Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-05-22

,,;ndsof these creatures; and they
trcuS. n frequently manifest signs OF tear, JOY,
also a nyo and almost every other PASSION
piayi:nat;ng animals, such as the sheep ana COW,
ku less: but even they are sometnes SO d.
als.ad especially at the perioo OF rearing tilel
tccteu, The PARROTS said to dream, and should
young some other birds do the same. Indeed
pPosre intellectual the animal is the more like
the uo 20 he subject to dreaming. Whether the
w. dream. il is impossible to conjecture: nor
ps,; Il he guessed, with any thing like certainty
can noint in the scale of animal intellect the
@sabilitv of dreaming ceases, although it is We
Certain there is such a point. | apprehend
HiIat dreaming is much more general law than
Commonly supposed, and that many animals
iream which are never suspected of doing so.
Some men are said never to dream, and
ohers only when their health is disordered
nr Beattie mentions a case of the latter de-
scrption. For many years before his death, DIR.
psid had no consciousness of ever having
Jreamed; and Mr.. Locke takes notice of per-
con who never did so till his twenty-siXth year,
chen he began to dream in consequence OF
having had a fever. 1t is not impossible, howe
Tar but that, in these cases, the individuals may
have had dreams from the same age as otner
oonle and under the same circumstances, al
%onoh probably they were of so vague ma
Tre as to have soon faded away from the me-
mory. c
;og than in the early part of the night; a proof
hat the sleep is much more profound in the lat
tar neriod than in the former. Towards morn
;oo the faculties, being refreshed by sleep, are
more disposed to enter into activity: and this
explains why, as we approach the hours OF
wakinc our dreams are more fresh and vivid.
Owing TO the comparatively active state of the
6cultes, morning dreams are the more ration
a-whence the old adage, that such dreams are
true.
Children dream almost from their birth; and
five may Judge from what, on many occasions,
thew may endure during sleep, we must suppose
that the visions which haunt their young minds
are often of very frightful kind. Children,
from many causes, are more aptto have dreams
Of terror than adults. In the first place, they
are peculiarly subject to various diseases, such
teething. commissions, and bowel complaints,
those fertile sources of mental terror in sleep;
and. in the second place their minds are eX-
ceedingy susceptible of dread, in all its forms,
and prone to be acted on by it, whatever shape
il assumes Many of the dreams experienced
Al this early period, leave an indelible impress
sion on the mind. They are remembered in al
ter-years with feelings of pain; and, blending
with the more delightful "reminiscences of child
hood. demonstrate that this era, which we are
ant to consider one varied scene of sunshine and
bann,ness. had, as we'll as future life, its shadows
Of melancholy, and was not untinged with hues
~ sorrow and care The sleep of infancy,
therefore is far from being thatideal state OF 1e-
icity which is commonly supposed. 1t is haunt
ed with its own terrors even more than that of
adults; and, if many of the visions which peo-
Die it are equally delightful, there can be little
doubt thatit is also tortured by dreams of a more
painful character than often fall to the share
of after-life.
In health, when the mind is at ease, we seldom
dream; and when we do so our visions are gen
orally ola pleasing character. In diseases, espe-
cially of the brain, liver, and stomach, dreams
are both common and of very distressing kind
*"The stag-hounds, weary with the chase
Lay stretched upon the rushy floor,
And urged in dreams the forest race
From Teviot stone to Eskdale moor"
Lap of the Last Minstrel.