f strong affinities which transcend the laws
of space, of the sudden mingling of souls which seem to recognize each
other. With regard to the different degrees of strength of which our
affections are capable, he accounted for them by the place, more or less
near the centre, occupied by beings in their respective circles.

He gave mathematical expression to God's grand idea in the co-ordination
of the various human spheres. "Through man," he said, "these spheres
constituted a world intermediate between the intelligence of the brute
and the intelligence of the angels." As he stated it, the divine Word
nourishes the spiritual Word, the spiritual Word nourishes the living
Word, the living Word nourishes the animal Word, the animal Word
nourishes the vegetable Word, and the vegetable Word is the expression
of the life of the barren Word. These successive evolutions, as of a
chrysalis, which God thus wrought in our souls, this infusorial life,
so to speak, communicated from each zone to the next, more vivid, more
spiritual, more perceptive in its ascent, represented, rather dimly no
doubt, but marvelously enough to his inexperienced hearers, the impulse
given to Nature by the Almighty. Supported by many texts from the Sacred
Scriptures, which he used as a commentary on his own statements to
express by concrete images the abstract arguments he felt to be wanting,
he flourished the Spirit of God like a torch over the deep secrets of
creation, with an eloquence peculiar to himself, and accents that urged
conviction on his audience. As he unfolded his mysterious system and
all its consequences, he gave a key to every symbol and justified the
vocation, the special gifts, the genius, the talent of each human being.

Then, instinctively becoming physiological, he remarked on the
resemblance to certain animals stamped on some human faces, accounting
for them by primordial analogies and the upward tendency of all
creation. He showed his audience the workings of Nature, and assigned
a mission and a future to minerals, plants, and animals. Bible in
hand, after thus spiritualizing Matter and materializing Spirit, after
pointing to the Will of God in all things, and enjoining respect for
His smallest works, he suggested the possibility of rising by faith from
sphere to sphere.

This was the first portion of his discourse, and by adroit
digressions he applied the doctrine of his system to feudalism. The
poetry--religious and profane--and