engers. Whence do they issue and whither do they
go? Is there not beyond the sky above us a region to which our imperfect
vision cannot penetrate, but which may be accessible to them from the
peaks of elevated mountains, or to be reached only with wings? And thus
we picture to ourselves a heaven shut off from earth, with all its sins
and cares, by the untroubled and impenetrable sky--a place of light and
repose, its pavement illuminated by the sun and countless other shining
bodies--a place of peace, but also a place of power.

[Sidenote: Of evil beings and hell.] Still more, a thousand facts of our
life teach us that we are exposed to influences of an evil nature as
well as to those that are good. How often, in our dreams, does it happen
that we are terror-stricken by the approach of hideous forms, faces of
fearful appearance, from which we vainly struggle to escape. Is it not
natural for us to attribute the evil we see in the world to these as the
good to those? and, since we can not conceive of the existence of beings
without assigning them a place, where shall we find for these malignant
spirits a habitation? Is it not in the dark region beneath the ground,
far away from the realms of light--a region from which, through the
volcano, smoke and burning sulphur are cast into this upper world--a
place of everlasting fire and darkness, whose portals are in caves and
solitudes of unutterable gloom?

[Sidenote: Of man, the supernatural.] Placed thus on the boundary
between such opposing powers, man is the sport of circumstances,
sustained by beings who seek his happiness, and tempted by those who
desire his destruction. Is it at all surprising that, guided by such
obvious thoughts and simple reasonings, he becomes superstitious? that
he sees in every shadow a spirit, and peoples every solitary place with
invisibles? that he casts a longing look to the good beings who can
protect him, seeking to invoke their aid by entreaties, and to
propitiate their help by free-will sacrifices of things that are
pleasant and valuable? Open to such influences himself, why should he
not believe in the efficacy of prayer? His conscious superiority lends
force to his suspicion that he is a worthy object for the opposing
powers to contend for, a conclusion verified by the inward strifes he
feels, as well as by the trials of life to which he is exposed.

[Sidenote: His immortality and future life.] But dreams at night, and
sometimes visions b