Miss Porter might have been in a dream all through the night--granted.
But in these cases it is the "morning that brings counsel." We are all aware of the extraordinary lifelike dreams which, with the return of normal memory, we recognise as dream visions, no matter how vivid and credible they may have appeared to us in the night.
But with Miss Porter this normal process was reversed. She went to sleep quite calmly, and first realised, upon waking in the morning, how thoroughly _abnormal_ her experiences had been.
I pass on to the next criticism, which a little "editing" on my part could have averted:
"Is it credible that a woman, only just recovering from the surprise and marvel of such an experience, should write about it, within a few hours, to a favourite cousin, as if she were preparing a story for _The Family Herald_?"
I confess that this was my own feeling when the record was placed in my hands.
We must, however, remember--first, that the percipient was obviously a lady of great courage, or she would not have followed her ghost into the garden; secondly, that she was a keen observer and very accurate in details. Probably, many generations of schoolboys, passing through her hands, may have quickened her perceptions in both these ways.
As for the stilted style, that presents little difficulty, when one remembers that people of a certain rank in life never use a short word when a long one will answer the purpose!
I claim nothing for the story, beyond the points already mentioned. These are matters of _fact_.
Each one must interpret it according to his own views and prejudices.
It is quite enough for me to be responsible for the truth and accuracy of _my own_ experiences, to which we will now return.
_Note._--Since writing the above I have consulted the "Century Encyclopædia," and find there:
"Oglethorpe--James Edward, born in London, December 21st, 1696, died at Cranham Hall, Essex, England, 1785. An English General and Philanthropist. He projected the Colony of Georgia for insolvent debtors, and persecuted Protestants; conducted the expedition for its settlement, 1733, and returned to England, 1743."
The apparent discrepancy between the date 1733 given in the Encyclopædia, and the 1738 of Captain Carbury's ghostly narrative, may be due to one of two causes: