the abrupt eloquence of that
period had a grand opening in this vast theory, wherein the Doctor had
amalgamated all the philosophical systems of the ancients, and from
which he brought them out again classified, transfigured, purified. The
false dogmas of two adverse principles and of Pantheism were demolished
at his word, which proclaimed the Divine Unity, while ascribing to
God and His angels the knowledge, the ends to which the means shone
resplendent to the eyes of man. Fortified by the demonstrations that
proved the existence of the world of Matter, Doctor Sigier constructed
the scheme of a spiritual world dividing us from God by an ascending
scale of spheres, just as the plant is divided from man by an infinite
number of grades. He peopled the heavens, the stars, the planets, the
sun.

Quoting Saint Paul, he invested man with a new power; he might rise,
from globe to globe, to the very Fount of eternal life. Jacob's mystical
ladder was both the religious formula and the traditional proof of the
fact. He soared through space, carrying with him the passionate souls of
his hearers on the wings of his word, making them feel the infinite, and
bathing them in the heavenly sea. Then the Doctor accounted logically
for hell by circles placed in inverse order to the shining spheres that
lead to God, in which torments and darkness take the place of the
Spirit and of light. Pain was as intelligible as rapture. The terms of
comparison were present in the conditions of human life and its various
atmospheres of suffering and of intellect. Thus the most extraordinary
traditions of hell and purgatory were quite naturally conceivable.

He gave the fundamental _rationale_ of virtue with admirable clearness.
A pious man, toiling onward in poverty, proud of his good conscience,
at peace with himself, and steadfastly true to himself in his heart
in spite of the spectacle of exultant vice, was a fallen angel doing
penance, who remembered his origin, foresaw his guerdon, accomplished
his task, and obeyed his glorious mission. The sublime resignation of
Christians was then seen in all its glory. He depicted martyrs at the
burning stake, and almost stripped them of their merit by stripping
them of their sufferings. He showed their inner angel as dwelling in the
heavens, while the outer man was tortured by the executioner's sword.
He described angels dwelling among men, and gave tokens by which to
recognize them.

He next strove to drag