Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-02-14
EVENING STAR.
EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCES.

A
obtained the narrative from the Rev Richard
! Watson. He received it from the Rev Mr..
! Mills, minister Of talent, integrity, and high
standing in the Methodist church in England,
and who was an actor in the extraordinary
scene. Nh Watson further informed Mr.
| Summerfeld that he was intimately acauaint-
ed with Mr.. Mills, and knows him to be man
OF the greatest moral worth, and by no means
| cre3ulous:
| Mr Mills had travelled q circuit in England
| in which lived a man by the name Of James,
! with whom, his wife and children, he had
been intimately acquainted, and at whose
house he lodged in passing round the circuit
He left the circuit, after having travelled it
one year, to attend the Conference, and was
again returned to it the second time But in
the intermin an epidemic disease had pre-
| vailed in the place whore James had resided,
and both himself and his wife were carried of
By II suddenly, and within short time of
each other Mr. Mills, however, as usual,
went to his old lodgings, which was then occu
pied by the children, but felt gloomy and dis.
tressed at finding the abode no longer enli
voned by the presence of its former pious heads
who had been his intimate friends and in this
state of mind retired to rest, in the same room
In which on former occasions be had been in
the habit Of sleeping.
Soon after lying down, however, Mr. Mills,
| with coDside derable astonishment, heard, as he
supposed, some persons whispering in an ad
| joining room, into which he Immediately re-
| paired, to ascertain who they were, but found
| no one. lie again lay down and concluded he
must have been mistaken. but the circum
| stances brought to his recollection a rumOr 10
which be had paid but little attention, that
James and his wife had been seen several
| times since their death. While thinking on
| this, be again heard the whispering renewed
| This increased his surprise, and second time
| he aross and searched the room, but with the
same result. lie arose the third time from
the same cause, but after strict search could
find no one. After this he resolved to disre-
gard 1t, and fell into a sleep and heard moth
ing moro The next morning he left the house
without mentioning the circumstances to the
! children, to attend an appointment about
three miles distant; and, as usual dined at tie
house Of pious old lady in the neighbo1hood
OF the place. This woman, though poor and
aged, had always Insisted on the preacher
staying with her, and through respect for her
age and excellent character, they INDUCED
her wishes. She ad PROV ded for Mills fru
gal repast, but declined eating with him, sta
ting that she preferred waiting on him
The old lady was known By the familiar
name Of Nanny, and by this name she was
called by the preachers While Mr Mills
was eating his morsel, Nanny, who was seated
some distance from him, said, "Mr Mills,
have request to make Of you " "Wen
Nanny" he replied, what is it?' "Why "a
said she, 8 that you preach my funeral ser
mon on the next Sabbath" The request a.
tonishcd Mr. Mills, who looking at her with
surprise, said, Nanny, what Is the matter
with you; have you lost your senses 20 'sOt,
no, SIR" she replied, {" know perfectly well
what ain talking about, for l shall die on
Friday at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and
though you will be soIlc miles from this place,
want you to comply with my request, and il
you have ever known any good thing of me-
hof ho
ell it F"
But" said Mr.. II before I promise to |
comply with your request, shall be much |
gratifed if you would inform me how you |
know that yeu will die on Friday, this being |
Tuesday" "Then, sir, will inform you. |
You know that reports have been in crcula- |
tion, that James and his wife have been seen /
in different places By various persons since /
their death" True" said Mr. NJ "but |
regard it as mere rumor." " But, sir" she /
replied, d" saw them this morning." " You |
saw themr' Indeed I did, sir Early this |
m rning, while sweeping the entry, looked |
up towards the road, aud l saw two persons
man and woman, coming towards Il c |
house, who appeared to me to resemble James /
and his wife ceased to sweep, and looked |
steadily at them until they came near to ne,
when I found it really was them " Said |
Mills, Why, Nanny, were you not afraid 30
" Me afraid Mr. Mills" she replied * afraid.
for L knew James and his wife in this world,
and am sure they were good people, and |
was quite certain they had not become bad
since they left it Well, sir, as was saying,
they came up to me and I said. james is
that you ? and he said, Yes, Nanny, it is
me, you are not deceived, and this is my wife"
And L said, james, are you happy ?" and Re
replied, I am, and 30 is my wife, and our
happiness excels any thing we ever conceived
of in this world
But" said 1, "James, if you are 60 hap
py, why have you returned 2'' To which he
replied, "Strange as it may appear to you,
there is still a mysterious tie existing between
US and our friends in this world, which will
not be dissolved until the resurrection, and |
also, Nanny, you know that L and my wife /
died suddenly, in consequence Of which it has
been supposed that had left no will, and in
order to prevent some uneasiness which is
likely to exist among the children, respecting
my property, We have been permitted to re-
turn to the world and inform some person that
L did make a will, and whore it may be found
We went he continued last night to our former
mansion to inform Mr.. Mills respecting the
will, but found he was somewhat frightened,
and therefore concluded not to tell him, but
to see you this morning, and request ycu to
inform ham, as he will dine with you to-day,
for We passed by him on the road and we
knew, Nanny, that you would not be fright
eped !"
"No indeed, James, am not alarmed" L
replied, for L am glad to see you especially
since you are happy" "The will, he said,
{" is in private drawer, in the desk, which
opens by secret spring." here giving full
description of it, which the children do not
know Of, and the executors live in the neigh
borhood. Request Mr. Mills he said, Ito
return to the house after dinner, and he will
find the will, and can see the executors, and
can have things satisfactorily settled in the
family And" said he, NANNY, we are
permitted to inform you, that on Friday next,
at three o'clock in the afternoon, you will die
and be with US !" ooh! James" replied,
" l am vast glad to hear it. I wish it was
Friday now "Well, 4" said he, .'be readv,
for the messenger will certainly call for YOU
at that hour" replied, "don't fear James,
left me
Mr. Mills heard the account with no small
degree OF astonishment, and concluded to re-
turn to the house whence he came in the
morning Without the least difficulty he found
the drawer and will He also saw the execu- |