Thirteen a Lucky Number

There is an ancient superstition, that if on any occasion thirteen sit at table together, one of the number will die before the year is out. This silly superstition has been traced back to the Last Supper of our Lord with his twelve disciples, Judas after the betrayal having hanged himself.

Thirteen has in consequence been considered an unlucky number: to counterbalance this, there is an instance of thirteen having been a lucky number.

An obituary notice of John Hatfield, who died June 18, 1770, aged 102, appeared a few days after his death in the "Public Advertiser," London.

It states, that, "when a soldier in the time of William and Mary, he was tried by a court-martial on a charge of having fallen asleep at midnight when on duty upon the terrace at Windsor." It goes on to state, "He absolutely denied the charge against him, and solemnly declared (as a proof of his having been awake at the time) that he heard St. Paul's clock strike thirteen: the truth of which was much doubted by the court because of the great distance. But while he was under sentence of death, an affidavit was made by several persons that the clock actually did strike thirteen instead of twelve: whereupon he received his Majesty's pardon."

It is added that a recital of these circumstances was engraven on the coffin-plate of the old soldier, to satisfy the world of the truth of the story.

The clock which struck on this important occasion was Tom of Westminster, afterwards removed to St. Paul's.