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, “in my early experiments with the kite and key, I could not obtain the spark until I had established the necessary attraction, although the air was filled with the electric current.  So of the thought-electricity, which is constantly flowing; we have to apply means to concentrate it and give it form and expression.  On earth, word and gesture are media for thought, but the savans have not yet discovered the means by which unspoken thought can take form and expression.  No galvanic wire nor chemical battery has yet been invented by them, through which these electric sparks may be drawn down from their unseen habitations among the clouds; but in the world of spirits this great discovery, as I have shown you, has been made.  In this appliance you find the thoughts of the speaker running through these sensitive wires until, like telegraphic messages, they reach their destination on earth.”

I listened to Franklin’s explanation of this gigantic sensorium with my soul filled with love and admiration for the great Creator who had formed the human mind with its vast capacity for penetrating the sublime mysteries of nature.

After leaving the dome I continued my inspection of the edifice.  But of its halls and galleries, its boudoirs, libraries, and peerless gardens, I will speak at some future time.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

TO THE FRENCH NATION.

Triumph sits regent upon the Napoleonic banner.  Napoleon the First is dictator to Napoleon the Third.  By my side stands Josephine.  We were not destined to part eternally.  In Louis Napoleon Bonaparte her blood and mine commingle. Restez-vous, mon patrie; Napoleon shall decide aright. No, petit garcon, Napoleon le Grand will place you upon the highest pinnacle of peace.

Fate is inexorable.  The decrees of destiny are more potent than the wisdom of man.  France and Napoleon are indissoluble.  The star of Bonaparte is destined to shine yet for the next half-century.  None but a patriot shall rule France.  No proud Austrian, nor weak and haughty Bourbon shall flame their colors from the palaces of France.  No, my countryman! he who serves you, who leads your armies to victory, who raises your citizens to distinction, he whose courage is undaunted, he who has the power of prescience—­is Napoleon.