who when the Jews as guided by Judas came rushing upon him. Peter would have defended him with a sword, when he said, that he could pray to his father and he would send him more than twelve legions of angels to defend him from the Jews and all his enemies.

Now how many in number would twelve legions amount to? This is answered by ascertaining what was meant by one legion. The term legion was a word signifying 6000 soldiers in the Roman armies at that time. This number multiplied by twelve amounts to seventy-two thousands. Now if the Universalist interpretation of the word angel is to be relied on, as restricted by them to answer their purpose, who say that it signifies nothing more than men who are messengers either of God, kings, or assemblies of men-then it follows that at that very time, Christ could have commanded an army of at least seventy two thousand men from among the multitude of the Jews, Romans, and other people then in Judea, which would at once argue him a great military captain, and standing at the head of an immense banditti in the very heart of the country. This would contradict his own words in another place; see John xviii. 36. "Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews."

But if the word is restricted wholly to ministers of religion, as Universalists generally contend, then it follows that Christ told a lie; for at that very time all the Jewish ministers of their religion, together with the very few of the Christian system, did not amount to one fourth part of that number. But if it be still restricted to ministers of the Christian system, as then but just commenced; then the words more than twelve legions, are almost without any meaning at all, or a lie is told of the most ridiculous character-even exceeding the tales of the Arabian Nights; as it is impossible to make out over one hundred and fifty one, including both seventies--companies of disciples sent out by the Saviour, together with the eleven who were always with him.

It appears therefore that the twelve legions of angels alluded to by the Saviour, were not men of the earth, but were of the hosts of heaven, altogether of a supernatural character, not belonging to the earth.

But now, if the reader believes that we have in the preceding pages, on this subject, established-first: that angels-such as we have given an account of-were spirits of a supernatural description; and--second: that their numbers are innumerable; and-third: were created in various orders, or degrees of intellectual difference; we are now prepared to investigate more immediately the origin of sin and cause of the being of Satan and his subordinate devils, or fallen angels.

Accounts of the Voyages of the first Angels far into Space before any thing was created but themselves, and the Mode of their Trial, Nature of Mind, &c.

In pursuance therefore of the above subject, we will remind the reader that some twenty pages above, we have supposed that the first angelic beings were left in their incipient state, to conjecture about the mystery of their being; and that various and conflicting opinions on that subject, must have arisen among them and however greatly any number of them may have excelled their fellows in their powers of mind, yet that circumstance gave no advantage in penetrating this mystery, because as yet there had been no clue, no revelation on the subject afforded them.

But in proportion, it may be supposed, to the amount of intellectual subtilty possessed by any finite unfallen being, there is always manifested a corresponding activity in the business of research, in relation to such matters as occupy their powers; on which account there can be but little doubt, that after all was known, that could be known in their congregated condition, in heaven; that they instituted among themselves a systematic inode of exploring other tracts of space, than the one immediately comprehending their location. But whither could they go? to what region could these primeval troops direct their course? as on all hands, and in every point of heaven's compass, darkness reigned in the awful distance. There was no light, blackness deep and wide as immensity itself, reigned through boundless space. There were no sounds, no voice of any creature had broken the hitherto eternal silence. There was no heat, nor cold, wet nor dry, all was a boundless, blank eternity. There were no suns nor moons, stars nor constellations, no winds moving through empty space, no light had shed a ray on the interminable vacuum, except that of the home of the angels, where they then were, which was light itself. There was no ocean's roar, no tide waters rocked as now, in the hollow of the seas, the cradle of the floods; no billows dashing against mountains, nor on the sands and stony shores of continents; no rivers, nor streams, nor fountains of waters; no forests, herbage, fishes, fowls, nor animal life of any kind, all was void, deep and fathomless nonentity.

But notwithstanding this, and though no rumor of distant regions had reached their ear; yet, in bands and cohorts, they became resolved to navigate this ocean in straight lines, starting out from their heaven as their centre, and continuing their respective courses, till they should wish to return; when observing the same rule, it could but bring them back to the same point, and prevent their being forever lost in the wastes of boundless

space. Heaven's inhabitants now having arranged themselves, such as were of the number of the adventurers, soared aloft, for every point of the compass from that first centre, was up, though opposite directions were pursued, they were nevertheless perpendicular ones. (See the plate.)

This is shown, by supposing ourselves on the sun, which is the centre of our planetary system; any direction from the sun is a perpendicular direction, as the sun by necessity is the lowest point in the solar system. Heaven, therefore, if in the centre of the great and increasing universe of God, is also the lowest point (relatively speaking) in wide creation; from which it follows that any direction therefrom is a perpendicular direction. Although in this sense, heaven is the lowest point in the universe; yet in moral excellence it is the highest, for it is God's throne-location, or mere position, adds no excellence to any being or place, it is moral character that does this. On this account it is, that God is said to look down from heaven upon the works of his hands.

It was impossible for those voyaging angels to arrange how long should be their journey, as there then existed no rule by which time or distance could be measured; as day and night, arising from the revolutions of globes, and systems of matter, did not then exist, as signs and guides in this respect. Eternity had not yet erected her time piece, by which she is cut up into ages, periods, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds; their own feelings, as to the time of return, was their only guide. Now heaven was bereft in part, of its people, as the journeying millions shot off in all directions of heaven's compass, like flashes of fire from a nucleus of light, in search of they knew not what, as they could form no idea of things, or of beings, of which they had not heard or seen; yet their spirit of activity may be supposed thus to have exerted itself. But how far these exploring angels penetrated the heights of boundless space, none can tell; yet perhaps even further than where now exists the utmost bounds of creation; where the outermost circles of systems of worlds look off into the yet boundless and yet unexplored abyss of eternity, save by omniscence itself; but without having made one discovery, except that there was no end to nonentity, which was the universal report, on the return of each cohort, shouting as they descended, there is nothing; nothing, beside ourselves and this our place of dwelling.

But on account of this void condition of space, are we to suppose the angels were in the least unhappy, or discontented? not at all; for this one reason: it is not possible that a thought of the existence of what is now called matter, as distinguished by tangibility, could have entered their minds, nor ever would have done so, had not he who created them, at such times as seemed good to himself, have created also the universe, consisting of

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matter, variously modified and mingled with spirit, and furnishing occupancy and ground of improvement, to intellectual beings. Is it possible for the most cultivated of the race of man, to think of, or to invent, any substance different from what he has seen, heard of, and known to exist, or to add a single first principle to the great machine of nature, that could be of any use; as is density, divisibility, gravity or attraction, repulsion, color, heat, cold, wet, dry, light, darkness, sensation, nutrition, sound, &c.? it is impossible; we can conceive of no possible useful addition of any first principle. Neither could the angels have done this, more than to have been creators; they were not capable of invention to any such extent as to be able to make improvements on their own nature; and never could have had any further ideas of any thing beside their own condition, and their associate circumstances, had not the Divine Being have produced a tangible state of things, and presented it to them, which, when done, was a revelation, known and read of all.

Man knows nothing, absolutely nothing, in and of himself; he cannot originate one single idea without help, without a revelation of some kind as a starting point. What, therefore, is the mind of man? we cannot tell; yet we may say it is a being, a creation of something, capable of improvement almost to infinity, yet, without knowledge, or even thought, till revelation comes to its rescue, and one species of revelation is nature as now developed, with all its first principles. That instant the mind shoots off with amazing velocity, in its course of improvement, outstripping even the winds and the lightnings, in its pursuits of knoweldge, bounded only by boundless existence. That such is the vague and blank character of mind in the abstract, before it feels the genial rays of revelation, is shown from the history of the late mysterious German boy Casper Hauser; who it seems, for reasons yet unknown, was shut up in a place so small as not to allow him even from infancy to the age of about sixteen years, room to stand up in, but always sitting flat on the floor, with his legs extended out before him. During that whole time he had never seen light, either of the sun nor any other kind, nor heard the voice of man, nor seen his shape, nor the shape of anything else, till a little before his release from prison. On his first being ushered into light, and left to his own way, he seemed to hear, without knowing what it was, to see, without perceiving or knowing it was sight, and to move his feet and limbs, without knowing their use-although so old-nor ever could have known, had he not been released from captivity. His language consisted only of tears, and moans, and strange inward sounds, though soon after his release from prison he seemed to have invented two words, which rushed out spontaneously. For man, the word Bua, whether to male or female, old or young, was indiscriminately applied; for all other things, whether applied to animals,