The love, will, and wisdom of God are the elements of his intelligence; they have their being in the very structure of his perfect mind, and send forth their streams of life from a necessity as unavoidable as that by which that mind exists. And these qualities or principles of the Divine Being are peacefully and harmoniously exercised, because the mental organization with which they are connected, is a complete and law-governed structure. It is not necessary to affirm that God is a personal being, endowed with all the various members of the human body, in order to suppose that He possesses this perfect mental structure, which manifests corresponding mental qualities. In a case where intelligence is not dependent on the functions of animal life—which must apply to the Supreme Mind—all that is required to generate intellectual principles is a complete mental or spiritual structure, without any necessary reference to such members as correspond with the lower portions of the human frame. Now if we refer to what has been already written on this subject, we shall find that Deity, in the view presented, is in himself a perfectly organized mind, thus possessing all that is required to produce the loftiest intelligence. In him we may observe, first, that central germ of life and consciousness, which gleams forth like a burning sun from the very heart of his being, and rests there as a magnet, which binds together with its attractive power the elements of the great whole, having its reflection and analogy in the depths of the human spirit; then may we observe as next in order, the radiant circles by which that germ is surrounded,-circles of light connecting it with the outer portions of universal space, and expanding, one beyond another, in every direction like spheres of living fire. thus forming one united, harmonious, and re

splendent structure, whose glory is not conceived in human thought. Behold, THIS IS THE ETERNAL BRAIN OF GOD !—a brain which has a perfect analogy with the crowning structure of the human body, by which it appears that man has been created in the Divine image. Let us now be impressed with the truth, that within this brain of God exists motion; that this motion, existing in a perfect and unchanging organism, must have definite and established tendencies, and that these endencies are represented by the terms love, will, and wisdom, which likewise represent the creative forces of Deity.

It will be well for us to refer now to some of the general characteristics of the creative forces here alluded to. And the first thought in relation to this point, is that these forces are inherent in the very nature and substance of the Great Mind. We can not conceive of these forces as being separate or apart from God, because they must exist in him in order that He may have a capacity for action. It is not, then, an external or physical power which He exerts; it is not the action of an almighty arm in connection with visible matter; it is not such a power as a mechanic would employ in constructing a monument of art. But the motive power of God is implanted within his own being, and consists simply in the movement of that life-giving, spiritual substance which composes his craniological structure,—this substance flowing out into the immensity of space, and working there its sublime results, even as the currents of vital fluid emanate from the human brain, and are diffused through the nerves of the physical system. Thus God does not operate on matter as a foreign and independent agent, but rather operates within matter as its supporting and animating Soul.

Another prominent characteristic of these creative forces, is that they are regular, established, and unvarying. The truth here stated follows naturally from the very nature and position of the Supreme Mind. That which is self-existent, uncreated, and superior to all things else, must exist without change; and consequently the forces which it contains as inherent properties, must be of a corresponding nature. The created human brain, constituting only a link in the chain of being, is impelled to move as move the links with which it is connected. It is subject to the accidents of birth, the disadvantages of wrong situations, the power of surrounding circumstances, and various influences which may be generated in its earthly sphere or in the home of superior intelligences. Accordingly we find that the creative forces of the human mind are frequently irregular, unsettled and changeable. To-day the artist, moved by the inspiration of genius, commences to embody his great ideal in a work which he fondly hopes will give immortality to his name; but to-morrow some depressing circumstance, or untoward accident, may turn the whole current of his thoughts in a different direction, and cause him to expend his entire mental force on another object. It is not thus with the creative mind of God. This operates the same from age to age. Its great and eternal labor is to create, and so the process of creation goes on while the everlasting year rolls away, and the divine impelling Thought remains unchanged. Herein is revealed the true majesty of the Divine character; and so, reader, if it should be said to you that God created any form or being, and then repented that He had created, believe it not; and if it should be said that He has at any time turned aside from his regular and established course of action to furnish evidence of a special

providence, credit not the assumption; for the same creative forces which brought the Universe into being are still in operation, and must remain forever unchanged in their direction and tendencies.

Let us now observe still another characteristic of the creative forces under consideration. These forces, it should be particularly noticed, operate on the principle of cause and effect

that is to say, they act as causative agents in the production of certain ulterior results, between which agents and results extends an unbroken and indissoluble line of connection. It is one of the first principles of truth that no effect can be produced, under any circumstances, without the action of an appropriate cause, and it is likewise a self-evident truism that an intimate relation must exist between the cause and the effect, in order that the one may be the product of the other. This principle applies primarily to the creation and economy of the Universe. Without the existence of an adequate cause, the multifarious effects which are observable in the surrounding expanse of being, could never have been produced. A cause therefore eternally existed, and this cause was no other than the creative forces of the Divine Mind. The chain of causation extends from these forces to all created forms. It was necessary that the Divine forces should first act, which action was simply the motion of a spiritual substance; then by this cause, other and more exterior elements were moved in a corresponding manner; these in turn communicated their motion to materials of still grosser nature, and so from the primitive impulse of the Original Power was carried forth the creating and governing principle to all inferior planes of existence, until at last the beauty, the glory, and the fragrance of worlds

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became representatives of the living bloom of Creation. In view of the philosophical truth here expressed, it will be perceived that the power of God does not operate independently and alone, but that it is exercised in connection with inferior elements and forces, which are employed as a medium whereby it is transmitted to the lowest and most unilluminated spheres of being. There is accordingly nothing supernatural, or contrary to the established principle of cause and effect, in the process of creation. Even the Deity himself could not act in a manner which is opposed to the laws of his own nature. It would be impossible for him to create, without the action of a creative power and the existence of an actual substance on which that power may operate. Hence when it is said that God "spake and it was done," or that He said, "Let there be light, and there was light "these expressions signifying that there existed no positive relation between the cause and the effect the affirmation should be rejected as untrue by every reasoning mind.

Being connected with a perfect craniological structure, the motive power of the Great Spirit has a general correspondence with the forces which are generated in the human brain,—those distinctions, however, being always kept in view, which must naturally exist between a created mind and the Supreme Intelligence. The elements of love, will, and wisdom are implanted in the depths of every soul, and these in their developed state constitute the spiritual forces by which the beautiful creations of human genius are produced. They are reflections from the love, will, and wisdom, of the Divine Mind; they are indeed the reproduction of the qualities of that Mind, as the soul itself is a reproduction of Deity; and so, in their ever-unfolding miu