The Washington herald., 1907-08-12
Tells Of a Dream.
'dItor The washington Herald:


Editor The Washington Herald:
As a Monday thought for the consid-
GRAFTON Of the scientists. 1 wish TO pre-
sent the substance Of a curious dream.
Sitting IN the shadows Of a recent sui
try night. in conscious discomfort from
the heat. was thinking Of Dean Swift's
witty expression Of desire that he might
take off his flesh and sit in his bones.
Presently, with this thought stll in mind,
disrobed, and lay down TO sleep and
dream. l dreamed that the thought was
more than realized. I was a spirit. d.
vested both of bones and flesh I was
afOat. sweeping with delightful motion.
ont through the atmosphere Of earth. and
out beyond, through the surrounding
ocean Of ether. The flight seemed a long
one. though I had no means Of record
ing time, having left far behind me the
revolving world and her sister planets
At length, seemed 20 have come within
the controlling influence Of another
world. Of a different order. Gradually
and gently it drew me, and finally came
TO rest amid a wide expanse Of wonders
All was new. The inhabitants were body
less spirits like myself. They were very
Hospitality disposed. and. gathering
about me IN vast numbers. they made
me welcome. They recognized me as
stranger, Of the same order Of being with
themselves. though OF a different genus.
They had no need Of language for COM
munication. Their intercourse with each
other was through q direct process Of
what we would call mind reading. And.
being Of a like order with them I was
able as by intuition TO read their inmost
thoughts. Accordingly. no time was lost
IN learning. They were known TO me,
and / was known to them, and they pro-
ceeded at once TO induct me into the mys-
teries Of my new surroundings. It was a
wonderful world. There was no life in
It. except the spirit life, yet there was
beauty everywhere, in all its forms and
elements. subject 70 the control Of mind.
There was no vital organization, no grass.
no trees. no flowers. no animal life Of any
kind But the iuanimate physical ele-
ments were directly responsive 10 the viii
of the spiritual. changing in form and
color and location at the pleasure of
the inhabitants Thus, the ideals Of the
usefulness, were automatically and in
stantly embodied In the inanimate ele-
ments Of a world dominated solely by the
power Of thought and viii. It was a
world without toll and without pain. They
could will what they would And habita-
tions for themselves. and temples for
worship, with proportions OF vaStness and
grace and adOrnment such as human
eyes have never looked upon, would rise
like exhaiations and be filed with life
and resound with the spirit Of music un-
earthly. After showing these wonders in
manifold variety. and inductiBg me into
the joys OF life under such conditions,
my new-made friends gathered about me
and wanted to know OF me something Of
my past. and of the world from which
had come. They had only TO call up the
subject and read my thoughts. Then
exhibited TO them the facts Of this mum
dane sphere-that we have life here other
than spirit life; life in organization, In
capable of self-mOvement; life in ami
mate form, but incapable Of rational
thinking. and organized life-as In mem
with the power of thought and will, bur
limited by physical law to the direct con-
troll Of their own material bodies, and
TO the indirect control of unorganiZed
matter. Thus I showed them that the
will of the spirit In our world is real
power, but impensely handicapped; that
matter is, to a large extent. intractables
that We must build our habitations with
our own hands. In painful labor; that
the realization Of our ideals is only ap-
proximate, and even then ii is the fruit
of stress and toll
As 1 was proceeding with the exhibit, ]
could see their minds darkening with
unbelief and gradually assuming a con-
oition which branded me as a falsifier.
was halted. These were fairy tales.
They had no knowledge Of such condi-
tions prevailing anywhere. They could
not believe that spirit could be hand
cuffed by matter and held In bondage 10
it, neither could they permit the intru-
sion of falsehOod into their perfect fell
lOwship of truth
They appointed a committee TO con-
slider what should be done. The commit
tee reported. saying that I was evidently
an Outcast spirit, of the baser sort. wan
dering through the realms of space and
leaving corruption in my trail, and they
that I be carried to the
limits Oe their dominion and thrust into
the cute. darkness, where 1 belonged.
Thus l found myself again afoat, in
the ocean OF ether, where again the
time seemed long and my distress, as