My friend, as a lad, was in a strait between the choice of twoprofessions. He prayed for enlightenment, and soon afterwards heardan _internal_ voice, advising a certain course. "Did you act on it?"I asked."No; I didn't. I considered that in my circumstances it did notdemand attention."Later, when a man grown, he was in his study merely idling over somebooks on the table, when he heard a loud voice from a corner of theroom assert that a public event of great importance would occur at agiven date. It did occur. About the same time, being abroad, he wasin great anxiety as to a matter involving only himself. Of this henever spoke to any one. On his return to England his mother said,"You were very wretched about so and so"."How on earth did you know?""I heard ---'s voice telling me."Now --- had died years before, in childhood.In these cases the Benedictine's own conjecture and his mother'saffection probably divined facts, which did not present themselves asthoughts in the ordinary way, but took the form of unreal voices.There are many examples, as of the girl in her bath who heard a voicesay "Open the door" four times, did so, then fainted, and only escapeddrowning by ringing the bell just before she swooned.Of course she might not have swooned if she had not been alarmed byhearing the voices. These tales are dull enough, and many voices,like Dr. Johnson's mother's, when he heard her call his name, shebeing hundreds of miles away, lead to nothing and are not veracious.When they are veracious, as in the case of dreams, it may be by sheeraccident.In a similar class are "warnings" conveyed by the eye, not by the ear.The Maoris of New Zealand believe that if one sees a body lying acrossa path or oneself on the opposite side of a river, it is wiser to tryanother path and a different ford.
