The Bell Witch: The Full Account by Pat Fitzhugh Page B

on his way home and played
    all sorts of tricks on the “old fraud.” Several weeks
    later, Mize wrote a letter to the Bells confirming all of
    what the Spirit had told them. Dr. Solomon Mize
    was never seen or heard from again in that part of
    the country.

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    75
    CHAPTER SEVEN
    The Spirit Loved to Gab
    B ESIDES TORMENTING SKEPTICS and
    exposing the truth about so-called “experts”
    like Dr. Mize, the Spirit took pleasure in
    arguing with people about various issues of the day.
    When someone tried to make a point that the Spirit
    disagreed with, it expressed disagreement and
    reminded the person of acts committed in their past
    which would discredit their point. There was no
    pulling the wool over the Spirit’s eyes.
    The Spirit’s favorite topic seemed to be religion, as
    it spent considerable time discussing and arguing
    religious topics with preachers and anyone else who
    would listen. Richard Williams Bell tells of the
    Spirit’s fondness for religion:

    “The first exhibition of a religious nature was the
    assimilation of Mr. James Johnston's character
    and worship, repeating the song and prayer,
    uttering precisely the same petition made by the
    old gentleman the night himself and wife came for

    76 P A T
    F I T Z H U G H
    the purpose of investigation, and the
    impersonation of Mr. Johnston was so perfect that
    it appeared like himself present. It was not
    uncommon after this for the witch to introduce
    worship, by lining a hymn, as was the custom,
    singing it through, and then repeat Mr.
    Johnston's prayer, or the petitions of some one of
    the ministers. It could sing any song in the
    hymnbooks of that time, and quote any passage of
    Scripture in the Bible from Genesis to
    Revelations.
    The propensity for religious discussion was
    strongly manifested, and in quoting Scripture the
    text was invariably correctly cited, and if any one
    misquoted a verse, they would be promptly
    corrected. It could quote Scripture as fast as it
    could talk, one text after another, citing the book,
    chapter, and number of the verse. It was a
    common test to open the Bible at any chapter,
    and call on the Spirit to repeat a certain verse,
    and this was done accurately, as fast as the
    leaves were turned from one chapter of the book
    to another.
    It delighted in taking issue on religious subjects,
    with those well-versed in Scripture, and was sure
    to get the best of the argument, being always
    quick with a passage to sustain its point. This
    manifest knowledge of Scripture on the part of the
    witch was unmistakable, and was the most
    mystifying of all the developments, and strangers
    who came from a long distance were eager to
    engage the seer in religious discussions, and were
    is often confounded; and they were no less
    astounded when the witch would remind them of
    events and circumstances in their history in a
    way that was marvelous.

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    Just here one circumstance I call to mind. The
    discussion had turned on the command against
    covetousness and theft. A man, whose name I
    will call John, put in remarking that he did not
    believe there was any sin in stealing something to
    eat when one was reduced to hunger, and could
    not obtain food for his labor. Instantly the witch
    perniciously inquired of John ‘if he ate that
    sheepskin.’ This settled John. He was dumb as
    an oyster, and as soon as the subject was
    changed he left the company, and was
    conspicuously absent after that. The result was
    the revival of an old scandal, so long past that it
    had been forgotten, in which John was accused of
    stealing a sheepskin.” 17
    Gossip
    The Spirit also enjoyed gossiping about various
    goings-on in the community, most of the time
    embarrassing the people who were involved. The
    Spirit often bragged to Revs. Thomas and James
    Gunn about putting the community on its best
    behavior by publicly telling of people’s personal
    shortcomings such as marital disputes, coming