Mr. Chang, of that ilk (Chang Chang Tien-ts), was a man of fifty-seven, and a graduate in letters.  The ladies of his family having accommodated a demon with a shrine in his house, Mr. Chang said he “would have none of that nonsense”.  The spirit then entered into Mrs. Chang, and the usual fire-raising began all over the place.  The furniture and crockery danced in the familiar way, and objects took to disappearing mysteriously, even when secured under lock and key.  Mr. Chang was as unlucky as Mr. Chin.  At his house “doors would open of their own accord, footfalls were heard, as of persons walking in the house, although no one could be seen.  Plates, bowls and the teapot would suddenly rise from the table into the air.” {233a}

Mrs. Chang now tried the off chance of there being something in Christianity, stayed with a native Christian (the narrator), and felt much better.  She could enjoy her meals, and was quite a new woman.  As her friend could not go home with her, Mrs. Fung, a native Christian, resided for a while at Mr. Chang’s; “comparative quiet was restored,” and Mrs. Fung retired to her family.

The symptoms returned; the native Christian was sent for, and found Mr. Chang’s establishment full of buckets of water for extinguishing the sudden fires.  Mrs. Chang’s daughter-in-law was now possessed, and “drank wine in large quantities, though ordinarily she would not touch it”.  She was staring and tossing her arms wildly; a service was held, and she soon became her usual self.

In the afternoon, when the devils went out of the ladies, the fowls flew into a state of wild excitement, while the swine rushed furiously about and tried to climb a wall.

The family have become Christians, the fires have ceased; Mr. Chang is an earnest inquirer, but opposed, for obvious reasons, to any public profession of our religion. {233b}

In Mr. Niu’s case “strange noises and rappings were frequently heard about the house.  The buildings were also set on fire in different places in some mysterious way.”  The Christians tried to convert Mr. Niu, but as the devil now possessed his female slave, whose success in fortune-telling was extremely lucrative, Mr. Niu said that he preferred to leave well alone, and remained wedded to his idols. {234}

We next offer a recent colonial case, in which the symptoms, as Mr. Pecksniff said, were “chronic”.

THE GREAT AMHERST MYSTERY

On 13th February, 1888, Mr. Walter Hubbell, an actor by profession, “being duly sworn” before a Notary Public in New York, testified to the following story:—­