I then inquired for Swedenborg, Spurzheim, and Lavatar.  “You will meet them further on,” said she, smiling.  “They are not here.”  I was so well pleased with her that I twined my arm around her fairy-like form and we glided away together.  As I desired to obtain a peep at the outside of the beautiful pavilion, my companion led the way, pausing here and there to present me to groups who had advanced for that purpose.  The company I found to be composed of writers and painters, interspersed with a few of my own personal friends; and I felt gratified to find myself so well received by those whom I had known on earth as celebrities.

“’Tis strange,” I remarked to my companion, “that such choice minds should all be gathered together in one place.”

“They are spirits congenial to your own,” said she.  “Like attracts like, and they have come from their respective homes in the spirit world to welcome you here.”

“Ah,” said I, “I now begin to understand what all this fine company means!  This is my reception.”

As we were leaving the pavilion we were joined by Herr Von ——­, the celebrated Swedish naturalist who had recently entered the spirit world.  He congratulated me upon my safe arrival, and kindly offered to act as cicerone and to point out to me the marvels by which I was surrounded.

To my astonishment, on reaching the open air I discovered that the pavilion was located upon the summit of a lofty mountain.  The face of this mountain was of many colors and glistened like precious stones.  My friend led me to the point of a precipice on one side and bade me look down.  This I did, and beheld phosphorescent rays issuing from the sides.

“What wonder is this?” I asked.  He informed me the mountain was magnetic in its character, and that it was, so to speak, the first station from earth, and a point easily attained by a spirit newly arriving from that planet.  He said I was not permanently to remain upon the mountain, but was placed there until I should become acclimated to the spirit atmosphere, and to acquire strength before travelling to that portion of the spirit land which would form my permanent abode.

The apex of the mountain formed a flat plain about two miles in extent.  We walked onward some distance, when he pointed out to me another pavilion, much larger than the one to which I had been borne.  The exterior form of each was alike, and resembled a Turkish mosque; the crown-like canopy which formed the top being surmounted by a ball so dazzling in brightness that I was obliged to turn my gaze from it.  This ball was composed of an electric combination, which shed its rays far through space.  “And,” said the good Herr Von ——­, “as the pavilion is used for the reception of the friendless and the homeless, they are attracted and guided to it by its coruscations.”

We proceeded some steps further, and he showed me how the mountain, which is steep and precipitous on the northern exposure, sloped into broken chains and lower elevations on the southern; and from this point, looking down, I beheld through the clear atmosphere a billowy landscape, clothed with soft, rich verdure, more fresh and green to the eye than that which covers dear mother Earth.