The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-12-22
A TRUE GHOST STORY.
A REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE OF BISH-
OPP WlLBERFORCE.

The Estate Changed Owners.
The following remarkable incident
in the life of the late Samuel Wilber-
force. bishop of Oxford and afterward
of Winchester, is related as absolutely
authentic, and the good bishop himself
is said to have many times rehearsed
the story to his friends. Bishop Will
berforce was most prominent among his
contemporaries of the English clergy
and was once leader of the high
church party. He, however, frequent
ly found time to devote to the social
side of life and was sometimes styled
the bishop of society,""
On a certain occasion the worthy
bishop had accepted an Invitation to
stay at a country house not far from
London. Entering the drawing room
previous to dinner on the evening of his
arrival, he noticed a priest-evidently
Of the Roman COMMUNICATING by
The open fire and taking no part in the
general conversation. The bishop was
somewhat surprised at not being pre-
scented to the priest, and his astonish-
ment was great when, few moments
later, dinner being announced, the
guests retired, leaving the priest at his
place by the fire. The hostess having
| assigned Bishop Wilberforce the seat of
5honor at her right hand, as soon as an
opportunity offered he Remarked:
Il beg your pardon, madam, but
may L inquire who was the priest we
leftsittirg apart in the drawing room?"
"Ah, you have seen him, then?'' re-
piled the lady. 1t is not every one
who has that privilege. cannot tell
| you who he is or whence he comes.
/ For many;years this specter has haunted
the house7and grounds-it has, in fact,
been a tradition in the family. He
seems TODD no harm, and although he
appears only occasionally we have be-
come quite accustomed to our friendly
/ ghost. - an
How very singuiar!'' remarked his
lordship. But have you never ad-
dressed your priestly specter?''
| Indeed, have had no opportunity,
nor the desire. for that matter,'' re-
sponded the hostess, growing pale.
4 MAY | take the liberty now?'' in
4 quired the dignitary.
'SWith all my heart, your lordship, {"
replied the lady. The bishop arose,
and returning to the drawing room
found the priest where he had left him
few minutes before. Having no fear,
the bishop said kindly:
1 "Who are you, my friend, and why
are you here?'
The specter seemed to sigh deeply and
say, as though to itself, "At last!''
Then, in hollow voice, addressing
the bishop, it continued: 81 am the
spirit Of a priest who left this world
some so years ago, and am here to
impart to any one who will receive it
asecret which died with me. could
not rest in my grave while a great
wrong was being done which it was in
my power to right. have been re-
turning all these years in the hope some
one would address me, for it was not
given to me to be the first to speak. All
men have Stunned me until now, and
it is your mission to do nay bidding. ]
was priest Of the church of Rome
and was called to this house 80 years
ago to receive the confession of dying
man. He was the sole possessor Of a
secret, the knowledge of which would
alter materially the entail of this vast
estate, and in has death this man wished
to repair the terrible wrong he had
brought upon his kin.
AT his request wrote down the
confession word for word, as he gave
! it to me, and when he finished had
4 barely time to administer the final sac
! rament of the church before he expired
in my arms. 1t was very important
that should return to London that
night, and in passing through the libra
ry to leave the house / concluded it
would be safer not to carry the paper
ON which was written the confession
away with me, but to place it in some
secure, unseen spot, where / could OBJ
tain it the following day and deliver
the document to the person for whom
it was intended. Mounting the steps
to the book shelves, l took out copy
of Young's Night Thoughts, which
was the first book upon the uppermost
SuolI EodISSI Gu6 idSb WluuOW, anu III
sorting the paper carefully between its
leaves replaced the book and depart
ed. A horse was awaiting me at the
door, but ere we reached the entrance
of the grounds he took fright. / was
thrown and instantly killed. Thus died
the secret of my confessor with me. No
one has disturbed that book in all these
years, and no one has had the courage
to address this messenger from the un-
known. The paper will be found as
have stated, and now remains for you
to correct the injustice which has so
long been upon this noble family. My
mission is over, and can rest in
peace.
At the close of this remarkable speech
the specter faded gradually from sight.
and the bishop was left gazing into
space. Recovering from his astonish-
ment, Bishop Wilberforce went at once
to the library and found the book ex-
actly as indicated by the specter. In
its secluded corner, upon the top shelf,
thick with the dust of ages, evidently
the book had remained unlnolested
many years. There was the document
just as described, but now faded ard
VI