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what similar vaticination was uttered by Coleridge in 1809, respecting the probability of the Spaniards achieving success in their resistance to the French Emperor, for which he was set down jocosely

"And thanne shal the abbot of by Lord Darnley as deranged, so hope

Abyngdone,

"And al his issue for evere,
"Have a knok of a kyng,
"And incurable the wounde."

Vision, vv. 6239-63.

Two centuries elapse, and the forgotten prophecy is fulfilled; a king with a decided propensity for "knocking" in all its branches is seated on the English throne, and the Abbot of Abingdon and his brethren duly receive the "incurable wounde," commonly called "the Suppression of the Monasteries," and disappear for ever. Here, too, as in the Roman augury, the effect of the coincidence is much heightened by the simplicity of the case, and the impossibility of any trickery being employed to bring

about the result.

A few cases of more recent occurrence may be cited, but they rarely rise much above the level of lucky hits, or are expressed in language too general and vague to cause any great surprise at their fulfilment. Perhaps the best specimen of the kind is the well-known prophecy by Lord Chesterfield, of the coming on of the French Revolution. Writing in April, 1752, to his son, he says, "But this I foresee, that before "the end of this century, the trade of "both king and priest will not be half "so good an one as it has been. Du"clos, in his reflections, has observed, "and very truly, 'qu'il y a un germe "de raison qui commence à se développer ""en France.'

Two

less did their chance then seem.
years, however, passed away, and then
the philosopher's turn came to put the
question as to relative sanity to his
Lordship, who admitted his mistake,
but endeavoured to turn the edge of the
retort by calling it "a bold and lucky
guess." This, however, Coleridge dis-
tinctly repudiated, showing that the
unexpected result of the contest was
nothing but a necessary consequence of
certain principles which he had enun-
ciated, and which he had deduced from
a profound consideration of antecedent
history. In direct contrast, however,
to these dignified speculators, comes the
Zadkiels, and the like of the present
immortal ancestor of the Raphaels, the
Zadkiels, and the like of the present
day-William Lilly, whose career as
astrologer, almanack-maker, and seer,
coincides with the Civil War, the Pro-
tectorate, and the earlier part of Charles
the Second's reign, and whose fame
rested partly on two capital successes,
but more truly on his superior tactics,
and the sagacity with which he avoided
committing himself in cases where to
have been right would have perhaps.
excited little attention, while a blunder
would have been fatal. However, not
to be unjust to the astrologer, let it be
recorded, that in his Anglicus for June,
1645, he backed the chances of Parlia-
ment by a prediction that, if they fought
that month, the victory would be theirs;
and Naseby followed on the 14th, to

confirm the words of the seer.
A développement that

"must prove fatal to regal and papal

"pretensions." The limitation of time is here the element in the prognostication which arrests the attention; put ting this aside, the rest might have been uttered by any Lyndhurst of that time who could look below the surface of things, and interpret the signs of the times in a philosophic spirit. A some

1 Nuns. No. 10.-VOL. II.

Here

the event trod so close on the heels of the

prophecy as to detract somewhat from

different, and was justly regarded by the effect; but the next case was very him as a piece of luck he was not likely to improve upon, and after which he might gracefully shut up shop and retire into private life. In a work of his, published in 1651, entitled, "Monarchy and No Monarchy in England, Grebner's prophecy concerning Charles the Son of

Y

Charles," it appears that he had indicated the 3d of September, 1666, as a day favourable for the expiration of monarchy; a lucky and highly antimonarchical planet being then in the ascendant. On the basis of this prophecy, and with a view to ensure its fulfilment in the most exact manner, a plot was actually formed by a number of old soldiers and officers who had served in the late rebellion, for killing the King, and overthrowing the Government; and the surprisal of the Tower and the firing of the City were to form prominent parts of the scheme. The plot, however, came to light in April, 1666, and the confederates were found guilty of high treason; yet, notwithstanding this awkward interference, the stars (or, not to be calumnious, "the star") got the ill-favoured design executed, at any rate, cy près, as the lawyers say, by causing the fire of London to break out on the 2d September, 1666; which Mr. Pepys,1 who records the circumstance, not unreasonably sets down in his diary as "very strange, methinks." Prophecies of this kind, however, are usually supposed to have a considerable share in bringing about their own fulfilment a remark which applies with some force to that last cited, and to one said to have been recently current in India, that our rule there was destined to last a century, and then to come to an end. Reckoning from the date of the great battle of Plassey, which was fought on the 23d June, 1757, a century carries us on to that fatal year, when it seemed as though the manes of Surajah Dowlah were to be avenged, and that the work of Clive would have to be done over again. There were, however, sufficient signs of preconcerted action, the meaning of which became clear enough after the event, to render it highly probable that the outbreak of the mutiny was purposely timed so as to accord with the old prediction, which was thus artfully made subservient to its own accomplishment.

On the other hand, it is but fair to mention the case reported by the author 1 Diary, Dec. 13, 1666.

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of Eothen, to whom Lady Hester Stanhope, on the occasion of his paying her a visit at her castle near Beyrout, foretold that, on leaving her he would go "into Egypt, but that in a little while "he would return to Syria." The object of this prophecy secretly set down the last part of it as a "bad shot," his plans having been otherwise arranged; but destiny, as he says, was too much for him, and, owing to the plague and the necessity of avoiding a quarantine detention, he was forced to retrace his steps across the desert, after visiting the Pyramids, and came back to the mountains of Lebanon, just as the weird woman had foretold. And, if our space permitted, we might add several well-authenticated instances of that presentiment felt by some respecting the duration of their lives, or the particular day of their decease, which is said to have possessed Bentley and Nelson so strongly, and which was certainly in each case verified by the event. There is a sort of anticipation of this in Homer, who frequently makes his heroes, when in articulo mortis, predict the speedy doom which should overtake their conquerors: thus Patroclus tells Hector to consider himself "fey," to use an old English word; and Hector in his turn attempts to damp the triumph of Achilles by a similar expedient. But it is time to refrain.

In what precedes we have brought together a number of instances in which coming events have cast their shadows before them with such distinctness as to render possible the construction of the true figure from the dim and evanescent outlines of the projection. They are of all degrees of importance, ranging from the low level of the mere lucky guess up to a point where it is difficult to avoid recognising the secret influence of a mysterious and peculiar agency. It must surely be possible to add largely to the handful of cases here presented to the reader; and it can hardly be doubted that such a collection, duly classified and sifted, would yield results not without value either to psychologist 2 Page 100, Fifth Edition.

or historian. Whatever the scepticism of our time may assert, such an omen as that of the Twelve Vultures, and the prediction involved in it, cannot be explained away by any of the ordinary expedients; and, if a sufficient number of parallels could be adduced, these, supported by the admitted fact of the possession of true prophetic powers by idolatrous and heathen nations, might not improbably tend to the more complete elucidation of the nature of those mental states or conditions, the existence and reality of which must be assumed in any theory of prophetic utterance. And we are convinced that the Scrip

tural prophecies would gain a decided advantage by being thus brought into direct contrast with the élite of their rivals. Until some such investigation be made in a reverent yet independent spirit, and until the numerous claims that have been advanced in different ages to the possession or on behalf of the various possessors of this power, have been fairly appraised and weighed, so long must we be content to feel that the edifice of our faith wants a buttress which it is in our power to erect for its support, but which, from a certain deficiency of moral courage, we are timidly led to withhold.

THOMAS HOOD. BY THE EDITOR.

HOOD was born in London in 1799, the son of a bookseller in the Poultry. He was educated, till about his fifteenth year, at private and day-schools in or near London. His father died in 1811, leaving a widow and several children, all of whom, except Thomas, were cut off early by consumption. His health. also was very delicate from the first; and, after being for some little time in a London merchant's office, he was sent alone, at the age of fifteen, for change of climate, to Dundee, which was his father's native place. Here he found himself in the midst of a bevy of Scotch relations-aunts, uncles, cousins, and others of whom he had never heard before, and whose ways and dialect were as strange to him as his were to them. "It was like coming among the Struldbrugs," he says, alluding to the venerable age of some of these newly-discovered relatives. He passed about two years in Dundee,-engaged in no particular occupation, but recruiting his health by walking, fishing, boating, &c. It was here, too, that he first tried his hand at literature-contributing some trifles to a newspaper and a magazine of the town. Returning to London at the age of seventeen, he was apprenticed to his mother's brother, Mr. Sands, an engraver. With him and with another

engraver, to whom he was transferred, he remained several years, with every prospect that engraving was to be his profession. But an event in which he could not have supposed beforehand that his own fortunes would be in the least degree concerned, suddenly changed the tenor of his life. In the beginning of 1821, Mr. John Scott, the Editor of the "London Magazine," was killed in a duel; and, the magazine passing into the hands of new proprietors, who were acquainted with Hood, and had been acquainted with his father, he was engaged to assist the Editor. He was then twenty-two years of age. For about two years he wrote little pieces for the Magazine; his connexion with which introduced him to many, if not all, of the brilliant men who were then its contributors-Charles Lamb, Allan Cunningham, Hazlitt, Horace Smith, Talfourd, Barry Cornwall, De Quincey, Cary, John Clare, Hartley Coleridge, &c. With Lamb, in particular, he formed an intimacy which lasted till Lamb's death, and which, as Lamb was twenty-four years his senior, must have had considerable influence on his literary tastes. At Lamb's house, in addition to the persons named, he met both Wordsworth and Coleridge.

In 1824 Hood married a Miss Reynolds.

By this time the "London Magazine" had again changed hands; and Hood, ceasing connexion with it, but still living in London, began to write more miscellaneously. In 1825 he published, in conjunction with his brother-in-law, a little volume of humorous "Odes and Addresses to Great People," In 1826 there followed, under Hood's own name, the first series of "Whims and Oddities," consisting of a selection from his previous writings, with additions; and a second series appeared in 1827, dedicated to Sir Walter Scott. In the same year appeared two volumes of "National Tales," or short stories in prose; and a volume of serious poetry entitled "The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies, Hero and Leander, Lycus the Centaur, and other Poems." In 1829 Hood edited a periodical called "The Gem," and here he published his poem of "Eugene Aram." By so much varied writing he had become, in his thirtieth year, well known in the circle of metropolitan men of letters.

His

health being still precarious, he removed in 1829 to a cottage at Winchmore Hill, not far from London; and here he resided about three years, making frequent trips, for the benefit of sea-air, to Brighton, Hastings, Margate and other places. In 1830 he published his first Comic Annual-continued, as a Christmas publication, in successive years till 1837. The "Annual," with casual contributions to other periodicals, and a little writing for the stage, occupied him till 1832, when he removed from Winchmore Hill to a quaint but inconvenient old house near Wanstead in Essex. Here he completed his novel of Tylney Hall, and wrote a comic poem called The Epping Hunt, published with illustrations by Cruikshank.

The failure of a publishing firm having involved Hood in pecuniary difficulties, he resolved in 1835 to leave England and reside on the Continent. Going over in the March of that year, he fixed on Coblenz on the Rhine as the most suitable place for his purpose. Hither his wife followed him with their two surviving children-a girl about five

years of age, and an infant son. During about two years Coblenz continued to be the head-quarters of the familyHood working at his "Annuals," and sending over the copy by very uncertain carriage to London; corresponding also with friends in England-especially with Mr. Dilke, and a Dr. Elliot of Stratford; amusing himself with fishing and with the observation of German character; making one or two acquaintances with English-speaking Germans, among whom was a friendly and intelligent Prussian officer named De Franck; but, on the whole, out of his element, and harassed by almost constant illness, aggravated by the discomforts of German housekeeping and the rough handling of German doctors. Disgusted at length with Coblenz, he removed, in the middle of 1837, to Ostend-convenient as being more accessible from England. At Ostend he resided with his family for three years-varied by two trips to London, and by visits from English friends. In 1838, which was the last year of the Comic Annual, he commenced in its stead the monthly miscellany known as "Hood's Own," consisting chiefly of selections from his former writings, but containing new pieces and illustrations by himself. From Ostend he also sent over the copy of his " Up the Rhine," a satire on German manners and English travellers, which he had begun at Coblenz.

In 1840, after five years of expatriation, he judged it prudent to return to England. The family took a house in Camberwell; and Hood, rather in worse health than before, became a contributor to the New Monthly Magazine, then edited by Theodore Hook. One of his contributions to the Magazine was his poem of "Miss Kilmansegg." On the death of Theodore Hook, in 1841, Hood succeeded him as Editor of the New Monthly. He continued to edit it till 1843, contributing to its pages a number of sketches and poems, which he republished in 1844, under the title of Whimsicalities. In 1842 he had removed from Camberwell to St. John's Wood, in which neighbourhood he re

sided till his death-first in Elm Tree Road, and then in Finchley Road. At this time, what with his writings in the New Monthly, the growing reputation of his former writings, and the electric effect produced by his "Song of the Shirt," on its appearance separately in Punch (1843), Hood's literary life seemed to have taken a new start; and when, after a brief visit to Scotland, he projected a magazine of his own under the title of "Hood's Magazine and Comic Miscellany," the public were ready to welcome it and make it a favourite. Among his friends he now counted many of a younger generation than those whom he had known before going abroad-Mr. Dickens, Mr. Browning, Mr. F. O. Ward, Samuel Phillips, and others. But he had not long to live. The new Magazine, begun in January, 1844, had been carried on as far as its fourteenth number, when it was announced that the editor was on his death-bed. For two months longer he wrote or dictated his last contributions to it; and, on May 3d, 1845, he died in his house in Finchley Road, at the age of forty-six.

66

At no time had Hood's name been so familiarly dear to the public as about the time of his death. His "Bridge of Sighs," which appeared in one of the numbers of his Magazine in 1844, was a poem for the people's heart; it, and his Song of the Shirt," of the previous year, were being everywhere repeated; and, of the letters, presents, and other tokens of regard from unknown persons, sent to him on his death-bed, most were testimonies to the singular effect produced by these two poems. Working back, as it were, from these two poems, the public have since become acquainted with Hood's writings as a whole; the volumes of his selected poems, published since his death by Moxon, have been but inducements to many to look after the various earlier publications in which these and other pieces of his were originally scattered; and the erection of a monument, by public subscription, in 1854, over Hood's grave in Kensal Green Cemetery, was but an evidence

of the unusually strong affection then felt, and still felt for him, as a man peculiar among recent British authors.

Hood's daughter and son, who were left children at his death, and who have since grown up to cherish his memory, and to add, by their own deserts, to the respect they inherit by their relationship to him, have done but an act of duty in preparing and publishing these two volumes of Memorials. They do not form what could properly be called a biography of Hood. A single chapter carries us over the first thirty-six years of his life, adding little or nothing to the information previously accessible; and the remaining chapters of the volumes consist of an account, year by year, of the last ten years of his lifethe five years, from 1835 to 1840, which he spent at Coblenz and Ostend; and the five, from 1840 to 1845, which followed his return to England. This account does not take the form of a story regularly and connectedly told; but is made up chiefly of private letters by Hood himself and by his wife, now first published, from which the reader is left to gather the incidents for himself, and to derive his own impression of Hood's habits and character. In what of connecting narrative there is, one notes a considerable vagueness, or thinness of particulars, and even an indecision respecting those that are given-owing, doubtless, to the fact that, while the writers retain a vivid recollection of their father personally, the external circumstances of his life, his literary connexions and companionships, the whole by-gone social medium of London in which he moved, lie too far in the distance to be recovered by them without as much research as a stranger would have had to bestow. Taken for what they profess to be, however (and the critic, so considering them, will probably have no fault to find, unless he is finical enough to remark on the very incorrect pointing), the volumes are an interesting

1 Memorials of Thomas Hood; collected, arranged, and edited by his daughter; with a Preface and Notes by his son. Two volumes Moxon. 1860.

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