witnessing or bearing a part of a fictitious scene: we seem not to be in a similar situation with the actors in a dramatic performance, or the spectators before whom they exhibit, but engaged in the business of real life. All the varieties of thought that pass through our minds when awake may also occur in dreams; all the images which imagination present in the former state, he is also able to call up in the latter; all the same emotions may be excited, and we are often actuated by equal violence of passion; none of the transactions in which we are capable of engaging while awake is impossible in dreams: in short, our range of action and observation is equally wide in the one state as in the other; and while dreaming, we are not sensible of any distinction between our dreams and the events and transactions in which we are actually concerned in our intercourse with the world.

3. It is said that all men are not liable to dream. Dr Beattie, in a very pleasing essay on this subject, relates, that he knew a gentleman who never dreamed except when his health was in a disordered state; and Locke mentions that a certain person of his acquaintance was almost a stranger to dreaming till the 26th year of his age; and then began to dream in consequence of having a fever. These instances, however, are too few, and we have not been able to obtain more; and, besides, it does not appear that those persons had always attended, with the care of a philosopher making an experiment, to the circumstances of their sleep. They might dream, but not recollect their dreams on waking; and they might both dream and recollect their dreams immediately upon waking, yet afterwards suffer the remembrance of them to slip out of their memory. We do not advance this, therefore, as a certain fact concerning dreaming; we are rather inclined to think it a mistake.

But though it appears to be by no means certain that any of the human race are through the whole of life absolute strangers to dreaming; yet it is well known that all men are not equally liable to dream. The same person dreams more or less at different times; and as one person may be more exposed than another to those circumstances which promote this exercise of fancy, one person may therefore dream more than another. The same diversity will naturally take place in this as in other accidents to which mankind are in general liable.

4. Though in dreams imagination appears to be free from all restraint, and indulges in the most wanton freaks; yet it is generally agreed, that the imaginary transactions of the dreamer bear always some relation to his particular character in the world, his habits of action, and the circumstances of his life. The lover, we are told, dreams of his mistress; the miser of his money; the philosopher renewed his researches in sleep often with the same pain and fatigue as when awake; and even the merchant, at times, returns to balance his books, and compute the profits of an adventure, when floundering on his pillow. And not only do the more general circumstances of a person's life influence his dreams; his passions and habits are nearly the same when asleep as when awake. A person whose habits of life are virtuous, does not in his dreams plunge into a series of crimes; nor are the vicious reformed when they pass into this imaginary world. The choleric man finds himself offended by flight provocations as well in his dreams as in his ordinary intercourse with the world, and a mild temper continues pacific in sleep.

5. The character of a person's dreams is influenced by his circumstances when awake in a still more unaccountable manner. Certain dreams usually arise in the mind after a person has been in certain situations. Dr Beattie relates, that he once, after riding 30 miles in a high wind, passed a part of the succeeding night in dreams beyond description terrible. The state of a person's health, and the manner in which the vital functions are carried on, have a considerable influence in determining the character of dreams. After too full a meal, or after eating of an unusual sort of food, a person is very apt to be harassed with dreams.

6. In dreaming, the mind for the most part carries on no intercourse through the senses with surrounding-objects. Touch a person gently who is asleep, he feels not the impression. You may awake him by a smart blow; but when the stroke is not sufficiently violent to awake him, he remains insensible of it. We speak softly beside a person asleep, without fearing that he overhear us. His eyelids are shut; and even though light should fall upon the eyeball, yet still his powers of vision are not wakened to active exertion, unless the light be so strong as to rouse him from sleep. He is insensible both to sweet and to disagreeable smells. It is not easy to try whether his organs of taste retain their activity, without wakening him; yet from analogy it may be presumed that these too are inactive. With respect to the circumstances here enumerated, it is indifferent whether a person be dreaming or buried in deep sleep.

Yet there is one remarkable fact concerning dreaming, which may seem to contradict what has been here asserted. In dreams we are liable not only to speak aloud in consequence of the suggestions of imagination, but even to get up, and walk about and engage in little enterprises, without awaking. Now, as we are in this instance so active, it seems that we cannot be then insensible of the presence of surrounding objects. The sleepwalker is really sensible in a certain degree of the presence of the objects around him; but he does not attend to them with all their circumstances, nor do they excite in him the same emotions as if he were awake. He feels no terror on the brink of a precipice; and in consequence of being free from fear, he is also without danger in such a situation until suddenly awakened. This is one of the most inexplicable phenomena of dreaming.

There is also another fact not quite consonant with what has been above mentioned. It is said, that in sleep a person will continue to hear the noise of a cataract in the neighbourhood, or regular strokes with a hammer, or any similar sound sufficiently loud, and continued uninterruptedly from before the time of his falling asleep. We know not whether he awakes on the sudden cessation of the noise. The fact is attested on sufficient evidence: it is curious. Even when awake, if very deeply intent on any piece of study, or closely occupied in business, the sound of a clock striking in the neighbourhood, or the beating of a drum, will escape DRE [326] DRE

Dreams escape us unnoticed; and it is therefore the more surprising that we should thus continue sensible to sounds when asleep.

7. Not only do a person's general character, habits of life, and state of health, influence his dreams; but those concerns in which he has been most deeply interested during the preceding day, and the views which have arisen most frequently to his imagination, very often afford the subjects of his dreams. When I look forward with anxious expectation towards any future event, I am likely to dream either of the disappointment or the gratification of my wishes. Have I been engaged through the day, either in business or amusements which I have found exceedingly agreeable, or in a way in which I have been extremely unhappy; either my happiness or my misery is likely to be renewed in my dreams.

8. Though dreams have been regarded among almost all nations through the world, at least in some periods of their history, as prophetic of future events; yet it does not appear that this popular opinion has been established on good grounds. Christianity, indeed, teaches us to believe, that the Supreme Being may, and actually does, operate on our minds, and influence at times the determinations of our will, without making us sensible of the restraint to which we are thus subjected. And, in the same manner, no doubt, the suggestions which arise to us in dreams, may be produced. The imaginary transactions in which we are then engaged, may be such as are actually to occupy us in life; the strange and seemingly incoherent appearances which are then presented to the mind's eye, may allude to some events which are to befal ourselves or others. It is, therefore, by no means impossible, or inconsistent with the general analogy of nature, that dreams should have a respect to futurity. We have no reason to regard the dreams which are related in the Holy Scriptures to have been prophetic of future events, as not inspired by Heaven, or to laugh at the idea of a prophetic dream as absurd or ridiculous.

Yet it would be too much to allow to dreams all that importance which has been ascribed to them by the priesthood among heathen nations, or by the vulgar among ourselves. We know how easily ignorance imposes on itself, and what arts imposture adopts to impose upon others. We cannot trace any certain connexion between our dreams and those events to which the simplicity of the vulgar pretends that they refer. And we cannot, therefore, if disposed to confine our belief to certain or probable truths, join with the vulgar in believing them really referable to futurity.

9. It appears that the brutes are also capable of dreaming. The dog is often observed to start suddenly up in his sleep, in a manner which cannot be accounted for in any other way than by supposing that he is roused by some impulse received in a dream. The same thing is observable of others of the inferior animals. That they should dream, is not an idea inconsistent with what we know of their economy and manners in general. We may, therefore, consider it as a pretty certain truth, that many, if not all, of the lower species are liable to dream as well as human beings.

It appears, then, that in dreaming we are not conscious of being asleep; that to a person dreaming, his dreams seem realities; that though it be uncertain whether mankind are all liable to dreams, yet it is well known that they are not all equally liable to dream: that the nature of a person's dreams depends in some measure on his habits of action, and on the circumstances of his life: that the state of the health too, and the manner in which the vital functions are carried on, have a powerful influence in determining the character of a person's dreams: that in sleep and in dreaming, the senses are either absolutely inactive, or nearly so: that such concerns as we have been very deeply interested in during the preceding day, are very likely to return upon our minds in dreams in the hours of rest: that dreams may be rendered prophetic of future events; and therefore, wherever we have such evidence of their having been prophetic as we would accept on any other occasion, we cannot reasonably reject the fact on account of its absurdity; but that they do not appear to have been actually such, in those instances in which the superstition of nations, ignorant of true religion, has represented them as referring to futurity, nor in those instances in which they are viewed in the same light by the vulgar among ourselves; and, lastly, that dreaming is not a phenomenon peculiar to human nature, but common to mankind with the brutes.

We know of no other facts that have been fully ascertained concerning dreaming. But we are by no means sufficiently acquainted with this important phenomenon in the history of mind. We cannot tell by what laws of our constitution we are thus liable to be so frequently engaged in imaginary transactions, nor what are the particular means by which the delusion is accomplished. The delusion is indeed remarkably strong. One will sometimes have a book presented to him in a dream, and fancy that he reads; and actually enter into the nature of the imaginary composition before him, and even remember, after he awakes, what he knows that he only fancied himself reading (A). Can this be delusion? If delusion, how or for what purposes is it produced? The mind, it would appear, does not, in sleep, become inactive like the body; or at least is not always inactive while we are asleep. When we do not dream, the mind must either be inactive, or the connexion between the mind and the body must be considered as in some manner suspended: and, when we dream, the mind, though it probably acts in concert with the body, yet does not act in the same manner as when we are awake. It seems to be clouded or bewildered, in consequence of being deprived for a time of the service of the senses. Imagination becomes more active and more capricious: and all the other powers, especially judgment and memory, become disordered and irregular in their operation.

Various theories have been proposed to explain what appears here most inexplicable. The ingenious Mr Baxter,

(A) The writer of this article has been told by a respectable old gentleman of his acquaintance, since dead, that he had frequently dreams of this nature. The fact may therefore be considered as unquestionable. Dreams. Baxter, in his Treatise on the Immateriality of the Human Soul, endeavours to prove that dreams are produced by the agency of some spiritual beings, who either amuse or employ themselves seriously in engaging mankind in all those imaginary transactions with which they are employed in dreaming. This theory, however, is far from being plausible. It leads us entirely beyond the limits of our knowledge. It requires us to believe without evidence. It is unsupported by any analogy. It creates difficulties still more inexplicable than those which it has been proposed to remove. Till it appear that our dreams cannot possibly be produced without the interference of other spiritual agents, professing such influence over our minds as to deceive us with fancied joys, and involve us in imaginary afflictions, we cannot reasonably refer them to such a cause. Besides, from the facts which have been stated as well known concerning dreams, it appears that their nature depends both on the state of the human body and on that of the mind. But were they owing to the agency of other spiritual beings, how could they be influenced by the state of the body? Those must be a curious set of spiritual beings who depend in such a manner on the state of our corporeal frame. Better not to allow them existence at all, than to place them in such a dependence.

Wolfius, and after him M. Formey, have supposed, that dreams never arise in the mind, except in consequence of some of the organs of sensation having been previously excited. Either the ear or the eye, or the organs of touching, tasting, or smelling, communicate information, somehow, in a tacit, secret manner; and thus partly rouse its faculties from the lethargy in which they are buried in sleep, and engage them in a series of confused and imperfect exertions. But what passes in dreams is so very different from all that we do when awake, that it is impossible for the dreamer himself to distinguish, whether his powers of sensation perform any part on the occasion. It is not necessary that imagination be always excited by sensation. Fancy, even when we are awake, often wanders from the present scene. Absence of mind is incident to the fluidous: the poet and the mathematician many times forget where they are. We cannot discover from any thing that a person in dreaming displays to the observation of others, that his organs of sensation take a part in the imaginary transactions in which he is employed. In those instances, indeed, in which persons asleep are said to hear sounds; the sounds which they hear are said also to influence, in some manner, the nature of their dreams. But such instances are singular. Since then it appears that the person who dreams is himself incapable of distinguishing either during his dreams, or by recollection when awake, whether any new impressions are communicated to him in that state by his organs of sensation; that even by watching over him, and comparing our observations of his circumstances and emotions, in his dreams, with what he recollects of them after waking, we cannot, except in one or two singular instances, ascertain this fact; and that the mind is not incapable of acting while the organs of sensation are at rest, and on many occasions refuses to listen to the information which they convey; we may, without hesitation, conclude, that the theory of Wolfius, and Formey has been too hastily and incautiously advanced.

Other physiologists tell us, that the mind, when we dream, is in a state of delirium. Sleep, they say, is attended with what is called a collapse of the brain; during which either the whole or a part of the nerves of which it consists, are in a state in which they cannot carry on the usual intercourse between the mind and the organs of sensation. When the whole of the brain is in this state, we become entirely unconscious of existence, and the mind sinks into inactivity: when only a part of the brain is collapsed, as they term it, we are then neither asleep nor awake, but in a sort of delirium between the two. This theory, like the last mentioned, supposes the mind incapable of acting without the help of sensation: it supposes that we know the nature of a state of which we cannot ascertain the phenomena: it also contradicts a known fact, in representing dreams as confused images of things around us, not fanciful combinations of things not existing together in nature or in human life. We must treat it likewise, therefore, as a baleful fabric.

In the last edition of this work, a theory somewhat different from any of the foregoing was advanced in this subject. It was observed, that the nervous fluid, which is allowed to be secreted from the blood by the brain, appears to be likewise absorbed from the blood by the extremities of the nerves. It was farther advanced, that as this fluid was to be considered as the principle of sensibility; therefore, in all cases in which a sufficient supply of it was not absorbed from the blood by the extremities of the nerves, the parts of the body to which those nerves belonged, must be, in some degree, deprived of sensation. From these positions it was inferred, that as long as impressions of external objects continue to communicate a certain motion from the sentient extremities of the nerves to the brain,—so long we continue awake; and that, when there is a deficiency of this vital fluid in the extremities of the nerves, or when from any other cause it ceases to communicate to the brain the peculiar motion alluded to, we must naturally fall asleep, and become insensible of our existence. It followed of consequence, that, in sleep, the nervous fluid between the extreme parts of the nerves and the brain must either be at rest, or be deficient, or be prevented by some means from passing into the brain: and it was concluded, that whenever irregular motions of this fluid were occasioned by an internal cause, dreaming was produced. In this manner it appeared that we might be deceived with regard to the operation of any of the senses;—so as to fancy that we saw objects not actually before us,—to hear imaginary sounds,—to taste,—to feel, and to smell in imagination. The instances of visions which will sometimes arise, and as it were swim before us when awake, though our eyes be shut, tinnitus aurium, which is often a symptom in nervous diseases, and the strange feelings in the case of the amputated limb, were produced in proof of this theory, and applied so as to confirm it.

We are full of opinion, that this theory is more plausible, and goes farther toward explaining the nature of dreaming, and the manner in which dreams are produced, than any other with which we are acquainted. But it must be confessed, upon a review, that even In it there is too much supposition. The nature of the nervous fluid is but imperfectly known, and even its existence not very fully ascertained. The nature of the connexion by which the soul and body are united, seems to be almost beyond our comprehension. And till we can apply experiment and observation in a better manner to this branch of physiology, it must undoubtedly remain unknown. To something mysterious in the nature of that connexion, the delusion produced in dreams is in all probability owing.

Amid this uncertainty with respect to the manner in which the powers of mind and body perform their functions in dreaming, it is pleasing to find that we can, however, apply to useful purposes the imperfect knowledge which we have been able to acquire concerning this series of phenomena. Our dreams are affected by the state of our health, by the manner in which we have passed the preceding day, by our general habits of life, by the hopes which we most fondly indulge, and the fears which prevail most over our fortitude when we are awake. From recollecting our dreams, therefore, we may learn to correct many improprieties in our conduct; to refrain from bodily exercises, or from meats and drinks that have unfavourable effects on our constitution; to resist, in due time, evil habits that are stealing upon us; and to guard against hopes and fears which detach us from our proper concerns, and unfit us for the duties of life. Instead of thinking what our dreams may forebode, we may with much better reason reflect by what they have been occasioned, and look back to those circumstances in our past life to which they are owing. The sleep of innocence and health is found and refreshing; their dreams delightful and pleasing. A distempered body, and a polluted or perturbed mind, are haunted in sleep with frightful, impure, and unpleasing dreams.

Some very beautiful fables have been written both by ancients and moderns in the form of dreams. The Somnium Scipionis is one of the finest of Cicero's compositions. He who shall carefully peruse this piece, with Macrobius's commentary upon it, will acquire from them a considerable knowledge of ancient philosophy. In the periodical publications, which have diffused so much elegant and useful knowledge through Britain, the Tatlers, Spectators, Guardians, &c. we find a number of excellent dreams. Addison excelled in this way of writing. The public are now less partial to this species of composition than they formerly were.

Dr Beattie, in his valuable essay on the subject of dreaming, quotes a very fine one from the Tatler, and gives it due praise.

The reader who is disposed to speculate farther on this subject, may consult Beattie's Essays, Hartley on Man, and the principal writers on physiology.