comwctt'd zvi't/i Literature, 22S 



to occupy and interest us ; and an inherent 

 viq^our of mind, \vhich shall enable us to resist 

 the slighter impressions on our senses, from 

 which the deepest retreat is not exempt. The 

 superstitious dreams which are known by the 

 name of second sight, are found amongst the 

 most uninformed of mankind, in a country 

 where the absence of disturbance might favor 

 the highest speculations in science. The beech 

 of the sea, which Plato chose as the fittest 

 place for philosophical instruction, has in our 

 own country become the favourite haunt of 

 the indolent and the unthinking. 



Objects and circumstances may be so dis- 

 posed as to give to reverie a pleasing or pensive, 

 and as we shall presently see, a refined or in- 

 elegant direction. I believe it is unnecessary 

 to ask, whether the mind will not be more 

 apt to depart from serious meditation in a 

 gaudy chapel, than in the solemn gloom of a 

 cathedral. It is remarked by an eminent me- 

 dical writer, that light, introduced by opening 

 the window- shutters, gave a gayer cast to the 

 ideas of a patient who laboured under reverie. 

 The study of Tasso was a Gothic apartment ; 

 and he fancied his familiar spirit to converse 

 with him through a window of stained glass. 



If we can contrive to effect, during the 

 reverie, a frequent rc-action of any circum- 



