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LECTURE I.

THE SOUL OF MAN: ITS INTEGRITY AND CORRUPTION.

PSALM CXXXIX. 14.

I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.

CLEAR indications of the hand of an almighty and intelligent Creator have been long since traced in the structure of our bodily frame, and in various phenomena of our animal existence; and we have reason to expect that, in this field of observation, the progress of science will yet disclose to us new wonders, and bring to light fresh proofs of the wisdom and power of our Maker. If, for example, it shall be shown that the conditions of animal and vegetable life are closely connected with the subtle agency of some potent fluid diffused throughout the universe, the legitimate result of such discovery will be to enlarge our conceptions of that great Being to whose will and power we shall be

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compelled to trace at once the existence of this simple law, and all those countless adaptations of the material upon which it has been brought to bear. Just as our acquaintance with the law of gravitation has served to exalt our apprehension of Him who sustains the planets in their orbits, so also, we may confidently predict, new illustrations of creative energy will accrue from every fresh observation of physical truth connected with the world in which we live.

If we ascend from a consideration of our animal structure and life to a survey of the connection which subsists between this portion of our nature and our higher faculties of mind, we pass into a region of still greater wonders. We all know that the body acts upon the soul, and the soul upon the body, so that each can help or hinder the operations of the other; but what is the connecting link, and what are the precise conditions of this agency, none can tell. And it is probable that these questions will still be involved in mystery, notwithstanding all the light which may be thrown upon the laws of mere animal existence. Still, however, if we duly attend to the phenomena presented by the reciprocal influence of body and mind, we shall find not only much to raise our

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