alarmed, concluding it to be an apparition, and that they had put her in that grand room because it was haunted. And that was really the case.

For some long time past the room had been so disturbed that nobody could sleep in it peaceably, and as she passed for a very serious woman, the servants conceived the fine project of putting the poor Methodist and the spirit together, in order to see what the result would be.

Startled at the thought that it was an apparition she had seen, the woman rose from her chair, and kneeling down by the bedside, began saying her prayers. Whilst she was praying the apparition came in again, walked round the room, and came close behind her. She now endeavoured to speak, but when she attempted it she was so agitated that she could not utter a word. The apparition walked out of the room again, pulling the door after it as it had done before. She begged that God would strengthen her, and not suffer her to be tried beyond what she was able to bear; she now recovered. her spirits somewhat, and thought she felt more confidence and resolution, and determined if it came in again she would speak to it if possible. Presently it came in again, walked round the room, and came behind her as before. She turned her head and said,

66

'Pray, Sir, who are you, and what do you want?" It lifted its finger, and said,

"Take up

you."

the candle and follow me, and I will tell

She got up, took up the candle, and followed it out.

of the room. It led her through a long boarded passage till they got to the door of another room, which it opened and went into. It was a very small room, or what might be called a large closet.

66 As the room was small, and I believed him to be a spirit," said she, in her recital of the affair, "I stopped at the door; he turned and said,—

"Walk in; I will not hurt you.' "So I walked in. Then he said,"Observe what I do.'

"I said, 'I will.'

"He stooped and tore up one of the boards of the floor, and there appeared under it a box with an iron handle in the lid. He said,

"He then stepped to one side of the room, and showed me a crevice in the wall, where he said a key was hid that would open it. He said,—

“This box and key must be taken out and sent to the Earl in London'; naming the Earl and his place of residence in the metropolis. He said,

"Will you see it done?'

"I said, 'I will do my best to get it done.'

"He said, 'Do, and I will trouble the house no more.'”

It then walked out of the room and left her. As soon as the woman saw that the apparition had departed, she went to the room-door and set up a loud shout. The steward and his wife, together with all the

other servants, ran to her immediately; they were all clinging to one another and carrying lights. It seems that they had all been waiting to see the issue of the interview between the woman and the apparition. They asked her what was the matter. She then told them all that had taken place, and showed them the box. The steward dare not meddle with it, but his wife was of a more courageous temperament, and with the assistance of the other servants, tugged it out, and found the key in the place indicated by the apparition. The woman stated that, by the way in which they lifted it, it appeared to be pretty heavy, but that she did not see it opened, and, therefore, did not know what it contained; whether money or writings of importance to the family, or both. The servants took it away with them, and the woman averred that she then went to bed and slept peaceably till the morning.

It appeared, from what was subsequently learnt, that the box and its contents were sent to the Earl in London, together with an account of how it was discovered and by whom. The Earl immediately sent down orders to his steward to inform the poor woman, who had been the means of the discovery, that if she would come and reside in his family she should be comfortably provided for for the remainder of her days; or, if she did not care to reside constantly with them, if she would let him know when she wanted assistance, she should be liberally supplied at his lordship's expense as long as she lived.

And according to the account related by Mr. John

Hampson, it was a fact well known in the neighbourhood that the woman had been supplied from the Earl's family ever since the time when the affair was said to have happened.

RAINHAM.

RAINHAM, the seat of the Marquis Townshend, in Norfolk, has long been noted for its ghost known as "the Brown Lady." Mrs. Crowe, and many other writers on apparitions and kindred themes, have alluded to the circumstance of this family residence being haunted by a spectral woman, but their references are very slight and the particulars they give exceedingly meagre. Mrs. Crowe, indeed, mentions that many persons have seen "the Brown Lady," and speaks of a guest who one day inquired of his host, "Who was the lady in brown that he had met frequently on the stairs?" But the most circumstantial account of the appearance of this apparition would appear to be that given by Lucia C. Stone, in Rifts in the Veil. This record she states she received from an eye-witness, and as a proof of its authenticity draws attention to the fact that the names of all parties concerned are given in full. The time of the incidents, however, cannot be given any nearer than between 1835 and 1849.

According to this narrative, a large party had assem

bled at Rainham, in order to pass the Christmas there. Lord and Lady Charles Townshend were the host and hostess on this occasion, and among the assembled guests were Colonel and Mrs. Loftus, and Miss Page, a cousin of the latter. Colonel Loftus was a brother of Lady Charles and cousin to Lord Charles, being a Townshend on his mother's side.

There was a tradition in the Townshend family that at certain intervals the apparition of a lady attired in brown brocade had been seen flitting about the building; but nothing had occurred for some long time past, and the old stories respecting the hauntings had been well-nigh forgotten.

One night Colonel Loftus and a gentleman named Hawkins sat up rather late over a game of chess; they went up-stairs, and were bidding each other "goodnight," when Mr. Hawkins exclaimed, "Loftus, who is that standing at your sister's door? How strangely she is dressed." Colonel Loftus, who was near-sighted, put up his glass and followed the figure, which went on for some little distance, when he lost sight of it. A second night she appeared to him, and this time, to prevent her escape, he went up a staircase which would bring him face to face with her. There, in a full light, brocade, a sort of coif

stood a stately lady in her rich

on her head, the features clearly defined; but where there should have been eyes were nothing but dark hollows.

These were the two appearances he described to me," says Lucia Stone, "and he sketched her after