An account

The account was written about 15 years ago; it was an account which appeared in a book and in the newspapers at that time, and which I, at the request of friends, revised and corrected. I believe every word of the account to be perfectly true, as such things become impressed on one's mind ; but at the same time it must be remembered that the account was not written at the time, but many years afterwards. Therefore I can only say that as far as I remember every detail is exact. The Lodge, Lymington. (349) Philip Weld was the youngest son of Mr. James Weld, of Archers Lodge, near Southampton, and a nephew of the late Cardinal Weld. He was sent by his father, in 1842, to St. Edmund's College, near Ware, in Hertfordshire, for his education. He was a well conducted, amiable boy, and much beloved by his masters and fellow-students. In the afternoon of April 16th, 1845, Philip, accompanied by one of the masters and some of his companions, went to boat on the river, which was a sport he enjoyed much. When one of the masters remarked that it was time to return to the college, Philip begged to have one row more ; the master consented and they rowed to the accustomed turning point. On arriving there, in turning the boat, Philip accidentally fell out into a very deep part of the river, and, notwithstanding every effort that was made to save him, was drowned. His corpse was brought back to the college, and the Very Rev. Dr. Cox (the president) was immensely shocked and grieved. He made up his mind to go himself to Mr. Weld, at Southampton. He set off the same afternoon, and passing through London, reached Southampton the next day, and drove from thence to Archers Lodge, the residence of Mr. Weld ; but before entering the grounds he saw Mr. Weld at a short distance from his gate, walking towards the town. Dr. Cox immediately stopped the carriage, alighted, and was about to address Mr. Weld, when he prevented him by saying : — ' You need not say one word, for I know that Philip is dead. 242 COLLECTIVE CASES. [chap. Yesterday afternoon I was walking with my daughter, Katherine, and we suddenly saw him. He was standing on the path, on the opposite side of the turnpike road, between two persons, one of whom was a youth dressed in a black robe. My daughter was the first to perceive them and exclaimed, Oh, papa ! did you ever see anything so like Philip as that is ? Like him, I answered, why it is he. Strange to say, my daughter ' thought nothing of the circumstance, beyond that we had seen an extraordinary lik