SPIRITISM.

NZ Truth, Issue 104, 15 June 1907, Page 8

SPIRITISM.

A HAUNTED PALACE.

The Prince and the Ghost

k Most Dreadful and Hideous Vision.

no. m.

Our readers will perhaps remember that, some months ago, an article by Professor Loinboso giving the results of his inquiries into the phenomena occurring m certain Italian houses alleged to be haunted was published in ' many newspapers and periodicals. In this issue, we reproduce from the "Annals of Psychical Science" an account of the haunting of a Florentine palace. The article is by. Mrs Helen Maclean :— .

THE HAUNTED PALACE.

In view of the fact that certain unauthorised and ' wholly inaccurate versions of the incidents below have been already published, I consider it advisable to set forth m due sequence the events as they actually occurred); m order, .that .those who take an intelligent interest m such phenomena may have a trustworthy and - authentic account at first hand, and be able to form a judgment, whether favorable or not, as regards the interpretation of the facts, based upon an unimpeachable narration of the facts themselves. On a certain winter evening, at the end of tlie nineties, Prince Nicolas Bagration, of Troubnikoff Bor, Rus r sia, accompanied me to a concert. The music being indifferently performed, we left, early, and returned 16 liiy apartment, which was situated on the second floor of an old palaz•io dating from the fourteenth century, m the Via del Bardi, Florence. On entering the drawing-room the Prince suddenly remarked, "Why this room is FULL OF ! Don't you notice it ?" "Yes," I replied, "I have always •' felt it, and whenever I want" to ' practice after, 11 at. night I am invariably, driven away. Suppose we put our hands on the table and see what will come of it ?" The suggestion was agreed to, and we took our places accordingly; The first communication we received was from an entity who gave the name of Rosie Mortimer, and I entirely failed to remember anything; about such a person until she reminded me of certain curious circumstances, that need not begone into here, 'under which I had visited her years 'before upon her death-bed. She then offered to tell me anything I wished to know, and I thereuponasked her ABOUT THE SPIRITS that seemed to infest the house. "If you want to know about the murder)" phe replied, "I will call the Cardinal."- The table became still. Then it. began- to move again, but 1 m a totally different manner, twice tracing, -.the- sign of the Cross, and rapped out : > ■ ', "I, am Niccolo Ridolfi dei Tolomei. My church name was Formosus. I was twice Archbishop of Florence." "That is nonsense," said Prince Nicolas. "Nobody was » ever twice Archbishop there." ' ... "You do, not believe me," replied the Cardinal. "Go to the Archbishop's Palace and see for youself. The Archbishop is rough and stupid, and will not show you the a chives ; you must fee the servant. And now I will go away." THAT ENDED THE SEANCE. But next day Prince , Nicolas went to the Palace, when everything fell out exactly as the Cardinal had foretold. The Cardinal-Archbishop Bausa would not assist him, 'so he feed Ih-s servant and got what he desired.. , The fact was established that Ridolfi had . been- Archbishop of Florence first in 1515 under Leo X., that he had been forced into, exile during a political upheaval, and that he was reinstated' in his office m 1532. . For several nights the conversation with the Cardinal was continued, a third person, whom I will call Mr. H — — , taking down the letters as they were rapped out. The Cardinal, told us that a murder had been committed m the palace m 1472 ; the murderer's name he refused to give, but the victim was one Luigi Baldi, his- page, and the lover of his wife; but the body was buried where the murder took plaoe, m what is now the hall. The FACT OF THE MURDER came, to the Cardinal's knowledge under the seal of confession long; after, and it was of particular interest to him, as the murdered youth was his son. ''You wicked old man," here interrupted H . "I mean my son m the church," explained the Cardinal. ''Four people , are still unhappy— myself, the murderer, the, wife and the victim, whose bones are lying m an uncorisecrated place." . ' • ; „,' He then " went ( on to tell us that, m former days the palace belonged to a family named Ilarione, and that then it was arranged qfciite differently— statements corroborated by the present owner. The body, he said, was 'hidden under theston-es of the hall, between the window and' v the door leading to the corridor, and added that none of them would . be . happy until a service for the remission of sins had toeen performed by a priest. As the proprietor refused to have the. tiles removed, so- that the BODY COULD BE PROPERLY BURIED, a service on the spot would do as well. ! We then asked about the nature of the sufferings endured by the parties to the crime, and lie replied Uiat they consisted m the murderer . being compelled, as a punishment, to repeat the deed every evening between 11 o'clock and midnight. We immediately inquired whether it would be possible to see the murder, and the table did. not move. I then suggested—it being Thursday— that Prince Nicolas . and Mr II should come and dine with me on the following Saturday- The table rapped put, "Do so ; we will do our best." On Saturday evening Mr H arrived first, saying that ihc Prince

had been m town all day, but would come m a few minutes. Soon afterwards he came -m, looking very white. He said he was glad to ihave got liere, for A STRANGE THING had happened to him during the afternoon. He had been paying one or two visits, and had • gone to see a lawyer, and whenever he came out of a hoUse or a shop, there was waiting outside a Franciscan monk, who stared at him . with: large hard eyes. The . ruonlc had a hooked nose, and always kept on Q hand cover ingthe lower part c£ hi;; face. •He followed the Prince wherever he went, and when ai/Jast ho a; lived at ttc Piazza d'Ognissditi; where he had to meet a fria il, the monk vcas standing m iho doorway o; the monasiery. Prince Nicolas asked his friend if he did not see ham too, and the latter said no, he saw nothing. Then for the first time the, Prince thought it must be a spirit. He went on to say that he was feeling very unwell, and complained of pains m the palms of his hands and m his legs. At dinner Jie asked if he might lie down on the sofa, as he felt very sleepy.; "No," 1 said, . "DON'T GO TO SLEEP. Remember, that we are\ going into the hall to-night, and: I want to ask the Cardinal first what we' are to 'do-" So very sleepily he put his bands upon the table. . Our .summons , was promptly answered by Rosie Mortimer, who gaVe us a message from the Cardinal to say that he couldn't come. "But why not?" I asked m, surprise." "He has always come to us before." "He has drawn substance from the Russian," she replied. "To-ni#it the Russian must sleep, and you must see the murder through him/ It was the Cardinal who was with him today, as he wished to make him familiar with his appearance. He procured the Franciscan rote from a lay brother who had died at Ognd'tsanti. But he failed to, get sufficient substance for the lower part of his face, and that is why he kept it always covered." The Prince did not seem to like 1 all this. "No wonder I FEEL SO QUEER," he .said. ''Well, I suppose I must go into a trance." I Thereupon I asked Rosie hojv I was to wake him if he slept. -I'Wave a handkerchief m front of his face," 'she .replied., At a little before 11 we went into the hall. We had a. lamp, and the Prince Pat on a sofa, where we could see the corner m which Luigi Baldi was murdered. As the clock struck the 'hour I said to him, "Now you have to go to sleep." He, Was asleep m: a second. Then he got up and walked to a chair, drew another towards him, and sat as if m- conversation with some one. He then knelt down, before the chair, rose, crossed himself, and looked towards the corner, trying, apparently to get there, but not being able. He groaned: ami soi/oed, and I saw the tears rolling down his 1 face as though m agony. At last, .in one bound he reached the corner ; stooped down, still sobbing/ At last m one bound he reached the corner ; stooped down, still sobbing, and seemed to lift something heavy, looking meanwhile at his right armThen he appeared to put the weight down, gazed up and all round .the hall, walked back to his chair, 'and stretched his legs out straight m front of him. I waved the handkerchief m front of his face, and -he awoke, crying, ''Take me away!, I have seen N ' THE MOST AWFUL' ;. THINGI ever witnessed m my life..:" ■ The following account of his vision, was dictated by him to me . word for word as it , stands here :— "I saw first a' man dressed .m a long dark robe, with a small dark skull cap on his head, very piercing eyes, and a rather lare^ nose He was clean-&ha>ven, and looked like a .priest. He had a. touch, of red near the throat, small all down Ms robe, a ring, and a ; cross hanging from a chain round his neck. ; He was sitting on a chair. I approaohed him : and 1 knelt down, while he laid his hand on my head and blessed me. Then he held my arm and told me not to move away from him. Immediately afterwards I saw ■the tapestry moved from the door, and a man go behind it ; but what age he was or what he was like I could not see, except that he was dressed m dark clothes. Moonlight was streaming m at the window. Then the door opened again, and I saw :?' "-■'■ - . -. A DARK-HAIRED WOMAN m a, white flowiirg dress, with short sleeves, run m. Her face looked as though she had 'been crying, and I thought I heard her scream. She ran through another door facing the first one. Following her came a youth, also, running. He was dressed m trunk hose, one striped red and the . other, blue, a white ■ shirt all puffed coming from under his laced waistcoat, and puffed lace sleeves. He had a pleasant expression, and his fair hair was cut straight over the forehead. He looked very young. When he entered the figure behind i the tapestry pulled out a dagger and stabbed him m Hie back between the shoulders. The boy. fell down m a heap and the figure of the murderer disappeared. I rushed forward to take his head m my. arms, but I felt that he was quite dead. Then the room seisn>ed to fill with people, and somebody— l don't know who— said, 'It is half-confessed and halffOPgiiven.' At this juncture I awoke, and for several days afterwards I seemed to feel the .GRIP OF THE, CARDINAL' on my arm. In him, tqo,. I recognised the person who had followed me m the street." The floor through which the woman passed was one of which we did not know, the existence until the present

owner of the palace told us he had walled it up. Tho service of expiation was duly, held, The night 'before this took place [there seemed to be great excitement m the flat, much running aibouit and shuffling of feet, but after the service all was quiet. When it was finished we all laid our. hands on the table and a new spirit came, who said, "I am Ilari one, the murderer. I have come to thank you ;i I am, now forgiven, and am happy.'"- Then another spirit came, wh o said 1 she had 'been maid to Giulia Ilarione, and was m the house when the murder was committed: Among ■ ' .? OTHER HISTORICAL' DETAILS given us by the Cardinal were, that he was buried m Sta. Maria Maggiore. lift Rome, that his life is included by Landini m his "History," that his portrait still exists at No.---17 Via Maggio— a statement verified by Prince Nicolas— and that the Baldi family are buried at Santa Croce m Florence. . He told me to go and see the place. I asked him whether I shoufd apply to the sacristan, and he said, "No ; walk straight up to the 'high altar,, then turn to the left, and there you will find the Baldi stone." I followed his instructions, and found everything just as he Mad said.