this author , a native of dublin , died in 1873 , but mark how fresh is this language , and how horrifying the expression of the character captain barton in the story called `` the familiar '' : whatever may be my uncertainty as to the authenticity of what we are taught to call revelation , of one fact i am deeply and horribly convinced , that there does exist beyond this a spiritual world - a system whose workings are generally in mercy hidden from us - a system which may be , and which is sometimes , partially and terribly revealed .