Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-02-10

young woman of inferior social condition. Her
parents, by entreaties and threats. induced him
to promise to marry her. His consent was
based on the condition that the nuptials
should be celebrated secretly, and that he
should take his bride away with him. They
started early one morning for q retired church.
and not long after the bridegroom wrote that
they were living In London. In course of time
suspicious arose in the minds Of the girls rela-
tives that all was not right. Her mother finally
dreamed, more than once. that her daughter
appeared to her and declared that she was buried
under the Red Barn, building that stood on
the way to the church. A search was Instituted,
and the missing girls corpse discovered where
the specter had said it would be found. Her
husband was arrested. 1t was proved that he
had lied about his place Of residence, and that
he was on the point of marrying another woman.
He pleaded that he had shot the girl accident
ally in quarrel that broke out on the way to
the church, but, before he was hanged, made
admissions of guilt.
The sudden death Of the profiigate Lord Lyt-
telton at certain hour, In conformity to the
alleged prediction Of ghost, has been accounted
for on the two grounds of the effects of imagina-
ton and secret suicide, but the appearance Of
Lord Lyttelton himself, on the night of his
death. to friend several miles away. has never
been explained away, and is thoroughly attested
Those interested in the details are referred to
Sir Bernard Burke's "Mlscellanies" Still more
remarkable Is the experience of that coolest of
Scotchmen, the late Lord Brougham. When q
youth In college he had discussed the reality
OF apparitiOns and kindred subjects with his
friend G.. Their debates ended with drawing up
an agreement, written in their blood, that which,
ever died the first should appear to the other
and thus demonstrate the reality of another lfe
They soon after separated. G. went to India
and Brougham had almost forgotten him. In
December, 1899 BrOugham, then twenty-One
years old, was travelling in Sweden, and on the
18TH, at In the morning, arrived at an inn
where he put up. We give what followed in
his own words:
81 had taken a warm bath; and while lying
the late freezing had undergone, turned INV
head around, looking towards the chair on
which l had deposited my clothes. as l was
about to get up out Of the bath. On the chair
sat G. looking calmly at me- How got out OF
the bath l know not, but on recovering my
senses found myself sprawling on the floor
The apparitiOn, or whatever 1t was that had
taken the likeness Of G. had disappeared. The
vision produced such shock that had no in
clination to talk about it, or to speak about it
even to Stuart; but the impression it made
upon me was too vivid to be easily forgotten;
and 30 strongly was affected by it that have
here written down the whole history with the
date, 10Th December, and all the particulars as
they are now fresh before me-
He adds his conviction that he must have fall
en- asleep. yet says. 81 could not discharge from
my mind the impression that G. must have died,
and that his appearance to me was to be recev-
ed by me as proof of a future state.r This rec
ord, it must be remembered, was made immedi-
ately after the occurrence of the remarkable
phenomenon. In preparing his autobiography
for publication, under date of October 16. 1862,
BrOugham says:
II have Just been copying out from my jour-
nal the account of this strange dream. Certis-
sima morris Image! And now to finish the
story, begun above sixty years since. Soon after
my return to Edinburgh there arrived q letter
from India announcing G.'s death and stating
that he had died on the 10Th OF December |!
Singular coincidence. Yet when one reflects
on the vast number Of dreams which night after
night pass through our brains, the number of
cOlnCldences between the vision and the event
are, perhaps. fewer and less remarkable than a
fair calculation of chances would warrant us to
expect"
His lOrdship's explanation by means of the
curious word coincidence" is hardly satisfying
There are three factors to the problem: First.
the compact: second. the apparition; third, the
coincidence OF the latter with the time OF death
hen there are three separate points of
''coincidence," the naturalistic solution is much
more than three times as unlikely as where only
one exists.
TO avoid multiplication of Illustrations
though we have long catalogue at hand. we
Shall cite only one, specially remarkable as the
1ulhllment OF duplex dream. Mr.. Russell
Sturgis, the senior partner OF Barring Brothers.
who has Just retired from business. is Russell
the third in the line Of the Old New England
family TO Which he belongs. In his early days
he was merchant in the East Indies, as were
some Of his ancestors before him. One night,
about the beginning of the present century,
his grandparents dreamed that their son, who
had sailed for the far east some months be-
fore. was In the midst of q battle on the deck of
ship which had been assailed by dark-skinned
savaSes. We say grandparents, for both father
and mother were surprised to find that each had
dreamed the same thing. So impressed were
they that they made an immediate record of the
Incidents as they saw them. Some time later
they received letter from their son telling how
his ship. while at the Ladrone Islands, had been
attacked by the piraticai natives who were
driven off only after desperate fight.
Are not ''coincidences" like these and like
many more that might be mentioned, proofs at
least OF workings OF the human mind which can
not be interpreted by the ordinary rules of
psychology? Are they not class of operations
deserving of careful study by those who will
yield neither to superstitious credulity nor hsm-
per themselves by antecedent theories which
necessitate the rejection of all that does not fall
within every day experienced J.TP.