"We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all. The children of Alice call Bartram father. We are nothing; less than nothing, and dreams. We are only what might have been, and must wait upon the tedious shores of Lethe[342-17] millions of ages before we have existence, and a name." And immediately awaking, I found myself quietly seated in my bachelor armchair, where I had fallen asleep, with the faithful Bridget[342-18] unchanged by my side,--but John L. (or James Elia) was gone forever. You know Lamb's pathetic history, and you can see how _Dream Children_ came right out of his own sad heart, and how it teems with affectionate recollection. The children, too,--do they not seem like living beings? Can you believe that Alice and John never lived? Let us go back to the essay and see how little it is that he really says about them. Here it is: ALICE JOHN 1. _Here Alice put out one of her dear mother's looks, too tender to be upbraiding._ She thought it very sad that any one should pull down the beautiful mantelpiece in the great hall, but she would not find fault with him--she was too gentle, too tender for that! 1. _Here John smiled as much as to say, "that would be foolish indeed."_ John is quite the boy--wise enough to see how ridiculous it was to put a fine, rich old carved chimney among a lot of gilt gimcracks--and rather anxious to show his wisdom. 2. _Here little Alice spread her hands._ Don't you think she knew her Psaltery by heart, and a great part of the Testament besides? "Of course it is very _wonderful_ that grandma knew so much--but then, I know it too." 2. _Here John expanded all his eyebrows and tried to look courageous._ The tale of the ghostly infants has frightened John a little, but he does not like to admit any timidity there with his father and sister, so he straightens up, expands his eyebrows and looks very brave and manly. 3. _Here Alice's little right foot played an involuntary movement, till, upon my looking grave, it desisted._ The mere suggestion of a dance sets the little foot in motion, and you and I know that Alice is a lively girl who would be as proud of being the best dancer in the country as she was of knowing as much Scripture as her grandmother knew. But how quickly she stops when her father looks grave! We do not think that he objects to Alice dancing, but he knows that he is going to tell her the sad part of the story, and that the dancing accompaniment of Alice's little right foot would be very much out of place. Later, Alice joined with John in wishing for the grapes, but she was equally willing to give them up when it seemed childish to take them.