before," of the Highland seer; so that probably both states may depend upon some similar condition of the brainular system.

We may not altogether omit some specific notice of the influence of imagination, in occasioning a state of the brain favourable for the production of such mental manifestations. Its agency has been already pointed out in the hypochondriac; and it is no less cognizable in the hysterical state, as well as in other disorders of the function of the brain. In this latter case, the patient is abstracted from the influence of reason and judgment; his fancy becomes omnipotent, and the deepening gloom of melancholy is very commonly thrown over all the prospects of futurity, attended by all the undefined creations of fear.Not many months since, I visited a patient of this class. I found her one day in a state of unusual agitation, and I inquired the cause: she told me, that as she had been sitting in her chair, she had seen a snake coiled under her feet she had screamed aloud upon this discovery, and the agitation which I witnessed was the result; for although, as it is perhaps needless to say, her attendants were unable to discover the alleged intruder, yet the impression made upon her nervous system was great, that she had been unable to recover herself from a shock, produced not only without any real object of fear, but only through the medium of imagination which conjured up this creation, at a period of the year too when snakes are not seen. But if disorders of the bodily health will produce such a morbid action of the brain as that it shall assuredly, and upon the fullest conviction, discover a snake where none existed, it surely is not too much to require, that a similar physical influence may give rise to other unreal and supernatural appearances; and may produce that state of brain in which it will see

SO

This article of popular creed (the belief in spectres and ghosts), and its consequences,-imaginary terror and superstitious agitation before going to bed,--are of themselves a frequent cause of dreaming; for the susceptibility of the brain to continue its evening action during the night, and to take up its last waking impression, and to revive it with adventitious and fantastic circumstances of its own grouping, has been already demonstrated: added to which, an irritable state of that organ has been oftentimes induced by the excitement of listening to tales of this kind,-an excitement too, of rather an intense character, and accompanied in proportion to its intensity and continuance by that exhaustion which leaves behind it a constantly decreasing power of supporting what is in fact a "fever of the spirits," and therefore a greater susceptibility to morbid action of every kind. Again,-another of its laws, that of habit, would be brought to bear powerfully upon this point; and by its influence, the brain would be more liable to fall into analogous trains of thought and feeling: and, moreover, this very excitement and expenditure of energy, does actually give rise to that commencement of morbid action which constitutes the precise state of peculiar adaptation to erroneous and spectral impression, the existence of which has been already assumed. If any person question such a state of the cerebral organ, only let him attend to a simple physiological fact: let him commit to memory imperfectly, a certain piece of poetry or prose in the evening of to-day, and in the morning of tomorrow its recollected impression will be far more perfect than its first conception the night before; and this, not because the energy of the brain has been accumulated,

and its capacity for acquisition augmented by rest, and that its faculties are freshened and invigorated: it is an effect which precedes the exertion of those faculties, and may be observed as the first waking act, and accomplished without effort; doubtless, because the organ of mind has been subjected to its organic physiological laws of continued though involuntary action during sleep; of accumulated sensibility, because this property is not strained off by the outlet of the waking senses; and of extended habit, when freed from the shackles of social perversion. There is a species of dream, which consists in alleged visions during trances or prolonged slumbers; but surely none can doubt the physical origin of this form of cerebral hallucination. It is a state very nearly allied to the highest degree of somnambulism; and, where it has not been the offspring of imposture, or self-delusion, it has arisen from a peculiar morbid action of the brainular organ.

It has been sometimes thought that a morbid condition of the cir. culating fluids might account for these phenomena; but the explanation is unnecessary, and unsatisfactory and surely, if we observe a disturbed manifestation of mind, we ought to refer it to the manifesting organ. Besides, the individuals who have been the subjects of these visions, have been persons of highly nervous temperament; in whom susceptibility to impression predominated, generally females, and such too, as were predisposed to hysterical affections. Another important circumstance to be remarked in this place, is, that these visions have generally been characterized by the predominance of the particular temperament of each individual; that is, by the prevalence of the essential attributes of his cerebral or nervous system; and will have assumed a sanguine or a melancholic character accordingly.

This effect is also frequently to be referred to momentary insanity,

and to the delusion by which it is accompanied. So powerful is the latter, that it remains even after the patient has been restored to a sound employment of the intellectual organ; and he relates in simple and sober earnestness, what he thinks he has said, or seen, or done, during such temporary disorder of the function of the brain, and most firmly believes in its truth;-a sufficient proof, were there no other, that a morbid condition of the brain may give rise to unreal images, and that their influence upon the manifestations of mind may be very extensive.

In the present state of our knowledge, we are not prepared to say wherein consists the peculiar irritation of the brain which occasions this state: it is one of the many truths of which we cannot as yet fathom the rationale. In fact, we are not at all acquainted with the nature of the function of the brain; that is, we know not how it is performed; and therefore we cannot presume to be well informed of its deviations from healthful agency: we can only trace its effects, and reason back from these to their cause,-Poor human nature! what a lesson of humility is inculcated by the simple fact of its ignorance, even of the first principles which govern, or at least greatly influence its own actions! What infinite wisdom and goodness are displayed in the creation and preservation of such a wonderful structure as the brain! How are the malignity of sin, and the depth of our fall from original perfection, shewn by the limited powers and frequent morbid actions of that viscus! And what infinite condescension and grace are exhibited in the fact, that for this poor, sinful, ignorant, and wandering creature, man, Christ died, and, having become his ransom, has promised, if he will accept the offers of his grace, to restore him to the image of God, and to the full exercise of every power and faculty, in realms of unfading joy.-But to

return from these digressive remarks, it is a fact, that, however ignorant we may be of the nature of the brain's function, we know it as extensively as we do that of any other function of the body; as for instance, the process of secretion, of which, we only understand that it takes place under the influence of the brain, and that it is suspended when that influence is withdrawn but in what that influence consists, how it is communicated, and in what way it excites the particular organ to its function, we know not. Yet we are aware that the integrity of this secretion is affected by every morbid cause, disturbing the quiet calm of the secreting organ, and that it is more or less vitiated by every such disturbance. But if the simpler actions of the brain, in ministering to the process of secretion, be interrupted by organic irritation; may not its more complex office, of manifesting the powers and attain ments of the mind be likewise sub jected to similar laws?

Before we proceed farther, we might ask, Is there ANY truth in popular superstitions; or do they all rest on the basis of an enthusiastic belief in the actual existence of spectral illusions, which can only be accounted for satisfactorily by attributing to them a cerebral and bodily origin? It is urged, that these all rest on the same foundation; namely, human testimony; and that he who ventures to doubt their positive being, is met by a host of overwhelming facts, in answer to his scepticism, these facts forming the evidence of so many persons of assumed health of body, and integrity of brainular manifestation. That we venture to doubt this evidence, and to disbelieve this sanity of body and mind, may be perhaps our misfortune; but it is our honest conviction, and, as such, we are bound to maintain what we believe to be the truth. If then, all these histories rest on the same basis, and if it can be proved that any one of them is false and absurd, it

will form a very strong presumption in favour of other similar relations being equally false and absurd. Take, for example, the history of the fairies; a little busy people, whose good and evil offices are as well authenticated by substantial testimony as any similar stories. But where is there now to be found an individual who believes in their existence? Doubt is thrown upon the evidence in their favour the value of human testimony is shaken; and as it is not to be supposed that these histories have been entirely fabricated by the designing, it will follow that the parties have been self-deceived; and if so, what is so likely to have occasioned such delusion as a peculiar state of irritation of the brain, giving rise to spectral appearances? But we have supposed this cause to exist, with regard to other supernatural apparitions; and the supposition is strengthened by referring to the acknowledged absurdity of one form of popular superstition. It may be objected, that the evidence in favour of dreams and other manifestations is derived from the same source as that on which rests our belief in the truths of our holy religion. Now, that the Almighty Governor of the universe can employ, or overrule, if he so will, for the wisest purposes, any action of the system, natural or supernatural, to accomplish his merciful intentions, is most fully and explicitly admitted; and the evidence in proof that he has done so, rests on the most unquestioned foundation: but then a particular purpose was to be accomplished; a part of the great designs of love and mercy to fallen, sinful, helpless man. The answer to the objection is this: Direct communications from on high appear to have been limited to certain portions of the history of the church; and the testimony of the Sacred Scriptures in favour of dreams, as containing a revelation of the will of God, may be equally alleged in support of miracles, and prophecies, and spe

day of grace, the hour of returning to him to seek the pardon of sin : and when we reflect, that if God were strict to mark iniquity,—that is, if justice were his only attribute, -the infliction of punishment would follow the commission of sin, and that we could have no hope of acceptance with him, we see that this pursuit of the criminal is not a necessary consequence of this attribute: on the contrary, that, in his dealings with his sinful creatures, he willeth not their death, but rather that they should turn unto him and live.

Further, this is not the day of retribution, but of proffered pardon, if it be accepted in Christ Jesus. Here on earth, we daily see crime successful, and virtue suffering; the one caressed, the other in poverty, obscurity, and neglect; the one surrounded by friends and affluence, the other in indigence and destitution; the latter constantly suffering injustice from the oppression of the former. This is not the coming period, when the righteous shall be for ever blessed, and the wicked shall be for ever miserable. There is now an inequality in their lot, which will only be rendered right at the last great day of account; so that here again it is shewn not to be inconsistent with the dealings of the providence of God, that the wicked should escape punishment in the present life. Moreover, this assumption proceeds upon an idea of the justice of the Almighty requiring the punishment, by the hand of man, of certain very great offences. But then it has happened, and that not unfrequently, that the innocent have suffered; that is, that they have been innocent of the particular crime for which they were executed: and this is another proof that errors are permitted here, and that we must cast our eye forward to hereafter, for the full display of the retributive justice of God. In fact, the circumstance of the innocent having suffered in the place of the guilty,

while the latter have escaped, would, on any other supposition, impugn the attribute of justice in Him who is perfect holiness. It is, therefore, unnecessary on account of his justice: and, indeed, if it were necessary, it would always be discovered; a supposition which we know to be contradicted by facts. But if this result be neither necessary nor constant, we may well question the validity of any pretended deviation from the ordinary course of God's providence, in order to its being obtained. And may not this dreaming almost always, if not always, be accounted for on other principles less liable to objection?

We will exemplify the principle by applying it to one recent instance; namely, the discovery of the murder of Maria Marten by William Corder: and this example is chosen only because it is of late occurrence, and that the principal facts still live in the memory of the public. It does not, indeed, appear by the published evidence on the trial, that this discovery and conviction did actually take place in consequence of a dream of her mother, Ann Marten; but it was so stated by her at the coroner's inquest, and it is the popular opinion, and is therefore a proper subject for consideration. Now let it be remembered, that the Red Barn was the place in which her daughter was last seen in company with William Corder ;-let the long and anxious interval since she had heard from her be duly estimated ; let the equivocal and evasive answers of Corder to her own, and her neighbours' inquiries, be taken into adequate consideration; let the continued irritation of the brain, which arose from these circumstances of suspense, misgiving, and anxiety, and which had necessarily brought that brain into a state of morbid susceptibility, that is, into the condition which has been alleged as the proximate cause of dreaming, receive its due weight ;- above all, let the avowed observations of