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INFERENCES FROM HAUNTED HOUSES AND HAUNTED MEN

BY THE HONBLE. JOHN HARRIS

Inferences from Haunted Houses and Haunted Men

The lack of interest in so-called psychical matters is somewhat surprising.

There is, however, more hope of the clearing up of the scientific aspects of these phenomena than ever before.

Sir William Crookes, late President of the British Association, has no doubt that thoughts and images may be transferred from one mind to another without the agency of the recognised organs of sense, and that knowledge may enter the human mind without being communicated in any hitherto known or recognised ways! The word recognised is important; perhaps "not by the recognised action of the organs of sense," would be a better expression.

Dr. Gowers has recently , in a speech at University College, pointed out the close connection of the optic and auditory nerves with regard to cases of deafness.

The young lady who, when an attempt at transferring the sight of a candle to her was made, heard the word candle or something like it, the first letter doubtful, shows that thought transfer is to the ear as well as to the eye, or at least goes over from one to the other; she says, "You know I as often hear the name of the object as see the thing itself." This may have been from a mental effort to receive distinctly an inefficiently acute impression of her friend's. She saw a jug seen by her friend, and heard the train she heard. The colour of the jug differed a little. The distance fourteen miles. Audible speech might thus be helped by despatching a picture of the idea from a distance. Other people must be like Miss Campbell. There must be material force in this, since a thought heightens the temperature of the brain. But this force has its limits of distance, &c.

To connect apparitions with hypnotism.

In continuous slight hypnotism, chills on part of the scalp, part of the shoulder, part of the face, or the ribs, etc., may be experienced; they are possibly signs of slackening hypnotic power.

There is another symptom, hyperaesthesia of the eye, which Binet and F?r? omit; this is extremely rare among men, and with women results from local affection. The symptom probably appears in hypnotic cases from the cutaneous lesser sciatic nerve, which is connected with the nerves of the sexual system, being affected.

The chill and the hyperaesthesia of the eyes can be so severe that a doctor or an oculist would be consulted.

The feeling of gravel in the eye is probably produced by light falling through chinks on the eye when hyperaesthetic during sleep--the lids may be slightly tightened, as it were; this is perhaps a nearer approach to a profounder hypnotism.

"During actual hypnosis," says Mr. Harry Vincent, "frequently the contraction of the muscles is so obvious that the subject appears to be indulging in a grim smile."

I venture to call attention to the grim smile worn by Charles Kingsley in the portrait which prefaces the large edition of his Life and Letters. Charles Kingsley suffered from frequent fits of exhaustion; these are often the results of excessive hypnotism after the limit of the hypnotist's power has been reached. His brother Henry, we learn from Mr. Kegan Paul's "Memoirs," was excessively hypnotisable. His character was weaker perhaps than Charles's, but the geniality of his writings bears testimony to his remarkable ability.

He was only rescued from a condition little better than a tramp's by a kind friend. Charles's life was perhaps shortened by hypnotism. One of Kingsley's neighbours at Eversley was the late Sir W. Cope. The elder son of this gentleman, when Secretary of Legation at Stockholm, came to a tragic end. He suddenly, when out walking with a friend, although his health had been apparently perfect, began to shout and wave his umbrella. He was put under the care of attendants, as he was considered to be temporarily insane. He jumped out of a window and was killed. Voices insulting or threatening him, and with such scoundrels speech would be of something dreadful, would provoke or frighten the unhappy man.

About two years later a distinguished priest, well known in London, also suddenly waved an umbrella and behaved as if he were angry. But he showed hardly any sign of insanity, and on applying to the proper court for release from supervision, was declared sane by a jury.

Strength of mind and religious feeling doubtless saved him from the fate of Mr. Cope. A brave man can resist such an attack under favourable circumstances.

It is well known to those who have read the Biography of Lawrence Oliphant, and that of Dr. Anna Kingsford by Professor Maitland, that Lawrence Oliphant, who became a Shaker , wrote commonplace vulgar verse on religious subjects, although himself a highly cultivated literary man.

Hypnotism doubtless led to this; the verse thought out in some vulgar Shaker's mind was transferred to Oliphant. Not only was Oliphant induced to become a Shaker, but his wife became one also, and both sacrificed much money to the society and agreed to live in celibacy. Let us continue again from the known to the unknown. Mrs. Lawrence Oliphant's brother, the late Captain Lestrange, R.N., left his ship without leave, to avoid his wife. He had married an undesirable person, who has also been dead some years.

He was a most intelligent officer, and commanded the despatch vessel of the Admiral in command of the Mediterranean fleet. It is most probable that he was weakened by hypnotism, otherwise he would not have entered into this marriage, or allowed himself to be broken down by disgust at its consequences. An exceedingly manly, robust character, and devoted to his profession, he could not without being hypnotised have deserted his ship. The only reason he had for leaving it was that his wife threatened to come to the Mediterranean to Malta. There was a gang of criminal hypnotists on the Mediterranean coast then. Captain Lestrange fled to Copenhagen, a place connected with most of the attacks of criminal hypnotists, mentioned before and hereafter. He had visited it on duty two or three times, and been in contact with others who suffered. He died two or three years afterwards, probably of a broken heart. Here, for the second time, a connection between two victims is traceable.

In the former case, the two were simply neighbours; the probability that in each pair of cases one gang was concerned is very great. One gang, if not both, were connected with Copenhagen; indeed, they may have been the same gang.

If striking haunted house stories are rare, the reason is that, on obvious grounds, gangs of hypnotists are rare also.

The writer believes that Lord Howe's and his sister's courage prompted the attack on them by a gang of hypnotists 120 years ago. Poltergeist disturbances are caused by a single person generally; it is not impossible that in rare cases there is a confederate.

These victims of hypnotists were thus four--two very eminent literary men, distinguished also in other ways; a very rising naval officer; and a diplomatist, a member of the foremost of the services of the Crown.

A noise like the continual explosion of petards, another like the falling of a large animal against his bedroom door, another noise like spirit raps, and shrieks were heard by Father H.; no one else then heard them. Father H. heard them for eight nights, and not on the ninth. As a priest, he was probably a good deal alone, and had to walk over to a cottage behind a belt of wood to the eastward, where the retreat of the nuns he attended to was held.

According to the average experience of Miss Freer's party, he would only have been attacked on about two days. The last day his tormentor left--doubtless to avoid a journey with Father H. and subsequent recognition. How these sounds are produced is easily understood. If the doctrine of a very light stream of electricity be admitted, the pressure on the ear readily causes raps--there is a slight buzzing sound if the pressure on the ear be relaxed at a distance at first, later there is pain; the flap is from an intermitted pressure. It is a thud if the pressure be more acute, and the pattering, which is almost identical to the effect produced by a drop of water rolling on the inside of a sensitive ear, occurs when there is a double or treble intermission. In some cases where the victim is strong, the consonants can be worked off to his hearing.

Add to this a slight effect on the eye, and Miss Campbell's doubtfully pronounced word "candle" becomes clear enough. An initial starts a word there is some reason to believe. Mr. Osgood Mason dwells upon community of sensation, and it is doubtless this that renders the direction of aim so exact; but when the subject of tickled faces is considered, we shall see that it does not insure complete accuracy, any more than that exists in volley firing, which with inferior shots is more telling than independent firing, and yet is not perfect.

Miss Campbell got a word, imperfect perhaps, but a better-developed effort developed better results. It is worth remarking that in another experimental transfer of thought, where the percipient was not warned, when Mr. Godfrey's apparition was seen by a lady friend, she heard a curious sound like birds in the ivy. It is by no means unlikely that this was the result of his first trying to attract her attention.

The eye impression moving to the ear in a new and strange way, there is perhaps a stirring and dragging of the cartilages.

That Mr. Godfrey's friend appeared in response and spoke to him, and referred back to some joint conversation, is curious.

It must be said here that the speech coming from within is extremely indicative of a real transferred or hypnotic speech, and its coming from within facilitates surprise where it is used fraudulently or criminally. A certain amount of collateral trickery would enhance this. It is easily confounded with the victim's own thoughts.

The appearance of a person to another does not seem to be as difficult as the causing another person to appear to a third person. In this case the second person should apparently be hypnotised, and willed to appear to the third. The third person must know the second person.

The apparition to Miss Ducane is interesting, and it is a pity it could not be recognised. It was seen in the mirror by her sisters, with one exception; but she and the other young ladies all felt the cold air.

Miss Freer, who saw the shadows of a figure on the wall first, and then the figure itself, must have been more scientifically operated on, but an apparition to several young ladies is harder to bring about. The original of Miss Freer's visions should be carefully traced--the one in the drawing-room especially. How many persons would be needed to produce the rather inchoate phenomena observed by Miss Freer's garrison is doubtful; three distinct voices, if not four, were heard, and it seems probable that at least four persons would be necessary to produce very startling phenomenon--notably conversation.

She does not see things in a flash. Thus when she saw a brown wood crucifix, she saw a hand holding it, whilst a clergyman who saw the same crucifix got just a glimpse of it. It was also seen by Miss Langton.

This might be sufficient to lull any further zeal the Catholic regular clergy might find for the matter.

Again the strange fact may be noted that, a gardener coming every night to look after the stoves between 10 and 10.30, no noises were noted at that time, with one exception. The gardener therefore kept the ghosts away.

But the one exception was when a servants' ball was being given, and the gardener was in the house, in the billiard-room, where the supper was served. To obtain re-hypnotism it was necessary for the disturbers to approach the house. Their object would easily be affected with people already hypnotised in the railway station or train.

These would suffer from fatigue and nervousness, but would put it down to the journey.

Three gentlemen who arrived together were not affected; there is strength in numbers; and whilst people talking to each other are harder to influence for two or three reasons, they further unconsciously watch over each other. Mr. W. stayed two days and heard nothing; his scepticism was convinced later. Mr. MacP. experienced nothing in four nights, but on a later visit heard sounds. Mr. C., an Edinburgh solicitor, heard voices in the glen, on the second occasion of a vision being seen there by Miss Freer, which was during his first visit.

Perhaps it may be guessed that the three gentlemen travelled with no heavy luggage, and their identity and destination was not detected. The vision seen most was that of a nun in the black dress commonest among nuns.

It was seen moving about on a very steep bank, a bank apparently too steep for walking, and was only visible against the snow. Miss Freer did not look on the bank for tracks.

It may be noted that on the two previous days in the neighbourhood of this glen a terrier, who never barked except under strong excitement, had barked at the same hour, but no vision was seen; on the 6th of February the dog had been taken off in another direction. After seeing the vision in the glen, Miss Freer almost always heard strange sounds at night.

The inference is that in the glen, where there was plenty of cover, and where, judging by the dog's barking, suspicious persons lurked, Miss Freer was hypnotised, made to see an apparition, and left susceptible to a further operation that night. Later on it says, "the dog ran up, pointed, and ran straight for the two women." This was on the second occasion of a grey woman appearing, and the third occasion of the black nun being seen. He was found barking in the glen; no cause could be found; a lurking stranger is a possible explanation. It may be noted, that the pointing attitude in a dog of the smaller breeds means reflection, and that something puzzled it, perhaps its mistress's attitude; but its going on barking would indicate the steady retreat of some one who frightened it.

At least three voices were heard--perhaps more. Phenomena were scarce; the gang's powers were still limited, though the horror they inflicted showed that they reached the bounds of some of the victims' strength. Miss Freer not only heard sounds in the house, where she was less exposed than in the glen, but saw apparitions on four occasions.

The portrait of a so-called Nathan Early, at the beginning of Osgood Mason's book, has the eyebrows, eyes, and mouth of a much mesmerised man. The mouth has not become stiffened into a laugh, as he was of a gentle firm disposition, and the hypnotism probably was from a distance.

The possessed hypnotist transferred it to his victim, Mrs. Juliette Burton.

The qualification, "at first," is important; visions are perhaps not easily transferred to a new subject, but the question of what is good policy for the rascals may have to be considered. This may limit the experience of those who have been more seriously victimised than Miss Freer and her garrison were.

The experiments reported in Mr. Podmore's excellent book, though invaluable, are probably not exhaustive.

Colonel Meysey Thompson's Reminiscences relate a wonderful occurrence connected with his father, but it is believed that more striking matters occurred even than this. To return to the haunted house.

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