COINCIDENCES AND SUPERSTITIONS. 397 



commanded was unduly exposed I think by the sap 

 running through the fort when produced.* He repre- 

 sented this to the engineer officers, and to the 

 commander-in-chief ; the engineers denied the truth 

 of the statement, the commander believed them, my 

 grandfather quietly observed that he must make his 

 will, and the French fulfilled the prediction. His will 

 bore date the day of his death ; and I always thought it 

 more remarkable than the fulfilment of his prophecy 

 that a soldier should not consider any danger short of 

 one like the above sufficient reason to make his will. 

 6 1 suppose,' proceeds De Morgan, < the other officers 

 were similarly posted. I am told that military men 

 very often defer making their wills until just before an 

 action ; but to face the ordinary risks intestate, and to 

 wait until speedy death must be the all but certain 

 consequence of a stupid mistake, is carrying the prin- 

 ciple very far.' 



. As to the fulfilment of dreams and omens, it is to be 

 noticed that many of the stories bearing on this 

 subject fail in showing that the dream was fully 

 described before the event occurred which appeared to 

 fulfil the dream. It is not unlikely that if this had 

 been done, the fulfilment, in many cases, would not 

 have appeared quite so remarkable as in the actual 

 narrative. Without imputing untruth to the dreamer, 

 we may nevertheless merely by considering what is 



* De Morgan -writes somewhat inexactly here for a mathematician. 

 The sap did not run through the fort, but the direction of the sap 



