The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-10-27
sATRpAY oCTOBER 27 1866

the forerunner of disaster Tue Scotch con
slider that man in very high spirits is on the
brink OF calamity, az the servants in Gan
Manner ing eaid The gauger was feN Words-
worth says that when our minds have mounted
as far as they can In delight it sometimes
chSneetn lnn % thst without any apparent cause they
supports both these theories. Now IL we LOOK q
little closer into the matter, we shall find that
the presentiments which seem TO deceive are
even more genuine in reality than those which
are most simple and straightforward. iiHas-
tmgs" presentment was not the favorable view
he took OF "Gloster'sn mood: though he per-
suaded himself into thinking that twas. Hisreal
preeentimente, as we learn Afterwards, were
nnfavorable, but he would not listen to them
He had made up his mind that all must 90 we'll,
and, IN consequence, he neglected every sign
that bore against his view, and dweit too
strongly on whatever seemed TO support ii.
Presentiments being involuntary and unac-
countable moods OF the mind it is utterly
impossible tor what you observe in another
mans bearing to inspire you with such n feel
ing. You may distrust him involuntariIy or
not be able 10 account for your distrust: but at
the best your feeling is instructive. And this
was not the feeling Of Hastings, for he was able
to explain his confidence in Gloster. Instead
Of yielding to impressions, whose source he
could not divine, but which were too strong for
him, he reasoned himself into other impress
sions, and found his mistake too late stRomeo'sr
presentimentis is of another character, but is even
stronger. III he had known the truth he had
the best reason to be cheerful BY feigning
death Juliet" had freed herself from restraint,
and had sent message to him that he might
bear her away. How was the presentment to
know that her message would miscarry, that
Romeo" would hear another account, and act
without waiting Had he but trusted to the pre-.
sentiment instead of his own rash Judgment,
his tragedy would not have had O tragic ending.
As IL was, the presentiment did all in its power.
1t warned him of something good, and he re-
fused to believe it. But 1t was because he re-
fused to believe the good that evil came on
him, because he thought himself deceived that
he insisted on deceiving himself. You cannot
blame your guide for misleading you, If you Will
not follow his guidance.
NotablyGenough, none of the characters in
Shakespeare do follow that guidance. They
did not believe in presentiments as their creator
did, After all, the question of obedience to
such warnings would seem to be decided by
considerations quite apart from their genuine
ness. In the story have told the only trial of
the old gentleman's faith was q bottle of port,
and he made the sacrifice OF it. But when
man runs the risk of being ridiculous in the
eyes OF the world, of seeming prey to idle fears,
OF breaking up the Senate till another time when
t1lnches from the ordeal. And thus, as preachers
are always telling, the world is too much for US.
We listen to the supernatural voice so long onlv
as the natural voice is silent. To a great extent
this is true; but | hope / have show wn in this
paper that we have some justification. We
cannot safely be guided by presentiments till we
have the means of knowing when they are
genuine. And this We cannot know. But we
can do something towards knowing it, and by
means of that we may steer our course betwe
the Dangers of blind subservience and blind
mistrust. We can examine our reasons for any
feeling, and when we can find no cause, or
shadow of a cause, for joy or sorrow, we may
conclude that something unseen moves us.
Whether we obey it on notis another question-
COrnhiH Magazine for October. ''..7