OneeveningwhileIwaslivinginCharlesStreet,IreceivedacallfromDr。S。,awell—knownandhighlyrespectedBostonphysician,aparticularfriendofthelateAlexanderH。Stephens,vice—presidentoftheSouthernConfederacy。ItwaswithreferencetoaworkwhichMr。StephenswasabouttopublishthatDr。S。calleduponme。Aftertalkingthatmatteroverwegotconversingonothersubjects,amongtherestafamilyrelationshipexistingbetweenus,——notaverynearone,butonewhichIthinkIhadseenmentionedingenealogicalaccounts。MaryS。（thelastnamebeingthesameasthatofmyvisitant）,itappeared,wasthegreat—great—grandmotherofMrs。H。
andmyself。Aftercordiallyrecognizingourforgottenrelationship,nowforthefirsttimecalledtomind,weparted,myguestleavingmeforhisownhome。Wehadbeensittinginmylibraryonthelowerfloor。Ongoingup—stairswhereMrs。H。wassittingalone,justasI
enteredtheroomshepushedapaperacrossthetabletowardsme,sayingthatperhapsitmightinterestme。Itwasoneofanumberofoldfamilypaperswhichshehadbroughtfromthehouseofhermother,recentlydeceased。
Iopenedthepaper,whichwasanold—lookingdocument,andfoundthatitwasacopy,perhapsmadeinthiscentury,ofthewillofthatsameMaryS。aboutwhomwehadbeentalkingdown—stairs。
Ifthereissuchathingasapurelyaccidentalcoincidencethismustbeconsideredaninstanceofit。