wine, and so luscious and entrancing were the surroundings that I felt
inclined to tarry, but my sage guide, calling my attention to the
majestic 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 some
elastic substance, until I reached the top. The dome, which appeared to
be composed of glass, I perceived, as I approached, was covered with a
thin web resembling that of a spider. The apex of this dome was
surmounted by a globe representing the planet earth, with its continents
and seas. Openings corresponding to the different continents admitted
persons into the globe. We entered that corresponding to the continent of
North America. Each of these entrances, I was told, was particularly
adapted to the admission of the inhabitants of the different localities
they represented. On looking down I beheld the apartment I had first
entered. It was no longer vacant--each gallery was filled with
spectators. On the lily-shaped rostrum stood Henry Clay and George
Washington--Washington speaking to the people. "You observe," said my
guide, "a secondary stem from that lily branches off and extends to this
point. It appears to you a mere ornament, but it transmits the thoughts
and words of the speaker to the city of Washington. Other branches, as
you notice, lead in other directions. If the speaker desires his thoughts
to be transmitted to any given point, he leans toward the stem leading to
that point. This silken web which you have admired, is a sensitive
electric telegraph. It is composed of the elements of mind; in the world
you have lately inhabited it would be intangible, but it has a subtle
connection with the human brain, and spirit thoughts directed through it
go with the promptness of electricity to their destination. Thought is
electric, but its power of transmitting itself is, like that of the human
voice, limited; the voice requires the artificial assistance of a
speaking-trumpet to throw its sound beyond the ordinary distance; thought
requires a similar artificial conductor. You remember," said Franklin,