Godalming, May 10. 1851.
Minor Notes.
_The Hon. Spencer Perceval._--Being on a tour through the West of
England some years ago, I found myself one morning rapidly advancing up
the river Tamar, in the gig of "the Captain of the Ordinary" at
Plymouth. We were bound for the noble ruins of Trematon Castle, in the
area of which a good modern house has been erected, and in one of the
towers is arranged a very pleasing collection of antiquities.
As we proceeded up the river, the gallant captain related the following
anecdote in reference to the then proprietor of Trematon:--
It is well known that in the afternoon of the 12th May, 1812, the
Hon. Spencer Perceval, the then prime minister, fell by the hand
of Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons; the cause
assigned by the murderer being the neglect of, or refusal to
discharge a supposed claim he had upon the government.
On the same night the gentleman above alluded to, and residing at
Trematon, had the tragic scene so minutely and painfully depicted in his
sleep, that he could not resist the desire of sending the particulars to
a friend in town, which he did by the _up mail_, which departed a few
hours after he had risen on the following morning.
He informed his friend that his topographical knowledge of London was
very meagre; and that as to the House of Commons (the old one), he had
seen only the exterior: he went on to state, that, dreaming he was in
town, he had a desire to hear the debates in Parliament, and for this
purpose enquired his way to the lobby of the House, the architectural
peculiarities of which he minutely described; he gave an exact
description of the few officials and others in the room, and especially
of a tall, thin man, who seemed to watch the opening of the door as any
one entered with wild and restless gaze: at length Mr. Perceval arrived,
whose person (although unknown to him) and dress he described, as also
the manner in which the horrid deed was done: he further communicated
the words uttered by the victim to the effect "the villain has
murdered--;" how the wounded man was treated, and the person of the
medical man who was on the instant called in.
These, with other particulars, which have escaped my memory, were thus
recorded, and the first newspaper he received confirmed the accuracy of
this extraordinary dream.