Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-09-09

III uTcaih VI ySstSimbh"
Thsre are waking aud sleeping dreams.-
There are times when the soul, throwing OF
the letters Of reason and judgment, expa,iaie.
freely through the bouadess fields OF imagina'
lion, and surrendering herself TO the influence
Of fancy, INDUCES in visions Of her own crea-
lion, and ideas that have no archetype in nature
know not how il is with others, but with me
the nature Of these reveries depends much on
the state of The external world. IL is not with
out reason that the Chaste queen OF night Is
supposed 10 have an influence on insanity.
know Though | am no, in the mad house, that
the wilching lime Of night generates my wild
est and most fantastic specula,ions The cold
and silent stream of wan and spectral light
which is shed by The gliding moon now glitter
ing on the rIppiinh aves-now trembling a.
mong the boughs of the forests, the grey mists
rising from the waters, spreading like shroud
over the lowlands and slowly clambering up
the sides of The mountains, the red glare oil
meteor. streaming swiftly through The sky
the clouds OF hor i6c blackness sailing through
the air-the distorted, magoi6ed, and unnatu-
raj appearance Of familiar objects seen iudis-
,ne,ly through the gloom Or by the dubious
and uncertain light Of the on-all conspire
70 rxci,e fearful and sombrr train Of thought,
and 10 fill the mind with wild aud unearthiy
70 my mind an in escribabe sensation Of gloom;
they have an indefinite, undesirable air Of wild
ness which seems TO be the precursor Of some
great and calamiious event. There was such
an evening i'm the mon'h Of april las,--a raw,
hollow wind was moaning among The trees and
the moan was shedding uncertain and hiul
CLEANS from among huge masses Of s'raggling
clouds which were hurrying with wild velocity
along the sky; few patches Of the whie YES
turr Of winter were s,iilIo be seen on the bic tx
ard bare nils-the last visit o. the snow spir
II for the season. | was AT some distance from
the village where reside, and as was has
tenips home on account o! the chillness OF the
wind, and the latencss of the hour, my mind
taking its tone from the state OF he external
world, began 10 busy itself with wild and un>
earthly images, with strange and fearful
thoughts They 4, first passed rapidly through
NV mind, like the wild clouds in the heavens a,
bove, leaving but faint and uncertain impress
sion. bu, gradually grew more distuct, till at
last they settled in the following train -
Me,kought the way was ,hronged with peo
pie who were pressing along in an opposite d.
rection 10 that which was pursuing, with haste
in their movements, and fearful anxiety in
their looks. As the countless multitudes pass
ed BY, they appeared 10 regard me with looks
OF mingled pity and horror. AS proceeded,
the crowd ,hickened, every face was pale with
fear, and every countenance was shrouded in
gloom--ye, still they passed with some deter
mined purpose. I was afraid TO ask the cause
Of the universal perturbation, lest should he
overwhemrd by some terribly disastrous intel
ligence; but al und fined sens Of danger, a
dread Of some mighty and unknown evil, the
more appalling from It's uncertainty, was spring
ing up wi,hin me. | endeavored TO divine The
cause which could have drawn forth these mass
es, but all my cnnjectures could furnish no ade-
qoate soloiion of the problem. There was
something deeply appalling in The very silence
in which the multitude moved on, not a SQUAD
was heard save the ,ramplng of innumerable
feet, and the loud sighings of the wind. Pre-
sently the deep tones Of bell struck on my
ear, its reverberaIinns created an impulse like
that Of an electrical shock thro' the crowd
every face became paler aud every step was
auickened. All at once it flashed on my mind
(and il is unaccoun:able how it should for a
moment have escaped me) that it had been re-
yealed by some superior power, that OIL tha,
night some uDutierab evenl-some unknown
indescribAble- catastrophe, that involved even
more than death Was about 10 take place thro'-
out large section of the country, The dis
tinct mode in which this revelation had been
made i did not know; but there was a con-
sciousness my mind that the warning had
been given, aud certainty that the calamity
would ensue among other known prognostics
Of The terrible event, the bells were to toll Of
themselves aud Of their own accord to stop Gf.
teen minutes before the calamity took place,
and all who by this period reached specified
place were TO be safe from its effects, though
they would learn its nature. could now ac-
count for the surprize and horror with which
the crowd regarded the perverseness or heed.
lessness Of one who had neglected the terrible
warning, as soon as the recollection Of the APP
proechlng CRISIS came TO thy mind, redoubIed
m. speed. dreamed (alas, that il was bu:
dream) that there wss one whose heart and
mind were mu, ually connected by the most ten
der ties: to her home fastened, 10 See whe.
ther she who was all The world TO me had fed
from the scene Of danger. To my despair