Missiles thrown by Unseen Hands.
To the Editor of ‘Light’.
Sir, – In connection with the numerous instances of stone-throwing, &c., chronicled in the pages of the Press in various parts of the globe, I may perhaps be allowed to mention an occurrence of the kind in Canada, about 20 years ago, the effects of which were witnessed by me immediately after the event. I was at the time studying at the College of St Michael, on the bank of the River St. Laurence, below Quebec. One day, in the depth of a severe Canadian winter, news came to the college of some supernatural phenomena happening in the house of a family of poor “habitants” about five or six miles away, and on the outskirts of a great forest.
The population of that district – the county of Bellechasse – were principally Roman Catholics, descended from the original French settlers from Normandy, retaining the old Norman customs and dialect, as well as a deeply-rooted belief in supernatural agencies both for good and evil. The events in question were so extraordinary that the college authorities decided upon visiting th etheatre of their occurrence, selecting a number of students to accompany them. I was fortunate to be one of the company.
After a long walk over a country literally buried in snow and ice, we reached the house, finding the inmates, especially the women (two), not quite calmed down from what might be termed, if their looks were to be depended upon, a high state of excitement. They called our attention to the windows, every pane in which was more or less pierced with holes, caused by the knives and forks having been violently snatched from their places by invisible hands and thrown out of the windows. One of the poor women had her dress torn literally to fragments while entering one of the rooms. Two little orphan children were struck from their chairs and thrown to the ground until they had to be removed to a neighbour’s house. The house was, in fact, turned into a perfect pandemonium. After the removal of the children the persecution somewhat abated, and after a visit from the parish priest, a really good Christian man, it stopped altogether.
We afterwards went to a neighbouring house and saw one of the children referred to. The little girl appeared to have been knocked stupid, and a red mark on the side of her face where she had been struck was still visible. This was no conspiracy got up to induce bestowal of charity, and the piercing cold of the night air was not at all a desirable experience for dwellers indoors, even though they were so used to “roughing it” as the poor Canadian settlers.
Yours truly, Hon. Sec. Cardiff Spiritualist Society. Cardiff, April 12th, 1881.
Light, 16th April 1881.