immediate consequence of such a discovery would be equally striking and important. A being whose thoughts and purposes had been adapted to the humiliating notion of a brief and mere earthly existence, who had been taught by the impulses of his sensual nature, that the indulgence of passion was the highest happiness to which he was born, and that when his body should waste away, and become dust, he himself would perish ;-a being whose whole intellectual course was confined to the space of which a momentary lust was the starting point, and his power of enjoyment the utmost boundary, could be subjected to no greater change than that of finding himself immortal in his nature, and the heir of whatever the illimitable future might confer upon his species. It may with safety be laid down as an axiom, that a man's determinations are the counterpart of his hopes. This is the case in respect to the kind of objects he pursues it is also so in regard to the extensiveness and fixedness of his designs. Spatio brevi spem longam reseces was the consistent maxim of the Epicurean poet: a far-extending hope was fraught with danger and grievous disappointment to one whose term of existence could scarcely promise the possibility of its completion: but in proportion as the probable duration of life was increased, hope might more safely extend its views; and when no limit was left to the continuance of

conscious existence, neither was any needed for the hopes and aspirations of the soul. But with views thus enlarged, and the mind quickened into constant action by the prospect of future good, the moral being must of necessity begin to develop its better qualities, and assert its superiority over the mere animal. The torpor of indifference, or the madness of sensual intoxication, will be yielded to less readily; a desire to make the most of experience, to know more of nature, and approach as near as possible the verge of the gulf which separates the seen from the unseen, will exercise a powerful influence on the mind; and truth will every day become of more value and importance, because more manifestly necessary to the security of happiness.

A revelation of the immortality of the soul, in its simplest form, would realize much of what has here been stated, in any age of the world. But many circumstances may be imagined which would render its effects more remarkable at one period than another, and even, though not intrinsically, yet, in respect to the temporal state of mankind, more valuable. There are seasons in which our race has to struggle less than at others, to supply the necessities of life; in which there is a larger proportion of calm and security; when diseases are less frequent, death more tardy in its approaches, and the satisfactions of appetite and passion less dear or perilous in the purchase. At

such times, the minds of men may be supposed to look with more complacency on their condition, and to suffer less from the anxious suspense which, in periods of toil and affliction, weigh down their spirits. Now, for some ages previous to the coming of our Saviour, the world had been reaping, and gathering into its storehouses, that is, into the seats of its several governments, and into the homes of individual men, the harvest of evil and misery, which had been sown, first, at the fall of our great progenitors, and then at the several periods in which the mighty spirit of rebellion and anarchy came visibly forth to exert his right upon us. War had glutted itself with carnage; licentiousness loosened the holiest bonds of social existence; slavery was defended as the necessary lot of millions; and the whole mass of mankind felt, and writhed under, the lash of the tormentor. The only mitigation of these accumulated evils, was that occasionally afforded by the soothing voices of those few exalted and finer spirits, who kept some portion of their natural freedom, and who loved to employ their eloquence in asserting the beauty and nobility of nature. Poetry and philosophy still cultivated their green recesses in the desert; and sometimes coming forth into the world, startled their fellow-mortals, as with a song heard in the night, from their gross and heavy slumbers. But the sound had no multiplying echo: there was no

focal point wherein the rays of intellectual light might accumulate, and fire a torch for the guidance of the fallen race.

That the metaphor is fairly illustrative of the reality, is proved by the sober testimony of undoubted history. But let us, for the moment, suppose that when the world was in this condition, one of those noble-minded men of whom we have spoken, had discovered arguments, or a method by which he could secure the immediate attention of his fellow-beings to the better principles of their nature, and lead them safely to the acquisition of good and happiness;-is it to be doubted that he would have readily employed his power? or is it not, in fact, proved that he would, by the manner in which the best of the learned men of antiquity did exercise their genius? Let us further suppose that he had not only discovered truth, and the right method of communicating it, by the strength of his own intellect, but that light had been poured into his heart from on high, and that he found himself thereby consecrated as a teacher of mankind ;—is it to be imagined that he would have kept back the blessing which he received in charge for the good of his suffering brethren? The answer to this question is at once manifest, and we must at the same time see, that in proportion to the benevolence and the power of the individual, would be the decision of his conduct; and consequently, that, if we sup

pose a divine instead of a human being employed in this work, the probability of his undertaking the instruction and enlightenment of mankind is increased in proportion to the increased perfection of the agent. And while this is true of the agent, it must also be true in respect to Him who sets him at work, that is, of God himself: for unless we deny him the attribute of love, He cannot be supposed less willing to deliver his creatures from darkness than any one of those creatures would be to deliver the rest, were it in his power.

We may conclude from such considerations as these, that nothing could be more consistent with the benevolence of God than the communication of a truth which should make man the conscious master of immortality; and that in thus enriching his mind, he would be supplying him with the best possible means of recovering his lost dignity and happiness. But the wondrous act of benevolence has been performed: the human race has received from its great Author this rich dowry of intelligence; and in an age of the world when it was the sole means of saving mankind from irrecoverable degeneracy. To regard a benefit with less interest when it has been conferred, than when it is viewed prospectively, or theoretically, is the common course of human feeling; but to neglect a blessing which is always increasing in the power of its operation, and the application of which becomes every hour more necessary to our safety, is