The Wildfire Club - The Emma Hardinge Britten Archive

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OR THE SPIRIT BRIDE. 47
tales of his intercourse with invisible beings, would beseech
his intercession with the "demons of the storm."
or threaten him, like Jonah, to be cast into the sea.
Fondly we linger over the old sailor's magic life, with
the angel-voice and the spirit-air ever around him, with
the hands of the Immortal wreathing the blossoJD.8 of
eternity around his yet mortal footsteps, and breathing
the fragrance of celestial bowers into the murky atmosphere
of his toilsome life. Toilsome, did we say? Life
has been a very blessed boon to him. The darkest shades
, that ever obscured the vision of humanity have glowed for
him with the sunlight of heaven; for heaven within his
soul has never faded away since the hour when the brightest
of her ministering spirits descended to tell the desolate
sailor-boy that heaven was the inheritance of man,
the goal of life. and had its locality within the depths of
a pure and si,nless spirit.
Reader, this is the history of a monomaniac. If an
English jury had been called to decide upon what topic
Tom Martin was actually mad, they would have been at
a very considerable loss. Still he was a "monomaniac."
the proofs whereof being, that he was considerably better
informed, purer in morals, kinder in disposition, more
refined in habits. more choice in language, more pious,
honest, and intelligent than most of his other fellowcreatures;
and that he, the said Tom Martin, being
unable to account for the possession of these remarkable
attributes in a poor, ignorant, unlearned, friendless sailor,
otherwifle than upon the teaching of " a spirit." the said
Tom was conceived to be feloniously endued with illegitimate
knowledge; and yet, not being within the pale
of the law, he must necessarily be "a monomaniac" !
If more proof were wanting, he could unerringly predict