Believe not that He will violate, in the least particular, His great scheme of redemption in your favor.

As a timely warning, our Savior has said to the learned, the wise, the rich, and the great of this world: "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." Luke 12: 48.

If, then, you are learned, teach the unlearned the way of life. The Sabbath-school offers you a rich field for such work. If wise, give God the fruit of your wisdom by unfolding the hidden riches of His grace to the simple. If wealthy, give of your substance freely to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and send the Gospel to heathen lands. If noble, throw all the weight of your powerful influence in the scale with the poor, humble Christian.

Such are your high duties and blessed privileges, and if you desire to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," you would do well to "take due notice thereof, and govern yourselves accordingly."

CHAPTER II.

Different Theories of the Soul Considered-Immortality of-Views of the Pre-existiani, of the Creatiani, and Traduciani-Neither Sufficiently Account for the Depravity of Man.

THE first theory, as arranged in the preceding chapter, is: "That the soul is but the thinking power of man, and, although superior to that of other animals, had no previous. existence, but is procreated as is the body, and perishes with it."

Whether man is but an animal, or was he endowed with a living soul—an immortal spirit—by the Divine Architect, is a question which has been so fully and so satisfactorily argued by those who have gone before, that the writer feels no disposition to dwell at any considerable length upon it. In fact, reason and revelation concur fully in support of the proposition that the soul of man is immortal. Inasmuch, however, as there are many who deny that the soul survives the body, and, if they are right, the whole foundation on which the theory herein favored stands must fall to the ground, he can not consent entirely to ignore an error that lies immediately in his pathway, and which is so fatal in its consequences. He begs leave, therefore, to present the following extract, which he finds ready prepared, and better than anything original with himself, which he could say in so few words on the subject, and with but few additional remarks to pass on:

"That there is a state of future happiness both reason. and Scripture indicate. A general notion of happiness after death has obtained among the wiser sort of heathens, who have only had the light of nature to guide them. If we examine the human mind, it is also evident that there is a natural desire after happiness in all men, and which is

equally evident is not attained in this life. It is no less observable that in the present state there is an unequal distribution of things, which makes the providences of God very intricate, and which can not be solved without supposing a future state. That the soul will exist in a future state a good writer says: "The events of this life to have no reference to another, the whole state of man becomes not only inexplicable, but contradictory and inconsistent. The powers of the inferior animals are perfectly suited to their station. They know nothing higher than their present condition. In gratifying their appetites, they fulfill their destiny and pass away. Man, alone, comes forth to act a part which carries no meaning, and tends to no end. Endowed with capacities which extend far beyond his present sphere, fitted by his rational nature for running the race of immortality, he is stopped short in the very entrance of his course; he squanders his activity on pursuits which he discerns to be vain; he languishes for knowledge which is placed beyond his reach; he thirsts after a happiness which he is doomed never to enjoy; he sees and laments the disasters of his state, and yet, upon this supposition, can find nothing to remedy them. Has the eternal God any pleasure in sporting himself with such a scene of misery and folly as this life (if it had no connection with another) must exhibit to His eye? Did He call into existence this magnificent universe, adorn it with so much beauty and splendor, and surround it with those glorious luminaries which we behold in the heavens, only that some generations of mortal men might arise to behold these wonders and then disappear forever? How unsuitable in this case were the habitation to the wretched inhabitant! How inconsistent the commencement of his being and the mighty preparation of his powers and faculties with his despicable end! How contradictory, in fine, were everything which concerns the state of man to the wisdom and perfection of his Maker."-Buck.

The arguments drawn from the concurrent belief of all nations and peoples, and of all ages, that there is a Great Supreme Being who made all things, apply with great force to establish the fact that man is possessed of an immortal

soul. The most debased and ignorant savage, whether of the remote ocean isle or the wild and deep forests of America-the most cultivated and renowned statesmen, philosophers, and orators of pagan Greece and Rome, as well as Mohammedans and Christians of our time-all alike believe, or did believe, in the immortality of the soul.

To those who have doubts upon that question, the consoling reflection of Cicero, which follows, is commended. He says: "If I am mistaken in my opinion that the human soul is immortal, I willingly err; nor would I have the pleasant error extorted from me; and if, as some minute. philosophers suppose, death should deprive me of my being, I need not fear the raillery of those pretended philosophers. when they are no more.'

But to the humble, way-worn follower of Jesus Christ, the confident hope, which is so sublimely expressed by Addison, as given below, is far more cheering:

"The soul, secure in her existence, smiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point;
The stars shall fade away; the sun himself
Grow dim with age; and nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amid the war of elements,

The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds."

Next in order, we will notice the opinion which was held not only by the Platonic school of philosophers, but by many of the early Christian fathers: "That at the beginning of the world God created the souls of all men, which, however, are not united to the body till the individuals for whom they are destined are begotten or born into the world."

As it is absolutely necessary to a satisfactory investigation. of the theory of the human soul presented in this work, that the reader should know the opinions which have been held by others in different ages of the world upon that subject, and inasmuch as they have been but little discussed in our age, it is thought best to furnish, in this place, such information as will enable those who have never looked into this question sufficiently to understand what others have

believed about it, to enter successfully upon an examination thereof for themselves.

That I be not suspected of having, in any particular, misrepresented the tenets of others as to the origin of the soul, it is preferred to state them in the language of another, and of one who was well versed in such lore, and who could have had no inducement for misrepresentation.

Dr. KNAPP, in his "LECTURES ON CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY," has furnished the most clear, yet succinct statement of all the various hypotheses on that subject with which I have met, and, therefore, his summary of each will be quoted below in its proper place.

Before proceeding to do so, however, it is desired to state, once for all, that this work is intended for the benefit of all classes, and that it may be adapted to the understanding of every one who can read, quotations from ancient and foreign languages, and the use of technical terms, will be avoided as far as practicable, and (except in cases of quotations from others) when introduced, the sound only will be given, and that in Roman or Italic letters; and the meaning will also be supplied in our own vernacular:

"The hypothesis of the pre-existence of souls. Those who support this hypothesis, called Præ-existiana, affirm that God at the beginning of the world created the souls of all men, which, however, are not united with the body before man is begotten or born into the world. This was the opinion of Pythagoras, Plato and his followers, and of the cabalists among the Jews. Among these, however, there is a difference of opinion-some believing that the soul was originally destined for the body, and unites with it of its own accord; others, with Plato, that it pertained originally to the divine nature, and is incarcerated in the body as a punishment for the sins which it committed in its heavenly state. This hypothesis found advocates in the ancient Christian Church. Some Christians adopted the entire system of the Platonists, and held that the soul was a part of the divine nature, etc. Priscillianus and his followers either held these views or were accused of holding them by Augustine.-De Hares, c. 70. All who professed to believe the pre-existence of the