with, began to take an especial interest in the great subject of an hereafter, as revealed by what purported to be the spirits of departed men and women; and then, for the first time, as Death's cold presence sensibly approached me afar off, and the sense of going began to quicken in my being, I commenced seriously to speculate concerning immortality, and to pay greater heed to the alleged revelations from the mysterious Beyond.
Bye-and-bye, consumption so wasted me, that I grew tired; and finally, a mist came before my eyes, and shut out the fields, the forests, and the faces of my friends,—my friends—none dearer than whom, were ever clasped to affection's warm heart. * * * * And so I slept,—but woke again from out of that strange, deep sleep, called Death. The awakening was very strange!—was such as I had never even imagined to be possible.
"Where am I?" was asked by myself of that very self. Not mine, but a lower, sweeter, more musical voice, soft and dulcet as the tinkle of a love bell, answered me from out a veil of rosy light, that hung between me, and, whatever was beyond. "In the Divine City of freed souls,—the land of Immortal, but not Eternal rest." * * * * I felt, and knew that I was—dead!
As the sense of these words struck upon, my soul where this voice came from, seemed very strange to me, for this reason amongst others: I had, to a certain extent, familiarized myself with Physics, and knew that sounds were supposed to be the result of certain aerial vibrations. Now, supposing this theory to be correct, it struck me, that I, a disembodied soul, ought not to be competent to discern sounds, for there was neither
