The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-09-16
Grfisirg. statr Suisrisat.
SATURDAY EVENING, SEPT. 1e, 1871.
Very Remarkable Case,

A citl2cn OF Fluvanna county, Virginia
communicates to tho New York Herald a
account of a mostrcmarkable series of psy
Geological phenomena, and says tho fact
can be substantiated by citizens Of tn
highest position and responsibility. a
young lady of seventeen, daughter of
well-to-do farmer is the person credited will
the demonstration of wonderful powers @
mind. AT very early age she exhibited
appearances of remarkable intellectual pre-
cocity, but with increasing years the looked
for corresponding development of hel
mental faculties did not seem to follow
and at the present time, it is stated, tha
her talents are rather of a mediocre stamp
Although her education has not been exact.
ly neglected, it embraces but the simplest
branches Of ordinary American scholarship
The narration proceeds thus:
g For the past eight months the young wo.
man has been subject, at irregular intervals
to singular spells, partaking at first of the
unmlstakable nature of epilepsy, then SUBJ
+ siding quietly into the anomalous condition
denominated trance. And herewith are
connected the extraordinary features of her
case. have often heard and read of cases
IN some points analogous to this one, but
never OF one SO wonderful or SO near at
home. The former have always purported
to have occurred away off at distance,
and under circumstances alike adverse to in
vestlgation, and have usually regarded
SUCH stores as mere romances. But here
Is a case directly within my own ken, and
OF such manifest truthfulncss that it IS inn
possible to either ignore it or cry it down
as humbug. 81
The spells come upon the young lady
without any premonitory symptoms what
ever, save that sometimes she EXPERIENCES a
fuliness of the head, occasionally amounting
to slight headache; otherwise they are
quite sudden, and unattended by any pecu-
liar physical phenomena. For instance.
she Will lie down on the bed and apparent-
~ subside into gentle dose. lu a few
minutes she will begin to murmer--some-
what Incoherently at first-but presently,
IN flow of language, beautiful indeed, she
Will sustain on her part u most animated
and brilliant conversation with persons
known to be at a great distance and whom
she has never seen--some of whom, proba-
bly,, she has never heard of. From the
style and connection alone can it be deter
mined who these persOnages are, and, after
few minutes it is never difficult TO recog-
nize them. Singularly enough, for the most
Inthe political world. Thus she has several
times interviewed" tho Sultan of Turkey.
1T being impossible for the by-standers to
mistake whoi it was to whom she was sneak
ing. Local circumstances and conditions
the most exact; personal matters in detail.
so recognized by those who have seen and
heard; affairs of government, especially in
connection with the recent troubles between
fha. hnJ l..
slons to the Serial and its inmates the stu
alton, shrubbery, baths, occupation. &C..
OF certain palaces and kiosks on the Bos-
phorus and Golden Horn; the conduct of
government officials-all come within the
scope Of her most beautiful and eloquent
rhapsody in presence of the Sultan. to-
gether with innumerable illusions to little
parenthetical trilles-all together, apparent-
ly, would leave no possible doubt as to her
actual presence in spirit (if such q thing NAV |
beg with the Sultan.
The strangest part of it all is, that, on |
ordinary occasions-at all times save when
these Pytbian inspirations are upon her |
she appears not to take particle of inter- !
est in any of these things, and beyond the |
mere existence of the Sultan of Turkey |
she cannot possibly have any knowledge |
whatever of him or his surroundings. She
comes to herself always with long-drawn |
sigh of apparently supreme relief. And, |
indeed, during the entire weird interview, I
there is an expression of earnest anxiety,
almost of distress, on her features, as !
though yet obliged to abide the infection. !
The spell usually lasts from three-quartcrs |
of an hour to an hour and half and af-
ter it leaves her, she seems entirely uncon-
scious that anything extraordinary in her
regard has occurred, and invariably she is
hungry.
At another inc-though his Paynim
Majesty seems to be decidedly her favor
ite-she will suddenly divert from him to
Prince Bismarck or the Kaiser Wilhelm,
often in eloquent and pathetic depreciation
OF further humiliation of ''poor France"
and with such natural tone and gesticula-
ton as we'll nigh to impress the by-standers
that those high personages are really pre- :
sent, while the beautiful simplicity and
courtly purity of her language and address
astound and bewilder those who have
always known her for a plain and retiring
creature, who could scarcely trust
herself to the enunciation of the simplest
independent proposition in the overpower-
ing presence of her father and 'scousin
WILL"