Washington sentinel., 1854-02-07
The Disappearance Of Mr.. Lawrence.

The Disappearance of Mr.. Lawrence
Nothing has yet transpired to throw any light up
on the cause OF the strange disappearance Of Mr..
Lawrence and the unanimous opinion is, that he
was murdered on last Saturday ight, and his body
thrown into the river. In conexion with this un-
fortunate affair, the following singular crcum-
stance is related from highly responsible source
The veracy of the gentleman from whom we re-
ceived the story is unquestionable, and all the
persons connected with the matter are of the
highest responsibility. The wife of one of Mr.
Lawrence's most intimate friends, who had for a
number of years been on terms Of the closest
friendship with that unfortunate gentleman, is a
mesmeric medium, and her brother is in the habit
of occasionally placing her in mesmeric state
Being at the house Of an acquaintance in LAFAYETTE
on last Saturday night, about ten o'clock, before
any person had the least intimation that any mis-
fortune had befallen Mr.. Lawrence) the company
requested the brother to mesmerize his sister as
many OF them were anxious to see The effects Of
mesmerism. The lady was placed in a mesmeric
sleep; and, on the request Of several persons
present that he would PROFOUND to her few ques-
lions, he asked her, "What do you see sister ~
She Immediately replied: / gee three men en-.
gagged in fight on the levee." "Do you know
any of them q Yes, one Of them is Mr.. Law
renee the others don't know. One is a very tall
man, the other about medium size and these two
men are striking Mr.. Lawrence WHY don't
somebody help him7 Why don't he shoot them
There, now, they have knocked Mr.. Lawrence
down. Good heavens! they have killed him"
What are they doing nowf" 9. The tall man is
taking his watch and the other is feeling in hi.
pockets He is taking some bank bills out of Mr..
Lawrences pocket; now he is taking some gold
They are talking together now; and now thew
pick Mr.. Lawrence up and are carving him 10.
wards the river. Will nobody save him? There.
they have thrown him in. Poor Mr.. Lawrence is
gone"
She stopped talking for minute or so, when
she was again asked !" What do you now see ~
She replied " ] see steamship lying at the wharf
II is about to leave There is great number of
passengers on board and among the passengers
see the two men who killed Mr.. Lawrence and
threw him into the river. The tall one has his
watch; they both better dressed than they
were before" Here the company having become
satisfied with the experiment the brother woke
his sister and when she was informed of what
she had said, she laughed incredulously remark
ing that she rccollected nothing of what had taken
place. The sister Of Mr. Lawrence was present,
and the company were pretty free in passing their
Jokes about the matter; and all were vociferous
in their denunciations of mesmerism as humbug.
Little did they think that the very scene this young
lady had described was actually at that moment
perhaps being enacted, and that Mr.. Lawrence
was then no more II is also remarkable fact
that two steamships sailed for California from the
wharf on Sunday morning. Mr. Lawrence was
NOT seen after leaving his Office, with five or six
nundred dollars in his pocket, at a late hour on
SATURDAY night. No anxiety was manifested by
mis- trends until Monday morning, when, begin
nIng 70 be alarmed, they instituted search for him.
nns NAT ana some other articles, with blood upon
them, were found on the levee, in the Fourth
district. All then remembered the story Of the
mesmeric subject; and mesmerism had more
than one convert IN that company. Was Dumas's
romance of the |" Corsican Brothers all a fiction
~ Q. Della.