ercising the
talent of acting in the spirit world, supposing that talent to have been
cultivated in this.

In the remotest ages, and among the most uncultivated nations, as well as
among the most highly civilized, the power of representing human passions
and events has been exercised instinctively, showing this power to be as
much a portion of the soul's attributes as the gift of thought or of
fancy. If one belongs to the immortal condition, the other does also.

One of the chief enjoyments which the all-wise Creator has made
attainable to the inhabitants of the starry heavens is that of dramatic
representations of life, character, and events, transpiring in the
countless worlds that wheel through space.

The field of the actor for depicting the truths of human nature in the
world of spirits is vast and unconfined!

Eloquence is appreciated on earth, but that appreciation is weak and
tasteless compared with the estimation of that "gift of the gods" by the
inhabitants of the summer land.

Some blind, short-sighted investigators tell you there is no speech among
us; they would lead you to imagine that we inhabit a world blank and void
of sound; that stillness more unbroken than the grave pervades our
mysterious realm.

Conjure up the picture in your fancy, reader--the soul shrinks back from
such a state! The spirit world is _all_ voice. Never have I heard notes
clearer, louder, deeper, than resound through the electric air that
surrounds my home.

The gift of speaking, and of representing individualities separate from
your own identity, is a spiritual gift decidedly; and with us theatres
and amphitheatres are as numerous as churches are with you. I will leave
the description of these structures for the ready pen and speech of our
friend Burton.

JOHN WESLEY.

"_THE DIVISION OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, INTO SEVERAL BODIES, AND ITS
RE-ORGANIZATION INTO ONE GENERAL BODY."_

I will take for my text this sentiment from the New Testament: "I will
draw all men unto me, and there shall be one church and one people."

The church which was organized by our Lord[A] Jesus Christ was designed
to establish a feeling of brotherhood between separate and distinct
classes of people, and to abolish the system of castes, which was the
prevailing sin of the eastern nations.

[Footnote A: The word "Lord" is used in the sense of an earthly lord who
cares for his people.]

Christ made no distinction between the Sadducee and