a I had been exceedingly struck by the present
state of Judaea and the conformity of the fate of the Jewish nation to
the predictions of our Saviour; I had likewise been reading Gibbon's
eulogy of Julian, and his account of the attempts made by that Emperor to
rebuild the temple: so that the dream at such a time and in such a place
was not an unnatural occurrence. Yet it was so vivid, and the image of
the subject of it so peculiar, that it long affected my imagination, and
whenever I recurred to it, strengthened my faith.

_Onu_.--I believe all the narratives of apparitions and ghost stories are
founded upon dreams of the same kind as that which occurred to you: an
ideal representation of events in the local situation, in which the
person is at the moment, and when the imaginary picture of the place in
sleep exactly coincides with its reality in waking.

_The Stranger_.--I agree with you in your opinion. If my servant had not
been with me, and my dream had been a little less improbable, it would
have been difficult to have persuaded me that I had not been visited by
an apparition.

I mentioned the dream of Brutus, and said, "His supposed evil genius
appeared in his tent; had the philosophical hero dreamt that his genius
had appeared to him in Rome, there could have been no delusion." I cited
the similar vision, recorded of Dion before his death, by Plutarch, of a
gigantic female, one of the fates or furies, who was supposed to have
been seen by him when reposing in the portico of his palace. I referred
likewise to my own vision of the beautiful female, the guardian angel of
my recovery, who always seemed to me to be present at my bedside.

_Amb_.--In confirmation of this opinion of Onuphrio, I can mention many
instances. I once dreamt that my door had been forced, that there were
robbers in my room, and that one of them was actually putting his hand
before my mouth to ascertain if I was sleeping naturally. I awoke at
this moment, and was some minutes before I could be sure whether it was a
dream or a reality. I felt the pressure of the bedclothes on my lips,
and still in the fear of being murdered continued to keep my eyes closed
and to breathe slowly, till, hearing nothing and finding no motion, I
ventured to open my eyes; but even then, when I saw nothing, I was not
sure that my impression was a dream till I had risen from my bed and
ascertained that the door was still locked.

_Onu_.--I am the only one of