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istry, they go forth with a creative power to mold the plastic elements of Nature into forms of beauty, and cover the wide earth with structures and ornaments of art. But the analogy between their mode of action and that of the Divine forces, is wanting in precisely those particulars where the correspondence ceases between the earth-born child and the self-existent Father. The exercise of love, will, and wisdom on the part of man, is controlled by surrounding circumstances, influences, and conditions; and these qualities, in his present rudimental state, are expressed chiefly through the medium of the physical organism, in external and representative signs, instead of being able to embody themselves in their own pure and beautiful emanations. In the Divine Mind the creative forces are spontaneously developed, and operate in a sphere which represents the first and highest plane of causation. They accordingly act from an innate necessity, and not from the movements of any extraneous power; and so by virtue of their own eternal tendencies, they move, impel, and attract the refined elements of which they are inherent properties, until they become ultimately clothed in forms of progressive nature and unfolding loveliness, like those which even now adorn the shining heavens.

Before commencing to think rationally on a subject like this, the mind must entertain some conception of divine order ; and when it perceives that God has always acted in accordance with those beautiful and harmonious principles which are now exhibited in the varied processes of Nature, it will likewise perceive that He has created all things in the same manner, relatively speaking, as the flower is unfolded from its germ, or the tree is developed from the seed. By keeping this principle in

view, it will be known that the Deity could never have formed the design of creating the Universe in the manner set forth in the Primitive Scriptures. That is to say, He could never have accomplished this result in a period of time corresponding to six days, as is represented by the writer known as Moses. This would have been entirely inconsistent with the present teachings of the Divinity in Nature. No rational mind will assert that the processes of the visible creation are hurried, abrupt, or instantaneous in their completion. The law of progressive development which is everywhere manifested, renders it impossible that this should be the fact. Everything is developed gradually and progressively in accordance with a principle which Deity himself could not overthrow, because it is an expression of his own unchangeable mind. Hence it can not be consistently supposed that the mighty birth of the Universe —a work which surpasses the conceptions of the human mind -could have occurred through any special interposition of Almighty Power, which would have the effect of producing the result in a single week, as has been supposed by theologians. On the contrary, it will be naturally presumed that the process by which all existing forms and substances were ushered into being, was comparatively slow, gradual, and progressive in its nature that, as the work to be accomplished was an infinite development and could be performed only through an adaptation of means to ends, it must have extended in its execution over a lapse of time which it is impossible for the earthly mind to conceive.

Thus the sublime order and perfected forms of existence, arose gradually and progressively from the chaos of unparticled elements. Creation was the work of unnumbered ages, being

carried on in correspondence with the principles of association, progression and development, which are the eternal and unvarying expressions of the Divine Mind. From the bosom of the original and self-existent Soul, flowed forth the streams of creative life into the great immensity of being; and then from these primitive and all-expanding materials, which have their origin in the Divine Heart, were gradually formed the beautiful and harmonious creations which are spread throughout the vast fields of space, and constitute the sparkling glories of the heavens. Suns, planets, and systems, were thus formed and arranged from the outflowing essence of the divine and original Germ, and these creations were the natural and inevitable results of those sublime, forces that are now manifested in the governing principles of the Universe. It was not therefore by the mere arbitrary command of God that worlds came forth to fill the expanse of space; but this stupendous and inconceivable work was accomplished only through the outlowing of the original Soul into form, and order, and harmony. Hence the truth may be understood that the Universe in its present state of development, was not the instantaneous production of One who spake and it was done, but the beautiful and progressive unfolding of harmonious spheres from the heart of the infinite Sun.

In investigating the creative forces of the Deity, from whose action all present existences have been evolved, it is essential that the mind should be governed by the principles of reason and intuition, which find their basis in the broad and immovable foundations of existing Nature. There is no external authority which can fully elucidate this subject to the truly rational mind. Above and beyond the teachings of every book

and creed, the perceptions of the soul reach forth into the illimitable expanse, and grasp the realities of the past as they are linked with the grand developments of the present. So the student of Nature, who looks forth with a clear, bold gaze into the recesses of surrounding things, and recognizes there the harmonious workings of the divine law, can view throughout the long avenues of endless being, the progressive dawn of Creation's life.

CHAPTER VI.

UNFOLDING OF THE PRIMITIVE ELEMENTS.

THE Divine Mind, residing in the most interior depths of space, sustains, as before stated, a positive relation to the entire immensity of being by which it is surrounded. By virtue of this relation, a constant interchange is constantly occurring between this and the less refined portions of the substance of which space is formed. Through this interchange new combinations are formed, new conditions are introduced, and the elements which, in their primitive state, were essentially spiritual, begin to manifest a more gross and material nature. It is thus by positive and negative relations—the same relations in fact by which the process of reproduction is carried on in the vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms, that the exterior formations of the Universe have been unfolded.

The nature of the process by which these formations were produced, can be only properly conceived by the mind which has investigated, and become thoroughly acquainted with, the principles of generation as manifested in every department of Nature. There has been but little understanding of the true process of creation, for the reason that man has not understood

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