Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1863-01-30
ror tho journal.


-.-.r- shakespeare. 3
Who can explain the wonderful relation
Of mind and matter in the phenomena o
dreaming, when the body reclnes upon thu
couch, with voluntary action partially or en-
tirely suspended, while the soul, disentangle'
from. its tenement, wanders illimitable? "A
times glorious visions of Immortality arts
before us, as of instantaneous creation, ant
in our ecstatic appreciation of their splendor
the pleasures of long life seem CONDENSED
into single moment. In the realization o
such dreams we "take no note of time."-
Like the Mohammedan who was arrested ir
a trance, as he was in the act of pourin;
water from apitcher, after having been takel
by his angelic conductor through all tn,
scenery Of the Third Heaven, found upon hi
return that the fluid had not yet fallen to tn,
ground. Again, we are scarcely lost in sleel
before we are plunged into unfathomablt
darkness, with all the demons of the inferno
world around us We struggle to escape
and perhaps after what has seemed an eterni
ty of endurance, we awake to find that oul
dream has been but of moments duration
1t seems wisely so ordered; for were the pair
or pleasure of such periods allowed to have
more than brief existence, it might be toe
great strain upon our nervous tissue, anG
thus prove fatal to our lives. Metaphysician:
have written volumes upon this subject, but
after having involved themselves in inexplica
BILE labyrinths, have invariably left the ques
ton just where they found it. More recent
philosophers have ventured to classify dreams
by claiming that some are prophetic, while
others mean nothing at all, being merely the
disturbance of the nervous system resulting
from physical arrangement. An Austrian
countess, while in a clairvoyant state, was
questioned upon this point. She answered
that "dreams which produce vivid impress
ion upon the mind after awakening, are gener-
ally prophetic, or are intended to present to
our view, more or less distinctly, ta6leaur vi-
rants of future events" As singular verif-
cations of such, we would refer to several ar
ticles in Harper's Magazine, particularly, Vol
l, page 52l, and Vol. 2, page 76s. But not
withstanding these curious developments, to
minds the philosophy of dream
ing still remains in obscurity; and although
angels or devils may be permitted to come to
us in our sleep, and make rs conscious of
their presence, we cannot 60 to them. We
cannot step with our mortal frames beyond
the boundry which separates the natural from
the supernatural world, and it is only when
our physical powers are passive that superior
beings have the ability to transport us thither.
THE DREAM.
It was the evening after the news came of
the twenty-nine traitors rising up out of the
slime of Egypt, and protrudi ng their serpent
faces into the legislative halls of the loyal
State of Illinois, attempted by their treason
able Vaccinations to depose the Governor
and deliver the State over to the Southern
Confederacy, that retired at an unusually
late hour.
Agitated and excited by such startling
news, and falling into serious reflections upon
the great war drama that was convulsi ng the
country, it was far into the small hours of
the night before fell asleep. 1t was slumber
but not repose
suddenly found myself in loathesome
and dismal place, surrounded by an atmos-
phere so thick and heavy as to almost stran-
gle me. tried in vain to xtricate myself
[ could not move amuscle was paral yzed
and immovably fixed in one spot !-perfectly
pcwerless in the consciousness of my
own identity, with the mental ability to take
cognizance of surrounding objects, which
gradually became visible as the fog and dark
ness seemed to be dissipated. The light of
an old fashioned oil lamp was the first object
dull and smoking as I had seen
them in days of yore. l soon discovered
that it stood upon a table at which man sat
writing, and so near me that could I have
reached out my hand might have touched
him. A thrill of joy for a moment went
through my frame, for thought that when
he should lift ,his eyes from the paper, he
would certainly see me, and approaching my
awful condition, afford me instant relief. He
ceased writing and raised his head several
times, apparently looking directly at me, with
out taking any notice of me whatever. After
making every effort to attract his attention,
[ gave up in despair 1t was then became
of another singular property of my
abnormal state. Although I possessed
form, tangible and ponderous, was invisi.
bic B.! It seemed like an age that was DOOM
ed to stand before that man, without the pow
er of becoming known to hin !; but in the
was enabled to observe the objects
around me. The apartment was large, ap pa
rently in the upper story Of a brick edifce,
and filed with all the paraphernalia Of
printing Office. Ithen Immediately compre-
hended. The soriter etove me soas the edit
or. Although it seemed to me that 1 was
destined to a total suspension of my vital
powers, yet, from the scene which soon fol-
lowed, had reason to rejoice in being at least
invisible. The door opens A second per-
sonage enters upon the stage! At the first
glance there seemed to be nothing uncom-
mon in the appearance Of the stranger, but
observed, as he entered, a peculiarly suffocat-
ing odor appeared to accompany him, which
thought not unlike that which arises from
sulpher, when used in bleac hirg processes.
He wore military cap, and was enveloped
in a Butternut colored blouse that reached al
most to the ground, with huge pockets, which
with their contents protruded nearly foot
on each side. AS the blouse fell back, reveal
ing his under garments, discovered that he
was dressed in the uniform of Chaplain Of
the Confederate army, be-spotted with blood
and soil, and worn as though it had seen much
service. At that moment became intensely
interested with the stranger, and began to
scrutinize him more closely. There was an
opening in his blouse, in the rear, through
which protruded black and scaly append.
age, full seven feet in length, with rattles at
the end. His dark hair hung in ringlcts,
which at first sight one would think becom-
ing, but discovered, on a closer insp ection,
that they were made up Of great number of
small black serpents, twisted and coiled TO-
LII G.