Case XVI

In 1806, General Rapp, on his return from the siege of Dantzic, desiring to speak with the Emperor, entered the cabinet unannounced. He found him in so deep a reverie that his entrance was unperceived. The general, finding him remain immovable, intentionally made a noise. Napoleon then recovered, and, seizing Rapp by the arm, said to him, pointing to the ceiling, "Look up there!" The general made no reply; but the question being repeated, he answered that he saw nothing. "What," said the Emperor, "you do not see it? It is my star; it is before you, beaming;" and growing more animated, he continued, "it has never deserted me; I see it on every great occurrence; it urges me onward, and is an unfailing omen of success." M. Passy, who had this anecdote from Rapp himself, related it to M. Amedde Thierry, at the same time that he delivered his interesting communication relative to his investigation of the vision of Constantino (Academie des Sciences Morales et Politique, Saturday, April 4, 1846). I also heard it from him.

Case XVII

About forty years ago, the following circum stance happened to the Marquis of Londonderry, afterwards Lord Castlereagh. He went to visit a friend in one of those old castles, in the north of Ireland, that novelists choose for the theatre of apparitions. The room to which the marquis was shown corresponded with the general character of the building. In fact, the rich sculptured wainscots blackened by time, the immense arch of the chimney looking like the entrance to a sepulchre, the long range of ancestral portraits with their proud and disdainful looks, the ample draperies, dusty and heavy, which hung before the windows and surrounded the bed, were all well calculated to give a melancholy turn to his thoughts.

Lord Londonderry examined his room, and made acquaintance with the old lords of the castle, who, upright in their ivory frames, appeared to await his salute. Having dismissed his valet, he went to bed. He had scarcely put out his lamp, when he became aware of a ray of light at the head of his bed. Convinced that there was no fire in the grate, that the curtains were closed, and that a few minutes previously the room was in total darkness, he supposed that some person had entered. Quickly turning towards the point whence the light proceeded, he saw, to his great astonishment, the figure of a beautiful child surrounded with a halo, which stood at some distance from his bed.

Convinced that he was perfectly in his senses, but suspecting a trick on the part of some of the numerous hosts of the castle, Lord Londonderry approached the apparition, which retired as he advanced, until, reaching the immense arch of the chimney, it vanished into the earth. His lordship returned to his bed; but slept not that night, so disturbed was he by the extraordinary occurrence. Was it real, or must he look on it as the result of an excited imagination? The mystery was not easy to solve.

He resolved to make no allusion to the affair until he had carefully watched the countenances of all the inmates of the house, in order to discover if he had been made the victim of a trick. During breakfast, the marquis vainly endeavored to detect some of those covert smiles, looks of connivance, or sly winks, that generally betray the authors of a domestic conspiracy. The conversation flowed as usual; it was lively; nothing bore the stamp of mystery; all passed on as usual. At length, the hero of this adventure could no longer resist the desire he felt to relate what he had seen; he entered into all the particulars of the apparition. The recital aroused great interest among the auditors, and gave rise to a variety of explanations. The master of the house interrupted the divers comments, by observing that doubtless his lordship's relation had appeared very extraordinary to those who had only recently inhabited the castle, and were unacquainted with the family legends. Then turning towards Lord Londonderry: " You have seen the radiant child," said he; "be satis-fied; it is the presage of high honors; but I would rather that nothing had been said of the apparition."

On another occasion, Lord Gastlereagh saw the radiant child in the House of Commons. It is very probable that on the day of his suicide he had a similar apparition.* It is known that this lord, one of the chief members of the Harrowby Ministry, and the most inveterate persecutor of Napoleon in his misfortunes, severed his carotid artery on the 22d of August, 1823, and died instantly.