ternal body-in the bones and muscles of the physical system -but it is to be sought in the very bosom of that unseen and indwelling spirit, which is the legitimate child of the Spirit. Father. It may be true that the spirit does itself correspond in outline with the human form, because this was the mold through which it was concentrated and born; but it does not thence follow that the spirit formed in this mold is an exact representative of the Divine Person, since this in itself is not the highest and most perfect creation, but contains within its depths a germ of more refined essence than that which composes the spiritual body, on which germ the purity and intelligence of the spirit are entirely dependent, and in which alone. can be found the true image and likeness of the Divinity. As the Supreme Soul is composed of the most interior and refined essence of matter, comprehending the highth and depth of all substance, we may safely and rationally conclude that the perfect image or reflection of that Soul, can exist only in the most interior and refined portion of the human spirit, from which reason and intelligence proceed.

As a confirmation of this conclusion, it should be noticed that the human body is simply a link in the chain of physical being that it is an unfolding from the undeveloped and less perfect productions of the earth, partaking in many respects of the same nature, powers, and functions which belong to inferior creations; so that, from the very position which it occupies, and from the likeness which it has by necessity to the lower forms of Nature, in which are represented only imperfect degrees of development, the human body can not be in itself, as a whole, the perfect and express image of the Divine Person. The lower portions of the human structure are apparently only

superior unfoldings from the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and are evidently constructed as they are for the purpose of carrying on the vital functions, and thus creating a medium through which the spirit can manifest its movements. These members of the body, therefore, are not necessary, except in the sense here mentioned, to the existence or action of intelligence, and hence should not be regarded as representing essential parts of the Divine Mind.

It is true that the human body is an ultimate production of Nature, and as such must comprehend in some manner the likeness of the Being from whom it was evolved; but let it be remembered that this same body, while it comprehends numerous links of unfolding, has itself an ultimate as presented in the human brain, and that within this brain are contained those spiritual essences in their most concentrated form, which constitute the germ of the soul. It is only, therefore, within the spirit-brain-the perfected flower of the human constitution-that we can rationally expect to find the real image of the creative Soul. We are accordingly justified in concluding, on the very ground that man does in the most exalted sense reflect the Divine likeness, that God is not a personal being whose organization corresponds with the external form of the human being as a whole that He is not indeed an infinite man, having such a body as is only necessary to protect the weakness of the earthborn spirit, but that He is represented, as to both form and essence, in the highest, purest, and most interior portion of the spiritual structure, which is the germ of the soul itself ;--and in the light of this fact, it will be easy to perceive that Deity did not create the systems of worlds as a mere mechanic, by the action of a special desire, the exercise of an external force,

or the agency of a direct interposition, but on a principle which is more sublime in its character, and which is more consonant with the real nature of the Divinity.

In order to clearly comprehend the true principle of Divine Action, it will be necessary to have some definite conception of the Being in whom that principle exists. It is from the force of a narrow and material idea of God, that the act of creation has been viewed as the result of an external and arbitrary power. If God is a personal and self-willing being in the same sense that man is such, it must be presumed that He would act on similar principles to those which govern the course of human action; and, in accepting this view of the subject, it is not entirely inconsistent to believe that He may be, as theologians have supposed, changeful in his purposes and designs, creating and then repenting that he did create, as is sometimes the case with earthly beings. It is a lamentable fact that, in the conceptions of men, the Divine Being has been measured by the standard of human character; and that, as a necessary consequence, the principle which governs and regulates the exercise of his power, has been viewed chiefly as the action of a fickle and wayward will. But when the mind is able to resign such conceptions, and entertains a truly philosophical view of the nature and constitution of Deity, it will be enabled to conceive a far more exalted idea of the character of that principle by which the vast result of creation has been attained.

It is not questioned that God is an organized intelligence, that He has a conscious existence, and exercises a power in creating which corresponds to will; but the question to be decided is, whether that organization implies an indefinite per

sonal volition, whether that consciousness confers an unlimited freedom, and whether that will is governed by impulse or fixed by law. This question is of great importance in its bearing on all our conceptions of the process by which the Universe was born, and of the mode in which it is now controlled. But how shall this question be decided? Is it one which lies beyond the boundary of human reason, and must the mind be contented with the thought that it is enrobed with a vail of impenetrable mystery? Possibly there may be a line of philosophical induction which will lead to a satisfactory solution of the problem, and thus disclose the true principle of Divine Action.

With this object in view, let us here seek to know what God really is. Is He a spirit whose movements are uncontrolled by any established law, or is He a living substance that acts by virtue of a settled and inherent principle which is analogous to that by which all matter is pervaded? To decide this question, let us refer to the conclusions which have been already arrived at in the preceding chapters. Deity, as we have seen, is the eternal and self-existent Soul of space-the real and substantial Essence of matter, constituting the inmost germ of all existence. If this be true, then Deity must sustain a direct and intimate relation with matter, and, being himself the original basis from which this was derived, must contain inherently the same eternal principles which are manifested in matter. In this case there would exist the same analogy between Deity and matter as between the seed and the flower. The seed must contain within itself all the elements, and so must be governed by the same unchanging laws, which are afterward manifested in the unfoldings of the flower; and so,

in a corresponding sense, the Divine Mind, being the primary Essence from which all things were produced, must comprehend in itself the basis of the same substances, and therefore must be controlled in its action by the same principles, which are exhibited in the ultimate fruits of creation.

That this idea may be clearly comprehended, let us briefly view the essentially near relation which already subsists between God and the Universe. The proposition may be stated at the outset, that the Deity lives in the most interior portions of all matter, and that between the divine essence which forms his being and the surface of material existence, there extend numerous connecting links by which both are united in one perfect whole. To illustrate this proposition, we may suppose that the earth, for instance, is composed of substances which are visible, and others which are invisible—that it is made up of materials which are extremely gross, and essences which are exceedingly refined, and that there is a regular and unbroken chain of connection between all these materials and essences, these being arranged in such a manner as to form a perfect and beautiful gradation from the visible to the invisible, from the gross to the refined, and from the material to the spiritual. Thus from the immeasurable surface of existing matter, the mind may descend into the interior of refined and still refining substance, passing from link to link, from gradation to gradation, down toward the inmost heart of the Universe, within whose hidden and unexplored depths may be found the sanctuary of the Eternal Spirit. It will be perceived, therefore, that, by virtue of the unbroken chain of connection which unites external matter with its pervading Soul, a certain unity is established between these two departments of being, which