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THE SOUL INVALUABLE.

AN infidel philosopher has observed, that "the damnation of one man is an infinitely greater evil than the subversion of a thousand millions of kingdoms." This is a testimony which he has borne against himself, and against all in every age, who make light of the well-being of that imperishable spirit which the Almighty has breathed into the human frame. "The subversion of a thousand millions of kingdoms!" Ay; he might have converted his kingdoms into worlds, and his thousand millions into countless myriads, and still might he have said, that the damnation of one man is an infinitely greater evil. They are to one immortal soul as less than the small dust of the balance. With all the marks of divine perfection enstamped on them, they have yet no conscious existence-and are susceptible neither of pain nor pleasure-and are but the material instruments which God has created for the gratification or the improvement of the intelligent beings that inhabit them. It is their fate to pass away as if they had never been; but the soul shall endure and after they shall have been blotted out from the wide expanse of universal nature, as having served the purposes of their formation, the soul shall still survive, and stretch out its existence into everlasting ages, and spend that eternity to which it is destined, either under the burden and the anguish of a just condemnation, or in the enjoyment of exalted, unmingled, and never-ending bliss.

EXCELLENCE OF THE HUMAN MIND.

MIND is the source of all that is great and beautiful, and mind is the proper subject of beauty and of grandeur. It is the infinite mind which, beaming through this material frame, diffuses a radiance over it; and the indications of infinite intelligence, power, and goodness, constitute the beauty and grandeur of the material world. And it is mind in man which recognises these indications, and, like a mirror reflecting the sunbeam, refers them to their great original. What would the noblest conformation of material things, and the most exquisite disposition of their parts, avail to the glory of God, or to any purpose worthy of infinite wisdom, if there were not intelligent beings to experience and appreciate their happy results? It is mind which marks the order, harmony, and consistency of nature; which traces the connexion and design of its parts; which combines them in new associations, and draws from them endless stores of thought and reflection; extracting, by its peculiar powers, from inanimate and senseless things, the observations of the naturalist, the deductions of the philosopher, and the enchantments of the poet.

The simplest faculties of the human mind, and those which are earliest in operation, I mean the faculties of external perception, may well awaken our admiration of the divine power to which we owe them. The bodily organs, by means of which they are exercised, are so exquisite in their structure, that they form one of the most interesting subjects of human investigation: but there is something far more wonderful behind; the power which, by means of these instruments,

perceives the sensible qualities of external things. There is no necessary connexion between my opening my eyes and receiving intimations of the various objects around me; and yet I no sooner draw up the little curtain of my eyelid, than I behold, at a glance, the wonders of nature, the works of art, the persons of my fellow-men, and perhaps, depicted in their countenances, the inmost feelings of their hearts. These powers of perception are the gift of the Almighty; and they reside, not in the eye, which is only a telescope of divine construction, but in the mind. If, indeed, the telescope be injured, the exercise of vision is obstructed; but, however perfect the instrument, its use is obviously limited to the transmission and refraction of the rays of light, and it were absurd to attribute to its lenses and its retina, the phenomena of perception and discernment, which imply principles of an entirely different and infinitely nobler kind.

The higher faculties and nobler operations of the human mind, I must not attempt to enumerate, far less to analyse; but contemplate for a moment some of their vast results. Behold that feeble creature man, by his superior intelligence, subduing animals of strength and activity far surpassing his own, and employing their powers in his service; see him controlling the vegetative powers of the earth, directing its fertility, and changing the barren wilderness and impenetrable forest into a fruitful field; see him overleaping the boundaries of country, and guiding his bark through the trackless waves of boundless unfathomable ocean; see him, not satisfied with the ample disclosures of nature, subjecting her to experiment, and forcing her to reveal her secrets;

see him collecting, from a survey of the history of man, the accumulated wisdom of past ages, and applying it to the improvement and comfort of the ages to come; see him, not confining his researches to the plants he treads on, and the animals around him, but following the stars in their courses, ascertaining their motions and revolutions, and demonstrating, at once, the immensity of the works of God, and the simplicity of the laws by which they are regulated. Behold him in a different aspect, united to his species by a thousand ties; in the family, seeking solace and repose in scenes of domestic affection; in the state, forgetting himself in zeal for the many, and studying only the interests of mankind. Finally, contemplate him distinguished as the subject of the moral government of God; with thoughts, desires, and affections that address themselves to objects beyond the sphere of created being and mortal existence; endowed with conscience, the delegate of the Most High; accosted by prophets and apostles, the oft-returning messengers of heaven; and, O last effort of allconquering mercy! visited and reclaimed by God himself, wearing the veil of sin-degraded humanity. Ah! could we but learn to estimate our souls by the price God has put upon them, we should not so basely vilify their powers, so boldly misapply their godlike attributes.

The mind of man is doubtless the noblest work of God which he has subjected to our inspection. How divinely is it constituted; how richly endowed with faculties; how nice in its adaptation to the material frame, formed for its use; how well fitted for its rank in the order of creation; how exquisitely gifted with powers for

holding communication with other intelligent beings, probably far beyond any thing of which this state gives us experience! Capable of what happiness, the fond insatiable aspirations of nature give us to conjecture; susceptible of such woe as only a spirit of immortal origin may experience, fallen, and in a fallen world.

THE SUBLIME CONTEMPLATIONS OF A HOLY SOUL.

BUT that lofty soul that bears about with it the living apprehension of its being made for an everlasting state, so earnestly intends it, that it shall ever be a descent and vouchsafement with it, if it allow itself to take notice what busy mortals are doing in their (as they reckon them) grand negotiations here below. And if there be a suspicion of an aptness, or inclination to intermeddle in them to their prejudice, to whom that part belongs, can heartily say to it, (as the philosopher to the jealous tyrant,) We of this academy are not at leisure to mind so mean things: we have somewhat else to do than to talk of you. He hath still the image before his eye, of this world vanishing and passing away: of the other, with the everlasting affairs and concernments of it, even now ready to take place, and fill up all the stage; and can represent to himself the vision not from a melancholic fancy, or crazed brain, but a rational faith, and a sober well-instructed mind, of the world, dissolving monarchies and kingdoms breaking up, thrones tumbling, crowns and sceptres lying as neglected things. He hath a telescope, through which he can behold the glo

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