were summoned into the bedroom by the ladies,
who declared, in great alarm, that the ghost was
come, and that they heard the knocks and
scratches. The gentlemen entered the room,
determined to put the matter to the test of the
strictest inquiry. The girl was asked to put
her hands out of bed, and they being held by
some of the ladies, the ghost was summoned to
announce itself in the usual manner. There
was no reply. It was asked to render itself
visible, but it did not appear. After a long
pause, one of the clergymen went down-stairs
to interrogate the father of the girl. He
positively denied that there had been any deception,
and even went so far as to declare that he
himself upon one occasion had seen and conversed
with the ghost. This having been communicated
to the company, it was unanimously
resolved to give the ghost another trial. A
clergyman called out in a loud voice to the
spirit that the gentleman to whom it had
promised to appear in the vault was about to repair
to that place, where he claimed the fulfilment of
its promise. Shortly after midnight they all
proceeded to the church, and two gentlemen
entered the vault, and took up their position by
the side of Fanny's coffin. The ghost was
summoned to appear, to knock, to scratch, or to
give any other indication of its presence; but it
made no sign. Nothing was seen, nothing was
heard, and the two gentlemen retired from the
vault, perfectly satisfied that the whole business
was a deception practised by Parsons and his
daughter. There were others, however, who
did not jump so hastily to a conclusion; and it
was suggested that they were, perhaps, trifling
with this awful being, which, being offended
with them for their presumption, would not
condescend to answer them. This is precisely
what the spirit-rapping mediums allege when
their dodgery is circumvented by the watchfulness
of their sceptical visitors. They say that
there is an evil influence in the room, or that
the spirit is offended.

So many people had by this time openly
expressed belief in the reality of the visitation,
and identified themselves with it, that Parsons
and his family were not the only persons
interested in the continuance of the delusion.
There were many who would not be convinced
by any evidence whatever—as there are now
with regard to Spiritualism—and it was said that
the ghost had not appeared in the vault because
Mr. Kent had taken care beforehand to have
the coffin of Fanny removed. That gentleman
immediately procured credible witnesses, in
whose presence the coffin of Fanny was opened.
Their depositions were published, and Mr. Kent
indicted Parsons, his wife, his daughter, Mary
Frazer, their servant, the Rev. Mr. Moor, and
a tradesman, two of the most prominent
supporters of the deception, for a conspiracy. The
case was tried by Lord Mansfield, and the whole
of the conspirators were found guilty. The Rev.
Mr. Moor and his friend were severely
reprimanded in open court. Parsons was sentenced
to stand in the pillory and to be imprisoned for
two years, his wife for one year, and his servant
for six months in Bridewell. A printer, who
had been employed by them to publish an
account of the proceedings for their profit, was
fined fifty pounds. And thus ended one of the
silliest and clumsiest impostures ever practised
upon the credulity of mankind. The spirit-
rapping of the present day only differs from the
Cock-lane imposture in being more skilfully
performed. But Mr. Parsons himself was only
an imitator; for a rapping ghost had previously
made a great noise in Poland.

Let us glance now at the pretensions of
Joanna Southcott. Joanna was originally a
domestic servant, and at the age of forty she
set up as a prophetess. She wrote and dictated
rhymed prophecies, announcing herself as the
woman spoken of in the twelfth chapter of
Revelation. In a very short time her followers
numbered upwards of a hundred thousand persons.
When she was sixty years of age she gave out that
she was to be delivered of the second Shiloh on
the 19th of October, 1814. Her followers and
disciples stood watching round her door day
and night until the 19th passed away; but Shiloh
did not come, and it was announced to the
multitude that the prophetess had fallen into
a trance. She died the following year, of
dropsy.

One of the most ardent believers in the
pretensions of Joanna Southcott was no less a
person than William Sharp, the celebrated
engraver. He invited her to London, paid all her
expenses, and entertained her at his own house.
Many other persons of "high intellectual
attainments" believed in her. In the British
Museum there are several volumes of tracts
containing her prophecies; they are, for the
most part, doggrel rhymes and "copies of letters
sent to the clergy and inserted in the
newspapers." Joanna, like many others, repudiated
mercenary motives; but she obtained considerable
sums of money by the sale of seals or sealed
packets, which were warranted to secure the
salvation of those who purchased them. On her
telling her followers that she was about to be
delivered of the Prince of Peace, they subscribed
for the purchase of an expensive cradle and rich
clothes for the expected second Shiloh. In a
pamphlet, illustrated by a rough woodcut showing
the dissection of the deceased prophetess's
body, an elaborate account is given of an
operation performed by the surgeons in their
search for traces of the Shiloh who did not
make his appearance. There was nothing to
justify the expectations of Joanna, except an
enlargement of the intestines produced by
flatulency, and a chronic disposition to dropsy.
The pamphlet concludes with these words:
"Thus has finished a delusion which would have
disgraced the most barbarous times; but we
hope that the recorded failure of the bold and
blasphemous predictions of knaves and idiots
may be the means of preventing daring attempts
of a similar description in future." Vain hope!
A score of bold and blasphemous impostures
have arisen since then; and they will never