who is playipe
at olindman's bull. A ghost who was in.
ocoted 10 Mrs: Guppy, we believe, for the
power to manifest himsefin this world. was
unpleasant enough to hurl two living HOLSTERS
on the table during dark seance' in Russell
square twas neighborng fishmongcr. wa
wonder, short OF two Holsters OF his r;ghtfuI
STOCK In trade, or did the ghost pay the money
before abstracting the Holsters |? or did il
catcn the Holsters itself at sea, with or with.
OUT the AID OF lobster-pol p while the most
common OF al the freaks of modern ghosts
are those in which they play v.o ent game,
with heavy pieces OF furniture.
"They have not only given ND The grand
style, they have mostly given up solitude, and
can DO much more with lot of people round
q table than they can with solitary watcher
oy moonlight. They revisit not the glimpses
OF , the moon, but the flicker of the gas lamp.
Ihey delight in playing accordeons, in shout
i,s ing through trumpets, in knocking hard on
the roofs OF cabs and railway carriages, in
wnirlng about dining-tables, in getting them
serves photographed, and in manufacturing
inexpensive pearls and rubies. The only
thing In the least poetical they seem to affect
much is the production of flowers. Ii the
modern authorities may be trusted, they really
10 zeal In flowers to an extent very creditable
:" n"oii oosU0 "ul lniS Is dn exception 10 their
ordinary demeanOr, which is, for the most
part, not fiowery at all, but exceedingly
Drosy, and of a kind almost expressly intend
'd, 1t would seem, to rub off the awe which
ne supernatural world used to inspire. In
one word, if our modern ghosts are trustwor-
hy, the world OF spirits is now like our own
n the hands OF the residuum'. The angels,
lemons, saints and penitents, manifest them
elves no longer. We have In their places
'hosts of vulgar rhetoricians. WIN make
peeches on matters they do not understand,
II buccaneers or pugilists who show great
muscular qualities with only temporary mus
.es, and shout audibly with provisional lungs
md OF underbred shopboys or young women
lot too Shostly TO flIrt and romp, who treacle
heir speech with vulgar and somewhat
,reasy expressions of universal love. The
mango is great, but we cannot say ii is one
calculated to increase the reverence of men
or tie world that is unseen and eternal"