the soul, or the conscious intellectual principle, should exist in activity, and in the vigorous exercise of its powers, without an instrumentality which has proved of such infinite use in the present state of things. It is alone through the organs of sense, or of sensation, that the mind receives all its perceptions; that it has been enabled to acquire all its knowledge, to exert all its powers, and discharge all its duties. It is through the mechanic structure of the corporeal instrument, that every office is performed. Could we suppose it to think without the organization of the brain, all its thoughts would be entirely useless, for it could not act without some instruments for action. To maintain the contrary, is to suppose that a miraculous change is to take place at the moment of corporeal dissolution. It is to suppose, that the soul which has, through the whole of human life, been so dependent upon the body, and under such infinite obligations to it, should at once enjoy liberty and enlarged powers, without that organized system, whose inlets to knowledge, it has condescended to use while destined to live in the flesh. The hypothesis supposes, that after enjoying this freedom, or using an occasional substitute, it has still an attachment to its former habitation ;-that it will be

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reconciled to a body of which it has so loudly complained; and that they will subsist amicably together through the ages of eternity.

When some of the Heathen philosophers considered the body in the light of a Prison, it was in conformity to certain ideas they had entertained of the sublimity and purity of Spirit, and the baseness of Matter; and their system was not inconsistent with these notions. But will our Christian philosophers assert, that the perfect Adam was committed to Prison before he was guilty of a transgression? Or will they suppose that the transgression procured his liberation, by his having incurred the penalty of Death? But these absurdities inevitably flow from the supposition, that the soul is incarcerated in the curious corporeal frame.

Those who imagine the soul to possess a conscious existence in the intermediate state, must suppose it to enjoy happiness or to suffer misery. Its fate is therefore determined; for judgment is already past upon the deeds which have been done in the body. It is really futile to suppose, that the inanimate particles of dust shall be reassembled and vivified, in order to their being acquitted or condemned, for having been the mechanic instruments of good or evil, according to the dictates of their spiritual agent. The re

surrection of Man, the revivification of the vital principle, a return to conscious existence, manifests its own importance, and when we ascribe all those strong expressions and encouraging promises, relative to the Resurrection, to such an event, we perceive their propriety and correspondence. The resurrection of the corporeal frame, exclusively, is of no moment; it is unworthy of the preparation that is making for the most important of all events, and of the solemn language which is always employed relative to it. When Christ declares, with a majestic voice, "I am the resurrection and the life," does he simply mean, I will carefully collect the pristine bodies of the saints, that each may enjoy his own? Can we suppose, that the Father of an intelligent offspring; that Jesus, the first-begotten from the dead; that the Aposles, when they were sent forth to preach a Resurrection, should invariably direct and fix the attention of the world to the corporeal frame, without bestowing one thought about the spiritual part of man, which alone is to possess happiness or suffer misery? Is not the Agent of more worth than the Instrument, however finely it may be constructed and polished? The Inhabitant superior to its Mansion, however convenient and splendid? and yet shall these absorb every care

and attention, and the other remain totally unnoticed?

The corporeal frame, destitute of vitality, consists of material principles only, whose properties are analogous to bodies in general. The identity of this body, were it possible that its identity should be preserved, is of no consequence whatever respecting the felicity of the soul. We might as well suppose, that the gem would lose its lustre and its value, were it to be placed in any other than in its pristine casket.

We may farther observe, that to expect the resurrection of exactly the same body, as that which was disorganized and dissolved by death, is to suppose that there is some specific or characteristic difference, in the constituent parts of every individual Body, by which it is naturally discriminated from others; but this is to diversify the same matter ad infinitum, without telling us in what that diversity consists: and yet, without this discrimination, the body of each individual soul cannot be identified. It is also not only possible, but certain, according to the transmutations that take place, in a series of years or of ages, that various particles of one body may become ingredients in the composition of subsequent bodies, by which Identities will be completely confounded.

Again. We are assured that there are "bodies celestial, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. So is the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." It is more than possible, therefore, that the same coarse materials may not be adequate to the purpose; and that others, whose properties are at present unknown, may be more adapted to the immortal vigour of the conscious principle. Should the same material substances be employed, we may imagine them to be so changed and refined, as not to be recognised. The only facts of importance are, that this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal immortality; as he that raised up Jesus from the dead by his almighty power, will give it a body as shall please him.

Once more. The terms sleep, resting in the grave, &c. are perfectly applicable to one simple principle, in a state of inactivity and repose; but not in the least, to the divided and subdivided par