Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-08-25
The Ghost That Heins saw.


During the night l passed at Goslnr,
very extraordinary thing happened to me.
Even now cannot think Of il without hor.
ror. am by nature no coward, but have
terrible fear Of ghosts. What is fear 2
Does il come from the understanding or
from the temperament This was ques-
ton which | frequently discussed with DR..
Saul Ascher when we accidentally met at
Cafe Royal in Berlin where used to dine.
He always maintained that we feared
thing because we recognize il on rational
grounds as fearful. Only the reason, he
said, was An active power, not the tempera-
ment While ate aud drank TO my hearts
content, the doctor demonstrated to me the
advantages Of reason. Toward the end Of
his demonstration, he used to look at his
watch, and always ended with "Reason is
the highest principle !" Reason When.
ever l hear the word, l seem to see before
me DR.. Saul Ascher with his abstract legs,
with his long coat Of transcendental gray,
and with his stern, freezing face, which
would have done for table Of diagrams in
book Of geometry. The man was an in-
carnato straight line. In his determnate
|
phized everything noble out of iie-all sun
shine, all beliefs, every flower and there re.
NAMED nothing Of him but the cool, matter
of-fact grave. He had a special spite
against the Apollo Belvedere and Christian
ity, and he had even published a pamphlet
against the latter to show how unreasonable
and untenable it was. To return 10 Goslar
"Tbe highest principle is reason" said l
soothingly to myself as went to bed. But
il was no use as the clock ceased striking
IL, and the stiffness OF death reigned in the
house, l suddenly seemed to hear in the pas
sage outside my room a shutting and sliding
as Of the lettering steps Of an old man.
Then the door opened, and the deceased DR..
Saul Ascher walked 10 slowly. A cold fever
thrilled me through bone and marrow
trembled like an aspen leaf, and scarcely
dared look at tho phantom. He was Just
the same as ever, the same long coat of
transcendental gray, the same abstract legs,
and the same mathematical face, ouly the
latter was shade yellower than formerly,
and the mouth, which formerly made two
angles of 22i degrees, was pinched up, and
the circles Of the eyes had larger radius.
lettering and supporting himself on his
Spanish cane, as he used to do, he came up
to me and said in friendly way, with his
usual drawl: Don't be afraid nor believe
that am ghost. 1t is trick of fancy il
you believe that you see only my ghost.
What is a ghost Give me de6nation OF
it. BE so good as to deduce to me the con.
ditions Of the possibility Of ghost. Ia
what relation should such a phenomenon
stand to the reason The reason, say, the
reason" Here the ghost proceeded to an
analysis of reason, cited Rants "Critique oil
the Pure Reason" I'd part, Ist division, %
book, Sd section, the distinction between
phenomena and noumena; then he cou-
structed the hypothetical beliefs in ghosts
piled one syllogism on another, and con.
cluded with the logical proof that there i:
absolutely no such thing as a ghost Mean.
while the cold sweat coursed down my back
and my teeth chartered like castanets
From sheer agony of soul nodded uncon-
ditional assent to every sentence in which
the phantom doctor proved the absurdity Of
fearing ghosts and he pursued his demon
stration with such ardor that at last in 0
moment Of abstraction, instead Of his gold
watch he drew from his fob handful OF
worms, and, observing his mistake, he has
tily replaced them with grotesque look Of
disquiet. Tho reason is the highest
here the clock struck /, and the ghost van
ished.