The state herald., 1894-03-09
SEEN BY wtLBERFoRCE.
THE slsHoP OF oxFoRD's
STRANGE onosT STORY:
He Communicated It to tn. Living Ec-
closlastic Id Order That Justice Might
no Dono-Onc of the Most RenfafkS-
bio Ahccdotcs Of Spirits:

cleslastic In Order That Justice Might
10 Dono-Onc of the Most RensfkS-
bio Ahecdotes Of Spirits:
IS. -
The following remarkable incident
In the life OF the late Samuel Wilhef-
force. bishop Of Oxford and after
ward OF Winchester. is related as alb,
| solutely authentic, and the good
bishop himself is said to have many
times rehearsed the story to his
friends Bishop Wilberforce was
most prominent among his contem-
poraries OF the English clergy, and
was once leader OF the High Church
party. 20" as
Ga certain occasion the worthy
bishop had accepted an invitation to
stay at country house not fir from
London. Entering the drawing-room
previous to dinner, on the evening Of
his arrival, he noticed priest-evi-
IDENTIFY Of the Roman communion
sitting by the fire and taking no part
In the general conversation. Tho
bishop was somewhat surprised at
not being presented to the priest,
and his astonishment was great,
when. a few moments later, dinner
being announced, the guests retired,
leaving the priest at his place by the
fire. The hostess having assigned
Bishop WI lberforce the seat Of honor
at her 4 1t hand. as soon as an op-
portunity offered he remarked:
NJ beg your pardon, madam, but
may inquire who was the priest we
left sitting apart in the drawing
i,nom?"
"Ah you have seen him. then."
replied tho lady. "lt is not every
one who has that privilege. ] can
not tell you who he is or from
whence no comes. F6r many years
this specter has haunted tho house
and grounds-it has, in fact. boon n
tradition to the family. He seems
to do no harm, and although he ap-
pears only occasionally. wo havo
become quite accustomed to our
friendly ghost"
''How very singular" remarked
his lordship "But have you never
addressed your priestly spocter?"
"lndeed, have had no opportu1i-
", nor tho desire. for that matter, "
responded tho hostess. growing pale.
"May l take the liberty nowp in
quired the dignitary.
with all my heart, your lord
ship" replied the lady.
Tho bishop arose and returned to
the drawing room. found the priest
where he had left him few minutes
before. Having no fear, the bishop
said kindly:
"Who are you. my friend. and why
are you hero'
The spectre seemed to sigh deeply
and say, as though to itself: "At
last"
Then, In a hollow voice, addressing
tho bishop, 1t continued: al am the
spirit OF n priest who left this world
some eighty years ago. and am here
to impart to anyone who will receive
1t n secret which died with me. /
could not rest in my grave while n
great wrong was being done which It
was in my power to right. have
been returning all these years In tho
hope someone would address me, for
IL was not given to mo to be the frs,
to speak. All mon have Stunned mo
until now. and II Is your mission to
do my bidding. Twas priest OF tho
church OF Rome and was called to
this house eighty years ago TO re-
ceive tho confession Of n dying man.
lie was the sole posscssor OF secret,
the knowledge OF which would alter
materially tho entail OF this vast
estate. and In his 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. rs no
gavo II TO me, and when he finished,
had barely time to administer tho
final sacrament OF tho church before
he expired In my arms IL was very
important that l should return to
London that night, and In passing
through the library to leave tho
house concluded II would DO safer
not to carry tho paper on which was
written the confession away with mo,
but TO place il In some secure. un.
seen spot. where could obtain II
the following day and de.
liver the document TO the per.
son for whom It was intended.
Mounting the steps to the book
shelves i took out a copy of Young,
Night Thoughts which was the flrsx
book upon the uppermost shelf nenr.
est tho last window. and INSERTING
tho paper carefully between lis leaves
replaced tho book and doparted
horse was awaiting mo nj tho door
| - - ~ reached the entrance nj
|1I<1 GII1rn:s he took fright. I was
III instantly killed. Thus
- ego, ~ ,n, ,ontosso. ,,I,i,