A PHANTASM OF THE LIVING. [To Tim EDITOR OP THE
"SPECTATOR."]
SIE,—In connexion with the recent letters in the Spectator on phantasms, the following description of an apparition, not, indeed, of a living person, but of a well-beloved object, may be of interest. The account, as I send it, was written by my sister, the Hon. Lady Hamilton Gordon, before her death some years ago.—I am, Sir, &c., C. A. LUBBOCK.
Observatory House, Slough, April 2nd, 1907. " As a contribution to the many well-authenticated accounts of Apparitions,' I cannot resist recording the following one, being, as I am, once more on the spot where it occurred between sixty and seventy years ago. This house belonged to my father, Sir John Herschel, and on the lawn stood his father's groat forty-foot tele- scope, suspended in a tall, pyramidal scaffolding of ladders and beams. It had stood there for fifty-four years, and in 1840 it was pronounced dangerous, as many of the beams were rotting. My father, with great reluctance, gave the order that the whole thing should be pulled down, but what it cost him to do this those only can judge who know how almost sacred were the memories and associations attached to this telescope. Its destruction was a real grief to him, and the thoughts which 'filled his mind when the order had been obeyed must have predisposed him for what followed.
"He was returning some days after, in the dim twilight, from his cottage study across the lawn, and on looking up he saw the tele- scope, scaffolding and all, erect in its accustomed place. For the moment he was startled, but he walked slowly on, keeping his gaze !fixed upon it, until it gradually faded away. I remember him coming into the house where we were and saying quietly, 'I have seen a ghost.' And he then described the vision to us, adding that, to his amazement, as he moved, the spars changed their posi- tions against the sky. He held up his two hands, with fingers outstretched one against the other, to explain his meaning. This completely passed his comprehension, though, as he used to say afterwards, he could perfectly account for the actual vision, considering the over-wrought state of his mind at the time. He admitted he was at first startled, and that he rubbed his eyes, trying to see clearer, but I feel sure he never implied that he believed there was anything supernatural when he used the words, 'I have seen a ghost.' He looked on the whole thing as a most exciting and extraordinary mental experience, and probably would have talked it over quite calmly with those who could understand it as he did.
CAROLINE E. H. H. GORDON.
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