_Curious Omen at Marriage_ (Vol. iii., p. 406.)--H. A. B. asks at the
end of his Note, "Why a _coruscation of joy_, upon a wedding day, should
forebode evil?" and "Whether any other instances are on record of its so
doing?"
As these questions have remained unanswered for some weeks, I am tempted
to suggest that your correspondent may have laid too much stress on the
fact of the joy having been expressed at a _wedding_, and that the
passage he quoted from Miss Benger's _Memoirs of Elizabeth, Queen of
Bohemia_, may be simply an allusion to the old belief (still more or
less prevalent) of "_high spirits being a presage of impending calamity
or of death_." (See Vol. ii., pp. 84. 150.)
The late Miss Landon, in one of her novels, furnishes an additional
notice of this belief:
"The ex-queen of Sweden has had one of the gentlemen of her suite
put to death in a manner equally sudden and barbarous; and what
excites in me a strong personal feeling on the subject is, that
Monaldeschi, the cavalier in question, dines with me the very day
of his murder, as I must call it. Such a gay dinner as we had! for
Monaldeschi--lively, unscrupulous, and sarcastic--was a most
amusing companion. His spirits, far higher than his usual bearing,
carried us all along with them: and I remember saying to him, 'I
envy your gaiety: why, Monaldeschi, you are as joyous as if there
were nothing but sunshine in the world.' He changed countenance,
and becoming suddenly grave, exclaimed, 'Do not call me back to
myself. I feel an unaccountable vivacity, which I know is the
herald of disaster.' But again he became cheerful, and we rallied
him on the belief, which he still gaily maintained, that great
spirits were the sure forerunners of misfortune."--_Francesca
Carrara_, vol. ii. chap. 6.
Perhaps some of your readers may be able to say whether Miss Landon had
the authority of any cotemporary writer for the anecdote. Is not the
warning, "_Sing_ before noon, and you'll _sigh_ before night," also a
proof of the dread with which "_coruscations of joy_" were looked upon
by our forefathers?