The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-03-11

viii and purpose of their own.
What struck me most about all this
when | read it. WAS that ,lr. Cation
should think it strange enough to lay be-
fore the world as curiosity. For all my
life had myself been familiar with phan-
toms of this kind. and without much
thought about the matter. had assumed
that many if not most other people We're
equally at home with them. The golden
spauglcs too used to see when | was
ers OF roses. III my visions they were
transformed into ilocks of sheep running
rapidly down liIl, as in a distant land
scapc. When the sheep got to the bot
tom Of the hill they faded into the dark:
and then the tiny bright yellow spangles
appeared al the top again, to be again
transformed. There was not much in.
trrest in that, however; though | dare
say, since Mr. Cation thinks SO. that as
u visual illusion IL was curious But AZ
TO the faces that appear to my vision in
blIE tItti lldI - filbtntG HidtUtE. AllGI
having been haunted by them in civil
quiet way for many years, still find them
very interesting indeed.
These faces are never seen except when
the eyelidS are closed, and they have 'al
ways an apparent distance of four or five
teet Though they seem living enough,
a
look through the darkness as if traced III
chalk on ii black ground. Color some
times they have, but the color is very
faint. Nothing more than face is ever
seen; and except Tor fraction of mo-
mcnt, perhaps, not all the faces at one
time. Here and there their lines wave,
fade and return as ii drawn with pen
ell of phosphorus: but there is 10 phoS-
phoric appcal ance about them; their gen
eral aspect is as if their substance Were
of pale smoke. These faces i'll the dark
always confront the vision. Only one
have | ever seen in profile; and this also
was singular i'll bearing q certain resem-
blance to some one whom | knew in cal
lite. For Ito me- the most remarkable
thing about these visionary faces is that
while they are always of Il strikingly dis
tinctivc character, they are like none that
| can ever remem Der to have seen in life
or in pictures. Passing through the
streets We see hundreds of people with
unfamiliar faces, Of whom yet we could
not say that We have bGheld nobody like
them before. But occasionally some very
strange, OF striking, on what is called
original face, meets our view and excites
our wonder.
Now my faces in the dark are all of
that character. AS look at them-tor
there they are, plain to be looked at
and ask myself who was ever like that
| lind no answer except in fancied re-
senblance to some Historical or mytholn-
gical parsonage. Possibly, Blake's visions
to his eyes i'll broad day light: am in
cliued to thiuk it may have been SO, be-
cause his wonderful and dreadful draw.
ing, The Ghost Of Flea. is precisel,
such a transcript as | could have made
by the score. had possessed the artist
skill and his memory for transcription.
My faces in the dark are much more Of
ten of men than of women; they are rare
ly quite agreeab e. but they arc all ex-
trcnely interesting ("hen they can be
endured). because they look like the
tleeting nmbodimcnts of some passion or
some mood OF the mind usually not the
best of moods. There are some noble
faces among these apparitions-I rather
mean expressive of Il great nobility; but
| lave never seen amongst them the mask
OF pity, or love, or of any tender emotion.
Grief the most dcspairing, scorn, pride,
hatred. greed. cunning inquiry, envious
or triumphant mockery-ir Blake really
did see these faces either i'll daylight or
in darkness. he must have had much more
than his Imagination to draw upon when
he depicted the passions.
These apparitions are entirely indepen
dent of the will. The gold spangles and
the flock Of sheep l can generally call
into vision when please: but the faces
come and 90 as pleases them. You may
he awake with your eyes closed. thinking
o! the weather, or the last change Of
Government in France. and. as wreath
of smoke might rise, there is face in
the dark. 1t IS useless to seek to retain
it for contemplation. OF to attempt to
recall it wheni it has faded out. This you
may greatly wish to do; for sometimes
the phantom has Il profoundly meaning,
or appealing, or revealing look; but all
your arts of imagination fail to project
it on the air again when it has once died
away. Only for few seconds does it
ever remain. and it never returns. But
what frequently happens is that one face
changes 10 another after the manner of
"dissniving views" And the change is
almost always for the worse. A face that
begins by heirg strange and int, resting.
ends By becoming something awful or
hidenus beyond the power Of description
and the will to describe.
All that need add perhaps is that
though these faces have been my famil-
lars for many Years, they have become
neither more nor less numerous: nor are
they more frequent that have observed,
nor do they change i'll character. They
appear petty often. hut they have never
given me any disturbance, and | do not
knows that their coming aud going de
ponds i'll any measure ON varying condi-
tons of health or ease. Maybe they do;
but il So am not aware of il. Lastly.
that my sight was not weak | must be.
licve since ii has gone hardly through
irving and almost ceaselcss labor from
my youth up.
A DOCTOR ON SMOKING.
w Va laCt t;u,n co.,