Part 1 (1/2)

Adventurings in the Psychical

by H Addington Bruce

PREFACE

The present volume is somewhat in the nature of a sequel to ”The Riddle of Personality,” published six years ago In that book I reviewed the results of ical research in the really supernors on the proble this special purpose in mind, it was inadvisable to attempt any topical and detailed treatation Such a ht have added to the interest of the book, would inevitably have obscured its e to the reader

Noever, I have undertaken this very thing, in the hope both of reinforcing the view of personality set forth in the earlier work, and of contributing soress science isin the naturalization of the supernatural, to borrow Mr Frank Pod out the exceedingly practical character of many of the discoveries made by those scientists who, despite the often conteues, have valiantly persisted in their adventurings in the psychical The world has undoubtedly been the gainer, and richly the gainer, by their labors; and it surely is orth while to survey in some detail the field they have explored and the results of their explorations

H ADDINGTON BRUCE

CAMBRIDGE, MassACHUSETTS, February, 1914

CHAPTER I

GHOSTS AND THEIR MEANING

A witty Frenchwohosts

”No, not at all,” was her reply ”But I am terribly afraid of thehosts, though few are candid enough to acknowledge it In broad daylight, or when seated before a cheery fire aenial friends, it is easy to be skeptical, and to regard ghosts as ination, superstition, credulity, hysteria, or indigestion But it is notorious that even the most skeptical are liable to creepy sensations and sohts or sounds in the darkness of the night, or in lonely, uninhabited places

Churchyards have never been popular resorts of those who go for a stroll in the cool of the evening And let a house once get the reputation of being ”haunted,” it is next to impossible to find tenants for it

Yet this al

There is no reason for being afraid of ghosts, and there arein thehosts are real ghosts There are plenty of bogus ghosts, and there alill be, as long as men eat and drink too much, play practical jokes on one another, and allow their houses to becole rat, scaht over the loose planks of an old attic, has often been quite sufficient to produce a counterfeit ”poltergeist,” or troublesohly i froentle ho world of ours, have to be pretty sharply scrutinized

And the point is that, after centuries of contelect, they have at last been ation by men and women competent for the task--persons trained in the cautiousupon the strictest evidential standards, but devoid of prejudice or prepossession Their researches are still in progress, but they have already dehosts there are perfectly authentic apparitions, displaying credentials too convincing to be denied

What is still ists--especially of those enrolled in the falish Society for Psychical Research--have also resulted in throwing hosts

Usually, it seehost is seen or heard but once or twice, and then, having accomplished its purpose, it departs to return no more

But there are plenty of well-attested cases in which a ghost attaches itself to a house or fa for years, sometimes for centuries

Take, for example, an experience that befell Miss Goodrich-Freer, at the time a most active member of the Society for Psychical Research, in Ha is unquestionably one of the most famous of all haunted houses It dates back to the ti to tradition is haunted by several ghosts, notably the ghosts of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII's third queen; Catharine Howard, whose spirit is said to go shrieking along the gallery where she vainly begged brutal King Henry to spare her life; and Sybil Penn, King Edward VI's foster- that passed for it--has been heard, once by Lady Eastlake, and once by Mrs Cavendish Boyle The latter was sleeping in an apart been unoccupied and used only as a storeroom for old pictures--when she was suddenly awakened by a loud andfrom that quarter, followed immediately by perfect silence Lady Eastlake's experience was exactly similar

Both ladies, of course, htmare-tormented occupant of the palace But no explanation of this sort is adequate in the case of Miss Goodrich-Freer, who passed a night at Ha whether or not there was any foundation for its ghostly legends

The rooil was one especially reputed to be haunted, and opened into a second roo blocked by a heavy piece of furniture Thus the only means of entrance into her room was by a door from the corridor, and this she locked and bolted After which, feeling confident that nothing but a real ghost could get in to trouble her, she settled down to read an essay on ”Shall We Degrade Our Standard of Value?” a subject manifestly free from matters likely to occasion nervousness

In fact, the essay was so dull that by half past one Miss Goodrich-Freer, not able to keep awake longer, undressed, dropped into bed, and was almost instantly asleep Several hours later she was aroused by a noise as of so the furniture-barricaded door