highest degree, admirable. For many of his conjectures concerning the future life, there appears to be a solid basis, in the view both of analogy and the scriptures. He has invested that part of his subject which treats of the probable prerogatives of the future spiritual body, with great interest. We think, that he has generally proved his positions, that is to say, there are probably those prerogatives which he has ascribed to man in the eternal world. In regard to some of them, there can be no room for dissent or hesitation. Some opinions and assumptions connected with the details of his reasonings in this part of his book, it might be difficult to subscribe to, if not to admit their importance. It will probably always happen, that in an extended theory, the soundest judgment will mistake, if not in some of the great outlines, yet in the filling up. One mind will not be apt to see every thing that ought to be introduced, or ought to be rejected. But we have strong reason to believe, that in the future condition of human nature, there will be a great and desirable extension of our range of corporeal activity and enjoyment,--a consciousness of other properties of matter than are now cognizable to the senses, -an understanding of causes, as well as the last product of the combined qualities of matter,-a vast enhancement of the memory, a purely rational and voluntary association of ideas, and a perfect control of moral sentiments and feelings,-an ability to carry on many mental operations together, an enlarged intuitive perception of abstract truths, both mathematical and metaphysical,--an incalculable improvement in the mode of interchanging knowledge and feeling,--and an entire subserviency of the body to the mind. This enlargement of the powers of body and mind, will, to virtuous and holy men, be an unspeakable benefit, and productive of immeasurable enjoyment. He has doubtless proved, in connection with this topic, that each conjectural prerogative of the spiritual body, stands in itself evenly balanced between happiness and suffering, as a means of augmenting indifferently the one or the other. This is made a point of fearful interest, so full is it of powerful inducement to allure mankind to holiness and dissuade them from sin. These astonishing capabilities of the future human being invest the question of personal, moral character, with an importance which words cannot express. No reader, it would seem, can look at this subject, as Mr. T. has presented it, without being aroused to a serious consideration of his destiny, --or at least without feeling the infinite reasonableness of such a consideration. And truly in view of such representations, and also many others offered in the course of the writer's inquiries, what christian would not study more diligently, to know how he may make his "calling and election sure." As little doubt, also, can there be, that Mr. T. has evinced, the high probability, if not

the certainty, that the transition of human nature from one mode of physical existence to another, does not of itself affect the moral sentiments or personal character,-that the emotions and passions, whether benign or otherwise, will probably be far more intense in the future state than at present,--and that the active principles of our nature and our intellectual habits, such as they now are in training, shall hereafter come into actual use.

In no portion of the work, does the peculiar genius of the writer more prominently appear, than in that in which he puts forth his conjectures concerning the correlative construction, and reciprocal destinies of the material and the spiritual universe, together with the concluding remarks on hypothetical reasoning, and on pneumatology. They conclude the three conjectures before stated. The boldness of some of his hypotheses and suggestions,--the largeness of his views,-the range and the richness of his imagination, and the ingenuity with which he endeavors to sustain his positions, in this part of his theory are extraordinary circumstances, in this extraordinary book. But we have no space to dwell upon them. The nature of the topics will preclude entire conviction,--indeed we have already noticed, here and there, a few things by way of dissent: but the elevated and enlarged conceptions of the writer, and the mode of his reasoning, will naturally lead the reflecting mind to consider well for what purposes the Great Contriver reared this mighty structure of the material universe. Such a mind will feel, that the physical, intellectual, and moral ends had in view in such a system must be worthy of its adorable author; and will be grateful for the aid which these pages afford, in enhancing his conceptions of so magnificent a scheme. This we believe to be one great use of the present book,-not that all the conjectures contained in it are of such consistency as to bear the touch of rigid criticism, but with the undoubted truth of many of them and with the concomitants of learning, original thought, taste, and seriousness of manner, they will induce the mind to think. They will carry forward its views in regard to the works of God and the destinies of immortal man. They will excite a turn for the observation of nature and its analogies, with a view to construct a fair and hallowing system of truth. Such an use, we believe, these hypotheses are adapted to answer, as the imposing creations of a vigorous intellect, sanctified and controlled by the influences of religion. We close our remarks by giving two extracts from the latter part of the book,--the one containing some astonishing views of the extent of the creation,the other holding forth even the loftier counterpart of the worth and wonders of the human mind.

The galaxy, ascertained to consist of innumerable stars, and forming, as seen from our system, a somewhat irregular band, encircling the

heavens, obliquely to the ecliptic, gives, to the general figure of the starry expanse, the form of a flat parallelogram, about the midst of which is placed the sun of our system. Laterally, and looking towards the sides of this parallelogram, the stars are comparatively scanty; but looking in any direction, longitudinally, or towards the extremities, we include, of course, a vast perspective, and see a thickened brightness, constituted of the countless worlds that are ranged within the general figure.

But how, in adhering to the analogy of the celestial structures, are we to conceive of this parallelogram as being such indeed, and as stretching itself, in obedience to no rule of symmetry, through space, like a raft, floating in the ocean? or shall we not rather believe, that the portion of the field of space which we see replenished with suns, constitutes really a segment of a sphere, so immeasurably vast, that the suns ranged in the opposite sides of the hollow globe are totally beyond the range of vision, or perhaps even beyond the passage of light. In fact, the diameter of this supposed sphere must be such that, if light could traverse it, countless ages must elapse before it could reach us. The supposition we now propound may be conceived of readily by any one who imagines a hollow globe, we will say of three feet diameter, formed of a crust of glass, two inches thick; and this crust containing, pretty plentifully, grains of sand, evenly distributed. Now if we think of the eye as stationed at one of these grains, as its point of view, the speckled substance of the glassy crust would present an appearance not unlike that offered by the starry heavens; laterally, to the right and left, the substance would be comparatively clear of grains; but in every direction longitudinally, that is to say, following the course of the substance, the grains would seem so thickly ranged as to give an opacity to its appearance. At the same time, the opposite side of the globe would be too remote for its grains to attract the eye.

If this supposition is thought to consist with the law which seems to impose a spherical figure upon all the celestial masses and motions, and so to recommend itself as probable, and as agreeable to the analogy of known facts, then it will be manifest that the portion of the heavens seen by us, can bear but a small proportion to the part unseen;—such a proportion, for example, as is borne by the Australian continent to the entire surface of our globe. To present the appearance which it actually does, this portion can hardly exceed the extent of fifty degrees of

the circle.

And yet, when we have conceived of a starry sphere, such as has been described, are we to conclude that we have compassed the material universe? If there be one such sphere, there may be, in remotest space, another; and if another, many. This world of ours is not the universe; the solar system is not the universe :-but do our telescopes of twenty feet long sweep the field of the universe? The probability that they do not is as strong as any probability can be every reason is on the other side; and with the infinity of space, and the infinite creative power and will of the Supreme Being as the field and the means, the belief that this energy reaches its boundary within any circle that any created mind will ever be able to measure, or to conceive of, is not

to be entertained. On the contrary, we may far more reasonably suppose, not only that the divine perfections of power and wisdom abstractedly, will always surpass the comprehension of finite beings, but that the products of those perfections will go beyond the longest line of created minds; and that not the loftiest seraph shall ever be able to reach a spot whence, with even a seraph's ken, he may be able to descry the lone boundaries of the creation, and to look beyond the circle of productive power. Rather let us believe that creatures-the highest of them, let them wander where they may, and as far as they may, and let them hold on their course with unwearied curiosity, age after age, and in what direction they may please, shall yet find themselves in the very heart of the populous dominions of the Almighty, and surrounded, in all directions, by worlds and systems of worlds. pp. 255-258.

But the principle of life-that is to say, Mind, is not dissoluble by any other principle; nor can it give way before any intensity of a merely material energy; and although doubtless dependent upon the pleasure of the Creator, and immortal only by his will who sustains that which he has produced; yet it must be thoroughly independent of all coexistent and inferior forces or powers. We may at once be sure, on the one hand, that if life will endure only so long as He shall please who is the giver of life; and on the other, that it is a principle standing beyond the reach of all other forces, and inherently superior to every other. Let then the material earth vanish, silent and unnoticed as a dream; or let it melt with fervent heat, and pass away, as in a painful struggle and convulsion, with a "great noise ;" in either case, all minds, rational and moral, shall emerge from the mighty ruin, and float clear and untouched above the terrors and the tempest of nature's dying day. Mind shall shake itself of the corruptible and dissoluble elements, and shall put on incorruption: it shall lay down the dishonor of its union with the inert masses of the material world, and put on the glory of a purely active and uncompounded corporeity; it shall take leave of death, and be clothed with immortality.

It is nothing else but an anticipation of this rising of the mind over the level of matter, that is now going on within the human system. Mind, in its first stage of combination with matter, exercises only the lowest of its faculties, and is long little more than merely passive; but it gains every day upon the conditions of animal life, exerts more and more of its inherent powers, mechanical and rational; and at length, not only governs, in a spontaneous manner, its immediate body, but so diverts and controls the powers of the material world as to make itself, in a sense, master of nature, and to serve itself of her laws. The arts of life are precisely so many conquests of mind, and so many instances of the yielding of matter to the pleasure of mind. Again, by its powers of abstraction the most abstruse relations of the material world are mastered and reduced to a practical and most important subserviency. Then, by the aid of these same relations, the vastness of the material universe is so far grasped, by our methods of reasoning, as to yield itself in degree to our conceptions, and to come within the range of our calculations. Man, although not yet lord of the visible universe as an adult,

is lord of it as an heir; and exercises an authority becoming the minority of one for whom vast possessions are in reserve. This is not the language of empty pretensions: modern science and art make good, in detail, all that is here affirmed at large.

But as we go deeper and deeper into the recesses of our nature, and duly consider the dignity and the power of the moral life, and the vast compass of the affections, we shall feel, in far greater force, the trutha truth of unbounded import, that the most excellent forms of matter are as nothing in comparison with the worth and destinies of the spirit. The affections of the spirit, and their power of intimate communion with the Infinite Spirit, not only raise the mind immeasurably above the level of the visible world, and carry it clear of the fate of that world; but raise it even above the range of the merely intellectual faculties, so that a state may be conceived of far better and higher than that of the highest exercise of reason.

In truth, what is it that leads us to attach the value we do attach to intellectual labor and achievement ?-not the mere practical result of those engagements; nor the mere labor, in itself considered; but the EMOTION, the sentiment, and the moral power, connected with it, and by which it is prompted, animated, and rewarded. Within the entire circle of our intellectual constitution we value nothing but emotion ;it is not the powers, or the exercise of the powers, but the fruit of those powers, in so much feeling, of a lofty kind, as they will yield. Now that toward which we are constantly tending, as our goal,-that which we rest in when attained, as sufficient,-it is that which shall be ultimate, and shall survive whatever has been mediate, or contributory, or accessary. Every thing short of the affections of the soul is a means to an end, and must have its season: it is temporary; but the affections of the soul are the end of all, and they are eternal. Let the universe perish or be changed,-the soul shall live.' pp. 242-245.

ART. IX. THE PROPER STANDARD AND AIM OF PIETY.

THE importance of a high standard of piety, can hardly be overrated. This standard too should ever be rising. The bible does not address men as already perfect. No perfection is found on earth. It belongs only to heaven, or some other world than ours. The term perfection, however, may have various significations. As applied to intelligent, moral beings, it may perhaps, be used with reference to three states very different; viz. absolute, or infinite perfection, beyond which there can be nothing better; that of sinless beings, yet inferior to the Infinite; and lastly, that state itself of being, which, as a condition, is best adapted to secure the true end of existence in free moral agents. In the first sense, perfection belongs only to the Infinite God. In the second, to all beings without sin. And in the third, it may belong to all moral beings. No mere human being can appropri