ON THE HUMAN SOUL.

A DISCUSSION.

It is the positive duty of every man to become acquainted with the nature of his soul; it is of paramount importance to his happiness, and places within his reach the highest degree of bliss; for it unfolds to his perception that he is by creation an immortal creature, and a form receptive of life from the Lord. The scarcity of knowledge on this valuable subject can only be equalled by the degradation to which WISDOM in the present age is subjected. She is trampled under foot by the proud pretensions of ecclesiastical dignitaries; perverted science has obscured her light, and now revels in the orgies of insanity, clothed in the infatuated light of sense and decked in the tinsel of infidelity; folly and infatuation have raised her funereal pile, and exult like demons over the misery they have entailed on the human race but the reign of terror is past, the morning has arisen without clouds, and wisdom is experiencing a glorious resurrection in the hearts of the dutiful disciples of the Lord.

Two classes of opponents have to be silenced before we can bring this subject out in that beauty which is its peculiar characteristic feature. It is a blessing we are gradually led into the temple of WISDOM. Did she unveil her heavenly countenance instantaneously, the eye would be blinded by her dazzling glory. To avoid this she mercifully interposes mediums of various densities, and gradually prepares her students for her angelic and soul-enchanting abode; but we see INFIDELITY holding in her hand a challenge, and beckoning us on to the Temple of Discussion. We will follow and report.

INFIDELITY, in her first attack, stated that what we call mind is only a combination of forms which produce thought; for what is speech but rarified air, or the atmosphere put into activity? and if what we call soul is nothing else but an effect of organization, therefore when the body is dissolved all goes into its original gas, and forms plants, animals, and men; it is, therefore, very plain that there is no distinction betwixt matter and spirit; the terms are synonymous. WISDOM arose, and in reply to INFIDELITY, said, your judgment is formed from fallacious appearances; for in the first place you put effect before cause, and then draw your conclusions; but, do you admit that if a thing is not possessed of certain qualities, it cannot impart those qualities, be its combinations ever so varied? Yes, said INFIDELITY; any reasonable man will admit that. Then what, asked WISDOM,

are the qualities of matter? INFIDELITY answered, Why matter takes a certain portion of space to contain it, according to the dimensions and specific gravity of the subject: this is the universal law of matter. WISDOM then asked, Does it take a greater portion of space for one idea than for another, or does the man who writes a book full of useful information take up more room as to his mind, than the man who does not write one? Again, is more space taken up when we think of a town than when we think of a fly? or does matter possess divisibility without extension? INFIDELITY remained silent, and WISDOM proceeded; Now, if matter cannot give that which it is not possessed of, it follows that organized matter cannot impart qualities that do not belong to it; and thus you see there is a specific distinction betwixt matter and spirit; they are not synonymous terms, for the term that expresses the qualities of one will not express the qualities of the other, and this evidently proves that they are distinct; thus your first objection is fallacious: you stated that mind is produced by body, thus you make matter produce that which it is out of its nature to produce; in the same breath you say a thing can communicate that which it never had, and it cannot communicate that which it is not possessed of. Your next statement is equally as fallacious; for you say, What is speech but rarified air? here again you place effect for cause and miss your way. Speech consists of words, words contain ideas, ideas are not proper to space, for they are of intelligence; and all the gentle zephyrs, fierce whirlwinds, or the three combined atmospheres are as distinct from intelligence, as light from darkness, heat from cold; the mere modifications of air are but the means of manifesting thought, in the same way as the face exhibits the mind: your fault here lies in reasoning backwards. Your next position is as absurd; for you consider when the body dies the organization is destroyed, and when the parts are separated the powers which we call mind cease, and are all resolvable into their original elements, and produce human beings again. This position is a mixture of fallacy and truth. It is a truth that the elements of a body return to their fundamental principles, and become the base of other forms, mineral, vegetable, and animal; and thus the very portions of various gases may constitute bodies over and over again. The cannibal or man-eater has in his composition of bodily organization the bodies of perhaps a score of men; but it does not follow that if I were to eat Sir J. Herschell, I should be possessed of the astronomical powers of that great man; and it would be a fair inference to draw from your position that I should: by placing your facts in this light their absurdity is

brought to view. It is not to be wondered at that you should think as you do; for you consider body and mind to be synonymous. Had you seen that man is constituted of spiritual faculties, which are called mind, and of bodily faculties, which are called matter, you would at the same time have seen that, as dissolution cannot destroy the material properties or annihilate them,-because it is a fixed law that annihilation cannot be predicated of anything, and the same law is immutable in that which is spiritual ;-you would then have comprehended that the gaseous properties of matter do not constitute human intelligence, neither have they anything in common with humanity.

INFIDELITY again arose and commenced an attack from a different position. If, said she, organization cannot produce properties which it is not possessed of, and not being possessed of mind, how is it that the body of man is the organ of thought, reflection, and affection? This must be a conclusive argument against you. WISDOM in reply said, there is a great distinction to be made betwixt a power's being communicated, and the object's being capable of receiving it; therefore, if we find matter has a power, which in reality does not belong to it (as is evident from our former position), then the rational conclusion that follows, is, that matter can be so organized as to become receptive of that which is superior to it, and by organization it becomes a form receptive of wisdom, although the body does not possess intelligence from its own inherent power: thus the earth is not possessed of heat from its own power, yet it can have the activities of heat communicated to it: just in the same way as organization can be produced from life, but cannot produce life: the same with thought; it may be communicated to the atmospheric air, but then it does not belong to it; it is only the medium of making thought audible in this world.

INFIDELITY finding she was closely pressed, looked round in despair, and made one bold and desperate attempt to hurl WISDOM to the earth. If, said she, mind or life can only be manifested by organization, when the body dies that organization is destroyed, therefore it must cease. WISDOM, in reply, observed, that would be the case if the source of life could immediately be communicated to the body; but this would be as impossible as for the heat and light from the sun to be communicated to the earth, without the intervention of the atmospheres, which are of a three-fold order, and are called aura, æther, and atmospheric air. The atmospheres are forms capable of conveying this heat and light to the earth; just so with man. He has mental forms, and these forms are organized, and therefore are recipients of

life, and being of a superior kind can still subsist, although the lowest forms are removed by death, because the superior forms are the mind, and in reality constitute the man. The material body is man only secondarily, but the affections are man primarily; therefore as long as the medium of conjunction is operative in this world they appear united; but when dissolution ensues then these higher forms manifest themselves in a world of spirit, for they are spiritual; therefore a man is a spirit covered with flesh and blood, and has in his constitution the continents of both worlds.

INFIDELITY then turned away from the contest, silenced though not convinced: and when she was examined it was found she loved evil more than good; for evil had cast a dense cloud over her mind, which hindered the light of Wisdom from being seen, and thus heaven could gain no admission to her heart. Infidels love darkness, for their deeds are evil. While WISDOM was being congratulated by her friends on account of her overthrowing INFIDELITY, a strange looking creature entered the assembly and desired to combat with WISDOM. This was agreed to, on the condition that the meeting should be informed who it was that made the challenge. To this request answer was made as follows: I am ORTHODOXY; my parents are Church and State; my brethren have the wealth of the land, and are staunch advocates for religion as established by law. Hearing that you were discussing theological matters, I came to see whether you had passed your degrees and were fit to be intrusted with the power of explaining things belonging to our holy mother Church. At this point of the proceedings, a quiet old gentleman, named OBSERVATION, said, that if ORTHODOXY Would state to the meeting what he knew about the human soul, they would patiently listen to him, and that WISDOM would afterwards reply. ORTHODOXY then arose, inflated with pride, and said, This subject, upon the nature of the human soul, is above the comprehension of the vulgar; it can only be understood by men of refined taste and vast erudition; men who can make such logical deductions as that from nothing every thing was made; men whose piety and faith can see to a demonstration that God is incomprehensible, that he consists of three separate and distinct persons, and yet is only one person, without body, parts, or passions. It is to such refined learning as this that you ought to look up for instruction in these mysteries, and then you would not be led astray, but would be received into the bosom of our holy church, and become submissive "to the powers that be." I must also inform this dangerous meeting that we are going to put a stop to this inquiring spirit of the age;

as soon as we can get OPPRESSION out of the prison that public liberty of thought has built for her; then we can take care of your bodies as well as your souls. Now listen while I explain the nature of the soul. It is the opinion of our Hierarchy (and they are most likely to know), that the soul is a pure Promethean spark of divinity: but as you have not had a university education, it may be necessary to tell you that Prometheus was a son of Japetus, who procured fire from heaven to animate bodies of clay. This spark is an indivisible essence, a pure atom, from which all properties of matter are separated. When, therefore, Lucifer rebelled against high heaven, and was cast into hell, God created in his room this soul, and endowed it with a pure body. After Adam had eaten the fatal apple, death came "into the world, and all our woe." The soul is a spirit, a certain incomprehensible thing without a body, existing after death in some part of the universe, but where we cannot tell; and as man is composed of two essentials, body and soul, it becomes necessary that he should again have a body; and this takes place at the resurrection day, "when the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible ;" then will be seen, as Dr. Young says, a perfect cloud of scattered limbs, flying through the wide canopy of heaven's ethereal blue. Picture to your mind's eye this dreadful sight; then, then, you have presented to you the climax of the sublime, the awful, and the incomprehensible. Here COMMON SENSE could not sit still any longer, but arose with indignation, and thus spoke :

I should deem it a mark of degradation did we allow WISDOM to make any reply to this mass of folly and intolerance. No wonder that I am so cramped for room in the world, when such absurdities as we have just heard pass for erudition and theological talent; and what grieves me more, is to see the human race generally bow to such idiotic strains, and laud to the skies men who are their greatest enemies; I shall, therefore, as President of this meeting, order honest CONTEMPT to turn you out; and I give you this piece of advice,-go and sell what you have, and it will be better for you and all the Orthodox family. Then ORTHODOXY arose, boiling with rage, and in self condemnation said, "when generals of an army condescend to discuss military tactics with common soldiers," they lose all their self respect. I have learned a lesson, and shall avoid it in future. You are beneath my notice. He then left the meeting; but was afterwards seen by OBSERVATION in the dark, arm in arm with INFIDELITY.

The President then said, since we have turned out these bad characters from the meeting, I now request WISDOM to explain the true N. S. No. 33.-VOL. 3.

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