space. Heaven's inhabitants now having arranged themselves, such as were of the number of the adventurers, soared aloft, for every point of the compass from that first centre, was up, though opposite directions were pursued, they were nevertheless perpendicular ones. (See the plate.)

This is shown, by supposing ourselves on the sun, which is the centre of our planetary system; any direction from the sun is a perpendicular direction, as the sun by necessity is the lowest point in the solar system. Heaven, therefore, if in the centre of the great and increasing universe of God, is also the lowest point (relatively speaking) in wide creation; from which it follows that any direction therefrom is a perpendicular direction. Although in this sense, heaven is the lowest point in the universe; yet in moral excellence it is the highest, for it is God's throne-location, or mere position, adds no excellence to any being or place, it is moral character that does this. On this account it is, that God is said to look down from heaven upon the works of his hands.

It was impossible for those voyaging angels to arrange how long should be their journey, as there then existed no rule by which time or distance could be measured; as day and night, arising from the revolutions of globes, and systems of matter, did not then exist, as signs and guides in this respect. Eternity had not yet erected her time piece, by which she is cut up into ages, periods, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds; their own feelings, as to the time of return, was their only guide.

Now heaven was bereft in part, of its people, as the journeying millions shot off in all directions of heaven's compass, like flashes of fire from a nucleus of light, in search of they knew not what, as they could form no idea of things, or of beings, of which they had not heard or seen; yet their spirit of activity may be supposed thus to have exerted itself. But how far these exploring angels penetrated the heights of boundless space, none can tell; yet perhaps even further than where now exists the utmost bounds of creation; where the outermost circles of systems of worlds look off into the yet boundless and yet unexplored abyss of eternity, save by omniscence itself; but without having made one discovery, except that there was no end to nonentity, which was the universal report, on the return of each cohort, shouting as they descended, there is nothing, nothing, beside ourselves and this our place of dwelling.

But on account of this void condition of space, are we to suppose the angels were in the least unhappy, or discontented? not at all; for this one reason: it is not possible that a thought of the existence of what is now called matter, as distinguished by tangibility, could have entered their minds, nor ever would have done so, had not he who created them, at such times as seemed good to himself, have created also the universe, consisting of

matter, variously modified and mingled with spirit, and furnishing occupancy and ground of improvement, to intellectual beings. Is it possible for the most cultivated of the race of man, to think of, or to invent, any substance different from what he has seen, heard of, and known to exist, or to add a single first principle to the great machine of nature, that could be of any use; as is density, divisibility, gravity or attraction, repulsion, color, heat, cold, wet, dry, light, darkness, sensation, nutrition, sound, &c.? it is impossible; we can conceive of no possible useful addition of any first principle. Neither could the angels have done this, more than to have been creators; they were not capable of invention to any such extent as to be able to make improvements on their own nature; and never could have had any further ideas of any thing beside their own condition, and their associate circumstances, had not the Divine Being have produced a tangible state of things, and presented it to them, which, when done, was a revelation, known and read of all.

Man knows nothing, absolutely nothing, in and of himself; he cannot originate one single idea without help, without a revelation of some kind as a starting point. What, therefore, is the mind of man? we cannot tell; yet we may say it is a being, a creation of something, capable of improvement almost to infinity, yet, without knowledge, or even thought, till revelation comes to its rescue, and one species of revelation is nature as now developed, with all its first principles. That instant the mind shoots off with amazing velocity, in its course of improvement, outstripping even the winds and the lightnings, in its pursuits of knoweldge, bounded only by boundless existence. That such is the vague and blank character of mind in the abstract, before it feels the genial rays of revelation, is shown from the history of the late mysterious German boy Casper Hauser; who it seems, for reasons yet unknown, was shut up in a place so small as not to allow him even from infancy to the age of about sixteen years, room to stand up in, but always sitting flat on the floor, with his legs extended out before him. During that whole time he had never seen light, either of the sun nor any other kind, nor heard the voice of man, nor seen his shape, nor the shape of anything else, till a little before his release from prison. On his first being ushered into light, and left to his own way, he seemed to hear, without knowing what it was, to see, without perceiving or knowing it was sight, and to move his feet and limbs, without knowing their use although so old--nor ever could have known, had he not been released from captivity. His language consisted only of tears, and moans, and strange inward sounds, though soon after his release from prison he seemed to have invented two words, which rushed out spontaneously. For man, the word Bua, whether to male or female, old or young, was indiscriminately applied; for all other things, whether applied to animals,

trees, the clouds, or whatever struck his attention, the word Roff, was used. After he had received in part an education, he could not recollect anything of himself, except that after waking from sleep, there was always bread and water by his side; articles which he afterwards learned to distinguish by those names. But to prove that his mind was totally vacant, and without any ideas, and would always have remained thus, if he had not been released; it is said of him that he never dreamed anything, till after his enlargement and acquaintance with things. For a particular account in detail of this singular affair, and of the death of the lad, see Penny Magazine, part 23, No. 118, 1834.

Such is the mind of man, till the light of circumstances and association is poured upon it, when it rouses into strength and activity, seizes upon surrounding circumstances, with all its perception, which progress on from sight, touch and taste, to comparison, and from thence to knowledge and understanding; displayed in arrangement without end. In some such predicamen, we may suppose, the angels were created, and that the greatness of their minds, over and above what man is found to possess, did not consist at first, so much in a knowledge of a multitude of things, as in their capability to receive, to improve, to understand, and to enjoy more abundantly, when the Creator should call their capacities into a more spacious field of labor, and investigation. On which account, it is said in Scripture, that the angels excel in strength; which strength, we understand to be wholly of an intellectual description. And that man was made a little lower than the angels-that is: with less power of mental and moral improvement-in this state of things; while the angels were created higher in that respect, in their first outset of existence, inculcates the same opinion.

We may therefore call this state of the angels-before the Creator revealed himself to them, either by appearance or by works their incipient, or commencing condition, and preceded the beginning of their state of trial, or probation. A state of trial, or probation, was not instituted toward Adam, except by revealed law: so as to mark out, and require the observance, and obedience to such law. Had our first parents have been left without a revealed law, with its penalty, they never could have passed through a probationary state, and consequently could never have been either praise or blame worthy, nor been placed in a situation in which they could have evinced, by any act whatever, the native condition of their spirits: but would have been left in an indifferent, insipid, and irresponsible state of being-forever precluded from opportunity of improvement, above any other animal of the globe, whose laws of appetite are mere instinct.

But as it respects those first spirits, we believe it was somewhat different; and that they were introduced to a knowledge of the important fact of the possession of moral free agency, and that