Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-05
If DREAMS CAME TRUE
Most People Would Be Eating Mincs
Pie to Produce Indigestion.
SCIENCE TACKLING THE SUBJECT.
History ID Full Of Forewarnings That Are
Easily Explained
WOES OF A BUTLER COUNTY MOTHER
WRITTEN FOR THE prsPArcH,I

night, born of Indigestion simply?" Wise
Benjamin franklin wrote: eff we can sleep
without dreaming then painful dreams are
avoided. But. if while asleep we can have
pleasant dreams, then it is 90 much added to
the pleasures of life
This would be all very we'll if the system
of superstition, upon which they are founded
and interpreted, did not provide that
dreams 60 by contrariex" Thus to dream
of death, say the wiseacres, gives token of a
! wedding. To dream of q marriage is, on
the other hand, a sure sign of death. So it
would not add much to the pleasure of life
to dream of beautiful and joyous things
when asleep, while holding the belief that
misfortune and events full of sorrow were
thus presaged.
| In all ages Of the worlds history there
has existed the belief that dreams were the
forerunners of notable and portentous
events. By their powers of guessing, OF
divining the meaning of these, the seers
and prophets OF old gained fame and reputa-
tion, as do the fortune tellers of to-day.
Ancient philosophers were greatly con-
cerned and interested in the subject, and
some of the wisest of men were as eager and
ardent in consulting the oracles, as to their
dreams, as were the most ignorant and
superstitious.
Tho Pagans Looked Up to Zeus.
The Pagans thought dreams were inspired
by Zeus, who was reverenced and feared as
the greatest god of Greece. He held in
charge all matters of prophecy, and dis
pensed good or evil to the people as he saw
fit If girl was to be an "old maid'-in
those days fate almost perhaps as dire as
death-she dreamed of weddings and lovers
in galore and the choicest gifts of happi-
ness; but if she was destined to marry and
90 to housekeeping then her visions in the
dead hours Of the night were of cofins,
graves and funerals.
One old lady in the wilds of Butler
county had six of the homeliest daughters
that were ever seen. She had the strongest
desire tor some of them to get married. No
match making mother in society was ever
more determined to have eligible husbands
for her daughters than was this anxious old
mother. But not ore OF them ever had q
beau. The Fates, as appeared, were "agin
it." The good old woman grieved over this
matter greatly, and lamented with tears in
her eyes as she related her dreams as to
weddings and bridal robes and 'infairs,"
which as interpreted meant they would
never get q man, but that some of them
would find rest in the narrow tomb. The
same direful fate was to be read in every
cup of tea and coffee she drank. Not
ring denoting marriage wes ever to be
found, or else, if perchan ce ring ever did
appear, it was always at the bottom of the
cup, which by oracular wisdom means that
a foE rla
girls were good girls, even if not attractive
In form or face, and would have made ex-
cellent wives. They accepted the matter
philosophically as arranged by heaven, yet
they never failed to consult the tea grounds
and to tell their dreams with hope.
Tho World Is Full Of Such
How many people there are in the world
that put faith in such nonsense is impossible
to know, but while only the ignorant and
superstitious are thought to give heed to
them, these old notions are coming even
more into notice, it would appear, than
ever, since the Societies Of Psychical Re-
search are taking up the study of this SUBJ
ject Are dreams of any use? Do they
answer any purpose in practical life? Are
they inspired of heaven, or produced simply
by indigestion? Are they sent as warnings?
Do they presage coming events?
Cicero took great interest in dreams As
Plutarch puts it. he seemed to have some
reason for his faith. 1t appears that upon.
one occasion he had q dream in which he
called the sons of some of the Senators up
to the Capitol because the great god Jupiter
was to select from them q future sovereign
for Rome. The boys passed in review
before the god until Octavius came up,
when Jupiter stretched out his arm and
pointed him out as the future ruler of
Rome-the Caesar Augustus, who alter
ward defeated Pompey and Marc Antony,
and ended the civil wars of the Roman
Empire. This dream was SO vivid, and i'm
pressed Cicero SO strongly, that the next
day he saw the boy on the Campus Martius
and recognized him as the hero OF his dream
On making inquiry concerning him, he dis
covered that he was the son OF Octavius and
his wife, who was sister of Julius Caesar,
and that Cesar, having no son of his own,
adopted him as his heir. Cicero, with his
dream in view, treated the boy with dis
tinguished consideration, and found in him
atterward most powerful friend.
Warnings That Came to Caesar.
Then there is the old story of the omens
and dreams that presaged the death of
Caesar, though it may be noted that his
wite's historic dream did not accord with
the rule that dreams 60 BY contraries,"
but as interpreted meant that, as he had
grown so great, he was to be murdered.
Calpurina strongly urged him, as Plutarch
tells US, not to 60 out that day, or it he
would not regard her dream to seek to know
by some other method of divination some
as to his fate on that momentous
day, when the soothsayer told him to be-
ware of great danger that awaited him on
the Ides of March. These warnings had
some effect upon Caesar, and he decided to
stay at home, but a false friend, who was
possibly in the conspiracy, Persuaded him
that it would be absurd and undignified to
have it announced to the Senate that he |
to stay at home until his wife had |
better dreams, or until some less unlucky |
day. Is it to be believed that these were |
special messages from the gods to save the |
lite OF Caesar? Or is it not more likely that |
the soothsayer perhaps had hints Of the |
Calpurnia was q coincidence, or that it wa, |
the result of the anxious waking thoughts |
that threats Of assassination had fixed upon |
her mind?
The ancients held that if there were gods |
they must take an interest in men. and would |
show them signs OF their protecting care. |
This gave the seers and prophets as good a |
chance to deceive the people as that OF the |
spiritual mediums Of to- day, who pretend to
see and know so much, and yet can tell |
nothing that is useful or valuable.
What's the Use of Knowing?
Suppose, as they sey, that ghosts do re-
turn to earth, that they do give warnings of |
death, that they do act as family banshees,
''white ladies" and "black triars," and
thus furnish the news that some misfortune
is to happen, what good does it do? Of
what avail was it for the "white lady" Oft the
II Hohenzollerns to walk about in the darken.