Books of the Month. 



197 



He Sit down in dramatic form tlie vision of a 

 Christian's death on whicli his imagination had been 

 d«-cllin<^. The writing of it was a sudden inspiration, 

 and his work was hi-gun in January and complet-e<l in 

 Ki'bruary. 18C.3. "On the 17th of January last." lie 

 writi'S to Mr. Allii* in October, " it eame into my 

 head to \\ rit^j it. I really can't t«^ll how. And T 

 wrote on till it was finished on small bits of paper, 

 and I could no more write anything else by willing 

 it tlian I could fly." To another correspondent also, 

 who was fasoiiiate<l b.v the Dream and longed to have 

 the picture it gave still further filled in, he wrote: 

 '■ Von do me too much honour if .you think I am to 

 sii- in a di'eani everything that is to be seen in the 

 subject dreamed about. I have said what I saw. 

 \'arious spiritual writers see various aspects of it; 

 and tinder their protection and pattern I have set 

 down tlie dream as it came before the sleeper. It is 

 net m.v fault if the sleeper did not dream more. 

 Perhaps something woke lum. Dreams are generally 

 tragmcntarv. 1 havi' nothing more to tell!' — (Vnl. 

 II.. p. 78.)' 



HIS THEORV OK LIFE AFTER DEATH. 



(Jill- of the most interesting pages in Mr. Ward's 

 lxx)k is to lie found in the Appendix. It is as 

 follows : — 



AugiLst 2i)tli. 187"). 



A few days ago (on August i!2nd) an old lad.v died 

 Middenl.v— .so suildeiily that her daughter had gone 

 away for a week and she was well enough to enjo.y 

 the gard<'n her daughter say.s "quite suddenly, 

 from the breaking of .sometliing in her lungs." She 

 had a strange dream two nights, or one night befori' 

 sill' died. She thought her daughter, who had diinl 

 ill wedlock ten years since, appeared to her in .shining 

 light, and .said. " .Mother. I am permitted b.v ti(xl to 

 come and speak to you. before you leave the earth." 

 Klie then a.sked ler. ■ .\re you in heaven-' Are you 

 happy r" ■.Vol M't in heaven," she was answeied. 

 " but. <> sii liajiivv ! |{ii.sy, busy for God doing work 

 (i.r l[im." The old mother asked what work!'' ''Not 

 eiii|)lo\ meiits as on earth -we .m-c and kiuiw dif- 

 tcii'iitly. ' and slii' addetl, " 1 cannot tell you nidre 

 than J am peniiittiKl by Gtod." Her mother asked 

 if she knew what passes here, she said, " No, nothing 

 since I left the earth; I remember my own life per- 

 fe<'tly, but nothing after." Tlien she asked by name 

 after her liiisbaiid and children, and each of her 

 brothels iiiid sist'-r.s. This dream left the lady " |)er- 

 fcctly radiant from lieiici'forlli. ' At this linn' she 

 '' .seemed (piite well." 



It seems t« me a \ ei y r<'inarkable dream, as being 

 \i I'v unlike what wnuld occur to a I'rotestant, as the 

 lady was. nay to most Catholics. Fir.st, there is no 

 iiiiiiie<liate inlrodiiclioii into lieaveii for the departiil 

 Miul. Secondly (though nothing is said of iienal 

 siilferiiigl, tlieie is di'linite mention id the (iiniiUliiin 

 iliii.ii luiiliiiii of St. Iti'ih' and various Holy V'irgiii.s. 

 Tliii'dly. there is the mention of employments which 

 cannot be described which i.s a metaphysical thought 

 strange as occurring to an old lady. Fourthly, the 

 .stiitement of the soul's ignorance of what goes on 

 liei'(> is against the grain of I'l'otestnnt. not to say 

 Catholic, anticipations. Fifthly, the vivid remem- 

 biaiice li'oiiteiiipl'ition) of its own |)»st life is not 

 commoiily attiibiilid by Protestants to the separatetl 

 siiid. .\nd si\tlily. there is no sng'^cstioii, which is «o 

 familiar a ihouglil with Protestants, not to say 

 C;itholies. of the ibnil enioying tile Nociety of their 

 iliiid friends. Where did the lluly get the ideas which 

 make lip this die.iin- .\nd then its coming, if there 



is no inaccuracy in the account, to warn he, of her 

 approaching death, at a time when she was in no 

 .serious state of weakness or with other physical 

 intimation of what was coming. 



F am the more .struck with the dream, because I 

 have either long or at least lately held about the 

 intermediate state of all the si.x points I have 

 eiiumeratetl. The first, of course, because it is an 

 article of Catholic faith. The second, since I wrote 

 ill 183.5. " They are at rest,'' etc. The third I have 

 thought about much lately, our dense ignorance being 

 painfully brought home to me by the death of friends 

 lately. The fourth from the silence of Scripture on 

 the sub.ject. Of course the instance of saints who 

 enjoy the beatific vision is not in point. Nor does 

 the ignorance of the departed concerning u.s preclude 

 their praving for us. The fifth, a.s in my verses in 

 1832. " My hope is now," etc. And the .sixth from 

 tlie circumstances of the restirrection being spoken 

 lit ill Scripture as the time when there is a restoration 

 111 all things, and. as we may suppose, a meeting of 

 iiieiids. Before that the di-jiarted. as such, are not 

 members of the hi-avenly "Ctiria." 



Not till then, it eM'U then our duty being, when 

 we lose those who liave been hitherto the light of our 

 eyes, not so much to look forward to meeting them 

 again as to take their removal to fix our thoughts 

 more steadily and our love on Him, who is the true 

 i/over of SoiiLs, recollecting the great danger we lie 

 under of making an idol of the creature iiustead of 

 ilierishing the intimate conviction that God alone 

 can be our peace, jov and blessedness. — (Vol. IT., 

 p. .">l)7-S.') 



Ciinipare this dream and Newman's comments 

 with Mr. Leadlieater's account of the After Death 

 state quoted elsewhere from the Theosophht. The 

 exiierieiice of Newman's ohl lady coincides with 

 that of most of the spirits with whom I have been 

 ix^rmitted t<i communicate, with one exception. 

 T'lii's are nut, as a rule, ignorant of what passes 

 hiMf after tlu'ir death. There may, however, he 

 exceptions, and this may be one of them. Newm.in 

 ividriitlv inclined to lielieve that it was tlie rule and 

 mil ihr exception. 



HIS CONCEPTION OF PURGATORY. 



Here are some extracts setting fdiih his iheiir\ (,f 

 Pui'gatoiy : — 



December -Itli, 187.'>. 



I think wliat a se\ere purgatory it woukl hi", though 

 there wi're no pain at all. but darkness, silence and 

 .solitude, and ignorance where you were, liow you held 

 together, on what you depended, all you know r>f 

 yoiir.self being that .\oii fluni.iht. and no possifde anti- 

 cipation, how long this state would last, and in what 

 way it would end, and with a vivid recollection of 

 eM'iy onii of your sins from birth to deatli, even 

 though you were no more able to sin. and knew this, 

 and though yon also knew you were. 



Or, again, supposing the phenomena of sleep and 

 dreaming arise from the aliseiice of the lirain's action, 

 and the feelile. vain alteinpt of the soul to act without 

 the brain, so that witl'mil a brain one caiimil think 

 consecutively and rationally, ami that the intermediate 

 or jJisenibodiiKl state, before the elect soul gix-s to 

 lienveii, is u helpless drc'im, in which it neitlier can 

 sill on the one hind, any more than when n man 

 sins when dreaming now. but on the otlu-r cannot be 

 saiil to exercise intellect or lo have knowledge. 



