The Cock Lane Ghost

Transcriber's note: I've reparagraphed the text, and made other small formatting changes, for legibility.

At the time when that devious and narrow lane, called Snow-hill, formed the only line of communication between Newgate-street and Holborn, there dwelt in one of the best of its old-fashioned houses a Calender⊕ A calender is a machine consisting of rollers that smooth a sheet of material, such as paper or fabric. In this context, the term refers to someone in the business of calendering. of considerable eminence, who kept the sign of the Golden Griffin and Tezel. He was an elderly man of rather a singular character, named Seneca Stiff; but whether it were from his classical prenomen [first name], or from an imperturbable serenity of disposition, he was most commonly called "Philosopher Stiff," by all who knew him, or lived in his vicinity. To this principal feature of his character he added an invincible disbelief of every thing in the least approaching to the superstitious or the wonderful, with a constant disposition to trace the strangest effects to purely natural causes. His speech was always calm, slow, and exact; his figure was tall and his countenance hard-featured; and his dress and manners were between those of a Quaker and an ancient Citizen of London.

His whole establishment consisted of three persons; the principal being his Ward, Clara Fortescue, for whom he evinced the warmest attachment of which his phlegmatic disposition was capable. She was the orphan of one of his most esteemed friends, and having been educated as a Catholic in Paris, was entrusted to his care, though an heiress to a large fortune, which was generally expected to be increased by the wealth of our Civic Philosopher. His other inmates were a servant-man, named Anthony Gulp, whose capacity of belief more than compensated for his master's habitual incredulity; and an artful housekeeper, Mrs. Penelope Webber, who gave herself out to be descended from the old Dutch Webbers, who, as Diedrich Knickerbocker⊕ Diedrich Knickerbocker is the fictional author of Washington Irving's novel, A History of New York (1809). tells us, were some of the original settlers in New York.

For some time the influence of this person with the tranquil Mr. Stiff, had been almost supreme; and when she had resided some dozen years in his service, she began to think how mighty pleasant, and, perchance, how easy, it might prove for her to become Mrs. Stiff; and accordingly her profoundest thoughts were turned upon the best means of accomplishing that desirable event. Much of her design was already complete, and the work seemed prosperously proceeding, when Clara Fortescue first became an inmate at Snow-hill on the death of her father, a brave officer, who fell with General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, September 13th, 1759.⊕ The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, aka the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the French and Indian War. As this change, and the old Calender's increasing attachment to his Ward, seemed almost fatal to Mrs. Webber's aspiring hopes, she secretly set herself to work to rid the house of her, whilst she openly pretended an officious devotion to her service, and a wonderful sympathy in her misfortunes.

To effect her purpose, she could devise no better scheme than that of raising a spirit on Snow-hill; in which she was the more encouraged by the success of her neighbours and intimate acquaintances, Richard Parsons and his daughter Fanny, by whom the Cock Lane villainy ⊕ The Cock Lane ghost was an actual purported haunting, perpetrated by Parsons and his daughter in 1762. was designed and executed. To begin, however, with due caution and a proper instrument, she made use of all her stores of German superstitions and Indian witcheries to possess the mind of her principal companion, Master Gulp; whose brain, it may easily be imagined, was not rendered stronger by his vicinity to the haunted spot, more especially as the influenza of Ghost-seeing had then spread itself half over London.

But of all the tales which she poured into his astonished ears, none interested him so much as those relating to magic dollars, and other pieces of money which have the power of generating others, and keep the purse from being positively empty, so long as they are carefully retained in it! In becoming possessed of such riches, however, there were sometimes other unpleasant conditions to be complied with; since they who procured them from the maker's own hand, usually gave a particularly valuable reversion to be delivered when the Grave-digger had done his office: though if by any chance they could be found, or given second-hand, then all the danger was over, and all the virtue remained. Nor did Mrs. Webber forget to tell him of the vast advantages of Treasure-finders, since it has been related by an ingenious biographer of her ancestors, that they first rose into eminence by that wise and profitable employment. She added, however, that sometimes money was thrown in the way of those whom the Enemy of Man wished to secure; like the King's bounty-money to a new recruit, or a retaining fee to a learned Counsel.

Such, then, was both the open and secret position of affairs towards the end of January, 1762, when one night, as Master Anthony entered his chamber in darkness, he unconsciously laid his hand upon a cold substance, which felt like money, as if it had been placed there awaiting his return; and which the light discovered to be a good Tower shilling! The first thought of Anthony was, that like his saintly namesake of Alexandria, he was certainly tempted of Satan, though, as he had no mind to enter his service, he had better return his money; but a maturer consideration of the circumstances induced him to see a little farther first, and then to solicit the advice of Mrs. Webber.

It was not, however, until he had received about five shillings of these bribes of darkness that his terror drove him to consult his oracle.

"What did'st thou say?" exclaimed the aspiring Housekeeper; "Found money in the night? Ah! Well, go to, Heaven mend us! God will ever be above the Devil,---but I know what I know !"

"And what do you know, Mrs. Webber? I can make an affidavit that I never asked for it; I was even thinking of quite another thing when I first found it, and it's no such great matter at last."

"No, not to you, I dare say, Mr. Anthony, but it's quite enough to make a bargain with, as I can tell. You'll be a rich man, Mr. Anthony, no doubt; but I won't say what will be the end on it:—-it might have been as well to have left the Devil's wages alone. But you'll be well paid, I warrant you, Mr. Anthony."

"Good, now, Mrs. Webber," replied the alarmed domestic, "do you really think that it was Bel-Bel-Belzebub's money? Or didn't you put it there only to frighten me?”

"I indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Webber, "Not I, truly, I've too little to leave it within reach of a knave who pockets all he finds, let it come whence it may."

"Well, then," said the terrified Anthony, "as the house is haunted to a certainty, I'll go to the Curate of St. 'Pulker's, and ask him what's to be done. I've a notion that as we live so near to Cock Lane, the Ghost sometimes comes over to us, for I'll assure you that I've heard some very odd noises of late; though as his Reverence can't lay the Ghost for his own Clerk, why to be sure he can't do much for us."

"No, to be sure, Mr. Anthony," answered the wily Mrs. Webber, "all the Clergy in London can't turn out a ghost till it has told its message. And for the house being haunted, that's past praying for, sure enough; for, God keep me! I get no sleep o' nights since---"

"Since what, Mistress Webber?" said her master, who had walked unobserved into the room during this interesting conversation, which was carried on, as ghost-stories generally are, with heads laid together, and a whispering tone of voice. "What is it disturbs your rest, Mistress Webber?" said the placid Mr. Stiff in his usual slow manner.

As he spake, the two worthies started full six feet asunder, each from different feelings of fear; and as he stood erect between them, they gazed at him for some time without speaking, when he for the third time demanded, "Again, Mistress Webber, I ask you: what it is which breaks your nightly rest?"

"Why truly, Sir," said Mrs. Webber, recovering her confidence, "though I would be loath to offend you, yet I think it's right you should know your house is haunted, and that nobody can sleep in it for the noise the ghost makes!"

"What you tell me," said Mr. Stiff, "is very likely; since if there be noises, sleep will not be induced; there is nothing preternatural in that. But for their being effected by spiritual agency, I will not believe it, since that which hath no substance can have neither indication of form, appearance of colour, nor power of action. What is deficient in these can be neither seen nor heard; and therefore, Mistress Webber, I opine that you have heard and seen nothing, but are the dupe of your own fancies, like the fools in Cock Lane, Mistress Webber."

The length of this reply gave the Housekeeper time to rally her forces, and resolving to push the matter as far as it would go, she replied with well-feigned earnestness, "But, sir, the ghost makes a thousand strange sounds; sometimes it's like a cannon-ball rolling in the ceiling under the dark empty room; and sometimes it's like a blow on the inside of a coffin-lid under the floor!"

"What you tell me is extremely probable; since at some forgotten time or other, a ponderous globular mass may have fallen into the floor of that room which, as you wisely say, is empty; and is put in motion by certain of those animals which are to be found in most houses. There is nothing supernatural in this; and for the blows issuing from the floor, divers of the Scarabæus domesticus, superstitiously called the death-watch, and of the Grillus, or cricket, have the power of emitting from the head sounds like a stricken blow, and these are frequently found in old timber."

"But this warn't no cricket, I'll swear," said Anthony, gathering courage to speak, "and I've heard such sytheing, and cracking, and thumping in the walls, as if the ghost was shut up there and wanted to come out!'

"Nor is this at all preternatural, Anthony,” said his undisturbed master, "since the wood of ancient buildings is continually contracting, suddenly expanding, with a moaning sound, or bursting with a sudden report, from the fixed air finding vent. In the day, being otherwise occupied, we do not observe these circumstances; but in the stillness of the night every thing is distorted, and the most ordinary circumstances start up into a prodigy."

"But then again, Sir," said Mrs. Webber, "Mr. Anthony hath had money brought him by the ghost, and laid in his chamber, which he hath found in the dark! And it's magic money, too, which keeps the purse from ever being empty!"

"So long as any of it is retained, you mean, Mistress Webber; what you tell me is by no means impossible, since nothing is more common than for careful hiders to make sudden finders; and in darkness we can often effect that which in daylight we should attempt in vain."

"But, Sir," said Anthony, "it was only last night that I felt a huge lump in my bed as hard as a bone, and I'm almost sure it was a skull!”

"I see nothing preternatural in that, Anthony," said his master, "for Mistress Webber can tell you that the stuffing of a mattress not well dispersed, will sometimes concrete in a solid mass. However, go now to your chamber, and fetch the substance hither."

"To be sure, Sir, you're a very bold man," said the Housekeeper, "but I dare say that Mr. Anthony won't uncover it: and for my own part I must say that I fell to my prayers last night myself, when I saw the kitchen furniture all shaken and rolling about as if it was bewitched."

"What you say of it, Mistress Webber," answered the imperturbable Philosopher Stiff, "has a consecutive character. For the first impulse might have been a shock from the street, a sinking in the building, the motions of animals in the walls, or many other imperceptible causes. The latter motion was only the effect of this impetus which overcame the vis inertia of bodies naturally inanimate: I see nothing preternatural in this. Tell me no more, then, of wandering spirits or surprising sounds; distrust your eyes and ears, search into their causes, Mistress Webber, and you will find them all natural; Philosophy would make us sages, but our senses make us fools, Mistress Webber."

Such being a specimen of the ordinary wisdom of Mr. Stiff, his fame as a man who could see into the natural causes of everything, and who would be the last in the world to let his imagination seduce his judgment, was so well known, as to induce some of his neighbours to solicit him to attend one night at the house in Cock Lane, with several persons eminent for their worth and station in society. After much persuasion he went thither, chiefly to satisfy his friends that the prodigy was only a deception; and in a dimly-lighted, plain, wainscoted bed-chamber, on the first floor next the street, he found several individuals already assembled.

In a bed at the lower end of the apartment were placed two young females; one of whom, the person possessed with the spirit, was a pale-faced child of about twelve years old. At the foot of the couch sat one of the party invited, as some security against deception in the bed itself; and, to give a greater degree of sanction to the meeting, two or three clergymen were present, habited in their canonical robes, according to the fashion of the period.

Standing on the hearth was a tall, stout person, whose manners were rather awkward and stooping, whilst his head and body were moving in a slow and continued roll. He was attended by a negro servant, and he wore a full brown suit of clothes, and a close wig. His visage had somewhat of a morose expression, from its redness and the largeness of its features; though to such as steadfastly regarded him, there was an indication of great worth evidently blended with considerable piety and wisdom. The periodical registers and pamphlets of the time, have preserved numerous particular accounts of this extraordinary imposition; but as the circumstances contained in the Horoscope Manuscript are not to be found in any other place, I have inserted a specimen of that portion of the scene, which serves in some degree to carry on that of the present narrative.

As our friend the Calender entered the apartment he was requested to make no noise, since the spirit had already begun to scratch; but the person standing on the hearth was stating in a forcible, though somewhat provincial tone, his own sentiments on the appearance of disembodied spirits.

"That the dead are seen no more," said he, "I will not undertake to determine, against the concurrent and unvaried testimony of all ages and of all nations. There is no people, rude or learned, by whom apparitions of the dead are not related and believed; and a persuasion which perhaps prevails as far as human nature is diffused, could become universal only by its truth. That it is doubted by single cavillers can very little weaken the general evidence, and some who deny it with their tongues confess it by their fears."

With considerable ceremony Mr. Stiff was introduced into the haunted room by Parsons himself, who was at once the owner of the house, the father of the possessed child, and the Parish Clerk of the Church of St. Sepulchre. The Philosopher saluted the company with a calm, but respectful courtesy, and added "Albeit, gentlemen, I am, for my own part, well convinced that these noises are to be traced to a fraudulent cause, yet, at the solicitation of my neighbours, for the public good, and for the better satisfaction of my own household, I am content to visit this place, and assist in the enquiry to what end they are made."

"Give me your hand, Sir," said the stout personage on the hearth, striding up to him, and grasping him tightly in an immense red hand; "I honour you for speaking like a wise and virtuous Citizen. They who would live usefully in society must do less for the satisfaction of themselves, than for the instruction of others. To be neuter in a common cause is to be worthless. It was an ordinance of Solon in Athens, that in public dissensions whoever did not espouse one party, should be declared infamous, condemned to perpetual exile, and have all his estate confiscated."

"You are happy, Sir," said one of the visitors, approaching Stiff, "in this public testimony to your wisdom from the most esteemed author and the greatest moralist of the age;—this, Sir, is the Author of the Rambler, the ingenious Mr. Samuel Johnson!"

"Be quiet, Sir," replied Johnson, "if this gentleman be wise enough to enjoy the silent praise of good sense, he will care but little who may applaud him openly."

Still retaining all the equanimity of his character, though greeted by the approbation of so celebrated a personage, Mr. Stiff went calmly on to demand of the spirit what was its purpose in troubling that chamber and family.

"God shield us! Sir," exclaimed a female attendant who was present to interpret the Spirit's meaning, "you should adjure the Ghost solemnly in the name of the Holy Trinity to answer you; and then it will give one knock for yes, and two for no, and if it does not like any thing it will scratch."

"What you tell me, woman," said Stiff, "is remarkably absurd, for 'tis but little less than putting the entire game into the hands of the posed phantom, whereas its revelations should be perfect and independent of any aid from me. And for your sacred adjuration, never believe that I will profane holy things by using them to invocate a probable impostor."

"Sir," exclaimed the literary giant a second time," you have again spoken wisely and well, and I have taken a liking to you. Questioning of supernatural beings in a form of solemn exorcising first obtained in the early ages of the Church, in imitation of the holy names used by the Apostles when casting out unclean spirits, especially when they were unwilling to declare themselves. But here is neither reluctancy in communication, nor any proof of a spirit at all. A Monarch will require the credentials of an Ambassador, before he consent to acknowledge him as an Envoy."

"I esteem your understanding, Sir,” replied Stiff; "but as this nocturnal visitant is said to be gratified by being questioned, I deem it sufficient to say once more, to what end is this disturbance in a house of reputation?"

A violent scratching interrupted the close of this demand; the person who sat on the bed declared that it was extremely agitated, a fluttering as of wings was heard above the bed, and the child also appeared convulsed on the approach of the Spirit.

"I can well believe," resumed Johnson, "that such a question is unpleasing to that being, which requires to have both query and response stated for its choice. To accommodate ourselves to its imperfections, therefore, I ask if this visitation be on account of love, fraud, or murder?"

A single hollow knock followed his utterance of the third particular.

"Knowing your object, then," continued he, "how can you convey information as to the act, or accusation as to the murderer? These are not circumstances on which simple assent is sufficient evidence; because it would be illegal to rehearse either the means, or the parties, which suspicion and previous knowledge might point out as the probable instruments."

Loud and repeated scratchings followed these remarks.

"Gentlemen," resumed the great moralist, undismayed by such symptoms of displeasure, "here is too much to be taken upon trust, and too much to be supplied for the pretended spirit, since it has only to assent, to deny, or to object, as though the powers of an enfranchised soul were confined within narrower bounds than those of the grossest corporeity."

"But, Sir," said another of the visitors, "may not spirits be limited at the Creator's pleasure to answer only in a particular manner, and on a particular subject?"

"If you admit their ministration at all, Sir,” replied Johnson, "doubtless they may---provided that the restraint be sufficient for the end for which they are affirmed to be sent. But here the means are incomplete; and the limitation is rather the capricious restrictions of a romancer, than the high commands of Omnipotence, for the abstrusest ways of Providence are always perfect."

"You won't deny, however, Sir," rejoined the same person, "that the Ghost must have been well acquainted with family concerns, and that it has informed us of a matter which nobody knew till it was thus revealed."

"Sir," said the Author of Rasselas, his voice and colour rising, "your argument is absolute folly; since at this rate there is not a footman in London who is not quite as well qualified to set up for an accusing spirit. If you reflect on how little has been told us, you see that any of us would have made out a more circumstantial charge; whereas a supernatural impeachment must be minute, clear, and indisputable, or its genuineness must be abandoned.

"In subjects of abstruse speculation, therefore, I make a distinction between things which a man may devise or experience by the mere strength of his knowledge or his imagination, and that which imagination cannot produce. Thus, suppose I should think that I saw a form and heard a voice cry 'Johnson, you are a very wicked fellow, and unless you repent you will certainly be punished!'---my own unworthiness is so deeply impressed upon my mind that I might imagine I thus saw and heard, and therefore I should not believe that an external communication had been made to me.

"But if a form should appear, and a voice should tell me that a particular man had died at a particular place, and at a particular hour, a fact of which I had no apprehension, nor any means of knowing, and this fact, with all its circumstances, should afterwards be unquestionably proved, I should, in that case, be persuaded that I had had supernatural intelligence imparted to me. But here there is neither that minuteness of circumstance, nor is there likely to be the same fulness of proof: and this pseudo-spirit rather resembles an artful accomplice, who must be interrogated into evidence, than an accredited accuser, who makes a voluntary impeachment.”

"Perhaps, gentlemen," said Parsons, for whom this address had by far too much virtue and good sense, "you would better like to be convinced that the Ghost is really present by its telling the number of persons:" and without being asked, thirteen single blows were sounded heavily from the bed's head.

"How many negroes are there ?" demanded a visitor, to which the reply was a single knock, referring to Johnson's black servant, Frank.

"What is the colour of this watch-case ?" asked a Clergyman, holding one in a black shagreen case before the light.

"Ay," said Parsons, "is it gold, silver, blue, green, or black ?" and the last colour was followed by a single knock.

"I can bear this folly no longer, Sir,” said the stentor of literature to Parsons, in a very loud stern voice, at the same time taking up his hat and moving towards the door: "Sir, this exhibition has not only convinced me that there is the most unblushing fraud in this matter, but it also detects in you too irreverent and familiar a treatment of the spirit which you affirm to be here, with the shallowest artifice in displaying it to the public. If I doubted when the subject was serious from the imperfection of the communication, think you that a contemptible exhibition of mere animal sagacity would remove that dubiosity? The trick has been scarcely worthy of Bartholomew Fair, where an ingenious dog or a well-taught swine would as far have outdone this percutient ⊕ percutient: having the power of striking or hitting puppet, as the copious eloquence of an Athenian orator would surpass the infructiferous [unfruitful] babblings of an idiot."

"Sir," he continued, going up to Mr. Stiff a second time, “I shall be glad to shake you by the hand again; you are a man of worth and wisdom, and I meet with too many fools to slight any such. My residence is in the Inner Temple Lane. Good night, Sir. Come, Frank, we'll be gone."

He then strode out of the house, and, notwithstanding all the solicitations of Parsons, Mr. Stiff and the other visitors soon followed him.

But though the Philosopher was more than ever convinced of the utter improbability of supernatural visitations, yet their nocturnal indications did not cease in his own dwelling.

They were, however, principally heard around the chamber of Clara Fortescue, the most intelligent and sensitive being in the house, who was also continually harassed with the thousand terrific stories which every day was bringing forth of the phantom in her vicinity, until her youth began to fade, her health to droop, and her naturally high spirits to be broken down, under one of the most fatal diseases which ever preyed upon the human heart: the terror excited by a supposed supernatural influence. This painful situation, too, was also rendered yet worse by Mrs. Webber, who acted as interpreter-general between the phantom and the household; since she stated that it had declared itself to be the spirit of the late Major Fortescue; that his daughter had been poisoned in France; and that the supposed Clara was illegitimate, and had been brought up as a substitute by the family to which she was entrusted. In proof of this, it was alleged that her preceptor [tutor] and all persons acquainted with the secret had departed, no one knew whither; and Mrs. Webber produced a golden locket, which Clara acknowledged to have been her father's, containing a miniature of his real daughter, with an inscription in his own hand attesting the likeness, though it certainly had no resemblance to the interesting Ward of Philosopher Stiff.

The compassionate feelings of that excellent man were so animated and excited by this disclosure, that he protested, whether she were Major Fortescue's daughter or not, he would continue to protect her during his life, and provide for her afterwards: and he also added, that he would travel with her to any spot, or institute any enquiry to restore her to health. To this end he had several vain conversations with the Ghost; but the unhappy Clara grew daily more and more a prey to melancholy and fear; she scarcely moved without looking wildly around her, as if for some being whom she was convinced was near, and yet dreaded to behold; whilst her former beauty became wan with grief, and seemed rapidly hastening to a premature decay.

It was soon after Mr. Stiff's visit to Cock Lane, that she one day visited the then famous promenade of the Temple Gardens, but the gay and various groups with which it was occupied failed to entertain her, though she gazed around with wild and restless glances; until, overcome at length by fatigue and sorrow, she sank down upon a bench in a violent hysterical swoon. Though the sympathies of all who saw her were immediately awakened, her situation seemed principally to interest a middle-aged person in a handsome black habit, looking something like a foreign Ecclesiastic. He might long have passed unnoticed in a multitude, for his figure was somewhat under the usual size; but they who once remarked him would not fail to look upon him again, since his countenance had such a beautiful expression of benevolence and simplicity. It was pale, however, to a very unusual degree, though a profusion of brown hair still curled around it. With the most humane attention this person watched over Clara Fortescue, who, on her recovery, began to renew her wild and anxious glances, and addressing her in a voice extremely soft and musical, he said:

"Compose yourself, Lady. You have fainted from weakness and anxiety, and require to be calm. Tell me, is there any one whom you are seeking in these gardens? If there be, and my services can discover--"

"Oh! No, no!" answered Clara with terror, "Would to God that I might never--" but looking as she spake on the face of her protector, her own became suddenly illuminated with joy, and she exclaimed, "Can it be? Father Baptiste Blanchfronte?"

"Such indeed is my name," replied he, "but, Lady, if you have no attendant here, you must permit me instantly to see you to your friends. The night is fast closing in, and chilly dews are already rising from the river: a time unfit for any to be abroad, but especially so for one as delicate and languid as you appear."

"Ay, 'tis true," answered Clara, "and I will place myself under your guidance."

And with a courteous expression of thanks to such as had interested themselves concerning her, she left the gardens with the Ecclesiastic. It was not until they were seated alone in a coach that he would allow his fair charge to proceed in her inquiries; but the worthy Ecclesiastic's story was soon told, as he had only to state that himself and several of his brethren had been ejected from their Convent in Paris in the preceding August, from an erroneous suspicion that the Order of Jesuits held disaffected principles.

"Our support being thus gone," continued he, "I came to England to exert the talents with which God hath entrusted me for my daily subsistence; and am now known only as a teacher of languages; since the Priests of our Faith, and especially those of my Order, are universally suspected and reviled for the folly and ambition of such as are unworthy of bearing our blessed title."

It was not possible for Clara Fortescue to have met with any person whose advice and assistance could have been so important to her, as those of this excellent Priest. Long attached to her family, and consulted in all their affairs, he possessed the certificates of her birth, and first admission into the visible Christian Church by Baptism, and the Holy Communion; and he had also been her wise preceptor in human learning in Paris. He heard her extraordinary story with the glow of virtuous resentment, and in replying to it he said:

"It is not enough that I can prove your identity beyond the shadow of a doubt, we must do more, and give up to the world's infamy those who have coined these detestable falsities, and have dared to mock the attributes and office of a disembodied spirit!"

The residence of the Abbé Blanchfronte was an inferior lodging in Cock Lane, where he was continually wearied with fresh repetitions of the frauds of Parsons and his daughter, though he possessed not the means of publicly exposing them. After this interview with Clara, however, he tenderly bade her support her spirits but a few hours longer, and then retiring to his apartment drew up a short account of her story with all those undeniable proofs of which he was in possession.

Whilst he was thus engaged, one of his pupils, who had frequently experienced his worth and wisdom, called upon him on behalf of the person whom the phantom of Cock Lane charged with an improbable murder,⊕ Parsons and his daughter claimed that the ghost was Fanny Kent, the common law wife of William Kent. According to them, Fanny's ghost had accused Kent of poisoning her. and requested the Abbé to visit Ptolemy Horoscope, the Astrologer of Little Britain, and consult him as to the discovery of the fraud and its author. The general belief in Judicial Astrology, which remarkably characterised this and the preceding century, induced the pious Abbé readily to adopt this plan as the surest, and, perhaps, only means of procuring the most authentic information, both on that case in which he was especially interested, and on that which then occupied the attention of half London.

Upon his arrival in Little Britain, the Abbé was received by Parable, to whom the events in Cock Lane had furnished such continual employment, that he could scarcely think or speak of any thing else; which, however, did not greatly tend to improve the ordinary weakness of his intellect. "Salvo, Doctor!" said the erudite Serving-man, looking at Blanchfronte's clerical habit, "Do'ee come from exercising the Ghost in Cock Lane this morning, that 'ee knock so early?”

"Nay, friend," answered the Jesuit, "I leave the exercising of the Ghost, as you shrewdly term it, to the fraudful individuals who first devised it: my concerns are with the learned Ptolemy Horoscope."

"He will talk to'ee anonymously,” replied Parable, “but first I would be glad to confer with 'ee touching the spiritualities of Cock Lane."

"I pray you," returned the Abbé, “forthwith to let me see thy master; mine affairs are of too high moment to brook aught of delay, or to give place to the discussion of---"

"An imposture with a fool!" said Horoscope gravely walking out of his study, and looking sternly at Parable, "How often am I to admonish you against this folly? Will nothing teach thee wisdom short of utter destruction?---Enter, Sir," he continued, addressing Blanchfronte, "and mark him not. The infatuation of ghost-seeing may well be expected in the mind of an idiot, since it has beclouded the acutest intellects of our City."

"You hold the visitation of Cock Lane, then, to be but a deception?" said Blanchfronte, following Horoscope into his study.

"Can I do otherwise?" returned the Astrologer; "Does the Almighty make use of such low and grovelling agencies to fulfil the secret designs of his providence? 'Twere blasphemy to think it. Christians in common hold that spirits may be permitted to rise from the grave, but then it is for some great and momentous end; and they come enwrapped in that solemn dread with which death has invested them, never failing to execute that for which the King of all things has summoned them forth. But for these impious framers of contemptible mockeries to assume such a power!---Let them look to it; discovery and disgrace shall yet certainly pursue them, and perchance even the terrors of the grave shall not be tempted in vain!"

"I could not more forcibly have expressed my own thoughts," replied the Abbé, "and it was even on this very subject that I have sought your aid. In more than one instance, the living have been calumniated [slandered] and oppressed by these pretended messengers from the dead; and my demands are: whether they be not impostors? Their charges false? By whom they have been devised? And by what means they may be discovered? I know that gold can have no influence over knowledge such as this, but gratitude shall recompense whatever wisdom unfolds."

"The questions which you have now put to me," said Horoscope, "are some of the most melancholy in the whole circle of Judicial Astrology; and however private they may be in themselves, they involve nothing less than the present and future tranquillity of this wide metropolis. And now I hasten to prove my skill upon them, erecting a figure from the moment when you pronounced them, since the Horary Question is the birth of the mind. I doubt not your anxiety, I doubt not your sincerity, and whatever the stars may declare, doubt not you but it shall come to pass."

The Astrologer then turned him to his sphere, and was almost immediately enwrapped in erecting and contemplating his client's figure; whilst Blanchfronte, folding his arms, awaited in silence his farther communications.

Whilst Horoscope was employed upon the figure, the emotions which it excited were all exhibited on his visage, like the varying gestures of Alexander beneath the influence of music. In the commencement a frequent sigh burst from him; then a smile tinctured with contempt passed across his face; but as he concluded, an expression of dread, blended with pious wonder, overspread his countenance, and seemed for some seconds to render him motionless.

"Fiat voluntas tua!"⊕ Fiat voluntas tua!: Thy will be done! at length exclaimed Horoscope in a low voice, bowing his head, "It is in truth a just retribution for the assumption of incorporeal power; and the Ruler of spirits will not be mocked in vain.”

"Amen! Gloria in excelsis Deo!"⊕ Gloria in excelsis Deo!: Glory to God in the highest! responded Blanchfronte; "And now, tell me, venerable man, what thou hast seen of futurity, for thy looks have been those of one who contemplates things far beyond mortality."

"You are right," said Horoscope, casting his eyes again upon the figure which he had erected, “I have seen triumph for the calumniated, exposure for the fraudful, and the most dreadful retribution on those who devise evil against the orphan. This question, then, is of the Twelfth House, to which belong all enquiries concerning witchcraft and spirits; and it refers also to every kind of affliction, secret enemies, anxiety, and suffering: whence it is sometimes called the Joy of Saturn, who is the parent of malignity. Mercury being posited in this House, indicates very fraudulent enemies; though, not being a superior Planet, their power will be limited, and the Moon being afflicted in the Sixth House, shews that they are servants, or inferior persons. The Lord of the Tenth House being dominant in the Twelfth, foreshews their approaching imprisonment and disgrace: but this is greatly increased by the Lord of the Eighth House being seated in the Seventh, which implies a sudden and violent retribution upon one of them, which, perhaps, will be effected in a preternatural manner."

"Almighty Providence!" exclaimed Blanchfronte, "and when may this be looked for?"

"Before the next sunrise, as I deem it," replied the Astrologer, "since the significator of the event is almost lost in the fire of the star which it approaches. I find in this Horoscope two persons indicated as the calumniated parties; one of whom appears to be a female orphan, blessed with every endowment of body and mind, under the care of a prudent and virtuous guardian. As the whole of this figure is expressive of sincerity, I regard not the significator of my Querent; though it seems to import a virtuous scholar and Divine, of some rank, under the cloud of exile; but this I do not look upon, since curiosity befits not him to whom secret things are voluntarily unfolded."

"Hitherto, then, you have spoken truly," said the Abbé, "but now, most learned Ptolemy, I would ask one question more. What should be done to bring these deceptions to an end, and their fraudulent contrivers to exposure?"

"Keep your eyes upon the coming month," answered Horoscope, "for all that concerns the deceptions of Cock Lane will forthwith be concluded, by removing to a distant dwelling that child whom the spirit is said to possess; and there, wanting her ordinary instruments, the counterfeit will speedily be discovered.^[1] It is true that new arts may be subsequently practised, but they shall fall at once and for ever!

"The power of man will have but little to do with unveiling of the other impostor, since Heaven hath reserved that to itself. Be you present, however, with all the parties concerned, at the next pretended visit of the spirit, and when the mockery of an unquiet ghost shall have begun, openly declare it to be a deception. Command the impostor as she values her own soul to cease and to acknowledge the fraud, and if this adjuration fail, commit the issue to God!"

"Be it so," said the Abbé, rising. "I feel convinced that your words are the words of truth; and this gold, with which I am commissioned to present you, were but a poor requital for such penetrating wisdom, if that wisdom could be either sold or bought. Farewell, my learned friend, and I trust that we shall meet again."

Blanchfronte then took up the figure which Horoscope had drawn out, and left the house of the Astrologer.

On the Abbé's arrival at Snow Hill, Clara introduced him to Mr. Stiff, who, though a remarkably placid man, was nearly ready to embrace him for the power he possessed to vindicate his Ward. The Astrologer's directions, however, and their own prudence were such, that all proceedings were suspended till the evening; and when the nocturnal disturbance had commenced, the Jesuit was introduced as a Clergyman who wished to be a witness of the supernatural visitation. The whole party was then introduced into an anti-room where the spirit was particularly restless.

Mrs. Webber was demure, Clara was anxious, Blanchfronte was solemn, Philosopher Stiff was in an uneasy calm, and Gulp, who crept in behind, was all eyes and ears, though he was almost afraid either to see or hear. It was night, the room was lighted up, and the lustre fell chiefly upon a large pier-glass,⊕ pier glass: A tall, narrow mirror, usually set between two windows, above a small table. which hung between the windows next the street, near which were seated the principal persons, whilst Mrs. Webber stood opposite to it, and acted as interpreter between the ghost and the party. The spirit and its mission having been announced by knocking, it began to grow particularly loud and clamorous; when Mrs. Webber stated that it always fled with a loud cry at hearing the commencement of St. John's Gospel. Whereupon Blanchfronte, in a clear and solemn voice, began to recite the Greek text of that Evangelist,

"EN ARCHE EN O LOGOS, KAI O LOGOS EN PROS TON THEON, KAI THEOS EN O LOGOS."
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He paused for a moment, but his citation had no effect, and the noise continued even with redoubled violence.

"Your Reverence must conjure the ghost in English, before it will speak," said Mrs. Webber.

"No, woman," began Blanchfronte in a stern voice, "it is you whom I will adjure; for if there were no other proof of fraud, this is one, since your feigned spirit started not even at the spell which lays it, because pronounced in the original tongue. But listen farther, woman, and if thou can'st repent, and own the fraud, do it at once, and save thy soul and body. See, here are the certificates of this lady's birth and baptism, of which I am the living witness: from my hands she received the consecrated wafer, and from my lips her instruction."

"No doubt, your Reverence," replied the hypocritical Mrs. Webber, "but what is this to me? Since I would not hurt a hair of her head for a golden mine. But one must speak, when one's rest is disturbed by terrible sounds, for the ghost has declared he will not quit the house till all be righted."

"Which," said Stiff, "I will this night see done before I sleep; therefore, Mistress Webber, since there can be nothing preternatural in all this, own that the fraud has been yours, and depart my house in safety with all your property. Continue to deny it, and your next remove shall be to a place of security: officers are already in attendance."

"Oh !" exclaimed Mrs. Webber, evading the proposal, "I'll go, and be glad enough too; but I can't help it if the young lady is a natural daughter."⊕ a natural daughter: an illegitimate daughter

"Now," said Blanchefronte, "I have done. She will not confess, and I commit the issue unto God!"

"Oh! my father!" said Clara in agony, "Oh! That you could pity and protect your child! Ha!" continued she, pointing to the glass, "See! He is there! He is there!"

And she sank down before it in an attitude of pious veneration. Every one as she spoke looked to the mirror, though to their eyes nothing unusual was visible; but when Mrs. Webber glanced at it, she gave a loud cry and fell senseless on the floor. It was afterwards discovered that the glassy surface had for a moment disappeared and displayed the interior of a tent, wherein a British officer, pale and wounded, seemed to stretch out his arms over Clara. Mrs. Webber, in the greatest terror at the sight of the real spirit whose visitations she had feigned, lost her reason, and never afterwards recovered it.

For the gratification of those who like to know all, or rather more than all a historian can tell, I must add that Philosopher Stiff soon after quitted the Golden Griffin and Tezel; which, upon being taken down, made a full discovery of Mrs. Webber's contrivances to produce the noises of a haunted house. The old Citizen retired to the country, where the purer air and the Abbé's society restored Clara's tranquillity and health, though her former lively spirits never returned again. Mrs. Webber is said to have died in Bethlehem Hospital, and those who might be inclined to smile at the first dawnings of her ambition, will certainly not palliate her latter crimes, or think that the destruction of an innocent creature's happiness was avenged with too heavy a retribution. The subject of ghost-seeing soon began to decline in London, as the Cock Lane spirit was shortly afterwards proved to be an impostor, by the very time and means which Ptolemy Horoscope had predicted. Master Anthony Gulp, however, could not be persuaded but what there must have been some virtue in his magic money, since he often gravely declared that he carried five shillings of it in his purse for more than twenty years, and never once found himself in want of a crown!⊕ Margin notes and inline annotations by Nina Zumel. The footnote is part of the original text.

List of Selected Stories from Tales of An Antiquary, Volume 3