GHOSTS. (Globe.)

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 144, 10 April 1873, Page 3

GHOSTS. (Globe.)

Wi: have changed murli in tlu-e din fn»tn Hjo old thnos •when ghosts we.c almost hu ..rrnlo of i .11 h, and when Uio . person who told a talc i»i ti«c woilcl of spii its might chance I to' gain credence for Ins n mutive without mi inner rescrvaV tion"th£rt, at nil i uM.ts, ji ■■> \ciy difficult t luctount for it. 1 In Queen Elizabrtl - turn W at stage duett ion in " Hamlet," •TEntei- Ghost," • U u< ka u i! chord of emotion amongst the people, 'and, bo far !i 'in wi Veiling tlio fmve of the illusion, ooniiderably heighl< ""• it ty introdn, mg u nmtinous •gencv, a 9 to which all \ui • mine or less, -unpnthetie. Tim-, in the' Middle Ages a ghost had a dignity >on diileront from the Peckbani apparition of these dajs. There is a story told in French history of a peasant of Marseilles who was troubled b) an unenrthh visitor. The peasant was. to make his'way to 'the king, and* reveal to him a message that would be coininuu etiti dto him ; but if he disclosed it to any one else he would die. He did disclose it to anothei — his w lfc— and he died, falling dead on the spot, too. The perturbed spirit, howe\er, though uniortunate m this choice of a messenger, revealed himself u second time, with similar formalities and threats, and again the garrulous French natui c could uot keep reticent about the news. The tale was told, and the narrator m his luin, died Yet a third time the gho*t spoke. This time to a fairier. The tale we tell is historical, and the incts precise and ascertained. The farrier kept his counsel, journeyed to Versailles, saw Gold Stick m Waiting, who wns yen polite, but very obdurate. A peasant from Mir.-e 1 • bine oi intemew with tie 3'»cstj of France! Impossible ; a thing not to be heard oi ! i'luncr brings forwni d his ghn&th facts. Proof ottered, asked for, gn en. Did not two other of the good folks of the town to whom re\illation had been made die became thoj departed from the strict li tter of their instructions ? Gold Stick was alarmed. Could not the truth of these statements be easily ascertained from the local authorities? Gold Stick w. is relieved. The farrier was to call in a couple of days— he called, saw the king in private, had -cm eral inten icw a w ith him, and returned to his ow n province a wealthy man, supported by the revenue, a public character from that time till his death, and probably a bachelor and nnsogamist, for the substance of the secret never transpired It 13 all historical. The best artist of the day drew our farrier, the drawing was engraved, and copies of it exist in several private collections. One writer professes ta ba\e seen the print, and says that " it represents the fate of a man about thirty -live or forty years of age, with an open countenance, rather pensive, and with ii very characteristic expression "—a somewhat vague description as to the whole, and one would be glad to have learned what was the special character oi that expression. Wo live in different dajs now, and the age of apparitions seems, notwithstanding an occasional exception, to have passed away. The ghost of the 19th centurj cannot keep Ins secret as well as his brother spirit of the 17th, and it is the magistrate, not the minister, with whom he is confronted. The lantern of " Plenceman X" shines upon the apparition, and under this manifestation the timstery not so much dissolves into thin air as solidifies into flesh and blood. The j spirit then becomes what the Acts of Parliament call a "person," and the laws of the land take their useful and uninterrupted effect. And yet who w ill deny that there lingers a strong belief, which none of the vaunted '• enlightenment of the nineteenth century " can crush dow n, in gho-ts and apparitions ? What is spiritualism but a mode of the same disease ? We arc not as credulous as our simple forefathers, and we have a waj of severing our judgment from our faith, and being mortally afraid of ghosts, though we well know that such things do not exist. What is the experience of each one 9 Is there any reader of this paper who, however fortunate in his own experiences, has not had some rclatne, or friend, or acquaintance, who has seen a ghost ? We do not mean 6ounds or rapptngs, but a real bond fide — w e w ere going to saj— llesh-and-blood live ghost ? The writer himself forms no exception to the rule which he believes prevails. Here is a story told to him by one of the chief actors : — Three students of a university, situated in what Thackeray calls a viceregal city, had retired after dinner to the rooms of a friend. There is no importance in the words " after dinner." Collego beer is very small beer, nor do I know of any instance on record in which a man who had partaken freely was visited by ghosts. The four friends were standing round the fire, which flickered brightly, bo that every part of the room could be seen Its shape was of this kind : The door from the staircase was at one corner ; directly opposite to that was another door, which led into the bedroom. There was no other approach or exit from Hie room. The iireplacewas at the side of the inner door. Tho friends j were standing round the fire chatting together, w hen they j distinctly saw the outer door open gently, and a figuie pass j in. It ciossed the room, and passed through the opposite j doorway into the bedroom. Three of the joung men rushed at once into the room, examined e^ery part rf it together, but there was no trace or sign of anything. The other had fainted on seeing tho apparition. What is curious about this tale is that it iorms, so far as it is knowu, the only instance in modern times of a ghost being seen bj se\eral people simultaneously . As a general rule, if the apparition appears to more per-ons than one it does so suceessn ely, as in the French story just told. Another circumstance that is remarkable in this ctw is that each of the iour persons i seems to have arrived nninediatel) at the idea that the visitor was a ghost. The spirit was, indeed, known to two of them — that i* to say, two of the party said i t was the ghoit of their brother. But theothertwo were quite &ti angers to the fact, and yet, without a word said, seeing the entry, they seem to have felt instinctively and unhesitatingly that it wsaaghost. The tale is told as a thing that happened. There was no dowager-duohess or guardsman present to command tho respect of the Times, but then— every one is not so strong-minded and naturaly incredulous as that journal.

In a. TftANCK — The w ife of a rockman residing at Vrcn Cyaylltt, a village about three nnles from Llangollen, had been in delicate health for some months, and a few days prior to the 3rd of January her life was despaired of. A person living in the neighbourhood acted as nurse, and the 'stele person was a patient of Mr Williams's, of Derwen Deg, Trevor. Early on Friday morning she beemed to be rapidly sinkiug, and between three and four o'clock bho apparently 'died. At this time the nurse and the husband were present, and had no doubt whatever that life was extinct. In the ordinary course the nurse proceeded to lay the body out, and about seven o'clock the husband went by tram to a villn«e in Shropshire to acquaint some friends of the death and °to make arrangements for the funeral. On his return, however, he found, to his great astonishment, that his wife had disengaged herself from the wrappings which •re usually put upon the dead. Although she was still intensive, there was no doubt that she had moved. He at once resorted to friction and stimulants, uumistakeable aigns of lilo appeared, and wo are happy to say the woman, who is aged about 50, is m a fair way of recovery. — Osioestry Advertiser.

Mb Gladstoxk and Dr Stuavss.— One half of Mr Gladstone's speech— if it should not rather be called his sermon— at Liverpool consisted of a set of remarks upon Mr Dr Strauss's l»st book, " Der Alte und der Ncue Glaubc." In every respect they are eminently characteristic of one, and not the best, side of their author's mind. . . . When his passions and sympathies are deeply inteiested on am* subject, he is equally incapable of letting it alone and of disposing of it. This weakness, which has shown itself on «c\eral occasions, was coiibpicuous in the observations to which we have referred. It is obvious that ho had read Strauss with extreme interest, that his mind was full of the subioct,,that he greatly was shocked and preturbed by what he had read, that he had nothing particular to say on the matter by way of reply, and jet that he could not persuade himself to be silent. . . . That he should be greatly shocked at Strauss's views is natural. If tiny are right, Mr Gladstone's whole life has been a mistake. If our Lord was merely a man, who was put to death, by tho Romans on political grounds, and who afterwards became the pnncipal personage in a legend tho relation of which to fact can no longer be determined, and was never worth determining, except as a, matter of curiosity, what is to be said of Mr Gladstone's life, and the lives of his friends, teachers, and associates 9 Ko doubt, haw ever these thing*, may be, he has had a great success, he has had a splendid career, he has made his mark upon tho laws and institutions of his country, he has done much of which he may well be proud ; but it is no less true that, if Strauss is right, he has passed his life in a dream. lie has been given over to a strong delusion, to belie\e a lie. His deepest beliefs have been utterly wrong, his most earnest hopes have been, and will be deceived. lie has" beeu guided through life by a current ol sentiment d«i ircd either from mistake or impc 8' uri . He has been the champion and hero of an organised established falsehood, m defence of which he has written h oo ] (s ne\er, indeed, worth much, at any rate, but which, if Straus is right, conclusively pnno that, whatever else their author had, ho wanted that solid manly senbo which knows a lie when it sees it. That a man so situated should read Strauss's book with horror-, that he should revolt a K ninst it, and wish, if not to retutu it at, all events to contradict it, is uatuial ; but alnioht any man, except Mr Olad•stcfrie would have seen that the desire was foolish, that if he could not refutes Struu«» ho had much better hay nothing at ivll about huu, and that to refute what is, in lact, the ex pression ot a life passed in Thought and study, in a sermon preached to a set of schoolboys at a distribution oi pri/ea, waa impossible. Mr Gladstone not only knew that ho could net relate Stmuss there and tl.cn, but expressly said to. " 1 would not, e\en if I hatt the capacity and tho time, make tin attempt in thi-t place t» confute his views" f lhcn win could he not let them el m ? Why reed ho summarise tliero, direct special and pointed atttntion to them, attract c\ ery* one's notice to the degree m which they had aiTivteii bis own mind and excited his antipathy.— l'all Mai 1 An editdr asserts that hi" a locators have been in the Lai t of living a hundred ji-ara ins oppomnt responds by -03iug that " that was btfrro tho introduction of capital pu ish-

Gkobob the Skcoxd as v Wir.-Georgc the Second was not a humourist, but he would lune made a first-rate actor of " genteol corned) " hud not Fate cast him lor another line of charm U-i , in the dr.nmof lifo. Shortly aitrr hi& accession he oou.n.aikkit " l>'u> at H.o tluMtie m Lincoln a Inn Fields. The huii-e wu.iu'l, hit .is tno king kept it waiting the murmur ol their ili^U.ibuio K-ll upon lih ear ! as he entered his b<>\. tlnw quaUeis «>1 an hour bcliinil t.me. 1 As he tauglit the unuelcmi.e wii'iids Ik- tui M.-i! to Mr XUcU, Llie manager, who waited on lmn, as it he m.t'ht gather i.vm I that official some explanation ofihe phenomenon, lhe Ei-catcstof thointelleau.il lunlnmnis ol England hoiie^Jy told the king that his Mii|i?sty ami* Into, undtlml Iho uudieiitu did not seem to like it. Wnereupun the boioicign aMsumed the air of im unrighteously subjected prince. Ho advanced to the front of Ins box, took out h-s watch with the apparent conviction that it was an arbitrator winch would render him lUbtJLe.aud looking upon it ,aw that it bliowod the tune which he knew it to he. Then lie appeal od m a change ol character. He gazed at the audience with an expression bespeaking a guilt) but ropentaut prince, lie put huu B elt as much outside of his box as the laws of balancing would allow, and BhaVins Ins wippcd head imdver } much powder out of it, ho laid Jus n-wolU-d hand on the heart side of his skvblue velvet coat. .iiid ma.le a bon to the house, so superb in its apologetic prnto.ni.no ths-t the audience burst lorth into hilarious hurrahing and applauding, and all other pobsible symptoms to demonstrate their gludne*s and to express their consent to a full reconciliation of prince and people.— From " Rot al and Imperial Joker*," in Temple Bar.

Seu.on-\blu WiNTraih.-AJUch lias lately been written about warm and cold winteis m England. A correspondent vi the Coloa ne Uazctie hns been consulting old chronicles, and favouis the leaders of that journal wilh a few curious data of abnormal w inter temperatures in (Germany, wliose uiuteis, as is well known, aie as a rule much moie severe than our own. In the year 1241 the tiees were in bloom m March, and chcrrub *cie upc in May. In 1289 there was no winter, bo to speak, at all, anil the temperature was so very spring-like at Clnistmab tli.it young girls decorated themselves with violets at that festive season Iv 1538 tho gardens were green m December, and in full bloom in January. In I.VT2 the tiees were covered n-itli foliace in February ; the sime took place in 1 >SS. lliero was likewise no winter in the jeais 1007, 1009, and 1017. In 1639 no snow fell, ami there was no host. In Jaimaiy of 17">2 people weie able to dispense wuh hunf, and all the trees weie in bloom in Febiuary. In 1807 there was alao almost no winter. The mild winters of IS'J4 and 184b ate still lemembeied by many people, l^en in higher latitudes similar phenomena have beeu obsuived. In St. Petersburg, for example, on New Vuai s Day of 1/SO, the thermometer stood at Bdeg. (Koauuiui) above freezing point. —Land and Water. . i

ExntAOHMNAiiY Hr^i sen vtiox.— A rcmarKaDie insianco of recalling life by medical bkill lias lately occurred m Brussels. °An unfortunate workman, overtaken by drink, had fallen into the Canal of Churlcroi, which passes through the lower part of the town, nnd his body was not joco^erctl for some considerable time, when it seemed hopi'lcw, to recall the drowned man to hlu, and the bystander*, alter exhausting the common remedies, came to the conclusion that the man was dead. By good fortune, Dr Joux, the modual officer of the 3rd* di\ ision of |the Police of Brussels, I was at home, and his assistant was called m, mid at once he | resolved not to regard tho ca^c as hopeless. For three hour*, however, the most effective remedies suggested by modern science were applied in yam, when Dr Join determined to apply plates of iron healed to a white heat to the upper parts of the body near the more vital organs. After some short time, to the a^onishnicnt of the assitants, faint signs of breathing were observed, and in the course oi half-an-hour thedrownod man awoke to life. At the present moment he is perfectly restored to health, and the only inconvenience which he* has sustained results from the severe cauterization which his skin necessarily underwent. The novel treatment which Dr Joux extemporised so successfully on this occasion nmj well desene the attention of tho lloyal Humane Society.

A Nkw Steam-steering Scrkw.— lliero was a large attendance of the United Service Institution at Whitchalljard recently (Admiral Elliott in the chair}, when Captain G. W. Breumer dcln cred :i lecture upon a new stcuii-hU'cring screw which lie has recently invented. The object of hu screw Hto effect the turning, manccumng, and revolving , of a ship, and it claims to do tins w ithout the ncct^stty ot | headway. The lmenlion was described in detail b) Captain j Bremner. On the loth Janraiy died, in his B'Jth year, at!vewmarket, a nun not liiucli known by the present generation of race "ceis, but who was the gieatest jockey, the most accomplished horseman, of all tune. Twenty-one yeai.s a"o Jem liobinson met with a f i ltjhtful accident while j lidiii" m a match on >»ew'ni.ulu t Heath, whereby he sustamed a tractureof Ins leg and several nbs, which nic.ipaci- , tated him fiom ever appearing in the pigskin again. Ho began riding when the pitseut century was young, won Ins first Derby oil Azor m 1817, and was 39 when he met with his accident, ami had it not happened he might have added many more of the great races to his already unparalleled score, for he had led a temperate life, and was as tresh and Mgoious as ever. To recount all his great deeds weie impossible : his chic-f ones must suffice. He won then six Derbys, viz., in 1817 on Azor, in 1824 on Ue.lnc, in 1825 onMiddletou, in 1827 on Mameluke, in 1828 on Cadiand, after a dead heat with The Colonel (the only dead heat that ever occuned for the Derby), and m ISSti on Bay ] Middleton. He won the Oaks twice, in IS2I on Augusta, j and in 1824 on Cobweb, and the day after the latter victory he won his great treble event bet, viz., that he won the Derby and Oaks and got roamed all in the same week, Loul Glasgow, it is said, having laid him 1,000 to 10 | against linn bunging it off. No fewer than nine Two j Thousand Guinea btakes fell to his share, viz, with Enamel, Cadiand, lliddlesworth, Clearwell, Glencoe, Ibrahim, Bay Middleton (the last four in successive years), Conyn"ham, and Flatcatcber. Five One Thousands he also took, with Cobweb, Zoe, Chai lotto West, Potcntia, andSorella. He won the St. Leger on Matilda m 1827, beating Manielule, on whom he had won the Derby ; on Margrave m 1832, and on ttussborough he lode a dead heat with, and was afterwards beaten by, \oltigucr m 1830. He also lode winners of the Ucsarewitch mid Oarabudgeshire, and of nearly every other great race.— AuUralasian,

A Fiiocn: PiCTfKi: of Exgtjsii Lifi..— "We are all agreed that French writers, when treating of our country, display a knowledge of geography only equalled by their lnlnnan with our social hubits anil customs. Then we have all roud* with humble admiration A r ict,or Hugo's description of the arm of the sea running up to Edinburgh, which he terms " the fiflli oi the iourth ;" nntl Dumas pere, m illustrating what Mr Disraeli called the " sustained splendour " of an Engli.su nobleman's shitolj life, informs his reaiers that this h)pocrypal peer, who possesses a horse, " gui avait trois fois ga<me le Derby," n»cd to mvito his friends to shoot in his park m Piccadilly . It bn<* been reserved for the author of a feuilleton now being published in the " Temps to give a faithful picture of club life as it exists in London Au. 1872. "We are introduced to "Mr Pinions Fogg, Esq.," who always enters the Reform Club at 11.30 a.in , and leaves it punctually upon the stroke of midnight. At noon he breakfasts upon boded fish with " reading sauce," a slice of scarlet roast beef, seasoned with " mushcron " condiment, a pudding stuffed with rhubarb stalks and gooseberries, and a piece of " Chester," the whole washed down with a few cups of tea specially procured for members of the Reform Club. At 12.47 he repairs to the sumptuous hall, where a servant hands linn a copy of Tlip Times, uncut, the perusal of winch occupies him until 3.45 pm. lie then studies the Daily Telegraph, and by the time ho has. mastered the contents of the latter journal, the chronicler of the " Tempi," snys thnt he is ready lor dinner, which is got through under the same conditions as breakfast, with the addition, how cm- of " Ro\al Untish bailee." At twenty minutes to eight he m-ikes his reappearance in the saloon, and becomes absorbed in the perusal of the Morning Chronicle, a journal which, it wns generally supposed, had passed out of existence.— rail Mate Gazette.

Tin: Ma> of Long Li n: —A paper devoted to science gives the subjoined prognosis of the man likely to attain nn old nge .—He lias a proper nnd well proportioned stature, without, however, being too tall He is rather of tl.c middle sue, and somewhat thick set. llu complexion is not too (lorid ; at anj rate, too much ruddiness in jouth is seldom a sign of longevity. His hair approaches rather to the fair than the. black ; his skin is strong, but not too rough, His head is not too big , he has large veins at the extremities, and his shoulders arc rather round than flat. His neck is not too long ; his abdomen does not project ; and his handare lar"e, but not too deoply cleft. His foot is rather tbick than long ; and Ins legs arc firm and round. He has also u broad arched chest, a strong voice, and the faculty of retainin" his breath for a long time without dillleulty. In general there b a complete harmony m all hid parts. His sens ■ are good, but not too delicate ; his pulse is slow and regular His stomach is excellent, liis appetite good, and his digestion easy The joys ot the tabloarc to him of importance ; thej tune his iniiul to serenity, and lih soul partakes in the pleasure which tlie\ communicate. (le does not cat merely lor the pleasure of citing, but each meal is an hour of dmU festivity; a kind of delight, attended with this advantage, in regard to others, that it does not make him poorer, bn! richer Uc eats slowly, and has not too much thirst. 'Jo great thirst is always a sign of rapid self-consumption. In general ho is bwone, loquacious, active, susceptible ol .jo> love, and hope, but insensible to the impressions ot hatre I nn<*er, and arame 'His pfH9ionsneierbocomotooviol.nl or clctiuetno. If 1 o ever gut's wn\ toanger he exper caw idilirr a u.clul glow ol' warmth, an wtilicinl and gentle lev. without an oveiflovv of the btle. He i» km.l nUo of empkn n.ent, particularly calm inedfution and agreeable bpecnl i tioiiß, is unoptiuiu 1 ., alt ond of Nature and dom sti ■ fel cih, mi:, no thirst of er uoiuurs or riches, md bitisb.es al thoughts of to-monow. \V by ai c old mauls odd 9 Because they ure m m il^ie \ '• rfee >cp'es and die, ' sajs un Italian prouibt "I hiiu it " ga>s an American traveller, " and aunhci ; but it was a 'narrow squeak, for the slwicb. of it ucurly k lied we."

Tan LATK Da. LuaiilMSTOX.— Among the many obituary notices tiiat have appeared of tin* eminent Judge, philanthropist, and pohtie.in, no mention has been made of his Ion" connexion with Guj's hobpiKl. Dr Lushiugton for years pn^-t Inn been (he father of the governing body Jnvmg been appointed a tJrovcrnor in the jear 1819, and \o continued up to the nine bt hi-, de.il'i to take the wannest interest in tbo e>nv >$ and .prosperity of the hospital. Hie 1 medical profession is o-pe.'iallj mdebt \l to 'aim for 'iis ad\oLaoy o( the ca<w of medical cdueatio.i Vs th » intimate friend of E.ulie, Ooipcr, Blizzard and of most ofthochuf t>ioneers of our Ait ut the eomm<>in.einent of the cunMiry, he Lv [he neeessit^ of providing i.u-ilitu, lor the Mmlyof iMMctical anatomy, and was greatly nibtrumental in obtaining the passage of the first Anatomy Actaf-whieb. rescued anatomy from what was httlo better than an alliance with felony to a legitimate branch of medical education. Though m years he hnd long passed the max-hnnm term allowed by the Palmist, ho* knew nothing ol ;.go but its dignity, lor he wasTOungin mind -md lull of all the generous emotion, and 'sympathies of umth As an instance, Irom among mam 'of his large-hoartcd benr olenee, we may cite tbo iacj that* after his retirement from public life lie established, on the confines of lih residence at Ockliam, a 11-vue fn s convalescent ])atients under the sole management of hi dauglttr, which is a model of what such establishment* -houLl be. In this rural spot, surrounded by every thing to render their position comlortablc, hundreds of poor women and children from Ouj's Hosp.t vl, recovering from sitlness, have found a haven of rest, aud acquired vigour of miud and body to enable thorn to enter afresh on the battle of life. — Guy's Hospital Oazelte.

Onn Marriagk Noticiis — " The editor of tho Gentleman'i Magazine mod to nnnounce marriages tlnu.— 'MiBasket tto Mi»3 Pell, with £3000 ;' 'Mr Da\ is to Mr» Wylds, with £100 per annum ;' ' tho Lord Bishop of St Asnph to Miss Orell, with £30,000;' 'J. "VVhitcombe, E»q, to Miss Allen, with £40,000;' %Mr 1S T . Tillotaon, tho eminent preacher among the people called Quakers, and a relative, of Archbishop Tillotson, to Miss «-, with £7000;' 'Mr P. Bowen to Miss Sichollo, of Gu-enliitlio, nith £10,000 ;' 'Sir Georpe C. to widow Jones, with £10,000 a-year besides ready inonov.' At the «!iine timo the Scotch — more gallant than their fellow countrymen of South Britnin — whilst announcing the amount of ii bride's fortune, used also to mention I'cr personal find moral endowments, as qualifications scarcely le»* important than her money. 'On Monday last,' runs a matrimonial nnnouiicement in the Glasgow Conrant (1747), ' Di- Robert Ifamilton, Tiofessor of Anatomy and Botany in the University of Glasgow, to Mib3 ilollj Baird, a beautiful young lady -with a handsome fortune.' Another marriage, which occurred in the same year, is nnnounced in the same journal thus:—' On Monday last Mr J.imes Johnstone, merchant in this place, was married to Mi»» Peggy New all, a joung lady of great merit, and a fortune of £1000.' "—Jeiferson's " JBrides and Bridals "