from thirst, made conversation extremely difficult. At last, we reached the long wished-for water-fall; but it was too late to ascend the hill. We laid our heads on our saddles. The last sound we heard was the distant roar of the lion; but we were too much exhausted to feel any thing like fear. Sleep came to our relief, and it seemed made up of scenes the most lovely. I felt as if engaged in roving among ambrosial bowers, hearing sounds of music, as if from angels' harps. I seemed to pass from stream to stream, in which I bathed, and slaked my thirst at many a crystal fount flowing from golden mountains enriched with living green. These

pleasures continued till morning, when we awoke speechless with thirst, our eyes inflamed, and our whole frames burning like a coal." W. Kendell, in his Narrative of an expedition across the great Western Prairie, says, "The absence of bread increases the appetite for sweets of every description: often, while living upon nothing but poor beef, and not half enough of that, did fallacious pictures of confectionery stores and cake-shops pass before my dreaming fancy.”

It appears, also, that bodily pain, when excessive, generally terminates in pleasure of a nature and kind just the reverse of that which causes the nervous exhaustion. Thus we are informed that Theodosius, a youthful confessor, was put to such exquisite torture for singing a psalm, that he hardly escaped with his life; but being asked how he could endure such extreme torment, he said, "At first I felt some pain, but afterward there stood by me a beautiful young man who wiped away my sweat, and so refreshed me with cold water, that I was delighted, and grieved only at being let down from the engine." These effects of nervous exhaustion may be illustrated by reference to those experiments on the effects of light upon the retina, first mentioned by Darwin in his Zoonomia. It is remarka

ble that the contrary color is produced when the sight is fatigued; thus, if we look with a fixed stare at a bright green figure until a little wearied, and then look on a white surface, we shall see a red figure. If, however, we continue to look at the red until the nerve is thoroughly wearied, we shall see green. The direct sunshine quickly exhausts the optic nerve-power, and, by looking on it, we become for a time quite blind. Hence Milton's sublime figure :—

"Dark with excess of light His skirts appear."

It is probable that every part of the nervous system is subject to the same law, or mode of action; and the brain, under mental excitement, as well as physical, is apt to take a contrary condition, by which ideas are suggested to the mind, the very reverse of those which exhausted the attention. Thus the passions, when spent in indulgence, are apt to terminate in their opposites. Is there not reason to believe that those unnatural and excessive mortifications which, from mistaken religious motives, and, therefore, to be honored, men have, with noble fortitude, inflicted on themselves, with a view to destroy their sinful propensities, have in reality tended rather to aggravate them? The mind being constantly bent upon subduing some opposing passion, like the hungry man who can not eat, will be more abundantly supplied with the means of enjoyment and temptations in the visions of his weary vigilance. According to the mental engagement, will be the mental trial. Luther saw the Devil when religiously contending with the Pope; and St. Anthony met the Evil Spirit in the lovely form of one whose charms he had repudiated. Doubtless, those who expressly pray, hour after hour, against the prevalence of any particular sin, have that sin always present to their spirits, and a monotonous struggle after chastity will crowd the soul with pictures of tempting beauty, beyond the fascinations of

the Louvre. Abelard did not love the less for fighting against ideas; and Eloise saw him not the less because she looked upon the blessed Virgin and her child. Temperance, active employment, and diversified and proper objects are the only suitable remedies for perverse desires.

Creation is a system of antagonisms, and thus we may explain the mystery of our subject, by introducing a greater. There are opposing forces both in the spiritual and the physical world; and it is only in the diagonal between them that nature retains her standing: thus planets revolve in order, and souls on earth proceed in the path of light. Temperance in all things is the grand requirement; for, whether using the functions of the mind or the body, if indeed they can be separately used by us, what we are to avoid is the excess to which our uninstructed wills would necessarily lead us. We must learn moderation by intimacy with truth, and acquire safety by obedience to Him who can not err. Enjoyment will be lost in selfishness, and a wayward will begets weakness and confusion. The affectation of a righteousness that does not belong to nature increases temptation and danger, and captivity to lust is spiritual destruction. We can control one desire only by a greater and if we would escape the tyranny of opinion, we must exercise faith; if we would not be led in subservience to men and evil spirits, we must believe God, and keep his commandments. To love Him, is to be superior to all power but His; but to be without regard to His will, is to be without dominion over our passions, and to be in danger of never regaining the proper use of our minds. The mainspring, or motive power of order is wanting, and the machinery of our bodies and of our minds, being without a regulator, hurries on in disorder, or suddenly stops. He who formed our intricate being alone can rectify it-Omnipotence alone can В в

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restore His immortal creature from otherwise eternal ruin. What He wills must be accomplished; and He desires not the destruction of any man, but rather employs all agencies to induce the wandering spirit to return to rest, in the restoration of integrity and confidence.

CHAPTER XIX.

BODILY ACTION.

As the human mind is constituted for progress, and to find no rest in the past, but to be ever advancing to new perceptions, so its highest gratification consists in healthy action; and as the free use of our senses is essential to the full development of our intellect, so the intellect is never happily exercised but with some anticipated attainment ever in view. Consciousness itself is mind at work; and the sole delight of the spirit is in the exercise of power. Hence every idea associated with diminution of bodily activity is repugnant to our feelings. We fly from death to life, from inertia to energy, and set heaven in motion for our pleasure; for the soul was created to demonstrate the might of God in itself, by bringing matter under obedience to will, thus annihilating resistance, and resting only in the accomplished works of perfect goodness, and the satisfaction of the Omnipotent; which, in fact, must be the sole end of all action and all intelligence.

The muscular sense, or that which we exercise in using our limbs, is probably most requisite to earthly enjoyment; for, being deprived of this, instead of commanding, in the feeling of its own free might, the soul becomes consciously a prisoner and a slave. Will, without power, but aggravates the miseries of helplessness; and when we feel utterly incapable, every desire fails to disappoint, only because we can not hope. It is this feeling of advantage in the possession of muscular power