CHAP. V.
Accessory causes of delusion, regarding spectral impressions—Apparition of Desfontaines—Ghosts at Portnedown Bridge—Lucian’s story of a Split Ghost—Instance of a Ghost in two places at once.
It will readily occur to the reader, that the disposition of the mind to hallucination must sometimes be powerfully aided, and encreased, by peculiar circumstances of time and place. Chance may supply, or artifice may contrive concomitant sounds and objects, which must appal even the most incredulous observer. Even Bayle has doubted, whether the imagination alone can produce spectres, without the assistance of the arts of confederacy. This point, I trust, is now decided.
An apparition which made some noise, about the beginning of the last century, that of Desfontaines, seems to have originated in a fit of deliquium, connected strongly with the recollection of a friend.
It was published in the Journal de Trevoux, in 1726, and its outline is as follows.
Mr. Bezuel, when a school-boy of 15, in 1695, contracted an intimacy with a younger boy, named Desfontaines. After talking together of the compacts which have been often made between friends, that in case of death, the spirit of the deceased should revisit the survivor, they agreed to form such a compact together, and they signed it, respectively, with their blood, in 1696. Soon after this transaction, they were separated, by Desfontaines’ removal to Caen.
In July, 1697, Bezuel, while amusing himself in hay-making, near a friend’s house, was seized with a fainting fit, after which he had a bad night. Notwithstanding this attack, he returned to the meadow next day, where he again underwent a deliquium. He again slept ill. On the succeeding day, while he was observing the man laying up the hay, he had a still more severe attack. “I fell into a swoon: I lost my senses: one of the footmen perceived it, and called out for help. They recovered me a little, but my mind was more disordered than it had been before, I was told that they asked me then what ailed me, and that I answered; I have seen what I thought I should never see. But I neither remember the question, nor the answer. However, it agrees with what I remember I saw then, a naked man in half-length; but I knew him not.
“They helped me to go down the ladder; I held the steps fast; but because I saw Desfontaines my school-fellow at the bottom of the ladder, I had again a fainting fit: my head got between two steps, and I again lost my senses. They let me down, and set me upon a large beam, which served for a seat in the great Place de Capucins. I sat upon it, and then I no longer saw Mr. de Sortoville, nor his servants, though they were present. And perceiving Desfontaines near the foot of the ladder, who made me a sign to come to him, I went back upon my seat, as it were to make room for him; and those who saw me, and whom I did not see, though my eyes were open, observed that motion.
“Because he did not come, I got up to go to him: he came up to me, took hold of my left arm with his right hand, and carried me thirty paces farther into a by-lane, holding me fast.
“The servants believing that I was well again, went to their business, except a little foot-boy, who told Mr. de Sortoville, that I was talking to myself. Mr. de Sortoville thought I was drunk. He came near me, and heard me ask some questions, and return some answers, as he told me since.
“I talked with Desfontaines nearly three quarters of an hour. I promised you, said he, that if I died before you, I would come and tell you so. I am dead: I was drowned in the river of Caen, yesterday, about this hour. I was walking with such and such persons. It was very hot weather; the fancy took us to go into the water; I grew faint, and sunk to the bottom of the river. The Abbé Meniljean, my school-fellow, dived to take me up. I took hold of his foot; but whether he was afraid, or had a mind to rise to the top of the water, he struck out his leg so violently, that he gave me a blow on the breast, and threw me again to the bottom of the river, which is there very deep.
“He always appeared to me taller than I had seen him, and even taller than he was when he died. I always saw him in half-length, and naked, bare-headed, with his fine light hair, and a white paper upon his forehead twisted in his hair, on which there was a writing, but I could only read In &c.”[24]
These spectral impressions were repeated more than once, with conversations. The accidental death of the young man was ascertained very quickly.
This story was published by the celebrated Abbé de St. Pierre, who concluded, very justly, that the whole appearances might be explained from natural causes, though he failed in his mode of deduction.
The first impression was evidently occasioned by Bezuel’s fainting. I know, from my own experience, as well as that of others, that the approach of syncope is sometimes attended with a spectral appearance, which I believe is always a recollected image. But the subsequent attacks, in this case, appear to have been delirious; there can be little doubt that Bezuel was deceived in the length of his supposed dialogue with the spectre. We know well, how fallacious, in this respect, the train of thought proves, in dreams, and in delirium.
In this case also, we perceive, what I have frequently had occasion to notice, the obstinacy with which a morbid impression is preserved, and defended, long after the restoration of health. I could give most singular, and impressive examples of this nature, if professional delicacy permitted. In one instance, which I heard from a friend on whose veracity I could depend, a gentleman fancied during the delirium of a fever, that a considerable estate had been bequeathed to him; the impression continued long after his recovery, and he was not undeceived without much trouble and difficulty.
There is a relation, published by authority, of some apparitions, which were seen at Portnedown bridge, after the Irish massacre, which deserves consideration, as it must be explained on principles somewhat different.
I shall give copies of the evidence, produced by Sir John Temple, and shall then endeavour to explain the alarming appearances and sounds, on natural principles.
I. James Shaw of Market-hill in the county of Armagh, inn-keeper, deposeth, that many of the Irish rebels, in the time of this deponent’s restraint, and staying among them, told him very often, and it was a common report, that all those who lived about the bridge of Portnedown, were so affrighted with the cries and noise made there of some spirits or visions for revenge, as that they durst not stay, but fled away thence, so as they protested, affrighted to Market-hill, saying, they durst not stay nor return thither, for fear of those cries and spirits, but took grounds and made creats, (Creaghs) in or near the parish of Mullabrac. Jurat. Aug. 14, 1642.
II. Joan, the relict of Gabriel Constable, late of Drumard, in the county of Armagh, gent, deposeth and saith, that she often heard the rebels, Owen O‘Farren, Patrick O‘Conellan, and divers others of the rebels at Drumard, earnestly say, protest and tell one another, that the blood of some of those that were knocked on the head, and afterwards drowned at Portnedown bridge, still remained on the bridge, and would not be washed away; and that often there appeared visions or apparitions, sometimes of men, sometimes of women, breast-high above the water, at or near Portnedown, which did most extremely and fearfully screech and cry out for vengeance against the Irish that had murdered their bodies there: and that their cries and screeches did so terrify the Irish thereabouts, that none durst stay nor live longer there, but fled and removed further into the country, and this was common report amongst the rebels there, and that it passed for a truth amongst them, for any thing she could ever observe to the contrary. Jurat. Jan. 1, 1643.
III. Katherine, the relict of William Coke, late of the county of Armagh, carpenter, sworn and examined, saith, that about the 20th of December, 1641, a great number of rebels in that county, did most barbarously drown at that time one hundred and eighty protestants, men, women, and children in the river at the bridge of Portnedown; and that about nine days afterwards, she saw a vision or spirit in the shape of a man, as she apprehended, that appeared in that river, in the place of the drowning, bolt upright heart high, with hands lifted up, and stood in that place there, until the latter end of Lent next following; about which time some of the English army marching in those parts, whereof her husband was one (as he and they confidently affirmed to this deponent) saw that spirit or vision standing upright, and in the posture aforementioned; but after that time the said spirit or vision, vanished and appeared no more, that she knoweth. And she heard, but saw not, that there were other visions and apparitions, and much screeching, and strange noises heard in that river at times afterwards. Jurat. February 24, 1643.
IV. Elizabeth, the wife of Captain Rice Price of Armagh, deposeth and saith, that she and other women whose husbands were murderers, hearing of divers apparitions, and visions that were seen near Portnedown Bridge, since the drowning of her children and the rest of the protestants there, went unto the bridge aforesaid about twilight in the evening; then and there upon a sudden, there appeared unto them a vision or spirit, assuming the shape of a woman, waist-high upright in the water, naked with elevated and closed hands, her hair hanging down, very white, her eyes seemed to twinkle, and her skin as white as snow; which spirit seemed to stand straight up in the water, and often repeated the word, Revenge, Revenge, Revenge; whereat this deponent and the rest being put into a strong amazement and affright walked from the place. Jurat. January 29, 1642.
V. Arthur Arlun, of Clowarghter in the county of Cavan, Esquire, deposeth that he was credibly informed by some that were present there, that there were thirty women and young children and seven men flung into the river of Belturbet, and when some of them offered to swim for their lives, they were by the rebels, followed in carts, and knocked upon the head with poles; the same day they hanged two women at Turbet; and this deponent doth verily believe, that Rulmore O‘Rely the then sheriff, had a hand in commanding the murder of those said persons, for that he saw him write two notes which he sent to Turbet by Brian O‘Rely, upon whose coming there murders were committed: and those persons who were present also affirmed, that the bodies of those thirty persons drowned did not appear upon the water till about six weeks after past; as the said Rely came to the town, all the bodies came floating up to the very bridge; and those persons were all formerly stayed in the town by his protection, when the rest of their neighbours in the town went away.[25]
That the sounds complained of by these witnesses were mere delusions, there can be no doubt. The actors in such bloody scenes are liable to tremendous recollections. The solitary hours of Charles IX. of France were rendered horrible by the repetition of the shrieks and cries which had assailed his ears during the massacre of St. Bartholomew.[26] When the mind is loaded with a sense of insupportable guilt, partial insanity is at hand; and warning, or reproaching voices distract the feelings of the sufferer.
The appearance of bodies, sitting upright in the water, was no deception, though it contributed by its horror, to the illusions of the ear. This terrific visitation has occasioned much alarm, under similar circumstances, even in modern times. We are told, that after the executions which took place, in the bay of Naples, by order of that court, in 1799, the body of Carraccioli[27] was seen floating, in an erect position, several days after his death, near the vessel on board of which he had suffered. In a certain stage of putrefaction, the bodies of persons which have been immersed in water, rise to the surface, and in deep water, are supported in an erect posture, to the terror of uninstructed spectators. Menacing looks and gestures, and even words, are supplied by the affrighted imagination, with infinite facility, and referred to the horrible apparition. I insert a striking instance from Dr. Clarke. “One day, leaning out of the cabin window, by the side of an officer who was employed in fishing, the corpse of a man, newly sewed in a hammock, started half out of the water, and continued its course, with the current, towards the shore—Nothing could be more horrible: its head and shoulders were visible, turning first to one side, then to the other, with a solemn and awful movement, as if impressed with some dreadful secret of the deep, which, from its watery grave it came upwards to reveal. Such sights became afterwards frequent, hardly a day passing without ushering the dead to the contemplation of the living, until at length they passed without observation.”[28]
Lucian has treated this malady of the mind with his usual severe ridicule, in one of his most entertaining dialogues, the Philopseudes. The stories of the statues, which descended at night from their pedestals, and walked about the court, are well told. But that of the inchanted stick is the best.
Eucrates says, that he became acquainted, in Egypt, with Pancrates, who had resided twenty years in the subterraneous recesses, where he had learned magic from Isis herself. “At length, he persuaded me to leave all my servants at Memphis, and to follow him alone, telling me that we should not be at a loss for servants. When we came into any inn, he took a wooden pin, latch or bolt, and wrapping it in some clothes, when he had repeated a verse over it, he made it walk, and appear a man to every one. This creature went about, prepared supper, laid the cloth, and waited on us very dextrously. Then, when we had no further occasion for it, by repeating another verse, he turned it into a pin, latch or bolt again. He refused to impart the secret of this incantation to me, though very obliging in every thing else. But having hid myself, one day, in a dark corner, I caught the first verse, which consisted of three syllables. After he had given his orders to the pin, he went into the market-place. Next day, in his absence, I took the pin, drest it up, and repeating those syllables, ordered it to fetch some water. When it had brought a full jar, I cried, stop, draw no more water, but be a pin again. But instead of obeying me, it went on bringing water, till it had almost filled the house. I, not able to endure this obstinacy, and fearing the return of Pancrates, lest he should be displeased, seized a hatchet, and split the pin into two pieces. But each part, taking up a jar, ran to draw more water, so that I had now two servants in place of one. In the mean time, Pancrates returned, and understanding the matter, changed them into wood again, as they were before the incantation.” We may fairly apply the Italian saying to this story; si non é vero, é ben trovato.
But there is ghostly authority for the division of a goblin, equal to most of Glanville’s histories, though I cannot now recover, the names of the parties. The relation came to me, however, from a friend of one of the Seers.
Two elderly ladies, resided, each in her ancient castle, adjoining to the other, near the borders of Scotland. While they were beguiling a tedious winter evening, with accounts of their domestic policy, the conversation insensibly turned on the subject of their household ghosts: for at that time, every venerable old mansion had an established resident of that nature, who was as well known as the family-crest.
‘Every evening, said one of the Sybils, I perceive the bust of a man, in one of the rooms, which is distinctly visible, down to the girdle.
‘And we,’ cried the other dame, ‘have the rest of his person in our castle, which perambulates the house every night; till this moment, I could not imagine how the head and shoulders of the figure were disposed of.’
I have thus presented to the reader, those facts which have afforded, to my own mind, a satisfactory explanation of such relations of spectral appearances, as cannot be refused credit, without removing all the limits and supports of human testimony. To disqualify the senses, or the veracity of those who witness unusual appearances, is the utmost tyranny of prejudice. Yet, who, till within the last fifteen years, would have dared to assert that stones fell from the clouds? Livy had regularly recorded such events, and was ridiculed for supplying those most curious facts, which must otherwise have been lost to natural history.
In like manner, I conceive that the unaffected accounts of spectral visions should engage the attention of the philosopher, as well as of the physician. Instead of regarding these stories with the horror of the vulgar, or the disdain of the sceptic, we should examine them accurately, and should ascertain their exact relation to the state of the brain, and of the external senses.
The terror of nocturnal illusions would thus be dissipated, to the infinite relief of many wretched creatures; and the appearance of a ghost would be regarded in its true light, as a symptom of bodily distemper, and of little more consequence than the head-ach and shivering attending a common catarrh.
There is reason to believe, that many persons suffer silently, from these imaginary visitations, who are deterred from divulging their distresses, by the ridicule with which complaints of this nature are commonly treated. When the proper distinction is established, admitting the reality of the impression, but explaining its production in the mind alone, all difficulties of this kind may be removed, and the apprehensions of the visionary may be readily quieted.
Lastly, by the key which I have furnished, the reader of history is released from the embarrassment of rejecting evidence, in some of the plainest narratives, or of experiencing uneasy doubts, when the solution might be rendered perfectly simple.