kes some apology,
as what may seem whimsical, and yet made some impression on the
colonel,--"that there was a remarkable resemblance in the field in which
this brave man met his death, and that he had represented to him in the
dream." I did not fully understand this at first; but a passage in that
letter from Mr. Spears, which I have mentioned more than once, has
cleared it:

"Now observe, sir, this seems to be a literal description of the place
where this Christian hero ended his sorrows and conflicts, and from which
he entered triumphantly into the joy of his Lord; for, after he fell in
the battle, fighting gloriously for his king, and the cause of his God,
his wounded body, while life was yet remaining, was carried from the
field of battle by the east side of his own enclosure, till he came to
the church-yard of Tranent, and was brought to the minister's house,
where, about an hour after, he breathed out his soul into the hands of
his Lord, and was conducted to his presence, where there is fulness of
joy, without any cloud or interruption, for ever."

I well know that in dreams there are diverse vanities, and readily
acknowledge that nothing certain could be inferred from this; yet it
seems at least to show which way the imagination was working even in
sleep; and I cannot think it unworthy of a wise and good man sometimes
to reflect with complacency on any images which, passing through his mind
even in that state, may tend either to express or to quicken his love
to the great Saviour. Those eminently pious divines of the Church of
England, Bishop Bull and Bishop Konn, do both intimate it as their
opinion that it may be a part of the service of ministering angels to
suggest devout dreams[1] and I know that the worthy person of whom I
speak was well acquainted with that evening hymn of the latter of those
excellent writers which has these lines:

"Lord lest the tempter me surprise,
Watch over thine own sacrifice!
All loose, all idle thoughts cast out;
And make my very _dreams_ devout!"

Nor would it be difficult to produce other passages much to the same
purpose,[2] if it would not be deemed too great a digression from our
subject, and too laboured a vindication of a little incident of very
small importance when compared with most of those which make up this
narrative.[3]

[Footnote 1: Bishop Bull has these remarkable words: "Although I am no
doater on dreams, yet I verily believe that some dreams are mo