Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-21
DREAMS AND SIGNS.
Mr. Beecher Does Not Relieve in JO-
seph's Version OF Jesus,

From he Ne10 Y0r} Times.
81 have stolen like atlief, and / have
murdered men without agqualm Of con-
scjence-in my dreams,n said Henry Ward
Beecher, during his prayer meeting talk
last night. "Yet when have been awake
have carried my sense Of honesty so far
that ! have even gone back and corrected
the mistakes of trHdesmen when they
have given me too much change. some
persons place great stress on a dream.
They take it's iauciful pictures for signs.
What is a dream "A is simply when one
part Of the bfsiIt wakes nap and goes
20 work while the other part continues
sleeping. That is why dreams usually
come 80 near the morning and u alsp eN-
plains the cOntradht0rY CHARACTER OF the
dream ~ compared with the usual train
Of thought and dbpositlonOt tine dreamer.
In reality dreams don't amount TO any
thing. They come neither from God nor
the devil Their origin is in a disordered
stomach"
"But, Mr.. Beecher," interposed one of
his flOck, "Wbat do YOU think OF the dreams
spoken of IN the Bible?'
"What dreamsW asked Mr.. Beecner.
"Josephs dream concerning the infant
Christ"
IL doubt the fact" promptly replied
the Plymouth pastor. "TO my mind such
forms Of prOhecy are very nebulous."
"What DO you think Of John BunYan's
drcam| asked a timid man.
Il think be dreamed il while wide
awake" answered Mr.. Beecher.
The Plymouth pastor was talking about
the power of superstition and the impor-
lance that many persons place upon signs.
Superstition, be said, was a very impOr-
tant element in human life. Combined
with certain degree of moral sense, su-
perstitiOn had been the cause Of all reli-
gious despOtsm. Some persons had "a
morbid dread Of having thirteen persons
sit down TO q table together to eat, lest
one Of the persons should die. What pos
sible connection could there De between
the number thirteen and supernatural in
fuenceI IL was true that one Of the thir-
teen might eat or drink something that
did not agree with him and die, but such
occurrences were frequent at dinners
where there were not thirteen diners. IL
was an old tradition that II you spilled
salt you would be sure TO have a quarrel.
just as though quarreling had 20 be
sailed. There are many estimable ladies
who shrink from wearing Opals because
al opal is an unlucky stone. Mr.. Beecher
knew Of a lady who sold some very fine
Opais for mere song because, as she eX-
planned, she had been unlucky ever since
sha was married. She laid her bad luck
% the 0pals. although there we're prob
ably tens Of thousands Of unlucky mar
ried women who never mad any opals.
The mOonstOne was a sign Of good luck.
A Boston man bought fine moOnstone
and gave il 10 his daughter. A year after
ward he called upon the jeweler who sold
him the stone and said that he wanted an
other one just like it. Il gave that moon
stone to my daughter" he said, land she
got married. Now / want moOnstone
for my other daughter, so that she will
get married" Mr.. Beecher said that one
of the signs that he observed when boy
was never TO creep under the bars TO get
INTO an orchard, but always TO climb over
them. He never saw set of bars now
that he did not feel like climbing over
them.
Abiding 10 signs and dreams spoken OF
in the Bible, Mr.. Beecher said he thought
they would bear careful winnOwing.
Much Of the language of the holy book
was tigurative, and should be considered
in the light Of the prevailing customs and
notions of the people Of Biblical times
For instance, Christ is quoted in the Bible
as saying: "As wise as serpent and as
harmless as a dove" This statement
should not be taken literally, said Mr.
Beeeher, "for we now know positively thai
a serpent is not wise. A serpent has nc
wisdom at all"