Now! Then! Anne Lister’s uncle Joseph dies, and her aunt recounts a premonitory vision

8 November 1817: Anne Lister’s uncle Joseph dies, and her aunt recounts a premonitory vision

Anne Lister. 1992. I know my own heart. Ed. Helena Whitbread. New York: New York University Press. Get it:

Excerpt

My Aunt Lister told us in the afternoon that, while putting her flannel petticoat over her head, one morning about 2 months ago, as she was preparing to get up, she fora moment saw, very distinctly, a black figure, large as life, standing at the foot of the bed — that the fright made her almost sick, but she had never mentioned it to anyone till now, tho’ she had, in her own mind, from that moment given up all hopes of my uncle’s recovery. She said she had not been thinking of anything of the kind, nor was she just then thinking even of my uncle. She mentioned, however, that just before the death of her brother, Oswald, she as distinctly saw a black figure of the same appearance rush past her, in broad daylight, as she was going along one of the passages in her father’s house at Frimley (about 20 miles from London). This, & the sight of my uncle, literally left such an impression on me, that all the while I was undressing to get into bed, I kept almost involuntarily looking round, as if myself expecting to see some apparition standing by. Whatever people may say, I believe there are few minds at all times capable of resisting impressions of this kind. What must be his terrors whose conscience is forever upbraiding him with acts of villainy?

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

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Original

Saturday 8 November [Halifax]
My Aunt Lister told us in the afternoon that, while putting her flannel petticoat over her head, one morning about 2 months ago, as she was preparing to get up, she for a moment saw, very distinctly, a black figure, large as life, standing at the foot of the bed — that the fright made her almost sick, but she had never mentioned it to anyone till now, tho’ she had, in her own mind, from that moment given up all hopes of my uncle’s recovery. She said she had not been thinking of anything of the kind, nor was she just then thinking even of my uncle. She mentioned, however, that just before the death of her brother, Oswald, she as distinctly saw a black figure of the same appearance rush past her, in broad daylight, as she was going along one of the passages in her father’s house at Frimley (about 20 miles from London). This, & the sight of my uncle, literally left such an impression on me, that all the while I was undressing to get into bed, I kept almost involuntarily looking round, as if myself expecting to see some apparition standing by. Whatever people may say, I believe there are few minds at all times capable of resisting impressions of this kind. What must be his terrors whose conscience is forever upbraiding him with acts of villainy?

237 words.