{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40443/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40443","id":"gutenberg_40443","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40443","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Heaven","Sun"],"text":"Transcriber's note:\n\nText enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\nSmall capital text has been replaced with all capitals.\n\nArchaic spelling and variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation\nhave been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error.\n\n\n\n\n THE SPIRIT OF GOD AS FIRE;\n\n THE\n\n GLOBE WITHIN THE SUN\n\n OUR HEAVEN.\n\n REASONS FOR SUCH HYPOTHESIS FOUNDED UPON GOD'S\n\n OWN REVELATIONS AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS\n\n THROUGH THE LIGHTS OF ASTRONOMY.\n\n BY\n\n D. MORTIMORE, M. D.\n\n PUBLISHED BY\n\n F. C. COOK & CO., NEW YORK.\n\n NEW YORK:\n SHELDON & COMPANY, 498 & 500 BROADWAY.\n\n 1870.\n\n Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by\n\n D. MORTIMORE, M. D.,\n\n In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the\n Western District of Tennessee.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n PAGE\n\n PREFACE 7\n\n THE THEME 13\n\n THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL AND A FUTURE\n STATE OF EXISTENCE 18\n\n THE POSSIBILITY OF A MORE INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE\n OF GOD; OUR RELATIONS TO HIM, AND OF A\n FUTURE STATE OR PLACE OF HABITATION 28\n\n THE CREATION 30\n\n THE SUN, THE SOURCE OF LIGHT AND HEAT 33\n\n WONDROUS WORKS OF GOD 35\n\n THE DISCOVERIES OF THE MOTION OF THE EARTH\n AND HEAVENLY BODIES 43\n\n THE ROMISH CHURCH 51\n\n GHASTLY REVELATIONS 61\n\n ATTRACTION, GRAVITATION, &C. 73\n\n SUNS, STARS, PLANETS, &C. 75\n\n FIXED STARS ARE SUNS 89\n\n A CONTEMPLATION 96\n\n THE SUN,--AND GLOBE WITHIN 100\n\n THE PLANETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 108\n\n GOD'S THRONE SHALL ENDURE FOREVER; SO ALSO\n SHALL THE SUN. SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE FOR\n ALL THAT WE CLAIM 118\n\n SUN AND HEAVEN 141\n\n A PLURALITY OF HEAVENS 145\n\n A PLACE FOR THE WICKED 150\n\n THE NATURE OF THE LIGHT OF THE HEAVENLY\n WORLD 166\n\n THAT HEAVENLY WORLD 169\n\n THE DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITY OF THE CITY--THERE\n IS ROOM FOR ALL, AND TO SPARE 175\n\n THE NATIVE POPULATION OF THE HEAVENLY\n WORLD 179\n\n THE VAST NUMBERS OF THE ANGELS 183\n\n AMAZING STRENGTH OF ANGELS 184\n\n RAPIDITY OF MOVEMENT OF THE ANGELS 185\n\n CERTAINTY OF A RESURRECTION 190\n\n THE RESURRECTION 195\n\n A SERIOUS CONTEMPLATION 201\n\n THE FINAL JUDGMENT 205\n\n A HOME IN HEAVEN 206\n\n CONCLUSIVE AND CONCLUDING ARGUMENT 211\n\n WILL ALL TAKE HEED? 215\n\n APPEAL TO CHRISTIAN MINISTERS 218\n\n APPEAL TO ALL 237\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn presenting this volume to the \"intelligence of the world,\" the\nauthor is fully aware of the incredulity with which it may meet in\nmany literary minds. Nevertheless, the truths which it contains will\nremain unmarred by the salient attacks of \"critics,\" when they have\npassed away and have ceased to be remembered. Thus it has ever been\nwith the discovery of all great and important truths, from the\ncreation of man down to the present day. For more than eighteen\nhundred years now past, the succession of a once prominent race have\ndisbelieved in the Messiahship of Christ. And even the Christian world\nare still divided in their belief as to a Trinity in Unity.\n\nSome three hundred years ago, the great and learned philosopher and\nastronomer, Galileo, made an ascent in the empire of mind and science,\nand promulgated immutable truths founded upon the laws of creation,\nemanating from God himself; yet these were, for a time, disbelieved,\nand, through the bigotry of a controlling Priesthood, he was even\nforced to renounce them before a court of \"Cardinals\" of the Romish\nChurch, sitting as \"_inquisitors against heretical depravity_\" at the\ncity of Rome; and at the venerable age of seventy years, to accept the\nsentence to a dungeon for life, in the \"Inquisition;\" and yet these\nsame truths have universally prevailed. So, also, are there\nunbelievers to-day, in the existence of a God, and the immortality of\nthe soul--the truth of which all Christians, and even heathens,\nbelieve.\n\nWe, therefore, feel that in advancing a new theory, especially one of\nsuch magnitude and import, that we shall meet more or less opposition;\nbut we are willing to abide time's inevitable changes, in advancing\nthe mind to grasp and comprehend truths which God himself has revealed\nfor our contemplation. Still, we believe that there are many millions\nwho are now ready to comprehend and believe, and are only waiting for\na little additional light, or the grouping together of facts founded\non the revelations of God, and examined in the light of a true\nscience.\n\nPhilosophers and astronomers have advanced the idea of \"a plurality of\nsuns, and a plurality of worlds,\" and have sustained this theory by\nthe most convincing evidence. This lays the foundation for a further\nadvance in the contemplation of the wonderful works of the Creator,\nand justifies the hypothesis of a _plurality of heavens_; and we think\nthe revelations of God, and revelations through the science of\nastronomy, will sustain the additional hypothesis that within what are\ndenominated \"suns\" there are vast globes or worlds, separate and apart\nfrom the surrounding _photosphere of ethereal fire_, and that within\nwhat we denominate our sun, _is our heaven_.\n\nWe have, therefore, penned the following pages with this impression\nfixed in our mind, and send this volume forth to encounter the\nenlightenment of the age, to be sifted and weighed in the _sieve_ and\n_scale_ of intellect; and, relying on the Word of God and His\nrevelations to man, we feel satisfied that when the ordeal is past, we\nshall still have remaining \"full measure and weight.\"\n\nIn order to afford a more perfect comprehension of the \"wonderful\nworks of God,\" and of His revelations to man, we have, necessarily,\navailed ourselves largely of the results of the science of astronomy,\nquoting the writings and conclusions of various eminent authors,\ngiving due credit therefor; and to them the author acknowledges his\nindebtedness for statistical data and facts which could not otherwise\nbe obtained by any single individual. Grouping these together as\nassistant lamps, we have relied, mainly, upon the Word of God, and His\nrevelations, as found recorded in the Bible, and evidences manifest in\nperceptible and visible nature around us, while we trust that all we\nhave written will the more forcibly impress the mind with deep\nhumility, and with awe and reverence for the Great Jehovah, who\ncreated all by the \"Word of His power.\"\n\nWe have endeavored to avoid sectarian issues, as to Protestant\ncommunities, throughout the world--save our own convictions of\nimmutable truth in regard to the true principles of Christianity, and\nthat salvation is offered alike freely to _all_, and that by due\nrepentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, all may\ncome to the knowledge of His Truth, and \"know the Lord, whom to know\naright is eternal life.\" And, believing as we do, that every soul is\nheld alike accountable to God alone--and in nowise to Pope, Bishops,\nor Priests--there were historical facts connected with our subject,\nwhich, we thought, justified our strictures on the Romish Church, and\nthese it may be well for Protestants to consider.\n\nWe, therefore, dedicate this volume to the\n\n PROTESTANT WORLD,\n\nand, while we acknowledge our inability to do the subject ample\njustice; yet--hoping we have been made the humble instrument, under\nthe direction of Divine Providence, of opening up to the mind a new\nfield for profitable contemplation--we ask for it a candid perusal, in\nthe spirit of prayer and Christian leniency, commending all to a\ncareful consideration of the words of the _Psalmist_:\n\n \"By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the\n hosts of them by the breath of his mouth.\n\n \"The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament\n sheweth His handy work.\n\n \"Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they\n shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.\"\n\n THE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THEME.\n\n\nThe theme we are now about to contemplate is one of deepest interest\nto the human mind. If we can fathom and unfold the mystery--as we\nbelieve we shall--by analogy, founded in the light of _reason_, Divine\nrevelations, and the lights afforded us by the science of Astronomy,\nand give tangibility to the--hitherto--chaos of the mind upon the\nsubject, we may lay the foundation for a more comprehensive and\nintimate knowledge of God, the great Creator of all things, and this\nknowledge should lead to more speedily Christianizing the world.\n\nGod has made himself manifest in everything, and to every individual.\nNature yields to this manifestation, yet does not comprehend it. Even\nman, the human family--the only creatures of a high order of\nintelligence placed by Him upon this earth--seem not to have risen to\nthat comprehension of knowledge to which they should attain from his\nlessons of the Past, as well as those of the Present, and which\nlessons are renewed unto us day by day.\n\nOur principal theme is that of _the place of our future\nexistence--especially_ HEAVEN.\n\nWe approach the subject with fear and trembling, asking wisdom and\nDivine aid of Him who hath said, \"Seek and ye shall find,\" and of whom\nit is written, \"If any lack wisdom, let him ask of God, and it shall\nbe given him.\"\n\nWe know that we cannot throw that flood-tide of light upon the subject\nthat the theme demands, yet we may be the humble instrument, under\ndirection of Divine Providence, to mark out a path through the\nwilderness of doubt, along which may shine, or through which the \"eye\nof faith\" may catch, a ray of light from the bright \"celestial\nthrone,\" which may induce others--more able minds and giant\nintellects--to step forth, wielding mightily \"the sword of the\nspirit,\" and open out to the mind a plainer path, as the \"king's\nhighway,\" leading up to that celestial world, to glory and to God.\n\nWe believe that if a reasonable, tangible idea of the constant\npresence of God with us prevailed, as also of the heavenly world, and\nthe glories that shall be revealed; the nature of the soul of man;\nfrom whence derived; the certainty that it must endure forever; the\nrequirements of the law of God; the certainty of the judgment; who is\nto be the judge; the certainty that no error can be committed in His\njudgment; no influences can be brought to bear to defeat the ends of\njustice; that the righteous shall be adjudged to the enjoyment of\nhappiness and eternal life; the wicked be \"banished from the presence\nof God, and from the glory of His power,\" \"to dwell in everlasting\nflame, and languish in eternal fire,\" and that this righteous judgment\nwill never be revoked, but stand immutable as God Himself--on and on\nthrough all eternity--we say we believe if this could be fully\ncomprehended by finite minds, the time would not be distant \"when all\n_would_ come to a knowledge of the truth, and know the Lord, whom to\nknow aright is eternal life.\" This knowledge should not be sought\nthrough fear alone, but mainly through love to God, and faith in His\nSon, our Lord Jesus Christ, and from the delights we feel in our\nconsciousness of the constant presence of God--by His Spirit--with us;\nstimulated by love to our fellow-men; love of all Nature around us;\nlove of the wonderful works of the creative power of the\nOmnipotent--even the vast wonders of His creations throughout His own\nnative Empire.\n\nMay we not? Can we not know more of all this? We are not forbidden to\ninvestigate, to found reason on His revelations. Nay, He hath said,\n\"search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and\nthese are they which testify of Me.\"\n\nWe do not propose the building of a \"Tower\" like unto that of _Babel_,\nfor He hath said, \"not by _might_, but by my _Spirit_.\" Therefore, by\nthe manifestations of His Spirit, which becomes sufficiently\nenlightening, when properly comprehended, we will endeavor to throw a\nfaint--if not a flood-light from that eternal world into the eye of\n_faith_. And, if we cannot, like the martyr Stephen, \"see Heaven\nopened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God,\" or\nascend to it with \"Elijah in a chariot of flaming fire,\" we may, by\nthe mind's eye of faith, \"see through the vail darkly,\" yet with\nsufficient light to direct us, and guide our wandering footsteps in\nthe path that leads to that \"bright clime,\" where the \"glory of God\"\nis the light of that heavenly world.\n\nOur theme necessarily leads us forth through trackless realms of\nboundless space, where, with the mind's eye, we shall behold with\nwonder and amazement some of the vast creations of the Omnipotent\npower of God; such as will inspire the mind, and fill it with awe and\nreverence for the Great Jehovah. We shall have a panoramic view of\nmillions of Suns--_Heavens_--planets, and worlds, standing out, or\ncareering through ethereal regions; peopling the realms of illimitable\nspace. We shall comprehend more fully the diminutiveness of this\nearth; on which we dwell, as compared to the vast creations brought\nforth by the \"Word of His power,\" and of our own nothingness before\nHim, while all must inspire us, not only with awe, but with gratitude\nand love for His merciful provision for our redemption, and for\nregaining \"an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that\nfadeth not away.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL, AND A FUTURE STATE OF EXISTENCE._\n\n\nThe Bible--now \"The Book of the World\"--is God's own revelation to\nman. That it was penned by holy men of God, who wrote as they were\ninspired, has been fully manifested by the fulfilment of prophecies;\nmany of which were miracles, and others--in their accomplishment--awful\nand fearful judgments. Hence, none can doubt its authenticity as God's\nown revelation to man. It is our only history of the wonderful\ncreations emanating from the Great First Cause; especially the\ncreation of _man_; his mortal, as well as his immortal nature. From\nthis history we learn that\n\n \"God created man in his own image; in the image of God\n created he him; male and female created he them. And God\n breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man\n became a living soul.\"\n\nNow, man is here spoken of in the plural: hence, the whole race--the\nentire human family, are included, and this living principle,\nemanating from God himself, partakes of his own immortal nature, and\ncan never cease or be extinguished. Therefore, the soul, or spirit of\nman, must continue to endure through all eternity.\n\nThe belief in a future state of existence has obtained in all ages;\neven in the dark regions of heathen lands, where the light of\nChristianity has never yet shed its radiance, and where missionaries\nhave never penetrated. The mind of man--the thinking principle of\nhuman intelligence--seems to have comprehended this great truth; even\nwhere Christianity, founded upon Bible truths, is unknown. Indeed, the\nidea of the immortality of the soul of man seems _inherent_. For, go\nwhere we may, among the aborigines of every heathen clime, even from\nthe Islands of the Bahamas to Hindostan, India, Japan, and China; the\nsavage tribes of South America, the red tribes of our own continent,\nor even the black races of Africa--all hold the idea of a future state\nof existence. True, they may not have formed correct opinions as to\nthe nature of the place to which they expect to be transported, nor of\nthe felicities to be enjoyed there; yet all have the idea of a future\nstate, and it has ever prevailed.\n\nIf we trace history back to the ancient Egyptians, the Persians, the\nScythians, the Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans; indeed, with all nations\nof which history gives us any knowledge, we find that it has ever\nprevailed. Plato, Socrates, and Demosthenes held the doctrine of the\nimmortality of the soul, and of a future state of existence; while\nsuch belief almost universally prevails in every land and clime where\ncivilization and Christianity are known. Thus we see it an inherent\nlaw of human nature, and, in the minds of all, there is \"a longing\nafter _immortality_.\"\n\nMay we not ask, from whence comes this intuition, that all feel that\ndeath to the body is not the end of existence? Is it not that immortal\nspirit-life which God breathed into our first parents? that\n_spirit-fire_ which is eternal in its nature? that which can never be\nquenched nor extinguished?\n\nThe Patriarchs, the Prophets, and Seers of old realized that here they\nhad no abiding place, and that they were but pilgrims and strangers on\nthe earth. We are told that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob desired a better\ncountry, and looked forward to a heavenly one. Paul tells us \"these\nall died in the faith, not having received the promises, but having\nseen them afar off.\" See how Moses submitted to sufferings, and\nendured privations; yet in all these he \"had respect unto the\nrecompense of reward.\"\n\nHow many of those worthy ancients suffered persecutions in various\nways for their acts of piety? even cruel mockings, scourgings, bonds,\nand imprisonments. Some were cruelly tortured, others were stoned,\nand still others sawed asunder; and yet under all these trials, and\neven scourgings unto death, they held firm in the faith of a living\nGod, a future existence, and \"a sure recompense of reward.\"\n\nSee Job, that faithful servant of the living God, how his faith was\nsorely tried by all manner of afflictions. His flocks and herds\ndestroyed; his wealth dissipated; while disease, painful and\nloathsome, preyed upon him. His sufferings and agonies were so intense\nthat all his friends believed him cursed of God, and forsook him; and\neven his wife--who had enjoyed the fruits of his efforts in life,\nreviled his integrity of faith, and scornfully told him to \"curse God\nand die.\"\n\nBut let us hear this patient, suffering child of God:\n\n \"_True_, my flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;\n my skin is broken and become loathsome, and I feel as though\n I would not live alway. Yet all the days of my appointed\n time will I wait, until my change comes, _and even_ though\n He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. I know that I shall be\n justified. For He shall be my salvation. If a man die he\n shall live again. And now, behold my witness is in heaven,\n and my record is on high. For I know that my Redeemer\n liveth, and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the\n earth. And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh\n shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes\n shall behold.\"\n\nWhere! oh, where, hath such faith been shown! And his faith being\nsorely tried and found true and unwavering, his God came to his\nrelief, restored him to health, and blessed him--even more abundantly\nthan before; after which he lived an hundred and forty years and died\nin peace.\n\nHere we see, that, long anterior to the coming of Christ, Job declared\nthat he knew his Redeemer was then living, and that in the \"latter\ndays\" he should \"stand on the earth.\" See this truthful evidence of\nthe Son of God coming down from heaven to ransom and redeem fallen\nman!\n\nThe prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah, who should \"ransom\nhis people from the power of the grave,\" and \"redeem them from the\nsecond death.\"\n\nThe sweet singer of Israel, looking forward to coming ages, through\nthe vista of revelations, breaks forth in rapturous confidence--\n\n \"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive\n me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is\n none upon earth that I desire beside thee. Though my heart\n and my flesh fail me, yet Thou art the strength of my heart\n and my portion forever.\"\n\nThe prophet Isaiah declares,\n\n \"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall\n they arise.\"\n\n And, calling in spirit unto the silent dead, he saith:\n\n \"Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust, * * the earth\n shall cast out her dead.\"\n\nIn fulfilment of prophesy, the Son of God came as the \"plague of\ndeath\" and \"destruction of the grave.\" His advent into the world was\nsignalized by a \"star in the East,\" guiding the wise men--who were\nlooking for his coming--to the \"town of Bethlehem, where lay the babe\nin the manger.\" While an angel, commissioned by the Father, announced\nhis arrival, and \"good tidings of great joy\" to the shepherds who were\nwatching their flocks by night upon the plains of Judea, saying, \"Unto\nyou is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ\nthe Lord.\" \"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the\nheavenly host, praising God,\" and, as a heavenly choir, sounding the\nloud anthem, \"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good\nwill toward men.\" This was \"Him of whom Moses in the law, and the\nprophets did write,\" even the \"Sun of righteousness,\" whose coming was\nforetold by the prophet Malachi.\n\nBy his teachings, and miracles wrought in after life, he proved his\norigin and mission. But this mission could not be fully accomplished\nuntil he should conquer death, hell, and the grave, and \"bring life\nand immortality to light through his own Gospel.\" Finally, the day\nand the hour came for its complete fulfilment. Borne down with the\nweight of the sins of a guilty world, he prayed his Father to\nstrengthen him, while \"in agony he sweat great drops of blood.\"\n\nSee him ascending the rugged steeps of Calvary, bearing his own cross,\nupon which his human nature must expire between Heaven and Earth.\nNailed to that cross, he hung upon it in painful agony, and for three\ndreadful hours the sun, the source of light, was veiled, \"and there\nwas darkness over all the land,\" and about the ninth hour, his\nhumanity \"cried with a loud voice, my God, my God, why hast thou\nforsaken me!\" and gave up the ghost. \"And behold the vail of the\ntemple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did\nquake, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened, and many\nbodies of the saints which slept, arose.\"\n\nNow, while his lifeless body was still suspended upon the cross, the\nwork was not yet complete until the Roman soldier approached and\nplunged his spear into his side, and thus Baptized the world in a\nfountain of Blood. And, through faith in him, that is the only\nfountain that can wash our guilty stains away, and present us purified\nbefore his Throne.\n\nMark you the circumstances as they then transpired. The sun was\nveiled, and \"darkness prevailed over all the earth, from the sixth\nuntil the ninth hour,\" and it was at the ninth hour he cried, \"It is\nfinished and gave up the ghost.\" It was his mission \"to bring life and\nimmortality to light.\" God, the Father, had veiled the sun, that the\nearth should be in utter darkness. May it not have been the first act\nof His son's immortality--after this tragic scene--to unveil the sun,\nand throw its light--under a new dispensation--upon the world? But he\nhad come to conquer \"death, hell, and the grave,\" \"and lead captivity\ncaptive.\" His body was placed in a sepulchre; from whence he had said\nhe would rise on the third day. The Priests and Pharisees remembering\nthis, besought Pilate, who commanded that the sepulchre be made\nsecure, which was done by a great stone under seal, and a guard\nstationed over it, that no one might approach by day or by night. But,\nbehold, on the morning of the third day, an \"angel of the Lord\nappeared from heaven,\" whose descent caused a great earthquake, who\n\"rolled back the stone and sat upon it; and his countenance was like\nlightning, and his raiment white as snow; and for fear of him the\nkeepers did shake and became as dead men.\" The angel said unto the two\nMarys, \"I know ye seek Jesus, which was crucified; He is not here, for\nhe is risen.\"\n\nThus, behold his triumph! He burst the bands of death asunder, and\nrushing forth from the tyrant's grasp, shouted in triumph over this\nlast enemy, \"Oh, death where is thy sting? Oh, grave where is thy\nvictory?\" \"I am the resurrection and the life.\" \"I am he that liveth\nand was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, and have the keys of\nhell and of death.\" Thus the fulfilment of prophesy and the promise,\nthat he should become the first fruits of them that slept.\n\nWe have subsequent evidence of his resurrection, where he appeared in\nthe midst of his disciples, when they had met in their private chamber\nand had closed the door. But there have been doubters, and\nunbelievers, in all ages--even though confirmative evidences have been\nstrong and plain. So, also, was there one in that little assembly.\nPoor Thomas could not believe, even though his Lord and Master stood\nbefore him; but the Saviour, full of tender compassion, said to him:\n\"Come, place thy fingers in the nail prints, and thrust thy hand into\nthe opening made by the soldier's spear in my side, and be not\nfaithless, but believing.\"\n\nNow while God through his prophet hath said, \"There is a spirit in\nman, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding,\"\nrevelation is replete with evidence that \"though a man die, yet shall\nhe live again.\" Christ, the Son of God, illustrated his power in\nuttering the command, \"Lazarus, come forth,\" and he that had been dead\nfour days, whose mortality was fast decomposing and yielding to\ncorruption, arose again into life. Thus in the days of his\nincarnation, he manifested his power by the miracles he wrought in\nnumerous instances of restoring sight to the blind, causing the deaf\nto hear; the dumb to speak; the lame to walk; healing the sick;\ncleansing the leprous, and bringing the dead to life again: while, in\nthe power of his own resurrection, he made triumphantly manifest the\nimmortality of the soul; and the entire New Testament scriptures\nabound with evidences that through Him \"life and immortality have been\nbrought to light.\" Thus we see that the immortality of the soul, and a\nfuture state of existence are plainly manifest.\n\n\n\n\n_POSSIBILITY OF A MORE INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD; OUR RELATIONS TO\nHIM,--AND OF A FUTURE STATE OR PLACE OF HABITATION._\n\n\nWe believe that God himself has furnished us evidences through which\nwe should gain a more intimate knowledge of him; of our relations to\nhim, and of our future state and place of habitation.\n\nIn sustaining this belief, and the hypothesis we have already\nadvanced, as to the location of heaven,--to which we shall also add\nour views as to the location of _hell_,--we shall rely mainly upon the\nrevelations of God, as found recorded in the Bible. Should we not\nfurnish positive, we believe we _shall_ furnish strong _circumstancial_,\nevidence which will as forcibly impress the minds of our readers with\nthe correctness of our theory, as it has our own, upon the\ninvestigation of it. With this we shall grasp, and intermingle, the\nevidences afforded by the science of astronomy; the mighty\nrevelations of the wondrous works of God as now revealed to us by the\naid of the _telescope_.\n\nWe know that some of the most learned theologians and ablest divines,\nof the past, as also many of the present age, have written, and have\nlabored hard--theoretically--to point out to the mind's eye the\nlocality of heaven, fixed somewhere in illimitable space. But, as yet,\ntheir most profound efforts, aided though they might have been by the\nlights afforded through the science of astronomy; the Bible, and all\nnature around them as assistants to their own brilliant imaginations,\nhave failed to satisfy, even themselves, and all has resolved itself\nback again into doubt and uncertainty, leaving the minds of all\nbewildered with ideas as numerous, yet as vague and uncertain as\nmystery itself. And yet we believe we have within, and all around us,\nevidences which, if properly considered and comprehended, may shed\ntrue light upon the subject, and give to us ideas and faith more\nreasonable and tangible than any heretofore contemplated.\n\n\n\n\n_THE CREATION._\n\n\nLet us now make some investigations of the evidences given us in the\nBible in regard to creation. No one ever has, no finite mind ever can\nfully comprehend the creative power of the Almighty; nor can we form\nan idea of the time, in the remote past, when creation, \"by the word\nof His power\" commenced.\n\nWe learn from Bible history, that \"In the beginning God created the\nHeavens and the Earth.\" Now as to the time when that \"beginning\" was,\nwe can form no positive idea. It is as reasonable to suppose it to\nhave been untold millions of years ago, as at any later period. So far\nas this earth on which we dwell is concerned, it is but as an _atom_\nwhen compared to the productions of His creative power; and of the\ntime when this atom was created, no one knoweth. Geologists, tracing\neffects back to causes, agree on the fair probability that the\nearth--this globe and its solid elements--have been in process of\nchange and formation, many thousands, and possibly millions, of years.\nThese students understand, in a great measure, the laws which govern\nand control such formation in nature, and have data for their\nconclusions. As for the time when God created man to dwell on this\nearth, we need not now stop to investigate.\n\nBut, continuing this history, we read:\n\n \"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was\n upon the face of the great deep. And the Spirit of God moved\n upon the face of the waters; and God said, Let there be\n light; and there was light.\"\n\nThus we see that the _Spirit_ of God was then, as it ever has been,\nand still is, the _source_ of light. Now, to our finite comprehension,\nthe Sun is the source of light and heat; or, rather that which we\ndenominate the Sun is a vast body or volume of intense heat, and\nheat--or that which we denominates _fire_--is, to us, the source of\nlight. That God's spirit is fire, and light, we shall be able to show\nin our further contemplation of the subject\n\nThe Psalmist tells us that:\n\n \"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the\n hosts of them by the breath of his mouth.\"\n\nJob tells us that:\n\n \"A flame goeth out of his mouth and God by his spirit\n garnished the heavens.\"\n\nNow let us bear these facts in mind: that the Psalmist speaks of a\nplurality of heavens made by the word and breath of God, while Job\nalso tells us of a plurality of heavens, and that \"a flame goeth out\nof his mouth,\" and \"God by his Spirit garnished the heavens.\"\n\nWe know that God is the Great First Cause, and the Creator of all\nthings that exist. He created the Heavens and the Earth, Suns, Moons,\nPlanets, and Stars, and all pertaining thereunto; as, also, the\nfirmament of the heavens, in which all are placed; and while all come\nforth at His command, or by His word, yet we are plainly told, that\nHis breath, or Spirit, was the active agency in this mighty creation.\n\nWhen we come to investigate the nature of this active\nagency--Spirit--we find that it is _fire_, a principle, or element\nwhich pervades all nature; one which is indestructible--can never be\ndestroyed--and yet an element of destruction; indeed, one of seeming\nannihilation. Now, seeing that the element of fire pervades all\nthings, so also are we told, that God's Spirit is everywhere.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SUN--THE SOURCE OF LIGHT AND HEAT.\n\n\nFirst, acknowledging God--the Supreme, Infinite, and Eternal One--as\nthe Great First Cause, and Author of all things created, we all know\nthat the Sun is the mainspring of animated Nature. Without its genial\nrays, the present system of Earth's government could not endure, and\nlife itself would soon disappear from our globe. It is the source of\nlight and heat--the two great stimulants of vital force.\n\nNow, so far as we can comprehend, the _Sun_ is the immediate or direct\nsource of light and heat--or fire--hence, the source of animated\nexistence of all pertaining to this Earth; and so, also, as we\nbelieve, to all the other planets, or worlds belonging to our solar\nsystem, or within the Sun's vast domain. That source is fixed and\npermanent, and is ever the same; neither increasing nor diminishing,\nalthough constantly dispensing its influence to all around it.\n\nIts source is eternal, and it is, evidently, an attribute of Jehovah,\nand the time of its past existence we cannot comprehend, nor can we\nbelieve otherwise than that it will continue to exist through all\neternity. We believe it one of God's eternal lamps, placed by His own\nOmnipotent power to light up the sphere which He has appointed unto\nit, and to give its warmth and animation to this, and all other worlds\nbelonging to its domain. Cast your eye upward at noon-day, when no\nclouds intervene, and behold that brilliant orb, whose light pales\nthat of all else, and seems to make all dark in illimitable space\nbeyond its own empire. Look at it but for one second of time only, for\na steady gaze at that bright flame for one minute alone, is fatal to\nthe sight of the eyes.\n\nThere _is_ \"a dimning veil\" to mortal vision, which hides the glories\nof that _inner world_ from our sight; even those resplendent glories\nwhich, while yet in the body, we can contemplate only by the eye of\nfaith.\n\n\n\n\n_WONDROUS WORKS OF GOD._\n\n\nWe now propose to devote a short time to the contemplation of some of\nthe wonderful works of the Creator, as we see them displayed in the\nfirmament, and standing out in illimitable space, and, with the aids\nafforded us by that most exact of all sciences--astronomy--we hope to\nunveil mysteries, long since revealed by the revelations of God; yet,\nhitherto, not fully comprehended. These seeming mysteries, we shall\nendeavor to assist you to analyze by the light of God's own\nrevelations. In order to our purpose, we shall avail ourselves of the\nwritings of some of the most scientific, and eminent astronomers the\nworld has ever known, even from the early days of Anaximander and\nPythagoras, down to the times of Copernicus and Galileo, when feeble\nrays of light seemed to break in upon the intellect and mind of man,\nand from thence, the flood-lights which have been thrown in upon us by\nthe Herschels,--the leading stars of the empire of this science,--and\ncalling to our aid La Lande, Maury, Guillemin, Lardner, Darwin, Owen\nand Olmsted, and many others equally known to fame. Yet in our\npresent effort, we shall rely mainly upon that master mind in\ncompilation, Dr. Child, of England, who has grouped together the\nleading facts of discoveries, in order to incite the mind to the\ncontemplation of the wonderful works of the Creator, that all\nintelligences of the world may be induced to join in with the three\nHebrew Children, in \"praising and magnifying the name of the Lord.\" We\nfind, upon examination of the works of various leading authors, that\nhis statements are as nearly correct as any compilation well could be,\nwhile, with a mind seemingly inspired for the work, his delineations\nare so graphic, sublime and beautiful, we shall take data, and quote\nfreely from his writings, especially wherein he dwells upon the\n\"Heavens,\" \"Sun,\" \"Moon\" and \"Stars,\" adding as we pass along, such\nreflections crowding upon our mind as we deem appropriate; and we\nthink that in the contemplation of the subject now before us, that ere\nwe have finished this feature of it, all will be ready to exclaim with\nthe Psalmist, truly,\n\n \"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament\n sheweth his handy work.\"\n\nDr. Child says, \"Among all the sights the eye can look upon, nothing\nis comparable to the Heavens for the sentiment with which they charm\nthe mind. The language they speak comes to us from remote mysterious\nworlds; but, though it may be imperfectly understood, it is at least\nuniversally felt. The great and the small--the civilized man and the\nsavage, the philosopher, the divine, and the illiterate or humble\ncitizen--all feel their influence, and are from time to time\nirresistibly drawn toward them by mingled emotions of admiration,\ngratitude and awe, such as none of the other features of nature can\nexcite in an equal degree.\n\n\"So strongly, however, is the idea of the 'incomprehensible'\nassociated by many with the mysteries of the firmament, that they are\nhabitually prone to regard the teachings of astronomers as little else\nthan scientific guess-work. Nevertheless, the best intellects in all\ncountries assure us, and demonstrate before our eyes, that, within\ncertain limits, Astronomy is the most exact and perfect of sciences,\nand that, even when it deals with distances and magnitudes, which are\npractically inconceivable, its conclusions, though often claiming to\nbe approximative only, have yet no affinity whatever with guess-work.\nLet such sceptics think of the certainty with which sidereal events\nare predicted beforehand. Let them reflect on the evidence of the most\nexact knowledge of the heavenly bodies involved in the calculation of\neclipses, in fixing the very moment when the moon's dark outline shall\nbegin to creep over the sun's bright disk; marking its progress to the\nhighest maximum, and its waning--giving the moment when the last\nvisible shadow will disappear--predicting the instant when a planet's\nlight shall be extinguished behind our satellite. And yet even more\nwonderful, the tracking of a comet's wanderings, millions of miles\nbeyond the far-off regions of Uranus, the foretelling the time of its\nreturn after long years of absence! Do not these, and a thousand other\nequally wonderful feats, attest both the soundness of the principles\non which the astronomer works, and the reasonableness of receiving his\nassurances with confidence and trust, even though it may be impossible\nfor more than a few gifted minds to follow the calculations on which\nthey are based?\"\n\nExamine the Nautical Almanac, published by the British Government, a\nchart found on every sea-going vessel. On the trackless ocean it is\nthe mariner's guide, his trusted friend and counsellor. He may embark\nupon a long voyage over the trackless ocean, to be absent for years,\nyet through all this time, and in any part of the world he has his\ntruthful friend to consult, who will warn him of dangers, and direct\nhis ship in safety in every changeful clime. He left his native land\nyears ago, yet now far out amid ocean's waves, in a different\nhemisphere, he consults this little chart of astronomers. He knows in\nany and every latitude the time of eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and\nof Jupiter's satellites, their sidereal positions, distances, etc. It\nseems charged with messages from the skies for his guidance and\nsafety.\n\n\"When we consider the acquisition of such rare and precious\nknowledge--this mapping out beforehand, almost to a hair's-breadth,\nthe exact order and track in which the heavenly bodies will run their\ncourse through space, and the precise relative position they will\noccupy at any given moment, when they can be seen in any part of the\nworld--is not this convincing evidence of the correctness and\ntruthfulness of the science of astronomy?\"\n\nBut we have on record a more startling demonstration of its\ncorrectness--we say \"startling\" because of its magnitude and\nimportance, and because when we come to examine suns, planets, and\nworlds, through the lights of this science, when we contemplate their\ndistances, magnitudes, and numbers, we shall be startled by their\nimmensity, and exclaim:\n\n \"How wonderful are Thy works, O Lord of Hosts!\"\n\n\"The year 1846 will ever be memorable for having witnessed one of the\nmost striking illustrations of the truth of Astronomy. Few can have\nforgotten the astonishment with which the discovery of the planet\nNeptune was then received, or the fact that it was due _not_ to a\nlucky or accidental pointing of the telescope toward a particular\nquarter of the heavens, but to positive calculations worked out in\nthe closet; thus proving that before the planet was seen by the eye,\nit had already been grasped by the mind. The theory of its finding was\na triumph of human intellect. The distant Uranus--a planet hitherto\norderly and correct--begins to show unusual movements in its orbit. It\nis, somehow, not exactly in the spot where, according to the best\ncalculations, it ought to have been, and the whole astronomical world\nis thrown into perplexity. Two mathematicians, as yet but little known\nto fame, living far apart in different countries, and acting\nindependently of each other, concentrate the force of their\npenetrating intellects to find out the cause. The most obvious way of\naccounting for the event, was to have inferred that some error in\nprevious computations had occurred; and in a matter so difficult, so\nabstruse, and so far off, what could have been more probable or more\npardonable? But these astronomers knew that the laws of gravity were\nfixed and sure, and that figures truly based on them could not\ndeceive. By profound calculations, each arrives at the conclusion that\nnothing can account for the \"perturbation\" except the disturbing\ninfluence of some hitherto unknown mass of matter, exerting its\nattraction in a certain quarter of the Heavens. So implicit, so\nundoubting is the faith of the French astronomer Leverrier, in the\ntruth of his deductions, that he requests a brother astronomer in\nBerlin, Prussia, to look out for this mass at a special point in\nspace, on a particular night; and there, sure enough, the disturber\nimmediately discloses himself, and soon shows his title to be admitted\ninto the steady and orderly rank of his fellow-planets. The\ncoincidence of the two astronomers--Leverrier, of France, and Adams,\nof England, arriving at this discovery through scientific\ncalculations, based upon knowledge derived from physical observation,\nprecludes every idea of guess-work, while such was the agreement\nbetween their final deductions, that the point of the Heavens fixed\nupon by both as the spot where the disturber lay, was almost\nidentical.\" \"Such a discovery\" says Arago, \"is one of the most\nbrilliant manifestations of the exactitude of the system of modern\nastronomy.\"\n\nChild continues: \"Astronomy is without question, the grandest of\nsciences. It deals with masses, distances, and velocities, which in\ntheir immensity belong specially to itself alone, and of which the\nmere conception transcends the utmost stretch of our finite faculties.\nIn no other branch of science is the limited grasp of our intellect\nmore forcibly brought home to us, yet, though baffled in the effort to\nrise to the level of its requirements, our strivings are by no means\nprofitless. Is it not truly a precious privilege to be able to trace,\nimperfect though it may be, the hand of the Almighty Architect in\nthese, His grandest works, and to obtain by this means a broader\nconsciousness of His Omnipotence?\n\n\"Could each one be privileged to look through Herschel's telescope on a\nclear night, and visibly behold the wonders of the Heavens, our faith\nin the realities of astronomy would pass with a sudden bound from\ntheory into practice; planets and stars would become henceforth\ndistinct and solid existences in our minds, our doubts vanish, and our\nbelief settle into conviction. We should behold the mysterious moon of\nour childhood, mapped into brilliant mountain-peaks, and dark\nprecipices, and softly lighted plains; we should see Jupiter shining\nlike another fair Luna, with attendant satellites moving round him in\ntheir well-known paths; or turn with admiration to Saturn encircled by\nhis famous ring, with outlines as distinct as if that glorious\ncreation lay but a few miles distant. Perhaps we may behold the\nbeauteous Venus shining with resplendent circular disk, or curiously\npassing through her many phases in mimic rivalry of the Moon. Or,\nleaving these near neighbors far behind, we may penetrate more deeply\ninto space, and mark how the bright flashing stars are reduced to a\nsmall, round, unmagnifiable point. Such a privilege would give us a\nmore realizing sense of the power of the great Creator.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE DISCOVERY OF THE MOTION OF THE EARTH AND HEAVENLY BODIES_.\n\n\nThe science of Astronomy is one of the oldest that has occupied the\nhuman mind. That the belief in Astrology was its forerunner, we cannot\ndoubt. Professor Olmsted tells us, that, \"At a period of very remote\nantiquity, Astronomy was cultivated in China, India, Chaldea, and\nEgypt.\" Three several schools were established, ranging from three to\nsix hundred years before the Christian era. Anaximander, in the school\nof Miletus, taught the sublime doctrine that the planets are\ninhabited, and that the stars are suns of other systems. Pythagoras\nwas the founder of the celebrated school of Crotona, upon the\nsouth-eastern coast of Italy, some five hundred years before the\nChristian era. He held that the Sun was the centre of the solar\nsystem, around which all the planets revolve, and that the stars are\nso many suns, each the centre of a system like our own. He also held\nthat the Earth revolves daily on its axis, and yearly around the sun.\nAlthough many of his opinions were founded in mere conjecture, and\nwere erroneous, yet we see that some important ones were founded on\ntruth.\n\nHe also held that the planets were inhabited, that the earth and\nplanets were ever revolving in regular order, \"keeping up a loud and\ngrand celestial concert, inaudible to man, but, as the 'music of the\nspheres,' audible to the Gods.\"\n\nBut the mind of man was not then prepared to grasp the feeble rays of\nlight, and add thereto, by the power of expanding intellect. Although\nmany succeeded Pythagoras, whose scientific attainments proved a\nblessing to the world, and whose names will go down to all succeeding\ngenerations, as the learned, the good, and the great of their time;\nyet prejudice and superstition again prevailed, and the true lights of\nthis science were lost sight of, and, for near two thousand years,\nages of darkness prevailed, until Copernicus appeared about the\nfifteenth century of the Christian era. He again revived the idea\nadvanced by Pythagoras, that the earth and planets moved regularly in\ntheir orbits, and that the sun was the centre of the solar system. Yet\nwith him, as with the former, it was little more than mere conjecture.\n\nWe quote again Prof. Olmsted, in regard to these earlier astronomers,\nwho were struggling after light, and truth, in this grandest of\nsciences: \"Although, therefore, Pythagoras fathomed the profound\ndoctrine, that the Sun is the centre around which the earth and all\nthe planets revolve; yet we have no evidence that he ever solved the\nirregular motions of the planets, in conformity with his hypothesis,\nalthough the explanation of the diurnal revolution of the heavens, by\nthat hypothesis, involved no difficulty.\"\n\nAgain he says, \"Ignorant as Copernicus was of the principle of\ngravitation, and of most of the laws of motion, he could go but little\nway in following out the consequences of his own hypothesis; and all\nthat can be claimed for him is, that he solved, by means of it, most\nof the common phenomena of the celestial motions. He was indeed upon\nthe road to truth, and advanced some way in its sure path; but he was\nable to adduce but few independent proofs, to show that it was truth.\nIt was only near the close of his life that he published his system to\nthe world, and that only at the urgent request of friends;\nanticipating, perhaps, the opposition of a bigoted priesthood, whose\nfury was afterwards poured upon the head of Galileo, for maintaining\nthe same doctrines.\"\n\nThe bigotry and superstition of the priesthood of the Church of Rome\nagain crushed out the lights of this science, and forbade further\ninvestigations, and all was resolved back again into the doctrine\nfirst taught by Eudoxus, who lived more than three hundred years\nbefore Christ. This doctrine was the system of _crystalline spheres_;\n\"the earth the centre of the world, and all heavenly bodies set like\ngems in hollow, solid orbs, composed of crystal so transparent, that\nno anterior orb could obstruct in the least, the view of any of the\norbs lying behind it,\" that the heavens revolved or rolled round from\nEast to West, performing the circuit every twenty-four hours, carrying\nalong the sun, planets, orbs, &c., and that \"above the whole were\nspread the _grand empyrean_, or 'third heavens,' the abode of\nperpetual serenity.\"\n\n\"To account for the planetary motions, it was supposed that the\nplanetary bodies, as also the stars, and sun, each had a motion of its\nown from East to West, while all partook of the common diurnal motion\nof the starry sphere.\"\n\n\"Aristotle taught that these motions were effected by a tutelary\ngenius of each planet, residing in it, and directing its motions, even\nas the mind of man directs his own movements.\"\n\nThus, from the time of Copernicus, until Galileo appeared in the\nsixteenth century, the lights of this science were again extinguished\nby the superstition, bigotry, and intolerance of the priesthood, who\nwould make no proper advance with intellect beyond the established\ndogmas of the church; even to ascertain truths which God himself had\nmade plainly perceptible in His wondrous works.\n\nGalileo, born in Pisa, Italy, in the year 1564, evinced in early life,\na fondness for the study of philosophy, and the higher order of\nsciences, and proved himself also a genius in mechanical inventions.\nFortune favored him in his day, and, enjoying all the greater\nadvantages of the best schools of his time, he studied well all the\nold masters, who had preceded him, and became perfectly familiar with\nevery theory of philosophy and astronomy then known, and prepared\nhimself for an advance in the sciences. He invented the first\ntelescope, with which to survey the heavenly bodies, and the result of\nhis experiments proved conclusively the correctness of the theory\nadvanced by the conjectures of Copernicus.\n\nHe pursued his investigations for years, and established the truth, in\nhis own mind, of the constant movements of the earth and planets, each\nrevolving in its own orbit, with the Sun as the common centre of all;\nof the truth of which he could never more entertain a single doubt.\nBut the laws which governed and controlled their movements--the power\nand force of attraction and gravitation--he could not yet fully\ncomprehend. This great work of discovery was left for Sir Isaac\nNewton. Knowing the bigotry and intolerance of the ruling powers of\nRome, he, Galileo, resorted to subterfuge in order to obtain\npermission to publish his opinions to the world. Yet, when published,\nthese drew down upon his head the stern persecution of the Pope and\nCardinals, and also opposition and accusations from all other\nphilosophers and astronomers of his time. At length, hearing the\ndistant muttering \"thunders of the Vatican,\" he resorted to Rome, to\nreason with the powers that then held universal sway. But, like all\nother lights of reason--from time immemorial to the present hour--the\nfiat of the Romish Church would ever obscure, or crush out light,\nchain down the intellect, become the arbiter of the consciences of\nmen, and permit no advance, save as she might lead; and even then\nbinding all to her dogmas, and decrees, by the power of force, and\nthreatenings of her Inquisitions. She has ever stood ready, where she\nhad the power, to crush with her iron heel every one who dared to\noppose, or sought to lead the mind of man to light and liberty. And it\nhas been the force of circumstances alone, that has, in part, broken\nthis chain of bondage, emancipated the mind, given freedom to thought,\nand permitted the advance of human intellect.\n\nGalileo seemed, indeed, as Nature's philosopher of his time. \"He\ninterrogated the laws of nature by experiments and observations, and\nwe have to ascribe to him the first true investigation of the laws of\nterrestrial gravity.\" Had he stood firm and maintained the truths\nwhich God had permitted him to comprehend, the lights of a true\nscience would then have shone forth, and it is possible that our\nknowledge to-day would be far in advance of what it is. We judge thus,\nbecause of the rapid advance made during the last century, especially\nsince Dr. William Herschel first pointed his telescope toward the\nheavens.\n\nBut on Galileo's arrival at Rome, neither his venerable age, his\nenlightened mind, his acknowledged comprehensive and brilliant\nintellect, nor even his honorable and eloquent appeals for a full and\nscientific investigation as to the correctness of his theory, could\ngain a generous response. The powers that ruled had not made the\nadvance, and it was dangerous to them to permit any one outside to do\nso. Hence, all new doctrines were held as heretical, and must be\ncrushed at once. He was placed in confinement, charged with treason\nand conspiracy against the Church; his views heretical, such as\ndemanded the most rigorous punishment;--even after he should renounce\nthem before the cardinals sitting as Inquisitors in his case. The\ncharges against him were those of his published views, which he freely\nacknowledged, and, while he knew them to be _truths_, yet so\ncontrolling was the influence of his belief in the dogmas of that\nchurch--even as it is with all its adherents--that he bowed to its\nfiat, and, on bended knees laid his hand upon the Holy Gospels, and\nswore by them and the Roman Catholic Church, before God, and the\nInquisition of Cardinals, that the _truths he had published_ were\n_false_, abjuring, cursing, and detesting them as heresies; and swore\na life allegiance to the Church, and received submissively, his\nsentence to a dungeon in the Inquisition for life.\n\nSays Prof. Olmsted, \"We cannot approve of his employing artifice in\nthe promulgation of truth; and we are compelled to lament that his\nlofty spirit bowed in the final conflict. How far, therefore, he sinks\nbelow the dignity of a Christian martyr!\"\n\nSays Dr. Brewster, \"At the age of seventy, on his bended knees, and\nwith his right hand resting on the Holy Evangelists, did this\npatriarch of science avow his present and past belief in the Romish\nChurch; abandon as false and heretical the doctrine of the earth's\nmotion, and of the sun's immobility, and pledge himself to denounce to\nthe Inquisition, any other person who was even suspected of like\nheresy. He abjured, cursed, and detested, those eternal and immutable\ntruths which the Almighty had permitted him to be the first to\nestablish. Had Galileo but added the courage of a martyr, to the\nwisdom of the sage; had he carried the glance of his indignant eye\nround the circle of his Judges; had he lifted his hands to heaven, and\ncalled the living God to witness the truth and immutability of his\nopinions; the bigotry of his enemies would have been disarmed, and\nscience would have enjoyed a memorable triumph.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE ROMISH CHURCH.\n\n\nIt is impossible for the mind to contemplate the scene presented to\nthe world, by the history of that trial and unjust condemnation,\nwithout a shudder, if not a premonition of what may yet be in the\nfuture.\n\nReligious bigotry is more intolerant than any other power of dominion,\nand where the mind and conscience is trammelled, and brought under the\nsubjection of superior intellect, the masses become almost as menials,\nready to do their masters' bidding. We hold to a system of religion,\none which leaves the mind untrammelled, and permits free intercourse\nwith the spirit of God; that which casts aside all that might obstruct\nor intervene, and which enables the soul to commune with its Maker and\nRedeemer; that which enables each \"to know for himself and not\nanother.\" This is the Protestant faith and doctrine, contra-distinguished\nfrom the Roman Catholic faith, whose Popes, Bishops, and Priests,\nbecome, as it were, the arbiters of the minds and consciences of their\nadherents; stand between them and their Maker, and trifle with the\nsouls of men, as implements and matters of commerce. It is time that\nthe days of superstition were ended.\n\nIt is fast losing ground in the old world, where, for long centuries\npast, it has held the masses in ignorance. But, of late years, it has\nbeen rapidly gaining ground on our own continent, and its progress of\nlate has been fearful, and may well alarm the Protestants of our own\ncountry. We hold that Catholicism is little else than a complete\nsystem of superstition. The minds of the masses of its votaries are\ntrained and educated to it from childhood. Hence, there is no\npossibility of ever eradicating it from the minds of those thus\neducated. The priests, cardinals, and Pope, can, at any moment,\ntrammel free thought by their own edicts, and bring their subjects to\ntheir own terms. Their subjects are taught to believe them to possess\nsuperior power; to be able to stand between them and heaven, or hell,\nto lock, or unlock at pleasure; and so ingenious is their system of\nreligion taught, that it ensnares the mind and holds it ever\nsubservient.\n\nWe have seen with what submission that mighty man of learning and\ntowering intellect, Galileo, bowed to this imperial power. By arduous\nstudy, labor and experiments, he had gained a knowledge of his\nCreators wonderful works, far transcending all that was known of it by\nthe ruling powers of Rome. He knew this knowledge was truth, as\nimmutable as God himself, yet, if _cursed_ by the Pope of Rome, he,\ndoubtless, believed this curse would place him in perdition, and no\none would pray his soul out of purgatory. Therefore, he perjured\nhimself (for when he had sworn it false, he still believed it true) in\norder to reconcile the rulers, and secure their intercession. This is\nonly an isolated case out of, doubtless, thousands of others, where\nmind and conscience is brought fully under their subjection.\n\nRome to-day, and the Romish Church, is the same in spirit and ambition\nof universal sway, as in the days of Galileo. Give her but the power,\nand rather than lose it again, she would bind humanity in chains of\nperpetual ignorance as to the source and lights of eternal truth, save\nthat which she alone might graciously promulgate; and this to a\nfavored few, whose trainings were such that their consciences were\nsecurely chained to her car, more ponderous and destructive, than that\nof Juggernaut.\n\nSome, perhaps, are ready to say we have borne down too severely upon\nthe Roman Catholics, that they, too, are now more enlightened, and\nmore liberal in their views than formerly, that they have founded\nschools and institutions of learning, equal--perhaps superior, to\nthose of any other denomination in our country. Grant all this; but\nwhy, and for what purpose? _Answer._ The force of circumstances; the\nenlightenment of the age has compelled them to move forward. They are\never wily and on the alert; the philosophy of science was marching\nonward; the millions could no longer be held in the old beaten track\nof ignorance to pander to the few, and Rome, comprehending all this,\nforesees her impending downfall, unless she, too, steps forward with\nher _gilded robe_. She therefore, takes a new tack, with her ponderous\nship, upon the sea of mind. She has in store her mines of wealth,\ngathered daily from the poor sons and daughters of toil, some of whom\nalmost starve themselves in order to pay penance to the Priests for\nsins laid to their charge, committed--if sins they be, in ignorance.\nThese priests--some of whom are besotted--still stand forth as the\narbiters of the consciences of their deluded followers; pretend to bar\nthe gates of heaven; admitting none, save for the _shillings_ or the\n_pounds_, showing plainly that the continued organization of this\nchurch, in this enlightened age, is but the force of early education.\n\nYes, they have erected their school and college edifices, and also\ntheir _convents_ and _monasteries_. They have ample material for\nefficient teachers: but mark you, these have all been well trained\nfrom infancy in the \"_lap of the Church_.\" They are obedient,\nefficient and orderly, and, at proper times, are ready to make\nadvantageous displays. They take charge of all the youth of _their_\nflock, and, alas, by their seductive insinuations, are now making\nrapid progress against Protestantism in our own country. They are\neducating tens of thousands of Protestant youth.\n\nDo they ever exhibit to, or instruct them in your Protestant Bible?\nNo, never! but on the other hand; are they not constantly trying to\ninstruct, charm, and fascinate them with their own system of religious\nworship? They are partial to your children--especially to your\n_daughters_, who will, in time, be among the mothers of the succeeding\ngeneration, and who, of course, will train up their offspring in the\nsame faith. Just let them secure a majority of mothers as firm\nbelievers in the Romish faith, and they will bid defiance to all\nopposing influences. How long since one of their Archbishops said, in\na public address, in one of our leading cities: _Let us once control\nthe children, the youth of the land, and we can soon control the\nnation_; or words of this import? See their indefatigable exertions;\ntheir complete system of organization; their primary schools, their\nSeminaries, Academies, Colleges, Convents, and Monasteries, already\nestablished, and to which they are adding, annually, many more, while\nProtestants seem to be slumbering over the kindling fires of a\nvolcano, which may in time break forth in all its destructive fury, as\nit oft-times has during past centuries.\n\nIs it not high time that Protestants of our own country, were waking\nup in regard to their present, and eternal interests? Let a\npreponderance of power be centered in any one man, and you may then\nbid a final adieu to a republican form of government, and must,\nperhaps, bow to infamous and oppressive \"decrees\" emanating from an\niron will.\n\nIn our own country, this cannot yet be, unless the usurper is backed\nby a soldiery, who are hired, and paid, out of a controlled treasury.\nThis could not long maintain, in this, or any country, where there is\nfreedom of mind and thought, and where conscience remains\nuntrammelled. But let the masses be thus controlled by one superior\nintellect, and feel that their ETERNAL interests are subject to his\nwill, and they will be ever ready to do his bidding.\n\nThe Popes of Rome have--successively--held this power over a portion\nof Europe, even as the history of the dark days of the \"Inquisitions\"\nand martyrdoms attest. Thus it has been, and thus we believe it ever\nwill be, where Roman Catholics gain universal sway: for we believe\nthere is scarcely a member of that organization living to-day, who\nwould not--at the Pope's command--make every desired sacrifice; not\nonly of worldly goods and interests, but even of life itself--if\nrequired.\n\nWe do not condemn--collectively, nor individually, the masses, and\nmembers of that faith. Far be this from us. We believe that a very\nlarge majority of them are honest, and truly devotional. No other\nclass of people on the globe have been more self-sacrificing than many\nof them, in performing acts of kindness, charity and mercy, and these\noffices have been performed in a true spirit of Christian benevolence.\nWould that all other professed Christian organizations would equal\nthem in this respect. All should render relief, when within their\npower, to suffering humanity. We believe that all such efforts upon\nthe part of any one, will merit, and obtain, individual reward. What\nwe condemn is the spirit of the ruling powers of the Romish Church;\nits bigotry, and intolerance; and because they--by educating into\ntheir system of religion--trammel the mind, and control the\nconscience, rendering them subservient to the dictation and will of\nthe rulers. The Pope, bishops, and priests, claim to be the mediums\nthrough which their adherents are saved, as, also we believe mediums,\nwhose \"curses\" pronounced against any, will consign the soul to\nperdition, while they chain the mind to superstition.\n\nThe Bible teaches that Christ is our only mediator, that all may come\nto God through faith in His Son; every soul is held alike responsible,\nand is alike accountable to its Creator. That life and salvation are\nfreely offered alike to all, the requirement being, to forsake the\nways of sin, and through faith in Jesus Christ, \"return unto the Lord\nwho will have mercy, and to our God who will abundantly pardon.\"\n\nIt will be perceived that our principal objections to that sect are\ntheir superstitions, bigotry, arrogance and intolerance; the chaining\ndown the mind, and controlling the conscience, and using all for\ntemporal sway. The antecedents of this power are sufficient to warn\nall Protestants against its encroachments, and stimulate them to say,\n\"Thus far shalt thou go and no farther,\" and in order to this, let\nevery Protestant denomination see to the educating of their own\nchildren.\n\n\"But,\" say some of our Protestant mothers, \"they have the best\nschools, and I want my daughters to be well educated, and\naccomplished; and I do not fear their making Catholics of them.\" So,\nlikewise, have said thousands of others, and yet, trying the\nexperiment, they have been mistaken. Their daughters have returned\nhome fascinated with show and tinsel, and firm adherents to that\ndoctrine, which, when educated into the mind, can never thence be\neradicated.\n\nFew are aware of the rapid advance the Catholics are making against\nProtestantism, at the present time. It is safe to say, that not less\nthan from fifteen to twenty thousand daughters, belonging to\nProtestant families, are baptized into that church annually, in the\nUnited States. On the other hand, few, if any, Catholics ever become\nProtestants; and nine out of every ten who do, will--if sick and\nfearing the approach of death, send for Catholic Priests; make\nconfession, and implore their intercession, to rescue their souls from\npurgatory, where they feel sure of going for this great sin of\napostasy.\n\nNow we ask, how long will it take, with so large and ever increasing\naccessions of our Protestant daughters, for that organization to gain\nthe ascendancy in our country? Their motto is _eternal vigilance_,\nwhile they wage eternal warfare _against the Protestant faith, and\nChristian religion_. The time was, when they held almost universal\nsway throughout a large portion of Europe. The edicts of the Pope, and\nRoman Catholic rulers, must be obeyed by _all_. Curses, torture,\nimprisonment, and _death_--where they had the power--was the portion\nof all who disregarded their mandates. And then, as now, their hatred\nand persecutions were against those whom they termed \"_heretical\nProtestants_;\" against your ancestors, and your religion. Kings, and\nEmperors, trembled on their thrones, and lent willing obedience, lest\na \"Bull\" should be issued against them from the \"Vatican\" by the\nruling Pope. Those were dark days for poor Protestants; they had to\nworship God in _secret_, or in dens and caves. Even only a few\ncenturies ago, terror and darkness reigned; multiplied thousands were\nslaughtered, or dragged to the \"stake\" and consumed by fiery faggots;\ngrey hairs, age or decrepitude, were no shields against their bigoted\nfury. The priests then, as now, controlled and directed the\nconsciences of their followers. No compassion, could be shown--even to\npurity and innocence of defenceless females, or helpless children.\nThose who could manage to escape and flee the country, did so,\nleaving all of worldly goods and possessions behind them _confiscated\nto the Church_, and, as strangers, poor and friendless, sought, as\nbest they could, asylums in other lands--some of whom, finally reached\nour own continent, here to enjoy liberty and the freedom of\nconscience. And we have to lament the fact that many of them, still\ntinctured with the rule and form of despotism, had, by the force of\nprevious circumstances, imbibed notions akin to despotism and\npersecution, and were, for a time, while they had the power, disposed\nto use it as manifested by the Puritans first landing on our shores.\nBut they could not hold this power, because of lack of a complete\norganization of a hierarchal power. Free thought and free speech, and\nthe liberty of a free untrammeled _conscience_ prevailed, and soon\nswept away every vestige of religious intolerance and despotism, and\nour North American continent soon towered in sublime grandeur and\nbeauty, and became the home and asylum of freedom for the oppressed of\nevery clime. This land is the birthright of Protestants, wherein those\nof every religious faith, Catholics, and all others, have equal rights\nand privileges; but to maintain our liberties, we must educate into\nthe minds of all, _personal liberty, and accountability_, and leave\nthe conscience untrammeled so far as regards popes, priests, bishops,\nor ministers, _controlling man's future destiny_. All are held\nindividually, and personally, accountable to God, and He hath sent\nHis Spirit to enlighten every one, and all who go direct to Him in the\nspirit of humility, with faith and prayer, will obtain this light.\n\nIn regard to the workings of the ruling powers of the Roman Catholic\nChurch less than two centuries ago, we give place to the following\nrecent developments, written as a matter of history, by one who\nassisted in the investigations only a few weeks ago. This is from\n\"Catholic Spain:\"\n\n\n\n\n GHASTLY REVELATION!\n\n MORE RELICS OF THE SPANISH INQUISITION UNEARTHED.\n\n\nThe London _Star_ has the following from Madrid:\n\n A somewhat ghastly incident has caused considerable\n excitement here within the last few weeks. Within a few\n hundred yards of the new Plaza de Dos Mayo, inaugurated on\n the 2d of this month, there is a locality called the Cruz\n del Quemadero. It is a field some three hundred metres\n square, at the top of the Calle Aricha de San Bernardo, near\n the hospital built by the ex-Queen. Through it a new road\n was lately opened, and as the ground was elevated, a cutting\n of considerable depth had to be dug. The workmen laid bare\n several peculiar looking horizontal strata, of irregular\n formation. One was one hundred and fifty feet in length,\n another fifty, another ten. The thickness varied from eight\n to eighty centimetres. In color the soil was black, the\n lower strata being much blacker than the superior ones.\n\n On examination lumps of charred wood were found,\n interspersed with ashes, evidently the remains of some huge\n fire. Curiosity was soon excited, and further investigation\n demonstrated that in portions of these ugly-looking strata,\n the finger came upon small pieces of adipose matter, which\n yielded, like butter, to the touch. Iron rings were grubbed\n up; human bones, a cranium, a long tuft of hair, having\n belonged to some female. All these were more or less\n charred. Some of the iron was partially fused, and the\n texture of bone intermingled with sand was plainly\n discernible. _A gag turned up._ The question, what were\n these lugubrious records was answered at once. This field of\n the Cruz del Quemadero was the place where the\n \"_Inquisition_\" disposed of some of its victims. Here were\n the ghastly proofs of the horrors of which this place had\n been the scene, suddenly brought to light after the lapse of\n two centuries. On the 12th of May, 1689, eighty-three\n heretics, including twenty Hebrews, of whom five were women,\n were immolated on this very spot. The pile of wood was\n eighty feet in length by seven feet in height. A great\n concourse witnessed the _auto da fe_, and the horrible\n ceremonial completed, the people buried the remains of their\n victims under cart-loads of earth. These irregular\n geological strata are naught else but the silent testimony\n to the atrocities perpetrated on this in the name of\n religion and \"Catholic Unity.\" Out of one, your special\n correspondent hooked out with his finger, one entire bone of\n a human vertebral column, a portion of the tibia, a\n fragment of a shoulder-blade with a hole through it, and a\n bit of a rib, all bearing the marks of fire. Upward of two\n cart-loads of remains of this sort have been carried away\n and decently buried. But these horrible strata! There they\n remain to tell their own tale, and instruct the present\n generation. On the 13th, a public meeting was convened, to\n be held at the Quemadero, by the Republican youth of Madrid,\n to protest against priestly intolerance and to advocate\n _freedom of conscience_. That this discovery should have\n been made at a moment when the Spanish clergy are striving\n their utmost to affirm the \"unity of the Roman Catholic\n Church,\" and are preaching in the churches of the metropolis\n against heresy, is a striking coincidence.\n\n The Quemadero is so frequented by people in search of\n relics, and the explorations of these strata have been so\n extensive, that the authorities have barred the frontage\n off, and prohibited access. It is their intention to cut a\n square block, and there erect a monument. It is estimated by\n Llorente, the great historian of the Inquisition, that this\n atrocious tribunal has deprived Spain of twelve millions of\n souls, including the Jews, and Moors, expelled from the\n country. Thirty-one thousand and ninety-two perished by\n fire; 17,659 were first butchered and then burned; 221,985\n died of torture. Total, 270,736.\n\nRome, ever intolerant in spirit, her persecutions have ever been the\nsame through all ages, and in all countries, where she had the power\nof physical force. And thus, we believe, it would be to-day, on this\ncontinent, had she now the ascendency here. Daily, in private, are you\ndenounced by their priests, and minions, as heretics, while it would\nseem that no bishop, or priest, of that church, can ascend a rostrum\nin any of their cathedrals, without venting his spleen in outspoken or\nimplied anathemas against all Protestants.\n\nYour daughters, under their special care in their schools and\nacademies, are taught by the Lady Superiors, and sisters--by\ninsinuations, if not directly--to believe theirs the only true church\nof God on earth. They are told by their confidential associates, that\nall who do not believe their faith, and in the Roman Catholic Church,\nare held by them as \"_heretics_\" and, without this belief, need never\nhope to get to heaven. Their governesses and teachers are ever wary,\nat first, of manifesting, or of exercising a direct influence, as\nregards controlling their religious belief, and will tell you, when\nyou are about to place your daughters under their care, that they\nnever teach the children of Protestants the Catholic religion, and\nyet, by their machinations, adopt the most efficient means of\naccomplishing it. They are sure to gain their _confidence_, and, very\nsoon, with nine out of ten, they have more of this than even the\nmother enjoys. When they have gained this, confidence, their task\nbecomes an easy one, and they know well how to perform it. On each\nrecurring Sabbath, all who are under their care must attend church,\nand they are accompanied by the superiors or teachers, to _their_\nchurch, and there must sit and hear the religion and faith of their\nown parents denounced in the boldest terms. They are young and\ninexperienced; their minds susceptible of impressions, and these they\nreceive and nurture with such effect, that long before the period\narrives for them to leave the \"Institution,\" the faith and doctrines\nof the \"Church of Rome\" are firmly ingrafted in their minds; and they\nreturn home fully resolved to be (even if they have not already been)\nconfirmed by the ordinance of Baptism in that church. Thus, their\nreligious belief is educated into their minds, and no parental\ninfluence can ever change their views.\n\n\"But,\" say some, \"we send our children to their day-school, and hence,\nhave them under home influence most of the time, and in this way there\nis no danger.\" Let us examine and see whether there is, or is not.\n\nThis mode of procedure is one of their organized systems for induction\ninto your \"good graces,\" so that they may eventually accomplish their\nends. By this seeming open-heartedness, they allay all suspicion, and\novercome any prejudices you may have cherished against their system of\nreligion. They are all working for the future ascendency of their\nchurch. It must not be a matter of haste; the minds of Protestants,\nwho are yet in the ascendency, are not prepared to yield all in open\nconflict. Hence, they must be patient; must work and wait. Such a\ncourse, on their part, will disarm you of even suspicion, and cause\nyou to think and speak well of them. This is always their first step.\nSoon they will open the doors of their academies to admit your\ndaughters, where they MUST remain during all the term--save a short\n\"home visit\" now and then, from which they must return on the day, and\neven the very hour stated by the \"Superior.\" Have you ever noticed how\n_promptly_ your daughter has felt it her duty to obey this command,\nand return to that school? Was it ever thus while she was attending a\nProtestant school? Think you she would be so mindful of _your_\nrequest; so _anxious_ to leave pleasant society; unwilling to remain\neven an hour longer, and return to you and loved ones at home? Nay, I\ntell you she would not do it under ordinary circumstances. See now who\nalready holds the confidence of, and greater influence over your\nchild!\n\nBut see on yonder eminence a Convent, a Monastery, a Nunnery, with its\ntowering dome, and surrounded by massive walls. There, perhaps, is the\nplace wherein your young and beautiful daughter will be immured to\nspend a weary life in _crucifying_ herself, and doing penance daily\nfor imaginary sins she has never committed. Thus, shutting herself up\nwithin that living tomb from all the outside world, and the happiness\nto be enjoyed in social life; she is as dead to you, and to the world,\nas though in her coffin, and in her grave; while the mind is as\nobscured as to the true lights and freedom of eternal truth and\nsalvation, as though reason were dethroned, and she a maniac. This\ncondition has been brought about by influences brought to bear upon\nher mind, commencing with your daughter's first entrance into their\nprimary schools. Confessions must soon be made to the priest, and, by\nhis arts, he soon gains the ascendency over, and becomes the arbiter\nof the mind and conscience, and more especially is this influence\nexerted to this end, if the child is an _orphan_, and is the rightful\ninheritor of a valuable estate. For it would seem that to this end do\nthe ruling powers of that sect devote time, energy, and influence--as\nwitnessed by so many young females, whose parents left them fortunes,\nsurrendering all to the church, and taking up a life abode in their\nconvents.\n\nWe do not condemn the poor deluded victims, nor believe they are held\naccountable in their delusion. They are honest in their devotions, yet\nperform these under false delusions. And when their spirits are\nreleased from this double prison-house, and return to God who gave\nthem, they will then realize the freedom of the Spirit of God, and how\nabundantly it giveth _light_, _life_ and _liberty_. And they will then\nalso realize that their salvation is alone of God--through his\nboundless mercy; and not in anywise through intercession of the\n_Priest_.\n\nWe warn you to look well to passing events. History so oft repeats\nitself, that we can but believe there is danger. Remember that when\nLuther--the bold pioneer of Protestantism--stood forth the champion of\nChristianity, to his followers there came, from this same source,\npersecutions, martyrdoms, and massacres--even a reign of terror and\ndarkness upon Europe. But it proved a darkness that preceded a dawn;\nand although seemingly, at the time, dreadful in its consequences, yet\nnone can deny but that the world is far better because of his efforts,\nthan to have slumbered on in ignorance and in sin. From this same\ncause, our own continent may be destined to pass through a period like\nthat of the \"dark ages.\" If so, we trust in God it may come forth from\nit cleansed and purified; even as the current of the \"lost river,\"\nthat loses itself in the bosom of the \"Blue Ridge,\" where, with a wild\nwhirl, its turbid waters dash into the resounding cavern, but on the\nother side reappear, clear, placid, and beautiful.\n\nWe say to all Protestants, remember, that in placing your children\nunder the care and influence of Catholic teachers, and Priests of that\nChurch, you lend your aid to obscuring their minds, and, in\naccordance to your own belief, shutting out from the eye of faith\nGod's own eternal truth. They go to men as \"intercessors\" instead of\nto Christ the Lord--the Son of God, who redeemed them with His own\nprecious blood--who alone can intercede for them. And you also aid in\nre-establishing universal sway to the ever-intolerant Romish Church.\nThe time may come when--driven from the Old World--her central power\nwill be on this continent: and, erecting here her gorgeous temples\nfrom the estates you leave to your children, the Pope will ascend the\nthrone of the American Vatican--under and around which will be the\ndark dungeons of the Inquisition--and thence thunder forth his\n\"_Bulls_\" and _Anathemas_ against the feeble followers of the blessed\nRedeemer. That Church is by far the most intolerant of all the\nprofessed Christian organizations on this globe. Their members are not\neven allowed the privilege of attending religious worship anywhere\nelse than under their own instructions, and we opine, that should any\none of them do so without \"dispensation,\" they are held as having\ncommitted a sin, for which they must soon repair to the Priest, make\nconfession, do penance, receive absolution from him, and pay the\nprice.\n\nBehold the avarice of this \"whore of Babylon!\" Not content with\ntribute paid to her--perhaps weekly--through a long lifetime by her\ndeluded followers, when nature yields to the fiat of the Eternal One,\nmortality drops to moulder into dust, and the spirit returns to God\nwho gave it, so completely are the minds of all her adherents under\nthe control of the Priests, that they can still lay _penance_ upon the\ndead, and demand and obtain _tribute_ from the living offspring.\n\nIn closing our remarks upon this subject, we submit, for the\nreflection of all Protestant ministers and members in every quarter of\nthe world, the following, a portion of the Pope's address to the\nEnglish clergymen, who presented him an address signed by some\neighteen hundred clergy, April 20th, 1869. After examining the\ndocument closely, following other remarks, he said:\n\n\"In the mean time, we must cultivate in a most special manner the\n_spirit of unity_, for in that lies our strength, and its want is the\nweakness of our adversaries. I have noticed the Protestants are\nperpetually appealing to the primitive Church; but when I turn to the\nearly ages of history, what do I see? Unity! all the more reasonable\nbecause existing undoubtedly in a different state of society from the\npresent. The Apostles were all of one accord, and one mind. * * * *\nProtestants, on the other hand, are disunited; and our strength, in\nthe difficulties we have to encounter, lies in _perfect union_. * * *\nIt will be the old story over again. There will be waves and storms\nand threatenings on all sides, but we shall be brought safely through\n* * * while our _adversaries_ are struggling with the waves.\"\n\nLet all ponder well these remarks. The philosophy that \"in union there\nis strength\" is a true one. And if all Protestants cannot unite as one\ngreat body and family--because of minor non-essentials in matters of\nfaith, forms and ceremonies--let all unite in the one great essential,\nthat all their children, and orphan children of Protestants, shall be\neducated in other than Catholic schools. For, in these latter, we hold\nthat the mind is chained to error and superstition, and the true\nlights of God's truth and plan of salvation are obscured. Every parent\nand guardian will be held accountable in a coming day, should they\nneglect to \"train up their children in the way they should go.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nOur readers will please pardon us for the digression we have made from\nthe special subject we have under consideration. Had we not been duly\nimpressed with the importance and correctness of our views upon the\nsubject of the freedom and liberty of mind and conscience, and of the\npersonal accountability of _all_ to God alone, we should not have thus\npursued the theme. We believe firmly in the good _offices_ of a\nteaching and advising ministry, but not in anywise where it _trammels\nthe mind or becomes the arbiter of the conscience_.\n\n * * * * *\n\nReturning to our subject, _viz._, the earlier discoveries of the\nscience of Astronomy. The intelligence of the world is indebted to Sir\nIsaac Newton, who lived during the latter part of the sixteenth\ncentury, for the discovery of the laws of _universal gravitation_. His\ndiscovery, and philosophy, furnished the basis upon which all\nsubsequent astronomers have worked.\n\n\n\n\n_ATTRACTION, GRAVITATION, &c._\n\n\nThe power of attraction and force of gravitation are the laws which\ngovern the universe of matter. \"The discovery of this law,\" says Prof.\nOlmsted, \"made us acquainted with the hidden forces that move the\ngreat machinery of the universe. It furnished the key which unlocks\nthe inner temple of Nature, and established the science of Astronomy\nupon a sure and firm basis. Thus we discover in Nature a tendency of\nevery portion of matter toward some other. This tendency is called\ngravitation. The larger the body, the more powerful the attraction;\nand this attraction is always toward the centre. Hence, you may cast\nan object of weight into the air, and, when the impelling force you\nhave given it ceases to force it upward, it falls in a direct line to\nthe earth.\" So also may the Chinaman, placed on the opposite side of\nthe globe, cast one as he deems upward, which is forcing it in an\nopposite direction from where you sent yours; yet, when his impelling\nforce is lost, his too falls back to the earth, each falling toward\nthe other. This is gravitation, produced by the power of attraction.\nThus we now see this principle made plain to the simplest\ncomprehension.\n\n\n\n\n_SUNS, STARS, PLANETS, &c._\n\n\nWe come, now, to the contemplation of that which is of far greater\nimportance to us than all other planets, worlds, stars, and wonders in\nthe siderial Heavens. This is the Sun, which warms and lights up our\nearth, and all the other planets within its sphere.\n\nSays Dr. Child, \"There are not a few in this world who habitually\nreceive God's blessings so much as a matter of course, that they are\nscarcely conscious of any active feeling of gratitude in regard to\nthem. The very regularity and profusion with which these blessings are\nshowered on all alike, seem to have the effect of deadening the sense\nof individual obligation. A general admission of thankfulness may\noccasionally be made at church or in the closet, but there is a want\nof that abiding consciousness of it, with which we ought to be imbued,\nas well as that frequent pondering upon details which, by illustrating\nthe dependence of every creature upon God, causes the heart to swell\nwith grateful adoration. Such thoughts never fail to improve our\nmoral nature by bringing the truth home to us more and more that we\nare God's children.\n\n\"It would be no easy task for a thankful mind to sum up all the\nblessings diffused over our planet by the Sun. It is the mainspring of\nanimated Nature. Without its genial rays the present system of Earth's\ngovernment could not endure, and life itself would soon disappear from\nthe globe. To it we are indebted for light and warmth--the two\nstimulants of vital force--for our food and raiment; for our busy days\nand rest-bringing nights, for months and years, and happy alternations\nof seasons. Its rays, in short, are intertwined with all our wants and\ncomforts; they gladden the eye and cheer the heart. Contemplating all\nthese temporal blessings, the _Psalmist_ exclaims:\n\n \"'_I will praise the name of the Lord with a song, and\n magnify it with thanksgiving._'\n\n\"The Sun is the central pivot of the solar system, and round it the\nearth and all the other planets keep whirling in elliptical orbits.\nIts power and influence, its light, heat, and attraction, reach\nthrough a domain in space which it would require _six thousand\nmillions of miles_ to span. With the greater part of this wide field,\nastronomers are familiar, and it may be truly said that scarcely a man\nknows the roads of his own parish or neighborhood, or a citizen the\nstreets of his own city or village, with more exactness than they do\nthe highways of the skies. Not only can they map out to a nicety the\npaths of the planets careering through it like islands floating\nthrough a sea of ether, but they can look backward and tell the exact\nspot where each globe was at any moment of the remote past, or\nforward, and point to the place where each will be found at any given\nmoment of the remote future.\n\n\"What is the mighty power which maintains such order in the Heavens,\nwhich steadies the planets in their orbits, and traces out for them a\nroute so wisely planned as to avoid all chances of collision? Two\nantagonistic forces--gravitation and attraction, combined with a\ncentrifugal impulse--accomplish the wonderful task. To these faithful\nservants, God commits the safety of the Universe, nor can anything\ndisturb or derange the order of this machinery, save the Word which\ncreated it.\n\n\"The Sun was placed in the centre, and became the pivot of the whole\nsystem, tying to itself the different planets by the cord of its\nsuperior attraction. In accordance with the law we have mentioned,\nthis loadstone power of the Sun is the inevitable result of its\nsuperior mass, as it is computed to be six hundred times greater in\nmagnitude than this earth and all the planets put together. But\nbehold the wisdom and wondrous power of the Great Architect, in\ncreating these vast worlds, and placing each in its proper position\nin space; where each revolves within its own orbit--some with the\nvelocity of even one hundred thousand miles an hour--yet maintaining\ntoward each other that _centrifugal_ force which prevents their being\ndrawn by the attractive power of that vast globe _within_ the Sun,\ninto certain destruction, by its surrounding fires.\n\n\"Astronomers inform us there are innumerable Suns, each of which is\nsupposed to control a separate, or its own system of planets; giving\nlight and heat thereto, even as our Sun does to this Earth, and its\nown system of planets. Their distances from the Sun that lights up our\nHeavens are immeasureable--far transcending our conceptions, or even\nour imagination--in illimitable space. They also inform us that the\ndistance from this Earth, to the nearest one of these distant stars,\nor suns, is about _twenty billions of miles_.\" So vast is the distance\nhere stated, that the mind cannot grasp or comprehend it. We can more\nnearly approximate by the measurement of light; a ray of which darting\nfrom its surface and travelling at the speed of 192,000 miles a\nsecond, would not reach our eye under three years and eight months.\n\"Such then,\" says Sir John Herschel, \"is the length of the\nsounding-line with which we first touch bottom in the attempt to\nfathom the great abyss of the sidereal heavens.\" Says Olmsted, \"Until\nrecently, astronomers gave almost exclusive attention to\nobservations, and the study of the solar system. But Dr. William\nHerschel turned his attention to the sidereal heavens, and opened up\nnew and wonderful fields of discovery, as well as of speculation. His\nson, Sir John Herschel, and Sir James South, of England, have followed\nthe old master, with grasping minds and brilliant intellects, until\nmore has been accomplished by them, and others of the present day,\nthan all preceding astronomers had even ventured to conjecture,\" and\nthat their deductions are founded mainly on facts, no intelligent mind\nwill--on investigation--have reason to doubt.\n\nBut having thrown anchor and \"touched bottom\" in the wide expanse of\nthe unlimited sphere of the sidereal heavens, \"let us,\" says Dr.\nChild, \"take another flight. Here next, within the domain of Sirius,\nwe find ourselves six times as far distant as when at Centauri, first\nmentioned\"--say one hundred and twenty billions of miles--\"from which\nit would require _twenty-two years_ for a ray of light travelling at\nthe rate of 192,000 miles a second to reach our Earth.\" But, far\ndistant, yonder, we behold the beauteous _Capella_, in all its\nsplendor and glory, throwing its effulgent rays across the wide\nexpanse of universe, and yet these rays of light, travelling at the\nsame mentioned rate--192,000 miles each passing second of\ntime--require about _seventy years_ in transit, before the inhabitants\nof our Earth catch a glimpse of their brilliancy and beauty. And yet\nnow the mind has only entered the borders of '_the starry\nregions_'--far beyond, in illimitable space, lie the 'Hosts of the\nStars;' their vast distances cannot be computed even by light itself.\"\n\nIt is wonderful to contemplate the probability that of some of the\nmore distant stars discovered, the rays of light which have found rest\nin the eye of the Astronomer, through the aid of the telescope, may\nhave left their native sun thousands of years ago, and travelled at\nthe rate of 192,000 miles a second ever since. \"A certain cluster of\nstars was estimated by Sir William Herschel to be 700 times the\ndistance of a star of the first magnitude--therefore at least 700\ntimes nineteen billions of miles!\" But, observes Guillemin, if this\ncluster was removed to five times its actual distance, that is to say\n3,500 times the distance of Sirius, the large Herschelian telescope of\n40 feet focus would still show it, _but only as an irresolvable\nNebula_. It is, then, extremely probable that, among the many Nebul\u00e6\nindecomposable into stars, beyond the Milky Way, in the depths of the\nheavens, many are as distant as that of which we speak. _Doubtless\nmany are more so._ Now to reach us, light-rays must have left stars\nsituated at such a distance more than 700,000 years ago!\" Says Child,\n\"When we have touched the verge of this uttermost range, Infinity,\nboundless as ever, still lies beyond. The idea of God extinguishes in\nour mind every suspicion that there can be any limit to space,\nmagnitude, or power, in relation to His works. The mighty universe we\nhave been considering is but the stepping-stone to what is farther on;\nand although our imagination fails to grasp it, our reason assures us\nit must be so. There is no such thing as taking from or adding to _The\nIllimitable_.\n\n\"With what just propriety of thought has light been called the 'voice'\nof the stars. * * * In the 'speechless' voice of light the stars\nproclaim to us from the depths of space, the existence of innumerable\nother worlds which, like our own, share the Creator's care. * * * With\nmute argument stars prove to us that, in those far-off regions,\ngravitation--the power that brings the apple to the ground--still\nreigns supreme, and with suggestive whispers of probability, they\npersuade us that, like our own Sun, they bathe attendant worlds in\nfloods of light; deck them in colors of beauty, and shower countless\nblessings on the life of myriads of beings.\n\n\"Having glanced at the distances and magnitudes of some of the stars,\nor suns, let us pause for a moment to consider their number, and the\nvast space they must necessarily occupy in the domain of Creation. By\nthe most moderate estimate the number of stars that can be counted in\nthe firmament by telescopic aid, does not fall short of _one hundred\nmillions_. There is no doubt that most of those stars are _Suns_,\ndispensing light and heat to earths and planets like our own; and,\nindeed, no bodies shining by reflected light would be visible at such\nenormous distances.\n\n\"From the superior magnitude of those that have been measured--as\ncompared to our Sun--it may be assumed that the average diameter of\ntheir solar systems must exceed our own; but taking them as nearly\nequal, it would give a breadth of at least _six thousand millions of\nmiles_ as the field of space occupied by each, while every star, or\nsun-system, is probably begirt with a gulf or void like that\nencircling our own, in which the antagonistic forces of attraction are\nlost, so as not to disturb each other. Hence, the distance from each\nof those suns to its nearest neighbor is probably not less than that\nwhich intervenes between our Sun and the nearest star, which cannot be\nless than about _twenty_ billions of miles. How inconceivably vast,\ntherefore, must be the space required to give room for so many and\nsuch stupendous solar systems. The mind absolutely reels under the\nload of conceptions so mighty. _Yet Infinity still lies beyond_.\"\n\n\"For what purpose,\" says Sir John Herschel, \"are we to suppose such\nmagnificent bodies scattered through the abyss of space? Surely not to\nillume our nights, which an additional moon of the thousandth part of\nthe size of our own would do much better; not to sparkle as a pageant,\nvoid of meaning and reality, and to bewilder us among vain\nconjectures. He must have studied astronomy to little purpose, who can\nsuppose man to be the only object of his Creator's care, or who does\nnot see, in the vast and wonderful apparatus around us, provisions for\nother races of animated beings.\"\n\nThe Psalmist says:\n\n \"Whoso is wise will ponder these things, and they shall\n understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.\"\n\nLet us here suggest the reasonable hypothesis, that those distant\nsuns, standing far out in the sidereal regions of illimitable\nspace--created, and placed there by the \"Word\" of the Almighty\narchitect--may have been shining thus for untold billions of years;\nand so, also, the sun which shines upon and lights up and warms this\nearth, and the other planets within its domain; and will thus remain\nforever, as God's own lamps of eternal light, to all created\nintelligences.\n\nHear the Psalmist break forth again,\n\n \"Thy testimonies are wonderful. Who alone doeth great\n wonders.\n\n The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament\n sheweth His handy works.\n\n Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.\"\n\nJob tells us,\n\n \"He alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the\n waves of the sea, and doeth wonders without number.\"\n\n_Fixed stars_--held by astronomers to be suns--are known from the\nplanetary stars by their perpetual \"twinkling,\" and by their being,\napparently, always in the same position relative to each other. Now,\nwhile the number of stars to be seen in the heavens by the naked eye\non a clear night does not exceed about 3,000 in each,--the northern\nand southern hemispheres,--yet Herschel, Olmsted, and other examiners\ntell us that by the aid of the telescope, many millions stand out in\nbrilliant array--so vast their number that they cannot be correctly\ncomputed, but are supposed to be at least _one hundred millions_.\n\nProf. Olmsted declares it fully demonstrated that \"_the fixed stars\nare suns_,\" and, with other astronomers, argues the fair probability\nof many of them being of far greater magnitude than our own sun. Dr.\nWollaston, a distinguished English philosopher, attempted to estimate\nthe magnitude of certain of the fixed stars from the light which they\nafforded. \"By means of an accurate _photometer_ (an instrument for\nmeasuring the relative intensities of light), he compares the light of\nSirius with that of the sun. He next computed how far the sun must be\nremoved from us in order to appear no brighter than Sirius. He found\nit would require to be _one hundred and forty-one thousand times_ its\npresent distance, and even at that great distance Sirius must give out\ntwice as much light as the sun, or that, in point of splendor, Sirius\nmust be at least equal to two suns.\" \"But,\" adds Prof. Olmsted, \"as\n_Sirius_ is more than _two hundred thousand times_ as far off as the\nsun, he has rendered it probable that its light is equal to that of\n_fourteen suns_.\" (We wish you to bear these facts in mind, they will\nserve you when we come to speak of the magnitude of our own sun.)\n\nBut let us follow Prof. Olmsted a little farther. He says, \"We have\nalready seen that they are large bodies; that they are immensely\nfarther off than the farthest planet; that they shine by their own\nlight; in short, that their appearance is, in all respects, the same\nas the Sun would exhibit if removed to the region of the stars. Hence,\nwe infer that they are bodies of the same kind with the Sun.\n\n\"We are justified, therefore, by a sound analogy, in concluding that\nthe stars referred to were made for the same end as the Sun; namely,\nas the centres of attraction to other planetary worlds, to which they\nseverally dispense light and heat. Although the starry heavens\npresent, in a clear night, a spectacle of unrivalled grandeur and\nbeauty, yet it must be admitted that the chief purpose of the stars\ncould not have been to adorn the night, since by far the greater part\nof them are ever invisible to the naked eye, nor as landmarks to the\nnavigator, for only a small proportion of them are adapted to this\npurpose, nor, finally, to influence this Earth by their attraction,\nsince their distance renders such an effect entirely insensible.\"\nTherefore, arriving at the only rational conclusion _that they are\nSuns_, many of them suns of vast magnitude; shining with splendor and\nbrilliancy equal to, or surpassing that of our own Sun; each giving\nout light and heat to their attendant planets and revolving worlds\nwithin their own domain, or sphere,--\"may we not ask, for what purpose\nare these gifts dispensed to those surrounding worlds, if not for the\nuse of percipient beings?\n\n\"We are therefore led to the inevitable idea of a plurality of worlds;\nand that they are inhabited by some order of intelligences, and the\nconclusion is forced upon our minds that the spot which the Creator\nhas assigned to us is but a humble province in his boundless empire.\"\n\nNone, however, can form a correct estimate, or comparison, between\nthis, our diminutive Earth, and those vast orbs--suns--fixed so remote\nfrom us in the sidereal regions, nor of the numbers, until in some\nmeasure they have familiarized their minds with, and understand, to\nsome extent, the science of astronomy, and then survey the vast field\nthrough a suitable telescope. \"Even the first view through it, pointed\nheavenward, will astonish and fill the mind with awe and wonder; and\nas each new-grasping power is given to the instrument; new fields of\nthose regions are joined on to those already explored, and every new\nstratum of space thus added is found to be studded with stars in ever\nincreasing ratio; until myriads have come forth from the dark depths\nof the firmament, and they have a grand panoramic view of a Universe\nof Worlds peopling the realms of boundless space.\" Then, in wonder and\namazement, they will more fully realize and comprehend the Omnipotent\npower of God in the manifestations of His creative word. Then, in\ncomparison, each realizing his own diminutiveness: that he is even\nless than an unperceived infinitesimal atom floating along in the\ngentle breeze, he will be led to exclaim with the Psalmist:\n\n \"How wonderful are thy works, O Lord of hosts!\n\n What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man\n that thou takest knowledge of him?\"\n\nDismissing, for the present, the further contemplation of those\nfar-off millions of stars, or suns, and their multiplied millions of\nattendant planets and worlds, we come back to the contemplation of our\nown Sun, and its attendant planets, things with which we are more\nfamiliar, and which are--seemingly--more tangible.\n\nAs we have before remarked, the Sun governs and controls our Earth,\nand the other planets and worlds within its domain. Some of these\nworlds are not greatly dissimilar to this in which we live; some are\nsmaller, while others are vastly larger--some computed to be even a\nthousand times larger than this Earth, and, as we believe, all are\npeopled with some high order of intelligence.\n\nHaving gathered the foregoing facts from the most undoubted\nauthorities--astronomers, whose mathematical and philosophical\ncalculations have for their base the immutable laws established by\ncreative wisdom, as now revealed in Nature, we shall still rely--more\nor less--upon them for statistical facts and data, in further\nexpositions from which to make deductions and draw our conclusions.\n\nWe are desirous of familiarizing your mind with the mighty and\nwondrous works of God, so plainly manifested in His creating and\nsustaining power, which few, comparatively speaking, seem to\ncomprehend in any other way save in the daily temporal blessings of\nlife. Should our feeble efforts raise your thoughts higher, and enable\nyou to contemplate Him with the eye of faith in the light of reason,\nand Divine revelation; to know more of His greatness and power, and\nyour entire dependence upon Him for all temporal blessings in life;\nfor the _only_ consolation you can have in the dying hour, and as your\nonly hope for the future, and should such contemplation draw your mind\nand heart to Him in holy love, and godly fear, we shall be well\nrewarded for our efforts.\n\n\n\n\n_FIXED STARS ARE SUNS._\n\n\nWe now propose to dwell for a short time upon the distance, magnitude,\nelements, and offices of the Sun.\n\nThe Sun itself speaks to us with its voice of light, and it is our\nhigh privilege to understand, and thus comprehend mysteries long\nhidden, which are now being revealed. Special manifestations were long\nsince made by Jehovah, which were left for those of the present\nenlightened age to comprehend; when the mind of man is more fully able\nto grasp His truths, and look up through Nature to Nature's God.\n\nNow fix your mind's eye upon that brilliant orb of--seeming--eternal\nday; that Sun which is ever shining, ah! whose light never pales, nor\nfails its vast empire. No storm-clouds obscure its brightness in the\nhigher realm, neither is there waning of light, nor a wasting of its\nsubstance. Possibly, from all eternity of the past it has been, and\nthrough eternity to come it will remain the same. We, on this Earth,\nhave our days and nights, our sun-shine and shadows, tempests and\nstorms. Our nights are the result of the daily revolution of the\nEarth, these are when that portion of it on which we dwell is turned\naway from the Sun, and the shadow of the Earth--which is surrounded by\na dense atmosphere--is that which constitutes our darkness. This\natmosphere is a screen to us by day to modify the intense heat of the\nSun's rays. Otherwise, it is possible that no animated life could\nexist. This atmosphere has in it the elements of production,\nwhich--when absorbed by the Earth--assists in bringing forth for the\nsustenance of man and beast, and all living things. Did not this\natmosphere exist, our midnight hours would be almost as bright as\nnoonday. See in this the wise provision of our heavenly Father.\n\nThat Sun is farther away, and of far greater magnitude, than you now\ncomprehend, or even imagine. We will now state its dimensions,\ndistance, elements, &c., as measured and determined by the science of\nastronomy, and as agreed upon by all the best informed and most\nprofound mathematicians and astronomers throughout the world.\n\nThe diameter of the Sun is _eight hundred and fifty-five thousand\nmiles_. It would require _one hundred and seven worlds_, the size of\nthis Earth, set side by side to reach across it, and _one million four\nhundred thousand Earths_, the size of this, to make a globe of equal\nmagnitude. It is _two millions six hundred and fifty-five thousand\nmiles round it_, while its bulk is not less than _six hundred times_\nas great as all the worlds and planets it controls within its sphere\nput together,--some of which, as we have told you, are estimated to be\na thousand times larger than this Earth.\n\nIs your mind expanding? are your views enlarging, so as to enable you\nto comprehend its vast dimensions? Let the revelations of astronomy\nassist you. Look at it again. From the comparatively small size of its\ndisk as we see it from the Earth, the distance must be vast indeed to\ndwarf it down thus. The distance is great, no less than about\n_ninety-five millions of miles_. It is three hundred and eighty-five\ntimes as far away as the Moon: it is estimated that a cannon ball\nfired from this Earth and keeping up its velocity at the rate of _five\nhundred miles an hour_, would not reach it in less time than about\ntwenty-two years. Still, though these are well demonstrated facts,\nascertained by very correct measurement, by the most scientific\nmathematical surveyors of the heavens, yet we desire some more plain\nor familiar illustration. Let us investigate. Here we have it; are you\nready for a journey? The celebrated Braley has calculated the time\nrequired for a trip of ocular exploration. He observes, \"A railway\ntrain starting from this Earth, and running continuously, at the rate\nof _thirty miles an hour_, would arrive at the Moon in eleven months,\nbut would not reach the Sun in less time than about _three hundred\nand fifty-two years_.\" We can partially comprehend this by calculation\n(although the years of the oldest individual of our country have not\nbeen sufficient to take him more than one third of the journey, even\nhad he been placed on such train and started when an infant at his\nmother's breast). Had the train been started only nineteen years later\nthan the discovery of North America by Columbus, in 1498, and\ntravelled thirty miles each hour since, it would just now be\napproaching the border of the Sun, and, on arriving there, if a tunnel\nwas opened and a track laid direct through it, \"this train, continued\nat the same speed, would require more than a year and a half to reach\nthe Sun's centre; three years and a half to pass through it, and more\nthan ten years to pass round it.\n\n\"Now this same train would attain the centre of this Earth in five\ndays and a half; pass through it in eleven days; and go round it in\nabout thirty-five days.\" Thus you see the diminutiveness of this Earth\nas compared to the Sun. These calculations are founded on facts so\nclearly demonstrated by the science of astronomy, that but few who\nexamine into it will question their approximation to correctness.\n\nNow while the mind is somewhat familiarized with that vast globe, the\nSun, let us contemplate it further.\n\nSir John Herschel, the most profound philosopher in the science of\nastronomy the world has ever known; one whose inventions and\nimprovements in the telescope have far surpassed those of all others;\none who has enjoyed the highest advantages in the study and\ndemonstration of the science, and who has made most important\ndiscoveries in regard to the sun, and moon, and the planets--and even\nthe fixed stars, or suns, in the far off sidereal regions--tells us\nthat from his investigations and discoveries in regard to the Sun,\nthere appears to be _a vast globe within_ the surrounding _photosphere\nof fire_, shielded by a void or non-luminous atmosphere, thus\napparently protecting it from the surrounding flame of fire, and\nrendering it possible that the vast globe within is susceptible of\nanimated life, which may exist there in some form. This, with the\ngeneral corroboration of other astronomers, as to the two encircling\nvolumes of atmosphere--the outer a luminous, and the inner a\nnon-luminous one--is strong evidence confirmative of our hypothesis of\nthe existence of that immense inner globe, or world, which is\ndoubtless in reality the _Heavenly world_; the Saviour's empire, and\nthe abode of the righteous.\n\nMethinks, had Sir John Herschel but turned his attention for awhile to\nthe flood-lights of Divine Revelations, made by God himself through\nHis Spirit to fallen man, he would ere this have opened the \"gate\" to\nthe eye of faith, and bid the weary Christian to look and behold the\nconfines of that bright world which was opened, and flashed its inner\nlight upon the eyes of the dying martyr Stephen, when,\n\n \"Being full of the Holy Ghost, he looked up steadfastly into\n heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the\n right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see heaven opened.\"\n\nThus, we are led to the inevitable conclusion that heaven is not so\nfar distant but that it can be seen from earth by the _spirit-eye_, if\nGod shall but open, and disclose it to view. Where else can we imagine\nits location, to be within range of--even immortal--vision from this\nearth? St. John, while in the spirit, had a view of that heavenly\nworld, and the vast city with glittering jasper walls, and gold-paved\nstreets, and even the \"great white throne,\" the Saviour on that\nthrone, surrounded by an innumerable company that no man can number.\n\nSt. Paul, in spirit, was caught up, even into the \"third heaven,\" and\n\"saw and heard things which it were not lawful for man to utter\" to\nmortals on earth. He tells us that \"eye hath not seen, neither ear\nhath heard, nor hath it entered the heart of man, the glory that shall\nbe revealed.\" But we will not here anticipate the still stronger\nevidence we have yet to lay before the mind as we pursue this\ninteresting theme.\n\nBear in mind the fact that heaven is considered by the most learned\nand ablest writers on theology, as \"a fixed place,\" permanent and\nabiding. That it is vast in extent, and glorious in appearance, and\nhas, within, all the necessary elements and arrangements for complete\nhappiness. And, we believe, that not very remotely distant from it is\nthe place where is the element of punishment for the wicked. We think\nthe revelations of God, and the manner and mode of his manifestations\nto the children of men, together with the revelations of astronomy in\nregard to the Sun; its magnitude and elements, will, when we come to\nconsider them further, not only startle the mind, but prove our\nhypothesis well-founded.\n\n\n\n\n_A CONTEMPLATION._\n\n\nJust here, may we not, for a few moments, speculate in mind upon a\npossibility, which, as we advance, will assume more the form of a\nprobability?\n\nLook once more upon that brilliant orb, whose light, _without_, may be\none of the lamps of eternal day. Look but for one second of time only;\nfor, as we have told you, a steady gaze into its fiery flame of\nbrightness for one minute alone is fatal to the blinding of the\nunprotected eye. May not _within_ be the place of which the poet's\nspiritual eye caught a glimpse, when alone in silent meditation he\npenned those sublime and beautiful lines:\n\n \"There, on those wide extended plains, shines one eternal day,\n There God, the Son, forever reigns, and scatters night away.\n No chilling winds, nor poisonous breath, can reach that healthful shore,\n Sickness and sorrow, pain and death, are felt and feared no more.\"\n\nMay not that be the _Heavenly world_ wherein stands the \"City of God,\nwhose foundations are eternal,\" and whose maker and builder is the\ngreat Architect of the Universe? Its walls are Jasper, and are ever\nglittering in the glory-light of eternal day. Its apartments are\ngorgeously furnished in brilliant array. \"_I go_\" said the Saviour,\n\"_to prepare a place for you._\" There \"the gold-paved streets,\" there\nthe \"Great white Throne\" and \"Christ the Lord\" who sits thereon as the\njudge and ruler of His own native Empire--for it is He that shall\njudge the nations of this Earth, and in the \"great day\" of \"final\njudgment\" he will recount, in evidence, some of the scenes through\nwhich he passed on this Earth, to justify his final and unalterable\ndecision.\n\nMay not there gush forth the crystal \"fountains of life\" from which to\ndrink will quench all thirst; and there the \"rivers of life\" ever\nflowing, in whose waters to bathe will renew eternal youth, and\nimmortality, to dwell on and on with eternity itself? May not Moses,\nand Elijah, and the Prophets, and Martyrs be there? May not many of\nus, who are still on this Earth, contemplate the theme that there (in\nthat bright world at whose boundary surface we cannot, while dwelling\nin mortality, gaze for even one minute of time without being blinded)\nwe have a father, a mother, sister, brother, husband, wife, a child,\nor some loved friends, who have left the shores of Time, and are safe\nwith their blessed Saviour, to dwell in his sun-light throughout\n\"eternal day?\"\n\nMay we not contemplate the possibility of these things, when we\nremember that it is said of Heaven, \"the Righteous shall dwell\n_therein_,\" and that \"God\" in His eternal manifestations \"dwells in\nlight unapproachable\" to us in our mortality, and is only manifest to\nus here by His invisible SPIRIT VEILED IN FIRE?\n\nStartle not when we come to lay before you the well-defined elements\nsurrounding that vast globe. The timid mind might naturally recoil,\nand stand aghast at the thought of approaching such volume of intense\nheat and \"devouring flames.\" Remember that you are still in the body,\nsubject to all the pains and penalties of fallen humanity. Remember\nthat God has created no element incompatible with his own nature;\nremember that He is the Almighty power who hath created all things,\nand in the infinity of His power, can control any element for our\nhappiness, and also the same for our misery. Thus it will appear that\n\"every man's work shall be tried as by fire;\" the righteous to be\nsaved as by fire, and yet the wicked to be destroyed or tormented by\nfire. In this we can see the Infinity of the power of God in the\nsalvation and happiness of His children--who are \"the children of\nlight,\" as also in the torments of the \"children of darkness.\"\n\nBut we shall be able to show that \"God's Spirit _is fire_\" and that He\n_does_ so control this element, or change our nature, that whatever\nthese may be, they are properly adapted to constitute ineffable\nhappiness to the immortal state of the righteous. This, we trust, will\nappear plain to you before you have finished the perusal of these\npages.\n\n\n\n\n_THE SUN, AND GLOBE WITHIN._\n\n\nWe now propose to continue our investigations of the Sun; in\nconsidering its surrounding elements, offices, &c.\n\nWe have already said that it is the main-spring, and we may add,\nbarring the Great Author, the source and fountain of animated Nature;\nthe source of light and heat, the two stimulants of vital force,\nwithout which no animated life could exist on this earth; and so,\ndoubtless, with all the other planets and worlds which it controls.\nAnd, while contemplating it thus as the immediate source of unnumbered\nblessings to the human race, and to all intelligences or animation\nbelonging to this, or other worlds within its domain, we should not\nfail in devout reverence to the _great Author_, who created all by the\n\"Word of His Power\"--not only our Sun and its retinue of attendant\nplanets, but those innumerable, far distant ones of which we have told\nyou, with all _their_ attendant trains, yea, even all things, above,\naround, and beneath; the computation of whose numbers, their\nmagnitude, grandeur, and transcendent glory so far exceeds our finite\ncomprehension, that we are lost in wonder and amazement, and can but\nfeel that, in comparison, we are less than an _atom_ of this vast and\nboundless Universe of Creation.\n\nThe Sun, represented as a \"brilliant orb\" a \"luminary\" or \"luminous\nbody,\" has also been denominated a \"globe of fire.\" Some astronomers\nconsider it an \"_incandescent_ body\" (_glowing whiteness of intense\nheat_).\n\nDr. Herschel's views respecting the Sun are, that it is a planetary\nbody like our earth, diversified with mountains and valleys, to which,\non account of the magnitude of the Sun, he assigns a prodigious\nextent--some mountains six hundred miles high, and valleys\nproportionately deep. He does not employ in his explanations volcanic\nfires, as some others have done, but supposes two separate regions of\ndense clouds floating in the solar atmosphere at different distances\nfrom the sun. The exterior stratum of clouds he considers as the\ndepository of the sun's light and heat, while the interior stratum\nserves as an awning or screen to the body of the sun itself, which\nthus becomes fitted to sustain life-animation. This refutes the idea\nadvanced by that celebrated French Astronomer, La Lande, who held\n\"that the sun is a solid opaque body, having its exterior diversified\nwith high mountains and deep valleys, and covered all over with a\nburning sea of liquid matter. The solar spots, he supposed, were\nproduced by the flux and reflux of the fiery sea, retreating\noccasionally from the mountains, and exposing to view a portion of the\ndark body of the sun.\"\n\nBut Prof. Olmsted (to whom we are indebted for this and much other\ninformation on this subject), refutes this hypothesis by showing the\ninconsistency that fluid, of the nature here spoken of, or supposed to\nexist, should depart so far from its equilibrium and remain so long\nfixed, as to lay bare the immense space occupied by the solar\nspots--some of which are supposed to be fifty thousand miles in\ndiameter.\n\nProf. Olmsted also examines the hypothesis of Dr. Herschel, relative\nto clouds surrounding the sun, and reasons as follows: \"I am compelled\nto think the hypothesis (of Dr. H.) is encumbered with very serious\nobjections. Clouds analogous to those of our atmosphere (and Dr. H.,\nexpressly asserts that his lower stratum of clouds are analogous to\nours, and reasons respecting the upper stratum according to the same\nanalogy) cannot exist in hot air; they are tenants only of cold\nregions. How can they be supposed to exist in the immediate vicinity\nof a fire so intense, that they are even dissipated by it at the\ndistance of ninety-five millions of miles? Much less can they be\nsupposed to be the depositories of such devouring fire, when any thing\nin the form of clouds floating in our atmosphere, is at once\nscattered and dissolved by the accession of only a few degrees of\nheat. Nothing, moreover, can be imagined more unfavorable for\nradiating heat to such a distance than the light, inconstant matter of\nwhich clouds are composed, floating loosely in the solar atmosphere.\"\n\nProf. Olmsted continues, \"If we inquire whether the surface of the Sun\nis in a state of actual combustion, like burning fuel, or merely in a\nstate of intense ignition, like a stone heated to redness in a\nfurnace, we shall find it most reasonable to conclude that it is in a\nstate of ignition. If the body of the Sun were composed of combustible\nmatter and were actually on fire, the material of the Sun would be\ncontinually wasting away, while the products of combustion would fill\nall the vast surrounding regions, and obscure the light of the Sun.\nBut solid bodies may attain a very intense state of ignition, and glow\nwith the most fervent heat, while none of their material is consumed,\nand no clouds or fumes rise to obscure their brightness, or to impede\ntheir further emission of heat.\" Hence, for these and other reasons,\nProf. Olmsted thinks it more probable that the heat is that of a high\nstate of ignition, rather than produced from combustion.\n\nThus we see that while all Astronomers agree that the Sun is the\nsource of light and heat; that this heat is vastly intense; consuming,\nand yet never consumed or exhausted, it is a difficult matter to\ndetermine the nature and true element composing it. All agree however,\nthat God himself created it and placed it in its proper position, and\ncontrols it for His own wise purposes.\n\nMost Astronomers consider it an incandescent body (glowing whiteness\nof intense heat), encircled with two atmospheres. That next its\nsurface is supposed to be nonluminous, while the outer one which\nfloats upon it is _luminous_--and forms a \"_photosphere_,\" this is\nwhat we see in looking at the Sun's bright disk. This photosphere\nradiates the heat and light which vivify the planets of the solar\nsystem, and imparts the stimul\u00e6 of life and animation. It is said that\nflame-like masses--some computed to be one hundred and fifty thousand\nmiles in length--are piled upon, and overlap each other, and sweep\nonward in constant agitation like mountain billows of living fire. Its\nbrightness far transcends and pales that of all other luminaries, and\nwould that of millions of stars as bright as Sirius, or even hundreds\nof thousands of full moons.\n\nWe accept this view, as to the outer photosphere, and believe this\n\"_incandescent_,\" yet not a solid body, but rather a _photospheric\nethereal_ element occupying its appointed space, and that it has\nnothing to do whatever, with the vast _inner globe_ which is entirely\nshielded from it by the intervening void, denominated by Astronomers\nas a surrounding nonluminous atmosphere. Sir John Herschel tells us\nthat his investigations led him to the belief that this shields the\nglobe within, and thus renders it susceptible of maintaining life, or\nsome form of animated existence. Hence, we deem the evidences afforded\nby astronomy, strong, if not fully conclusive that our hypothesis is\ncorrect. But when we add to this the evidences found in the\nBible--God's own revelations to man--we think there can scarcely\nremain a doubt in the mind of any who follow us in this investigation.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe now propose to consider more definitely the nature of that volume\nof flame, or intense heat, which we denominate the _Sun_. Of its\ntemperature it is difficult to form an estimate the least\ncomprehensive. We know our furnace heat will fuse cast-iron at a\nlittle less than 3,000 degrees. Oxy-hydrogen flame--one of the hottest\nknown--is estimated at about 14,000 degrees Fahrenheit, while the\ntemperature ascribed to the Sun is about 12,000,000. There is nothing\nour senses can realize, or our minds conceive, that will enable us\neven to approximate the intensity of this heat.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNow we have seen that the Sun is the source of all light and heat; the\nsource--when the element is concentrated--of that which we denominate\n_fire_. The phenomena that fire pervades, by some of its constituents,\nevery thing, and all space, is incomprehensible otherwise than in the\nbelief that the Spirit of God is everywhere. Although fire is always\non this Earth in a concentrated form, yet its source is the Sun, and\nfrom this source we can concentrate it into visible ignition. And yet\nwe see that the element itself is _ethereal_; it will consume by\ncombustion, yet its heat and flame always tends upward, and disappears\nin its own ethereal element, and we can recognize no solid substance\nin it. We can feel and realize its warmth and vivifying influence; we\nenjoy the light, as one of its productions, yet all are _ethereal_,\nand we cannot grasp, mould, or retain it. We know that the Sun--that\nvolume of heat--is the active source and agency of life and animation,\nand it imparts its blessings to us in a thousand ways; yet, misused,\nit proves the source and element of punishment and destruction.\n\nWe have said that light and heat are the two great stimulants of vital\nforce. These two stimulants are inseparably connected. Heat is the\nsource of light, and without heat _there would be no light_, for even\nreflected light is derived from this source; this is manifest to every\nintelligent mind. Therefore, we see plainly that the Sun is the\nsource and mainspring of all animation, and to its influence, directed\nand controlled by the Allwise Creator, are we indebted for every\nblessing--nay, even life itself. It acts upon the elements appointed\nunto it, and brings forth all animation. It causes the earth to yield\nher productions; clothes the forest with green, gives to the \"rose\"\nand the \"lily\" their beautiful tints and fragrance, and imparts to the\nflowers of garden and forest their thousand variegated hues. It gives\nto man his strength and wisdom, and to woman her beauty and\nloveliness, and--with refined and cultivated intellect--her ten\nthousand charms.\n\n\n\n\n_THE PLANETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM._\n\n\nLet us now turn our attention, for a short time, to the contemplation\nof the planets, or worlds, belonging to our own solar system; those\nwithin the domain of our own Sun, and to which it dispenses light and\nheat. With these, our Astronomers are, so to speak, quite familiar. We\ncannot do better than to present them to you in the language of Dr.\nChild, whose writings have afforded us so much correct data in\npreceding pages.\n\n\"In gazing at our fellow-planets on a clear night, as we see them\nstand out with pre-eminent brightness among the twinkling stars, who\nhas not longed to penetrate the mystery of their being, and to know\nwhether they, like our own Earth, are worlds full of life and\nmovement? The vast distance that intervenes between us forbids us to\nexpect a direct solution of the question, for no instrument yet made,\nor that we can hope to make, will bring their possible inhabitants\nwithin the range of our vision. We are reduced, therefore, to survey\nthem with the sifting force of intellect, and to rest contented with\nsuch circumstantial proof as is derived from a knowledge of their\ngeneral structure, and the analogies subsisting between them and our\nEarth.\n\n\"Among our nearest neighbors, _Venus_ is nearly the size of our Earth;\nand _Mercury_ and _Mars_, though considerably smaller, would still\nform worlds which, to our ideas, would not in their magnitude be so\nvery different from our own. As before remarked, all the planets\nrevolve in elliptical orbits round the Sun, and the time consumed in\ntheir journey constitutes their year. Their polar axis is not\n'straight up and down,' but leans over or is inclined to the plane of\ntheir orbit, so that each pole is turned toward the Sun at one period\nof the year, and away from it at another. This arrangement insures the\nregular alternation of seasons and a variety of climates on their\nsurface. The orbital inclination of _Mars_, for example, is much the\nsame as that of the Earth, and, therefore, the relative proportion of\nhis seasons must have a close resemblance to our own. It might be\nexpected under these circumstances that ice would accumulate toward\nthe poles in winter time, as on our Earth, and accordingly glacial\naccumulations have not only been observed by Astronomers, but it has\nbeen remarked that they occasionally diminish by melting during the\nheats of summer, while they increase in winter. Now as the planets,\nlike the Earth, turn round on their axis with perfect regularity--and\nthose just mentioned do so in very similar periods of time, hence, all\nhave their days and nights.\n\n\"We have already stated that the Earth and its fellow-planets are kept\nsteadily in their orbits by the exact adjustment of _centrifugal_ and\n_centripetal_ forces. Hence each moves in its regular order.\n\n\"Now by way of comparison, Astronomers have denominated the Sun as a\nglobe two feet in diameter, or six feet in circumference. Starting\nfrom this globe let us wing our way across the space filled by the\nsolar system. A short flight of thirty-seven millions of miles brings\nus to a world which, compared to the two-feet globe, is no larger than\na grain of mustard seed, while it is so bathed in the Sun's dazzling\nrays that it is not easily distinguished when viewed from the Earth.\nThis fussy little planet whirls round the Sun at the tremendous pace\nof 100,000 miles an hour, by which he proves his title to be called\n_Mercury_, the 'swift-footed,' of mythology. At a distance of\nsixty-eight millions of miles from the Sun we behold _Venus_, the\nbrightest and most dazzling of the heavenly hosts. In comparative size\nshe may be represented as a _pea_. She is our nearest neighbor among\nthe planets, and the conditions under which she exists recall many of\nthose under which we ourselves live. About ninety-five millions of\nmiles from the Sun we come upon another 'pea' a trifle larger than the\none representing _Venus_, and in it we hail our own familiar Mother\nEarth. Here we shall not now linger, but passing onward some fifty\nmillions of miles we are attracted by the well-known ruddy glow of\n_Mars_--whose comparative size is that of a _pin's head_. His mean\norbital speed is 54,000 miles an hour--nearly our own pace--but as he\ntakes twice as much time to run round the Sun as we do, his year is\nconsequently twice as long.\n\n\"Casting a glance behind, we are reminded of the growing distance that\nnow separates us from the sun by the perceptible waning of his light.\n\n\"We next spread our wings for a very long flight. In passing through\nthe \"asteroid\" zone of solar space, about 260 millions of miles from\nthe sun, we may chance to fall in with some worlds of smaller\ndimensions than those we have been contemplating. We know very little\nabout them, except that their ways are eccentric and mysterious. At\nlength the shores of huge _Jupiter_ are reached at a distance of\nnearly 500 millions of miles from the sun. To carry on the comparison,\nhe is a \"small orange\" to the \"pea\" of our earth, or to the two feet\nglobe that represents the sun. His orbit is a path 3,000 millions of\nmiles long, which he accomplishes in an \"annual\" period of about 12 of\nour years. The sun's light has now shrunk considerably; but four\nbrilliant moons or satellites, one or more of which are always \"full,\"\nhelp to afford some compensation. But let us \"onward\" in our\n\"outward-bound\" course. We again pass through a space of nearly equal\ndistance as that of _Jupiter_ from the sun. We are now more than 900\n_millions_ of miles distant from the central pivot. Here we fall in\nwith _Saturn_, whose comparative size may be represented by an orange\nconsiderably smaller than the last (bear in mind the comparative\nsizes, our earth as a \"_pea_\" to these each an orange). His year\nswallows up almost thirty of our own. And in this far distant region\nthe Sun, though giving only about one ninetieth part of the light\nwhich we receive, is still equal to 300 full moons, and is at least\nsufficient for vision, and all the necessary purposes of life, while\nno fewer than eight satellites supplement the waning sun-light,\nbesides a mysterious luminous \"ring\" of vast proportions.\n\n\"Twice as far away from the Sun as Saturn, _Uranus_, represented by a\n_cherry_, plods his weary course. Although his real diameter is 35,000\nmiles, his circumference over 100,000, being more than four times the\nsize of our own earth, yet he is rarely seen by the naked eye. His\nannual journey round the Sun is 10,000 millions of miles, and he\nconsumes what we should consider a lifetime, 84 _years_, in getting\nover it. Our little _earth_ has now faded out of sight.\n\n\"Only a few years ago, _Uranus_ was the last planetary station of our\nsystem, but the discovery of Neptune in 1846, gave us another\nresting-place on the long journey into space. Here, at a distance of\nnearly 3,000 _millions_ of miles from the Sun, we may pause awhile\nbefore entering upon the more remote exploration of the '_starry_\nuniverse.'\n\n\"We are approaching the frontier regions of our system, and the Sun's\nlight and the power of his attraction are gradually passing away.\nBetween the shores of our Sun-system and the shores of the nearest\nstar-system--they also being suns--lies a vast, mysterious chasm, in\nthe recesses of which may still lurk some undiscovered planets, but\ninto which, so far as we yet know, the wandering comets alone plunge\ndeeply.\n\n\"We now stand on the frontier of the Sun's domain, and are, in\nimagination, looking across one of those broad gulfs which, like\nimpassable ramparts fence off the different systems of the universe\nfrom each other. It seemed needful that the great Architect should\ninterpose some such barrier between the contending attractions of the\ngiant masses of matter scattered through space; that there should be a\n_sea_ of limitation in which forces, whose action might disturb each\nother, should die out and be extinguished. In it the flood-light of\nour glorious Sun gets weaker and weaker, and its bright disk wastes\naway by distance, until it shines only as a twinkling star. And the\nstrong chain of its attraction which held with firm grasp the planets\nin their orbits, after dwindling by fixed degrees into a force that\nwould not break a gossamer, is finally dissipated and lost.\n\n\"Now we ask, Is it likely that those vast orbs--with masses and\ndensities so wonderfully modified and adjusted in accordance with what\nwe perceive to be the requirements of living creatures--with years and\nmonths, days and nights, seasons and climates--with atmosphere and\ntwilights, trade-winds and currents--with clouds and rains, continents\nand seas, mountains and polar snows--with sun, moon, and stars, and,\nin short, with all the elements that make up the conditions of a\nhabitable globe--is it likely that those glorious works of the Creator\nshould have been formed to lie waste, sterile, and unprofitable? Or\neven if we could bring ourselves to think that those masses, whose\nunited bulk dwarfs our Earth into insignificance, had been solely\ncreated as make-weights to keep this little atom of Earth in its\nplace, why should they have been provided with complicated systems of\nmoons revolving round them to give them auxiliary light? The Sun's\nlight they share in common with ourselves; but for what conceivable\npurpose should deserts void of life have been supplied with those\nwonderful lamps to light them up in the absence of the Sun? Conditions\nthat might be incompatible with our organization, may be by\nadjustment of creative wisdom exactly suited to the beings placed to\ninhabit them. All life, even if it be essentially the same in\nprinciple, may not everywhere assume the same phase of outward\nexistence, nor need we attempt to set limits in this respect to the\nLord of Life. The spaces lie there furnished ready--the Word was only\nrequired to people them with life.\n\n\"Such inquiries have an interest which goes beyond their mere\nastronomical import, for they touch our conceptions of God's\ngreatness, wisdom, and power. Is there one who does not long to be\nable reasonably to cherish the thought that, far away from this _tiny_\nspeck of Earth, in the remote realms of space, we behold worlds\ninhabited by beings who, it may be, are privileged to know their\nCreator, and to bless, praise, and magnify Him forever.\"\n\n\n\n\nWe have seen that all leading Astronomers agree in the fact of a\n\"_plurality of suns_,\" and a \"_plurality of worlds_,\" and their\nnumbers so vast that they are beyond our computation. Now we hold that\nin all this vast creation, there is a controlling element, and that\nthis element is necessarily manifest in all things, and so\npredominates that percipient intelligences should, and we believe\ncan--to a certain extent--comprehend it. Do you ask, what is this\nelement? we answer _fire_!\n\nWe have presented to your mind--as far as we are able to\ncomprehend--the Infinity of God's wisdom and power, as manifested in\nhis wonderful Creations; not only in creating this Earth on which we\nlive, and all pertaining thereunto, but of Heavens, Suns, Planets and\nWorlds, whose numbers are _millions_, as they are seen standing out\nand peopling the realms of boundless space, and yet we know that so\nvast is the infinity of His wonderful creations, that we have given to\nthe mind only a bird's-eye view within the borders of His boundless\nEmpire.\n\nWe are aware that the idea we advance--that the vast globe, encircled\nby the photosphoric, ethereal flame (that which we denominate the\nSun), _is our heaven_, as also the heaven for intelligences of the\nother planets of our solar system, and that there are numerous other\nsuns of similar import which may also be heavens for created\nintelligences inhabiting their surrounding planets--is new to the mind\nof man, and that at first thought some may be incredulous; thus, as we\nsaid in the beginning, it has ever been with all important\ndiscoveries, and especially so of discoveries through the lights and\nscience of astronomy. Nevertheless, the wondrous works of the Creator,\nas we have surveyed and contemplated them--we think--will justify our\nhypothesis. But to all the foregoing we shall still add stronger, and\nwe think, more convincing evidences, when we come to contemplate the\nelements of the Sun--fire, heat, and light--in connection with God's\nintercourse by His Spirit, and His dealings with man.\n\n\n\n\n_GOD'S THRONE SHALL ENDURE FOREVER; SO ALSO SHALL THE SUN. CONCLUSIVE\nSCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE FOR ALL THAT WE CLAIM._\n\n\nGod hath sworn by His Holiness, that the seed of David (the MESSIAH),\nshould \"endure forever, and his throne as the Sun before him.\"\n\nThe Psalmist, referring to the Messiah says, \"His name shall endure\nforever. His name shall be continued as long as the Sun, and all\nnations shall call him blessed.\" Here we have the assurance of the\neternal duration of the Sun; even as the Throne of God which is to\n\"endure forever and ever.\" The promise is, that\n\n \"His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne\n as the days of heaven. Thy throne O God is forever and\n ever.\"\n\nThus, we see that the Sun and the heaven are to endure as long as the\nthrone of God, and his throne is to endure \"forever and ever.\"\n\nNow to us, to all, while dwelling in mortality, the Sun dispenses its\nblessings alike. \"He maketh the Sun to shine on the evil and on the\ngood, and sendeth the rain on the just, and on the unjust.\"\n\nThus, we see that the Sun is the active agency for the dispensing of\nHis blessings to man and all animation on this Earth. Its rays of\nlight and heat penetrate the bosoms of oceans and seas, and draw up\nfrom \"the fountains of the deep\" the \"liquid element\" in ascending\nvapor, and condensing it into clouds, scatter and return it in rains,\nand gentle showers, to water and replenish the Earth and make it bring\nforth for sustenance of man and beast, and renew the verdure of\nnature.\n\nNow do we not see in all this, as in all things else, that the\nSun--its heat and light--are God's agencies in sustaining all things?\nWe have told you that we could comprehend that it _was_ an agency\npervading and controlling all things. But you have doubtless noticed\nthe fact that as we have followed up and grasped the revelations made\nby Philosophers and Astronomers, that the ablest of them have failed\nto comprehend the _nature_ of the eternal source of fire. All agree in\nthe one fact, however, that it is derived from the Sun. No finite mind\never has comprehended, nor, it may be, ever will be able to fully\ncomprehend it. We know that it exists. We apply to it properties and\nprinciples, or components which form the element. Beyond this we\ncannot go, only we know that God himself is its author; that it is an\nelement intimately connected with Himself--nay more, that He has even\nrevealed to us that _His Spirit is fire_! And when we contemplate the\nfact that it is the only completely destructive, or _annihilating_\nelement, and yet one that can _never be destroyed_; one that is to\npurify the righteous, and yet punish the wicked, we are led to the\ninevitable conclusion that it is an _attribute_ of the Great Jehovah.\nWe believe it an element of creative agency, one that has\nexisted--possibly--from all eternity, and will continue through all\neternity to come. We are told that God, by His Spirit, is manifest in\nall His works. Now, what else than _light_, and _heat_, is thus\nmanifest to us? It is positively _the source of all light_, and St.\nPaul tells us that \"All things are made manifest by light;\" while the\nPsalmist declares \"His going forth is from the _end of the heaven_,\nand His circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the\n_heat_ thereof.\"\n\nNow we see that this declaration establishes our hypothesis of the\nlocation of heaven. His going forth from the _end of the heaven_--from\nthe sun--and nothing is hid from the heat thereof--the Sun being the\nsource of heat--is conclusive evidence that the _Sun_ is near--even at\nthe _ends_ of the heaven.\n\nIn the further contemplation of the hypothesis, that the Spirit of\nGod is _as_ fire, you will remember that we have stated that some of\nthe constituent elements of fire pervades all things, and also that\nGod--_by His Spirit_--is everywhere, and in all His works. Hear the\nPsalmist, on this subject:\n\n \"Whither shall I go from thy _Spirit_? Whither shall I flee\n from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art\n there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If\n I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost\n parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy\n right hand shall hold me.\n\n \"If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the\n night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not\n from thee: but the night shineth as the day: the darkness\n and the light are both alike to thee.\"\n\nMark well this testimony, that while the Spirit of God is everywhere,\nso, also, is that Spirit _light_, and there is no darkness, save to\nthose vailed in humanity. When spirit is free from mortality; is\naccepted of God, and clothed upon with immortality; _as spirit_, it\npartakes of His own nature, and will, henceforth, dwell forever in\neternal light.\n\nNow what the Sun is to this earth and its inhabitants, so also we\nbelieve it to be to the inhabitants of all the other planets belonging\nto its system; all of which worlds it controls, even as it does this.\nAnd here the mind goes out in the contemplation of the hypothesis,\nthat all those other suns, standing far out in sidereal regions--each\ngoverning and controlling its own system of planets, or worlds--are\nalso _heavens_ for created intelligences inhabiting such planets. God\nis Infinite, as well as Omnipresent. Infinite in wisdom, and in His\ncreative power.\n\n \"Who can set bounds to the Almighty?\"\n\nTherefore _Suns_, and consequently _heavens_, may be numbered by\n_millions_, and their surrounding worlds by _billions_; yet all\ncreated, governed, and controlled by the infinite wisdom and power of\nthe great Architect of the Universe. Such hypothesis is wonderful for\nfinite minds to contemplate, yet not more so than the fact of the\nexistence of our own solar system.\n\nThat the Sun shall endure forever, no rational mind can doubt. God's\nown word assures this, and that His throne shall endure as long as the\nSun. Should He quench the fires of the Sun, and yet make no other\nprovision for light and heat, all would be blackness, darkness, and\ndesolation, and no animated life could exist on this earth, or\nsurrounding worlds.\n\n * * * * *\n\nHaving assumed the hypothesis that that which we denominate the SUN is\na volume of _photospheric-ethereal_, or SPIRIT-FIRE; that it is the\nsource of all that we can comprehend of _light_ and _heat_; we have\nalso stated our belief that it is an _attribute_ of the Eternal\nOne--possibly an agency of _creative power_--we believe we shall be\nable to make this plain to every reflecting mind, in our further\ncontemplations of the revelations which God has made of himself, as we\nfind them recorded in the Bible. These revelations are plain, and we\nbelieve the time in the history of our world has come, when we should\nmore fully comprehend them--even the nature of His manifestations, and\nthus comprehend more our own relations to Him, and by this means be\nenabled to \"come to a knowledge of His truth,\" and more fully realize\nHis prescience, day by day. That this has not been more fully\ncomprehended heretofore, must seem a mystery to every reflecting mind.\n\nNow what are these revelations? Let us examine.\n\nWe learn from Bible History, that \"God created man in His own image,\nand after His own likeness.\" \"In the image of God created He him; male\nand female, created He them.\" Thus, in creation, man is spoken of in\nthe _plural_. \"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,\nand breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a\nliving soul.\" Now \"the first Adam was made a living soul, and the\nsecond Adam a quickening spirit.\" The terms soul and spirit are held\nas synonymous; both having reference to our immortal nature, and, as\nthis immortal nature emanated from God our Creator, and is of His own\neternal attribute, it can never die; hence, it must exist through all\neternity.\n\nJob asks, \"To whom hast Thou uttered words? whose spirit came from\nThee?\" and in Ecclesiastes it is declared, \"The spirit shall return to\nGod who gave it.\" St. John, the revelator, tells us that \"God is a\nspirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in\ntruth.\" While St. Paul says, \"His spirit beareth witness with our\nspirits, that we are the children of God.\"\n\nNow you will remember that St. John, the revelator, has told us that\nit was revealed to him that \"the seven lamps of _fire_, were the seven\nspirits of God,\" while Job says, \"A flame goeth out of His mouth, and\nGod by his spirit garnished the heavens.\"\n\nWe wish you to bear this evidence in mind. For Job not only speaks of\na _plurality of heavens_, but explains by what agency they were\ngarnished--even by the _Spirit of God_. Now we know that garnishment\nis transcendent brightness, and brilliancy; to adorn and polish\n_surface_. Is it not therefore, probable that Job had reference to\nthat bright _ethereal spirit flame_, whose brilliancy blinds us if we\nattempt a lingering gaze at the Sun's bright disk? 'Tis said that\nheaven within is lighted with the \"glory of God.\"\n\nIn our previous arguments, we have showed, conclusively, that the Sun\nis the source of fire, heat, and light. Let us now further examine the\noffices of this element thus derived from the _Sun_, and note in this\ninvestigation whether it is not, in some way, intimately connected\nwith _heaven_.\n\n_First._ Under the Mosaic dispensation, God commanded His Prophets,\nand Priests, to build unto Him an Altar, and to offer sacrifices\nthereon; and such sacrifices would be accepted by Him, as should be\nevidenced by his sending down fire from heaven to consume the\nofferings. He also commanded, through Moses, that the fires should\never be burning upon the altar, and that the Priests should continue\nto renew sacrifices and burnt offerings upon it. These sacrifices were\nas memorials before the Lord, and typical of the coming of Christ, who\nshould be the \"great sacrifice,\" to ransom fallen man.\n\nNow it will be remembered that when such offerings were made, fire\ncame down from heaven and consumed the offerings, and thus made\nmanifest that the sacrifices were accepted of God. (Let it be\nremembered that we have shown, as far as finite mind can comprehend,\nthat the _Sun_ is the only direct source of fire, and then remember\nthat _fire came down from heaven_.)\n\nIn the book of Job we read,\n\n \"_The fire of God has fallen from heaven._\"\n\nThe Psalmist tells us that\n\n \"God is a _Sun_ and a shield, who maketh His angels spirits,\n and His ministers a flaming fire.\"\n\nNow we know that angels are God's ministers, and how oft do we find\nrecorded in the Bible, how--under the earlier dispensation--they\nappeared on earth in forms of _fire_, and with the brightness of the\n_Sun_.\n\nThe Psalmist tells us again that:\n\n \"Our God shall come, a fire shall devour before Him. A fire\n goeth before Him and burneth up His enemies.\"\n\nThe prophet Jeremiah proclaims:\n\n \"Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Behold, I will\n make my words in thy mouth fire.\"\n\nThe Psalmist answers:\n\n \"While I was musing the fire burned.\"\n\nThus, how plain the revelations that _God's Spirit is fire_. Not\nnecessarily manifested at all times, by the burning and consuming our\nmortal bodies--this only in His _wrath_--but by the purifying of our\nnatures; \"burning up the dross, and base desires,\" and thus fitting us\nfor the enjoyment of heaven and happiness, for\n\n \"He shall be as a refiner's fire, and the righteous are\n saved as by fire.\"\n\nLet us hear what the prophet Jeremiah saith:\n\n \"For behold the Lord will come with fire; and with His\n chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury,\n and His rebukes with flames of fire, and the slain of the\n Lord shall be many.\"\n\nAh, when He comes forth with His _Spirit of fire_ in _wrath_ and\nindignation, then it is that this element is one of terrible\ndestruction. Comprehending this, the a same prophet inquires:\n\n \"Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire? Who among\n _us_ shall dwell in everlasting burnings?\"\n\nHear the answer of God, given through his prophet to all His obedient\nand faithful children:\n\n \"Though thou walkest through the fires, thou shalt not be\n burned, neither shall the flames kindle upon thee.\"\n\nAgain, of His Spirit in a milder form:\n\n \"Is not my _word_ like fire, saith the Lord?\"\n\nThe prophet answers:\n\n \"His word was in my heart as a burning fire.\"\n\nNow remember that:\n\n \"By the _word_ of the Lord were the heavens made, and all\n the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth.\"\n\n_And here His word is represented as_ FIRE!\n\nIn the first book of the Chronicles it is written:\n\n \"Every man's work shall be tried by fire.\"\n\nAnd, in the second book of the Chronicles:\n\n \"And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down,\n and the glory of the Lord upon the House, they bowed\n themselves with their faces to the ground, and worshipped\n and praised the Lord.\"\n\nThus, no one dared gaze on the brightness of that _glory_, and all\nbowed \"with their faces _to the ground_.\"\n\nTurning to the book of Deuteronomy, we find written:\n\n \"The Lord thy God is a consuming fire. Understand therefore\n this day, that the Lord thy God is He that goeth over before\n thee as a consuming fire. Out of heaven He made thee to hear\n His voice, that He might instruct thee; and upon earth He\n showed thee His great fire; and thou heardest His words out\n of the midst of the fire.\"\n\nIn Leviticus we find written:\n\n \"And there went out a fire from the Lord and devoured them,\n and they died before the Lord. And there came a fire out\n from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt\n offerings--which, when the people saw, they shouted and fell\n on their faces.\"\n\nLet us contemplate, for a moment, the sacrilege of the attempt at\nusing this element--during the old dispensation--to the consuming of\nan offering or sacrifice to any other than the _one true and living\nGod_. Turn to the Book of Numbers, and read,\n\n \"When the people offered incense upon the strange altar,\n there came down fire from the Lord and consumed the two\n hundred and fifty who offered the incense. And Nahab and\n Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the Lord.\"\n\nSecond Kings, vi. 17:\n\n \"Elisha said, they that be for us are more than they that\n are against us; he prayed, and God opened the young man's\n eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of\n horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.\"\n\nThus we see that this element--in its destructive form--is the ready\nmanifestation of God's displeasure.\n\nTurn to Exodus, and read,--\n\n \"And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him (Moses), in a\n flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and he looked, and\n behold the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not\n consumed.\" _Again_, \"The cloud of the Lord was upon the\n Tabernacle by day, and a fire was upon it by night in sight\n of all the house of Israel.\" _Again_, \"And the sight of the\n glory of the Lord was like devouring fire upon the top of\n the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.\"\n\nNow let us consider this element in its offices when controlled by the\nGreat Jehovah.\n\nJudges, xiii. 20:\n\n \"For it came to pass when the flame went up toward heaven\n from off the altar, that the angel of the Lord ascended in\n the flame of the altar.\"\n\nHere there was no delusive manifestation, but the actual _flame of\nfire_, ascending upward toward heaven; even to the _Sun_ its original\nsource.\n\nWe will now turn to the Book of the Second Kings, and--in our mind's\neye--join the prophets \"as they walked and talked with Elijah\" and\nwitness one of the most sublime scenes the eye of man has ever beheld:\n\n \"And it came to pass as they still went on and talked, that\n behold there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire,\n and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by a\n whirlwind into heaven.\"\n\nWas there not a startling, and sublime revelation, that this element\ncontrolled, can be suited, even to our enjoyment of _happiness_ when\nthe great change comes; when this mortal shall put on immortality?\n\nIn the Book of Malachi--the last of the Old Testament scriptures--we\nhear the voice of Him who had promised deliverance, speaking to us\nthrough His prophet:\n\n \"Unto you that fear my name, shall the _Sun_ of\n righteousness arise.\"\n\nThus we see that the promised Messiah was spoken of as a _Sun_.\n\nTurning to the record of the New Testament, we find the Saviour's\nadvent into this world signaled by a brilliant \"Star,\" emblematical of\nthe _Sun_, shining in all its splendor, brilliancy, and beauty, and\nleading the wise men to where lay the \"Infant of days\"--the veiled\n\"Star,\" or _Sun_, of light and immortality.\n\nAt a later day, behold Him manifesting His veiled brightness, as he\nstood \"_transfigured on the Mount_\" before Peter, James and John, when\n\"_His face did shine as the Sun, and His raiment white as the light_.\"\n\nBut we deem it unnecessary to dwell upon all the symbols of _fire_,\n_heat_, and _light_, so clearly representative, which may be found\ninterspersed throughout the Old, and the New Testament pages. We will\ncatch up a few others as we pass along, before, in mind, taking our\nstand with John, the revelator, on the Isle of Patmos. St. Paul tells\nus,--\n\n \"The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His\n mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that\n know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus\n Christ.\" And that the \"Lord shall consume with the spirit of\n His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His\n coming.\"\n\nSt. John, says:\n\n \"_I indeed baptize you with water, but he that cometh after\n me is mightier than I, he shall baptize you with the Holy\n Ghost and_ WITH FIRE.\"\n\nThus we see that _spirit_ is denominated _fire_ in the ordinance of\n_Spiritual Baptism_.\n\nAnd St. Paul says:\n\n \"By one spirit are we all baptized into one body.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nLet us now glance at the account of John's spiritual vision while on\nthe Isle of Patmos, as recorded in the Book of Revelation:\n\n\"I heard behind me a great voice as the voice of a trumpet, saying, I\nam Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the\nending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come,\nthe Almighty. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and I\nsaw seven golden candlesticks, and One in the midst of the\ncandlesticks like unto the Son of Man. His head and his hair were\nwhite as the snow, and his eyes were as _flames of fire_, and his feet\nlike unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as\nthe sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars;\nand out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; _and his\ncountenance was as the Sun shining in his strength_.\"\n\nJohn saw the door of heaven opened and a voice as of a trumpet said\nunto him, \"Come up hither, and I will shew thee the things which must\nbe hereafter.\" He continues. \"And immediately I was in the spirit,\nand, behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne,\nwho, to look upon was like jasper, and there was a rainbow round about\nthe throne, in sight like unto an emerald, and around the throne sat\nfour and twenty elders in raiment of white, and out of the throne\nproceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices, and there were\nseven lamps of _fire_ burning before the throne, _which are the seven\nspirits of God_. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there\nwas seen in his temple the ark of his testament, and there were\nlightnings, and voices, and thunderings. And there appeared a great\nwonder in heaven, _a woman clothed with the Sun_. And I saw another\nmighty angel coming down from heaven clothed with a cloud, and a\nrainbow was upon his head and his face was, as it were the _Sun_, and\nhis feet as pillars of _fire_.\"\n\n\"_And the city had no need of the Sun_, for the glory of God did\nlighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.\" \"And there shall be no\nnight there, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign\nforever and ever. The Lord God shall be unto them an everlasting\nlight, and the days of their mourning shall be ended.\"\n\n \"_Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun in the\n Kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear let him\n hear._\" (Matt. xiii. 43.)\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe have quoted the foregoing Scriptural passages--to which we might\nadd scores of others of similar import--to show the connection of the\nelement of fire, heat and light--with God himself, and that while it\nproves the agency; at least in dispensing His blessings to all\nanimated life, and can be so controlled by Him that--even in its\nintensity--it cannot harm the righteous, either in body or spirit,\nwhen He interposes; yet it is the certain agency of destruction, and\nthe torment of the wicked at His will; or without this interposition.\nCertain it is, that it is the _agency_ by which He has made Himself\nmanifest to man, and this agency still continues in the dispensing of\nall the manifold blessings we enjoy, day by day, and should cause\nevery heart to turn to Him with reverence and grateful emotions. The\nmind of the Christian world should acknowledge the omnipresence of the\nInfinite One; that He pervades all space, and is manifest in all\nthings; while each individual should feel as Elihu did when he uttered\nthe words, \"The _Spirit_ of God hath made me, and the breath of the\nAlmighty hath given me life;\" and exclaim with the Psalmist:\n\n \"I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall\n continually be in my mouth. The eyes of the Lord are ever\n upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. O\n magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name\n together. God is our refuge and strength, a very present\n help in trouble.\" \"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place\n in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth,\n or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from\n everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.\"\n\nNow we have seen that God--by His Spirit, or influence--is everywhere;\nthat he pervades the universe of His Creation; that his nature is\neternal and indestructible, while all else--save man's immortal nature\nderived from God--is destructible. We are plainly told in the Bible\nthat the _Spirit of God is fire_; that _His Word is fire_; that He is\nlike a _refiner's fire_--even as a purifier of silver. That every\nman's work shall be tried _by fire_; the righteous saved as by _fire_;\nthat, to his people, He will be as _a wall of fire_; and though they\npass through the fire they shall not be burned; neither shall the\nflames kindle upon them. And yet our God is a _consuming fire_, before\nwhom the wicked shall not stand. That the _fire_ of His anger, and His\n_wrath_, shall be kindled against them, when all the proud, yea, and\nall that do wickedly shall be cast into the fire that will never be\nquenched; whose flames shall ascend up forever and ever. Oh, how plain\nthe revelations of God as to the immortality of the soul, and a future\nstate of existence! The righteous to enter into, and enjoy eternal\nlife; the wicked--who are dead in trespasses and in sins--to enter\ninto eternal death, even the \"death that never dies.\"\n\nHow _startling_ the fact of these plain revelations! God is now made\nmanifest to our daily and hourly comprehension. How dare we trifle\nwith Him, and our own soul's immortal interest? We are daily and\nhourly rushing on to our own eternal destiny. Ere another year, a\nmonth, a week or day is past, we may realize that \"it is not all of\nlife to live, nor yet of death to die.\" No one can escape the eternal\nfiat of Jehovah, \"_dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return_.\" As\ndeath leaves the body so judgment finds the soul. \"The righteous shall\ninherit eternal life;\" \"the wicked shall be driven away from the\npresence of God, and from the glory of His power,\" and take up their\nabode with tormenting devils \"in everlasting burnings.\"\n\nStop, poor wandering child of sin; yield obedience to the requirements\nof God's law; \"acknowledge Him in all thy ways, and He shall direct\nthy paths.\"\n\nThe Psalmist tells us that \"_the Lord God is a Sun_.\" Saint John tells\nus that, while in the Spirit, it was revealed to him that the\n\"_burning lamps of fire were spirits of God_.\" Now remember that we\nhave told you that the vast volume of flame of _ethereal fire outside_\nand _around_ the heavenly world, is all that we can see or comprehend\nas the _Sun_; that flame is the source of all _light_, heat, and\nanimation: hence, considered in connexion with its offices, may we not\nsafely conclude that it is an _attribute of Jehovah_?\n\nThe prophet Malachi foretold the coming of the \"Sun of righteousness,\"\nbehold the \"star in the east!\" Who can doubt this star being a visible\nmanifestation of the _Spirit of God_? Christ, the Son of God, is\ncalled \"the _Sun_ of righteousness; the bright morning star.\" His\nadvent into the world was signalized by this sacred emblem--even by\nthe _Spirit of God_ revealed as the _brightness of a star_. How\nappropriate this representation, when the Son of God came to usher in\nthe light of an eternal day to his people. Transfigured during His\nstay on earth, \"His face did shine as the Sun, and His raiment was\nwhite as the light.\" Now remember, we are assured that the heavenly\nworld and city \"hath no need of the _Sun_, for the glory of God doth\nlighten it, and the Lamb (the Son of God) is the light thereof.\"\n\nThus we think we have furnished conclusive Scripture evidence that\n_God's Spirit is manifested by fire_. Fire is the source of all light,\nand is also an element pervading all things throughout the vast\nuniverse of God--in air and earth, seas and floods, rocks and\nmountains, throughout all heights and depths. Hence, hear again the\nexclamation of the Psalmist: \"Whither shall I go from thy _Spirit_? or\nwhither shall I flee from thy presence?\" Behold, God, by His Spirit,\nis everywhere, even throughout the vast extended universe of all His\nwondrous works.\n\nWe have but to consider the source of this element--which is God\nhimself--and we shall then easily comprehend how it can, by the same\npower, be adapted or made congenial to our mortal or immortal natures.\nWe have said, He has created no element incompatible with, or\nuncongenial to His own nature, nor any that He cannot adapt to the\ncondition of the spirit-life of His children. Fire is an element\ndestructive of all things else save immortality, and that it is not\ndestructive of this, we have evidence in the fact that the wicked\nshall be cast into the flames of hell, and suffer its torments for\never and ever. And yet, while it is an element destructive of all\nelse, save immortality, it is one, and the _only one_ we can--even\npartially--comprehend, that can _never be destroyed_. Mortality shall\nbe destroyed, and naught remain but immortality, purified by\nfire--_the Spirit of God_.\n\nNow in order that His children _here_, might comprehend His infinite\npower in controlling, or adapting this element to their happiness, He\nhas manifested this power even with mortality on this earth. Our\nmortal bodies are susceptible of feeling its painful influences, and\nof being destroyed by it--save when He intervenes, and changes our\nnature so that it can have no impression upon us, or makes it a\ncongenial element in which we can enjoy happiness. That He can do,\nand has done this, we have manifest in the miraculous preservation of\nthe three Hebrew children. For their refusal to forsake the Living\nGod, and worship the idol, or golden image set up by King\nNebuchadnezzar, the king commanded that the furnace should be heated\nseven-fold, and they be bound and cast into it. This was done, and\nwhile the heat was so intense as to destroy those who bore them to,\nand plunged them into the fiery furnace, yet when the king looked into\nit \"he saw four men loose and walking in the midst of the flames;\npraising God, and blessing the name of the Lord, and the fourth was\nlike unto the Son of God.\" The king called them to come forth, and\nwhen the three who were cast in came forth, \"not a hair of their heads\nwas singed, nor even the smell of fire passed on their garments.\"\n\nThus we see the power of God manifest in the adaptation at His own\nwill, of this,--to our mortal bodies--painful and consuming element,\nto our condition of happiness. And, on the other hand, when this\nsaving power is withheld, how certain is destruction, as manifested by\nits destroying those who approached near enough to the furnace to cast\nthem in. O, the measure of happiness those children of the Most High\nenjoyed in the midst of the burning flames! shouting and praising God.\nAnd when they came out of the fiery furnace, they still continued\ntheir triumphant shout; calling upon everything--animate, and\ninanimate--throughout the vast Universe, to \"bless, praise and magnify\nthe name of the Lord forever.\"\n\nThat God can, and does make this element suited to the enjoyment of\nhappiness of His people, we have also seen manifested in the case of\nElijah taking his seat, at the command of God, in the \"chariot of\nfire,\" and with \"horses of fire\" ascending up into heaven. Thus,\n\"changed,\" as the apostle expresses it, \"in the twinkling of an eye,\"\nhis mortality ceased, and \"clothed upon with immortality,\" by Divine\npower, he could ride in triumph with his steeds of fire, sitting in\nhis chariot of _burning flame_.\n\nWe scarcely deem it necessary to refer again to the--almost\nuniversally conceded--fact of man's immortal nature. By the breath of\nGod, man was made a living soul or spirit. God's spirit is _living\nfire_; hence this immortal nature of man is _living fire_, an\nattribute of God himself, and one which can never cease to exist; can\nnever be annihilated, but will live on, and on through all eternity.\nBut when this immortal principle of _spirit-fire_ leaves the body,\nmortality ceases to live, and must decay and moulder into dust. For,\nspeaking of this mortal body, He hath said, \"dust thou art, and unto\ndust shalt thou return,\" and \"the soul shall return to God who gave\nit.\"\n\n\n\n\n_SUN AND HEAVEN._\n\n\nNow to show the intimate connexion with the _Sun_ and _Heaven_, spoken\nof in the Scriptures, we will here group together a few of the many\npassages found written therein.\n\nThe prophet Jeremiah, in referring to the great and terrible day of\nthe Lord, says \"the light shall be darkened in the heavens;\" and in\nthe Gospel according to St. Mark, referring to the same, we read that\n\"the _Sun_ shall be darkened;\" and in the Revelation, that \"the _Sun_\nand the air were darkened.\" Again, Jehovah, speaking to His people,\nsaith: \"I will cover the _heaven_, and make the stars thereof dark;\"\nand, in order that we may more fully comprehend, he added: \"I will\ncover the _Sun_ with a cloud;\" and the Psalmist tells us that \"He\ncovereth the _heaven_ with a cloud;\" and thus saith the Lord through\nHis prophet: \"Be not dismayed at the signs of _heaven_; for the\nheathen are dismayed at them.\"\n\nThus we see that the _Sun_ and _heaven_ are often spoken of in\nconnexion with each other in regard to light. The Sun is to us the\nsource of _all light_, and in covering the _heaven_ He covereth the\nSun. But we see, as above, that He hath made this matter plain to our\ncomprehension by His own utterance: \"_Be not dismayed by the signs of\nheaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them._\"\n\nNow you will remember that the heathen, in ancient times--and even so\nwith them at the present day--were always dismayed and frightened at\nthe recurrence of an eclipse of the Sun, and imagined the time of the\nworld had come to an end. But the science of astronomy has\ncomprehended the laws of nature, and has revealed the true causes of\nthese seeming phenomena to the enlightenment of the world, and many\nyears previous to their occurrence. Astronomers can foretell the day,\nthe hour, and even the very moment when they will appear, or be\nvisible in any part of the world, as, also, when they will disappear.\nBut we see, however, that God himself has spoken of such eclipses as\n\"signs in the _heaven_,\" and yet they are eclipses of the _Sun_.\n\nBut still more pointed and clear is the evidence of their connexion\ngiven by the Saviour, where the Pharisees and Sadducees desired him to\nshow them \"_a sign from heaven_.\" Hear His answer: \"When it is\nevening, ye say, It will be fair-weather, for the sky is red; and in\nthe morning, It will be foul weather to-day, for the sky is red and\nlowering. O ye hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky, but ye\ncannot discern the signs of the times.\" Now we here see that they\nasked Him for a sign from _heaven_, and the Saviour answered promptly\nby referring to the apparent phenomena produced by the disappearing\nand reappearing of the _Sun_. Thus answering by signs which _they_ had\nmarked; _produced by the Sun_, which covereth the heaven from our\nview.\n\nWe have shown what all must acknowledge; that the _Sun_ is the only\nsource of fire, heat, and light which is comprehended in Nature.\nRevelations of the Past, and predictions as to the Future, assure us\nthat God's _wrath_ is revealed by _fire_. Now from whence cometh this\nfire when His wrath is thus revealed? God rained down fire and\nbrimstone from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and thus destroyed\nthose cities and their wicked inhabitants. Now, as the _wrath_ of God\nis revealed by _fire_, St. Paul sets this matter at rest. Hear him:\n\"_The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and\nunrighteousness of men._\" Thus, His spirit of wrath is manifested by\nfire; the _source_ of fire is the _Sun_, and He sends _fire from\nheaven_. Hence, we cannot for a moment doubt the correctness of our\nhypothesis that the source of fire, as manifested in the Past, and\nalso that which shall be manifested in the Future, is the _Sun_. And\nwherein it is declared that fire came down from heaven, or out of\nheaven, it was natural that such expressions were used, because it was\nheld that God resided in heaven, and He sent down fire from thence to\nexecute His judgments.\n\n\n\n\n_A PLURALITY OF HEAVENS._\n\n\nThe idea of a _plurality of heavens_, and their numbers almost\ninfinite, would seem at first thought to startle the mind, and\ndisarrange all our conceptions of the extent and machinery of the\nuniverse, and of the employment of God, and all the angels, and other\nintelligences He has made. Yet its truth only brings home to us the\ninsignificance of our own earth, and still more that of ourselves. We\nare too prone to think that this earth and its inhabitants are the\nprincipal objects of the Creator's care, and that _man_ is of vast\nimportance in the order of His arrangements, and of augmenting His\nkingdom and glory. While the truth is, our world is insignificant,\nwhen compared to His wonderful creations, and each individual as but a\nsingle grain of sand among all that may be found upon the shores of\noceans and seas. And yet all that He hath made _are_ the objects of\nHis government and care. For \"not even a sparrow falleth to the\nground\" unknown to Him.\n\nThat in His omnipotent and infinite power He can, and has created\nseparate systems of planet-worlds, and a central sun and heaven for\ncontrolling each, we cannot doubt; neither is there more of\nincomprehensible mystery in this contemplation than in that of our own\nsystem of planets, with its central and controlling _Sun_ and heaven.\n\nLet us turn to revelations made, as recorded in the Bible, and see if\nthere are not declarations which sustain this hypothesis. In the\nsecond book of the Kings it is written: \"_But will God indeed dwell on\nearth? behold, the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain him_;\"\nand in the second book of the Chronicles: \"_But who is able to build\nhim an house, seeing the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain\nhim._\" The Psalmist says: \"_The heavens; even the heavens are the\nLord's_,\" and \"_The heavens declare the glory of God_,\" and that \"_By\nthe word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them\nby the breath of his mouth._\"\n\nThus we have conclusive evidence of a _plurality of heavens_, while,\npossibly, their numbers are _millions_, their surrounding\nplanet-worlds _billions_, with a wide expanse of surrounding\n\"firmament of the heavens\" bestrewn with \"_glittering gems_,\" standing\nout the grand _empyrean_ covering of all.\n\nSays Dr. Nichol:\n\n\"Mystery, indeed, heavy, almost oppressive, hangs over all the\nperceptive; but the shapes strown through that bewildering territory\nhave nothing in common with the fantastic creations of a dream. It is\nthe essence of these nebul\u00e6 that they are not formless, but, on the\ncontrary, impressed indelibly by system on the grandest scale; clearly\nas a leaf they have organism; something has seized on their enormous\nvolumes, and moulded them into a wonderful order.\" Says Child: \"Thus\nevery thing bears the mark of order impressed upon it by the Almighty\nhand. That noble gift of God to man--the telescope--has magnified Him\nby driving away every semblance of _chance_ from the firmament, and by\nexhibiting in its place designs and established law. Up there, as down\nhere, the idea of irregularity or chance is but the suggestion of our\nignorance.\"\n\nThus, from a knowledge gained through that wonderful, and yet most\nexact of all sciences--Astronomy--we base our conclusions. _That_\nscience is the grandest, most perfect, and comprehensive of all\nsciences known to the human mind. It grasps, analyzes, and comprehends\nthe laws and forces which make up and control the universe, and every\nother science known is intimately connected with, or based upon it.\nThere is no chance-work in Nature; all things are moulded and formed\ncomplete by the great Architect, whose Word created them, and all the\ngrand panorama of suns, moons, planets, worlds, and stars, are perfect\nand in the exact order of His creative wisdom.\n\nWhatever of incomprehensible mystery our hypothesis of those\nfar-distant _suns_ and _heavens_ may involve, we feel satisfied of the\ncorrectness of our theory in regard to our own, and our mind is\nequally impressed with the probability of all the other planets\nbelonging to the Sun's domain, being inhabited by living\nintelligences, and that, in the order of their Creator's arrangement,\nthey too find their heaven of eternal existence there. We know there\nis room for all and to spare, within that heavenly empire, and would\nbe if they and our own earth should remain repeopling and passing\nthither for cycles of ages to come; for, as we have seen from\nastronomical measurement, it is computed to be more than one million\ntimes the size of this earth.\n\nHow enrapturing the thought, that there we may not only meet the\nprophets and seers of old; the apostles and martyrs; \"those who went\nup through great tribulations,\" \"who washed their robes and made them\nwhite in the blood of the Lamb;\" our counselling ministers, who have\nassisted us in the way; there the loved ones of our hearts, who have\nalready left us and this world of \"sin and sorrow,\" and are now safely\nat \"home;\" there other loved ones who are yet on this earth and are\nstriving with us for a home in that \"better land;\" but also, perhaps,\nthere we shall meet messengers, and children of God from all the other\nworlds belonging to the Sun, or that heaven's domain; and with the\ninnumerable company of angels, and all the ransomed hosts, dwell\nforever with our Saviour in the glory-light of the Spirit of God. O,\nwho will not seek and strive for a _home in heaven_?\n\n\n\n\n_A PLACE FOR THE WICKED._\n\n\nThat there are two separate places and conditions--one for the\nrighteous and the other for the wicked--we cannot doubt. In regard to\nno other fact are the revelations of God and declarations of the\nScriptures more clear and explicit. This of itself should startle\nevery inhabitant of Earth; cause due and solemn reflection; and\nincline every one to search for light, and truth, and for the way of\nsalvation.\n\nIn stating the facts contained in this volume, it has not been our\ndesign to indulge in a tirade against those who seem careless and\nindifferent in regard to their own souls' eternal interest. If our\npicture makes the final doom of the wicked a fearful one, we have only\npresented the declarations of God through his prophets, and of the\nSaviour and his apostles. These declarations are startling, when\nproperly considered, and should awaken every mind to the consideration\nof what must be their final destiny, if they continue to neglect the\novertures of mercy. The law of God is fearful in its denunciations\nagainst the wicked, and its sentence will be sternly executed.\nTherefore we would \"persuade all to be Christians.\"\n\nIf all the inhabitants of this Earth--all who have lived during the\npast, or may live and die on it through long ages to come--were saved\nand should go to dwell in that heavenly world, there would still be\nroom there for more. Yea, even then, untold millions of chambers,\nready and beautifully furnished by the Saviour in that vast and\nglittering \"City of God,\" would still be unoccupied. And to the\nwicked, who will not turn from their evil ways, is lost forever the\nprivilege of occupying those mansions; of walking the gold paved\nstreets; of \"drinking the waters from the fountains of life;\" of\nwandering amidst the \"shady groves,\" and along the banks of the\nbeautiful rivers; of traversing valleys, and ascending the \"hills and\nmountains of the Lord,\" and of plucking and eating the \"ambrosial\nfruits\" that grow on \"the trees of life;\" of having wealth and honor,\nand a safe and permanent home with the angels; the Prophets and\nApostles of old; with Moses, and David, and Elijah; with Abraham,\nIsaac, and Jacob, and with all the great and good of every age and\nclime--even with all \"the redeemed of the Lord\" \"who have washed their\nrobes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb\"--with kindred\nfriends from Earth; with angels and spirits of just ones made perfect,\nyea, \"_with all the ransomed hosts_,\" and above all, with Christ, the\nSon of God, who is, and will there be King and ruler forever.\n\nAnd for what are all these exchanged? Let us see. The Bible is the\nsure Word of God. It tells us that \"the wicked shall be driven away in\ntheir wickedness;\" that they \"shall be cast into outer darkness, where\nshall be weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.\"\n\nThey \"shall be turned into hell with all the nations that forget God:\"\n\"They shall be cast into the lake of fire, and the smoke of their\ntorment shall ascend up forever and ever.\" \"These shall go away into\neverlasting punishment,\" \"But the righteous into life eternal.\" The\nblessed Saviour, who died that they _might_ have eternal life, \"shall\nsay unto those on his left hand (the wicked), depart into everlasting\nfire;\" while to those on his right hand (the righteous), \"Come, ye\nblessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the\nfoundation of the world;\" \"enter thou into the joys of thy Lord.\"\n\nYes, reader, God has prepared the two places, and it rests with\n_you_--as a free moral agent--to make your choice, and act\naccordingly. He will never drag you into heaven by force. You are the\nrightful inheritor of a precious immortal soul. He has prepared a\nplace of perpetual happiness, and _invites_ you to come to it. There\nyou may find a home, with peace, love and joy. There is for you honor\nand wealth, and a \"crown of glory.\" There the fountains, and \"rivers\nof life,\" and an abundance of spiritual food. There neither\ndecrepitude nor old age, nor sickness, sorrow, pain, nor death; but\nthe bloom of eternal youth and beauty may rest on thy brow forever.\nMake your choice, and make it _now_, for delays are dangerous, and\ndeath and the judgment may be near unto you. The _spirit-fire_ of\nGod's love is now kindling in your heart, and I hear you say, \"_yes_,\nI would like to be there.\" We implore you, quench not that\n_spirit-fire_ of love, or it will change to a consuming SPIRIT-FIRE OF\nWRATH, and when your soul is released from the body, that spirit-fire\nwill become an intense burning flame, and will be your torment forever\nand ever.\n\nThe very thought of enduring _forever_--after this short life has\npast--should startle the mind of every intelligent being, and cause\nthe most serious reflections. None can save but God, and this\nsalvation is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. All must go to\nHim. Our ministers can only advise and instruct, and to do this\nproperly, they must themselves be holy men of God. Christ Himself\nassumed the office of the Priesthood. He made the atonement. He is now\nour _only_ High Priest, and all must go to Him. The wealth of the\nuniverse, given to an earthly Pope, Bishop, or Priest, could not save\none single soul, nor purchase it from perdition. And yet salvation is\nfreely offered to all who will forsake their wicked ways, and come to\nGod through love, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nAll are convinced of the immortality of the soul, and of a future\nstate of existence. The Word of God has set this matter at rest, while\nit is fully evidenced by the inherent desire in every heart and mind\nthat it should be so; even this \"longing after immortality.\" So, also,\ndoes enlightened reason convince all that there will be a separation\nof the righteous from the wicked in their future conditions. There is\nno true harmony of mind and spirit between them even in this world;\nmuch less could there be when the righteous are made pure and clean by\nthe \"blood of the Lamb.\"\n\nThere has always been antagonism between the \"spirit of light\" and the\n\"spirit of darkness.\" The first gives \"light, life, and liberty.\" The\nsecond, darkness, death, and bondage. The word and revelations of God\nteach this fact, while the experience and heart admonitions of all\nconfirm it. Even the ungodly condemn wickedness, and yet, strange to\nsay, continue on in sin. There has, from the beginning, been spiritual\nantagonism between the good and the bad, and a consciousness upon the\npart of the wicked of their own wrong-doing. This has been the case\never since wicked Cain slew his brother Abel; God then pronounced His\ncurse upon the perpetrator of that wicked deed, and His curse has\nstood against all wicked doers from that time to the present, and\nwill through all time to come. Bible history is replete with evidences\nof His judgments against them, and plainly tells us that there are two\nseparate places, one wherein the righteous shall enjoy happiness and\neternal life; the other wherein the wicked shall be punished, and\nendure a living death that never dies, showing us plainly that,\n\n\"It is not all of life to live; nor yet of death to die.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nNow, the _location_ of that place of torment will claim a few moments\nof our attention. Of this we think we are _not_ left to conjecture\nalone. We believe our hypothesis of the location of heaven is correct,\nand that we have one equally certain of the location of _Hell_, and\nthat each hypothesis strongly corroborates the other.\n\nFirst, let us take direct testimony; that given by the Son of God\nhimself, who is to be the judge of all--even the \"quick\" and the\n\"dead.\" The first are those quickened into life by the spirit, the\nlast are \"those who are dead in trespasses and in sin.\"\n\nYou will find this evidence in the 16th chapter of the \"Gospel\naccording to Saint Luke.\" Christ, the Son God, said,\n\n \"There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and\n fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was\n a certain beggar named Lazarus, who laid at they rich man's\n gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs\n which fell from the rich man's table; moreover, the dogs\n came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the\n beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's\n bosom; The rich man also died, and was buried, and in hell\n he lifted up his eyes. Being in torments, and seeing Abraham\n afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, he cried and said,\n Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus, that\n he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my\n parched tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But\n Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime\n receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus his evil\n things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. And\n beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulph\n fixed; so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot;\n neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.\"\n\n \"Then he said, I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou\n wouldst send him to my father's house, for I have five\n brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come\n into this place of torment. Abraham said unto him, they have\n Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said,\n nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them from the\n dead, they will repent. Abraham answered and said unto him,\n If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they\n be persuaded though one rose from the dead.\"\n\nThus, we see plainly that there are two separate places; one for the\nrighteous, who are saved through obedience and faith, and the other\nfor the wicked who are lost through disobedience and unbelief. Nothing\ncould be more plain, pointed, or conclusive.\n\nNow let us recall to your mind that which we have related in preceding\npages; wherein we have told you that most Astronomers have agreed upon\nthe fact, or hypothesis, of two atmospheres around the vast globe we\nhave denominated heaven. The one next to it appears to be\n_non-luminous_; while the outer one--around this--is _luminous_, which\nthey denominate _photosphere_, to which we have added _ethereal_, or\n\"_spirit-fire_.\" This is what we see in looking at the Sun, and is the\nvast volume of fire, or _ethereal flame_, that sends out heat and\nlight to this and other surrounding worlds. This light and heat extend\nover a region of the illimitable space, not less than _six thousand\nmillions of miles in extent_. We have endeavored to approximate to the\nmind the intense heat of the Sun at its source, but it far exceeds\nfinite comprehension.\n\nWe have also given you the views and suppositions of able\ninvestigators that the extent of that photosphere, or volume of flame,\nis vast indeed. It is said that 'flame-like masses--some computed to\nbe one hundred and fifty thousand miles in length--are piled upon and\noverlap each other, and sweep onward in constant agitation like\nmountain billows of living fire.' This, as we have told you, is the\nsource of all fire, or heat known to us on this Earth, and to all the\nother planets of our solar system.\n\nThe precise nature and elements of fire, we have said, we cannot fully\ncomprehend; neither its original source, save that it emanated from\nthe Great First Cause. The Sun is its direct source to us, and we\nrealize it always the same; never augmenting nor diminishing. We know\nthat it is the source of light to a vast region around, and, from the\noffices it performs, we cannot think less than that it is--as we have\nbefore said--an attribute of the Great Jehovah; and especially this\nwhen we consider God's own revelations as found recorded in the Bible.\n\nIn describing the dimensions of the _Sun_, we have said it is\n2,655,000 miles round it, or to bring this vast extent nearer our\ncomprehension, we may state that it would require 321 Earths, the size\nof this, set side by side to reach around it, and vast numbers more to\ncover its surface, and when thus covered with worlds like this, the\nstratum would only be about 8,000 miles deep, while it is reasonable\nto estimate that _photospheric flame to be 100,000 miles in depth_.\n\nWe have mentioned the \"_inner globe_,\" estimated to be more than a\nmillion times the size of this Earth, and we have denominated it\n_heaven_, and this outside surrounding volume of ethereal fire we\nshall denominate _hell_, as we believe no other true hypothesis can\nbe advanced. And, in assuming this, we believe ourselves sustained by\nthe revelations of God, as well as by all we can comprehend of Nature.\n\nIn order to incite our minds to know and comprehend more of Him, and\nbecome obedient to His requirements, God has shown us, by\nmanifestations, His instrument of destruction and punishment. His\nprophets have also announced His threatenings against the wicked, and\nhave told us that _fire_--the element of heat--is the instrument with\nwhich He will fulfil His threatened vengeance, and we have seen this\nmanifested by the destruction of the \"cities of the plains\"--even\n\"Sodom and Gomorrah,\" as also the destruction of those who offered\nincense upon strange altars.\n\nNow as this volume of flame, denominated the _Sun_, is the _only_\nsource of fire; and as fire seems to us one of the controlling\nelements of nature, and pervades all things, and God rained down fire\nand destroyed those cities, and also sent down fire and destroyed\nthose who offered incense on a strange altar, we plainly see where the\nfire is that is to be the punishment of the wicked. That it is said\n\"fire came down from heaven,\" or \"out of heaven,\" does not vitiate,\nbut rather confirms our hypothesis. For God is omnipresent, and dwells\nin _all_ heavens, and, from that region, _that permanent source of\nfire_, He commanded--doubtless--the concentration of the rays of the\nSun, and it thus came at His command from heaven, and fell as flame\nof fire. But to prove that our hypothesis as to the location of hell\nis correct, we direct your mind again to the narrative of the Saviour,\nof the rich man in _hell_, and Lazarus in Abraham's bosom. That\nAbraham was in heaven no one can doubt, while we are plainly told that\nthe rich man was \"_in hell_,\" and, although \"afar off,\" yet within\nspeaking distance.\n\nHow far distant the voice of _spirit_ can be heard, no one in\nmortality can know. We know that on this earth sound is limited\nbecause of the density of the atmosphere, and we realize even here\nthat when the atmosphere is the more rarified, the greater the\ndistance of sound. It is computed that the condensed, or\nearth-atmosphere, extends outward from the earth about forty miles.\nWhen we have passed this stratum, and have gained space in the\n_ethereal atmosphere_, it may be possible that the same volume of\nvoice we are accustomed to here, might be heard thousands, or even\nmillions of miles distant from us. Heat rarifies atmosphere as we here\nrealize by the influence of the sun. If the addition of a few rays of\nthe sun will dissipate the dense clouds, and so materially rarify our\natmosphere at the distance of ninety-five millions of miles, what may\nwe suppose the condition of the atmosphere ninety millions of miles\nnearer its source? Therefore, we may readily believe that although\nDives, and Abraham, were far apart--possibly thousands of miles--yet\nthey could see and converse with each other.\n\nYou will remember that astronomers inform us that there seems a volume\nof non-luminous atmosphere, or void, between the outer phostosphere of\nfire and the body of that _inner globe_ (which globe we believe is\nheaven). Now remember the words of Father Abraham, \"Beside all this,\nbetween us and you there is a great gulph fixed; so that they who\nwould pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that\nwould come from thence.\" Is not here conclusive evidence that the two\nplaces--heaven and hell--are not in far distant regions from each\nother?\n\n_Remember._ It is said of the wicked \"These shall go away into outer\ndarkness, there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.\"\nWhen death and hell shall give up their dead (for the souls of the\nwicked--who are dead in trespasses and in sin--are still enduring that\ndeath that never dies), and all appear before the Judgment seat of\nChrist, where \"every one shall receive according to the deeds done in\nthe body,\" and the wicked are \"driven from God, and from the glory of\nHis power,\" to reach again their eternal destiny, they will doubtless\npass through that dark void, even that \"great gulph fixed between,\"\nand there _will_ be weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAlthough we believe the evidence furnished is conclusive beyond cavil\nor doubt to every intelligent mind, yet we will still add more\naffirmative arguments which we desire that all should consider.\n\nFirst, Let us refer again to the declarations--we have several times\nrepeated--of the Prophets and Apostles. That heaven, and the Holy City\nin it, hath no need of the light of the _Sun_. That the \"glory of God\ndoth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.\" That there is no\nnight there, but one eternal day.\n\nNow let us call to your mind the _extent_ of that empire wherein _the\nSun does not shine_. From astronomical measurement, we may form in our\nminds an approximation of its dimensions. To fix for it a low\nestimate, we may safely conclude that the domain proper, is at least\n_five hundred thousand miles_ in diameter, and _one million five\nhundred thousand miles around it_. The empire is vast indeed, so great\nthat, by comparison, we can form no correct idea of it. We can only\napproximate by saying that it would require about _one million of\nearths_, the size of this, to make a globe of equal magnitude.\n\nIn order to bring all home to your own reason and comprehension, let\nus ask, Where else is it feasible for so large a place to _be_\nwhereon, or into which the _Sun_, or _suns_, do not or _cannot shine_?\nWe have shown you that suns (the surrounding volumes of photospheric\nethereal fire) are--so far as we can comprehend--the natural sources\nof light throughout the Universe of Jehovah's empire. They seem as\nGod's own _eternal lamps_, scattered and placed at His will in\ndifferent regions of illimitable space, to illumine the universe\nwithout, and give _light everywhere_, as also life and animation to\nall their surrounding worlds. Each perhaps to its own, even as our Sun\ndoes to its own planet-worlds. Now when we consider that the fact is\nwell established by all leading Astronomers that this outside flame or\nvolume of fire is _far out_ from that INNER GLOBE, or world, and that\nbetween them _there is a void_, possibly thousands of miles in depth;\nthat the fires and light of the _Sun_ have no perceptible effect upon\nthis non-luminous void--and, indeed, the void shields the globe within\nfrom the light and heat of the Sun--we can readily imagine the wise\narrangement of the Great Architect, and also comprehend the truth of\nHis own declarations, that heaven is a place where neither the Sun nor\nits heat shall light upon its inhabitants.\n\nNow the nature of the _element_ of this intervening void or space,\nwhether _it_ is _ethereal_ or not, we cannot now comprehend. That it\nis a safe covering or shield to the world within, we can readily\nsuppose. For Sir John Herschel says that it seems as \"an awning or\nscreen, protecting the body,\" or world within, from the Sun's heat.\n\nBut we are not left to conjecture alone, without philosophical reason\nin this matter. We know the laws of gravitation and attraction are\nfixed and sure, and upon these universal laws we can base correct\nconclusions.\n\nThe tendency of fire or heat is _outward_ and _upward_. The sense in\nwhich we use the term \"upward\" is that of space far out from the\nearth, or like solid bodies. We have shown, in our explanation of the\nlaw of gravitation, that _upward_ is simply away from the earth. Thus,\nwe ignite material with fire and produce combustion here, and we see\nthe flame _rise_, and feel and know the heat ascends _upward_. So also\nmay the Chinaman do the same, at the same moment, on the opposite side\nof the globe--while his position is directly under us, as we construe\ndownward--and yet the flame and heat of his fire ascends _upward_ from\nthe earth where he stands, which is in a directly opposite direction\nfrom the course ours pursues. Thus, to us, outward from the earth is\n_upward_, no matter where our position on it.\n\nThis tendency of heat upward, or away from the base of the fire, is\nplainly evident by the fact that heat will not penetrate to any\nconsiderable depth _downward_, neither when on the earth, or on a\nsolid non-combustible foundation; nor yet when on an elevated\nplatform, for its tendency, as we have shown, is always outward or\nupward. So also with the fires of the _Sun_; whatever the base of its\nfires may be, we see by the fixed laws of Nature that the tendency of\nits heat is _outward_, no matter from what portion of that base it may\nemanate. We cannot now comprehend the _nature_ of the base of the\nSun's fires, but we know that the great Jehovah has provided it, and\nthat it is founded in His wisdom, and is fixed and sure, and we have\nreasoned conclusively that it cannot be of combustible material.\nHence, the only rational conclusion we can arrive at--from a thorough\ninvestigation of Divine revelations; from all the lights afforded by\nthe science of astronomy; from the true philosophy of Nature, as well\nas from all that is visible and perceptible--is, that far within the\ncircling photosphere of ethereal fire which we see and realize as the\n_Sun_, there is a solid body, a globe, a VAST WORLD, and that world is\nthe heaven for all the righteous from this earth; that it is the\nSaviour's allotted empire, and that He is there the ruler of His\npeople.\n\n\n\n\n_THE NATURE OF THE LIGHT OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD._\n\n\"_The glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light\nthereof._\"\n\n\nWe have given the above Scripture quotation repeatedly in these pages,\nin order to forcibly impress the minds of all with the fact that the\nlight of the heavenly world is _different_ from the light of the Sun;\nthat it far transcends it in _brightness_. For we are told that it \"is\nfar above the brightness of the Sun shining in its strength,\" even\n\"_seven-fold brighter than the Sun_.\"\n\nLet us contemplate what has been revealed of this \"glory light.\"\n\nFirst. No _mortal_ ever has beheld the full radiance of the face, or\nglory of God. For He hath said that no one should see His face and\nlive. In evidence of this, when Moses, who was so near Him, and\ndesired so much to behold His face unveiled, prayed to Him saying: \"I\n_beseech thee_, show me thy glory.\" There came an answer unto him.\n\"_Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and\nlive._\" And in order to preserve the life of Moses, God placed him in\nthe \"cleft of a rock\" and covered him with His hand while His glory\nwas passing by.\n\nOthers have desired to see God, and the brightness of His glory, yet\nsuch desire, while in mortality, is wrong, for none could behold it\nand live.\n\nIt is recorded of Trajan, the Emperor of Rome, that he accosted Rabbi\nJoshua, saying: \"You teach that your God is everywhere, now I should\nlike to see Him.\" Joshua replied, \"He cannot be seen, no mortal eye\ncan behold His glory.\" The Emperor, however, persisted, contending\nthat if He was everywhere, He could surely be seen, and thus derided\nthe doctrine taught by Joshua. \"Well,\" said the Rabbi, \"let us try\nfirst to look at one of His ambassadors.\" To this Trajan consented.\nJoshua then led him forth into the open air at noon-day, and bade him\n\"look at the _Sun_.\" The Emperor replied: \"I cannot, for its light\ndazzles, and will _blind me_.\" Then replied Joshua, \"If thou art\nunable to endure the light of one of His creatures, how canst thou\nexpect to be able to behold the resplendent glory of the Creator? _The\nsight would annihilate thee._\"\n\nThus we find that in every representation of the \"glory of God,\" its\nlight is beyond our comprehension, and so overpowering that no mortal\ncould behold it and live.\n\nWe have, however, a feeble representation of this glory manifested by\nHis Son. When Saul, of Tarsus, was on his way to Damascus, to\npersecute the disciples and followers of Christ, behold, at mid-day, a\nlight, _above the brightness of the Sun_, shone around him and his\nband, and they all fell to the earth, and their leader was smitten\nwith blindness, which continued for three days, and was only then\nrelieved by the agencies which the Saviour appointed. When first\nsmitten, hearing a voice that was not of Earth, he exclaimed, \"Lord,\nwho art thou?\" The answer was, \"I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.\"\n\nWhen the beloved disciple John beheld the Son of Man, walking in the\nmidst of the golden candlesticks, the light and influence was so\noverpowering, that he \"_fell at His feet as dead_.\" Thus we have a\nfaint prelude of the light of the glory of God. Yet no one in\nmortality can behold it, even in a veiled form. But the strength of\nthe _spirit-eye_ will enable us to behold the King in all His glory,\n\"for we shall see Him as He is.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THAT HEAVENLY WORLD._\n\n\nWe need not stand on Pisgah's height, nor climb to the summit of the\nAndes, to catch a glimpse of that \"HEAVENLY WORLD.\" But, grasping the\ntelescope of _Faith_, and looking through _Revelations_, the humblest\nChristian, \"low down in the valley,\" may see through the storm-clouds\nand tempests of life--yea, even through the \"shadow of death\"--and\ngaze with rapture upon the enchanting scene. The light of the _Sun_\npales without, as the flood-light of that _inner world_ breaks upon\nthe eye. There is the resplendent \"glory of God,\" shining with\nunequalled radiance and beauty. To the spirit-eye it is not blinding,\nneither will it even dim the sight. Fear not, ye feeble followers of\nthe blessed Redeemer, to approach--even now--by faith and\ncontemplation, the confines of that bright world; even though it is\nwithin that encircling photosphere of _ethereal fire_. There is no\ndanger, for by-and-by that bright world will be your place of\nhabitation. When the winged messenger comes and escorts you away from\nyour earthly \"prison-house,\" he will conduct you to that bright\nworld, where \"an abundant entrance shall be administered unto you\" by\nyour blessed Saviour. Remember it is written in the \"Sacred Volume\":\n\"_The voice of God divideth the flame;_\" and He hath said: \"_I will be\nas a wall of fire._\" \"_When thou goest through the fire, thou shalt\nnot be burned; neither shall the flames kindle upon thee._\" \"_Enter\nthou into the joys of thy Lord._\" No such flames within. \"_The Sun\nshall not light on thee; nor any heat;_\" and yet there is a\nresplendent light, even the \"glory of God,\" which illumines the Great\nCity and all the vast realm. \"_There is no night there_,\" but one\neternal day; and when thou hast entered, \"_The days of thy mourning\nshall be ended._\"\n\nBut hold heavenward the telescope of _faith_; let us, through the\nlights of revelation, endeavor to get a slight panoramic view. The\ninspired poet caught a glimpse before us. Hear him exclaim:\n\n \"There, on those wide extended plains,\n Shines one eternal day;\n There God the Son forever reigns,\n And scatters night away.\"\n\nBehold! Spread out before us is the wide expanse of a glorious\nuniverse. See in the distance those hills and towering mountains;\nthose beautiful valleys and wide-extending plains. See the innumerable\n\"set thrones,\" and, in the midst of all, \"THE GREAT WHITE THRONE!\"\nand He who sits thereon is the SON OF GOD, who reigns, and is the\nruler of this vast empire. See \"before the throne a sea of glass like\nunto crystal,\" and around about the throne \"four-and-twenty elders in\nraiment of white, with crowns of gold,\" while all around is \"a\nrainbow, in sight like unto an emerald,\" or grand _empyrean_ covering\nresplendent with the light of the \"glory of God.\" See that fountain of\nthe \"river of life\" gushing from beneath the throne, and flowing on\nand on, meandering amidst mountains and hills, and through vast plains\nand beautiful valleys. See the crystal fountains playing on every\nhand, and whose waters are forever sparkling in the light of eternal\nday. See the towering forest trees and shady \"groves of heaven,\"\nplaced there by the \"Word\" of the Creator, during past cycles of\neternity, and long before time commenced, their rich foliage\npresenting every variegated hue, their boughs laden with all manner of\nprecious fruit suited for spiritual food, and their seasons for\nbearing are now and forever. But see yonder, near the base of that\ntowering mountain,--whose summit seems to mount up a thousand miles\nhigh, and whose towering forests are waving in the gentle breezes of\nheaven, and, with all things else, seem but to reflect the light of\nthe \"glory of God;\"--that vast plain spreading out from its base is\nthe \"GARDEN OF THE LORD.\" Its extent is even greater than that of our\nwhole Earth. It is filled with trees bearing fruits; with shrubbery,\nand ten thousand times ten thousand various and variegated flowers\nperennially blooming. See the vast multitude of saints, attended by\nangels, as they meander through its labyrinths, culling choicest\nflowers, or lingering under \"native bowers\" or amid shady groves. No\nold age or decrepitude; no gray hairs to distinguish ages. The old\nseers and prophets; neither are Adam nor Methuselah, who dwelt on the\nearth nearly a thousand years, known here by age; neither do our own\naged fathers and mothers show here any signs of decrepitude or\nadvanced years, but, even as their own children--our brothers, our\nsisters, our husbands, our wives, and _our own children_, who have\nfound an inheritance here--all are as in the bloom of youth and\nmaturity, and will thus remain forever through succeeding cycles of\neternity. Ah! methinks, amid that vast multitude you espy a father, a\nmother, a sister, a brother, companion or child, or some dear, loved\nfriends from earth, who are now _radiant with beauty_ in that\n\"Paradise of God,\" and that you would fain drop mortality, and, on\n_spirit-wings_ of love, go and join them and be forever at rest. Wait,\n_not now_; but if you have sought and found the \"pearl of price,\" and\nare abiding in the \"_love of God_,\" you, too, will get there\nby-and-by. Remember afflicted Job, who \"knew his record was in\nheaven,\" yet with all this perceptive knowledge, hear him meekly say:\n\"_All my appointed time will I wait, until my change cometh_,\" and\n\"_though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him_.\"\n\nBut while we have in hand the \"telescope of faith\" and the revelations\nof God as our light, let us change its direction a little, and add a\nnew grasping power.\n\nSee! Behold the \"City of God\" of which \"glorious things were\nspoken,\"--even the city of which John had a panoramic view while \"in\nthe spirit\" on the Isle of Patmos. See its glittering \"_jasper_ walls\"\nas they loom up in the glory-light _fifteen hundred miles high_; and\nwhose foundations are _fifteen hundred miles square_, covering a\nsuperficial extent of _two millions two hundred and fifty thousand\nsquare miles_. See! \"Its foundations are garnished with all manner of\nprecious stones,\" and there are \"twelve vast gates of entrance, and\nthe twelve gates are twelve pearls: every several gate is one pearl.\"\nThose gates are now thrown wide open, never to be shut again, for it\nis the \"city of habitation\" for the redeemed from Earth, and hundreds\nare arriving from our world every minute of time. See! \"its walls are\nof pure gold--even as jasper,\" while \"its streets are paved with gold\ntransparent as glass.\" See its vast arches, minarets and towers, and\nits palatial mansions. Remember the blessed Saviour said, when about\nto leave our Earth, \"_In my Father's house are many mansions_;\" and\nadded, \"_I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there ye\nmay be also_.\" Some of our friends have homes in those beautiful\nmansions. * * * * * It is enough. Our vision of these enchanting\nscenes is ended, and we are left to contemplate them in mind until our\n\"appointed time\" shall come, and then if we are ready when our \"Lord\nand master calls,\" we, too, shall find a permanent home with the\n\"redeemed of the Lord\" in that \"_heavenly world_,\" and then with St.\nPaul, we may see \"the glory which shall be revealed.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITY OF THE CITY--THERE IS ROOM FOR ALL, AND\nTO SPARE._\n\n\"_And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the\nbreadth; and he measured the city with a reed, twelve thousand\nfurlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal._\"\nRev. xxi.\n\n\nTwelve thousand furlongs constitutes, by our measurement, 1,500 miles.\nThus we see that the city lieth four-square, and its height is equal\nto its length or breadth of foundation. The base surface covers a\nsuperficial extent of 2,250,000 square miles. The extent of the city\nwill give us over 3,375,000,000 cubic miles. One cubic mile alone will\nafford measurement of space for over 15,000,000 rooms 20 feet square, and\nthe entire square of the city would afford about 50,625,000,000,000,000\nrooms of similar dimensions.\n\nBut we are not justifiable in the belief other than that it is a city\nof vast proportions, and one of grandeur and beauty. We are told that\nit is a \"city of many mansions.\" Let us therefore contemplate it in\nthis light, and estimate that only _one-fiftieth_ portion of its vast\nspace is occupied by mansions; the balance open space, streets,\navenues, and courts. Such mansions would thus afford over\n1,000,000,000,000,000 rooms 20 feet square.\n\nWe will now compute the number of inhabitants who have lived and died\non the earth for 6,000 years past; the number living on it at present,\nand estimate how long of future time would be required to furnish one\nsoul to occupy each room. It is estimated that there are at present\n1,000,000,000, and that this number die during each period of thirty\nyears. Now if all should find a home there, it would require more than\n_thirty millions of years_, at the same ratio, to furnish one soul for\neach room thus computed in those mansions. And if we estimate that\nonly _one-hundredth_ part of the space is occupied by mansions, it\nwould even then require 15,000,000 of years to thus people them.\n\nBut we are assured that the wicked shall not enter there. That \"wide\nis the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and\nmany there be which go in thereat.\" We are therefore led to the\ninevitable conclusion, that by far the larger number of those who have\nlived and died on this earth, have failed to find their home in that\n\"city of which glorious things are spoken.\"\n\nContemplating, as we have, the vast magnitude of that city, we are\njustifiable in the conclusion that there is ample provision of\nmansions there, as the dwelling-place for other intelligences beside\nthose from this earth; probably the home and abode of the angels;\npossibly, for inhabitants of the other planets belonging to the same\nsolar system with our own earth, as all receive light and animation\nfrom the same sun, and all are governed and controlled by the\nload-stone power of attraction of that vast globe.\n\nAgain, may it not be that all that has been revealed to us, is simply\nthat which relates to _our_ future habitation, and that the city we\nhave been contemplating is for the abode of the righteous from this\nearth? May there not be many other cities of equal, or even greater\nmagnitude within that vast empire--even one such allotted to the\ninhabitants of _each separate planet_, and that each may have a king\nand ruler provided by the Creator of all? For all that we can\ncomprehend of _our_ Saviour--who is to be our king and ruler--is, that\nhe came from God the Father to ransom the inhabitants of this earth,\nand offer life and salvation to all who should believe in Him \"with a\nheart unto righteousness.\" Remember, he said, \"_In my Father's house\nare many mansions._\" And added, \"_I go to prepare a place for_ YOU,\n_that where I am there ye may be also._\"\n\nThe New Testament Scriptures teach the sublime truth that the great\ninterest of our blessed Saviour is the salvation and happiness of\nthose whom He denominates his children from this earth; those for\nwhom He died, and who shall believe in Him \"unto everlasting life.\"\nHence, from all his teachings we believe this suggested hypothesis\ncorrect. The Psalmist says, \"_There are set thrones of Judgment_,\"\nwhile the Apostles speak of \"_thrones and dominions; principalities\nand powers_.\" There is ample room in that \"Heaven\" for all.\n\n\n\n\n_THE NATIVE POPULATION OF THAT HEAVENLY WORLD._\n\n\"The Angels of God.\"--Heb. 1. 6.\n\n\nSo far as revealed to us by record of the Bible, the original or\nnative inhabitants of Heaven are called \"Angels.\" These are also\ncalled \"messengers of God,\" and from all the lights we have, it would\nseem that their principal occupation and employment is to act as\nmessengers; execute the commands of Jehovah, and to worship, and\nmagnify the name of their Creator. Their perpetual residence, it\nseems, is in Heaven, yet from the manifestations of repeated visits to\nour earth, we can but suppose they are God's messengers, oft sent to\n_other_ worlds to do His pleasure.\n\nIt would seem that they are possessed of intellectuality next to\nJehovah himself, yet all knowledge is not given unto them. It also\nappears that there is a vast difference in their grades and positions.\nWe read of Archangels, of Michael, and Gabriel, of the Sons of God.\nThey are sometimes called \"Stars.\" Thus, we read of \"the morning stars\nwhich sang together.\" We also read of Cherubim and Seraphim. And it\nmay be that some of the most exalted among them occupy thrones, and\nhave control of \"dominions,\" \"principalities,\" and \"powers.\" We are\ntold that \"Michael and _his_ angels\" fought the \"Great Dragon and his\nangels.\" Thus we see that they were the leaders, or had command over\nmany angels.\n\nWe are also justified in the belief that they are princes and peers,\nand belong to the Court; possibly form the ministerial cabinet, and\nare attendants in the council chambers of heaven.\n\nWe have seen, through revelations, how oft--under the earlier\ndispensation--they visited our earth, to bear messages from God to the\nprophets, and to His people; to warn or announce His threatenings, or\nexecute His commands in judgments upon the wicked. As angels they are\n\"_Spirits_,\" and as commissioned \"ministers\" oft appeared as \"_flames\nof fire_.\"\n\nFrom the revelations made to us, we know they are spiritual creatures\nof God, and that their nature is _immaterial_, or that they have\nexistence in highly _etherealized_ bodies, which can be transported at\npleasure to any remote or distant region of Jehovah's empire, with a\ncelerity surpassing--possibly--the flight of electricity itself.\n\nAngels, as \"_spirits_,\" are immortal, and hence will live forever. And\nthus also our own spirits must live forever, because derived from the\n_spirit-life_ of God. Revelations furnish us abundant evidence of the\n_spirit_ nature of angels. They were oft present and speaking with the\nprophets, and were yet _invisible_, as also within doors where locks\nand bars precluded the possibility of substance, or of earth-life\nanimation entering. And yet again, we have evidence of their appearing\nin tangible form, and could be seen, and felt, and we read of their\nbeing \"entertained as men unawares.\" When, however, they appeared as\n_angels_, we learn that their bodily aspect was that of transcendent\nbeauty; their face and form resplendent with light, and a halo, as of\nDivinity itself, shone around them.\n\nIt seems that angels have ever manifested a deep and abiding interest\nin behalf of our Earth, and of man. We are told that they celebrated\nthe creation of this world \"with songs of praise and shouts of joy.\"\nAt the time of the birth of the Saviour, an angel from God appeared to\nthe shepherds, who were watching their flocks by night, and announced\nthe \"glad tidings of great joy, and immediately there appeared with\nthe angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts\" sounding loud the anthem\nof praise, \"Glory to God in the highest, peace on Earth and good-will\nto men.\" How strange this incident! The tongues of men were silent in\nthis the hour of dawn of their redemption, and the angels alone\nheralded the event, and sang the anthem of praise. An angel\nsubsequently warned Joseph to seek a place of safety for the \"Infant\nof days,\" as \"Herod, the King, would seek to destroy the young child's\nlife.\"\n\nDuring the Saviour's sojourn on Earth, how oft did angels appear and\nminister unto Him; even \"strengthening Him,\" when His human nature\nstaggered under the load of the sins of a guilty world. And\nwhen--seemingly--the \"star of Bethlehem\" had set, and the hope of the\nworld seemed lost; when the promised Messiah was entombed; when dismay\nseized upon, and thick darkness shrouded the minds of all who had\nfollowed the Saviour; when even the Marys who loved Him, repaired at\nearly dawn to shed their tears at His sepulchre: Behold! \"_The angel\nof the Lord was there_;\" had \"rolled away the stone and sat upon it.\"\nHe did not need to inquire their errand, but said unto them: \"I know\nit is Jesus whom ye seek, he is not here, for He is risen.\" Oh, see\nwhat interest the angels have ever manifested in our behalf! \"_Are\nthey not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto those\nwho shall be the heirs of salvation?_\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE VAST NUMBER OF THE ANGELS.\n\n\"_An innumerable company of angels._\" Heb. xii. 22.\n\n\nOf the number of the angels we can form no proper conception. That\ntheir numbers are very great, we have evidence through Divine\nrevelations. We are told that when the Law was given from Mount Sinai,\nthere was in attendance upon the great Author of all \"thousands of\nangels.\" Daniel, speaking of their attendance upon the \"Ancient of\nDays\" says, \"thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand\ntimes ten thousand stood before him.\" When the star appeared in the\n\"east,\" and led the wise men to Bethlehem where lay the promised hope\nof a perishing world, there appeared a multitude of the heavenly\nhosts, singing with sweet melody the anthem of redemption, and praises\nto God in the highest. When Peter unsheathed his sword to smite the\nservant of the High Priest who came to arrest his Master, the Saviour\nrestrained him and said: \"_Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my\nFather, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of\nangels._\" While St. Paul speaks of an \"innumerable company of angels\nin the heavenly Jerusalem.\"\n\n\n\n\nAMAZING STRENGTH OF ANGELS.\n\n\"_Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his\ncommandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word._\"--Ps. ciii. 20.\n\n\nOf the amazing strength of angels, we can form no adequate conception.\n\"God is a Spirit,\" and by His Spirit hath created all things. We have\nseen that His angels are spirits, and that these spirits are\n_ethereal_ in their nature, so far as finite mind can comprehend. And\nyet their strength is wonderful to contemplate. St. John represents\nthem as holding the four winds of heaven, and controlling the elements\nwith a supernatural power. Commissioned by Jehovah for the purpose, an\nangel destroyed seventy thousand people of the tribes of Judah and\nIsrael in three days. And again, an angel destroyed, in one night, one\nhundred and eighty-five thousand of a mighty army. It would seem that\nby permission, or at command, they are capable of exercising a power\nalmost omnipotent. In the last days, great power shall be given them.\nThey shall pour out the vials of Jehovah's wrath, smite earth and\nseas, cause the stars to fall, and even _chain the great dragon and\ncast him into the bottomless pit_.\n\n\n\n\nRAPIDITY OF MOVEMENT OF THE ANGELS.\n\n\nWe will now consider another feature of the capacity of the angels,\none that is fraught with deepest interest to the human mind, as it\nwill give us some light of probabilities attending our future, when\nour spirits shall be released from our mortal bodies. This is the\ncelerity, velocity, or rapidity of their movements.\n\nThese celestial creatures seem to possess the power of transporting\nthemselves with a celerity incomprehensible to finite mind. That it is\nequal, even if not more rapid than _electricity_, we cannot doubt. We\nincline to the opinion, however, that the velocity of their movement\nis, at pleasure, the same as that of the flight of _electricity_; and\nso also with our spirits, after leaving the body. No one can fully\ncomprehend the _nature_ of electricity. We know that it exists, and to\nsome extent we can control and use it as an agency for useful\npurposes; yet it is an existing element in nature, even as fire is. We\nmay concentrate and use it, and we may profess to understand the\ncombination of agencies which produce it. Yet all resolves itself back\nagain into the simple fact that it is an _element existing in nature_,\nand its source is that of all else--the GREAT FIRST CAUSE OF ALL\nTHINGS.\n\nElectricity is of more rapid flight than any other element or agency\nwe can--even partially--comprehend in nature. If we had a wire laid\naround this Earth, it is estimated that a current of _electricity_\nwould belt the globe in about the _tenth part_ of a second of time, or\ntravel at nearly the speed of _three hundred thousand miles_ a second,\nand would reach the Sun--_ninety-five millions of miles distant_--in a\nfraction over _five minutes of time_. The discovery and application of\nelectricity is the most wonderful phenomenon that has ever been\ngrasped by the human intellect, and we contend it is one of Jehovah's\n_invisible_ agencies in nature, which He has permitted man to\ncomprehend in part, and thus to prepare the mind to comprehend more\nfully the infinity of His power, and the nature of our relation to\nHim. Hitherto, even the mind of faith has stood bewildered in regard\nto the transit of the soul, after death, to the place of its future\nhabitation. Astronomers, by the aid of that wonderful gift of God to\nman--the telescope--have penetrated the borders of the far-distant\nsidereal regions; have caught rays of light which, it is now rendered\nprobable, left their native nebul\u00e6, or suns, more than _five hundred\nthousand years_ ago, and have travelled at the rate of 192,000 miles a\nsecond ever since, and are now successively beaming upon the assisted\neye. Now, it would require more than _three hundred thousand years_\nfor a current of electricity to travel thence, even at the rate of\n300,000 miles each second of time. And yet, although far distant\nregions have been penetrated and partially surveyed, still, nowhere\nwithin the trackless and boundless domain of illimitable space have\nAstronomers descried an object which they could denominate \"Heaven.\"\nWe say, considering all these circumstances, and that it would require\nthree hundred thousand years, travelling with the rapidity of three\nhundred thousand miles a second, to reach the extent of space surveyed\nby the eye through the telescope, and yet the supposition that heaven\nwas still _far out beyond_; the mind of faith has ever been bewildered\nas to the locality of the place, and of the time, or period of\neternity required to reach it. And yet it was right and proper that\nChristians should hold firm to faith in God; that He _had_ provided a\nplace of happiness for his people, and also provided the necessary\nagencies for transporting them thither. But now, when we consider that\nevery blessing vouchsafed to man is derived from heaven, or the\nSun--which is God's agency--when we have contemplated the nature of\nGod's manifestations in the bestowment of his blessings, and\nvisitations of his judgments; when we see how soon, at His bidding,\nHis messengers can descend from heaven to earth to execute His\ncommands, and the daily intimate relations in ancient times between\nHis angels residing in heaven, and His prophets and people on earth;\nhow instantaneously they were present when emergency demanded--for\nwhen \"Daniel bowed, and his prayer went up to heaven, the angel\nGabriel came with the answer from God while he was still on his knees,\nand yet speaking,\"--and accepting the hypothesis we have laid, that\nour heaven is the vast globe descried by Astronomers within that\nencircling photosphere of ethereal fire, which is denominated the\n\"Sun,\" our veiled faith of the past takes a sudden bound and lights\nupon--an almost _fully revealed reality_; we can now partially\ncomprehend the mode, and short space of time required for the transit\nof our immortal spirits to that heavenly world. It is reasonable to\nsuppose that spirit can pass with the velocity of electricity, and\ntravelling thus, we have seen that to reach that world within the Sun,\nwill require but about _five minutes_. Well hath the apostle said, \"to\nbe absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord.\"\n\nThere are fixed laws, and a certain _reality_, in all things\npertaining unto Jehovah and His vast creations throughout His own\nUniverse, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that he has designed\nthat we should comprehend His laws relating to us, and thereby\nunderstand His own plain revelations. We therefore believe that\nreason, founded upon revelations, sustains our hypothesis, as to the\nlocation of heaven--as also of hell--and that the Spirit of God is--in\nsome of its offices--as _fire_. And we cannot doubt but that,\nhenceforth, these views will be sustained by the intelligence of the\nworld; and that still more of seeming mystery will be comprehended,\nand new light opened to the mind upon the subject, while all will tend\nto the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family.\n\n\n\n\n_CERTAINTY OF A RESURRECTION._\n\n\nSt. Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, says: \"_If in this life only we\nhave hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable._\"\n\nNo wonder that he came to such conclusion, when he knew that kings,\nrulers, and the populace were overwhelmingly against the few disciples\nand followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that persecutions, bonds,\nimprisonment, and even violent death were in store for many of them.\n\nBut hear him again:\n\n \"Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection\n from the dead. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is\n death.\n\n \"Now I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit\n the kingdom of God. Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall\n not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in\n the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet\n shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and\n we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on\n incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Death\n shall be swallowed up in victory. Thanks be to God, which\n giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n\nThat there will be a resurrection of our spiritual bodies, is plainly\ntaught in the Old and in the New Testament scriptures. We have already\nshown this conclusively in our opening chapter on \"The Immortality of\nthe Soul, and a future State of Existence.\" But had doubts remained in\nthe minds of any, we think St. Paul--as quoted above--removes them,\nand sets the matter at rest.\n\nSt. John, the revelator, tells us that while in the spirit, the scene\nof the judgment was brought before his vision. He says:\n\n \"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and\n the books were opened, and the dead were judged out of those\n things which were written in the books, according to their\n works.\"\n\nNow we understand that this general judgment will be at the close of\nthe time allotted to this world. Whether that period is far remote or\nnear at hand, no one knoweth save God himself; \"no, not even the\nangels of heaven.\" But as to that time, it matters not, so far as\nsalvation and a condition of happiness to the righteous is concerned,\nnor to the wicked, as regards future punishment. Revelations and the\nWord of God establish the fact that as soon as the soul, or spirit\nleaves the body, it enters upon its future and final condition,\nwhether of happiness or misery, \"Lazarus died, and was carried by the\nangels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and\nin hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment.\" The Saviour, while\nsuspended upon the cross, manifested His pardoning and saving power to\nthe thief, forgave his sins, accepted him, and said: \"To-day shalt\nthou be with me in Paradise.\"\n\nUnder the circumstances--the extreme sufferings and agonies the\nSaviour was enduring at the time--some have cavilled at this\nexhibition of grace and pardoning mercy to the dying thief. Let it be\nremembered, His mission was to save sinners. And that it is written,\n\"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.\"\n\nHere is a plain exhibition of the possibility, and plan of salvation\nto _all_. This thief had sinned; and had also violated the laws of his\ncountry, and in rebuking his fellow culprit in crime--who had reviled\nthe Saviour--he acknowledged his own guilt by saying, \"this man\nsuffereth innocently; yet we are guilty, and justly deserve our\npunishment.\" Indeed, he seemed to be the _first_ to comprehend\nChrist's kingdom, and the plan of salvation through faith in Him. By\nfaith, he grasped the hope, then springing from the Cross whereon the\nSaviour hung, and penitently cried unto the Redeemer of the world,\n\"Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.\" See this flash\nof light in the midst of spiritual darkness, dismay, and surrounding\ngloom--even the light of immortality and eternal life! All the\nfollowers had forsaken the dying Redeemer, and those who had been his\nacknowledged disciples were fleeing in dismay, and even Peter denied\nhis Lord and Master with an oath. The hope of the world's deliverance;\nthrough the Messiah, seemed lost. Yet here was one--even a poor dying\nthief--whose faith penetrated the veil, and _he_ saw that Christ's\nkingdom was not of this world. He believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,\nand the promise made to all who believe in Him; with a heart unto\nrighteousness, was vouchsafed to him. We look upon this as the\nstrongest exhibition of faith the world had ever yet known. And we\nthink the evidence conclusive, that as soon as the soul leaves the\nbody--this tenement of clay--it enters at once upon its future\ncondition of happiness, or of misery.\n\nOf the certainty of the final resurrection of our bodies--changed and\ntransformed into spiritual bodies--and of a general judgment, the\nScripture revelations are plain and conclusive. May we not therefore,\nfor a few moments, contemplate the eventful, and, to some, the\npleasant, yet to others the startling scene?\n\nThat the bodies of some who lived on this earth have already undergone\nthis great, and to us mysterious change of \"corruption putting on\nincorruption,\" and \"mortal putting on immortality,\" we cannot doubt.\nThis seems manifest in the case of Elijah, and so also, as seems\nevident, with Moses. And it will be remembered that these two appeared\nin their heavenly vestments; bright and shining, and stood with the\nSaviour when he was transfigured on the Mount. So also at the time of\nthe crucifixion of the Son of God. When, at the last moment of his\nexpiring agony he cried to his Father, with a loud voice, and gave up\nthe ghost; the earth did quake, and the rocks were rent, and the\ngraves were opened, \"and many bodies of the Saints that slept arose.\"\nAnd to make this--seeming mystery--more clear to those He had\ncommissioned to preach His everlasting gospel--the power of which\nshould be the resurrection from the dead--the Saviour himself, after\nHis body had risen from the grave, appeared unto them--His\ndisciples--and thus gave them a _visible manifestation_ of this\nwondrous truth, and re-commissioned them to go forth into all the\nworld and proclaim _his own resurrection_, and that by repentance and\nfaith all might come to a _resurrection of life_.\n\n\n\n\n_THE RESURRECTION._\n\n\nTherefore, behold, the time cometh when \"all that are in their graves,\nshall hear His voice\"--even the voice of God--and the angel shall\nsound the trumpet, and its tones of melody and the voice of love will\nmove earth and seas, from centre to circumference, and awake into\nimmortal life the decayed bodies and mouldering dust of His sleeping\nchildren. \"For the dead in Christ shall rise first,\" and \"blessed are\nthey who have part in the first resurrection, for on such the second\ndeath hath no power.\" \"They shall have a right to the tree of life.\"\nSee the myriads of sepulchres and graves opening, and saints rising in\nthe light of the \"glory of God,\" and millions of the sheeted dead--who\nhave slept beneath the bosom of \"deep blue seas;\" in the depths of\noceans, or were swept away by floods and flowing rivers--rising and\nriding in triumph upon the swelling, bright-crested waves which\nsparkle in the resplendent glory-light of heaven.\n\n \"See these all arrayed in white,\n Brighter than the noon-day sun.\"\n\nThese come forth at their Creator's call, and now at His bidding, the\nhappy reunion of the long separated partners--souls and bodies--takes\nplace, and the vast realm resounds with shouts of triumph and songs of\npraise. While the \"_Morning Stars_\" who sang the _pean_ of Creation,\nand the angelic host--who celebrated in the hill-country of Judea, the\nadvent of the Saviour on earth to ransom fallen man--join in melody\nand again swell the loud anthem, \"GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!\" Then\nshall be repeated the saying which was written, \"O death, where is thy\nsting? O grave, where is thy victory?\" \"Thanks be to God who giveth us\nthe victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.\" And, ascending again with\ntheir resurrected glorified bodies, the voice of the archangel\nGabriel--who sounded their resurrection trumpet--will be heard from\nthe portal of heaven, throughout the vast domain. BEHOLD THEY COME!\n\nWe would fain close this chapter with these delightful reflections,\nand leave the minds of all free from fearful apprehensions, and happy\nin the contemplation of a future resurrection to the enjoyment of a\nblissful immortality and eternal life. But the Laws of God are stern\nand inflexible in their requirements; His judgments sure; His\nrevelations plain, and all are in duty bound to contemplate them.\n\nWe have told you that at His _call_ \"the righteous shall come forth\nto a resurrection of life.\" And now we have to record the fact\nthat--at His _command_--\"the wicked shall come forth to a resurrection\nof damnation.\" To contemplate or depict the scene startles the mind,\nand baffles and beggars the human intellect.\n\nWe fancy a death-like silence prevails throughout the earth and seas,\nand the vast domain of Heaven. Songs of triumph, and shouts of joy, of\nboth saints and angels, have ceased for one hour of eternity. The\nJudge ascends His throne, from which to issue His command. The four\nand twenty Elders remove their glittering crowns of gold, and bow\nbefore Him. Moses and Elijah, and all the prophets, apostles, and\nmartyrs are there. There the redeemed of the Lord--whom no man can\nnumber--are assembled with legions of angels. All bow before the Lord,\nand \"there is silence in Heaven.\" Hark! the command was given! The\nvoice of the final judgment-trumpet; in thunder tones, waxes louder\nand louder! and seems to shake heaven itself, with its surrounding\nuniverse of worlds. It is the trumpet-voice of the \"WRATH OF GOD\"\nsummoning the wicked of a sin-cursed world, to arise and come to\njudgment.\n\nSee! the Earth is convulsed from the centre to its circumference, and\nis \"rocking to and fro, as a drunken man.\" Graves are opening on every\nhand, and from all the Earth, from deep dark seas and oceans' depths,\nbehold the pale, _ghastly_ multitudes coming forth, filled with terror\nand dismay. Mountains are sinking, and valleys rising, like surgings\nof contending billows; and their rocky foundations, though ten\nthousand feet deep, are breaking into fragments! A tempest of God's\nfiery indignation is smiting the Earth! Hear the muttering thunders of\nthe judgment storm! see the dread lightnings flashing amidst the\nsurrounding gloom! The internal magazine-fires of the Earth are\nbelching forth their molten lava, which is lifting the deep\nfoundations of seas and oceans into mountain-peaks, and rolling _fiery\nbillows_. See! behold! the Universal conflagration of the world! seas,\noceans, and all the Earth, one vast sheet of _flame_. While the angel\n(which John saw) \"_standing in the Sun_\" calls in thunder tones, ARISE\nYE DEAD AND COME TO JUDGMENT! And then swears by Him, that liveth\nforever and ever, \"TIME SHALL BE NO LONGER.\"\n\nThe unnumbered millions of resurrected bodies of the wicked would fain\nrefuse a reunion with their long lost souls, and fall back and be\nconsumed or annihilated by the raging elements. But now, for the\nwicked there is no place of safety. They refused the refuge once\nfreely offered them in the \"cleft side of the Redeemer,\" and trifled\naway their days of grace, and now the stern reality of the threatened\njudgment is upon them. Their souls, perhaps, have already suffered\nfor thousands of years in fiery torments, and now death and hell give\nup their dead to a reunion, that all may receive their final sentence\nfrom the \"Judge of quick and dead\" to depart and \"dwell in everlasting\nburnings.\"\n\nIn their direful extremity they would fain \"flee from the presence of\nGod.\" Hear them calling upon the fiery whirlwind-tempest of rocks, and\nmoving mountains \"to fall on them, and hide them from the face of Him\nthat sitteth on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,\" and\ncrying aloud, \"BEHOLD! THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH HAS COME; WHO SHALL\nBE ABLE TO STAND?\" Yet these fragments of a convulsed and dismembered\nuniverse are restrained from performing such office of mercy, and by\nthe Word--which created them--are hurled back into the raging chaotic\nstorm, to \"melt with fervent heat\" and mingle with the elements in the\nconvulsive throes of a _wrecked world_, which is being consumed by the\n\"SPIRIT-FIRES\" OF JEHOVAH'S WRATH.\n\n \"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death\n and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and I saw\n the dead small and great stand before God, and they were\n judged according to their works. And death and hell were\n cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And\n whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was\n cast into the lake of fire; and the same shall drink of the\n wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without\n mixture into the cup of His indignation. And I saw an angel\n standing in the Sun. And the fourth angel poured out his\n vial upon the Sun, and power was given unto him to scorch\n men with fire; and men were scorched with great heat. And\n they shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the\n presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the\n Lamb, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever\n and ever.\"\n\n\n\n\n_A SERIOUS CONTEMPLATION._\n\n\nThe contemplation of the final judgment, and the sentence to be passed\nupon the wicked, is truly a solemn one, and should startle every mind,\nBut oh, how few, comparatively, seem to stop and reflect upon this\nmomentous subject? And yet _all_ are rapidly hastening on to their\nfinal doom. Few are aware of the vast numbers that are passing from\ntime into eternity--even each year, each month, each day each hour, or\neach minute.\n\nWe will here state the numbers, as well ascertained, or approximated,\nby the ablest staticians of the world. They tell us there is one death\nfor every second of time, 60 every minute; 3,600 every hour; 84,400\nevery day; 2,595,000 every month; 31,140,000 every year, and a number\nequal to the entire population of the globe, _viz._: _one thousand\nmillions_ every thirty years. And we are forced to the conclusion,\nthat by far the larger portion of adults pass away without any\nconscious knowledge of the plan of salvation, or a tenable hope of\nheaven.\n\nReader, stop and reflect. No matter what your age, your condition of\nhealth, or in life, you, too, must soon know the realities of your\nfuture; your eternal state of existence.\n\nWe have heard the remark from the ungodly, that if they failed to\nreach heaven, they would, at least, \"be with a large crowd.\" Yes, we\nhave no doubt of it. For we read of \"legions of devils,\" and there\nwill also be legions from _earth_ to be tormented by them. Now we\nappeal to the reason of every intelligent mind, can you expect to\nenjoy happiness in your eternal existence, amid devouring flames?\n\nWe learn that devils are fallen angels. Once they enjoyed happiness in\nthat heavenly world, and were, doubtless, God's messengers; oft sent\nto different regions of His empire to do His pleasure. Yet viewing the\ngrandeur and glory of God, it appears that the great Dragon--who had\nthe control of many angels--enlisted them to sustain him in some\nunlawful usurpation. This was resisted by Michael and his angels, \"and\nthere was war in heaven.\" Michael and his angels prevailed, and the\ngreat Dragon, \"that old serpent called the devil, and satan, was cast\nout, and his angels were cast out with him;\" \"neither was their place\nfound any more in heaven.\" These, we learn, are the wicked spirits,\nwhich go to and fro, up and down, through the earth, tempting man to\nsin, and to do wickedly. Satan is the prince of the powers of\ndarkness, and he and his minions are ever arrayed against the prince\nof life and salvation. And man as a free moral agent--having life and\ndeath set before him--is left the free choice as to whom he will\nserve. If your choice be the God who created all things by the word of\nHis power, and whose glory is the light of eternal day, serve Him. But\nif Baal, the prince of darkness, whose reign is terror and death, then\nserve him. \"Ye cannot serve two masters at once.\"\n\nRemember! When death shall come and claim you for its victim, with the\ncessation of mortal life, there is cessation of all the sensations and\nfaculties of your _human nature_. You will not be moved upon to the\nenjoyment of pleasure by human passions or desires. These, as realized\nhere, will forever cease, and the spirit can no more be controlled by\nflesh and blood, nor by human desires. Yet that immortal\nprinciple--the soul--will be susceptible of ineffable happiness, or of\nintense misery. Will it be any comfort or pleasure to you to know that\nothers are, like yourself, doomed to suffer eternal torments? to\nwitness their agonies, and hear their wailings in that pandemonium of\nthe lost? Think for a moment, of the rich man--Dives--who realized\nthose torments. No hope for him in the future; his day of probation\nhad passed; his eternal state was fixed; yet he prayed Father Abraham\nto send Lazarus back to this world, to warn his five brethren, lest\nthey also should come to that place of torment. Remember, that as\ndeath leaves the body, so judgment finds the soul, for the prophet has\nwarned you that,\n\n \"There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in\n the grave whither thou goest.\"\n\n\n\n\n_THE FINAL JUDGMENT._\n\n\n\"_The Lord shall endure forever, he hath prepared his throne for\njudgment.\" \"We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.\"\n\"Then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.\"_\n\n_\"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books\nwere opened, * * * and the dead were judged out of those things which\nwere written in the books, according to their works.\"_\n\n_\"Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand: Come, ye\nblessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the\nfoundation of the world;\" * * * \"an entrance shall be administered\nunto you abundantly;\" * * * \"enter ye in through the gates into the\ncity;\" * * * \"enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\"_\n\n_\"Then shall he say also unto them on his left hand: Depart from me,\nye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his\nangels.\" \"These shall go into everlasting punishment, but the\nrighteous into life eternal.\"_\n\n\n\n\n_A HOME IN HEAVEN._\n\n\nOur pilgrimage on earth is one of unrest, is one of toil, sorrow, and\naffliction. Here we have no abiding place, \"no continuing city.\" Our\n\"days on earth are few, and are full of trouble.\" There is no\npermanency here. From the time of the first infant breath and short\nunconscious slumber on a mother's bosom to the latest hour and moment\nof life, we are ever restless and moving onward, and endure all the\ndisquietude and sufferings of mind and body incident to our mortal\nexistence. The original sin of our first parents, blighted all hope of\npermanence or enduring happiness on this earth. At the time of their\nfall, God pronounced as to our existence here, saying: \"Cursed is the\nground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of\nthy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. In the\nsweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the ground;\nfor out of it wast thou taken: dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou\nreturn.\" \"And the spirit shall return to God who gave it.\"\n\nYet to the true and faithful followers of the blessed Redeemer--who\nransomed the world by the pouring out of His own blood, and opened up\na way whereby we may escape the further penalties of a violated\nlaw--rest will come by-and-by. \"There is rest for the weary,\" and\nmansions prepared for them in the \"City of God,\" in that better world.\nRemember, the Saviour said:\n\n \"I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there ye\n may also be. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of\n the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of\n God. The same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will\n not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will\n confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He\n that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his\n God, and he shall be my son.\" \"WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM\n COME.\" \"I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain\n of the _water of life_ freely.\" \"THEY SHALL LIVE FOR EVER\n AND EVER.\"\n\nThere the redeemed of the Lord shall, with their blessed Saviour,\n\"inherit the kingdom,\" where the glory of God illumines the \"city,\"\nand throws its radiance over all the vast realm. O what a delightful\nplace for a permanent \"_Home!_\" How singularly different it contrasts\nwith our residence on earth. Here we have to endure toil, pain, and\ndeath; there, rest, happiness, and eternal life. See here the\ncare-worn, weary husband, toiling and striving against contending\nbillows and waves of misfortune, to earn a support for a helpless,\ndependent family; perhaps his strivings are the more difficult because\nof pain of body or anguish of mind. Disease in some form may be\npreying upon his vitality, even through long years of existence, and\nhe knows that it will eventually conquer, and consign him to his\ngrave. Or, if bodily health prevails, the mind may be tortured and\ndistracted at witnessing the sufferings of a beloved wife, or\nchildren, as one by one they are smitten down or snatched away by\ndeath; or still more poignant the grief and anguish he endures because\nof the alienation of affections, or family tumults, of strifes and\ncontentions. See that wife and mother lingering by the bedside of a\ndevoted, yet now dying husband, or clasping to her tortured and\nheaving bosom the lifeless form of a beloved child, and yet powerless\nto save the one or call back the other. These are the heart-struggling\nin the tempest of life. Soon they will be over. A few years more, at\nmost, and then all will be still; this mortality will be silent in the\ngrave.\n\nBut of that \"home in heaven.\" \"Glorious things are spoken of thee, O\nCity of God.\" There love, peace, and joy forever reigns. There is the\n\"full fruition\" and realization of \"the hope of the glory of God.\"\nThere \"their lines have fallen to them in pleasant places.\" There they\nrealize \"fulness of joy,\" and their heritage \"pleasures for evermore.\"\nThere they find \"that inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled,\nand that fadeth not away.\" There they have a home in an enduring city,\nwhose foundations are eternal. There the palms of victory; and crowns\nof glory. There they walk the gold-paved streets of the city, or\nwander at pleasure in the 'Garden of the Lord,' or amidst forests\ngreen, or pleasant groves. There the crystal fountains play their\nsparkling waters in the light of eternal day, and the \"river of life\"\nflows \"from beneath the throne of God,\" onward and onward, meandering\nthrough, and encircling the vast realm of that heavenly empire. There\nperennial spring, and never-fading flowers. There old age and\ndecrepitude are never known, but all clothed upon with \"garments of\nrighteousness,\" will live and dwell in perpetual immortal youth,\nthrough the ever-recurring cycles of endless eternity. Angels of God\nare there. The Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs are there; ministers of\nGod are there; some of our kindred friends are there; others of them\nwill _soon_ be there. The redeemed of earth, who were accepted of the\nLord are there, and the remainder of the \"ransomed hosts,\" are now\npressing on, or coming after, and _will all be there_, and form an\ninnumerable company which no one can number, each can form pleasant\nassociations there, never to be broken up, \"For nothing shall disturb\nin all the holy mountains.\" Reader, are you striving for that HAPPY\nHOME?\n\n\n\n\n_CONCLUSIVE AND CONCLUDING ARGUMENT._\n\n\nThe Sun is held by all Philosophers and Astronomers to be the central\npivot of the solar system, and the _loadstone power of attraction_,\nwhich governs, steadies, and controls all its surrounding\nplanet-worlds in their orbits. So great is its power of attraction,\nthat a counter-balancing force was necessary to keep the machinery of\nNature in order. This force is produced by the attracting power of the\nvarious planet-worlds, placed in proper positions in surrounding\nspace, and thus furnishing the _centrifugal_, to counterbalance the\n_centripetal_ force _ascribed_ to the Sun, by which means our earth,\nand the other planets, are kept whirling in their elliptical orbits,\nand thus each prevented from being drawn by the superior centripetal\nor attracting power of that globe into certain destruction by the\nfires of the _Sun_.\n\nThis is the hypothesis, we believe, of every Philosopher and\nAstronomer of the present day.\n\nNow let us examine this hypothesis, and see if it does not foreshadow\nand sustain our own.\n\nIn the first place, it is _true_ that the _\"loadstone power of\nattraction\" is there_: but it is _within_ what all denominate the SUN,\nand by _this_ the surrounding planets are controlled. But this power\n_is not the Sun_. For what all denominate the Sun, is that which gives\nout light and heat. The Sun is _fire_, _heat_, and _brightness_ or\nlight. Fire, or heat, is _ethereal_; has no such power of attraction:\nbut on the contrary, is repelling and dissipating. There is no solid\nsubstance in fire; it is an invisible agency--save when it is\nconcentrated. It would be an unreasonable hypothesis to conclude that\nthe fires of the Sun were fed on combustible material. The Sun may\nhave been just the same as it is now, for untold _billions of\nyears_--possibly from all eternity--and God, by His Word has revealed\nthe fact that it will continue forever--even as long as His throne.\nHence, if produced by combustion, its material would be constantly\nwasting away, and, as Prof. Olmsted says, \"the products of combustion\nwould obscure its light.\" Therefore, as there is no tangible source,\nand all agree that God Himself was, and still is its source, we hold that\nour hypothesis, that it is a fixed volume of _Photospheric-ethereal_, or\n_spirit-fire_, is correct. That it is one of Jehovah's attributes; ever\nexisting and performing its offices in creative and enduring Nature;\nnever increasing nor diminishing.\n\nNow, this being the only reasonable, and--as we believe--correct\nhypothesis, of the origin, nature, and element of the _Sun_--the Sun\nbeing the brightness we see in looking at it--_where_ and _what is the\nloadstone power of attraction_, which reaches out millions of miles\ninto space, and controls vast worlds, steadying each in its own\norbital path, while they are flying round at the rate of from fifty\nthousand, to one hundred thousand miles an hour? We think the answer\nplain, and that all can comprehend it. This Earth is a solid body, and\n_all such_ possess, within themselves, the power of attraction.\nTherefore, the laws of Nature reveal the fact to us, that _the great\ncentral and controlling power of attraction_ attributed to the _Sun_,\nis the vast INNER GLOBE we have been contemplating; a globe, or world,\nmore than a million times the size of this Earth. Leading Astronomers\nhave agreed on the existence of such a body within; and far\nseparated--by a non-luminous atmosphere or void--from the outer\n_photosphere of ethereal fire_. That globe we hold is--_beyond a\ndoubt_--the \"HEAVENLY WORLD\" spoken of throughout the Holy Scriptures,\nand is the final and eternal home of the righteous.\n\nWe see wisdom displayed, and find law and order in every thing we\ncomprehend which pertains to God and Nature. Phenomena, which for long\nages were mysteries, are now, through the lights of science, being\nfully comprehended and made plain to all. And, by reasoning from\nanalogy, new arts and sciences are comprehended, while each additional\nlight gained flashes upon some other hidden mystery, and reveals in it\nnothing but _law_ and _order_, in all its arrangements.\n\nThe progress made of late in the arts and sciences is wonderful\nindeed; yet this is only the progress of the mind of man, and the\nenlightenment of his intellect. And we believe that the next decade of\nyears will develop _facts_ which might startle the minds of the wisest\nof to-day to contemplate.\n\nThat vast world--surrounded by the Sun--controls this Earth and its\nother surrounding planets. From that world, and Sun--in its\noffices--we derive every blessing while on Earth, and we cannot doubt\nbut that when we find our future, IT WILL BE THERE. The righteous to\ndwell _within_ where, we have shown you, the Sun does not or cannot\nshine; but where the _glory of God_ is the light of the holy place,\nand yet we have the evidence that one of the offices of the _Sun_ will\nbe the punishment of the wicked who cannot enter that HEAVENLY WORLD.\n\n\"_Whoso is wise will observe these things._\" Psalms, cvii.\n\n\n\n\n_WILL ALL TAKE HEED?_\n\n * * * * * *\nGentle reader, we are about to take our leave\nof you. We have penned the lines which compose this volume at short\nintervals obtained recently from a laborious professional life. Our\nmind has been duly impressed with the correctness of the views we have\nadvanced. Indeed, to disbelieve them, would seem to disbelieve Divine\nrevelations, and let the mind become again shrouded with impenetrable\nmystery in regard to the place of our future habitation, and of the\nmanner and mode of the spirit's transit thither after the death of the\nbody. All should remember that they will be held accountable for the\nlight and knowledge they receive.\n\nWe feel fully assured that our hypothesis as to the location of\nHeaven--as also that of Hell--is well founded and fully sustained by\nGod's own revelations, both as recorded in the Bible, and as seen in\nvisible nature. As to the \"Spirit of God as fire,\" we have presented\nsuch evidence as Divine revelations have furnished us, and only added\nto these such as _reason_, as the perceptive faculties of all, do or\nmay comprehend, and we do not see wherein the _Christian World_ can\nfound any objections to our conclusions.\n\nThat there might be culled from the Bible a few passages which may\nseem not to reflect our views is natural, when we consider how it is\ninterspersed with the views and versions of various historical writers\nin the chronicling of events. But we believe Divine revelations\nfurnish sufficient _positive evidence_ to sustain us; such evidence as\nthe _reason_ of every enlightened and reflecting mind will comprehend\nand approve. We believe this knowledge should--nay, doubtless,\n_will_--have a salutary and beneficial effect upon the minds and\nhearts of all. We now leave all as a _personal matter with you_. That\nyou _will have a future_ you cannot doubt. We therefore beseech you to\nremember \"that God will not be mocked\" with impunity; neither can he\nbe deceived.\n\n\"_For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that\nsoweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that\nsoweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting._\"\n\nHear the Preacher of God (Eccl. xii. 13, 14):\n\n\"_Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep\nHis commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall\nbring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be\ngood, or whether it be evil._\"\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nAPPEAL\n\nTO\n\nCHRISTIAN MINISTERS.\n\n\nIt might reasonably be expected that as we have advanced a new\nhypothesis as to the location of _Heaven_, and also of _Hell_, that we\nshould also give our views as to what we deem the correct faith and\nprinciples of the _true Christian Religion_. You will see in our\n\"_Preface_\" that we have not designed to make our book sectarian in\nbehalf of any one of the different Protestant organizations. And, not\nbeing a minister of the Gospel, we leave the great and important work\nof thus directing the mind to those whose rightful mission it is to\ninstruct. True, our views upon this subject are foreshadowed in these\npages, but we believe the time has now come when there should be a\n_general review_ by all leading Divines. That they should take under\nconsideration all new lights afforded by the sciences--especially the\nscience of Astronomy--and bring these to bear with philosophical\nreason upon Divine Revelations and Bible truths; and thereby\ncomprehend more fully the nature of God, and his requirements of man\nin order to salvation. We think that by such action on their part,\nthat most, even if not all of the minor sectarian differences of\nopinion can be removed, and that all can unite as one great Family of\nthe Church of God on Earth; and that mysteries which have hitherto\nshrouded the minds of the masses--as to the necessary faith and\npractice in a true religion--may thereby be removed, and all the world\nof mankind be brought to a saving knowledge of the truth, and \"know\nthe Lord, whom to know aright is Eternal Life.\"\n\nWe know that, at first thought, this may seem to be a great\nundertaking; and, however desirable, some may entertain doubts as to\nits accomplishment, and therefore hesitate to move in the matter; yet\nwe believe that it can, and, sooner or later, will be accomplished,\nand that the final results will prove worthy the life efforts of every\nChristian minister on this Earth.\n\nNeither ministers, their flocks, nor the entire human family now on\nthe Earth, have long to live, nor time to delay in this great matter.\nOne decade of _ten_ short years, and about _one third of all now\nliving_ will have passed away, while _thirty years_ will close the\ndrama of life with _one thousand millions_, or most of the present\ninhabitants of this globe, and all must find their future state of\nexistence. Many of us can look back over thirty years past, and\nrealize that the time has been _short_. So, also, will be the few\nremaining years allotted to any of us. Therefore, it becomes all to\nheed well the warning voice of Him who hath said:\n\n\"_Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there\nis no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave,\nwhither thou goest._\"\n\nAll the different church organizations _cannot be right_ in their\npresent faith and practice, however lenient they may profess to be\ntoward each other, or even _hope_ that such is the case. This were\nimpossible. God has designed to establish _one true universal Church_\non this Earth, and HE WILL DO IT, though it should sweep away every\nsuch organization now in existence, and even obliterate their every\nland-mark. We do not say that there is not now in each, more or less,\nof the germ of _truth_, nor that from these scattered fragments may\nnot yet be gathered that which shall constitute the body and life of\nthe whole. There may be a struggle first with the powers of darkness,\nyet this GREAT CHURCH WILL BE ESTABLISHED AND PREVAIL.\n\nThe lights of true science, which are revealing more fully God's own\nrevelations, we believe, will _force_ a change to a more _universal\nsystem of religion_. The mind will comprehend more of the Great\nJehovah, and of His will and plan of salvation. Therefore, we believe\nit to be the duty of all Christian ministers to move in this matter.\nThey should investigate and comprehend all the new lights afforded\nthem, and thereby be enabled to make plain the revelations of God;\nremove all mystery; establish His Eternal Truth, and teach all minds\nand hearts to \"look up through Nature to Nature's God.\"\n\nThis will not be the work of only a day, or a week, nor yet of any one\nindividual; but the work of _time_, with the _united efforts_ of\nleading minds of the age, and we hope that its commencement will not\nlong be delayed.\n\nIt must be acknowledged that the _plans_ of salvation, as now taught\nby the many different Protestant Church organizations, are all, more\nor less, mystery to the outside world. Hence, _Infidelity_ has in this\nhighly colored reasons--at least to sustain their assertions against\nthe _truth_ of the _Christian religion_, and so also have the JEWS.\nThis fact no one can reasonably deny. The mind of man--his thinking,\n_reasoning_ faculty--must be convinced by evidence before he can be\nbrought to believe, and in this great and important matter he _must\nbelieve_ before he will act.\n\nThe _Mind_ must be left free and _untrammelled_, and governed only by\n_enlightened reason_. This should be the course pursued by all\nteaching ministers. LIGHT, LIBERTY, and ETERNAL LIFE should be the\nwatchwords of those who stand upon the \"Walls of Zion!\" The mind must\nbe taught to _love_ God in all His Immaculate perfections, and to\nserve Him through that love which \"_casteth out all fear_.\" St. Paul\nsays, \"_God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and\nof_ LOVE _and of a sound mind._\" John tells us, \"_There is no fear in\nlove; but perfect love casteth out all fear; because fear hath\ntorment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love._\" And yet in\nPERFECT LOVE, we shall _always_ have the \"fear of God before our\neyes;\" we shall ever fear to offend Him, and thereby fulfil every\ncommandment given us _to_ fear Him. But \"HE THAT DWELLETH IN GOD,\nDWELLETH IN LOVE.\"\n\nWe believe that if the Christian ministry throughout would properly\npresent the claims of God to the _love_ of the human heart, there\nwould soon be a turning of the masses to Him, such as has never been\nwitnessed since the beginning of the world.\n\nThat by the teachings of so many different creeds, their widely\ndifferent faith and doctrines, the mind of man in general has become\nbewildered; and that mystery, deep, dark, almost impenetrable,\nhangs--more or less--over all, we cannot deny. See the numerous\ndifferent Church organizations, founded and presided over by men of\nintellect and learning; each claiming to be established by _Scriptural\nauthority!_ and yet in their faith and teachings, all conflicting,\nmore or less, with each other. We cannot doubt the honesty and\nsincerity of these ministers, nor of their church members; yet may\nnot many of them be \"blind leaders of the blind?\" To each of these,\nall other organizations, faith, and doctrine seem a mystery; and if a\nmystery to those who are striving after light and truth in the way of\nlife and salvation, is it not far more of mystery to those outside,\nwho have not been educated into any system of religious belief? The\ntruth is, _enlightened reason_ condemns this exhibition as the \"Church\nof God,\" for it has become \"a stumbling block\" in the road to truth\nand the way of salvation. When we go to the founders and leaders of\nthese different organizations, and ask, why all these conflicting\nelements? the majority of them will answer, remember that Christ hath\nsaid, \"I am the vine, ye are the branches,\" and add a garbled\nquotation from the writings of St. Paul, \"_Great is the mystery of\ngodliness_.\"\n\nNow there is but one _true vine_, and all its branches will bring\nforth the same \"good fruits of righteousness\" by which all shall be\nknown. And as to _mystery_, let us see what the great apostle of the\nGentiles did say.\n\n\"_And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was\nmanifested in the flesh, justified in the_ _Spirit, seen of angels;\npreached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up\ninto glory._\"\n\nThere we have all of it, and, taken together, it explains itself to\nevery intelligent mind, and thus, properly comprehended, removes _all\nmystery_, and implies the necessary faith and plan of salvation.\n\n\nFORESHADOWINGS.\n\nThe \"signs of the times\" are pregnant with coming and wonderful\nevents. The rapid progress of mind, the developments through the\nsciences--which are now throwing flood-lights upon Divine revelations,\nand giving to the enlightened world a more comprehensive knowledge of\nthe Great Jehovah, and of His wonderful works--are all potent with\nargument of the necessity that the effort for a UNITED CHURCH should\nspeedily be made. A partial comprehension of these wonderful\ndevelopments, without further aids, may tend to throw doubt and\nsuspicion upon the minds of many, as to whether or not any of the\nChristian organizations have comprehended the true plan of salvation.\nWhilst a divided church, a divided ministry, and their opposite\nteachings can but tend to strengthen such doubts, bewilder the mind,\nand lead to _Infidelity_.\n\nNow it rests with leading spirits and teachers of _every_ Christian\ndenomination--whether _Protestant_ or _Catholic_--to say whether this\nadvance shall be made in behalf of _true religion_: the Church of God,\nand the salvation of souls, or in the interest of Satan, the opposing\nenemy; whether this advance shall be true _Christianity_, or\n_Infidelity_; whether the upbuilding of the Kingdom of Christ, and\nhastening the time when He shall reign in the hearts of all; or, by\nindifference and default, permitting the upbuilding of _Babylon_, and\nthe reseating of the \"SCARLET WOMAN,\" _and_ thus tenfold intensifying\nthe great and _final struggle_.\n\nThere is a _true philosophy_ in religion, and by instructing the mind\nto comprehend this, the final happy results will ensue.\n\nWe often hear ministers praying for the time to come \"when the world\nshall be converted to God; when all shall know Him from the least unto\nthe greatest.\" They claim the promise that such a time _will come_,\nand yet can but see that wickedness is gaining ground, and that within\ntheir church organizations they do not number _one third of the\npopulation_--even in what are denominated Christian countries, nor do\nthey keep pace with the increase of population, and yet they seem\ncontented with their \"little flocks.\"\n\nYe ministers of the \"LIVING GOD,\" if ye have come to \"Mount Zion\" by\nfaith and prayer, and \"holy living,\" we call upon you to unite your\nefforts in the spirit of _brotherly love_ and CHRISTIAN UNITY, and\nshow to a \"perishing world\" that you are in _earnest_ in your Master's\ncause, and that you desire the salvation of the _whole human family_,\nelse He may say to you, \"_I will come quickly, and will remove thy\ncandlestick out of his place._\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn regard to the theory we have advanced as to the location of Heaven,\nwe leave you, and all, to examine the revelations of God through the\nlights of science; Nature around you, and with _reason_ bearing upon\nthe fact that God, the Great Jehovah, the Creator of all, though a\n_Spirit_, is not a _myth_; and that reality, law, order, and system\nuniversally prevail throughout all His works, and with these He\ngoverns His Universe.\n\nGod's own revelations, the lights afforded through the sciences,\nNature around us, true philosophy and reason, all confirm our\nhypothesis. Cut loose now from this, and we can anchor nowhere, save\nin a blind incomprehensible faith, ever floating and drifting as in a\n_sea of ether_, and surrounded by impenetrable _mystery_ and _gloom_.\n\nAll hold and teach that the spirit, when it leaves the body, flies\naway from _mortality_ and Earth, and goes to the place prepared for it\nby its Creator. The celerity with which spirit moves we do not now\nknow, but the reality and law of its flight does exist, and this by\nGod's own arrangement and established agency in Nature. That such\nagency is continually with us, and ready at all times for the use of\ndisembodied spirit, we cannot doubt--nay, possibly its principle or\nelement is _in_ and _of_ us, from the first moment of our existence,\nthrough all subsequent time, and will continue to all eternity to\ncome.\n\nThe _blood_ is the life of man, its element or stimul\u00e6 of life is\n_electricity_, let this but escape from the blood, and with it the\nsoul or spirit has fled, and the body is left to moulder back to dust.\nWe find electricity to be a principle of _immateriality_; an element\nof _fire_, which pervades all things, in a greater or less degree, not\nonly solids and fluids, but also atmosphere or air.\n\nNow let us consider this element which God has permitted man to\ncomprehend as existing in nature, and yet veils it from our sight,\nand, although he permits us to use it for beneficial purposes, yet we\ncan never see or comprehend more than its _effects_, for, in itself,\nit is _ethereal_ and no mortal eye can behold it. Man has not only\nbeen permitted to comprehend that the principle of electricity does\nexist in Nature, but also to measure, by time, its rapid flight. Thus,\nwith proper appliances, this Earth can be belted with it in about _one\ntenth_ part of a second of time. It would seem to almost annihilate\ntime, and space, as its flight is nearly 300,000 miles a second--being\nmore than one third swifter than _light_.\n\nIn preceding pages, we have dwelt upon the distance of our Earth from\nthe Sun, and also distances to various planets, and to some of the\nfixed stars, and _nebul\u00e6_, far away in sidereal regions. We have given\nyou the conclusions of the most scientific Astronomers throughout the\nworld. Their measurement of distances by light have been shown to\napproximate correctness, and the truth of their deductions we cannot\ndoubt. They have explored regions so far remote, that it is rendered\ncertain that it has required _light several hundred thousand years_\nfrom the time it left its native Sun, to reach our Earth, and that\nthese rays travelling from thence, are now successively arriving and\nbeaming upon the eye when it is placed to the telescope. Indeed, from\none cluster of suns, or nebul\u00e6, beyond the \"milky way,\" it is computed\nthat the light derived from thence has been 700,000 years in transit,\nalthough travelling at the rate of 192,000 miles a second.\n\nNow all these facts are astounding, and must impress every reflecting\nmind with force. All can see that Astronomers, by the aid of that\nwonderful gift of God to man--the telescope--have looked abroad, and\nhave penetrated and surveyed with the eye space far remote in sidereal\nregions, to the extent of which it would require 300,000 years for\n_electricity_ to reach at a flight of 300,000 miles a second, and yet\nthey have not discovered any thing greatly different from our own\nplanetary system, nor any object or seeming phenomenon they could\ndenominate _heaven_. Without a solution of these facts, is not the\nmind bewildered and _lost_ in the hazy contemplation? If heaven is\nstill _far out beyond_, what period or measure of Eternity may it\nrequite for the spirit, or soul to reach it after leaving the body?\nKnowing that there is stern reality, regulated law, order, and motion\nin all pertaining to Jehovah, His creations and government; even the\n_mind of faith_ staggers, and must founder in the contemplation of\nconceptions so mighty and so mysterious.\n\nYou have taught us to believe that heaven is a \"fixed place,\" and has\na \"permanent locality,\" but while accepting this through faith, you\nhave failed to give us a _permanent thought_. Therefore,\nnotwithstanding all our hopes and desires, _mystery_ and _gloom, dark\nand impenetrable_, have shrouded the mind's eye of faith; leaving no\nlight but an excited and restless _imagination_, and we call upon you\nto give _faith_ and _hope_ a _resting-place_ somewhere else than\nfloating in _ethereal regions_, and wandering about with _blind chance\nthrough illimitable space_.\n\nOur hypothesis locates heaven just where _we believe it is_, and _to\nit_ the spirit can ascend, on _angel-wings of electricity_, in a\nfraction of eternity equal to only _five minutes of time_. And,\nalthough discoveries through the lights of science directed our mind\nthither, and assisted its comprehension, yet we believe _Divine\nRevelations alone sustain our views_, and thus afford the mind a\nresting place where _faith_ and _hope_ can anchor, and be founded in\nreality, in _immutable and_ ETERNAL TRUTH. The laws of Nature, the\ncontrolling influence of that world, our perceptive faculties and\n_reason_, all proclaim that it must be so. Its protecting fires shield\nit from mortal sight, yet proclaim to us through ten thousand\nblessings showered upon our earth, _'tis there!_ 'TIS THERE!!\n\n * * * * *\n\nAre any ready to ask why the \"_glory-light_\" of that heavenly world,\nrepresented as \"far above the brightness of the Sun\" cannot be seen?\nSuch inquiry must exhibit a lack of knowledge respecting the nature of\nGod, the GREAT SPIRIT; as also of any proper conception of the\nimmortal spirit of man. That light is _for spirit alone_, and cannot\nbe seen by mortal eyes, and that which is darkness to us while our\nsight is veiled with mortality, so far as relates to that heavenly\nworld and our future, becomes--after the death of the body--transcendent\nbrilliancy, and the light of the \"glory of God.\"\n\nWe have abundant evidence of this fact. Remember that when the Great\nJehovah made His presence manifest on Mount Sinai, although the\nmountain burned with fire, yet--to mortal vision--all the surroundings\nwere filled with \"thick clouds and darkness.\" Yea, \"clouds and\ndarkness were made His pavilion,\" and, to mortal eyes, \"_are the\nhabitations of His throne_.\"\n\nThe light of the \"_glory of God_\" is for spirit alone, and _its_\nradiance will make even the light of the _Sun_ darkness to the\n_spirit-eye_. It is possible that should He unveil Himself, and throw\na flash of His _glory-light_ upon this world, it would in an instant\nof time destroy the whole race of man, and every living thing, for He\nhath said, \"_No one shall see me and live._\"\n\nWe have on record evidences sustaining our views in regard to such\neffects, should the light and brightness of His face or glory be\nrevealed. See the effects of the light of His glory, even in a veiled\nform, when the Son of God made himself manifest from heaven (that\nbright world we have been contemplating, wherein he is enthroned, and\nwhere all the righteous shall dwell) to Saul of Tarsus; although He\ndid not unveil himself, yet \"_a light above the brightness of the Sun\nat mid-day shone around, and Saul fell to the earth smitten with\nblindness_.\" Yes, this glory-light _is darkness_ to mortal eyes; and\nwhen beheld by spirit, the light of the _Sun_ may even be darkness.\nSee again its effects upon St. John, the revelator, when, catching but\na glimpse of the Son of man in the midst of the golden candlesticks,\nhe \"_fell at his feet as dead_.\" Ah, it is possible that all seeming\n_natural light_ to us, while in mortality, may become as _darkness_ to\nour spirit vision; and we are assured by the word of God, that none\nshall see the light of His glory save those who seek regeneration\nthrough LOVE and FAITH, for the wicked shall go into _outer darkness_,\nand dwell forever in death, while the righteous shall enter into and\nenjoy eternal life.\n\nOur hypothesis is a pleasing one for the contemplation of every\nChristian, and yet cannot interfere in the least with the doctrines of\nany who believe there is a heaven. And he who believeth not in either\nGod or heaven, has lost the intellectual dignity of man in proper\nconceptions, and knoweth not even now \"what manner of man he is.\"\n\nWe have given something tangible upon which to fix the mind, and which\nwill inspire hope; something of _reality_ that all may contemplate.\nRemember that we are not forbidden to investigate, nor yet form\nconclusions founded on reason; neither is it declared that we shall\nnot _know_ the location of our future home.\n\nFrom all that man can comprehend of nature, _reason_ teaches him to\nlook for and find--if not in life, _after death_--his future home\nsomewhere in connection with our own planetary system. This system is\nlarge and grand enough to justify all our aspirations, and satisfy all\nour hopes and desires. The extent, grandeur, and glory of the heaven\nwe have contemplated, will fully satisfy the immortal mind of man,\neven as it does the \"angels of God,\" and its King and Ruler, and we\nmay all consider ourselves fortunate to get there.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe have written our book, and thrown out these suggestions with purest\nof motives. From the first conception of the idea of heaven being\nwhere, in mind, we locate it, we have felt impressed with the\ncorrectness of our views; so much so, that it impelled us to make the\neffort to give them to the world, believing that in doing so we should\nadvance the true theory which would sustain Christianity, and cause it\nto spread and triumph over all opposition; give \"to faith that _hope_\nwhich is an anchor to the soul,\" and draw the hearts and minds of all\nto _love_ God, and yet in that love _fear_ to offend Him.\n\nWe have refrained from consulting the clergy or ministers of _any_ and\nevery denomination in this matter, desiring simply to give our own\nviews. We now ask of you all a prayerful and thorough examination by\nthe evidences of Divine Revelations and all other lights afforded you;\nand if you discard our views as to the location of heaven, be\n_careful_ and _explicit_ in giving us _your hypothesis_ as to the one\nyou are inviting us to, and _locate it_ where the _mind of reason_ can\ncontemplate it, and where _hope_ may span the voyage _the soul must\nmake_ to reach it after the death of the body.\n\n\n\n\nAPPEAL TO ALL:\n\nWHETHER JEWS OR GENTILES, PROTESTANTS, CATHOLICS, INFIDELS, OR\nINDIFFERENT BELIEVERS.\n\n\nWe desire the salvation of the entire human family. We believe that\nGod has provided a way and plan of salvation by which all should gain\na true and saving knowledge of Him; and we have _appealed_ to\nChristian ministers to unite their efforts in prayerful investigation\nof His revelations through all new lights afforded them, and to point\nout to all, the plain path of _duty_ and _safety_--but not in any wise\nlabor under the false or mistaken belief that they can stand as _sole\nmediator_, or umpire, between God and the souls of men, and, at their\nown will or pleasure, mete out to them eternal happiness or misery.\nSuch as do this \"are blind leaders of the blind,\" and their doctrine\na _fatal delusion_.\n\nWe believe in a living, teaching ministry; and, where heart and life\nis fully consecrated to God and His cause, all such may feel that they\nare divinely called and commissioned. We hold that such a ministry\nshould be sustained, and that all should give liberally out of their\nabundance, to secure them against want or contingencies which might\nretard or prevent their usefulness.\n\nBut our appeal is now to you, in regard to your own _individual\nresponsibility_. Each has an immortal soul, which must be saved or\nlost. No one, save Christ Jesus our Lord, can stand as mediator in\nbehalf of any to insure salvation or heaven. Popes, bishops,\nministers, and priests _are but men_, and are mortal like ourselves.\nThey may, by application to study and investigation, gain light and\nknowledge--nay, should do it, so as to instruct us in the way of life\nand salvation, but further than this they cannot go. We have no\nevidence, neither in the Old or New Testament Scriptures, where, by\nintercession of _man alone_, salvation or heaven was ever obtained by\nan unbelieving heart.\n\nWe see that, under the earlier dispensation, Moses was the chosen\nservant of God, and divinely commissioned as _High-Priest_ to the\nchildren of Israel. Yet when they sinned, and Jehovah's wrath was\nkindled against them, Moses made _direct intercession_ in their\nbehalf, and even plead, saying: \"_If thou wilt not forgive them, blot\nme, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written._\" Hear the\nanswer of the Lord: \"_Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I\nblot out of my book; * * * * mine angel shall go before thee;\nnevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sins upon\nthem._\" Thus, although His judgments were stayed for a season, because\nof His covenant, yet their final execution was certain.\n\nWe are assured by the Scriptures that there is \"_One God_\" and \"_One\nMediator_,\" and we may go to God through faith in this _One Mediator_,\nand that all who go thus shall obtain eternal life. We have record of\nthe efficacy of this faith in the application of the dying thief. When\nhe had signified his belief, hear the answer of the Saviour: \"_To-day\nshalt thou be with me in Paradise._\" Oh, how plain the plan of\nsalvation!\n\nAll nature proclaims there is a God. His revelations proclaim an\neternal existence of the soul. We all know that we _must die_. However\ndisappointed we may be in our earthly hopes or fears, yet as to the\ncertainty of death none will be disappointed--_it is sure to come_.\nWhen the angel of death is commissioned to summon us, soon \"_the pale\nhorse and his rider_\" will be at the door; then there can be no delay.\n\"_Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return._\" \"_And the soul\nshall return to God who gave it._\" \"_It is appointed unto men once to\ndie, but after this the judgment._\"\n\nWhat can you _lose_ by giving your heart to God? What may you not lose\nby neglecting to do it? It is _all gain_ and _no loss_. May you all\nyield to the gentle drawings of the spirit, which now whispers to your\nheart in loving tones with accents of _mercy_, and your spirits\nfinally be gathered in the fold of angels' wings, and by them borne to\nthe Paradise of God, where His glory is the light of eternal day.","title":"The Spirit of God as Fire; the Globe Within the Sun Our Heaven","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":49300}