DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70302#0103
ACCOUNT OF THE COCK LANE GHOST.
85
taken a board to bed with her, impatiently waited for the
appointed hour, when she began to knock and scratch upon
the board : remarking at the same time, what they them-
selves were convinced of, that “ these noises were not like
those which used to be made.” She was then told that she
had taken a board to bed, and on her denying it, was
searched and caught in the lie.
The two gentlemen, who, with the maids, were the
only persons present at this scene, sent to a third gentle-
man, to acquaint him that the whole affair was detected,
and to desire his immediate attendance. He complied
with their request, and brought another along with him.
They all concurred in the opinion that the child had
been frightened into this attempt, by the threats which
had been made the two preceding nights. The master
of the house, and his friend both declared, “ that the
noises the girl had made that morning, had not the least
likeness to the former.” Probably the organs with
which she made those strange noises, were not always in
a proper tone for the purpose, and she imagined she
might be able to supply the place of them by a piece of
board.
At length Mr. Kempe thought proper to vindicate his
character in a legal manner. On the 10th of July Mr. and
Mrs. Parsons, one Mary Fraser, who it appeared acted as
interpreter between the ghost and those who examined
her, the Rev. Mr. Moore, curate of St. Sepulchre’s, and
Mr. James, a tradesman, were tried at Guildhall, before
Lord Mansfield and a special jury, and were convicted
of a conspiracy against the life and character of Mr.
Kempe. The trial lasted twelve hours, but judgment
was respited, as Lord Mansfield wished to take the opinion
of the other judges on this extraordinary case.
The court choosing that Mr. Kempe, who had been so
much
85
taken a board to bed with her, impatiently waited for the
appointed hour, when she began to knock and scratch upon
the board : remarking at the same time, what they them-
selves were convinced of, that “ these noises were not like
those which used to be made.” She was then told that she
had taken a board to bed, and on her denying it, was
searched and caught in the lie.
The two gentlemen, who, with the maids, were the
only persons present at this scene, sent to a third gentle-
man, to acquaint him that the whole affair was detected,
and to desire his immediate attendance. He complied
with their request, and brought another along with him.
They all concurred in the opinion that the child had
been frightened into this attempt, by the threats which
had been made the two preceding nights. The master
of the house, and his friend both declared, “ that the
noises the girl had made that morning, had not the least
likeness to the former.” Probably the organs with
which she made those strange noises, were not always in
a proper tone for the purpose, and she imagined she
might be able to supply the place of them by a piece of
board.
At length Mr. Kempe thought proper to vindicate his
character in a legal manner. On the 10th of July Mr. and
Mrs. Parsons, one Mary Fraser, who it appeared acted as
interpreter between the ghost and those who examined
her, the Rev. Mr. Moore, curate of St. Sepulchre’s, and
Mr. James, a tradesman, were tried at Guildhall, before
Lord Mansfield and a special jury, and were convicted
of a conspiracy against the life and character of Mr.
Kempe. The trial lasted twelve hours, but judgment
was respited, as Lord Mansfield wished to take the opinion
of the other judges on this extraordinary case.
The court choosing that Mr. Kempe, who had been so
much