forts and satisfactions, its great practical value in the formation of character. Suffice it to add, that the Heavenly Father who understands our human needs, and who knows how to give good and only good gifts to his children, has mercifully vouchsafed this revelation in answer to a deep and growing want, and as one powerful means of drawing his children spiritually nearer to Himself and the shining ones around his throne. Infinite Wisdom saw the need, else the revelation would not have been made. And the use which it has already performed, the darkness and doubts it has so effectually dissipated, the peace and satisfaction it has afforded, and the support and solace it has ministered to thousands in times of sore bereavement, prove that it is neither the creation of a poet's fancy, nor the offspring of a disordered brain. And if the revelation be true, then it must have come from God out of heaven; and its thankful and reverent reception must tend to lead the receiver up to Him from whom it came.
But is it true?—is the question. Is there really a spiritual world, inhabited by spirits who are not mere phantoms, but real, substantial, human beings, with spiritual bodies in human form? If so, where is it, and of what concern is it to us? Are we spirits clad in material vestments which death will shortly relieve us of? And shall we then consciously enter the spirit-world as living, conscious, intelligent men and women-spirits in human form? And has God, indeed, been pleased to reveal the sublime realities of that world? If so, what is the evidence which is expected to satisfy inquiring and rational minds?
