Excerpt from A Vision of Heaven I seemed to be in a strange place, where the persons and objects about me were unfamiliar, but what was more remarkable were the unusual thoughts and emotions of which I was con scious. The period had arrived, I supposed, which had often been anticipated with mingled feelings of joy and fear, desire and dread, the hour of death. Though enduring great physical suffering, the mind was clear, with every intel lectual faculty in vigorous operation, while all earthly emotions were subdued, and the moral sense was free from human imperfection. So clear and rapid were the operations Of the mental powers that the events and 'experiences of a lifetime passed in quick succession, when they were divested of all that was false and trivial. The struggle between the material and the spiritual, which had continued through life, now became intense, and the. Soul, like an im prisoned bird fluttering against the resisting bars of its narrow cage, labored to burst the bonds of clay and soar to the mansions on high. The senses, one after another, became uncon scious of earthly things, while the sight, closed to the material world, beheld forms of celestial mould. Angelic beings, radiant in glory, hovered near; loved ones of earth, long since gone, yet quickly recognized, with unutterable love and tenderness, beckoned me away. One more struggle between the physical and the spiritual, and the longing spirit was free. The mystery was solved; the veil was rent asunder, and the emancipated soul was introduced into the eter nal habitations. There was so great a contrast between the past and present condition that at first my mind was absorbed in contemplating the new circumstances of my situation. Ibegan to understand the mystery of my being and the nature and capabilities of my faculties as never before. There was no confusion of ideas, no conflict of emotions, while there was perfect harmony, a consciousness of immortal vigor, a freedom from all suffering and all imperfection, unutterable joy at being released'from earthly ills and forgiven for all past offences. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.