Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-07-04
From the New York Tribune.

to account for the modus operondi OF
the presentiment. From the very be-
ginning of his Presidency Mr. Lin
coin had been constantly subjected
to the threats OF his enemies and the
warnings of his friends. The threats
came in every form; his mail was in
tested with brutal and vulgar mem
aces, most anonymous. The warn
ings were not less numerous. He
knew, indeed, that indictments to
murder him were not uncommon.
What wonder, then, that his dreams
should be haunted by gloomy pic
lures, generally interpreted as fore
bodings of death.
There are also pTesentlments OF
good, but we hear less of them, be-
cause, as a rule, they are disappoint-
ed. The reader will find no difficulty
to charge the memory with abundant
proofs of the prevalence but also the
unreliability of such presentiments.
Who has not some time in his life
felt, without any apparent cause,
arise in his heart hope bordering
on conviction Of getting rich by one
of those sudden fortunes that aston
ish the world, or of obtaining the po-
sition craved for, or having his salary
raised by his employer or similar
foolish hopes, to be doomed to disap-
pointment? To give only one histor-
zeal example OF good though unful-
filled presentiment: The great Tu-
renne exclaimed: Il do not mean to
be killed to-day" but few moments
afterward he was struck down by
cannon ball.
Surprising, then the occurrence Of
presentiments be firmly established
and the cases as adduced by the au-
thors proven beyond doubt, we can
still discount by good deal the part
played by divination and the super
natural in the phenomenon, Thus,
with regard to the extraordinary
tales told of presentiments on the eve
of battle, it is not wonderful at all
that soldiers and sailors, proverbially
superstitious, should sometimes in
moments of depression conclude that
they would die in the next battle,
and that under the given clrcum-
stances their presentiment should
Nor does the explanation of numer-
| Gus other fatal presentiments require
the Intervention of some so far un-
discovered mysterious power and fac.
ulty of the mind. The human mind
is a strange machine, and when eX'
cited by intense anxiety and wound
up to its highest pitch by despair or
| fear it Is no hard matter to conjure
up those signs and tokens" which
are now considered as sure and fatal
representations of the worst human
calamities. In such a state the or
dering of a requiem by a stranger
may easily become to u Mozart an
omen of sufficient magnitude to cause
his dissolution. And as evil over
takes the majority OF mankind, such
general forebodingD are pretty Ger.
tain of fulfilment. And it may also
be urged that a person thus fatally
possessed may become so careless Of
existence as thereby to insure his de-
| struction.
However this be, the divination of
future events, in ones own or anoth-
er's life, that makes some PRESENT.
ments so remarkable is ultimately
nothing but the result of instructive
reasoning applied to probable events,
a deduction drawn from known facts,
from the motives to be feared or
hoped for. Some temperaments, es-
pecially among women, are capable
of discerning the slightest Indications
that would pass unnoticed by others.
Thus, in great number of cases the
presentiment Is but foresight based
upon q nice intuition of the circum-
stances; what Is taken for an internal
voice Is but well done calculation.
The other cases must be ranged
among the superstitions The great
est Calamities which have befallen
most persons have come without any
warning whatever, except such as
could be inferred from existing situa-
tions. All mankind has had to rely
upon experience, foresight and guild
ance by ordinary sagacity. The oc-
casional fulfilment of dreams, pre-
monitions, visions and so-called inner
voices are at best condolences, and
the only inner voice which, when fol-
lowed, will always lead us right is
the voice of reason.