ce of its fore-knowledge, will, under certain circumstances,
execute itself. But, on the other hand, the self-sustaining power of the
will, with a corresponding concentration of nervous energy, will
sometimes triumph over the presence of disease, and for awhile ward off
even the hand of death. The anecdote is told of Muley Moloch, who, being
informed that his army was likely to be defeated, sprang from his sick
bed in great excitement, led his men on to victory, and, on returning to
his tent, lay down and almost instantly expired.

But again it may be asked--what then do dreams portend? Do they admit of
any rational interpretation? This branch of the art of divination, which
was called formerly by the name of "Oneiromancy," has been practiced in
all ages; and there is, perhaps, not a village in Great Britain, or on
the great continent of Europe, India, or America, in which some
fortune-telling old woman will not be found who professes to be an
oracle in propounding their mystical signification. The magicians of old
were supposed to be skillful interpreters of dreams, which, like the
wiseacres of Christendom, they viewed under very contradictory aspects.

From one of the most ancient Arabic manuscripts on the subject, we learn
that if you see an angel, it is a good sign; but if you dream that you
converse with one, it forebodes evil--to dream you bathe in a clear
fountain denotes joy--but if it be muddy, an enemy will bring against
you some false accusation. To dream of carrying any weight upon the back
denotes servitude, if you are rich--honor if you are poor. There is not
an object in nature--not an event that can occur in life--that our
modern fortune-tellers have not converted, when seen in a dream, into
some sign ominous of good or of evil; and many even well-educated
persons are in the habit of fostering their credulity by attaching an
undue importance to their dreams. It is a curious circumstance, however,
which militates against this mystic art, that the same sign in different
countries carries with it a very contrary signification. The peasant
girl in England thinks, if she dream of a rose, that it is a sure sign
of happiness; but the _paysanne_ in Normandy believes that it portends
vexation and disappointment. The Englishman conceives that to dream of
an oak-tree is a sign of prosperity; but in Switzerland, the same vision
is thought to be a forewarning of some dreadful calamity.

The domestic superstitions wh