not himself, what is his work, or what is his mission. It is not yet best that he should know. It would interfere with his freedom. He is, therefore, seeking another end, and marking out another course for himself. But see faithfully that it shall not take effect. Note all his hereditary tendencies; let him pursue this or that for a time; but rather than fail of the cternal purpose, which is for the good of earth, and for the good of heaven, and for his own good through time and eternity, cut him off in every direction. Disappoint him, if necessary, times without number. Strip him of all his worldly possessions, for he is one who needs to be tried in the furnace of affliction. His will must be bent; his nature softened; and these are the means, which, in his case, are most effectual for the purpose. He will call it calamitous. He will think it a hard lot. He will sigh and weep in despondency. But see that it is a work of love. It must be done. Count not upon earthly moments, but upon eternal realities. Through him shall come blessings to a multitude connected with him; and when he has accomplished this work to which he is appointed on earth, you shall still be with him, in his last hours, and welcome him then to these heavenly mansions, where he himself shall see and adore the Divine Providence, and be full of thankfulness that all things were so accomplished."

Yes, there can be no doubt that a very similar commission is given to many an angel who is appointed to watch over our earthly existence. Instead, however, of one particular angel for the whole life, our heavenly society is changed according to our changing states.

"Such spirits are adjoined to man as he himself is as to affection, or as to love; but good spirits are adjoined to him by the Lord, whereas evil spririts are invited by the man himself: but the spirits with man are changed according to the changes of his affections; thence some spirits are with him in infancy, others in childhood, others in youth and manhood, and others in old age. In infancy spirits are present who are in innocence, thus who communicate with the heaven of innocence, which is

the inmost or third heaven; in childhood are present spirits who are in the affection of knowing, thus who communicate with the ultimate or first heaven; in youth and manhood are present spirits who are in the affection of truth and good, and thence in intelligence, thus who communicate with the second or middle heaven; but in old age, spirits are present who are in wisdom and innocence, thus who communicate with the inmost or third heaven. But this adjunction is effected by the Lord with those who can be reformed and regenerated. The case is otherwise with those who cannot be reformed and regenerated; to these also good spirits are adjoined, that by them they may be withheld from evil as much as possible; but their immediate conjunction is with evil spirits, who communicate with hell, whence they have such spirits as the men themselves are. The angels, indeed, guide man, but herein they only minister to the Lord, who alone governs him by angels and spirits." H. H. 295; A. C. 50.

Thus it is, we have every reason to believe, with our attendant spirits. But how many lack this faith! The belief even in angelic guidance has almost died out of the heart of Christendom, or became so faint as to be ineffectual, where but an indistinct impression of the Divine Providence is left to cheer and to animate us.

In conclusion, let it ever be remembered that it is our eternal use and happiness in heaven that Providence invariably consults; and though there be a million of occurrences that tend to throw doubt upon the plan and purpose of this life, yet if we could see the whole of it, we might find that every thread in the great web of human destiny was woven by a divine hand for infinite purposes. And thus it is, spiritually speaking, that the very hairs of our heads are all numbered; that is, every least state of our spiritual life is pre-arranged and provided for.

But when we once give up special and personal agencies, and see nothing but the iron working of mechanical law, then woe to our faith. It is no faith, sufficient for a man. Often, very often, does the great universe bear witness to God's

marvellous hand, touching the laws, but not violating them, which yield to his miraculous agency; and often is the course of our life interrupted, or its current changed, by the unseen beings who hover over us with their benignant power. Oh, this dead faith in the mechanics of the universe- - this mathematical, sensual reasoning about nature's laws and forces! What a world this would be, says some one significantly, if two and two always made four !—if it didn't sometimes make five! What a world it would be, if every thing was governed by dead weight, and algebraic equations, and fixed, mechanical principles; if there did not occasionally break out influences from above the region of mere law, and force upon us the observation of the unaccountable, the impossible!

But all this, in our theology, is made rational and consistent. Two and two always make four, but the spiritual arithmetic is larger than the natural- takes in more things has wider connections. Oh! there is nothing too wonderful, or too minute, or too vast, for the computation of the Infinite One, or to order in eternity, and effect in time. And He who inhabiteth all the convolutions of all the spheres, and toucheth the secret springs of the will of every angel, and every man, and comprehendeth every least state of every creature throughout eternity, will yet continue the doings of that Wisdom which is "wonderful in counsel and excellent in working." Soon shall the few fleeting years of our mortal life be over, and then, seeing the great end of a heavenly blessing above all the conflict and all the darkness, we shall have a more abundant reason to thank the Almighty "for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men."

CHAPTER II.

THE ETERNAL MEMORY OF THE SOUL.

"Hail, Memory, hail! in thy exhaustless mine,
From age to age unnumbered treasures shine;
Thought and her shadowy brood thy call obey,
And place and time are subject to thy sway.

But is her magic only felt below?

Say, through what brighter realms she bids it flow;
To what pure beings, in a nobler sphere,

She yields delight but faintly imaged here;
All that till now their apt researches knew,
Not called in slow succession to review,
But, as a landscape meets the eye of day,

At once presented to their glad survey !”—Samuel Rogers.

WE should fail to receive an adequate idea of the truth of this subject, or how the Divine Providence is secured and accomplished in every one's life, without an understanding of the wonderful faculty of Memory. Many scriptures assure us of an opening-a revealing to be made after we have entered upon the eternal world; that the "books are to be opened," and the judgment proceed according to them; and that there is "nothing covered that shall not be revealed; nor hid, that shall not be known." We can never know the spiritual import of such language without an understanding of the true psychology. The words of Scripture are the words of the Divine Creator, most particularly given through chosen mediums, and systematically expressed and arranged according to the constitution of the human soul, and its experience in all worlds. The true spiritual sense of them is, therefore, primarily in the soul; or more truly, the Word of the Lord is Himself, or his own Truth,

as it stands connected with the human soul in all worlds. In our world it is embodied in writing. It is, therefore, nothing arbitrary, but a simple transcript of the Divine Mind concerning human experience and regeneration, as it is seen to exist in visible form in the soul, in the spiritual world, and in all that pertains to it. So that, with a true enlightenment, such as may be obtained from the Word itself, from the study of Swedenborg, and from all other sources of illustration and wisdom, we may find the written Word, and human nature, and all true philosophies, to exist in harmony.

But let us refer to one great truth, upon which so many passages of the Word are undoubtedly built. We mean this vital truth of the soul's eternal Memory. It is plain to be perceived that there is some faculty or capability in the soul, by which the hidden things of the spirit are treasured up and made possible to be revealed. There is some subtle and mysterious connection between all the motions and doings of the mind, which makes it possible for the whole experience of an individual to be recognized and identified in the spirit, after the body has been surrendered to death. This is evident from the words of the Lord, not only in the language quoted, but in many other passages of the Scriptures. Our question is What is that connection, that power, or capability?

Some philosophers have supposed that there is a special faculty of Memory. But it rather appears that every faculty is a faculty of memory ; that while one remembers words, another remembers ideas, another places, another times, deeds, persons, etc. One remembers forms, and another colors; one the quality of a thing, another its more external connections. Even Phrenology would teach thus much. Every faculty is impressed with its own appropriate objects, and retains and dwells upon the ideas which those objects excite. We speak sometimes of a good memory when reference is had chiefly to what we read or hear; but it is well known that while one remembers the words of a discourse, and can repeat it almost ver