ANiJIALS. S-l? 



(luring sleep, tl'.at tliey were very powertully impelled by their 

 dominion. We have numberless instances of such persons who, 

 while asleep, have performed many of the ordinary duties to 

 which they had been accustomed when waking ; and, with a 

 ridiculous industry, have completed by night, what they failed 

 doing by day. We are told, in the German Ephemerides, of a 

 young student, who being enjoined a severe exercise by his tutoi, 

 went to bed, despairing of accomplishing it. The next morning 

 awaking, to his great surprise, he found the task fairly written 

 out, and finished in his own hand-writing. 



He was at first, as the account has it, induced to ascribe this 

 strange production to the operations of an infernal agent ; but 

 his tutor, willing to examine the affair to the bottom, set him 

 another exercise, still more severe than the former, and took 

 precautions to observe his conduct the whole night. The young 

 gentleman, upon being so severely tasked, felt the same inquie- 

 tude that he had done on the former occasion ; went to bed 

 gloomy and pensive, pondering on the next day's duty, and, after 

 some time, fell asleep. But shortly after, his tutor, who con- 

 tinued to observe him from a place that was concealed, was sur- 

 prised to see him get up, and very deliberately go to the table ; 

 where he took out pen, ink, and paper, drew himself a chair, 

 and sat very methodically to thinking : it seems, that his being 

 asleep, only served to strengthen the powers of his imagination ; 

 for he very quickly and easily went through the task assigned 

 him ; put his chair aside, and then returned to bed to take out 

 the rest of his nap. What credit we are to give to this account, 

 I will not pretend to determine ; but this may be said, that the 

 book from whence it was taken, has some good marks of vera- 

 city ; for it is very learned, and very dull ; and is written in a 

 country noted, if not for truth, at least for want of invention. * 



The ridiculous story of Arlotto is well known, who has had 

 a volume written, containing a narrative of the actions of his life, 

 not one of which was performed while he was awake. He was 

 an Italian Franciscan friar, extremely rigid in his manners, and 

 remarkably devout and learned in his daily conversation. By 

 night, however, and during his sleep, he played a very different. 



* This admirable hit at the Gcrinaus, it need scarcely be said, does no 

 now apply to them, as, since Goldsmith's time, they have proved themselvea 

 by Ihcir literary works, to be a people of the most fertile fancy. 



