I was so terrified I could not call for a light, I sunk into the bed and covered my head; but I had not remained many moments, scarcely daring to breathe, when I heard a light foot-step coming towards the side of my bed next the wall;—I ventured to peep—and saw, indeed I did, a great white apparition, which grew bigger and bigger as it approached:—I know not what I did—I jumped out of the other side of the bed, knocked down the table, and screamed out.—But hush, I hear a noise. CHARLES. I will lay a wager it is a rat that has hid itself. EDWARD. A rat is not white. CHARLES. Let us search, something it must be; a spirit cannot make a noise. Charles then looked in every corner of the room, behind the clothes-press, and the bureau. He then called out, there is the apparition, Edward, I have found it at last. And what was it, do you think? A great white cat which generally lives in the stable. We all laughed, in particular Edward; but, said he, I cannot imagine how the cat could make such a noise, and look so big. CHARLES. Your fear magnified it; when we are terrified, we seldom see things as they really are. The lights, which were the cat’s eyes, so dazzled yours, you imagined them to be balls of fire. We then went to bed and slept very sound till the morning. We related the whole affair when we were at breakfast, and after Sir Charles had commended his son, he added, This may teach you all not to be terrified, but to enquire into things; and believe me, many causes, which at first appeared very alarming, will vanish, or only resemble the white cat. While God, the great Spirit, takes care of us, can phantoms harm us? He will support all those who trust in him—fear him—and you may banish every other fear. You may be certain, all the stories you have heard, took their rise from terror; a timid disturbed imagination created the spectre, or swelled some slight reality into one: none had the courage to search for the truth, or it eluded the search. I shall never forget this incident, dear mother; I recollect what Charles said, a spirit cannot make a noise. The stories I have been told in Holland, I now think foolish; the tall woman, who walked in the grove at night, and the white monster, almost as high as the steeple, and many others of the same kind, I am sure would be found, on enquiry, to resemble the tale of the white cat, which Edward would have told, if Charles had not dragged the supposed spirit from its hiding place. WILLIAM. LETTER XXXVII. WILLIAM _to his_ MOTHER.