he same
is my brother, and my sister, and mother;" "Ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free. Whosoever committeth sin
is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house
forever; but the son abideth forever. If the Son, therefore, make
you free, ye shall be free indeed." That is to say, truth gives a
good man the freedom of the universe, makes him know himself an
heir, immortally and everywhere at home; sin gives the wicked man
over to bondage, makes him feel afraid of being an outcast, loads
him with hardships as a servant. Whoever will believe the
revelations of Christ, and assimilate his experience, shall lose
the wretched burdens of unbelief and fear and be no longer a
servant, but be made free indeed, being adopted as a son.

The whole conception, then, is this: The universe is one vast
house, comprising many subordinate mansions. All the moral beings
that dwell in it compose one immortal family. God is the universal
Father. His will the truth is the law of the household. Whoever
obeys it is a worthy son and has the Father's approbation; whoever
disobeys it is alienated and degraded into the condition of a
servant. We may roam from room to room, but can never get lost
outside the walls beyond the reach of the Paternal arms. Death is
variety of scenery and progress of life:

"We bow our heads At going out, we think, and enter straight
Another golden chamber of the King's, Larger than this we leave,
and lovelier."

Who can comprehend the idea, in its overwhelming magnificence and
in its touching beauty, its sweeping amplitude embracing all
mysteries, its delicate fitness meeting all wants, without being
impressed and stirred by it, even to the regeneration of his soul?
If there is any thing calculated to make man feel and live like a
child of God, it would surely seem to be this conception. Its
unrivalled simplicity and verisimilitude compel the assent of the
mind to its reality. It is the most adequate and sublime view of
things that ever entered the reason of man. It is worthy the
inspiration of God, worthy the preaching of the Son of God. All
the artificial and arbitrary schemes of fanciful theologians are
as ridiculous and impertinent before it as the offensive flaring
of torches in the face of one who sees the steady and solemn
splendors of the sun. To live in the harmony of the truth of
things, in the conscious love of God and enjoyment of immortality,
blessed children, ever