Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1883-10-01

whose minds are troubled with doubt
az to whether or not there Ia hell, the
following from the British Naval
Chronicle, 1907, may not be uninterest-
ing:
An Abstract from the Journal Of the ship
Sphinx In the year 1855, up the Straits.
May 12.-When we arrived in Man.
son we found three ships lying there
from London, commanded by the Cap.
tains Bristol, Brown and Burnaby all
going to Lipari to load.
May 13.-These three ships sailed in
company with the Sphinx (windN. w. }
to Lipari, where they anchored in twelve
fathoms water Is. 5. W..
May lathe four Captains and Mr..
Bell, merchant, went on shore upon
the Island of Mount StrOmboli to shoot
rabbits. About three o'clock they call.
ed their men together to 60 on board
their respective ships, when, to their
inexpressible astOnishment, they saw
the appearance of two men coming very
swiftly through the air toward them !;
one OF them appeared to be dressed in
black and the other in gray clothes |;
they passed close by with the greatest
rapidity, and, to their extreme conster.
nation, descended, amid the burning
flames, into the mouth of that dreadful
volcano Mount Stromboli. At their
entrance there issued tremendous noises;
the flames rushed OF most terribly ,and
Captain 'iurnaby cried out:
"The Lord bless me the foremost of
the two, in black clothes, is old Mr..
Booty, my next door neighbor at Wap-
ping, but do not know the other" He
then desired them all to write down In
their pOcket-bOOlSs, or note on something
what they had seen which was imme-
diately done by the three Captains and
Mr. Bell, and likewise entered in the
different sLips journals at the same
time.
When these four ships had taken in
their loadings at Lipari they sailed to-
gether for London. When they arrived
in the River Thames, at Gravesend,
Captain Burnaby's wife came from
London to him. He then sent for the
other three Captains to come on board
his ship to congratulate him on his
wite's arrival. After they had thus
met u little con versation passed between
them in the cabin, when Mrs. Burnaby
suddenly started from her chair and
said to her husband
"My dear, III tell you some news,
old Mr.. Booty is dead"
He directly answered "We all saw
him 20 into hell !" and told her what
they had seen, as before related, to her
serious alarm.
When Mrs. Burnaby had returned to
London she went to an acquaintance
and related this serious event-that her |
husband had seen the soul of Mr.. Booty
go into hell on the l4th OF May last
This gentlewoman then mentioned the |
same to Mrs. Booty, widow of the de-
ceased, who immediately took writ out |
of the Kings Bench Court in the penal |
sum of FL 600 damages, and arrested |
Captain Burnahy for defamation upon
her late husbands soul. Captain Bur.
naby gave bond to stand trial and he
then took ont of the Court of the King |
Bench, In Westminster Hall, summon
ses for all the people that had attended |
the late Mr.. Booty in his last sickness,
and at the time OF his death also the
sexton of he parish who buried him,
and the clothes he last wore before his |
sickness he had taken care OF, to be in
troduced on the day of trial in Court.
When the trial came on the different
persons, with the black clothes, were
brought into Court, and were there met
by Captain Burnaby, the Captains of
the three other ships and the men Of the
four boats, with Mr.. Bell, who were all
on the said Island of StrOmboli and saw
the two appariti0ns descend into the
burning flames on the aforesaid 14th of
May last. Ten Of the men of the boats
made oath that the buttons on the coat
which the apparition had on were like
the one present, being molds covered
with black cloth, the same sort that the
coat was made Of The different per-
Sons who were with Mr. Booty at the
time of his decease made oath that his
death happened at 3 o'clock a. IN, on
the 14th OF May last, which was in the
year 1855. The jury then asked the
Captain Of the Sphinx if he knew Mr..
Booty in his lifetime. He answered
hat he never saw him In his lifetime,
but plainly observed the dress the APP
partition had on, which Mr.. Burnaby
'aid was Mr.. Booty, in company with
another, unknown.
The Judge then spoke: "The Lord
grant that may never zee such a sight
Is that, for / think it impossible for
thirty men to be mistaken p Ii
The jury then gave their verdict
against the widow Booty, plaintiff to
,ay the costs of the Court The fore ,
yoing are facts, extracted from the jour
lal Of the ship Sphinx's voyage up the
straits in the year 1886.
The above trial is now to be seen on the {
ecords of the Court of Kings Bench,i u
" Westminster Hall, Mrs. Booty. PLAINTIFF, T,
'gainst Captain Burnaby, defendant.
These records are written on parch-
nent in Latin, in the lawyers old text
nd t tn, xvln 4