New-York tribune., 1875-07-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
OLCOTTS GHOSTS.

Tho strleet of necromancy will find nothing
more marvellous in the works of Abertus Magnus'
Cornelius Agrippa, Nostradamus, Paracelas, Giro
lamo Cardano, any other distinguished authority
on the arts of magic, than the wonders which are
relate, with such naive simplicity and good faith III
This remarkable volume. 1t is chiefly devoted TO
descrnt,on of the extraordinary scenes witnessed
NV the author during one or two visits oil several
weeks nj the Eddy homestead in the township OF
Chittenden, Vermont, which he made his temporary
abode for the purpose Of investigating the strange
rh,nomena that had given the place wide noto-
rety. Chittendcn is retired hamlet III grassy
valley of the Green Mountains, about seven miles
north of Rutland The inhabit ants are mostly iarn
ers by occupation and Mcthodists III religion pos
sessing no more than an average degree OF intehi-
yence. with little desire for novelty thirst for
Improvement The Eddy brothers are no exception
20 the general rulc but Mr. Ocott alleges, pos
sess an hereditary Gift of what may be called nat
ural magic Their mother, who is of Scottish de-
scent nher. ed the faculty of " fOrcseeing as 1t IS
termed in Scotland, more properly clalrvOyance,
in the opinion of the author She not only had pre-
visions of future events. but the faculty OF seeing
ghosts FROM whom she claimed TO receive VISITS as
famary as though they were ordinary neighb"rs.
Her mother befOre her possessed the same faculty to
certain degree and one of her remote ancestors IN
the maternal line sentenced to death az witch
at the time of the Sllem dcIusion in 1852. The
father Of the Eddy brothers was man of strong
prcudiccS big,t in religion. with no bIeadth OF
mind and little education. After their marriage,
Mrs Eddy concealed her peculiar gfs from her hus-
band and for some time seemed to have lost them.
But they returned after the birth of her first child
with more power than before. and continued to be
Tho source of much misery until the day OF her death
Her husband nj first made light of them and for
hade her 10 give way tO what he declared was the
work of the devil lie resorted to prayer TO aDate
the nuisance and when that failed he made use OF
roorcive measures but with no better effect Inc
first child that was born had the temperament OF the
fathcr but each succeeding one, at a very tender
age developed the mothers idosyncras'es. MFs-
ferrous sounds were heard about their cradles.
Strange voices called through the rooms they Were
ILL., They world play with beautiful children, seen
only by the ewes of their mother and their own who
brought them flowers and pet animals. Sometimes
after they were laid quietly in bed, their little
bolies would be lifted gently 2Gd oated through thr
air bv some weird power. The fai her stormcd ana
threatened. He called in his piOus neiShbors, ard
prayed that the curse might be removed from
his house But all in vain. The devil was proof
against every entrcatv. The infuri2cd pdicnt then
had recourse to blows. III order to drive the evil
spirit on: of his little giIs and boys. he beat them
until he made scars their backs. which They Will
To then graves. lnlnGN lhuS Wtiit oH HUH
bad TO worse. The Children COald not 90 to school
without raps being heard on the desks and benches
for which they would be driven mlt by the teacher
followed by the hootings and rcyngs of the schoi
ars In whatever WAY these manifestations may be
cyplained-and Mr.. OcOit does not profess to have
discovered the secret of their acon-thcy certainly
present a curious problem in the study OF heredltY
and may afford suggestive illustrations OF that
interesting but obscure, chapter in the science OF
snthrcpolgy.
II is by no means surprising that with the daily oc-
eurrence of the nrVes which are set forth IN this
volume, the town of Chittenden should have become
the Mecca of the yOtaries of the supernatural To
whom the daily routine of life is only prosac tale
and who find no charm in existence without occa-
sional slimpscs of the world dunseen These disciples
Of the newness who haunt the mountains of Chit
tcnden according TO the uther, a motley group,
for the most part Whimsical in appearance, crude III
intellect, and uneven in Judgment though there are
some agreeable EXCEPTIONS Ladies and gentle
men editors lawyers, dvines and ex-'livines; in
vemtors, architects, farmers peddlers of magnetic
salves and mysterious nostrums lOng-halred men
and short haired women; the growing hens Of
Fowler and the cackling cocks, their lifting mates ;
women with an idea, and plenty OF men aud women
without any to speak of; people of sense and people
IF nonsense sckly drcamers who prate OF mte-
rions' and conditions and spheres intell-
gently As learned pig or a chattering magpie clair
vovauts and healers' reals and bogIs; phrcnolo-
giStS who read bumps without feeling them, under
spirit direction : mediums for tipping, Epping,
and every imaginable form of modern spiritual
phenomenal apostles with or two arms peo-
pie from the more distant and wdely-sepIrated To-
calitics nice clever people whom one is glad to
meet and sorry to part from and people who shed
magnetism as dia~agreelb,e dirty water or tho
flo Lotto 1hpNrp mi a
sincly and otherwise some after days stay, con
WINGED that they have been cheated, but the vast
majority astoundcd and pcrplexed beyond cxpes-
sion by what their eyes have seen and Their cars
heard"
One of the first exhibitions which afforded CO.
pious materials Mr.. Olcotts fertile pen in the
open air at a sort of cave formed by the leaning
of one great fragment of rock against another. 1t
lies i'm dense shadow at the bottom of u ravinc,
slIrouded in foliage that even the MONDAY sun
scarcely penetratos the spot. clear mountain
brook running through it awakens constant echoes
from ITS rocky walls. narrow path ruas along one
of the steep banks. and the wood resOunds with the
babbing of the streams. The night was warm, and
"a fall moon rode high in the heavens. The company
was seated Oh rude benches formed by laying boards
on convenient bOwlders. In the arched mouth
of the cave, curtain of shawls was sup
ported on q framework of jOistS and boards
loosely laid across the little brook made a
platform upon which the melIum could sit
on a camp stool. Tho spectators sat silent
for while, and tho stillaess of the forest
was only broken by The noise of the brook, the
chrp Of nsectl and the rustic of the leaves as they
stirred in the warm wind OF Spring. "Suldelly the
curtain was drawn aside and the form Of Indian,
fully accOutered came ont, stepped into the stream,
and made the IN ltiln of drinking some water from