GHOST STORIES.*
THE Pall Mall Gazette deprecates the inquiry into the authen- ticity of ghost stories promised by the "Psychical Research" Society, for fear it should encourage sensible people to believe in ghosts, A clerical correspondent of that journal has im- proved on this scepticism by "a small syllogism," which dis- poses once for all of the' possibility of any scientific man believ- ing in the existence of ghosts. Here is the syllogism'. "No really scientific observer will ever be led to believe in ghosts. Mr. A B C believes in ghosts ; therefore, &c.—Q. B. D." This is a kind of scepticism which is more closely allied to pig- headedness than to science. It is proverbially difficult to prove a negative ; but it is not only difficult, it is impossible, to dis- prove the existence of ghosts, or their occasional apparition to mortal eyes. Even if it were possible (which it is not) to prove that no ghost has ever appeared on earth, science, whether physical or metaphysical, supplies no calculus for the disproof of ghostly apparitions in the future. We may even go farther, and say that the progress of physical science has made belief in ghosts easier instead of harder. The most advanced conclusions in regard to the laws, of light and sound go to show the possibility of innumerable sights and sounds about us which may be invisible and inaudible simply because we have no organs sufficiently delicate to apprehend them. It is certain that some of the lower animals far surpass us in this respect ; so far indeed, in some cases, that their superiority, did we not know it as a fact, would seem quite as incredible as ghosts. The microscope has discovered a world of organised existences close to us, of which the naked eye knows nothing. Recent discoveries in the sphere of sound are not less startling. To put an arbitrary limit to these discoveries, and declare dog- matically that science has reached the end of its tether in such matters, is not the mark of a scientific, but rather of an arrogantly prejudiced, mind. What has science to say against the existence of beings so ethereal as to be incapable of appre- hension by human senses, save only under abnormal conditions, —either by temporary exaltation of the human faculties, or by such a modification of the normal laws of spiritual sub- stances as shall 'bring them temporarily within the cognisance of human senses ? Absolutely nothing. What physical science has demonstrated is the possibility of such beings —assuming their existence—moving close to us without our being aware of it. It has also been shown to be possible for one person to see sights and hear sounds of which another person, standing by his side, may be unaware, Professor Tyndall tells a story of himself and a friend riding over a Swiss pass on a sultry day. Professor Tyndall complained of the • ceaseless noise of the grasshoppers. This was inaudible to his companion ; but he was irritated by the monotonous thud of the mules' hoofs on the turf, which, on the other hand, was inaudible to Professor Tyndall. The ear of one was sensitive to the slow movements of the atmospheric waves ; the other, to the rapid movements.. May not this be the explanation of the two apparently contradictory statements made by the author of the Acts and St. Paul coucerning the miracle of his conversion ? —first, that his travelling companions heard not the yoke that spake to him on the way to Damascus ; secondly, that they did hear it, but saw no man. They heard the sound, perhaps, but failed to catch its articulate utterance. A similar incident is related in St. John's Gospel, where Jesus gives thanks to His Father for words which sounded to the multitude like the inarticulate rumble of a clap of thunder.
We are not arguing in favour of a belief in ghosts, or in the manifestations of so-called Spiritualism. We are arguing against the unscientific habit of mind which would forbid, on a priosi grounds, any kind of rational investigation. No doubt, the vast majority of ghost stories are myths, and we have never seen any exhibition of " spiritualism " which could not be explained by sleight of hand. But the wide-spread belief in such phenomena is surely a reason for inquiry rather than for a dogmatic tabooing of the whole subject. Superstition and error have never been put down by anathema; but they have frequently vanished before the light of impartial investigation. No believer in ghosts will be shaken in his faith by a syllogism * Mosul, Visitors a Series of Authentic Narratives. By "Spectra-Stricken." With an Introduction by MA., Oxon. London : E. W. Allen.
which violates the laws of logic, by begging the very point in dispute. But make the matter, as indeed it is, a question of evidence pure and simple, and we 'believe that but few ghost stories will stand the test. The instances are probably very few indeed in which a natural explanation will not account for the ap- parition. The nerves of the ghost-seer are seldom in a condition favourable to calm and impartial scrutiny ; and there are, in addi- tion, disorders of the brain which project images on the retina of the eye that are entirely subjective. Certain forms of malarious fever have this effect. We know of two instances,—one, that of a lady who, on the recurrence of the fever, used to see, with unfailing regularity, a terrace with a peacock walking on it ; the other, that of a nobleman who, under similar circumstances, invariably saw a sister of mercy in his bedroom. By a singular coincidence, a sister of mercy did attend him in his last illness. When she entered the room, he exclaimed, "The nun again r and died.
There is, however, a residuum of stories of a supernatural, or at least preternatural, character, which cannot be so easily explained away. Take, for instance, the Wynyard ghost story. Two brother-officers, who were also intimate friends, by name Sir John Cope Sherbroke and Lieutenant George Wynyard, were with their regiment, the 33rd, in Canada, towards the end of the last century. As they were sitting one afternoon in Wynyard's room, in broad daylight, both of them saw a tall and extremely emaciated youth standing for . a few moments in the doorway, and then passing slowly through the room into an adjoining bedroom, out of which there was no egress, except back through the sitting-room. "Great God, ray brother !" ex- claimed Wynyard, and both followed the apparition into the bedroom, but saw no more of it. They took notice of the day and hour, which happened, as the event proved, to have been the day and hour of the death of a younger brother ef Lieu- tenant Wynyard, to whom he was fondly attached. Sir John Sherbroke, however, was an unbeliever in ghosts, and persisted in hoping that some natural explanation of the apparition might eventually turn up. An incident befell him some years after- wards which promised for a moment to justify his scepticism. After his return to England, he was one day walking along Piccadilly with two friends, when his attention- was suddenly arrested by a man on the opposite pavement who was the fac- simile of the mysterious apparition in Canada, except that he did not look HO emaciated. Delighted at this opportunity of verifying his scepticism, he crossed the road and, accosting the stranger, told the story of the Canadian apparition, and asked for an explanation. I have never been in Canada," replied, the stranger ; "but I am not surprised at your mistaking me for my lamented young friend, poor Wynyard, whose ghost is said to have appeared to yourself and his brother; for we were so like each other that we were constantly mistaken, the one for the other." The point of the story is that Sir John Sherbroke never saw the Wynyard whose a pparation he had seen in Canada. The story is well known, and the present writer once knew an old Peninsular officer who heard the story from Sir John Sherbroke's own mouth. A story of a different kind, but not less remarkable in its way, was related to the writer of this with- in the last few weeks. Major an officer now in the Garnish, and well known in London society, was some years ago with his regiment in Canada. One day he received a letter from a brother-officer, then on leave at home in Scotland, recommends ing to his good offices a young friend then on his way to Canada. Accordingly, Mr. 5--, the young gentleman in question, was received hospitably by Major —, and became a frequent guest at the mess of the regiment. He appeared at breakfast one morning with a look of extreme dejection, and explained, in answer to inquiries, that he had seen in his sleep that night his own tombstone, with his name and the date of his death,— namely, June 17th, 1867. "They have not given you a long time to prepare," remarked Major —, "seeing that this is April." This was said for the purpose of rallying Mr. S— out of his fit of low spirits, Majoi — being then, as he is now, an unbeliever in ghostly visitations. Mr. S.
gradually recovered his spirits, and in course of time started for the United States. On taking leave. of him, Major — jocularly observed, " Look out, old boy, for the 17th of June." Some weeks afterwards, Major — chanced to,read, in a news- paper an account of his young frieud's death. He had landed, together with other passengers, from a river steamer at a place which was infested by Indians. An armed sentry was placed on the Bank, to prevent a surprise by the Indians. Yonng Mr.
5— had returned after dark, neglected to answer the challenge of the sentry, and was shot dead. Major —, remembering. the dream; was so struck with the coincidence, that he made special inquiry into the circumstances, and ascertained that the, date of Mr. S—'s death was the date on the tombstone of his dream, June 17th. Now, assuming the veracity of Major—, which is, of course, unquestionable, how is this dream to be ex- plained away ? And is it not wiser, and more in accordance with true science, to examine the evidence for every such story on its merits, than to dismiss the whole subject with supercilious. disdain P We have not left ourselves much space to criticise the small volume which has suggested these observations. The contents of the book is described by the author as "a series of authentio- narratives' ;" and the introductory note, by "MA.; Oxon.," de- clares that "they are authentic records of actual fact; and I have in my possession," he adds, "the key to the various stories, with the full names of the persons who figure in them under initials, or with some disguise." The anonymous author can hardly expect a sceptical public to accept this anonymous, sponsorship as a sufficient authentication of his stories. And there is, besides, an air of unreality thrown over the stories by the avowedly 'fictitious framework in which they are set. They are related to each other by a party of Oxford Undergraduates,. sitting over their wine,—an association of ideas which does not suggest cool heads and critical judgment. 'We should advise the author, in the event of a second edition being celled for, to. recast the form of the narratives, and give, in some instancea at least, particulars which may be verified. Most of the stories are new to us ; but we recognise a few of them as old acquaintances. Glamis Castle, with its many legends, figures under the thin veil of "Castle Caledonia," and. we can assure-the author that some of the stories related of that ancient and most picturesque mansion are by no means "authentic," One of these stories, though not in the list of our author, obtained such currency in London society last season, that it may be well to state the plain facts. Glamis Castle, as every- body knows, is said to contain a secret chamber, which, together with its mysterious contents, is never known to more than three persons, namely, the Peer in possession, the factor of the estate, and the heir (if he chooses), when he comes of age. The rumour is that the mystery was solved about a year ago, by the death of the occupant of the secret chamber, a half-human monster, at the age of ninety-seven years. The story is absurd, on the face of it, for the legend of the GIamis mystery-chamber is far older than the reputed age of its fictitious occupant. The simple truth is that the supposed solution of the mystery was dreamt by the wife of a British Ambassador resident at a foreign Court. She told it to English visitors as a dream, and the dream gradu- ally developed into an historical fact,—an excellent illustration of the genesis of a mythsand probably also of not a few ghost stories.
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