CURRENT LITERATURE.
The Church Quarterly Review. April, 1877.—This is a good number of a Review which is evidently written and edited by men of great scholarship. The original paper on "Justin Martyr's Epistle of Diog- netus and the Oration to the Gentiles" will attract the attention to all who are interested in the questions of authenticity raised as to the hooks of the early Fathers. The paper on "Pantheism," though cover- ing, perhaps, too great a surface for the most effective treatment of such a subject, is very thoughtful, as well as very learned ; and the paper on "The Relation of Mind and Body" is thoroughly candid, and evidently written by a competent physiologist,— per- haps, indeed, by one who sees the physiological aspect of the pro-
blems he discusses even more vividly than he sees the psychological side of them. We think he concedes too much, and takes ground lose strong than he might. The paper on the " Other World " will be thought credulous by many, but it contributes one first-hand story to the very large number of authentic stories which testify to appearances of a dying man at the moment of death to distant friends, and one which our readers may like to have:—
" The fact is that this class of what are called 'ghost stories' is so numerous, and so thoroughly well authenticated, that the hesitation would rather be as to whether they be properly supernatural at all. We mean that the question arises whether it may not be possible in the nature of things—under certain circumstances—for the departing spirit to manifest itself to distant friends at the instant, the fleeting moment, of transition from this world to the other? If any one replies, if so, why is it not even more common? our answer is easy. There are numbers of things quite natural which ate much snore uncommon than the well- ascertained instances of this class of event. In the house in which these pages are written, a tall and wide staircase-window, with a northern aspect, throws a strong side-light on the entrance into the chief living. room, which stands at the end of a passage running nearly the length of the house. It was after midday, in midwinter, many years since, that the writer left his study, which opens into the passage just men- tioned, on his way to his early dinner. The day was rather foggy, but there was no density of vapour, yet the door at the end of the passage seemed obscured by mist. As he advanced, the mist, so to call it, gathered into one spot, deepened, and formed itself into the outline of a human figure, the head and shoulders becoming more and more distinct, while the rest of the body seemed enveloped in a gauzy, cloak-like vestment of many folds, reaching downwards so as to hide the feet, and from its width, as it rested on the flagged passage, giving a pyramidal outline. The full light of the window fell on the object, which was so thin and tenuous in its consistency that the light on the panels of a highly varnished door were visible through this lower part of the dress. It was altogether colourless, a statue carved in mist. The writer was so startled, that he is uncertain whether he moved forward or stood still. He was rather astonished than terrified, for his first notion was that he was witnessing some hitherto unnoticed effect of light and shade. He had no thought of anything supernatural, till, as he gazed, the head was turned towards him, and he at once recognised the features of a very dear friend. The expression of his countenance was that of holy, peaceful repose, and the gentle, kindly aspect which it wore in daily life was intensified (so the writer, in re- calling the sight, has ever since felt) into a parting glance of deep affection. And then, in an instant, all passed away. The writer can only compare the manner of the evanescence to the way in which a jet of steam is dissipated on exposure to cold air. Hardly, till then, did he realise that be had been brought into close communion with the supernatural. The result was groat awe, but no terror, so that instead of retreating to his study, he went forward and opened the door, close to which the apparition bad stood. Of course he could not doubt the import of what he bad seen, and the morrow's or the next day's post brought the tidings that his friend had tranquilly passed out of this world at the time when he was Peen by the writer. It must be stated that it was a sudden summons ; that the writer bad heard nothing of him for some weeks previously, and that nothing had brought him to his thoughts on the day of his decease."
Altogether, this is a very good number.
Previous page
