extracted text

258

A VETERAN OF 1812.

CHAPTER XI.
^ * 4TZGIBBON'S second son, William, had been
appointed Clerk of the County of Hastings in
1842, and had taken up his residence in
Belleville, his sister and cousin accompanying him.
His father, although in Montreal several times during
the sessions, spent much of the intervening months
with them.
The square house in which they lived, with a broad
verandah round two sides of it, is still standing.*
It is situated in the low part of the town, near the
river mouth, known as the Flats, and is not now a
very healthy locality, owing to the spring floods
which sweep down the ice and inundate the low-lying
lands on that side of the Moira. Here, as the
colonel's health improved, and he was able to take
exercise again, he astonished his neighbors, and gained
a character for eccentricity, by his athletic performances.
Club swinging, horizontal bar, and other kindred
athletic exercises were not so common then as now,
and the spectacle of a man turned of sixty-five
years of age, clad in jerseys, swinging himself from
a bar fixed across the supports of the verandah,
--

* The house has been turned about by the force of the spring
floods, and its outward appearance also much altered.

ATHLETIC EXERCISES.

259

doubling himself up into a ball, jumping through
his hands, or hanging by his feet, drawing his body
up by sheer strength of muscle, and anon leaping
over chairs arranged in rows, was quite sufficient to
obtain him a certificate of insanity from the majority
of his neighbors.
" On the bright moonlight nights in the summer,
the colonel would spend an hour or two taking such
exercise," writes an old resident of Belleville. " He
had a splendidly developed muscle and a fine
physique. A crowd of boys and half-grown lads
would congregate on and along the fence that
divided the narrow strip of garden in front from
the road. It was as entertaining as a circus to them.
He never saw or took any notice of these spectators,
but, on the contrary, appeared quite unconscious of
their presence. When literally dripping from the
effect of the violence of his exertions, he would wipe
the drops from his face, and ' thank Providence that
he lived in a quiet neighborhood.' "
His brother Gerald, the Master in Chancery in
Ireland, had lent FitzGibbon £1,000 in 1841 This,
with the grant voted by the Assembly to him in 1845,
enabled him to discharge a considerable portion of
his debts, but the long delay and the unavoidable
renewal of notes, etc., and other law expenses, had
increased them to a total far exceeding the original
sum Among the letters from Sir Augustus d'Este
is one which shows that the debts upon which no
interest was accumulating were the first to be discharged. After acknowledging the receipt of a bill

260 A VETERAN OF 181E

of exchange for £100, Sir Augustus says, " with
which 'sum it was my happiness to have been able to
accommodate you at a time when it was useful."
This, as indeed every other letter FitzGibbon received
from this kind friend, breathed love and friendship,
and an admiration that was almost exaggerated in
expression.
Lady Simpson, in a letter to FitzGibbon, then in
Montreal, December 18th, 1845, while regretting that
illness prevented his being with them that day, also
speaks of " the affectionate regard in which you are
held by our dear and estimable friend, Sir Augustus
d'Este, whose whole life seems to be one continued
act of goodness. I have already heard from his own
lips much of your history, and had with him lamented
the coldness and ingratitude of those in power, who,
while claiming for themselves the merit of putting
down the rebellion, appear to have forgotten or overlooked the one to whose judgment and valor that
happy event was mainly attributable.
" The kind heart of your excellent friend can well
feel for those who have suffered, for cruelly and
deeply has he been wronged, and much has his noble
spirit endured, but you are doubtless well acquainted
with the merits of his own case, and it is therefore
needless for me to dwell upon a theme which ever
fills my mind with sorrow and indignation.
" With our united kind regards,
" Believe me, my dear sir,
" Yours very sincerely,
" FRANCES K. SIMPSON."

RETURN TO ENGLAND.

261

FitzGibbon returned to England early in the year
1847, but in what part of London he lived until July,
1849, we cannot ascertain. Lady Seaton addresses a
letter to him at that date, to 56 Stafford Place, Pimlico, and it is probable he had been there for some
time. Charles Mackay speaks of him at that time as
" his friend Colonel FitzGibbon, living for six months
in London on sixpence a day, fourpence of which was
spent in bread, one penny for milk, and the remaining
penny for sugar, and assuring him (Mackay) that he
never felt so well in his life."
This story has been repeated many times as an
illustration of cheap living, some of the variations
indulged in by the different narrators being widely
different from the original.
The 'pension granted in 1846 was not paid until
September, 1847, and then only from the beginning
of that year. FitzGibbon had gone to England in
June in the confident expectation of receiving the
first half-year's payment in or by the end of July.
Its non-arrival left him very short of funds, and he
wrote to enquire the cause. Calculating the time
that must elapse before he could receive a reply, he
counted his cash and found, after paying for his room,
he had just sixpence a day to live upon, until he
might reasonably expect to receive a remittance from
Canada. His success in this extraordinary economy
was so satisfactory that after the money did reach
him, he spent most of it in defraying the cost of the
publication of several tracts and pamphlets on infant

262

A VETERAN OF 1812.

education, and in helping to further the establishment of night schools in the poorer parts of London.
Miss Strickland, who knew him very well at this
time, speaks of him as "starving himself in order to
publish some papers or articles he had written on
infant training." That these papers attracted some
attention the following letters show :
" AMULESIDE, J.Vovember 11th, 1848.
" SIR,-I have read your pamphlet and letter with
great interest ; and I think it will please you to hear
that they arrived just as I was writing the concluding
portion of my papers on ' Household Education,' which
are, I suppose, the papers you have seen of mine. I
was actually writing upon the ' Power of Habit ;' and
I have taken the liberty of quoting a passage from
your tract. I knew you would not object,, as the
object of us both is to rouse the minds of parents, in
every possible way, to see the truth.
" I am not likely to go to London this winter, but
I should like to send you my volume on ' Household
Education' when it comes out. I don't know exactly
when that will be, but it goes to the publisher (Mr.
Moxon) next week, and it will not be very long
printing.
" Unless I hear that you will have left England by
Xmas, we will say, I will desire Mr. Moxon to forward
a copy to the same address with this note.
" Be assured I sympathize warmly with your earnestness in regard to the important subject you have
treated, and am, Sir, with much respect, yours,
" H. MARTINEAU."

ELIZABETH STRICKLAND.

263

" BUCKINGHAM PALACE,

"May 5th, 1849.
" Miss Murray presents her compliments to Colonel
FitzGibbon. She was so pleased with the Remarks
by 'A Colonist,' which he was very obliging in sending
to her, that she has taken some pains to penetrate
through the veil under which the opinions were concealed. The subject is one which has for a great
many years attracted the attention of Miss Murray,
and she is at this moment much engaged in considering the best mode of checking juvenile delinquency
by inducing the Government to take a reformatory
and educational charge of each child upon their first
conviction in a court of justice. This would check
the evil at its very commencement, and totally prevent the frequent recommitment of young offenders."
In the following letter from Miss Strickland, whose
niece had become engaged to FitzGibbon's eldest son,
a pamphlet from his pen is mentioned, which, I regret
to say, I have been unable to find in any library or
public depository of such works :
" AVENUE LODGE,
" BAYSWATER,

Aug. 6th, 1849.
" DEAR COLONEL FITZGIBBON,-I have read with
the strong interest natural to my family connection
in Canada, your pamphlet received this morning, for
which I return you my thanks. Nothing can be
clearer or more concentrated than its composition.
It is thoroughly readable by an idle person ignorant
of the subject. Every one of that species of reader
will be as much charmed as I was at the conduct of
the Ohio volunteers, But, query, was their most

264

A VETERAN OF 1812.

FEDERATION FORETOLD.

original behavior to their captain caused by his lack
of governing power, or the impracticability of his
respectable squadron ? Equal portions of both contributed to the result, I guess.
"The business part of your pamphlet appears to me
a most salutary warning. If our Government will
not listen to the voices of its veteran officers possessing experiences both military and civil, they must
e'en take the result. Perhaps if the warning of
friends will not be heeded, they will listen to that of
enemies. The enclosed has, I doubt not, excited some
alarm in our colonies, although no one seems to have
noticed it here.
" As a woman, I feel that my opinion on such matters is out of place, and as a historian my thoughts
seldom dwell on any matter younger than two hundred years ; but I think that the federation you
propose would become more palatable to the Nova
Scotians, New Brunswickers, etc., if each colony were
invited to cause a resident minister to be selected
from among their own representatives to sit in the
British Parliament as a referee, to give information
on any statistic matters under legislation. The condition that such person must be a Nova Scotian, New
Brunswicker born, or French-Canadian, etc., would be
gratefully received, I am sure ; the pride of the colonists would be mightily gratified, the utility would
counterbalance any trouble, the colonists would tax
themselves in a trifle of £500 per annum or so, to
maintain their resident minister, and the situation
would be a stimulus to obtain English attainments in
education, and a bond of the strongest nature as to
the affections of the colonists. I know personally
something of the Nova Scotians and Newfoundland
natives, and I know their pride is adverse to the

federation with Canada, but if they were patted and
soothed as high-blooded horses are tamed, they might
be led anywhere, provided their nationality be owned."

265

On the same sheet Of note paper, written the reverse way of the sheet, is the following :

"Aug. 13th.
am sorry to say
that I discovered this note unposted, when I thought
you had had it some time ago. Such is, I am sad to
own, the fate of many of my epistles. Writing them
is almost a suffering to me, and when written, something I must attend to demands me, and away they
go among my papers. I own I cannot keep up anything like a correspondence ; my friends are obliged
to come and take my epistles viva voce, and agree
not to think me savage if I do not write.
" I have, however, written to Lord Aylmer, for I
owe them a long score of apologies for invitations not
accepted, not noticed indeed, and calls unreturned ;
therefore I am doing neglected devoirs as well as
mentioning your work. Will you enclose one with
Colonel FitzGibbon's compliments to Lord Aylmer,
and the other to Lady Aylmer, she being literary,
and he a firm friend to Canada.
" I am, yours very truly,
" DEAR COLONEL FITZGIBBON,-I

" ELIZABETH STRICKLAND

" P.S.—Lord Aylmer is, I am sure, from home, but
if you enclose my letter with the pamphlet to the
Eaton Square address, he will receive them in time.
" I have no objection to receive a quiet visit on
Sunday. I was at church and dining out with an
old friend the day you called. I dine out to-morrow
and Wednesday ; on Thursday I shall be glad to
see you."
17

266 A VETERAN OF 1812.
Miss Jane Strickland, the 'author of " Rome, Regal
and Republican," and many tales from Roman and
Eastern history, met FitzGibbon frequently at her
sister's cottage in Bayswater, and in her beautiful
old age* was never weary of talking of the charm
of his conversation, his intense individuality and love
of humanity.
" I have told him repeatedly," she said, in speaking
of this date, " that he should write a history of his
campaigns ; but no written page could convey the life
and vim of the relation, a mere body without a spirit
that 'gave it such indescribable charm. He was plain,
decidedly plain, but he carried himself well, was a finelooking man, and the moment he began to talk, all
else was forgotten."
Despite Miss Strickland's avowed aversion to letterwriting, there are several letters from her among
FitzGibbon's papers, and of his among hers, which
betray a mutual admiration and affection for each
other, expressed in the courteous, dignified language
of their day.
Miss Strickland introduced FitzGibbon to Mr. John
011ivier, the editor of the Home Circle, a magazine
then in good circulation in England. Several articles
and papers from his pen on infant training were
published in its columns. 011ivier also published a
pamphlet for him which attracted the attention of
George Combe, the phrenologist, and the following
* She lived to be eighty-eight, retaining her faculties and wonderful memory to the last hour of her life,

GEORGE COMBE.

267

letter was the beginning of a pleasant correspondence
and friendship between the two men. The letter is
addressed to "A Colonist " (FitzGibbon's nom de
plume), " to the care of John 011ivier, Esq., 59 Pall
Mall, London." It is written in a firm, clear, copperplate hand, the lines straight and the words well
separated—a hand that must have been a pleasure to
his printers and proof-readers :
" 45 MELVILLE ST., EDINBURGH,

" November 13th, 1848.
" SIR, —I have read with much pleasure
∎
your ' Remarks on the Advantages of Early Training and
Management of Children,' and admire the spirit in
which they are written. Apparently, however, you
have not had an opportunity of learning what has
been written on the subject of education since you
left England. Robert Owen taught us so long ago as
1820, the identical proposition contained in the third
paragraph of your pamphlet, and tried to realize it
in practice on a great scale at New Lanark in Scotland, and with only partial success.
" Having written and published a good deal myself
on human nature and education, I beg to enclose an
advertisement of my books, in some of which, particularly the ' Constitution of Man,' you will find
some ideas congenial to your own.
" I am, Sir,
" Your very obedient servant,
" GEO. COMBE.
" To 'A COLONIST.' "
Through Lord Aylmer, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Seaton
and others interested in Canada and Canadians, and

268

A VETERAN OF 1812.

in FitzGibbon personally, he was appointed one of
the Military Knights of Windsor, Lower Foundation, on May 20th, 1850, and on January 8th, 1853,
was removed to the Royal Foundation of the same
Royal Pension.
The Military Knights of Windsor were founded by
Edward III., in the twenty-second year of his reign,
1348, for the support of twenty-four soldiers, " who
had distinguished themselves in the wars, and had
afterwards been reduced to straits." Appointments
are in the gift of the Crown. Each member is paid
a small annual stipend, and an allotted residence in
the walls of the Lower Ward. The only service required of them is the attendance of a certain number
daily at the religious offices in St. George's Chapel,
where they occupy stalls at the feet of the Knights
of the Garter. The dress is a long dark blue cloak,
with a scarlet collar and a Maltese cross of the same
color on the left shoulder ; a short, straight, two-edged
sword or rapier with a Maltese cross-shaped hilt and lifie
a scabbard of dark leather.
The residence is a cottage interior with low ceilings
and deep window sills, built in the walls of the
castle on the right of the main entrance towers. A
tiny gate-way and narrow path lead to the low doorways which face the beautiful St. George's Chapel,
where these " poor Knights of Windsor," the original
designation, pay their daily devoir.
The installation is a very simple ceremony. After
the first lesson of the service for the day is read, two

MILITARY KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR.

269

knights, the latest installed, go out, and hand in the
new one. As they enter, all three bow to the altar,
turn, and bow to the dean ; the new knight is then
led by the hands and placed in the stall he is henceforth to occupy.
I will not attempt to depict the beauty of the
chapel, its lofty grandeur, the exquisite perfection of
the carving on screen and stalls, the great east window, through whose softly-toned tints the light falls
in such mellowed tenderness ; the historic associations
of the rich emblazoned banners pendatir from the
rafters above the stalls of the Knights of the Garter ;
historic arms and mottoes of those who have left
their impress on the history of their country recorded
on the panelled walls ; the full notes of the organ
above the screen, and the clear, sweet voices of the
chorister boys from away down the long northern
cloisters, growing clearer and clearer as they approach,
until the sweet sounds rise above the aisles, and fill
' the grand nave beyond with melody.
Six of the knights are obliged to attend service
once a day for a month, except in the case of sickness
or leave of absence.
The pension attached to this royal bounty was
small, only one shilling a day, and upon the appointment of a new Knight of the Garter, each military
knight received a fee of one pound.
The chief benefit derived from it is a settled residence among their compeers, and under the immediate
protection of the Crown they have served. There` is

270 •

A VETERAN OF 1812.

FAVORITE WALKS.

also a certain prestige about the position which helps
to smooth the rough places made by poverty for
those who have done \their work well, without
adequate worldly reward—those who, in the common
language of the times, have " seen better days."
Here they have congenial society, the quiet which
old age seeks, coupled with the advantage of keeping
in touch with the questions stirring men's minds ; out
of the tumult and strife, but within the circles of the
echoes roused by the advance of science, literature
and art ; within reach of the tidings from the political
world, and in the time of war, of the latest news
from the army.
Can we not picture their excitement and interest
in the tidings from the Crimea.?
What unedited accounts of bygone battles fought
and won, of retreats well conducted when the day
had gone against them, of marches made, deeds of
daring done, hardships endured, could the walls of
the knights' quarters tell ? How often the " only
course " left for the men in command was laid down,
argued over, and emphatically advocated by the
knights as they paced the ramparts in friendly converse after service.
How every appointment was canvassed and commented upon, each bringing his knowledge of the
name or man to bear upon the approval or disapproval
of the " action at headquarters." How they rejoiced
when a favorite or familiar regiment, or name which
represented " one of the youngsters " of their day,

was mentioned in the despatches, and grieved over
the untimely fall of those who had sown promise of
ability in their profession.
Can we not realize how each knight represented
his own old corps among them, and received the congratulations or condolences of his fellow-knights as
its representative ?
FitzGibbon was an early riser now as ever, and an
excellent pedestrian. A favorite walk was to Frogmore, then the residence of the Duchess of Kent. Sir
George Cooper, Her Royal Highness' secretary, whom
FitzGibbon had known well in Canada, had obtained
him the privileged entree to the park and gardens.
FitzGibbon was never weary of this beautiful
place, and went there frequently for the pleasure of
sitting under the trees and walking over the perfectlykept sward. It was also a show-place, to which he
took his friends and visitors. His sister, Mrs. Washburn, who spent some weeks with him in the summer
of 1851, speaks of going to Frogmore with her
brother, of the loveliness of the park, and the " delicious feel of the velvety grass which made it such a
pleasure to walk upon."
Another long and favorite constitutional was down
the Long Walk to the statue at the end, a distance of
three miles, or in the Lower Park towards Ditcham
and back.
The great Exhibition of this year brought many
colonists to London, and many of his old Canadian
friends found their way to the knight's quarters—

271

272

A VETERAN OF 1812.

some glad of the opportunity of seeing him again,
others, on sight i seeing intent, very willing to visit
Windsor Castle and an old acquaintance at the same
time.
The Baroness de Longueuil was among the former.
She had written a warmly expressed letter of'congratulation to FitzGibbon upon his appointment, and Her
Majesty's kindness to his daughter,* and now took
advantage of being within easy access of London to
visit her old friend.
Several of his former brother officers, whom he had
not seen for years, but whose friendship he had retained through all the changes and chances of their
lives, also came to see him.
Among these, Captain Brackenbury, of the 49th,
one of the tutors of his barrack-room university (see
page 50), was one of the most welcome. They had
not met since they were young men in Canada The
afternoon spent together was all too short in which
to recall the old days and their recollections, or tell
of all that had happened to either during the intervening years. The intercourse thus renewed was
never again broken off.
He had also other visitors about whose names still
lingers more or less of interest. Miss Agnes Strickland, accompanied by the artist, Melville, and her
*I regret much that I have been unable to ascertain the particular nature of Her Majesty's kindness, but the reference to it in
the Baroness de Longueuil's letter is evidence of thesoldier's gratitude to his sovereign.

AGNES STRICKLAND

ei

273

publisher, Colburn, when on a visit to the Castle in
order to have one of the portraits there copied for
her " Lives of the Queens of England," spent the evening at No. 9 ; the Rev. H. Hawtree ; Major Clarke ;
1. Kitterminster, who writes in glowing eulogy of the
happy hours spent in " the quiet, snug room in the
Castle, while the brave old man swung to and fro in
his Yankee chair, relating scenes of bygone days,
living life over again in all its delights, forgetting
the sorrows that attended them ; " of the " stroll on
the ramparts watching the sun go down in a blaze
of glory ; " their " walks by the river-side, exchanging thoughts of this and other worlds ; " of the
" beauty of the landscape dressed in all the pride
of spring," " the song of the lark and murmur of the
river," accompaniments of their " fondly remembered
intercourse."
Other friends, unable to come to Windsor, invited
FitzGibbon to dine with them in London.* These
invitations, however, were generally declined, and the
alternative of breakfasting with them offered. He
preferred going up early to returning late, or incurring the expense or inconvenience of remaining all
night at an hotel.
. He had been elected a member of the Highland
Society of London in 1842, and always received a
card for the annual dinner held in the Freemason's
Tavern, Great Queen Street, on March 22nd, in corn* Among these was Sir Allan Macnab.

274

275

A VETERAN OF 1812.

DEBTS DISCHARGED.

memoration of the battle of Alexandria, but even this
invitation was only once accepted.
He had also been admitted as a Roy al Arch Mason,
Ionic Chapter, Toronto, on January 12th, 1848, and to
the Supreme Grand Chapter of London, England, on
August 6th, 1850 ; and though there is no note among
his papers of his attending the lodge meeting in
London, the position in the craft gave him additional
means of influence, and enlarged his opportunities of
making himself heard when occasion required it, or
when his advocacy could be used to benefit others.
FitzGibbon went several times to town to the
Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, going up by an early
train and returning in time for dinner at seven, meeting many friends and calling upon others. Such a
day is briefly described by his sister, who went with
him on September 10th :
" Up to London by the 9.02 train ; walked to Miss
Strickland's from Paddington. Miss S. had a small
cottage and garden at Bayswater. She showed us
the largest apples I ever saw, that had grown on her
trees. Took a biscuit and glass of wine. Miss S.
showed us out a short way. We walked to the
Crystal Palace through the park, a most pleasant and
not a long walk. We entered the Palace at half-past
eleven, and stayed there until three. Met Egerton
Baines from Toronto, who told us his mother was in
town. Although we were pretty well tired, we walked
to Brompton Row (could get no conveyance) to Lady

Barkley's. She had asked us to stay a few days with
her, but we could not. We stayed nearly an hour,
then took an omnibus to Regent's Circus, where we
intended to take another to Paddington Terminus,
but we were too late ; the omnibus had just left, and
there would not be another for an hour. Took a cab,
and got in in time for the half-past five train, and
home by half-past six."
The first years spent at Windsor were, however,
years of real privation and poverty. Small as his
income was, FitzGibbon devoted the larger portion of
it to the payment of his debts, reserving only what
was barely sufficient for actual subsistence. There
are letters extant from friends, some of them of rank,
breathing friendship and affection for him ; and while
at the same time acknowledging the receipt of various
sums they had induced him to accept as loans during
the trying time between 1838 and 1845, reproaching
him for being in such haste to draw upon his so lately
augmented but still narrow means.
His daughter and niece, who, with his son William,
joined him in England in 1850, shared his privations,
seconding his laudable ambition and enabling him to
realize it.
His brother Gerald was soon his only remaining
creditor, and with the exception of the last sixty
pounds due, the thousand pounds lent by him in
1841, principal and interest, was paid in full before
FitzGibbon's death. This sixty pounds was gener-

276

A VETERAN OF 1812.

ously forgiven him by his brother at a time when the
approach of the infirmities of age rendered him so
anxious lest he should die in debt, that the fear
affected his health injuriously.
These years brought other and greater griefs in
:their train. His son William's health had been failing for some time. The sea voyage and change had
not the beneficial effects they had hoped for. He
returned to Canada early in the autumn, and died at
Belleville, in October, 1851. FitzGibbon felt this loss
keenly, but another and a greater blow was soon to
fall upon the brave old man. His daughter Mary,
the dearest companion of his life, was slowly dying,
although as yet her father's eyes could not see it.
In March, 1852, he writes to Miss Strickland of a
visit from an old brother lieutenant, " one of my old
corps, the 49th, who sold out in 1810, and returned to
England to the study and practice of medicine. So
strong does his friendship for me continue that he has
taken upon him the management of my Mary's health,
and came here to study her case for a few days."
Dr. Anderson ordered her to drink goat's milk, and
later on FitzGibbon writes : " Every alternate day I
walk about six miles out and home to bring to Mary
a soda water bottle of goat's milk from the beautiful
Cashmere goats belonging to Prince Albert, on one of
the farms in the Park."
His youngest son, James, died in 1852. After having served but a few years in the 24th Regiment, he

KINDLY LETTERS.

277

sold his commission and returned to Canada to devote
himself to the study of the law. He practised in
Belleville, Ontario, and stories are still extant there
of his wit and eloquence at the Bar.
Mary did not long survive,her brother, and the
year closed in sorrow for the bereaved father.
There are several letters of this date from his Old
friends and brother officers, full of kindly friendship
and sympathy. In one of these,•from Captain Brackenbury, a remarkable dream is referred to, which
dream had at the time so comforting an influence on
FitzGibbon's mind that he had it printed, in the hope
that it might benefit others.
" In my dream I fancied myself standing in front
of a golden column, brightly burnished, in wh i ch I
saw my own face most clearly reflected. Delighted
with the brilliant appearance of all around me, I gazed
intently upon the reflected face, and soon it appeared
to expand, to be enlarged, to become more expressive,
beautiful, sublime, beyond all I had ever imagined of
the human face. Filled with a delight beyond all
power of language to express, it flashed upon my
mind that I was in heaven. The first impulse was
that I should prostrate myself in profound gratitude
to the Almighty for having created me for such a
blissful destiny. I vividly remembered the Scripture
which says, ' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
hath it entered into the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love Him ; '

278

A

A REMARKABLE DREAM.

VETERAN OF 1812.

and here I felt that it was more than realized to me,
and the crowning joy of it all was that it would
never end. My mind became, as it were, expanded
to a vast extent, looking into eternity with mental
power never before imagined by me, and with an
awful impression of its boundless, its infinite extent.
" In the midst of these ineffable thoughts my mind
was suddenly turned to earth, and there I saw my
wife lying on a sick bed, with her five children in
tears standing around it. Here then was the very
state of sorrow and suffering I had so often in imagination dreaded.
,.. Yet my happiness was not in the
least affected by it. Before this dream I could not
have conceived how this insensibility to their suffering could be, but now I clearly comprehended why I
was not so affected. I mentally exclaimed : ' Oh, it
matters not, they will be here immediately ; ' and
whether the intermediate time were five years, or
fifty years, or five hundred years, did not then appear
to me worth an anxious thought, so brief did all time
appear to me compared to the eternity which then
appeared before me.
" And so, in truth, it really is to a mind expanded
as my mind then was. And this comparison and the
consideration of it now appear to me as fraught with
a consolation to suffering minds here on earth, which
no other consideration is at all equally calculated to
give. And, therefore, while my mind is thus so intensely and blissfully impressed, do I hasten to record

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this vision, before it fades from my memory in the
slightest degree.
" Now, I trust I shall not be thought superstitious by
anyone to whom I may communicate what I have here
written. I am delighted with the dream, because it
proves to me that even in this life I possess a capacity
for enjoyment of blissful happiness of which before
now I had no adequate idea, and because it convinces
me that in heaven no consideration of things on earth
can diminish my happiness there. And here I take
for granted that the Almighty has in like manner
endowed every human being with latent capacities
for increased happiness, whenever in His merciful
will He pleases thus to exercise those capacities.
" Thus a new field for thought appears to be opened
up before me, in which my mind may be further
i mproved, and I be enabled to increase its powers and
enhance its happiness. Now, more plainly than ever
heretofore, do I understand and feel that man is a
progressive being, and that it is his duty to avail
himself of every circumstance, occurrence, or means
which may enable him to advance himself in usefulness, in virtue, and piety ; and with the view, especially, of further enabling him to do good to his
neighbor.
" Anyone, at the hour of death, leaving behind
wife, children, or other beloved relatives, exposed to
poverty, sorrow, or other suffering, having such an
absolute conviction of mind as I then had, of the