The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-SeersCrowe, Catherine
Religion
The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-Seers
Crowe, Catherine
Ghosts; Parapsychology
A German professor lately related to a friend of mine, that, being some
distance from home, he dreamed that his father was dying, and was
calling for him. The dream being repeated, he was so far impressed as to
alter his plans, and return home, where he arrived in time to receive
his parent’s last breath. He was informed that the dying man had been
calling upon his name repeatedly, in deep anguish at his absence.
A parallel case to this is that of Mr. R—— E—— S——, an accountant
in Edinburgh, and a shrewd man of business, who relates the following
circumstance as occurring to himself. He is a native of Dalkeith, and
was residing there, when, being about fifteen years of age, he left home
on a Saturday, to spend a few days with a friend at Prestonpans. On the
Sunday night he dreamed that his mother was extremely ill, and started
out of his sleep with an impression that he must go to her immediately.
He even got out of bed with the intention of doing so, but, reflecting
that he had left her quite well, and that it was only a dream, he
returned to bed, and again fell asleep. But the dream returned, and,
unable longer to control his anxiety, he arose, dressed himself in the
dark, quitted the house, leaping the railings that surrounded it, and
made the best of his way to Dalkeith. On reaching home, which he did
before daylight, he tapped at the kitchen-window, and, on gaining
admittance, was informed that on the Saturday evening, after he had
departed, his mother had been seized with an attack of British cholera,
and was lying above, extremely ill. She had been lamenting his absence
extremely, and had scarcely ceased crying, “Oh, Ralph, Ralph! what a
grief that you are away!” At nine o’clock he was admitted to her room;
but she was no longer in a condition to recognise him, and she died
within a day or two.
Instances of this sort are numerous, but it would be tedious to narrate
them, especially as there is little room for variety in the details. I
shall therefore content myself with giving one or two specimens of each
class, confining my examples to such as have been communicated to
myself, except where any case of particular interest leads me to deviate
from this plan. The frequency of such phenomena may be imagined, when I
mention that the instances I shall give, with few exceptions, have been
collected with little trouble, and without seeking beyond my own small
circle of acquaintance.
In the family of the above-named gentleman (Mr. R—— E—— S——),
there probably existed a faculty of presentiment; for, in the year 1810,
his elder brother being assistant-surgeon on board the “Gorgon,”
war-brig, his father dreamed that he was promoted to the “Sparrowhawk,”
a ship he had then never heard of—neither had the family received any
intelligence of the young man for several months. He told his dream, and
was well laughed at for his pains; but in a few weeks a letter arrived
announcing the promotion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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