The eldest daughter--young and beautiful, soon to marry a gentleman of high-toned character, charming manners and large estate--one night, while the preparations were in progress for her nuptials, saw in a vision vivid pictures of what would befall her if she married. The vision showed her: a gay wedding--herself the bride--the marriage jaunt to her husband's home in a distant county; the incidents of the journey; her arrival at her new home; her sickness and death; the funeral procession back to Oaklands; the open grave; the bearers of her bier--those who a few weeks before had danced at her wedding;--herself a corpse in her bridal dress; her newly turfed grave with a bird singing in the tree above. This vision produced such an impression she awakened her sister, and told it. Three successive nights the vision appeared, which so affected her spirits she determined not to marry. But after some months, persuaded by her family to think no more of the dream which continually haunted her, the marriage took place. All was a realization of the vision; the wedding; the journey to her new home; every incident, however small, had been presented before her in the dream. As the bridal party approached the house of an old lady near Abingdon--who had made preparations for their entertainment,--servants were hurrying to and fro in great excitement, and one was galloping off for a doctor, as the old lady had been suddenly seized with a violent illness. Even this was another picture in the ill-omened vision of the bride, who found every day something occurring to remind her of it, until in six months her own death made the last sad scene of her dream. And the funeral procession back to Oaklands; the persons officiating; the grave, all proved a realization of her vision. After this her husband--a man of true Christian character--sought in foreign lands to disperse the gloom overshadowing his life. But whether on the summit of Mount Blanc or the lava-crusted Vesuvius; among the classic hills of Rome or the palaces of France; in the art galleries of Italy or the regions of the Holy Land, he carried ever in his heart, the image of his fair bride and the quiet grave at Oaklands. This gentleman still survives, and not long ago we heard him relate, in charming voice and style, the incidents of these travels. CHAPTER VIII. Another charming residence, not far from Oaklands, which attracted visitors from various quarters, was Buena Vista, where we passed many happy hours of childhood. This residence--large and handsome--was situated on an eminence, overlooking pastures and sunny slopes, with forests, and mountain views in the distance. The interior of the house accorded with the outside, every article being elegant and substantial. The owner--a gentleman of polished manners, kind and generous disposition, a sincere Christian and zealous churchman--was honored and beloved by all who knew him.