There are no means to convey to man through his external senses, any just idea of the scenes I witnessed, while my body was reposing in its unconscious slumbers’ No medium of communication is sufficiently clear, to give the perfect outlines of that which is invisible and incomprehensible to mortals. For human utterance mars the beauty and perfection of heavenly speech, and corrupts the purity of thoughts thus conveyed. "You urge me to a history, and yet I am so sensible of my utter inability that thoughts associated with the attempt give me pain.

Long had I discovered the vanity of earthly things, the imperfections of human associations, the unreliability of vast portions of religious faiths and impressions, and the want of permanent peace in the disquieted soul of man. Most earnestly I desired to know more of the reality of that state called by mortals immortality. At length, meditating from day to day, and while laboring to determine the nature and tendency of the human soul, I became less conscious of external things, and my inner mind grew stronger and more active, until the dim shadows of the objects and interests of this busy life of mortals ceased with the expiring view, and my vision closed to the outer world.

Then objects new and strange appeared. Still I knew not that I was retiring from the world of sorrow and of human strife; nor did I understand that my spiritual vision was opening, and what I saw dimly moving before me was a reality, the dawning of an immortal life. Still I seemed to be departing from some former condition and ,launching out into a boundless sea, and to be traversing unexplored regions, veiled in uncertain vision, and floating in mid air over an immeasurable deep below. Alone and unguided, and possessed of a vague uncertainty, my timid spirit fain would have returned to the land of shadows whence it came.

Half-conscious of my present condition, with dreamy thoughts, I seemed to ask, is there no one familiar with the journey I pursue, to guide me in my movements through this trackless space? When lo! in the distance, and above me, I saw a light descending, having the appearance of a brilliant star. As it advanced, its foreshadowing halo illumined the expanse about me, and my exhausted being received new life from the invigorating glory that beamed upon it. Gently I began to move, and ascending’ drew nearer the source of that light which gladdened and quickened my spirit. As I approached it, I began to discover the outlines of what appeared to me a glorified human being; gradually the figure became more distinct, until, poised in the atmosphere before and above me, was an angel, whose excellence far exceeded the highest conception of the fairest image of my human thought. That form, more lovely than languages hath power to portray, moved silently as it drew near me. Upon her head was a crown, formed like gems of clustering rays. In her left hand was a cross, emblem of meekness, innocence and redeeming grace; in her right hand a wand of pure intellectual light. With this she touched my lips, and like a flame of holy love, it quickened an immortal principle which diffused it, enlivening spirit throughout my being. A new class of sensations awoke within me, and moving harmoniously, prompted a desire, for companionship with the angelic being. I looked upon her, wishing to learn her name, when lo! she spoke. She said: "Marietta, thou desirest to know me. In my errand to thee I am called the Angel of Peace. I come to guide thee where those exist who are from earth, whence thou art. Wouldst thou profit by the lesson, follow me. But first behold thy form in yonder world." There, far below me, and through a dark and misty way, I beheld this sickly body of mortality. Around it were gathered my anxious friends, employing every means to awaken it, but all in vain.

"Behold," said my glorious guide, "a picture of human life. There, kindred, tortured with sympathetic love, struggle to hold the crumbling vase, and keep the flickering light from expiring. There, from youth to hoary age, rolls the tide of human woe. Fond hearts are severed. Death veils from mortal sight the tender, lovely form. The opening flower that gladdens all around, folds its expanding leaves, withered with the touch of death. There, hopes, like dreamy phantoms, float in the mid-air of fancied bliss. As thy vision expandeth, witness thou the moving hosts. Earth, with her swarming millions, presents a mingled scene of rising hopes, ambition, strife and death. Her inhabitants are dismayed by the approach and fear of Death, the fell destroyer. Time quickly measureth the fleeting moments of human existence, and generations follow generations in quick succession."

To this address I replied, "These thoughts are the burden of my young and inexperienced mind. These forms thou hast shown me, are before my vision. Like dew drops they pass away. This is the cause of my sorrow. Canst thou tell me in what portion of the universe these beings find a resting place when their spirits depart? Canst thou remove the veil that conceals them from mortal vision? Canst thou guide me where they are? O! tell me, have they a home, or a place, and may I follow where my loved ones have been borne?"