the throne of the Eternal to any class of moral agents, it must necessarily be admitted, that the opposite principles or laws, to which I allude, are promulgated to all intelligences, and are obligatory on every inhabitant of all the worlds which lie within the range of Jehovah's empire. The natural scenery with which the inhabitants of other worlds are surrounded, the organization of their corporeal frames, the intellectual capacities with which they are endowed, the stated employments in which they engage, and the relations in which they stand to each other, may be very different from those which obtain in our terrestrial sphere; but the grand principles to which I refer, must necessarily pervade every faculty of their minds, every active exertion, and every relation that subsists among them, by whatever character it may be distinguished, if they be found existing in a state of happiness.

The moral code of laws in other worlds, may be somewhat differently modified from ours, according to the circumstances in which the inhabitants of each respective world are placed, and the relations which obtain among them; but the same general principles will run through every ramification of their moral precepts, and appear in the minutest actions they perform, as the sap which proceeds from the trunk of a tree diffuses itself among the minutest and the most distant branches. The seventh commandment of our moral code can have no place in a world where the inhabitants "neither marry nor are given in marriage;" where the succession of intelligent beings is not carried on by any process analogous to human generation, where death is unknown, and where rational agents have a fixed and permanent abode. The fifth precept of our law cannot be recognized in a world where the relations of parents and children, princes and subjects, superiors and inferiors have no existence. And in those worlds where the bounties of Divine Providence are equally enjoyed by all, or where external comforts are not necessary for the happiness of the individual, as in our world, or where the slightest temptation to interfere with the property of another does not exist, there will be no necessity for a distinct moral regulation corresponding to the eighth commandment of our moral code. But, in

every world where happiness exists, and where the inhabitants have retained their original integrity, love to God, and love to all subordinate intelligences with which they are connected, will animate every heart, regulate every desire, and run through every action. And in those worlds (if any such exist besides our own) where these principles are counteracted, or not recognized as the foundation of moral action, misery and disorder, in a greater or less degree, must be the inevitable consequence.

The greater part, however, of the precepts comprised in the moral law given to man, must be considered as obligatory upon all the rational inhabitants of the universe. The first commandment, which forbids the recognition of any object of adoration, or of supreme affection, besides the eternal Jehovah-the second, which forbids the representation of this incomprehensible Being by any visible or material objects-the third, which enjoins reverence of the name or attributes of God-and the spirit of the fourth, which enjoins a certain portion of duration to be set apart for solemn acts of worship and adoration,-are applicable to all the moral agents that Jehovah has created. The sixth commandment, which forbids malice, revenge, and injurious actions of every description-the ninth, which forbids falsehood, and inculcates truth, which is the basis of the moral universe-and the tenth, which forbids envy, and every unhallowed desire to deprive our neighbour of any portion of his happiness-are also binding upon every class of moral intelligences, wherever existing, throughout the unlimited empire of God. For, if we suppose any one of these precepts to be reversed, and moral agents to act on the principle of this subversion, their moral order and harmony would be interrupted, and consequently, their happiness destroyed. For example, let the law, which inculcates truth, be supposed to be universally violated among any class of rational beings, and instantly all improvement in wisdom and knowledge would cease; nothing could be depended upon as fact but what was obvious to the senses of every individual; social compacts would be dissolved; a mutual repulsion would ensue, and every social affection and enjoyment would be unhinged and destroyed.

By overlooking considerations of this kind, the celebrat

ed Dr. Chalmers, in his "Discourses on the Christian Revelation viewed in connexion with Modern Astronomy," deprived himself of an important argument to prove that Christianity is not confined to this sublunary region. For, as it is the great object of the Christian Revelation to bring into full effect, in all their practical bearings, the principles I have been endeavouring to illustrate, and as these principles must be interwoven with the moral code of all worlds-it follows, that the spirit and essence of our religion must be common to all the holy inhabitants of the universe.

From what has been now stated respecting the universality of the principle of love, the following conclusions may be deduced :

1. That the man in whose heart this principle is predominant, and whose actions are directed by its influence, is qualified for associating with the pure intelligences of all worlds. Were we transported to the surface of the planet Jupiter, and had we access to mingle with its vast population; or were we conveyed to one of the planets which revolve around the star Sirius-if the inhabitants of these globes have retained the primeval purity of their natures, and if the principle of love reigned supreme in our hearts, we should be assured of a welcome reception from those distant intelligences, and be qualified to mingle with them in their adorations of our common Creator, and in all their affectionate and harmonious intercourses. We should only have to learn the mode by which they communicate to each other their ideas and emotions. Love would form the basis of every union, and amalgamate us with every department of their society. With pleasure, and with the most endearing affection, would they point out to us the peculiar glories of the world they inhabit, and rehearse the history of the Creator's dispensations in that portion of his empire; and with equal pleasure should we listen to the instructions which flow from the lips of Benevolence, and survey those transporting objects and arrangements which decorate a world where love pervades the breasts of all its inhabitants. To visit a distant world, although it were in our power, where the inhabitants were of an opposite description, could afford no gratification to an intelligent and benevolent mind, but

would overwhelm it with anguish and dismay. What enjoyment would the capacious mind of a pure intelligence from the regions of the constellation Orion, derive from visiting a world inhabited by such beings as the inhabitants of Nootka Sound, New Guinea, or New Zealand, where the moral and intellectual principle is completely debased, and where the beauties of Nature are defaced with interminable forests, and marshes, and the haunts of beasts of prey? He would be filled with disappointment and horror-he might drop a tear of pity over the wretched inhabitants; but he would soon wing his flight back to a more delectable region. A similar disappointment would be felt, were an inhabitant of our world, in whose mind hatred and cruelty, avarice and ambition reigned without control, to be conveyed to a world of happiness and love. The novel scenes of beauty and grandeur which would burst upon his sight might captivate his senses for a little; but he would feel no enjoyment in the exercise of virtuous affections and rapturous adorations, to which he was never accustomed; he would find no objects on which to gratify his cruel and ambitious desires, and he would be glad to escape from the abodes of affection and bliss, to the depraved society from whence he came. Hence we may learn, that, however expansive views we may have acquired of the range of the Creator's operations, and of the immensity of worlds which are diffused through boundless space, and however ardent desires we may indulge of visiting the distant regions of creation, we never can indulge a rational hope of enjoying such a privilege, were it possible, unless love to God and to man become the predominant disposition of our minds. For, although we were invested, by the Almighty, with corporeal vehicles, capable of transporting us from one region of creation to another, with the most rapid motion, we could enjoy no solid satisfaction, while we remained unqualified for relishing the exercises, and mingling in the associations of holy intelligences. In every happy world on which we alighted, we should feel ourselves in a situation similar to that of a rude and ignorant boor, were he conveyed to a palace, and introduced into an assembly of courtiers and princes.

2. Another conclusion deducible from this subject is, that, by virtue of this grand and governing principle, man

is connected with the highest order of intelligences, and with the inhabitants of the most distant worlds; and his happiness perpetually secured. When we take a view of the universe by the light of modern science, our minds are overpowered and confounded at the idea of its vast and unlimited range. When we consider that it would require several millions of years for a cannon ball, flying at the rate of five hundred miles an hour, to reach the nearest stars-when we consider, that there are stars visible to the naked eye, at least fifty times farther distant than these— when we consider, that there are stars visible by the telescope, a thousand times farther distant than any of the former-and when we consider, that all the suns and worlds which lie within this unfathomable range, are, in all probability, only as a grain of sand to the whole earth, when compared with the immensity of systems which lie beyond them in the unexplored abyss of infinite space-we are lost in the immensity of creation, and can set no bounds to the empire of the Almighty Sovereign. When we look forward to that eternal state to which we are destined-when we consider, that, after thousands of millions of centuries have run their rounds, eternity will be no nearer to a termination, and that ages, numerous as the drops of the ocean, will still roll on in interminable succession-we behold a lapse of duration, and a succession of events stretching out before us, which correspond with the immeasurable spaces of the universe, and the number and magnitude of the worlds with which it is stored. When we view ourselves as thus connected with the immensity of creation on the one hand, and with infinite duration on the other; and when we reflect on the numerous changes that have happened both in the physical and moral aspect of our globe within the period of six thousand years, we cannot but conclude, that we are destined to pass through new scenes and changes in that eternity which lies before us, of which, at present, we can form no conception. After remaining for thousands of millions of years in that world which will be prepared for the righteous at the general resurrection, we may be transported to another system as far distant from that abode, as we now are from the most distant stars visible to our sight, in order to contemplate new displays of the attributes of God in another province