The night side of nature, or, Ghosts and ghost seers

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GHOSTS AND GHOST SEERS.

CATHERINE CROWE.

AUTHORESS OP

"SUSAN HOPLEY," "LILLY DAWS OX,"
" ARISTODEMUS," Sec. &c.

' Thou cem'st in such a questionable shape,

That I will speak to thee!"

HAMLET.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:
T. C. NEWBY, 72, MORTIMER ST., CAVENDISH S<j.

1848.

LONDON :
MARTIN AND STEPHENS, PRINTERS, 7

THEOBALD'S ROAD.

GREEN STREET,

INDEX.

VOL. I.

Page
I. — Introduction 1

II.— The Dweller in the Temple . . . . 24
III. — Waking and Sleeping, and how the Dweller

in the Temple sometimes looks abroad . 4 1

IV. — Allegorical Dreams, Presentiments, &c. . . 95

V.— Warnings 107

VI. — Double Dreaming and Trance, Wraiths, &c. . 165
VII.— Wraiths . . . . . . .222

VIII. — Doppelgangers, or Doubles . . . . 258

IX.— Apparitions . . ... . .300

X.— The Future that awaits us . . 361

20O401?

PREFACE.

IN my late novel of " Lilly Dawson," I an-
nounced my intention of publishing a work
to be called " The Night Side of Nature ;"
this is it.

The term " Night Side of Nature " I borrow
from the Germans, who derive it from the
astronomers, the latter denominating that side
of a planet which is turned from the sun, its
night side. We are in this condition for a
certain number of hours out of every twenty-
four; and as, during this interval, external
objects loom upon us but strangely and im-
perfectly, the Germans draw a parallel betwixt

vi'ii PREFACE.

If I could only induce a lew capable persons,
instead of laughing at these things, to look at
them, my object would be attained, and I
should think my time well spent.

THE

NIGHT SIDE OF NATURE.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

'; Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ?"

1. Cor., 3c., 16 v.

MOST persons are aware that the Greeks and
Romans entertained certain notions regarding
the state of the soul, or the immortal part of
man, after the death of the body, which have
been generally held to be purely mytho-
logical. Many of them, doubtless, are so;
and of these I am not about to treat ; but
amongst their conceptions, there are some
which, as they coincide with the opinions of
many of the most enlightened persons of the
VOL. i. B

2 INTRODUCTION'.

present age, it may be desirable to consider
more closely. I allude here particularly to
their belief in the tripartite kingdom of the
dead. According to this system, there were
the Elysian fields, a region in which a certain
sort of happiness was enjoyed ; and Tartarus,
the place of punishment for the wicked ; each
of which were, comparatively, but thinly in-
habited. But there was, also, a mid-region,
peopled with innumerable hosts of wandering
and mournful spirits, who, although under-
going no torments, are represented as inces-
santly bewailing their condition, pining for
the life they once enjoyed in the body, longing
jitter the things of the earth, and occupying
themselves with the same pursuits and objects,
as had formerly constituted their business or
their pleasure. Old habits are still dear to
them, and they cannot snap the link that
binds them to the earth.

Now, although we cannot believe in the
existence of Charon, the three-headed dog, or
Alecto, the serpent-haired fury, it may be
worth while to consider whether the per-
suasion of the ancients with regard to that
which concerns us all so nearly, namely, the
destiny that awaits us when we have shaken
off this mortal coil, may not have some foun-

INTRODUCTION. 3

dation in truth : whether it might not be a
remnant of a tradition transmitted from the
earliest inhabitants of the earth, wrested by
observation from nature, if not communicated
from a higher source : and, also, whether cir-
cumstances of constant recurrence in all ages
and in all nations, frequently observed and re-
corded by persons utterly ignorant of classical
lore, and unacquainted, indeed, with the
dogmas of any creed but their own, do not,
as well as various passages in the Scriptures,
afford a striking confirmation of this theory of
a future life ; whilst it, on the other hand, offers
a natural and convenient explanation of their
mystery.

To minds which can admit nothing but what
can be explained and demonstrated, an investi-
gation of this sort must appear perfectly idle ;
for whilst, on the one hand, the most acute
intellect or the most powerful logic can throw
little light on the subject, it is, at the same
time — though I have a confident hope that this
will not always be the case — equally irreducible
within the present bounds of science ; mean-
while, experience, observation, and intuition,
must be our principal, if not our only guides.
Because, in the seventeenth century, credulity
outran reason and discretion ; the eighteenth

4 INTRODUCTION*.

century, by a natural re-action, threw itself
into an opposite extreme. Whoever closely
observes the signs of the times, will be aware
that another change is approaching. The
contemptuous scepticism of the last age is
yielding to a more humble spirit of enquiry ;
and there is a large class of persons amongst
the most enlightened of the present, who are
beginning to believe, that much which they
had been taught to reject as fable, has been, in
reality, ill- understood truth. Somewhat of the
mystery of our own being, and of the mysteries
that compass us about, are beginning to loom
upon us — as yet, it is true, but obscurely; and,in
the endeavour to follow out the clue they offer,
we have but a feeble light to guide us. We
must grope our way through the dim path
before us, ever in danger of being led into error,
whilst we may confidently reckon on being
pursued by the shafts of ridicule — that weapon
so easy to wield, so potent to the weak, so
weak to the wise — which has delayed the
births of so many truths, but never stifled one.
The pharisaical scepticism which denies with-
out investigation, is quite as perilous, and
much more contemptible than the blind cre-
dulity which accepts all that it is taught
without enquiry; it is, indeed, but another

INTRODUCTION. 5

form of ignorance assuming to be knowledge.
And by investigation, I do not mean the hasty,
captious, angry notice of an unwelcome fact,
that too frequently claims the right of pro-
nouncing on a question ; but the slow, modest,
pains-taking examination, that is content to
wait upon nature, and humbly follow out her
disclosures, however opposed to pre-conceived
theories or mortifying to human pride. If
scientific men could but comprehend how they
discredit the science, they really profess, by
their despotic arrogance, and exclusive scep-
ticism, they would surely, for the sake of that
very science they love, affect more liberality
and candour. This reflection, however, natu-
rally suggests another, namely, do they really
love science, or is it not too frequently with
them but the means to an end ? Were the love
of science genuine, I suspect it would produce
very different fruits to that which we see borne
by the tree of knowledge, as it flourishes at
present; and this suspicion is exceedingly
strengthened by the recollection, that amongst
the numerous students and professors of
science I have at different times encountered,
the real worshippers and genuine lovers of it,
for its own sake, have all been men of the most
single, candid, unprejudiced, and enquiring
B 5

C . INTRODUCTION.

minds, willing to listen to all new suggestions,
and investigate all new facts ; not bold and
self-sufficient, but humble and reverent suitors,
aware of their own ignorance and un worthiness,
and that they are yet but in the primer of nature's
works, they do not permit themselves to pro-
nounce upon her disclosures, or set limits to
her decrees. They are content to admit that
things new and unsuspected-may yet be true; that
their own knowledge of facts being extremely
circumscribed, the systems attempted to be
established on such, uncertain data, must needs
be very imperfect, and frequently altogether
erroneous ; and that it is therefore their duty,
as it ought to be'their pleasure, to welcome as
a stranger every gleam of light that appears in
the horizon, let it loom from whatever quarter
it may.

But, alas ! Poor science has few such lovers !
Les beaux y eux de sa cassette, I fear, are much
more frequently the objects of attraction than
her own fair face.

The belief in a God, and in the immortality
of what we call the soul, is common, to all
nations ; but our own intellect does not enable
us to form any conception of either one or the
other. All the information we have on these
subjects is comprised in such hints as the Scrip-

INTRODUCTION. 7

tares here and there give us ; whatever other
conclusions we draw, must be the result of ob-
servation and experience. Unless founded
upon these, the opinion of the most learned
theologian, or the most profound student of
science that ever lived, is worth no more than
that of any other person. They know nothing
whatever about these mysteries; and all a
priori reasoning on them is utterly valueless.
The only way, therefore, of attaining any
glimpses of the truth in an enquiry of this
nature, where our intellect can serve us so
little, is to enter-on it with the conviction that,
knowing nothing, we are not entitled to reject
any evidence that may be offered to us, till it
' has been thoroughly sifted, and proved to be
fallacious. That the facts presented to our
notice appear to us absurd, and altogether
inconsistent with the notions our intellects
would have enabled us to form, should have
no weight whatever in the investigation. Our
intellects are no measure of God Almighty's
designs ; and, I must say, that I do think one
of the most irreverent, dangerous, and sinful
things man or woman can be guilty of, is
to reject with scorn and laughter any intima-
'tion which, however strangely it may strike
upon our minds, and however adverse it may

INTRODUCTION.

be to our opinions, may possibly be showing
us the way to one of God's truthsv Not know-
ing all the conditions, and wanting so many
links of the chain, it is impossible for us to
pronounce on what is probable and consistent,
and what is not ; and, this being the case, I
think the time is ripe for drawing attention to
certain phenomena, which, under whatever
aspect we may consider them, are, beyond
doubt, exceedingly interesting and curious;
whilst, if the view many persons are disposed
to take of them be the correct one, they are
much more than this. I wish, also, to make
the English public acquainted with the ideas
entertained on these subjects by a large pro-
portion of German minds of the highest order.
It is a distinctive characteristic of the thinkers
of that country, that, in the first place, they do
think independently and courageously; and,
in the second, that they never shrink from
promulgating the opinions they have been led
to form, however new, strange, heterodox, or
even absurd, they may appear to others. They
do not succumb, as people do in this country,
to the fear of ridicule ; nor are they in danger
of the odium that here pursues those who
deviate from established notions ; and, the con-
sequence is, that, though many fallacious

INTRODUCTION. 9

theories and untenable propositions may be
advanced, a great deal of new truth is struck
out from the collision ; and in the result, as
must always be the case, what is true lives and
is established, and what is false dies and is
forgotten. But here, in Britain, our critics and
colleges are in such haste to strangle and
put down every new discovery that does not
emanate from themselves, or which is not a ful-
filling of the ideas of the day, but which, being
somewhat opposed to them, promises to be
troublesome from requiring new thought to
render it intelligible that one might be in-
duced to suppose them divested of all confi-
dence in this inviolable law ; whilst the more
important, and the higher the results involved
may be, the more angry they are with those
who advocate them. They do not quarrel
with a new metal or a new plant, and even a
new comet or a new island, stands a fair chance
of being well received ; the introduction of a
planet appears, from late events, to be more diffi-
cult; whilst phrenology and mesmerism testify,
that any discovery tending to throw lighten what
most deeply concerns us, namely, our own
being, must be prepared to encounter a storm
of angry persecution. And one of the evils of
this hasty and precipitate opposition is, that

10 INTRODUCTION.

the passions and interests of the opposers be-
come involved in the dispute ; instead of in-
vestigators, they become partisans ; having
declared against it in the outset, it is important
to their petty interests that the thing shall
not be true ; and they determine that it Khali
not, if they can help it. Hence, these hasty,
angry investigations of new facts, and the
triumph with which failures are recorded ;
and hence the wilful overlooking of the
axiom, that a thousand negatives cannot over-
throw the evidence of one affirmative ex-
periment. I always distrust those who have
declared themselves strongly in the beginning
of a controversy. Opinions which however
rashly avowed, may have been honest at first,
may have been changed for many a long day
before they are retracted. In the mean time,
the march of truth is obstructed, and its
triumph is delayed ; timid minds are alarmed ;
those who dare not, or cannot, think for
themselves, are subdued ; there is much need-
less suffering incurred, and much good lost ;
but the truth goes quietly on its way, and
reaches the goal at last.

With respect to the subjects I am here going
to treat of, it is not simply the result of my
own reflections and convictions that I am about

INTRODUCTION. 11

to offer. On the contrary, I intend to fortify
ray position by the opinions of many other
writers; the chief of whom will, for the reasons
above given, namely, that it is they who have
principally attended to the question, be
Germans. I am fully aware that in this country
a very considerable number of persons lean to
some of these opinions, and I think I might
venture to assert that I have the majority on
my side, as far as regards ghosts — for it is
beyond a doubt that many more are disposed
to believe than to confess — and those who do
confess, are not few. The deep interest with
which any narration of spiritual appearances
bearing the stamp, or apparent stamp, of authen-
ticty is listened to in every society, is one proof
that, though the fear of ridicule may suppress,
it cannot extinguish that intuitive persuasion, of
which almost every one is more or less conscious.
I avow that, in writing this book, I have a
higher aim than merely to afford amusement.
I wish to engage the earnest attention of my
readers ; because I am satisfied that the
opinions I am about to advocate, seriously en-
tertained, would produce very beneficial results.
We are all educated in the belief of a future
state, but how vague and ineffective this belief
is with the majority of persons, we too well

12 INTRODUCTION.

know ; for although, as I have said above, the
number of those who are what is called believers
in ghosts, and similar phenomena, is very large ;
it is a belief that they allow to sit extremely
lightly on their minds. Although they feel
that the evidence from within and from with-
out is too strong to be altogether set aside,
they have never permitted themselves to weigh
the significance of the facts. They are afraid of
that bugbear, Superstition— a title of oppro-
brium which it is very convenient to attach to
whatever we do not believe ourselves. They
forget that nobody has a right to call any be-
lief superstitious, till he can prove that it is
unfounded. Now, no one that lives can assert
that the re-appearance of the dead is impos-
sible ; all ke has a right to say is, that he does
not believe it; and the interrogation that
should immediately follow this declaration is,
" Have you devoted your life to sifting all the
evidence that has been adduced on the other
side, from the earliest periods of history and
tradition ?" and even though the answer were
in the affirmative, and that the investigation
had been conscientiously pursued, it would be
still a bold enquirer that would think himself
entitled to say, the question was no longer
open. But the rashness and levity with which

INTRODUCTION. 13

mankind make professions of believing and
disbelieving, are, all things considered, pheno-
mena much more extraordinary than the most
extraordinary ghost-story that was ever related.
The truth is, that not one person in a thousand,
in the proper sense of the word, believes any-
thing; they only fancy they believe, because
they have never seriously considered the mean-
ing of the word and all that it involves. That
which the human mind cannot conceive of, is apt
to slip from its grasp like water from the hand ;
and life out of the flesh falls under this category.
The observation of any phenomena, therefore,
which enabled us to master the idea, must
necessarily be extremely beneficial ; and it must
be remembered, that one single thoroughly
well-established instance of the re-appearance
of a deceased person, would not only have this
effect, but that it would afford a demonstrative
proof of the deepest of all our intuitions,
namely, that a future life awaits us.

Not to mention the modern Germans of emi-
nence, who have devoted themselves to this
investigation, there have been men remarkable
for intellect in all countries, who have con-
sidered the subject worthy of enquiry.
Amongst the rest, Plato, Pliny, and Lucien ;
and in our own country, that good old divine,

VOL. i. c

14 INTRODUCTION.

Dr. Henry Moore, Dr. Johnson, Addison, Isaac
Taylor, and many others. It may be objected
that the eternally quoted case of Nicolai, the
bookseller at Berlin, and Dr. Ferriar's " Theory
of Apparitions," had not then settled the
question ; but nobody doubts that Nicolai's
was a case of disease ; and he was well aware
of it himself, as it appears to me, everybody so
afflicted, is. I was acquainted with a poor
woman, in Edinborough, who suffered from
this malady, brought on, I believe, by drinking;
but she was perfectly conscious of the nature
of the illusions ; and that temperance and a
doctor were the proper exorcists to lay the
spirits. With respect to Dr. Ferriar's book, a
more shallow one was assuredly never allowed
to settle any question; and his own theory
cannot, without the most violent straining, and
the assistance of what he calls coincidences,
meet even half the cases he himself adduces.
That such a disease, as he describes, exists,
nobody doubts ; but I maintain that there are
hundreds of cases on record, for which the
explanation does not suffice ; and if they have
been instances of spectral illusion, all that
remains to be said, is, that a fundamental re-
construction of the theory on/that subject is
demanded.

INTR0DCCTION. 15

La Place says, in his " Essay on Proba-
bilities," that " any case, however apparently
incredible, if it be a recurrent case, is as
much entitled under the laws of induction, to
a fair valuation, as if it had been more pro-
bable before hand." Now, no one will deny
that the case in question possesses this claim to
investigation. Determined scepticsmay,indeed,
deny that there exists any well-authenticated
instance of an apparition ; but that, at present,
can only be a mere matter of opinion ; since
many persons as competent to judge as them-
selves, maintain the contrary ; and in the mean
time, I arraign their right to make this objec-
tion till they have qualified themselves to do
so, by a long course of patient and honest
enquiry ; always remembering that every
instance of error or imposition discovered and
adduced, has no positive value whatever in the
argument, but as regards that single instance ;
though it may enforce upon us the necessity of
strong evidence and careful investigation.
With respect to the evidence, past and present,
I must be allowed here to remark on the
extreme difficulty of producing it. Not to
mention the acknowledged carelessness of
observers and the alleged incapacity of per-
sons to distinguish betwixt reality and illusion,

16 INTRODUCTION.

there is an exceeding shyness in most people,
who, either have seen, or fancied they have
seen, an apparition, to speak of it at all, except
to some intimate friend ; so that one gets most
of the stories second-hand ; whilst even those
who are less chary of their communications,
are imperative against their name and autho-
rity being given to the public. Besides this,
there is a great tendency in most people, after
the impression is over, to think they may have
been deceived ; and where there is no commu-
nication or other circumstance rendering this
conviction impossible, it is not difficult to
acquire it, or at least so much of it as leaves
the case valueless. The seer is glad to find
this refuge from the unpleasant feelings engen-
dered ; whilst surrounding friends, sometimes
from genuine scepticism, and sometimes from
good-nature, almost invariably lean to this
explanation of the mystery. In consequence
of these difficulties and those attending the
very nature of the phenomena, I freely admit
that the facts I shall adduce, as they now
stand, can have no scientific value ; they can-
not in short enter into the region of science at
all, still less into that of philosophy. Whatever
conclusions we may be led to form, cannot be
founded on pure induction. We must confine

INTRODUCTION. 1 7

ourselves wholly within the region of opinion .
if we venture beyond which, we shall
assuredly founder. In the beginning, all
sciences have been but a collection of facts,
afterwards to be examined, compared, and
weighed by intelligent minds. To the vulgar,
who do riot see the universal law which
governs the universe, everything out of the
ordinary course of events, is a prodigy ; but to
the enlightened mind there are no progidies ;
for it perceives that both in the moral and the
physical world, there is a chain of uninter-
rupted connexion ; and that the most strange
and even apparently contradictory or super-
natural fact or event will be found, on due
investigation, to be strictly dependant on its
antecedents. It is possible, that there may be
a link wanting, and that our investigations
may, consequently, be fruitless ; but the link
is assuredly there, although our imperfect
knowledge and limited vision cannot find it

And it is here the proper place to observe,
that, in undertaking to treat of the phenomena
in question, I do not propose to consider them
as supernatural ; on the contrary, I am per-
suaded that the time will come, when they will
be reduced strictly within the bounds of
science. It was the tendency of the last age
c 5

18 INTRODUCTION.

to reject and deny every thing they did not
understand ; I hope it is the growing tendency
of the present one, to examine what we do not
understand. Equally disposed with our pre-
decessors of the eighteenth century to reject
the supernatural, and to believe the order of
nature inviolable, we are disposed to extend the
bounds of nature and science, till they com-
prise within their limits all the phenomena,
ordinary and extraordinary, by which we are
surrounded. Scarcely a month passes, that
we do not hear of some new and important
discovery in science ; it is a domain in which
nothing is stable ; and every year overthrows
some of the hasty and premature theories of
the preceding ones ; and this will continue
to be the case as long as scientific men occupy
themselves each with his own subject, with-
out studying the great and primal truths —
what the French call Les verites meres — which
link the whole together. Meantime, there is
a continual unsettling. Truth, if it do not
emanate from an acknowledged authority, is
generally rejected; and error, if it do, is as
often accepted ; whilst, whoever disputes the
received theory, wrhatever it be — we mean
especially that adopted by the professors of
colleges — does it at his peril. But there is

INTRODUCTION. 19

a day yet brooding in the bosom of time, when
the sciences will be no longer isolated ; when
we shall no longer deny, but be able to
account for phenomena apparently prodigious ;
or have the modesty, ;if we cannot explain
them, to admit that the difficulty arises solely
from our own incapacity. The system of cen-
tralization in statistics, seems to be of doubtful
advantage ; but a greater degree of centraliza-
tion appears to be very much needed in the
domain of science. Some improvement in
this respect might do wonders, particularly if
reinforced with a slight infusion of patience
and humility into the minds of scientific men ;
together with the recollection that facts and
phenomena which do not depend on our will,
must be waited for — that we must be at their
command, for they will not be at ours.

But to return once more to our own subject.
If we do believe that a future life awaits us,
there can be nothing more natural than the
desire to obtain some information as to what
manner of life that is to be for which any one
of us may, before this time to-morrow, have
exchanged his present mode of being. That
there does not exist a greater interest with
regard to this question in the mind of man,
arises, partlv,from the vague intangible kind of

20 INTRODUCTION.

belief he entertains of the fact ; partly, from
his absorption in worldly affairs, and the hard
and indigestible food upon which his clerical
shepherds pasture him — for, under dogmatic
theology, religion seems to have withered away
to the mere husk of spiritualism — and partly,
also from the apparent impossibility of pur-
suing the enquiry to any purpose. As I said
before, observation and experience can alone
guide us in such an enquiry ; for though most
people have a more or less intuitive sense of
their own immortality, intuition is silent as to
the mode of it ; and the question I am anxious
here to discuss with my readers, is, whether
we have any facts to observe, or any ex-
perience from which, on this most interesting
of all subjects, a conclusion may be drawn.
Great as the difficulty is of producing evi-
dence, it will, I think, be pretty generally ad-
mitted, that, although each individual case, as
jt stands alone, may be comparatively value-
less, the amount of recurrent cases forms a
body of evidence, that on any other subject
would scarcely be rejected ; and since, if the
facts are accepted, they imperatively demand
an explanation — for, assuredly, the present
theory of spectral illusions cannot comprise
them — our enquiry, let it terminate in what-

INTRODUCTION. 21

ever conclusion it may, cannot be useless or
uninteresting. Various views of the pheno-
meua in question may be taken ; and although
I shall offer my own opinions and the theories
and opinions of others, I insist upon none ; I
do not write to dogmatise, but to suggest re-
flection and enquiry. The books of Dr.
Ferriar, Dr. Hibbert, and Dr. Thatcher, the
American, are all written to support one
exclusive theory ; and they only give such
cases as serve to sustain it. They maintain
that the whole phenomena are referrible to
nervous or sanguineous derangement, and are
mere subjective illusions ; and whatever in-
stance cannot be covered by this theory, they
reject as false, or treat as a case of extra-
ordinary coincidence. In short, they arrange
the facts to their theory, not their theory to the
facts. Their books cannot, therefore, claim to
be considered as anything more than essays on
a special disease ; they have no pretence what-
ever to the character of investigations. The
question, consequently, remains as much an
open one as before they treated it ; whilst we
have the advantage of their experience and
information, with regard to the peculiar
malady that forms the subject of their works.

22 INTRODUCTION.

On that subject it is not my intention to
enter ; it is a strictly medical one, and every
information may be obtained respecting it in
the above-named treatises, and others, ema-
nating from the faculty.

The subjects I do intend to treat of are the
various kinds of prophetic dreams, presen-
timents, second-sight, and apparitions; and,
in short, all that class of phenomena, which
appears to throw some light on our physical
nature, and on the probable state of the soul
after death. In this discussion I shall make
free use of my German authorities, Doctors
Kerner, Stilling, Werner, Eschenmayer, Enne-
moser, Passavent, Schubert, Von Meyer, &c.
&c. ; and I here make a general acknowledge-
ment to that effect, because it would embarrass
my book too much to be constantly giving
names and references ; although when I quote
their words literally, I shall make a point of
doing so ; and because, also, that as I have
been both thinking and reading much on these
subjects for a considerable time past, I am, in
fact, no longer in a condition to appropriate
either to them or to myself, each his own.
This, however, is a matter of very little con-
sequence, as I am not desirous of claiming

INTRODUCTION. 23

any ideas as mine that can be found else-
where. It is enough for me, if I succeed in
making a tolerably clear exposition of the
subject, and can induce other people to reflect
upon it.

CHAPTER II.

THE DWELLER IN THE TEMPLE.

IT is almost needless to observe, that the
Scriptures repeatedly speak of man as a
tripartite being, consisting of spirit, soul, and
body ; and that, according to St. Paul, we have
two bodies — a natural body, and a spiritual
body ; the former being designed as our means of
communication with the external world — an
instrument to be used and controlled by our
nobler parts. It is this view of it, carried to a
fanaticism, which has led to the various and ex-
traordinary mortifications recorded of ascetics.
As is remarked by the Rev. Hare Townshend,

THE DWELLER IN THE TEMPLE. 25

in a late edition of his book on Mesmerism, in
this fleshly body consists our organic life ; in
the body which we are to retain through
eternity, consists our fundamental life. May
not the first, he says, " be a temporary de-
velopment of the last, just as leaves, flowers
and fruits, are the temporary developments of
a tree. And in the same manner that these
pass and drop away, yet leave the principle of
reproduction behind, so may our present
organs be detached from us by death, and yet
the ground of our existence be spared to us
continuously."

Without entering into the subtle disputes of
philosophers, with regard to the spirit, a sub-
ject on which there is a standing controversy
betwixt the disciples of Hegel, and those of
other teachers, I need only observe that the
Scriptures seem to indicate what some of the
heathen sages taught, that the spirit that
dwells within us is the spirit of God, incorpo-
rated in us for a period, for certain ends of bis
own, to be thereby wrought out. What those
ends are, it does not belong to my present
subject to consider. In this spirit so imparted
to us, dwells, says Eschenmayer, the con-
science, which keeps watch over the body and
the soul, saying, "Thus shall thou do!"

VOL. i. D

26 THE DWELLER

And it is to this Christ addresses himself when
he bids his disciples become perfect, like their
Father in Heaven. The soul is subject to the
spirit ; and its functions are, to will, or choose,
to think, and to feel, and to become thereby
cognizant of the true, the beautiful, and the
good ; comprehending the highest principle,
the highest ideal, and the most perfect happi-
ness. The Ego, or /, is the resultant of the
three forces, Pneuma, Psyche, Soina — spirit,
soul, and body.

In the sptrit or soul, or rather in both con-
joined, dwells, also, the power of spiritual
seeing, or intuitive knowing ; for, as there is a
spiritual body, there is a spiritual eye, and a
spiritual ear, and so forth ; or, to speak more
correctly, all these sensuous functions are com-
prised in one universal sense, which does not
need the aid of the bodily organs ; but, on the
contrary, is Ynost efficient when most freed
from them. It remains to be seen whether,
or in what degree, such separation can tuke
place during life ; complete it cannot be till
death ; but whoever believes sincerely that
the divine spirit dwells within him, can, I
should think, find no difficulty in conceiving
that, although from the temporary conditions

to which pt trahitis is subjected, this universal
0u

IN THE TEMPLE. 27

faculty is limited and obscured, it must still
retain its indefeisible attribute.

We may naturally conclude that the most
perfect state of man on earth consists in the
most perfect unity of the spirit and the soul ;
and to those who in this life have attained
the nearest to that unity, will the entire assi-
milation of the two, after they are separated
from the body, be the easiest ; whilst to those
who have lived only their intellectual and
external life, this union must be extremely
difficult, the soul having chosen its part with
the body and divorced itself, as much as in it
lay, from the spirit. The voice of conscience
is then scarcely heard ; and the soul, degraded
and debased, can no longer perform its func-
tions of discerning the true, the beautiful, and
the gocd.

On these distinct functions of the soul and
spirit, however, it is not my intention to in-
sist; since, it appears to me, a subject on
which we are not yet in a condition to dog-
matise. We know rather more about our
bodies, by means of which the soul and spirit
are united and bnnight into contact with the
material world, and which are constructed
wholly with a view to the conditions of that
world ; such as time, space, solidity, extension,

28 THE DWELLER

&c. &c. But we must conceive of God as
necessarily independent of these conditions.
To Him, all times and all places must be
for ever present; and it is thus that he is
omniscient and omnipresent ; and since we are
placed by the spirit in immediate relation with
God and the spiritual world, just as we are
placed by th<» body in immediate relation with
the material world, we may, in the first place,
form a notion of the possibility that some faint
gleams of these inherent attributes may, at
times, shoot up through the clay in which the
spirit has taken up its temporary abode ; and
we may also admit, that through the connexion
which exists betwixt us and the spiritual
world, it is not impossible but that we may, at
times, and under certain conditions, become
cognizant of, and enter into more immediate
relation with it. This is the only postulate I
ask ; for, as I said before, I do not wish to
enforce opinions, but to suggest probabilities,
or at least possibilities, and thus arouse
reflection and enquiry.

With respect to the term invisible world, I
beg to remind my readers, that what we call
seeing, is merely the function of an organ con-
structed for that purpose, in relation to the
external world ; and so limited are its powers,
that we are surrounded by many things in that

IN THE TEMPLE. 29

world which we cannot see without the aid of
artificial appliances, and many other things
which we cannot see even with them ; the
atmosphere in which we live, for example,
which, although its weight and mechanical
forces are the subjects of accurate calculation,
is entirely imperceptible to our visual organs.
Thus, the fact that we do not commonly see
them, forms no legitimate objection to the
hypothesis of our being surrounded by a world
of spirits, or of that world being inter-diffused
amongst us. Supposing the question to be
decided, that we do sometimes become cog-
nizant of them, which, however, I admit it is
not ; since, whether the apparitions are sub-
jective or objective, that is, whether they are
the mere phenomena of disease, or real out-
standing appearances, is the enquiry I desire
to promote — but, I say, supposing that ques-
tion were decided in the affirmative, the next
that arises is, how, or by what means do we
see them ; or, if they address us, hear them ?
If that universal sense which appears to me to
be inseparable from the idea of spirit, be once
admitted, I think there can be no difficulty
in answering this question ; and if it be ob-
jected that we are conscious of no such sense,
I answer that, both in dreams and in certain
D 5

30 THE DWELLEE

abnormal states of the body, it is frequently
manifested. In order to render this more clear,
and, at the same time, to give an interesting
instance of this sort of phenomenon, I will
transcribe a passage from a letter of St. Au-
gustine to his friend Evadius (Epistola 169.
Antwerp edition.)

" I will relate to you a circumstance," he
writes, " which will furnish you matter for
reflection. Our brother Sennadius, well known
to us all as an eminent physician, and whom
we especially love, who is now at Carthage,
after having distinguished himself at Rome,and
with whose piety and active benevolence you
are well acquainted, could yet, nevertheless,
as he has lately narrated to us, by any means
bring himself to believe in a life after death.
Now, God, doubtless, not willing that his soul
should perish, there appeared to him, one night
in a dream, a radiant youth of noble aspect,
who bade him follow him ; and as Sennadius
obeyed, they came to a city where, on the right
side, he heard a chorus of the most heavenly
voices. As he desired to know whence this
divine harmony proceeded, the youth told him
that what he heard were the songs of the
blessed ; whereupon he awoke, and thought
no more of his dream than people usually do.

IN THE TEMPLE. SI

On another night, however, behold ! the youth
appears to him again and asks if he knows
him ; and Sennadius related to him all the
particulars of his former dream, which he well
remembered. * Then,' said the youth, ' was it
whilst sleeping or waking that you saw these
things?' ' I was sleeping,' answered Sennadius.
' Y ou are right,' returned the youth, ' it was in
your sleep that you saw these things ; and
know, oh Sennadius, that what you see now
is also in your sleep. But if this be so, tell
me where then is your body ?' ' In my bed-
chamber,' answered Sennadius. * But know
you not,' continued the stranger, ' that your
eyes, which form a part of your body, are
closed and inactive ?' 1 1 know it,' answered
he. ' Then,1 said the youth, ' with what eyes
see you these things ?' And Sennadius could
not answer him ; and as he hesitated the youth
spoke again, and explained to him the motive
of his questions. * As the eyes of your body,'
said he, ' which lies now on your bed and
sleeps, are inactive and useless, and yet you
have eyes wherewith you see me and these
things I have shown unto you, so after death
when these bodily organs fail you, you wil
have a vital power, whereby you will live ; and
a sensitive faculty, whereby you will perceive.

32 THE DWELLER

Doubt, therefore, no longer that there is a life
after death.' And thus," said this excellent
man, " was I convinced, and all doubts re-
moved."

I confess there appears to me a beauty and
a logical truth in this dream, that I think
might convince more than the dreamer.

It is by the hypothesis of this universal
sense, latent within us ; an hypothesis which,
whoever believes that we are immortal spirits,
incorporated for a season in a material body,
can scarcely reject, that I seek to explain those
perceptions which are not comprised within
the functions of our bodily organs. It seems
to me to be the key to all, or nearly all, of
them, as far as our own part in the phenomena
extends. But, supposing this admitted, there
would then remain the difficulty of accounting
for the partial and capricious glimpses we get
of it ; whilst that department of the mystery
which regards apparitions, except such as are
the pure result of disease, we must grope our
way, with very little light to guide us, as to
the conditions and motives which might pos-
sibly bring them into any immediate relation
with us.

To any one who has been fortunate enough
to witness one genuine case of clairvoyance

IN THE TEMPLE. 33

I think the conception of this universal sense
will not be difficult ; however, the mode of its
exercise may remain utterly incomprehensible.
As I have said above — to the great spirit and
fountain of life, all things, both in space and
time, must be present. However impossible
it is to our finite minds to conceive this, we
must believe it. It may, in some slight
degree, facilitate the conception to remember,
that action, once begun, never ceases — an im-
pulse given is transmitted on for ever ; a sound
breathed reverberates in eternity ; and thus
the past is always present, although for the
purpose of fitting us for this mortal life, our
ordinary senses are so constituted as to be
unperceptive of these phenomena. With
respect to what we call the future, it is more
difficult still for us to conceive it as present ;
nor, as far ar I know, can we borrow from the
sciences the same assistance as mechanical
discoveries have just furnished me with in re-
gard to the past. How a spirit sees that which
has not yet, to our senses,1 taken place, seems,
certainly, inexplicable. Foreseeing it is not
inexplicable ; we foresee many things by argu-
ing on given premises, although, from our own
finite views, we are always liable to be mis-
taken. Louis Lambert says, "Such events

34 THE DWELLER

as are the product of humanity, and the result
of its intelligence, have their own causes, in
which they lie latent, just as our actions are
accomplished in our thoughts previous to any
outward demonstration of them ; presentiments
and prophecies consist in the intuitive percep-
tion of these causes." This explanation[which
is quite conformable with that of Cicero, may
aid us in some degree, as regards a certain
small class of phenomena ; but there is some-
thing involved in the question much more
subtle than this. Our dreams can give us the
only idea of it ; for there we do actually see
and hear, not only that which never was,
but that which never will be. Actions
and events, words and sounds, persons
and places, are as clearly and vividly pre-
sent to us, as if they were actually what
they seem; and I should think that most
people must be somewhat puzzled to decide
in regard to certain scenes and circumstances
that live in their memory, whether the images
are the result of their waking or sleeping
experience. Although by no means a dreamer,
and without the most remote approximation to
any faculty of presentiment, I know this is the
case with myself. I remember, also, a very
curious effect being produced upon me, when

IN THE TEMPLE. 35

I was abroad, soms years ago, from eating- the
unwholesome bread to which we were reduced,
in consequence of a scarcity. Some five or six
times a day I was seized with a sort of
vertigo, during which I seemed to pass through
certain scenes, and was conscious of certain
words, which appeared to me to have a strange
connexion, either with some former period of
my life, or else some previous state of existence ;
the words and the scenes were on each occasion
precisely the same. I was always aware of
that ; and I always made the strongest efforts
to grasp and retain them in my memory ; but
I could not. I only knew that the thing had
been; the words and the scenes were gone. I
seemed to pass momentarily into another sphere
and back again. This was purely the result
of disorder ; but, like a dream, it shows how
we may be perceptive of that which is not,
and which never may be ; rendering it, there-
fore, possible to conceive that a spirit may be
equally perceptive of that which shall be.
I am very far from meaning to imply that these
examples remove the difficulty ; they do not
explain the thing ; they only show somewhat
the mode of it. But it must be remembered
that when physiologists pretend to settle the
whole question of apparitions by the theory of

36 THE DWELLER

spectral illusions, they are exactly in the same
predicament. They can supply examples of
similar phenomena ; hut how a person, per-
fectly in his senses, should receive the spectral
visits, not only of friends, but strangers, when
he is thinking of no such matter ; or, by what
process, mental or optical, the figures are con-
jured up, remains as much a mystery as before
a line was written on the subject.

All people and all ages have believed, more
or less, in prophetic dreams, presentiments,
and apparitions ; and all histories have fur-
nished examples of them. That the truths
may be frequently distorted and mingled with
fable, is no argument against those traditions;
if it were, all history must be rejected on the
same plea. Both the Old and New Testament
furnish numerous examples of these pheno-
mena; and although Christ and the Apostles
reproved all the superstitions of the age, these
persuasions are not included in their repre-
hensions.

Neither is the comparitive rarity of these
phenomena any argument against their possi-
bility. There are many strange things which
occur still more rarely, but which we do not
look upon as supernatural or miraculous. Of
nature's ordinary laws, we yet know but little ;

IN THE TEMPLE. 37

of their aberrations and perturbations still less.
How should we, when the world is a miracle
and life a dream, of which we know neither
the beginning nor the end ! We do not even
know that we see anything as it is ; or rather,
we know that we do not. We see things but
as our visual organs represent them to us ; and
were those organs differently constructed, the
aspect of the world, would to us, be changed.
How, then, can we pretend to decide upon
what is and what is not ?

Nothing could be more perplexing to any one
who read them with attention, than the trials
for witchcraft of the seventeenth century
Many of the feats of the ancient thatimatur-
gists and wonder-workers of the temples,
might have been nearly as much so ; but these
were got rid of by the easy expedient of pro-
nouncing them fables and impostures ; but,
during the witch mania, so many persons
proved their faith in their own miraculous
powers by the sacrifice of their lives, that it
was scarcely possible to doubt their having
some foundation for their own persuasion,
though what that foundation could be, till
the late discoveries in animal magnetism,
it was difficult to conceive ; but here we have
a new page opened to us, which concerns both

VOL. I E

38

the history of the world and the history of
man, as an individual ; and we begin to see,
that that which the ignorant thought super-
natural, and the wise impossible, has been
both natural and true. Whilst the scientific
men of Great Britain, and several of oar
journalists, have been denying and ridiculing
the reports of these phenomena, the most
eminent physicians of Germany have been
quietly studying and investigating them ; and
giving to the world, in their works, the results
of their experience. Amongst the rest, Dr.
Joseph Ennemoser, of Berlin, has presented
to us in his two books on " Magic," and on
" The Connexion of Magnetism with Nature
and Religion," the fruits of his thirty years'
study of this subject ; during the course of
which he has had repeated opportunities of
investigating all the phenomena, and of making
himself perfectly familiar with even the most
rare and perplexing. To any one who has
studied these works, the mysteries of the
temples and of the witch trials, are mysteries
no longer ; and he writes with the professed
design, not to make science mystical, but to
bring the mysterious within the bounds of
science. The phenomena, as he justly says,
are as old as the human race. Animal mag-

IN THE TEMPLE. 39

netism is no new development, no new dis-
covery. Inseparable from life, although, like
many other vital phenomena, so subtle in its
influences, that only in abnormal cases it
attracts attention, it has exhibited itself more
or less in all ages, and in all countries. But
its value as a medical agent is only now be-
ginning to dawn on the civilized world, whilst
its importance, in a higher point of view, is yet
perceived but by few. Every human being
who has ever withdrawn himself from the
strife, and the turmoil, and the distraction, of
the world without, in order to look within,
must have found himself perplexed by a thou-
sand questions with regard to his own being,
which he would find no one able to solve.
In the study of animal magnetism, he will
first obtain some gleams of a light which will
show him that he is indeed the child of God !
and that, though a dweller on the earth, and
fallen, some traces of his divine descent, and
of his unbroken connexion with a higher order
of being, still remain to comfort and encourage
him. He will find that there exists in his
species the germs of faculties that are never
fully unfolded here on earth, and which have
no reference to this state of being. They exist
in all men ; but in most cases are so faintly

40 THK DWELLER IN THE TEMPLE.

elicited as not to be observable ; and when they
do shoot up here and there, they are denied,
disowned, misinterpreted, and maligned. It
is true, that their development is often the
symptom and effect of disease, which seems to
change the relations of our material and im-
material parts. It is true, that some of the
phenomena resulting from these faculties are
simulated by disease, as in the case of spectral
illusions ; and it is true, that imposture and
folly intrude their unhallowed footsteps into
this domain of science, as into that of all
others ; but there is a deep and holy well
of truth to be discovered in this neglected
bye-path of nature, by those who seek it,
from which they may draw the purest con-
solations for the present, the most ennobling
hopes for the future, and the most valuable
aid in penetrating through the letter, into
the spirit of the Scriptures.

I confess it makes me sorrowful when I
hear men laughing, scorning, and denying this
their brithright ; and I cannot but grieve to
think how closely and heavily their clay must
be wrapt about them, and how the external
and sensuous life must have prevailed over the
internal, when no gleam from within breaks
through to show them that these thinge are
true.

CHAPTER III.

WAKING AND SLEEPING ;

AND HOW THE DWELLER IN THE TEMPLE
SOMETIMES LOOKS ABROAD.

To begin with the most simple — or rather, I
should say, the most ordinary, class of phe-
nomena— for we can scarcely call that simple,
the mystery of which we have never been able
to penetrate — I mean dreaming — everybody's
experience will suffice to satisfy them, that
their ordinary dreams take place in a state of
imperfect sleep; and that this imperfect sleep
may be caused by any bodily or mental
derangement whatever ; or even from an ill-
made bed, or too much or too little covering ;
and it is not difficult to conceive that the
strange, confused, and disjointed visions we
are subject to on these occasions, may proceed

E5

42 WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC.

from some parts of the brain being less at rest
than the others ; so that, assuming- phrenology
to be fact, one organ is not in a state to correct
the impressions of another. Of such vain
and insignificant visions, I need scarcely say
it is not my intention to treat ; but, at the same
time, I must observe, that when we have
admitted the above explanation, as far as it
goes, we have not, even in regard to them,
made much progress towards removing the
difficulty. If dreaming resembled thinking
the explanations might be quite satisfactory ;
but the truth is, that dreaming is not thinking,
as we think in our waking state ; but is more
analogous to thinking in delirium or acute
mania, or in that chronic condition which gives
rise to sensuous illusions. In our ordinary
normal state, conceiving of places or persons
does not enable us to see them or hold com-
munion with them ; nor do we fancy that we
do either. It is true that I have heard some
painters say, that by closing their eyes and
concentrating their thoughts on an object, they
can bring it more or less vividly before them ;
and Blake professed actually to see his sitters
when they where not present ; but whatever
interpretations we may put upou this curious
faculty, his case was clearly abnormal, and con-

WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC. 43

nected with some personal peculiarity, either
physical or psychical ; and, after making the
most of it, it must be admitted that it can
enter into no sort of comparison with that we
possess in sleep, when, in our most ordinary
dreams, untrammelled by time or space, we
visit the uttermost ends of the earth, fly in the
air, swim in the sea, listen to beautiful music
and eloquent orations, behold the most charm-
ing-, as well as the most loathsome objects ;
and not only see, but converse with our
friends, absent or present, dead or alive.
Every one, I think, will grant that there is the
widest possible difference betwixt conceiving
of these things when awake, and dreaming
them. When we dream, we do, we see, we
say, we hear, &c. &c., that is, we believe at the
time that we do so ; and what more can be
said of us when we are awake, than that we
believe we are doing, seeing, saying, hearing,
&c. It is by external circumstances, and the
results of our actions, that we are able to
decide whether we have actually done a thing
or seen a place, or only dreamt that we have
done so ; and as I have said above, after some
lapse of time, we are not always able to dis-
tinguish between the two. Whilst dreaming,
we frequently ask ourselves whether we are

44 WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC.

awake or asleep ; and nothing is more common
than to hear people say, " Well, I think I did,
or heard, so and so ; but I am not sure
whether it was so, or whether I dreamt it."
Thus, therefore, the very lowest order of
dreaming, the most disjointed and perplexed,
is far removed from the most vivid presen-
tations of our waking thoughts ; and it is in
this respect, I think, that the explanations of
the phenomena hitherto offered by phrenolo-
gists, and the metaphysicians of this country,
are inadequate and unsatisfactory ; whilst, as
regards the analogy betwixt the visions of sleep
and delirium, whatever similarity there may be
in the effects, we cannot suppose the cause to
be identical : since, in delirium, the images
and delusions are the result of excessive action
of the brain, which we must conclude to be the
very reverse of its condition in sleep. Pinel
certainly has hazarded an opinion that sleep
is occasioned by an efflux of blood to the head,
and consequent compression of the brain — a
theory which would have greater weight were
sleep more strictly periodical than it is ; but
which, at present, it seems impossible to recon-
cile with many established facts.

Some of the German physiologists and
psychologists have taken a deeper view of this

WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC. 45

question of dreamingfrom considering it in con-
nexion with the phenomena of animal magnet-
ism; and although their theories differ in some
respects, they all unite in looking towards that
department of nature for instruction. Whilst
one section of these enquirers, the Exegetical
Society of Stockholm included, calls in the aid
of supernatural agency, another, amongst
whom Dr. Joseph Ennemoser, of Berlin,
appears to he one of the most eminent, main-
tains that the explanation of the mystery is to
be chiefly sought in the great and universal
law of polarity, which extends not only
beyond the limits of this earth, but beyond
the limits of this system, which must neces-
sarily be in connexion with all others ; so that
there is thus an eternal and never-ceasing
inter-action, of which, from the multiplicity
and contrariety of the influences we are insen-
sible, just as we are insensible of the pressure
of the atmoshere, from its impinging on us
equally on all sides.

Waking and sleeping are the day and night
sides of organic life, during which alterna-
tions an animal is placed in different relations
to the external world, and to these alternations
all organisms are subject. The completeness
and independence of each individual organism,

46 WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC.

is in exact ratio to the number and complete-
ness of the organs it developes ; and thus the
locomotive animal has the advantage of the
plant or the zoophyte, whilst, of the animal
kingdom, man is the most complete and inde-
pendent ; and, although still a member of the
universal whole, and therefore incapable of
isolating himself, yet better able than any
other organism to ward off external influences,
and comprise his world within himself. But,
according to Dr. Ennemoser, one of the conse-
quences of this very completeness, is a weak
and insignificant development of instinct ; and
thus the healthy, waking, conscious man, is, of
all organisms, the least sensible to the impres-
sions of this universal intercommunication and
polarity; although, at the same time, par-
taking of the nature of the plant and the
animal, he is subject, like the first, to all man-
ner of atmospheric, telluric, and periodic in-
fluences; and frequently exhibits, like the
second, peculiar instinctive appetites and de-
sires, and, in some individual organizations,
very marked antipathies and susceptibilities
with regard to certain objects and influences,
even when not placed in any evident relation
with them.

According to this theory, sleep is a retro-

WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC. 47

grade step — a retreating into a lower sphere ;
in which condition, the sensuous functions
being in abeyance, the instincts somewhat
resume their sway. " In sleep and in sick-
ness," he says, " the higher animals and man
fall in a physico-organical point of view, from
their individual independence, or power of
self-sustainment ; and their polar relation, that
is, their relation, to the healthy and waking
man, becomes changed from a positive to a
negative one ; all men, in regard to each other,
as well as all nature, being the subjects of this
polarity. It is to be remembered, that this
theory of Dr. Ennemoser's was promulgated
before the discoveries of Baron von Reichen-
back in magnetism were made public, and the
susceptibility to magnetic influences in the
animal organism, which the experiments of
the latter go to establish, is certainly in its
favour ; but whilst it pretends to explain the
condition of the sleepers, and may possibly be
of some service in our investigations into the
mystery of dreaming, it leaves us as much in
the dark as ever, with respect to the cause of
our falling into this negative state ; an enquiry
in which little progress seems to have been
hitherto made.

With respect to dreaming, Dr. Ennemoser

48 WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC.

rejects the physiological theory, which main-
tains, that in sleep, magnetic or otherwise, the
activity of the brain is transferred to the gan-
glionic system, and that the former falls into
a subordinate relation. " Dreaming," he says,
" is the gradual awakening of activity in the
organs of imagination, whereby the presenta-
tion of sensuous objects to the spirit, which
had been discontinued in profound sleep, is
resumed. Dreaming," he adds, " also arises
from the secret activity of the spirit in the
innermost sensuous organs of the brain, busy-
ing the fancy with subjective sensuous images,
the objective conscious day -life giving place to
the creative dominion of the poetical genius,
to which night becomes day, and universal
nature its theatre of action ; and thus the su-
persensuous or transcendent nature of the
spirit becomes more manifest in dreaming
than in the waking state. But, in considering
these phenomena, man must be viewed both
in his psychical and physical relations, and as
equally subject to spiritual as to natural opera-
tions and influences ; since, during the con-
tinuance of life, neither soul nor body can act
quite independently of the other ; for, although
it be the immortal spirit which perceives, it is
through the instrumentality of the sensuous

WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC. 49

organs that it does so ; for of absolute spirit
without body, we can form no conception."

What is here meant seems to be, that the,
brain becomes the world to the spirit, before
the impressions from the external world, do
actually come streaming through by means of
the external sensuous organs. The inner
spiritual light illumines, till the outward,
physical light overpowers and extinguishes it.
But in this state, the brain, which is the store-
house of acquired knowledge, is not in a con-
dition to apply its acquisitions effectively ;
whilst the intuitive knowledge of the spirit, if
the sleep be imperfect, is clouded by its
interference.

Other physiologists, however, believe, from
the numerous and well attested cases of the
transference of the senses, in disease, to the
pit of the stomach, that the activity of the
brain in sleep is transferred to the epigastric
region. The instances of this phenomenon,
as related by Dr. Petetin and others, having
been frequently published, I need not here
quote. But, as Dr. Passavant observes, it is
well known that the functions of the nerves
differ in some animals ; and that one set can
supply the place of another ; as in those cases

VOL. i. F

50 WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC.

where theri is a great susceptibility to light,
though no eyes can be discovered.

These physiologists believe, that, even during
the most profouud sleep, the spirit retains
its activity, a proposition which, indeed, we
cannot doubt ; " it wakes, though the senses
sleep, retreating into its infinite depths, like
the sun at night ; living on its spiritual life
undisturbed, whilst the body sinks into a state
of vegetative tranquillity. Nor does it follow
that the soul is unconscious in sleep, because
in waking we have frequently lost all memory
of its consciousness ; since, by the repose of
the sensuous organs, the bridge betwixt waking
and sleeping is removed, and the recol-
lections of one state are not carried into the
other."

It will occur here to every one, how often
in the instant of waking we are not only con-
scious that we have been dreaming, but are
also conscious of the subject of the dream,
which we try in vain to grasp, but which
eludes us, and is gone for ever the moment
we have passed into a state of complete
wakeiulness.

Now, with respect to this so called dreaming
in profound sleep, it is a thing no one can well
doubt, who thoroughly believes that his body

WAKING AND SLEEPING, ETC. 5l

is a temple built for the dwelling of an im-
mortal spirit; for we cannot conceive of spirit
sleeping-, or needing that restoration which we
know to be the condition of earthly organisms.
If, therefore, the spirit wakes, may we not
suppose that the more it is disentangled from
the obstructions of the body, the more clear
will be its perceptions ; and that, therefore,
in the profound natural sleep of the sensuous
organs we may be in a state of clear-seeing.
All who have attended to the subject are aware,
that the clear-seeing of magnetic patients
depends on the depth of their sleep ; whatever
circumstance, internal or external, tends to in-
terrupt this profound repose of the sensuous
organs, inevitably obscures their perception*.
Again, with respect to the not carrying
with us the recollections of one state into the
other, should not this lead us to suspect, that
sleeping and waking are two different spheres
of existence ; partaking of the nature of that
double life, of which the records of human
physiology have presented us with various in-
stances, wherein a patient finds himself utterly
divested of all recollection of past events and
acquired knowledge, and has to begin life
and education anew, till another transition
takes place, wherein he recovers what he had

52 DREAM fXG, ETC.

lost, whilst he at the same time loses all he
had lately gained, which he only recovers,
once more, by another transition, restoring to
him his lately acquired knowledge, but again
obliterating his original stock, thus alternately
passing from one state to the other, and dis-
closing a double life ; an educated man in one
condition, a child learning his alphabet in
the next.

Where the transition from one state to
another is complete, memory is entirely lost ;
but there are cases in which the change, being
either gradual or modified, the recollections of
one life are carried more or less into the other.
We know this to be the case with magnetic
sleepers, as it is with ordinary dreamers ; and
most persons have met with instances of the
dream of one night being continued in the
next. Treviranus mentions the case of a stu-
dent who regularly began to talk the moment
he fell asleep, the subject of his discourse
being a dream, which he always took up at
the exact point at which he had left it the
previous morning. Of this dream he had
never the slightest recollection in his waking
state. A daughter of Sir George Mackenzie's,
who died at an early age, was endowed with
a remarkable genius for music, and was an

DREAMING, ETC. 63

accomplished organist. This young lady
dreamt, during an illness, that she was at a
party, where she had heard a new piece of
music, which made so great an impression on
her by its novelty and beauty, that, on awaking,
she besought her attendants to bring her some
paper, that she might write it down before
she had forgotten it, an indulgence which,
apprehensive of excitement, her medical
attendant unfortunately forbad; for, apart from
the additional psychological interest that would
have been attached to the fact, the effects of
compliance, judging from what ensued, would
probably have been soothing, rather than other-
wise. About ten days afterwards, she had a
second dream, wherein she again found herself
at a party, where she descried on the desk
of a pianoforte, in a corner of the room, an
open book, in which, with astonished delight,
she recognised the same piece of music, which
she immediately proceeded to play, and then
awoke. The piece was not of a short or fugi-
tive character, but in the style of an overture.
The question, of course, remains, as to whether
she was composing the music in her sleep, or
by an act of clairvoyance, was perceiving some
that actually existed. Either is possible, for,
although she might have been incapable of
F 5

54 DREAMING, ETC.

composing so elaborate a piece in her waking
state, there are many instances on record of
persons performing intellectual feats in dreams,
to which they were unequal when awake. A
very eminent person assured me, that he had
once composed some lines in his sleep, I think it
was a sonnet, which far exceeded any of his
waking performances of that description.

Somewhat analagous to this sort of double
life, is the case of the young girl mentioned by
Dr. Abercrombie and others, whose employ-
ment was keeping cattle, and who slept for
some time, much to her own annoyance, in the
room adjoining one occupied by an itinerant
musician. The man, who played exceedingly
well, being an enthusiast in his art, fre-
quently practised the greater part of the
night, performing on his violin very compli-
cated, and difficult compositions,whilst the girl,
so far from discovering any pleasure in his
performances, complained bitterly of being
kept awake by the noise. Some time after
this, she fell ill and was removed to the house
of a charitable lady, who undertook the charge
of her ; and here, by and by, the family were
amazed by frequently hearing the most exqui-
site music in the night, which they at length
discovered to proceed from the girl. The

DREAMING, ETC. 55

sounds were those of a violin, and the tuning
and other preliminary processes were accu-
rately imitated. She went through long and
elaborate pieces, and afterwards was heard imi-
tating, in the same way, the sounds of a piano-
forte that was in the house. She also talked
very cleverly on the subjects of religion and
politics, and discussed, with great judgment,
the characters and conduct of persons, public
and private. Awake, she knew nothing of these
things ; but was, on the contrary, stupid, heavy,
and had no taste whatever for music. Phreno-
logy would probably interpret this phenomenon
by saying, that the lower elements of the
cerebral spinal axis, as organs of sensation,
&c. &c., being asleep, the cluster of the higher
organs requisite for the above combinations,
were not only awake, but rendered more active
from the repose of the others : but to me it
appears, that we here see the inherent faculties
of the spirit manifesting themselves, whilst
the body slept. The same faculties must have
existed when it was in a waking state ; but the
impressions and manifestations were then
dependant on the activity and perfection of the
sensuous organs, which seem to have been of
an inferior order ; and, consequently, no rays

56 DREAMING, ETC.

of this in-dwelling genius could pierce the
coarse integument in which it was lodged.

Similar unexpected faculties have been not
unfrequently manifested by the dying; and we
may conclude to a certain degree from the
same cause ; namely, that the incipient death
of the body is leaving the spirit more unob-
structed. Dr. Steinbech mentions the case of
a clergyman, who, being summoned to ad-
minister the last sacraments to a dying
peasant, found him, to his surprise, praying
aloud in Greek and Hebrew, a mystery which
could be no otherwise explained, than by the
circumstance of his having, when a child, fre-
quently heard the then minister of the parish
praying in those languages. He had, how-
ever, never understood the prayers, nor indeed
paid any attention to them ; still less had he
been aware that they lived in his memory. It
would give much additional interest to this
story had Dr. Steinbech mentioned how far
the man, now, whilst uttering the words,
understood their meaning ; whether he was
aware of what he was saying, or was only re-
peating the words by rote.

With regard to the extraordinary faculty of
memory manifested in these and similar cases, I

DREAMING, ETC. 57

shall have some obervations to make in a sub-
sequent part of this book.

Parallel instances are those of idiots, who,
either in a somnambulic state, or immediately
previous to death, have spoken as if inspired.
At St. Jean de Maurienne, in Savoy, there
was a dumb Cretin, who, having- fallen into
a natural state of somnambulism, not only was
found to speak with ease, but also to the pur-
pose ; a faculty which disappeared, however,
whenever he awoke. Dumb persons have like-
wise been known to speak when at the point
of death.

The possibility of suggesting dreams to
some sleepers by whispering in the ear, is a
well known fact ; but this can, doubtless, only
be practicable where the sensuous organs are
partly awake. Then, as with magnetic
patients in a state of incomplete sleep, we have
only reverie and imagination in place of clear-
seeing.

The next class of dreams are those which
partake of the nature of second sight, or pro-
phecy, and of these there are various kinds ;
some being plain and literal in their premo-
nitions, others allegorical and obscure ; whilst
some also regard the most unimportant, and
others the most grave events of our lives. A

58 DREAMING, ETC.

gentleman engaged in business in the south
of Scotland, for example, dreams that on en-
tering his office in the morning, he sees seated
on a certain stool, a person formerly in his ser-
vice as clerk, of whom he had neither heard
or thought for some time. He enquires the
motive of the visit, and is told that such and
such circumstances having brought the
stranger to that part of the country, he could
not forbear visiting his old quarters, express-
ing, at the same time, a vrish to spend a few
days in his former occupation, &c. &c. The
gentleman, being struck with the vividness of
the illusion, relates his dream at breakfast, and,
to his surprise, on going to his office, there sits
the man, and the dialogue that ensues is pre-
cisely that of the dream. I have heard of
numerous instances of this kind of dream,
where no previous expectation nor excitement
of mind could be found to account for them,
and where the fulfilment was too exact and
literal, in all particulars, to admit of their
being explained away by the ready resource
of " an extraordinary coincidence." There
are, also, on record, both in this country and
others, many perfectly well authenticated cases
of people obtaining prizes in the lottery,
through having dreamt of the fortunate num-

DREAMING, ETC. 59

bers. As many numbers, however, may have
been dreamt of that were not drawn prizes, we
can derive no conclusion from this circumstance.
A very remarkable instance of this kind of
dreaming occurred a few years since to Mr.
A. F., an eminent Scotch advocate, whilst
staying in the neighbourhood of Lock Fyne,
who dreamt one night that he saw a number
of people in the street following a man to the
scaffold. He discovered the features of the
criminal in the cart distinctly ; and, for some
reason or other, which he could not account
for, felt an extraordinary interest in his fate ;
insomuch that he joined the throng, and ac-
companied him to the place that was to ter-
minate his earthly career. This interest was
the more unaccountable, that the man had an
exceedingly unprepossessing countenance, but
it was, nevertheless, so vivid, as to induce the
dreamer to ascend the scaffold, and address
him, with a view to enable him to escape the
impending catastrophe. Suddenly, however,
whilst he was talking to him, the whole scene
dissolved away, and the sleeper awoke. Being
a good deal struck with the life-like reality of
the vision, and the impression made on his
mind by the features of this man, he related
the circumstance to his friends, at breakfast,

60 DREAMING, ETC.

adding that he should know him anywhere, if
he saw him. A few jests being made on the
subject, the thing was forgotten.

On the afternoon of the same day, the advo-
cate was informed that two men wanted to
speak to him, and, on going into the hall, he
was struck with amazement at perceiving that
one of them was the hero of his dream !

" We are accused of a murder," said they,
" and we wish to consult you. Three of us
went out last night, in a boat ; an accident
has happened ; our comrade is drowned, and
they want to make us accountable for him.11
The advocate then put some interrogations to
them, arid the result produced in his mind,
by their answers, was a conviction of their
guilt. Probably the recollection of his dream
rendered the effects of this conviction more
palpable ; for, one addressing the other, said,
in Gaelic, " We have come to the wrong man;
he is against us."

" There is a higher power than I against
you," returned the gentleman ; " and the only
advice I can give you is, if you are guilty, fly
immediately." Upon this, they went away ;
and the next thing he heard was, that they
were taken into custody, on suspicion of the
murder.

DREAMING, ETC. 61

The account of the affair was, that, as they
said, the three had gone out together on the
preceding evening, and that in the morning,
the body of one of them had been found on
the shore, with a cut across his forehead. The
father and friend of the victim had waited on
the banks of the lake till the boat came in, and
then demanded their companion ; of whom,
however, they professed themselves unable to
give any account. Upon this, the old man led
them to his cottage for the purpose of showing
them the body of his son. One entered, and,
at the sight of it, burst into a passion of tears :
the other refused to do so, saying his business
called him immediately home, and went sulkily
away. This last was the man seen in the
dream.

After a fortnight's incarceration, the former
of these was liberated ; and he then declared
to the advocate his intention of bringing an
action of damages for false imprisonment.
He was advised not to do it. " Leave well
alone," said the lawyer ; " and if you'll take
my advice, make off while you can." The man,
however, refused to fly : he declared that he
really did not know what had occasioned the
death of his comrade. The latter had been at
one end of the boat, and he at the other ; when

VOL. i. G

62 DRKAMING. ETC.

he looked round, he was gone ; but whether
he had fallen overboard, and cut his head as he
fell, or whether he had been struck and pushed
into the water, he did not know. The advocate
became finally satisfied of this man's inno-
cence ; but the authorities, thinking it absurd
to try one and not the other, again laid hands
on him ; and it fell to Mr. A. F. to be the
defender of both. The difficulty was, not to
separate their cases in his pleading ; for, how-
ever morally convinced of the different ground
on which they stood, his duty, professionally,
was to obtain the acquittal of both ; in which
he finally succeeded, as regarded the charge of
murder. They were, therefore, sentenced to
two years' imprisonment ; and, so far as the
dream is concerned, here ends the story.
There remains, however, a curious sequel to it.
A few years afterwards, the same gentleman
being in a boat on Loch Fyne, in company
with Sir T. D. L., happened to be mentioning
these curious circumstances, when one of the
boatmen said, that he " knew well about those
two men ; and that a very strange thing had
occurred in regard to one of them." This one,
on enquiry, proved to be the subject of the
dream ; and the strange thing was this : On
being liberated, he had quitted that part of the

DREAMING, ETC. 6.3

country, and, in process of time, had gone to
Greenock, and thence embarked in a vessel
for Cork. But the vessel seemed fated never
to reach its destination ; one misfortune hap-
pened after another, till at length the sailors
said, " This won't do ; there must be a mur-
derer on board with us." As is usual, when
such a persuasion exists, they drew lots three
times, and each time it fell on that man. He
was, consequently, put on shore, and the vessel
went on its way without him. What had
become of him afterwards, was not known.

A friend of mine, being in London, dreamt
that she saw her little boy playing on the
terrace of her house in Northumberland,
that he fell and hurt his arm, and she saw him
lying apparently dead. The dream recurred
two or three times, on the same night, and
she awoke her husband, saying, she " feared
something must have happened to Henry."
In due course of post, a letter arrived from the
governess, saying, that she was sorry to have
to commuicate that, whilst playing on the ter-
race that morning, Master Henry had fallen
over a heap of stones, and broken his arm ;
adding, that he had fainted after the accident,
and had lain for some time insensible. The
lady to whom this dream occurred, is not aware

64 DREAMING, ETC.

having ever manifested this faculty before or
since.

Mrs. W. dreamt that she saw people ascend-
ing by a ladder to the chamber of her step-son,
John; wakes, and says she is afraid he is
dead, and that there was something odd in
her dream about a watch and a candle. In
the morning, a messenger is sent to enquire for
the gentleman, and they find people ascending
to his chamber window by a ladder, the door
of the room being locked. They discover him
dead on the floor, with his watch in his hand,
and the candle between his feet. The same
lady dreamt that she saw a friend in great
agony ; and that she heard him say, they were
tearing his flesh from his bones. He was
some time afterwards seized with inflamma-
tion, lay as she had seen him, and made use
of those exact words.

A friend of mine dreamt, lately, that some-
body said, her nephew must not be bled, as
it would be dangerous. The young man was
quite well, and there had been no design of
bleeding him ; but, on the following morning
he had a tooth drawn, and an effusion of blood
ensued, which lasted some days, and caused a
good deal of uneasiness.

A farmer, in Worcestershire, dreamt that

DREAMING, ETC. 65

his little boy, of twelve years old, had fallen
from the waggon and was killed. The dream
recurred three times in one night; but, unwilling
to yield to superstitious fears, he allowed the
child to accompany the waggoner to Kidder-
minster Fair. The driver was very fond of
the boy, and he felt assured would take care of
him ; but, having occasion to go a little out of
theroad to leave a parcel, the man bade the child
walk on with the waggon, and he would meet
him at a certain spot. On arriving there, the
horses were coming quietly forward, but the
boy was not with them ; and on retracing the
road, he was found dead ; having, apparently,
fallen from the shafts and been crushed by the
wheels.

A gentleman, who resided near one of the
Scottish lakes, dreamt that he saw a number
of persons surrounding a body, which had just
been drawn out of the water. On approaching
the spot, he perceives that it is himself, and
the assistants are his own friends and retainers.
Alarmed at the life-like reality of the vision,
he resolved to elude the threatened destiny by
never venturing on the lake again. On one
occasion, however, it became quite indispen-
sable that he should do so ; and, as the day was
quite calm, he yielded to the necessity, on con-
G 5

60 DREAMING, ETC.

dition that he should he put ashore at once on
the opposite side, whilst the rest of the party
proceeded to their destinations, where he would
meet them. This was accordingly done : the
boat skimmed gaily over the smooth waters,
and arrived safely at the rendezvous, the gen-
tlemen laughing at the superstition of their
companion ; whilst he stood smiling on the
bank to receive them. But, alas ! the fates-
were inexorable : the little promontory that
supported him had been undermined by the
water : it gave way beneath his feet, and life
was extinct before he could be rescued. This
circumstance was related to me by a friend of
the family.

Mr. S. was the son of an Irish bishop, who
set somewhat more value on the things of
this world than became his function. He
had always told his son that there was but one
thing he could not forgive, and that was a bad
marriage : meaning, by a bad marriage, a poor
one. As cautions of this sort do not, by any
means, prevent young people falling in love,
Mr. S. fixed his affections on Lady O., a fair
young widow, without any fortune ; and, aware
that it would be useless to apply for his father's
consent, he married her without asking it.
They were, consequently, exceedingly poor ;

DREAMING, ETC. 67

and, indeed, nearly all they had to live on was
a small sinecure of forty pounds per annum,
which Dean Swift procured for him. Whilst
in this situation, Mr. S. dreamt one night
that he was in the cathedral in which he had
formerly been accustomed to attend service ;
that he saw a stranger, habited as a bishop,
occupying his father's throne ; and that, on
applying to the verger for an explanation, the
man said, that the bishop was dead, and that
he had expired just as he was adding a codicil
to his will in his son's favour. The impression
made by the dream was so strong, that Mr. S.
felt that he should have no repose till he had
obtained news from home ; and as the most
speedy way of doing so, was to go there him-
self, he started on horseback, much against the
advice of his wife, who attached no importance
whatever to the circumstance. He had
scarcely accomplished half his journey, when
he met a courrier, bearing the intelligence of
his father's death ; and when he reached
home, he found that there was a codicil
attached to the will of the greatest importance
to his own future prospects ; but the old gen-
tleman had expired, with the pen in his hand,
just as.he was about to sign it.

In this unhappy position, reduced to hope-

68 DREAMING, ETC.

less indigence, the friends of the young man
proposed that he should present himself at
the Vice-regal Palace, on the next levee day,
in hopes that some interest might be excited
in his favour ; to which, with reluctance, he
consented. As he was ascending the stairs,
he was met by a gentleman whose dress
indicated that he belonged to the Church.

" Good Heavens !" said he, to the friend who
accompanied him, " Who is that ?"

" That is Mr. , of so and so."

"Then he will be Bishop of L !" re-
turned Mr. S. ; " For that is the man I saw
occupying my father's throne !"

" Impossible !" replied the other ; " he has
no interest whatever, and has no more chance
of being a bishop than I have."

" You will see," replied Mr. S., "I am
certain he will.

They had made their obeisance above, and
were returing, when there was a great cry
without, and everybody rushed to the doors
and windows to enquire what had happened.
The horses attached to the carriage of a young
nobleman had become restive, and were
endangering the life of their master, when

Mr. rushed forward, and, at the peril of

his own, seized their heads, and afforded Lord

DREAMING, ETC. 69

C. time to descend before they broke through
all restraint, and dashed away. Through the
interest of this nobleman and his friends, to

whom Mr. had been previously quite

unknown, he obtained the see of L. These
circumstances were related to me by a
member of the family.

It would be tedious to relate all the
instances of this sort of dreaming which have
come to my knowledge, but were they even
much more rare than they are, and were there
none of a graver and more mysterious kind,
it might certainly occasion some surprise that
they should have excited so little attention.
When stories of this sort are narrated, they
are listened to with wonder for the moment,
and then forgotten, and few people reflect on
the deep significance of the facts, nor the
important consequences to us involved in the
question, of how, with our limited faculties,
which cannot foretel the events of the next
moment, we should suddenly become prophets
and seers.

The following dream, as it regards the fate
of a very interesting person, and is, I believe,
very little known, I will relate, though the
story is of somewhat an old date : — Major
Andre, the circumstances of whose lamented

70 DREAMING, ETC.

death are too well known to make it neces-
sary for me to detail them here, was a friend
of Miss Se ward's, and, previously to his em-
barkation for America, he made a journey
into Derbyshire, to pay her a visit, and it
was arranged that they should ride over to see
the wonders of the Peak, and introduce Andre
to Newton, her minstrel, as she called him,
and to Mr. Cunningham, the curate, who was
also a poet.

Whilst these two gentlemen were awaiting
the arrival of their guests, of whose intentions
they had been apprised, Mr. Cunningham
mentioned to Newton that, on the preceding
night, he had had a very extraordinary dream,
which he could not get out of his head. He
had fancied himself in a forest ; the place was
strange to him ; and, whilst looking about, he
perceived a horseman approaching at great
speed, who had scarcely reached the spot
where the dreamer stood, when three men
rushed out of the thicket, and, seizing his
bridle, hurried him away, after closely search-
ing his person. The countenance of the
stranger being very interesting, the sympathy
felt by the sleeper for his apparent misfortune
awoke him; but he presently fell asleep again,
and dreamt that he was standing near a great

DREAMING, ETC. 71

city, amongst thousands of people, and that
he saw the same person he had seen seized
in the wood brought ont and suspended to a
gallows. When Andre and Miss Seward
arrived, he was horror-struck to perceive that
his new acquaintance was the antitype of the
man in the dream.

Mr. C., a friend of mine, told me, the other
day, that he had dreamt he had gone to see
a lady of his acquaintance, and that she had
presented him with a purse. In the morning
he mentioned the circumstance to his wife,
adding that he wondered what should have
made him dream of a person he had not been
in any way led to think of; and, above all,
that she should give him a purse. On that
same day, a letter arrived from that lady to
Mrs. C., containing a purse, of which she
begged her acceptance. Here was the imper-
fect foreshadowing of the fact, probably from
unsound sleep.

Another friend lately dreamt, one Thursday
night, that he saw an acquaintance of his
thrown from his horse ; and that he was lying
on the ground with the blood streaming from
his face, which was much cut. He mentioned
his dream in the morning, and being an entire
disbeliever in such phenomena, he could not

72 DREAMING, ETC.

account for the impression made on his mind.
This was so strong, that, on Saturday, he could
not forbear calling at his friend's house ; who,
he was told, was in bed, having been thrown
from his horse on the previous clay, and much
injured about the face.

Relations of this description having been
more or less familiar to the world in all times
and places ; and the recurrence of the pheno-
mena too frequent to admit of their reality
being disputed, various theories were promul-
gated to account for them ; and, indeed, there
scarcely seems to be a philosopher or historian
amongst the Greeks and Romans who does not
make some allusion to this ill-understood de-
partment of nature ; whilst, amongst the
eastern nations, the faith in such mysterious
revelations remains even yet undiminished.
Spirits, good and evil, or the divinities of the
heathen mythology, were generally called in
to remove the difficulty; though some philo-
sophers, rejecting this supernatural inter-
ference, sought the explanation in merely
physical causes.

In the Druidical rites of the northern na-
tions, women bore a considerable part : there
were pristesses, who gave forth oracles and
prophecies, much after the manner of the Py.

WITCHES, ETC. 73

thonesses of the Grecian temples, and, no
doubt, drawing their inspiration from the
same sources ; namely, from the influences of
magnetism, and from narcotics. When the
pure rites of Christianity superseded the
Heathen forms of worship, tradition kept alive
the memory of these vaticinations, together
with some of the arcana of the Druidical
groves ; and hence, in the middle ages, arose
a race of so-called witches and sorcerers, who
were partly imposters, and partly self'deluded.
Nobody thought of seeking the explanation
of the facts they witnessed in natural causes ;
what had formerly been attributed to the in-
fluence of the Gods, was now attributed to the
influence of the Devil ; and a league with
Satan was the universal solvent of all diffi-
culties.

Persecution followed, of course ; and men,
women, and children, were offered up to the
demon of superstition, till the candid and
rational part of mankind, taking fright at the
holocaust, began to put in their protest, and
lead out a reaction, which, like all reactions,
ran right into the opposite extreme. From
believing everything, they ceased to believe
anything ; and, after swallowing unhesitatingly
the most monstrous absurdities, they relieved
VOL. i. H

74 WITCHES, ETC.

themselves of the whole difficulty, by denying
the plainest facts ; whilst, what it was found
impossible to deny, was referred to imagina-
tion— that most abused word, which ex-
plained nothing, but left the matter as obscure
as it was before. Man's spiritual nature was
forgotten; and what the senses could not
apprehend, nor the understanding account
for, was pronounced to be impossible. Thank
God ! we have lived through that age, and,
in spite of the struggles of the materialistic
school, we are fast advancing to a better.
The traditions of the saints who suffered the
most appalling tortures, and slept or smiled
the while, can scarcely be rejected now, when
we are daily hearing of people undergoing
frightful operations, either in a state of insen-
sibility, or whilst they believe themselves re-
velling in delight ; nor can the psychological
intimations which these facts offer, be much
longer overlooked. One revelation must lead
to another ; and the wise men of the world
will, ere long, be obliged to give in their ad-
herence to Shakspere's much quoted axiom,
and confess that " there are more things in
Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in their
philosophy !"

CHAPTER IV.

ALLEGORICAL DREAMS, PRESENTIMENT, ETC.

IT has been the opinion of many philosophers,
both ancient and modern, that, in the original
state of man, as he came forth from the hands
of his Creator, that knowledge which is now
acquired by pains and labour, was intuitive.
His material body was given him for the
purpose of placing him in relation with the
material world, and his sensuous organs for
the perception of material objects , but his
soul was a mirror of the universe, in which
everything was reflected, and, probably, is so
still, but that the spirit is no longer in a con-
dition to perceive it. Degraded in his nature,

76 ALLEGORICAL DREAMS,

and distracted by the multiplicity of the ob-
jects and interests that surround him, man has
lost his faculty of spiritual seeing ; but in
sleep, when the body is in a state of passivity,
and external objects are excluded from us by
the shutting up of the senses through which
we perceive them, the spirit, to a certain
degree, freed from its impediments, may enjoy
somewhat of its original privilege. " The
soul, which is designed as the mirror of a
superior spiritual order" (to which it belongs),
still receives, in dreams, some rays from
above, and enjoys a foretaste of its future con-
dition ; and, whatever interpretation may be
put upon the history of the Fall, few will
doubt that, before it, man must have stood in
a much more intimate relation to his Creator
than he has done since. If we admit this, and
that, for the above hinted reasons, the soul
in sleep may be able to exercise somewhat of
its original endowment, the possibility of what
is called prophetic dreaming may be better
understood,

" Seeing in dreams," says Ennemoser, " is a
self-illumining of things, places, and times ;"
for relations of time and space form no ob-
struction to the dreamer: things, near and far,
;ue alike seen in the mirror of the soul, ac-

PRESENTIMENT, ETC. 77

cording to the connexion in which they stand
to each other ; and, as the future is but an
unfolding of the present, as the present is of
the past, one being necessarily involved in
the other, it is not more difficult to the un-
trammelled spirit to perceive what is to
happen, than what has already happened.
Under what peculiar circumstances it is that,
the body and soul fall into this particular
relative cdndition, we do not know ; but that
certain families and constitutions are more
prone to these conditions than others, all ex-
perience goes to establish. According to the
theory of Dr. Ennemoser, we should conclude
that they are more susceptible to magnetic
influences, and that the body falls into a more
complete state of negative polarity.

In the histories of the Old Testament, we
constantly find instances of prophetic dream-
ing, and the voice of God was chiefly heard
by the prophets in sleep ; seeming to establish
that man is, in that state, more susceptible of
spiritual communion, although the being thus
made the special organ of the divine will, is
altogether a different thing from the mere
disfranchisement of the embodied spirit in
ordinary cases of clear seeing in sleep. Pro-
fane history, also, furnishes us with various
H 5

78 ALLEG01UCAL DHKAMS,

instances of prophetic dreaming-, which it is
unnecessary for me to refer to here. But
there is one thing very worthy of remark,
namely, that the allegorical character of many
of the dreams recorded in the Old Testament,
occasionally pervades those of the present day.
I have heard of several of this nature, and
Oberlin, the good pastor of Ban de la Roche,
was so subject to them, that he fancied he had
acquired the art of interpreting the symbols.
This characteristic of dreaming is in strict con-
formity with the language of the Old Testa-
ment, and of the most ancient nations. Poets
and prophets, heathen and Christian, alike
express themselves symbolically, and, if we
believe that this language prevailed in the
early ages of the world, before the external
and intellectual life had predominated over
the instinctive and emotional, we must con-
clude it to be the natural language of man,
who must, therefore, have been gifted with a
conformable faculty, of comprehending these
hieroglyphics ; and hence it arose that the
interpreting of dreams became a legitimate
art. Long after these instinctive faculties
were lost, or rather obscured, by the turmoil
and distractions of sensuous life, the memories
and traditions of them remained, and hence

PRESENTIMENT, ETC. 79

the superstructure of jugglery and imposture
that ensued, of which the gipsies form a
signal example, in whom, however, there can
be no doubt, that some occasional gleams of
this original endowment may still be found,
as is the case, though more rarely, in indi-
vrduals of all races and conditions. The whole
of nature is one large book of symbols, which,
because we have lost the key to it, we cannot
decipher. " To the first man," says Hamann,
" whatever his ear heard, his eye saw, or his
hand touched, was a living word ; with this
word in his heart and in his mouth, the forma-
tion of language was easy. Man saw things
in their essence and properties, and named
them accordingly.

There can be no doubt that the heathen
forms of worship and systems of religion were
but the external symbols of some deep
meanings, and not the idle fables that they
have been too frequently considered ; and it is
absurd to suppose that the theology which
satisfied so many great minds, had no better
foundation than a child's fairy tale.

A maid servant, who resided many years in
a distinguished family in Edinburgh, was re-
peatedly warned of the approaching death of
certain members of that family, by dreaming
that one of the walls of the house had fallen:

80 ALLEGORICAL DREAMS,

Shortly before the head of the family sickened
and died, she said she had dreamt that the
main wall had fallen.

A singular circumstance which occurred in
this same family, from a member of whom I
heard it, is mentioned by Dr. Abercrombie.
On this occasion the dream was not only pro-
phetic, but the symbol was actually translated
into fact.

One of the sons being indisposed with a sore
throat, a sister dreamt that a watch, of con-
siderable value, which she had borrowed from
a friend, had stopt; that she had awakened
another sister and mentioned the circum-
stance, who answered that " something much
worse had happened, for Charles's breath had
stopt." She then awoke, in extreme alarm,
and mentioned the dream to her sister, who, to
tranquillize her mind, arose and went to the
brother's room, where she found him asleep
and the watch going. The next night, the same
dream recurred, and the brother was again found
asleep and the watch going. On the following
morning, however, this lady was writing a note
in the drawing-room, with the watch beside her,
when, on taking it up, she perceived it had
stopt ; and she was just on the point of calling
her sister to mention the circumstance, when
she heard a scream from her brother's room,

PRESENTIMENT, ETC. 81

and the sister rushed in with the tidings that
he had just expired. The malady had not
been thought serious; but a sudden fit of
suffocation had unexpectedly proved fatal.

This case, which is established beyond all
controversy, is extremely curious in many
points of view : the acting out of the symbol,
especially. Symbolical events of this descrip-
tion have been often related, and as often
laughed at. It is easy to laugh at what we
do not understand ; and it gives us the advan-
tage of making the timid narrator ashamed of
his fact, so that if he do not wholly suppress
it, he at least ensures himself by laughing, too,
the next time he relates it. It is said that
Goethe's clock stopt at the moment he died ;
and I have heard repeated instances of
this strange kind of synchronism, or mag-
netism, if it be by magnetism that we are
to account for the mystery. One was told
me very lately by a gentleman to whom
the circumstance occurred.

On the 16th of August, 1769, Frederick
II. of Prussia is said to have dreamt, that
a star fell from heaven, and occasioned such an
extraordinary glare that he could with great
difficulty find his way through it. He men-
tioned the dream to his attendants, and it was

82 ALLEGORICAL DREAMS,

afterwards observed that it was on that day
Napoleon was born.

A lady, not long since, related to me the fol-
lowing circumstance : — Her mother, who was
at the time residing in Edinburgh, in a house,
one side of which looked into a wynd, whilst
the door was in the High-street, dreamt
that, it being Sunday morning, she had heard a
sound, which had attracted her to the window;
and, whilst looking out, had dropt a ring from
her finger into the wynd below. That she
had, thereupon, gone down in her night clothes
to seek it ; but when she reached the spot, it
was not to be found. Returning, extremely
vexed at her loss, as she re-entered her own
door she met a respectable looking young man,
carrying some loaves of bread. On expressing
her astonishment at finding a stranger there
at so unseasonable an hour, he answered, by
expressing his at seeing her in such a situation.
She said she had dropt her ring, and had been
round the corner to seek it ; whereupon, to her
delighted surprise, he presented her with her
lost treasure. Some months afterwards, being
at a party, she recognised the young man seen
in her dream, and learnt that he was a baker.
He took no particular notice of her on that
occasion; an 1, 1 think, two years elapsed be

PRESENTIMENT, ETC, 83

fore she met him again. This second meeting,
however, led to an acquaintance, which ter-
minated in marriage.

Here the ring and the bread are curiously
emblematic of the marriage, and the occu-
pation of the future husband.

Miss L., residing at Dalkeith, dreamt
that her brother, who was ill, called her to
his bedside, and gave her a letter, which he
desired her to carry to their aunt, Mrs. H.,
with the request that she would deliver it to
John," (John was another brother, who had
died previously, and Mrs. H. was at the time
ill.) He added that, " he himself w=is going
there also, but that Mrs. H. would be there
before him." Accordingly, Miss L. went, in
her dream, with the letter to Mrs. H., whom
she found dressed in white, and looking quite
radiant and happy. She took the letter,
saying she was going there directly, and
would deliver it.

On the following morning, Miss L. learnt
that her aunt had died in the night. The
brother died some little time afterwards.

A gentleman who had been a short time
visiting Edinburgh, was troubled with a
cough, which, though it occasioned him no
alarm, he resolved to go home to nurse. On

84 ALLEGORICAL DREAMS,

the first night of his arrival, he dreamt that
one half of the house was blown away. His
bailiff, who resided at a distance, dreamt the
same dream on the same night. The gentle-
man died within a few weeks.

" This symbolical language which the
Deity appears to have used " (witness Peter's
dream, Acts ii., and others,) " in all his reve-
lations to man, is in the highest degree,, what
poetry is ina lower; and the language of dreams,
iu the lowest, namely, the original natural
language of man ; and we may fairly ask
whether this language, which here plays an
inferior part, be not, possibly, the proper lan-
guage of a higher sphere, whilst we, who
vainly think ourselves awake, are, in reality,
buried iu a deep, deep sleep, in which, like
dreamers who imperfectly hear the voices of
those around them, we occasionally apprehend,
th ough obscurely, a few words of this Divine
tongue." ( Vide Schubert.}

This subject of sleeping and waking is a
very curious one, and might give rise to
strange questionings. In the case of those
patients above mentioned, who seem to have
two different spheres of existence, who shall
say which is the waking one, or whether
either of them be so ? The speculations of

DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS. 85

Mr. Dove on tlm subject merited more atten-
tion, I think, than they met with, when he
lectured in Edinburgh. He maintained that,
long before he had paid any attention to mag-
netism, he had arrived at the conclusion that
there are as many states or conditions of mind
beyond sleep, as there are on this side of it ;
passing through the different stages of dream-
ing, reverie, contemplation, &c., up to perfect
vigilance. However this be, in this world of
appearance, where we see nothing as it is, and
where, both as regards our moral and physical
relations, we live in a state of continual de-
lusion, it is impossible for us to pronounce'
on this question. It is a common remark, that
some people seem to live in a dream, and
never to be quite awake ; and the most cur-
sory observer cannot fail to have been struck
with examples of persons in this condition,
especially in the aged.

With respect to this allegorical language,
Ennemoser observes that, " since no dreamer
learns it of another, and still less from those
who are awake, it must be natural to all men."
How different, too, is its comprehensiveness
and rapidity, to our ordinary language ! We
are accustomed, and with justice, to wonder
at the admirable mechanism by which, with-

VOL. i. i

86 DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS.

out fatigue or exertion, we communicate with
our fellow beings ; but how slow and ineffec-
tive is human speech, compared to this
{spiritual picture-language, where a whole
history is understood at a glance ! and scenes
that seem to occupy days and weeks, are
acted out in ten minutes. It is remarkable
that this hieroglyphic language appears to be
the same amongst all people ; and that the
dream interpreters of all countries construe the
signs alike. Thus, the dreaming of deep
water denotes trouble, and pearls are a sign
of tears.

I have heard of a lady, who, whenever a
misfortune was impending, dreamt that she
saw a large fish. One night, she dreamt that
this fish had bitten two of her little boy's
fingers. Immediately afterwards, a school-
fellow of the child^s injured those two very
fingers, by striking him with a hatchet; and
I have met with several persons who have
learnt, by experience, to consider one particular
dream as the certain prognostic of misfortune.
A lady, who had left the West Indies when
six years old, came one night, fourteen years
afterwards, to her sister's bed-side, and said,
" I know uncle is dead. I have dreamt that I
saw a number of slaves in the large store-

DEEAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS. 87

room at Barbadoes, with long brooms sweep-
ing down immense cobwebs. I complained to
my aunt, and she covered her face and said,
" Yes, he is no sooner gone than they disobey
him." It was afterwards ascertained, that
Mr* P. had died on that night ; and that he had
never permitted the cobwebs in this room to
be swept away, of which, however, the lady
assures me she knew nothing ; nor could she
or her friends conceive what was meant by
the symbol of the cobwebs, till they received
the explanation subsequently, from a member
of the family.

The following very curious allegorical dream
I give, not in the words of the dreamer, but
in those of her son, who bears a name des-
tined, I trust, to a long immortality : —

" Wooer's Abbey-Cottage,

" Dunfermiline-in-the Woods,

"Monday Morning, 31st May, 1847.
" Dear Mrs. Crowe,

" That dream of my mother's was as fol-
lows:— She stood in a long, dark, empty
gallery : on her one side was my father, and
on the other my eldest sister Amelia ; then
myself, and the rest of the family, according to
their ages. At the foot of the hall stood my

88 DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS.

youngest sister Alexes, and above her my sister
Catherine — a creature, by the way, in person
and mind more like an angel of heaven than
an inhabitant of earth. We all stood silent
and motionless. At last It entered — the
unimagined something that, casting its grim
shadow before, had enveloped all the trivialties
of the preceding dream in the stifling atmo-
sphere of terror. It entered, stealthily de-
scending the three steps that led from the
entrance down into the chamber of horror : and
my mother felt It was Death. He was
dwarfish, bent, and shrivelled. He carried on
his shoulder a heavy axe ; and had come, she
thought, to destroy ' all her little ones at one
fell swoop.' On the entrance of the shape
my sister Alexes leapt out of the rank, inter-
posing herself between him and my mother.
He raised his axe and aimed a blow at
Catherine : a blow which, to her horror, my
mother could not intercept; though she had
snatched up a three-legged stool, the sole fur-
niture of the apartment, for that purpose.
She could not, she felt, fling the stool at the
figure without destroying Alexes, who kept
shooting out and in between her and the
ghastly thing. She tried, in vain, to scream ;
she besought my father, in agony, to avert the

DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS. 80

impending stroke; but he didnothear,ordidnot
heed her ; and stood motionless, as in a trance.
Down came the axe, and poor Catherine fell
in her blood, cloven to ' the white halse
bane.' Again the axe was lifted, by the in-
exorable shadow, over the head of my brother,
who stood next in the line. Alexes had some-
where disappeared behind the ghastly visitant;
and, with a scream, my mother flung the foot-
stool at his head. He vanished, and she
awoke. This dream left on my mother's mind
u fearful apprehension of impending misfortune,
' which would not pass away.' It was murder
she feared; and her suspicions were not allayed
by the discovery that a man — some time before
discarded by my father for bad conduct, and
with whom she had, somehow, associated the
Death of her dream — had been lurking about
the place, and sleeping in an adjoining out-
house on the night it occurred, and for some
nights previous and subsequent to it. Her
terror increased. Sleep forsook her ; and every
night, when the house was still, she arose and
stole, sometimes with a candle, sometimes in
the dark, from room to room, listening, in a
sort of waking night-mare, for the breathing
of the assassin, who, she imagined, was lurking
i 5

90 DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS.

in some one of them. This could not last.
She reasoned with herself; but her terror be-
came intolerable, and she related her dream to
my father, who, of course, called her a fool for
her pains — whatever might be his real opinion
of the matter. Three months had elapsed, when
we, children, were all of us seized with scarlet
fever. My sister Catherine died almost im-
mediately— sacrificed, as my mother, in her
misery, thought, to her (my mother's) over-
anxiety for Alexes, whose danger seemed more
imminent. The dream-prophecy was in part
fulfilled. I, also, was at death's door — given
up by the doctors, but not by my mother : she
was confident of my recovery ; but for my
brother, who was scarcely considered in danger
at all, but on whose head x/ie had seen the
visionary axe impending, her fears were great ;
for she could not recollect whether the blow
had, or had not, descended when the spectre
vanished. My brother recovered, but relapsed,
and barely escaped with life ; but Alexes did
not. For a year and ten months the poor
child lingered ; and almost every night I had
to sing her asleep ; often, I remember, through
bitter tears ; for I knew she was dying, and I
loved her the more as she wasted away. 1

DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS. 91

helu her little hand as she died; I followed
her to the grave — the last thing- that I have
loved on earth. And the dream was fulfilled.
'* True and sincerely your's,

"J. NOELPATON."

The dreaming of coffins and funerals,
when a death is impending, must be considered
as examples of this allegorical language.
Instances of this kind are extremely numerous.
Not un frequently the dreamer, as in cases of
second sigl.t, sees either the body in the coffin,
so as to be conscious of who is to die ; or else,
is made aware of it from seeing the funeral
procession at a certain house, or from some
other significant circumstance. This faculty
which has been supposed to belong peculiarly
to the Highlanders of Scotland, appears to be
fully as well known in Wales and on the con-
tinent, especially in Germany.

The language of dreams, however, is not
always symbolical. Occasionally, the scene
that is transacting at a distance, or that is to
be transacted at some future period, is literally
presented to the sleeper, as things appear to
be presented in many cases of second sight, and
also in clairvoyance ; and, since we suppose
him, that is, the sleeper, to be in a tempoiarily

92 DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS.

magnetic state, we must conclude that the
degree of perspecuity, or translucency of
the vision, depends on the degree of that state.
Nevertheless, there are considerable difficulties
attending this theory. A great proportion of
the prophetic dreams we hear of, are connected
with the death of some friend or relative.
Some, it is true, regard unimportant matters
as visits, and so forth ; but this is generally,
though not exclusively, the case only with
persons who have a constitutional tendency
to this kind of dreaming, and with whom it is
frequent ; but it is not uncommon for those
who have not discovered any such tendency,
to be made aware of a death ; and the number
of dreams of this description I meet with, is
very considerable. Now, it is difficult to con-
ceive what the condition is, that causes this
perception of an approaching death ; or why,
supposing, as we have suggested above, that,
when the senses sleep, the untrammelled spirit
sees, the memory of this revelation, if I may
so call it, so much more frequently survives
than any other, unless, indeed, it be the force
of the shock sustained, which shock, it is to be
remarked, always wakes the sleeper ; and this
may be the reason that, if he fall asleep again,
the dream is almost invariably repeated.

DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS. 93

I could fill pages with dreams of this de-
scription which have come to my knowledge,
or been recorded by others.

Mr. H., a gentleman with whom I am
acquainted, a man engaged in active business,
and apparently as little likely as any one I
ever knew to be troubled with a faculty of
this sort, dreamt that he saw a certain friend
of his dead. The dream was so like reality,
that, although he had no reason whatever to
suppose his friend ill, he could not forbear
sending in the morning to enquire for him.
The answer returned was, that Mr. A. was
out, and was quite well. The impression,
however, was so vivid, that, although he had
nearly three miles to send, Mr. H. felt that
he could not start for Glasgow, whither
business called him, without making another
enquiry. This time his friend was at home,
and answered for himself, that he was very
well, and that somebody must have been
hoaxing H., and making him believe other-
wise. Mr. H. set out on his journey, won-
dering at his own anxiety, but unable to con-
quer it. He was absent but a few days — I
think, three ; arid the first news he heard on
his return was, that his friend had been seized
with an attack of inflammation, and was dead.

94 DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS.

A German professor lately related to a
friend of mine, that, being some distance from
home, he dreamt that his father was dying,
and was calling for him. The dream being
repeated, he was so far impressed as to alter
his plans, and return home, where he arrived
in time to receive his parent's last breath. He
was informed that the dying man had been
calling upon his name repeatedly, in deep
anguish at his absence.

A parallel case to this is that of Mr. R. E. S.,
an accountant in Edinburgh, and a shrewd
man of business, who relates the following
circumstance as occurring to himself. He is
a native of Dalkeith, and was residing there,
when, being about fifteen years of age, he
left home on a Saturday, to spend a few
days with a friend at Prestonpans. On the
Sunday night, he dreamt that his mother was
extremely ill, and started out of his sleep with
an impression that he must go to her imme-
diately. He even got out of bed with the
intention of doing so, but, reflecting that he
had left her quite well, and that it was only a
dream, he returned to bed, and again fell asleep.
But the dream returned, and, unable longer
to control his anxiety, he arose, dressed himself
in the dark, quitted the house, leaping the

DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS. 95

railings that surrounded it, and made the best
of his way to Dalkeith. On reaching; home,
which he did before daylight, he tapped at
the kitchen window, and, on gaining admit-
tance, was informed that on the Saturday
evening, after he had departed, his mother had
been seized with an attack of British cholera?
and was lying above, extremely ill. She had
been lamenting his absence extremely, and
had scarcely ceased crying, " Oh, Ralph,
Ralph ! what a grief that you are away !"

At nine o'clock he was admitted to her room ;
but she was no longer in a condition to recog-
nise him, and she died within a day or two.
Instances of this sort are numerous ; but it
would be tedious to narrate them, especially as
there is little room for variety in the details.
I shall, therefore, content myself with giving
one or two specimens of each class, confining
my examples to such as have been communi-
cated to myself, except where any case of par-
ticular interest leads me to deviate from this
plan. The frequency of such phenomena
may be imagined, when I mention that the
instances I shall give, with few exceptions,
have been collected with little trouble, and
without seeking, beyond my own small circle
of acquaintance.

96 DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS.

In the family of the above-named gentle-
man, Mr. R. E. S., there probably existed a
faculty of presentiment ; lor, in the year 1810,
his elder brother being Assistant-Surgeon on
board the Gorgon, war-brig, his father dreamt
that he was promoted to the Sparrow-hawk
— a ship he had then never heard of;
neither had the family received any intelligence
of the young man for several months. He
told his dream, and was well laughed at for his
pains ; but in a few weeks a letter arrived an-
nouncing the promotion.

When Lord Burghersh was giving theatrical
parties at Florence, a lady, Mrs. M., whose
presence was very important, excused herself
one evening, being in great alarm from having
dreamt in the night that her sister, in England,
was dead, which proved to be the fact.

Mr. W., a young man at Glasgow College,
not long since dreamt that his aunt in Russia
was dead. He noted the date of his dream on
the window-shutter of his chamber. In a short
time the news of the lady's death arrived. The
dates, however, did not accord ; but, on men-
tioning the circumstance to a friend, he was
reminded that the adherence of the Russians
to the old style reconciled the difference.

A man of business, in Glasgow, lately

DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS. 7

dreamt that he saw a coffin, on which was
inscribed the name of a friend, with the date of
his death. Some time afterwards he was sum-
moned to attsnd the funeral of that person,
who, at the time of the dream, was in good
health, and he was struck with surprise on
seeing the plate of the coffin bearing the very
date he had seen in his dream.

A French gentleman, Monsieur de V., dreamt,
some years since, that he saw a tomb, on
which he read, very distinctly, the following
date — 23rd June, 184 — ; there were, also,
some initials, but so much effaced that he
could not make them out. He mentioned the
circumstance to his wife ; and, for some time,
they could not help dreading the recurrence
of the ominous month ; but, as year after year
passed, and nothing happened, they had
ceased to think of it, when, at last, the symbol
was explained. On the 23rd of June, 1846,
their only daughter died at the age of
seventeen.

Thus far the instances I have related seem
to resolve themselves into cases of simple
clairvoyance, or second sight, in sleep, although,
in using these words, I am very far from
meaning to imply that I explain the thing, or
unveil its mystery. The theory above alluded

VOL. i. K

98 DREAMS AND PRESENTIMENTS.

to, seems, as yet, the only one applicable to
the facts, namely, that the senses, being placed
in a negative and passive state, the universal
sense of the immortal spirit within, which
sees, and hears, and knows, or rather, in one
word, perceives, without organs, becomes more
or less free to work unclogged. That the
soul is a mirror in which the spirit sees all
things reflected, is a modification of this theory ;
but I confess I find myself unable to attach
any idea to this latter form of expression.
Another view, which I have heard suggested
by an eminent person, is, that, if it be true, as
maintained by Dr. Wigan, and some other
physiologists, that our brains are double, it is
possible that a polarity may exist between
the two sides, by means of which the negative
side may, under certian circumstances, become a
mirror to the positive. It seems difficult to
reconcile this notion with the fact, that these
perceptions occur most frequently when the
brain is asleep. How far the sleep is perfect
and general, however, we can never know ;
and, of course, when the powers of speech and
locomotion continue to be exercised, we are
aware that it is only partial, in a more or less
degree. In the case of magnetic sleepers,
observation shows us, that the auditory nerves

PRESENTIMENT. 99

I

are aroused by being addressed, and fall asleep
again as soon as they are left undisturbed. In
most cases of natural sleep, the same process,
if the voice were heard at all, would disperse
sleep altogether ; and it must be remembered
that, as Dr. Holland says, sleep is a fluctuating
condition, varying from one moment to another,
and this allowance must be made when con-
sidering magnetic sleep also.

It is by this theory of the duality of the
brain, which seems to have many arguments
in its favour, and the alternate sleeping
and waking of the two sides, that Dr.
Wigan seeks to account for the state of
double or alternate consciousness above alluded
to ; and also, for that strange sensation which
most people have experienced, of having wit-
nessed a scene, or heard a conversation, at
some indefinite period before, or even in some
earlier state of existence. He thinks that one-
half of the brain being in a more active con-
dition than the other, it takes cognizance of
the scene first ; and that thus the perceptions
of the second, when they take place, appear to
be a repetition of some former experiences. I
confess this theory, as regards this latter phe-
nomenon, is to me eminently unsatisfactory ,
and it is especially defective in not accounting

100 PRESENTIMENT.

for one of the most curious particulars con-
nected with it, namely, that on these occasion,
people not only seem to recognise the circum-
stances as having been experienced before ;
but they have, very frequently, an actual fore-
knowledge of what will be next said or done.

Now, the explanation of this mystery, I in-
cline to think, may possibly lie in the hypo-
thesis I have suggested ; namely, that in pro-
found, and what appears to us generally to
have been dreamless sleep, we are clear-seers.
The map of coming events lies open before us,
the spirit surveys it ; but with the awaking of
the sensuous organs, this dream-life, with its
aerial excursions, passes away; and we are
translated into our other sphere of existence.
But, occasionally, some flash of recollection,
some ray of light, from this visionary world, in
which we have been living, breaks in upon our
external objective existence, and we recognize
the locality, the voice, the very words, as being
but a re-acting of some foregone scenes of a
drama.

The faculty of presentiment, of which every-
body must have heard instances, seems to have
some affinity to the phenomenon last referred
to. I am acquainted with a lady, in whom this
faculty is in some degree developed, who has

PRESENTIMENT. 101

evinced it by a consciousness of the moment
when a death was taking place in her family,
or amongst her connexions, although she does
not know who it is that has departed. 1 have
heard of several cases of people hurrying home
from a presentiment of fire ; and Mr. M. of
Calderwood was once, when absent from home,
siezed with such an anxiety about his family,
that, without being able in any way to account
for it, he felt himself impelled to fly to them
and remove them from the house they were
inhabiting; one wing of which fell down im-
mediately afterwards. No notion of such a
misfortune had ever before occurred to him?
nor was there any reason whatever to expect it;
the accident originating from some defect in
the foundations.

A circumstance, exactly similar to this, is
related by Stilling, of Professor Bohm, teacher
of Mathematics at Marburg ; who being one
evening in company, was suddenly seized with
a conviction that he ought to go home. As,
however, he was very comfortably taking his
tea, and had nothing to do at home, he resisted
the admonition ; but it returned with such
force that at length he was obliged to yield.
On reaching his house, he found everything as
he had left it ; but he now felt himself urged to
K 5

102 PRESENTIMENT.

remove his bed from the corner in which it >
stood to another ; hut as it had always stood
there, he resisted this impulsion also. How-
ever, the resistance was vain, ahsurd as it
seemed, he felt he must do it ; so he summoned
the maid, and, with her aid, drew the bed to the
bthersideof theroom ; after which hefeltquite at
ease and returned to spend the rest of the even-
ing with his friends. At ten o'clock the party
broke up, and he retired home and went to bed
and to sleep. In the middle of the night, he
was awakened by a loud crash, and on looking
gut, he saw that a large beam had fallen,
bringing part of the ceiling with it, and was
1) ing exactly on the spot his bed had occupied.
A young servant girl in this neighbourhood,
who had been several years in an excellent
situation, where she was much esteemed, was
suddenly seized with a presentiment that she
was wanted at home ; and, in spite of all repre-
sentations, she resigned her place and set out
on her journey thither ; where, when she ar-
rived, she found her parents extremely ill, one
of them mortally, and in the greatest need of
her services. No intelligence of their illness
had reached her, nor could she herself in any
way account for the impulse. I have heard of
numerous well authenticated cases of people

PRESENTIMENT." 103

in*

escaping drowning from being seized with an
unaccountable presentiment of evil when there
were no external signs whatever to justify the
apprehension. The story of Cazotte as related
by La Harpe is a very remarkable instance of
this sort of faculty; and seems to indicate
a power resembling that possessed by
Zschokke, who relates of himself, in his auto-
biography, that, frequently whilst conversing
with a stranger, the whole circumstances of
that person's previous life were revealed to
him, even comprising details of places and
persons. In the case of Cazotte, it was the
future that was laid open to him, and he fore-
told, to a company of eminent persons, in the
year 1788, the fate which awaited each indi-
vidual, himself included, in consequence of the
revolution then commencing. As this story is
already in print, I forbear to relate it.

One of the most remarkable cases of pre-
sentiment I know, is, that which occuiTed, not
very long since, on board one of her Majesty's
ships, when lying off Portsmouth. The officers
being one day at the mess-table, a young
Lieutenant P. suddenly laid down his knife
and fork, pushed away his plate, and turned
extremely pale. He then rose from the table,
covering his face with his hands, and retired

J04 PRESENTIMENT.

from the room The president of the mess,
supposing him to be ill, sent one of the young
men to enquire what was the matter. At first,
Mr. P. was unwilling to speak ; but on being
pressed, he confessed that he had been seized
by a sudden and irresistible impression, that a
brother he had then in India was dead. " He
died," said he, "on the 12th of August, at
six o'clock ; I am perfectly certain of it !"
No arguments could overthrow this convic-
tion, which, in due course of post, was verified
to the letter. The young man had died at
Cawnpore, at the precise period mentioned.

When any exhibition of this sort of faculty
occurs in animals, which is by no means un-
frequent, it is termed instinct ; and we look
upon it, as what it probably is, only another
and more rare development of that intuitive
knowledge which enables them to seek their
food, and perform the other functions necessary
to the maintenance of their existence, and the
continuance of their race. Now, it is remark-
able, that the life of an animal is a sort of
dream-life ; their ganglionic system is more
developed than that of man, and the cerebral,
less ; and since it is doubtless, from the greater
development of the ganglionic system in
women, that they exhibit more frequent in-

PRESENTIMENT. 105

stances of such abnormal phenomena as I am
treating of. than men, we may be, perhaps,
justified in considering the faculty of presenti-
ment in a human being as a suddenly awakened
instinct ; just as in an animal, it is an inten-
sified instinct.

Everybody has either witnessed or heard of
instances of this sort of presentiment, in dogs
especially. For the authenticity of the follow-
ing anecdote I can vouch ; the traditions being
very carefully preserved in the family con-
cerned, from whom I have it. In the last
century, Mr. P., a member of this family, who
had involved himself in some of the stormy
affairs of this northern part of the island,
was one day surprised by seeing a favourite dog,
that was lying at his feet, start suddenly up
and seize him by the knee, which he pulled —
not with violence, but in a manner that indi-
cated a wish that his master should follow him
to the door. The gentleman resisted the invi-
tation for some time ; till at length the perse-
verance of the animal arousing his curiosity,
he yielded, and was thus conducted by the dog
into the most sequestered part of a neighbour-
ing thicket, where, however, he could see no-
thing to account for his dumb friend's pro-
ceeding, who now lay himself down, quite

106 PRESENTIMENT.

satisfied, and seemed to wish his master to
follow the example ; which, determined to
pursue the adventure and find out, if possible,
what was meant, he did. A considerable
time now elapsed before the dog would consent
to his master's going home ; but at length he
arose and led the way thither, when the first
news Mr. P. heard was, that a party of soldiers
had been there in quest of him ; and he was
shown the marks of their spikes, which had been
thrust through the bed-clothes in their search.
He fled, and ultimately escaped ; his life being
thus preserved by his dog.

Some years ago, at Plymouth, I had a brown
spaniel that regularly, with great delight,
accompanied my son and his nurse in their
morning's walk. One day, she carne to com-
plain to me that Tiger would not go out with
them. Nobody could conceive the reason of
so unusual a caprice ; and, unfortunately, we
did not yield to it, but forced him to go. In
less than a quarter of an hour he was brought
back, so torn to pieces, by a savage dog that
had just come ashore from a foreign vessel,
that it was found necessary to shoot him im
mediately.

CHAPTER V.

WARNINGS.

THIS comparison, betwixt the power of pre-
sentiment in a human being and the instincts
of an animal, may be offensive to some people;
but it must be admitted, that, as far as we
can see, the manifestation is the same, what-
ever be the cause. Now, the body of an animal
must be informed by an immaterial principle
— let us call it soul or spirit, or anything else ;
for it is evident that their actions are not the
mere result of organization ; and all I mean
to imply is, that this faculty of fore-seeing
must be inherent in intelligent spirit, let it

108 WARNINGS.

be lodged in what form of flesh it may ;
whilst, with regard to what instinct is, we are,
in the meanwhile, in extreme ignorance.
Instinct being a word which, like Imagina-
tion, everybody uses, and nobody understands.
Ennemoser and Schubert believe, that the
instinct by which animals seek their food
consists in polarity, but I have met with only
two modern theories which pretend to ex-
plain the phenomena of presentiment ; the one
is, that the person is in a temporarily magnetic
state, and that the presentiment is a kind of
clairvoyance. That the faculty, like that of
prophetic dreaming, is constitutional, and
chiefly manifested in certain families, is well
established ; and the very unimportant events,
such as visits, and so forth, on which it fre-
quently exercises itself, forbid us to seek an
explanation in a higher source. It seems,
also, to be quite independent of the will of the
subject, as it was in the case of Zschokke,
who found himself thus let into the secrets of
persons in whom he felt no manner of inter-
est ; whilst, where the knowledge might have
been of use to him, he could not command it.
The theory of one-half of the brain in a nega-
tive state, serving as a mirror to the other
half, if admitted at all, may answer as well,

WARNINGS. 100

or better, for these waking presentiments,
than for clear-seeing in dreams. But, for my
own part, I incline very much to the views of
that school of philosophers who adopt the first
and more spiritual theory, which seems to me,
to offer fewer difficulties, whilst, as regards
our present nature, and our future hopes, it
is certainly more satisfactory. Once admitted
that the body is but the temporary dwelling
of an immaterial spirit, the machine through
which, and by which, in its normal states, the
spirit alone can manifest itself, I cannot see
any great difficulty in conceiving that, in cer-
tain conditions of that body, their relations
may be modified, and that the spirit may per-
ceive, by its own inherent quality, without
the aid of its matt rial vehicle ; and, as this
condition of the body may arise from causes
purely physical, we see at once why trie reve*-
lations frequently regard such unimportant
events.

Plutarch, in his dialogue betwixt Lamprius
ana Ammonius, observes, that if the Daemons,
or protecting spirits, that watch over mankind
are disembodied souls, we ought not to doubt
that those spirits, even when in the flesh, pos-
sessed the faculties they now en^oy, since we
have no reason to suppose that any new ones

VOL. i. L

110 WARNINGS.

are conferred at the period of dissolution ; for
these faculties must be inherent, although
temporarily obscured, and weak and ineffective
in their manifestations. As it is not when
the sun breaks from behind the clouds that
he first begins to shine, so it is not when the
soul issues from the body, as from a cloud that
envelopes it, that it first attains the power of
looking- into the future.

But the events foreseen are not always unim-
portant, nor is the mode of the communication
always of the same nature. I have mentioned
above, some instances wherein danger was
avoided, and there are many of the same kind re-
corded in various works ; and it is the number
of instances of this description, corroborated
hy the universal agreement of all somnam-
bulists of a higher order, which has induced a
considerable section of the German psycho-
logists to adopt the doctrine of guardian
spirits — a doctrine which has prevailed, more
or less, in all ages ; and has been considered
by many theologians to be supported by the
Bible. There is in this country, and I believe
in France, also, though with more exceptions,
such an extreme aversion to admit the possi-
bility of anything like what is called super-
natural agency, that the mere avowal of such a

WARNINGS. Ill

persuasion is enough to discredit one's under-
standing with a considerable part of the world ;
not excepting those who profess to believe in
the scriptures. Yet, even apart from this latter
authority, I cannot see anything repugnant to
reason in such a belief. As far as we see of
nature, there is a continued series from the
lowest to the highest; and what right have we
to conclude that we are the last link of the
chain ? Why may there not be a gamut of
beings ? That such should be the case, is cer-
tainly in accordance with all that we see; and
that we do not see them, affords, as I have
said above, not a shadow of argument against
their existence ; man, immersed in business
and pleasure, living only his sensuous life, is
too apt to forget how limited those senses are,
how merely designed for a temporary purpose,
and how much may exist of which they can
take no cognizance.

The possibility&dmitted, the chief arguments
against the probability of such a guardianship,
are the interference it implies with the free-
will of man, on the one hand, and the rarity of
this interference, on the other. With respect
to the first matter of free-will, it is a subject
of acknowledged difficulty, and beyond the
scope of my work. Nobody can honestly look

112 WARNINGS.

back upon his past life without feeling per-
plexed by the question, of how far he was, or
was not able, at the moment, to resist certain
impulsions, which caused him to commit
wrong- or imprudent actions ; and it must, I
fear, ever remain a qucestio vexata how far our
virtues and vices depend upon our organi-
zation ; an organization whose constitution is
beyond our own power, in the first instance,
although we may certainly improve or deteri-
orate it ; but which we must admit, at the same
time, to be, in its present deteriorated form,
the ill result of the world's corruption, and the
inherited penalty of the vices of our prede-
cessors ; whereby the sins of the fathers are
visited upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation.

There is, as the Scriptures say, but one way
to salvation, though there are many to per-
dition, that is, though there are many wrongs,
there is only one right ; for truth is one, and
our true liberty consists in being free to follow
it ; for we cannot imagine that anybody seeks
his own perdition, and nobody, I conceive,
loves vice for its own sake, as others love
virtue, that is, because it is vice; so that,
when they follow its dictates, we must con-
clude that they are not free, but in bondage,

WARNINGS. 113

whose ever bond-slave they be, whether of an
evil spirit, or of their own organization ; and,
I think, every human being who looks into
himself will feel, that he is, in effect then
only free when he is obeyingthe dictates of vir-
tue ; and that the language of Scripture, which
speaks of sin as a bondage, is not only meta-
phorically, but literally, true.

The warning a person of an impending
danger, or error, implies no constraint; the
subject of the warning is free to take the hint
or not, as he pleases ; we receive many cau-
tions, both from other people and from ourown
consciences, which we refuse to benefit by.

With regard to the second objection, it seems
to have greater weight ; for although the in-
stances of presentiment are very numerous
taken apart, they are, certainly, as far as we
know, still but exceptional cases. But here
we must remember, that an influence of this
sort might be very continuously, though some-
what remotely, excercised in favour of an indi-
vidual, without the occurrence of any instance
of so striking a nature, as to render the inter-
ference manifest ; and certain it is, that some
people — I have met with several — and very sen-
sible persons, too, have all their lives an intui-
tive persuasion of such a guardianship existing

L5

114 WARNINGS.

in relation to themselves. That in our normal
states it was not intended we should hold sen-
sible communion with the invisible world,
seems evident ; but nature abounds in excep-
tions ; and there may be conditions regarding
both parties, the incorporated and the unincor-
porated spirit, which may at times bring them
into a more intimate relation. No one who
believes that consciousness is to survive the
death of the body, can doubt that the released
spirit will then hold communion with its con-
geners ; it being the fleshly tabernacles we in-
habit which alone disables us from doing so at
present ; but since the constitutions of bodies
vary exceedingly, not only in different indivi-
duals, but in the same individuals at different
times, may we not conceive the possibility of
there existing conditions, which by diminishing
the obstructions, render this communion prac-
ticable within certain limits ? For there, cer-
tainly, are recorded and authentic instances of
presentiments and warnings, that with diffi-
culty admit of any other explanation ; and that
these admonitions are more frequently received
in the state of sleep than of vigilance, rather
furnishes an additional argument in favour of
the last hypothesis ; for if there be any
foundation for the theories above suggested, it

WARNINGS. 115

is then, that the sensuous functions being in
abeyance, and the external life thereby shut
out from us, the spirit would be most suscep
tible to the operations of spirit, whether of our
deceased friends or of appointed ministers, if
such there be. Jung Stelling is of opinion that
we must decide from the aim and object of the re-
velation, whether it be a mere development of the
faculty of presentiment, or a case of spiritual
intervention ; but this would surely be a very
erroneous mode of judging, since the presenti-
ment that foresees a visit, may foresee a
danger, and show us how to avoid it, as in the
following instance : —

A few years ago, Dr. W., now residing at
Glasgow, dreamt that he received a summons
to attend a patient at a place some miles from
where he was living ; that he started on
horseback, and that as he was crossing a moor,
he saw a bull making furiously at him, whose
horns he only escaped by taking refuge on a
spot inaccessible to the animal ; where he
waited a long time, till some people, observing
his situation, came to his assistance and re-
leased him. Whilst at breakfast, on the fol-
lowing morning, the summons came ; and,
smiling at the odd coincidence, he started on
horseback. He was quite ignorant of the road

1 16 WARNINGS.

he had to go ; hut, by and by, he arrived at
the moor, which he recognised, and presently
the bull appeared, coming full tilt towards
him. But his dream had shown him the place
of refuge, for which he instantly made ; and
there he spent three or four hours, besieged by
the animal, till the country people set him free.
Dr. W. declares, that but for the dream, he
should not have known in what direction to
runt for safety.

A Butcher named Bone, residing at Holy-
town, dreamt a few years since, that he was
stopt at a particular spot on his way to market,
whither he was going on the following day to
purchase cattle, by two men in blue clothes,
who cut his throat. He told the dream to his
wife, who laughed at him ; but as it was re-
peated two or tnree times, and she saw he was
really alarmed, she advised him to join some-
body who was going the same road. He ac-
cordingly listened till he heard a cart passing
his door, and then went out and joined the
mau, telling him the reason for so doing.
When they came to the spot, there actually
stood the two men in blue clothes, who, seeing
he was not alone, took to their heels and ran.

Now, although the dream was here probably
themeansofsavingBone'slife^hereisno reason

WARNINGS. 117

to suppose this a case of what is called super-
natural intervention. The phenomenon would
be sufficiently accounted for by the admission
of the hypothesis I have suggested ; namely,
that he was aware of the impending
danger in his sleep, and had been able, from
some dause unknown to us, to convey the
recollection into his waking state.

I know instances in which, for several
mornings previous to the occurrence of a
calamity, persons have awakened with a pain-
ful sense of misfortune, for which they could
not account, and which was dispersed as soon
as they had time to reflect that they had no
cause for uneasiness. This is the only kind of
presentiment I ever experienced myself; but
it has occurred to me twice, in a very marked
and unmistakeable manner. As soon as the
intellectual life, the life of the brain, and the
external world broke in, the instinctive life
receded, and the intuitive knowledge was ob-
scured. Or, according to Dr. Ennemoser's
theory, the polar relations changed, and the
nerves were busied with conveying sensuous
impressions to the brain, their sensibility or
positive state now being transferred from the
internal to the external periphery. It is by
the contrary change that Dr. Ennemoser seeks

118 WARNINGS.

to explain the insensibility to pain of
mesmerised patients.

A circumstance of a similar kind to the
above occurred in a well known family in
Scotland, the Rutheifords of E. — A lady
dreamt that her aunt, who resided at some
distance, was murdered by a black servant.

Impressed with the liveliness of the vision,
she could not resist going to the house of her re-
lation, where the man she had dreamt of, whom
I think she had never before seen, opened the
door to her. Upon this, she induced a gentle-
man to watch in the adjoining room during
the night ; and towards morning hearing a foot
upon the stairs, he opened the door and dis-
covered the black servant carrying up a coal
scuttle full of coals, for the purpose, as he said,
of lighting his mistress's fire. As this motive
did not seem very probable, the coals were ex-
amined and a knife found hidden amongst them,
with which, he afterwards confessed, he in-
tended to have murdered his mistress, provided
she made any resistance to a design he had
formed, of robbing her of a large sum ol money,
which he was aware she had that day received.

The following case has been quoted in se-
veral medical works — at least in works written

WARNINGS. 119

by learned doctors, and on that account I
should not mention it here, but for the pur-
pose of remarking on the extraordinary
facility with which, whilst they do not ques-
tion the fact, they dispose of the mystery.

Mr. D., of Cumberland, when a youth, came
to Edinburgh, for the purpose of attending
College, and was placed under the care of his
uncle and aunt, Major and Mrs. Griffiths, who
then resided in the castle. When the fine
weather came, the young man was in the habit
of making frequent excursions, with others of
his own age and pursuits ; and one afternoon he
mentioned that they had formed a fishing party,
and had bespoken a boat for the ensuing day.
No objections were made to this plan ; but in
the middle of the night, Mrs. Griffiths screamed
out, " The boat is sinking ! Oh, save them !"
Her husband said, he supposed she had been
thinking of the fishing party ; but she declared
she had never thought about it, at all, and
soon fell asleep again. But, ere long, she
awoke a second time, crying out that she "saw
the boat sinking !" "It must have been the
remains of the impression made by the other
dream," she suggested to her husband, "for I
have no uneasiness, whatever, about the fish-
ing party." — but on going to sleep once more,

120 WARNINGS.

her husband was again disturbed by her cries,
" they are gone ! " she said, " the boat has
sunk ! " She now, really, became alarmed,
and, without waiting1 for morning1, she threw
on her dressing- gown, and went to Mr. D.,
who was still in bed, and, whom with much
difficulty, she persuaded to relinquish his pro-
posed excursion. He, consequently, sent his
servant to Leith, with an excuse; and the
party embarked without him. The day was
extremely fine, when they put to sea ; but
some hours afterwards, a storm arose, in
which the boat foundered ; nor did any one of
the number survive to tell the tale.

" This dream is easily accounted for," say
the learned gentlemen above alluded to, "from
the dread all women have of the water, and
the danger that attends boating on the Frith
of Forth !" Now, I deny that all women have
a dread of the water, and there is not the
slightest reason for concluding that Mrs.
Griffiths had. At all events, she affirms that
she felt no uneasiness at all about the party,
and one might take leave to think that her
testimony upon that subject is of more value
than that of persons who never had any ac-
quaintance with her, and who were not so
much as born at the time the circumstance

WARNINGS. 121

occurred, which was in the year 1731. Be-
sides, if Mrs. Griffith's dream arose simply
from " the dread all women have of the water,"
and that its subsequent verification was a mere
coincidence, since women constantly risk their
persons for voyages, and boating1 excursions,
such dreams should be extremely frequent ;
the fact of there being1 any accident impend-
ing1, or not, having, according1 to this theory,
no relation whatever to the phenomenon.
And as for the danger that attends boating on
the Frith of Forth, we must naturally suppose
that had it been considered so imminent,
Major Griffiths would have, at least, endea-
voured to dissuade a youth that was placed
under his protection from risking his life so
imprudently. It would be equally reasonable
to explain away Dr. W.'s dream, by saying,
that all gentlemen who have to ride across
commons are in great dread of encountering a
bull — commons, in general, being infested by
that animal.

Miss D., a friend of mine, was some time
since invited to join a pic-nic excursion into the
country. Two nights before the day fixed for
the expedition, she dreamt that the carriage she
was to go in, was overturned down a precipice.
Impressed with her dream, she declined the ex-

VOL. I M

122 WARNINGS.

cursion, confessing her reason, and advising the
rest of the party to relinquish their project. They
laughed at her, and persisted in their scheme.
When, subsequently, she went to enquire how
they had spent the day, she found the ladies con-
fined to their beds, from injuries received ; the
carriage haivng been overturned down a preci-
pice. Still, this was only a coincidence !

Another specimen of the haste with which
people are willing to dispose of what they
do not understand, is afforded by a case
that occurred, not many years since, in
the north of Scotland, where a murder
having been committed, a man came forward
saying that he had dreamt that the pack of the
murdered pedlar was hidden in a certain spot ;
where, on a search being made, it was actually
found. They atfirst concluded he was himself the
assassin, but the real criminal was afterwards
discovered ; and it being asserted, though I
have been told erroneously, that the two men
had passed some time together, since the
murder, in a state of intoxication, it was
decided that the crime and the place of con-
cealment had been communicated to the pre-
tended dreamer ; and all who thought other-
wise were laughed at; for why, say the ration-
alists, should not Providence have so ordered

WARNINGS. 123

the dream as to have prevented the murder
altogether ?

AY ho can answer that question, and whither
would such a discussion leads us ? Moreover*
if. this faculty of presentiment be a natural
one, though only imperfectly and capriciously
developed, there may have been no design in
the matter ; it is an accident, just in the same
sense as an illness is an accident ; that is, not
without cause, but without a cause that we
can penetrate. If, on the other hand, we have
recourse to the intervention of spiritual beings,
it may be answered that we are entirely igno-
rant of the conditions under which any such
communication is possible; and that we can-
not therefore come to any conclusions as to
why so much is done, and no more.

But there is another circumstance to be
observed in considering the case, which is, that
the dreamer is said to have passed some days
in a state of intoxication. Now, even supposing
this had been true, it is well-known that the
excitement of the brain, caused by intoxication,
has occasionally produced a very remarkable
exaltation of certain faculties. It is by means,
either of intoxicating draughts or vapours,
that the soothsayers of Lapland and Siberia
place themselves in a condition to vaticinate ;

124 WARNINGS.

and we have every reason to believe that drugs,
producing similar effects, were resorted to by
the thaumaturgists of old, and by the witqhes
of later days, of which I shall have more to say
hereafter. But as a case in point, I may here
allude to the phenomena exhibited in a late
instance of the application of ether, by Pro-
fessor Simpson, of Edinburgh, to a lady who
was at the moment under circumstances not
usually found very agreeable. She said that
she was amusing- herself delightfully by play-
ing over a set of quadrilles, which she had
known in her youth, but had long forgotten ;
but she now perfectly remembered them, and
hadplayed them over several times. Here was
an instance of the exaltation of a faculty from
intoxication, similar to that of the woman who,
in her delirium, spoke a language which she
had only heard in her childhood, and of which,
in her normal state, she had no recollection.

That the inefficiency of the communication,
or presentiment, or whatever it may be, is no
argument against the fact of such dreams oc-
curring, I can safely assert, from cases which
have come under my own knowledge. A pro-
fessional gentleman, whose name would be a
warrant for the truth of whatever he relates,
told me the following circumstance regarding

WARNINGS, 125

himself. He was, not very long since, at the
sea-side, with his family, and, amongst the
rest, he had with him one of his sons, a boy
about twelve years of age, who was in the
habit of bathing daily, his father accompany-
ing him to the water side. This practice had
continued during the whole of their visit, and
no idea of danger or accident had ever occurred
to anybody. On the day preceding the one
appointed for their departure, Mr. H., the
gentleman in question, felt himself, after
breakfast, surprised by an unusual drowsiness,
which he, having vainly struggled to over-
come, at length fell asleep in his chair, and
dreamt that he was attending his son to the
bath as usual, when he suddenly saw the boy
drowning, and that he himself had rushed
into the water, dressed as he was, and brought
him ashore. Though he was quite conscious
of the dream when he awoke, he attached no
importance to it; he considered it merely a
dream, no more ; and when, some hours after-
wards, the boy came into the room, and said,
" Now, papa, it's time to go ; this will be my
last bath $" his morning's vision did not even
recur to him. They walked down to the sea,
as usual, and the boy went into the water,
whilst the father stood composedly watching
M 5

1 26 WARNINGS.

him from the beach, when, suddenly, the child
lost his footing, a wave had caught him, and
the danger of his being carried away was so
imminent, that, without even wailing to take
off his great coat, boots, or hat, Mr. H. rushed
into the water, and was only just in time to
save him.

Here is a case of undoubted authenticity,
which I take to be an instance of clear-seeing,
or second sight, in sleep. The spirit, with its
intuitive faculty, saw what was impending;
the sleeper remembered his dream, but the
intellect did not accept the warning ; and,
whether that warning was merely a subjec-
tive process — the clear-seeing of the spirit —
or whether it was effected by any external
agency, the free will of the person concerned
was not interfered with.

I quote the ensuing similar case from the
Frankfort Journal, 25th June, 1837: — "A
singular circumstance is said to be connected
with the late attempt on the life of the Arch-
bishop of Autun. The two nights preceding
the attack, the prelate dreamt that he saw a
man, who was making repeated efforts to take
away his life, and he awoke in extreme terror
and agitation from the exertions he had made
to escape the danger. The features and ap-

WARNINGS. 127

pearance of the man were so clearly imprinted
on his memory, that he recognized him the
moment his eye fell upon him, which happened
as he was coming out of church. The bishop
hid his face, and called his attendants, but
the man had fired before he could make known
his apprehensions. Facts of this description
are far from uncommon. It appears that the
assassin had entertained designs against the
Jives of the Bishops of Dijon, Burgos, and
Nevers.1'

The following case,which occurred a few years
since, in the North of England, and which, I
have from the best authority,is remark able from
the inexorable fatality which brought about the
fulfilment of the dream : — Mrs. K., a lady of
family and fortune in Yorkshire^ said to her
son, one morning, on descending to breakfast,
" Henry, what are you going to do to-day ?"

" I am going to hunt," replied the young
man."

" I am very glad of it," she answered, ". I
should not like you to go shooting, for I dreamt
last night that you did so, and were shot.
The son answered gaily, that he would take
care not to be shot, and the hunting party
rode away ; but, in the middle of the day they
returned, not having found any sport. Mr.

1 28 WARNINGS.

B., a visitor in the house, then proposed that
they should go out with their guns, and try to
find some woodcocks. " I will go with you,"
returned the young man, "but I must not
shoot to-day, myself, for my mother dreamt
last night I was shot; and, nlthough it is hut
a dream, she would be uneasy."

They went, Mr. B. with his gun, and Mr.
K.. without; but shortly afterwards the beloved
-son was brought home dead. A charge from
the gun of his companion had struck him in
the eye, entered his brain, and killed him on
the spot. Mr. B., the unfortunate cause of
this accident, and also the narrator of it, died
but a few weeks since.

It is well known that the murder of Mr.
Percival,by Bellingham, was seen in sleep by
a gentleman at York, who actually went to
London in consequence of his dream, which
was several times repeated. He arrived too
late to prevent the calamity ; neither would he
have been believed, had he arrived earlier.

In the year 1461, a merchant was travelling
towards Rome, by Sienna, when he dreamt that
his throat was cut. He communicated his
dream to the host of the inn, who did not like it,
and advised him to pray and confess. He did
bo, and then rode forth, and was presently

WARNINGS. 129

attacked by the priest he had confessed to,
who had thus learnt his apprehensions. He
killed the merchant, but was betrayed, and
disappointed of his gains, by the horse taking
fright, and running back to the inn with the
money bags.

I have related this story, though not a new
one, on account of its singular resemblance to
the following, which I take from a newspaper
paragraph ; but which I find mentioned as a
fact in a continental publication : —

"SINGULAR VERIFICATION OF A DREAM. — A
Jetter from Hamburgh, contains the fol-
lowing curious story, relative to the verifica-
tion of a dream. It appears that a locksmith's
apprentice, one morning lately, informed his
master (Claude Seller), that on the previous
night he dreamt that he had been assassinated
on the road to Bergsdorff, a little town at
about two hours' distance from Hamburgh.
The master laughed at the young man's credu-
lity, and to prove that he himself had little
faith in dreams, insisted upon sending him to
Bergsdorff, with 140 rix dollars (.£22 8s.),
which he owed to his brother-in-law, who re-
sided in the town. The apprentice, after in
vain imploring his master to change his inten-
tion, was compelled to set out, at about eleven

130 WARNINGS.

o'clock. On arriving at the village of Bill-
waerder, about half-way between Hamburgh
and Bergsdorff, he recollected his dream with
terror, but perceiving the baillie of the village
at a little distance, talking to some of his
workmen, he accosted him, and acquainted
him with his singular dream, at the same time
requesting, that, as he had money about his
person, one of his workmen might be allowed
to accompany him for protection across a
small wood which lay in his way. The baillie
smiled, and, in obedience to his orders, one of
his men set out with the young apprentice.
The next day, the corpse of the latter was con-
veyed by some peasants to the baillie, along
with a reaping-hook, which had been found
by his side, and, with which, the throat of the
murdered youth had been cut. The baillie
immediately recognised the instrument as one
which he had on the previous day given to the
workman who had served as the apprentice's
guide, for the purpose of pruning some willows.
The workman was apprehended, and, on being
confronted with the body of his victim, made
a full confession of his crime, adding, that the
recital of the dream had alone prompted him to
commit the horrible act. The assassin, who
is thirty- five years of age, is a native of Bill-

WARNINGS. 131

waerder, and, previously to the perpetration
of the murder, had always borne an irreproach-
able character."

The life of the great Harvey was saved by
the Governor of Dover refusing to allow him
to embark for the Continent, with his friends.
The vessel was lost, with all on board ; and
the Governor confessed to him, that he had
detained him in consequence of an injunction
he had received in a dream to do so.

There is a very curious circumstance related
by Mr. Ward, in his " Illustrations of Human
Life," regarding the late Sir Evan Nepean,
which, I believe is perfectly authentic. I have,
at least been assured, by persons well ac-
quainted with him, that he himself testified to
its truth.

Being, at the time, Secretary to the Admi-
raly, he found himself one night unable to
sleep, and urged by an undefinable feeling that
he must rise, though it was then only two
o'clock. He accordingly did so, and went
into the park, and from that to the Home
Office, which he entered by a private door, of
which he had the key. He had no object in
doing this, and to pass the time, he took up a
newspaper that was lying on the table, and
there read a paragraph to the effect, that a re-

132 WARNINGS.

prieve had been dispatched to York, for the
men condemned for coining.

The question occurred to him, was it indeed
dispatched? He examined the books and
found it was not ; and it was only by the most
energetic proceedings that the thing was
carried through, and reached York in time to
save the men.

Is not this like the agency of a protecting
spirit, urging Sir Evan to this discovery, in
order that these men might be spared; or that
those concerned might escape the remorse
they would have suffered for their criminal
neglect ?

It is a remarkable fact, that somnambules of
the highest order believe themselves attended
by a protecting spirit. To those who do not
believe, because they have never witnessed the
phenomena of somnambulism, or who look
upon the disclosures of persons in that state,
as the mere raving of hallucination, this autho-
rity will necessarily have no weight ; but even
to such persons, the universal coincidence,
must be considered worthy of observation,
though it be regarded only as a symptom of
disease. I believe I have remarked, else-
where, that many persons, who have not the
least tendency to somnambulism, or any proxi-

WARNINGS. 133

I

mate malady, have, all their lives, an intuitive
feeling of such a guardianship ; and, not to
mention Socrates and the ancients, there are,
besides, numerous recorded cases in modern
times, in which persons, not somnambulic,
have declared themselves to have seen and
held communication with their spiritual pro-
tector.

The case of the girl called Ludwiger, who,
in her infancy, had lost her speech, and the
use of her limbs, and who was earnestly com-
mitted by her mother, when dying, to the care
of her elder sisters, is known to many. These
young women piously fulfilled their engage-
ment, till the wedding-day of one of them
caused them to forget their charge. On recol-
lecting it, at length, they hastened home, and
found the girl to their amazement, sitting up
in her bed, and she told them, that her mother
had been there and given her food. She never
spoke again, ond soon after died. This cir-
cumstance occurred at Dessau, not many
years since ; and is, according to Schubert, a
perfectly established fact in that neighbour-
hood. The girl, at no other period of her life
exhibited any similar phenomena, nor had she
ever displayed any tendency to spectral illu-
sions.

VOL. i. N

134 WARNINGS.

The wife of a respectable citizen, named
Arnold, at Heilbronn, held constant communi-
cations with her protecting spirit, who warned
her of impending dangers, approaching vi-
sitors, and so forth. He was only once visible
to her, and it was in the form of an old man ;
but his presence was felt by others as well as
herself, and they were sensible that the air
was stirred, as by a breath.

.lung Stilling publishes a similar account,
which was bequeathed to him by a very worthy
and pious minister of the church. The sub-
ject of the guardianship was his own wife ;
and the spirit first appeared to her after her
marriage, in the year 1799, as a child, attired
in a white robe, whilst she was busy in her
bed-chamber. She stretched out her hand to
take hold of the figure, but it disappeared.
It frequently visited her afterwards, and in
answer to her enquiries, it said, " I died in my
childhood ! " It came to her at all hours,
whether alone or in company, and not only at
home, but elsewhere, and even when travelling,
assisting her when in danger ; it sometimes
floated in the air, spake to her in its own lan-
guage, which, somehow, she says, she under-
stood, and could speak, too; and it was once
seen by another person. He bade her call him

[> WARNINGS. 135

Immanuel. She earnestly begged him to show
himself to her husband, but he alleged that it
would make him ill, and cause his death. On
asking him wherefore, he answered, " few
persons are able to see such things."

Her two children, one six years old, and the
other younger, saw this figure as well as
herself.

Schubert, in his " Geschichte der Seele,"
relates that the ecclesiastical councillor
Schwartz, of Heidelberg, when about twelve
years of age, and at a time that he was learning
the Greek language, but knew very little
about it, dreamt that his grandmother, a very
pious woman, to whom he had been much
attached, appeared to him, and unfolded a
parchment, inscribed with Greek characters,
which foretold the fortunes of his future life.
He read it off with as much facility as if it had
been in German ; but being dissatisfied with some
particulars of the prediction, he begged they
might be changed. His grandmother answered
him in Greek, whereupon he awoke, remem-
bering the dream, but, in spite of the efforts
to arrest them, he was unable to recall the parti-
culars the parchment had contained. The
answer of his grandmother, hosvever, he was
able to grasp before it had fled his memory,

136 WARNINGS.

and he wrote down the words ; but the
meaning' of them he could not discover,
without the assistance of his Grammar and
Lexicon. Being- interpreted, they proved to
he these — u As it is prophecied to me, so I
prophecy to thee '/' He had written the words
in a volume of Gessner's works, being- the
first thing- he laid his hand on ; and he often
philosophized on them in later days, when
they chanced to meet his eye. How, he says,
should he have been able to read and produce
that in his sleep, which, in his waking- state,
he would have been quite incapable of?
" Even long after, when I left school," he adds,
" I could scarcely have put tog-ether such a
sentence ; and it is extremely remarkable
that the feminine form was observed in con-
formity with the sex of the speaker. The
words were these — 7~auVa

Grotius relates, that when Mr. de Saumaise
was councillor of the Parliament at Dijon, a
]>erson who knew not a word of Greek, brought
him a paper, on which was written some words
in that language, but not in the character.
He said that a voice had uttered them to him
in the night, and that he had written them
down, imitating the sound as well as he could.

WARNINGS. 137

Mons. cle Saumaise made out that the signifi-
cation of the words, was; "Begone! do yon.
not see that death impsnds ? " Without com-
prehending what danger was predicted, the per-
son obeyed the mandate and departed. On
that night the house that he had been lodging
in, fell to the ground.

The difficulty in these two cases is equally
great, apply to it whatever explanation we
may ; for even if the admonitions proceeded
from some friendly guardian, as we might be
inclined to conclude, it is not easy to conceive
why they should have been communicated in
a language the persons did not understand.

After the death of Dante, il was discovered
that the thirteenth canto of the " Paradise" was
missing ; great search was made for it, but in
vain ; and to the regret of everybody concerned,
it was at length concluded that it had either
never been written, or had been destroyed. The
quest was therefore given up, and some months
had elapsed, when Pietro Allighieri, his son,
dreamt that his father appeared to him and
told him that if he removed a certain pannel
near the window of the room, in which he had
been accustomed to write, the thirteenth cant<»
would be found. Pietro told his dream and
was laughed at, of course ; however, as the
N 5

138 WARNINGS.

canto did not turn up, it was thought as well
to examine the spot indicated in the dream.
The pannel was removed, and there lay the
missing canto behind it ; much mildewed, but
fortunately, still legible.

If it be true that the dead do return some-'
times to solve our perplexities, here was not an
unworthy occasion for the exercise nf such a
power. We can imagine the spirit of the
great poet still clinging to the memory of his
august work, immortal as himself — the record
of those high thoughts which can never die.

There are numerous curious accounts extant
of persons being awakened by the calling of a
voice which announced some impending
danger to them. Three boys are sleeping in
the wing of a castle, and the eldest is awakened
by what appears to him to be the voice of his
lather calling him l>y name. He rises and
hastens to his parent's chamber, situated in
another part, of the building, where he finds
his father asleep ; who, on being awakened,
assures him that he had not called him, and
the boy returns to bed. But he is scarcely
asleep, before the circumstance recurs, and he
again goes to his father with the same result.
A third time he falls asleep, and a third time
he is aroused by the voice, too distinctly heard

WARNINGS. 139

for him to doubt his senses ; and now, alarmed
at he knows not what, he rises and takes his
brothers with him to his father's chamber ; and
whilst they are discussing the singularity of
the circumstance, a crash is heard, and that
wing of the castle in which the boys slept, falls
to the ground. This incident excited so much
attention in Germany that it was recorded in a
ballad.

It is related by Amyraldus, that Monsieur
Calignan, Chancellor of Navarre, dreamed
three successive times in one night, at Berne,
that a voice called to him and bade him quit
the place, as the plague would soon break out
in that town ; that, in consequence, he removed
his family, and the result justified his flight.

A German physician relates, that a patient
of his told him, that he dreamt repeatedly, one
night, that a voice bade him go to his hop-
garden, as there were thieves there. He re^
sisted the injunction some time, till, at length,
he was told that, if he delayed any longer, he
would lose all his produce. Thus urged, he
went at last, and arrived just in time to see the
thieves, loaded with sacks, making away from
the opposite side of the hop-ground.

A Madame Von Militz, found herself under
the necessity of parting with a property which

140 •VVAllNlXGS.

had long been in her family. When the bar-
gain was concluded, and she was preparing- to
remove, she solicited permission of the new
proprietor to carry away with her some little
relic as a memento of former days — a request
which he uncivilly denied. On one of the
nights that preceded her departure from the
home of her ancestors, she dreamt that a voice
spoke to her, and bade her go to the cellar and
open a certain part of the wall, where she
would find something- that nobody would dis-
pute with her. Impressed with her dream, she
sent for a bricklayer, who, after long seeking,
discovered a place which appeared less solid
than the rest. A hole was made, and, in a
niche, was found a goblet, which contained
something that looked like a pot pourri. On
shaking out the contents, there lay at the bot-
tom a small ring, on which was engraven the
name Anna Von Militz.

A friend of mine, Mr. Charles Kirkpatrick
Sharpe, has some coins that were found
exactly in the same manner. The child of
a Mr. Christison, in whose house his father
was lodging, in the year 1781, dreamt that
there was a treasure hid in the cellar. Her
lather had no faith in the dream ; but Mr.

WARNINGS. 141

S. had the curiosity to have the place dug up,
and a copper pot was found, full of coins.

A very singular circumstance was related to
me lately, by Mr. J. J., as having occurred
not long since to himself. A tonic had been
prescribed to him by his physician, for some
slight derangement of the system, and, as there
was no good chemist in the village he in-
habited, he was in the habit of walking to a
town about five miles off, to get the bottle filled
as occasion required. One night, that he had
been to M. for this purpose, and had obtained
his last supply, for he was now recovered, and
about to discontinue the medicine, a voice
seemed to warn him that some great danger
was impending, his life was in jeopardy ; then
he heard, but not with his outward ear, a
beautiful prayer. " It was not myself that
prayed,'' he said, " the prayer was far beyond
anything I am capable of composing — it spoke
of me in the third person, always as lie; and
supplicated that for the sake of my widowed
mother this calamity might be averted. My
father had been dead some months. I was
sensible of all this, yet I cannot say whether I
was asleep or awake. When I rose in the
morning, the whole was present to my mind,
although I had slept soundly in the interval ;

1-12 WARNINGS.

I felt, however, as if there was some mitigation
of the calamity, though what the danger was
with which I was threatened, I had no notion.
When I was dressed, I prepared to take my
medicine, but, on lifting the bottle, I fancied
that the colour was not the same as usual. I
looked again, and hesitated, and finally, in-
stead of taking two table spoonfuls, which was
my accustomed dose, I took but one. Fortu-
nate it was that I did so ; the apothecary had
made a mistake; the drug was poison; I was
seized with a violent vomiting, and other
alarming symptoms, from which I with diffi-
culty recovered. Had I taken the two spoon-
fuls, I should, probably, not have survived to
tell the tale."

The manner in which I happened to obtain
these particulars is not uninteresting. I was
spending the evening with Mr. Wordsworth,
at Ridal, when he mentioned to me that a
stranger, who had called on him that morning,
had quoted two lines from his poem of
" Laodamia," which, he said, to him had a
peculiar interest. They were these : —

" The invisible world with thee hath sympathised;
Be thy affections raised and solemnised."

" I do not know what he alludes to," said Mr.
Wordsworth ; " but he gave me to understand

WARNINGS. 143

that these lines had a deep meaning for him,
and that he had himself been the subject of
such a sympathy."

Upon this, I sought the stranger, whose
address the poet gave me, and thus learnt the
above particulars from himself. His very
natural persuasion was, that the interceding
spirit was his father. He described the
prayer as one of earnest anguish.

One of the most remarkable instances of
warning that has come to my knowledge, is
that of Mr. M., of Kingsborough. This gen-
tleman, being on a voyage to America, dreamt,
one night, that a little old man came into his
cabin and said, " Get up ! Your life is in
danger !" Upon which, Mr. M. awoke ; but
considering it to be only a dream, he soon
composed himself to sleep again. The dream,
however, if such it were, recurred, and the old
man urged him still more strongly to get up
directly 5 but he still persuaded himself it was
only a dream ; and after listening a few
minutes, and hearing nothing to alarm him,
he turned round and addressed himself once
more to sleep. But now the old man appeared
again, and angrily bade him rise instantly, and
take his gun and ammunition with him,
for he had not a moment to lose. The

144 WARNINGS.

injunction was now so distinct that Mr. M.
felt he could no longer resist it ; so he hastily
dressed himself, took his gun, and ascended
to the deck, where he had scarcely arrived,
when the ship struck on a rock, which he and
several others contrived to reach. The place,
however, was uninhabited, and, but for his
gun, they would never have been able to pro-
vide themselves with food till a vessel arrived
to their relief.

Now these can scarcely be looked upon as
instances of clear seeing, or of second sight in
sleep, which, in Denmark, is ca\\ed.jir$t-seeiny,
I believe ; for in neither case did the sleeper
perceive the danger, much less the nature of it.
If, therefore, we refuse to attribute them to
some external protecting influence, they re-
solve themselves into cases of vague presenti-
ment; but it must then be admitted that the
mode of the manifestation is very extraoidi-
nary ; so extraordinary, indeed, that we fall
into fully as great a difficulty as that offered by
the supposition of a guardian spirit.

An American clergyman told me that an old
woman, with whom he was acquainted, who
had two sons, heard a voice say to her in the
night, " John's dead I" This was her eldest
son. Shortly afterwards, the news of his death

WARNINGS. 145

arriving, she said to the person who commu-
nicated the intelligence to her, " If John's dead,
then I know that David is dead, too, for the
same voice has since told me so ;" and the event
proved that the information, whenceever it
came, was correct.

Not many years since, Captain S. was pass-
ing a night at the Manse of Strachur, in
Argyleshire, then occupied by a relation of his
own ; shortly after he had lain down in bed,
the curtains were opened, and somebody
looked in upon him. Supposing it to be some
inmate of the house, who was not aware that
the bed was occupied, he took no notice of the
circumstance, till, it being two or three times
repeated, he at length said, " What do you
want? Why do you disturb me in this
manner?'*

" I come," replied a voice, " to tell you, that
this day twelvemonth you will be with your
father !"

After this, Captain S. was no more dis-
turbed. In the morning, he related the cir-
cumstance to his host ; but, being an entire
disbeliever in all such phenomena, without
attaching any importance to the warning.

In the natural course of events, and quite
irrespective of this visitation, on that day

VOL. i. o

146 WARNINGS.

twelvemonth he was again at the Manse of
Strachur, on his way to the North, for which
purpose it was necessary that he should cross
the ferry to Craigie. The day was, however,
so exceedingly stormy, that his friend begged
him not to go ; but he pleaded his business,
adding that he was determined not to be
withheld from his intention by the ghost, and,
although the minister delayed his departure,
by engaging him in a game of backgammon,
he at length started up, declaring he could
stay no longer. They, therefore, proceeded
to the water, but they found the boat
moored to the side of the lake, and the boat-
man assured them that it would be impossible
to cross. Captain S., however, insisted, and,
as the old man was firm in his refusal, he be-
came somewhat irritated, and laid his cane
lightly across his shoulders.

" It ill becomes you, sir," said the ferryman,
" to strike an old man like me ; but, since you
will have your way, you must ; I cannot go
with you, but my son will ; but you will never
reach the other side ; he will be drowned, and
you too."

The boat was then set afloat, and Captain
S., together with his horse and servant, and
the ferryman's son, embarked in it.

WARNINGS. 147

The distance was not great, but the storm
was tremendous ; and, after having with great
difficulty got half way across the lake, it was
found impossible to proceed. The danger of
tacking, was, of course, considerable ; but,
since they could not advance, there was no
alternative but to turn back, and it was re-
solved to attempt it. The manoeuvre, how-
ever, failed ; the boat capsized, and they were
all precipitated into the water.

" You keep hold of the horse, I can swim,"
said Captain S. to his servant, when he saw
what was about to happen.

Being an excellent swimmer, and the dis-
tance from the shore inconsiderable, he hoped
to save himself, but he had on a heavy top
coat, with boots and spurs. The coat he con-
trived to take ofi in the water, and then struck
out with confidence ; but, alas, the coat had
got entangled with one of the spurs, and, as
he swam, it clung to him, getting heavier and
heavier, as it became saturated with water,
ever dragging him beneath the stream. He,
however, reached the shore, where his anxious
friend still stood watching the event, and, as
the latter bent over him, he was just able to
make a gesture with his hand, which seemed

]48 WARNINGS.

to say, " You see, it was to be !* and then
expired.

The boatman was also drowned; but, by
the aid of the horse, the servant escaped.

As I do not wish to startle my readers nor
draw too suddenly on their faith, I have com-
menced with this class of phenomena, which
it must be admitted are sufficiently strange,
and, if true, must also be admitted to be well
worthy of attention. No doubt, these cases,
and still more those to which I shall next pro-
ceed, give a painful shock to the received
notions of polished and educated society in gene-
ral ; especially in this country, where the ana-
lytical or scientitical psychology of the eighteenth
century has almost entirely superseded the
study of synthetic or philosophical psychology.
It has become a custom to look at all the phe-
nomena regarding man in a purely physi-
ological point of view ; for although it is
admitted that he has a mind, and although
there is such a science as metaphysics, the
existence of what we call mind, is never con-
sidered but as connected with the body. We
know that body can exist without mind ; for,
not to speak of certain living conditions, the
body subsists without mind when the spirit

WARNINGS. 149

has fled ; albeit, without the living principle it
can subsist but for a short period, except under
particular circumstances ; but we seem to have
forgotten that mind, though very dependant
upon body as long as the connexion between
them continues, can yet subsist without it.
There have, indeed, been philosophers, purely
materialistic, who have denied this ; but they
are not many ; and not only the whole
Christian world, but all who believe in a
future state, must perforce admit it; for even
those who hold that most unsatisfactory doc-
trine, that there will be neither memory nor
consciousness till a second incorporation takes
place, will not deny that the mind, however
in a state of abeyance and unable to manifest
itself, must still subsist, as an inherent property
of man's immortal part. Even if, as some
philosophers believe, the spirit, when freed
i'rom the body by death, returns to the Deity
and is re-absorbed in the being of God, not to
become again a separate entity until re-incor-
porated, still, what we call mind cannot be
disunited from it. And when once we have
begun to conceive of mind, and consequently of
perception, as separated from and independent
of bodily organs, it will not be very difficult to
apprehend that those bodily organs must cir-
o 5

150 WARNINGS.

cumscribe and limit the view of the spiritual
in-dweller, which must otherwise be neces-
sarily perceptive of spirit like itself, though per-
haps unperceptive of material objects and
obstructions.

" It is perfectly evident to me," said Socrates,
in his last moments, " that, to see clearly, we
must detach ourselves from the body, and per-
ceive by the soul alone. Not whilst we live,
but when we die, will that wisdom which we
desire and love, be first revealed to us ; it must
be then, or never, that we shall attain to true
understanding and knowledge; since by means
of the body we never can. But if, during
life, we would make the nearest approaches
possible to its possession, it must be by
divorcing ourselves as much as in us lies from
the flesh and its nature." In their spiritual
views and apprehension of the nature of man,
how these old heathens shame us 1

The Scriptures teach us that God chose to
reveal himself to his people chiefly in dreams,
and we are entitled to conclude that the reason
of this was, that the spirit was then more free
to the reception of spiritual influences and im-
pressions ; and the class of dreams to which
I next proceed, seem to be best explained by
this hypothesis. It is also to be remarked,
that the awe or fear which pervades a mortal

WARNINGS. 151

at the mere conception of being brought into
relation with a spirit, has no place in sleep,
whether natural or magnetic. There is no fear
then, no surprise ; we seem to meet on an
equality — is it not that we meet spirit to
spirit ? Is it not that our spirit being then
released from the trammels — the dark chamber
of the flesh, it does enjoy a temporary equality?
Is not that true, that some German psycho-
logist has said, " The magnetic man is a
spirit!"

There are numerous instances to be met
with, of persons receiving information in their
sleep, which either is, or seems to be, com-
municated by their departed friends. The
approach of danger, the period of the sleeper's
death, or of that of some persons beloved, has
been frequently made known in this form of
dream.

Dr. Binns quotes, from Cardanus, the case of
Johannes Maria Maurosenus, a Venetian
senator, who, whilst Governor of Dalmatia,
saw in a dream one of his brothers, to whom
he was much attached ; the brother embraced
him and bade him farewell, because he was
going into the other world; Maurosenus having
followed him a long way weeping, awoke in
tears and expressed much anxiety respecting

15'2 WARNINGS.

this brother. Shortly afterwards he received
tidings from Venice, that this Domatus, of
whom he had dreamt, had died on the night
and at the hour of the dream, of apestilental
fever, which had carried him off in three days.

On the night of the 21st of June, in the year
1813, a lady residing in the north of England,
dreamt that her brother, who was then with
his regiment in Spain, appeared to her saying,
" Mary, I die this day at Vittoria."

Vittoria was a town which, previous to the
famous battle, was not generally known even
by name, in this country, and this dreamer,
amongst others, had never heard of it ; but, on
rising, she eagerly resorted to a Gazetteer for
the purpose of ascertaining if such a place
existed. On finding that it was so, she im-
mediately ordered her horses, and drove to the
house of a sister, who resided some eight or
nine miles off, and her first words on entering
the room were, " Have you heard anything of
John ?" " No," replied the second sister, " but
I know he is dead ! He appeared to me last
night, in a dream, and told me that he was
killed at Vittoria. I have been looking into
the Gazetteer and the Atlas, and I find there
is such a place, and I am sure that he
is dead !" And so it proved ; the young man

WARNINGS.

died that day at Vittoria, and, I believe, on the
field of battle. If so, it is worthy of obser-
vation, that the communication was not made
till the sisters slept.

A similar case to this, is that of Miss D.,of G.,
who, one night, dreamt that she was walking
about the washing greens, when a figure ap-
proached, which she recognized as that of a be-
loved brother, who was at that time with the
British army, in America. It gradually faded
away into a kind of anatomy, holding up its
hands, through which the light could be per-
ceived, and asking for clothes to dress a body for
the grave. The dream recurred more than once
in the same night, and, apprehending some
misfortune, Miss I), noted down the date of
the occurrence. In due course of post, the
news arrived that this brother had been killed
at the battle of Bunker's Hill. Miss D., who
died only within the last few years, though
unwilling to speak of the circumstance, never
refused to testify to it as a fact.

Here, supposing this to be a real apparition,
we see an instance of that desire for decent
obsequies so constantly attributed by the
ancients to the souls of the dead.,

When the German poet, Collin, died at
Vienna, a person named Hartmann, who was

154 WARNINGS.

his friend, found himself very much distressed
by the loss of a hundred and twenty florins,
which he had paid for the poet, under a pro-
mise of reimbursement. As this sum formed
a large portion of his whole possessions, the
circumstance was occasioning him consider-
able anxiety, when he dreamt, one night, that
his deceased friend appeared to him, and bade
him immediately set two florins on No. 1 1, on
the first calling of the little lottery, or loto,
then about to be drawn. He was bade to con-
fine his venture to two florins, neither less nor
more ; and to communicate this information to
nobody. Hartmaun availed himself of the
hint, and obtained a prize of a hundred and
thirty florins.

Since we look upon lotteries, in this country,
as an immoral species of gambling, it may be
raised as an objection to this dream, that such
intelligence was an unworthy mission for a
spirit, supposing the communication to have
been actually made by Collin. But, in the
first place, we have only to do with facts, and
not with their propriety, or impropriety, ac-
cording to our notions ; and, by and by, I shall
endeavour to show, that such discrepancies
possibly arise from the very erroneous notions
commonly entertained of the state of those

WARNINGS. 155

who have disappeared from the terrestrial
life.

Simonides, the poet, arriving at the sea-
shore with the intention of embarking on
board a vessel on the ensuing day, found an
imburied body, which he immediately desired
should be decently interred. On the same
night, this deceased person appeared to hiji
and bade him by no means go to sea, as he
had proposed. Simonides obeyed the in-
junction, and beheld the vessel founder, as he
stood on the shore. He raised a monument on
the spot to the memory of his preserver, which
is said still to exist, on which are engraven
some lines to the effect, that it was dedicated by
Simonides, the poet of Cheos, in gratitude to
the dead who had preserved him from death.

A much esteemed secretary died a few years
since, in the house of Mr. R. von N. About
eight weeks afterwards, Mr. R. himself being
ill, his daughter dreamt that the house-bell
rang ; and that on looking out, she perceived
the secretary at the door. Having admitted
him and enquired what he was come for, he
answered, " to fetch somebody." Upon which,
alarmed for her father, she exclaimed, "I hope
not my father." He shook his head so-
lemnly, in a manner that implied it was not

156 WARNINGS.

the old man he had come for, and turned away
towards a guest chamber, at that time vacant,
and there disappeared at the door. The father
recovered, and the lady left home for a few
days, on a visit ; on her return, she found her
brother had arrived in the interval to pay a
visit to his parents, and was lying sick in that
room, where he died.

I will here mention a curious circumstance,
regarding Mr. H., the gentleman alluded to in
a former page, who, being at the sea-side, saw,
in a dream, the danger that awaited his son
when he went to bathe. This gentleman has
frequently, on waking, felt a consciousness
that he had been conversing with certain per-
sons of his acquaintance — and, indeed, with
some of whom he knew little — and has after-
wards, not without a feeling of awe, learnt
that these persons had died during the hours
of his sleep.

Do not such circumstances entitle us to en-
tertain the idea that 1 have above suggested,
namely, that in sleep the spirit is free to see
and to know, and to communicate with spirit,
although the memory of this knowledge is
rarely carried into the waking state.

The story of the two Arcadians, who tra-
velled together to Megara, though reprinted

WARNINGS. 157

in other works, I cannot omit here. One of
these established himself, on the night of their
arrival, at the house of a friend, whilst the
<Hher sought shelter in a public lodging-house
for strangers. During the night, the latter
appeared to the former, in a dream, and be-
sought him to come to his assistance, as his
villainous host was about to take his life, and
only the most speedy aid could save him. The
dreamer started from his sleep, and his first
movement was to obey the summons, but, re-
flecting that it was only a dream, he presently
lay down, and composed himself again to rest.
But now his friend appeared before him a
second time, disfigured by blood and wounds,
conjuring him, since he had not listened to
his first entreaties, that he would, at least,
avenge his death. His host, he said, had mur-
dered him, and was, at that moment, deposit-
ing his body in a dung-cart, for the purpose
of conveying it out of the town. The dreamer
was thoroughly alarmed, arose, and hastened
to the gates of the city, where he found, wait-
ing to pass out, exactly such a vehicle as his
friend had described. A search being insti-
tuted, the body was found underneath the ma-
nure; and the host was, consequently, seized, and
VOL. i. p

158 WARNINGS.

delivered over to the chastisement of the
law.

"Who shall venture to assert," says Dr.
Ennemoser, ''that this communing with the
deadin sleep is merely a subjective phenomenon,
and that the presence of these apparitions is a
pure illusion ?"

A circumstance fully as remarkable as any
recorded, occurred at Odessa, in the year 1842.
An old blind man, named Michel, had for many
years, been accustomed to get his living by
seating himself every morning, on a beam, in
one of the timber yards, with a wooden bowl
at his feet, into which the passengers cast
their alms. This long continued practice had
made him well known to the inhabitants, and
as he was believed to have been formerly a
soldier, his blindness was attributed to the
numerous wounds he had received in battle.
For his own part, he spoke little, and never
contradicted this opinion.

One night, Michel, by some accident, fell in
with a little girl, of ten years old, named
Powleska, who was friendless, and on the verge
of perishing with cold and hunger. The old
man took her home, and adopted her; and,
from that time, instead of sitting in the tim-
ber yards, he went about the streets in her

WARNINGS. 159

company, asking alms at the doors of the
houses. The child called \i\mfat her, and they
were extremely happy together. But when
they had pursued this mode of life for about
five years, a misfortune befell them. A theft
having been committed in a house which they
had visited in the morning, Powleska was sus-
pected and arrested, and the blind man was
left once more alone. But, instead of resuming
his former habits, he now disappeared alto-
gether, and this circumstance causing the sus-
picion to extend to him, the girl was brought
before the magistrate to be interrogated with
regard to his probable place of concealment.

" Do you know where Michel is ?" enquired
the magistrate.

" He is dead !" replied she, shedding a torrent
of tears.

As the girl had been shut up for three days,
without any means of obtaining informa-
tion from without, this answer, together with
her unfeigned distress, naturally excited con-
siderable surprise.

"Who told you he was dead?" they en-
quired.

" Nobody !"

" Then how can you know it ?"

160 WARNINGS.

" I saw him killed !"

" But you have not been out of the prison ?"

" But I saw it, nevertheless !"

** But how was that possible ? Explain
what you mean !"

" I cannot. All I can say is, that I saw
him killed."

" When was he killed, and how ?"

"It was the night I was arrested."

" That cannot be ; he was alive when you
were seized 1"

" Yes, he was ; he was killed an hour after
that. They stabbed him with a knife."

" Where were you then ?'""

" I can't tell ; but I saw it."

The confidence with which the girl asserted
what seemed to her hearers impossible and
absurd, disposed them to imagine that she was
either really insane, or pretending to be so ;
so leaving Michel aside, they proceeded to in-
terrogate her about the robbery, asking her if
she was guilty.

" Oh, no !" she answered.

" Then how came the property to be found
about you ?""

" I don't know : I saw nothing but the
murder."

WARNINGS. J61

"But there are no grounds for supposing
Michel is dead; his body has not been
found."

" It is in the aqueduct."

" And do you know who slew him ?'*

" Yes ; it is a woman. Michel was Walk-
ing very slowly, after I was taken from him.
A woman came behind him with a large
kitchen-knife ; but he heard her, and turned
round j and then the woman flung a piece of
grey stuff over his head, and struck him re-
peatedly with the knife, the grey stuff was
much stained with the blood. Michel fell at
the eighth blow, and the woman dragged the
body to the aqueduct and let it fall in without
ever lifting the stuff which stuck to his face."

As it was easy to verify these latter asser-
tions, they dispatched people to the spot j and
there the body was found with the piece of
stuff over his head, exactly as she had de-
scribed. But when they asked her how she
knew all this, she could only answer " I don't
know."

" But you know who killed him ?"

" Not exactly : it is the same woman that
put out his eyes ; but, perhaps, he will tell me
her name to-night j and if he does, I will tell
it to you."

P 5

162 WARNINGS.

" Who do you mean by he ?"

" Why, Michel, to be sure !"

During the whole of the following night,
without allowing her to suspect their intention,
they watched her ; and it was observed that
she never lay down, but sat upon the bed in a
sort of lethargic slumber. Her body was quite
motionless, except at intervals, when this re-
pose was interrupted by violent nervous shocks,
which pervaded her whole frame. On the en-
suing day, the moment she was brought before
the judge, she declared that she was now
able to tell them the name of the assassin.

" But stay, said the magistrate ; " did
Michel never tell you, when he was alive, how
he lost his sight ?"

" No ; but the morning before I was arrested,
he promised me to do so ; and that was the
cause of his death."

" How could that be ?"

" Last night Michel came to me, and he
pointed to the man hidden behind the scaffold-
ing on which he and I had been sitting. He
showed me the roan listening to us, when he
said, ' I'll tell you all about that to-night ;' and
then the man "

" Do you know the name of this man ?"

" It is Luck; he went afterwards to a broad

WARNING^. 163

street that leads down to the harbour, and he
entered the third house on the right — • — "

" What is the name of the street ?"

" I don't know : but the house is one story
lower than the adjoining ones. Luck told
Catherine what he had heard, and she pro-
posed to him to assassinate Michel ; but he
refused, saying, ' it was bad enough to have
burnt out his eyes fifteen years before, whilst
he was asleep at your door, and to have kid-
napped him into the country.' Then I went
in to ask charity, and Catherine put a piece of
plate into my pocket, that I might be arrested :
then she hid herself behind the aqueduct to
wait for Michel, and she killed him."

" But, since you say all this, why did you
keep the plate? — why didn't you give infor-
mation ?"

" But I didn't see it then. Michel showed
it me last night."

" But what should induce Catherine to do
this ?"

" Michel was her husband, and she had for-
saken him to come to Odessa and marry again.
One night, fifteen years ago, she saw Michel,
who hud come to seek her. She slipped hastily
into her house, and Michel, who thought she
had not seen him, lay down at her door to

164 WARNINGS.

watch ; but he fell asleep, and then Luck
burnt out his eyes, and carried him to a dis-
tance."

" And is it Michel who has told you this ?"

" Yes : he came, very pale and covered with
blood ; and he took me by the hand and
showed me all this with his fingers."

Upon this, Luck and Catherine were
arrested; and it was ascertained that she had
actually been married to Michel in the year
1819, at Kherson. They at first denied the
accusation, but Powleska insisted, and they
subsequently confessed the crime. When they
communicated the circumstances of the con-
fession to Powleska, she said, " I was told it
last night."

This affair naturally excited great interest,
and people all round the neighbourhood has-
tened into the city to learn the sentence.

CHAPTER VI.

DOUBLE DREAMING AND TRANCE.

AMONGST the phenomena of the dream- life
which we have to consider, that of double-
dreaming- forms a very curious department.
A somewhat natural introduction to this sub-
ject may be found in the cases above recorded
of Professor Herder and Mr. S. of Edinburgh,
who appear in their sleep to have received so
lively an impression of those earnest wishes
of their dying friends to see them, that they
found themselves irresistably impelled to obey
the spiritual summons. These two cases oc-
curred to men engaged in active daily life, and

166 DOUBLE DREAMING

in normal physical conditions, on which account
I particularly refer to them here, although
many similar ones might be adduced.

With respect to this subject of double-
dreaming, Dr. Ennemoser thinks that it is not
so difficult to explain as might appear on a
first view, since he considers that there exists
an indisputable sympathy betwixt certain
organisms, especially where connected by re-
lationship, or by affection, which may be
sufficient to account for the supervention of
simultaneous thoughts, dreams, or presenti-
ments ; and I have met with some cases where
the magnetiser and his patient have been the
subjects of this phenomenon. With respect to
the power asserted to have been frequently
exercised by causing or suggesting dreams by
an operator at a distance from the sleeper,
Dr. E. considers the two parties to stand in a
positive and negative relation to each other ;
the antagonistic power of the sleeper being
= 0, he becomes a perfectly passive recipient
of the influence exerted by his positive
half, if I may use the expression ; for, where
such a polarity is established, the two beings
seem to be almost blended into one ; whilst
Dr. Passavent observes, that we cannot pro-
nounce what may be the limits of the nervous

AND TRANCE. 167

force, which certainly is not bounded by the
termination of its material conductors.

I have yet myself met with no instance of
dream compelling by a person at a distance ;
but Dr. Ennemoser, says, that Agrippa von
Nettesheim asserts that this can assuredly be
done, and also that the Abbot Trithemius, and
others, possessed the power. In modern times,
Wesermaun, in Dusseldorf, pretended to the
same faculty, and affirms that he had frequently
exercised it.

All such phenomena, Dr. Passavent attri-
butes to the interaction of imponderables — or
of one universal imponderable under different
manifestations — which acts not only within the
organism, but beyond it, independently of all
material obstacles ; just as a sympathy appears
betwixt one organ and another, unobstructed
by the intervening ones ; and he instances the
sympathy which exists betwixt the mother
and the foetus, as an example of this sort of
double life, and standing as midway betwixt
the sympathy between two organs in the
same body and that between two separate
bodies ; each having its own life, and its life
also in and for another, as parts of one whole.
The sympathy betwixt a bird and the eggs it
sits upon is of the same kind ; many instances

168 DOUBLE DREAMING

having been observed, wherein eggs taken
from one bird and placed under another, have
produced a brood feathered like the foster, in-
stead of the real parent.

Thus, this vital force may extend dynami-
cally the circle of its influence, till, under
favourable circumstances, it may act on other
organisms making their organs its own.

I need scarcely remind my leaders of the
extraordinary sympathies manifested by the
Siamese twins — Chang and Eug. I never saw
them myself; and, for the benefit of others in
the same situation, I quote the following par-
ticulars from Dr. Passavent : — " They were
united by a membrane which extended from
the breast-bone to the navel ; but, in other re-
spects, were not different from their country-
men in general. They were exceedingly alike,
only that Eng was rather the most robust of
the two. Their pulsations were not always co-
incident. They were active and agile, and fond
of bodily exercises ; their intellects were well-
developed, and their tones of voice and accent
were precisely the same. As they never con-
versed together, they had nearly forgotten their
native tongue. If one was addressed, they
both answered. They played some games of
skill, but never with each other ; as that, they

AND TRANCE. 160

said, would have been like the right hand
playing- with the left. They read the same
book at the same time, and sang together in
unison. In America they had a fever, which
ran precisely a similar course with each. Their
hunger, thirst, sleeping and waking, were al-
ways coincident ; and their tastes and incli-
nations were identical. Their movements
were so simultaneous that it was impossible to
distinguish with which the impulse had ori-
ginated; they appeared to have but one will.
The idea of being separated by an operation
was abhorrent to them; and they consider
themselves much happier in their duality than
are the individuals who look upon them with
pity.

This admirable sympathy, although neces-
sarily in an inferior degree, is generally mani-
fested, more or less, betwixt all persons twin
born. Dr. Passavent, and other authorities,
mention several instances of this kind, in
which, although at some distance from each
other, the same malady appeared simulta-
neously in both, and ran precisely a similar
course. A very affecting instance of this sort
of sympathy was exhibited, not very long ago,
by a young lady, twin-born, who was suddenly
seized with an unaccountable horror, followed

VOL. i. Q

170 DOUBLE DREAMING

by a strange convulsion, which the doctor, who
was hastily called in, said, exactly resembled
the struggles and sufferings of a person drown-
ing. In process of time, the news arrived >-
that her twin brother, then abroad, had been
drowned precisely at that period.

It is, probably, a link of the same kind, that
i.s established betwixt the magnetiser and his
patient, of which, besides those recorded in
various works on the subject, some curious
instances have come to my knowledge, such
as uncontrollable impulses to go to sleep, or
to perform certain actions, in subserviance to
the will of the distant operator. Mr. W. W.,
a 'gentleman well known in the north of
England, related to me, that he had been
cured, by magnetism, of a very distressing
malady, During part of the process of cure,
after the rapport had been well established,
the operations were carried on whilst he was
atMalvern, and his magnetiser at Cheltenham,
under which circumstances the existence of
this extraordinary dependence was frequently
rxhibited in a manner that left no possibility
of doubt. On one occasion, I remember, that
Mr. W. W. being in the magnetic sleep, he
suddenly started from his seat, clasping his
hands as if startled, and, presently afterwards,

AND TRANCE. 171

burst into a violent fit of laughter. As, on
waking1, he could give no account of these im-
pulses, his family wrote to the magnetiser to
enquire if he had sought to excite any par-
ticular manifestations in his patient, as the
sleep had been somewhat disturbed. The
answer was, that no such intention had been
entertained, but that the disturbance might
possibly have arisen from one to which he had
himself been subjected. " Whilst my mind
was concentrated on you," said he, " I was
suddenly so much startled by a violent knock
at the door, that I actually jumped off my seat,
clasping my hands with affright. I had a
hearty laugh at my own folly, but am sorry if
you were made uncomfortable by it."

I have met with some accounts of a sym-
pathy of this kind existing betwixt young
children and their parents, so that the fornler
have exhibited great distress and terror at the
moment that death or danger have supervened
to the latter ; but it would require a great
number of instances to establish this par-
ticular fact, and separate it from cases of acci-
dental coincidence. Dr. Passavent, however^
admits the phenomena.

I shall return to these mysterious influences
by and by ; but to revert, in the meanwhile,

172 DOUBLE DREAMING

to the subject of double dreams, I will relate
one that occurred to two ladies, a mother and
daughter, the latter of whom related it to me.
They were sleeping in the same bed at Chel-
tenham, when the mother, Mrs. C., dreamt
that her brother-in-law, then in Ireland, had
sent for her ; that she entered his room, and
saw him in bed, apparently dying. He re-
quested her to kiss him, but, owing to his
livid appearance, she shrank from doing so,
and awoke with the horror of the scene upon
her. The daughter awoke at the same mo-
ment, saying, " Oh, I have had such a frightful
dream P' " Oh, so have I P returned the
mother ; " I have been dreaming of my bro-
ther-in-law !" " My dream was about him,
too," added Miss C. " I thought I was sitting
in the drawing-ro.om, and that he came in
wearing a shroud, trimmed with black rib-
bons, and, approaching me, he said, ( My dear
niece, your mother has refused to kiss me, but
1 am sure you will not be so unkind ! ' "

As these ladies were not in habits of regular
correspondence with their relative, they knew
that the earliest intelligence likely to reach
them, if he were actually dead, would be by
means of the Irish papers ; and they waited
anxiously for the following Wednesday, which

AND TRANCE. 173

was the day these journals were received in
Cheltenham. When that morning arrived,
Miss C. hastened at an early hour to the read-
ing-room, and there she learnt what the dreams
had led them to expect : their friend was
dead ; and they afterwards ascertained that his
decease had taken place on that night. They
moreover observed, that neither one or the
other of them had been speaking or thinking
of this gentleman for some time previous to
the occurrence of the dreams ; nor had they
any reason whatever for uneasiness with regard
to him. It is a remarkable peculiarity in this
case, that the dream of the daughter appears
to be a continuation of that of the mother. In
the one, he is seen alive ; in the other, the
shroud and black ribbons seem to indicate that
he is dead; and he complains of the refusal to
'give him a farewell kiss.

One is almost inevitably led here to the con-
clusion that the thoughts and wishes' of the
dying man wore influencing the sleepers ; or,
that the released spirit was hovering near them.

Pomponius Mela relates, that a certain
people in the interior of Africa lay themselves
down to sleep on the graves of their fore -
fathers, and believe the dreams that ensue U>
be the unerring counsel of the dead.
Q 5

174 DOUBLE DREAMING

The following dream, from St. Austin, is
quoted by Dr. Binns : — " Praestantius desired,
from n certain philosopher, the solution of a
doubt, which the latter refused to give him; but
in the following night, the philosopher appeared
at his bed-side and told him what he desired to
know. On being asked, the next day, why he
had chosen that hour for his visit, he answered,
' I came not to you truly, but in my dream I
appeared to you to do so/ In this case, how-
ever, only one of the parties seems to have been
asleep ; for Praestautius says that he was
awake ; and it is, perhaps, rather an example
of another kind of phenomena, similar to the
instance recorded of himself by the late Joseph
Wilkins, a dissenting minister ; who says, that
being one night asleep, he dreamed that he
was travelling to London, and that as it would
not be much out of his way, he would go by
Gloucestershire and call upon his friends.
Accordingly he arrived at his father's house,
but finding the front door closed, he went
round to the back, and there entered. The
family, however, being already in bed, he
ascended the stairs, and entered his father's
bedchamber. Him he found asleep ; but to
his mother, who was awake, he said, as he
walked round to her side of the bed, ' Mother,

AND TRANCE. 175

I am going a long journey, and am come to bid
you good bye ;' to which she answered. ' Oh,
dear son, thee art dead ! ' Though struck with
the distinctness of the dream, Mr. Wilkins
attached no importance to it, till, to his surprise,
a letter arrived from his father, addressed to
himself, if alive ; or, if not, to his surviving
friends, begging earnestly for immediate in-
telligence ; since they were under great appre-
hensions that their son was either dead or in
danger of death ; for that on such a night
(naming that on which the above dream had
occurred), he, the father being asleep and Mrs-
W. awake, she had distinctly heard somebody
try to open the fore door, which being fast, the
person had gone round to the back and there
entered. She had perfectly recognised the
footstep to be that of her son, who had ascended
the stairs, and entering the bedchamber had
said to her, ' Mother, I am going a long jour-
ney, and am come to bid you good bye;'
whereupon, she had answered, 'Oh, dear son,
thee art dead!' Much alarmed, she had
awakened her husband and related what had
occurred, assuring him that it was not a dream,
for that she had not been asleep at all. Mr. "W.
mentions that this curious circumstance took
place iu the year 1 754, when he was living at

176 DOUBLE DREAMING, ETC.

Ottery ; and that he had frequently discussed
the subject with his mother, on whom the im-
pression made was even stronger than on him-
self. Neither death, nor anything else re-
markable ensued."

A somewhat similar instance to this, which I
also quote from Dr. Binns, is that of a gentle-
man who dreamt that he was pushing violently
against the door of a certain room in a house
with which he was well acquainted, whilst the
people in that room were, at the same time,
actually alarmed by a violent pushing against
the door, which it required their utmost force
effectually to resist. As soon as the attempt
to burst open the door had ceased, the house
was searched ; but nothing discovered to
account for the disturbance.

These examples are extremely curious ; and
they conduct us by a natural transition to
another department of this mysterious subject.

There must be few persons who have not
heard amongst their friends and acquaintance
instances of what is called a Wraith — that is,
that in the moment of death, a person is seen
in a place where bodily he is not. I believe th<*
Scotch use this term also in the same sense as
the Irish word Fetch; which is a person's
double seen at some indefinite period previous

WRAITHS. 177

to his death, of which such an appearance is
generally supposed to be a prognostic. The
Germans express the same thing by the word
Doppel ganger.

With respect to the appearance of wraiths,
at the moment of death, the instances to be
met with are so numerous and well authenti-
cated, that I generally find the most sceptical
people unable to deny that some such pheno-
menon exists, although they evade, without, I
think, diminishing the difficulty, by pro-
nouncing it to be of a subjective, and not of an
objective, nature ; that is, that the image of the
dying person is, by some unknown operation,
presented to the imagination of the seer,
without the existence of any real outstanding
figure, from which it is reflected ; which re-
duces such instances so nearly to the class of
mere sensuous illusion, that it seems difficult
to draw the distinction. The distinction these
theorists wish to imply, however, is, that the
latter are purely subjective and self-originating,
whilst the others have an external cause,
although not an external visible object — the
image seen being protruded by the imagina-
tion of the seer, in consequence of an un-
conscious intuition of the death of the person
whose wraith is perceived.

178 WRAITHS.

Instances of this kind of phenomenon have
been common in all ages of the world, insomuch
that Lucretius, who did not believe in the
immortality of the soul, and was yet unable to
deny the facts, suggested the strange theory
that the superficial surfaces of all bodies were
continually flying off, like the coats of an onion,
which accounted for the appearance of wraiths,
ghosts, doubles, &c. ; and a more modern
author, Gaffarillus, suggests that corrupting
bodies send forth vapours, which, being com-
p reused by the cold night air, appear visible to
the eye in the forms of men.

It will not be out of place, here, to mention
the circumstance recorded in Professor Gre-
gory's Abstract of Baron Von Reichenbach's
Researches in Magnetism, regarding a person
called Billing, who acted in the capacity of
amanuensis to the blind poet Pieffel, at Col-
mar. Having treated of various experiments,
by which it was ascertained that certain sensi-
tive persons were not only able to detect
electric influences of which others were un-
conscious, but could also perceive, emanating
from the wires and magnets, flames which were
invisible to people in general ; " the Baron," ac-
cording to Dr. Gregory, " proceeded to a useful
application of the results, which is, says he,

WRAITHS. 1 79

so much the more welcome, as it utterly eradi-
cates one of the chief foundations of super-
stition, that worst enemy to the development
of human enlightenment and liberty. A
singular occurrence, which took place at Col
mar, in the garden of the poet Pfeffel, has been
made generally known by various writings.
The following are the essential facts. The
poet, being blind, had employed a young cler-
gyman, of the evangelical church, as amanuen-
sis. Pfeffel, when he walked out, was sup-
ported and led by this young man, whose
name was Billing. As they walked in the
garden, at some distance from the town, Pfeffel
observed, that, as often as they passed over a
particular spot, the arm of Billing trembled, and
he betrayed uneasiness. On being questioned,
the young man reluctantly confessed that, as
often as he passed over that spot, certain feel-
ings attacked him, which he could not con-
troul, and which he knew well, as he always
experinced the same, in passing over any place
where human bodies lay buried. He added,
that, at night, when he came near such
places, he saw supernatural appearances.
Pfeffel, with the view of curing the youth of
what he looked on as a fancy, went that night
with him to the garden. As they approached

130 WRAITHS.

the spot in the dark, Billing perceived a feeble
light, and when still nearer, he saw a luminous
ghost-like figure floating over the spot. This
he described as a female form, with one arm
laid across the body, the other hanging down,
floating in the upright posture, but tranquil,
the feet only a hand-breadth or two above the
soil. Pfeffel went alone, as the young man
declined to follow him, up to the place where
the figure was said to be, and struck about in
all directions with his stick, besides running
actually through the shadow ; but the figure
was not more affected than a flame would have
been : the luminovs form, according to Billing,
always returned to its original position after
these experiments. Many things were tried
during several months, and numerous com-
panies of people were brought to the spot, but
the matter remained the s>ame, and the ghost
seer adhered to his serious assertion, and to the
opinion founded on it, that some individual lay
buried there. At last, Pfeffel had the place
dug up. At a considerable depth was found a
firm layer of white lime, of the length and
breadth of a grave, and of considerable thick-
ness, and when this had been broken into, there
were found the bones of a human being. It
was evident that some one had been buried in

CHEMICAL EMANATIONS. 181

the place, and covered with a thick layer of
lime (quicklime), as is generally done in times
of pestilence, of earthquakes, and other simi-
lar events. The bones were removed, the pit
filled up, the lime mixed and scattered abroad,
and the surface again made smooth. When
Billing was now brought back to the place, the
phenomena did not return, and the nocturnal
spirit had for ever disappeared.

" It is hardly necessary to point out to the
reader what view the author takes of this
story, which excited much attention in Ger-
many, because it came from the most truthful
man alive, and theologians and psychologists
gave to it sundry terrific meanings. It ob-
viously falls into the province of chemical
action, and thus meets with a simple and clear
explanation from natural and physical causes.
A corpse is a field for abundant chemical
changes, decompositions, fermentation, putre-
faction, gasification, and general play of affi-
nities. A stratum of quicklime, in a narrow
pit, unites its powerful affinities to those of
the organic matters, and gives rise to a long
'continued working of the whole. Rain-water
filters through and contributes to the action :
the lime on the outside of the mass first falls
to a fine powder, and afterwards, with more

VOL. i. K

182 CHEMICAL EMANATIONS.

water, forms lumps which are very slowly
penetrated by the air. Slaked lime prepared
for building1, but not used, on account of some
cause connected with a warlike state of society
some centuries since, has been found in sub-
terraneous holes or pits, in the ruins of old
castles ; and the mass, except on the outside,
was so unaltered, that it has been used for
modern buildings. It is evident, therefore,
that in such circumstances there must be a
very slow and long continued chemical action,
partly owing to the slow penetration of the
mass of lime by the external carbonic acid,
partly to the changes going on in the remains
of animal matter, at all events as long as any
is left. In the above case, this must have gone
on in Pfeffel's garden, and, as we know that
chemical action is invariably associated with
light, visible to the sensitive, this must have
been the origin of the luminous appearance,
which again must have continued until the
mutual affinities of the organic remains, the
lime, the air, and water, had finally come to a
state of chemical rest or equilibrium. As
soon, therefore, as a sensitive person, although
otherwise quite healthy, came that way, and
entered within the sphere of the force in
action, he must feel, by day, like Mdlle. Maix,
the sensations so often described, and see by

CHEMICAL EMANATIONS. 183

night, like Mdlle. Reichel, the luminous ap-
pearance. Ignorance, fear, and superstition,
would now dress up the feebly shining va-
pourous light into a human form, and furnish
it with human limbs and members ; just as
we can at pleasure fancy every cloud in the
sky to represent a man or a demon.

" The wish to strike a fatal blow at the
monster superstition, which, at no distant
period, poured out on European society from a
similar source, such inexpressible misery,
when, in trials for witchcraft, not hundreds,
not thousands, but hundreds of thousands of
innocent human beings perished miserably,
either on the scaffold, at the stake, or by the
effects of torture, — this desire induced the
author to try the experiment of bringing, if
possible, a highly sensitive patient, by night,
to a churchyard. It appeared possible that
such a person might see, over graves, in which
mouldering bodies lie, something similar to
that which Billing had seen. Mdlle. Reichel
had the courage, rare in her sex, to gratify this
wish of the author. On two very dark nights
she allowed herself to be taken from the castle
of Reisenberg, where she was living, with the
author's family, to the neighbouring church-
yard of Grunzing. The result justified his
anticipation in the most beautiful manner.

184 CHRMIACL EMANATIONS.

She very soon saw a light, and observed
on one of the graves, along its length, a
delicate, breathing flame : she also saw the
same thing, only weaker, on a second
grave. But she .saw neither witches nor
ghosts ; she described the fiery appearance as
a shining vapour, one to two spans high, ex-
tending as far as the grave, and floating near
its surface. Some time afterwards she was
taken to two large cemeteries near Vienna,
where several burials occur daily, and graves
lie about by thousands. Here she saw nume-
rous graves provided with similar lights.
Wherever she looked, she saw luminous
masses scattered about. But this appearance
was most vivid over the newest graves, while
in the oldest it could not be perceived. She
described the appearance less as a cl°ar flame,
than as a dense vaporous mass of fire, inter-
mediate between fog and flame. On many
graves the flame was four feet high, so that
when she stood on them, it surrounded her up
to the neck. If she thrust her hand into it,
it was like putting it into a dense fiery cloud.
She betrayed no uneasiness, because she had
all her life been accustomed to such emana-
tions, and had seen the same, in the author's
experiments, often produced by natural causes.
Many ghost stories will now find their natural

CHEMICAL EMANATIONS. J85

explanation. We can also see, that it was not
altogether erroneous, when old women declared
that all had not the gilt to see the departed
wandering about their graves ; for it must
have always been the sensitive alone who were
able to perceive the light given out by the
chemical action going on in the corpse. The
author has thus, he hopes, succeeded in tear-
ing down one of the most impenetrable
barriers erected by dark ignorance and super-
stitious folly, against the progress of natural
truth."

" [The reader will at once apply the above
most remarkable experiments to the explana-
tion of corpse-lights in church-yards, which
were often visible to the gifted alone, to those
who had the second sight, for example. Many
nervous or hysterical females must often have
been alarmed by white, faintly luminous ob-
jects, in dark churchyards, to which objects
fear has given a defined form. In this, as
well as in numerous other points, which will
force themselves on the attention of the careful
reader of both works, Baron Reichenbach's
experiments illustrate the experiences of the
Seeress of Prevorst. — W. G.]" *

* This very curious work I have translated from the
German. Published by Moore, London. — C. C.

R 5

186 THK PALING AX ESI A.

That the flames here described may have
originated in chemical action, is an opinion I
have no intention of disputing; the fact may
possibly be so ; such a phenomenon has fre-
quently been observed hovering over coffins
and decomposing flesh ; but I confess I cannot
perceive the slightest grounds for the assertion
that it was the ignorance, fear, and superstition
of Billing, who was an Evangelical clergy-
man, that caused him to dress up this vaporous
light in a human form and supply it with
members, &c. In the first place, I see no
proof adduced that Billing was either ignorant
or superstitious, nor even afraid ; the feelings
he complained of, appearing to be rather phy-
sical than moral ; and it must be a weak per-
son indeed, who, in company with another,
could be excited to such a freak of the imagi-
nation. It is easily comprehensible, that that
which appeared only a luminous vapour by
day, might when reflected on a darker atmo -
sphere, present a defined form ; and the sug-
gestion of this possibility might lead to some
curious speculations, with regard to a mystery
called the palinganesia, said to have been prac-
tised by some of the chemists and alchemists
of the sixteenth century.

Gafl'arillus, in his book, entitled " Curiositim

THE PALINGANESIA. 187

I

Inouies" published in 1650, when speaking on
the subject of talismans, signatures, &c., ob-
serves, that since in many instances the plants
used for these purposes were reduced to ashes,
and no longer retained their form, their efficacy
which depended on their figure should in-
evitably be destroyed ; but this, he says, is not
the case, since, by an admirable potency exist-
ing in nature, the form, though invisible, is
still retained in the ashes. This, he observes,
may appear strange to those who have never
attended to the subject ; but he asserts that an
account of the experiment will be found in the
works of Mr. Du Chesne. one of the best
chemists of the period, who had been shown,
by a Polish physician, at Cracow, certain phials
containing ashes, which, when duly heated, ex-
hibited the forms of various plants. A small
obscure cloud was first observed, which gradu-
ally took on a defined form, and presented to
the eye a rose, or whatever plant or flower the
ashes consisted of. Mr. Du Chesne, however,
had never been able to repeat the experiment,
though he had made several unsuccessful
attempts to do so ; but at length he succeeded,
by accident, in the following manner: — Having
for some purpose extracted the salts from some
burnt nettles, and having left the lie outside

188 THE "PALINGANESIA.

•

the house, all night, to cool, in the morning he
found it frozen ; and, to his surprise, the form
and figure of the nettles were so exactly re-
presented on the ice, that the living plant
could not be more perfect. Delighted at this
discovery, he summoned Mr. De Luynes, par-
liamentary councillor, to behold this curiosity ;
from whence, he says, they both concluded,
that when a body dies, its form or figure still
resides in its ashes.

Kircher, Vallemont, Digby, and others, are
said to have practised this art of resuscitating
the forms of plants from their ashes ; and at
the meeting of naturalists at Stuttgard, in
1834, a Swiss savant seems to have revived
the subject, and given a receipt for the ex-
periment extracted from a work by Oetinger,
called " Thoughts on the Birth and Genera-
tion of Things." " The earthly husk," says
Oetinger, " remains in the retort, whilst the
volatile essence ascends, like a spirit, perfect
in form, but void of substance."

But Oetinger also records another discovery
of this description, which, he says, he fell upon
unawares. A woman having brought him a
large bunch of balm, he laid it under the tiles,
which were yet warm with the summer's heat,
where it dried in the shade. But, it being in

THE PALING AX ESIAA. 189

the month of September, the cold soon came,
and contracted the leaves, without expelling-
the volatile salts. They lay there till the
following June, when he chopped up the
balm, put it into a glass retort, poured rain
water upon it, and placed a receiver above.
He afterwards heated it till the water boiled,
and then increased the heat ; whereupon there
appeared, on the water, a coat of yellow oil,
about the thickness of the back of a knife,
and this oil shaped itself into the forms of
innumerable balm leaves, which did not run
one into another, but remained perfectly dis-
tinct and defined, and exhibited all the marks
that are seen in the leaves of the plant. Oe-
tinger says he kept the fluid some time, and
showed it to a number of people. At length,
wishing to throw it away, he shook it, and the
leaves ran into one another with the disturb-
ance of the oil, but resumed their distinct
shape again, as soon as it was at rest, the fluid
form retaining the perfect signature.

Now, how far these experiments are really
practicable, I connot say, their not being re-
peated, or not being repeated successfully, is
no very decided argument against their possi-
bility, as all persons acquainted with the
annals of chemistry well know ; but there is,

190 CORPSE CANDLES.

certainly, a curious coincidence betwixt these
details, and the experience of Billing ; where
it is to be observed, that, according- to his
account — and what right have we to dispute it
— the figure after being disturbed by Pfeffel,
always resumed its original form. The same
peculiarity has been observed with respect to
some apparitions, where the spectator has been
bold enough to try the experiment. In a letter
to Dr. Bentley, from the Rev. Thos. Wilkins,
curate of Warblington, in Hampshire, written
in the year 1G95, wherein he gives an account
of an apparition which haunted the parsonage
house, and which he himself, and several
other persons, had seen ; he particularly men-
tions that, thinking it might be some fellow
hid in the room, he put his arm out to feel it,
and his hand seemingly went through the
body of it, and felt no manner of substance,
until it reached the wall, " then I drew back
iny hand, but still the apparition was in the
same place."

Yet this spectre did not appear above, or
near a grave, but moved from place to place,
and gave considerable annoyance to the
inhabitants of the rectory.

With respect to the lights over the graves,
sufficing to account for the persuasion re-

CORPSE CANDLES. 191

garding what is called corpse candles, they
certainly, up to a certain point, afford a very
satisfactory explanation, but that explanation
does not comprehend the whole of the mystery,
for most of those persons who have professed
to see corpse candles, have also asserted that
they were not always stationery over the
graves, but sometimes moved from place to
place, as in the following instance, which was
related to me by a gentleman who assured me
he received the account from the person who
witnessed the phenomenon. Now, this last
fact, I mean the locomotion of the lights, will,
of course, be disputed ; but so was their ex-
istence ; yet they exist, for all that, and may
travel from place to place, for anything we
know to the contrary.

The story related to me, or a similar in-
stance, is, I think, mentioned by Mrs. Grant ;
but it was to the effect that a minister, newly
inducted in his cure, was standing one evening
leaning over the wall of the church-yard
which adjoined the manse, when he ob-
served a light hovering over a particular
spot. Supposing it to be somebody with
a lanthorn, he opened the wicket, and went
forward to ascertain who it might be ;
but before he readied the spot the light moved

192 CORPSE CANDLES.

onwards ; and he followed, but could see no-
body. It did not rise far from the ground, but
advanced rapidly across the road, entered a
wood, and ascended a hill, till it at length dis-
appeared at the door of a farm-house. Unable
to comprehend of what nature this light could
be, the minister was deliberating whether to
make enquiries at the house or return, when
it appeared again, seeming to come out of the
house, accompanied by another, passed him,
and going over the same ground, they both dis-
appeared on the spot where he had first observed
the phenomenon. He left a mark on the grave by
which he might recognise it, and the next day
enquired of the sexton whose it was. The man
said, it belonged to a family that lived up the
hill, indicating the house the light had stopped
at, named M'D. — but that it was a consider-
able time since any one had been buried there.
The minister was extremely surprised to learn,
in the course of the day, that a child of that
family had died of scarlet fever on the pre-
ceding evening. With respect to the class of
phenomena accompanied by this phospho-
rescent light, I shall have more to say by and
by. The above will appear a very incredible
story to many people, and there was a time that
it would have appeared equally so to myself;

REMARKABLE DREAM. ] G3

but I have met with so much strange corrobo-
rative evidence, that I no longer feel myself
entitled to reject it. I asked the gentleman
who told me the story, whether he believed it ;
he said that he could not believe in anything
of the sort. I then enquired if he would
accept the testimony of that minister on any
other question, and he answered, " Most as-
suredly." As, however, I shall have occasion
to recur to this subject in a subsequent chap-
ter, I will leave it aside for the present, and
relate some of the facts which led me to the
consideration of the above theories and ex-
periments. Dr. S. relates, that a Madame T.,
in Prussia, dreamt, on the 16th March, 1832, that
the door opened, and her godfather, Mr. D.,who
was much attached to her, entered the room,
dressed as he usually was when prepared for
church on Sundays ; and that, knowing him to
be in bad health, she asked him what he was
doing abroad at such an early hour, and
whether he was quite well again. Where-
upon, he answered, that he was; and, being
about to undertake a very long journey, he
had come to bid her farewell, and to intrust
her with a commission, which was, that she
would deliver a letter he had written to his
wife ; but accompanying it with an injunction
VOL. i. s

194 REMARKABLE DREAM.

that she, the wife, was not to open it till that
day four years, when he would return himself,
precisely at five o'clock in the morning, to
fetch the answer, till which period he charged
her not to break the seal. He then handed
her a letter, sealed with black, the writing on
which shone through the paper, so that she,
the dreamer, was able to perceive that it con-
tained an announcement to Mrs. D., the wife,
with whom, on account of the levity of her
character, he had long lived unhappily, that she
would die that time four years. At this
moment, the sleeper was awakened by what
appeared to her a pressure of the hand,
and, feeling an entire conviction that this was
something more than an ordinary dream, she
was not surprised to learn that her godfather
was dead. She related the dream to Madame
D., omitting, however, to mention the an-
nouncement contained in the letter, which she
thought the dream plainly indicated was not
to be communicated. The widow laughed at
the story, soon resumed her gay life, and
married again. In the winter of 1835-6, how-
ever, she was attacked by an intermittent fever,
on which occasion Dr. S. was summoned to
attend her. After various vicissitudes, she
finally sunk ; and, on the 16th of March, 1836,

REMARKABLE DREAM. 195

exactly at five o'clock in the morning, she sud-
denly started up in her bed, and, fixing her
eyes apparently on some one she saw standing
at the foot, she exclaimed, " What are you
come for ? God be gracious to me ! I never
believed it !" She then sank back, closed her
eyes, which she never opened again, and, in a
quarter of an hour afterwards, expired very
calmly.

A friend of mine, Mrs. M., a native of the
West Indies, was at Blair Logic, at the period
of the death of Dr. Abercroinbie, in Edin-
burgh, with whom she was extremely inti-
mate. Dr. A. died quite suddenly, without
any previous indisposition, just as he was
about to go out in his carriage, at eleven
o'clock on a Thursday morning. On the night
between the Thursday and Friday, Mrs. M.
dreamt that she saw the family of Dr. A. all
dressed in white, dancing a solemn funereal
dance, upon which she awoke, wondering that
she should have dreamt a thing so incongruous,
pince it was contrary to their custom to dance
on any occasion. Immediately afterwards,
whilst speaking to her maid, who had come
to call her, she saw Dr. Abercrombie against
the wall, with his jaw fallen, and a livid coun-
tenance, mournfully shaking his head, as he

1P0 REMARKABLE DREAM.

looked at her. She passed the day in great
uneasiness, and wrote to enquire for the Doc-
tor, relating what had happened, and express-
ing her certainty that he was dead ; the letter
was seen by several persons in Edinburgh,
on the day of its arrival.

. The two following cases seem rather to be-
long to what is called in the East Second
Hearing, although sympathy was probably the
exciting cause of the phenomena. A lady and
gentleman, in Berwickshire, were awakened
one night by a loud cry, which they both im-
mediately recognised to proceed from the voice
of their son, who was then absent, and at a
considerable distance. Tidings subsequently
reached them that exactly at that period their
son had fallen overboard and was drowned ;
and on another occasion, in Perthshire, a person
aroused her husband, one night, saying that
their son was drowned, for she had been
awakened by the splash. Her presentiment
also proved too well founded, the young man
having fallen from the mast-head of the ship.
In both cases we mny naturally conclude, that
the thoughts of the young men, at the moment
of the accident, would rush homewards ; and,
admitting Dr. Ennemoser's theory of polarity,
the passive sleepers became the recipients of the

OPINION OF PSYCHOLOGISTS. 197

force. I confess, however, that the opinion?
of another section of philosophers appear to
me more germain to the matter ; although to
many persons they will doubtless be difficult of
acceptance, from their appertaining to those
views commonly called mystical.

These psychologists then believe, as did
Socrates and Plato, and others of the ancients,
that in certain conditions of the body, which
conditions may arise naturally, or be produced
artificially, the links which unite it with the
spirit may be more or less loosened ; and that
the latter may thus be temporarily disjoined
from the former, and so enjoy a foretaste of its
future destiny. In the lowest, or first degree,
of this disunion, we are awake, though scarcely
conscious, whilst the imagination is vivified to
an extraordinary amount, and our fancy sup-
plies images almost as lively as the realities.
This, probably, is the temporary condition of
inspired poets and eminent discoverers.

Sleep is considered another stage of this dis-
junction, and the question has even been
raised, whether, when the body is in profound
sleep, the spirit is not altogether free and living
in another world, whilst the organic life pro-
ceeds as usual, and sustains the temple till the
return of its inhabitant. Without, at present,
s 5

198 OPINION OF PSYCHOLOGISTS.

attempting to support or refute this doctrine'
I will only observe, that once admitting the
possibility of the disunion, all consideration of
time must be set aside as irrelavent to the
question ; for spirit, freed from matter, must
move with the rapidity of thought — in short,
a spirit must be where its thoughts and affec-
tions are.

It is the opinion of these psychologists,
however, that in the normal and healthy con-
dition of man, the union of body, soul, and
spirit, is most complete ; and that all the
degrees of disunion in the waking stale are
degrees of morbid derangement. Hence it is,
that somnambulists and clairvoyantes are
chiefly to be found amongst sickly women.
There have been persons who have appeared
to possess a power which they could exert at
will, whereby they withdrew from their bodies,
these remaining during the absence of the spirit
in a state of catalepsy scarcely, if at all, to be
distinguished from death.

I say withdrew from their bodies, assuming
that to be the explanation of the mystery ; for,
of course, it is but an assumption. Epimenides
is recorded to have possessed this faculty, and
Hermotinus, of Clazomenes, is said to have
wandered, in spirit, over the world, whilst hi*

CASES OF TKANCE, 199

body lay apparently dead. At length, his wife
taking advantage of this absence of his soul,
burnt his body, and thus intercepted its return.
So say Lucien and Pliny, the elder; and Varro
relates, that the eldest of two brothers, named
Oorfidius, being supposed to die, his will was
opened and preparations were made for his
funeral by the other brother, who was declared
his heir. In the mean time,however,Corfidius
revived, and told the astonished attendants,
whom he summoned by clapping his hands,
that he had just come from his younger brother,
who had committed his daughter to his care, and
informed him where he had buried some gold,
requesting that the funeral preparations he had
made might be converted to his own use. Imme-
diately afterwards, the news arrived that the
younger brother was unexpectedly deceased,
and the gold wa» fouiui at the place indicated.
The last appears to have been a case of natural
trance ; but the two most remarkable instances
of voluntary trance I have met with in modern
times is that of Colonel Townshend, and the
Dervish, who allowed himself to be buried.
With regard to the former, he could, to all
appearance, die whenever he pleased; his
heart ceased to beat; there was no perceptible
respiration ; and his whole frame became cold

$00 CASES OP TRANCE.

and rigid as death itself; the features being
shrunk and colourless, and the eyes glazed and
ghastly. He would continue in this state for
several hours, and then gradually revive ; but
the revival does not appear to have been an
effort of will ; or rather, we are not informed
whether it was so or not. Neither are we told
whether he brought any recollections back with
him, nor how this strange faculty was first de-
veloped or discovered — all very important
points, and well worthy of investigation. He
seems to have made this experiment, however,
once too often ; for, on one of these occasions,
he was found to have actually expired.

With respect to the Dervish or Fakeer, an
account of his singular faculty, was, I believe,
first presented to the public in the Calcutta
papers, about nine or ten years ago. He had
then frequently exhibited it for the satisfaction
of the natives, but subsequently he was put to
the proof by some of the European officers
and residents. Captain Wade, political agent,
at Loodhiana, was present when he was disin-
terred, ten months after he had been buried by
General Ventura, in presence of the Maharajah
and many of his principal Sirdars.

It appears that the man previously prepared
himself by some processes, which, he says,

CASES OF TRANCE. 201

temporarily annihilate the powers of diges-
tion, so that milk received into the stomach
undergc.es no change. He next forces all the
hreath in his body into his brain, which be-
comes very hot, upon which the lungs collapse,
and the heart ceases to beat. He then stops
up, with wax, every aperture of the body
through which air could enter, except the
mouth, but the tongue is so turned back as to
close the gullet, upon which a state of insensi-
bility ensues. He is then stripped and put
into a linen bag, and, on the occasion in ques-
tion, this bag was sealed with Runjeet Sing's
own seal. It was then placed in a deal box,
which was also locked and sealed, and the box
being buried in a vault, the earth was thrown
over it and trod down, after which a crop of
barley was sown on the spot, and sentries
placed to watch it. The Maharajah, however,
was so sceptical, that, in spite of all these pre-
cautions, he had him, twice in the course of
the ten months, dug up and examined ; and
each time he was found to be exactly in the
same state as when they had shut him up.

When he ia disinterred, the first step towards
his recovery is to turn back his tongue, which
is found quite stiff, and requires for some time
to be retained in its proper position by the

202 CASES OF TRANCE.

finger ; warm water is poured upon him, and
his eyes and lips moistened with ghee, or oil.
His recovery is much more rapid than might
be expected, and he is soon able to recognise
the bystanders, and converse. He says, that,
during this state of trance, his dreams are
ravishing, and that it is very painful to be
awakened, but I do not know that he has ever
disclosed any of his experiences. His only
apprehension seems to be, lest he should be
attacked by insects, to avoid which accident
the box is slung to the ceiling. The interval
seems to be passed in a complete state of Hi-
bernation ; and when he is taken up, no pulse
is perceptible, and his eyes are glazed like
those of a corpse.

He subsequently refused to submit to the
conditions proposed by some English officers,
and thus incurred their suspicions, that the
whole thing was an imposition ; but the experi-
ment has been too often repeated by people
very well capable of judging, and under too
stringent precautions, to allow of this mode of
escaping the difficulty. The man assumes to
be holy, and is very probably a worthless fel-
low, but that does not aftect the question one
way or the other. Indian princes do not
permit themselves to be imposed on with im-

CASES OF TRANCE. 203

punity ; and, as Runjeet Sing would not value
the man's life at a pin's point, he would
neglect no means of debarring him all access
to food or air.

In the above quoted cases, except in those of
Corfidius and Hermotinus, the absence of the
spirit is alone suggested to the spectator by
the condition of the body ; since the memory of
one state does not appear to have been carried
into the other — if the spirit wandered into other
regions it brings no tidings back ; but we have
many cases recorded where this deficient evi-
dence seems to be supplied. The magicians and
soothsayers of the northern countries, by nar-
cotics, and other means, produce a cataleptic
state of the body, resembling death, when their
prophetic faculty is to be exercised ; and
although we all know that an alloy of impo-
sition is generally mixed up with these exhi-
bitions, still it is past a doubt, that a state of
what we call clear-seeing is thus induced ; and
that on awaking, they bring tidings from
various parts of the world of actions then per-
formingand events occurring, which subsequent
investigation have verified.

One of the most remarkable cases of this
kind, is that recorded by Jung Stilling, of a
man, who, about the year 1740 resided in the

204 CASES OF TRANCE.

neighbourhood of Philadelphia, in the United
States. His habits were retired, and he spoke
little : he wa» grave, benevolent, and pious, and
nothing was known against his character,
except that he had the reputation of possessing
some secrets that were not altogether l-iwful.
Many extraordinary stories were told of him,
and amongst the rest, the following : — The
wife of a ship captain, whose husband was on
a voyage to Europe and Africa, and from
whom she had been long without tidings, over-
whelmed with anxiety for his safety, was in-
duced to address herself to this person. Having
listened to her story, he begged h e to excuse
him for awhile, when he would bring her the
intelligence she required. He then passed into
an inner room, and she sat herself down to
wait; but his absence continuing longer
than she expected, she became impatient,
thinking he had forgotten her ; and so,
softly approaching the door, she peeped
through some aperture, and, to her surprise,
beheld him lying on a sofa, as motionless as if
he was dead. She, of course, did not think it
advisable to disturb him, but waited his return,
when he told her that her husband had not
been able to write to her for such and such
reasons ; but that he was then in a coffee -hou»c

CASES OF TRANCE. 205

in London, and would very shortly be home
again. Accordingly, he arrived, and as the
lady learnt from him that the causes of his
unusual silence had been precisely those al-
leged by the man, she felt extremely desirous
of ascertaining the truth of the rest of the in-
formation ; and in this she was gratified ; for
he no sooner set his eyes on the magician than
he said that he had seen him before, on a cer-
tainday, in a coffee-house in London ; and that
he had told him that his wife was extremely
uneasy about him ; and that he, the captain,
had thereon mentioned how he had been pre-
vented writing; adding that he was on the
eve of embarking for America. He had then
lost sight of the stranger amongst the throng,
and knew nothing more about him.

I have no authority for this story, but that
of Jung Stilling ; and if it stood alone, it
might appear very incredible ; but it is sup-
ported by so many parallel examples of infor-
mation given by people in somnambulic states,
that we are not entitled to reject it on> the
score of impossibility.

The late Mr. John Holloway, of the Bank
of England, brother to the engraver of that
name, related of himself that being one night
in bed, with his wife, and unable to sleep, he

VOL. i. T

206 CASES OF TRANCE.

had fixed his eyes and thoughts with uncom-
mon intensity on a beautiful star that was
shining in at the window, when he suddenly
ibund his spirit released from his body and
soaring into that bright sphere. But, instantly
seized with anxiety for the anguish of his wife,
if she discovered his body apparently dead be-
side her, he returned, and re-entered it with
difficulty (hence, perhaps, the violent convul-
sions with wrhich some somnambules of the
highest order are awakened). He described
that returning, was returning to darkness ; and
that whilst the spirit was free, he was alter-
nately in the light or the dark, accordingly as
Us thoughts were with his wife or u-ith the
star. He said that he always avoided any-
thing that could produce a repetition of this
accident, the consequences of it being very
distressing.

We know that by intense contemplation of
this sort, the Dervishes produce a state of
extacy, in which they pretend to be transported
to other spheres ; and not only the Seeress of
Prevorst, but many other persons in a highly
magnetic state, have asserted the same thing
of themselves ; and certainly the singular con-
formity of the intelligence they bring is not a
little remarkable.

CASES OP TRANCE. 207

Dr. Kerner relates of his somnambule,
Frederica Hauffe, that one day, at Weinsberg,
she exclaimed in her sleep, " Oh ! God !" She
immediately awoke, as if aroused by the ex-
clamation, and said that she seemed to have
heard two voices proceeding from herself. At
this time, her father was lying dead in his
coffin, at Oberstenfeld, and Dr. Fohr, the
physician, who had attended him in his illness,
was sitting with another person in an adjoin-
ing room, with the door open ; when he heard
the exclamation," Oh,God I" so distinctly, that,
feeling certain there was nobody there, he
hastened to the coffin, from whence the sound
had appeared to proceed, thinking that Mr.
W.'s death had been only apparent, and that
he was reviving. The other person, who was
an uncle of Frederica's, had heard nothing.
No person was discovered from whom the ex-
clamation could have proceeded, and the cir-
cumstance remained a mystery till an expla-
nation ensued. Plutarch relates, that a certain
man, called Thespesius, having fallen from a
great height, was taken up apparently dead
from the shock, although no external wound
was to be discovered. On the third day after
the accident, however, when they were about
to bury him, he unexpectedly revived ; and it

209 CASES OF TRA.NCE.

was afterwards observed, to the surprise of all

who knew him, that, from being a vicious

reprobate, he became one of the most virtuous

of men. On being interrogated with respect

to the cause of the change, he related that,

during the period of his bodily insensibility, it

appeared to him that he was dead, and that he

had been first plunged into the depths of an

ocean, out of which, however, he soon emerged,

and then, at one view, the whole of space was

disclosed to him. Everything appeared in a

different aspect, and the dimensions of the

planetary bodies, and the intervals betwixt

them, was tremendous ; whilst his spirit

seemed to float in a sea of light, like a ship in

calm waters. He also described many other

things that he had seen ; he said that the souls

of the dead, on quitting the body, appeared

like a bubble of light, out of which a human

form was quickly evolved. That, of these,

some shot away at once in a direct line, with

great rapidity, whilst others, on the contrary,

seemed unable to find their due course, and

continued to hover about, going hither and

thither, till at length they also darted away in

one direction or another. He recognized few

of these persons he saw, but those whom he

did, and sought to address, appeared as if they

CASES OF TRANCE.

were stunned and amazed, and avoided him
with terror. Their voices were indistinct, and
seemed to be uttering vague lamentings.
There were others, also, who floated farther
from the earth, who looked bright, and were
gracious; these avoided the approach of the
last. In short, the demeanour and appearance
of these spirits manifested clearly their degrees
of joy or grief. Thespesius was then informed
by one of them, that he was not dead, but that
he had been permitted to come there by a
divine decree, and that his soul, which was
yet attached to his body, as by an anchor,
would return to it again. Thespesius then
observed, that he was different to the dead, by
whom he was surrounded, and this observation
seemed to restore him to his recollection.
They were transparent, and environed by a
radiance, but he seemed to trail after him a
dark ray, or line of shadow. These spirits
also presented very different aspects ; some
were entirely pervaded by a mild, clear, ra-
diance, like that of the full moon ; through
others there appeared faint streaks, that
diminished this splendour ; whilst others, on
the contrary, were distinguished by spots, or
stripes of black, or of a dark colour, like the
marks on the skin of a viper.
T 5

210 CASES OF TRANCE.

There is a circumstance which I cannot help
here mentioning in connexion with this history
of Thespesius, which on first reading it struck
me very forcibly.

About three years ago, I had several oppor-
tunities of seeing two young girls, then
under the care of a Mr. A., of Edinburgh, who
hoped, chiefly by means of magnetism, to re-
store them to sight. One was a maid-servant
afflicted with amaurosis, whom he had taken
into his house from a charitable desire to be of
use to her ; the other, who had been blind
from her childhood, was a young lady in better
circumstances, the daughter of respectable
tradespeople in the north of England. The
girl with amaurosis was restored to sight, and
the other was so far benefitted that she could
distinguish houses, trees, carriages, &c., and,
at length, though obscurely, the features of a
person near her. At this period of the cure
she was unhappily removed, and may possibly
have relapsed into her former state. My
reason, however, for alluding to these young-
women on this occasion, is, that they were in
the habit of saying, when in the magnetic
state — for they were both, more or less, clair-
voyantes — that the people, whom Dr. A. was
magnetising in the same room, presented very

CASES OF TRANCE. 211

different appearances. Some of them they
described as looking1 bright ; whilst others
were in different degrees, streaked with black.
One or two they mentioned over whom there
seemed to hang a sort of cloud, like a ragged
veil of darkness. They also said, though this
was before any tidings of Baron von Reichen-
bach's discoveries had reached this country, that
they saw light streaming from the fingers of
Mr. A., when he magnetised them; and that
sometimes his whole person seemed to them
radiant. Now, I am positively certain that
neither Mr. A., nor these girls, had ever
heard of this story of Thespesius ; neither had
I, at that time ; and I confess, when I did
meet with it, I was a good deal struck by the
coincidence. These young people said, that it
was the " goodness or badness," meaning the
moral slate, of the persons that was thus indi-
cated. Now, surely this concurrence betwixt
the man, mentioned by Plutarch, and these two
girls — the one of whom had no education
whatever, and the other very little — is worthy
of some regard.

I once asked a young person, in a highly
clairvoyante state, whether she ever saw" the
spirits of them that had passed away ;" for so
die designated the dead, never using the word

212 CASES OF TRANCE.

death herself, in any of itsforms. She answered
me, that she did.

"Then where are they?'1 1 enquired.

" Some are waiting, and some are gone on
before."

" Can you speak to them ?" I asked.

" No," she replied, <: there is no meddling nor
no diretion."

In her waking state, she would have been
quite incapable of these answers ; and that
" some are waiting and some gone on before,"
seems to be much in accordance with the
vision of Thespesius.

Dr. Passavent mentions a peasant boy, who,
after a short but painful illness, apparently
died, his body being perfectly stiff. He, how-
ever, revived, complaining bitterly of being
called bock to life. He said he had been in a
delightful place, and seen his deceased rela-
tions. There was a great exaltation of the
faculties after this ; and having been before
rather stupid, he now, whilst his body
lay stiff and immoveable and his eyes
closed, prayed and discoursed with eloquence.
He continued in this state for seven weeks, but
finally recovered.

In the year 1733, Johann Sehwerzeger fell
into a similar state of trance, af;er an illness,

CASES OF TRANCE. 2 13

I

but revived. He said he had seen his .whole
life, and every sin he had committed, even
those he had quite forgotten — everything had
been as present to him as when it happened.
He also lamented being recalled from the
happiness he was about to enter into ; but said
that he had only two days to spend in this
valley of tears, during which time he wished
everybody that would, should come and listen
to what he had to tell them. His before
sunken eyes now looked bright, his face had
the bloom of youth, and he discoursed so elo-
quently that the minister said, they had ex-
changed offices, and the sick man had become
his teacher. He died at the time he had fore-
told.

The most frightful cases of trance rcorded,
are those in which the patient retains entire con-
sciousness, although utterly unable to exhibit
any evidence of life ; and it is dreadful to think
how many persons may have been actually
buried, hearing every nail that was screwed
into their own coffin, and as perfectly awrare of
the whole ceremony as those who followed
them to the grave.

Dr. Binns mentions a girl, at Canton, who
lay in this statf, hearing every word that was
said around her, but utterly unable to move a

CASES OF TRANCE.

finger. She tried to cry out, but could not,
and supposed that she was really dead. The
horror of finding herself about to be buried,
at length caused a perspiration to appear on
her skin, and she finally revived. She de_
scribed that she felt that her soul had no power
to act upon her body ; and that it seemed to
be in her body and out of it, at the same time.

Now, this is very much what the somnam-
bulists say — their soul is out of the body, but
is still so far in rapport with it, that it does not
leave it entirely. Probably, magnetism would
be the best means of reviving^ a person from
this state.

The custom of burying people before there
are unmistakable signs of death, is a very con-
demnable one. A Mr. M'G. fell into a trance,
some few years since, and remained insensible
for five days, his mother being, meanwhile,
quite shocked that the physician would not
allow him to be buried. He had, afterwards,
a recurrence of the malady, which continued
seven days.

A Mr. S., who had been some time out of
the country, died, apparently, two days after
his return. As he had eaten of a pudding
which his step-mother had made for his dinner)
with her own hands, people took into their

CASES OF TRANCE. 215

heads she had poisoned him ; and, the grave
being opened for purposes of investigation,
the body was found lying on its face.

One of the most frightful cases extant, is
that of Dr. Walker, of Dublin, who had so
strong a presentiment on this subject, that he
had actually written a treatise against the Irish
customs of hasty burial. He himself, subse-
quently died, as was believed, of a fever. His
decease took place in the night, and on the
following day he was interred. At this time,
Mrs. Bellamy, the once celebrated actress, was
in Ireland ; and as she had promised him, in
the course of conversation, that she would
take care he should not be laid in the earth
till unequivocal signs of dissolution had ap-
peared, she no sooner heard of what had hap-
pened, than she took measures to have the
grave re-opened ; but it was, unfortunately,
too late; Dr. Walker had evidently revived,
and had turned upon his side ; but life was now
quite extinct. The case related by Lady Fan-
shawe, of her mother, is very remarkable, from
the confirmation furnished by the event of her
death.

" My mother, being sick of a fever," says
Lady F., in her memoirs, " her friends and
servants thought lie? deceased, and she lay in

216 CASES OF TRANCE.

that state for two days and a night ; but Mr-
Winslow, coming to comfort my father, went
into my mother's room, and, looking earnestly
in her face, said, ' She was so handsome, and
looked so lovely, that he could not think her
dead ; and, suddenly taking a lancet ont of
his pocket, he cut the sole of her foot, which
bled, upon this he immediately caused her to
be removed to the bed again, and to be rubbed,
and such means used that she came to life, and
opening her eyes, saw two of her kinswomen
standing by her, Lady Knollys and Lady
Russell, both with great wide sleeves, as the
fashion then was ; and she said, ' Did you
not promise me fifteen years, and are you come
again already?' which they, notunderstanding,
bade her keep her spirits quiet in that great
weakness wherein she was ; but, some hours
after, she desired my father and Dr. Howies-
worth might l)e left alone with her, to whom
she said, I will acquaint you, that, during my
trance, I was in great grief, but in a place I
could neither distinguish nor describe ; but
the sense of leaving my girl, who is dearer to
me than all my children, remained a trouble
upon my spirits. Suddenly I saw two by me,
clothed in long white garments, and methought
I fell down upon my face in the dust, and they

TUANCE. 217

asked me why I was so troubled in so great
happiness. I replied, ' Oh, let me have the
same grant given to Hezekiah, that I may live
fifteen years to see my daughter a woman,'
to which they answered, * It is done !' and
then at that instant I awoke out of my trance !'
And Dr. Howlesworth did affirm, that that day
she died, made just fifteen years from that time.''

I have met with a somewhat similar case to
this, which occurred to the mother of a very
respectable person, now living in Edinburgh.
She having been ill, was supposed to be dead,
and preparations were making for her funeral,
when one of her fingers were seen to move,
and, restoratives being applied, she revived.
As soon as she could speak, she said that she
had been at the gates of heaven, where she
saw some going in, but that they told her she
was not ready. Amongst those who had passed
her, and been admitted, she said, she had seen
Mr. So-and-so, the baker, and the remarkable
thing was, that during the time she had been
in the trance, this man had died.

On the 10th of January, 1717, Mr. John
Gardner, a minister, at Elgin, fell into a trance,
and, being to all appearance dead, he was put
into a coffin, and on the second day was carried
to the grave. But fortunately a noise being

VOL. i. u

218 TRANCE.

heard, the coffin was opened, and he was found
alive and taken home again ; where, according
to the record, " he related many strange and
amazing things which he had seen in the other
world."

Not to mention somnamhules, there are
numerous other cases recorded of persons who
have said, on awaking from a trance, that they
had been in the other world ; though fre-
quently the freed spirit, supposing that to be
the interpretation of the mystery, seems
busied with the affairs of the earth and brings
tidings from distant places, as in the case of
the American above-mentioned. Perhaps, in
these latter cases, the disunion is less complete.
Dr. Werner relates, of his somnambule, that
it was after those attacks of catalepsy, in
which her body had lain stiff and cold, that
she used to say she had been wandering away
through other spheres. Where the catalepsy
is spontaneous and involuntary, and resembles
death so nearly as not to be distinguished
from it, we may naturally conclude, if we ad-
mit this hypothesis at all, that the seeing of
the spirit would be clear in proportion to its
disentanglement from the flesh.

I have spoken above of dream compelling'
or suggesting, and I have heard of persons

WITCH POTIONS. 219

who have a power of directing their own dreams
to any particular subject.

This faculty may be, in some degree, analo-
gous to that possessed by the American, and a
few somnambulic persons, who appear to carry
the recollections of one state into the other.
The effects produced by the witch potions
seem to have been somewhat similar, inasmuch
as they dreamt what they expected or wished
to dream. Jung Stilling mentions, that a
woman gave in evidence, on a witch trial, that
having visited the so-called witch, she had
found her concocting a potion over the tire, of
which she had advised her, the visitor, to
drink, assuring her that she would then accom-
pany her to the Sabbath. The woman said,
lest she should give offence, she had put the
vessel to her lips, but had not drank of it ; the
witch, however, swallowed the whole, and
immediately afterwards sunk down upon the
hearth in a profound sleep, where she had left
her. When she went to see her on the fol-
lowing day, she declared she had been to the
Brocken.

Paolo Minucci relates, that a woman ac-
cused of sorcery, being brought before a cer-
tain magistrate, at Florence, she not only
confessed her guilt, but she declared that, pro-

•2'20 WITCH POTIONS.

vided they would let her return home and anoint
herself, she would attend the Sabbath that
very night. The magistrate, a man more en-
lightened than the generality of his contem-
poraries, consented. The woman went home,
used her unguent, and fell immediately into a
profound sleep ; whereupon they tied her to
the bed, and tested the reality of the sleep by
burns, blows, and pricking her with sharp
instruments. When she awoke on the follow-
ing day, she related that she had attended
the Sabbath. 1 could quote several similar
facts ; and Gassendi actually endeavoured to
undeceive some peasants who believed them-
selves witches, by composing an ointment that
produced the same effects as their own magical
applications,

In the year 1 545, Andre Laguna, physician
to Pope Julius III., anointed a patient of his,
who was suffering from phrenzy and sleep-
lessness, with an unguent found in the house
of a sorcerer, who had been arrested. The
patient slept for thirty-six hours consecutively,
and when, with much difficulty, she was
awakened, she complained that they had torn
her from the most ravishing delights ; delights
which seem to have rivalled the Heaven of the
Mahometan. According to Llorente, the women

WITCH POTIONS. 321

who were dedicated to the service of the
Mother of the Gods, heard continually the
sounds of flutes and tambourines, beheld the
joyous dances of the fauns and satyrs, and
tasted of intoxicating pleasures, doubtless from
a similar cause.

It is difficult to imagine, that all the unfor-
tunate wretches who suffered death at the
stake in the middle ages, for having attended
the unholy assemblies they described, had no
faith in their own stories ; yet, in spite of the
unwearied vigilance of public authorities, and
private malignity, no such assemblage was ever
detected. Ho\v, then, are we to account for
the pertinacity of their confessions, but by
supposing them the victims of some extraor-
dinary delusion ? In a paper addressed to the
Inquisition, by Llorente, he does not scruple to
assert, that the crimes imputed to, and con-
fessed by, witches, have most frequently no
existence but in their dreams ; and that
their dreams are produced by the drugs with
which they anointed themselves.

The recipes for these compositions, which
had descended traditionally from age to age,
have been lost since witchcraft went out of
fashion, and modern science has no time to
investigate secrets which appear to be more

222 WITCH POTIONS.

curious than profitable ; but in the profound
sleep produced by these applications, it is not
easy to say what phenomena may have occurred
to justify, or, at least, account for, their self-
accusations.

CHAPTER VII

WRAITHS.

SUCH instances as that of Lady Fanshawe, and
other similar ones, certainly seem to favour
the hypothesis, that the spirit is freed from
the body, when the latter becomes no longer
a fit habitation for it. It does so when actual
death supervenes, and the reason of its depar-
ture we may naturally conclude to be, that the
body has ceased to be available for its manifes-
tations ; and in these cases, which seem so
nearly allied to death, that, frequently, there
would actually be no revival but for the exer-
tions used, it does not seem very difficult to

224 WRAITHS.

conceive that this separation may take place.
When we are standing by a death bed, all we
see is the death of the body, of the going- forth
of the spirit we see nothing ; so in cases of
apparent death, it may depart and return,
whilst we are aware of nothing but the re-
animation of the organism. Certain it is, that
the Scriptures countenance this view of the
case in several instances; thus, Luke says,
Chap, viii., 34, "And he put them all out, and
took her by the hand, and called, saying,
* Maid, arise !' And her spirit came again,
and she arose straightway," &c., &c.

Dr. Wigan observes, when speaking of the
effects of temporary pressure on the brain, that
the mind is not annihilated, because, if the pres-
sure is timely removed, it is restored, though,
if continued too long, the body will be resolved
into its primary elements ; and he compares the
human organism to a watch, which we can
either stop or set going at will, which watch,
he says, will also be gradually resolved into its
ultimate elements by chemical action ; and, he
adds, that, to ask where the mind is, during the
interruption, is like asking where the motion
of the watch is. I think a wind instrument
would be a better simile, for the motion of the
watch is purely mechanical. It require^ no

WKAITHS. 225

informing, intelligent spirit to breathe into its
apertures and make it the vehicle of the harsh-
est discords, or of the most eloquent discourses.
" The divinely mysterious essence, which we
call the soul," he adds, "is not then the mind,
from which it must be carefully distinguished,
if we would hope to make any progress in
mental philosophy. Where the soul resides
during the suspension of the mental powers
by asphyxia, I know not, any more than I
know where it resided before it was united
with that specific compound of bones, muscles,
and nerve."

By a temporary pressure on the brain, the
mind is certainly not annihilated, but its
manifestations by means of the brain are sus-
pended ; the source of these manifestations
being the soul or anima, in which dwells
the life, fitting the temple for its divine
inhabitant, the spirit. The connexion of the
soul and the body is probably a much more
intimate one than that of the latter with the
spirit ; though the soul, as well as the spirit, is
immortal and survives when the body dies.
Somnambulic persons seem to intimate that
the soul of the fleshly body becomes, here-
after, the body of the spirit, as if the imago or
idolon were the soul.

Dr. Wigan, and indeed physiologists in

226 WRAITHS.

general, do not appear to recognise the old
distinction betwixt the pneuma or anima and
the psyche — the soul and the spirit ; and in-
deed the Scriptures occasionally seem to use
the terms indifferently ; but still there are pas-
sages enough which mark the distinction ; as
where St. Paul speaks of a " living soul and
a quickening spirit," 1 Cor. xv., 45 ; again,
1 Thess. T., 23, " I pray God your whole spirit,
and soul, and body, &c,;" and also, Hebrews
iv. 12. Where he speaks of the sword of God
" dividing asunder the soul and spirit." In
Genesis, chap, ii., we are told that " man be-
came a living soul ;" but it is distinctly said,
1 Cor. xii., that the gifts of prophecy, the dis-r
cerniug of spirits, &c. &c. belong to the spirit.
Then, with regard to the possibility of the
spirit absenting itself from the body, St. Paul
says, in referring to his own vision, 2 Cor. xii.,
" I knew a man in Christ, about fourteen
years ago (whether in the body, I cannot tell ;
or out of the body, I cannot tell; God
knoweth) ; such an one caught up to the third
heaven ;" and we are told, also, that to be
" absent from the body is to be present with
the Lord," and that when we are " at home in
the body we are absent from the Lord-" We
are told, also, " the spirit returns to God, who
gave it ;" but it depends on ourselves whether

WRAITHS. 227

or not our souls shall perish. We must suppose,
however, that even in the worst cases some
remnant of this divine spirit remains with the
soul as long as the latter is not utterly per-
verted and rendered incapable of salvation.

St. John also says, that when he prophesied,
he was in the spirit ; but it was the " Souls of
the Slain" that he saw, and that " cried with
a loud voice, &c. &c." Souls, here, being pro-
bably used in the sense of individuals ; as
we say, " So many souls perished by ship-
wreck, &c."

In the "Revue de Paris," 29th July, 1838,
it is related that a child saw the soul of a
woman who was lying insensible in a mag-
netic crisis in which death nearly ensued,
depart out of her; and I find recorded in
another work that a somnambule who was
brought to give advice to a patient, said, " It
is too late ; her soul is leaving her. I see the
vital flame quitting her brain."

From some of the cases I have above re-
lated, we are led to the conclusion, that in
certain conditions of the body, the spirit, in a
manner unknown to us, resumes a portion of
its freedom, and is enabled to exercise more or
less of its inherent properties. It is somewhat
released from those inexorable conditior.s of

2'28 WRAITHS.

time and space, which bound and limit its
powers, whilst in close connexion with matter,
and it communes with other spirits who are
also liberated. How far this liberation (if such
it be), or re-integration of natural attributes,
may take place in ordinary sleep, we can only
conclude from examples. In prophetic dreams,
and in those instances of information appa-
rently received from the dead, this condition
seems to occur ; as, also, in such cases as that
of the gentleman mentioned in a former chap-
ter, who has several times been conscious on
awaking, that he had been conversing with
some one, whom he has been subsequently
startled to hear had died at that period, and
this is a man apparently in excellent health,
endowed with a vigorous understanding, and
immersed in active business.

In the story of the American, quoted in a
former chapter from Jung Stilling, there was
one point which I forbore to comment on at
the moment, but to which I must now revert;
this is the assertion, that the voyager had seen
the man, and even conversed with him, in the
coffee-house, in London, whence the desired
intelligence was brought. Now, this single
case standing alone, would amount to nothing,
although Jung Stilling, who was one of the

WRAITHS. 229

most conscientious of men, declares himself to
have been quite satisfied with the authority on
which he relates it ; but, strange to say — for
undoubtedly the thing is very strange — there
are numerous similar instances recorded ; and
it seems to have been believed in all ages of
the world, that people were sometimes seen,
where bodily they were not; seen not by
sleepers alone, but by persons in a perfect state
of vigilance ; and that this phenomenon,
though more frequently occurring at the
moment that the individual seen is at the
point of death, does occasionally occur at in-
definite periods anterior to the catastrophe ;
and sometimes where no such catastrophe is
impending. In some of these cases, an earnest
desire seems to be the cause of the pheno-
menon. It is not very long since a very esti-
mable lady, who was dying in the Mediter-
ranean, expressed herself perfectly ready to
meet death, if she could but once more- behold
her children, who were in England. She
soon afterwards fell into a comatose state, and
the persons surrounding her were doubtful
whether she had not already breathed her last;
at all events, they did not expect her to revive.
She did so, however, and now cheerfully an-
nounced that having seen her children, she
VOL. i. x

230 WRAITHS.

was ready to depart. During the interval
that she lay in this state, her family saw her
in England, and were thus aware of her
death before the intelligence reached them.
As it is a subject, I understand, they are un-
willing to speak of, I do not know precisely
under what circumstances she was seen ; but
this is an exactly analogous case to that al-
ready recorded of Maria Goffe, of Rochester,
who, when dying, away from home, expressed
precisely the same feelings. She said she
could not die happy till she had seen her chil-
dren. By and by, she fell into a state of coma,
which left them uncertain whether she was
dead or alive. Her eyes were open and fixed,
her jaw fallen, and there was no perceptible
respiration. When she revived, she told her
mother, who attended her, that she had been
home and seen her children ; which the other
said was impossible, since she had been lying
there in the bed the whole time. " Yes," re-
plied the dying woman, et but I was there in
my sleep." A widow woman, called Alexander,
who had the care of these children, declared
herself ready to take oath upon the sacrament,
that during this period, she had seen the form
of Maria Goffe come out of the room, where
the eldest child slept, and approach the bed
where she herself lay with the younger beside

WRAITHS. 231

her. The figure had stood there nearly a
quarter of an hour, as far as she could judge ;
and she remarked that the eyes and the mouth
moved, though she heard no sound. She de-
clared herself to have been perfectly awake,
and that as it was the longest night in the
year, it was quite light. She sat up in bed,
and whilst she was looking on the figure, the
clock on the bridge struck two. She then
adjured the form in the name of God, where-
upon it moved. She immediately arose and
followed it ; but could not tell what had be-
come of it. She then became alarmed, and
throwing on her clothes, went out and walked
on the quay, returning to the house ever and
anon to look at the children. At five o'clock,
she knocked at a neighbour's door, but they
would not let her in. At six, she knocked
again, and was then admitted, and related to
them what she had seen, which they, of
course, endeavoured to persuade her was a
dream or an illusion. She declared herself,
however, to have been perfectly awake ; and
said, that if ever she had seen Maria Goffe in
her life, she had seen her that night.

The following story has been currently re-
lated in Rome, and is already in print. I take
it from a German work, and I do not know

232 WRAITHS.

how far its authenticity can be established.

It is to the effect that two friends having
agreed to attend confession together, one of
them went at the appointed time to the Abbate
B., and made his confession; after which the
priest commenced the usual admonition, in the
midst of which he suddenly ceased speaking.
After waiting a short time, the penitent stept
forward and perceived him lying in the con-
fessional in a state of insensibility. Aid was
summoned and means used to restore him,
which were for some time ineffectual ; at
length, when he opened his eyes, he bade the
penitent recite a prayer for his friend, who had
just expired. This proved to be the case, on
enquiry; and when the young man, Avho had
naturally hastened to his friend's house, ex-
pressed a hope that he had not died without
the last offices of the church, he was told to
his amazement, that the Abbate B. had arrived
just as he was in extremis, and had remained
with him till he died.

These appearances seem to have taken place
when the corporeal condition of the person
seen elsewhere permits us to conceive the pos-
sibility of the spirit's having withdrawn from
the body ; but the question then naturally arises,
what is it that was seen ; and I confess, that of

WRAITHS. 233

all the difficulties that surround the subject, I
have undertaken to treat of, this seems to me
the greatest ; for we cannot suppose that a
spirit can be visible to the human eye, and
both in the above instances and several others
I have to narrate, there is nothing that can
lead us to the conclusion, that the persons
who saw the wraith or double, were in any
other than a normal state; the figure, in short,
seems to have been perceived through their
external organs of sense. Before I discuss this
question, however, any further, I will relate
some instances of a similar kind, only with this
difference, that the wraith appearing as nearly
as could be ascertained at the moment of death,
it remains uncertain whether it was seen before
or after the dissolution had taken place. As
both in these cases above related and those
that follow, the material body was visible in
one place, whilst the wraith was visible in
another, they appear to be strictly analogous ;
especially, as in both class of examples, the
body itself was either dead or in a state that
closely resembled death.

Instances of people being seen at a distance
from the spot on which they are dying, are so
numerous, that in this department I have po-
sitively an emlarras de richesses, and find it
x 5

234 WRAITHS.

difficult to make a selection ; more especially
as there is in each case little to relate, the whole
phenomenon being comprised in the fact of the
form being observed and the chief variations
consisting in this, that the seer, or seers, fre-
quently entertain no suspicion that what they
have seen is any other than a form of flesh and
blood; whilst on other occasions the assurance
that the person is far away, or some peculiarity
connected with the appearance itself, produces
the immediate conviction that the shape is not
corporeal.

Mrs. K., the sister of Provost B., of Aber-
deen, was sitting one day with her husband,
Dr. K., in the parlour of the manse, when she
suddenly said, " Oh ! there's my brother
come ! he has just passed the window," and,
followed by her husband, she hastened to the
door to meet the visitor. He was however not
there. " He is gone round to the back door,"
said she ; and thither they went ; but neither
was he there, nor had the servants seen any
thing of him. Dr. K. said she must be mis-
taken ; but she laughed at the idea; her brother
had passed the window and looked in; he must
have gone somewhere, and would doubtless be
back directly. But he came not ; and the intel-
ligent shortly arrived from St. Andrew's, that

WRAITHS. 235

at that precise time, as nearly as they could
compare circumstances, he had died quite sud-
denly at his own place of residence. I have
heard this story from connexions of the family t
and also from an eminent professor of Glasgow,
who told me that he had once asked Dr. K.,
whether he believed, in these appearances.
"I cannot choose but believe," returned Dr. K.,
and then he accounted for his conviction by
narrating the above particulars.

Lord and Lady M. were residing on their
estate in Ireland ; Lord M. had gone out
shooting in the morning ; and was not expected
to return till towards dinner time. In the
course of the afternoon, Lady M. and a friend
were walking on the terrace that forms a
promenade in front of the castle, when she
said, "Oh, there is M. returning!" whereupon
she called to him to join them. He, however,
took no notice, but walked on before them, till
they saw him enter the house, whither they
followed him ; but he was not to be found ;
and before they had recovered their surprise
at his sudden disappearance, he was brought
home dead; having been killed by his own
gun. It is a curious fact in this case, that
whilst the ladies were walking behind the
figure, on the terrace, Lady M. called the

236 WRAITHS.

attention of her companion to the shooting
jacket, observing that it was a particularly
convenient one, and that she had the credit
of having contrived it for him herself.

A person in Edinburgh, busied about her
daily work, saw a woman enter her house with
whom she was on such ill terms that she could
not but be surprired at the visit ; but whilst
she was expecting an explanation, and under
the influence of her resentment avoiding to
look at her, she found she was gone. She re-
mained quite unable to account for the visit,
and as she said, " Was wondering what had
brought her there," when she heard that the
woman had expired at that precise time.

Madame O. B. was engaged to marry an
officer who was with his regiment in India ;
and wishing to live in privacy till the union
took place, she retired to the country and
boarded with some ladies of her acquaintance,
awaiting his return. She, at length, heard
that he had obtained an appointment, which,
by improving his prospects, had removed some
difficulties out of the way of the marriage, and
that he was immediately coming home. A
short time after the arrival of this intelligence,
this lady and one of those with whom she was
residing, were walking over a bridge, when

WRAITHS. '237

/

the friend said, alluding to an officer, she saw
on the other side of the way, " what an ex-
traordinary expression of face." But without
pausing to answer, Madame O. B. darted
across the road to meet the stranger — but he
was gone ! Where? They could not conceive.
They ran to the toll-keepers at the ends of the
bridge to enquire if they had observed such a
person ; but they had not. Alarmed and per-
plexed, for it was her intended husband that
she had seen, Madame O. B. returned home ;
and in due time the packet that should have
brought himself, brought the sad tidings of his
unexpected death.

Madame O. B. never recovered the shock,
and died herself of a broken heart not long
afterwards.

Mr. H., an eminent artist, was walking arm
in arm, with a friend, in Edinburgh, when he
suddenly left him, saying, " Oh, there's my
brother!" He had seen him with the most
entire distinctness, but was confounded by
losing sight of him, without being able to
ascertain whither he had vanished. News
came, ere long, that at that precise period his
brother had died.

Mrs. T., sitting in her drawing-room, saw
her nephew, then at Cambridge, pass across

238 WRAITHS.

the adjoining room. She started up to meet
him, and, not finding him, summoned the ser-
vants to ask where he was. They, however,
had not seen him, and declared he could not be
there; whilst she as positively declared he
was. The young man had died, at Cambridge,
quite unexpectedly.

A Scotch minister went to visit a friend,
who was dangerously ill. After sitting with
the invalid for some time, he left him to take
some rest, and went below. He had been
reading in the library some little time, when,
on looking up, he saw the sick man standing
at the door. " God bless me !" he cried, start-
ing up, " how can you be so imprudent ?" The
figure disappeared ; and hastening upstairs, he
found his friend had expired.

Three young men, at Cambridge, had been
out hunting, and afterwards dined together in
the apartments of one of them. After dinner,
two of the party, fatigued with their morning's
exercise, fell asleep, whilst, the third, a Mr.
M., remained awake. Presently the door
opened, and a gentleman entered and placed
himself behind the sleeping owner of the
rooms, and, after standing there a minute, pro-
ceeded into the gyp-room — a small inner
chamber, from which there was no egress.

WRAITHS. 239

Mr. M. waited a little while, expecting the
stranger would come out again ; but as he did
not, he awoke his host, saying, "There's
somebody gone into your room ; I don't know
who it can be."

The young man rose and looked into the
gyp-room, but there being nobody there he
naturally accused Mr. M. of dreaming ; but
the other assured him he had not been asleep.
He then described the stranger — an elderly
man, &c. &c. dressed like a country squire,
with gaiters on, and so forth. " Why that's
my father," said the host, and he imme-
diately made enquiry, thinking it possible
the old gentleman had slipt out unobserved
by Mr. M. He was not, however, to be heard
of ; and the post shortly brought a letter an-
nouncing that he had died at the time he had
been seen in his son's chamber at Cambridge.
Mr. C. F. and some young ladies were not
long ago, standing together looking in at a
shop window, at Brighton, when he suddenly
darted across the way and they saw him
hurrying along the street, apparently in pur-
suit of somebody. After waiting a little while,
as he did not return, they went home with-
out him ; and when he come, they of course
arraigned him for his want of gallantry.

240 WRAITHS.

" I beg your pardon," said he ; " but I saw an
acquaintance of mine that owes me some
money, and I wanted to get hold of him."

" And did you ?" enquired the ladies.

" No," returned he ; "I kept sight of him
some time ; but I suddenly missed him. I can't
think how."

No more was thought of the matter ; but by
the next morning's post, Mr. C. F. received a
letter, enclosing a draught from the father of
the young man he had seen, saying, that his
son had just expired ; and that one of his last
requests had been that he would pay Mr. C.
F. the money that he owed him.

Two young ladies staying at the Queen's
Ferry, arose one morning early, to bathe ; as
they descended the stairs, they each exclaimed,
" There's my uncle !° They had seen him
standing by the clock. He died at that time.

Very lately, a gentleman living in Edin-
burgh, whilst sitting with his wife, suddenly
arose from his seat, and advanced towards the
door, with his hand extended, as if about to
welcome a visitor. On his wife's enquiring
what he was about, he answered that he had
seen so-and-so enter the room. She had seen
nobody. A day or two afterwards the post
brought a letter announcing the death of the
person seen.

WRAITHS. 241

A regiment, not very long since, stationed at
New Orleans, had a temporary mess-room
erected, at one end of which was a door for
the officers ; and at the other, a door and a
space railed off for the messman. One day,
two of the officers were playing at chess, or
draughts, one sitting with his face towards the
centre of the room, the other with his back to
it. "Bless me! why, surely that is your
brother !" exclaimed the former to the latter,
who looked eagerly round, his brother being
then, as he believed, in England. By this
time, the figure having passed the spot where
the officers were sitting, presented only his
back to them. " No," replied the second,
" that is not my brother's regiment ; that's the
uniform of the Rifle Brigade. By heavens ! it
is my brother, though ;" he added, starting up,
and eagerly pursuing the stranger, who at
that moment turned his head and looked at
him, and then, somehow, strangely disappeared
amongst the people standing at the messman's
end of the room. Supposing he had gone out
that way, the brother pursued him, but he was
not to be found ; neither had the messman, nor
any body there, observed him. The young
man died at that time in England, having just
exchanged into the Rifle Brigade.

VOL. i. Y

242 WRAITHS.

I could fill pages with similar instances, not
to mention those recorded in other collections
and in history. The case of Lord Balcarres
is perhaps worth alluding to, from its being so
perfectly well established. Nobody has ever
disputed the truth of it, only they get out of
the difficulty by saying that it was a spectral
illusion 1 Lord B. was in confinement in the
castle of Edinburgh, under suspicion of Jaco-
bitism, when one morning, whilst lying in bed,
the curtains were drawn aside by his friend,
Viscount Dundee, who looked upon him stead-
fastly, leaned for some time on the mantle -
piece and then walked out of the room. Lord B.
not supposing that what he saw was a spectre,
called to Dundee to come back and speak to
him, but he was gone; and shortly afterwards
the news came that he had fallen about that
same hour at Killicranky.

Finally, I have met with three instances of
persons who are so much the subjects of this
phenomenon, that they see the wraith of most
persons that dies belonging to them, and fre-
quently of those who are merely accuiaintance.
They see the person as if he were alive, and
unless they know him positively to be else-
where, they have no suspicion but that it is
himself, in the flesh, that is before them, till

WRAITHS. 243

the sudden disappearance of the figure brings
the conviction. Sometimes, as in the case of
Mr. C. F. above alluded to, no suspicion arises,
till the news of the death arrives, and they
mention, without reserve, that they have met
so and so, but he did not stop to speak, and so
forth.

On- other occasions, however, the circum-
stances of the appearance are such, that the
seer is instantly aware of its nature. In the
first place, the time and locality may produce
the conviction.

Mrs. J. wakes her husband in the night, and
tells him she has just seen her father pass
through the room — she being in the West
Indies and her father in England. He died
that night. Lord T. being at sea, on his way
to Calcutta, saw his wife enter his cabin.

Mrs. Mac..., of Sky, went from Lynedale
where she resided, to pay a visit in Perthshire.
During her absence, there was a ball given at
L. ; and when it was over, three young ladies,
two of them her daughters, assembled in their
bedroom to talk over the evening's amusement.
Suddenly, one of them cried, " O God ! my
mother." They all saw her pass across the
room towards a chest of drawers, where she
vanished. They immediately told their friends

244 WRAITHS.

what they had seen ; and afterwards learnt
that the lady died that night.

Lord M. being from home, saw Lady M.,
whom he had left two days before, perfectly
well, standing at the foot of his bed ; aware
of the nature of the appearance, but wishing
to satisfy himself that it was not a mere spectral
illusion, he called his servant, who slept in the
dressing-room, and said to him, " John, who's
that ?" " It's my lady !'' replied the man. Lady
M. had been seized with inflammation and died
after a few hours illness. This circumstance
awakened so much interest at the time, that I
am informed by a member of the family, George
theThird was not satisfied without hearing the
particulars both from Lord M. and the ser-
vant, also.

But, besides time and locality, there are
very frequently other circumstances accom-
panying the appearance, which not only show
the form to be spectral, but also make known
to the seer the nature of the death that has
taken place.

A lady, with whose family I am acquainted,
had a son abroad. One night she was lying
in bed, with a door open which led into an
adjoining room, where there was a fire. She
had not been to sleep, when she saw her son

WRAITHS. 245

cross this adjoining room and approach the
fire, over which he leant, as if very cold. She
saw that he was shivering and dripping wet-
She immediately exclaimed, " That's my
G. !" The figure turned its face round, looked
at her sadly, and disappeared. That same night
the young man was drowned.

Mr. P., the American manager, in one of his
voyages to England, being in bed, one night,
between sleeping and waking, was disturbed
by somebody coming into his cabin, dripping
with water. He concluded that the person
had fallen overboard, and asked him why he
came there to disturb him, when there were
plenty of other places for him to go to ? The
man muttered something indistinctly, and Mr.
P. then perceived that it was his own brother.
This roused him completely, and feeling quite
certain that somebody had been there, he got
out of bed to feel if the carpet was wet on
the spot where his brother stood. It was not,
however; and when he questioned his ship-
mates, the following morning, they assured
him that nobody had been overboard, nor had
anybody been in his cabin. Upon this, he
noted down the date and the particulars of the
event, and, on his arrival at Liverpool, sent -
the paper sealed, to a friend in London, de-
Y 5

246 WRAITHS.

siring it might not be opened till he wrote
again. The Indian post, in due time, brought
the intelligence that on that night Mr. P.'s
brother was drowned.

A similar case to this is that of Captain
Kidd, which Lord Byron used to say he heard
from Captain K. himself. He was, one night
awakened in his hammock, by feeling some-
thing heavy lying upon him. He opened his
eyes, and saw, or thought he saw, by the in-
distinct light in the cabin, his brother, in
uniform, lying across the bed. Concluding
that this was only an illusion arising out of
some foregone dream, he closed his eyes again
to sleep ; but again he felt the weight, and
there was the form still lying across the bed.
He now stretched out his hand, and ielt the
uniform, which was quite wet. Alarmed, he
called out for somebody to come to him ; and,
as one of the officers entered, the figure dis-
appeared. He afterwards learnt, that his
brother was drowned on that night in the
Indian Ocean.

Ben Jonson told Drummond, of Hawthorn-
den, that, being at Sir Robert Cotton's house,
in the country, with old Cambden, he saw, in
a vision, his eldest son, then a child at Lon-
don, appear to him with a mark of a bloody

WRAITHS. 247

cross on his forehead ; at which, amazed, he
prayed to God ; and, in the morning1, mentioned
the circumstance to Mr. Cambden, who per-
suaded him it was fancy. In the mean time,
came letters announcing that the boy had died
of the plague. The custom of indicating an
infected house by a red cross, is here suggested ;
the cross, apparently, symbolizing the manner
of the death.

Mr. S. C. a gentleman of fortune, had a
son in India. One fine calm summer's morning,
in the year 1780, he and his wife were sitting
at breakfast, when she aiose and went to the
window ; upon which, turning his eyes in the
same direction, he started up and followed her,
saying, "My dear, do you see that ?" "Surely,"
she replied, " it is our son. Let us go to him !"
As she was very much agitated, however, he
begged her to sit down and recover herself ;
and when they looked again, the figure was gone.
The appearance was that of their son, precisely
as they had last seen him. They took note of
the hour, and afterwards learnt that he had
died in India at that period.

A lady, with whose family I am acquainted,
was sitting with her son, named Andrew, when
she suddenly exclaimed that she had seen him
pass the window, in a white mantle. As the

248 WRAITHS.

window was high from the ground, and over-
hung a precipice, no one could have passed ;
else, she said, " Had there been a path, and he
not beside her at the moment, she should have
thought he had walked by on stilts." Three
days afterwards, Andrew was seized with a
fever which he had caught from visiting some
sick neighbours ; and expired after a short
illness.

In 1807, when several people were killed in
consequence of a false alarm of fire, at Sadler's
Wells, a woman named Price, in giving her
evidence at the inquest, said, that her little
girl had gone into the kitchen about half-past
ten o'clock, and was surprised to see her brother
there, whom she supposed to be at the Theatre.
She spoke to him ; whereupon, he disappeared.
The child immediately told her mother, who,
alarmed, set off to the theatre and found the
boy dead.

In the year 1813, a young lady in Berlin,
whose intended husband was with the army
at Dusseldorf, heard some one knock at the
door of her chamber, and her lover entered in
a white neglige, stained with blood. Thinking
that this vision proceeded from some disorder
in herself, she arose and quitted the room to
call the servant; who not being at hand, she

WRAITHS. 249

returned, and found the figure there still. She
now became much alarmed, and having- men-
tioned the circumstance to her father, enquiries
were made of some prisoners that were march-
ing- through the town, and it was ascertained,
that the young man had been wounded and
had been carried to the house of Dr. Ehrlick,
in Leipsick, with great hopes of recoveiy. It
afterwards proved, howevei, that he had died
at that period, and that his last thoughts were
with her. This lady earnestly wished and
prayed for another such visit ; but she never
saw him again.

In the same year, a woman in Bavaria, who
had a brother with the army in Russia, was
one day at field-work, on the skirts of a forest,
and everything- quiet around her, when she
repeatedly felt herself hit by small stones,
though, on looking round, she could see no-
body. At length, supposing it was some jest,
she threw down her implements and stept into
the wood whence they had proceeded, when
she saw a headless figure, in a soldier's mantle,
leaning against a tree. Afraid to approach,
she summoned some labourers from a neigh-
bouring field, who also saw it ; but on going
up to it, it disappeared. The woman declared
her conviction that the circumstance indicated

250 WRAITHS.

her brother's death ; and it was afterwards
ascertained that he had, on that day, fallen
in a trench.

Some few years ago, a Mrs. H., residing in
Limerick, had a servant whom she much
esteemed, called Nelly Haulon. Nelly was a
very steady person, who seldom asked for a
holiday, and consequently Mrs. H. was the
less disposed to refuse her, when she requested
a day's leave of absence for the purpose of
attending a fair, that was to take place a few
miles off. The petition was therefore favorably
heard, but when Mr. H. came home and was
informed of Nelly's proposed excursion, he
said she could not be spared, as he had invited
some people to dinner for that day, and he had
nobody he could trust with the keys of the
cellar except Nelly ; adding, that it was not
likely his business would allow him to get
home time enough tobring up the wine himself.

Unwilling, however, after giving her con-
sent, to disappoint the girl, Mrs. H. said that
she would herself undertake the cellar depart-
ment on the day in question ; so when the
wished for morning arrived, Nelly departed in
great spirits, having faithfully promised to re-
turn that night, if possible, or at the latest, the
following morning.

WRAITHS. 251

The day passed as usual and nothing was
thought about Nelly, till the time arrived for
fetching up the wine, when Mrs. H, proceeded
to the cellar stairs with the key, followed by a
servant carrying a bottle-basket. She had,
however, scarcely begun to descend when she
uttered a loud scream and dropt down in a
state of insensibility. She was carried up
stairs and laid upon the bed, whilst, to the
amazement of the other servants, the girl who
had accompanied her, said, that they had seen
Nelly Hanlon, dripping with water, standing
at the bottom of the stairs. Mr. H. being
sent for, or coming home at the moment, this
story was repeated to him ; whereupon he re-
proved the woman for her folly ; and, proper
restoratives being applied, Mrs. H. at length
began to revive. As she opened her eyes, she
heaved a deep sigh saying, " Oh, Nelly Han-
lon," and as soon as she was sufficiently re-
covered to speak, she corroborated what the
girl had said ; she had seen Nelly at the foot
of the cellar stairs, dripping as if she had just
come out of the water. Mr. H. used his ut-
most efforts to persuade his wife out of what
he looked upon to be an illusion ; but in vain.
" Nellj," said he, " will come home by and

2o*2 .WRAITHS.

by and laugh at you," whilst she, on the con-
trary, felt sure that Nelly was dead.

The night came, and the morning came, but
there was no Nelly. When two or three days
had passed, enquiries were made; and it was
ascertained that she had been seen at the fair,
and had started to return home in the even-
ing ; but from that moment all traces of her
were lost, till her body was ultimately found
in the river. How she came by her death,
was never known. Now, in most of these
cases, which I have above detailed, the person
was seen where his dying thoughts might
naturally be supposed to have flown, and the
visit seems to have been made either imme-
diately before or immediately after the disso-
lution of the body ; in either case we may
imagine that the final parting of the spirit had
taken place, even if the organic life was not
quite extinct. I have met with some cases in
which we are not loft in any doubt, with re-
spect to what were the last wishes of the
dying person : for example, — a lady, with
whom I am acquainted, was on her way to
India, when near the end of her voyage, she
was one night awakened by a rustling in her
cabin, and a consciousness that there was some-
thing hovering about her. She sat up, and

WRAITHS. 253

saw a bluish cloudy form moving away ; but
persuading herself it must be fancy, she ad-
dressed herself again -to sleep; but as soon as
she lay down, she both heard and felt the
same thing : it seemed to her as if this cloudy
form hung over and enveloped her. Overcome
with horror, she screamed. The cloud then
moved away, assuming distinctly a human
shape. The people about her naturally per-
suaded her that she had been dreaming ; and
she wished to think so ; but when she arrived
in India, the first thing she heard was, that a
very particular friend had come down to Cal-
cutta to be ready to receive her on her landing,
but that he had been taken ill and died, say-
ing, he only wished to live to see his old friend
once more. He had expired on the night she
saw the shadowy form in her room.

A very frightful instance of this kind of
phenomenon is related by Dr. H. Werner, of
Baron Emilius von O. This young man had
been sent to prosecute his studies in Paris;
but forming some bad connexions, he became
dissipated, and neglected them. His father's
counsels were unheeded, and his letters re-
mained unanswered. One day the young baron
was sitting alone on a seat, in the Bois de
Boulogne, and had fallen somewhat into a reve-

VOL. i. z

254 WRAITHS.

rie, when, onraisinghis eyes, he saw his father's
form before him. Believing1 it to be a mere spec-
tral illusion, he struck at the shadow with his
riding-whip, upon which it disappeared. The
next day brought him a letter urging his
return home instantly, if he wished to see his
parent alive. He went, but found the old man
already in his grave. The persons who had
been about him said, that he had been quite
conscious, and had a great longing to see his
son ; he had, indeed, exhibited one symptom
of delirium, which was, that after expressing
this desire, he had suddenly exclaimed, " My
God ! he is striking at me with his riding-
whip 1" and immediately expired. In this
case, the condition of the dying man resembles
that of a somnambulist, in which the patient
describes what he sees taking place at a dis-
tance; and the archives of magnetism furnish
some instances, especially that of Auguste
Miiller, of Karlsruhe, in which, by the force
of will, the sleeper has not only been able to
bring intelligence from a distance, but also, like
the American magician, to make himself
visible. The faculties of prophecy and clear
or far-seeing, frequently disclosed by dying
persons, is fully acknowledged by Dr. Aber-
crombie, and other physiologists.

WRAITHS. 255

Mr. F. saw a female relative, one night, by
his bed-side. Thinking it was a trick of some
one to frighten him, he struck at the figure ;
whereon she said, "What have I done? I
know I should have told it you before." This
lady was dying at a distance, earnestly de-
siring to speak to Mr. F, before she departed.

I will conclude this chapter with the follow-
ing extract from "Lockhart's Life of Scott": —

"Walter Scott to Daniel Terry, April 30,
1818. (The new house at Abbotsford being
then in progress, Scott living in an older
part, close adjoining.)

* The exposed state of my

house has led to a mysterious disturbance.
The night before last we were awakened by a
violent noise, like drawing heavy boards along
the new part of the house. I fancied some-
thing had fallen, and thought no more about
it. This was about two in the morning.
Last night, at the same witching hour, the
very same noise occurred. Mrs. S., as you
know, is rather timbersome ; so up I got, with
Beardie's broad sword under my arm —

" Bolt upright,
And ready to fight."

256 WRAITHS.

But nothing was out of order, neither can I
discover what occasioned the disturbance.

Mr. Lockhart adds, " On the morning that
Mr. Terry received the foregoing letter, in
London, Mr. William Erskine was breakfast-
ing writh him, and the chief subject of their
conversation was the sudden death of George
Bullock, which had occurred on the same
night, and, as nearly as they could ascertain,
at the very hour when Scott was roused from
his sleep by the ' mysterious disturbance'
here described. This coincidence, when
Scott received Erskine's minute detail of what
had happened in Tenterd on -street (that is the
death of Bullock, who had the charge of fur-
nishing the new rooms at Abbotsford), made a
much stronger impression on his mind than
might be gathered from the tone of an ensuing
communication/'

It appears that Bullock had been at Abbots-
ford, and made himself a great favourite with
old and young. Scott, a week or two after-
wards, wrote thus to Terry, " Were you not
struck with the fantastical coincidence of our
nocturnal disturbances at Abbotsford, with the
melancholy event that followed ? I protest
to you, the noise resembled half-a-do/.en men

WRAITHS. 257'

hard at work, putting up boards and furni-
ture ; and nothing can be more certain than
that there was nobody on the premises at the
time. With a few additional touches, the
story would figure in Glanville or Aubrey's
collection. In the mean time, you may set it
down with poor Dubisson's warnings, as a
remarkable coincidence coming under your
own observation."

z o

CHAPTER VIII.

DO PPELG ANGERS, OR DOUIJLES.

IN the instances detailed in the last chapter
the apparition has shown itself, as nearly as
conld be discovered, at the moment of dissolu-
tion ; but there are many cases in which the
wraith is seen at an indefinite period before or
after the catastrophe. Of these, I could quote
a great number, but as they generally resolve
themselves into simply seeing a person where
they were not, and death ensuing very shortly
afterwards, a few will suffice.

There is a very remarkable story of this
kind, related by Macnish, which he calls " a

DOPPELGANGERS. 259

case of hallucination, arising without the indi-
vidual being conscious of any physical cause
by which it might be occasioned." If this case
stood alone, strange as it is, I should think so,
too ; but when similar instances abound, as
they do, I cannot bring myself to dispose of it
so easily. The story is as follows : — Mr. H.
was one day walking along the street, appa-
rently in perfect health, when he saw, or sup-
posed he saw, his acquaintance, Mr. C.,
walking before him. He called to him, aloud,
but he did not seem to hear him, and con-
tinued moving on. Mr. H. then quickened
his pace for the purpose of overtaking him,
but the other increased his, also, as if to keep
ahead of his pursuer, and proceeded at such a
rate that Mr. H. found it impossible to make
up to him. This continued for some time, till,
on Mr. C. reaching a gate, he opened it and
passed in, slamming it violently in Mr. H/s
face. Confounded at such treatment from a
friend, the latter instantly opened the gate, and
looked down the long lane into which it led,
where, to his astonishment, no one was to be
seen. Determined to unravel the mystery, he
then went to Mr. C.'s house, and his surprise
was great to hear that he was confined to his
bed, and had been so for several davs. A

260 DOPPELGANGERS,

week or two afterwards, these gentlemen met
at the house of a common friend, when Mr. H.
related the circumstance, jocularly telling Mr.
C. that, as he had seen his wraith, he of course
could not live long. The person addressed,
laughed heartily, as did the rest of the party ;
but in a few days, Mr. C. was attacked with
putrid sore throat, and died ; and, within a,
short period of his death, Mr. H. was also in
the grave.

This is a very striking case : the hastening
on and the actually opening and shutting the
gate, evincing not only will but power to pro-
duce mechanical effects, at a time the person
was bodily elsewhere. It is true he was ill,
and, it is highly probable, was at the time
asleep. The showing himself to Mr. H., who
was so soon to follow him to the grave, is
another peculiarity which appears frequently
to attend these cases, and which seems like
what was in old English, and is still, in Scotch,
called a tryst — an appointment to meet again
betwixt those spirits, so soon to be free. Sup-
posing Mr. C. to have been asleep, he was
possibly, in that state, aware of what impended
over both.

There is a still more remarkable case, given
by Mr. Barnaul, in his reminiscences. I have

DOPPELGANGERS. 2()l

no other authority for it ; but he relates, as a
fact, that a respectable young woman was
awaked, one night, by hearing somebody in
her room, and that on looking up, she saw a
young man, to whom she was engaged.
Extremely offended by such an intrusion, she
bade him instantly depart, if he wished her
ever to speak to him again. Whereupon, he
bade her not be frightened ; but said he was
come to tell her that he was to die that day
six weeks, and then disappeared. Having
ascertained that the young man himself
could not possibly have been in her room,
she was naturally much alarmed, and, her
evident depression leading to some enquiries,
she communicated what had occurred to the
family with whom she lived — I think as dairy-
maid ; but I quote from memory. They at-
tached little importance to what seemed so
improbable, more especially as the young man
continued in perfectly good health, and entirely
ignorant of this prediction, which his mistress
had the prudence to conceal from him. When
the fatal d*y arrived, these ladies saw the girl
looking very cheerful, as they were going for
their morning's ride, and observed to each
other that the prophecy did not seem likely to
be fulfilled ; but when they returned, they saw

262 DOPPELGANGERS.

her running up the avenue towards the house,
in great agitation, and learned that her lover
was either dead, or dying, I think, in conse-
sequence of an accident.

The only key I can suggest as the expla-
nation of such a phenomenon as this, is, that
the young man, in his sleep, was aware of the
fate that awaited him; and that whilst his
body lay in his bed, in a state approaching to
trance or catalepsy, the freed spirit — free as
the spirits of the actual dead — went forth to
tell the tale to the mistress of his soul.

Franz von Baader, says in a letter to Dr.
Kemer, that Eckartshausen, shortly before his
death, assured him that he possessed the power
of making a person's double or wraith appear,
whilst his body lay elsewhere, in a state of
trance or catalepsy. He added that the ex^
periment might be dangerous, if care were not
taken to prevent intercepting the rapport of
the etherial form with the material one.

A lady, an entire disbeliever in these spiri-
tual phenomena, was one day walking in her
own garden with her husband, who was indis-
posed, leaning on her arm, when seeing a man
with his back towards them, and a spade in
bishand,digging,she exclaimed, "Look there !
Who's that r" " Where ?" said her companion ;

DOPPELG ANGERS. 263

and at that moment, the figure leaning on the
spade, turned round, and looked at her, sadly
shaking its head ; and she saw it was her hus-
band. She avoided an explanation, by pre-
tending she had made a mistake. Three days
afterwards the gentleman died ; leaving her
entirely converted to a belief she had previously
scoffed at.

Here, again, the foreknowledge and evident
design, as well as the power of manifesting it,
is extremely curious. More especially, as the
antitype of the figure was neither in a trance
nor asleep, but perfectly conscious, walking
and talking. If any particular purpose were
to be gained, by the information indicated, the
solution might be less difficult. One object,
it is true, may have been, and indeed, was
attained, namely, the change in the opinions
of the wife ; and it is impossible to say, what
influence such a conversion may have had on
her after life.

It must be admitted that these cases are
very perplexing. We might, indeed, get rid
of them by denying them, but the instances are
too numerous, and the phenomenon has been
too well known in all ages to be set aside so
easily. In the above examples the apparition,
or wraith, has been in some way connected

264 DOPPELGANGERS.

with the death of the person whose visionary
likeness is seen ; and, in most of these in-
stances, the earnest longing to behold those be-
loved, seems to have been the means of effect-
ing the object. The mystery of death is to
us so awful and impenetrable, and we know so
little of the mode in which the spiritual and
the corporeal are united and kept together
during the continuance of life, or what con-
dition may ensue when this connexion is about
to be dissolved, that whilst we look with
wonder upon such phenomena as these above
alluded to, we yet find very few persons who are
disposed to reject them as utterly apocryphal.
They feel that in that department, already so
mysterious, there may exist a greater mystery
still ; and the very terror with which the
thoughts of present death inspires most minds,
deters people from treating this class of facts
with that scornful scepticism with which many
approximate ones are denied and laughed at.
Nevertheless, if we suppose the person to have
been dead, though it be but an inappreciable
instant of time, before he appears, the appear-
ance comes under the denomination of what
is commonly called a ghost; for, whether the
spirit has been parted from the body one
second or fifty years, ought to make no differ-

DOPPELGANGERS. 265

ence in our appreciation of ttie fact, nor is the
difficulty less in one case than the other.

I mention this, because I have met with,
and do meet with, people constantly, who
admit this class of facts, whilst they declare
they cannot believe in ghosts ; the instances,
they say, of people being- seen at a distance at
the period of their death, are too numerous to
permit of the fact being denied. In granting
it, however, they seem to me to grant every-
thing. If. as I have said above, the person be
dead, the form seen is a ghost or spectre,
whether he has been dead a second or a
century; if he be alive, the difficulty is cer-
tainly not diminished, on the contrary, it
appears to me to be considerably augmented ;
and it is to this perplexing class of facts I
shall next proceed ; namely, those in which
the person is not only alive, as in some of the
cases above related, but where the phenomenon
seems to occur without any reference to the
death of the subject, present or prospective.

In either case, we are forced to conclude
that the thing seen is the same ; the ques-
tions are, what is it that we see, and how does
it render itself visible ; and, still more difficult
to answer, appears the question, of how it can
communicate intelligence, or exert a mechani-

VOL. i. 2 A

266 DOPPELGANGERS.

cal force. As, however, this investigation will
be more in its place when I have reached that
department of my subject commonly called
ghosts, I will defer it for the present, and
merely confine myself to that of Doubles, or
Doppelgangers, as the Germans denominate
the appearance of a person out of his body.

In treating of the case of Auguste Muller, a
remarkable sonmambule, who possessed the
power of appearing elsewhere, whilst his body
lay cold and stiff" in his bed. Professor Kieser,
who attended him, says, that the phenomenon,
as regards the seer, must be looked upon as
purely subjective — that is, that there was no
outstanding form of Auguste Muller visible
to the sensuous organs, but that the magnetic
influence of the sonmambule, by the force of
his will, acted on the imagination of the seer,
and called up the image which he believed he
saw. But then, allowing this to be possible,
as Dr. Werner sajs, how are we to account
for those numerous eases in which there is no
fcomnambule concerned in the matter, and no
especial rapport, that we are aware of, esta-
blished betwixt the parties ? And yet these
latter cases are much the most frequent ; for,
although I have met with numerous instances
recorded by the German physiologists of what

DOPPELGANGERS. 267

I

is called far-working on the part of their som-
nambtiles, this power of appearing out of the
body seems to be a very rare one. Many
persons will be surprised at these allusions to
a kind of magnetic phenomena, of which, in
this country, so little is known or believed ; but
the physiologists and psychologists of Ger-
many have been studying this subject for the
last fifty years, and the volumes filled with
their theoretical views and records of cases,
are numerous beyond anything the English
public has an idea of.

The only other theory I have met with,
which pretends to explain the mode of this
double appearance, is that of the spirit leav-
ing the body, as we have supposed it to do in
cases of dreams and catalepsy ; in which in-
stances, the nerve-spirit, which seems to be the
archaeus or astral spirit of the ancient philoso-
phers, has the power of projecting a visible
body out of the imponderable matter of the
atmosphere. According to this theory, this
nerve-spirit, which seems to be an embodi-
ment of — or rather, a body constructed out of
the nervous fluid, or ether — in short, the
spiritual body of St. Paul, is the bond of
union betwixt the body and the soul, or spirit;
and has the plastic force of raising up an-

2C8 DOPPELGAXGERS.

aerial form. Being the highest organic power,
it cannot by any other, physical or chemical,
be destroyed ; and when the body is cast off,
it follows the soul ; and as, during life, it is
the means by which the soul acts upon the
body, and is thus enabled to communicate with
the external world, so when the spirit is dis-
embodied, it is through this nerve-spirit, that
it can make itself visible, and even exercise
mechanical powers.

It is certain, that not only somnambules,
but sick persons, are occasionally sensible of a
feeling that seems to lend some countenance to
this latter theory.

The girl at Canton, for example, mentioned
in a former chapter, as well as many somnam-
bulic patients, declare, whilst their bodies are
lying stiff and cold, that they see it, as if out
of it ; and, in some instances, they describe
particulars of its appearance, which they could
not see in the ordinary way. There are also
numerous cases of sick persons seeing them-
selves double, where no tendency to delirium
or spectral illusion had been observed. These
are, in this country, always placed under the
latter category ; but I find various instances
recorded by the German physiologists, where
this appearance has been seen by others, and

DOPPELGANGERS. 2()9

even by children, at the same time that it was
felt by the invalid. In one of these cases, I
find the sick person saying, " I cannot think,
how I am lying. It seems to me that I am
divided and lying in two places at once." It
is remarkable, that a friend of my own, during
an illness in the autumn of 1845, expressed
precisely the same feeling ; we however, saw
nothing of this second ego ; but it must be re-
membered, that the seeing these things, as I
have said in a former chapter, probably de-
pends on a peculiar faculty or condition of the
seer. The servant of Elisha was not blind,
but yet he could not see what his master saw,
till his eyes were opened — that is, till he was
rendered capable of perceiving spiritual ob-
jects.

When Peter was released from prison by the
angel — and it is not amiss here to remark, that
even he " wist not that it was true which was
done by the angel, but thought he saw a
vision," that is, he did not believe his senses,
but supposed himself the victim of a spectral
illusion — but when he was released, and went
and knocked at the door of the gate, where
many of his friends were assembled, they not
conceiving it possible he could have escaped,
said, when the girl who had opened the door,
2 A 5

270 DOITELGAXGERir.

insisted that he was there, " It is his angel."
What did they mean by this ? The expression
is not an angel, but /*/* angel. Now, it is not
a little remarkable, that in the East, to this
day, a double, or doppleganger, is called a
man's angel, or messenger. As we cannot
suppose that this term was used otherwise
than seriously by the disciples that were
gathered together in Mark's house, for they
were in trouble about Peter, and when he
arrived were engaged in prayer, we are en-
titled to believe that they alluded to some re-
cognized phenomenon. They knew, either that
the likeness of a man — his spiritual self —
sometimes appeared where bodily he was
not ; and that this imago or idolon was capable
of exerting a mechanical force, or else that
other spirits sometimes assumed a mortal
form, or they would not have supposed it to
be Peter's angel that had knocked at the gate.
Dr. Ennemoser, who always leans to the
physical, rather than the psychical explanation
of a phenomenon, says, that the faculty of
self-seeing, which is analogous to seeing
another person's double, is to be considered
an illusion ; but that this imago of another
seen at a distance, at the moment of death,
must be supposed to have an objective reality

DOPPELGANGEKS. 271

But if we are capable of thus perceiving the
imago of another person, I cannot comprehend
why we may not see our own ; unless, indeed,
the former was never perceived, hut when the
body of the person seen, was in a state of in-
sensibility ; but this does not always seem to
be a necessary condition, as will appear by
some examples I ain about to detail. The
faculty of perceiving- the object,Dr. Ennemoser
considers analogous to that of second sight,
and thinks it may be evolved by local, as well
as idiosyncratical, conditions. The difficulty
arising from the fact,that some persons are in the
habit of seeing the wraiths of their friends and
relations must be explained by his hypothesis.
The spirit, as soon as liberated from the body,
is adapted for communion with all spirits ;
embodied or otherwise, but all embodied spirits
are not prepared for communion with it.

A Mr. R., a gentleman who has attracted
public attention by some scientific discoveries,
had had a fit of illness at Rotterdam. He
was in a state of convalescence, but was still
so far taking care of himself as to spend part
of the day in bed, when, as he was lying there
one morning, the door opened, and there en-
tered, in tears, a lady with whom he was inti-
mately acquainted, but whom at the time he

272 DOPPELGAXGERS.

believed to be in England. She walked has-
tily up to the side of his bed, wrung her hands,
evincing by her gestures extreme anguish of
mind, and before he could sufficiently recover
his surprise to enquire the cause of her dis-
tress and sudden appearance, she was gone.
She did not disappear, but walked out of the
room again, and Mr. R. immediately sum-
moned the servants of the hotel, for the pur-
pose of making enquiries about the English
lady — when she came, what had happened
to her, and where she had gone to, on quitting
his room ? The people declared there was no
such person there ; he insisted there was, but
they at length convinced him that they, at
least, knew nothing about her. When his
physician visited him, he naturally expressed
the great perplexity into which he had been
thrown by this circumstance : and, as the
doctor could find no symptoms about his
patient that could warrant a suspicion of spec-
tral illusion, they made a note of the date and
hour of the occurrence, and Mr. R. took the
earliest opportunity of ascertaining if anything
had happened to the lady in question. No-
thing had happened to herself, but at that
precise period her son had expired, and she
was actuallv in the state of distress in which

DOPPELGANGERS. 273

Mr. R. beheld her. It would be extremely
interesting to know whether her thoughts had
been very intensely directed to Mr. R. at the
moment ; but that is a point which I have
not been able to ascertain. At all events, the
impelling cause of the form projected, be the
mode of it what it may, appears to have been
violent emotion. The following circumstance,
which is forwarded to me by the gentleman
to whom it occurred, appears to have the same
origin : —

" On the evening of the 12th of March, 1792,"
says Mr. H., an artist, and a man of science, "I
had been reading in the 'Philosophical Transac-
tions,'and retired to my room somewhat fatigued,
but not inclined to sleep. It was a bright moon-
light night, and I had extinguished my candle
and was sitting on the side of the bed, deliber-
rately taking off my clothes, when I was
amazed to behold the visible appearance of
my half-uncle, Mr. R. Roberston, standing be-
fore me ; and, at the same instant, I heard the
words, ' Twice will be sufficient ! ' The face
was so distinct that I actually saw the pock-
pits. His dress seemed to be made of a
strong twilled sort of sackcloth, and of the
same dingy colour. It was more like a
woman's dress than a man's — resembling a

274 DOPPELGANGERS.

petticoat, the neck-band close to the chin, and
the garment covering the whole person, so
that I saw neither hands nor feet. Whilst the
figure stood there, I twisted ray fingers till
they cracked, that I might be sure I was
awake.

" On the following morning, I enquired if
anybody had heard lately of Mr. R., and was
well laughed at when I confessed the origin of
my enquiry. I confess I thought he was
dead ; but when my grandfather heard the
story, he said that the dress I described, re-
sembled the straight-jacket Mr. R. had been
put in formerly, under an attack of insanity.
Subsequently, we learnt that on the night,
and at the very hour I had seen him, he had
attempted suicide, and been actually put into a
straigh t-j acket.

"He afterwards recovered, and went to Egypt
with Sir Ralph Abercrombie. Some people
laugh at this story, and maintain that it was a
delusion of the imagination ; but surely this is
blinking the question ! Why should my
imagination create such an image, whilst my
mind was entirely engrossed with a mathe-
matical problem ?"

The words " Twice will be sufficient" pro-
bably embodied the thought, uttered or not, of

DOPPELGAXGERS. 275

the maniac, under the influence of his emotion
— two blows or two stabs would be sufficient
for his purpose.

Dr. Kerner relates a case of a Dr. John B.,
who was studying medicine in Paris, seeing
his mother, one night, shortly after he had got
into bed, and before he had put out his light.
She was dressed after a fashion in which he
had never seen her; but she vanished; and
thus aware of the nature of the appearance,
he became much alarmed, and wrote home to
enquire after her health. The answer he re-
ceived was, that she was extremely unwell,
having been under the most intense anxiety
on his account, from hearing that several me-
dical students in Paris had been arrested as
resurrectionists ; and, knowing his passion for
anatomical investigations, she had appre-
hended he might be amongst the number.
The letter concluded with an earnest request
that he would pay her a visit. He did so, and
his surprise was so great on meeting her, to
perceive that she was dressed exactly as he
had seen her in his room at Paris, that he
could not, at first, embrace her, and was
obliged to explain the cause of his astonish-
ment and repugnance.

An analogous case to these is that of Dr.

276 DOPPELGANGERS.

Donne, which is already mentioned in so
many publications, that I should not allude to
it here, but for the purpose of showing that
these examples belong to a class of facts, and
that it is not to be supposed that similarity
argues identity, or that one and the same story-
is reproduced with new names and localities.
I mention this, because when circumstances of
this kind are related, I sometimes hear people
say, " Oh, I have heard that story before, but
it was said to have happened to Mr. So-and-so,
or at such a place ; the truth being, that these
things happen in all places, and to a great
variety of people.

Dr. Donne was with the embassy, in Paris,
where he had been but a short time, when his
friend Mr. Roberts entering the salon, found
him in a state of considerable agitation. As
soon as he was sufficiently recovered to speak,
he said that his wife had passed twice through
the room, with a dead child in her arms. An
express was immediately dispatched to Eng-
land to enquire for the lady, and the intelli-
gence returned was, that, after much suffering,
she had been delivered of a dead infant. The
delivery had taken place at the time that her
husband had seen her in Paris. Nobody has
disputed Dr. Donne's assertion that he

DOPPELGAXGERS. 277

saw his wife, but, as usual, the case is crammed
into the theory of spectral illusions. They
say, Dr. Donne was naturally very anxious
about his wife's approaching confinement, of
which he must have been aware; and that his
excited imagination did all the rest. In the
first place, I. do not find it recorded that he
was suffering- any particular anxiety on the
subject ; and even if he were, the coincidences
in time and in the circumstance of the dead
child, remain unexplained. Neither are we
led to believe that the doctor was unwell, or
living the kind of life that is apt to breed
thick-coming fancies. He was attached to the
embassy in the gay city of Paris; he had just
been taking luncheon with others of the mite,
and had been left alone but a short time, when
he was found in the state of amazement above
described. If such extraordinary cases of
spectral illusion as this, and many others I am
recording, can suddenly arise in constitutions
apparently healthy, it is certainly high time
that the medical world reconsider the subject,
and give us some more comprehensible theory
of it; if they are not cases of spectral illusion,
but are to be explained under that vague and
abused term Imagination, let us be told some-
thing more about Imagination — a service
VOL. r. 2 B

278 DOPPELGANGERS

which those who consider the word sufficient to
account for these strange phenomena, must, of
course, be qualified to perform. If, however,
both these hypotheses — for they are but simple
hypotheses, unsupported by any proof what-
ever, only being delivered with an air of
authority in a rationalistic age, they have been
allowed to pass unquestioned — if, however,
they are not found sufficient to satisfy a vast
number of minds, which I know to be the
case, I think the enquiry I am instituting can-
not be wholly useless or unacceptable, let it
lead us where it may. The truth is all I
seek; and I think there is a very important
truth to be educed from the further investiga-
tion of this subject in its various relations — in
short, a truth of paramount importance to all
others ; one which contains evidence of a fact,
in which we are more deeply concerned than
in any other ; and which, if well established,
brings demonstration to confirm intuition and
tradition. I am very well aware of all the
difficulties in the way — difficulties internal
and external ; many inherent to the subject
itself; and others extraneous, but inseparable
from it ; and I am very far from supposing
that my book is to settle the question, even
with a single mind. All I hope or expect is,

AND SELF-SEEING. 279

to show that the question is not disposed of yet,
either by the rationalists or the physiologists ;
and that it is still an open one ; and all I desire
is, to arouse enquiry and curiosity ; and that
thus some mind, better qualified than mine, to
follow out the investigation, may be incited to
undertake it.

Dr. Kerner mentions the case of a lady,
named Dillenius, who was awakened one
night by her son, a child of six years of age ;
her sister-in-law, who slept in the same room,
also awakened at the same time, and all three
saw Madame Dillenius enter the room, attired
in a black dress, which she had lately bought.
The sister said, " I see you double ! you are in
bed, and yet you are walking about the room."
They were both extremely alarmed, whilst the
figure stood between the doors, in a melan-
choly attitude, with the head leaning on the
hand. The child, who also saw it, but seems
not to have been terrified, jumped out of bed,
and running to the figure, put his hand through
it as he attempted to push it, exclaiming, " Go
away, you black woman." The form, how-
ever, remained as before ; and the child, be-
coming alarmed, sprung into bed again.
Madame Dillenius expected that the appear-

280 DOPPELGANGERS

ance foreboded her own death ; but that did
not ensue. A serious accident immediately
afterwards occurred to her husband, and she
fancied there might be some connexion betwixt
the two events.

This is one of those cases that, from their
extremely perplexing1 nature, have induced
some psychologists to seek an explanation in
the hypothesis, that other spirits may for some
purpose or under certain conditions, assume
the form of a person with a view to giving- an
intimation or impression, which the gulf sepa-
rating the material from the spiritual world
renders it difficult to convey. As regards such
instances as that of Madame Dillenius, how-
ever, we are at a loss to discover any motive —
unless, indeed, it be sympathy — for such
an exertion of power, supposing it to be pos-
sessed ; but in the famous case of Catherine of
Russia, who is said, whilst lying in bed, to
have been seen by the ladies to enter the
throne-room and being informed of the cir-
cumstance, went herself and saw the figure
seated on the throne, and bade her guards lire
on it, we may conceive it possible that her
guardian spirit, if such she had, might adopt
this mode of warning her to prepare for a

AND SELF-SEEING, 281

change, which, after such a life as hers, we
are entitled to conclude, she was not very fit to
encounter.

There are numerous examples of similar
phenomena to be met with. Professor Stilling
relates that he heard from the son of a Madame
M., that his mother, having sent her maid up
stairs, on an errand, the woman came running
down in a great fright, saying that her mistress
was sitting above, in her arm-chair, looking
precisely as she had left her below. The lady
went up stairs, and saw herself as described by
the woman, very shortly after which she died.

Dr. Wernei relates, that a jeweller at Lud-
wigsburg, named Ratzel, when in perfect
health, one evening, on turning the comer of
a street, met his own form, face to face ; the
figure seemed as real and life-like as himself;
and he was so close as to look into its very
eyes. He was seized with terror, and it va-
nished. He related the circumstance to several
people, and endeavoured to laugh, but, never-
theless, it was evident he was painfully im-
pressed with it. Shortly afterwards, as he
was passing through a forest, he fell in with
some wood-cutters, who asked him to lend a
hand to the ropes with which they were pull-
2 B 5

282 DOPPELGAXGERS

ing down an oak tree. He did so, and was
killed by its fall.

Becker, professor of mathematics at Rostock,
having fallen into argument with some friends,
regarding a disputed point of theology, on
going to his library to fetch a book which he
wished to refer to, saw himself sitting at the
table in the seat he usually occupied. He ap-
proached the figure, which appeared to be
reading, and, looking over its shoulder, he
observed that the book open before it was a
Bible, and that, with one of the fingers of the
right hand, it pointed to the passage, " Make
ready thy house, for thou must die." He re-
turned to the company, and related what he
had seen, and, in spite of all their arguments
to the contrary, remained fully persuaded that
his death was at hand. He took leave of his
friends, and expired on the following day, at
six o'clock in the evening. He had already
attained a considerable age. Those who
would not believe in the appearance, said he
had died of the fright; but, whether he did so
or not, the circumstance is sufficiently remark-
able ; and, if this were a real, outstanding ap-
parition, it would go strongly to support the
hypothesis alluded to above, whilst, if it were

AND SELF-SEEING. 283

a spectral illusion, it is, certainly, an infinitely
strange one.

As I am aware how difficult it is, except
where the appearance is seen by more persons
than one, to distinguish case's of actual self-
seeing from those of spectral illusion, I do not
linger longer in this department, but, returning
to the analogous subject of Doppelgangers, I
will relate a few curious instances of this kind
of phenomenon.

Stilling relates, that a Government officer,
of the name of Triplin, in Weimar, on going to
his office to fetch a paper of importance, saw
his own likeness sitting there, with the deed
before him. Alarmed, he returned home, and
desired his maid to go there and fetch the
paper she would find on the table. The maid
saw the same form, and imagined that her
master had gone by another road, and got there
before her ; his mind seems to have preceded
his body.

The Landrichter, or Sheriff F., in Frankfort,
sent his secretary on an errand ; presently
afterwards, the secretary re-entered the room,
and laid hold of a book. His master asked
him what had brought him back, whereupon
the figure vanished, and the book fell to the
ground, it was a volume of Linnaeus. In the

284 DOPPELGANGERS

evening, when the secretary returned, and was
interrogated with regard to his expedition, he
said that he had fallen into an eager dispute
with an acquaintance, as he went along, about
some botanical question, and had ardently
wished he had had his Linnaeus with him to
refer to.

Dr. Werner relates, that Professor Happach
had an elderly maid-servant, who was in the
habit of coming every morning to call him,
and on entering the room, which he generally
heard her do, she usually looked at a clock
which stood under the mirror. One morning,
she entered so softly that though he saw her,
he did not hear her foot ; she went, as was her
custom, to the clock, and came to his bedside,
but suddenly turned round and left the room.
He called after her, but she not answering, he
jumped out of bed and pursued her. He
could not see her, however, till he reached her
room, where he found her fast asleep in bed.
Subsequently, the same thing occurred fre-
quently with this woman.

An exactly parallel case was related to me
as occurring to himself, by a publisher in
Edinburgh. His housekeeper \vas in the
habit of calling him every morning. On one
occasion, being perfectly awake, he saw her

AND SELF-SEEING. 285

enter, walk to the window, and go out
again without speaking. Being in the habit
of fastening his door, he supposed he had
omitted to do so ; but presently afterwards he
heard her knocking to come in, and he found
the door was still locked. She assured him
she had not been there before. He was
in perfectly good health at the time this
happened.

Only a few nights since, a lady, with whom
I am intimately acquainted, was in bed, and
had not been to sleep, when she saw one of her
daughters, who slept in an upper room, and
who had retired to rest some time before,
standing at the foot of her bed. " H — /' she
said, " what is the matter ? what are you
come for ?" The daughter did not answer, but
moved away. The mother jumped out of bed,
but not seeing her, got in again : but the
figure was still there. Perfectly satisfied it
was really her daughter, she spoke to her, asking
if anything had happened ; but again the figure
moved silently away, and again the mother
jumped out of bed, and actually went part of
the way up stairs ; and this occurred a third
time. The daughter was during the whole of
this time asleep in her bed ; and the lady her-
self is quite in her usual state of health ; not

286 DOPPELGANGERS

robust, but not by any means sickly, nor in
the slightest degree hysterical or nervous ; yet,
she is perfectly convinced that she saw the
figure of her daughter on that occasion, though
quite unable to account for the circumstance.
Probably the daughter was dreaming of the
mother.

Edward Stem, author of some German
works, had a friend, who was frequently seen
out of the body, as the Germans term it; and
the father of that person was so much the sub-
ject of this phenomenon, that he was fre-
quently observed to enter his house, whilst he
was yet working in the fields. His wife
used to say to him, " Why, papa, you came
home before ;" and he would answer, "I dare
say ; I was so anxious to get away earlier,
but it was impossible."

The cook in a convent of nuns, at Ebers-
dorf, was frequently seen picking herbs in the
garden, when she was in the kitchen and
much in need of them.

A Danish Physician, whose name Dr.
Werner does not mention, is said to have been
frequently seen entering a patient's room, and
on being spoken to, the figure would disappear,
with a sigh. This used to occur when he had
made an appointment which he was prevented

AND SELF SEEING. 287

keeping1, and was rendered uneasy by the
failure. The hearing of it, however, occa-
sioned him such an unpleasant sensation that
he requested his patients never to tell him
when it happened.

A president of the Supreme Court, in Ulm,
named Pfizer, attests the truth of the follow-
ing case : — A gentleman, holding an official
situation, had a son at Gottingen, who wrote
home to his father, requesting him to send him,
without delay, a certain book, which he re-
quired to aid him in preparing a dissertation
lie was engaged in. The father answered, that
he had sought but could not find the work, in
question. Shortly afterwards, the latter had
been taking a book from his shelves, when,
on turning round, he beheld, to his amazement,
his son just in the act of stretching up his
hand towards one on a high shelf in another
part of the room. "Hallo!" he exclaimed,
supposing it to be the young man himself ;
but the figure disappeared ; and, on examining
the shelf, the father found there the book that
was required, which he immediately forwarded
to Gottingen ; but before it could arrive there,
he received a letter from his son, describing
the exact spot where it was to be found.

A case of what is called spectral illusion

288 DOPPELG ANGERS

is mentioned by Dr. Paterson, which appears
to me to belong to the class of phenomena
I am treating of. One Sunday evening,
Miss N. was left at home, the sole inmate of
the house, not being permitted to accompany
her family to church, on account of her deli-
cate state of health. Her father was an in-
firm old man, who seldom went from home,
and she was not aware whether, on this oc-
casion, he had gone out with the rest or not.
By and by, there came on a severe storm of
thunder, lightning, and rain, and Miss N.
is described as becoming very uneasy about
her father. Under the influence of this feeling,
Dr. Paterson says, she went into the back
room, where he usually sat, and there saw him
in his arm chair. Not doubting but it was
himself, she advanced, and laid her hand upon
his shoulder, but her hand encountered
vacancy ; and, alarmed, she retired. As she
quitted the room, however, she looked back,
and there still sat the figure. Not being a
believer in what is called the " supernatural,"
Miss N. resolved to overcome her appre-
hensions, and return into the room, which she
did, and saw the figure as before. For the
space of fully half an hour she went in and
out of the room in this manner, before it dis-

AND SELF-SEEING.

appeared. She did not see it vanish, but the
fifth time she returned, it was gone ; Dr. Pa-
terson vouches for the truth of this story, and
no doubt of its being a mere illusion occurs to
him, though the lady had never before or since,
as she assured him, been troubled with the
malady. It seems to me much more likely
that, when the storm came on, the thoughts
of the old man would be intensely drawn
homewards, he would naturally wish himself
in his comfortable arm-chair, and knowing
his young daughter to be alone, he would
inevitably feel some anxiety about her, too.
There was a mutual projection of their spirits
towards each other ; and the one that was
most easily freed from its bonds, was seen
where in the spirit it actually was; for, as I
have said above, a spirit out of the flesh, to
whom space is annihilated, must be where its
thoughts and affections are, for its thoughts
and affections are itself.

I observe that Sir David Brewster, and
others, who have written on this subject, and
who represent all these phenomena as images
projected on the retina from the brain, dwell
much on the fact that they are seen alike,
whether the eye be closed or open. There are,
however, two answers. to be made to this argu-

VOL. i. 2 c

290 DOPPELGANGERS

ment ; first, that even if it were so, the proof
would not be decisive ; since it is generally with
closed eyes that somnambulic persons see
— whether natural somnambules or magnetic
patients ; and, secondly, I find in some in-
stances which appear to me to be genuine cases
of an objective appearance, that where the
experiment has been tried, the figure is not
seen when the eyes are closed.

The author of a work, entitled " An In-
quiry into the Nature of Ghosts,0 who adopts
the illusion theory, relates the following story,
as one he can vouch for, though not permitted
to give the names of the parties : —

" Miss — , at the age of seven years, being
in a field not far from her father's house,
in the parish of Kirklinton, in Cumberland,
saw what she thought was her father in the
field, at a time that he was in bed, from which
he had not been removed for a considerable
period. There were in the field, also, at the
same moment, George Little, and John, his
fellow-servant. One of these cried out, " Go
to your father, Miss !" She turned round, and
the figure had disappeared. On returning home,
she said, " Where is my father ?" The mother
answered, " In bed, to be sure, child ;" out of
which he had not been.

AND SELF-SEEING. 231

I quote this case, because the figure was
seen by two persons ; I could mention several
similar instances, but when only seen by one*
they are, of course, open to another ex-
planation.

Goethe, whose family,by the way, were ghost-
seers, relates, that as he was once in an un-
easy state of mind, riding along the foot-path
towards Drusenheim, he saw, " not with the
eyes of his body, but with those of his spirit,"
himself on horseback coming towards him, in
a dress that he then did not possess. It was
grey, and trimmed with gold ; the figure dis-
appeared ; but eight years afterwards he found
himself, quite accidentally, on that spot, on
horseback, and in precisely that attire." This
seems to have been a case of second sight.
The story of Byron's being seen in London
when he was lying in a fever at Patras, is well
known ; but may possibly have arisen from
some extraordinary personal resemblance,
though so firm was the conviction of its being
his actual self that a bet of a hundred guineas
was offered on it.

Some time ago, the "Dublin University
Magazine" related a case, I know not on what
authority, as having occurred at Rome, to the
effect, that a gentleman had, one night on

292 DOPPELGANGERS

going home to his lodging, thrown his servant
into great amazement — the man exclaiming,
" Good Lord, sir ! you came home hefore ! "
He declared that he had let his master into
the house, attended him up stairs, and, I think,
undressed him, and seen him get into bed.
When they went to the room, they found no
clothes ; but the bed appeared to have been
lain in, and there was a strange mark upon the
ceiling, as if from the passage of an elec-
trical fluid. The only thing the young man
could remember, whereby to account for this
extraordinary circumstance was, that whilst
abroad, and in company, he had been over-
come with ennui, fallen into a deep reverie, and
had for a time forgotten that he was not at
home.

When I read this story, though I have learnt
from experience to be very cautious how I pro-
nounce that impossible which I know nothing
about, I confess it somewhat exceeded my re-
ceptive capacity, but I have since heard of a
similar instance, so well authenticated, that
my incredulity is shaken.

Dr. Kerner relates, that a canon of a catholic
cathedral, of somewhat dissipated habits, on
coming home one evening, saw a light in his
bed-rooui. When the maid opened the door,

AND SELF-SEEING. 293

she started back with surprise, whilst he en-
quired why she had left a candle burning up
stairs ; upon vyhich she declared, that he had
come home just before, and gone to his room,
and she had been wondering at his unusual
silence. On ascending to his chamber, he
saw himself sitting in the arm-chair. The
figure arose, passed him, and went out at the
room-door. He was extremely alarmed, ex-
pecting his death was at hand. He, how-
ever, lived many years afterwards, but the
influence on his moral character was very
beneficial.

Not long since, a professor, I think of
theology, at a college at Berlin, addressed his
class, saying, that, instead of his usual lec-
ture, he should relate to them a circumstance
which, the preceding evening, had occurred to
himself, believing the effects would be no less
salutary.

He then told them that, as he was going
home the last evening, he had seen his own
imago, or double, on the other side of the
street. He looked away, and tried to avoid
it, but, finding it still accompanied him, he
took a short cut home, in hopes of getting rid
of it, wherein he succeeded, till he came oppo-
2 c 5

294 DOPPELGANGEKS.

site his own house, when he saw it at the
door.

It rang, the maid opened, it entered, she
handed it a candle, and, as the professor stood
in amazement, on the other side of the street,
he saw the light passing the windows, as it
wound its way up to his own chamber. He
then crossed over and rang ; the servant was
naturally dreadfully alarmed on seeing him,
but, without waiting to explain, he ascended
the stairs. Just as he reached his own cham-
ber, he heard a loud crash, and, on opening the
door, they found no one there, but the ceiling
had fallen in, and his life was thus saved.
The servant corroborated this statement to
the students ; and a minister, now attached to
one of the Scotch churches, was present when
the professor told his tale. Without admitting
the doctrine of protecting spirits, it is difficult
to account for these latter circumstances.

A very interesting case of an apparent
friendly intervention occurred to the celebrated
Dr. A. T., of Edinburgh. He was sitting up
late one night, reading in his study, when he
heard a foot in the passage, and knowing the
family were, or ought to be, all in bed, he rose
and looked out to ascertain who it was, but,
seeing nobody, lie sat down again. Presently,

AND SELF-SEEING. 21)5

the sound recurred, and he was sure there
was somebody, though he could not see him.
The foot, however, evidently ascended the
stairs, and he followed it, till it led him to the
nursery door, which he opened, and found the
furniture was on fire; and thus, but for this
kind office of his good angel, his children
would have been burnt in their beds.

The most extraordinary history of this sort,
however, with which I am acquainted, is
the following, the facts of which are perfectly
authentic : —

Some seventy or eighty years since, the
apprentice, or assistant, of a respectable sur-
geon in Glasgow, was known to have had an
illicit connexion with a servant girl, who
somewhat suddenly disappeared. No sus-
picion, however, seems to have been enter-
tained of foul play. It appears rather to have
been supposed that she had retired for the
purpose of being confined, and, consequently,
no enquiries were made about her.

Glasgow was, at that period, a very different
place to what it is at present, in more respects
than one ; and, amongst its peculiarities, was
the extraordinary strictness with which the
observance of the Sabbath was enforced, ins^-
much, that nobody was permitted to show

296 DOPPELGANGERS

themselves in the streets or public walks
during the hours dedicated to the church
services; and there were actually inspectors
appointed to see that this regulation was
observed, and to take down the names of
defaulters.

At one extremity of the city, there is some
open ground, of rather considerable extent, on
the north side of the river, called " The Green,"
where people sometimes resort for air and
exercise ; and where lovers not unfrequently
retire to enjoy as much solitude as the
proximity to so large a town can afford.

One Sunday morning, the inspectors of
public piety above alluded to having traversed
the city, and extended their perquisitions as
far as the lower extremity of the Green, where
it was bounded by a wall, observed a young
man lying on the grass, whom they imme-
diately recognized to be the surgeon's assist-
ant. They, of course, enquired why he was
not at church, and proceeded to register his
name in their books, but, instead of attempting
to make any excuse for his offence, he only
rose from the ground, saying, " I am a miser-
able man ; look in the water ! " He then
immediately crossed a style, which divided the
wall, and led to a path extending along the

AND SKLF-SKKIXG. 297

side of the river towards the Rutherglen-road.
They saw him cross the style, but, not com-
prehending the significance of his words, in-
stead of observing hiin further, they naturally
directed their attention to the water, where
they presently perceived the body of a woman.
Having with some difficulty dragged it ashore,
they immediately proceeded to carry it into the
town, assisted by several other persons, who
by this time had joined them. It was now
about one o'clock, and, as they passed through
the streets, they were obstructed by the congre-
gation that was issuing from one of the prin-
cipal places of worship ; and, as they stood up
for a moment, to let them pass, they saw the
surgeon's assistant issue from the church door.
As it was quite possible for him to have gone
round some other way, and got there before
them, they were not much surprised. He did
not approach them, but mingled with the
crowd, whilst they proceeded on their way.

On examination, the woman proved to be
the missing servant-girl. She was pregnant,
and had evidently been murdered with a sur-
geon's instrument, which was found entangled
amongst her clothes. Upon this, in conse-
quence of his known connexion with her, and

298 DOPPELGANGERS

his implied self-accusation to the inspectors,
the young man was apprehended on suspicion
of being the guilty party, and tried upon the
circuit. He was the last person seen in her
company, immediately previous to her dis-
appearance ; and there was, altogether, such
strong presumptive evidence against him, as
corroborated by what occurred on the green
would have justified a verdict of guilty. But*
strange to say, this last most important item
in the evidence failed, and he established an
incontrovertible alibi ; it being proved, beyond
all possibility of doubt, that he had been in
church from the beginning of the service to the
end of it. He was, therefore, acquitted ;
whilst the public were left in the greatest per-
plexity, to account as they could for this extra-
ordinary discrepancy. The young man was
well known to the inspectors, and it was in
broad daylight that they had met him and
placed his name in their books. Neither, it
must be remembered, were they seeking for
him, nor thinking of him, nor of the woman,
about whom there existed neither curiosity nor
suspicion. Least of all, would they have
sought her where she was, but for the hint
given to them.

AND SELF-SEEING. 299

The interest excited, at the time, was very
great ; but no natural explanation of the
mystery has ever been suggested.

CHAPTER IX.

APPARITIONS.

THE number of stories on record, which seem
to support the views I have suggested in my
last chapter, is, I fancy, little suspected by
people in general ; and still less is it imagined
that similar occurrences are yet frequently
taking place. I had, indeed, myself no idea of
either one circumstance or the other, till my
attention being accidentally turned in this
direction, I was led into enquiries, the result
of which has extremely surprised me. I do
not mean to imply that all my acquaintance
are ghost-seers, or that these things happen

APPA1UTIONS. 301

every day ; but the amount of what 1 do mean,
is this: first, that besides the numerous in-
stances of such phenomena alluded to in
history, which have been treated as fables by
those who profess to believe the rest of the
narratives, though the whole rests upon the
same foundation, i. e., tradition and hear-say ;
besides these, there exists in one form or
another, hundreds and hundreds of recorded
cases, in all countries, and in all languages,
exhibiting- that degree of similarity which
mark them as belonging to a class of facts,
many of these being of a nature which seems
to preclude the possibility of bringing them
under the theory of spectral illusions ; and,
secondly, that I scarcely meet any one man
or woman, who, if I can induce them to
believe I will not publish their names, and am
not going to laugh at them, is not prepared to
tell me of some occurrence of the sort, as
having happened to themselves, their family,
or their friends. I admit that in many in-
stances they terminate their narration, by say-
ing, that they think it must have been an
illusion, because they cannot bring themselves
to believe in ghosts ; not unfrequently adding,
that they wish to think so ; since to think
otherwise, would make them uncomfortable.
VOL. r. 2 D

302 APPARITIONS.

I confess, however, that this seems to me a
very unwise, as well as a very unsafe way of
treating the matter. Believing the appearance
to be an illusion, because they cannot bring
themselves to believe in ghosts, simply amounts
to saying, " I don't believe, because I don't
believe ; " and is an argument of no effect,
except to invalidate their capacity for judging
the question, at all ; but the second reason for
not believing, namely, that they do not wish
to do so, has not only the same disadvantage,
but is liable to much more serious objections ;
for it is our duty to ascertain the truth in an
affair that concerns every soul of us so deeply ;
and to shrink from looking at it, lest it should
disclose something we do not like, is an expedieu t
as childish as it is desperate. In reviewing my
late novel of "Lilly Dawson," where I announce
the present work, I observe, that, whilst some
of the reviewers scout the very idea of any
body's believing in ghosts, others, less rash,
whilst they admit that it is a subject we know
nothing about, object to further investigation,
on account of the terrors and uncomfortable
feelings that will be engendered. Now, cer-
tainly, if it were a matter in which we had no
personal concern, and which belonged merely
to the region of speculative curiosity, every

APPARITIONS. 303

body would l>c perfectlyjustified in following
their inclinations with regard to it ; there
would be no reason for frightening themselves,
if they did not like it ; but since it is perfectly
certain that the fate of these poor ghosts, be
what it may, will be ours some day — perhaps
before another year or another week has passed
over our heads — to shut our eyes to the truth,
because it may, perchance, occasion us some
uncomfortable feelings, is surely a strange
mixture of contemptible cowardice and daring
temerity. If it be true that by some law of
nature, departed souls occasionally revisit the
earth, we may be quite certain that it was in-
tended we should know it, and that the law is
to some good end ; for no law of God can be
purposeless or mischievous; and is it conceivable
that we should say, we will not know it, be-
cause it is disagreeable to us ? Is not this
very like saying, " Let us eat, drink, and be
merry, for tomorrow we die !" and yet re-
fusing to enquire what is to become of us
when we do die ? refusing to avail ourselves
of that demonstrative proof, which God has
mercifully placed within our reach ? And
with all this obstinacy, people do not get rid
of the apprehension ; they go on struggling
against it and keeping it down by argument

301 Ari'AiiiTioxs.

and reason, but there are very few persons in-
deed, men or women, who, when placed in a
situation, calculated to suggest the idea, do not
feel the intuitive conviction striving- within
them. In the ordinary circumstances of life,
nobody suffers from this terror ; in the extra-
ordinary ones, I find the professed disbelievers
not much better off than the believers. Not
long ago, I heard a lady expressing the great
alarm she should have felt, had she been ex-
posed to spend a whole night on Ben Lomond,
as Margaret Fuller, the American authoress,
did lately ; "for," said she, " though I don't be-
lieve in ghosts, I should have been dreadfully
afraid of seeing one, then !"

Moreover, though 1 do not suppose that man,
in his normal state, could ever encounter an
incorporeal spirit without considerable awe, I
am inclined to think that the extreme terror
thg idea inspires, arises from bad training.
The ignorant frighten children with ghosts;
and the better educated assure them there is
no such thing. Our understanding may be-
lieve the latter, but our instincts believe the
former; so that., • out of this education, we
retain the terror, and just belief enough to
make it very troublesome whenever we are
placed in circumstances that awaken it. Now,

APPARITIONS. 305

perhaps, if the thing were 'differently managed,
the result might be different. Suppose the
subject were duly investigated, and it were
ascertained that the views I and many others
are disposed to entertain with regard to it,
are correct ; and suppose, then, children were
calmly told that it is not impossible, but that
on some occasion they may see a departed
friend again ; that the laws of nature esta-
blished by an alhvise Providence, admit of the
dead sometimes revisiting the earth, doubtless
for the benevolent purpose of keeping alive
in us our faith in a future state ; that death
is merely a transition to another life, which it
depends on ourselves to make happy or other-
wise ; and that, whilst those spirits which
appear bright and blessed, may well be objects
of our envy, the others should excite only our
intense compassion. I am persuaded that a
child so educated would feel no terror at the
sight of an apparition, more especially as
there very rarely appears to be anything
terrific in the aspect of these forms ; they
generally come in their "habits as they lived,"
and appear so much like the living person in
the flesh, that where they are not known to be
already dead, they are frequently mistaken
for them. There are exceptions to this rule,
2 i) 5

306 APPARITIONS.

but it is very rare that the forms in themselves
exhibit anything- to create alarm.

As a proof that a child would not naturally
be terrified at the sight of an apparition, 1
will adduce the following instance, the au-
thenticity of which I can vouch for: —

A lady with her child embarked on board a
vessel at Jamaica, for the purpose of visiting
her friends in England, leaving her husband
behind her quite well. It was a sailing
packet ; and they had been some time at sea,
when, one evening, whilst the child was
kneeling before her, saying his prayers, pre-
viously to going to rest, he suddenly said,
looking eagerly to a particular spot in the
cabin, "Mamma, Papa!" "Nonsense, my
dear !" the mother answered ; " You know
your papa is not here !" " He is, indeed,
mama," returned the child, " he is looking at
us now !" Nor could she convince him to the
contrary. When she went on deck, she men-
tioned the circumstance to the captain, who
thought it so strange, that he said he would
note down the date of the occurrence. The
lady begged him not to do so, saying, it was
attaching a significance to it which would
make her miserable ; he did it, however, and
shortly after her arrival in England, she learnt

APPARITIONS. 307

that her husband had died exactly at that
period.

I have met with other instances in which
children have seen apparitions without ex-
hibiting any alarm ; and in the case of Fre-
dericka Hauffe, the infant in her arms was
frequently observed to point smilingly to those
which she herself said she saw. In the above
related case, we find a valuable example of an
apparition which we cannot believe to have
been a mere subjective phenomenon, being
seen by one person and not by another. The
receptivity of the child may have been greater,
or the rapport betwixt it and its father stronger,
but this occurrence inevitably leads us to sug-
gest, how often our departed friends may be
near us, and we not see them !

A Mr. B., with whom I am acquainted,
informed me that some years ago, he lost
two children. There was an interval of two
years between their deaths ; and about as long
a period had elapsed since the decease of the
second, when the circumstance I am about to
relate took place. It may be conceived that
at that distance of time, however vivid the
impression had been at first, it had consi-
derably faded from the mind of a man en-
gaged in business ; and ha assures me that

308 APPARITION'S.

on the night this event occurred, he was not
thinking of the children at all ; he was, more-
over, perfectly well, and had neither eaten or
drank anything unusual, nor abstained from
eating or drinking anything to which he was
accustomed. He was, therefore, in his normal
state; when shortly after he had lain down in
bed, and before he had fallen asleep, he heard
the voice of one of the children say, " Papa !
Papa !"

"Do you hear that?" he said to his wife,
who lay beside him; "I hear Archy calling
me, as plain as ever I heard him in my life ! "

" Nonsense!" returned the lady; " you are
fancying it."

But presently he again heard " Papa !
Papa!" and now both voices spoke. Upon
which, exclaiming " I can stand this no
longer !" he started up, and drawing back the
curtains, saw both children in their night-
dresses, standing near the bed. He imme-
diately jumped out ; whereupon they retreated
slowly, and with their faces towards him, to
the window, where they disappeared. He says,
that the circumstance made a great impres-
sion upon him at the time ; and, indeed, that
it was one that could never be effaced ; but he
did not know what to think of it, not believing

APPARITION'S. 309

in ghosts, and therefore concluded it must
have been some extraordinary spectral illusion ;
especially as his wife heard nothing. It may
have been so ; but that circumstance by no
means proves it.

From these varying degrees of susceptibility,
or atiinity, there seems to arise another conse-
quence, namely, that more than one person
may see the same object, and yet see it differ-
ently, and I mention* this particularly, because
it is one of the objections that unreflecting
persons make to phenomena of this kind,
second sight especially. In the remarkable
instance which is recorded to have occurred at
Ripley, in the year 1812, to which I shall
allude more particularly in a future chapter,
much stress was laid on the fact, that the first
seer said, " Look at those beasts !" Whilst
the second answered, they were " not beasts,
but men." In a former chapter, I mentioned
the case of a lady, on board a ship, seeing and
feeling a sort of blue cloud hanging over her,
which afterwards, as it retired, assumed a
human form, though still appearing a vapoury
substance. Now, possibly, had her recep-
tivity, or the rapport, been greater, she might
have seen the distinct image of her dying
friend. I have met with seveial instances of

810 APPARITIONS.

these cloudy figures being seen, as if the spirit
had built itself up a form of atmospheric air ;
and it is remarkable, that when other persons
perceived the apparitions that frequented the
Seeress of Prevorst, some saw those as cloudy
forms, which she saw distinctly attired in the
costume they wore when alive ; and thus, on
some occasions, apparitions are represented as
being transparent, whilst on others they have
not been distinguishable from the real cor-
poreal body. All these discrepancies, and
others, to be hereafter alluded to, are doubtless
only absurd to our ignorance ; they are the
results of physical laws, as absolute, though
not so easily ascertained, as those by which the
most ordinary phenomena around us are found
explicable.

With respect to these cloudy forms, I have
met with four instances lately; two occurring
to ladies, and two to gentlemen ; the one a
minister, and the other a man engaged in
business ; and although I am quite aware that
these cases are not easily to be distinguished
from those of spectral illusion, yet I do not
think them so myself ; and as they occurred to
persons in their normal state of health, who
never before or since experienced anything of
the kind, and who could lind nothing in their

APPARITIONS. 311

own circumstances to account for its happen-
ing then, I shall mention them. In the in-
stances of the gentleman and one of the ladies,
they were suddenly awakened, they could not
tell by what, and perceived bending over
them a cloudy form, which immediately re-
treated slowly to the other end of the room,
and disappeared. In the fourth case, which
occurred to an intimate friend of my own, she
had not been to sleep ; but having been the
last person up in the house, had just stept into
the bed, where her sister had already been some
time asleep. She was perfectly awake, when
her attention was attracted by hearing the
clink of glass, and on looking up, she saw a
figure standing on the hearth, which was ex-
actly opposite her side of the bed, and as
there was water and a tumbler there, she con-
cluded that her sister had stept out at the
bottom, unperceived by her, and was drinking.
Whilst she was carelessly observing the figure,
it moved towards the bed, and laid a heavy
hand upon her, pressing her arm in a manner
that gave her pain. "Oh, Maria, don't!"
she exclaimed ; but as the form retreated, and
she lost sight of it, a strange feeling crept over
her, and she stretched out her hand to ascer-
tain if her sister was beside her. She was, and

.312 APPARITIONS.

asleep ; hut this movement awoke her, and she
found the other now in considerable agitation.
She, of course, tried to persuade her that it
was a dream, or night-mare, as did the family
the next day ; but she was quite clear in her
mind at the time, as she then assured me, that
it was neither one nor the other ; though now,
at the distance of a year from the occurrence,
she is very desirous of putting that con-
struction upon it. As somebody will be ready
to suggest that this was a freak played by one
of the family, I can only answer that that is
an explanation that no one who is acquainted
with all the circumstances, could admit;
added to which, the figure did not disappear
in the direction of the door, but in quite an
opposite one.

A very singular thing happened to the
accomplished authoress of " Letters from the
Baltic," on which my readers may put what
interpretation they please, but I give it here as
a pendant to the last story. The night before
she left Petersburgh, she passed in the house
of a friend. The room appropriated to her
use was a large dining-room, in which a tem-
porary bed was placed, and a folding screen
was so arranged as to give an air of comfort to
the nook where the bed stood. She went to

APPARITIONS. 313

bed, and to sleep, andno one who knows her can
suspect her of seeing spectral illusions, or being
incapable of distinguishing her own condition
when she saw anything whatever. As she
was to commence her journey on the following
day, she had given orders to be called at an
early hour, and, accordingly, she found herself
awakened towards morning by an old woman
in a complete Russian costume, who looked at
her, nodding and smiling, and intimating, as
she supposed, that it was time to rise. Feeling,
however, very sleepy, and very unwilling to do
so, she took her watch from behind her pillow,
and, looking at it, perceived that it was only
four o'clock. As, from the costume of the
old woman, she knew her to be a Russian, and
therefore not likely to understand any lan-
guage she could speak, she shook her head,
and pointed to the watch, giving her to under-
stand that it was too early. The woman looked
at her, and nodded, and then retreated, whilst
the traveller laid down again and soon fell
asleep. By and by, she was awakened by a
knock at the door, and the voice of the maid
whom she had desired to call her. She bade
her come in, but the door being locked on the
inside, she had to get out of bed to admit her.
It now occurred to her to wonder how the old
VOL. i. 2 E

814 APPARITIONS.

woman had entered, but, taking it for granted
there was some other mode of ingress, she
did not trouble herself about it, but dressed,
and descended to breakfast. Of course, the
enquiry usually addressed to a stranger was
made, they hoped she had slept well ! " Per-
fectly," she said, " only that one of their good
people had been somewhat over anxious to get
her up in the morning ;" and she then men-
tioned the old woman's visit, but to her sur-
prise they declared they had no such person in
the family. "It must have been some old
nurse, or laundress, or somebody of that
sort," she suggested. " Impossible I" they
answered ; " You must have dreamt the whole
thing ; we have no old woman in the house ;
nobody wearing that costume ; and nobody
could have got in, since the door must have
been fastened long after that!" And these
assertions the servants fully confirmed ; added
to which, I should observe, the house, like
foreign houses in general, consisted of a flat, or
floor, shut in by a door, which separated it
entirely from the rest of the building, and,
being high up from the street, nobody could
even have gained access by a window. The
lady now beginning to be somewhat puzzled,
enquired if there were any second entrance

APPARITIONS. 315

into the room ; but, to her surprise, she heard
there was not, and she then mentioned that
she had locked the door on going- to bed, and
had found it locked in the morning. The
thing has ever remained utterly inexplicable,
and the family, who were much more amazed
by it than she was, would willingly believe it
to have been a dream, but, whatever the inter-
pretation of it may be, she feels quite certain
that that is not the true one.

1 make no comments on the above case,
though a very inexplicable one ; and I scarcely
know whether to mention any of those well
established tales, which appear certainly to be
as satisfactorily attested as any circumstance
which is usually taken simply on report. I
allude, particularly, to the stories of General
Wynyard, Lord Tyrone, and Lady Beresibrd,
the case which took place at Havant, in Hamp-
shire, and which is related in a letter from Mr.
Caswell, the mathematician, to Dr. Bentley ;
that which occurred in Cornwall, as narrated
by the Rev. Mr. Ruddle, one of the preben-
daries of Exeter, whose assistance and advice
was asked, and who himself had two inter-
views with the spirit ; and many others, which
are already published in different works, espe-
cially in a little book entitled " Accredited

316 APPARITIONS.

Ghost Stories." I may however mention, that
with respect to those of Lady Beresford and
General Wynyard, the families of the parties
have always maintained their entire belief in
the circumstances ; as do the family of Lady
Betty Cobb, who took the ribbon from Lady
Beresford's arm, after she was dead ; she
having always worn it since her interview with
the apparition, in order to conceal the mark he
had left by touching her.

There have been many attempts to explain
away the story of Lord Littleton's warning:,
although the evidence for it certainly satisfied
the family, as we learn from Dr. Johnson, who
said, in regard to it, that it was the most ex-
traordinary thing that had happened in his
day, and that he heard it from the lips of Lord
Westcote, the uncle of Lord Littleton.

There is a sequel however to this story,
which is extremely well authenticated, though
much less generally known. It appears that
Mr. Miles Peter Andrews, the intimate friend
of Lord Littleton, was at his house, at Dart-
ford, when Lord L., died at Pitt -place, Epsom,
thirty miles off'. Mr. Andrews' house was full
of company, and he expected Lord Littleton,
whom he had left in his usual state of health,
to join him the next day, which was Sunday.

APPARITIONS. 317

Mr. Andrews himself feeling rather indisposed
on the Saturday evening, retired early to bed,
and requested Mrs. Pigou, one of his guests,
to do the honours of his supper- table. He
admitted, for he is himself the authority for
the story, that he fell into a feverish sleep on
going to bed, but was awakened between eleven
and twelve by somebody opening his curtains,
which proved to be Lord Litttleton, in a
night-gown and cap, which Mr. Andrews
recognized. Lord L. spoke, saying that he
was come to tell him all was over. It appears
that Lord Littleton was fond of practical
joking, and as Mr. A. entertained no doubt
whatever of his visitor being Lord L. himself,
in the body, he supposed that this was one of
his tricks ; and, stretching his arm out of bed,
he took hold of his slippers, the nearest
thing he could get at, and threw them at him,
whereupon the figure retreated to a dressing-
room, which had no ingress nor egress except
through the bed-chamber. Upon this, Mr.
Andrews jumped out of bed to follow him, in-
tending to chastise him further, but he could
find nobody in either of the rooms, although
the door was locked on the inside, so he rang
his bell, and enquired who had seen Lord
Littleton. Nobody had seen him ; but, though
2 E 5

318 APPARITIONS.

how he had got in or out of the room, re-
mained an enigma, Mr. Andrews asserted that
he was certainly there ; and, angry at the sup-
posed trick, he ordered that they should give
him no bed, but let him go and sleep at the
inn. Lord Littleton, however, appeared no
more, and Mr. Andrews went to sleep, not
entertaining the slightest suspicion that he
had seen an apparition. It happened that,
on the following morning, Mrs. Pigou had
occasion to go at an early hour to London, and
great was her astonishment to learn that Lord
Littleton had died on the preceding night.
She immediately dispatched an express to
Dartford with the news, upon the receipt of
which, Mr. Andrews, then quite well, and re-
membering perfectly all that had happened,
swooned away. He could not understand it,
but it had a most serious effect upon him, and,
to use his own expression, he was not
his own man again for three years. There
are various authorities for this story, the
correctness of which is vouched for by some
members of Mrs. Pigou's family, with whom I
am acquainted, who have frequently heard the
circumstances detailed by herself, and who
assure me it was always believed by the family.
I really, therefore, do not see what grounds we

APPARITIONS. 319

have' for doubting- either of these facts. Lord
Westcote, on whose word Dr. Johnson founded
his belief of Lord Littleton's warning, was a
man of strong sense ; and that the story was
not looked upon lightly by the family, is
proved by the circumstance that the dowager
Lady Littleton had a picture, which was seen
by Sir Nathaniel Wraxhall in her house in
Portugal-street, as mentioned in his memoirs,
wherein the event was commemorated. His
Lordship is in bed, the dove appears at the
window, and a female figure stands at the
foot of the couch, announcing to the unhappy
profligate his approaching dissolution. That
he mentioned the warning to his valet, and
some other persons, and that he talked of
jockeying the ghost by surviving the time
named, is certain ; as, also, that he died with
his watch in his hand, precisely at the ap-
pointed period. Mr. Andrews says, that he
was subject to fits of strangulation, from a
swelling in the throat, which might have killed
him at any moment ; but his decease having
proceeded from a natural and obvious cause,
does not interfere one way or the other with
the validity of the prediction, which simply
foretold his death at a particular period, not

320 APPARITIONS.

that there was to be anything preternatural in
the manner of it.

As I find so many people willing to believe
in wraiths, who cannot believe in ghosts — that
is, they are overpowered by the numerous
examples, and the weight of evidence for the
first — it would be very desirable if we could
ascertain whether these wraiths are seen before
the death occurs, or after it j but, though the
day is recorded, and seems always to be the
one on which the death took place, and the
hour about the same, minutes are not suf-
ficiently observed to enable us to answer that
question. It would be an interesting one, be-
cause the argument advanced by those who
believe that the dead never are seen, is, that it
is the strong will and desire of the expiring
person which enables him so to act on the
nervous system of his distant friend, that the
imagination of the latter projects the form, and
sees it as if objectively. By imagination I do
not simply mean to convey the common notion
implied by that much abused word, which is
only fancy, but the constructive imagination,
which is a much higher function, and which,
inasmuch as man is made in the likeness of
God, bears a distant relation to that sublime

APPARITIONS. 321

power by which the Creator projects, creates,
and upholds his universe ; whilst the far-
working of the departing spirit seems to con-
sist in the strong will to do, reinforced by the
strong faith that the thing can be done.
We have rarely the strong will, and still more
rarely the strong faith, without which the will
remains ineffective. In the following case,
which is perfectly authentic, the apparition of
Major R. was seen several hours after his
death had occurred.

In the year 1785, some cadets were ordered
to proceed from Madras, to join their regiments
up the country. A considerable part of the
journey was to be made in a barge, and they
were under the conduct of a senior officer,
Major R. In order to relieve the monotony of
the voyage, this gentleman proposed, one day,
that they should make a shooting excursion
inland, and walk round to meet the boat at a
point agreed on, which, owing to the windings
of the river, it would not reach till evening.
They accordingly took their guns, and as they
had to cross a swamp, Major R., who was well
acquainted with the country, put on a heavy
pair of top-boots, which, together with an
odd limp he had in his gait, rendered him dis-
tinguishable from the rest of the party at a

322 APRAIUTIONS.

considerable distance. When they reached
the jungle, they found there was a wide ditch
to leap, which all succeeded in doing except
the Major, who being less young and active,
jumped short of the requisite distance ; and
although he scrambled up unhurt, he found
his gun so crammed full of wet sand that it
would be useless till thoroughly cleansed. He
therefore bade them walk on, saying he would
follow ; and taking off his hat, he sat down
in the shade, where they left him. When they
had been beating about for game some time,
they began to wonder the Major did not come
on, and they shouted to let him know where
abouts they were ; but there was no answer,
and hour after hour passed without his appear-
ance, till at length they began to feel some-
what uneasy. Thus the day wore away, and
they found themselves approaching the ren-
dezvous ; the boat was in sight, and they were
walking down to it, wondering how their
friend could have missed them, when suddenly,
to their great joy, they saw him before them
making towards the barge. He was without
his hat or gun, limping hastily along, in his
top-boots, and did not appear to observe them.
They shouted after him, but as he did not
look round, they began to run, in order to

APPARITIONS. 373

overtake him ; and, indeed, fast as he went,
they did gain considerably upon him. Still
he reached the boat first, crossing the plank
which the boatmen had placed ready for the
gentlemen they saw approaching. He ran
down the companion stairs, and they after
him; but inexpressible was their surprise
when they could not find him below. They
ascended again, and enquired of the boatmen
what had become of him ; but they declared
he had not come on board, and that nobody
had crossed the plank till the young men
themselves had done so.

Confounded and amazed at what appeared
so inexplicable, and doubly anxious about
their friend, they immediately resolved to re-
trace their steps in search of him ; and, accom-
panied by some Indians who knew the jungle,
they made their way back to the spot where
they had left him. From thence some foot-
marks enabled them to trace him, till, at a very
short distance from the ditch, they found his
hat and his gun. Just then the Indians called
out to them to beware, for that there was a
sunk well thereabouts, into which they might
fall. An apprehension naturally seized them
that this might have been the fate of their
friend ; and on examining its edge, they saw a

324 APPARITIONS.

mark as of a heel slipping up ; upon this, one
of the Indians consented to go down, having
a rope with which they had provided them-
selves tied round his waist, for, aware of the
existence of the wells, the natives suspected
what had actually occurred, namely, that the
unfortunate gentleman had slipt into one of
these traps, which, being overgrown with bram-
bles, were not discernible by the eye. With
the assistance of the Indian, the body was
brought up and carried back to the boat,
amidst the deep regrets of the party, with
whom he had been a great favourite. They
proceeded with it to the next station, where an
enquiry was instituted as to the manner of his
death, but of course there was nothing more
to be elicited.

I give this story as related by one of the
parties present, and there is no doubt of its
perfect authenticity. He says, he can in no
way account for the mystery — he can only re-
late the fact ; and not one, but the whole Jive
cadets, saw him as distinctly as they saw each
other. It was evident, from the spot where
the body was found, which was not many
hundred yards from the well, that the accident
must have occurred very shortly alter they left
him. When the young men reached the boat,

APPARITIONS. 325

Major R. must have been, for some seven or
eight hours, a denizen of the other world, yet
he kept the rendezvous !

There was a similar occurrence in Devon-
shire, some years back, which happened to the
well known Dr. Hawker, who, one night, in
the street, observed an old woman pass him,
to whom he was in the habit of giving a weekly
charity. Immediately after she had passed, he
felt somebody pull his coat, and, on looking
round, saw it was she, whereupon he put his
hand in his pocket to seek for a sixpence, but,
on turning to give it to her, she was gone. He
thought nothing about it, but when he got
home, he enquired if she had had her money
that week, when, to his amazement, he heard
she was dead, but his family had forgotten to
mention the circumstance. I have met with
two curious cases occurring in Edinburgh, of
late years ; in one, a young man and his sister
were in their kitchen, warming themselves
over the fire, before they retired to bed, when,
on raising their eyes, they both saw a female
figure dressed in white, standing in the door-
way, and looking at them ; she was leaning
against one of the door-posts. Miss E., the
young lady, screamed, whereupon the figure
advanced, crossed the kitchen towards a closet,
VOL. i. 2 P

326 APPARITIONS.

and disappeared. There was no egress at the
closet ; and, as they lived in a flat, and the door
was closed for the night, a stranger could
neither have entered the house nor got out of
it. In the other instance, there were two
houses on one flat, the doors opposite each
other. In one of the houses there resided a
person with her two daughters, grown up
women j in the other lived a shoemaker and
his wife. The latter died, and it was said her
husband had ill-treated her, and worried her
out of the world. He was a drunken, dissi-
pated man, and used to be out till a late houir
most nights, whilst this goor woman sat up for
him ; and, when she heard a voice on the stairs,
or a bell, she used often to come out and look
over, to see if it were her husband returned.
One night, when she had been dead some
weeks, the two young women were ascending
the stairs to their own door, when, to their
amazement, they both saw her standing at the
top, looking over as she used to do in her life
time. At the same moment, their mother
opened the door, and saw the figure also ; the
girls rushed past, overcome with terror, and
one, if not both, fainted, as soon as they got
into the door. The youngest fell on her face
in the passage.

APPARITIONS. 327

Another case, which occurred in this town,
I mention, although I know it is liable to be
called a spectral illusion, because it bears a re-
markable similarity to one which took place in
America. A respectable woman lost her father,
for whom she had a great affection ; she was
of a serious turn, and much attached to the
tenets of her church, in which particulars she
thought her father had been deficient. She
was therefore very unhappy about him, fear-
ing that he had not died in a proper state of
mind. A considerable time had elapsed since
his death, but her distrust of his condition
was still causing her uneasiness, when, one
day, whilst she was sitting at her work,
she felt something touch her shoulder, and
on looking round she perceived her father,
who bade her cease to grieve about him, as he
was not unhappy. From that moment, she
became perfectly resigned and cheerful. The
American case — I have omitted to write down
the name of the place, and forget it — was
that of a mother and son. She was also a
highly respectable person, and was described
to me as perfectly trustworthy, by one who
knew her. She was a widow, and had one
son, to whom she was extremely attached,
He however disappeared, one day, and she

328 APPARITIONS.

never could learn what had become of him ;
she always said, that if she did but know his
fate, she should be happier. At length, when
he had been dead a considerable time, her
attention was, one day, whilst reading, at-
tracted by a slight noise, which induced her
to look round; and she saw her son, dripping
with water, and with a sad expression of
countenance. The features however presently
relaxed, and they assumed a more pleasing
aspect before he disappeared. From that time
she ceased to grieve, and it was subsequently
ascertained that the young man had run away
to sea; but no more was known of him. Cer-
tain it was, however, that she attributed her
recovered tranquillity to having seen her son as
above narrated.

A lady, with whom I am acquainted, when
she was a girl, was one day standing at the
top of the stairs, with two others, discussing
their games, when they each suddenly ex-
claimed, "Who's that?" There was a fourth
among them ; a girl in a checked pinafore ;
but she was gone again. They had all seen
her. One day a younger brother, in the same
house, was playing with a whip, when he
suddenly laughed at something, and cried,
"Take that;" and described having seen the

APPARITIONS. 320

same girl. This led to some enquiry, and it
was said that such a girl as they described had
lived in that house, and had died from the bite
of a mad dog ; or, rather, had been smothered
between two feather beds; but whether that
was actually done, or was only a report, I
cannot say. Supposing this to have been no
illusion, and I really cannot see how it could be
one, the memory of past sports and pleasures
seems to have so survived, as to have attracted
the young soul, prematurely cut off, to the spot
where the same sports and pleasures were
being enjoyed by the living.

A maid servant, in one of the midland coun-
ties of England, being up early one morning,
heard her name called in a voice that seemed to
be her brother's, a sailor then at sea; and run-
ning up, she found him standing in the hall ; he
said he was come from afar, and was going
again, and mentioned some other things, when
her mistress, hearing voices, called to know
who she was talking to ; she said, it was her
brother, from sea. After speaking to her for
some time, she suddenly lost sight of him, and
found herself alone. Amazed and puzzled,
she told her mistress what had happened, who
being led thus to suspect the kind of visitor it
was, looked out of the window to ascertain if
2 F 5

330 APPARITIONS.

there were any marks of footsteps, the ground
being covered with snow. There were how-
ever none, and it was therefore clear that no-
body could have entered the house. Intelli-
gence afterwards arrived of the young man's
death.

This last is a case of wraith, but a more
complicated one, from the circumstance of
speech being superadded. But this is not by
any means an isolated particular ; there are
many such. The author of the book called
" Accredited Ghost Stories," whose name I at
this moment forget, and I have not the book
at hand, gives, on his own authority, the fol-
lowing circumstance, professing to be ac-
quainted with the parties. A company were
visiting l^ork Cathedral, when a gentleman
and lady, who had detached themselves from
the rest, observed an officer wearing a naval
uniform approaching them ; he walked quickly,
saying to the lady as he passed, " There is
another world." The gentleman, seeing her
greatly agitated, pursued the stranger, but lost
sight of him, and nobody had seen such a per-
son but themselves. On returning to his com-
panion, she told him that it was her brother,
who was then abroad with his ship, and with
whom she had frequently held discussions as

APPARITIONS. 331

to whether there was or was not a future life.
The news of the young man's death shortly
reached the family. In this case, the brother
must have been dead ; the spirit must have
passed out of this world into that other, the
existence of which he came to certify. This
is one of those cases which, happening not
long ago, leads one especially to regret the
want of moral courage which prevents people
giving up their names, and avowing their ex-
perience. The author of the above-mentioned
book, from which I borrow this story, says, that
the sheet had gone to the press with the real
names of the parties attached, but that he was
requested to withdraw them, as it would be
painful to the family. My view of this case is
so different, that, had it occurred to myself, I
should have felt it my imperative duty to make
it known, and give every satisfaction to
enquirers.

Some years ago, during the war, when Sir
Robert H. E. was in the Netherlands, he hap-
pened to be quartered with two other officers,
one of whom was dispatched into Holland on
an expedition. One night, during his absence,
Sir R. H. E. awoke, and, to his great sur-
prise, saw this absent friend sitting on the bed,
which he used to occupy, with a wound in his

332 APPARITIONS.

breast. Sir R. immediately awoke his com-
panion, who saw the spectre also. The latter
then addressed them, saying, that he had been
that day killed in a skirmish, and that he had
died in great anxiety about his family, where-
fore he had come to communicate that there
was a deed of much consequence to them de-
posited in the hands of a certain lawyer in
London, whose name and address he men-
tioned, adding that this man's honesty was not
to be altogether relied on. He therefore re-
quested that, on their return to England, they
would go to his house and demand the deed,
but that, if he denied the possession of it,
they were to seek it in a certain drawer in his
office, which he described to them. The
circumstance impressed them very much
at the time, but a long while had elapsed
ere they reached England, during which
period they had gone through so many
adventures and seen so many friends fall around
them, that this impression was considerably
weakened, insomuch that each went to his
own home and his own pursuits without think-
ing of fulfilling the commission they had
undertaken. Some time afterwards, however,
it happened that they both met in London,
and they then resolved to seek the street that

APPARITIONS. 333

had been named to them, and ascertain if such
a man lived there. They found him, requested
an interview, and demanded the deed, the pos-
session of which he denied ; but their eyes
were upon the drawer that had been described
to them ; where they asserted it to be ; and
being there discovered, it was delivered into
their hands. Here, also, the soul had parted
from the body, whilst the memory of the past
and an anxiety for the worldly prosperity of
those left behind, survived ; and we thus see
that the condition of mind in which this per-
son had died, remained unchanged. He wasnot
indifferent to the worldly prosperity of his re-
latives, and he found.his own state rendered
unhappy by the fear that they might suffer
from the dishonesty of his agent. It may here
be naturally objected that hundreds of much
loved widows and orphans have been ruined
by dishonest trustees and agents, where no
ghost came back to instruct them in the means
of obviating the misfortune. This is, no doubt,
a very legitimate objection, and one which it
is very difficult to answer. I must, however,
repeat what I said before ; nature is full of
exceptional cases, whilst we know very little
of the laws which regulate these exceptions;
but we may see a very good reason for the fact

334 APPARITIONS.

that such communications are the exception,
and not the rule; for if they were the latter
the whole economy of this earthly life would
be overturned, and its affairs must necessarily
be conducted in a totally different manner to
that which prevails at present. What the
effects of such an arrangement of nature would
be, had it pleased God to make it, he alone
knows; but certain it is, that man's freedom,
as a moral agent, would be in a great degree
abrogated, were the barriers that impede our
intercourse with the spiritual world removed.
It may be answered, that this is an argu-
ment which may be directed against the fact of
such appearances being permitted, at all ; but
that is a fallacious objection. Earthquakes
and hurricanes are occasionally permitted,
which overthrow the work of man's hands
for centuries ; but if these convulsions of
nature were of every day occurrence, nobody
would think it worth their while to build a
house or cultivate the earth, and the world
would be a wreck and a wilderness. The
apparitions that do appear, are not without
their use to those who believe in them ; whilst
there is too great an uncertainty attending the
subject, generally, to allow of its ever being
taken into consideration in mundane affairs.

APPARITIONS; 335

t

The old, so called, superstition of the people,
that a person's " dying with something on his
mind," is one of the frequent causes of these
revisitings, seems, like most ether of their
superstitions, to be founded on experience. I
meet with many cases in which some appa-
rently trivial anxiety, or some frustrated com-
munication, prevents the uneasy spirit flinging
off the honds that bind it to the earth. I
could quote many examples characterised by
this feature, but will confine myself to two or
three.

Jung Stilling gives a very curious one, which
occurred in the year 1746, and for the authen-
ticity of which he vouches. A gentleman, of
the name of Dorrien, of most excellent
character and amiable disposition, who was
tutor in the Carolina Colleges, at Brunswick,
died there in that year ; and, immediately pre-
vious to his death, he sent to request an inter-
view with another tutor, of the name of Hofer,
with whom he had lived on terms of friend-
ship. Hofer obeyed the summons, but came
too late ; the dying man was already in the
last agonies. After a short time, rumours be-
gan to circulate that Herr Dorrien had been
seen by different persons about the college ;
but as it was with the pupils that these rumours

336 APPARITIONS.

originated, they were supposed to be mere
fancies, and no attention whatever was paid to
them. At length, however, in the month of
October, three months'after the decease of Herr
Dorrien, a circumstance occurred that excited
considerable amazement amongst the pro-
fessors. It formed part of the duty of
Hofer to go through the college every
night, between the hours of eleven and
twelve, for the purpose of ascertaining
that all the scholars were in bed, and
that nothing irregular was going on amongst
*them. On the night in question, on entering
one of the anti-rooms in the execution of this
duty, he saw, to his great amazement, Herr
^Dorrien, seated, in the dressing-gown and
white cap he was accustomed to wear, and
holding the latter with his right hand, in such
a manner as to conceal the upper part of the
face ; from the eyes to the chin, however, it
was distinctly visible. This unexpected sight
naturally startled Hofer, but, summoning reso-
lution, he advanced into the young men's
chamber, and, having ascertained that all was
in order, closed the door; he then turned h is
eyes again towards the spectre, and there it sat
as before, whereupon he went up to it, and
stretched out his arm towards it ; but he was

APPARITIONS. 337

now seized with such a feeling of indescribable
horror, that he could scarcely withdraw his
hand, which became swollen to a degree that
for some months he had no use of it. On the
following day, he related this circumstance to
the professor of mathematics, Oeder, who of
course treated the thing as a spectral illusion.
He, however, consented to accompany Hofer
on his rounds the ensuing night, satisfied that
he should be able either to convince him it
was a mere phantasm, or else a spectre ot
flesh and blood who was playing him a trick.
They accordingly went at the usual hour, but
no sooner had the professor of mathematics
set his foot in that same room, than he ex-
claimed, " By Heavens, it is Dorrien himself."
Hofer, in the mean time, proceeded into the
chamber as before, in the pursuance of his
duties, and, on his return, they both contem-
plated the figure for some time ; they had,
however, neither of them the courage to ad-
dress or approach it, and finally quitted the
room, very much impressed, and perfectly con-
vinced that they had seen Dorrien. This
incident soon got spread abroad, and many
people came in hopes of satisfying their own
eyes of the fact, but their pains were fruitless j
and even Professor Oeder, who had made up his
VOL. i. 2 G

338 APPARITIONS.

mind to speak to the apparition, sought it re-
peatedly in the same place in vain. At length,
he gave it up, and ceased to think of it, saying,
" I have sought the ghost long enough ; if he
has anything to say, he must now seek me."
About a fortnight after this, he was suddenly
awakened, between three and four o'clock in
the morning, by something moving in his
chamber, and, on opening his eyes, he beheld
a shadowy form, having the same appearance
as the spectre, standing in front of a press
which was not more than two steps from his
bed. He raised himself, and contemplated
the figure, the features of which he saw dis-
tinctly for some minutes, till it disappeared.
On the following night he was awakened in
the same manner, and saw the figure as before,
with the addition that there was a sound pro-
ceeded from the door of the press, as if some-
body was leaning against it. The spectre also
staid longer this time, and Professor Oeder, no
doubt frightened and angry, addressing it as
an evil spirit, bade it begone, whereon it made
gestures with its head and hands that alarmed
him so much, that he adjured it, in the name
of God, to leave him, which it did. Eight
days now elapsed without any further disturb-
ance, but, after that period, the visits of the

APPARITIONS. 339

spirit were resumed, and he was awakened by
it repeatedly about three in the morning, when
it would advance from the press to the bed, and,
hang its head over him in a manner so annoy-
ing, that he started up and struck at it, where
upon it would retire, but presently advance
again. Perceiving, now, that the countenance
was rather placid and friendly than otherwise,
the professor at length addressed it, and, having
reason to believe that Dorrien had left some
debts unpaid, he asked him if that were the
case, upon which the spectre retreated some
steps, and seemed to place itself in an attitude
of attention. Oeder reiterated the enquiry,
whereupon the figure drew its hand across its
mouth, in which the professor now observed a
short pipe. " Is it to the barber you are in
debt ?" he enquired. The spectre slowly shook
its head. " Is it to the tobacconist, then ?"
asked he, the question being suggested by the
pipe. Hereupon the form retreated, and dis-
appeared. On the following day, Oeder nar-
rated what had occurred to Councillor Erath,
one of the curators of the college, and also to
the sister of the deceased, and arrangements
were made for discharging the debt. Professor
Seidler, of the same college, now proposed to
pass the night with Oeder for the purpose of

340 APPARITIONS.

observing if the ghost came again, which it
did about five o'clock, and awoke Oeder as
usual, who awoke his companion, but just then
the form disappeared, and Seidler said he only
saw something white. They then both dis-
posed themselves to sleep, but presently Seidler
was aroused by Oeder's starting up and striking
out, whilst he cried, with a voice expressive of
rage and horror, "Begone ! You have tor-
mented me long enough ! If you want any-
thing of me, say what it is, or give me an
intelligible sign, and come heie no more !"

Seidler heard all this, though he saw nothing ;
but as soon as Oeder was somewhat appeased,
he told him that the figure had returned, and
not only approached the bed, but stretched
itself upon it. After this, Oeder burnt alight,
and had some one in the room with him every
night. He gained this advantage by the light}
that he saw nothing ; but between the hours
of three and five, he was generally awakened
by noises in his room, and other symptoms
that satisfied him the ghost was there. At
length, however, this annoyance ceased also ;
and trusting that his unwelcome guest had
taken his leave, he dismissed his bedfellow,
and dispensed with his light. Two nights
passed quietly over: on the third, however,

APPARITIONS. 341

the spectre returned; but very perceptibly
darker. It now presented another sign, or
symbol, which seemed to represent a picture,
with a hole in the middle, through which it
thrust its head. Oeder was now so little
alarmed, that he bade it express its wishes more
clearly, or approach nearer. To these requi-
sitions the apparition shook its head, and
then vanished. This strange phenomenon
recurred several times, and even in the pre-
sence of another curator of the college; but
it was with considerable difficulty they dis-
covered what the symbol was meant to convey.
They at length, however, found that Dorrien,
just before his illness, had obtained, on trial,
several pictures for a magic lantern, which
had never been returned to their owner. This
was now done, and from that time the appari-
tion was neither seen nor heard again. Pro-
fessor Oeder made no secret of these circum-
stances; he related them publicly in court
and college ; he wrote the account to several
eminent persons, and declared himself ready
to attest the facts upon his oath.

Stilling, who relates this story, has been

called superstitious ; he may be so ; but his

piety and his honesty are above suspicion ; he

says the facts are well known, and that he can

2 G 5

342 APPARITIONS.

vouch for their authenticity ; and as he must
have heen a cotemporary of the parties con-
cerned, he had, doubtless, good opportunities
of ascertaining what foundation there was for
the story. It is certainly a very extraordinary
one, and the demeanour of the spirit as little
like what we should have naturally appre-
hended as possible ; but, as I have said before,
we have no right to pronounce any opinion on
this subject, except from experience, and
there are two arguments to be advanced in
favour of this narration ; the one being, that I
cannot imagine anybody setting about to in-
vent a ghost-story, would have introduced cir-
cumstances so apparently improbable and
inappropriate; and the other consisting in
the fact, that I have met with numerous re-
lations, coming from very opposite quarters,
which seem to corroborate the one in question.
With respect to the cause of the spectre's
appearance, Jung Stilling, I think, reasonably
enough, suggests, that the poor man had in-
tended to commission Hofer to settle these
little affairs for him, but that delaying this
duty too long, his mind had been oppressed by
the recollection of them in his last moments —
he had carried his care with him, and it bound
him to the earth. Wherefore, considering how

APPARITIONS. 343

many persons die with duties unperformed,
this anxiety to repair the neglect, is not more
frequently manifested, we do not know ; some
reasons we have already suggested as possible ;
there may be others of which we can form no
idea, any more than we can solve the question,
why in some cases communication and even
speech seems easy, whilst in this instance, the
spirit was only able to convey its wishes by
gestures and symbols. Its addressing itself to
Oeder instead of Hofer, probably arose from
its finding communication with him less diffi-
cult ; the swelling of Hofer's arm indicating
that his physical nature, was not adapted for
this spiritual intercourse. With respect to
Oeder's expedient of burning a light in his
room, in order to prevent his seeing this
shadowy form, we can comprehend, that the
figure would be discerned more easily on the
dark ground of comparative obscurity, and that
clear light would render it invisible. Dr. Kerner
mentions, on one occasion, that whilst sitting in
an adjoining room, with the door open, he had
seen a shadowy figure, to whom his patient
was speaking, standing beside her bed ; and
catching up a candle, he had rushed towards
it ; but as soon as he had thus illuminated the
chamber, he could no longer distinguish it.

344 APPARITIONS.

The ineffective and awkward attempts of
this apparition, to make itself understood, are
not easily to be reconciled to our ideas of a
spirit, whilst at the same time, that which it
could do, and that which it could not — the
powers it possessed and those it wanted — tend
to throw some light on its condition. As regards
space, we may suppose, that in this instance,
what St. Martin said of ghosts in general,
may be applicable, " Je ne crois pas aux reve-
nants, maisje croix aux restants ;" that is, he
didnot believe, that spirits who had once quitted
the earth, returned to it, but he believed that
some did not quit it, and thus, as the somnam-
bule mentioned in a former chapter said to
me, " Some are waiting and some are gone on
before." Dorrien's uneasiness and worldly
care chained him to the earth, and he was a
restant, but, being a spirit, he was inevitably
inducted into some of the inherent properties
of spirit; matter to him was no impediment,
neither doors nor walls could keep him out ;
he had the intuitive perception of whom he
could most easily communicate with, or he
was brought into rapport with Oeder by the
latter's seeking him ; and he could either so
act on Oeder's constructive imagination, as
to enable it to project his own figure, with

APPARITIONS. 345

the short pipe and the pictures, or he could,
by the magical power of his will, build up
these images out of the constituents of the
atmosphere. The last seems the most proba-
ble, because, had the rapport with Oeder, or
Oeder's receptivity, been sufficient to enable
the spirit to act potently upon him, it would
have been also able to infuse into his mind the
wishes it desired to- convey, even without
speech, for speech, as a means of communi-
cation betwixt spirits, must be quite unneces-
sary. Even in spite of these dense bodies of
ours, we have great difficulty in concealing
our thoughts from each other; and the som-
nambule reads the thoughts not only of his
magnetiser, but of others, with whom he is
placed in rapport. In cases where speech
appears to be used by a spirit, it is frequently
not audible speech, but only this transference
of thought, which appears to be speech from
the manner in which the thought is borne in
and enters the mind of the receiver ; but it is
not through his ears, but through his universal
supplementary sense, that he receives it; and
it is no more like what we mean by hearing,
than is the seeing of a clairvoyant, or a spirit,
like our seeing by means of our bodily organs.
In those cases where the speech is audible to

346 APPARITIONS.

other persons, we must suppose that the
magical will of the spirit can, by means of the
atmosphere, simulate these sounds as it can
simulate others, of which I shall have to treat
by and by. It is remarkable, that, in some
instances, this magical power seems to extend
so far as to represent to the eye of the seer a
form apparently so real, solid, and life-like,
that it is not recognizable from the living
man ; whilst in other cases the production of
a shadowy figure seems to be the limit of its
agency, whether limited by its own faculty, or
the receptivity of its subject ; but we must be
quite sure that the form is, in either instance,
equally ethereal or immaterial. And it will
not be out of place here to refer to the standing
joke of the sceptics, about ghosts appearing in
coats and waistcoats. Bentham thought he
had settled the question for ever by that ob-
jection ; and I have heard it since frequently
advanced by very acute persons, but, properly
considered, it has not the least validity.

Whether or not the soul on leaving its earthly
tabernacle finds itself at once clothed with that
spiritual body, which St. Paul refers to, is
what we cannot know, though it seems highly
probable ; but if it be so, we must be sure
that this body resembles in its nature, that

APPARITIONS; 347

fluent subtle kind of matter, called by us im-
ponderables, which are capable of penetrating
all substances ; and unless there be no visible
body at all, but only the will of a disembodied
spirit acting upon one yet in the flesh, in which
case it were as easy to impress the imagination
with a clothed figure as an unclothed one, we
must conclude that this ethereal flexible form,
whether permanent or temporary, may be
held together and retain its shape by the
volition of the spirit, as our bodies are held
together by the principle of life that is in
them ; and we see in various instances, where
the spectator has been bold enough to try the
experiment, that though the shadowy body
was pervious to any substance passed through
it, its integrity was only momentarily inter-
rupted, and it immediately recovered its pre-
vious shape. Now, as a spirit, provided there
be no especial law to the contrary, partial or
universal, absolute or otherwise, governing the
spiritual world — must be where its thoughts
and wishes are, just as we should be at the
place we intently think of, or desire, if our
solid bodies did not impede us, so must a spirit
appear as it is, or as it conceives of itself;
morally, it can only conceive of itself as it is,
good or bad, light or dark ; but it may con-

348 APPARITIONS.

ceive of itself clothed as well as unclothed ;
and if it can conceive of its former body, it can
equally conceive of its former habiliments ; and
so represent them, by its power of will to the
eye, or present them to the constructive ima-
gination of the seer ; and it will be able to do
this with a degree of distinctness proportioned
to the receptivity of the latter, or to the in-
tensity of the rapport which exists between
them. Now, considered in this way, the
appearance of a spirit " in its habit as it
lived," is no more extraordinary than the
appearance of a spirit at all, and it adds no
complexity to the phenomenon. If it appears
at all, in a recognizable form, it must come
naked or clothed ; the former, to say the least
of it, would be much more frightful and
shocking ; and if it be clothed, I do not see
what right we have to expect it shall be in a
fancy costume, conformable to our ideas, which
are no ideas at all, of the other world; nor
why, if it be endowed with the memory of
the past, it should not be natural to suppose it
would assume the external aspect it wore,
during its earthly pilgrimage. Certain it is,
whether consistent with our notions or not,
all tradition seems to show that this is the
appearance they assume; and the very fact,

APPARITIONS. 319

that on the first view of the case, and until
the question is philosophically considered, the
addition of a suit of clothes to the phenome-
non, not only renders its acceptance much
more difficult, but throws an air of absurdity
and improbability on the whole subject, fur-
nishes a very strong argument in favour of the
persuasion, that this notion has been founded
on experience, and is not the result either of
fancy or gratuitous invention. The idea of
spirits appearing like angels, with wings, &c.
seems to be drawn from these relations in the
Bible, when messengers were sent from God
to man ; but those departed spirits are not
angels, though probably destined in the course
of ages to become so ; in the mean time, their
moral state continues as when they quitted the
body, and their memories and affections are
with the earth, and so, earthly they appear,
more or less. We meet with some instances
in which bright spirits have been seen ; pro-
tecting spirits, for example, who have shaken
ofl their earth entirely, clinging to it yet but by
some holy affection or mission of mercy, and
these appear, not with wings, which whenever
seen are merely symbolical, for we cannot
imagine they are necessary to the motion of a
spirit, but clothed in robes of light. Such
TOT., i. 2 H

350 APPARITIONS.

appearances, however, seem much more rare
than the others. It will seem to many per-
sons very inconsistent with their ideas of the
dignity of a spirit that they should appear and
act in the manner I have descrihed, and shall
describe further ; and I have heard it objected
that we cannot suppose God would permit the
dead to return merely to frighten the living,
and that it is showing him little reverence to
imagine he would suffer them to come on
such trifling errands, or demean themselves in
so undignified a fashion. But God permits
men of all degrees of wickedness, and of even-
kind of absurdity, to exist, and to harrass and
disturb the earth, whilst they expose them-
selves to its obloquy or its ridicule.

Now, as I have observed in a former
chapter, there is nothing more perplexing to
us in regarding man as a responsible being,
than the degree to which we have reason to
believe his moral nature is influenced by his
physical organization ; but leaving this diffi-
cult question to be decided — if ever it can be de-
cided in this world — by wiser heads than mine,
there is one thing of which we may rest per-
fectly assured, namely, that let the fault of an
impure, or vicious, or even merely sensuous
Jife, lie where it will — whether it be the wicked

APPARITIONS. 351

spirit within, or the ill-organized body with-
out, or a tertium quid of both combined, still,
the soul that has been a party to this earthly
career, must be soiled and deteriorated by its
familiarity with evil ; and there seems much
reason to believe that the dissolution of the
connexion between the soul and body, pro-
duces far less change in the former than has
been commonly supposed. People generally
think, if they think on the subject at all, that
as soon as they are dead, provided they have
lived tolerably virtuous lives, or indeed been
free from any great crimes, they will imme-
diately find themselves provided with wings,
and straightway fly up to some delightful place,
which they call heaven, forgetting how unfit
they are for heavenly fellowship ; and although
I cannot help thinking that the Almighty has
mercifully permitted occasional relaxations of
the boundaries that separate the dead from the
living, for the purpose of showing us our
error, we are determined not to avail ourselves
of the advantage. I do not mean that these
spirits — these revenantsorrestants — are special
messengers sent to warn us ; I only mean that
their occasionally " revisiting the glimpses of
the moon" form the exceptional cases in a
great general law of nature, which divides the

352 APPARITIONS.

spiritual from the material world ; and that in
framing this law, these exceptions may have
been designed for our benefit.

There are several stories extant in the
English, and a vast number in the German
records, which, supposing them to be well
founded — and I repeat, that for many of them
we have just as good evidence as for anything
else we believe as hearsay or tradition — would
go to confirm the fact that the spirits of the
dead are sometimes disturbed by what, appear
to us very trifling cares. I give the following
case from Dr. Kernel*, who says it was related
to him by a very respectable man, on whose
word he can entirely rely.

" I was," said Mr. St. S., of S— , « the son
of a man who had no fortune but his business,
in which he was ultimately successful. At first,
however, his means being narrow, he was per-
haps too anxious and inclined to parsimony ;
so that when my mother, careful housewife as
she was, asked him for money, the demand
generally led to a quarrel. This occasioned
her great uneasiness, and having mentioned
this characteristic of her husband to her father,
the old man advised her to get a second key
made to the money-chest, unknown to her
husband, considering this expedient allowable

APPARITIONS. 353

and even preferable to the destruction of their
conjugal felicity, and feeling satisfied that she
would make no ill use of the power possessed.
My mother followed his advice, very much to
the advantage of all parties ; and nobody sus-
pected the existence of this second key, except
myself, whom she had admitted into her con-
fidence. Two and twenty years my parents
lived happily together, when I, being at the
time about eighteen hours journey from home,
received a letter from my father informing me
that she was ill ; that he hoped for her speedy
amendment; but that if she grew worse he
would send a horse to fetch me home to see
her. I was extremely busy at that time, and
therefore waited for further intelligence, and as
several days elapsed without any reaching me, I
trusted my mother was convalescent. One night,
feeling myself unwell, I had lain down on the
bed with my clothes on to take a little rest.
It was between eleven and twelve o'clock, and
I had not been to sleep, when some one
knocked at the door, and my mother entered,
dressed as she usually was. She saluted me,
and said, ' We shall see each other no more in
this world, but I have an injunction to give
you. I have given that key to R. (naming a
servant \ve then had), and she will remit it tcf
2 H 5

354 APPARITIONS.

you. Keep it carefully, or throw it into the
water, but never let your father see it; it would
trouble him. Farewell, and walk virtuously
through life !' And with these words she
turned and quitted the room by the door, as
she had entered it. I immediately arose,
called up my people, expressed my apprehen-
sion that my mother was dead, and, without
further delay, started for home. As I ap-
proached the house, R., the maid, came put,
and informed me that my mother had expired
betwixt the hours of eleven and twelve on the
preceding night. As there was another
person present at the moment, she said nothing
further to me, but she took an early oppor-
tunity of remitting me the key, saying that
rny mother had given it to her just before she
expired, desiring her to place it in my hands,
with an injunction that I should keep it care-
fully, or fling it into the water, so that my
father might never know anything about it. I
took the key, kept it for some years, and at
length threw it into the Lahne."

I am aware that it may be objected by those
who believe in wraiths, but in no other kind
of apparition, that this phenomenon occurred
before the death of the lady, and that it was
produced by her energetic anxiety with regard

APPARITIONS. 355

to the key ; it may be so, or it may not ; but at
all events, we see in this case how a compara-
tively trifling uneasiness may disturb a dying
person, and how therefore if memory remains
to them, they may carry it with them, and
seek by such means as they have, to obtain re-
lief from it.

A remarkable instance of anxiety for the
welfare of those left behind, is exhibited in
the following story, which I received from a
member of the family concerned : — Mrs. R., a
lady very well connected, lost her husband
when in the prime of life, and found herself
with fourteen children, unprovided for. The
overwhelming nature of the calamity depressed
her energies to such a degree as to render her
incapable of those exertions which could alone
redeem them from ruin. The flood of mis-
fortune seemed too strong for her, and she
yielded to it without resistance. She had thus
given way to despondency some time, when one
day, as she was sitting alone, the door opened
and her mother, who had been a considerable
time dead, entered the room and addressed her,
reproving her for this weak indulgence of use-
less sorrow, and bidding her exert herself for
the sake of her children. From that period
she threw off the depression, set actively to

356 APPARITIONS.

work to promote the fortunes of her family,
and succeeded so well that they ultimately
emerged from all their difficulties. I asked
the gentleman who related this circumstance
to me, whether he believed it. He answered
that he could only assure me that she herself
affirmed the fact, and that she avowedly attri-
buted the sudden change in her character and
conduct to this cause — for his own part, he did
not know what to say — finding it difficult to
believe in the possibility of such a visit from
the dead.

A somewhat similar instance is related by
Dr. Kerner, which, he says, he received from
the party himself, a man of sense and probity.
This gentleman, Mr. F., at an early age lost
his mother. Two and twenty years afterwards
he formed an attachment to a young person,
whose hand he resolved to ask in marriage.
Having, one evening, seated himself at his
desk, for the purpose of writing his proposal,
he was amazed, on accidentally lifting his eyes
from the paper, to see his mother looking ex-
actly as if alive, seated opposite to him; whilst
she, raising her finger with a warning gesture,
said, "Do not that thing!" Not the least
alarmed, Mr. F. started up to approach her,
whereupon she disappeared. Being very much

APPARITIONS. 357

attached to the lady however, he did not feel
disposed to follow her counsel; but having
read the letter to his father, who highly
approved of the match and who laughed at
the ghost, he returned to his chamber to seal
it, when whilst he was adding the superscrip-
tion, she again appeared as before, and
reiterated her injunction. But love conquered ;
the letter was dispatched, the marriage ensued,
and after ten years of strife and unhappiness
Avas dissolved by a judicial process.

A remarkable circumstance occurred, about
forty years ago, in the family of Dr. Paulus at
Stuttgard. The wife of the head of the family
having died, they, with some of their con-
nexions, were sitting at table a few days
afterwards, in the room adjoining that in which
the corpse lay, when, suddenly the door of the
latter apartment opened, and the figure of the
mother, clad in white robes, entered, and
saluting them as she passed, walked slowly
and noiselessly through the room, arid then
disappeared again through the door by which
she had entered. The whole company saw
the apparition ; but the father who was at that
time quite in health, died eight days after-
wards.

Madame R. had promised an old wood-

358 APPARITIONS.

cutter, who had a particular horror of dying
in the poor-house, because he knew his body
would be given to the surgeons, that she
would take care to see him properly interred.
The old man lived some years afterwards, and
she had quite lost sight of him, and indeed
forgotten the circumstance, when she was one
night awakened by the sound of some one
cutting wood in her bed-chamber; and so
perfect was the imitation, that she heard every
log flung aside as separated. She started up,
exclaiming, " The old man must be dead !" and
so it proved; his last anxiety having been
that Madame R. should remember her promise.
That our interest in whatever has much
concerned us in this life, accompanies us
beyond the grave, seems to be proved by many
stories I meet with, and the following is of
undoubted authenticity : — Some years ago, a
music-master died at Erfrert at the age of
seventy. He was a miser, and had never
looked with very friendly eyes on Professor
Rinck, the composer who he knew was likely
to succeed to his classes. The old man had
lived and died in an apartment adjoining the
class-room ; and the first day that Rinck
entered on his office, whilst the scholars were
singing Aus der tiefe ruf iclt dich, which is a

APPARITIONS. 359

paraphrase of the De profundis, he thought he
saw through a hole or bull's eye there was in
the door something moving about the inner
chamber. As the room was \oid of every kind
of furniture, and nobody could possibly be in
it, Rinck looked more fixedly; when he
distinctly saw a shadow, whose movements
were accompanied by a strange rustling sound.
Perplexed at the circumstance, he told his
pupils that on the following day he should
require them to repeat the same choral. They
did so; and whilst they were singing, Rinck
saw a person walking backwards and forwards
in the next room, who frequently approached
the hole in the door. Very much struck with
so extraordinary a circumstance, Rinck had
the choral repeated on the ensuing day ; and
this time his suspicions were fully confirmed ;
the old man, his predecessor, approaching the
door, and gazing steadfastly into the class-
room. " His face," said Rinck, in relating the
story to Dr. Mainzer, who has obligingly fur-
nished it to me as entered in his journal at the
time, " his face was of an ashy grey. The
apparition," he added " never more appeared
to me, although I frequently had the choral
repeated/'
"I am no believer in ghost-stories," he added,

:3(50 APPARITIONS.

" nor in the least superstitious ; nevertheless I
cannot help admitting that I have seen this, it
is impossible for me ever to doubt or to deny
that which I know I saw."

CHAPTER X.

THE FUTURE THAT AWAITS US.

IN all ages of the world, and in all parts of it,
mankind have earnestly desired to learn the
fate that awaited them when they had " shuf-
fled off this mortal coil ;" and those pretend-
ing to be their instructors have built up dif-
ferent systems which have stood in the stead
of knowledge, and more or less satisfied the
bulk of the people. The interest on this sub-
ject is, at the present period, in the most highly
civilized portions of the globe, less than it has
been at any preceding one. The great pro-
portion of us live for this world alone, and
VOL. i. 2 i

362 THE FUTURE

think very little of the next ; we are in too
great a hurry of pleasure or business to be-
stow any time on a subject of which we have
such vague notions — notions so vague, that,
in short, we can scarcely by any effort of the
imagination bring the idea home to ourselves;
and when we are about to die we are seldom
in a situation to do more than resign ourselves
to what is inevitable, and blindly meet our
fate ; whilst, on the other hand, what is gene-
rally called the religious world, is so engrossed
by its struggles for power and money, or by
its sectarian disputes and enmities; and so
narrowed and circumscribed by dogmatic
orthodoxies, that it has neither inclination nor
liberty to turn back or look around, and en-
deavour to gather up from past records and
present observation such hints as are now and
again dropt in our path, to give us an inti-
mation of what the truth may be. The ration-
alistic age, too, out of which we are only just
emerging, and which succeeded one of gross
superstition, having settled, beyond appeal,
that there never was such a thing as a ghost —
that the dead never do come back to tell us
the secrets of their prison-house, and that no-
body believes such idle tales but children and
old women, seemed to have shut the door

THAT AWAITS US. 363

against the only channel through which any
information could be sought. Revelation tells
us very little on this subject, reason can tell us
nothing ; and if nature is equally silent, or if
we are to be deterred from questioning her
from the fear of ridicule, there is certainly no
resource left for us but to rest contented in
our ignorance ; and each wait till the awful
secret is disclosed to ourselves. A great many
things have been pronounced untrue and
absurd, and even impossible, by the highest
authorities in the age in which they lived,
which have afterwards, and indeed within a
very short period, been found to be both pos-
sible and true. I confess myself, for one, to
have no respect whatever for these dogmatic
denials and affirmations, and I am quite ot
opinion that vulgar incredulity is a much
more contemptible thing than vulgar credulity.
We know very little of what is, and still less of
what may be ; and till a thing has been proved,
by induction logically impossible, we have no
right whatever to pronounce that it is so* As I
have said before, d priori conclusions are per-
fectly worthless j and the sort of investigation
that is bestowed upon subjects of the class of
which I am treating, something worse; inasmuch
as they deceive the timid and the igtforant, and

364 THE FUTHJKE

that very numerous class which pins its
faith on authority and never ventures to think
for itself, by an assumption of wisdom and
knowledge, which, if examined and analysed,
would very frequently prove to be nothing-
more respectable than obstinate prejudice and
rash assertion.

For my own part, I repeat, I insist upon
nothing. The opinions I have formed from
the evidence collected, may be quite erroneous;
if so, as I seek only the truth, I shall be glad
to be undeceived and shall be quite ready to
accept a better explanation of these facts,
whenever it is offered to me ; but it is in vain
to tell me that this explanation is to be found
in what is called imagination, or in a morbid
stale of the nerves, or an unusual excitement
of the organs of colour and form, or in im-
posture ; or in all these together. The existence
of all such sources of error and delusion,! am far
from denying, but I find instances that it is
quite impossible to reduce under any one of
those categories, as we at present understand
them. The multiplicity of these instances,
too — for not to mention the large number that
are never made known or carefully concealed,
if I were to avail myself liberally of cases
already recorded in various works, many ot

THAT AWAITS US. 305

which I know, and many others I hear of as
existing, but which I cannot conveniently get
access to, I might fill volumes — German lite-
rature abounds in them — the number of the
examples, I repeat, even on the supposition
that they are not facts, would of itself form
the subject of a very curious physiological or
psychological enquiry. If so many people in
respectable situations of life, and in apparently
a normal state of health, are either capable of
such gross impostures, or the subjects of such
extraordinary spectral illusions, it Would cer-
tainly be extremely satisfactory to learn some*
thing of the conditions that induce these
phenomena in such abundance ; and all I
expect from my book at present is, to induce
a suspicion that we are not quite so wise as we
think ourselves ; and that it might be worth
while to enquire a little seriously into reports,
which may perchance turn out to have a
deeper interest for us, than all those various
questions, public and private, put together,
with which we are daily agitating ourselves*

I have alluded in an earlier part of this
work, to the belief entertained by the ancients,
that the souls of men on being disengaged
from the bodies, passed into a middle state,
called Hades, in which their portions seemed
2 i o

866 THE FUTURE

neither to be that of complete happiness nor
of insupportable misery. They retained their
personality, their human form, their memory
of the past, and their interest in those that had
been dear to them on earth. Communications
were occasionally made by the dead to the
living ; they mourned over their duties ne-
glected and their errors committed ; many of
their mortal feelings, passions and propen-
sities, seemed to survive ; and they sometimes
sought to repair, through the instrumentality
of the living, the injuries they had formerly
inflicted. In short, death was merely a tran-
sition from one condition of life to another ;
but in this latter state, although we do not
see them condemned to undergo any torments,
we perceive that they are not happy. There
are indeed compartments in this dark region ;
there is Tartarus for the wicked, and the
Elysian fields for the good, but they are com-
paratively thinly peopled. It is in the mid
region that these pale shades abound, con-
sistently with the fact, that here on earth,
moral, as well as intellectual, mediocrity is the
rule; and extremes of good or evil the ex-
ceptions.

With regard to the opinion entertained oi a
future state by the Hebrews, the Old Testa-

THAT AWAITS US. 307

ment gives us very little information ; but
what glimpses we do obtain of it, appears to
exhibit notions analogous to those of the
heathen nations, inasmuch as that the person-
ality and the form seem to be retained, and
the possibility of these departed spirits re-
visiting the earth and holding commune with
the living is admitted. The request of the
rich man, also, that Lazarus might be sent to
warn his brethren, yet alive, of his own
miserable condition, testifies to the existence of
these opinions ; and it is worthy of remark,
that the favour is denied, not because its per-
formance is impossible, but because the mission
would be unavailing — a prediction which, it
appears to me, time has singularly justified.
Altogether, the notion that in the state entered
upon after we leave this world, the personality
and form are retained, that these shades some-
times revisit the earth, and that the memory
of the past still survives, seems to be universal;
for it is found to exist amongst all people,
savage and civilized ; and if not founded on
observation and experience, it becomes difficult
to account for such unanimity on a subject
Avhich I think, speculatively considered, would
not have been productive of such results ; and
one proof of this is, that those who reject such

368 THE FUTURE

testimony and tradition as we have in regard
to it, and rely only on their own understand-
ings, appear to be pretty uniformly led to form
opposite conclusions. They cannot discern
the mode of such a phenomenon ; it is open
to all sorts of scientific objections, and the cui
bono sticks in their teeth.

This position being admitted, as I think it
must be, we have but one resource left, where-
by to account for the universability of this
persuasion ; which is, that in all periods and
places, both mankind and womenkind, as well
in health as in sickness, have been liable to a
series of spectral illusions of a most extra-
ordinary and complicated nature, and bearing
such a remarkable similarity to each other, in
regard to the objects supposed to be seen or
heard, that they have been universally led to
the same erroneous interpretation of the phe-
nomenon. It is manifestly not impossible
that this may be the case ; and if it be so, it
becomes the business of physiologists to en-
quire into the matter, and give us some account
of it. In the mean time, we may be permitted
to take the other view of the question, and
examine what probabilities seem to be in its
favour.

When the body is about to die, that which

THAT AWAITS US. 369

cannot die, and which, to spare words, I will
call the soul, departs from it ; whither ? We
do not know ; but, in the first place, we have
no reason to believe that the space destined
for its habitation is far removed from the earth,
since, knowing nothing about it, we are equally
entitled to suppose the contrary ; and, in the
next, that which we call distance is a condition
that merely regards material objects, and of
which a spirit is quite independent, just as our
thoughts are, which can travel from here to
China, and back again, in a second of time.
Well, then, supposing this being to exist
somewhere, and it is not unreasonable to sup-
pose that the souls of the inhabitants of each
planet continue to hover within the sphere of
that planet, to which, for anything we can tell,
they may be attached by a magnetic attraction,
supposing it to find itself in space, free of the
body, endowed with the memory of the past,
and consequently with a consciousness of its
own deserts, able to perceive that which we do
not ordinarily perceive, namely, those who
have passed into a similar state with itself, will
it not naturally seek its place amongst those
spirits which most resemble itself, and with
whom, therefore, it must have the most affinity ?
On earth, the good seek the good, and the

370 THE FUTURE

wicked the wicked : and the axiom that " like
associates with like," we cannot doubt will be
as true hereafter as now. " In my father's
house there are many mansions," and our in-
tuitive sense of what is fit and just mnst needs
assure us that this is so. There are too many
degrees of moral worth and of moral unworth
amongst mankind, to permit of our supposing
that justice could be satisfied by an abrupt
division into two opposite classes. On the
contrary, there must be infinite shades of
desert, and,as we mustconsider that that which
a spirit enters into on leaving the body, is not
so much a place as a condition^ so there must
be as many degrees of happiness or suffering
as there are individuals, each carrying with
him his own Heaven or Hell. For it is a
vulgar notion to imagine that Heaven and Hell
are places ; they are states ; and it is in our-
selves we must look for both. When we leave
the body, we carry them with us ; " as the tree
falls, so it shall lie." The soul which here
has wallowed in wickedness or been sunk in
sensuality, will not be suddenly purified by
the death of the body ; its moral condition
remains wbat its earthly sojourn has trained
it to, but its means of indulging its propen-
sities are lost. If it has had no godly aspira-

THAT AWAITS US. 371

tions here, it will not be drawn to God there ;
and if it has so bound itself to the body that it
has known no happiness but that to which the
body ministered, it will be incapable of hap-
piness when deprived of that means of enjoy-
ment. Here we see at once what a variety
of conditions must necessarily ensue; how
many comparatively negative states there must
be betwixt those of positive happiness or
positive misery.

We may thus conceive how a soul, on en-
tering upon this new condition, must find its
own place or state; if its thoughts and aspi-
rations here have been heavenward, and its pur-
suits noble, its conditions will be heavenly.
The contemplation of God's works, seen not as
by our mortal eyes, but in their beauty and
their truth, and ever-glowing sentiments
of love and gratitude, and, for aught we know,
good offices to souls in need, would constitute
a suitable heaven, or happiness for such a
being ; an incapacity for such pleasures, and
the absence of all others, would constitute a
negative state, in which the chief suffering
would consist in mournful regrets and a vague
longing for something better, which the un-
trained soul that never lifted itself from the
earth, knows not how to seek ; whilst malig-

372 THE FUTURE

nant passions and unquenchable desires would
constitute the appropriate hell of the wicked ;
for we must remember, that although a spirit is
independent of those physical laws which are
the conditions of matter, the moral law, which
is indestructible, belongs peculiarly to it — that
is, to the spirit, and is inseparable from it.

We must next remember, that this earthly
body we inhabit is more or less a mask, by
means of which we conceal from each other
those thoughts which, if constantly exposed,
would unfit us for living in community ; but
when we die, this mask falls away, and the
truth' shows nakedly. There is no more dis-
guise ; we appear as we are, spirits of light or
spirits of darkness ; and there can be no diffi-
culty, I should think, in conceiving this, since
we know that even our present opaque and
comparatively inflexible features, in spite of
all efforts to the contrary, will be the index
of the mind ; and that the expression of the
face is gradually moulded to the fashion of the
thoughts. How much more must this be the case
with the fluent and diaphanous body which
we expect is to succeed the fleshly one !

Thus, I think, we have arrived at forming
some conception of the state that awaits us
hereafter ; the indestructible moral law fixes

THAT AWAITS US. 373

our place or condition ; affinity governs our
associations; and the mask under which we
conceal ourselves having fallen away, we ap-
pear to each other as we are : and I must here
observe, that in this last circumstance, must be
comprised one very important element of
happiness or misery ; for the love of the pure
spirits for each other will be for ever excited
by simply beholding that beauty and bright-
ness which will be the inalienable expression
of their goodness ; whilst the reverse will be the
case with the spirits of darkness ; for no one
loves wickedness, either in themselves or
others, however we may practice it. We must
also understand, that the words dark and light,
which in this world of appearance we use
metaphorically to express good and evil, must
be understood literally when speaking of that
other world where everything will be seen as
it is. Goodness is truth, and truth is light ;
and wickedness is falsehood, and falsehood is
darkness, and so it will be seen to be. Those
who have not the light of truth to guide them
will wander darkly through this valley of the
shadow of death; those in whom the light
of goodness shines will dwell in the light,
which is inherent in themselves. The former
will be in the kingdom of darkness, the latter in
VOL. i. 2 K

374 THE FUTURE

the kingdom of light. All the records existing
of the blessed spirits that have appeared,
ancient or modern, exhibit them as robed in
light, whilst their anger or sorrow is sym-
bolised by their darkness. Now, there appears
to me nothing incomprehensible in this view
of the future ; on the contrary, it is the only
one which I ever found myself capable of con-
ceiving or reconciling with the justice and
mercy of our Creator, He does not punish us,
we punish ourselves ; we have built up a
heaven or a hell to our own liking, and we
carry it with us. The fire that for ever burns
without consuming, is the fiery evil in which
we have chosen our part ; and the heaven
in which we shall dwell will be the heavenly
peace which will dwell in us. We are our own
judges and our own chastisers; and here
I must say a few words on the subject of that,
apparently to us, preternatural memory which
is developed under certain circumstances, and
to which I alluded in a former chapter. Every
one will have heard that persons who have
been drowned and recovered have had, in
what would have been their last moments, had
no means been used to revive them, a strange
vision of the past, in which their whole life
seemed to float before them in review ; and I

THAT AWAITS US. 375

have heard of the same phenomenon taking
place in moments of impending death, in other
forms. Now, as it is not during the struggle
for life, but immediately before insensibility
ensues, that this vision occurs, it must be the
act of a moment ; and this renders compre-
hensible to us what is said by the Seeress of
Prevorst, and other somnambules of the highest
order, namely, that the instant the soul is
freed from the body it sees its whole earthly
career in a single sign ; it knows that it is
good or evil, and pronounces its own sentence.
The extraordinary memory occasionally ex-
hibited in sickness where the link between
the soul and the body is probably loosened,
shows us an adumbration of this faculty.

But this self-pronounced sentence, we are
led to hope is not final, nor does it seem con-
sistent with the love and mercy of God that it
should be so. There must be few, indeed,
who leave this earth fit for heaven ; for al-
though the immediate frame of mind in which
dissolution takes place, is probably very im-
portant, it is surely a pernicious error, en-
couraged by jail chaplains and philanthropists,
that a late repentance and a few parting prayers
can purify a soul sullied by years of wicked-
ness. Would we at once receive such an one
into our intimate communion and love ?

376 THE FUTURE

Should we not require time for the stains of
vice to be washed away and habits of virtue to
be formed ? Assuredly we should ! And how
can we imagine that the purity of heaven is to
be sullied by that approximation that the
purity of earth would forbid ? It would be
cruel to say, and irrational to think, that this
late repentance is of no avail ; it is doubtless
so far of avail that the straining upwards and
the heavenly aspirations of the parting soul
are carried with it, so that when it is free,
instead of choosing the darkness, it will flee
to as much light as is in itself; and be ready,
through the mercy of God and the ministering
of brighter spirits, to receive more. But in
this case, as also in the innumerable instances
of those who die in what may be called a ne-
gative state, the advance must be progressive,
though wherever the desire exists, I must be-
lieve that this advance is possible. If not,
wherefore did Christ, after being "put to
death in the flesh,'* go and "preach to the
spirits in prison ?" It would have been a
mockery to preach salvation to those who had
no hope ; nor would they, having no hope, have
listened to the preacher.

I think these views are at once cheering,
encouraging, and beautiful ; and I cannot but
believe, that were they more generally enter-

THAT AWAITS US. 377

tained and more intimately conceived, they
would be very beneficial in their effects. As I
have said before, the extremely vague notions
people have of a future life, prevent the possi-
bility of its exercising any great influence upon?
the present. The picture, on one side, is too-
revolting and inconsistent with our ideas of
Divine goodness to be deliberately accepted ;
whilst, with regard to the other, our feelings
somewhat resemble those of a little girl, I once
knew, who, being told by her mother what
was to be the reward of goodness if she were
so happy as to reach heaven, put her finger in
her eye and began to cry, exclaiming, " Oh,
mamma I1 how tired I shall be singing I'*

The question which will now naturally
arise, and which I am bound to answer, is,
How have these views been formed ? and what
is the authority for them ? and the answer I
have to make will startle many minds, when I
say, that they have been gathered from two-
sources ; first and chiefly from the state in
which those spirits appear to be, and some-
ti mes avow themselves to be, who, after quit-
ting the earth, return to it and make themselves
visible to the living ; and, secondly, from the
revelations of numerous somnambules of the
highest order, which entirely conform in all
2 K 5

378 THE FUTURE

cases, not only with the revelations of the
dead, but with each other. I do not mean to
imply, when I say this, that I consider the
question finally settled, as to whether sornnam-
bulesare really clear-seers or only visionaries ;
nor that I have by any means established the
fact that the dead do sometimes actually re-
turn ; but I am obliged to beg the question
for the moment, since whether these sources
be pure or impure, it is from them the infor-
mation has been collected. It is true, that
these views are extremely conformable with
those entertained by Plato and his school of
philosophers; and also with those of the
mystics of a later age ; but the latter certainly,
and the former probably, built up their systems
on the same foundation ; and I am very far
from using the term mystics in the opprobrious,
or at least contemptuous, tone in which it has
of late years been uttered in this country ; for
although abounding in errors, as regarded the
concrete, and although their want of an in-
ductive methodology led them constantly
astray in the region of the real, they were
sublime teachers in that of the ideal ; and they
seem to have been endowed with a wonderful
insight into this veiled department of our
nature.

THAT AWAITS US. 379

It may be here objected, that we only admire
their insight, because, being in entire igno-
rance of the subject of it, we accept raving
for revelation ; and that no weight can be
attached to the conformity of later disclosures
with theirs, since they have no doubt been
founded upon them. As to the ignorance, it
is admitted ; and, simply looking at their views,
as they stand, they have nothing to support
them but their sublimity and consistency ; but,
as regards the value of the evidence afforded
by conformity, it rests on very different
grounds; for the reporters from whom we
collect our intelligence are, with very few
exceptions, those of whom we may safely
predicate, that they were wholly unacquainted
with the systems promulgated by the Platonic
philosophers, or the mystics either, nor, in
most instances, had ever heard of their names ;
for, as regards that peculiar somnambulic
state which is here referred to, the subjects
of it appear to be generally very young people
of either sex, and chiefly girls ; and, as re-
gards ghost- seeing, although this phenomenon
seems to have no connexion with the age of
the seer, yet it is not usually from the learned
or the cultivated we collect our cases, inas-

380 THE FUTURE

much as the apprehension of ridicule, on the
one hand, and the fast hold the doctrine of
spectral illusions has taken of them, on the
other, prevent their believing1 in their own
senses, or producing any evidence they might
have to furnish.

And here will be offered another subtle ob-
jection, namely, that the testimony of such
witnesses as I have above described is per-
fectly worthless ; but this I deny. The som-
nambulic states I allude to, are such as have
been developed, not artificially, but naturally ;
and often under very extraordinary nervous
diseases, accompanied with catalepsy, and
various symptoms far beyond feigning. Such
cases are rare, and, in this country, seem to
have been very little observed, for doubtless
they must occur, and when they do occur, they
are very carefully concealed by the families of
the patient, and not followed up or investi-
gated as a psychological phenomenon by the
physician ; for it is to be observed that, with-
out questioning no revelations are made ; they
are not, as far as I know, ever spontaneous.
I have heard of two such cases in this country,
both occurring in the higher classes, and both
patients being young ladies; but, although

THAT AWAITS US. 381

surprising phenomena were exhibited, interro-
gation was not permitted, and the particulars
were never allowed to transpire.

No doubt there are examples of error and
examples of imposture, so there are in every-
thing where room is to be found for them ;
and I am quite aware of the propensity of
hysterical patients to deceive, but it is for the
judicious observers to examine the genuineness
of each particular instance; and it is perfectly
certain and well established by the German
physiologists and psychologists, who have
carefully studied the subject, that there are
many above all suspicion. Provided, then,
that the case be genuine, it remains to be de-
termined how much value is to be attached to
the revelations, for they may be quite honestly
delivered, and yet be utterly worthless — the
mere ravings of a disordered brain ; and it is
here that conformity becomes important, for I
cannot admit the objection that the simple
circumstance of the patient's being diseased
invalidates their evidence so entirely as to
annul even the value of their unanimity, be-
cause although it is not logically impossible,
that a certain state of nervous derangement
should occasion all somnambules, of the class
in question, to make similar answers, when

382 THE FUTURE

interrogated, regarding a subject of which in
their normal condition they know nothing,
and on which they have never reflected, and
that these answers should be not only con-
sistent, but disclosing far more elevated views
than are evolved by minds of a very superior
order which have reflected on it very deeply —
I say, although this is not logically impossible,
it will assuredly be found, by most persons, an
hypothesis of much more difficult acceptance
than the one I propose ; namely, that what-
ever be the cause of the effect, these patients
are in a state of clear-seeing, wherein they
have "more than mortal knowledge;" that is,
more knowledge than mortals possess in their
normal condition : and it must not be for-
gotten, that we have some facts confessed by
all experienced physicians and physiologists,
even in this country, proving that there are
states of disease in which preternatural faculties
have been developed, such as no theory has
yet satisfactorily accounted for.

But Dr. Passavent, who has written a very
philosophical work on the subject of vital
magnetism and clear-seeing, asserts, that it is
an error to imagine that the extatic condition
is merely the product of disease. He says,
that it has sometimes exhibited itself in

THAT AWAITS US. 383

persons of very vigorous constitutions, in-
stancing Joan of Arc, a woman, whom his-
torians have little understood, and whose
memory Voltaire's detestable poem has ridi-
culed and degraded, but who was, neverthe-
less, a great psychological phenomenon.

The circumstance, too, that phenomena of
this kind are more frequently developed in
women than in men, and that they are merely
the consequence of her greater nervous irrita-
bility has been made another objection to
them — an objection, however, which Dr.
Passavent considers founded on ignorance of
the essential difference between the sexes,
which is not merely a physical but a psycho-
logical one. Man is more productive than
receptive. In a state of perfectibility, both
attributes would be equally developed in him ;
but in this terrestrial life, only imperfect
phases of the entire sum of the soul's faculties
are so. Mankind are but children, male or
female, young or old: of man, in his totality,
we have but faint adumbrations, here and there.

Thus the extatic woman will be more fre-
quently a seer, instinctive and intuitive ; man,
a doer and a worker ; and as all genius is a
degree of extacy or clear-seeing, we perceive
the reason wherefore in man it is more pro-

384 THE FUTURE.

ductive than in woman, and that our greatest
poets and artists, in all kinds, are of the former
sex, and even the most remarkable women
produce but little in science or art ; whilst on
the other hand, the feminine instinct, and tact,
and intuitive seeing of truth, is frequently
more sure than the ripe and deliberate judg-
ment of man : and it is hence that solitude
and such conditions as develop the passive
or receptive at the expense of the active,
tend to produce this state, and to assimilate
the man more to the nature of the woman ;
whilst in her they intensify these distinguish-
ing characteristics: and this is also the reason
that simple and child-like people and races are
the most frequent subjects of these phenomena.
It is only necessary to read Mozart's account
of his own moments of inspiration, to com-
prehend, not only the similarity, but the posi-
tive identity of the extatic state with the state
of genius in activity. " When all goes well
with me," he says, " when I am in a carriage,
or walking, or when I cannot sleep at night,
the thoughts come streaming in upon me most
fluently. Whence, or how, is more than I con
tell. What comes, I hum to myself, as it pro-
ceeds then follows the counterpoint

and the clang of the different instruments, and

THAT AWAITS US. 385

if I am not disturbed my soul is fixed, and
the thing grows greater, and broader, and
clearer ; and 1 have it all in my head, even
when the piece is a long one, and I see it like
a beautiful picture, not hearing the different
parts in succession, as they must be played,
but the whole at once. That is the delight !
The composing and the making is like a beau-
tiful and vivid dream, but this hearing of it, is
the best of all."

What is this but clear-seeing, backwards
and forwards, the past and the future ? The
one faculty is not a whit more surprising and
incomprehensible than the other, to those who
possess neither, only we see the material pro-
duct of one, and therefore believe in it. But,
as Passavent justly says, these corruscations
belong not to genius exclusively : they are
latent in all men. In the highly gifted, this
divine spark becomes a flame to light the
world withal: but even in the coarsest and
least developed organizations, it may, and
does momentarily break forth. The germ of
the highest spiritual life is in the rudest,
according to its degree, as well as in the highest
form of man we have yet seen ; he is but a
more imperfect type of the race, in whom this
spiritual germ has not unfolded itself.

VOL. i. 2 L

386 THE FUTURE

Then, with respect to our second source of
information, I am quite aware that it is equally
difficult to establish its validity ; but theie
are a few arguments in our favour here, too.
In the first place, as Dr. Johnson says, though
all reason is against us, all tradition is for us;
and this conformity of tradition is surely of
some weight, since I think it would be diffi-
cult to find any parallel instance, of a universal
tradition that was entirely without a founda-
tion in truth ; for with respect to witchcraft,
the belief in which is equally universal, we
now know that the phenomena were generally
facts, although the interpretations put upon
them were fables. It may certainly be objected
that this universal belief in ghosts only arises
from the universal prevalence of spectral illu-
sions, but, if so, as I have before observed,
these spectral illusions become a subject of
very curious enquiry, for, in the first place,
they frequently occur under circumstances the
least likely to induce them, and to people whom
we should least expect to find the victims of
them ; and, in the second, there is a most re-
markable conformity here, too, not only
between the individual eases occurring amongst
all classes of persons, who had never exhibited
the slightest tendency to, nervous derangement

THAT AWAITS US. 387

or somnambulism, hut also between these and
the revelations of the somnambules. In short,
it seems to me that life is reduced to a mere
phantasmagoria, if spectral illusions are so
prevalent, so complicated in their nature, and
so delusive as they must be, if all the instances
of ghost-seeing that come before us are to be
referred to that theory. How numerous these
are, I confess myself not to have had the least
idea, till my attention was directed to the
enquiry ; and that these instances have been
equally frequent in all periods and places, we
cannot doubt, from the variety of persons that
have given in their adhesion, or at least that
have admitted, as Addison did, that he could
not refuse the universal testimony in favour of
the re-appearance of the dead, strengthened by
that of many credible persons with whom he
was acquainted. Indeed, the testimony in
favour of the facts has been at all periods too
strong to be wholly rejected, so that even the
materialists, like Lucretius and the elder
Pliny, find themselves obliged to acknowledge
them, whilst, on the other hand, the extrava-
gant admissions that are demanded of us by
those who endeavour to explain them away,
prove that their disbelief rests on no more solid
foundation than their own prejudices. I ac-

388 THE FUTURE

knowledge all the difficulty of establishing the
facts, such difficulties as indeed encompass few
other branches of enquiry; bull maintain that
the position of the opponents is still worse,
although, by their high tone, and their con-
temptuous laugh, they assume to have taken
up one that, being fortified by reason, is quite
impregnable, forgetting that the wisdom of
man is preeminently " foolishness before God,"
when it wanders into this region of unknown
things. Forgetting, also, that they are just
serving this branch of enquiry, as their prede-
cessors, whom they laugh at, did physiology ;
concocting their systems out of their own
brains, instead of the responses of nature ; and
with still more rashness and presumption, this
department of her kingdom being more inac-
cessible, more incapable of demonstration, and
more entirely beyond our controul ; for these
spirits will not " come when we do call them ;"
and, I confess, it often surprises me to hear
the very shallow nonsense that very clever men
talk upon the subject, and the inefficient argu-
ments they use to disprove what they know
nothing about. I am quite conscious that the
facts I shall adduce are open to controversy ;
I can bring forward no evidence that will
satisfy a scientific mind ; but neither are my

THAT AWAITS US. 389

opponents a whit better fortified. All I do
hope to establish is, not a proof, but a pre-
sumption ; and the conviction I desire to
awaken in people's minds, is, not that these
things are so, but that they may be so, and that
it is well worth our while to enquire whether
they are or not.

It will be seen, that these views of a future
state are extremely similar to those of Isaac
Taylor, as suggested in his physical theory of
another life — at least, as far as he has entered
upon the subject— and it is natural that they
should be so, because he seems also to have
been a convert to the opinion, that "the dead
do sometimes break through the boundaries
that hem in the etherial crowds ; and if so, as
if by trespass, may in single instances infringe
upon the ground of common corporeal life."

Let us now fancy this dispossessed soul en-
tering on its new career, amazed, and no more
able than when it was in the body to accommo-
date itself at once to conditions of existence,
for which it was unprepared. If its aspi-
rations had previously been heavenward, these
conditions would not be altogether new, and it
would speedily find itself at home in a sphere
in which it had dwelt before ; for, as I have
formerly said, a spirit must be where its
2 L S

390 THE FUTURE

thoughts and affections are, and the soul,
whose thoughts and affections had been
directed to heaven, would only awaken after
death into a more perfect and unclouded
heaven. But imagine the contrary of all this.
Conceive what this awakening must be to an
earth-bound spirit — to one altogether unpre-
pared for its new home — carrying no light
within it — floating in the dim obscure — cling-
ing to the earth, where all its affections were
garnered up ; for where its treasure is, there
shall it be also. It will find its condition evil,
more or less, according to the degree of its
moral light or darkness, and in proportion to
the amount of the darkness will be its inca-
pacity to seek for light. "Now, there seems
nothing offensive to our notions of the Divine
goodness in this conception of what awaits us
when the body dies. It appears to me, on the
contrary, to offer a more comprehensible and
coherent view than any other that has been
presented to me ; yet, the state I have de-
picted is very much the Hades of the Greeks
and Romans. It is the middle state, on
which all souls enter, a state in which
there are many mansions — that is, there are
innumerable states — probably not permanent,
but ever progressive or retrograde ; for we can-

THAT AWAITS US. 391J

not conceive of any moral state being perma*
nent, since we know perfectly well that ours is
never so : it is always advancing or retroceding.
When we are not improving, we are deterio-
rating ; and so it must necessarily be with us
hereafter.

Now, if we admit the probability of this
middle state, we have removed one of the great
objections which are made to the belief in the
re-appearance of the dead ; namely, that the
blest are too happy to return to the earth, and
that the wicked have it not in their power to
do so. This difficulty arises, however, very
much from the material ideas' entertained of
Heaven and Hell — the notion that they are
places instead of states. I am told that the
Greek word Hades is derived from aides, in-
visible; and that the Hebrew word Scheol,
which has the same signification, also implies
a state, not a place; since it may be inter-
preted into desiring, longing, asking, praying.
These words in the Septuagint, are transla-
ted by grave, death, or hell ; but previously to
the Reformation, they seem to have borne
their original meaning ; that is, the state into
which the soul entered at the death of the body.
It was probably to get rid of the purgatory of
the Roman Church, which had doubtless be-

•392 THE FUTURE

coine the source of many absurd notions and
corrupt practices, that the doctrine of a middle
state or Hades was set aside ; besides which
the honest desire for reformation in all refor-
ming churches, being alloyed by the odium
theologicum, the purifying besom is apt to
take too discursive a sweep, exercising less
modesty and discrimination than might be de-
sirable; and thus not uncommonly wiping
away truth and falsehood together.

Dismissing the idea, therefore, that Heaven
and Hell are places in which the soul is im-
prisoned, whether in bliss or woe, and, sup-
posing that, by a magnetic relation, it may
remain connected with the sphere to which it
previously belonged, we may easily conceive
that, if it have the memory of the past, the
more entirely sensuous its life in the body may
have been, the closer it will cling to the scene
of its former joys ; or, even if its sojourn on
earth were not a period of joy, but the con-
trary, still, if it have no heavenward aspira-
tions, it will find itself, if not in actual woe,
yet aimless, objectless, and out of a congenial
element. It has no longer the organs whereby
it perceived, communicated with, and enjoyed
the material world and its pleasures. The joys
of Heaven are not its joys; we might as well

THAT AWAITS US. 393

expect a hardened prisoner in Newgate, asso-
ciating with others as hardened as himself, to
melt into extatic delight at the idea of that
which he cannot apprehend! How helpless
and inefficient such a condition seems, and
how natural it is to us to imagine that, under
such circumstances, there might be awakened
a considerable desire to manifest itself to those
yet living in the flesh, if such a manifestation
be possible ! And what right have we, in direct
contradiction to all tradition, to assert that it
is not ? We may raise up a variety of objec-
tions from physical science, but we cannot be
sure that these are applicable to the case ; and
of the laws of spirit we know very little, since
we are only acquainted with it as circum-
scribed, confined, and impeded in its opera-
tions by the body ; and whenever such abnormal
states occur as enable it to act with any degree
of independence, man, under the dominion of
his all-sufficient reason, denies and disowns
the facts. That the manifestation of a spirit
to the living, whether seen or heard, is an
exception, and not the rule, is evident; for,
supposing the desire to exist at all, it must
exist in millions and millions of instances
which never take effect. The circumstances
must, therefore, no doubt be very peculiar, as

394 THE FUTURE

regards both parties in which such a manifes-
tation is possible ; what these are we have very
little means of knowing, but, as far as we do
know, we are led to conclude that a certain
magnetic rapport or polarity constitute this
condition, whilst, at the same time, as regards
the seer, there must be what the prophet called
the " opening of the eye" which may, perhaps,
signify the seeing of the spirit without the aid
of the bodily organ, a condition which may
temporarily occur to any one under we know
not what influence, but which seems, to a cer-
tain degree, hereditary in some families.

The following passage is quoted from Sir
William Hamilton's edition of Dr. Reid's
works, published in 1846: —

"No man can show it to be impossible to
the Supreme Being to have given us the power
of perceiving external objects, without any
such organs" e. e., our organs of sense. " We
have reason to believe that when we put off
these bodies, and all the organs belonging to
them, our perceptive powers shall rather be
improved than destroyed or impaired. We
have reason to believe that the Supreme Being
perceives everything in a much more perfect
manner than we do, without bodily organs.
We have reason to believe that there are other

THAT AWAITS US. 395

created beings endowed with powers of per-
ception more perfect and more extensive than
ours, without any such organs as we find ne-
cessary ;" and Sir William Hamilton adds the
following note: —

" However astonishing, it is now proved be-
yond all rational doubt, that in certain abnor-
mal states of the nervous organism, perceptions
are possible through other than the ordinary
channels of the senses."

Of the existence of this faculty in nature,
any one, who chooses, may satisfy himself by
a very moderate degree of trouble, provided
he undertake the investigation honestly ; and
this being granted, another objection, if not
altogether removed, is considerably weakened.
I allude to the fact, that in numerous reported
cases of ghost-seeing, the forms were visible
to only one person, even though others were
present, which, of course, rendered them un-
distinguishable from cases of spectral illusion,
and indeed unless some additional evidence be
afforded, they must remain so still, only we
have gained thus much, that this objection is
no longer unanswerable ; for whether the
phenomenon is to be referred to a mutual rap-
port, or to the opening of the spiritual eye, we
comprehend how one may see what others do

396 THE FUTURE

not. But really, if the seeing depended upon
ordinary vision, I cannot perceive that the
difficulty is insurmountable ; for we perfectly
well know that some people are endowed with
an acuteness of sense, or power of perception,
which is utterly incomprehensible to others :
for without entering into the disputed region
of clear -seeing, everybody must have met with
instances of those strange antipathies to certain
objects, accompanied by an extraordinary ca-
pacity for perceiving their presence, which
remain utterly unexplained. Not to speak of
cats and hares, where some electrical effects
might be conceived, I lately heard of a gentle-
man who fainted if he were introduced into a
room where there was a raspberry tart ; and
that there have been persons endowed with a
faculty for discovering the proximity of water
and metals, even without the aid of the
divining rod — which latter marvel seems to be
now clearly established as an electrical pheno-
menon, will scarcely admit of further doubt.
A very eminent person, with whom I am ac-
quainted, possessing extremely acute olfactory
powers, is the subject of one single exception.
He is insensible to the odour of a bean -field,
however potent: but it would surely be very
absurd in him to deny that the bean-field

THAT AWAITS US. 397

I

emits an odour, and the evidence of the ma-
jority against him is too strong to admit of
his doing so. Now, we have only the evi-
dence of a minority with regard to the ex-
istence of certain faculties not generally de-
veloped, but surely it argues great presumption
to dispute their possibility. We might, I
think, with more appearance of reason, insist
upon it that my friend mud be mistaken, and
that he does smell the bean-field ; for we
have the majority against him there, most
decidedly. The difference is, that nobody cares
whether the odour of the bean-field is per-
ceptible or not: but if the same gentleman
asserted that he had seen a ghost, beyond all
doubt, his word would be disputed.

Though we do not know what the condi-
tions are that dev elope the faculty of what St.
Paul calls the discerning of spirits, there is
reason to believe that the approach of death is
one. I have heard of too many instances of
this kind, where the departing person has
been in the entire possession of his or her fa-
culties, to doubt that in our last moments we
are frequently visited by those who have gone
before us, and it being admitted by all physi-
ologists, that preternatural faculties are some-
times exhibited at this period, we can have

VOL. i. 2 M

398 THE FUTURE

no right to say that " the discerning of spirits"
is not one of them.

There is an interesting story recorded by
Beaumont, in his "World of Spirits," and
quoted by Dr. Hibbert with the remark, that
no reasonable doubt can be placed on the au-
thenticity of the narrative, as it was drawn up
by the Bishop of Gloucester from the recital of
the young lady's father ; and I mention it here
not for any singularity attending it, but first
because its authenticity is admitted, and next
on account of the manner in which, so much
being granted, the fact is attempted to t>e ex-
plained away.

" Sir Charles Lee, by hi§ first lady, had only
one daughter, of which she died in child-birth,
and when she was dead, her sister, the Lady
Everard, desired to. have the education of the
child, and she was very well educated till she
was marriageable, and a match was concluded
for her w^th Sir W. Parkins, but was then
prevented in an extraordinary manner. Upon
a Thursday night, she thinking she saw a light
in her chamber after she was in bed, knocked
for her maid, who presently came to her,, and
she asked, ' Why she left a candle burning in
her room ?' The maid answered, that she had
none, and that there was none but what

THAT AWAITS US. 399

she had brought with her at that time ;' then,
she said, it must be the fire; but that her
maid told her, was quite out, adding she
believed it was only a dream, whereupon
Miss Lee answered, it might be so, and com-
posed herself again to sleep. But, about two
of the clock, she was awakened again, and
saw the apparition of a little woman between
her curtains and her pillow, who told her
she was her mother, that she was happy, and
that, by twelve of the clock that day, she
should be with her. Whereupon, she knocked
again for her maid, called for her clothes, and
when she was dressed, went into her closet,
and came not out again till nine, and then
brought out with her a letter, sealed, to her
father, carried it to her aunt, the Lady Everard,
told her what had happened, and desired that
as soon as she was dead it might be sent to
him. The lady thought she was suddenly
fallen mad^ and therefore sent presently away
to Chelmsfoixl, for a physician and surgeon,
who both came immediately^ but the physician
could discern no indication of what the lady
imagined, or of any indisposition of her body ;
notwithstanding, the lady would needs have
her let blood, which was done accordingly ;
and when the young woman had patiently

400 THE FUTURE

let them do what they would with her, she
desired that the chaplain might be called to
read prayers ; and when prayers were ended,
she took her guitar and psalm-book, and sat
down upon a chair without arms, and played
and sung so melodiously and admirably,
that her music-master, who was then there,
admired at it ; and near the stroke of twelve,
she rose and sat herself down in a great chair
with arms, and presently fetching a strong
breathing or two, she immediately expired, and
was so suddenly cold as was much wondered
at by the physician and surgeon. She died at
Waltham, in Essex, three miles from Chelrns-
ford, and the letter was sent to Sir Charles, at
his house, in Warwickshire ; but he was so
afflicted at the death of his daughter, that he
came not till she was buried : but when he
came, he caused her to be taken up, and to be
buried with her mother, at Edmonton, as she
desired in her letter."

This circumstance occurred in the year 1662,
and is, as Dr. Hibbert observes, " one of the
most interesting ghost-stories on record •/' yet
he insists on placing it under the category of
spectral illusions, upon the plea, that let the
physician, whose skill he arraigns, say what
he would, her death within so short a period,

THAt AWAlTS US» 401

proves that she must have been indisposed at
the time she saw the vision, and that probably
" the languishing female herself might have
unintentionally contributed to the more strict
verification of the ghost's prediction,'1 con-
cluding with these words, " all that can be
said of it is, that the coincidence was a for-
tunate one; for without it, the story would,
probably, never have met with a recorder,1'
&c. &c.

Now, I ask if this is a fair way of treating
any fact, transmitted to us on authority, which
the objector himself admits to be perfectly
satisfactory ; more especially, as the assistants
on the occasion appear to have been quite as
unwilling to believe in the supernatural inter-
pretation of it, as Dr. H. could have been
himself, had he been present ; for what more
could he have done than conclude the young
lady to be mad> and bled her ?— a line of prac-
tice which is precisely what would be followed
at the present time ; and which proves that
they were very well aware of the sensuous
illusions produced by a disordered state of the
nervous system ; and with respect to his con-
clusion that the "languishing female" con-
tributed to the verification of the prediction,
we are entitled to ask, where is the proof that
2 M 5

402 THE FUTURE

she was languishing ? A very clever watch-
maker once told me, that a watch may go per-
fectly well for years and at length stop sud-
denly, in consequence of an organic defect in
its construction, which only becomes percep-
tible, even to the eye of a watchmaker, when
this effect takes place ; and we do know that
many persons have suddenly fallen dead im-
mediately after declaring themselves in the
best possible health; and we have therefore
no right to dispute what the narrator
implies, namely, that there were no sensible
indications of the impending catastrophe.

There either was some organic defect or
derangement in this lady's physical economy,
which rendered her death inevitable at the
hour of noon, on that particular Thursday, or
there was not. If there were, and her certain
death was impending at that hour, how came
she acquainted with the fact ? Surely, it ,is a
monstrous assumption to say, that it was " a
fortunate coincidence," when no reason what-
ever is given us for concluding that she felt
otherwise than perfectly well ? If, on the con-
trary, we are to take refuge in the supposition
that there was no death impending, and that
she only died of the fright, how came she-
feeling perfectly well, and, in this case, we have

THAT AWAITS US. 403

a right to conclude being perfectly well, — to be
the subject of such an extraordinary spectral
illusion ? And if such spectral illusions can
occur to people in a good normal state of
health, does it not become very desirable to
give us some clearer theory of them than we
have at present. But there is a third presump-
tion to which the sceptical may have recourse,
in order to get rid of-this well established, and
therefore very troublesome fact, namely, that
Miss Lee was ill, although unconscious of it
herself, and indicating no symptoms that
could guide her physician to an enlightened
diagnosis ; and that the proof of this is to be
found in the occurrence oi the spectral illusion,
and that this spectral illusion so impressed her,
that it occasioned the precise fulfilment of the
imaginary prediction, an hypothesis which
appears to me to be pressing very hard on the
spectral illusion ; for it is first called upon to
establish the fact of an existing indisposition
of no slight character, of which neither patient
or physician were aware ; and it is next re-
quired to kill the lady with unerring certainty,
at the hour appointed, she being, according to
the only authority we have for the story, in
a perfectly calm and composed state of mind !
for there is nothing to be discerned in the

404 THE FUTURE

description of her demeanour but an entire and
willing submission to the announced decree,
accompanied by that pleasing exaltation, which
appears to me perfectly natural under the cir-
cumstances ; and I do not think that anything
we know of human vitality can justify us in
believing that life can be so easily extin-
guished. But to such straights people are re-
duced, who write with a predetermination to
place their iacts on a Procrustian bed, till they
have fitted them into their own cherished
theory.

In the above recorded case of Miss Lee, the
motive for the visit is a sufficient one ; but
one of the commonest objections to such nar-
rations, is the insignificance of the motive
when any communication is made, or there
being apparently no motive at all, when none
is made. Where any previous attachment has
subsisted, we need seek no further for an im-
pelling cause ; but, in other cases, this im-
pelling cause must probably be sought in the
earthly rapport still subsisting and the urgent
desire of the spirit to manifest itself and
establish a communication where its thoughts
and affections still reside ; and we must con-
sider that, provided there be no law of God
prohibiting its revisiting the earth, which law

THAT AWAITS US. 405

would of course supersede all other laws, then,
as I have before observed, where its thoughts
and affections are, it must be also. What is
it but our heavy material bodies that prevents
us from being where our thoughts are ? But
the being near us, and the manifesting itself
to us, are two very different things, the latter
evidently depending on conditions we do not
yet understand. As I am not writing a book
on vital magnetism, and there are so many
already accessible to every body who chooses to
be informed on it, I shall not here enter into the
subject of magnetic rapport, it being, I believe,
now generally admitted, except by the most
obstinate sceptics, that such a relation can be
established betwixt two human beings. In
what this relation consists, is a more difficult
question, but the most rational view ap-
pears to be that of a magnetic polarity
which is attempted to be explained by two
theories — the dynamical and the etherial : the
one viewing the phenomena as simply the
result of the transmission of forces, the other
hypothetising an ether which pervades all
space, and penetrates all substance, maintaining
the connexion betwixt body and soul, and be-
twixt matter and spirit. To most minds, this
last hypothesis will be the most comprehen-

406 THE FUTURE

sible ; on which account, since the result would
be the same in either case, we may adopt it
for the moment ; and there will then be less
difficulty in conceiving that the influence or
ether of every being or thing, animate or in-
animate) must extend beyond the periphery of
its own terminations : and that this must be
eminently the case where there is animal life,
the nerves forming the readiest conductors for
this supposed imponderable. The proofs of
the existence of this ether are said to be mani-
fold, and more especially to be found in the
circumstances that every created thing sheds
an atmosphere around it, after its kind ; this
atmosphere becoming) under certain con-
ditions, perceptible or even visible, as in the
instances of electric fish, &c., the fascinations
of serpents, the influence of human beings
upon plants, and vice versa ; and finally, the
phenomena of animal magnetism, and the un-
doubted fact, to which I myself can bear wit-
ness, that the most ignorant girls, when in a
state of soirinambulismj have been known to
declare that they saw their magnetiser sur-1
rounded by a halo of light; audit is doubtless
this halo of light, that, from their being strongly
magnetic men, has frequently been observed
to surround the heads of saints and eminently

THAT AWAITS US. 407

holy persons: the temperament that produced
the internal fervour, causing the visible mani-
festation of it. By means of this ether, or
force, a never-ceasing motion and an inter-
communication is sustained betwixt all created
things, and betwixt created things and their
Creator, who sustains them and creates them
ever anew, by the constant exertion of his
Divine will, of which this is the messenger
and the agent, as it is betwixt our will and our
own bodies j and without this sustaining will,
so exerted, the whole would fall away, dissolve
and die ; for it is the life of the universe.
That all inanimate objects emit an influence,
greater or less, extending beyond their own
peripheries is established by their effects on
various susceptible individuals, as well as on
somnainbules ; and thus there exists a uni-
versal polarity and rapport, which is however
stronger betwixt certain organisms ; and every
being stands in a varying relation of positive
and negative to every other.

With regard to these theories, however,
where there is so much obscurity, even in the
language, I do not wish to insist ; more espe-
cially as I am fully aware that this subject
may be discussed in a manner much more con-
gruous with the dynamical spirit of the philo-

408 THE FUTURE

sophy of this century : but, in the meanwhile,
as either of the causes alluded to is capable
of producing the effects, we adopt the hypo-
thesis of an all-pervading ether, as the one
most easily conceived.

Admitting this then to be the case, we begin
to have some notion of the modus operand} , by
which a spirit may manifest itself to us, whether
to our internal universal sense, or even to our
sensuous organs ; and we also find one stum-
bling block removed out of our way, namely,
that it shall be visible or even audible to one
person and not to another, or at one time and
not at another ; for by means of this ether, or
force, we are in communication with all spirit,
as well as with all matter ; and since it is the
vehicle of will, a strong exertion of will may
reinforce its influence to a degree far beyond
our ordinary conceptions : but man is not ac-
quainted with his own power, and has conse-
quently no faith in his own will : nor is it
probably the design of Providence, in ordinary
cases, that he should. He cannot therefore
exert it ; if he could, he " might remove
mountains." Even as it is, we know some-
thing of the power of will in its effect on other
organisms, as exhibited by certain strong-
willed individuals ; also in popular movements, /

THAT AWAITS US. 409

and more manifestly in the influence and far-
working of the magnetiser on his patient.
The power of will, like the seeing of the
spirit, is latent in our nature, to be developed
in God's own time ; but meanwhile, slight ex-
amples are found, shooting up here and there,
to keep alive in man the consciousness that
he is a spirit, and give evidence of his divine
origin.

What especial laws may appertain to this
supersensuous domain of nature, of course we
cannot know, and it is therefore impossible for
us to pronounce how far a spirit is free, or not
free, at all times to manifest itself; and we
can, therefore, at present, advance no reason
for these manifestations not being the rule
instead of the exception. The law which
restrains more frequent intercourse, may, for
anything we know to the contrary, have its
relaxations and its limitations, founded in
nature ; and a rapport with, or the power of
acting on, particular individuals, may arise
from causes of which we are equally ignorant.
Undoubtedly, the receptivity of the corporeal
being is one of the necessary conditions,
whilst, on the part of the incorporeal, the will is
at once the cause and the agent that produces
the effect; whilst attachment, whether to

VOL. I. 2 N

410 THE FUTURE

individuals or to the lost joys of this world, is
the motive. The happy spirits in whom this
latter impulse is weak, and who would float
away into the glorious light of the pure moral
law, would have little temptation to return ;
and at least would only be brought back by
their holy affections or desire to serve mankind.
The less happy, clinging to their dear cor-
poreal life, would hover nearer to the earth ;
and I do question much whether the often
ridiculed idea of the mystics, that there is a
moral weight, as well as a moral dark ness, be
not founded in truth. We know very well
that even these substantial bodies of ours, are,
to our own sensations (and, very possibly, if
the thing cou}d be tested, would prove to be
in fact) lighter or heavier, according to the
lightness or heaviness of the spirit — terms used
figuratively, but perhaps capable of a literal
interpretation ; and thus the common idea of
up and down, as applied to Heaven or Hell,
is founded in truth, though not mathematically
correct, we familiarly using the words up and
down to express farther or nearer, as regards
the planet on which we live.

Experience seems to justify this view of the
case ; for, supposing the phenomena I am
treating of to be facts, and not spectral

THAT AWAITS US. 411

illusions, all tradition shows that the spirits
most frequently manifested to man, have been
evidently not in a state of bliss ; whilst, when
bright ones appeared, it has been to serve
him ; and hence the old persuasion that they
were chiefly the wicked that haunted the
earth, and hence, also, the foundation for the
belief that not only the murderer, but the mur-
dered, returned to vex the living ; and the
just view, that in taking away life the injury
is not confined to the body, but extends to
the surprised and angry soul, which is —

" Cut off, even in the blossom of its sin,
Unhousel'd, disappointed, unaneal'd;
No reckoning made, but sent to its account
With all its imperfections on its head."

It seems also to be gathered from experience,
that those whose lives have been rendered
wretched, " rest not in their graves," at least,
several accounts I have met with, as well as
tradition, countenance this view ; and this
may originate in the fact, that cruelty and ill-
usage frequently produce very pernicious
effects on the mind of the sufferer, in many
instances inspiring, not resignation or a pious
desire for death, but resentment, and an eager
longing for a fair share of earthly enjoyment.

412 THE FUTURE

Supposing, also, the feelings and prejudices of
the earthly life to accompany this dispossessed
soul — for, though the liberation from the body
inducts it into certain privileges inherent in
spirit, its moral qualities remain as they were,
as the tree falls, so it shall lie — supposing,
therefore, that these feelings, and prejudices,
and recollections of its past life, are carried
with it, we see, at once, why the discontented
spirits of the Heathen world could not rest
till their bodies had obtained sepulture, why
the buried money should torment the soul of
the miser, and why the religious opinions,
whatever they may have been, believed in the
flesh, seem to survive with the spirit. There
are two remarkable exceptions, however, and
these are precisely such as might be expected.
Those who, during their corporeal life, have
not believed in a future state, return to warn
their friends against the same error. "There
is another world," said the brother of the
young lady who appeared to her in the Ca-
thedral of York, on the day he was drowned ;
and there are several similar instances re-
corded. The belief that this life " is the be-all
and the end-all here," is a mistake that death
must instantly rectify. The other exception
I allude to is, that that toleration, of which,

THAT AWAITS US, 413

unfortunately, we see much less than is de-
sirable in this world, seems happily to prevail
in the next ; for, amongst the numerous nar-
rations I meet with, in which the dead have
returned to ask the prayers or the services of
the living-, they do not seem, as will be seen
by and by, to apply by any means exclusively,
to members of their own church. The atlratt
which seems to guide their selection of indi-
viduals, is evidently not of a polemical nature.
The pure worship of God, and the inexorable
moral law, are what seem to prevail in the
other world, and not the dogmatic theology
which makes so much of the misery of this.

There is a fundamental truth in all religious ;
the real end of all is morality, however
the means may be mistaken, and however
corrupt, selfish, ambitious, and sectarian the
mass of their teachers may, and generally do,
become ; whilst the effect of prayer, in what-
ever form, or to whatever ideal of the Deity,
it may 'be offered, provided that offering be
honestly and earnestly made, is precisely the
same to the supplicant and in its results.

I have reserved the following story, which
is not a fiction, but the relation of an undoubted
and well-attested fact, till the present chapter,
2 N 5

414 THE FUTURE

fis being particularly applicable to this branch
of my subject.

Some ninety years ago, there flourished in Glas-
gow a club of young men, which, from the ex-
treme profligacy of its members and the licen-
tiousness of their orgies, was commonly called
the Hell Club. Besides their nightly or weekly
meetings, they held one grand annual satur-
nalia, in which each tried to excel the other
in drunkenness and blasphemy ; and on these
occasions there was no star amongst them whose
lurid light was more conspicuous than that of
young Mr. Archibald B., who, endowed with
brilliant talents and a handsome person, had
held out great promise in his boyhood, and
raised hopes, which had been completely frus-
trated by his subsequent reckless dissipations.
One morning, after returning from this
annual festival, Mr. Archibald B. having
retired to bed, dreamt the following dream : —
He fancied that he himself was mounted on
a favourite black horse, that he always rode,
and that he was proceeding towards his own
. house, then a country seat embowered by trees,
and situated upon a hill, now entirely built
over, and forming part of the city, when a
stranger, whom the darkness of night
prevented his distinctly discerning, suddenly

THAT AWAITS US. 415

seized his horse's rein, saying, " You must go
with me!"

"And who are you?" exclaimed the young
man, with a volley of oaths, whilst he struggled
to free himself.

" That you will see by and by," returned
the other, in a tone that excited unaccount-
able terror in the youth, who plunging his
spurs into his horse, attempted to fly. But in
vain : however fast the animal flew, the
stranger was still beside him, till at length in
his desperate efforts to escape, the rider was
thrown, but instead of being dashed to the
earth, as he expected, he found himself falling
— falling — falling still, as if sinking into the
bowels of the earth.

At length, a period being put to this mys-
terious descent, he found breath to enquire
of his companion, who was still beside him,
whither they were going ; " Where am I ?
Where are you taking me ?" he exclaimed.

" To Hell !" replied the stranger, and imme-
diately interminable echoes repeated the fearful
sound, " To Hell ! to Hell ! to Hell!'*

At length a light appeared, which soon
increased to a blaze ; but, instead of the cries,
and groans, and lamentings, the terrified tra-
veller expected, nothing met his ear but sounds

4*6 THE FUTURE

of music, mirth, and jollity; and he found
himself at the entrance of a superb building-,
far excee'ding any he had seen constructed by
human hands. Within, too, what a scene !
No amusement, employment, or pursuit of man
en earth, but was here being carried on with
a vehemence that excited his unutterable
amazement. " There the young and lovely
still swam through the mazes of the giddy
dance ! There the panting steed still bore his
brutal rider through the excitements of the
goaded race ! There, over the midnight bowl,
the intemperate still drawled out the wanton
song or maudlin blasphemy ! The gam-
bler plied for ever his endless game, and
the slaves of Mammon toiled through eternity
their bitter task ; whilst all the magnificence
of earth paled before that which now met his
view !"

He soon perceived that he was amongst old
acquaintance, whom he knew to be dead, and
each he observed, was pursuing the object,
whatever it was, that had formerly engrossed
him ; when, finding himself relieved of the pre-
sence of his unwelcome conductor, he ventured
to address his former friend Mrs. D., whom he
saw sitting, as had been her wont on earth,
absorbed at loo, requesting her to rest from the

THAT AWAITS US. 317

game, and introduce him to the pleasures of
the place, which appeared to him to he very
unlike what he had expected, and, indeed, an
extremely agreeable one. But, with a cry of
agony, she answered, that there was no rest
in Hell ; that they must ever toil on at those
very pleasures ; and innumerable voices echoed
through the interminable vaults, " There is no
rest in Hell !" Whilst, throwing open their
vests, each disclosed in his bosom an ever-
burning flame ! These, they said, were the
pleasures of Hell ; their choice on earth was
now their inevitable doom ! In the midst of
the horror this scene inspired, his conductor
returned, and, at his earnest entreaty, restored
him again to earth ; but, as he quitted him,
he said, " Remember ! In a year and a day
we meet again P'

At this crisis of his dream, the sleeper
awoke, feverish and ill ; and, whether from the
effect of the dream, or of his preceding orgies,
he was so unwell as to be obliged to keep his
bed for several days, during which period he
had time for many serious reflections, which
terminated in a resolution to abandon the
club and his licentious companions altogether.

He was no sooner well, however, than they
flocked around him, bent on recovering so valu-

418 THE FUTURE

able a member of their society ; and having
wrung from him a confession of the cause of his
defection, which, as may be supposed, appeared
to them eminently ridiculous, they soon con-
trived to make him ashamed of his good reso-
lutions; He joined them again, resumed his
former course of life, and when the annual
saturnalia came round, he found himself with
his glass in his hand at the table, when the
president, rising to make the accustomed
speech, began with saying, ''Gentleman:
This being leap-year, it is a year and a day
since our last anniversary, &c. &c." The words
struck upon the young man's ear like a knell ;
but ashamed to expose his weakness to the
jeers of his companions, he sat out the feast,
plying himself with wine, even more liberally
than usual, in order to drown his intrusive
thoughts ; till, in the gloom of a winter's
morning, he mounted his horse to ride home.
Some hours afterwards, the horse was found
with his saddle and bridle on, quietly grazing
by the road-side, about half-way between the
city and Mr. B.'s house ; whilst a few yards
off, lay the corpse of his master.

Now, as I have said, in introducing this
story, it is no fiction : the circumstance hap-
pened as here related. An account of it was

THAT AWAITS US. 419

published at the time, but the copies were
bought up by the family. Two or three how-
ever were preserved, and the narrative has
been re-printed.

The dream is evidently of a symbolical
character ; and accords in a very remarkable
degree with the conclusions to be drawn from
the sources I have above indicated. The in-
terpretation seems to be, that the evil passions
and criminal pursuits which have been in-
dulged in here become our curse hereafter. I
do not mean to imply that the ordinary amuse-
ments of life are criminal ; far from it. There
is no harm in dancing, nor in playing at loo,
either ; but if people make these things the
whole business of their lives, and think of no-
thing else, cultivating no higher tastes, nor
forming no higher aspirations, what sort of
preparation are they making for another world ?
I can hardly imagine that anybody would
wish to be doing these things to all eternity,
the more especially that it is most frequently
ennui that drives their votaries into excesses,
even here; but if they have allowed their
minds to be entirely absorbed in such frivolities
and trivialties, surely they cannot expect that
God will, by a miracle, suddenly obliterate
these tastes and inclinations, and inspire them

420 THE FUTURE THAT AWAITS US.

with others better suited to their new con-
dition ! It was their business to do that for
themselves, whilst here ; and such a process
of preparation is not in the slightest degree
inconsistent with the enjoyment of all manner
of harmless pleasures ; on the contrary, it
gives the greatest zest to them ; for a life,
in which there is nothing serious, in which
all is play and diversion, is, beyond all
doubt, next to a life of active, persevering
wickedness, the saddest thing under the sun !
But let everybody remember, that we see in
nature no violent transitions ; everything ad-
vances by almost insensible steps, at least
everything that is to endure, and therefore
to expect that because they have quitted their
fleshly bodies, which they always knew were
but a temporary appurtenance, doomed to
perish and decay, they themselves are to
undergo a sudden and miraculous conversion
and purification, which is to elevate them
into fit companions for the angels of Heaven,
and the Blessed that have passed away, is
surely one of the most inconsistent, unreason-
able, and pernicious errors that mankind ever
indulged in !

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VI.

CASE OF COLONEL TOWNSHEND.

WHILST this volume is going through the
press, I find, from the account of Dr. Cheyne,
who attended him, that Colonel Townshend's
own way of describing the phenomenon to
which he was subject, was, that he could " die
or expire when he pleased ; and yet, by an
effort, or somehow, he could come to life again."
He performed the experiment in the presence
of three medical men, one of whom kept his
hand on his heart, another held his wrist,
and the third placed a looking-glass before his
lips, and they found that all traces of respira-
tion and pulsation gradually ceased, insomuch
VOL. i. 2 o

422 CASE OF COLONEL TOWNSHEND.

that, after consulting about his condition for
some time, they were leaving the room, per-
suaded that he was really dead, when signs of
life appeared, and he slowly revived. He did
not die whilst repeating this experiment.

This reviving "by an effort or somehow,"
seems to be better explained by the hypothesis
I have suggested than by any other ; namely
that, as in the case of Mr. Holloway, men-
tioned in the same chapter, his spirit, or soul,
was released from his body, but a sufficient
rapport maintained to re-unite them.

END OF VOLUME I.

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