Page:A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland - Johnson (1775).djvu/267

 To talk with any of these seers is not easy. There is one living in, with whom we would have gladly conversed; but he was very gross and ignorant, and knew no. The proportion in these countries of the poor to the rich is such, that if we suppose the quality to be accidental, it can very rarely happen to a man of education; and yet on such men it has sometimes fallen. There is now a Second Sighted gentleman in the Highlands, who complains of the terrors to which he is exposed.

The foresight of the Seers is not always prescience; they are impressed with images, of which the event only shews them the meaning. They tell what they have seen to others, who are at that time not more knowing than themselves, but may become at last very adequate witnesses, by comparing the narrative with its verification.