SPECULATION OX GHOSTS. 423 



' Bedouin !" he called in a voice choked and suffocated " Bedouin, 

 it is finished- I have paid the penalty of crime. The prophet has 

 smitten me by thy accursed hand ! Thou hast broken the sole bond 

 that linked me to a hated life. I have sealed my love for her in the 

 blood of her race ; but she will be dearer to me dead and in the tomb, 

 than living, between thy arms. Listen, Bedouin, to another contract, 

 'tis the last I shall ever have with thee. Restore me the body, which 

 now thou canst not envy me, and take back the palace of which I have 

 paid thee the price ! give me that, and keep the palace and the gold 1" 



SPECULATION ON GHOSTS! 



AVITH THE SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE OF A DREAM.* 



PERHAPS there has never been a subject that has engaged 

 the speculations of philosophers, or furnished so rich a mine for the 

 antiquary, the poet, or the novelist, as that of supernatural agency. 

 It is remarkable with what eagerness and avidity in our own times a 

 tale of mystery and ghostly horror is swallowed, even by those who 

 are fain to take umbrage at the least imputation of aught like super- 

 stition, or a too unphilosophical credulity. The fact is, there is an 

 unwillingness to part with the favourite notions of our ancestors, and 

 a fondly clinging to the legendary remains that gave a pleasing mys- 

 tery, bordering upon terror, to the days of chivalry and romance. 

 There is, moreover, a principle in the human mind for ever restless 

 and unsatisfied with material creation, and a longing, even whilst in 

 this embryo state of existence, to break, as it were, the shell and peep 

 into the invisible world. It is curious and interesting to observe the 

 various hues and shapes in which this superstition has presented itself 

 to our views, according to the condition, character and genius of the 

 nation by which it has been received and upheld. Among the Jews, 

 for instance, there was a vein of rich poetry in certain parts of their 

 theory on supernatural agency, and which seem for the most part to 

 have been encouraged for the purpose of more effectually guarding 

 the law, and preserving with veneration the traditionary doctrines of 

 their wise men. Thus, in the sayings of the sage, Rabbi Joshua Ben 

 Levi, we are told that " every day a voice (or literally a VtpTQ 

 Bath Koel, the daughter of the voice) proceedeth from Mount Horeb, 

 which cryeth out and saith, 'Woe be to those who despise the 

 law !' " In many of their legends there was a feeling displayed bor- 

 dering upon sublimity. The romantic and fanciful Arabian, fertile 

 in the poetry of his ancestors, whose life is one scene of wandering 

 and adventure, enters with a deep feeling into all the mysteries and 

 traditions connected with his people perhaps in no country besides 



* We insert this article, knowing, from the character of the writer and the 

 high respectability of the parties, that the singular circumstance mentioned in 

 the paper are fae's. ED. 



