a distant part of the ship, too far off, it is stated, to
have heard their mother's exclamation, both cried out, 'Papa!
papa!' Mrs B---- declared, that the moment she spoke, she saw her
husband most distinctly, but the vision instantly vanished. All
the persons present noted the precise time of this singular
occurrence, lat. and long., &c., and Mrs B----'s letter to her
sister was written immediately after it; it was forwarded to
England by a vessel that was expected to reach home before the
East Indiaman, and which did precede her by some weeks. No
reasonings that I could offer were sufficient to relieve my
friend's mind from the conviction that her sister had lost her
husband, and that his decease had been thus mysteriously announced
to her, until letters arrived from Mr B----, attesting his perfect
health, which he enjoyed for some years after--and I believe he is
still living.

"To arrive at any reasonable conclusion respecting the phenomena
of dreams, we require data most difficult to be obtained; we
should compare authentic dreams, faithfully related, with their
equally well-attested attendant and _precedent_ circumstances. But
who can feel certain that he correctly relates even his own dream?
I have many times made the attempt, but cannot be perfectly sure
that in the act of recording a dream, I have not given more of
order to the succession of the events than the dream itself
presented. In the case of the first dream, the mere delivery of a
letter, there is no succession of events, and therefore no ground
to suppose that any invention could have been added to give it
form and consistency. The young lady knew that her friend was in
the West Indies; she knew, too, the danger of that climate, and
had often seen the Admiral, her uncle, receive official letters.
Some transient thoughts on these subjects, although too transient
to be remembered, unquestionably formed her dream. That the letter
really arrived and confirmed the event predicted, can only be
referable to those coincidences which are not of very uncommon
occurrence in daily life. To similar causes I attribute the second
dream; and even its external fulfilment in so many particulars can
hardly be deemed more extraordinary than the coincidence of the
sudden and wholly unexpected arrival of Major F----, just at the