his theory. The following will explain to us how, during onė of his rambles, he was led to this train of thinking:

"In returning from one of my lecture stations, about nine in the evening, I have to cross a wide steep walk along the mountain side. In the wintry nights, when it is very dark, I commonly go a little round, and guide myself by a stone wall, from the end of which I have then scarcely a furlong to cross to enclosures again; but, if starlight will allow me, I always prefer going straight over it for the sake of enjoying the gleam of the bay, and of the river winding as bright silver under the deep shade of Whitbarrow, whose white towering cliffs are scen softly breaking the darkness: and, above them all, is the full uninterrupted expanse of heaven, holding forth its thousands of golden lamps with a brightness which, in these mountainous regions, is undimmed by vapour. These cliffs, and the shining of the moon, then form part of my guidance; and at first I often experience the fate of those who, directing their way by objects too distant, fall against or into those which are near."

This last sentence suggests the spiritual theme; and Mr. Evans thus breaks forth, with all the advantages of one whose clerical labours have enlisted our sympathies:

"Having the present subject uppermost in my mind, it would occur to me that, in spiritual things, we are apt to look for guidance to remote, and neglect what lies before our feet. Who, then, can wonder at such stumbling as there is? We think to go by pure abstract spirit, and so far to neglect the province of the body that we find 'some actually laying it down as a rule that the further they go from bodily the nearer they come to spiritual. Thus they make man up of two opposite elements; and to a superficial view they do, indeed, appear opposite. One is palpable, visible, vulnerable, mortal; the other is impalpable, invisible, invulnerable, immortal. But, with all this, how is one a negation of the other? When we have in any way denied the body, do we insomuch necessarily advance into the spirit? When we starve the body, do we feed the spirit? When we humble the body, do we exalt the spirit? Such, indeed, is the doctrine of Gnosticism, Manicheism, &c., and, therefore, should be a beacon of warning to the Christian" (pp. 37, 38).

To these errors, and the popular confusion of soul and spirit (we still think that the terms material and immaterial may be made a sufficiently perfect generalization), is traced up such a loose way of speaking as this-that "while the soul is represented as ascended into heaven the moment it has departed from the body, and standing before the throne (so inconsistently material is its language) in all the perfection of human bliss." Such a mode of thinking and speaking, of course, excludes the literalities of the day of judgment, and presents it, at best, "as a day of empty parade, in which souls are to come out of

heaven and hell, in order to go back into heaven and hell." Hence also have arisen the heresies of those who consider our Lord's terrible and particular description as merely figurative. The inaccuracy of the popular language is further shown; for "in the same breath that speaks of the soul, it will speak of crowns and thrones and other bodily preparation receiving it from earth; but, when searchingly canvassed, it will be found to involve the notion that the resurrection is already past." Mr. Evans

adds, that the tenet of the soul's entering heaven, before the day of the general resurrection of the dead, was a Gnostic error; and that modern Romanism is deeply interested in maintaining it, on the ground of its creed concerning the offices of the saints.

Another cause alleged by Mr. Evans, for the disappearance from our popular theology of the intermediate state, is the fear lest the Romish doctrine of purgatory should find countenance in it. The proper reply to this is, that the intermediate state is a fact of revelation (Luke xxiii. 43), whilst purgatory is a human deduction from or graft upon it. Some of the arguments, indeed, in favour of this state, here adduced, seem to us exceedingly weak and scarcely needing refutation-for example, it has been objected, says Mr. Evans, that "an intermediate state of imperfect bliss reasonably demands our prayers for its termination to those who are in it; and that the doctrine, therefore, essentially includes all the errors and abuses which flow from the Romish doctrine." It appears to us, however, to be most presumptuous-the presumption of intellects which have never ascertained the boundary line of human knowledge-to speculate upon the unrevealed wants or wishes of the disembodied spirit. Would the crucified malefactor, who found himself on the day of his death "in Paradise" instead of a place of penal banishment, thank any mortal for asking God that he might pass on to a place of more perfect felicity? If we could overcome our consciousness of the impertinence of speculating upon the unrevealed privacies of that sacred home, we should judge that the disembodied spirits find there all the happiness they are capable of enjoying in their isolated condition; one element of earthly misery being most certainly excluded-discontentment with their lot. Indeed, it has always appeared to us that it would be infinitely more reasonable that they should pray for us than that we should pray for them; as, whilst they well know from past experience our real wants and circumstances, we know nothing whatever of theirs. It has been said, by way of defence, that, in the burial services of our Church, there occurs a petition which justifies the practice of private prayers for the departed-"That it may please thee, of

thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect and to hasten thy kingdom." We ourselves, however, have never been accustomed to put such an interpretation upon it. According to our version of the words, they refer only to those who are of the Church militant here on earth. In uttering them we intend to pray that the changes alluded to may take place, not for the sake of those faithful ones whose souls, it is just before said, are "in joy and felicity," but for such as are still exposed to the risks of the earthly conflict; and this we believe to be the true meaning, notwithstanding Mr. Evans gives to it another.

How then, it is asked, can the body be that insignificant portion of man to which spiritualism seeks to reduce it, since the condition of the soul will be incomplete without it? Nor do the disparaging words occasionally used in the Bible towards the body justify this theory of its unworthiness; for, if St. Paul speaks of the present body as one of humiliation, yet he contrasts this state with its future conformity to the body of the glory of Christ; and if he speaks of the dissolution of the tabernacle, which, through its sinfulness, now extorts groans, yet he speaks also of the heavenly body. There are also definite views of the future happiness of the corporeal being which are altogether wanting to the spiritualist. Nearly all, if not all, the descriptions of the ultimate happiness of such as shall dwell in the Christian's heaven, whether set forth negatively or positively, are addressed to beings whose knowledge and enjoyments must depend upon what we now call the senses, however they will then be modified: they must have eyes, for they shall see him as he is: they must have the organs of speech, or they cannot sing the song of Moses and the Lamb: they must have ears, or their performance upon the golden harp will be but a dumb show: they must have hands, or they cannot strike the strings of their heavenly lyres. And what corporeal being can form any notion of a "mansion" and "a place" (John xiv. 2), unless they be such as a corporeal being must occupy? Now, let it be supposed that these inlets and instruments of our purest enjoyments and knowledge shall be expanded wide, broad, deep, and high-so that not only shall the eye take in, by means of the telescope as now, a few superficial accidents of the planet which is holding on its path at the distance of millions of miles from us, but shall then, without any such artificial aid, penetrate into its very heart and there ecstatically gaze upon such wonders of love, and power,

and beauty of the divine architect, as the revelations of this earthly planet never laid bare before his most passionate adorer; and let the future power of the ear, thus indefinitely expanded to convey happiness, be judged of by the bliss which it once carried to the patriarch's soul as he heard these words, "Joseph is yet alive;" and the future power of the eye, by the bliss which it conveyed to the soul of the same father "when he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him, " and when he caught the first glimpse of his beloved son as the chariot in which he was riding came in sight of Goshen-all this is quite intelligible: it is only to conceive that he who has limited these powers of our present corporeal organization to suit the circumstances of this planet should place it where those powers will find no such impediments to their indefinite development and exercise, and where every evil accident, which sin has attached to it, will be for ever removed. How vastly different is all this from those vague views of the nature of future happiness which are derived from considerations of the bodiless soul? The imagery of Scripture, if applied to that alone, becomes pointless and a compound of unintelligible metaphors. If, too, through these views, one of the fellowlabourers in the earthly probation is denied his claims, then, openly or secretly, the opinions of the Mystics will exert their influence. "The flesh is the beast (says one) which you may belabour." "Let it wallow through the mire (says another); what matters it to the soul which stands aloft pure and sublime, and deigns not to look down?" Then comes the worst refinement of the Quietists-" If the inferior part do not sin, the superior becomes uplifted, which is the greatest of all sins; therefore the flesh must sin to preserve this humility of the soul: as sin produces this humility, it becomes a ladder to ascend to heaven." Such notions as these, alike destructive of earthly purity and power, can find no place in that system which regards both the body and the soul as alike the workmanship of God, and as alike, therefore, claiming our reverence; and which is framed, moreover, upon the clear declarations of revelation, that, though death will separate them for a period, yet an everlasting union between them shall be effected, the minuter peculiarities of which will depend upon the character of the earthly probation. "Skin for skin (says Job), all that a man hath, will he give for his life:" if, then, the dissolution of these companions is, even in this world where both are so tormented, the grand evil that mars happiness, and which he will sacrifice all

* Michelet's Priests, &c., chap. vii.

to avert, what bliss may not that union be productive of when it shall have been effected under circumstances prohibiting all fear of another separation, and perfectly calculated to aid the full development of their joint resources?

"And now (Mr. Evans concludes), let us return from these considerations to the practical lessons which they give us concerning our treatment of this present body. We have to regard it not only as the present receptacle of immortal soul and spirit, but also as the seed of that which is to stand on the last day before the judgment-seat of Christ, when all men will receive according to that they have done, whether it be good or evil. We must, therefore, in all our conduct in it, maintain a watchful reference forward to its fitness to be in the company of Christ and to his body, to which, if fit, it will be like. And we must regard it with an immediate view as to our being while here mystically members of his body; and we must look back with an awful reference to his suffering body, as having been offered for us: thus, however temporary may be its present state, its relations are spiritual and eternal. Let us, then, look well to its state of preparation for such excellence-let us take heed to its furniture” (p. 57).

We have already said that we cannot coincide with all the theories and ingenious deductions of Mr. Evans's work. He appears to forget that his own lively imagination is very far from being a general gift, though not a little that he has written makes its appeal to no other faculty. Whatever imperfections, however, such a work must necessarily imply, we can promise the student of it both gratification and certain reward. The following are the subjects of some of the chapters, which may well attract attention for their importance :-"On the Sanctification of the Body with reference to Outward Forms-first, those ordained by Christ; secondly, those of apostolical or human institution; and, thirdly, with reference to the limit assignable to its typical inclination;"" On the Visibility of the Church as to its Members and as to its Ministry;" "On our Relation to Superior Creatures;" "On Judgment Present and Future."

That great moral and spiritual advantages ought to result from introducing this ample and thoroughly practical theme into our pulpit teachings appears certain. Much judgment, however, would be required in using the materials here supplied. The very word body is so suggestive of sin that its frequent use might for some time be almost a stumbling-block. But this is not a valid excuse for evading such a subject, but only a suggestion for prudence in the careful management of words and details.