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 If there be a spiritual world, according to the universal belief of Christians, is it reasonable to conclude that its arcana will never be revealed? Does such conclusion agree with what we believe and know of the goodness and mercy of God, the wants of the human soul, or the progress of our race in knowledge upon all other subjects? The human mind has, for the last hundred years, made prodigious advances in knowledge of the material world, and in the means of satisfying the wants and increasing the comforts of our physical life. The secrets of universal nature have been steadily disclosing themselves, as men needed the knowledge thereof, and were prepared to use it wisely. And new and useful discoveries still succeed each other almost with the rapidity of thought. Nor can we fix any limit to this progress in knowledge of the material universe. There is no limit. To fix one, were to limit the Infinite Himself, or to deny the indefinite enlargement and receptivity of the human mind.

Now, seeing that God is perpetually disclosing the secrets of this natural world for the benefit of his rational creatures, and since the liveliest imagination can set no bounds to the increase of knowledge in this direction, is it reasonable to suppose that all knowledge of the spiritual world will be forever denied us? Will the Heavenly Father vouchsafe to his children an unimaginable amount of truth concerning this world of matter, and keep that sublimer world of spirit which is to be our eternal home, forever shrouded in darkness? Will He never reveal to us anything concerning the life