Year: 1871




quasisupernatura histories which treat of
presentiments realized, Of dreams fulfilled,
of words lightly spoken, but carried out
in manner that the speaker little expect
ed. A list of such stories is at every
body's fingers ends; but it has been my
lot to meet with several instances, of an
other class of stories, much less frequent
ly commented on, but to my mind even
more curious; cases, mean, in which a
peculiar warning has been-all but and
yet not quite-borne out by subsequent
events so that the intimation could not
be passed over as altogether trivial, and
yet missed its mark. Several such occur
rences have been related to me by wit
nesses in whose testimony | have full con-
fidence, and I will proceed to give them
without further preface:


Doctor J., a retired Nhysician in deli
cate health, resided, some years ago, in
one of the principal towns in the west of
England. He was one night seized sud
denly with violent illness, and within
an hour or two was pronounced to be in
hopeless state. Doctor J. being
Roman Catholic, the Reverend Doctor
", a priest of that communion, was sent
for to administer the last rites of religion
and, soon finding that his presence could
be of no further use to the unconscious
sufferer, he bethought himself how he
could best procure female companionship
for the poor wife, who was quite stunned
by the sudden blow. With this intention,
he fastened, in the early morning, to the
house of an excellent elderly lady, pious
member of his congregation, and IA friend
of Mrs. j. The lady had not yet left her
room, and he simply sent up word that
he wished to speak to her. In few mo-
ments she came hurrying into the room,
with every appearance of agitation,
and, before he could explain his sad er-
rand, she seized his hand breathlessly, ex.
claiming 20 Doctor ", how thankful
am to see you / have had the most
frightful, vivid dream about Doctor and
Mrs. J. p 81 dreamed that I went to
call at their house. and that Mrs ]. came
down to meet me in widows cap, with
her face all swollen with tears, and she
said to me 0 Mrs NJ. my dear hus
band is just dead and he desired me to
say that you will be the next "And
how did you tell her ?" Doctor VS. au-
ditors were wont to ask at this part of
the narration; to which the reverend
gentleman invariably answered, 81 dare
say it was very cowardly, and dare say
it was very foolish but did not tell her
at all: bolted !"


So far the story is like many another
tale of the marvellous, but the usual Sc
quel is wanting for though Dr. J. died,
Mrs. NJ lived on for many years and
certainly was not " the next unless in
some mysterious sense confined to the
world of spirits.


In the early days of our New Zealand
colony, Mr.. F., younger son of an Eng
lish peer, settled there with his family.
Having hurt his arm, he was advised to
try rest and change of air, and accord
ingiy he set out for trip to the other
island, leaving his young wife, whose nu-
merous and constantly increasing nursery
duties kept her at home. The time fixed
for his return was drawing near, when
Mrs. T. was one night awakened by a
scream from her eldest child, little girl
four or five years old, who was sleeping
in the same bed with her mother. The
child had awakened suddenly in par
oxysm of terror, and for some time no
soothings were Of any avail; all she
would do was to point persistently to one
corner of the room, while she sobbed
out, Oh poor papa . poor papa all
dripping with water! all dripping with
water !"


Of course, she was first petted and
then laughed at, scelded for silly little
girl and assured that papa could not DOS
sibly have been there; but when Mrs P.
reflected that her husband was probably
at that moment on the sea, it is not to be
wondered at that she felt her heart grow
sick with anxiety. A few DAYS later, as
she and her children were sitting down to
breakfast, she saw one of their few neigh
bors riding up to the door, That he
should have come away from his home
in the busy morning hours betokened
something unusual, and no sooner had
she looked in his face than she exclaimed:


Tell me at once, my husband is
drowned!' How did you know?" he
responded, thus confirming her fears; and
he handed her copy of a local newspa-
per, in which she read that the steamer
by which her husband had intended to re-
turn had foundered at sea. The date tailed
with her child's dream, and that circum-
stance seemed to her conclusive; SO
that when her friends tried to
point out to her that there was
no proof of her husbands death
she only answered that she had received
fearful warning, and gave herself up to
her sorrow. At the end of a few days Mr.
L. quietly walked in, and was astonished al
the agony of almost terrified joy with
which his arrival was greeted It was by
the merest chance that he had not been
in the lost vessel; he had taken his pas
sage, and had actually gone on board
when he was struck with the extreme
lowness of the bulwarks, and thought
that, should there be bad weather, he
with his still helpless arm, might be il
some danger OF being washed overheard
lie therefore returned to shore and ar
ranged to come by the next ship instead
30 there the story ends, except that We
Will hope that no time was lost in admin
istering dose of physic to the trouble
some little dreamer


The next story, perhaps, ought hardly
to be placed in the same category witt
the others, since it is possible that the
warning may have prevented its own full
fillment.


My great at-grandmother was an actiy.
Lady Bountiful to very rustic country
population, over whose affairs, tempora
and spiritual, she exercised benevolent
if slightly tyrsnnical, sway. Among he
most frequent pensioners was Soft Billy
as he was called; poor, halfwitted lad
generally quite harmless, but subject t.
occasional fits of temper, in which he wa
hard to deal with. One night she dream
ed that she was walking along lane il
the neighborhood, when, from gap il
the hedge, Soft Billy suddenly jumpe,
down into the path before her, brandisll
ing reaping-hook His flaming eye
and distorted face showed that his darl
hour was upon him, and in anothe
second he had flown at her, his finger
were gripping her throat with deadl
strength, the steel flashed before her eyes
the very bitterness'of death was rushin
over her, and she awoke; awoke quiverin
all over, the cold Precipitation standing O
her forehead, and her heart beating
s'1ffocation. 1t was long before she coul
force herself to meet Soft Billy, even i
the presence of others, andfor months sh
avoided the lane which she had traverse
In her dream. At last, some sudden cas-
of distress in the village called for he
presence, some sick child was to be phy,
licked, or some wife-beating husband t


be brought to book, and my grea


grandmother set forth, never recollectin


till she had gone some distance, that sI


must inevitably pass through the dreade


lane. On she went, laughing at her ow


I II =.