The Princeton union., 1879-08-13
bed clothes subsidized. The old lady was

at the time, but after the funercl. which
he attended. he asked the daughter what
occasioned the sudden exclamation inst
as her mother died. She described tho
appearance of the eidolen, its position. its |
ethereal hue, just as the doctor had seen
1t. AS she remarked. sIt seemed to be a
glorious image Of her MOTHER
That, said the gray haired physician.
lis my last experience in soul-secine. .
On being further nterrogatcd as to Ills
first ghost, lie stated that when he had
only few years engaged in the active
practice OF his profession, his only broth
er was prostrated with severe malady.
One day. after leaving his bedside he
suddenly met HIM in the garden. 81 was
never SO surprised in my llfe," said the
doctor; "I hadn't left him an hour, and I
come to the conclusion that he was not
long for this world, poor fellow. Sol
shouted: "Hallo, Dick-you don't mean
to tell me you're up and out!'' He smiled
q sad sweet smile, and, AS I stood trans
fixed, watching, he faded gradually into
thin air. rushed into the house and
found that he had just died."
The doctor is one of these men who
pride them selves on the fact that nobody
can fool them, and hence his testimony
ON this subject is the more extraordinary.
he AYERS, as has been already stated,
that he has seen at least fifty ghosts, If
ghosts these death-bed apparitlons can be
designated. Sometimes he has seen the
soul-form lowering directly over the dy-
ing person suspended in the air, as it
were, sometimes he had seen it standing
at the head Of the bed; and other times
it has taken the form of duplicate sleep
er, as in the case of the venerable lady
already described. The physicians vis-
ion is remarkably keen, and he is per-
fectly assured that he is not the victim of
any optical or other illusion. 1t is his
opinion that quite considerable pro-
portion Of mankind behold those spiritu-
al appearances, but that they are pre-
vented from admitting the fact from
dread of ridicule. If this be so, there
must be some peculiarly of constitution
and temperament which bestows this
ghostly vision. j.. .4,,s..s . .-~s5.s. ....s
! A highly educated gentleman, who
formerly held a responsible position in
New jersey, recently related an instance
OF ghost-seeing in his own experience. A
few years since he was sitting at his desk
in Jersey City, when he suddenly beheld
his brot er-who ought then to have
been in Notwithstanding beside him.
He noticed his dress, his watch-ch in, his
scarf, his hat, his collar. his apparently
three days long beard. Speechless with
astonishment, he could hardly believe his
eyes, although it was broad daylight.
Finally, he stretched out his hands, cry
ing, 'Why, Harry, my dear fellow, I was
never so surprised in my life When did
you arr rive?'' No hand grasped his. The
vision faded away as mysteriously as it
had appeared. II was so overpowered,' -
continued the narrator, .sthat I felt like
fainting. pulled out my watch and
looked at the hour; and made men,
orandum of it and the date, for felt that
something had happened. Twelve days
after received a letter announcing my
dear brother S death. Making allowance
for the difference of longitude, the hour
OF his. death coincided exactly with the
appearance of his soul-shapc in Jersey
City. Like the physician whose exper-
fences We have described, this gentleman
has seenseveral other spirit forms-nota-
bly, that of a diseased physician and former
friend Of his, whose remains but fitfully
repose in the Catholic Cemetery, Jersey
City. The mystery Of the nature of the
foregoing notes tnc present writer does
not presume to define. 1t is sufficient to
state that the address of the medical
ghost-seer can be obtained by those in
terested at this Office. a -. : ~ -.ss
Further inquiry among intelligent peo~
pie reveals the fact that there are qnite
number of otherwise shrewd and reliable
persons w o believe in and profess to
have seen the astral element or spirit of
departed friends. In this connection the
remark of ,Lueretius the epicurean, is in
teresting: "The surfaces of bodies are con-
tinuallY thrown off by a sort Of centrifu-.
gal, force, and hence an exact image is
often presented to us by, this surface
coming off as it were, entire like the cast
skin Of rattle-snake, or the shell of the
crysalis; and thus the idea of our absent
or departed friends strike on the mind"
Francis Grose, the antiqua1y immortalized
by Burns, has summed up many of the
wondrous attributes of ghosts, in the cx-
1stence of which he appears to have been
q firm believer. The spirit of person
deceased he writes, ''is either commits
stoned to return for some special GRAND,
such as the discovery Of a murder, to pro-
RESTITUTION oflands, or money unjustly
withheld from an, orphan or widow; or,
having committed some injustice while
living, can not rest till that is redressed.
Sometimes the occasion of spirits revisit
ing this. world is to inform their heir in
what secret place or private drawer in an
old trunk they had hid the titled. eds of
the estate. Some ghosts Of murdered
persons whose bodies have been secretly
buried can not be at ease till their bones
have been taken up and del osited in sa-
cred ground with all the rites Of Chris
tian burial The last illustration accords
with the experience of Gerald Massey,
the poet. He was pcrsistently haunted
by a ghost at his house in Porto Bello,
near Edinburgh, until he dug under the
hearthstone and discovered q human skel-
eton. On being transferred to sanctified
ground, Mr.. Massey has alleged over his
signature, the ghost troubled him no