The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-SeersCrowe, Catherine
Religion
The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-Seers
Crowe, Catherine
Ghosts; Parapsychology
“SEPT. 8, 1803.—Among other guests invited to C—— castle, came the
Rev. Henry A——, of Redburgh, and rector of Greystoke, with Mrs. A——,
his wife, who was a Miss S——, of Ulverstone. According to previous
arrangements, they were to have remained with us for some days; but
their visit was cut short in a very unexpected manner. On the morning
after their arrival, we were all assembled at breakfast, when a chaise
and four dashed up to the door in such haste that it knocked down part
of the fence of my flower-garden. Our curiosity was, of course, awakened
to know who could be arriving at so early an hour; when, happening to
turn my eyes toward Mr. A——, I observed that he appeared extremely
agitated. ‘It is our carriage!’ said he; ‘I am very sorry, but we must
absolutely leave you this morning.’
“We naturally felt and expressed considerable surprise, as well as
regret at this unexpected departure; representing that we had invited
Colonel and Mrs. S——, some friends whom Mr. A—— particularly desired
to meet, to dine with us on that day. Our expostulations, however, were
vain; the breakfast was no sooner over than they departed, leaving us in
consternation to conjecture what could possibly have occasioned so
sudden an alteration in their arrangements. I really felt quite uneasy
lest anything should have given them offence; and we reviewed all the
occurrences of the preceding evening in order to discover, if offence
there was, whence it had arisen. But our pains were vain; and after
talking a great deal about it for some days, other circumstances
banished it from our minds.
“It was not till we some time afterward visited the part of the country
in which Mr. A—— resides, that we learned the real cause of his sudden
departure from C——. The relation of the fact, as it here follows, is
in his own words:—
“Soon after we went to bed, we fell asleep: it might have been between
one and two in the morning when I awoke. I observed that the fire was
totally extinguished; but although that was the case, and we had no
light, I saw a glimmer in the centre of the room, which suddenly
increased to a bright flame. I looked out, apprehending that something
had caught fire, when, to my amazement, I beheld a beautiful boy,
clothed in white, with bright locks, resembling gold, standing by my
bedside, in which position he remained some minutes, fixing his eyes
upon me with a mild and benevolent expression. He then glided gently
away toward the side of the chimney, where it is obvious there is no
possible egress, and entirely disappeared. I found myself again in total
darkness, and all remained quiet until the usual hour of rising. I
declare this to be a true account of what I saw at C—— castle, upon my
word as a clergyman.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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