Visions

In one of out magazines there reeen t[y appeared the story of a visión seen by a lady in New-England. Shedreamed thal i young man who was at the time at sea liad lallen overboard and was driiwiH'd. In lier visión slie saw (lic whole scène, heardthestiriek of the falling sailor, and saw his shipmates hurriedly launch a boat and try in vain to Bave him. Soon after, shc learned that at the very hour of hér dream the young man had aetually lallen overboard and lost, li is life. It was a very interesting story, bat unfèitunately, the Captain ót the ship happened to be alive, and had in his possession Che Iog-book of the voyage on which the accident occured. He pointed out that in the lady's visión no allowance was made for the difference in latitude betvveen Uw place where the young man was drowned and the visión was seen. From this it resulted that the lady had seen her visión about three hours and a half too soon, and that she heard the shriek of the lost sailor tlnce hoiti-s and a half before he shrieked. Thus was a beautiful and apparently geniüne visión convicted of au error which must totally destroy its claim to our belief. There are niany stories of the same general character as the one just mentioned, and there are many people who fnlly believe them, and accept their supematural origen. Oíd Capt. Doolittle, of the ship Thomas Barlow, of Boston, was, however, an obstinate nnlieliever in all ghost stories. He was aot naturally of an unbelieving temperament, and he unhesitatingly accepted all the teáchings of his Calvinist ie inother, with the solitary exception of the story of St. Paul's shipwreck. He was accostomed to say of the passage in whicli it is said that the anchors were cast out of the stern, that he "could take that story alongside, but eouldn't hist it in." "Bont teil me," he once said to a well-known minister, "that them Eyetalians didn't know no better Ilian to anchor her by the stern. They're awful ignorant, I grant, but there isn't no able lunatic, let alone an ordlnary idiot, (hal don't know enough to carry li is anchor at the bow." In regard to all stories of information conveyed by dreamshe was equally skeptieal. "When .-i dreaïn," he often said, "will lell a landsman liow to get his latitudeby observatioñs, inchidinghow ïuuch tó add the sein i -diameter of the sun, and whether to add or subtraet his declination, I'll believe in dreams; but not till then." And vet to this hard-headed and incrednlous Captain there carne a visión which even he was compelled to accept as snpernatnral. On the night of the 18th of January, 1841, Capt. .Doolittle was in about latitud 35 , longituaë 43, coming to the westward in the Thomas Barlow, with n cargo of fruit, wine, and such fnmi Barcelona. There was a fres breeze f rom the sonth-south-west, and the ship was carrying all three top gallant sails, and was hauled up close on a liowline, there being a nasty sea at the time, and the glass being low and falling slowly. The Captain tnrned in early, direcfeing the mate to cali hini at 12 o'clock, or soonër, f there should be any change in the weather. While sleeping ieacefully lie saw in a visión a disniastccl bark, with a number of people clinging to her main rigging. He ctmld notsee the vessel's naftie, bnt byher build he took hertobe a Spaniard, and he noticed that slic was very low in the water. Suddenly he heárd i whisper in bis ear: Steer sou'-sou'- west a quarter south," whieh, natwrftlly, awoke him. He found to his surprise tliat lie was alone and that the clock inarked 11, and after wondering at the vividness of his dream he feil asleep again. The dream was repeated, and when he was the second time awakened by the whispered direction to steer southsouth-west a quarter south, he found the mate entering his state-room to notify him that eight bella liad just struck. As there was no change in the weather, he determined to take another nap and to see if he could dream the same thing for the third time. It wás some time bef ore he could get asleep, bnt when he succeeded, the visión returned, and, just as he was awakened the third time by the ghostly whisper, the second mate came down to inforin him that the wind had suddenly hauled to the north-west, and that the glass was going up. Had there been no eliange in the wind, Capt. Dooltttle would not have altered his eourse, bnt the sudden change which would enablehini tosteer south-south-west a quarter south witli a nice beam wind dedded him to follow the direotions given to him in his sleep. He issued the necessary orders, to the great astonishment of the second mate, who ventured to hint to hiscommander that he was running for Porto Eico, and was answered by a stern look, which overwhelmed that presumptous mariner with confusión. The ship was kept on lier ghostly eourse until daylight, and the Captain was beginning to tliink that he had uselessly tarnished his reputation for good sense when a bark, which liad lost her fore and iniz.en maats, together with lier main-topmast, was sishted, It was obviously the vessel whic.h the Capta had seen in his dream, and he simt np his teleseope with a bang and remarked that he would be everlastingly gol dam. On nearing the wreck.the Thomas 1 ia rlinv was lioeto, and the Captain himself boarded the bark. The peojile wliom in his visión he had seen in the ligging were gone. There was not a soul on lioard the vessel, wliich was waterlogged, and had evidently been deserted tor severa! days. On at ion, sne was round to be a slaver on her voyage to t)ie coast of Afrioa, and it was evident that the empty easks in her liold had kept her afloat. All the casks, however, were not einpty, for in an aecessible position in her 'tween decks Capt. Doolittle found a eask of' rum, .which lie conveyed on board Irisship, placed in lus own cabin and found on trial to he the "most, beavenly rum" that he had evnr tasted. To the day of hls death Capt. Doollttle maintained that he was aüpefuaturally led to the BCqpiisíUon oí' tliat rum. Ke bcüevcd in the trutli of his vision, and asserted that it was the most useful visión on record, "'l'licm Dagoa was drowned and that tliere rum was saved for me," he frequently said, and nothing could shake his belief that the discovery of the wreek liad Ixcu ii ei '1 y timed so as to rid him of the Imiilcii ol a company of shipwrecked Spániards andto msure his quiet pos scssion of the "heavenly rum." There, does iiot seeui to be room for the moral of tliis