We will now proceed to show the correspondence that exists between this statement, and what have been recognized in the theories of the philosophers as the general forms and laws of the Universe. With regard to the Material Sphere in this classification, we find that the elements here stated are precisely the same as those which have been recognized in Philosophy as the most external material forces of the Universe. The classification here made of them will be seen to agree with their obvious relationship, and also with the laws of our science, because Light and Heat plainly correspond with intellective and affective principles, and constitute a male sphere representing the Infinite; Air and Water correspond with intellectual and affectional principles, and constitute a female sphere representing the Finite; and Material Substance is an active, constructive sphere, through which these dualistic principles are combined and manifested in a manner representing Spiritual Life through Marriage: while the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Forms of Nature- which are the incarnating mediums in this substance, and the forms through which it operates — are related as soul, body, and spirit; the soul being vital, the body destructive, and the spirit productive. As a further illustration of the laws of our science, each one of these material principles is a threefold substance, in which the union of opposite elementary powers corresponding with Infinite and Finite is produced, and a perfect individuality of soul, body, and spirit, related as vital, destructive, and productive, is realized. Thus we find that Water appears to be composed of two imperceptible gases called Oxygen and Hydrogen, and that Air appears to be composed of Oxygen and Nitrogen; the first element in each being known to possess a vital, and the second a destructive character. We say that they appear to be so composed, because in their decomposition the vital principle, by which these opposite elements are united, disappears. It is true that the first element in each of these substances, when not accompanied by its opposite, produces a deleterious effect upon the forms of animal life; but this, instead of invalidating, tends to confirm our position, that all Existence is realized from the union of opposites, because it shows that the combination of these opposite elements in a productive material substance is necessary to the realization of a healthy material condition. Besides, the first of these elements has always been recognized as vital, and the second as destructive. With regard to Light, the following extract from " Field's Chromotography," which is one of the most celebrated works

upon the subject of Colors, will show that the composition of Light is perfectly analogous to that of the other elements here. mentioned:

"Yet sensible light is not a simple substance, but an effect of the concurrence of two elementary powers, one of which is the active or vital principle of light, and the other passive or re-active, and to be regarded as the principle of shade or darkness; the first coincident, if not identical, with the oxygen of the chemist, and the other with the hydrogen: and however exceptionable this may be to those who have been accustomed to regard darkness as a mere privation of light, yet, as respects the artist, a principle of darkness, blackness, or shade, is as essential as the principle of light. Accordingly, the sunbeam, as it arrives to us, is a compound of the element of light and shade; and it may be analyzed, by refraction and in other ways, into oxidizing or whitening rays, and hydrogenizing or blackening rays, and at the same time into others that are variously compounded of these, and variously colored. Light hence appears, as before remarked, to be, in the sunbeam, the effect of the concurrence or conjunction of two ethereal, electrical, or elementary substances, or powers, -the one an agent, of which the Sun appears to be the fountain, or source; the other a re-agent, existing in planetary or atmospheric space, analogous to shade: if so, the sunlight is a species of oxidation or combustion, a sort of flame attended by a sensible or latent heat; and all light must be regarded as similarly constituted, and produced by the active uniting of an oxygenous or electrical principle with a phlogistic or thermal principle." This scientific analysis of Light shows not only that it is produced by the combination and manifestation of opposite elements through a productive principle, but that these opposite elements are connected with influences derived from the Sun, upon the one hand, and from the Moon, upon the other; because we cannot suppose this reaction to proceed from any other planetary influence.

With regard to the Ethereal Sphere in this classification, we find that the opposite laws included in this sphere have been recognized in Philosophy as the internal laws of Matter, though all have not been recognized by any one philosopher. By Boscovich and others, Gravitation, which includes the laws of Attraction and Repulsion, was supposed to constitute the most internal principle of Material Substance, or of "Matter as distinguishable from Body;" and by Descartes and others, Extension, which includes the laws of Expansion and Contraction, was supposed to constitute

this most internal principle. As these laws have here been classified, they will be seen to illustrate the laws of our science, because Repulsion and Expansion plainly correspond with a universal and vital principle, representing the Infinite; Attraction and Contraction, with an opposite selfish and destructive principle, representing the Finite; and Ethereal Substance constitutes a unifying and productive sphere, through which these dualistic laws are combined and manifested in a manner representing Spiritual Life through Marriage: while Sun, Moon, and Stars, which are the incarnating mediums in this substance, and the forms through which it operates, are related as soul, body, and spirit, which are vital, destructive, and productive. We will now consider how these relationships have been represented in philosophy, and what have been the theories of the philosophers in relation to them.

By the ancient philosophers, the Sun was regarded as the vital principle of the Universe, and as the medium through which God operates in the creation of the world. By the Persians, who were the exponents of Creation by Emanation, or of the production of all things from an Infinite spiritual substance, the Sun was regarded as the vital principle of the Universe and as the highest representative of Deity, and consequently became to them an object of religious worship; while by the Egyptians-who represented a destructive instead of a vital principle, and were the exponents of Creation by Development, or of the production of all things from a Finite material substance- the Moon was regarded as the ruling power in the Universe and as the highest representative of Deity, and was therefore worshipped. The productive influence of the Stars as ruling powers of the Universe, which is to be inferred from the position that is occupied by them in this analysis, was also recognized by the ancient philosophers, but particularly by the Arabians, who worshipped them, and to whom, as the great Eclectical Race from which the Hebrews descended, the philosophy of the Stars belonged; and a Science of the Stars, under the name of Astrology, was at one time in great repute among all nations. But although, in these ancient times, the highest things were spontaneously and unconsciously represented in forms of Philosophy, of Religion, and of Art, these are no longer regarded as subjects of serious contemplation, for the reason that their significance and their influence have been entirely lost. We can therefore only refer to what has been the result of common observation with regard to these planetary bodies, and to the manner in which they have been used in the

Scriptures as representative forms, to illustrate the statement here made. We do not refer to the theories of modern astronomers, because they are entirely useless for the purpose of scientific illustration; and that they are so, we have the authority of Kant, that most acute of all the modern philosophers. He says, "The investigations and calculations of the astronomers have taught us much that is wonderful; but the most important lesson we have received from them is the discovery of the abyss of our ignorance in relation to the universe."

The Sun has been universally regarded as the source of light and heat, and as exercising a vitalizing influence upon this mate- | rial sphere, so that its position in this analysis is fully sustained from the point of common observation. The Moon, however, has not been regarded as an opposite to the Sun, and therefore as the source of darkness and cold, — which we may see that she must be, -because no dualistic law of the Universe has been recognized, and this opposition in the causes of things was not therefore demanded. It has not been common even to allow that she exercises upon nature a destructive influence; and, in these days of naturalism, her influence has been almost entirely ignored, in the face of the most palpable facts of experience. At the same time, there are quite as many facts suggestive of the Moon's destructiveness as of the Sun's vitalitiveness: it is well known that she is productive of decay in vegetation; that all diseases acquire greater. virulence at night, when the influence of the sun is partially withdrawn, and her influence is consequently increased; that she produces so great an aggravation of the symptoms of insanity, that this disease has been termed Lunacy; and that it is injurious to health, and in many climates even fatal, to sleep with the Moon shining upon the face, her destructive influence being increased by this passive condition of the individual. This destructive influence is generally counteracted by an opposite vital influence proceeding from the Sun, it being only when the Moon obtains an unusual predominance that any fatal result is produced; and it is therefore only in these extreme cases that the real character of her influence can be discovered. We see, then, that the conception of the Universe, here realized, is not without support, even from common observation, as well as from the ancient theories and traditions; although upon a subject like this, where so little can be known except from a spiritual ontological point of view, much support of this kind is not to be expected.

By the statement here made, - that the material universe exists

in three spheres, which are spiritual, ethereal, and material, in the relation of spirit, soul, and body, while the incarnation, or the growth and development of the individual, must commence in this atmosphere; and that this incarnation of the spiritual soul is effected through ethereal and material substances as internal and external incarnating mediums, an intimate relation is established between the ethereal mediums, which appear to us as Stars, and all the material forms produced in this atmosphere, but particularly those in which human souls become incarnated; because all lower forms must be vitalized by those which are above, and thus the ethereal must constitute the natural life of the material, and govern all its productions. From the statement here made, that the Sun and Moon operate as vital and destructive powers, corresponding with infinite and finite laws, and that the Stars constitute productive mediums through which the opposite influences proceeding from these are combined and manifested by Absolute Creating Cause, it follows, that, of the three substances which are combined in the productions of the ethereal and material spheres, the gaseous corresponds with the Sun, the liquid with the Moon, and the solid with the Stars; and as suns and moons are related, by universal consent, and also according to this analysis, as male and female, the combination and manifestation, through the Stars, of the influences proceeding from these spheres in the production of specific forms must appear as production by the male through the female, or by the action of Suns upon Moons; a production that we have shown to be represented by the ontological philosophers, first from a liquid substance, and next from a gaseous substance; and by the Hebrews from an eclectical and vital point of view, or as being realized by the spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters. The correspondence between the Sun and the element of Fire has been universally recognized; and the relation that exists between Water and the Moon is most conclusively shown by the influence which she exerts in producing the tides of the Ocean, or in upheaving and depressing its mighty waters. In the Mosaic account of the Creation, this threefold ethereal sphere is represented in the following manner: "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the Day, and the lesser light to rule the Night: he made the Stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the Earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness."