LOST HER SITUATION.

353

throughout a portion of the years 1845 and 1846; and, in all, for about a year and a half; at intervals, however, sometimes intermitting for a week, sometimes for several weeks at a time. It seemed chiefly to present itself on occasions when the lady was very earnest or eager in what she was about. It was uniformly remarked that the more distinct and material to the sight the double was, the more stiff and languid was the living person; and in proportion as the double faded did the real individual resume her powers.

She herself, however, was totally unconscious of the phenomenon: she had first become aware of it only from the report of others; and she usually detected it by the looks of the persons present. She never, herself, saw the appearance, nor seemed to notice the species ofrigid apathy which crept over her at the times it was seen by others.

During the eighteen months throughout which my informant had an opportunity of witnessing this phenomenon and of hearing of it through others, no example came to her knowledge of the appearance of the figure at any considerable distance-as of several milesfrom the real person. Sometimes it appeared, but not far off, during their walks in the neighborhood; more frequently, however, within-doors. Every servant in the house had seen it. It was, apparently, perceptible to all persons, without distinction of age or sex.

It will be readily supposed that so extraordinary a phenomenon could not continue to show itself, for more than a year, in such an institution, without injury to its prosperity. In point of fact, as soon as it was completely proved, by the double appearance of Mademoiselle Sagée before the class, and afterward before the whole school, that there was no imagination in the case, the matter began to reach the ears of the parents. Some of the more timid among the girls, also, became much excited, and evinced great alarm whenever they hap

354

WHY A LIVONIAN SCHOOL-TEACHER

pened to witness so strange and inexplicable a thing. The natural result was that their parents began to scruple about leaving them under such an influence. One after another, as they went home for the holidays, failed to return; and though the true reason was not assigned to the directors, they knew it well. Being strictly upright and conscientious men, however, and very unwilling that a well-conducted, diligent, and competent teacher should lose her position on account of a peculiarity that was entirely beyond her control,-a misfortune, not a fault,-they persevered in retaining her, until, at the end of eighteen months, the number of pupils had decreased from forty-two to twelve. It then became apparent that either the teacher or the institution must be sacrificed; and, with much reluctance and many expressions of regret on the part of those to whom her amiable qualities had endeared her, Mademoiselle Sagée was dismissed.

The poor girl was in despair. "Ah!" (Mademoiselle de Guldenstubbé heard her exclaim, soon after the decision reached her,) "Ah! the nineteenth time! It is very, very hard to bear!" When asked what she meant by such an exclamation, she reluctantly confessed that previous to her engagement at Neuwelcke she had been teacher in eighteen different schools, having entered the first when only sixteen years of age, and that, on account of the strange and alarming phenomenon which attached to her, she had lost, after a comparatively brief sojourn, one situation after another. As, however, her employers were in every other respect well satisfied with her, she obtained in each case favorable testimonials as to her conduct and abilities. Dependent entirely on her labor for support, the poor girl had been compelled to avail herself of these in search of a livelihood, in places where the cause of her dismissal was not known; even though she felt assured, from expe

LOST HER SITUATION.

355

rience, that a few months could not fail again to dis close it.

After she left Neuwelcke, she went to live, for a time, in the neighborhood, with a sister-in-law, who had several quite young children. Thither the peculiarity pursued her. Mademoiselle de Guldenstubbé, going to see her there, learned that the children of three or four years of age all knew of it; being in the habit of saying that "they saw two Aunt Emélies."

Subsequently she set out for the interior of Russia, and Mademoiselle de Guldenstubbé lost sight of her.

That lady was not able to inform me whether the phenomenon had shown itself during Mademoiselle Sagée's infancy, or previous to her sixteenth year, nor whether, in the case of any of her family or of her ancestors, a similar peculiarity had appeared.

I had the above narrative from Mademoiselle de Guldenstubbé herself; and she kindly gave me permission to publish it, with every particular of name, place, and date. She remained as pupil at Neuwelcke during the whole time that Mademoiselle Sagée was teacher there. No one, therefore, could have had a better opportunity of observing the case in all its details.

In the course of my reading on this subject—and it has been somewhat extensive-I have not met with a single example of the apparition of the living so remarkable and so incontrovertibly authentic as this. The institution of Neuwelcke still exists, having gradually recovered its standing after Mademoiselle Sagée left it; and corroborative evidence can readily be obtained by addressing its directors.

The narrative proves, beyond doubt or denial, that, under particular circumstances, the apparition or counterpart of a living person may appear at a certain distance from that person, and may seem, to ordinary

human sight, so material as not to be distinguishable from a real body; also that this appearance may be reflected from a mirror. Unless the young ladies who were courageous enough to try the experiment of touching it were deceived by their imaginations, it proves, further, that such an apparition may have a slight, but positive, consistency.

It seems to prove, also, that care or anxiety on the part of the living person may project (if I may so express it) the apparition to a particular spot. Yet it was sometimes visible when no such cause could be assigned.

It proves, further, that when the apparition separated (if that be the correct expression) from the natural body, it took with it a certain portion of that body's ordinary life and strength. It does not appear that in this case the languor consequent upon such separation ever reached the state of trance or coma, or that the rigidity observed at the same time went as far as catalepsy; yet it is evident that the tendency was toward both of these conditions, and that that tendency was the greater in proportion as the apparition became more distinct.

Two remarkable peculiarities mark this case: one, that the appearance, visible without exception to every one else, remained invisible to the subject of it; the other, that though the second figure was sometimes seen to imitate, like an image reflected in a mirror, the gestures and actions of the first, yet at other times it seemed to act entirely independent of it; appearing to walk up and down while the actual person lay in bed, and to be seated in the house while its counterpart moved about in the garden.

It differs from other cases on record in this: that the apparition does not appear to have shown itself at any considerable distance from the real person. It is possible. (but this is theory only) that, if it had, the result on

MADEMOISELLE SAGÉE CASE.

357

Mademoiselle Sagée might have been to produce a state of trance during its continuance.

This case may afford us, also, a useful lesson. It may teach us that it is idle, in each particular instance of apparition or other rare and unexplained phenomenon, to deny its reality until we can discover the purpose of its appearance; to reject, in short, every extraordinary fact until it shall have been clearly explained to us for what great object God ordains or permits it. In this particular case, what special intention can be assigned? A meritorious young woman is, after repeated efforts, deprived by an habitual apparition of the opportunity to earn an honest livelihood. No other effect is apparent, unless we are to suppose that it was intended to warn the young girls who witnessed the appearance against materialism. But it is probable the effect upon them was to produce alarm rather than conviction.

The phenomenon is one of a class. There is good reason, doubtless, for the existence of that class; but we ought not to be called upon to show the particular end to be effected by each example. As a general proposition, we believe in the great utility of thunder-storms, as tending to purify the atmosphere; but who has a right to require that we disclose the design of Providence if, during the elemental war, Amelia be stricken down a corpse from the arms of Celadon?

With this example, in which the number of concurrent witnesses completely precludes the hypothesis of hallucination, I close my list of cases bearing on apparitions of the living.

This phenomenon, whatever its exact character, is evidently the same as that which, under the name of wraith, has for centuries formed one of the chief items in what are usually considered the superstitions of Scotland. In that country it is popularly regarded as a forewarning