162 DR. BENJAMIN ALLEN, OF BRAINTREE.
devoted to astronomy ; and many scattered passages in other
parts show that Allen had a wide knowledge of this science.
He enters many observations, apparently made by himself, on
parallax, the height of the moon, auroras, eclipses, and so forth.
He has pasted in (facing p. 106) a coloured drawing, made
seemingly by himself, showing "The Face of the Moon at the
Total Solar Eclipse [on] April 22, 1715," which he evidently
observed with much interest. The drawing shows very clearly
the red, white, and yellow rays of the Solar Corona.1 Elsewhere
(p. 1), he records his observations on the Solar Eclipses of 1715
and 1724. In a note, written evidently during the last months
of his life, he refers (p. 287) to "my collection of almanacks.''
Five or six closely-written pages (201-206) bear testimony to
Allen's profound belief in dreams and unusual incidents as divine
warnings of impending events. He discusses more than
exhaustively his reasons for regarding them as such. Some of
bis dreams he describes in great detail ; but they are of the usual
ridiculous kind and have no teachings for us, unless it is to
avoid too late and too heavy suppers ! One such dream,
relating to Kay, has been noticed already.2 Another, relating to
his brother-in-law, Dr. Thomas Draper, he dreamed, he says
(pp. 202-203), thrice over on three successive nights preceding
Dr. Draper's death in November 1705.
In this connection, one of the funniest entries relates to the
time when "my daughter Mary was courted by Mr.——, sup-
posed [to be] a Papist (his sister being a profest one)" ! One
day, when the supposed Papist was present, Allen's son
Benjamin, coming into the room, was seized with sudden illness.
After so clear a warning from Heaven, Allen could do no less
than dismiss the supposed Papist suitor for his daughter's hand,
which he did summarily. The result was that, within two days,
young Benjamin appeared to have recovered his health.3 But
the incident was by no means closed. Shortly after, on
30th January 1724, Allen dreamed at length of his son, about
whom he was evidently still uneasy. A final and unmistakeable
warning came in the following month, when two crossed militia
swords, hanging on the wall of the kitchen, fell down suddenly !
1 Apparently, however, he believed it to belong to the moon.
2 See ante, p. 151.
3 The girl, however, never married.