ll--and now the sky,
He hath it to himself--'tis all his own.
O most ambitious star! an inquest wrought
Within me when I recognized thy light;
A moment I was startled at the sight;
And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought
That even I beyond my natural race
Might step as thou dost now:--might one day trace
Some ground not mine; and, strong her strength above,
My soul, an apparition in the place,
Tread there, with steps that no one shall reprove!

--Wordsworth.

I

_THE SOUL_

Subjects which a few years ago were regarded as the exclusive property
of cultured thinkers, are now common themes of thought and conversation.
Psychology has been popularized. Materialistic doctrines are at a
discount even in this age of physical science.

It is difficult to explain the somewhat sudden appearance of intense
interest in questions which have to do with the life of the spirit; but,
whatever the theory of its genesis, there is no doubt of its presence.
This, therefore, is a favorable time for a somewhat extended study of
the stages through which we pass in our spiritual growth. I shall
endeavor to use the inductive method in this inquiry, and trust that I
am not presumptuous in giving to these essays the title,

THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL.

The phrases, "The Ascent of Man" and "The Descent of Man" are familiar
to all readers of the literature of modern science. One of the most
eminent of American writers on science and philosophy too soon taken
from his work, if any act of Providence is ever too soon, has made a
clear distinction between evolution as applied to the body and as
applied to the spirit. In lucid and luminous pages he has taught us that
evolution, as a physical process, having culminated in man can go no
further along those lines; that henceforward "the Cosmic force" will be
expended in the perfection of the spirit, and that that process will
require eternity to complete.

More perspicuously than any other author, John Fiske has introduced to
modern English thought the conception of the ascent of the soul,
considered in its relation to the individual and to the race.

This subject naturally divides itself into two departments, viz.--the
ascent of each individual soul and, then, the far-off perfecting of
humanity. I shall make suggestions along both lines of inquiry. I do not
know of any writer who has, in a compact form, presented the