sary, as might be supposed, to go back to some very distant period in former ages, because the effects which proceed from those causes are continually in existence, and from these effects the line of induction extends unbroken to the original Source of being. Consequently the structure of the Universe itself will reveal its own origin-the harmonious principles which are at work in all its parts, will disclose the forces by which it was brought forth into form and order, and the depths of interior life where the Divine Essence lives, and breathes, and moves, will unfold the primitive substance from which the Whole was born.

In contemplating the works of creation, extending as they do into the distant fields of immensity, and containing within their sphere the infinitude in which thought itself becomes lost in adoration, the human mind may well shrink from the task of investigating and comprehending the entire realm of being presented to the mental conceptions. Yet the Universe with all its sublime and inconceivable glory, is one of the principal mediums through which the Divinity speaks to the human spirit; and its beautiful unfoldings, material and spiritual, are the treasures of celestial knowledge to which the mind on earth should ever earnestly aspire. To examine the Universe in a clear and rational light, it is necessary that the soul should attain not only an elevated, but an interior position, from which it can look forth on the operations of Nature as the external manifestations of divine principles, which are seen and comprehended by the inward perceptions. It is impossible to reach the realities of the Universe by gazing on its vast expanse with the outward eye. In this manner only a feeble and exceedingly limited conception can be obtained of those

realms of being which seem to expand into infinity. Hence Science, with all its vast discoveries and important revelations, has thus far presented to the world but a small and insignificant portion of the temple of Nature; for while it could gather fragments of truth from the dark forms of earth, and search out some of the laws that govern the shining orbs of night, it could not extend beyond these into those ever-expanding fields of space which only the vision of the soul itself can visit, and it could not penetrate beneath them into the regions of the invisible world, where the life and light of God are hidden from the perceptions of sense.

The Universe must be considered in two aspects; the first giving a view of the realm of material substance as revealed to the outward organs of the mind-and the other presenting the realm of spiritual substance as comprehended by the vision of the soul. Both of these views unfold an apparent infinity, but that of the former is the infinity of space or extent, and that of the latter is the infinity of life or depth. When, therefore, the mind has wearied itself in endeavoring to comprehend something of the immensity of the Universe in an external point of view, it has still to look within each particle of the worlds over which it has traveled, and find in this inner temple of the Divine Mind, another and still deeper universe. That which sense could comprehend, though it could roam over the expanse of all material worlds, would be but the mere surface of creation which is bathed only with a transient light, and is decked with forms that change and die. The human mind, then, must endeavor to expand its conceptions into a still deeper sphere of thought than that embraced in the immensity of creation; it must penetrate the world of invisible life-invis

ible to the eye, but revealed gloriously to the sonl; it must go down beneath the fading objects of the material Universe; it must contemplate the minute atoms-the refined elements of which these are composed, and then it must descend still further into the arcana of Nature, and investigate the spiritual essences and divine principles by which the universal whole is sustained, animated, and moved.

Yet the great truth must now be impressed, that both the outward Universe and its interior life—the world of matter and the world of spirit, are, strictly and analytically speaking, one substance. This truth may scarcely be recognized by the superficial mind, since to the outward view the Universe seems to be composed of many different substances, while the realm of the spirit is supposed to be entirely diverse in its nature from all these. But to arrive at the truth which has been expressed, it is necessary to investigate the elementary constitution of existing forms. These forms in their organic state do not represent the ultimate of matter. The outward structure which is visible to the eye, does not manifest the primitive substance of which this is composed. All things may be resolved into their component elements; and when we look within the external organism,.we find that it is composed of inconceivably minute particles-that these particles are formed from still more refined and subtile elements, and that these elements may be traced back to the spiritual essence, which exists as the original source of all gross and visible matter. When, therefore, the mind would consider the nature of all existing substance, it must regard this not in the light of its outward appearance, but in the view which the soul may obtain of its primitive and constituent elements; and when these elements are contem

plated in the light of their original source, flowing as they must from one great central Essence, it will be seen that, since they proceed primarily from the same origin, the substances which may be formed from these, however diverse in their apparent and tangible form, are really and intrinsically one Therefore does the Universe present a grand and beautiful unity, even in its most diversified and complicated structures; and so the whole established system of things is one harmonious Effect, proceeding from one Cause, and tending toward one End.

The human mind can never comprehend the immensity of the revolving systems that roll in space. It can never entertain more than the shadow of the reality which no finite thought can embrace. Yet an expansive and comprehensive view of the Universe, will embrace the inconceivable whole as a sublime unity; and instead of parts and fragments-worlds and systems, may be beheld the perfect and united structure that enshrines the Divinity. So on the wings of the ideal the soul may soar away through the vast regions of matter, and with the strength of its expanded powers it may grasp the whole in one sublime conception, as the embodiment of a divine Principle. And this concentrated idea-this grasping as it were the whole of creation in one view, unfolds to the mind the great truth which it could not otherwise comprehend, that Nature is one united and complete organism, comprehending in its constitution the innumerable parts which no thought can trace, and containing within its structure the essence of an organized Spirit which is the inmost soul of matter. It is impossible to obtain any suitable idea of creation by looking merely at the parts of which it is composed. The perceptions of the mind might extend from sun to sun-they might reach from

system to system, and thence pass on through the realms of the vast ether, and the end would still be as far away as when the journey was commenced. But let the soul rest serene in its majesty; let it stretch forth its powers of thought and perception to grasp the complete organization of Nature in one view, and then shall it behold the great realities of space as a beautiful thought daguerreotyped on the soul.

What, then, is the Universe but the form of God?-what are all its refined essences but the atmosphere by which He is surrounded-what are all its subtile and vitalizing fluids but the medium through which He acts upon and moves the worlds, and what are all the visible substances that crowd the realm of matter but the most exterior portions of his vast organism? Therefore may we find God embodied in creation. Within the hidden regions of the invisible, where the vision of the eye may not penetrate, his seat and throne are established; and from this deep center flow out the streams of the divine life through all the throbbing arteries of Nature. But the Deity is not to be confounded with the Universe. The one is the living and all-animating Soul; the other is the moved and ever-changeful Body. Connected, it is true, are God and Nature, as the human spirit with its physical organism; yet this relation presents the important reality, that creation is but the negative and passive production that moves beneath the will of the positive and eternal Soul. Hence to conceive truly of the Universe, it must be regarded as an entity under the control of the Divine Power, whose parts are governed and regulated in harmony, by the subtile instruments of the Supreme Will.

This view of the Universe is one which is grandly simple and truthfully sublime. Amid the diversity of surrounding forms