Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1862-05-05

From Colburn's New Monthly.

From Colburn's New Monthly.
THE MIDDLE HOME CELESTIAL.
Few persons who can reflect on the
},srhlv interesting and elevating subject OF
~ probable uses in the creation of the
vast myriads Of heavenly bodies which we
see. during our hours. of darkness, spark
ling in the distant armament above, and
which we know, by the calculations and
discoveries of astronomers, to be spread
over the illimitatle universe, can entertain
the narrow minded, Irrational idea that all
those visible and invisible globes are mere
matter, floating in space, unemployed and
uninhabited, while our little planet alone /.
has been selected By the Almighty for the
atode Of intellectual beings.
This idea is the embodiment of s~elfcon-
ceit, vain>glory, and presumption. For
though we are t Id in the Scriptures that
N IN is made " lower than the angels" we
are nowhere assured that no intellectual
beings except man have ever been imbued
with life and we have no warrant to pro-
nodnce that "these vast luminaries were
ca ed into existence for no other purpose
TIN to throw a tide of useless splendor
oy- the solitudes of immensely"
Such is not, and has not been, the opin.
ion of the greatest, the wisest, and the best.
- ny Christian philosophers and astrono-
mers, as we'll as learned divines, have de-
clared their belief in the theory of the sum-,
moon, and stars being, each and all, inhab-
tied worlds, or in preparation to receive in
p habitants. Faith" says one of these phil
osophers, whose grasp of mind may well
CT i'm influence even for his specu'ations
On this lofty theme" faith associates with
hose bright abodes the fortunes of immor-
"a and regenerated man. 1t places there
the loved and the lost; it follows them in
- celestial bowers" and genius brings
the charm of poetry to shed a halo of.
beauty around the mystic scenes which inn
Ggination fails to portray:
"Thereis a place where spirits come,
Beneath the shrine tolive.
A mystic place, a middle home,
Which God to them doth give.
What mortal fancy can disclose
The secret of their weird reposeH
IT is a quietness more deep
Than deadest swoon, or deepest sleep,
Aslumber full of glorious dreams,
OF magic sound, and broken CLEANS,
Outside the walls of Heaven"
Science, in the. Hottest stretch. can not
traverse the "trackless vacancy which
les beyond our earth, intervening between
It and the distant orbs which illumine the
= st vault of heaven; yet fancy, when un-
ntrolled by sober reason, will sometimes
dare to wing its flight to them. Who
knows, when its material frame is sunk in
that which we call sleep, whether the
spirit wanders or not, and how, and where?
Enchanting music has been heard, and
beautiful objects have been seen in dreams
and it is a vision of strange scenes obtain
ed during a trance, consequent on extreme
illness and debility, that we are about to
relate.
A lady, still youthful, though not a mere
yirl, who was fond of star-gazing, without
having the least pretensions to astronomi-
eel knowledge, and who was enabled to
indulge her taste, as she lived in a tropical
climate, where the clearness of the atmos-
phere and the beauty of nights are favora.
bic 10 star gazing, was once seized with q
dangerous illness. The fever and head
ache bafled all the usual remedies mus
tard ~plastcrs, blisters, cupping, were all re-
sorted to in vain, and the poor young wo-
man lay apparently insensible. But though
none suspected it, she heard all that was
said even 10 the lowest whisper around her
and what she did near was not very conso
lat1ry. The physicians pronounced thai
here was scarcely a shadow of hope, thai
life was all but extinct, and that if the com
posing draught, which they were going tc
administer, did not induce some quie
Il, ep, she would never see the light OF AZ
otLer day. A window, looking out on
lovely little garden, was thrown wild
open, and the invalid's couch was move'
%a'aost close to it, that the cool evening
b,aeze might play upon her burning brow
lie medical men and most of the friend
c the apartment, and only the sick-nurs
Al lone near relative remained to waite
III rourh that night of anxiety, but the
ID. ced themselves SO as not to be seen b
he, and the little night-lamp was hidde
be lind a green screen.
The invalid tried to close her eyes bl
could not they remained fixed upon
Young mahagua tree near the window, tt
b, inches of which, laden with those bea'
tiir flowers tbat-a pale yellow in tt
m~orning,taking bright amber tint at moo
is, and becoming a rich brown color {
wards the eyening-were swaying in Il
br,eze. As she half -unconsciously gaze
i this tree, she became sensible that
figure was gradually intervening betwe'
her and it. At first, the eclipsing hgu
sc med a mere shadow; but it assum
more and more of form, and she perceive
TO her terror, the head and face of an o
-. - ~ n Io