cept as it excites
wonder and admiration. Under this view all the objects of nature are the
products, not of spirit, but of law, which is itself the product of the
one great Creative Spirit whereby all things are. Even if we admit that
so subtle is the connection between the spirit and the law, the law and
the material object, that matter may, after all, be said to be the work
of and acted upon by spirit, yet it will be seen that even in this
instance, spirit does not act directly upon matter, but only through
certain intermediate agencies, of which more anon; while, in the matter
under discussion, the direct action of spirit upon matter is assumed by
the so-called spiritualists.

Again, in regard to the connection of the soul with the organized frame,
nothing is better established than the mutual action and reaction
between the mind and body. A volume of truth is contained in the simple
and hackneyed phrase, _Mens sana in corpore sano_. A diseased frame is
almost invariably accompanied by depression of spirits and a
disinclination, if not an absolute disability for profound thought; and,
on the other hand, a diseased mind soon makes itself manifest to the
outer world in an enfeebled and sickly frame. The merest tyro in
medical science recognizes the fact that in sickness no medicine is so
effective as cheerfulness, hope, and a determined will; while not
unfrequently the direst evil against which the physician has to contend
is despondency. And many other instances might be given of this mutual
action, which are unnecessary in this connection, since the point is
conceded.

Yet, as regards the outer world, it is nevertheless true that the soul
cannot directly perceive material objects, but only through the agency
of the physical senses. In the matter of sight and sound, the atoms of
the elastic medium must first make a material and tangible impression
upon the eye and ear, which impression is conveyed by the nerves to the
brain, where all human knowledge of the mystic process ceases. We only
know that there is an intimate connection between the nerves and the
mind established in the brain--which is the fountain head of
both--whereby the mind receives this subtile impression and thereby
becomes cognizant of the object which is its original cause. The same
thing is true of all the other senses. Destroy now any one of these
bodily senses, and the soul at once becomes dead to all that class of
impressions which before were