He never leaves us, and consequently He does not return to us when we repent. All this is human, and quite foreign to the Divine.

3 Let us not then suppose that God, who is wisest of all, is less wise than men. He is the Shepherd of Mankind, taking the same care of them that a shepherd does of his sheep and oxen. He provides for all

13 We separate ourselves from God, by departing from that course which is in harmony with His nat- things, the smallest as well as the ure; by restoring our original nat-greatest. ure, we return to fellowship with God; and the act of our own return to God we ascribe to Him, as if He came back to us.

14 O thou Great Giver of all blessings, preserve us from error! Remove all shadows from our minds, and enable us to follow the laws of that Eternal Reason by which Thou guidest the world.

15 Thus honored by a knowledge of Thy righteous laws, we may be enabled to honor Thee, as feeble mortals should, and offer to Thee incessant hymns of praise.

4 He is the Architect of the World, the Father of the Universe, the Creator of Nature, the Sovereign Beauty, the Supreme Good, the Ruling Mind, which orders all things and penetrates all things.

5 He made the heavens and the earth. He is the Original Life and Force of all things, in the ethereal regions, upon the earth, and under the earth.

6 He is The Being, The Unity, The Good. He is pre-eminently the same in the invisible world that the sun is in this visible world. He is 16 For neither mortal nor immor- Truth; and light is the reflection of tal beings can be engaged in nobler His truth. What light and sight are service than celebrating the Divine in this visible world, truth and intelMind, which presides over all Nature. ligence are in the real, unchangeable

SELECTION II.

world.

7 As light and vision resemble the God is infinitely wise and perfect in sun, but are not the sun, so truth and goodness; His perfections should be pat-knowledge resemble The Good, but terned after by all. they are not The Good; which is It

THE One, better than intellect, from whom all things flow, and to whom they all ultimately tend, is The Good.

2 The universe belongs to the Deity, and He will not neglect what is His own. He cannot be called a wise physician, who only attends to the body in general, and not to particular parts. Nor do governors of cities, or masters of families, neglect small things.

self something more worthy of reverence.

8 The end and aim of all things should be to attain to the First Good; of whom the visible sun is but the type, and this material world, with all its host of ministering spirits, is but the manifestation and the shadow.

9 As nothing is like the sun except through solar influences, so nothing can resemble The Good ex

cept by an emanation of His divine all base actions, even in private; belight into the soul. ing persuaded that nothing they did could be unknown to God.

10 God is simple and true in word and deed. He has never changed Himself, nor does He deceive others; neither by visions, nor discourse, nor the pomp of signs, nor when we sleep, nor when we wake.

II Reflect that your own mind directs your body by its volitions, and

you must be convinced that the Intelligence of the Universe disposes all things according to His pleas

ure.

SELECTION III.

God seen in all His works; Nature reveals Him, and His revelations are also made continually to the humble and purified souls of men.

HAIL, Great King and Father!

Thou who hast many names, but who art the Omnipotent One. Thou First of Immortals, Thou Sovereign of Nature, man is permitted to call upon Thee, and Thee I invoke.

12 Can you imagine that your eye is capable of discerning distant objects, and that the eye of God can- 2 All things that exist are Thy offnot at the same instant see all things? spring, imperfect images of Thy beOr that while your mind can contem-ing, echoes of Thy eternal voice. To plate the affairs of distant countries, Thee will I sing hymns, and praise the Supreme Understanding cannot Thee without ceasing. attend at once to all the affairs of the universe?

13 Such is the nature of the Divinity, that He sees all things, hears all things, is everywhere present, and constantly superintends all things.

14 He who disposes and directs the Universe, the Source of all that is fair and good, who amid successive changes preserves the course of Nature unimpaired, to whose laws all beings are subject, this Supreme Deity, though Himself invisible, is manifestly seen in His magnificent opera

tions.

15 Learn, then, from the things which are produced, to infer the existence of an Invisible Power, and to reverence the Divinity.

16 The Deity sees and hears all things, is everywhere present, and takes care of all things. If men believed this, they would abstain from

3 The universe spread out above us, which seems to revolve round the earth, moves by Thy influence; at Thy command its motions are performed in silence.

4 The infinite variety of souls that inhabit the earth, the sea, and the ethereal regions are subject to Thy wise control. The thunders are launched, and the lightnings flash, from Thy powerful hand, and all Nature trembles. Thou governest all creation by unerring laws.

5 The wicked disturb the harmonious course of things. They seek for happiness, but they do not comprehend Thy universal laws, which, by making them wise and good, would render them happy.

6 They deviate from the path of what is beautiful and just, and recklessly pursue the objects that attract them; they pant after fame, they

9 Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, immortal, and for the purified there are Death is only a phase of life; the soul is the Giver and Guide of all reason, pure joys and companionships beyond. that we may always be mindful of

the nature, of the dignity, and of WHEN thou shalt have laid aside

honored us; that we may act in all freed from mortality, and become things as becomes free agents, to the subduing and governing of our passions, to the refining them from flesh and sense, and to the rendering them subservient to excellent purposes.

mortals to give an account of its lifeless body where you please; but actions.

8 Can the soul be destroyed? No. But if, in this present life, it has shunned being governed by the body, and has governed itself within itself, and has separated from the body in a pure state, taking nothing sensual away with it, does it not then depart to that which resembles itself,-to the invisible, the divine, the wise, the immortal?

9 And on its arrival there, is it not freed from errors, ignorance, fears, wild passions, and all other human evils? Does it not in truth pass the rest of its existence with the immortals?

do not mourn over it, as if it were any longer a part of me.

14 It would be wrong for me not to be grieved to die, if I did not think I should go to the wise and good, and dwell with men who have departed from this life, and are better than any who are here.

15 That I shall go to those who are perfectly good, I can assert positively, if I can assert any thing of the kind. And be assured I hope to go and dwell among good men.

16 I entertain a good hope that something awaits those who die, and that it will be better for the good than for the evil; as has been said. long ago.

SELECTION V.

IO Those who have lived a holy life, when they are freed from this earth, and set at large, as it were from a prison, will arrive at a pure All truly wise men are divinely inspired; abode above, and live without mor- prayer is only the submissive, ardent, and tal bodies through all future time. humble turning of the soul toward God; They will arive at habitations more purity, truthfulness, and justice endear beautiful than it is easy to describe. men to God.

II The soul, which cannot die,

THE wise man preserves in his

merits all the moral and intellectual own bosom the sacred flame improvement we can possibly give which enlightens him, though winds it. A spirit, formed to live for ever, may blow and tempests roar without. should be making continual advances 2 The wise man carries within in virtue and wisdom. A well culti-him an unwritten but most divine vated mind regards the body merely law.

as a temporary prison.

12 At death, such a soul is conducted by its invisible guardian to the heights of heavenly felicity, where it becomes the associate of the wise and good of all ages.

13 Is it not strange, my friends, that after all I have said to convince you I am going to the society of the happy, you still think this body to be identical with me? Bury my

3 No man was ever truly great without divine inspiration.

4 Whatever good you do, ascribe it to God.

5 Statesmen and enthusiasts, who by their speeches incite men to noble deeds, are divinely inspired and possessed by the Divinity.

6 Those who aspire after what is holy and pure shall have assistance from above.

7 A man should never pray for self alone. Let us help one anany thing for himself, because every other.

one is ignorant of what is really good 16 To speak the truth and perform for him. good offices are two things that re

8 Is there not need of much fore-semble God. Every man ought to thought in order that a person may speak and act with such perfect integnot unconsciously pray for great rity, that no one could have reason evils to himself, while he thinks he to doubt his simple affirmation. is praying for good?