Butinallthis-inthisidentificationofmerematterwithGod-istherenothingofirreverence？[_Iwasforcedtorepeatthisquestionbeforethesleep-wakerfullycomprehendedmymeaning_。]
Canyousay_why_mattershouldbelessreverencedthanmind？ButyouforgetthatthematterofwhichIspeakis，inallrespects，thevery“mind“or“spirit“oftheschools，sofarasregardsitshighcapacities，andis，moreover，the“matter“oftheseschoolsatthesametime。God，withallthepowersattributedtospirit，isbuttheperfectionofmatter。
Youassert，then，thattheunparticledmatter，inmotion，isthought？
Ingeneral，thismotionistheuniversalthoughtoftheuniversalmind。Thisthoughtcreates。AllcreatedthingsarebutthethoughtsofGod。
Yousay，“ingeneral。”
Yes。TheuniversalmindisGod。Fornewindividualities，_matter_isnecessary。
Butyounowspeakof“mind“and“matter“asdothemetaphysicians。
Yes-toavoidconfusion。WhenIsay“mind。”Imeantheunparticledorultimatematter；by“matter。”Iintendallelse。
Youweresayingthat“fornewindividualitiesmatterisnecessary。”
Yes；formind，existingunincorporate，ismerelyGod。Tocreateindividual，thinkingbeings，itwasnecessarytoincarnateportionsofthedivinemind。Thusmanisindividualized。Divestedofcorporateinvestiture，hewereGod。Now，theparticularmotionoftheincarnatedportionsoftheunparticledmatteristhethoughtofman；asthemotionofthewholeisthatofGod。
YousaythatdivestedofthebodymanwillbeGod？
[_Aftermuchhesitation。_]Icouldnothavesaidthis；itisanabsurdity。
[_Referringtomynotes。_]You_did_saythat“divestedofcorporateinvestituremanwereGod。”
Andthisistrue。Manthusdivested_wouldbe_God-wouldbeunindividualized。Buthecanneverbethusdivested-atleastnever_willbe_-elsewemustimagineanactionofGodreturninguponitself-apurposelessandfutileaction。Manisacreature。
CreaturesarethoughtsofGod。Itisthenatureofthoughttobeirrevocable。
Idonotcomprehend。Yousaythatmanwillneverputoffthebody？
Isaythathewillneverbebodiless。
Explain。
Therearetwobodies-therudimentalandthecomplete；
correspondingwiththetwoconditionsofthewormandthebutterfly。
Whatwecall“death。”isbutthepainfulmetamorphosis。Ourpresentincarnationisprogressive，preparatory，temporary。Ourfutureisperfected，ultimate，immortal。Theultimatelifeisthefulldesign。
Butoftheworm’smetamorphosiswearepalpablycognizant。
_We_，certainly-butnottheworm。Thematterofwhichourrudimentalbodyiscomposed，iswithinthekenoftheorgansofthatbody；or，moredistinctly，ourrudimentalorgansareadaptedtothematterofwhichisformedtherudimentalbody；butnottothatofwhichtheultimateiscomposed。Theultimatebodythusescapesourrudimentalsenses，andweperceiveonlytheshellwhichfalls，indecaying，fromtheinnerform；notthatinnerformitself；butthisinnerform，aswellastheshell，isappreciablebythosewhohavealreadyacquiredtheultimatelife。
Youhaveoftensaidthatthemesmericstateverynearlyresemblesdeath。Howisthis？
WhenIsaythatitresemblesdeath，Imeanthatitresemblestheultimatelife；forwhenIamentrancedthesensesofmyrudimentallifeareinabeyance，andIperceiveexternalthingsdirectly，withoutorgans，throughamediumwhichIshallemployintheultimate，unorganizedlife。
Unorganized？
Yes；organsarecontrivancesbywhichtheindividualisbroughtintosensiblerelationwithparticularclassesandformsofmatter，totheexclusionofotherclassesandforms。Theorgansofmanareadaptedtohisrudimentalcondition，andtothatonly；hisultimatecondition，beingunorganized，isofunlimitedcomprehensioninallpointsbutone-thenatureofthevolitionofGod-thatistosay，themotionoftheunparticledmatter。Youwillhaveadistinctideaoftheultimatebodybyconceivingittobeentirebrain。Thisitis_not_；butaconceptionofthisnaturewillbringyounearacomprehensionofwhatit_is_。Aluminousbodyimpartsvibrationtotheluminiferousether。Thevibrationsgeneratesimilaroneswithintheretina；theseagaincommunicatesimilaronestotheopticnerve。Thenerveconveyssimilaronestothebrain；thebrain，also，similaronestotheunparticledmatterwhichpermeatesit。Themotionofthislatteristhought，ofwhichperceptionisthefirstundulation。Thisisthemodebywhichthemindoftherudimentallifecommunicateswiththeexternalworld；
andthisexternalworldis，totherudimentallife，limited，throughtheidiosyncrasyofitsorgans。Butintheultimate，unorganizedlife，theexternalworldreachesthewholebody，whichisofasubstancehavingaffinitytobrain，asIhavesaid，withnootherinterventionthanthatofaninfinitelyrareretherthaneventheluminiferous；andtothisether-inunisonwithit-thewholebodyvibrates，settinginmotiontheunparticledmatterwhichpermeatesit。Itistotheabsenceofidiosyncraticorgans，therefore，thatwemustattributethenearlyunlimitedperceptionoftheultimatelife。Torudimentalbeings，organsarethecagesnecessarytoconfinethemuntilfledged。
Youspeakofrudimental“beings。”Arethereotherrudimentalthinkingbeingsthanman？
Themultitudinousconglomerationofrarematterintonebul？planets，suns，andotherbodieswhichareneithernebul？
suns，norplanets，isforthesolepurposeofsupplying_pabulum_fortheidiosyncrasyoftheorgansofaninfinityofrudimentalbeings。
Butforthenecessityoftherudimental，priortotheultimatelife，therewouldhavebeennobodiessuchasthese。Eachoftheseistenantedbyadistinctvarietyoforganic，rudimental，thinkingcreatures。Inall，theorgansvarywiththefeaturesoftheplacetenanted。Atdeath，ormetamorphosis，thesecreatures，enjoyingtheultimatelife-immortality-andcognizantofallsecretsbut_theone_，actallthingsandpasseverywherebymerevolition：-
indwelling，notthestars，whichtousseemthesolepalpabilities，andfortheaccommodationofwhichweblindlydeemspacecreated-
butthatSPACEitself-thatinfinityofwhichthetrulysubstantivevastnessswallowsupthestar-shadowsblottingthemoutasnon-entitiesfromtheperceptionoftheangels。
Yousaythat“butforthe_necessity_oftherudimentallife“therewouldhavebeennostars。Butwhythisnecessity？
Intheinorganiclife，aswellasintheinorganicmattergenerally，thereisnothingtoimpedetheactionofonesimple_unique_law-theDivineVolition。Withtheviewofproducingimpediment，theorganiclifeandmatter，complex，substantial，andlaw-encumbered，werecontrived。
Butagain-whyneedthisimpedimenthavebeenproduced？
Theresultoflawinviolateisperfection-right-
negativehappiness。Theresultoflawviolateisimperfection，wrong，positivepain。Throughtheimpedimentsaffordedbythenumber，complexity，andsubstantialityofthelawsoforganiclifeandmatter，theviolationoflawisrendered，toacertainextent，practicable。Thuspain，whichintheinorganiclifeisimpossible，ispossibleintheorganic。
Buttowhatgoodendispainthusrenderedpossible？
Allthingsareeithergoodorbadbycomparison。A
sufficientanalysiswillshowthatpleasure，inallcases，isbutthecontrastofpain。_Positive_pleasureisamereidea。Tobehappyatanyonepointwemusthavesufferedatthesame。Nevertosufferwouldhavebeennevertohavebeenblessed。Butithasbeenshownthat，intheinorganiclife，paincannotbethusthenecessityfortheorganic。ThepainoftheprimitivelifeofEarth，isthesolebasisoftheblissoftheultimatelifeinHeaven。
Still，thereisoneofyourexpressionswhichIfinditimpossibletocomprehend-“thetruly_substantive_vastnessofinfinity。”
This，probably，isbecauseyouhavenosufficientlygenericconceptionoftheterm“_substance_“itself。Wemustnotregarditasaquality，butasasentiment：-itistheperception，inthinkingbeings，oftheadaptationofmattertotheirorganization。TherearemanythingsontheEarth，whichwouldbenihilitytotheinhabitantsofVenus-manythingsvisibleandtangibleinVenus，whichwecouldnotbebroughttoappreciateasexistingatall。Buttotheinorganicbeings-totheangels-thewholeoftheunparticledmatterissubstanceethatistosay，thewholeofwhatweterm“space“
istothemthetruestsubstantiality；-thestars，meantime，throughwhatweconsidertheirmateriality，escapingtheangelicsense，justinproportionastheunparticledmatter，throughwhatweconsideritsimmateriality，eludestheorganic。
Asthesleep-wakerpronouncedtheselatterwords，inafeebletone，Iobservedonhiscountenanceasingularexpression，whichsomewhatalarmedme，andinducedmetoawakehimatonce。NosoonerhadI
donethis，than，withabrightsmileirradiatingallhisfeatures，hefellbackuponhispillowandexpired。Inoticedthatinlessthanaminuteafterwardhiscorpsehadallthesternrigidityofstone。Hisbrowwasofthecoldnessofice。Thus，ordinarily，shouldithaveappeared，onlyafterlongpressurefromAzrael’shand。Hadthesleep-waker，indeed，duringthelatterportionofhisdiscourse，beenaddressingmefromouttheregionoftheshadows？
OFcourseIshallnotpretendtoconsideritanymatterforwonder，thattheextraordinarycaseofM。Valdemarhasexciteddiscussion。Itwouldhavebeenamiraclehaditnot-especiallyunderthecircumstances。Throughthedesireofallpartiesconcerned，tokeeptheaffairfromthepublic，atleastforthepresent，oruntilwehadfartheropportunitiesforinvestigationthroughourendeavorstoeffectthisagarbledorexaggeratedaccountmadeitswayintosociety，andbecamethesourceofmanyunpleasantmisrepresentations，and，verynaturally，ofagreatdealofdisbelief。
ItisnowrenderednecessarythatIgivethefactsasfarasI
comprehendthemmyself。Theyare，succinctly，these：
Myattention，forthelastthreeyears，hadbeenrepeatedlydrawntothesubjectofMesmerism；and，aboutninemonthsagoitoccurredtome，quitesuddenly，thatintheseriesofexperimentsmadehitherto，therehadbeenaveryremarkableandmostunaccountableomission：
nopersonhadasyetbeenmesmerizedinarticulomortis。Itremainedtobeseen，first，whether，insuchcondition，thereexistedinthepatientanysusceptibilitytothemagneticinfluence；secondly，whether，ifanyexisted，itwasimpairedorincreasedbythecondition；thirdly，towhatextent，orforhowlongaperiod，theencroachmentsofDeathmightbearrestedbytheprocess。Therewereotherpointstobeascertained，butthesemostexcitedmycuriositythelastinespecial，fromtheimmenselyimportantcharacterofitsconsequences。
InlookingaroundmeforsomesubjectbywhosemeansImighttesttheseparticulars，Iwasbroughttothinkofmyfriend，M。ErnestValdemar，thewell-knowncompilerofthe“BibliothecaForensica。”andauthorunderthenomdeplumeofIssacharMarxofthePolishversionsof“Wallenstein“and“Gargantua。”M。Valdemar，whohasresidedprincipallyatHarlaem，N。Y。，sincetheyear1839，isorwasparticularlynoticeablefortheextremesparenessofhispersonhislowerlimbsmuchresemblingthoseofJohnRandolph；and，also，forthewhitenessofhiswhiskers，inviolentcontrasttotheblacknessofhishairthelatter，inconsequence，beingverygenerallymistakenforawig。Histemperamentwasmarkedlynervous，andrenderedhimagoodsubjectformesmericexperiment。OntwoorthreeoccasionsIhadputhimtosleepwithlittledifficulty，butwasdisappointedinotherresultswhichhispeculiarconstitutionhadnaturallyledmetoanticipate。Hiswillwasatnoperiodpositively，orthoroughly，undermycontrol，andinregardtoclairvoyance，I
couldaccomplishwithhimnothingtobereliedupon。Ialwaysattributedmyfailureatthesepointstothedisorderedstateofhishealth。Forsomemonthsprevioustomybecomingacquaintedwithhim，hisphysicianshaddeclaredhiminaconfirmedphthisis。Itwashiscustom，indeed，tospeakcalmlyofhisapproachingdissolution，asofamatterneithertobeavoidednorregretted。
WhentheideastowhichIhavealludedfirstoccurredtome，itwasofcourseverynaturalthatIshouldthinkofM。Valdemar。Iknewthesteadyphilosophyofthemantoowelltoapprehendanyscruplesfromhim；andhehadnorelativesinAmericawhowouldbelikelytointerfere。Ispoketohimfranklyuponthesubject；and，tomysurprise，hisinterestseemedvividlyexcited。Isaytomysurprise，for，althoughhehadalwaysyieldedhispersonfreelytomyexperiments，hehadneverbeforegivenmeanytokensofsympathywithwhatIdid。Hisdiseasewasifthatcharacterwhichwouldadmitofexactcalculationinrespecttotheepochofitsterminationindeath；anditwasfinallyarrangedbetweenusthathewouldsendformeabouttwenty-fourhoursbeforetheperiodannouncedbyhisphysiciansasthatofhisdecease。
ItisnowrathermorethansevenmonthssinceIreceived，fromM。
Valdemarhimself，thesubjoinednote：