Never every one that came to my Hands, my Book of Specula No. 524. tions would have been little else but a Book of Visions. Friday, October Some of my Correspondents have indeed been so very 31, 1712. modest, as to offer at an Excuse for their not being in a Capacity to dream better. I have by me, for Example, the Dream of a young Gentleman not past Fifteen. I have likewise by me the Dream of a Person of Quality, and another called the Ladies-Dream, In these, and other Pieces of the same Nature, it is supposed the usual Allow ances will be made to the Age, Condition, and Sex of the Dreamer. To prevent this Inundation of Dreams, which daily flows in upon me, I shall apply to all Dreamers of Dreams, the Advice which Epictetus has couched after his manner in a very simple and concise Precept, tell thy Dreams, says that Philosopher, for tho' thou thy self mayest take a Pleasure in telling thy Dream, another will take no Pleasure in hearing it.' After this short Preface, I must do Justice to two or three Visions which I have lately published, and which I have owned to have been written by other Hands, I shall add a Dream to these, which comes to me from Scotland, by one who declares himself of that Country, and for all I know may be Second-sighted. There is, indeed, something in it of the Spirit of John Bunyan; but at the same time a certain Sublime, which that Author was never Master of I shall publish it, because I question not but it will fall in with the Taste of all my popular Readers, and amuse the Imaginations of those who are more profound; declaring, at the same time, that this is the last Dream which I intend to publish this Season, 'Sir, I was last Sunday, in the Evening, led into a serious Reflection on the Reasonableness of Virtue, and great Folly of Vice, from an Excellent Sermon I had heard that After noon in my Parish Church. Among other Observations, the Preacher shewed us, that the Temptations which the Tempter proposed, were all on a Supposition, that we are either Madmen or Fools, or with an Intention to render us such; that in no other Affair we would suffer our selves to be thus imposed upon, in a Case so plainly and clearly No. 524, clearly against our visible Interest. His Illustrations and Arguments carried so much Perswasion and Conviction with them, that they remained a considerable while fresh, and working in my Memory; 'till at last the Mind, fatigued with Thought, gave way to the forcible Oppres sions of Slumber and Sleep, whilst Fancy, unwilling yet to drop the Subject, presented me with the following Vision. Methought I was just awoke out of a Sleep, that I could never remember the beginning of; the Place where I found my self to be was a wide and spacious Plain, full of People that wandred up and down through several beaten Paths, whereof some few were streight, and in direct Lines; but most of them winding and turning like a Labyrinth; but yet it appeared to me afterwards, that these last all met in one Issue, so that many that seemed to steer quite contrary Courses, did at length meet and face one another, to the no little Amazement of many of them, In the midst of the Plain there was a great Fountain They called it the Spring of Self-Love; out of it issued two Rivulets to the Eastward and Westward, the Name of the first was Heavenly Wisdom, its Water was wonder fully clear, but of a yet more wonderful Effect; the other's Name was Worldly Wisdom, its Water was thick, and yet far from being dormant or stagnating, for it was in a continual violent Agitation; which kept the Travellers, whom I shall mention by and by, from being sensible of the foulness and thickness of the Water, which had this Effect, that it intoxicated those that drunk it, and made 'em mistake every Object that lay before them; both Rivulets were parted near their Springs into so many others, as there were streight and crooked Paths, which they attended all along to their respective Issues, I observed from the several Paths many now and then diverting, to refresh and otherwise qualifie themselves for their Journey, to the respective Rivulets that ran near them; they contracted a very observable Courage and Steadiness in what they were about, by drinking these Waters. At the End of the Perspective of every streight Path, all which did end in one Issue and Point, appeared a high Pillar, all of Diamond, casting Rays as bright as those October 31, 1712, those of the Sun into the Paths; which Rays had also No. 524, certain sympathising and alluring Virtues in them, so Friday, that whosoever had made some considerable Progress in his Journey onwards towards the Pillar, by the repeated Impression of these Rays upon him, was wrought into an habitual Inclination and Conversion of his Sight towards it, so that it grew at last in a manner natural to him to look and gaze upon it, whereby he was kept steady in the streight Paths, which alone led to that Radiant Body, the beholding of which was now grown a Gratification to his Nature, At the Issue of the crooked Paths there was a great black Tower, out of the Centre of which streamed a long Succession of Flames, which did rise even above the Clouds; it gave a very great Light to the whole Plain, which did sometimes out-shine the Light, and opprest the Beams of the Adamantine Pillar, tho', by the Observation I made afterwards, it appeared that it was not for any Diminution of Light, but that this lay in the Travellers, who would sometimes step out of the streight Paths, where they lost the full Prospect of the Radiant Pillar, and saw it but side-ways; but the great Light from the black Tower which was somewhat particularly scorching to them, would generally light and hasten them to their proper Climate again. Round about the black Tower there was, methoughts, many Thousands of huge mis-shapen ugly Monsters; these had great Nets, which they were perpetually plying and casting towards the crooked Paths, and they would now and then catch up those that were nearest to them; these they took up streight, and whirled over the Walls into the Flaming Tower, and they were no more seen nor heard of. They would sometimes cast their Nets towards the right Paths to catch the Stragglers, whose Eyes for want of frequent drinking at the Brook that ran by them, grew dim, whereby they lost their Way; these would some times very narrowly miss being catched away, but I could not hear whether any of these had ever been so unfortunate, that had been before very hearty in the streight Paths, No. 524. I considered all these strange Sights with great Atten tion, 'till at last I was interrupted by a Cluster of the Travellers in the crooked Paths, who came up to me, bid me go along with them, and presently fell to Singing and Dancing; they took me by the Hand, and so carried me away along with them. After I had followed them a considerable while, I perceived I had lost the black Tower of Light, at which I greatly wondered; but as I looked and gazed round about me, and saw nothing, I begun to fancy my first Vision had been but a Dream, and there was no such thing in reality; but then I considered, that if I could fancy to see what was not, I might as well have an Allusion wrought on me at present, and not see what was really before me. I was very much confirmed in this Thought, by the Effect I then just observed the Water of Worldly Wisdom had upon me; for as I had drunk a little of it again, I felt a very sensible Effect in my Head; methought it distracted and disordered all there; this made me stop of a sudden, suspecting some Charm or Inchantment. As I was casting about within my self what I should do, and whom to apply to in this Case, I spyed at some distance off me a Man beckning, and making Signs to me to come over to him. I cryed to him, I did not know the Way. He then called to me audibly, to step at least out of the Path I was in, for if I staid there any longer I was in danger to be catched in a great Net that was just hanging over me, and ready to catch me up; that he wondered I was so blind, or so distracted, as not to see so imminent and visible a Danger; assuring me, that as soon as I was out of that Way he would come to me to lead me into a more secure Path. This I did, and he brought me his Palm full of the Water of Heavenly Wisdom, which was of very great use to me, for my Eyes were streight cleared, and I saw the great Black Tower just before me; but the great Net, which I spy'd so near me, cast me in such a Terror, that I ran back as far as I could in one Breath, without looking behind me; then my Benefactor thus bespoke me, You have made the wonderfullest Escape in the World, the Water you used to drink is of a bewitching Nature, you would else have been mightily shocked at the Deformities and 31, 1712. and Meanness of the Place; for beside the Sett of blind No. 524. Fools, in whose Company you was, you may now observe Friday, October many others, who are only bewitched after another no less dangerous manner. Look a little that way, there goes a crowd of Passengers, they have indeed so good a Head as not to suffer themselves to be blinded by this bewitching Water; the Black Tower is not vanished out of their Sight, they see it whenever they look up to it; but see how they go sideways, and with their Eyes downwards, as if they were Mad, that they may thus rush into the Net, without being beforehand troubled at the Thought of so miserable a Destruction. Their Wills are so perverse, and their Hearts so fond of the Pleasures of the Place, that rather than forego them they will run all Hazards, and venture upon all the Miseries and Woes before them, See there that other Company, tho' they should drink none of the betwitching Water, yet they take a Course betwitching and deluding; see how they chuse the crookedest Paths, whereby they have often the Black Tower behind them, and sometimes see the radiant Column side-ways, which gives them some weak Glympse of it These Fools content themselves with that, not knowing whether any other have any more of its Influence and Light than themselves; this Road is called that of Superstition or Human Invention; they grossly over-look that which the Rules and Laws of the Place prescribe to them, and contrive some other Scheme and Sett of Directions and Prescriptions for themselves, which they hope will serve their turn. He shewed me many other kind of Fools, which put me quite out of Humour with the Place. At last he carried me to the right Paths, where I found true and solid Pleasure, which entertained me all the Way, 'till we came in closer sight of the Pillar, where the Satisfac tion increased to that measure that my Faculties were not able to contain it; in the straining of them I was violently waked, not a little grieved at the vanishing of so pleasing a Dream, Glascow, Sept. 29, Saturday |