STRANGE VISITORS: A SERIES OF ORIGINAL PAPERS, EMBRACING PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE, GOVERNMENT, RELIGION, POETRY, ART, FICTION, SATIRE, HUMOR, NARRATIVE, AND PROPHECY. BY THE _SPIRITS OF IRVING, WILLIS, THACKERAY, BRONTE, RICHTER, BYRON, HUMBOLDT, HAWTHORNE, WESLEY, BROWNING_, AND OTHERS NOW DWELLING IN THESPIRIT WORLD DICTATED THROUGH A CLAIRVOYANT, WHILE IN AN ABNORMAL OR TRANCE STATE. 1871 TABLE OF CONTENTS. HENRY J. RAYMOND _To the New York Public_ MARGARET FULLER _Literature in Spirit Life_ LORD BYRON _To His Accusers_ NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE _Apparitions_ WASHINGTON IRVING _Visit to Henry Clay_ NAPOLEON BONAPARTE _To The French Nation_ W. M. THACKERAY _His Post Mortem Experience_ ARCHBISHOP HUGHES _Two Natural Religions_ EDGAR A. POE _The Lost Soul_ JEAN PAUL RICHTER _Invisible Influences_ CHARLOTTE BRONTE _Agnes Reef. A Tale_ ELIZABETH B. BROWNING _To Her Husband_ ARTEMUS WARD _In and Out of Purgatory_ LADY BLESSINGTON _Distinguished Women_ PROFESSOR OLMSTEAD _Locality of the Spirit World_ ADAH ISAACS MENKEN _Hold Me Not_ N. P. WILLIS _Off-Hand Sketches_ MARGARET FULLER _City of Spring Garden_ GILBERT STUART _Art Conversation_ EDWARD EVERETT _Government_ FREDERIKA BREMER _Flight to my Starry Home_ REV. LYMAN BEECHER _The Sabbath--Its Uses_ PROF. GEORGE BUSH _Life and Marriage in Spirit Life_ JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH _Acting by Spirit Influence_ REV. JOHN WESLEY _Church of Christ_ N. P. WILLIS _A Spirit Revisiting Earth_ ALLAN CUNNINGHAM _Alone_ BARON VON HUMBOLDT _The Earthquake_ SIR DAVID BREWSTER _Naturalness of Spirit Life_ H. T. BUCKLE _Mormons_ W. E. BURTON _Drama in Spirit Life_ CHAS. L. ELLIOTT _Painting in Spirit Life_ COMEDIAN'S POETRY _Rollicking Song_ LADY HESTER STANHOPE _Prophecy_ PROFESSOR MITCHELL _The Planets_ DR. JOHN W. FRANCIS _Causes of Disease and Insanity_ ADELAIDE PROCTER _The Spirit Bride_ INTRODUCTION. _BY THE EDITOR_. In placing before the public a work with such novel and extraordinarydemands upon its consideration, a few explanatory words seem appropriate. Its title and contents will doubtless at first sight cause a smile ofincredulity, and will be regarded by many as one of the devices which aresometimes put forward to entrap an unsuspecting public into the perusalof a sensational hoax. For a number of years past the community has been surprised with accountsof most incredible marvels; and from time to time the press has reportedvarious phenomena in connection with an _unrecognized force andintelligence, _ as occurring in almost every locality throughout thehabitable globe. These phenomena are thought by many to be mere illusions, and by someattributed to peculiar electrical conditions; while others seek theirsolution in an abnormal state of the brain; and others still believe themdependent on an actual intercourse between mortals and those who havepassed beyond the grave. Having become interested in this mysterious and exciting subject, andfinding the means at hand for testing the various phenomena, I resolvedto undertake a series of experiments, with the hope of exposing adelusion, if such it were, or perchance, of clearing up a mystery which, by the magnitude and importance it has already assumed, is disturbing thefoundations of old beliefs and steadily diffusing it's theories anddoctrines into the very heart of society. Among other expedients to attain this end (assuming the hypothesis thatspirits of the departed were in a condition to communicate with mortals), I interrogated, through the instrumentality of a clairvoyant gifted withthe remarkable power of passing at will into an unconscious or trancestate, the spirits of a number of well-known individuals concerning theirviews and sentiments in their present state of existence. In response to my questions, an intelligent answer was received from theCountess Ossoli (Margaret Fuller), with the assurance that my desire wasapprehended and would receive the hearty co-operation of those to whom itwas addressed. The process by which the papers were given was that of dictation throughthe clairvoyant while in an abnormal or trance condition and with hereyes closed. The matter was written in pencil as it fell from her lips, and subsequently transcribed for the press. The difficulties attending the transmission of ideas through the mediumof another mind, even under ordinary circumstances, must be apparent toall, and the unprejudiced reader may readily perceive obstacles to theliteral reproduction of their respective styles and language by thevarious contributors. Yet, notwithstanding the impediments to felicity of expression, I feelassured that persons at all familiar with the characteristics of theoriginals will readily perceive a marked resemblance in style to that ofthe authors named. In the delivery of the articles, their composers would usually assume orpersonate their own individual characteristics; thus, Artemus Ward'sconversation and gestures were exceedingly ludicrous. He was the verypersonification of mirth, occasionally going to the wall and humorously"chalking out" his designs. Archbishop Hughes expressed himself in aquiet, earnest, and eloquent manner. Lady Blessington was full ofvivacity, and Margaret Fuller was our Presiding Angel; while Booth wouldbecome vehement to an intense degree, and at times would mount somearticle of furniture in the room, becoming passionately eloquent, as ifagain upon the "mimic stage of life. " An intelligent public will perceive the mental effort incident upon theproduction of a series of articles so unusually varied; embracing thedistinctive qualities of Philosophy, Science, Religion, PoliticalEconomy, Government, Satire, Humor, Poetry, Fiction, Narrative, Art, Astronomy, etc. , etc. ; and the query has fitly been advanced, --what mind, in the exercise of its normal functions, --has furnished a consecutivenumber of essays so surprising in novelty, so diverse in sentiment, soconsistent in treatment, and so forcibly original, as those embraced inthis volume? What intellect so versatile as to reproduce in song andnarrative the characteristic styles of so many, and yet so dissimilarauthors? In designating the locality of the Second Life, frequent repetition ofcertain terms, such as spirit world, etc. , were unavoidable. For weeksand months the unseen visitors were punctual to their appointments, andthis novel mode of book-making proceeded steadily in interest and varietyuntil the volume was completed. The work is now inscribed to a discriminating public, with a livelyconfidence that the advanced intelligence and freedom of the age willyield it an ingenuous reception. HENRY J. HORN. NEW YORK, _October 1st_, 1869. STRANGE VISITORS. HENRY J. RAYMOND. _TO THE NEW YORK PUBLIC_. I have often thought that if it should ever be my privilege to become aghost I would enlighten the poor, benighted denizens of the earth as tohow _I did it_, and give a more definite account of what I should see, and the transformation that would befall me, than either BenjaminFranklin or George Washington had been able to do in the jargon that hadbeen set before me by Spiritualists as coming from those worthies. "Stuff!" I have exclaimed again and again, after looking over spiritcommunications and wondering why a man should become so stilted becausehe had lost his avoirdupoise. The opportunity which I boasted I would not let slip has arrived. Thepublic must judge of how I avail myself of this ghostly power. Now and then I was troubled with strange misgivings about the futurelife. I had a hope that man might live hereafter, but death was a solemnfact to me, into whose mystery I did not wish too closely to pry. "Presentiments, " as the great English novelist remarks, "are strangethings. " That connection with some coming event which one feels like ashadowy hand softly touching him, is inexplicable to most men. I remember to have felt several times in my life undefined foreshadowingsof some future which was to befall me; and just previous to my departurefrom earth, as has been generally stated in the journals of the day, Iexperienced a similar sensation. An awful blank seemed before me--a greatchasm into which I would soon be hurled. This undefined terror took nopositive shape. After the death of my son I felt like one who stood upon a round ballwhich rolled from under him and left him nowhere. The sudden death of James Harper added another shock to that which I hadalready felt. I did not understand then, though I have since comprehendedit, that I was like some great tree, rooted in the ground, which couldnot be dragged from the earth in which it was buried until it hadreceived some sudden blow to loosen its hold and make its grip lesstenacious. But in the very midst of these feelings I sought the society of friends, and endeavored around the social board to exhilarate my senses and drownthese undesirable fancies. Life seemed more secure among friends, but death was not to be dodged. Itcaught me unarmed and alone at midnight in the very doorway of my house. I had crossed the threshold, and remember trying to find the stairs andbeing seized with a dizziness. The place seemed to spin around and I feltthat I was falling. Next, a great weight seemed to press me down likesome horrid nightmare. I endeavored to groan, to cry out and strugglefrom under it, but it held me fast. After this I seemed to be fallingbackward through a blackness--an inky blackness. It came close to me, andpressed close upon my lips and my eyes. It smothered me; I could notbreathe. Then ensued a struggle within me such as Lazarus might have felt when heendeavored to break through his grave cerements. It was frightful, thateffort for mastery! I understand it now. It was the soul fighting its way into birth as aspiritual being, like a child fighting its way out of its mother's womb. I remember feeling faint and confused after that, like one who has longbeen deprived of food. An unconsciousness stole over me for a moment, from which I was awakened by a sudden burst of light. I seemed to open myeyes upon some glorious morning. I felt an arm around me; I turned andmet the smiling face of my son. I thought myself in a dream, and yet Iwas filled with awe. I had a consciousness that some strange transformation had taken place. My son's voice murmured in my ear, "Father, go with me now. " As he spoke, his voice sounded like the vibration of distant bells. When he touched mea fire seemed to thrill through my veins. I felt like a boy; a wild, prankish sensation of freedom possessed me. My body lay upon the ground. I laughed at it; I could have taken it and tossed it in the air. "Come, let's go, " said I; "don't stay here. " My chief desire was to get out of the house. Like a boy who must fly hiskite, out I would go. I feared I might be caught and taken back if I didnot hasten, and moved toward the door. The seams of that door, which Ihad always thought well joined, seemed now to stand twelve inches or moreapart. Every atom of that wood which had appeared so solid to me was nowmore porous than any sponge or honey-comb. Out we went through thecrevice. A party of men were standing upon the doorsteps. One put forthhis hand to grasp mine. I laughed aloud when I recognized the person asJames Harper! Another was Richmond; another, one of my associates in theeditorial corps. I was perfectly amazed, and set up a hilarious shout, which they echoed in great glee. We started forth, a convivial party. Theatmosphere hung in heavy masses around the houses, like the morning mistsabout the base of a mountain. We did not walk on the ground; the air was solid enough to bear us. Ifelt that we were rising above the city. My senses seemed magnified. Thecomprehension of all I did was very acute. We kept along the earth'satmosphere for quite a distance. "Let us sail out, " said I, at last. "We cannot yet; we must wait till we reach the current. If we go outsideof that, we may be lost in the intense cold and the poisonous gases, orwe may be swallowed up in the vortex of some flaming comet, " answered mywise companions. The statement looked very reasonable, so I allowed myself to beguided and we soon found ourselves in a great belt of light of a palerose-color, in which we sailed seemingly without any effort, moving thehands and arms at times and at other times folding them across ourbreasts. As we advanced the channel in which we moved increased in depth andbrilliancy of color, and I grew more and more exhilarated. Finally wepaused and commenced to descend. The air was very luminous, radiating andscintillating like the flashing of diamonds, and so electric that theconcussion of sound vibrated like the peal from some distant organ. Looking down through the glittering atmosphere that surrounded me, Iperceived what appeared to be the uplifting peak of a mountain. A halo oflight rested upon its summit, and we seemed drawn toward it with a gentleforce. This mountain, I was informed, was one of a magnetic chain which beltsthe spirit world. In color and material it was like an opal. I was told that a peculiar sympathy existed between it and the humanspirit. When individuals on earth are in juxtaposition with this mountainthey feel a strange yearning for the spirit home. Now then the mysterious riddle is solved, thought I; and this must be thespiritual north pole! We soon stood upon _terra-firma_, if these translucent rocks could becalled _terra-firma_ which rose in glittering and polished peaks allaround us. They were wonderfully iridescent, so that no bed ofgorgeously-colored flowers could have filled the eye with a greatervariety of tints. A few steps around a projecting bluff brought us within sight of whatappeared to me a magnificent palace of alabaster. This palace I soonlearned was a hotel, or place of resort for travellers. In ascending its polished steps I was met by some half dozen persons whomI had known. You may be sure a wonderful handshaking ensued. We remainedhere but a few moments, partook of refreshments, and then proceeded tothe court-yard, where I was told a car awaited to carry us to ourdestination. The car seemed to be a frame-work, apparently of silver wire. We nowcomfortably seated ourselves, when two large wings struck out from itlike those of some great condor. We moved rapidly over the acclivity. This is a new way of crossing the mountains, thought I; I will have tointroduce it in the Sierra Nevada and Colorados. I inquired how the machine was propelled, and was informed, "Simply by achemical arrangement similar to your galvanic battery. " You may conceive my astonishment when we descended into a park of a vastcity. "My God!" exclaimed I, "it cannot be that I am in the spirit world! Why, look at the houses and churches, and temples! What magnificentbuildings!" But I must say the material alone struck me as somethingsublime and unearthly. So transparent and rich in color, reflecting lightas if through a veil or mist! "This caps all, " said I, as doctors andlawyers, artists and authors, whom I had known, stepped up to greet me, smiling and full of life. "Why, how is this?" "Is this you?" "Where didyou come from?" Questions like these came from all sides. Francis andBrady, Willis, Morris, and a host of New Yorkers who had slipped out ofsight and almost out of mind, now gathered around me as if by miracle. Irubbed my eyes in wonder. Spying Brown, I cried out, "Why, how is this, Brown? It can't be that I am in heaven! Do you have such things here?Houses, stores, and works of art on every side?" "Yes; people must live, " said he, "wherever they be. " "And are men here the same, with all their faculties?" I asked. "Yes; why not? Have you any you'd like to lose?" I shook my head and walked on absorbed in thought. And are all ourparaphernalia for funerals, our solemn black, and our long prayers butuseless ceremonies? Why, according to this, the beliefs of the Chinese, Hottentot, African, and Indian are nearer the truth than our civilizedcreeds! I find that there are few things in which society in this world so muchdiffers from that of earth as in its social and political arrangements. All the great system of living for appearances, and the habit ofself-deception whereby men live outwardly what their secret livesdisavow, are here entirely done away with. In the first place the marriage relations differ materially from those ofearth, and no false sentiment nor custom, nor religious belief, holdstogether as companions those who are dissimilar in their nature. Neitherdo men crucify their tastes and feelings from a mistaken idea of duty. The miseries and disasters which are attendant on a life on earth theyview as a parent would view the whooping-cough or scarlatina whichafflict the body of his child--as necessary steps toward his growth andprogress from youth to manhood. A remarkable instance of this came under my own observation. You rememberthat the singular and sudden death of Abraham Lincoln was a matter ofsurprise to us. We could not see the purpose of an all-wise Providence inthis sudden closing of an eventful career. It was discussed in everynewspaper in the land, and the conclusion was that the Creator had somespecial purpose in his removal, and this we all believed. But here the enigma is solved. Standing face to face and walking side by side, as I have done for thelast few days with this man, raised as some suppose for the specialpurpose of freeing the slave--a martyr for principle--I find that heenjoys as a good joke, this martyrdom, and I have also ascertained thesolemn fact that he was removed, not by God, but by spirit politicians, God's agents. And the state of the case is this: the Southern rebels, hot-blooded andrevengeful, who were arriving daily by scores and hundreds, in the spiritworld, finding their cause discomfited and worsted, became mutinous. Theywere too raw and new to fall into the harmony of the spirit life, andthey threatened a second war in Heaven; a war which those young Luciferswould have waged with terrific power. To quell this disturbance and produce a counteraction, it was necessarythat one whom they looked upon as the great leader of the Northerncohorts should be withdrawn from the post which he occupied. A man of calm, dispassionate judgment, not vindictive, who could hold thereins with a firm hand, yet look with a lenient eye on the follies whichhe did not share, was needed in the spirit world, and that man wasAbraham Lincoln. When those young Southern bloods had conspired with their co-patriot tohis downfall, had instigated and accomplished his assassination, and whenhe appeared in their midst, the simple, unaffected, _uncrafty_ man thathe was, a revulsion of feeling immediately took place. The liberal party in the spirit world, friends to humanity and progress, could have prevented his removal had they wished; but not desiring to doso, they prepared his mind by dreams and visions for what was about totake place. For a short time in the spirit world he held the position of Pacificatorand chief ruler over that portion of the American, spirit worldrepresented by the North and South. But after averting this peril, which would have involved the States inanarchy and war such as they had not yet experienced, he retired toprivate life. Another instance, proving that the inhabitants of the spirit world, liketheir great prototype, the Creator, do not look at immediate distress, but at the advantages that may accrue therefrom, presents itself in myremoval from the sphere in which I had probably worked out all that wouldbe useful to humanity. Like a _chargé d'affaires_ called back to Washington because he canfill a better post, so I, through the solicitations of relatives andfellow-citizens who have preceded me to this new world, was called herefor the purpose of editing a journal and assisting in ameliorating thecondition of the inhabitants of the Southern States, and also to use myinfluence in the Congress and Senate at Washington toward producing abetter comprehension of their needs. I have one thing to say to my brother journalist, Horace Greeley, andthat is that the Utopian ideas which have for so many years formed theprincipal topic of his radical sheet are here put in operation. Each one seems desirous of cooperating with his neighbor, and people oflike tastes and feelings associate together and live in vast communitiesor cities. They do not settle down to one routine, as they do with you. The cost of travelling depending chiefly on the will and energy of theindividual, the inhabitants are ever in motion, ever ready for a change, if wisdom or pleasure should dictate it. The condition of the commonpeople is vastly improved, and America has been the chief agent inplacing the lower classes in a condition which adapts them to a higherspiritualized life. I say lower classes, because under the system ofmonarchical governments, the peasants and laborers of Europe have beenkept in a state of besotted ignorance, developing chiefly in the animalpropensities, and not fitting themselves for the higher enjoyments of thespirit life. Finding that the spirit world was likely to be overrun by this class ofignorant and superstitions people, its wise rulers have instigated thelegislators of the United States to provide means for the education anddevelopment of these lower classes of society. It is only by assimilating with those of a higher intellectualdevelopment that the ignorant become enlightened, and America, inthrowing down all barriers to political and social advancement, has beenthe chief instrument of lifting the great mass of humanity to a positionof power in the spirit world; still there are crowds of beings, ignorantand superstitious, who enter the spirit world, and their intellects canonly be unfolded by the labor and guidance of some master mind. I was surprised to find that physical labor here, as on earth, was one ofthe chief means employed to assist in mental growth; and I found swarmsof English, Irish, and German people happily at work, cultivating theland and erecting houses for themselves and others, and assisting in thegreat machinery of life, which here, as in the other world, revolves itsconstant round. I had nearly forgotten to mention that since leaving your world Ireturned on one occasion to attend a _séance_, as it is termed, forphysical manifestations, and had the pleasure of seeing how our chemistscombine from the elements the semblance of the human form. I had beeninterested when on earth in an experiment recently made by scientificmen, whereby, through a peculiar combination of metals, a flame is causedto assume the shapes of flowers, leaves, fishes, and reptiles, apparentlydeveloped from the air, and I discovered an intelligent solution of theremarkable experiment in the manifestations I witnessed at this _séance_. It appears that every particle in nature throws off a gaseous emanation, partaking of its particular shape. These gaseous particles are notdiscernible with the material eye, excepting when by chance theycoalesce, and then a phosphorescent light ensues, which renders themapparent. A similar effect to this is seen in electricity, which lies latent andviewless till by a sudden coalescing of its parts it manifests itself inzigzag lines and flashes of light which illuminate the heavens. Now certain material bodies have the power of drawing those atoms inclose affinity, and when they are thus drawn, the shapes alluded to areclearly discernible by the human eye. I discovered another fact, and that is that every human being emits alight, and in the case of those called "mediums, " it is intense like theDrummond light, and a spirit standing in its rays will become visible tomortal sight. These experiments interested me highly, as they had been heretoforeinexplicable to my mind. _Apropos_ of the topics of to-day, I must here relate what I have heardof the "Lord Byron scandal, " which is creating so marked a sensation atpresent. I am told by Byron and others that Lady Byron, recently arrivingin the spirit world and finding matters very different from what she hadexpected, and that she was received nowhere as the wife of Lord Byron(who having resided there some thirty years had formed a new and happyalliance), was stung with jealousy and vexation and hastened to inspireMrs. Stowe to repeat the story which had become a matter of faith withher, hoping thereby to inflict a punishment on Byron, who ignored hisrelation to her. If she had waited until she had resided a little longer in spirit lifeshe would not have pursued so foolish a course. But I must bring thislong letter to a close, assuring my friends that I have the prospect ofas active a life before me as the one I have just closed on earth. MARGARET FULLER. _LITERATURE IN SPIRIT LIFE_. To a mind familiar with the literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans, which has studied the Scandinavian Edda, and is intimate with the moremodern German, French, and English authors, the literature of the spiritworld opens up a mine of interminable wealth. The libraries in this world are vast catacombs or repositories of buriedknowledge. Here are found histories of decayed races, dynasties, andnations which have vanished from earth, leaving scarce a monument oftheir progress in art, science, and mental culture. In these librariesthe student of history will find the exploits of ancient peoplesrecorded, and a description of their cities, with the temples and towerswhich they built and the colossal images which they created. I own to the surprise which I experienced when I discovered that printedbooks were a part of the treasures of the spirit world. But the scholarwill rejoice as I did to find the literary productions of remotest agesgarnered in the spacious halls of science that adorn our cities. It is a principle of being--a condition of immortality--as inseparablefrom spirit existence as from earth life, that thought should expressitself in external forms. Even the Great Spirit, the Creator of all, gives shape to his thoughts in the formation of trees, flowers, men, beasts, and myriad worlds with their constant motion, their sound andsong. It has been aptly said that the "stars are the poetry of God. " He, theGreat Spirit of all, writes his thoughts legibly; and so man, like hisoriginator, whether living in the natural body or existing as a spirit, gives outward shape to his ideas; hence books become a necessity ofspirit existence, and the writers from earth have still a desire toperpetuate their thoughts. Oral communication is too evanescent, and therefore the dear old booksstill find a place in the spheres. There are various modes of making these volumes, and the writer maybecome his own printer. Some authors prefer to dictate, and a little instrument marks off thevariations of sound which make the word, and thus, as he speaks, the wordis impressed on the sheet. Others, if the thought be clear and distinct enough, and the willsufficiently under abeyance, act through the mind upon a conductor, whichdots down the thought in a manner somewhat similar to telegraphicprinting. The material used to receive the impression is of a soft, vellum-likenature, which can be folded up in any manner without destroying its form;it is very light and thin, but opaque, like the creamy petals of a lily. The phonetic alphabet is used extensively, though we have many booksprinted in the mode usually adopted on earth. All nature is constantly changing and progressing. The bards who sangupon the earth centuries ago--Homer, Virgil, the Greek and Roman, theCeltic and Saxon writers of old--have passed beyond the spirit spherewhich I inhabit to a spirit planet still more refined, and have leftbehind only the records of their strange experience. The eighteenth century cannot walk side by side with the third or fourthcentury more readily in the spirit world than on earth. The character of the spirit literature of the present day is essentiallyscientific and explorative. We have in our world, as you have in yours, intrepid travellers--learned men, who make voyages to almost inaccessibleplanets--and they return even as those of earth, with sketches andgraphic outlines of the strange sights they have witnessed; and thoseless venturesome who remain at home are as anxious as your citizens mightbe to hear accounts of wonderful regions that have been visited. And suchbooks of travel are sought eagerly. We have but few works on theology; the nature and essence of God isdiscussed with us, but not so elaborately as with you. Spirits who have passed into a second life have so nearly approached themystery of a Divine Being that they do not desire to debate the subject. A large proportion of our writers are devoted to what you would here termtranscendental thought, a kind of literature which lies between poetryand music, which awakens a feeling of ecstasy, and gives, as it were, wings to the soul. The poets who sang upon earth during the last century, of whom Shelly, Keats, and Byron are an English type, and Halleck, Pierrepont, Dana, andWillis the American representatives, are among the most inspired andfar-reaching of our present writers of poetry and song. Our literature has one great advantage over that of earth, in that ourseparate nationalities become merged in one grand unit. We do not needtranslators, as we have adopted a universal written language. There aresome writers who still retain, as I have said, the modes adopted onearth, but those who have been resident any length of time in the spiritsphere employ the plan of writing by signs, which are understood andacknowledged by every nationality. I should like, in closing, to introduce an extract from an old volumewhich I found in a library in the city of Spring Garden. It was written by Addison during his sojourn in that city, in the year1720, and is in the form of a letter, supposed to be written to a friendon earth. In it he essays to portray the expansion of mind he hasexperienced in his new home through the magnetic influence of thoughtlanguage: "Behold the far off luminary suspended millions and billions andtrillions of miles in space; then turn the eye yonder and see thatinfinitesimal point of vegetation, earth--a speck, countless multitudesof which heaped and piled together would form but a point compared withthat majestic sun! "Yet behold it move and expand beneath the long fibrous rays which thateffulgent orb sends down through so many billions of miles to the placeof its minute existence. Even as that poor little existence shoots outits fibres to meet those rays which have travelled such great lengths, soa spirit in the spheres feels the quickening, effulgent rays thrown outby the brain of some prophet or poet existing millions and billions andtrillions of miles away on some distant spirit planet, and his thoughtexpands and enlarges beneath the warming action of that far-off brain, until it assumes a shape and form which its own emulation neverprophesied. " BYRON. _TO HIS ACCUSERS_. I. My soul is sick of calumny and lies: Men gloat on evil--even woman's hand Will dabble in the mire, nor heed the cries Of the poor victim whom she seeks to brand In thy sweet name, Religion, through the land! Like the keen tempest she doth strip her prey, Tossing him bare and wrecked upon the strand, While vaunting her misdeeds before the day, Bearing a monument which crumbles like the clay. II. My sister, have I lived to see thy name Dishonored? Thou, who wast my pride, my stay; Shall Jealousy and Fraud thy love defame And I be dumb? Just Heaven, let a ray From thy majestic light illume earth's clay, [A] That through her I may scorch the slander vile, And light throughout the land a torch to-day, Which shall reveal how false and full of guileAre they who seek thy name, Augusta, to defile. [Footnote A: The Clairvoyant. ] III. She who has borne my title and my name, In deeds fraternal saw some monster crime; To her base level sought my heart to tame, Made mock of each aspiring thought sublime, And sought to bury me beneath the slime Of her imaginings. All--all are gone Who could defend me. From the grave of time I am unearth'd--by sland'rous miscreants torn, And rise to feel again the ills I once have borne. IV. Is this a Christian deed, to flaunt a vice, And with another's failings gild your own? To hearken to the whisperings and device Of old age, selfish, to suspicion grown? To misconstrue each friendly look--each tone-- And out of natural love create vile lust? Must brother's heart his very kin disown, While rudest hand disturbs her mouldering dust?Is this a Christian deed? Shall mankind call it just? V. But let that pass. I hear a nation's voice Raised to defend the absent, wronged child; My hopes and aims were high, albeit my choice Was fixed on one who felt not for my wild And wayward nature; one who never smiled On imperfection. From my home of light Unscathed, I see life's blackening billows piled, Ready to sweep the daring soul from sight, Sinking his name and memory in darkest night. VI. I rise again above the woes of earth, Like unchained bird, seeking my native air. Men seldom see their fellow-creatures' worth, But blot sweet nature's page, however fair. Away, my soul, and seek thy nobler state, Where loving angels breathe their softest prayer, Where sweetest seraphs for thy coming wait, And ne'er suspicion's breath can pass the Golden Gate. NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. _APPARITIONS_. Returning one evening from a visit to a friend on earth, I was impelledto take a route with which I was unfamiliar. It led me far beyond thehabitations of the city, into an open country whose surface wasdiversified by sloping hills and broad valleys. The sun was quite low in the horizon, and dark purple clouds, gatheringin the west, indicated an approaching storm. Anxious to reach myspirit-home before such an event, I was nevertheless compelled to keepwithin the earth's atmosphere. The aspect of the country became more uneven as I advanced, and thedisappearing sun threw out the hills in cold blue relief against theevening sky. One peak to the northward stood high and isolated from thesurrounding hills, and was crowned by a spacious dwelling house; the highpeaked roof and dark gloomy color of its exterior comported strangelywith the landscape. To this building an unseen influence drew me. As I approached nearer Idiscovered the figure of a man walking with restless step upon the piazzawhich surrounded the dwelling. At times he would suspend his walk, andcrouch, shuddering as with fear, against the shadowed balustrade. Hisface was of ashy paleness, and his hair, black as night, fell inneglected masses around his head. His eyes were bright and glassy, andtheir expression frightful to look upon. Unconscious of my proximity, he arose from his crouching position, stoodfor a moment irresolute, and then walked up to the heavy oaken, door andknocked. Presently the door was opened by a lady; she looked out, but could see noone. "It must have been the wind, " said she, shuddering slightly, anddrawing her shawl closely around her, was about to close the door. Butbefore she could accomplish her purpose the unseen guest had entered, with myself following closely behind, hoping to give comfort where itappeared most sorely needed. Up a broad staircase he ascended and at a chamber door he paused--thenentered. I followed. His presence seemed to cause the very furniture toshake and rattle. "Here, " thought I, "I will solve the enigma. Here, without doubt, hasoccurred some grand disturbance of nature. The walls of this apartment, its casements, its decorations, have been witness to some fell crime. Thespectre of evil impresses itself upon matter. " While reflecting upon this wonderful law, which all my life I hadperceived dimly, I observed with care the evidently unhappy man. Abedstead of rich workmanship occupied one side of the apartment. Rushingtoward it he burst forth in a cry of frenzy, swaying his hands fearfullyand ejaculating and groaning in most piteous accents. At this juncture steps were heard outside ascending the stairs, andseveral members of the household entered, bearing lights. They lookedabout the room, at first timidly; then, gathering courage, peered underthe bed, opened closets, and scrutinized every nook and corner of theapartment. Foiled in their efforts to discover the inmate they turned toeach other with amazement. "I am positive the sounds came from this room, " said one. "There is noone to be seen here, " replied another; "what can it mean?" The culprit stood in the corner, gesticulating violently, but they withtheir mortal eyes could not see him. They passed close to him, but theirlighted candles could not reveal the shadowless! Having satisfied themselves that the room was tenantless, they departed. Then I approached the unhappy wretch: "Friend, " said I, "let me aid you. Unburden your woo to me; I too havesuffered and am not without sin. " Casting his eyes upon me now for the first time, the man scowled withdogged sullenness, and said: "I want no help. " "Nay, " said I, "your looks belie your words; come, go with me to my quietcottage; there you shall refresh yourself; you shall sleep to-night inpeace. " "Peace!" he repeated scornfully. "I know no peace; nor can I leave thisspot till every eye beholds the horrid deed that I committed here. " "Friend, " said I, "tell me the nature of your crime; reveal to me yoursecret and your heart will be lighter for it. " "Ha! ha!" he answered, his voice dying away in a low wail. "Look uponthat wall opposite the bed; it will speak better than I can. " I looked, and beheld a faint photograph or impression of the couch, with itshandsome drapery. Upon it reclined the figure of a female, and bendingover her appeared the form of a man, whose livid face and black, disordered hair I recognized as an unmistakable reflection of theunfortunate man before me. "You see that 'the very stones cry out against me, '" said he. "Everynight for two years have I enacted that same scene, and I am held by someunseen, influence to this baneful spot. " "Tell me your story, " said I; "hide nothing--I am your friend. " He ran his thin fingers through his tangled hair, and with a voice huskywith emotion answered: "I will tell you. Some years ago, when a young man, haughty andpassionate, I had the misfortune to love a girl whose youth and beautyproved my bane, and in a moment of recklessness I married her. In hernature were mingled the qualities of the serpent and the dove. She was myinferior, and I could not own her outwardly nor inwardly as my wife; but, unhappily for the peace of both, I could not rid myself of her. I gaveher money, but it availed not; she was ignorant, and persisted infollowing me. " Here the man looked around with a nervous air, as if heexpected to see the unwelcome face peering at him through the shadows. "To avoid her, " he continued, "I secretly purchased this dwelling, remotefrom the place of her abode. There I lived for a brief time, happy; a newlife with loftier purposes dawned upon me; I formed another attachment--ahigher and more noble one. "One evening as I was walking upon the balcony thinking of my new-foundjoys, a figure came creeping up through the shrubbery towards me. To myamazement it proved to be the girl who claimed me. "When I saw her, rage entered my heart, and I felt as if I couldannihilate her. But, suppressing all show of feeling, I went with herinto the house, and appointed her this room for the night. A demoniacidea had presented itself to my mind; it came unsought, but under theexcitement of the moment it seemed like a good angel of deliverance. "To further this idea, I lay down beside her. Presently she fell into alight slumber. At first a slight expression of pleasure played upon herlips, but ere long the fatigue of her journey overcame her, and she sleptheavily. "Then, " said he, his countenance assuming a convulsive and ghastlyaspect, "I arose on tiptoe, and collecting the heavy comforters and largedowny pillows of the bed, I deliberately piled them on her one upon theother, and pressing them down with all my gathered force, I stifled herin her sleep! "No cry, no groan from my victim betrayed the unhallowed deed, and beforethe first dawn of day I was driving furiously over the road to theriver's bank, from which into the watery depth below I threw thismillstone of my life. "When I drove back the morning had dawned. The daylight seemed to pryinto the secrets of the past night. I would fain shun it--the garishlight disturbed me. The morning sun, which had ever been my delight, seemed now a mocking imp of curiosity; the house and grounds looked bareand desolate; a blight had fallen upon their former comeliness. "A strange fascination again drew me into the chamber which had been thescene of my crime. When there I re-enacted the last night's work. The bedand furniture seemed to come toward me and taunt me with the fell crime Ihad committed. 'I was justified in the act, ' said I to these dumbaccusers, as though they had been, living witnesses. 'She was the bane ofmy existence. ' And with cunning precision I arranged the disordered room, smoothed the pillows, and levelled the coverlet. 'The dead cannot speak, 'said I. 'This thing is hidden. ' "After this performance I went forth, hoping by a sharp walk to drown thememory of the momentary deed. I passed through the garden and reached thesloping hill. There, where the low fence joined the open road, I was metby the lady whom I loved. She was taking the morning air, and with hersmiling face seemed drinking in its balmy freshness. "'You look ill, ' said she, with a pitying glance. 'See what I havebrought for you, ' and she held forth a newly-plucked bouquet of flowers. "I took the proffered blossoms hurriedly, dreading to meet her clear eye, which I felt must surely read my guilt. Burying the flowers in my breast, and with an effort to smile that sickened me, I bowed low to the groundand hurried on. "When beyond her sight I drew the nosegay from its hiding place--it waswithered as if scorched by a burning heat! Upon looking closer at thisstrange phenomena, I beheld, to my horror, in dim outline, the face ofthe murdered! Whence came the impression? Had my riotous heart burnt thesecret upon those blushing petals? "Frantically I tore open my shirt, when lo! upon my breast I beheldimprinted a picture of the direful deed--seared in by rays more potentthan the sun's--photographed there, as if by the lightning's fiercestroke! "Presently a band of children on their way to school overtook me, andbegan to whisper to each other as they passed. I saw that they looked atme with suspicion in their eyes. 'They too can see the brand, ' thought I;'they are mouthing about it now. ' "Urged to desperation, I plunged into a thicket near by. Amid a group oftrees in its centre, one lifted itself higher and straighter than itscompanions. Upon its topmost branch, as I chanced to lift my eyes, Ibeheld to my terror the woman whom I had sent into eternity, looking downupon me with scoffs and grimaces! "The ghostly apparition wrought me to frenzy. In hot haste I climbed thetree. Its straight, smooth sides, under ordinary circumstances would haveproved a barrier to my efforts, but in my excitement they formed noobstacle. Reaching the top, I endeavored to grasp her. Stretching out myarms and clasping frantically the air, I fell dead to the ground. "Thus was I born into the spirit world. The idea that last possessed meon earth, first possessed me in the spirit life. "No mortal man can describe the horror I experienced on finding myself inthe midst of a boundless space, face to face with mine enemy. Her narrowintellect and strong animal nature seemed to have expanded, even as Ihave seen the face of a child expand from pleasing infancy into idioticyouth. This animal part of her immortality roused my ire--struck somesavage chord in my nature--and I rose up like a wild beast to attack her;but the creature laughed and jeered at my vain efforts. She led me thus, in fruitless pursuit, further and further into space; inciting me on byher taunts and ringing laugh, until I found myself in a dark and noisomepit, when she suddenly vanished. "Ignorant of the peculiarities of spirit condition, I could not grope myway out of this place, which appeared to me a very hell. I wandered inthis gloomy labyrinth, breathing the foul air, and uttering fearful crieswhich struck my ears with anguish. Black, threatening shapes appeared tostand in the intricate windings of that gloomy cavern, ready to seize meif I dared to essay my escape. When my agony had reached its utmostbounds of endurance, I felt myself growing strangely light, and like somethin vapor I ascended to the mouth of the pit and made my exit into theouter air. "The place I then discovered to be merely a cavern or deserted mine, butto my unhappy condition of mind it had appeared as the home of thedamned. "Out into space again, I saw afar off, as across the continent, thedwelling where I had passed the last days of my eventful life. A currentof air like the shock from an electric wire carried me back to the spot. "Returned to the scene of my crime, I became possessed with the desire toexpose to view the deed I had committed, and to reveal my villany to thecommunity. For two weary years I have hovered around this place for thatpurpose; but I have failed hitherto, as you have seen me fail to-night. " As he finished his narrative I observed he seemed about to relax into amorbid condition again. To prevent this, I seized him kindly by theshoulder and exclaimed, "Friend, you must come with me. Your life, yourfuture welfare is imperiled. You are like one shut up in a vault, breathing his own exhalations. You do not understand the science ofmind. " "The science of mind?" said he. "What have I to do with that? 'Tis thecurse of Cain resting upon me. I cannot undo the evil that I have done. Iam an outcast!" "The wrong you have done, " said I, "becomes doubly, trebly magnified bythus living it over day by day. You have committed a crime. Do you wishto perpetuate that crime? You pursue the very course to make it permanentand enduring. Mind acts upon matter and matter reacts upon mind. You havemade the house a partner to the deed you have committed by constantlyassociating it with the act. You have tainted its walls and poisoned itwithin and without. "It becomes sentient and reacts upon you. It becomes a magnet, aloadstone to draw you. Your constant habit of associating it in your mindwith the past, creates around it an atmosphere which is a part of yourbeing and welds you to it, so that you, the house, and the deed, becomeone mighty monster, inseparable. The idea that you can expiate the deedby this self-torture is vain. You can neither confer good upon yourselfnor your victim. Leave off and follow me. " These last words seemed to have the desired effect, for he raised hiseyes with a sad smile, placed his hand in mine, and said: "I will go with you. " Happy that my efforts proved availing, I hurried on in a joyous mood, soon rising above the earth and bearing my companion to my spirit home. The pure air of the fragrant fields revived him, and by the time wearrived at my own garden-home he seemed born into a new life. I set him down under my arbor, now dripping with golden fruits, andhaving refreshed him with cordial (angels' food), I called his attentionto the beauties around us; the birds, the flowers, and the luxuriousgrowth of nature, which shed such abundance around my home. "See, " said I, "how nature works. If the roots of the tree meet withobstacles they start off in another direction. They do not wind and windthemselves around one spot. If they did death would ensue. "In every man's life there are deeds to be regretted--wrongs which hewould gladly undo--but painful imaginings and fruitless remorse will notset them right. Only by being actively engaged in some nobler directioncan atonement be made. "This woman, whom you have injured, is in magnetic rapport with you; andwhile you are in this moody, self-denunciatory frame of mind, yourrestless, unhappy condition acts upon her, preventing her from becomingcontented and happy; then her state reacts back upon you, and thus anevil equilibrium is maintained. " "I see my error, " he exclaimed. "Tell me what to do and I will do it. " It was arranged that he should remain with me. We worked together; hebecame happy and his mind no longer reverted to the past, but active andhealthful employment engaged his hours. When he had recovered sufficiently I took him to see his formercompanion. He found her in a pleasant home, looking buoyant and happy. All that was demoniac had vanished from her face. Surprised, he burstinto tears as he beheld her. "Weep not, " said she, "for I am happy now. The past is forgotten. " They compared notes, and found that peace had entered into her soul whenhe had obliterated the past from his memory and commenced his labors in anew life. Thus we see that the evil passions and attributes of one nature mayawaken and kindle like passions in another, which can only be subdued byletting them pass unnoticed, and also by arousing the higher facultiesinto activity. WASHINGTON IRVING. _VISIT TO HENRY CLAY_. Having recovered my health after a sojourn of two weeks amid the charmingscenery of Mount Rosalia, or the "Rose-colored Mount, " I set forth onemorning, accompanied by a competent guide, to visit the home of myfriend, Henry Clay. The morning was uncommonly fine, even for the sweetLand of the Blest, and the fragrance from the roses blooming upon thehill-side was fairly intoxicating. Our phaeton was a small, white, swan-shaped carriage, ornamented withgolden designs, and propelled by a galvanic battery in the gracefulswan-head, which at my request took the place of the ordinary steed. This was, to me, an exceedingly novel mode of travel, which my shortsojourn in the spirit world had prevented me from before enjoying. We glided over the electric ground with the speed of lightning and smoothharmony of music. The road over which we rolled was white and lustrous asparian marble, and adorned on either side with most rare and beautifulforms of foliage; ever and anon we passed gay cavalcades and bands ofspirits, who were evidently, from their festal garments, and the brightemanations which they diffused through the air, bound for some harmonialgathering on one of the numerous islands which dot the sparkling riverWashingtonia, so named after George Washington. The distance from the point whence I started, according to earth'scomputation, was over one hundred miles; but though I desired my guide tomove onward as slowly as possible, that I might enjoy the prospect beforeme, we reached our destination in less than a quarter of an hour! I had received a special invitation from Henry Clay to visit him on thisoccasion, as he had called together some choice friends to give mewelcome; yet, although I knew I was expected, my surprise cannot bedescribed upon beholding the air filled with bevies of beautiful ladies, like radiant birds, approaching, with the sound of music and flutter offlowers, to receive me. Thus surrounded and escorted, I was borne to thenoble palace (for such it may be justly termed) of Henry Clay. The structure is of white alabaster, faced with a pale yellowsemi-transparent stone, which glistened most gorgeously. The form of thebuilding is unlike any order of architecture with which I had beenacquainted. The avenue by which it was approached was decoratedalternately with statues of representative Americans, and a peculiarflowering tree, whose green leaves and yellow blossoms, of gossamertexture, resembled the fine mist of a summer morning. Terminating, thisavenue was the main entrance, surmounted by the grand dome of theedifice. In the rear of this rotunda, extending on either side, appearedthe main building, rising, turret on turret, like a stupendous mountainof alabaster beaming as with soft moonlight in the clear summer air. We entered by ascending a staircase composed of twelve broad steps. Andhere let me pause, before recounting my interview with the celebratedstatesman, to describe the main hall, whose magnificence I, uponentering, hastily surveyed, but which I afterward studied morecompletely. The floor of this hall was formed of delicate cerulean bluegems. From its centre sprang, like a fountain, a most wonderfulrepresentation of a flowering plant resembling the lotus, composed ofprecious and brilliant stones. The green leaves forming the base were oftransparent emerald, and the white lily which surmounted the stemblossomed out clearer than any crystal. The yellow centre, correspondingto the pistils, formed a divan. This beautiful ornament was intended forthe desk of the orator. The dome, which was several hundred feet high, was open to the summer sky, and arranged in tiers graduated one above theother. The lower tier was filled with paintings indicating the progressof the United States of America. Surmounting this was a gallery of smallcompartments, each hung with silver and gold gauze drapery, and similarin construction to the boxes of a theatre; these opened into halls oralleys leading to private apartments connecting with the main building. Above these boxes were placed artistically-carved animals, representingthe native beasts of America. Above these again, appeared groups inmarble of the fruits of the country. No sooner had I entered the building which I have been describing, than apeculiar rushing sound like distant music reached my ear; on lifting myeyes in the direction of the sound, I beheld descending through the airthe majestic form of Henry Clay. He approached with extended hand andfascinating smile to receive me. How like and yet how unlike the famousman I had known on earth! The gray hair of age had given place to theabundant glossy locks of youth. The intellectual eye beamed with a newlife and his whole person sent forth an effulgence most attractive. Thoseof my readers who knew him on earth will well remember the peculiarfascination of his sphere, but they can form from the remembrance but aslight idea of the attractive aura he sheds forth in this existence. Iimmediately felt myself drawn by an invisible power toward him. Hegrasped my hand with the frank cordiality and grace of former days, andleading me thus, we arose together and, passing through one of the archedcompartments of the upper tier, entered another portion of the building. As we moved on I seemed to live portions of my earthly life, long past. The gorgeous and fantastic architecture which everywhere met my eyereminded me of the halls of the Alhambra. Swiftly passing, we emergedthrough a spacious arch upon an open arbor, where were congregated thepriests whom I had been invited to meet. I started back with a shock ofdelight when I beheld, in the centre of the group, the immortal figure ofGeorge Washington. I knew him instantly, partly from the likenesses whichhad been extant on earth, and partly from the noble spirit which emanatedlike a sun from his person. The group parted as we entered and Iimmediately felt, resting upon my shoulder like a benediction, the soft, firm hand of the Father of his Country. "Washington!" I exclaimed, fervidly grasping his hand. "At length we have met!" he responded, and asmile of ineffable joy lighted his countenance. He then spoke of the manychanges through which the United States had passed since his removal tothe spirit land. I was surprised at the extent of knowledge he displayed. Not the slightest variation in the scale of political economy had escapedhis notice. He expressed himself pleased especially at the great progressand development of the people within the last twenty years. He alluded totheir rapid march through the western territories; the founding of newand important States; the development of the agricultural and mineralresources of countries supposed to be almost valueless; of the inventionand construction of machinery adapted to the wants and necessities ofthose new and rapidly-increasing States. "This marvellous growth is owingto their being essentially a mediumistic people--is it not so?" said he, smiling and turning to the assembled guests. "Yes, yes!" I heard repeatedon all sides. On this commenced a general conversation. I listened as onein a dream. Around me I beheld the faces and forms of the heroes of pasthistory, each bearing the shape and semblance of humanity, though removedfrom earth millions of miles into space. One and all emitted, like stars, their own peculiar luminous aura. Collected in motley groups wereBenjamin Franklin, John Hancock, William Penn, Old General Jackson, JohnJacob Astor, De Witt Clinton, and many of the old Knickerbocker residentsof New York; with Sir Robert Peel, Lord Brougham, the Duke of Wellington, Hunt, Keats, Byron, Scott, Cowper, Hume, Goethe, De Stael, Mrs. Hemans, and many others. "The people of America have progressed to an astonishing degree, " said amusical voice at my left. "We must initiate Irving into the means bywhich we impart knowledge to the mediumistic nation through the Cabinetat Washington. " "Certainly, " responded Henry Clay. "Let all formalities cease. We willpartake of refreshments, and then Franklin will make him acquainted withthe wonderful aids to science and humanity with which he has supplied myresidence. " As he ceased speaking, a shower of sound, like the music from the ringingof innumerable crystal bells, filled the air. Accompanying this, andapparently descending from the ceiling, a soft light of aromatic odordiffused itself through the apartment. This was followed by theappearance of a shining disk of amber and pearl, revolving rapidly in itsdescent till it reached the congregated party. This magic circle (whichThomas Hood, who was present, facetiously termed the "wheel of fortune")was supplied with refreshments truly supernal. Here were fruits of mostbrilliant dyes; some of soft, pulpy flesh, and others of the consistencyof honey; some more transparent than the diamonds of earth; otherssubstantial, seemingly intended to supply the demands of hunger. Herewere confections resembling foam and cloud, whose very taste was elysium. The guests ate and chatted vivaciously. I received much informationconcerning the various products of this great land which were displayedupon the table. The most luscious fruits, I considered, both in flavorand quality, were those produced on an island in the spirit landcorresponding to your island of Cuba, which was under the protection of aband of spirits called the "Good Sisters. " The company having regaled themselves at the table, arose and dividedinto groups, laughing and chatting like ordinary mortals. I feltimmediately attracted to a cluster of which Benjamin Franklin was themagnetic centre. I reminded him of the duties imposed on him by our host, and told him playfully that I desired to investigate the mysteries ofthis wonderful palace. He cordially acquiesced, and, in company with afew friends, we commenced our explorations. I inquired as to theconstruction of the table from which we had just arisen, so superior tothe cumbersome ones of earth. "It is a very simple contrivance, " hesmilingly remarked. "You observe inserted in these twisted columns, ornamented with leaves, which support the ceiling, an electric wire, similar to that of a telegraph. From each of these central columns, thiswire connects with the upper gallery. Here, " said he, pointing to one ofthe leafy ornaments, "you perceive the means of communicating. Unobservedby you, our gracious host touched one of these springs which areconnected with the crystal bells, and announced to his servants hisdesire for refreshments. " "Servants!" exclaimed I. "How singular! Ilittle supposed, from the religious teachings I had received, that therewould be menials in heaven!" "Thee has a poor memory, " remarked William Penn, with a bright smile, "Did not the Bible teach thee that there was an upper and a lower seat?These servants are composed mostly of those who were held in slavery onearth and who desire to receive instruction that they may progress in thespheres. They are willing assistants; giving, that they may receive inreturn. If thee dislike the term 'servant, ' thee may use the term'friend, ' for they are friends and co-workers. Through those doors in thegallery they bring the refreshments which they gather from the hanginggardens without, where they live like the Peries of the East. The luxuryof the princes of earth cannot compare with the life of enjoyment andfreedom led by those whom I have termed 'servants. '" I here took the opportunity to ask Franklin if it was necessary, incommunicating with absent individuals, to use those external appliances?"Not always; thought can commune with thought if upon the same plane; buta mind like that of our great statesman cannot readily communicate withone whose mind on earth never rose above the domestic affairs of life. Insuch cases, external means are necessary. " "Come, " said he, turning; "I will show you something more remarkable thanthis. " So saying, he led me through an open door into one of the spaciousgardens which grace the palace on either side. We walked but a fewmoments, arm in arm, over a soft velvet like lawn, of the color of adelicate violet. Exquisite tints everywhere met my eye. The air was likewine, and so luscious and entrancing were the surroundings that I feltinclined to tarry, but my sage guide, calling my attention to themajestic dome towering in the air, desired me to exert my will to ascend. I did so, and immediately felt myself rising as if pressed up by someelastic substance, until I reached the top. The dome, which appeared tobe composed of glass, I perceived, as I approached, was covered with athin web resembling that of a spider. The apex of this dome wassurmounted by a globe representing the planet earth, with its continentsand seas. Openings corresponding to the different continents admittedpersons into the globe. We entered that corresponding to the continent ofNorth America. Each of these entrances, I was told, was particularlyadapted to the admission of the inhabitants of the different localitiesthey represented. On looking down I beheld the apartment I had firstentered. It was no longer vacant--each gallery was filled withspectators. On the lily-shaped rostrum stood Henry Clay and GeorgeWashington--Washington speaking to the people. "You observe, " said myguide, "a secondary stem from that lily branches off and extends to thispoint. It appears to you a mere ornament, but it transmits the thoughtsand words of the speaker to the city of Washington. Other branches, asyou notice, lead in other directions. If the speaker desires his thoughtsto be transmitted to any given point, he leans toward the stem leading tothat point. This silken web which you have admired, is a sensitiveelectric telegraph. It is composed of the elements of mind; in the worldyou have lately inhabited it would be intangible, but it has a subtleconnection with the human brain, and spirit thoughts directed through itgo with the promptness of electricity to their destination. Thought iselectric, but its power of transmitting itself is, like that of the humanvoice, limited; the voice requires the artificial assistance of aspeaking-trumpet to throw its sound beyond the ordinary distance; thoughtrequires a similar artificial conductor. You remember, " said Franklin, "in my early experiments with the kite and key, I could not obtain thespark until I had established the necessary attraction, although the airwas filled with the electric current. So of the thought-electricity, which is constantly flowing; we have to apply means to concentrate it andgive it form and expression. On earth, word and gesture are media forthought, but the savans have not yet discovered the means by whichunspoken thought can take form and expression. No galvanic wire norchemical battery has yet been invented by them, through which theseelectric sparks may be drawn down from their unseen habitations among theclouds; but in the world of spirits this great discovery, as I have shownyou, has been made. In this appliance you find the thoughts of thespeaker running through these sensitive wires until, like telegraphicmessages, they reach their destination on earth. " I listened to Franklin's explanation of this gigantic sensorium with mysoul filled with love and admiration for the great Creator who had formedthe human mind with its vast capacity for penetrating the sublimemysteries of nature. After leaving the dome I continued my inspection of the edifice. But ofits halls and galleries, its boudoirs, libraries, and peerless gardens, Iwill speak at some future time. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. _TO THE FRENCH NATION_. Triumph sits regent upon the Napoleonic banner. Napoleon the First isdictator to Napoleon the Third. By my side stands Josephine. We were notdestined to part eternally. In Louis Napoleon Bonaparte her blood andmine commingle. _Restez-vous, mon patrie; Napoleon shall decide aright. _No, petit garçon, _Napoleon le Grand will place you upon the highestpinnacle of peace. Fate is inexorable. The decrees of destiny are more potent than thewisdom of man. France and Napoleon are indissoluble. The star ofBonaparte is destined to shine yet for the next half-century. None but apatriot shall rule France. No proud Austrian, nor weak and haughtyBourbon shall flame their colors from the palaces of France. No, mycountryman! he who serves you, who leads your armies to victory, whoraises your citizens to distinction, he whose courage is undaunted, hewho has the power of prescience--is Napoleon. When Louis shall join me his spirit and mine will still animate theBonapartes who shall come after us. Repose entire confidence in his discretion. Napoleon the Third lives onlyfor France. You cry for liberty of speech and liberty of the press. But liberty isanarchy. Would you demand liberty for the army? Without a head to guideand control it, the army of France would be a scourge. Through calamity the most depressing, the hand of destiny has led LouisNapoleon to the throne of France, and against sickness and disease, against the hand of the assassin, and against vilifications of hisenemies, it will hold him there, firm. His time has not yet come. Beforehe bids adieu to life he will secure an able leader for France. I give him my hand. I embrace him in spirit. The shadow of Napoleonattends him by day and by night. Adieu, NAPOLEON. W. M. THACKERAY. _HIS POST MORTEM EXPERIENCE_. Poor Will Thackeray, when a stripling, was fit to kneel in the streetbefore his mistress, that bright luminary who shone to his boyish eyeslike a star of the first magnitude! Alas, he discovered her to be one ofthe sixteenth, and by the time he had ceased to care for polished bootsand stiff, broad collars, she had dwindled down to an ordinary piece ofhumanity! He found his boon companions, like himself, liable to mistake an ant fora whale and think the King of England next in royalty to a god! What a fool he made of himself in the eyes of those who were wiser thanhe, when he swore the crown of England was made of unalloyed gold! Thewater he drank was filled with animalculae, yet he swore it was pure asthe gods' nectar. The best and freshest air he breathed contained poison, yet his boyish wisdom knew better than that. Poor Thackeray! wiser men than he knew that youthful imagination was acheat; that the mistress of his heart was not a goddess; and wiser beingsthan they all knew--angelic beings, living in the golden streets ofParadise, knew--that the conception of what the spirit after death wouldbe able to do was as far from the truth as were his boyish dreams of themistress of his heart! Poor Thackeray! he has attained that superior wisdom now! He walks, himself a ghost, among the ghosts of the past; and these "airy nothings"nod and smile, and shake hands, and say: "Yes, we are ourselves. " He thrusts his hands into his trowsers pockets, and remembers the timewhen he thought it would be indecent to go naked in the New Jerusalem!Trowsers, forsooth! Yes, here they are, pockets and all; and he dives hishands in deeper, jingling something which strongly resembles cash; andstruts about and hobnobs with Addison, Spencer, Sterne, old Dean Swift, and he asks himself, "are these the great men of my fancy?" On reflectionhe finds he had expected to meet these luminaries shining like actualstars in the firmament, attended by some undefined splendor. Poor Will Thackeray! he finds the same dross in the gold, the sameanimalculae in the water, the same poison in the air, the same fact thatmen are not gods in that much-vaunted place called heaven, as on themuch-abused earth. But he wipes his spectacles, and clears away the mistof speculation and fancy, which has bedimmed his eyes, and looks abouthim more hopefully and trustfully than in the days when he walked throughVanity Fair and saw how Mr. Timms, with not a penny in the bank, pinchedhimself to give a little dinner in imitation of a great lord who gave agreat dinner, and had gold beyond his count; snobs, who wore paste jewelsand cotton-backed velvet, who cursed a fellow and strutted about inimitation of noble lords, who wore real diamonds and silken velvets!mimicking the follies of the great, but never their noble deeds andheroisms. He is beyond snobs now. He is in the land of heroisms and heroes. Yet hefeels he has been cheated by the fat parson who stole sovereigns from hispocket to keep him out of h----! His spiritual bones fairly ache with theleagues he has travelled, hunting up the throne of God! "Where thedeuce, " he mutters, "is the showman?" He can't find the lake of fire andbrimstone without a guide. Poor Thackeray! he again wipes his spectacles and feels he has been sold!This life on the other side of Jordan he finds to be what his Americancousins would call a "humbug, " a downright swindle upon the sympathiesand good taste of those who wear long streamers of crape, and groan andsob over his funeral rites! He feels in duty bound (out of considerationfor those mourners who expect nothing else) to go scudding through theair in a loose white shroud, or to rest cosily housed away in the "bosomof his Maker, " like a big, grown-up infant that he is, or else to behowling at the top of his lungs hallelujahs!--he that could never raise anote. And, if not so, certainly, out of compliment to the judgment of hisboon companions, he should be engaged in the dread alternative of sittingastride a pair of balances and being "weighed and found wanting;" orhaving been sent by the relentless Judge into everlasting torment "wherethere is cursing and gnashing of teeth, " he should be found theretormenting his fellow-imps! But alas! to his mortification, nothing of the kind is occurring or seemslikely to occur. He has been as active as the next man since his arrival in ghostdom. Hehas peeped under the _chapeaux_ of every solemn pilgrim whom he haspassed, but failed to find the four-and-twenty elders who have washedtheir robes in the blood of the Lamb. What has he found? He really isashamed to own up to the number of mountain sides and sloping hills hehas inspected in the vain search for a place he used to call h---- (hethought it blasphemy to add the other three letters); but neither clovenfoot, nor forked tail, nor horns, nor any kind of fearful person inblack, has pounced upon him; nor has he been seized by any claimant forleaving the world unshriven, as he did. Poor Will Thackeray! it has been a great disappointment to him! Heexpected some kind of sensational reception--thunder or lightning, orsome big God whose towering front might vie with Chimborazo--to awe himinto the consideration that he had become a spirit and was launched intothe awful precincts of eternity! No wonder he feels dogged and put uponto find himself thus bamboozled! He undertook a long and venturesomejourney to "see the elephant, " but it wasn't there! He can't complain against the citizens of this famous "undiscoveredbourne"; they have done all that's fair and square by him; they haveshown all that they have got; and he is too much of a gentleman to tauntthem. He knows they feel ashamed that they haven't those curiosities thattheir Vicegerents on earth had vouched for their having; he can see it intheir faces; but he considers himself in duty bound to prepare hisfellow-citizens for what they are to expect. ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. _TWO NATURAL RELIGIONS_. There are two great natural religions before the world, the RomanCatholic and the Spiritualistic; and both are adapted to the wants of therace. Man naturally gives expression to his thoughts by external formscorresponding to his ideas. The Roman Catholic religion is accused of being a system of forms andceremonies, but therein lies its wonderful adaptation to humanity. Thought ever seeks expression in form, even as a mother's love for herinfant finds expression in her ardent embrace. Love is the prevailing element of the Catholic religion, as shown by thelove of the Son of God for poor, ignorant, sinful creatures. We do not present this to the mind ideally. We call in the outcast andthe beggar, and we expose to their view, in the great cathedrals, the Sonof God, as he appeared in all his various experiences of human life. The parent who can earn but a scanty pittance for his offspring, seesbefore him Jesus lying in the manger, equal in squalid poverty with thelowest of mankind. The majesty and glory of the courts of Heaven are symbolized in the RomanChurch. _There_ is gathered the wealth of the world! All that is yetattained in the representation of the grand, the beautiful, the majestic, the sublime, and the devotional, is collected in the Mother of Churches. What earthly king, in his noble palace, with its costly architecture, itsornaments of silver and gold, its rare paintings and statuary, the wealthand accumulation of many sovereigns, would admit into its sacredprecincts the poor and the lowly, the beggar and the thief, the Magdalenand the Lazarus to sully with their presence his royal abode? But we erect palaces to the King of Heaven! regal in architecture, andadorned with beauty surpassing in magnificence earthly royalty, in whichthe lowliest may enter on an equality with the prince; his untutoredmind, his uncultivated senses may listen to music of the highest order. The pealing tones of the organ resound under the touch of the highestmasters of art for his simple ear. Listening to those strains, his mindforms a conception of the harmony and beatitude of Heaven! Even death is not looked upon with horror by the Catholic. If he lose afriend in this life, unlike the Protestant, he does not abandon him inoblivion, but his sympathies still extend to him by offering masses forhis soul. And it is because it is so adapted to man's spiritual naturethat the Catholic religion has withstood the shock and surge of ages! The restless, heaving billows of time have washed against theseven-hilled Church in vain. My soul rests in peace. It has taken its abode in Elysium. And in thisworld among the stars, seeing clearer and further than when I inhabitedthe lowly planet earth, I look down upon the struggling, dying race Ihave left behind, and feel still, that the _Roman Catholic religion isthe religion for the masses_. A great majority of men are born into the world but little higher thanthe beasts that perish. Their spiritual natures, though feeble, need foodthat is adapted to their wants. That food we furnish. Our priests, our sisters of charity, our holy fathers, our Benedictinemonks, our nuns, are to be found in every quarter of the globe. On themountains of everlasting snow, among the icebergs of the Polar Sea, andin the sandy deserts; on inhospitable shores, in the torrid zone, underthe burning rays of the equatorial sun; with the savage and with the sagethey are found ever ready to stimulate the spiritual nature, to giveearthly advice, and supply material wants. As a spirit I speak of what I think best adapted to the needs of man. Iendeavor to throw aside the prejudices of education. I look upon theProtestant religion as unnatural; a monstrous belief which deforms man. So far as I can see, its influence has been blighting. It takes youth, joy, and animation from the world. It grants no indulgence for sin, norfor the mistakes of ignorance. It is cruel and harsh, and men becomenarrow and self-elated under its teachings. The Spiritualistic religion resembles the Catholic in its breadth andamplitude, and in its humanizing and equalizing influence. I expect theday will come when all minor beliefs will be swallowed up in these twogreat religions. The Catholic Church in the spirit world is not so extensive as it is uponearth. Its usefulness is more especially adapted to earthly conditions. There are some noble cathedrals in the spirit world. Mass is offered upevery morning at the cathedral of the Five Virgins in my bishopric. The sisterhood of the Five Wise Virgins, newly organized, inhabitbeautiful and commodious edifices adjacent. It is their business to escort from earth youthful souls who have beenbaptized in the Church, and who are friendless and vagrant, havinginhabited while on earth such parts of New York City as the Five Pointsand Water street, and having neither kindred nor connection to claimthem. These are received into the beautiful home of the sisterhood. They bathein the golden fountains of youth, and are instructed in various ways. They are taught the uses of magnetism, mesmerism, and psychology, andreturn to earth to rap, write, and speak, through media, and to bringback the stray lambs to the fold. EDGAR A. POE. _THE LOST SOUL_. Hark the bell! the funeral bell, Calling the soul To its goal. Oh! the haunted human heart, From its idol doomed to part!Yet a twofold being bearing, She and I apart are tearing;She to heaven I to hell!Going, going! Hark the bell! Far in hell, Tolling, tolling. Fiends are rolling, Whitened bones, and coffins reeking, Fearful darkness grimly creeping On my soul, My vision searing, She disappearing, Drawn from me By a soul I cannot see, Whom I know can never love her. Oh! that soul could I discover, I would go, Steeped in woe, Down to darkness, down to hell!Hark the bell! Farewell! farewell! JEAN PAUL RICHTER. _INVISIBLE INFLUENCES. _ A ship is on the ocean. The wind is fair. All hands are in motion. But afew hours since, it left port. Among its passengers is a gay traveller;he wears a silken cloak fringed with gold. The sailors admire hissplendor; they gather around him as he walks the deck with his flyingrobe. They put forth their rough hands to feel its soft texture; itswarm, bright color gives pleasure to their eyes. As they gaze theirpulses heighten, their steps become unsteady, their eyes wander fromduty, their great sturdy frames quiver with emotion. The captain ralliesthem, but in vain. What secret foe is in their midst? Their parched tongues, cleaving to theroofs of their mouths, call for the surgeon. He comes--he questions, "From whence comest thou?" "From the Orient, " the traveller replies. Thesurgeon gasps and shakes his head. He, too, is stricken with fear. "'Tisthe _plague_!" he whispers. An unseen, deadly foe is stalking beneaththat gay cloak! The traveller hears and shudders; he flings off his gayvestment. The waves gather up the silken folds. But the sacrifice isuseless. A fell hand strikes down both traveller and sailor. As they gaspand die they are hurried to the ship's side; they are plunged overboard;a seething, foaming grave yawns to receive them. The ship glides on. Those who remain wash the deck with water. Theycannot wash away the demon, which is everywhere and yet nowhere. . . . Poisons as subtle attend the human spirit, baneful and contagious as theplague! See yonder peaceful cottage, nestling by the hillside; hope andcontentment dwell therein; within its walls beauty and grace awakenharmony. Lured by the bright sunshine, a stranger enters the door. Hesits and chats awhile with the inmates. His talk is pleasant, and as heconverses a cloud falls upon the house, the sunshine becomes darkened, and the dwellers within the pretty cottage shiver as with cold. They heednot the change, for the chat of their guest delights them. But when hedeparts he leaves behind him a poison more baneful than the plague. The inmates of the peaceful cottage look with gloomy eyes one upon theother; they become dissatisfied and distracted among themselves, anddiscord takes the place of harmony. Secret influences are at work, poisons thrown out by the sphere of theguest. A worse fate befalls them than befell the sailors who were invadedby the insidious Plague. I have seen in nature a fair face clouded suddenly--made gloomy andunlovely--by the unspoken thought of another. Thought is contagious--somevarieties of it poisonous! I have seen the countenance of an innocentchild transformed into ugliness by a poisonous thought. I have seen thosewho have looked upon her receive that thought and become likewiseinfected. I have seen also to this picture another and a brighter side. I have seensecret influences drawing individuals together, sustaining and upholdingthem; as the long line filaments of wool clasp each other and drawtogether the separate particles, so have I seen individuals united. Thuswas the first Napoleon united to Josephine. A secret influence as potentas the plague passed from one to the other; but it breathed health andnot poison. Napoleon, with his powerful will, disrupted these magnetic relations; hetore apart the unseen filaments that bound them; and, the sustaininginfluence gone, he fell--a mighty wreck--on the bleak shore of St. Helena. What man or woman can comprehend the secret influences that surround thesoul. Keep guard; and when the blood stagnates within, when secretshudders, and gloomy thoughts, and inharmonious feelings arise, be surethat some poison-breathing foe is at hand. Set the door ajar, and resolutely turn your face from the secretinfluence that would destroy you. CHARLOTTE BRONTÉ. (CURRER BELL. ) _AGNES REEF. --A TALE_. CHAPTER I. I was brought up and educated by my bachelor uncle. He was a reticent, moody man, and with his aged housekeeper and myself, led a solitary andunsocial life in the old rambling house which had been his father'sbefore him. I was but a child of six years when destiny placed me under his charge, and with him I remained eleven years; a scared, repressed little thing, revelling in strange fancies in the spidery attic rooms, and looking downthrough the dusty cobwebbed windows upon the life and movement below, unconscious that I formed a part of that active humanity. Thus I lived until I entered my seventeenth year. For the last two yearsmy mind had been expanding and growing discontented with my lot. Themoroseness of my uncle, the sullenness of his housekeeper, the gloom anddinginess of the bare rooms had grown insupportable to me. These alone Imight have endured, but added to them were other sources of disquiet, notthe least of which being hints from the housekeeper that it was time Ibegan to do something for myself. Youth, pride, and ambition stirredwithin me, and I actively set about looking, for a situation. I had not long to wait; in one of the weekly papers, of which my uncletook many, I one day discovered an advertisement, which to my morbidfancy seemed sent by fate especially to me. A young lady was wanted to take charge of the education of a boy ofeleven years. Upon reading this advertisement, I immediately sat down andwrote a letter, offering my services. By return mail I received a note acknowledging the receipt of mine, andstating that as I was the only applicant and my testimonialssatisfactory, I was accepted. I informed my uncle of my good fortune. He received the news with a gruffapproval, adding that he hoped I would do well, as I could expect nofurther pecuniary aid from him than would be sufficient to carry methere. My emotions, as I packed my little trunk on that memorable Saturday, wereof a mixed character; but pleasure predominated. Hope beckoned me on; andthe sadness attendant on breaking loose from the unfriendly home in whichI had lived so long was but transitory. Monday morning saw me seated composedly in the rail-coach on the way to"Bristed Hall, " my destination. Towards nightfall we stopped at a stationin a desolate, sparsely-inhabited district. My road diverging here, Ihurried out, and the long train which connected me with my past life spedout of sight. Drawing my veil closely to my face to hide a few falling tears, I lookedaround the desolate waiting-room, to see if any fellow-creature wasexpecting me. As I did so a heavy, thumping footstep sounded upon theplatform, and a surly voice inquired: "Are you Miss Reef?" accompanying the question by a slight pull at myshawl. Turning, I beheld a deformed little man with long arms and a high back, awaiting my answer to his question. I summoned courage to ask: "Were you sent for Miss Reef?" "Yes, " he replied, "I am Mr. Bristed's man. He told me to drive here andfetch home a Miss Reef--if you are that person, miss!" touching his hatwith an effort at politeness. "I am, " I answered, and without further ado we proceeded to the carriage, which he had left waiting at the rear platform. The evening air was chilly, for it was quite sunset. Drawing my shawlaround me, I ensconced myself in a corner of the vehicle, and watched thefading landscape with stolid indifference to whatever might befall me. We drove on thus for a good hour and a half, halting at length before adark, massy object, the form of which my dozy eyes could not discern. However, it proved to be Bristed Hall. I emerged from the carriage and passed up the steps to an open doorwhich, at the pausing of our carriage wheels, had been set ajar. Anold woman, the feminine counterpart of my sulky driver, stood in thedimly-lighted passage-way to receive me. She vouchsafed me but a grumwelcome, but I felt already too desolate and weary to experience anyfurther depression from her humor. Bidding me follow her, and ordering the man to carry my luggage, she ledme directly through the hall up the stairway to a chamber evidentlyprepared for my use. The apartment was prettily furnished, and its tidyappearance and the cheerful fire burning on the hearth quite roused mydrooping spirits. After assisting me to remove my bonnet and shawl, my conductress left me, returning ere long with a tray containing refreshments. These she setbefore me with silent hospitality; then bade me goodnight, saying shewould call me in the morning at eight o'clock for breakfast. My sleep that night was disturbed by dreams, which though vague filled mewith terror. I imagined that I was walking through a long corridor, opening into asumptuous apartment, its interior partly concealed by rich folds ofdamask curtains. I lifted the heavy drapery and essayed to enter, but acold hand grasped mine and prevented me. A woman's figure, slight andyouthful, with white face, great sad eyes, and long yellow hair, stood inthe arched doorway and pressed me back with her clammy hand. I started upfrom my pillow in alarm to find myself alone; the pale moonbeamsstreaming through the looped curtains of the window and glancing upon myforehead, I thought, probably accounted for the cold hand of my dream. Islept, and dreamed again. The scene was changed: a field of stubble laybefore me; through it I must make my way; the rough ground hurt my feet;I stumbled and fell; attempting to rise, I saw painted in clear reliefagainst the horizon the same female figure. Her pale, golden hair hung long and loose over her shoulders. As shecaught my eye she lifted her finger as if in warning, and disappearedfrom sight. CHAPTER II. From these dreams I awakened in the morning perplexed, disturbed, andunrefreshed. After dressing, I was summoned to breakfast by the personwho had received me the previous night. She led me down the stairway andthrough the hall into the breakfast room. It was a long, narrow apartment, with wainscots and floor of polishedoak. A bright fire blazed upon the hearth. A small round stand was setforth, upon which was placed my solitary repast. I seated myself andpartook, with a relish, of the nice cakes, fragrant coffee, and sweetclover butter. Having finished my meal, I arose and walked to one of the deep-setwindows which lighted the apartment. Lifting the curtain, I looked out. A grassy lawn overhung with trees; clear gravel paths and well-trimmedshrubbery; beyond, rocks relieved by a patch of blue sky; a thin line oflight, neutral tinted, winding through the distant meadows, indicating astreamlet; these constituted the landscape. Having spent a full quarter of an hour in abstractedly gazing at thisscene, I was called to reality by the opening of the room door, and astrange voice repeating my name. The person presenting herself appearedto be an upper servant--a tall, thin woman, with dark hair sprinkled withgray, and an amiable, weak face. "If you have finished your breakfast, Miss, I will show you to Mr. Bristed's room. " I assured her it was completed, and, following her. I crossed the halland entered a door at the left. A pleasant odor of flowers met mygrateful senses. The room was spacious, wide and deep, and handsomelycarpeted. The walls were ornamented with paintings and engravings. An ample arm-chair, which the owner had evidently just vacated, and atable containing books and papers, gave a tone of both comfort andelegance to the room, which was decidedly congenial to my taste. Two great glass doors, reflecting clearly the morning sunbeams, led intoa conservatory from whence issued the fragrance I perceived on entering. Among the flowers moved a tall, manly figure. As I entered, the gentlemancame forward. "Miss Reef, Mr. Bristed, " said my companion, by way of introduction. So this was my employer. As he stood before me, I surveyed him; awell-formed gentleman, above the ordinary height, with pale complexion, set off by dark, penetrative eyes; a shapely head covered with long, heavy masses of straight dark hair. The impression his appearanceconveyed to me was that of a person benevolent but apathetic; unhappywithout the will or power to shake off his burden. He bade me be seated. "You are young, " said he, reflectively. "May I askyour age?" "Seventeen, " I replied. "Very young, " he reiterated, thoughtfully shaking his head; "however, asyou are here, if you wish to remain, Mary will introduce you to yourpupil. " "I certainly wish to remain, " said I, impatiently; "I have journeyedquite a distance for that purpose, and shall be happy to commence theinstruction of my pupil immediately. " "Very well, " said he. "Mary, take her to the nursery, and attend to anyof her wants. " The girl opened a door adjoining that which we had entered by; a narrowhall and a flight of stairs led us to the room indicated. A little solitary figure, breathing upon the window-glass, and tracingthereon letters with long, thin fingers, was the first object thatpresented itself to my eye, "Here is your governess, Herbert, " said Mary. The little boy turned and surveyed me with his large, blue, mournfuleyes. They sent a quiver through my frame from their strange resemblanceto eyes I had seen but the night before in my dream. He was apparently satisfied with his inspection, and his thin scarletlips parted into a smile. I called him to me. He came forward timidly. Taking his small hand, I asked him a few questions about his studies. Ifound him intelligent, but grave beyond his years; very docile andobedient, and ere the end of the day we became excellent friends. CHAPTER III I had lived six weeks at Bristed Hall, and, excepting on my firstarrival, had not interchanged a word with its master. 'Tis true I wouldsee him at times from the school-room window, walking through his park, or smoking upon the long piazza, but he might have been across the oceanfor all the intercourse we had together. It was early June; roses bloomed on every hedge. A season of dry weatherhad succeeded the showers of spring, the mornings were sparkling, the airdelicious. I arose early one particularly sunny morn, that I might take awalk, before the studies of the day commenced, to a natural lake which Ihad discovered about a mile from the Hall. Herbert begged to accompany me, and I, who loved at times the quiet of myown thoughts, reluctantly granted his request. We strolled out of the inclosure, and were leisurely wending our way overthe road, when our attention was attracted by the sound of wheelsemerging from a cross path. A carriage rolled briskly in view. The littlehand of my companion, which I held locked in mine, trembled violently. "Oh, Miss Agnes, Miss Agnes!" he cried, pointing to the occupant of thecarriage, "there is Uncle Richard. " As it neared us, the driver reined in his horses, which snortedimpatiently as he paused, and a musical voice called out: "Hallo! you young varlet; where are you going so early in the morning?" Herbert answered faintly, "I am going with Miss Reef to the lake. " The gentleman at this reply waved his jewelled hand gracefully toward me. "Miss Reef, I am happy to make your acquaintance. So you are the younglady who has undertaken to be bored with my little nephew?" "He is not a bore, " said I, smilingly, captivated by the grace andabandon of the traveller. And truly his handsome countenance might havecaptivated a girl more experienced in the world's ways than myself. Hiswas a gay, spirited face, complexion fair and rosy; full red lips, gracedwith a curling moustache; golden locks fit for an Adonis; sunny, dancingeyes, and a figure rather massive, but well formed. Such was theimpression I received of this "Uncle Richard. " "Allow me to give you a seat in my brougham, " said he. I thanked him, but refused. "Bound on some romantic expedition, " he said, laughing; "I can see it inyour beaming eyes. Well, I suppose I must continue my solitary drive; butdon't tarry long at the dismal lake; hasten back, as I shall want acompanion to chat with in the empty Hall. " I found Herbert unwilling to talk about his uncle, so I tried to dismissthe new comer from my thoughts, and engaged with my pupil in gatheringwild flowers and grasses wherewith to form wreaths and bouquets to adornour school-room. After rambling about for an hour, we turned homeward. I felt quite excited upon reaching the Hall, and hurried to my room tosmooth my hair preparatory to commencing the labors of the day. If Istood over my mirror longer than usual, remember I was young, and had alaudable desire to please. As I surveyed myself in the glass, I wasguilty of a pleasurable cognizance of the figure and face reflectedthere. The walk and unexpected encounter had given an unwonted brilliancyand vivacity to my countenance. My cheeks glowed; my eyes sparkled; andfrom my chestnut curls depended wild flowers, and wreaths of Herbert'stwining; altogether a pleasing picture presented itself to view, which, without vanity, I was thankful to behold. We had not been long at our lessons when a voice, gaily singing, approached the door, and without the ceremony of knocking, the gentlemanwhom we had passed in our morning ramble entered the room. "I have been looking all over for you; why are you hiding yourself awayup here?" said he, merrily. "Can you not take another pupil, Miss Reef?"at the same time drawing up his chair to the table at which Herbert andmyself were seated. "If he is as tractable as Herbert, I might venture, " I replied, assumingthe gay, mocking tone of my questioner. I soon saw that he was bent on remaining; so, taking from my desk adrawing-book and pencil, I placed them before him. "There is your task; please not to interrupt me. " I was determined not tobe beguiled from my duty by this gay cavalier. He permitted us to pursueour studies uninterruptedly till he had finished his drawing. "There, " he exclaimed, placing it before me. "Will you not reward me formy industry?" I looked at the sketch. It was bold and clear, shaded with a firm hand, spirited and original. I was truly surprised at the skill evinced. After that day he visited our room often, calling in during the morningto exchange a pleasant word, or at the close of the school hours toloiter over our drawings and chat of books and music. His visits began togrow too pleasant to me. Some effort must be made on my side to renderthem less attractive. One afternoon he entered as usual, and waited patiently till Herbert hadrecited his closing lesson. Then he arose, and taking a guitar from itscase, commenced playing and singing a song in a most bewitching manner. "Come, Miss Reef, " said he, when he had finished, "that beautiful hand isjust made to glide over this instrument. Allow me to give you a lesson. " Feeling that if I permitted him to encroach upon my position as governessI would be lost, I refused. I must give him to understand that I know myplace and will not be trifled with, I thought; so I arose and rang thebell for Mary. She soon appeared, apparently surprised at seeing Mr. Richard Bristed so much at home in the school-room. "Mary, sit down; I wish you to hem this handkerchief for Herbert, " saidI. She seated herself with my work-box before her, and commenced plying herneedle industriously. The young gentleman looked on my arrangement with alurking smile for a few moments, and then uttering a long, low whistle, arose from his chair and sauntered out. Passing me, he whispered: "I will remember you for this, Miss Reef. " He did seem to remember it, asseveral days elapsed without his presenting himself. Once I met him in the hall, and he merely bowed. If he had wished toarouse in me an interest in himself, he could not have pursued a betterplan; for I grew restless and uneasy, regretting heartily that I hadoffended him. CHAPTER IV. After three days had passed thus, I concluded I would explain to him mymotive. Accordingly, in the afternoon, when my hour of recreation came, Ibrushed my hair carefully, changed my dress, and descended to the piazzaon which he generally lounged in the afternoon with a cigar. As he was not there, I seated myself on a rustic chair to watch for him. I had not sat many minutes when I heard the wheels of a carriage on thegravel path; then the gay voice of Mr. Richard met my ear. I turned: hewas seated in the vehicle with a valise beside him, and was apparentlybound on a journey. As he caught sight of me, he raised his hat, boweddistantly, and drove off. A dreary sense of loneliness crept over me. The setting sun filled thewest with its golden splendor. Great yellow bars of sunlight streamedthrough the railing, and lit up the floor of the piazza. Sitting there Iwas bathed in its ruddy flood. Happy birds poured forth their eveningsong in the bushes near by; but I was miserable and alone. All natureseemed to rejoice, while I, her child, was desolate. "You appear sad, miss, " said a voice close beside me. I looked up andbeheld the elder Mr. Bristed. He had evidently observed my emotion, andhis dark eye looked a reproof that his lips did not utter. Presently, he seated himself near me, and asked a few questions as to theprogress my pupil was making. Having satisfied him on those points, heinquired kindly if I was lonely or discontented. "Oh, no, " I answered, heartily, hoping to place a barrier to any furtherinquiries on that point. "But you have been weeping, " said he, in a subdued voice. "Not because I am lonely, " said I, resolved to have the truth out; "but Ifear I have wounded the feelings of your brother. " "My brother!" he repeated. "Ah! you have become acquainted with him? Heis bright and glittering like the sun; but be careful, my child, becareful! Young birds should avoid the glittering steel of the fowler. Butyouth will seek its own experience, " he remarked, with a deep sigh. "Nofriendly warning will teach the young to beware of danger. But considerme your friend, Miss Reef, and let me likewise be your monitor. " Without waiting for my reply, he hastily left me and entered the house. CHAPTER V. Four weeks elapsed ere Richard's return. During his absence Mr. Bristedshowed his sympathy for my lonely situation by many little attentions;sending up to the school-room, now and then, choice fruit from hishot-house, or a bouquet of conservatory flowers, and, several times inthe early evening, he sent for me to read aloud to him. I found him to be a quiet, polished gentleman; and I grew to like him, and to look for his tokens of kindness after my daily labors with growinginterest, and, if they came not, to feel disappointed and unhappy. He hadtravelled much and could talk well, and under the influence of asympathetic listener, his countenance lit up with kindly emotion, and thesad lines of his face disappeared beneath a happy smile. But in the glowing midsummer his truant brother returned, and my new-borninterest vanished like snow before the harvest sun. Again Mr. Richard exerted his varied powers to fascinate and amuse me. Again I listened, and struggled, as formerly, against his wiles, andfinally bent a too willing ear to his soft words of praise andadmiration. With secret pleasure I reveled in his ardent language, hugging to my heart the belief that I was loved. How that summer sped by on its golden wings! Time passed on, as in somedelicious opium dream! And when the short clays and long nights of theChristmas holidays set in, I found myself secretly engaged in marriage toRichard Bristed. Of our plans and attachment his brother was not at present to beinformed: this stern brother who shut himself up apart from his species, and who, Richard told me, was of too cold a nature to sympathize withlove. "He will dismiss you, Agnes, if he hears of it, " he said. "Wait till Ihave settled up my affairs, and then he can do his worst. " I believed this statement; I forgot all my former good impressions of Mr. Bristed, and listened to the tales that were told me of how he hadwronged Richard. I learned to regard him as a robber, a hypocrite whosestatements could not be relied on; a false, dark, bad man. As forRichard, he seemed a king in comparison; a noble, magnanimous being, whomsome kind fairy had bestowed upon me. But that cold, relentless Fate, which comes to tear off the paintedwrappings of life, revealing the bare and ugly reality beneath, was fastpursuing me. At the close of a cold, snowy day, I had retired early to my room, andhaving locked the door that I might be free from interruption, sat downto look over the dainty articles of dress which I had been shylyaccumulating for my approaching marriage. It was but a scanty outfit, but to me it appeared munificent as that of aprincess. I could never weary of looking at these beautiful garments; Iplaced them in one light, and then in another; I folded and unfoldedthem, and finally ended by trying them on, and admiring in the mirrortheir perfect adaptation to my face and figure. A long time must havepassed in this way, when the hall clock struck the hour of midnight. Astonished at the lateness of the night, I threw down the laces andribbons which I was combining into some airy article of dress, and waspreparing to remove my bridal attire, when I was amazed to hear a keyturning in the lock of my door. Fear and surprise nailed me to the floor. The door glided softly open and in stepped Mr. Richard Bristed! He seemedsurprised to see me thus. "What! up and dressed?" he exclaimed, in a loud whisper. "O my beauty! mywife! I have come to claim you to-night. You shall be mine. No power onearth shall withhold us now!" "How strangely you talk, Richard, " said I. "You forget it is so late. Wecannot go to church at this hour. " "Ah, dearest, this is church! See, I have brought you this ring. We willstand up before God and our own hearts, and I will marry you here. Weneed no other witnesses than ourselves and this ring!" Though my youthful heart was blinded by love and passion, I was notprepared for this. Excitement and the strangeness of the propositionovercame me, and I broke forth into sobs. He endeavored to soothe me, urging his request with a pleading forcewhich I could scarcely withstand. "I am not prepared, Richard, " said I, drying my tears; "this is sosudden, so unlooked for, I must have time for thought. " But thought only revealed a gaping abyss, from which I must fly. He continued to urge his plea; but seeing I would not yield, hiscountenance changed. The sweet, seductive smile vanished. He grew whiteas the moonbeam, and, clenching his hand and setting his teeth, bent overme, whispering huskily: "Agnes, I shall not step from this room to-night. I have the key. Youhave promised to be mine. You shall keep that promise. To-night you shallkeep that promise!" If he was pale, I became paler. A cold chill crept over me. But I took myresolution, unyielding as death, not to grant his request. A chasm seemed to yawn before me. The loneliness and friendlessness ofmy position were presented to my mind with terrific reality. A deadlyswoon-like feeling ensued. To yield in this might seal my fate. I pacedthe floor rapidly, praying for help. Help came suddenly. As I passed the door of my wardrobe, I rememberedthat the same key unlocked this and the door of my apartment. I drew itforth, and in the twinkling of an eye I was free. The cool air from the outside passage, and the prospect of liberty, cooled my excited nerves, and revived me for the work I had toaccomplish. "Richard, " said I, my hand upon the latch, "you or I must leave. " He made no reply, but violently rising from his chair, grasped somethingthat lay near him, and tearing it to atoms, rushed by me without word orlook, and reaching the stairs, hastened out of sight. Mechanically I sat down, and with sad, straining eyes surveyed the wreckbefore me. My bridal wreath was shivered into fragments; its whitepetals, like fruit blossoms caught in an untimely blast, sprinkled thefloor; my laces were in shreds like the riven mast of some shipwreckedvessel. Of course there was no sleep for me that night. When worn out withthinking and weeping, I drew a large easy chair up to the door and satthere as guard, listening, with the hope which moment after moment grewfainter, that he would return and whisper in my willing ear a sweetdemand for pardon, some word in extenuation for his unseemly conduct; buthe came not. Toward daybreak, I was aroused from the lethargy into which I had fallenfrom sheer exhaustion by the sound of excited voices and hurriedmovements in the room below. As these subsided and the gray morningbroke, I was startled by the sound of a horse's hoofs on the graveledwalk. A fearful foreboding possessed me; what could it mean? Somebody wasriding away; who was it? Through the gate and down the avenue I heard thegalloping steed. I dragged my nerveless limbs to the window and peered forth. Clearagainst the horizon, now streaked with pale crimson rays of dawn, risingin bold relief I beheld the receding figure of Richard Bristed. He was leaving me without word or sign. My head reeled; I grasped thewindow casement to steady myself, and sank insensible upon the floor. CHAPTER VI. I must have remained in this condition some hours, for the sun was highin the heavens when I opened my eyes and became conscious. Where was I?Not in my own room, surely; the fragrance of exotics did not penetrate mylattice; the simple honeysuckle that twined around my window breathedforth a different perfume from this. My heart gave one glad leap. Oh, itis all a dream! I thought; Richard's galloping down the road, and all thepast night's misery is a dream! With this reflection a happy tranquillitywas stealing over me, when I heard a well-known voice exclaim: "Look, Mary, attend her; she has opened her eyes, thank God. " It was Mr. Bristed's voice, and as he spoke Mary approached me, andbending over, bathed my head with scented water. "Hope you feel better, Miss, " said she. "Have I been ill, Mary? Where am I?" "In master's library. " Surely it was so. I was lying upon a divan near the conservatory. Alas, Iwas not dreaming! I sat up and looked drearily around, and as I did soMr. Bristed drew near with a beautiful lily in his hand, which he offeredto me. He inquired kindly after my health and looked pleased when I toldhim I felt quite strong. Indeed I did feel strong for the moment, andarose determined to leave the room. "Sit still--where are you going?" he asked anxiously. "Going to the school-room--going to see Herbert, " I replied. "Herbert, " said he, and his countenance darkened; "you cannot seeHerbert, he is ill. " Not see Herbert, and he ill? What could be the matter? He was well butyesterday. Mr. Bristed's strange manner, coupled with Richard's absence and thefearful events of the night, seemed likely to turn my brain. He saw my startled look of inquiry, and said, "Be quiet awhile; I havesomething of importance which I will communicate to you by-and-by, whenyou are composed. " "Mary, " he ordered, "ring the bell for breakfast to be sent hither;meanwhile, Miss Reef, while awaiting our coffee, if you will walk with mein the conservatory I will take pleasure in showing you my tropicalcuriosities. " I followed him languidly with wandering thoughts. Gradually, however, Igrew interested and listened with increased attention to his animateddescription of the homes and haunts of the wonders by which he wassurrounded. He had visited many climes, and gathered each strange flowerand plant he had seen in its native clime. He became eloquent and genialas he described the strange habits and peculiarities of his floralcompanions, which he seemed to regard as a species of humanity; to himthey were not inanimate existences--creations--but objects endowed withsoul and sensation. While we were thus conversing, Mary announced that breakfast was ready, and I reluctantly accompanied him to the library. He almost compelled meto eat, selecting for me dainty morsels to tempt my appetite. Mr. Bristed evidently labored under some mental disquiet, which heevinced by undue efforts at cheerfulness. Breakfast being removed I sought to withdraw from the room, but herequested me to remain, and dismissing Mary, seated himself in an easychair next the ottoman on which I rested, and warming his hands over thefire, his eyes bent upon the blaze, said, with an abruptness that wasnatural to him: "I am not accustomed to concern myself about strangers, Miss Reef, but inyou I have felt a peculiar interest since the day we first met. You willremember I warned you then that you were too young for the responsibilitywhich I foresaw awaited you. I feared at that time that Richard, onseeing so bright a flower, would endeavor to snatch it from its stem. Myfears have been realized; you see I am acquainted with what has takenplace, and now the hour has come when you and I must part. " "Oh no, " cried I gaspingly, "not yet, not yet. " "Miss Reef, " he demanded solemnly, "why will you delay? I understand whatyou would say; you desire to see Richard again, but that can never be;you have looked your last upon him in this life. I know his magneticinfluence over you; once again under that influence you are lost!" I did not like what he said. He overstepped the bounds of courtesy, Ithought. The warning which Richard had given me against him revived inforce and I recoiled from him, saying: "Sir, your brother is my friend; I can listen to nothing in hisdisfavor. " He sighed, "Ah, Agnes, you are but a child. The sun just rising aboveyonder horizon must soon be darkened; I see the gathering cloud and wouldwarn you of the approaching storm. Why will you turn from me when Idesire to help you?" His musical voice was so sympathetic that it moved me deeply; but I shookmy head and answered passionately, "I cannot trust you. You wrong him, and would compel me to wrong him too. " "My child, " said he sadly, "I had hoped to have saved you from furtheranguish, but perhaps it is best that you should know all. Come with me. " He opened the door and led me to a room on the opposite side of the hall. I knew it to be the room where Herbert slept. "Let us go in, " he whispered. We entered softly: the apartment was darkened, but a dainty crib whichoccupied the centre of the floor could be dimly seen. As we stepped in, his nurse, who was bending over the cot, moved with hushed footsteps awayto give us room. There he lay, my dear, sick lamb! I was so glad to be permitted to seehim. But the result of no ordinary sickness met my eye. Great purple rings had settled around his closed eyelids, his lips wereblue, his sweet mouth partly opened, he seemed to breathe withdifficulty. I could not speak. Mr. Bristed turned down the coverlet fromthe little shoulders. "Look, Miss Reef, " said he hoarsely, his voice quivering with agitation, pointing to some hideous marks on the little sufferer's throat--"thoseare _his_ finger marks. " I sickened. What crime was this that he hinted at so strangely? But theinsinuation was too incredible. The thought that he was working on mycredulity exasperated me. "If you want me to leave your house, Mr. Bristed, command me and I willgo, but you cannot force me to believe this horrid inference. " He must have felt the disdain with which I spurned him, for he turnedupon his heel and left the room. I then spoke to Herbert. At the sound of my voice he moved, and I seatedmyself by his side. Quietness seemed desirable, and I was not inclined tobreak it. Now and then I moistened his lips with a little wine and water. Seeing that I still sat by the crib, the nurse lay down upon a settee andfell asleep. Hours thus passed. The days were short and twilight came on rapidly. Sitting there in the gathering gloom, I began to hum inadvertently alittle song which Herbert loved me to sing to him. Hearing my voice chanthis favorite ditty, the poor little creature stirred in his crib, and hispale lips parted into a smile. Presently, in broken tones he asked, "Isthat Miss Reef?" "Yes, Herbert, darling, I have come to sing to you, " said I, mastering myemotions and chirruping more loudly his beloved song. The effect seemed truly magical--he endeavored to raise up his littlebody. "Oh sing it again, " he cried. "Would you like to sit upon my knee?" He nodded assent, and I made an effort to lift him up, but he was weakand heavy, and I not sufficiently strong to sustain him. As he fell back, my eyes caught sight again of those fearful marks. Some power outside ofmyself forced me to ask, "Herbert, what ails your throat; has any onehurt you?" At the question, a tremor fearful to witness passed through his frame, and looking at me with an expression of preternatural intelligence, hewhispered, "He tried to choke me. " Stunned with horror at this again repeated assertion, I sank down andburied my face in my hands. I could think but one thought, and that was awish that I were dead! CHAPTER VII But my nature would not permit me at such a crisis to remain passivelong. I must arouse myself and act. Calling the nurse to take my place, Iwent to seek Mr. Bristed. I found him, as usual, in his library. "Sir, " said I, "I am calm now; will you not explain to me this frightfulmystery? I will listen and thank you. " He placed a chair for me to be seated, and taking my hand, said gently:-- "Miss Reef--Agnes, you are too weak to hear this that you seek to know. " "No, no, " I exclaimed, vehemently; "I am not weak; I must know all. " He arose and paced the floor hurriedly for a few moments; then muttering, "It is best--I will tell her, " he said: "You have been surprised, no doubt, Agnes, at the frankness with which Ihave expressed my opinion of Richard's character--let me inform you thathe and I are not brothers. He is a half-brother, the offspring of myfather's second marriage; though indeed I doubt if he have a right toeven that relationship. I have heard dark hints thrown out that my fatherhad been deceived, and that this child who claimed to be his son shouldlook in a lower quarter for his father. Richard's mother was not a womanof high moral principle, and he partakes of her nature. My fatherprovided for him well, but as I was the elder son the bulk of his largeproperty became mine by inheritance; but Richard has always made the Hallhis home when in England--indeed, he has a legal right during hislifetime to the use of the room he occupies. He has not, however, oftenavailed himself of this right since I have had his son Herbert under myprotection. " "His son Herbert?" I repeated, mechanically. "Yes, poor child, his son; though the boy has always been taught to callhim uncle. Neither Richard nor myself desire the relationship to beknown, and it is only in hope of serving you that I reveal it. " "Richard married?" I said, falteringly. "Ah, Agnes, there are many women whom he should never have seen, as hecould not marry them, " said he, with the slow determination of a manresolved on uttering a repulsive truth. Herbert's mother was a beautifulbut penniless orphan of good family, who visited this house some yearssince in the capacity of companion to our great-aunt. "During that visit I became enamoured with her, and we were secretlyengaged in marriage. It was before the death of my father, and I was notmy own master; but I loved her truly, and meant well by her, onlydesiring her to wait till I should be free to please myself. But Richardstepped in between me and my happiness. He stole this girl's heart fromme; gained her love as he has endeavored to obtain yours, by flatteryand dissimulation you see I am not wily and smooth enough to pleasewomen--but also he destroyed her peace under promise of marriage; leavingher soon after and going abroad without acquainting her with his purpose. "I was temporarily from home when this occurred. On returning in thecourse of a month, Richard fled, as I have stated; but I was ignorantthen of the cause, and it was not till in the agony of shame she came tome for help with her secret, that I became aware of his perfidy. "I need not tell you that I gave her all the aid in my power; her childHerbert was born and secretly cared for. When he was about two years old, the great-aunt of whom I have spoken died, leaving a large proportion ofher property to Alice, of whose misfortune she had never dreamed. "Wealth came to the unfortunate girl too late. The shock she had receivedfrom Richard's deceit had preyed upon her health, and she was failingrapidly, when he, hearing of her good fortune, returned home. "With his specious address he might have regained his old ascendancy overher had I not interfered. You know well, Agnes, his peculiar gift offascination. I believe he could by some unexplainable psychologicalprocess make any great wrong appear right to a woman. But I induced herto bequeath her wealth to Herbert, and secure it, for a time at least, beyond Richard's control--and he owes me a grudge for it. "Herbert, she left under my care, unless, of his own free will, he choseto reside with Richard, who in that case was to become his guardian; andin the event of Herbert's death before reaching his majority, the wholeproperty was to revert to Richard Bristed. You see she loved him still. Unjust but womanlike, her love was stronger than her judgment. "Well, " said he, after eyeing me thoughtfully, "you listen as if you didnot rightly comprehend what I have been saying!" I was indeed stunned by his communication. Could it be, I thought, withsuppressed fear, that the shadowy figure which had haunted my bed-chamberand had visited me in dreams was the same wronged Alice? Had she arisenfrom her grave beneath the granite of the church-yard to warn me? Or arethe dead jealous of their rights? Do they cling to their earthly love? Iqueried. But when he spoke I shook off these thoughts that were risinglike mist to obscure my judgment, and answered, "_I_ am. I am listening;proceed. " "Agnes, through your influence Richard has hoped to obtain possession ofHerbert and control over his fortune. He has thought to entrap you as hedid Alice, and through his power over you has calculated to carry out theproject of his prolific brain. " Till this moment I had listened silently to his strange recital, but Icould not brook this insinuation. The story, to my mind, did not appearclear. How could Richard expect to obtain, through my agency, possessionof a son whom he had never acknowledged? Tis true I remembered him tohave said that he feared I would miss my pupil very much. He had askedplayfully what would Herbert do without me, but he had not suggestedtaking the child away with us, and therefore Mr. Bristed's chargeappeared to my mind unfounded, and I told him so. "Ah, my child!" he replied, "you know not the devising power of this man. He has an agent here in this place, in the shape of old Crisp, thehunchback. It has been his plan, under promise of marriage, to decoy youfrom this house; he would probably have left his child to Crisp's goodagency, with orders to join you. Herbert loves you, and would have gonewillingly in your company, but alone with Richard he would not have movedone step. Once out of my reach in some distant city, he would have hadthe reins in his own hand. It was by an unexpected, but I hope fortunatechance, that I overheard a conversation to this effect between him andthe deformed servant. I could not ascertain the day set for thisadventure, but I surmised that it was at no remote date, and I have keptalert. You have avoided me, Miss Reef, and I have been obliged to watchyour movements distantly. Not from suspicion of you, for I know you to bepure and honorable, but because you are under my protection, andbecause"--he hesitated--I wondered what was coming next. I had apresentiment that he was about to make an avowal which I ought to shun, but before I could evade him he turned suddenly toward me, his face whitewith emotion, and continued--"I love you, Agnes, though it is no time nowto speak of my passion, and have watched over you as a father, a brother, a _lover_ would watch. " This announcement affected me more than I care to confess, considering Idid not return his love, but it was the allusion to his sheltering carethat moved me. "Yes, I have watched over you; orphan that you are, you need someguardian care. I knew by your frequent journeys to the village, by yourcloistering in your own apartment, and more than all, by your speakingcountenance, that you were preparing for some great event in your life. "Last night I could not sleep; I laid my head upon my pillow, but findingit impossible to close my eyes I arose and dressed. Sitting by my windowI thought I heard a commotion in your room. I listened until my surmisesgrew into certainty. The hour was midnight, and your door, which at thatseason is usually closed like a cloister-gate, swung on its hinges. "This alarmed me; I unlocked my door and looked out. Soon a hasty stepretreating from your chamber met my ear. Descending the stairs, thisuntimely visitor entered the room where Herbert lay sleeping. A strangesuspicion came over me. Can the intruder be Richard? I thought. If so, what was he doing at that hour of the night? I seized a lighted candleand rushed to the boy's apartment, and there I found Richard, maddened, and beside himself with liquor and frenzy. I was just in time to saveHerbert's life from his insane fury. "I know not what had occurred between you and him, Agnes, but this Iknow, he had failed in some diabolical plot he had contemplated. Chanceor a friendly Providence had thwarted his purpose. I had him in my power, and compelled him to leave the house, not to return until you have beenremoved where he will never find you. "I cannot leave my beautiful bird, my pet dove, where the charms of thiswily serpent may ensnare her. " He ceased. My eyes were dry, my heart turned to stone. I arose, andmechanically moved toward the door. "Where are you going, Agnes? Tell me of your plans; regard me as yourfriend, I beg. " "Take me away--take me away, " I cried hysterically; "I must go! Oh, oh, oh!" I should have fallen, but he caught me in his arms. CHAPTER VIII. On reviving came the dread feeling that I must go. Go whither? I had nohome. I could not return to my uncle who had cast me adrift. Theinquisitive glance of his grim housekeeper would annihilate me. But go Imust, and that speedily. With weary head and aching heart I commenced packing my little wardrobe. My bridal attire I hastily covered from sight that it might remain untiltime and mildew should obliterate it. My dream of love was past. I feltthat my youth and beauty were buried in that crushed pile of brokenflowers, pale silk, and dishevelled lace. I had concluded my work, and was tying my bonnet-strings, when a knock atthe door announced Mr. Bristed. He appeared surprised at seeing mearranged for my journey. "So soon, Agnes?" said he. "You are not yet able to leave. " But as I expressed very emphatically my ability and determination tostart immediately, he saw expostulation would be useless. "Well, " said he, "let me hear where you contemplate going. " I told him I should take the railway or coach to some point, I cared notwhere; any distant city or village from whence I could advertise foranother situation. I was too hopeless then to care whither I went. "And do you think I would permit you to leave me thus at random, going, you know not where, without any preconceived plans? Oh my poor, poorchild, to be thrown thus upon the world!" He walked the floor several times, apparently in great agitation; then, suddenly pausing, said abruptly, almost violently, "It must not be!Agnes, don't go, " lowering his voice, and placing his hand gently on myshoulder; "stay with me--become my wife. I love you and will cherish you. No rude blast that my arm can shield you from shall assail you. My lifehas been one of gloom, you can render it one of sunshine. Stay, dear one, oh, stay!" and in his transport he seized my hands. "What do you mean, Mr. Bristed?" said I, recoiling from him. "Surely, youmust forget yourself and the circumstances which have so recentlyoccurred; you have accused me of loving your brother, how, then, can Itransfer my affections to you? Oh, you are cruel, cruel!" "Forgive me, " said he, penitently; "I will do anything for you, Agnes--take you away, if you wish; only let me go with you and see thatyou are properly cared for. " I shook my head. "Richard may seek to find you; you may fall again into his evil hands ifyou insist on going thus alone. " "Mr. Bristed, " said I, "thus far I have acted as you directed. I willdepart at your solicitation; but further than this, I must be free. IfRichard seeks me out, and I can aid him, I will do so. Degraded andfallen though he be, my love will not shrink from him. I will help him torise. " "You are a noble woman, Agnes, " he said with a sad smile, "God protectyou!" and he left me. As he went out, I heard him order the carriage. The serving-man came formy luggage, and I summoned courage to pay a farewell visit to Herbert. The poor little invalid became very much excited at seeing me, and clungso tightly about my neck that it was with effort I could leave. I did notthen inform him of my intended departure, and with an aching heart andforced smile I parted from the dear sufferer. I met Mary in the hall; she told me Mr. Bristed had ordered her toaccompany me on my journey. I did not want her company, my mind craved solitude; I would not haveher. I sought her master, and told him so. "At a time like this I must bealone, " said I, excitedly; "I want no spy upon my actions. I will gowherever you wish me to go, but let me proceed alone. " "Well, " said he, musingly, "I desire but to serve you. Go to the town ofM. , present this letter according to its directions. You refuse myfurther aid, but if ever you need a friend, send for me; otherwise, Iwill never trouble you. " I answered that I would do as he requested, and with a heavy heartentered his carriage, which was waiting to drive me to the railwaystation. CHAPTER IX. I will pass over my journey, and the lonely, miserable days whichsucceeded my arrival in M. I made fruitless effort to obtain service, andwaited and watched for an application in my dreary lodgings until mysmall hoard of wages was nigh exhausted. I had been in the city a fortnight, broken in spirit and dejected by wantof success, when I happened to bethink me of the letter Mr. Bristed hadgiven me. I took it from its undisturbed nook in my trunk, and having read thesuperscription, set about to find the party to whom it was addressed. Thedirection led me to a large manufacturing establishment. The gentleman to whom it was written appeared to be a foreigner. Havingpresented the epistle to him, he perused it hastily, then taking my handwith great eagerness, he exclaimed: "O Mees! I am greatly honored. Mons. Bristeed is my very good friend; Iwell acquaint with him in Paris. I congratulate you on having one sogrand a gentleman for your acquaintance. He tell me you look for aschool. " "Yes, sir, " said I, glad to find my tastes had been studied; "I do desirea school. " "I will assist with pleasure, Mees. Be seated; in a few moments I willaccompany you. " I sat down, wondering whither the gay, loquacious gentleman would leadme. He soon rejoined me, hat in hand. "Will you accept my escort, Mees; the place is near by, " said he, readingthe note. "No. 14 B----, street. Will you walk, or shall I call a cab?" "I will walk, " I answered, scarcely knowing what reply was expected. Aswe turned the corner of the street I ventured to ask: "Is it to some school you are guiding me?" "Ah, Mees, " said he, rubbing his hands together and laughing, "it is somegreat secret. Mons. Bristeed would surprise you. Have a leetle patience, and all will be divulged. " We walked rapidly for a space and then paused before a handsome building. Entering the courtyard, we rang the silver bell. A servant answered oursummons and invited us in. Seated in the drawing-room, I heard the buzzof many voices. "Is it an academy?" I whispered to Monsieur Pilot, my conductor. Hesmiled encouragingly. "This is a young ladies' seminary, Mees. " Before I could question further, the room door opened, and a lady oftall, imposing figure entered. Monsieur Pilot commenced a vehement conversation with her in French. Sheresponded in the same tongue. The dialogue ended, he turned to me andsaid: "Mees Reef, permit me to introduce you to Madame Fontenelle. " Madame smiled very graciously upon me, and then recommenced thegesticulation and babble of the two. At length she appeared satisfiedwith the understanding at which they arrived. I was growing uneasy attheir prolonged volubility, when Monsieur Pilot pirouetted up to me, andsaid: "Mees Reef, I beg to congratulate you. Madame consents to transfer thismansion into your hands, She accepts our recommendation and that of yourown intelligent countenance. Mons. Bristeed was not mistaken in theimpression you would make. I wish you joy in having become theproprietress of this splendid institution. " "How, " I cried in astonishment; "I proprietor? I do not understand. Please explain. " Madame looked blandly on; my remarks were evidently unintelligible toher. "It is a very onerous and responsible position, Mademoiselle"--shruggingher shoulders--"I should not like to advise you. Do you comprehend theextent of the undertaking? I should not be willing to trust my pupils intimid hands. " Her remarks stung me, and gave, I presume, the favorable turn to mydestiny, for I felt the power to undertake a task which I would beforehave shrunk from. "I will do my duty in all cases to the best of my ability, madame!" wasmy brief reply. "Ah, you do not comprehend, Madame, " said Monsieur Pilot, coming brisklyto the rescue. "This is a surprise to Mees Reef. My very good friendMonsieur Bristeed has not apprised the young lady of his bounty. I havehis commission to purchase for her this establishment, which he is awareyou desire to dispose of, Madame. His recommendation of the young lady issurely sufficient. " "The whole establishment?" I asked, with an effort at composure. "Yes, " replied Madame. "I am obliged to start for the West Indies, andmust dispose of all. The present instructors are thoroughly competent fortheir various positions; they merely need a supervisor. You appear young, but I presume experience has fitted you for the office. " "Eminently so, eminently, " answered Monsieur Pilot promptly, as if he hadbeen guardian of my reputation for years. "We will consider thearrangements as complete, my clear Madame. I will call tomorrow and closethe transaction. _Bon jour_, Madame. " And with rapid strides he hurried me away. CHAPTER X. The school became mine. By vigilance and perseverance, I not onlyretained the pupils Madame had transmitted to my care, but added manythereto. Monsieur Pilot, lively and friendly, visited me frequently. I liked thelittle Frenchman; his gaiety served to divert my mind from reflections onthe past, which like spectres would sometimes stalk grimly before me whenunoccupied, I sought the quiet of my own chamber. With my increasing success, my pupils' interest fully occupied everymoment of my time. Meantime, not a line or word reached me from BristedHall. Upon my installment as proprietor of Madame's seminary, I hadwritten to Mr. Bristed, thanking him for his kindness, and informing himthat I should take measures to repay the expenditures he had incurred inmy behalf, by placing quarterly in the hands of Monsieur Pilot a sum suchas I could spare from my income, by means of which I hoped in time torepay my external indebtedness. The only reply I received to this letter was a peremptory refusal, sentthrough Monsieur Pilot, to accept any return. I had been more than a year in my new home. Constant employment haddeveloped my mind, and I flattered myself on having acquired a wisdom andsedateness such as ten years of quiet experience could not have given me. But of this I was lamentably mistaken. Of my silly yielding to circumstances which follow, the reader must notjudge too harshly. I was still but an immature woman, not yet twenty; theglamour of youth still hung over me. I craved human love, and took thefirst that presented itself, just as any other ardent, imaginative girlin my place would have done. One night late in autumn, when the sharp winds were already givingsignals of the coming winter, of leafless trees and frozen ground, feeling the usual sadness which accompanies this season of the year, Iwalked out upon the piazza in front of the house, looking down upon thestreet. I thought the keen air would put my blood in more activecirculation, and thus dispel from my mind the brown and yellow fanciesthat filled it as the dying leaves of October strewed the ground. My pupils had all retired to their rooms, and relieved of my charge, mythoughts were free to recreate. I walked quickly back and forth, drawingin long draughts of the invigorating air, and reviewing the morning'sduties. While thus engaged, my attention was arrested by the appearanceof a tall man on the opposite side of the street, standing still andwatching me. As he caught my startled gaze he lifted his hat and bowed, and before I had time to reflect on his strange proceedings, had crossedthe street and was standing on the pavement below. "Agnes!" My God, he called me by name! My blood became like ice. Shaking from headto foot I covered my eyes with my hands, and would have run in, but thewhistling wind brought the cry again: "Agnes! Let me speak with you. " Quick as the words were uttered the dark figure mounted the stone steps, only the little iron railing of the balcony dividing us. I knew then who it was. "Will you open the door, or shall I?" said a voice which I remembered toowell. I saw no alternative, without disturbing the neighborhood and betrayingmyself; so, like a criminal, I stepped softly to the hall and unlockedthe door. He came in with a light, free step, and seated himself upon acouch with the ease of an old friend and accomplished gentleman. It wasRichard Bristed! I will not detail what passed at this interview. But I fell again underhis fascination; his magnetic presence lulled my faculties, and, alas, Imust relate that this nocturnal intrusion was followed quickly by others! He assumed his old ascendancy over me. The past became like an unpleasantdream in my mind, dimly remembered, but never distinctly recalled. Occasionally, however, a sharp doubt obtruded itself, and roused me foran instant. One evening I ventured to ask: "Richard, why are your visits so brief, and made only in the night?" "Why?" he repeated, as if startled by the suddenness of the question, then adding carelessly: "Because you always have that deuced old fellow, Monsieur Pilot, running here. I am not very jealous, yet it would tormentme to meet one who dares raise his thoughts to my Agnes. He wants tomarry you. Do dismiss him!" This conjecture proved true, and I was obliged to give a cold rebuff tothe man who had befriended me. It is possible Richard Bristed did notcare to be recognized by his brother's agent, but I did not think of thisat that time. CHAPTER XI. After this affair happened Richard visited me more openly, and my pupils, when by chance they met him, were charmed with the stranger. He was onlyknown as "Mr. Richard. " "Call me that, Agnes, I hate the name of Bristed. Introduce me to your friends as Mr. Richard, " he said, and I had done so. About this time he explained satisfactorily, to my credulous mind, thecause of his sudden retreat from Bristed Hall, and gave me reason tobelieve that the statements his brother had made concerning him wereuntrue and evil in design. "My brother, as you have surely discovered, Agnes, is a cold, proud man, and as I was not his equal in wealth or position he selected an heiress, both old and disagreeable, whom he designed me to marry. Your youth andbeauty he intended to appropriate to himself. I feared if I made himacquainted with my purpose to unite myself to you he would frustrate allmy wishes, and when I discovered that he knew of my plans, I determinedto forestall him by making you my wife that very night. I intended tohave gone through the form of marriage, which the next day could havebeen legalized, for I feared the influence of his wealth and positionupon your unsophisticated mind. "However, you refused to trust me, and I left your room maddened by angerand the fear of losing you. "I met my brother in the hall-way; he said Herbert was ill, and I accusedhim of trying to injure the boy that he might defraud me. Sharp wordspassed between us. I left him, and in blind haste mounted my horse, thinking I would ride over to N. , a distance of some twenty miles, to getthe clergyman of the parish, an intimate friend of mine, to drive with meto the Hall and perform the important ceremony. "The ride I accomplished in a few hours, but I found my friend absentfrom home. The excitement and disappointment, added to the severe cold towhich I was exposed, broke me down, and I was taken suddenly ill. When Irecovered, I returned to Bristed Hall only to find my priceless birdflown, and no clue to be had to her whereabouts. "As to the tale about Herbert, that is all a _ruse_; he is not my son, and only distantly connected with either of us. He is heir to aconsiderable estate, and Mr. Bristed is managing so that upon Herbert'sdecease (and poor child, he cannot live long) the inheritance will fallto his lot. " Such was his version of the story, and as I loved him I believed itwillingly. CHAPTER XII. In his gay society the winter passed quickly. With the opening spring hedeparted--on business, as he said. I felt his loss, but as it was a busytime with me it did not affect me as it otherwise would have done. Manychanges were being made in my seminary. I was obliged to employ workmento add new dormitories to the great house, for pupils were crowding infrom every point. The reputation of the school was growing; I was immersed in business. Some months elapsed; I ceased to hear from Richard, almost to think ofhim, amid the activity of the spring term. "Circumstances, " some say, "are the Devil, " and I almost believe thatsaying. While employed I was happy, my mind well balanced and energetic;but unfortunately for me, summer vacation drew near. It came finally; asultry sun, parched earth, and scorched verdure made life in the cityundesirable. My pupils fled to the country and to their homes until thefall session, and I was left alone. Even my servants were absent, allsave one. Shut up in the empty mansion alone with my own thoughts, I was growingmorbidly lonesome. It was at this unpropitious moment that Richard Bristed returned. CHAPTER XIII. He arranged quiet strolls to the country--little excursions here andthere with himself as my sole companion--and many sweet happy days ofunsullied pleasure I passed in his society. One sultry morning, to my delight, he came in an open carriage, sayingthat the atmosphere was so heated he would drive me out of town to acharming little village with which he was familiar. The prospect of such a jaunt was to me indeed agreeable; and as he likedto see me in becoming dress, I arrayed myself in white, placed a filletof pale blue ribbon round my hair and a bouquet of blue forget-me-nots inthe bosom of my dress, and thus adorned set forth, sitting by Richard'sside. I was as happy as a young queen; all the black suspicions which haddarkened my horizon were absorbed in the fierce heat of that summermorning. His beauty, his fascinating smile, his lively conversation, filled me with rapture. Arrived at the village, we stopped at a small but pretty tavern andalighted. While I entered the dwelling Richard drove his horses undershelter. He soon joined me, looking much disconcerted. "Agnes, my darling, what shall we do? We cannot ride back to-night; thecarriage is out of order, and I fear the horse is injured by the heat andrapid driving. " "O Richard, I must return home to-night!" I answered decidedly. "Well, I will see what can be done, but we will rest awhile and take somerefreshments. " A delightful half hour passed while we were regaling ourselves withcountry fare and looking at the strange place from the window of thelittle inn. Then Richard proposed that we should walk out while waitingfor repairs to our vehicle. Together we strolled through the quiet lanesand open commons till we came upon a pretty, unpretending church, halfhidden in ivy and creeping vines. The door stood open. "Come, " said he, "let us go in. " I followed him in. To my surprise I discovered aclergyman in his robes at the altar. Richard whispered in my ear somewords which I could not understand and their import I could only guessat, but his tender manner brought the hot blood to my face. "Agnes, " he continued, speaking with quiet determination; "you must bemine; everything is in readiness. We cannot return to-night; Fate ordainsit!" It did appear to me that Fate, as he said, ordained the events whichfollowed that country drive. All the love and sentiment of my nature wasaroused; but reason told my intoxicated senses that I must not actwithout forethought, so I shook my head to his passionate urgency andendeavored to withdraw. But my companion pressed me gently back into anopen pew, and hastened past me up the aisle. A rapid conversation then took place between himself and the clergyman, who, after casting his eyes in my direction, went to his desk and took uphis prayer-book. Richard returned with quick steps to where I was sitting. "Come, " said he, smiling; "he is waiting. " Startled and trembling, I made no answer save an effort to reach thedoor. "For heaven's sake, Agnes, do not make a scene! Recover your usual goodsense. Do you not see that it is best?" whispered Richard, withearnestness almost fierce. And so hurried, flushed and doubting, overcome with heat and excitement, I permitted myself to be led to the altar. The ceremony soon ended. As the clerk shut his book and we turned todepart, I could not realize that this abrupt, informal marriage was areality. As I passed down the aisle, a white, fluttering, impalpable, andyet clearly-defined form arose from one of the empty seats, andunobstructed by carved wood or heavy upholstery, passed out throughframe and plaster! The slight figure, the golden hair, I remembered toowell--it was that of the _ghost of Bristed Hall_! I clenched Richard's arm so that he muttered an oath, and said sharply, "My God, Agnes, what are you doing?" "Did you not see that figure? It passed straight through the wall, " Iwhispered in affright. "Move on--none of your d--d nonsense, Agnes, " said Richard, scowling;then hastily adding, "Excuse me, love, you confuse me. My happiness makesme forget myself. " My mind surged with conflicting emotions. I felt a secret joy in theknowledge that I was united to the man I loved. This romantic, halfrun-away match pleased the romance of my nature, and yet I was unable toresist the feeling that I had done wrong. A strange foreboding of evilintruded upon my joy. Richard that evening was gay almost to wildness. "O Agnes! Agnes! we haveoutwitted them, the fools! They thought they had conquered me, but youare mine, and I have won!" He talked so disconnectedly, I thought he had taken too much wine. Indeed, to this he owned. "I could drink flask after flask of it, I am so happy!" he exclaimed. We were happy that night and drove home in the cool of the morning. It was arranged that our marriage should for the present be kept private, as Richard thought if it were known it might disorganize my school. CHAPTER XIV. We had been wedded but two weeks when one morning Richard asked me toshow him my deed of the property. "How strange, " said he, as he looked it over. "Do you know, Agnes, beforeI wedded you I might have married many a woman of wealth, but I would notunite myself with a lady who would not honor me by giving me sole controlof all her possessions. " "Well, Richard, " answered I, laughing, "you can control mine if you like. It matters little to me who holds the deed, so long as my dominion overthe young ladies is not invaded. " "That is what I expected of your, loving nature, Agnes, and yet I supposeyou would hesitate to convey your property to me. " "No; why should I?" I exclaimed. "I will go with you to an attorney thismoment, if you desire it. " "Well, come, we shall see; get your bonnet, " said he gaily. I tied on my bonnet, and accompanied him down the street into a littledingy office in a narrow thoroughfare. At the door, laying his hand upon my shoulder, he said jokingly: "Agnes, go back, I was only trying you; I wanted to see if you meant whatyou said. " "Of course I meant it, and I will not go back till it is done. " "Well, well, you must have your own way, I see!" and with a gay, exultingsmile he led me into the office. I signed the paper giving to him the house and lands, and was glad whenit was done, for I felt that it might atone for any suspicion or doubt ofhis goodness which had crossed my mind, for he had made me very happysince our marriage. I returned to my school and its duties. In the interval between therecitations, I had time to reflect. I had acted impulsively, and perhapsunfairly. What right had I to give away a property given to me for anespecial purpose? Had I done right? That was the question which annoyed me--the questionwhich constantly thrust itself before me during the live-long day. Mysleep that night was disturbed. The form of the elder Mr. Bristedappeared in my dreams. He seemed to reproach me by his looks, and when Iendeavored to speak to him, vanished from my sight. Richard had left me after my signing the paper. He told me he was obligedto leave town on business, and I had no one to council with. My ownthoughts startled me; I became nervous, and finally quite ill. CHAPTER XV. At length, after two days of unrest and self-condemnation, I quietedmyself with the assurance that I would go to the Hall and see Mr. Bristed; then also I could see dear Herbert, to whom my heart went oftenout with longing. His name was never mentioned between Richard andmyself. I avoided the subject; a dread which I could not overcome forbademe to speak of it. But now a strange, irrepressible desire to see thechild filled my mind. Yielding to this intense feeling, I arranged my affairs, and taking acoach, set off early in the morning for the train which would convey meto Bristed Hall. To my astonishment I met Richard at the depot. Overwhelmed with surprise at the encounter, and ashamed to confess myintended journey, I made some petty excuse for being there, and returnedhome again. Richard handed me into the cab, but excused himself fromaccompanying me as he had a friend awaiting him. That day, after luncheon, taking me aside he informed me that a noblelord had placed in his charge a lad who was partially idiotic and soleheir to an immense estate; that it was necessary he should have at hisdisposal a room in the upper part of the building in which he could keephim from observation, as it had been discovered the sight of strangersincreased the boy's malady, and perfect seclusion would be the only meansof restoring him to reason. I immediately directed a servant to put in order one of the rooms in aremote portion of the dwelling; this was done, and towards dusk Richard, who had left the house, returned in a handsome coach with the poor, helpless, deranged boy. From the window I saw them alight. A slight, tallfigure, wrapped in a cloak, descended from the coach. This undoubtedlywas the afflicted youth. He walked so feebly I should have hastened tohis assistance, but Richard's command that I should not permit him tosee strange faces withheld me. However, I stood in the partly opened door, hoping I should be called. Asthe muffled figure passed me on the way up the staircase I vainly soughtto catch a glimpse of the youth's face, but he turned neither to theright nor left. Richard, however, saw me and shook his head, indicating with an angry, peremptory gesture, that I should withdraw. For days I felt a strange curiosity about this youth, but as Richard gavemy inquisitiveness no food, and conducted his attentions to his charge inan orderly, business-like manner, I dismissed the subject from my mind. CHAPTER XVI. Nothing new transpired the remainder of those autumn days. November wasnow close upon us. About this time I remarked a sudden falling off of myhitherto prosperous school. Determined to know the cause, I inquired ofone of my assistants, in whom I confided, if she was aware of the causeof this decline. She hesitated to reply to my question, but when pressedfor her opinion she informed me that my pupils were dissatisfied with myrelations with Mr. Richard, and also with his conduct respecting theyouth who had been imprisoned on the upper floor. They asserted they hadheard groans proceeding from the room he occupied, and feared to remainin a house where mystery and secrecy were rife. I was astonished and alarmed at this information. You, reader, will besurprised to learn that I was at that time more ignorant of events thattranspired around me than my own pupils. But I was not of a suspiciousnature, and happy in my new life of love, the few weeks that had elapsedsince my marriage passed as in a delicious dream. But now I was thoroughly aroused and ready to return to duty. I thankedthe teacher for her information and then dismissed her, as I wished to bealone. When left to the quiet of my own thoughts I reflected how best to proceedin the matter. Richard was not at home, I could not question him, and hehad the key of his ward's room with him. I finally concluded I would go to the door of this private room andlisten if I could detect any unusual noise from within. With trepidation I ascended the back staircase leading to the secludedapartment. Near the door I paused against the alcove of the great window thatlighted the hall, and looked out. The sky was dull and leaden; a scantysnow was falling, and the wind, blowing furiously, drove it hither andyon. I stood for some moments looking out upon the gloomy prospect so inaccordance with my state of mind. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of Richardcrossing the street. I started when I saw him and was about to retreat, when a thought arrested me. Why should I hurry away? Was I afraid ofRichard? Was he not the proper person to consult in my dilemma? I wouldlet him know that I desired to enter the room! So thinking, I approached the door and tried it. It was locked, but atthe sound of the turning knob a sad, dreary moan arose from within--a cryof mingled fear and weakness. The sound of that moaning voice seemedfamiliar to my ear. What could it mean? As I stood thus in suspense, listening for further development of themystery, I heard a step close beside me. I turned, and discoveredRichard. His fair, handsome face scowled at me fiendishly; hiscountenance seemed transformed; his eyes gleamed like those of a panther. "What are you doing here?" said he, laying a heavy hand upon me andspeaking through his set teeth. "Go down stairs!" and he pushed me fromhim violently. I suppose his physical power and angry mood awed me, for I forgot mydetermination to solve the mystery--forgot my own rights, and hurriedprecipitately down the stairs. CHAPTER XVII. With my mind filled with dreadful forebodings, I reached my own privatechamber, entered it, and bolted the door, that I might consider, undisturbed, the best course of action to pursue under these fearfulsuspicions that haunted me. Hour after hour passed as I sat thus absorbedin thought which seemed to turn my very hair gray from its intensity. I heard Richard descend the stairs and go out into the street. Not long;after this the door-bell rang violently and the servant knocked at mydoor to say that a gentleman in the drawing-room wished to see me. Smoothing my hair and arranging my toilet, I obeyed the summons, butstarted back on discovering the stranger to be no other than Mr. Bristed. He pressed my hands and said: "Agnes, can I converse with you in private here a few moments?" My first surprise over, I answered, "Come with me; we will not bedisturbed here. " Withdrawing to a small room adjoining, he drew forwardan ottoman and seating himself beside me, said: "Agnes, Herbert is missing; can you tell me where I can find him?" "Herbert missing!" said I with a shudder. "Yes, " said he, "I have heard, Agnes, that a gentleman visits you whom Isurmise to be my brother, and, if so, I thought perhaps you would knowthrough him of Herbert's place of hiding. " "Has Herbert left you?" said I. "Tell me--what do you mean, Mr. Bristed?" "Yes, " said he; "some few weeks since, I left the Hall to visit an oldfriend. I expected to be absent a fortnight. While I was gone Herbertdisappeared, the servants knew not how nor where. At first, hoping todiscover that he had strayed off of his own accord and would soon befound, they searched the country in every direction, but in vain. Theywere at last obliged to send me word of his disappearance. You canimagine my sensations on arriving at the Hall and finding the dearchild's room vacant. I made inquiries in every quarter, sent couriers outin all parts of the neighboring country, but no trace of him could befound. "I at length thought of you, that you might have seen or heard of mybrother. He is the one person likely to be concerned in the singulardisappearance of Herbert. " I trembled from head to foot. What could I say? Evidently he was notaware of my marriage with his brother. How should I act? Richard mightcome in at any moment and discover himself. I recollected him to haveincidentally mentioned that the following day he had an engagement at therace-course with a friend; I therefore said hurriedly: "Mr. Bristed, I have seen Richard recently, but tonight can tell younothing further. If you will call to-morrow morning at eleven, I willtell you all I know. " He seized my hand, exclaiming, "Tell me to-night, Agnes, and set my mindat ease. " My head seemed on fire--I groaned audibly. "I can tell you nothing of a certainty. It is all surmise, and my brainis distracted to-night. Give me till to-morrow. " "I will, Agnes; I feel that I can confide in you. " "Now go, " I replied. "My position is such that your presence here willonly destroy the purpose of your visit. " He clasped my hand in his and left me. The next morning before leaving for the racecourse, while adjusting hisneck-tie, Richard said: "I fear we shall lose our imbecile pupil up-stairs, Ag. I brought adoctor in to see him last night, and he says he cannot live long. " I could not see his face, for he looked persistently away. "If he is ill, I must see him, Richard, " I managed to reply. "Oh, no!" said he; "I thought you were foolishly scared to hear him groanyesterday, but if he does not get better I will send him home to hisfriends. " This he said carelessly, as he walked out of the room humming alively air. How coolly he talks about the lad! thought I, half ashamed of mysuspicions. Perhaps I have wronged him. I have been too impetuous in mysurmises. CHAPTER XVIII. The time drew near for his brother's arrival. He was prompt to the hour. "Well, Agnes, " said he, "I have passed a sleepless night. I hope you willrelieve my mind of its anxiety. " "Mr. Bristed, " said I, covering my eyes with my hand, for I could notendure his eager gaze, "I must first tell you I am married to yourbrother Richard. " "Married to Richard!" he exclaimed, starting up violently agitated; andseizing my shoulder with nervous gripe he set me off from him at arm'slength--"You married to Richard! why, Agnes, that cannot be; has he not awife now living in France? But be calm, child, " said he, "be calm, "patting me gently on the head; "perhaps I am misinformed; we will talk ofthis hereafter. Now about Herbert. Tell me what you know. " This question recalled me. I then informed him of the idiotic pupil whohad been received in the house about a fortnight since, and how mysuspicions as to his identity had been aroused the day previous. He could scarcely wait till I had finished my account. "Come, quick!come! show me the way to the room!" I led him up the stairs in the direction of the suspected chamber. As weneared the door a low moan could be heard distinctly. "O my God, it is Herbert!" he exclaimed. "Quick, where is the key?" "I have no key--you must pry the lock open. " No sooner said than done--heburst open the door and entered. I followed. Alas! our surmises provedtoo true! There upon the couch lay the wasted form of poor Herbert. As he recognized us his wan face lighted up with an angelic smile, and heendeavored to raise himself at our coming, but he was too weak, and hishead sank nerveless back upon the pillow. Silently and hushed, as in the chamber of death, we stepped to hisbedside. He held out his thin hand to his uncle, who clasped it betweenhis own, and, kneeling by his couch, bowed his head and sobbed aloud. Hisfirst moments of bitter grief subsiding, he said to me, "Send for somewine. " Then, stroking the child's fair forehead, he groaned, "O Herbert, Herbert, have I found you at last, sick and alone!" Herbert attempted to reply, but his voice was weak and faint; we couldnot distinguish his words. A servant brought the wine, and I moistenedhis colorless lips with it. How I felt, it is useless to describe. Wordswould fail to express my terror. The rich, warm juice of the grape and the application of stimulantsseemed to restore him to life. His first effort on recovering was to callme by name. I answered by bending over him and bathing his pale forehead. At this he smiled, pleased and happy. "Now, Herbert, my poor boy, " said Mr. Bristed, "if it will not fatigueyou too much to talk, tell us how you came here. Who brought you? Why didyou leave Bristed Hall?" "Uncle Richard brought me, " said he, heaving a melancholy sigh. "He cameafter you had gone, uncle, and told me that Agnes Reef was sick and goingto die, and wanted to see me and you, and that if you were home you wouldlet me go, because you loved her; and I thought so too. He gave me thisring which Agnes sent so I would know it was her. " And, saying this, heheld up a thin, transparent hand, and there, indeed, upon it gleamed oneof my rings, so loose that the wasted fingers could scarce retain it. "My ring! So Richard gave you that, " said I, with scorn I could notconceal, even in the sick chamber. "Yes, " he murmured, "and he told me he would bring me straight backbefore uncle got home, and he brought me here into this room, but Agneswas not here. I could not find her. Then he locked the door and would notlet me out, and I have been hungry and cold. And when I cried, he wouldkick me, and that made me sick, I think. Do take me home, uncle, beforehe comes, and I will never go away again!" CHAPTER XIX. During this recital Mr. Bristed and I exchanged glances of horror. Wecould not speak. When it was finished, he said: "Agnes, order the coach. I must take him away from this place. " I felt that the boy was too feeble to move, but I dared not suggest it. Itoo wanted him removed from the baneful influences of the house. Weproposed to carry him down on the pallet, and thus convey him to thecarriage. One hour or more elapsed before everything was in readiness. While we were moving him Richard appeared, unannounced. A wild, unearthlyscream from Herbert first gave notice of his arrival. "O uncle! Miss Reef! save me! He will beat me to death!" His uncle endeavored to calm him with his assurance of protection, and, turning to Richard, in a voice husky with emotion said: "Look, this, is your work! If there is a God ruling the universe, yourpunishment, though tardy, must be sure. " "I see nothing strange about it, " said Richard, with an assumption ofindifference which made his handsome face look to me at that moment likethat of a Judas. "If he is my child, as you say, why should he not behere? Who has a better right to him than I? The little imp professes todislike me, but that is some of your teaching, and I will soon cure himof it. " "You cannot have him, Richard. He must go with me. " "I know my rights, and I will use them, " he replied, excitedly. "Movethat boy at your peril;" and he clapped his hand upon his silver-mountedpocket-pistol. He had evidently been drinking. His day at the race-coursehad maddened him. He was in a dangerous mood to oppose. This Mr. Bristedevidently saw, as I did, for he beckoned me to go out for assistance. AsI was moving toward the door for that purpose, Richard's eye lit upon me. "Ah, ha!" shouted he, coming toward me. "So you are the one who has beenprying into my affairs. It is you I must thank for this interference. Outof this room directly! Get you gone!" I should have obeyed, but a sound from Herbert's bed arrested me--a soundthat awed me more than the angry voice of Richard! I hurried to thebedside. Mr. Bristed was there before me. I looked at the sinking boy. Astronger hand than his father's grasped him now. _That_ hand was_Death's_! No need now to remove the little sufferer from his couch to the carriagein waiting. He would be borne soon by the white-robed angels from thereach of us all! Even Richard, whose cruel grasp he had eluded, seemed awed as the littlespirit burst from its tenement, and a transcendent smile settled on thethin, waxen face, and the white hands folded themselves across the breastwith an air of unutterable peace. CHAPTER XX. Early the next morning Mr. Bristed accompanied the lifeless body oflittle Herbert to Bristed Hall. He begged me to go with him, but Irefused his solicitations. I had other duties before me, which I mustperform. I should have been glad to have rid myself from every one, butthat could not be. Richard did not return, and I was alone; the daysdragged heavily away. I felt that I stood on the brink of a yawning chasmfrom which I could turn neither to the right nor the left. The thought ofremaining with Richard was abhorrent, and the prospect of leaving him andcommencing life anew was also a dreadful alternative. What shall I do?--I reflected, as I went my weary way through theclasses. Richard solved that question for me when he returned after anabsence of three days. My pupils had just retired when a message came that he had returned anddesired to see me in the library. With a heavy heart I went to meet him. He was not alone. A tall, passionate-looking woman, with dark hair andrestless eyes, sat beside him. She was richly appareled, and gazed at mewith a haughty stare as I entered. Richard nodded to me a bare recognition and said, "I have sent for you, as I wish you to inform your pupils that they must leave in the morning. I have other uses for this building. " At this cool announcement I staggered. Good God! would he undo me? Whatplan had he now in view? "Remove my pupils!" I exclaimed. "Yes; do I not speak clearly? And as you have been plotting and schemingfor some time against me, I would advise you to leave, also. BristedHall, " said he sneeringly, "is likely to prove an agreeable shelter toyou. " "_I_ leave!" said I, now fairly awake to the danger. "What do you mean, sir?" "I mean, " he replied with diabolical blandness, "that this lady is mywife, and will from this time take charge of this establishment. " "Richard Bristed, you cannot, dare not make that assertion! I am yourwife, though I acknowledge it with shame and sorrow. He has misled you, madam, " said I, turning to the lady. "You are mistaken if you suppose Ishall abandon my rights. " "Ha, ha!" he laughed, "_she_ knows all about you. You cannot enlightenher, so you had better hasten and pack your trunks. " "I shall not leave, sir; I shall defend my position here. I am a woman, and you shall not sully my fair name, " said I, maddened by his manner. "Your brother will help me--the law will aid me. Here I remain!" "You will?" said he; "we will see. This house is mine, " and he drew outhis pistol with which to frighten me. "Richard, " said I, hoping to restore him to calmness, "put up thatpistol. You cannot, dare not use it. " "Dare not!" he exclaimed, coming up to me, his hot breath smelling ofwine; "I will show you if I dare not!" I was alarmed as he suddenly cocked the weapon. What might he not do inhis drunken excitement? "She is a coward, Dick, " said the lady. "Don't trouble yourself abouther, " and then turning to me and stamping her foot, "How dare you say youare his wife!" she exclaimed. "Go out from here!" I shook from head to foot, but did not leave. "Come, Dick, give me the pistol, " said the lady; "You don't know what youmight do with it. " "Don't meddle with me, " said he, as she attempted to wrest it from hisgrasp. "Why does that girl stand glowering at me?" "O Richard, " I sobbed, "my heart is ready to burst! Don't act so;remember Herbert!" "Remember Herbert!" he muttered; "I do remember him. You killed him withyour pranks, and now you would accuse me. Go, leave my house, or I willcompel you. " I believe he would have fired upon me at that moment, but the lady sprangforward and caught his arm. A slight struggle ensued, then followed asharp report, and the pistol fell to the ground; a fearful shriek rentthe air, and Richard fell heavily to the floor, covered with blood. Irushed to help him. He raised his glassy eyes to mine, and faintlymurmuring "My God! I am lost!" expired. CHAPTER XXI. The shock was too much for me. I was seized with fearful dizziness. Theobjects in the room became black before my eyes, and I fell to the floorbeside the bleeding corpse, insensible. Convulsions, I was afterwards told, followed this swoon. A raging feverattacked me, and for weeks my life was despaired of. At length the crisispassed; my youthful constitution conquered the disease, and I was againrestored to the world in which I had experienced so much joy and so muchmisery. One morning the delicious feeling of returning consciousness revived me. Where was I? The room looked familiar, yet strange. Surely I had seenthat silken coverlet before! The carved footboard of the bed on which Iwas lying was not new to my sight. My weak brain was busy withconjectures, when a woman approached, carrying a glass and spoon. It wasMary, the housekeeper of Bristed Hall. "Why, Mary, are you here?" I asked in surprise. "Yes, Miss, but you must not talk. Take these drops. I am heartily gladyou are better, Miss. " A sense of rest and peace stole over me, followed by a few hours ofnatural sleep. On opening my eyes from this refreshing slumber, I found Mary stillsitting near me. "Mary, " said I, "you must tell me where I am; everything here looks sonatural, and yet as if I were in a dream. " "You are not dreaming, Miss. You are in your own chamber in BristedHall. " Bristed Hall! A warm gush of gratitude pervaded my being. So I was notfriendless! I was cared for. "Where is Mr. Bristed?" I asked after a pause. "We have persuaded him to drive out, miss, as the doctor said you wereout of danger. Anxiety for you and grief for Herbert's death have quitetaken his strength away. " "I must get up, Mary. You must help me to dress. " "Oh no, miss!" she replied; "you are not strong enough yet. " "I am quite strong. Besides, it will revive me; I am weary of the bed, and need a change. " She acquiesced in my wish, dressed me neatly, and smoothed my hair. "Now, take me down, " I requested. "I wish to surprise Mr. Bristed. " Of course she remonstrated, said I would bring on the fever again, andall that; but as I persisted in my determination, she led me down thestairs. The fresh air invigorated me; I felt every minute increasedpower. At my request, she took me to Mr. Bristed's conservatory. Thebright flowers, the singing birds in their ornamented cages, and theadjoining study with its well-filled shelves, all reminded me of thepast. Tears came to my eyes as I recalled the bitter changes I had seensince leaving that sunny home! CHAPTER XXII. I had not been long in the conservatory when I heard the wheels of acarriage. Mr. Bristed had returned. He ascended the steps: I heard hisvoice in the hall. His first words were an inquiry after my welfare. Hewas told that I was better. Passing through his apartments, he enteredthe study. I could see him plainly from the windows of the conservatory. He looked, I thought, thin and sad; his hair had become sprinkled withgray since the time when I resided in his mansion. Turning to Mary, whowas waiting there for me, he said: "I feel faint; bring me a cup of tea. " Mary left the room on her mission, and I stole from my hiding place. "Mr. Bristed, " whispered I, coming softly up behind his chair. He started. "Whose voice is that? Agnes, where are you?" "Here, sir, " I answered, as I touched him lightly. He turned toward me, his face flushed with pleasure, his eyes expectant. "You, Agnes--you, verily? How came you here? I thought you were ill offyour pillow. What pleasant trick is this you have been playing me?" Thentaking both my hands in his and surveying me, his eyes the while beamingwith soft pleasure, he said: "Oh, I am so happy that you are better. But you are wrong to come here;you will make yourself ill again. " I told him how I had awakened, and of my glad surprise in finding myselfin my old chamber again, and how I had insisted on coming down to thankhim for his kindness in bringing me hither. "Don't thank me, Agnes; for you I could do anything. This place shallalways be your home. Some day, Agnes, you may learn to appreciate theworth of a heart that truly loves you. " I fell upon my knees before him. "O Mr. Bristed, I do appreciate!" Icried. "I do know that you love me. Let me live for you. Let me by a lifeof devotion atone for the mistakes of the past!" He lifted me up, and folded me to his breast. CHAPTER XXIII. A few weeks of balmy spring air and soft sunshine completely restored meto health. One day when strolling in company with Mr. Bristed through a pathblooming with early hyacinths and crocuses, I ventured to ask him aboutmy school. "It is entirely broken up, Agnes. After the fearful tragedy thattranspired within its walls, your pupils scattered like dust in the wind. I arrived the next morning after the death of Richard, unconscious ofwhat had occurred in my absence, but intending to take you home with me. I found you, as I then thought, on your death-bed. I settled with yourseparate teachers, and closed the school. With the French woman whoclaimed to be Richard's wife, and with whom he had probably gone throughthe form of marriage, as with you, I made an arrangement satisfactory toher to sell the property and give her an equivalent for its value. " "But what motive, " I asked hesitatingly, "could Richard have had for hiscourse?" "Motive? The same that had actuated him through life. With you, Agnes, hewould have lived probably as he did with others, until his versatileheart demanded a change. Then, with your little estate in his hands andHerbert's property in his power, he would have deserted you for some newbeauty. "But let the grave cover his mistakes and evils. I believe that a goodGod will not punish him too severely for propensities which heinherited. " Once more I yielded to the charms of companionship and love. Severetrials had proved Mr. Bristed's worth, and when he again asked me to makethe remnant of his life happy by my care and love--to become his wife, and share his home, and reign queen of his heart--I consented. When theJune roses blossomed, we were married. The balmy air and opening budsspoke of a new life. They typified my new life, truly. The glitter andgloss which had deceived me in youth would never beguile me more. I hadlearned that it was not the external man, but the internal that wasworthy of love. The shadowy form of Alice never troubled me again, I believe reparationcan be made beyond the tomb, and that in some far-off world the new-bornspirit of Richard atones to Alice and Herbert for the wrong he did themin this. ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING _TO HER HUSBAND_. Dead! dead! You call her dead!You cannot see her in her glad surprise, Kissing the tear-drops from your weeping eyes;Moving about you through the ambient air, Smoothing the whitening ripples of your hair. Dead! dead! You call her dead!You cannot see the flowers she daily twinesIn garlands for you, from immortal vines;The danger she averts you never know;For her sweet care you only tears bestow. Dead! dead! You call her dead!Vainly you'll wait until the last trump sound!Vainly your love entombed beneath the ground!Vainly in kirk-yard raise your mournful wail!Your loved is living in some sunnier vale. Dead! dead! You call her dead!You think her gone to her eternal rest, Like some strange bird forever left her nest!Her sweet voice hush'd within the silent grave, While o'er her dust the weeping willows wave. Dead! dead! You call her dead!And yet she lives, and loves! Oh, wondrous truth!In golden skies she breathes immortal youth!Look upward! where the roseate sunset beams, Her airy form amid the brightness gleams! Dead! dead! You call her dead!Oh, speak not thus! her tender heart you grieve, And 'twixt her love and yours a barrier weave!Call her by sweetest name, your voice she'll hear, And through the darkness like a star appear. Dead! dead! You call her dead!Lift up your eyes! she is no longer dead!In your lone path the unseen angels tread!And when your weary night of earth shall close, She'll lead you where eternal summer blows. ARTEMUS WARD. _AND OUT OF PURGATORY. _ ARTEMUS WARD'S LECTURES TO POOR, PERISHING HUMANITY. LECTER I. You'll remember, relatives and nabors, how I crost the Atlantic Ocean andnever agin set foot on my native soil. I naterally thought myopportunities there, in the British Mooseum and with those EgyptianCarcusses dun up in rags, and remaining for the space of six days and sixnights with a skeleton grinning at me and pointing its long skinlessfingers in my face and looking in an awful licentious manner, showing itspivoted legs--I say I naterally thought such an unheard-of experiencewould have prepared me for "the awful change" that follered. But itdidn't. One nite, cummin' hum from the Mooseum, where I had been instructin' andelevatin' several thousand pussons, male and female, I innocentlyswallered a fog--swallered it hull. I'd bin swallerin on 'em ever sinceI'd bin in England, but that night I took in a bigger one than ever, andit made me _sick_. I sent for the physicians that received the patronage of the noble lordsand dooks and they made me _sicker_; and finally for the physicain "toher most gracious majisty the Queen of Great Britain, "--but theiraristocratic attention to me was of no use. As I lie tossing on what isknown as "the bed of pain, " I seed a big light coming through the darktowards me. Behind that light appeared a grim skeleton, just like thepictur of Death in the Alminack, walkin' on tiptoe toward me; and quickerthan a wink he put out his long bony hand and touched me--firstly, in thepit of the stomach, so I couldn't holler; nextly, he pressed his fingertips on my eye-balls, and they sunk right back into their sockets. I tried to shake him off, and to yell, but I couldn't! Then I knew I was"dun fur. " Next came what a printer's devil would call a ---- blank. I was skeered out of my seven senses, and when I cum to and tried torecolect myself, I was like the old woman in the song who fell asleep, and "By came a pedlar and his name was Stout And he cut her petticoats all round about;He cut her petticoats up to her knees, Which made the old woman begin for to freeze. " I was in the same predicament, for I was now only in my bare bones, andknew I was a rolecking old skeleton. Wall, it gin me an awful shock to find myself like a skull andcross-bones on a tombstone, sittin' on my own coffin! Presently I was grappled by a big worm with a hundred legs. He then sentfor his feller worms, and they licked me from skull to toe-jint. After Ihad stood the lickin' as long as I could (they tickled so), I concludedto run away, so I started on a full gallop, and arter I had run awhile, where should I fetch up but in the vicinity of Vic's Palace. I know'd bypussonal experience suthin' of the feelin' manner with which the Britishpublic look upon the Royal Family, and a sensation of relief cum over mymind as I thought if I once entered their ground no one dared foiler me. So I gin a spring and leaped right atop of the middle chimny. Owin' toprivate considerations, I did'nt mind the soot, but I clambered down, andthere I was, to my amazement, rite in the private apartments of theQueen. She was sittin' at a table lookin' at a dogerotipe of PrinceAlbert; and I walked straight up to her, not feel in' a bit afeared, andmaking my manners, axed her if I didn't resemble the Prince?--rememberin'that the preacher had kindly said over my coffin that "there was nodistinction in the grave. " I thought that as I was a pooty gay image of Death, I might remind her ofthe "Prince Consort. " She looked up kinder sideways as I spoke, but she must have bin a leetlehard o' hearing, for she shook her head. Then I thought I'd try her on another tack. So I placed my hands on myshakey knees, and bendin' over in this guise, so she could see meplainly, while my teeth rattled in my skull as I shook my head at her andgrowled: "Haint you afeared of me, Madam?" With the pirsistent obstinacy of thefeminine gender, she refused to notice me. So I thought she was kinder"set up on her pins, " and I shouted louder: "Victoria _Brown_! Aint you afeared of me? Aint you afeared I'll tellPrince Albert of your _dooins_?" At that she gin an awful yell, and flung herself down upon a yaller satindivan, trimed with gold, and slobbered it all over with tears. I know'd then I had a "_mission to perform_, " and that my fleshless boneswere not given me for useless pleasure, but as a "warnin' to my race. " Arter this adventer I left the palace as I had entered it, "leavin' not atrace behind me. " Since that affair, I have bin goin' about "doin' good, " frightnin' thewicked into fits, and follerin' in the steps of the parsen, and thusworking my way out of Purgatory. LECTER II. ARTEMUS WARD. --OUT OF PURGATORY. Relatives and nabors, --Thinkin' you'll, like to know whether I'd binroastin' in brimstone, along with Solomen and Lot's wife, and that youmight feel consarned to know sumthin' about my further adventers, I'llcontinoo. One mornin' soon after this, havin' spent a restless nite, I was thinkin'what I had best do, when I seed, cumin' rite out of a big marble edifice, a nice little woman about as raw-boned as myself. As she carried an openpaper in her hand which was certified to by two bishops and threeclergeymen that she'd bin baptised and her sins washed away, I felt itwould be safe for me to foller her, knowin' I had no such dockerment toadmit me into the good graces of Abraham or Peter, or whatever portermight keep the gates of Paradise. She seemed kinder skeered and tremblin' like for a minit, not knowin'what to do; then with a sudden start she spread herself out just like theeagel of Ameriky, and soared rite up into the sky with nothin' to histeher by. I felt in my heart to foller her, and spread out just as she did, keeping near her on the sly. As she went on she began to shine like a star, shootin' on through theazure heavens for all the world like a sky-rocket. That put me on my pluck, and I bust out just like a sky-rocket too. Myblazers! If it didn't make my head spin. When I collected my idees, I thought I'd look and see if I resembled aglow-worm behind, and there, by thunder, was a long stream of light, justlike the tail of a comet! I tell you, I felt happy! She's regenerated me, thought I; and I, too, am one of the "shining hosts"! And then directly, without any warnin' or noise of any kind, all around began to look aboutthe color of a yaller sun-flower, and I began to scent a powerful smellof roses and violets. The female sank down in the golden air, and I kept cluss beside her, andas she kept droppin' she suddenly changed, like the old woman in thefairy-book, into a bouncin' girl, the very pictur of the goddess ofliberty! Arter this, she turned and smiled on me. She looked just like alabastercream; the most dazzlingest creetur that ever startled the beholder! I was took quite aback when she held out her little hand for mine; I feltkinder delicate like that she should see my big jints. But howsomever, "here goes, " said I, and I stuck out my bony fist, and, by Jupiter, itwas kivered with flesh, jest as soft and delicate as Uncle Sam'sbabies!!! I stood starin' from my hands to her about a minit, and then she bust outa-laughin', and I bust out a-laughin' too! "How shaller you be!" said she. "It's duced amoosin', " said I. "Who be you?" said she. "Artemus Ward, the great lecterer on 'Women's Rites and Mormons, '" saidI. At this she seemed mighty tickled. "I heerd you speak on those momentous subjects in Liverpool, " said she. "And arter that when I read the affectin' account of your death in astrange land, I cried. " "Cried?" said I, "I'm much obleeged to you, but there's nothin' to cryfor as I know. " "So there be'nt, " said she, puckerin' up her pretty little mouth; "buttell me, now, is this reely you?" "I don't know, " said I, "whether its reely myself or not, for I haven'tseed myself--how do I look?" She naterally blushed and answered: "Ansom. " That was too much for me. I took her round her waist and whispered--Iwont tell you what. She shook her head so that the ringlets fell downallover her neck like the ashes from a tobaccy pipe, and in a mightyreprovin' manner said: "Artemus Ward, I am a poetess!" (By Jupiter! that was a stunner. ) "Is it Mrs. _Browning_?" said I, ready to drop on my knees (thinkin' ofRobert). She shook her head agin, and moved off, and I follered, kinder ashamed ofbein' so abrupt. Lookin' loftily at me, she said: "I must leave you. " "Leave me!" said I, "You cruel monster of beauty! Leave when I am_sealed_ to you?" (That kinder frightened her--I learned suthin' from bein' among theMormons. ) "You may foller me, " said she, while descendin' in the midst of a gardenwhich opened rite before us. I did as she advised, and stepped rite downin a place where there was a mighty display of trees, flowers, andfountains, and a pretty big sprinklin' of people. Good Heavens! thought I. Is this the New Jerusalem? and lookin' aroundtimidly for the man with the key, fearin' I might be turned out, butseein' nothin' but common lookin' men and women, and no "flamin'cherubim, " and creaters with wings stuck on their heads, and no bodies, such as I had naterally expected to find in such a place, I took courageand stept forward boldly. The people all commenced cryin' out as loud as they could: "Artemus Ward! Artemus Ward!" I felt kinder abashed at this, but advanced and called out, "Hear! hear!Friends, it's an amazin' mystery how you know'd my name. " (I feltdiffident at not havin' my lecter in my pocket, and not bein' accustomedto speakin' verbatim. ) Howsumever, as they continooed to clap their handsand shout, I got together all the brass I used to carry "down East, " andjumped right atop of one of the roarin' fountains--the very biggest on'em all. I surmised it was kinder dangerous, havin' always experienced areligious awe of the "water of life, " and not knowin' but what this mightbe it. "Here goes, " said I; "faint heart never won fair lady, " for riteat the foot was that bootiful poetess to whom allusion has been made, lookin' straight at me with all her eyes. I wanted to make a grand impression and let 'em know that I cum from anation that could fight for the Constitution, and wasn't afeard ofspirits. And as for the "gold and pearls, " the "jasper and the sardonix, "they needn't expect to snub me off with this, for I had been all throughthe gold and silver regions of Ameriky, and could tell as big a story asany on 'em. "The fact is, friends and nabors, " said I, "it is one thing to read of aplace, and another to see it. Now I must say, that geography and book oftravels called the 'Bible' is suthin' like 'Gulliver's Travels, ' ratherloose in description; and, for all I see around me, the grand nation ofAmeriky can beat you all holler in wonders. " Havin' thus spoken a good word for my country, I dismissed them, andhurried back to commence these lecters, which is only a beginnin' of whatI intend to do for the Amerikan People. LADY BLESSINGTON. _DISTINGUISHED WOMEN_. It is remarkable to what a degree woman develops her intellect in thespirit world. Freed from the cares of maternity, she seems like some young goddessfresh from the hand of Jupiter. All nerve, electricity, and motion--herthoughts sparkling and full of flavor, and light, and life, this new-bornEve of the celestial kingdom inspires the down-trodden Eve of earth, andkindles to a blaze the whole male population of the spiritual globe. Prominent among the women of the times who have emigrated to these shoresfrom populous America, stands Margaret Fuller--a tall and impressiveblonde--a woman of strong bias, and resolute as a lion when she has setfoot upon a project. Earnest, passionate, and brilliant in conversation, she wields a powerful influence over many minds of a peculiar order; andthrough the few mediums whom she selects to represent hercharacteristics, she displays a calmness and coolness of reasoning and anexcellence of judgment such as few are able to exhibit thus secondhanded. She has, through the exercise of her genius, erected a beautiful villaupon a southern island, wherein she has displayed her poetic taste toadvantage. There, in the midst of a luxuriant garden, she resides withher beautiful Angelo, a child of graceful form who was washed ashore fromthe sad wreck years ago, but now approaching the years of manhood, and inhis looks the very personification of a young Mercury, blending the fireand passion of a Southern nature with the zeal and activity of theNorthern. Count Ossoli and his noble wife tear themselves away from the pleasuresof this delightful state of existence and devote their sacred energies tothe enfranchisement of Italy. No Roman patriot, neither Garibaldi nor any of his compeers, equals themin their efforts for the freedom of that sunny land. Madame Ossoli is sanguine of success. Defeat she considers merely the plough and harrow for the ripe harvest ofvictory which will follow. From her own eloquent lips I have heard her address to the Italiansoldiers who, defeated and killed, marched to the spirit land. She told them how she, in the midst of her new-born joy, in sight of herown native land, fought the fierce battle of the briny waves, and felt asshe sat dying on the sinking wreck, that all she had striven for was invain; how she had found that defeat, that engulping billow, had proved inthe end a victory, and had placed her where she could watch over thedestiny of Italia, her adopted country, and work for its regeneration, and fight for its liberty, as she could not have done had she been moresuccessful in her plans on earth. Another American woman, of less note, but also a reformer, is ElizaFarnham. She is not so emotional, has less sentiment and considerableoriginality, and is honest in her opinions and determined in her effortsto uplift her sex and ameliorate their condition. She wields a powerful influence over a certain clique in the spirit worldand on earth, and therefore deserves to be noticed among the women of thetimes. In person she is of dark complexion, with black hair and eyes, andstrongly-marked brows, possessing much vivacity and caustic wit. She is matron of a large Institution, or Circulorium, erected for the useof those spirits who make a practice of communicating with theinhabitants of earth. They there meet to converse upon the various meanswhich they employ for transmitting intelligence, and to relate theirsuccesses and defeats with the various trance and clairvoyant mediumsthrough whom they operate. There congregate those lecturers and oratorswho discourse through the organisms of numerous trance and inspirationalmediums on earth. There also convene physicians and "medicine men" whocontrol the large number of healing mediums who exercise their powerthroughout the United States and Europe. There, also, gather the prophetsand seers, who, with vision clearer than that of ordinary spirits, warnmankind of danger and impress individuals to pursue certain courses ofaction, to go or come, to undertake and prosecute great designs for theseeming weal or woe of humanity. From this lofty aviary she still sends forth her delicious, strains. Thechildren of earth hear them in fainter notes through young poets whocatch her inspiration. What she is doing for women in the world sheinhabits will be felt ere long in both the continents of Europe andAmerica. Another remarkable person in this coterie of illustrious women must bementioned--Charlotte Bronté--a lady who feels the true dignity andintellect of her sex with a force akin to manliness. Modest and retiring, she would yet pick up the gauntlet like any knight against the man whoshould say of a work of literary merit, "that it could never have beenpenned by a woman. " Soft and delicate, yet strong and full of heroism, she represents woman, quicker to perceive the right than man, and capable of undergoing greaterperils in executing her duty. Charlotte Bronté is a slight, brown-haired girl, with an eye full ofclairvoyant power. With her father, sisters, and poor reprobate of abrother, all united like a cluster-diamond, she lives in a home whichthey have selected, remarkable for its wild and picturesque beauty. As a family they are like the ancient Scots, clannish--not in a vulgaracceptation of the term, but for the reason that they are kindred souls. The torch of genius flames in every member of that family, but Charlotteis the mover, the inspirer of them all. She possesses a greater degree ofconcentration and energy, and is more chivalrous and venturesome. She isexceedingly interested in woman, and devotes daily a portion of her timeto visiting earth and suggesting ideas and thoughts to those whom she caninfluence. In her new home she draws around her a circle of chosen spirits, amongwhom may be mentioned Thackeray (who esteems her as about the finestspecimen of womanhood he has seen), Prince Albert, Scott, Hawthorne, theGerman Goethe, De Quincy, and others. Few writers of romance have done more than she towards raising her sexabove the frivolities of dress and fortune, and placing them where theyshine conspicuous for their intellect and noble affections. Bold and unsparing in analyzing woman's heart in its uncontaminatedsimplicity as well as in its subtlety, she lighted a torch in behalf ofher sex which flamed throughout the literary world, startling anddazzling the beholder--a light which will never be quenched. Charlotte Bronté was on earth what is now known as a medium. Her beliefin the supernatural she evinced in her works. If she had not indicated somuch intellect, the critics would have termed her superstitious. Theyhave inferred that it was the loneliness and sadness of her life whichcaused her to imagine she saw her beloved dead and heard unearthly voicescalling her. But she has since told me that those mysterious influenceswere not morbid fancies, but realities. Being thus endowed clairvoyantly, and not only receptive but able to impart that which she receives, sheexerts at the present moment an influence in the world of letters littledreamed of on earth. I may here, without infringing on the requirements of good taste, alludeto the tale she has dictated through this medium. That it is a story ofpowerful interest, all who read it will confess. To many minds it will prove that her power is unabated, but everyreader will perceive the characteristics of the Bronté family in thetale--characteristics which cannot be imitated--which are individualizedin that family, and breathe of the lone moor on which they spent theirearth ife, one of sad struggle of genius against circumstance anddestiny. PROFESSOR OLMSTEAD. _THE LOCALITY OF THE SPIRIT WORLD, AND ITS MAGNETIC RELATIONS TO THIS_. How near is the spirit world to earth? is a question often put by theinquiring mind. Some suppose it lies contiguous, just in the suburbs;others imagine the spirit world to be within the atmosphere of thisearth; others again set it afar off in a given locality. The last theory is correct, and the spirit world is really severalbillions of miles from earth; yet the suppositions are true (in a certainsense), for the inhabitants of the spirit world are migratory, and thereare many millions of them living within the earth's atmosphere, drawnthither on errands of pleasure and duty. But there is a spiritual earth revolving around its spiritual sun, justas this earth revolves around its sun. It has shape and form like this planet, and is indeed the spiritual bodyof the earth. It existed before the creation of man on this globe, and was ready forthe reception of the soul or spirit of the first human being who perishedon earth. As a spirit's body is constructed from the spiritual emanations of man, so the spiritual globe is formed of the magnetic emanations of the earth. The refined gases which were thrown off during the process of theformation of the material globe which man now inhabits, form the basis ofthe spirit earth. Each planet in the vast universe has its correspondent spirit world, andinvisible magnetic rays are constantly exchanging between the spiritplanet and its earth. These magnetic currents or rays, like waves of silver light, constantlytransmit thoughts from the spirit world to this. All spirit is matter. The spirit globe, being primarily composed of gases, in revolving aroundits central sun ultimates in a substance which is similar to the soil ofyour earth. The same system which marks the development of the material world also isdisplayed in the development of the spiritual world. Order is God. No spirit world can exist without form, neither can itexist without motion. Motion produces the spheroid, and the rotation ofthe spheroid produces atmosphere and diversity of surface; all thesevariations characterize the spirit globe. When these facts are carefully reflected upon and understood, the majestyof the Creator assumes a magnitude most stupendous. The astronomer searching through space for undiscovered planets and suns, has failed to fix his telescope upon these spiritual worlds, but the daywill come when science will discover their existence. The spirit world is not an arid desert. As I have said, it has soil. Itis not a thin, vaporish flat, without depth or density; and itscircumference exceeds that of the earth. One of the component elements of its soil is magnetism. Its vegetation isof rapid growth and beautiful beyond anything that your planet candisplay. As the atmosphere of the spirit world is not so dense as yours, and asthe rays of the spiritual sun are not obliged to penetrate through somuch cloud and vapor, the colors of all objects are sparkling andbeautiful in variety and tone. The specific gravity of the spirit upon his globe is not so great, comparatively, as that of man in the natural world. He can rise in hisnative air with little difficulty, and can dart with unerring accuracyupon the magnetic current flowing from the spirit world to the one heonce inhabited. The investigator in searching for the spirit world has but to direct hisattention to the north star and his eye will embrace, unwittingly, thelocality of that world. The north pole is the great gate which leads toit direct. The aurora borealis or Northern lights is an electric current which flowsfrom that world to earth, and is sent in through the great gate. Thescintillations of these rays are caught up by the clouds and vapors andare repeated in many portions of the globe, and faint rays from them areseen even in this temperate climate. ADAH ISAACS MENKEN. _HOLD ME NOT_. Up to the zenith mount! Far into space--Ah! all thy tears I count, Sad, loving face. Clasp not my garments so, Love of my soul;Clinging, you drag me low, Where tortures roll. Soil not my angel wing; Keep not from rest;How can I upward spring, Clasped to thy breast? Hold me not, lover--friend-- Earth I would fly;Passion and torture end In the blest sky! Life brought but woe to me, Even thy kissGave me but agony-- Remorse with bliss! Let go thy earthly hold-- Fain would I fly;Voices with love untold Call from on high. Farewell--the dregs are drank Of life's sad cup;It proved but poison rank; Life's lease is up! N. P. WILLIS. _OFF-HAND SKETCHES_. Since my friend Morris joined me, we've been as busy as Wall streetbrokers in a gold panic--eyes and ears, and every sense filled with thenovel sights and sounds that greet us on every side in this mostdelightful, charming, incomparably beautiful summer land. Whom have we not seen, from Napoleon down to the last suicide? I have a memorandum which would reach from here to Idlewild, filled withthe names of notables and celebrities, whom I have met in the short spaceof a year. We do matters quickly here, among the celestials. I used to think lifesped fast in the great cities of London, Paris, and New York, but we livefaster here. With every means of travelling which human ingenuity caninvent--flying machines, balloons, the will and the magnet--we fairlyoutdo thought and light, which you consider emblems of rapidity on earth. Morris and I made a point of visiting Byron, Moore, Hunt, Scott, and thatclique. You must bear in mind that we do not all live on one point ofspace _here_; among so many thousand million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, sextillion, and countless illions, there must be somepersons who are further apart than Morris and I, who are side by side! It is a peculiarity which you Yankees seldom think of, that Englishmencan't endure to live in America. Well, that peculiarity is just as activeafter they "shuffle off the mortal coil. " They must have their littleEngland, even in the spirit world. So I telegraphed to that quarter of the celestial planet that twostrangers from the great emporium of intellect, and civilization, NewYork City, were about to visit that locality. We so arranged our journeyas to arrive about a day after the dispatch had reached them. It was proposed that we should meet at the beautiful villa belonging tothe Countess of Blessington. I can assure you that on arriving there it was with a slightlypalpitating heart I ascended the noble steps of her residence. TheCountess met us graciously, and by her vivacity and charming candordispelled the feeling of modest diffidence as to our merits, naturallyawakened by the thought of being presented to those illustrious personswho so long held sway over English literature. Ere we were aware, we were ushered into the midst of a hilarious group ofauthors, who welcomed us in a most cordial manner. I did not need to have them introduced to me by name, as I recognizedeach readily from likenesses I had seen on earth. Lord Byron's countenance is much handsomer and more spiritualized inexpression than any portrait of him extant. I noticed that the deformityof his foot, which had been a severe affliction to him on earth, was nolonger apparent. Scott looked as good and as jovial as ever, and Tom Moore, the very pinkof perfection and elegance. As for the Countess, when I last saw her on earth I thought herincomparable. But whether it was through the cosmetic influences of thespirit air, or from other causes, she had now become bewitchinglybeautiful. After we had conversed awhile on general topics and I had answered theirquestions in regard to the changes which had occurred in certainterrestrial localities with which, they were familiar, the Countessinvited us out to survey the landscape from her balcony. The view from this point was extremely romantic. Just beyond the spaciouspark extended a lovely lake, whose waters were of a rich golden-greencolor. Upon its limpid bosom several gondolas floated, and gay partieswaved their handkerchiefs to us from beneath the silken hangings as theypassed. "Countess, " said I, after my eye had surveyed the fine landscape andnoble residence, "I am but a wandering Bohemian, and you must excuse myaudacity if I ask how it, is possible that in this "world of shadows" youhave surrounded yourself by so much that is beautiful and substantial?You could not bring your title and your lands with you from earth. Yourjewels and costly raiment you must have left behind; then whence comesall this wealth and luxury?" The Countess smiled. "Ah, " said she, roguishly, "you did not study yourBible lesson well if you did not learn that you could 'lay up treasuresin heaven. ' Why, all the time I was living on earth I had friends workingfor me--admirers who had been drawing interest from my youthful talentand had laid it up to my account. We go upon the tithe system here, and'render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. " She told me that works of interest which are published on earth arereproduced in the spirit world and the author credited with a tithe ofwhat accrues from them. Byron, Scott, and Moore have also been doing double duty while on earth, and have been recompensed for their industry in the spirit world. Byron, she privately informed me, had been united to the Mary of hisearly love, and under her sweet womanly influence had lost much of themisanthropy which had annoyed his friends in this life. As my stay was short, I had only opportunity to converse with these menof mark on general topics. On the whole, we spent a very interesting morning, and, after partakingof refreshments, we left, having inquired after Count D'Orsay, whom welearned was then on a trip to earth. Bidding adieu to the Countess andher friends, we started for the celebrated island called the "GoldenNest, " which lies in a south-westerly direction from the Countess'svilla. After having travelled some hours in our own diligence (i. E. , driventhrough the air by our own will), moving along quite leisurely that wemight survey the country beneath us, we reached a group of beautifullakes, reminding me strongly in size and appearance of lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, the famed lakes of my own native clime. In the centre of the largest of these lakes lay the island we wereseeking. We descended like skilful aeronauts into the centre of a groupof happy children, who were playing like little fairies amid the flowersblooming profusely everywhere. Singling out two of the prettiest, we addressed them. Directly a merry band gathered about us, answering our questionsintelligently and skipping before us to lead the way to the "GoldenNest, " as the superb structure was called in which these littlesoul-birds were sheltered. Everywhere, as we advanced, our eyes lit upon pretty bands of children;some swinging in the tree-boughs like birds, some waltzing in the air, others sitting upon the green, chattering and singing, filling thesurrounding air with their melody. Certainly it was a most enlivening sight to witness their enjoyment. After having amused ourselves for a while with their gambols, we turnedour steps toward the Home. The building was oval in form, and composed of a golden fleecyincrustation from which it derived it, name. Within, the "Nest" was likeAladdin's palace. Innumerable compartments, hung with silks and tissues of tender and. Harmonious colors, and decorated with birds' plumage of varied hues, arrested the eye. These spacious alcoves were each furnished with a domedskylight, adorned with hanging tassels and glittering ornaments. Ladieswere busy in nearly all of these compartments in instructing childrenunder their care. In some that I entered I was shown new-born babes not an hour old, tornfrom their mothers' bosoms on earth, and lying upon fleecy pillows, attended by lovely women, who looked the angels which they were. One of these gay baby-nests in which I lingered was decorated withpeculiar tastefulness, and seemed like a perfect aviary. Singular birdsof splendid plumage were perched on various projections about thespacious apartment, warbling away like silver bells. The lady of this chamber was engaged in teaching a little girl of sometwo summers to mount to the skylight by her will. This lady, I was informed, was the noble lady R----, so famed for hercharity on earth. She was very gracious and communicative, and told me that some childrenexercised their ability to rise in air more readily than others; that thedifficulties their instructor had to guard against were the fickle, versatile nature of their wills, and their inability for continuousthought. Their wayward minds could not be directed long at one point. They would wander from the path like the poor little Babes in the Wood, and on their way to special destinations, would change their thoughts, unharness their will, and come suddenly down, sometimes in lonely andunfrequented spots. Owing to this dereliction, it was found difficult to make frequentexcursions to earth with them. Those attracted to their terrestrial homeswere attended by ladies who had them in charge, and who would kindlyaccompany them, for one or two weeks, to visit their friends upon earth. I told her that I had lost a child some years ago, and had thought tillrecently to find it still an infant. Many cases of this kind, she said, had occurred under her observation. People did not view the matter rationally. Ladies had called at the"Golden Nest" to inquire for children that had left earth twenty orthirty years ago, and it was painful to witness the distress theyexhibited when told that their children were grown men and women. One lady had called there some three days since, and claimed as her own alittle child, an infant about two months old, who had been brought fromearth three weeks previous, while the child she had lost had been in thespirit world seventeen years! But no amount of argument would convince her that her child had grown up, and that the infant she selected was not her own. She was finally permitted to take the child away, as they knew it wouldbe properly cared for. Many of the children while young were thusadopted. "It appears marvellous, " remarked this noble lady, "that any parentshould wish to cramp the body and soul of his child by keeping it in astate of infancy, when, if it had remained on earth, it would necessarilyhave arrived at years of maturity. "Nature does not suspend her operations in transplanting from earth toheaven! The soul is formed for expansion, and surely the spirit world isnot the place to suppress unfoldment!" As I listened to her intelligent conversation, I blushed to be remindedof my own error in supposing my own darling, who had reached the spiritworld so long before, would greet me with the prattling talk of babyhood! Pleased with our visit and the information we had received, we bade adieuto Lady R. And the "Golden Nest, " and pursued our flight in anotherdirection. "Do let us next find out, " said I to Morris, "what they do here withcriminals; there must be many a wicked reprobate who arrives here fromearth fresh from murders and villanies of all sorts. " As I spoke, two grave-looking gentlemen, whom I took to be either doctorsor judges, crossed the path before us, and I proposed to make theseinquiries of them. Who should they prove to be but William Penn and the omnipresentBenjamin Franklin! "Yes, yes, " said Penn, in reply to our questions shaking his headdeprecatingly; "'tis too true; we are obliged to have what Swedenborgcalls "our hells, " for you send your criminals from earth so hardenedthat we are compelled to keep them under guard. Come with us and we'llshow you how we treat them. " We were very glad of this opportune meeting, and followed with alacrity. Presently, leaving the beautiful country far behind us, we came upon adesert waste, and as I am extremely sensitive to conditions, I feltsomewhat like a criminal in passing through it. Having got safely over, however, there burst upon our sight a scene of surpassing beauty; as faras the eye could reach extended a most highly-cultivated district ofcountry. Groves of fruit resembling the oranges and pineapples of our tropics, noble trees like the palm, the fig, and date, were to be seen in everyquarter, rearing their boughs against the summer sky. The air was ladenwith fragrance from tree and vine. Great bunches of purple grapes like the fabled fruit of Canaan in the OldTestament, a single bunch of which required two men to bear it, droopedheavily from twining vines, while from many a bough and twig swunggolden, crimson, and cream-colored fruit, which fairly made one's mouthwater. It was a picture rich enough in color for a Claude or Turner. "This is delicious, " said I to Penn. "Do tell us to what fairy princethis magnificent land belongs!" "We will show you the fairy prince himself, very soon, " said he. "Do yousee the tip of his castle yonder?" I looked, and as we moved swiftly in the direction indicated anunexpected spectacle loomed in sight. It was a building so delicate andperfect in its structure that it appeared like a vision. Pillars and arches, dome and architrave, were wrought in a styleexquisitely beautiful; the material of which it was composed seemed likepolished sea-shells, so transparent that you could see through it theforms of the inmates. "This, " said William Penn, "is one of our prisons. Let us enter. " We followed in amazement, and were ushered into a hall hung withpaintings rich in design and color, while distributed around in variousalcoves were cases containing books and articles of curious workmanship, of which I had not yet learned the use. This hall formed the court within the main building. From where we stood we could see hundreds of men in white suits movingabout. Some seemed engaged in conversation, others in sportive games, andothers in various employments. "You do not mean to tell us that these men are prisoners, " said I. "Yes; they have passed for years on earth a life of evil, yet all thebeauty you behold here is the work of their hands. Idleness is the motherof crime. We teach them to become industrious, and surround them withbeauty to develop their love of harmony. "Ignorance and poverty are supposed to be the principal causes of evil onearth. But many fearful offences have been committed in high places fromthwarted love and ambition. We have many of that character in thisprison, but they are young. This is intended as a place to educate andrestrain men who would return to earth and incite impressible beings toevil. "The material of which this building is composed, though seemingly sofragile, is a non-conductor of thought, and while detained within it theinmates gradually free themselves from their old influences anddisorderly desires. "Cultivating the fruits of the earth calls into action only their mostharmonious organs. A great mistake made by the legislators of earth is inemploying criminals in stone-cutting, or placing them in gangs, as theydo on the Continent, to work the rugged road. "Employment of this kind awakens the very propensities which should besubdued. The composing, softening influences induced by tilling the soilwould go far toward converting your evil men into good citizens. " I was struck with the truthfulness of his suggestions, and put them downin my note-book for the benefit of humanity, and now hand them over to myreaders for consideration. After leaving this place we paid a visit to Edgar A. Poe, whoseunfortunate life on earth you are all familiar with. His brilliantimagination we found as active as of old. He welcomed usenthusiastically, and eagerly led us into a small theatre which he hadconstructed and filled with most marvellous creations from his own fancy. He inherited from his father and mother, who were actors, a love fordramatic effect, and in theatrical impersonations he found some vent forhis exuberant imagination. "Stand here, " said he, placing us near the entrance; "I have somethingcurious to show you. " He then suspended upon the stage a curtain, whosepeculiarity was its pure, soft blue color, like an Italian sky. "Watch, " said he, pointing his uplifted finger to the hanging. Presentlyappeared upon it figures like shadows on a phantasmagoria. One form was that of a female sitting upon a low chair, apparentlyreading a book. "That, " said Poe, "is Miss D. I can control her and will her to reflecther figure upon the curtain; and that man is T. L. Harris. It is my owninvention, " said he; "I studied it out and applied chemicals to my canvastill it produced this sensitive surface. All I have to do is to send mythoughts to them, and will them to appear, and there they are. Coleridgehas a similar curtain, and some few others. But it requires a peculiarspirit brain to magnetize the subject sufficiently. " He offered to showme in the same manner any friend of mine with whom he could come inrapport. This proposition delighted Morris and I, and we spent an agreeableevening in seeing certain of our friends on earth thus revealed. Some were busy eating at the time, the _gourmands_! Others, morestudious, were poring over books and papers, and one, whose name I shallnot mention, was reproduced in the very act of making love! The, dear old faces awakened such sad memories, and the occupations inwhich they were engaged were in the main so ludicrous, that we were heldbetween tears and laughter till after midnight. But that is an Irishbull--for you must know that we have no night in the spirit world. Ourdiurnal revolutions are so rapid, and the atmosphere so magneticallyluminous, that it is never dark here. But, however, according to earth'sparlance, it was midnight before we got through. I will now bid adieu to my friends and readers until we meet again. MARGARET FULLER _CITY OF SPRING GARDEN_. I am at present domiciled with my excellent friend Abraham Lincoln, inthe beautiful city of Spring Garden. This place contains between sixtyand seventy thousand inhabitants, a majority of whom are engaged inliterary and artistic pursuits. It might vie with ancient Athens for thewealth of mind which is concentrated within its precincts. It is notcompactly built, the city covering about thrice the surface of groundthat would be occupied by one on earth of the same number of inhabitants. The streets are handsome, the pavements being covered with a gay enamelwhich is formed by dampening a certain yellow powder, which, whenhardened, shines like amber. They are laid out in circles, surrounding alarge park of several acres, which forms the centre of the city. Thispark is embellished with trees and flowering plants of every description, and does not differ materially from the extensive parks to be found onearth, except in its management. Booths are erected at the various gates, which are supplied with fruitsand confections free to all who present a ticket to the keeper. Thesetickets are furnished by the city authorities to those who desire them. This class is composed chiefly of children, and of grown persons who areincompetent to supply by their labor their own wants. Here they can walkthrough the pleasant grounds, rock themselves in swings, which arenumerous, and, when weary with exercise, their appetites stimulated bythe refreshing air, which circulates through its hills and dales asfreely as in the open country, they can apply for refreshments at anyone of the booths or tables within the park. A very delicious drinkmanufactured from the exudence of a flower not known on earth may here beprocured. The grounds are provided with various other apparatus foramusement and pleasure, among which are elegantly-formed sleds ongalvanic runners, which glide over the ground with swiftness mostexhilarating to the senses. Air carriages are also furnished, and, inshort, nothing is wanting for the pleasure and entertainment of thevisitors who throng daily the extensive avenues. Forming an outer circle to the park is the main thoroughfare of the city. The streets, as I have said, are laid out in graduated circles whichincrease in circumference as they recede from the centre. The outermostcircle is bordered by trees, which form a natural wall. This city mightbe called the circle of palaces, from the numerous magnificent edificeswhich adorn it at every point. The buildings are of a light, graceful style of architecture, adapted tothe climate and the out-door life which the people generally lead. The street facing the park is devoted to the display of commodities andcreations of the spirit world and its inhabitants. In this section are exposed to view beautiful fabrics, finer than the webof a spider, glistening like threads of sunbeam and ornamented with mostexquisite floral designs taken from nature. Some of these fabricsemblemize the blue heaven glittering with silver stars; others theclouds, with sunlight shimmering through them. Some have shadowy designs of birds and curious animals strown over aground of amber or violet. These beautiful devices are photographed onthe material; or, as the transcendentalist would say, they are projectedthere by the will. Electricity with us is so potent an agent that it is used for thispurpose, transferring the image and stamping it there. These fabrics are more delicate and gossamer-like than any with which youare familiar on earth. Exquisite materials are not only indulged in by ladies, but _male angels_robe themselves in attire more fanciful and gorgeous than they have beenaccustomed to wear in their first life; except, indeed, the Orientals, who more nearly approach us Celestials in that particular. I will state for the benefit of ladies that we have no millineryestablishments, as the females wear simply their own beautiful hair, which they adorn with flowers and a peculiar lace, as thin as a breath. The hair, owing to electrical conditions, is usually abundant and ofbeautiful texture, forming the chief ornament of the head. On the street I have described are also many studios for artists. These_attelliers_ are very ornamental in appearance, being placed in thecentre of a large court. They are of various fanciful shapes, accordingto the design of the artist, generally open on the sides, with a domesupported by pillars, and resembling in form an ancient temple. Within, they are hung with rich draperies, which are adjusted at pleasure. Theopen dome admits the light and may be covered by a screen when necessary. These studios are all on the ground floor, and usually with airyreception rooms attached, opening upon a court gay with flowers, birds, and fountains, making it a pleasant retreat for the artist and hisfriends. As my friend H---- gaily suggests, these accessible studioscompensate the artist for the _attics_ which he occupied on earth. The art of painting is here carried to greater perfection than it everhas been on earth. As the development of the intellect in the material world depends uponthe subservience of matter to mind, so in the spirit world, the sameprinciple is the great motor power; for there we have matter (that is, spirit matter), and this we work into forms of beauty as we desire. Speaking of art, I must digress to allude to the _fête_ which we held inour park in honor of three quite eminent artists, who have recentlyarrived in the spirit world and taken up their abode in this city. As they were all new-comers, and but slightly acquainted with our mannersand customs, we gave this celebration to surprise them, and also as atoken of our appreciation of their efforts to spiritualize humanity; forart we regard as one of our most spiritualizing agencies. In the centre of the park, I had forgotten to state, we have a templeerected, somewhat resembling those of ancient Greece, and which is forthe use of orators and public singers. This temple was beautifullydecorated with garlands and paintings by spirit artists. Within it wereseated the visitors and a few friends, and without were stationedmusicians, with curious instruments of melody, such as are unknown toearth. Various ingenious machines for locomotion and amusement attracted generalattention. Another source of interest were the graceful and picturesquegroups of children moving in the air. At intervals, one of the mostfascinating of their number would descend with offerings of fruits andflowers for our guests. The amazement expressed by our visitors, as theselovely children would suddenly sweep down through the air like gracefulbirds of radiant plumage was delightful for us older inhabitants towitness. This city contains several institutions of learning which are accessibleto all; not only those can become inhabitants of this city who have ataste for the beauties and refinements of life, but needy aspirants fromearth may be introduced by them into these establishments. Previous to entering the spirit world I had supposed everything herewould be free, but I have found here, as on earth, that nothing can beattained but by exertion, and that the great diversity of talent and ofgifts necessarily enforces a system of exchange. All men are not alike inventive in the spirit world. The inventor, by hisfertile brain, constructs an article which the majority desire topossess, and for that article they give him an equivalent. It may be apicture or it may be a song. Here the artisan is not hampered as on earth; his time--the mere timeemployed in mechanical labor--is of short duration. Our facilities forcreating are so immensely superior to those of earth that but a briefperiod is required for producing a result. The remaining time is devotedmainly to the development of the mind, to amusement, and to scientificresearch. I stated in the beginning of my letter that I was visiting the home ofAbraham Lincoln. He is residing here with some members of his family, andappears very happy and contented. The son for whose loss he grieved amidthe honors of the White House, is now his friend and companion. Matters of state, as I learn from conversation with him, occupy his mindbut little; but he is deeply interested in humanity, and is anxious toelevate and harmonize the whole human family. His influence for good is powerful, and he exerts it constantly. Theodore Parker and Hawthorne both reside in this city. Parker, as I havebeen told, when he first came here, decided to devote himself to thecultivation of land; but he has drifted again into the rostrum, and twicea week you may see the fair maidens and gallant swains of Spring Gardenwending their way to his beautiful little home and garden in the suburbs, where, amid the flowers, he descants to them, in his eloquent way, onlife and the attributes of the human soul, and also upon his earthexperiences. So you perceive he exemplifies by his own actions the wise saying, "Oncea prophet, always a prophet. " His original mind cannot keep silent, andhis thoughts find readiest utterance in speech. Hawthorne is living here with his beautiful daughter, who devotes herattention to art. His mind is as active as ever. He informs me that many of the mysteriesthat seemed inexplicable to him while on earth are now cleared up. I have spoken of the noble buildings of this city, surrounded by spaciousgardens and beautified by trees and flowers, fountains and singing birds;but I have not alluded to the way in which property is held, and thereader will naturally inquire if these handsome dwellings are owned bytheir occupants. They are not, but are simply loaned to them. Spirits congenial to thoseat present residing here lived in them ages agone. It is true, each individual taste may alter and embellish the buildingsand surroundings, but these improvements belong to the city and not tothe individuals. The titles are vested in the community, and its memberscan vote, as in the case of Abraham Lincoln, in reference to anyindividual coming among them. There are three daily papers issued in the city, and only three. One isespecially devoted to reporting news from earth, --revolutions thattranspire, changes in state and national politics, recent accidents whichhave thrown individuals suddenly into the spirit world, and to recordingthe names, as far as possible, of persons who have deceased from earth. Disasters that occur on sea and land are immediately telegraphed to thenewspapers in Spring Garden and published for the use of the community. It may be interesting to the curious to know that in cases like thesinking of a vessel, where fifty or a hundred individuals are suddenlyushered into the spirit world, delegates are sent out from this and othercities to meet the sufferers and offer them the hospitalities of thecity, in accordance with their individual merits and degrees ofdevelopment. Our method of printing newspapers differs materially from that in vogueon earth. Our papers might be termed photo-telegrams. A much less space is occupiedby a communication of a given length than the same would require in yourpapers. We have a system of short-hand, understood by all, similar tothat used by your telegraphic operator. We have various places of public amusement, two fine theatres which aredevoted to dramas originating with the inhabitants of our world, andanother appropriated to the representation of dramas familiar to earth. Our places of amusement are of large capacity, hence but few are needed;and the people of this city being congenial in their natures, as many aspossible like to assemble in one place. The several actors who have been famed on earth appear at the theatres inSpring Garden. Garrick, Kean, Kemble, Booth, Vandenhoff, Cooke, Macready, Rachel, and Mrs. Siddons, visit us from time to time. Among our distinguished actors are many who on earth were clergymen, politicians, and of other occupations. [A] [Footnote A: I am told that the Rev. Newland Maffit is at present adistinguished actor in the spirit world. ED. ] GILBERT STUART. _ART CONVERSATION_. People are fools in religion, and worship as divine the most stupidmonstrosities ever conceived of! Only tell the masses that St. Luke, St. John, or Mary Magdalen was the author of some absurdity, which, if you orI had originated, they would scoff at, and they will clasp their hands inmute admiration over that miracle of art! So it seems to me to be with Spiritualists. Drawings devoid of taste, hard, and out of proportion, are received by them with acclamations ofjoy, and credited, if they are figures, to Raphael, and if landscapes, toClaude Lorraine or some other great master of art. Now I, for one, wish people would use their brains, and not be so easilygulled. It is truly wonderful that a spirit can make a person draw a straightline who never could draw any but a crooked one. It partakes something ofthe miraculous, I admit; and that spirits should produce likenesses, andrepresentations of flowers, scrolls, and ornamental designs, andunearthly landscapes, through mediums whose powers of representation andartistic talents have never been developed, is indeed marvellous! butthat these drawings should be called works of art, and looked upon as thegenuine offspring of those immortal painters, is ridiculous, and a thingto be deprecated by every intelligent spirit and Spiritualist, eitherhere or in any other world! Why, God Almighty himself could not take a raw, unschooled, undisciplinedhand, and produce a work of art! If a medium is content with what he has done, if he does not comprehendthe faults of his work, if his eye and brain are not educatedartistically, --then he must stand like a machine working in a groove. Neither Phidias nor any of his descendants could inspire a highproduction through such means! Now I do wish that _educated artists_ would seek to be controlled by usspirits; or that those mediums whom we do influence would go to school, and submit to the drudgery that is necessary to give them skill in designand execution. Then could we hope to represent something of the progress of art in thespirit world; and would be enabled to depict marvels of landscapes, andthe seraphic beauty of the human face with its grace and perfection ofform, as it meets us in this artistic land. Yon ask if we have galleries of art here. I should think so: art-love isimmortal! You do not suppose that Benjamin West, Washington Allston, Henry Inman, Copely, Stuart, and we Americans who loved our art, would besatisfied with laying down the brush, and would have contented ourselveswith singing and playing on cymbals constantly for the hundred years orso that we've been here? Now, where there is a will there is a way, andhaving the will, we have found the way to exercise the genius which Godgave us. Speaking of music, the gift is cultivated here to an extent that wouldset the _dilettanti_ of earth wild with ecstasy! _Music, Poetry, Art, Oratory_, and _Scientific Research_, form theprincipal occupations of the beings in this immortal world of ours, andlanguage is incapable of conveying an idea of the perfection which ournoble and glorious faculties have attained. Art is about to undergo a revolution. At present too much attention isgiven to the literal rendering of a fact, and imagination, which ismerely a faculty for reaching the immaterial, is checked; but ere longpainters will turn their attention to representing scenes in spirit life, and the inspiration which attended the old masters when they gave wingsto their fancy and cut loose from identical imitation, will return. Let the camera and the photograph reproduce the exact outline andminutiae, but let the artist paint with the pencil of imagination andinspiration! Only permit imagination to have root in the material world. As no man can become a good angel who has not developed his physicalnature in harmony with his spiritual, so neither painter nor medium canrepresent the artistic beauties of the natural world, nor of the spiritworld, unless he has had a good physical training. It is only through the_physical_ that the imagination can express itself with beauty andcorrectness. Truth is beauty, and is always proportionate; the lightequalizing the dark, precisely as in the perfection of art a mass ofshadow is balanced by a proportion of light. One of the most agreeable places of rest or there-abouts is the artists'rendezvous--a building larger than St. Peter's at Home, magnificent instructure, and filled with wonderful paintings. Here artists and authors of all nations are to be found. You can step inany morning and have a chat with Lawrence, Reynolds, Lessing, DelarocheHazlitt, Coleridge, Charles Lamb, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Rossini, Willis, Irving, Anthon, Sigourney, Osgood, Booth, Kemble, Kean, Cooper, Vandenhoff, Palmerston, Pitt, O'Connel, Lamartine, Napoleon, MargaretFuller, Charlotte Bronté, Lady Blessington, and others of note, who havemade themselves illustrious during the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies. People of congenial tastes and aspirations can readily obtainadmittance, and all freely engage in conversation on topics connectedwith art and literature. A large garden is attached to the building, filled with every manner offruit-tree, and is accessible to all; any poor devil of an artist can gothere and some bewitching Houri will present him with all the deliciouscondiments which his taste or fancy can demand. In these matters the inhabitants of earth need to take a lesson from us. I prophesy that America will be a pioneer in these reformations, andwill, in some Central Park, erect a building similar to this, whereaspiring artists may receive food for the soul and the body, and whereartistic minds can meet and interchange ideas. EDWARD EVERETT. _GOVERNMENT_. The Christianized world supposes that the form of government now existingin the heavenly system is that of a monarchy; that God is the supremeruler of the whole universe, embracing not only the little planet Earth, but the countless starry worlds and invisible systems that roll throughspace. But more directly in its imagination does it place him as the solemonarch and kingly ruler of the spirit world. It seats him in fancy upona gorgeous throne, material in every aspect of its magnificence; a throneof gold and jewels, as described by that Miltonic poet, St. John, in his"Revelations. " This is the prevailing faith of Christendom; a faith which to themajority seems knowledge as positive as the fact that Victoria rules theBritish people, and sits upon the English throne. Yet this is the conception of a people fond of barbaric pomp andsplendor. A conception unsupported by reason and at variance with fact. Nearer to the truth was the old Greek nation; a nation which embodied theintellect, the wisdom, and the refinement of the present age. That nation, in its belief in the government of the spiritual universe, was wholly Polytheistic, believing in many gods, and, as I have said, approached nearer the idea of the form of government as existing in thespirit world, for it is a Republic of Gods. It is a law of the universe that all vast bodies must be divided andsubdivided into smaller ones. Every system is a constellation and everyconstellation is a congeries. In accordance with this law, the universal world of _spirit_ is brokenup, is divided and subdivided. In these divisions and subdivisions forms of government ensue, differingslightly one from another, according to the progressive development ofthe people; and an unlimited monarchy is not known in the spirit world. There are some clinging to their old habits, associations, and education, who would fain raise the representatives of royalty on earth to the samepositions in the spirit world when they become residents there. But theeffort, when made, cannot be sustained. The one-man power is incompatiblewith spiritual laws and spiritual justice. In a world where the external trappings are torn away and the internalnature of man is exposed to observation, the prerogatives of earthlykings have but little power. The republican form of government is destined to overthrow all themonarchies of earth. As the world progresses and knowledge becomesuniversal, individuals will be able to govern themselves. It has been only through ignorance and superstition, and the limitedknowledge of the masses, that the kings and emperors of earth have beenenabled to sway their jewelled sceptres over the necks of the people. Buttheir reign is drawing to a close; their glories have culminated; and theday is rapidly approaching when earth will be governed even as theheavens above are governed. As in the world of nature, "the same chancehappens alike to all, " and every child in time may become a man and everyinfant a father, and the experience of one becomes the experience of all, so in the government of the spirit world, every man can rise and becomefor a space of time the patriarchal dictator of a republic. The prevailing form of our republic differs from that of the Americanrepublic in many particulars. Our term of office is of shorter durationthan with you. Our directors while in office make friendly excursions toother republics. Matters of state with us are not so weighty orcomplicated as with you, nor are encroachments and reprisals so common. We are not compelled to sustain such vast armies and navies, involvingthe necessity of directing and superintending them. As a rule, people who have entered the second stage of existence desire achange. They desire to live with more simplicity and freedom, and areeager to begin their new life with nobler aspirations. Therefore, theyassimilate with comparative ease with our form of government. Our directors are our fathers. The nearest approach to our system is thegovernment of the Mormons in Utah. Pardon me, if, in making thisstatement, I offend any delicate sensibility. I allude not to theircreed, but to their mode of public administration. As I have stated, the inhabitants of the spirit world are divided andsubdivided into associations, or bodies, which in your world would betermed nations and states. For example, the nation to which I belong isrepresented by the American people. The nationalities of earth presentdifferent traits and characteristics which set them apart, though in ageneral aspect they present one whole. Even as in the ornithologicalworld different species of birds represent the feathered race, and thoughdiffering in many particulars and forming separate varieties, yetassimilate as a whole, so nations migrating to the spirit world formseparate nationalities. And, as I have stated, some of them, educated inthe belief of the divine right of kings, choose a form of rule nearerapproaching the monarchial than the republican. Among such often arises aNapoleon, a man of powerful intellect, a mind to grasp all circumstances, and a will to direct, who succeeds in placing himself in a position whichhe retains for years. But as the hereditary right of kings cannot exist in the spirit world, the emperor or dictator is chosen by the people, as was the custom of theancient Romans. Intercourse of nations with us is not bounded by the obstacles that existon earth. Prominent ideas prevailing among the most intelligent masses ofspirits become the views of the whole. This your own world exemplifies. As the means of communication become more facile, as the various arts oflocomotion obliterate distance, the remote and barbarous nations, broughtinto proximity with the civilized, assume their habits, adopt their modesof action, and follow their form of government. I can safely predict for you a similar result. In the spirit world thosenations once most tenacious of kingly rights and of the majesty of thethrone, lay quietly down their regal crowns, and assume theunostentatious cap of the republic. So will all the nations of earthfollow their spiritual leaders and hurl out from the round globe thecrumbling thrones and sceptres of kings and emperors and the totteringpapal chair of Rome, down, down, into the vast tomb of antiquity! FREDERIKA BREMER _FLIGHT TO MY STARRY HOME_. I was in Stockholm when the ambassador, who is sent by the all-wiseFather to pilot his children to the unknown land of roses, called for me, and I was obliged to part with the body which, though homely andunattractive, like the dear, good "family roof, "[A] had rendered meservice in many a stormy day. [Footnote A: Swedish term for umbrella. ] The feeling I experienced in taking my departure was like that of goingout into a pitiless storm, and it was followed by an intense pricklingsensation, similar to that familiarly known as the "foot asleep. " This, Iafterwards understood, was occasioned by the electrical current passingthrough my spirit as it assumed shape upon emerging from its old frame. Some twenty minutes perhaps elapsed after the breath leaving the bodybefore I became perfectly conscious in my new form. Upon recovering theuse of my senses, my whole attention was drawn from myself to the friendswho had gathered in the room which had so recently been my sick chamber. As I watched them combing the hair and attiring the white, stiff figurethat lay so solemnly stretched upon the couch, my emotions wereindescribable. I endeavored to speak, but my voice gave but a faintsound, which they evidently did not hear--as a spirit, I attracted noattention. This caused me deep grief, for I desired them all to see mestill living. My sad emotions were presently dispelled by the sound of most mellifluousmusic bursting upon my senses; and as I turned my eyes to discover thesource from whence it proceeded, I beheld, resurrected before me, a groupof dear old friends, whose bodies were already dust and ashes in theSwedish grave-yards, and in the cemeteries of the old and new worlds. Ahearty burst of joy escaped from my lips as I recognized them. Welaughed, cried, shook hands, and kissed first on one cheek and then onthe other, with the same enthusiasm and naturalness we would have shownhad we been inhabitants of dear old mother Earth. "Come, Frederika! Dear Frederika! don't stay gazing on that old body!Leave friends who cannot talk with you and come with us!" they clamoredon all sides. Their voices were like a full orchestra; besides, some hadinstruments of music, upon which they improvised little songs to myhonor. I was fairly bewildered. Presently they formed a circle about meand commenced whirling rapidly around and around. I felt as in a hammockswayed by the wind; a dreamy lethargy stole over me, and I graduallybecame unconscious; and thus, I am told, they bore me through the earth'satmosphere, out in the stellar spaces, to a new world--a world not of theearth, earthy, but the New Jerusalem which I had so often pictured to myfancy. A soft, pleasant breeze blowing directly upon my face, restored me toconsciousness. I opened my eyes, and, lo! I was reclining upon a divan ina great pavilion. The friends whom I had previously recognized werearound me, some making magnetic passes over me, others engaged inpreparations for my comfort. Upon seeing me awaken, several friendsapproached with flowers and fruits. The term "flowers, " though abeautiful appellation, gives but a faint idea of these marvellouscreations. My attention was particularly attracted to one whose corolla was of deepviolet striped with gold, having long silvery filaments spreading outfrom the cup in lines of light like the luminous trail of a comet. In a state of delicious languor, I watched the varied wonders before me. The pavilion, which was of silver lace or filagree woven in the mostexquisite patterns, was a hundred or more feet in circumference, andadorned with open arches and columns on its several sides. These columnsand arches were of coral and gold, which contrasted with the silvernetwork, and the blossoms and foliage of curious plants and vines whichgraced the interior, forming altogether a structure of singular eleganceand beauty. Numberless forms like the fabled peris and gods of mythology glided inand out of these arches, and approached me with offerings of welcome. Oneblooming Venetian maiden presented me with a crystal containing a goldenliquid, which she said was the elixir of the poets and painters of hernation. The name she gave it was "The Poet's Fancy, " and she informed methat it was distilled from a plant which fed upon or absorbed theemanations which the active mentalities of these poetic beings exhaled. This information was quite new to me, and gave me pleasure, as itaccorded with my ideas of correspondence. So I sipped the "Poet's Fancy, "and imagined that its delicious, aromatic flavor vivified me like rays ofsunshine. If, previously, I had been charmed, I now certainly experienceda power of enjoyment and quickness of perception tenfold increased. I then inquired for Swedenborg, Spurzheim, and Lavatar. "You will meetthem further on, " said she, smiling. "They are not here. " I was so wellpleased with her that I twined my arm around her fairy-like form and weglided away together. As I desired to obtain a peep at the outside of thebeautiful pavilion, my companion led the way, pausing here and there topresent me to groups who had advanced for that purpose. The company Ifound to be composed of writers and painters, interspersed with a few ofmy own personal friends; and I felt gratified to find myself so wellreceived by those whom I had known on earth as celebrities. "'Tis strange, " I remarked to my companion, "that such choice mindsshould all be gathered together in one place. " "They are spirits congenial to your own, " said she. "Like attracts like, and they have come from their respective homes in the spirit world towelcome you here. " "Ah, " said I, "I now begin to understand what all this fine companymeans! This is my reception. " As we were leaving the pavilion we were joined by Herr Von ----, thecelebrated Swedish naturalist who had recently entered the spirit world. He congratulated me upon my safe arrival, and kindly offered to act as_cicerone_ and to point out to me the marvels by which I was surrounded. To my astonishment, on reaching the open air I discovered that thepavilion was located upon the summit of a lofty mountain. The face ofthis mountain was of many colors and glistened like precious stones. Myfriend led me to the point of a precipice on one side and bade me lookdown. This I did, and beheld phosphorescent rays issuing from the sides. "What wonder is this?" I asked. He informed me the mountain was magneticin its character, and that it was, so to speak, the first station fromearth, and a point easily attained by a spirit newly arriving from thatplanet. He said I was not permanently to remain upon the mountain, butwas placed there until I should become acclimated to the spiritatmosphere, and to acquire strength before travelling to that portion ofthe spirit land which would form my permanent abode. The apex of the mountain formed a flat plain about two miles in extent. We walked onward some distance, when he pointed out to me anotherpavilion, much larger than the one to which I had been borne. Theexterior form of each was alike, and resembled a Turkish mosque; thecrown-like canopy which formed the top being surmounted by a ball sodazzling in brightness that I was obliged to turn my gaze from it. Thisball was composed of an electric combination, which shed its rays farthrough space. "And, " said the good Herr Von ----, "as the pavilion isused for the reception of the friendless and the homeless, they areattracted and guided to it by its coruscations. " We proceeded some steps further, and he showed me how the mountain, whichis steep and precipitous on the northern exposure, sloped into brokenchains and lower elevations on the southern; and from this point, lookingdown, I beheld through the clear atmosphere a billowy landscape, clothedwith soft, rich verdure, more fresh and green to the eye than that whichcovers dear mother Earth. "How wonderful are thy works, O God!" I exclaimed, as we retraced oursteps. And I could not but reflect upon the singular trait exhibited byJesus of frequenting a high mountain to pray. Surely, altitude elevatesone into the spiritual state, and no doubt Christ felt nearer to thespirit world when elevated far above Jerusalem, on the mountain-top, amidthe clouds. Thus, looking down from the sublime height, I realized forthe first time that I too was a spirit and an inhabitant of the world inwhich Jesus dwelt! LYMAN BEECHER. _THE SABBATH_. In the days of my ministrations on earth, it was pretty generallybelieved that the Sabbath day was one of peculiar sanctity; and that theCreator, having completed the creation of the earth in six days, hadrested upon the _seventh_ from the labor attendant on that work. Butscience, which is ever at war with the Jewish record, has established thefact that the world was not created in that short space of time. The multiplicity of worlds created also disprove the idea that theCreator could have rested during any set period of time. Some zealous skeptics, to counteract the belief in the sanctity of theSabbath, have asserted that mind can never rest, and that as _God_ is aspirit, rest to him is impossible. Even granting this hypothesis, history and research have proven thewisdom and utility of the Jewish Sabbath, as established by the greatlawgiver, Moses. The Jews at that time were an active, restless, laboring people. Theirindustry had enriched Egypt, and having escaped from her oppressivebondage, they were liable, in their efforts to found a nation of theirown, to carry their habits of industry to excess. Probably they overworked their slaves, their cattle, themselves, and the"stranger within their gates. " Their wise lawgiver, under the directinfluence of spiritual guides, promulgated this law: "Six days shalt thoulabor and do all thy work, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord; init thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy man-servant, thymaid-servant, thy cattle, nor the stranger within thy gates. " And this commandment has been handed down from the Jewish to theChristian nations. With the early Jews it was a day of recreation, ofdancing, and of song. The early Christians employed the day at first insocial intercourse, afterwards it became a day of sacred ordinance; and, as copies of the Scriptures were rare, they met on that day to hear themread, and in their simple faith would select passages and apply them totheir own necessities. When the Christian religion invaded Pagan countries and becameestablished, the days which had formerly been appropriated to feastingand sacrificing to the gods and goddesses became the fast-days of theRomish Church. When Protestantism arose, she swept off from her calendar thesefast-days, and returned to the simplicity of the Jewish Sabbath. Puritanism followed and gave a literal meaning to the text, "Thou shaltdo no work. " Under her reign, all labor was suspended on the seventh day. A strict watch was set upon the actions of the individual: householdduties were neglected: fires were not lighted or food cooked. The greatworld of activity stood still. Rest so severe embittered men's judgment, and the Sabbath became a dayfor prying into the derelictions of each other. A rigid observance wasplaced upon men's actions, and stringent laws were made to punish theoffender against this enforced rest. So tyrannous and exacting did the Puritan observers of the Sabbathbecome, that their rigid formulas created a rebellion in the minds of thesucceeding generation, and so great has been the reaction, that in ourday it has become a common assertion that "all days are alike, " and thesteam-car and the horse-car, the coach, and the hack, ply their busywheels through the streets of our large cities, and the church-goerstravel thereon to their different sanctuaries. "All days are alike to God, " says the reformer; "why should we observethe Sabbath more than any other day?" I will tell you why: aconcentration of the spiritual nature of men throughout Christendomnecessarily creates a magnetic atmosphere through which spiritual beingscan approach. The sincere and devout worshippers in every landcongregating in churches upon one day, send forth waves of magnetic lightwhich extend into the world of spirits. The music and the prayers areborne upward on this current, and great batteries are thereby formed thatcannot but affect the souls in Paradise. They respond to the music andthe prayers, and worshippers in the churches feel their magneticinfluences. Those who are sincere in their religious faith say that theyfeel "heaven opened to them. " Even those who attend church from fashion, or for the purpose of meeting their friends and neighbors, are therebrought in contact with spiritual influences which could reach them in noother way. The experience I have gained since my entrance into my spiritual home hasgiven me more liberal ideas of the uses of the Sabbath, and taught methat to the working man it is a necessary day of recreation. But I liftmy voice against its becoming one of beer-drinking and boisterous sports. The workman who is confined to the bench or the workshop, in the midst ofa crowded city, for six days of the week, will certainly be benefited byseeking the green fields and healthful influences of the country; but onreaching that desirable Eden, let means be provided for his instruction;so, while sitting under the leafy trees, his mind may be benefited, andhis bodily organism rested, rather than injured by feasting and riotingin the public gardens and parks. Field preaching should become a regular institution of the Sabbath; anddiscourses instructing the mind in morals and sciences should be given inthe tent, or under trees, in parks and woods set apart for that purpose. Then would, the object of the Sabbath be attained. As I have said, thespiritual nature is more open to the reception of truth on that day. The state of sleepiness, which is a well-known attendant on the Sabbath, is indicative of the magnetic influence; and those who discard the day, and secretly pursue their active employments, would do well to heed theremarks I have made. Before I close, I wish to make some observations upon the present styleof preaching as compared with the sermonizing of my day. When I occupiedthe pulpit, the doctrines of election and predestination were theprincipal themes that engaged the attention of ministers. Free will and coerced will were questions which puzzled the theologian. Looking upon the Bible as an inspired book, the most careless sentencetherein expressed became a word of weighty import. We engaged the mindsof our hearers with abstract questionings and reasonings. But we nevercould make the doctrine of predestination accord with that of free will. Nor could we clearly account for the presence of evil, while we believedthe Creator to be all wise, all powerful, and cognizant of the end fromthe beginning. Yet these were the topics which the minister of my daydiscussed and endeavored to make clear to the comprehension of hishearers. We did not treat of every-day life; the pulpit we considered toosacred for such topics. Religion with the masses became an abstract stateof holiness. Men assumed long faces and sober bearings upon the seventhday; but their every-day life was something different, which the ministerand his ministering did not reach. But the pulpits of to-day are platforms of another kind. They havealtered, even as their shape has altered. Their outward constructioncorresponds to their teachings. In my day the pulpit was narrow andstraight, and was lifted high above the people. But at the present day astep only separates it from the congregation. It is broad, low, and open. The teachings received from it correspond with its change of form. Theministers of to-day are one with their flock. Their discourses arepractical, relating to every-day affairs. They no more discuss thequestions of Satan, of angels, and archangels, nor arouse an undefinedfear by descanting on the mysterious prophecies of Daniel: they talk toyou like _human beings. _ I remember being somewhat shocked while listening to sermons preached bymy son, H. W. Beecher. I recall sitting near his pulpit, and longing toget up and tell the congregation my views of texts and matters of whichhe was discoursing. I thought then it was because the race was goingbackward--becoming less intellectual--that men should be content tolisten to sermons that contained so little theology. But experience inspirit life has caused me to change my opinion. I now see that Beecher, Spurgeon, and a vast host of others, are teachinghuman souls the great truths which will fit them for life hereafter. Ihave done now with endeavoring to solve improbable problems, and withsimple faith in man's efforts for his own progression, I give mytestimony as to the uses of the Sabbath, and the advantages of religionin advancing their progress, and in preparing the spirit for its futurehome. PROFESSOR GEORGE BUSH. _LIFE AND MARRIAGE IN THE SPIRIT WORLD_. The two worlds--the spiritual and the material--are like twin sisterswhom I have seen, so similar that their acquaintances could notdistinguish between them, and yet so dissimilar that an intimate friendwould wonder why one should ever be mistaken for the other. I propose to give a short account of the society and conditions of lifein the spiritual spheres. The Swedenborgian Society of which I was a member while on earth, continues to exist as a body in the spirit world, though Swedenborg, thegreat seer and founder of that sect, is not a leader among them. He hashis country seat in Swedenborgia, a beautiful and intellectual settlementnamed after him, where he retires within himself, and directs his greatmind in developing his science of correspondences, which he proposes toarrange so systematically that it will become a part of the teachings ofearth's children. It was never his design to become the leader of a sect, but his desirewas simply to reveal like a telescope that which was unknown. He isdeeply interested in the political condition of Sweden, Norway, andGermany, and exerts his vast intellect towards emancipating the minds ofthose nations from the bondage of church and state. It is curious to witness with what fidelity Swedenborg described in manyinstances the condition of the soul after death; and also to perceive inother instances how utterly he misinterpreted the visions presented. Such discrepancies are incidental to all clairvoyant states; and this isnot surprising, for it is incidental to humanity. Man sees clearly when the prejudices of education and the influence ofhis loves do not pervert his vision. What political economist, strongly biased in favor of one mode ofgovernment, can contemplate dispassionately an opposing form? The theological belief which Swedenborg imbibed in his early youth, tinctured his description of the heavens and hells of the spirit world, causing him to represent the soul as reaching a period in its love ofevil when it cannot retrace its steps. The hells of the spirit aresimilar to the hells of earth, being like them the result of theignorance and perverted loves of animal man. What hell more fearful than the hell of licentiousness? Yet it is merelythe animal side of the heaven of love. Swedenborg discovered hells in spiritual existence, where the inmateslived lives of prostitution. His statement concerning such hells is true. Individuals who have lived such lives upon earth cannot suddenly betransformed. Their habits become _spiritual diseases_ with them. Now, as to marriage, the mere form does not make the wife different fromthe courtezan, but her love exalts her above that condition. If she beunited to a man who is repulsive to her nature, and yet submits to hisembraces for the considerations of family, or home, or public opinion, she is on the same plane with the courtezan. It is a proposition generally believed, that there is a soul-mate forevery human being, and it is usually supposed that in the spirit worldthose mates are found, and that those united there live togetherinseparably. But as there exists in the spirit world the same states, thesame variety of progressive development among men and women as in thisworld, so unions are formed there in which one soul develops beyond thecapacity of the other, and in such cases changes must ensue. I will now speak of marriages more in detail. In the summer land the union of the man with the woman occurs from verysimilar causes to those which bring about like unions upon earth--the manis drawn to the woman and the woman to the man through the operation of anatural law. If instinct were not so impaired by the cultivation of theexternal faculties, there would arise but little difficulty--on earth inselecting partners adapted to each other. Considerations of wealth andposition are permitted to influence your selections rather than the ideaof congeniality and adaptability. In spirit life this method is reversed, and the marriages formed thereare productive of greater happiness than those among men in the firstcondition of life. But as I have stated, marriage in the spirit world is not an indissolublebond. Some minds associate together in harmony and expand in the samedirection, and with these the union is permanent. I have seen such in thespirit world, --beautiful and noble souls intertwined and aspiringtogether. There be others whose states and conditions after a time become changed. Such seek new companions, and this is permitted without discredit to theindividuals. Many forms of marriage ceremonies are extant in the different societiesand countries. Garlands of flowers and symphonies of divine music arebestowed upon the bride and groom. Bright bands of spirits from thecelestial heavens attend them, for they represent in their love and intheir wedded joy the harmonies of nature! While they love, sin, sorrow, darkness, and all evils shrink from sight. From these spiritual marriages are born soul attributes. Human beings arenever generated in the second condition; they need what is known as thematerial world for their nurture and growth; and yet I understand that insome of the more refined spiritual existences births have occurred. Thebeings born there are indigenous--not generated by earth parents, butoffspring of those refined conditions. I know not of this as a fact; yet if we take the old Jewish Bible as ahistory, we find an analogous statement there in the assertion thatChrist was born of God in a spiritual state of existence previous toentering this earth plane. Spirit soils and atmosphere interblend and produce trees, shrubs, flowers, and the cereals, but the human being, after the second birth, ceases to reproduce his species. His children are thoughts born of thespirit. After birth succeeds death. The soul passes through many stagesof existence in the process of refinement. The next state of existence tothe material, I term the spiritual, and the one beyond that thecelestial, and beyond that the seraphic. In the next state, to which I in common with all men who have not passedsome hundreds of years in the spirit world belong, individuals passthrough a condition analogous to death upon the earth. Spiritual bodies are subject to a process of refinement and decay; andthe soul, as the winged butterfly to which it is likened, throws off itscerement and assumes a new form. But with us the transmigration is not veiled in darkness and mystery aswith you. We can watch the transformation; we can see the spirit emergefrom its old casement more ethereal than ourselves, but still visible;and we can hold communion with it. So slight is this change with us that your mediums seldom touch upon thefact. Spirit is inseparable from matter, and can give neither form norexpression without it. The Great Invisible Creator of the Universe must have thought of trees, flowers, beasts, birds, fish, and the wonderful exhibitions of formthrough the vast realm of matter, previous to their existence. But he had to give them shape in matter--perishable but re-creativematter; and if the Master-mind of all cannot express his thoughtotherwise than with this ever changing, yet ever reconstructing thingcalled matter, how can the human soul manifest but through aspiritualized condition of matter, ever changing yet ever re-creating andrefining, mounting higher and higher, from the earthly to the spiritual, from the spiritual-to the celestial, on--on--till finally reachesDeity--himself! JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH _ACTING_. All great actors are media for spirit influx. It would be a marvelloussight if the curtain which hangs between the spirit world and the stagewere uplifted, and the invisible drama which is being enacted exposed toview. Then would you behold "the airy spirits" to whom Shakspeare sotruthfully alludes, moving like comets in gorgeous light around theinspired actor! Inspiration is _motion, acceleration, intensity_; it has no part orparcel with lethargy. I recall my past experience, portions of which I review with regret. Inendeavoring to obtain this energy, this motion, this acceleration, I wasobliged in my ignorance to resort to artificial means. A knowledge of thelaws of spirit life would have enabled me to have avoided this mistake;but that knowledge I did not possess. The actor of the present day is blessed with the knowledge that he hasmerely to throw himself into the magnetic state, and become _en rapport_with spiritual conditions, to find himself inspired--inflated with thedivine magnetic current which flows from the spirit world to theinhabitants of earth. If a player desires to represent a certaincharacter, --let it be the subtle, fiend-like Richard III. Or the craftyRichelieu, --the customary mode of studying such characters is to endeavorto imagine one's self to be the person. That is the first step towardsmediumship; for it is one degree from the natural, towards the superiorstate. Usually, through ignorance, the student proceeds no further thanthis point; and the spirit assistants can only partially aid him. But anactor possessing the knowledge of placing himself _en rapport_ with thesecharacters, whether traditional or real, is immediately cut loose fromhis surroundings and becomes the Richard or Richelieu whom he wouldpersonate. From the brain of every spirit medium ascends a blazing sun, which burnsthe brighter when the magnetic relations between it and the spirit worldare most perfect. This blazing light, this radiant effulgence, isperceived instinctively, though not knowingly, by every individual wholistens to a discourse from a "trance medium. " So from the brain of theactor this glorious light throws out its rays into the assembly, and whenhe becomes fully inspired, its magnetic influence is felt withoverpowering vividness; and the result is, the audience themselves areset in motion, and from pit to gallery you hear vociferous applause. There are actors who are good, and who acquire fame, who have never feltthis divine afilatus. The intellect of the audience appreciates them fortheir declamation, for the art and artifice which they manifest; but thehumblest and most illiterate of that assembly know well that this studiedeloquence does not fire the brain. But it will not do to trust blindly to spirit control; a knowledge andconstant study of human nature is necessary. It is a well-known fact that a person steadily looking at one point willinfluence twenty others to look at that point also, and to imagine theysee some object before them. Understanding this principle, you may workupon each attribute in the minds of your audience. If fear is to bearoused, do as your neighbor does as he hastily enters your house aftermeeting with a fearful calamity. You become excited before even hearingthe evil which has befallen him. Every faculty can be acted upon in thesame manner--grief and joy alike. Of the ventriloquial powers of the human voice, many speakers areignorant. The tyro on the stage wishing to make the remotest individualin his audience hear, bawls at the top of his lungs. He is unaware thatthe organs of the human voice are a kind of electrical machine, governedby the will-power, and that the actor has merely to throw his will anddirect his mind to a given point, for his voice to reach that point andproduce a far more startling effect than the loudest blast that any pairof lungs could bring forth. Thus the lowest whisper can be made to tellat the farthest corner of the theatre. But perhaps I have said enough of the methods best adapted to producerepresentations of character on the stage. The question may arise in themind of the reader, whether there is any opportunity of exercising thetalent of acting in the spirit world, supposing that talent to have beencultivated in this. In the remotest ages, and among the most uncultivated nations, as well asamong the most highly civilized, the power of representing human passionsand events has been exercised instinctively, showing this power to be asmuch a portion of the soul's attributes as the gift of thought or offancy. If one belongs to the immortal condition, the other does also. One of the chief enjoyments which the all-wise Creator has madeattainable to the inhabitants of the starry heavens is that of dramaticrepresentations of life, character, and events, transpiring in thecountless worlds that wheel through space. The field of the actor for depicting the truths of human nature in theworld of spirits is vast and unconfined! Eloquence is appreciated on earth, but that appreciation is weak andtasteless compared with the estimation of that "gift of the gods" by theinhabitants of the summer land. Some blind, short-sighted investigators tell you there is no speech amongus; they would lead you to imagine that we inhabit a world blank and voidof sound; that stillness more unbroken than the grave pervades ourmysterious realm. Conjure up the picture in your fancy, reader--the soul shrinks back fromsuch a state! The spirit world is _all_ voice. Never have I heard notesclearer, louder, deeper, than resound through the electric air thatsurrounds my home. The gift of speaking, and of representing individualities separate fromyour own identity, is a spiritual gift decidedly; and with us theatresand amphitheatres are as numerous as churches are with you. I will leavethe description of these structures for the ready pen and speech of ourfriend Burton. JOHN WESLEY. "_THE DIVISION OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, INTO SEVERAL BODIES, AND ITSRE-ORGANIZATION INTO ONE GENERAL BODY. "_ I will take for my text this sentiment from the New Testament: "I willdraw all men unto me, and there shall be one church and one people. " The church which was organized by our Lord[A] Jesus Christ was designedto establish a feeling of brotherhood between separate and distinctclasses of people, and to abolish the system of castes, which was theprevailing sin of the eastern nations. [Footnote A: The word "Lord" is used in the sense of an earthly lord whocares for his people. ] Christ made no distinction between the Sadducee and the Pharisee, thepublican and the saint, the high priest of the temple and the lowliest ofhis followers. He placed the affections above the intellect, truth andsincerity above wealth and worldly position. The church which he originated for many years followed in his footsteps. But as it increased in numbers it accumulated wealth, and with wealthcame power, and from that power issued discord and separation. Thus, the church divided and subdivided, and split into a thousandpieces, formed new interests, created new beliefs, and sowed dissensionand envy with a free hand. Such has been the condition of the church for the past ten or twelvecenturies. Meanwhile, in the Heaven of Heavens, has arisen a powerfulmovement directed towards restoring it to its original state of purityand simplicity. This great movement, like a mighty river seeking itsoutlet, has rushed on, diverging at several points, and at length foundthe reservoir it sought in what is termed _Spiritualism_. The spiritualistic movement opened the gates for the expression ofskepticism, which the formalism, the tyranny, bigotry, and externalism ofthe Church awakened in the minds of the people of every enlightenedChristian nation; and the result has been a criticism so pungent, and anexamination so thorough and direct, into the deformities of the Church, that she has been obliged to contemplate her own condition and therottenness of her position, until she fairly trembles at the view of herdisjointed parts. On every hand now, at the present moment, efforts are being made toconsolidate--to rejoin. On one side you behold the Protestant EpiscopalChurch offering to unite with the Methodists, from whom, since my day, they have stood aloof, as an illegal and fanatical people whom they couldnot fellowship. On the other side, you see them stretching to the Roman Church, forming abrotherly compact of forms and ceremonies with Papacy. One branch of the Presbyterian Church wears the robes of the RomanChurch, and thus that is linked to Catholicism. All these denominations which have stood apart so long, whose theologyhas been so antagonistic, are now merging into one Church. In the face of the great danger which Spiritualism or Liberalism hasbrought to their sight, they endeavor to return to their first estate, but in returning they lose their identity. This result is sure, though unperceived by them. One by one, they will give up this point of difference and that point ofdifference, this creed and that creed, for the sake of harmony. Thisvestment they lay aside, and that form, until they will all be swallowedup, and neither Methodists nor Calvinists, Baptists nor Lutherans, Armenians, Jews, nor Gentiles, will remain. Then the primitive Church ofChrist will be revived again upon earth, simple and unostentatious; itscreed will be the creed of Jesus Christ: "The brotherhood of man, and the love of God for his children. " This creed, you perceive, embraces the whole of the spiritualistic faith, which is causing these great changes throughout the Church of Christ onearth. * * * * * At this point it will not be inappropriate to make some allusion to themysterious sounds which occurred in my house in Lincolnshire, England, atintervals within the space of three or more years during my earthlyministrations. These mysterious sounds, even in that day, were supposed to have beencaused by spirit agency. I have ascertained that that supposition wascorrect; and my attention has since been directed to the fact in Churchhistory, that every separation from the Church body which has originatedin a desire to return to the simplicity and purity of the primitivefollowers of Jesus, has been attended by similar mysteriousdemonstrations. Luther and Mclancthon, Knox and Calvin, and the earnest dissenters andreformers of every age, have been haunted in like manner. I say haunted, for they generally have misunderstood the aim of these spiritualvisitants. [A] It has devolved upon the scientific researches and theskeptical but investigating mind of the nineteenth century to form aprocess by which the spirit of the departed can communicate with thedwellers in Time. [Footnote A: The spirit of Rev. Dr. John M. Krebbs, of New York, statesthrough this clairvoyant that the cause of his mental aberration while onearth was a misinterpretation by him of a spiritual vision which he waspermitted to receive. Thus misunderstanding the aim of his spiritualvisitants, he became haunted with a fallacy which ultimated in his death. ED. ] To me this science was unknown. Had I been acquainted with the facts withwhich I am now familiar, I might have established a more liberal Church, but as it was, this daily association with an unseen spiritual presenceenlarged my views of the condition attending the soul after death, andcaused me to give utterance to thoughts which happily have aided inpreparing the world for the Universal Church which ere long will lift itstowering dome toward Heaven. N. P. WILLIS. _A SPIRIT REVISITING EARTH_. (A FRAGMENT. ) How wondrous IThrough illimitable space, where myriad sunsAnd systems roll their mighty orbs, The spirit moves like some strange wingless bird, Darting through space with rapid flightUntil he nears his native home, The earth. His home no longer;He has become the denizen of a worldMore rare and beautiful than earth. With quickening pulse and grand emotionHe gazes down upon the globe, Whose habitations he has left forever!Cities with their palaces and towers, Surging seas, leafy forests, and fields of grain, The towering mountain and the massyIcebergs of the Polar sea sweep pastHis sight like fading visions. ALLAN CUNNINGHAM. _ALONE_. Far away from earthly care, Free as a bird, I soar through air, And think of thee in thy sad, lonely home, Watching and waiting for thy love to come. Dost thou hear me call thee, Sweet! Sweet!Many the years till we shall meet. My spirit home is bright and fairWith flowers and birds and wonders rare. Seraphic the faces that on me smile, But the one I love is on earth the while, Will she hear me calling, Sweet! Sweet!Many the years till we shall meet. Many the years I'll watch and waitTill I see thee at the golden gate, Then in my arms will I bear thee awayTo my jewelled home where sunbeams play. Then together we'll sing, Sweet! Sweet!Well worth the waiting thus to meet. BARON VON HUMBOLDT. _THE EARTHQUAKE_. This mysterious and awful visitant, which convulses the earth apparentlywithout warning, is, however, like all the manifestations of nature, preceded by signs which the observing and understanding eye can perceiveand calculate upon as unerringly as the astronomer can determine theapproach of a comet. The inhabitable earth is merely a shell or crust over the great mass ofuninhabitable matter. The world beneath the earth's surface is asdiversified as the world above. It has its mountains, its streams, itsplains, its caverns, and its internal volcanoes. As fearful storms, accompanied by lightning and rumbling thunder, sweepover the earth's surface, so beneath the crust occur electric storms, accompanied with terrific combustions of gases, which in their efforts toescape convulse the outer earth, and in many cases rend the shellasunder. The earthquake which has recently (August 13, 14, 15, and 16, 1868)shaken the Pacific coast was occasioned by the discharge of the pent-upgases beneath, and also in part by the heated condition of the outersurface. The "tidal phenomenon, " as it is called, is the effect of the electricalcondition of the earth beneath. The chemical components of the sea form asensitive magnetic body, which is subject to attraction and repulsion, and as the magnetic current extended for several thousands of miles, andwas caused by a collision of negative and positive forces, the sea wasattracted and repulsed along the whole line of the internal commotion bythe action of these forces. The northern portion of this globe has in times past suffered fromconvulsions similar to those which now visit the tropical climates. The fearful privations and heart-rending calamities which visited theearlier inhabitants of the earth are only known to the student of thecosmos of nature after he has attained the second birth. The forces within and around the earth are now in comparativesubjugation, but in the earlier periods of its existence, while still itwas in the process of changing from a state adapted to a lower conditionof animal life to one fitted to a higher state of animal and intellectualexistence, the elements were in a frequent state of rupture and disorder. No mortal pen can depict the scene which I recently witnessed on theoccurrence of the earthquake on the Pacific coast. Forty thousand soulsarising amid smoke and blackened clouds of flying stones and upheavingearth, with outstretched arms, and faces strained with horror, emergingsuddenly from their old bodies into their spirit-forms--looking awestruckinto each other's faces; a vast swarm clinging together almost ashelplessly as young bees to their hive--suddenly cut off from theiroccupations and their pleasures, their homes, and their familiar affairsof earth! But what they experienced, proud and noble cities of the past haveexperienced likewise. Grace and ornament, art and grandeur, beauty, love, and manly strength have been swept away time and again by the bursting ofthe treacherous doors that lead into the heart of the earth! Change marks the footsteps of the Creator. The solid mountain, the firm, unyielding earth, which to the unthinking mind seem durable and eternalin their strength, like mankind carry within themselves the seeds oftheir own dissolution. Yet the day will come when man, by the aid of science, will, throughthese premonitory symptoms, foresee the coming events, even as the wisephysician can discern the time when his patient's soul will leave itsbody. Nature misunderstood is a fearful mystery; but understood, she is asimple and beautiful piece of mechanism; and the earthquake may not bemore disastrous than the flood or the avalanche when science andexperience have taught men to avoid the localities of danger, and towatch the hour of its approach, that they may flee before it. Nature is never abrupt in her actions. She heralds her intentions longbefore she enacts them, but as it requires the quick ear of thesavage--the child of nature--to detect the far-off prey, so it requiresthe student of nature to discover the distant tread of the earthquake. SIR DAVID BREWSTER _NATURALNESS OF SPIRIT LIFE_. The human mind is subject to false and specious reasoning, and time aftertime opinions which have been held and argued upon with seeming logicalacumen, have, by further developments and discoveries, been provenfallacious. And yet of so elastic a nature is the mind of man that he isnot crushed nor discouraged by his mistakes, but immediately commences tobuild new theories; but as he establishes them by specialties instead ofgeneralities, he is again defeated. The European mind has adopted a certain line of thought respecting thefuture state of existence, which it substantiates by narrow reasoningsand isolated facts. Of the future we can only judge by analogy of the past with the present. Nature ever shadows forth her new developments upon the old. The many periods or stages through which the earth has passed in reachingher present state of refinement, have been stamped one upon the other sothat the Geologist can determine definitely what would be the result of acertain period from the characteristics of the foregoing. Now it is educible: if the Creator of the race of men who inhabit theterrestrial globe had intended for them a future state or destinationdiffering in every respect from their present one, he would have preparedtheir minds for different pursuits, and ordained them for otheroccupations than those they follow to the very grave. Take man in his most natural condition--examine those nations that aremost ancient, and unmixed with other races--and you will perceive thattheir ideas of a future state were in accordance with the life they wereliving on earth. The Asiatic race in burying its dead prepares the favorite food of thedeceased, the fragrant tea, and the money so useful on earth. Also slipsof paper on which messages are written to departed friends are lighted atthese burial ceremonies, and reduced to ashes, that the spirit of thetext may be transmitted to their friends in the world of souls. In these "Pagan rites, " as they are termed, we discern the workings of anintuitive belief that the spirit of man still retains the sensations, attributes, and desires which have accompanied it through life. The ancient Greeks and Romans held similar opinions, likewise theAfricans, Hindoos, and the Indians of North and South America. By far the largest portion of mankind believe in a _natural state_hereafter, corresponding to their earth existence, but the Europeannations which are supposed to be advanced in science, art, andphilosophical attainments beyond all the nations of the earth, have, intheir speculations and in their efforts to penetrate the mysteries of theworld of spirits, lost sight, of the natural and entered thesupernatural, where they are surrounded by fogs, clouds, and_ignes-fatui. _ Now if these people are told that the spirit world is divided into statesand continents, cities and towns, as is their own world (though underspirit appellations), they would scoff at the statement. But as mankind has a natural love of locality, and as congenial mindswill select similar locations, adapted to their ideas of beauty andcomfort, the result is that spirit inhabitants unite and form cities andtowns as on earth. Thus combining, they must have some points of interestto occupy their minds, and as they still possess their power ofconstruction and ingenuity, their love of beautiful forms and ofarchitecture, they prefer not to live in the open air and on the bareground (as they can certainly do), but choose rather to employ theirvarious faculties in building cities and habitations in accordance withtheir tastes and ideas of convenience. Once grant that man is provided with a spiritual body after he emergesfrom his original one--accept the hypothesis that this body must possessform and sensation, and with sensation, eyes, ears, mouth, taste, andmotion--then you must provide means for that body to exist. In providingthese means you must place him upon a soil capable of producingvegetation, where his intelligence may compound the various articlesadapted to his use. Some individuals enter the spirit world deformed, some feeble inintellect, some incapable of constructing or arranging. All these musthave provision made for them; their wants must be supplied. The effort tosupply want or demand produces a system of exchange or barter. Many of the inhabitants of the spirit world are both good and kind. Theyare spiritualized in their natures, and are influenced by a desire toassist those who are needy. Nature, or God, has ordained that existence should depend upon effort;that a state of inactivity should produce dissolution; and much the samemeans are taken there to enforce activity as in the material world. True, some men possess natural gifts, by which knowledge is acquiredwithout labor. The power of seeing before the demonstration belongs toall humanity. It is the negative form of knowledge; but combined withthat power is the positive, which compels man to desire a visiblerepresentation or demonstration of the knowledge he has received byintuition. The astronomer thus, before he constructs his telescope, perceivesintuitively the very stars which his telescope proves as existing, wherenone are visible to the eye. It was this active-positive principle, that made him construct theinstrument; and in the spirit world, as on earth, that active-positiveprinciple acts in conjunction with the negative-intuitive one, inimpelling him to exertion, and forcing him to acquire knowledge in everydepartment of science, art, philosophy and religion. As well expect thisearth to rest in her revolution and still retain her place in the solarsystem, as to suppose that the spirit of man can lose its activity andsink to rest eternal. Man is not only active in constructing and exploring in the spirit world, but he is also engaged in inventions. Most of the discoveries that havelessened manual labor and made gross matter subservient to man's useoriginated in the land of spirits. The inventor finds full field for histalents in the superior state. Man naturally delights in knowledge, and the individual who knows how toconstruct a steam locomotive finds a thrill of satisfaction in thepossession of that ability. So does he who can arrange and construct anypiece of mechanism, any domestic tool. That feeling of gratification atthe accomplishment of his plans accompanies man to the spirit life. All persons do not follow the same pursuits in which they were engaged onearth, yet they adopt a kindred and congenial employment. The clergymanthinks his work done when he leaves the earth; but in the next state, also, he will find beings who need to have their spiritual and moralnatures instructed--men who desire to be led--who cannot think forthemselves, but lean upon the thoughts and inferences of others. So with almost every pursuit--there is opportunity to exercise it in theworld of spirits. The painter finds nobler themes for his pencil, moreangelic faces for his canvas; and the desire to reproduce them as theyappear is as intense there as it is here. Although a spirit can impresshis form in color and raiment upon the sensitive plate in the spiritworld, and the image remains fixed and permanent (for the photographicart is essentially spiritual in its origin), that result though definite, is as unsatisfactory to some minds in the spirit world as it is in thenatural. And thus, while persons differ in their desires and perceptions, there will be the same varied modes of expressing thought in the superiorlife as in this. The question is often asked, "Why should immortals walk, when they canmove with greater velocity than light?" In return I would inquire, "Why, when men can travel by the steam-engine, do they prefer the slow movements of the horse?" Again, it is asked, "Why, if spirits can converse by thought-language--ifthey can express with their eyes, or impress magnetically their wishes, or the words they desire to utter--why should they employ their vocalorgans?" But I rejoin that the deaf and dumb on earth converse by signs with greatcelerity, yet would gladly express their thoughts with voice also. Many trancendentalists and idealists fancy that the inhabitants of thespirit world do not converse audibly; yet they would be greatly shockedif told that in that world there reigned one vast silence; that sound wasunknown; and yet such a condition would exist, if their mode of reasoningwere correct. No unbiased person would suppose for a moment, that song was unheard inthis land of the immortals; that the voices of the spirit maidens neverburst forth into melody; and that they could not give utterance to theirfeelings and sentiments, in the warbling notes of music! Spirits can read each other's thoughts, although possessing a universalspoken language, and also retaining in many sections the native dialectthey used on earth. Though the spirit world is a world of marvels and miracles, and thingsunutterable, which the tongue cannot express, yet it is a world similarto the natural one; a glorified body of the old earth. The soul visiting that new country will not feel itself an utter strangeron its shore, but will find that it can assimilate with the thoughts andfeelings of the residents of that land, and the knowledge and experiencewhich it developed on earth will be useful to it there. If the teachers on your planet, and those who instruct concerning thecondition of the soul after death, would employ the same reason andintelligence that they exercise in investigating any other obscuresubjects--either chemistry, astronomy, or natural philosophy, --they wouldarrive at more truthful data respecting the spirit globe which ultimatelythey are all destined to inhabit. H. T. BUCKLE. _THE MORMONS_. Looking upon the world, the voyager through space discerns vast tracts ofland, uninhabited barren wastes, and immense forests echoing only thetread of the wild beast and the cries of birds of prey. It becomes the duty of the political economist to reclaim these lands andplace them in the hands of civilization. How is this to be done? Shall it be by following in the beaten track ofcustom? No: it can only be accomplished by the zeal of the enthusiast. Joe Smith was an inspired man; even as Columbus was he inspired. Throughhis agency a colony was started near the dismal Salt Lake. Through hisagency, and by the aid of his apostles or followers, the hardy men andwomen from the overcrowded population of Europe, cramped by man, andpriest-ridden, have been brought across the ocean into republicanAmerica. They have been placed in this seemingly unpropitious Salt Lakecountry. There they have founded a city; they have erected factories andmills. The steam engine, the plow, and the sewing machine have aidedthem; and now, in place of a company of barbarous peasants, ignorant andbenighted, and steeped in poverty, you find them transformed intoenergetic, intelligent citizens, surrounded with comforts and luxuries. And all this has been brought about by a religious enthusiast; by anenthusiast whose religion is believed to be inferior to the religion ofProtestants. Imagine for a moment what result would ensue from a movement of this kindset on foot by the followers of the Protestant religion as it is taughtby the churches of the present day. No theatres or places of amusementwould add gayety to the sombre city. The dance and the sound of mirthwould be hushed. The inhabitants would walk ever in solemn fear of theawful future that might await them; they would despise their physicalframes, crucify their passions, and trample under foot the most divineattributes of their nature. But the religion of the Mormons is a natural religion; it is primitive. They people the world even as God peopled it in the time of Abraham andIsaac. They enrich the state by their tithes. They bring in their corn, theirwine, and their fruits, as offerings, and the state pays them back byimproving their roads and building houses for instruction and pleasurefor them. Their domestic system, which has been so much despised and ridiculed, does not greatly differ from the custom of the civilized world. Such asare wives with them become with you the neglected women of the town. Whatwith you is considered dishonorable, with them becomes honorable. The man of wealth in Utah does not concentrate his riches on a fewrelatives; he distributes it among his many wives and numerous children. In all times, nations which have grown rapidly and have been developed inarts and sciences have been peopled in the same manner. The femaleelement introduces into a community taste, ornament, and grace. Look atCalifornia previous to the emigration of women to that land! Misrule andmisery reigned. It is a law of nature that men and women should beunited. In the present form of civilization, a large proportion of womenare compelled to remain single, and their usefulness to community andhumanity is dissipated. The Mormon system eradicates this evil. The progress of civilization points to a time when a magnetic relationshall be established between all the inhabitants of earth; when the globeshall form one vast circle of mind as it does now of matter. At presentthe chain is broken; the intermediate spaces are not filled up bypopulation. The spirit world is using all its skill to bring about thismagnetic connection, but till this is complete the magnetic relationbetween the spirit world and earth cannot be perfect. Wise intelligences in the world of spirits have originated and guided theMormon movement, and these intelligences will develop new communitiesunder similar auspices. The legislators of the land, the Napoleons of theday, would do well to investigate the policy of the leaders of Utah. The crimes common in your large cities are not known among the Mormons. They live on friendly terms with the red men of the plains, and are justin their dealings. Each citizen is taught that the public welfare is his own welfare. Inyour own large towns the citizens shirk public duties; but in Utah thereis a oneness of feeling, which it would be well for those who considerthemselves superior in the scale of civilization to imitate. W. E. BURTON. _DRAMA IN SPIRIT LIFE_. "Honor pricks me on. Yea; but how if honor pricks me off when I come on?How then? Can honor set-to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away thegrief of a wound? No. Honor hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What ishonor? A word. What is that word, honor? Air. A trim reckoning! Who hathit? He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. Is it insensible, then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with theliving? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. " What is honor? A mere word. What is Heaven? A word--a phantasy. Avaporish place, too delicate and subtle for such fun-loving, corpulentspecimens of the Creator's wisdom as old Jack Falstaff. O rare Jack Falstaff! He was a child of nature, and to my thinking, hishomely phrases displayed more intuitive knowledge of the laws of naturethan the finest transcendental imaginings ever discovered. We shock the feelings of a thousand playwrights and play-goers byasserting that in this impalpable land of souls we are guilty ofencouraging the playhouse! But so it is; we cannot live on "honors;" thefame and glory which has been awarded to us by our fellow-men on earth islike chaff to us. It was with hardly an emotion of surprise that I beheld theatres in thespirit land, though I have seen many who, having been fed on the falsesystem of religion, and pampered on glittering imaginings, start backwith alarm on beholding the magnificent buildings we have erected to thedrama, thinking, that by some strange turning, they had entered throughthe wrong gate. The drama with us is a source of both enjoyment and instruction. Thehistory of past ages in the spirit world is enacted with thrillinginterest, and each new spirit from earth has an opportunity thus tobecome acquainted with the transactions of the past in the land ofspirits. The gay and brilliant theatre of which I have been induced to take themanagement, is original in its structure, and of a light and beautifulstyle of architecture. The balconies are suspended and movable. Outsidethe building, and overlooking a placid sheet of water, are galleriesconnected with and corresponding to those within, where persons whodesire may pass out during intermission, and regale themselves with thefresh fruit and the fine prospect. The partitions are constructed of light frames with ornamented pillars, covered with a fabric resembling parchment. As the climate is warm, thepartitions on the outside of the gallery are merely trellis-screens, andthe whole building is open in structure and perfectly ventilated. The plays which are enacted are generally composed by persons in thespiritual condition. We have many good farces; and an unending source ofmaterial for amusing plays is found in the relationship between thespirit world and earth, and the eccentric conditions growing out of thatrelationship. For instance, there is a laughable comedy being enacted atmy theatre, depicting the adventures of a pious merchant, who, after thetoils and cares of life, becomes a resident of the spirit world. The graces and beauties of the angelic women whom he meets on every sideenamour him; he forgets his past life, forgets the wife who has ruled himon earth, and in a moment of ecstasy chooses another mate. While in the enjoyment of his bliss, and surrounded by bands ofimmortals, the news runs through the electric wire that his earth-wife isdeceased, and has come in search of him. The consternation and fear ofthe poor man furnishes ample occasion for amusement, hilarity, andfellow-sympathy. Our tragedies are cast in a higher mould; many of them are more sublimethan those of earth, representing the catastrophes of worlds. We alsohave dramas which awaken the affections, representing the condition ofthose from earth who are neglected, or who, in consequence of a longcareer of vice and misery, cannot be approached by friends. These brief hints will give a slight idea of the source and character ofour dramatic representations. Some men are born actors, as others are born painters, poets orpreachers; and in the spirit world they can no more lay aside thosepowers which have become a part of them, than they can lay aside thegifts of observation or reflection. Understanding this fact, it will notsurprise you to learn that those most famous in the histrionic artexercise their talents to listening thousands in the spirit world. Garrick, Kemble, Kean, Booth, Cooke, also Rachel, Mrs. Siddons, and ahost of illustrious actors of different nations, are now "treading theboards" of spiritual theatres. Their time, however, is not exclusively devoted to the exercise of thesegifts, as on earth. A considerable portion is spent in the study of thearts and sciences; and many a noted actor becomes an able painter ormusician, and many a low comedian a philosopher. Our life is one round ofpleasant progression. What I have said about our attractive theatre and my enjoyable condition, I hope will not induce any of you, my fellow-players, to emigrate tothese shores before you are sent for; but, like good Jack Falstaff, Itrust you will live in your own world as long as you can, and when DameNature is done with you, we will give you a hearty welcome and _a freepass to the dress circle_. CHARLES L. ELLIOTT. _PAINTING IN SPIRIT LIFE_. My friends know that I was not much given to writing or speaking, and Ireluctantly answer the call that has been made for me to give my views onart in the spirit existence. The old masters whom we have worshipped from boyhood, Raphael, Titian, Michael Angelo, Da Vinci, and all the illustrious names of the Bologneseand Venetian schools of art, have passed away from this sphere of spiritlife, and no longer walk the streets of these wonderful cities which theyhave adorned with their works. Reynolds, however, is with us still, and most of the army of painters whohave been born on earth since his day, here live in bodily shape; and Ihave had the pleasure of meeting many admirable geniuses of the French, German, and English schools, and have seen some of their extraordinaryworks, which, for diversity of subject and majesty of conception, seem torival omnipotence itself! The great majority of American artists are secretly spiritualistic intheir faith, and believe that they can be inspired by departed painters. Innes, Page, Church, and Powers, have each felt and acknowledged theinspiration of the spirit of some great master in art. I must confess that these masters are not existing in the sphere occupiedby spirits who visit earth, and will explain the manner in which theyimpress persons congenial and partaking of like sympathies withthemselves. I am informed that it is not material to what sublimated sphere they mayhave ascended; it is merely a mesmeric influence which they exert overtheir disciples, and this influence can penetrate through all degrees ofmatter. The reason why all artists are not alike inspired by the great masters isthat they are not all subject to mesmeric influence, or on the same planeof thought. Every disciple of high art, I have no doubt, has observed the magneticquality which seems to pour forth from the canvas of any great master. This arises from the brain effluvia which they have left upon the canvas, which is more powerful in its quality than a grain of musk, which willimpart its odor for a hundred years. The colors which the artists here use are formed upon the same model asthose they have been in the habit of using on earth. They are morebrilliant pigments, but color has always the same origin. Some paint withthe brush and some paint with their fingers. I had heard it remarked that the spirit had only to breathe on thecanvas, and his thought would be represented, painted, and shaded in asecond of time. The substance of this statement is correct, but there is a slightmisapplication of the facts. 'Tis true we have the power which we had on earth to a modified degree, of projecting the desired form upon the canvas. I remember always, afterlooking at my sitter, I could trace in imagination on the canvas theoutline and expression of his countenance. This is what we do: the powerof execution is so rapid that the time required for painting a picturemight with you pass for a moment; but it is only a trained artist whosethoughts and comprehension are skilful enough to produce an effect sorapidly. Those who have not learned to give form and shape to their ideas while onearth have to pursue a more painful and laborious process. The modern school of color differs widely from the Venetian, being crude, cold, and sharp in comparison; and, in accounting for this difference, Ican simply state that one can only represent what one sees. The poetic, dreamy age, when men saw nature as through a veil, is past;the matter-of-fact, investigating mind has lifted that veil, and now seesobjects as if in mid-day; but, as no condition is stationary, I am toldthat the mind is gradually moving on in the world of art to a point whereit will again see nature in a more subdued and generalized light, asunder the declining sun. The past represented the morning, the present exhibits the noonday, andthe future will indicate the evening. Such is the constant revolution of mind, and its revolution though slowis certain. In our works of art, sentiment is the prevailing characteristic. Portraits are in great demand. Spirits send portrait-painters to earth to obtain likenesses of theirfriends; and those spirit-artists who have the power of seeing thelineaments of these friends and portraying them are constantly engaged. Leutze has been employed by Lincoln and others to represent scenes in theAmerican rebellion; and Colonel Trumbull, also, has executed somemagnificent pictures of the battles of Seven Pines, Fair Oaks, and askirmish at Hampton Roads. Stuart has completed a splendid portrait of General Grant, and is nowengaged by John Jacob Astor on a likeness of a beautiful lady dwelling onearth. I have received a commission from Mr. James Harper to paint aportrait of his daughter, who occupied the carriage with him when he losthis life. I am at present engaged on a likeness of a lady residing atAlbany. COMEDIAN'S POETRY. _ROLLICKING SONG_. Hurrah! hurrah I my boys so bright, For merry ghosts meet here to-night. We'll sing and dance till dawn of day, Then up we'll mount, away! away! Then up, up, and away! We live in spirit land so gay, And with grim Satan's fires we play. You need not fear the future state, For we will meet you at the gate. Then up, up, and away! Come, friends of earth, and read our bill, 'Tis called the "sugar-coated pill;"'Twill sweeten all life's bitter care, And lead you up, the saints know where, Then up, up, and away! Come laugh with us each man and wife;A player's stage is earthly life;The sting of death is only a prick, And _hell_ the parson's "_trap-door trick_, " Then up, up, and away! Here's Garrick, Booth, and Kean so bright, They shine like stars to give you light. So haste and join the merry throng, And loudly swell our happy song. Then up, up, and away! LADY HESTER STANHOPE. _PROPHECY_. The star of prophecy shines in the east. To those nations who were firstin the order of creation belongs by right the power of investigating themysteries of life. The people of the East have been known in all past history for their giftof prophecy. As water gravitates to its level, so I gravitated to the East. I left my native land, and for many years sojourned among the wanderingArabs. This course of action was not understood by my countrymen. Theycould not see the mystic star that drew me away from their busy haunts. The Magi of the East had stood at my cradle and endowed me with the noblegift of the Seeress. The power of reading the future does not belong to the Northern people. It is the darkest and deepest well that reflects the star above it; thedark and swarthy East is thus endowed. The pale North cannot give outimpressions. I was an exception to this rule. There are those who at birth are possessed of Eastern spirits--Asiatics. Andrew Jackson Davis is not a Northern man--he is an Asiatic. Look at hisolive complexion, his keen eye, his beard and hair of jetty black, hisvisage, --all betray the race which inspired him. The faculty of discerning the future belongs only to certain races, andit cannot be universal. Many spirits profess to read the future, but fewcan do so correctly. Yet the life of man is mapped out in every particular, even before hisbirth. Men are like planets. The future of the planet Earth could havebeen foretold before it was thrown off from the sun and while it was yetin a molten state; so each step in an individual life could be foretold:yet it requires ability to enter into the peculiar magnetic condition inorder to obtain the power of foretelling. It may be said if the future ofman is thus mapped out, even as was the creation and progression of theearth, it becomes merely a scientific affair to prophesy the future ofany given individual. This is true, but the inquirer will observe howmany hundreds and hundreds of years science has been engaged indiscovering facts concerning this world's history. The eye of prophecycould foresee those facts and foretell them, though it could not lay downany scientific basis in regard to them. The events which will take place to-morrow may be said to have alreadytranspired. The water that is rising from yon creek will increase in volume. Conditions which have been for days and weeks in preparation willsuddenly conspire, causing the stream to rise to such a height that thecity will be overflowed, bridges swept away, and certain individualssubmerged by the current and their lives lost. This disastrous occurrence is governed by a law which the keen observerof nature could have foretold years previous to the event. As in the natural world the traveller in the desert beholds the mirage ofsome city which is hundreds of miles distant, suddenly arising upon thesandy waste, so, in the spirit world, the spectrum form is projected, andevents which are to take place are made visible before their actualoccurrence. But, as in the natural world spectrum forms occur only undercertain atmospheric conditions, so in the spirit world it is theconjunction of circumstances and the blending of magnetic currents thatmake it possible for coming events to be revealed upon the level planewhich is set apart for this purpose in the summer land. Man at the present day is so constituted that a revealment to him ofcoming events in detail would be injurious; and experience proves thatsuch disclosures, when made to him in dreams or otherwise, areprofitless, as he always fails to foil the evil of which he isforewarned. History and biography show that individuals have time and again, beenadmonished by their assiduous friends of evils or calamities that were tobefall them, yet the admonition, though timely given, seldom enabled themto avoid their fate. Men have been warned of murderous assaults, but theyhave not evaded them; premonitions have been given of falling buildings, and these have fallen, involving in their destruction the loss of theindividual's life at the precise date which his dream foreshadowed. The time will come in the far future when man will understand prophecy asa science. There are few persons living at the present day, who, lookingback upon their past history, would conscientiously wish it had been allrevealed to them at the outset of their career. The withered, faded beauty, at the dawn of her life of youthful triumphcould not have endured a vision of the haggard unfortunate wretch whichshe would represent in the course of a few years. These remarks apply more especially to the so-called civilized state ofsociety at the present day. The semi-barbarous nations, so termed, are in closer sympathy withnature. Life and death, prosperity and adversity, are to them as naturaleffects as the sunshine and rain of the terrestrial globe. Their equanimity, their perfect repose upon the bosom of nature, causesthem to see more clearly into the future than do civilized nations. Thereis a spirit of prophecy which does not comprehend the detail, and onlytakes cognizance of the grand events of life. This prophetic condition is attainable by every being in a certain stateof exaltation. The poet, the painter, the statesman, the preacher, can alike in momentsof ecstasy ascend this mount of inspiration, and foretell the advancementof the world in relation to art, science, and spiritual development. Butthe oracle, the sybil of the East can penetrate a height beyond and abovethis mount, and can perceive the detail of an individual life in itsminutest events. The Bible prophecy which foretold that "knowledge should cover the earth, even as the waters cover the sea, " and that "the wilderness shouldblossom as the rose, " was given in an ecstatic vision, and was simply aspiritual comprehension of the power of soul over matter. As a knowledge of distance is relative, a keen perception on the part ofthe prophet revealed to him, as he beheld the birds soaring in air, thatthe journey to lands beyond the sea was no greater distance to thosewinged creatures than a few miles would be to him. The prophecy Isaiahmade more than eighteen hundred years ago, is fulfilled to-day. Sciencehas annihilated space; knowledge becomes universal, and the wildernessdisappears. The sages of centuries agone are animating the bodies of to-day. Thedoctrine of pre-existence is not a fable, yet to have lived two livesbelongs only to a chosen few, or those whom a fortuitous circumstance hasblest. Napoleon was one of these. The spirit of a great warrior took possessionof him at birth. But the condition of a pre-existing soul taking possession of a body canoccur only under peculiar circumstances. The soul principle is male andfemale, and its perfection depends upon the two sexes as much as theformation of the body depends upon the coalition of the two. In statessuperinduced by opium or intoxicating liquor upon one party, the spiritprinciple becomes deadened so that an active immortal spirit may take itsplace. This male and female spirit principle, after forming a magnetic relationby the joined bodies, lies inactive in the soul atmosphere of the motheruntil material birth. If, as is sometimes caused through accident, thereis but one spirit principle active, the child when born will be idiotic. If the male or female spirit of the pre-existing intelligence is ofsuperior order, then the child, as its intellectual faculties develop, will display extraordinary abilities, which will be in accordance withthe peculiar development of the pre-existent spirit. The history of individuals thus circumstanced can be more clearlydiscerned than others. Prophecy in bold and clear characters foretellsthe events which will transpire in their earth life. In like manner Jesus, the celebrated child of Bethlehem, had lived apre-existent life on earth. He had reigned over a people in his previouslife, a wise and loving king. Vague remembrances continuously flutteredacross his vision and colored the thoughts to which he gave utterance. When his mother conceived him, she was not conscious; delirium ofreligious ecstasy, superinduced by priestly influence, rendered heroblivious to events, and enabled this wise, tender, loving king to takethe place of the native spirit. Christ never married in this life, because the spirits which possessed him were not male and female. [A] [Footnote A: The well-known eccentric character of this writer while onearth may partly explain the singular views here set forth. ED. ] The power of foretelling the future is yet in its infancy. Coming eventsare said to cast their shadows before; and as the barometer indicates toa skilful eye the approach of a storm when no sign is visible in the calmsky above, so the events which will befall an individual are marked uponthe delicate spiritual barometer which forms a part of his being, and canbe read with unerring precision by the clear and practiced eye of theoptimist. PROFESSOR MITCHELL. _THE PLANETS_. The worlds of light that nightly illume the firmament of earth are notmere spheres of uninhabitable matter, nor are they simply appendages toearth, --glittering ornaments to attract the eye of man, --but vast systemsof suns and tributary planets, with worlds whose products and inhabitantsfar exceed in organized development those of this little planet Earth, whose astronomers are just beginning to realize the capacities of theworlds revealed through their telescopes. Many of these worlds have existed centuries prior to the formation of theplanet you inhabit, and their inhabitants have attained a degree ofcivilization which only time can give to you. The intellectual development of many of the dwellers of these planets isas far superior to your highest state of culture as your condition is inadvance of the first stages of barbarism. Men of earth erect temples to their God--their Deity--which to them areimposing and grand; but compared to the magnificent structures that reartheir towers high into space from those glittering points that attractyour eye, they are poor and insignificant. Yet, as being the highest expression of your intellectual unfolding, welook upon them with admiration, even as you regard the rude attempts ofthe Egyptians and the earlier races in their grotesquely formed imagesand temples. The inhabitants of some of the planets attain a life many times theduration of man's. One of the causes of this prolonged existence is thegreat age and refinement of the planet. While it is undergoing change, and preparing the vegetable for the animal, and the animal for the mentalcreation, the conditions that ensue are insalubrious, and conducive todisease and death. But when the perfection of the natural world isattained--when it becomes, so to say, spiritualized, and its grosserelements are absorbed--then the human being can live on its surface ariddevelop his faculties from century to century. The thoughtful reader will perceive from this statement that the spiritswho have inhabited these superior planets must have attained a fargreater perfection than those who have inhabited your earth, and thespiritual existence, or heaven, to which such beings migrate, is inadvance of the heavens in which the dwellers of earth are born. The spiritual heavens correspond to the firmament of the natural world, and thus there are myriads of systems of spiritual worlds. The residents of these planets visit earth as elder brothers who take bythe hand the little faltering infants. But intercourse with the earth ismore difficult for them than for your own native spirits, from the factthat the magnetic atmosphere does not assimilate with them. From theearth's spirit world, scientific minds of rare development only have beenable to visit the spirit homes of those planetary inhabitants. What I have said can give but a faint idea of the population of theunseen worlds. As a drop of water which is clear and unoccupied to theeye, when viewed through the microscope is found to be peopled withliving creations, so the worlds that overspread the heavens are peopledin every part that the eye can cover. Man is indeed nothing; and yet he is the whole--a mere speck, a point, and yet God himself in the aggregate. DR. JOHN W. FRANCIS. _THE INFLUENCE OF MIND UPON MATTER, AND THE CAUSES OF INSANITY AND THEVARIOUS DISEASES WHICH AFFLICT HUMANITY AT THE PRESENT DAY_. The rude nations of the earth believed that disease was the result ofevil spiritual agencies, and the untutored savage, without the aid ofbooks or any of the advantages which the learned physician possesses ofstudying the human system, arrived at the conclusion that disease wasinflicted by living, unseen individualities. Science has discarded that idea. It has dissected the human body, and, finding the result of the diseases, has assumed to have found the cause;assumed that it is mere bodily disarrangement. Yet any intelligentphysician will tell you that in his own experience he has witnessed theeffect of mind upon the body; that he can give a bread pill to a patient, informing him that it is a purgative, and it will act in that manner;that a certain powder will create nausea or a burning sensation, and itwill produce those results when the powder itself is harmless. As the body, if permitted to decay, comes to be infested with vermin, sothe spirit, if allowed to remain idle and inactive, will become infestedby spiritual vermin which will taint and destroy it; and the savage ideathat disease is caused by spiritual agency is correct. If an individual permit any one idea to obtain predominance, and he dwellupon that idea to the exclusion of other thoughts, he will attractspirits who fill the air--not organized spiritual beings who inhabit thespirit world, but half-organized beings (polypus) who live in thisatmosphere and were originated from the brains and the physical organismsof the inhabitants of the earth; these beings, finding his mindconcentrated or magnetized to a point, will effect an entrance. Suppose, for instance the person centres his mind upon the loss of a friend or ofmoney: this concentration becomes a magnet, which, like the rays ofsunlight acting upon a portion of vegetation, produces decomposition uponwhich spirit vermin may feed. So by dwelling too continuously upon onethought, certain faculties of the mind become excited by constant action, while others become paralyzed and the result is insanity. Now spiritualists, or believers in spirit intercourse, should be the mosthealthy persons in the community, for they understand, or shouldunderstand, the laws of psychology which teach that constant dwellingupon one thought will bring spirits of like character who will intensifythat thought, and they also know that they have but to use their will andthe whole magnetic relations will change and a new influence will bebrought to bear. Tell a man he has heart disease, make him believe it, and his heart willbeat like a sledge-hammer. Tell him his liver is diseased, make himbelieve it, and he will feel bilious and look bilious. Tell a man he looks well, compliment him upon his appearance, and he willfeel well, look spruce, and his spirits will become elastic. It has been a matter of surprise to some why the spirits have taken suchan interest in the science of medicine, and why they have developed somany as healers. It is that they may teach man that disease is generallya magnetic condition; and they hope to teach the community, through thosephysicians whom they develop, to discard drugs and rely upon magneticinfluences and the power of the will to keep the body in its normalcondition of health. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the power of the will in dispellingdisease, and in expelling it. A diseased patient may be likened to a medium who is possessed by aspiritual being of low order. The very low condition of the spirit causeshim to adhere and cling to the medium, and unless the will is directed toexorcise him, he will keep his subject continually under his influenceand the proper individuality of the person will be annihilated. Thus, disease, like an evil spirit, takes its hold upon an individual, and can only be overthrown from its position by a strong will, whichsends it shrinking away like a criminal from the body it has infested. If the will of the patient is not sufficiently strong, then the will ofsome good friend must be used. These good friends are known as healingmediums. Also a change of air and scene should be obtained, which bringsthe will into a new action, and thus dislodges the tenant. The will is like a sharp two-edged sword, which cuts right and left, andleaves no chance for skulking to anything to which it has directed itspower. I will close my remarks by repeating that the savage is right in hisbelief, and that disease is indeed the result of--I might call themspiritual harpies, who, though they may not in these civilized times bedriven out by the beating of drums, the tom-tom, and the howling offrenzied savages, yet can be dislodged by kindred manipulations, such asmesmeric passes, deep breathing, and a positive though almost quietexercise of the will. Some of my brethren of the profession will be surprised to find theseviews advanced by one whom they believe held more rational opinions onearth; but there are others whose keen intellects have pierced throughthe wisdom of the schools, and have discovered that the physics they haveconcocted, when applied to the complex mechanism of the human system, inpalliating the disorders of one function disarrange some half a dozenothers, and that the soul and the body are so interblended that we mustheal a disease of the body through and in conjunction with the spirit, its counterpart. ADELAIDE PROCTER. _THE SPIRIT BRIDE_. You told me you loved me, and vowed of old, When you reached that land of jasper and gold, To me you'd return in the hush of night, And show me a glimpse of your land of light. I sit in the shadows, and wearily waitTo see you throw open the starry gate:Through my golden ringlets the chill winds blow, While I watch your coming through falling snow. How long must I wait? Are you ling'ring whereThe blue-eyed angels your sweet kisses share?Is your home so radiant that never moreYour steps will be heard at my lowly door? Ah! what do I see through my blinding tears?--Whatmisty form through the tempest appears?A cold hand now touches my burning brow, A low voice whispers, "I am near thee now. " Bend low--let me kiss thee, thou viewless thing;No rising passion thy cold lips bring;But hushed is the throb of my burning heartAs upward he bears me--no more to part. THE END.