^42 



NOTES AND QUERIES. [2nd S. v. 121., April 24. '58. 



being able to offer in confirmation of the myste- 

 rious facts, the following statement, as it was re- 

 lated to me by Colonel H., a personal friend of 

 the general, from whom he had often heard it. 

 While the 33rd, or Wellington's regiment, was 

 quartered in Canada, the officers at the mess- 

 table saw the door open, and a figure pass through 

 to an inner room. He was deadly pale, and was 

 recognised as a brother officer, " Wynyard" by 

 name, known to be then in England on sick-leave. 

 There being but one exit, and as he did not re- 

 turn, some one of the party looked into the room 

 he had entered, but found no trace. Not only 

 one, but all present saw the figure. Some made 

 notes of the incident ; and in the " log-book " of 

 the regiment (if a nautical phrase is admissible in 

 matters purely military) may be read the then 

 written statement of the facts. News of his death 

 afterwards received proved the hour of his disso- 

 lution and appearing to have been simultaneous. 



A striking circumstance, not generally known, 

 but full of import, I may add. Some years after- 

 wards two officers walking in London, one of 

 whom had seen the figure but not the individual, 

 exclaimed, " There's the man whose figure I saw." 

 " No," replied his friend, " it is not he, but his 

 twin-brother." 



An instance similar to the Beresford case, and 

 others I could mention, where doubts had been 

 entertained as to the possibility of a denizen of a 

 higher sphere appearing to its beloved ones on 

 earth, occurred to a friend of my own, and to the 

 companion of his early youth ; who, having ob- 

 tained a cadetship, went to India. His story runs 

 thus : — Several years ago the former was to- 

 wards evening driving alone across a wide barren 

 heath. Suddenly, by his side in the vehicle, was 

 seen the figure of his playmate. He knows not 

 why, but he experienced neither surprise nor 

 dread. Happening to turn his head from him to 

 the horse, and on looking again, the apparition 

 had vanished ! And now an indescribable feeling 

 of awe thrilled through him ; and remembering 

 the conversation they had held together at part- 

 ing, he doubted not but that his friend was at 

 that moment dead; and that in his appearing to 

 him, he was come in the fulfilment of their mutual 

 promise, in order to remove all pre-existing doubts. 

 JBy the next India mail was received intelligence 

 of his death; showing the exact coincidence as to 

 time of the two events, and bringing home at 

 once conviction to the mind of the bereaved. One 

 conclusion is evident from all I have hitherto 

 gathered, that in our future and disembodied 

 state our present identity is retained. 



Your readers may rest assured of the undoubted 

 authenticity of the above incontrovertible facts. 



Obaculum. 



If the tradition in the Wynyard (not Coynyard) 

 amily be correct, the facts of the ghost-story, as 



given by M. E. M., are pretty accurate, though he 

 is mistaken as to the persons. The companion of 

 Sir John Sherbrooke on that occasion was a 

 young officer named Wynyard ; and it was a 

 brother of the latter who is said to have appeared 

 to them in Canada. Sir John did not know his 

 countenance, though of course the brother did. 

 All I can say about the matter is, that I do not 

 believe there was any intentional misrepresenta- 

 tion in it, and that the occurrence was thoroughly 

 believed by those who were alive when it is sup- 

 posed to have taken place, and who had the best 

 opportunities of testing its truth. Cognatus. 



More than twenty years ago I was called before 

 daylight to visit the late Mrs. S., living in Mam- 

 head Cottage, and found her in a most excited 

 state, arising from an impression on her mind, as 

 she stated to me, that she had seen her old friend 

 Mr. Adams, who lived near Totnes, open the end 

 curtains of her bed and look at her, and that she 

 was convinced he was dead. A few hours after, 

 a servant brought a letter announcing his death, 

 at the very time she said she had seen him. I 

 learnt afterwards that her husband had destroyetl 

 himself, and that she said she had heard a pistol 

 shot, and the ball roll along the floor, he being 

 far away. W. Collyns. 



The Beresford Ghost. — Your correspondent, 

 Candidus, will find a correct account of the 

 above in Mrs. Crowe's Night side of Nature. I 

 believe the story is true, having it from a de- 

 scendant of Lady Beresford ; but a box in which 

 a MS. account of the ghost is in, I cannot get at 

 conveniently at present. M, W. C. 



Alnwick. 



^t^liti to M-inax ^utxiti. 



Great Wall of China (2"'^ S. v. 256.)— Your 

 Lichfield correspondent makes some just remarks 

 on the absurdity of Hue's giving out* that the 

 monster wall of China is 10,000 leagues in length. 

 It farther discovers the gross ignorance in Father 

 Hue of Chinese phraseology. 



Wan-li-chang-ching, to be literally rendered, 

 is " 10,000-li-long wall," or properly read " the 

 wall 10,000 li in length." A Chinese scholar 

 of any reading would know, however, that 

 "wan" or "10,000," is an expression applied to 

 various objects, and used to denote something 

 vast, infinite, magnificent, SfC, e. g. " May the 

 Emperor live 10,000 years," or "long live he :" 

 "10,000 ages," I. e. "all generations;" "a tube 

 of 10,000 flowers," i. e. a kaleidoscope. Now, 

 even putting down what your correspondent 

 has suggested as far nearer the truth, i. e. the 



* Hue's Christianity/, vol. ii. p. 201. 



