e, lay quietly down their regal crowns, and assume the
unostentatious cap of the republic. So will all the nations of earth
follow their spiritual leaders and hurl out from the round globe the
crumbling thrones and sceptres of kings and emperors and the tottering
papal chair of Rome, down, down, into the vast tomb of antiquity!

FREDERIKA BREMER

_FLIGHT TO MY STARRY HOME_.

I was in Stockholm when the ambassador, who is sent by the all-wise
Father to pilot his children to the unknown land of roses, called for me,
and I was obliged to part with the body which, though homely and
unattractive, like the dear, good "family roof,"[A] had rendered me
service in many a stormy day.

[Footnote A: Swedish term for umbrella.]

The feeling I experienced in taking my departure was like that of going
out into a pitiless storm, and it was followed by an intense prickling
sensation, similar to that familiarly known as the "foot asleep." This, I
afterwards understood, was occasioned by the electrical current passing
through my spirit as it assumed shape upon emerging from its old frame.

Some twenty minutes perhaps elapsed after the breath leaving the body
before I became perfectly conscious in my new form. Upon recovering the
use of my senses, my whole attention was drawn from myself to the friends
who had gathered in the room which had so recently been my sick chamber.

As I watched them combing the hair and attiring the white, stiff figure
that lay so solemnly stretched upon the couch, my emotions were
indescribable. I endeavored to speak, but my voice gave but a faint
sound, which they evidently did not hear--as a spirit, I attracted no
attention. This caused me deep grief, for I desired them all to see me
still living.

My sad emotions were presently dispelled by the sound of most mellifluous
music bursting upon my senses; and as I turned my eyes to discover the
source from whence it proceeded, I beheld, resurrected before me, a group
of dear old friends, whose bodies were already dust and ashes in the
Swedish grave-yards, and in the cemeteries of the old and new worlds. A
hearty burst of joy escaped from my lips as I recognized them. We
laughed, cried, shook hands, and kissed first on one cheek and then on
the other, with the same enthusiasm and naturalness we would have shown
had we been inhabitants of dear old mother Earth.

"Come, Frederika! Dear Frederika! don't stay gazing on that old body!
Leave friends who