of space, of the sudden mingling of souls which seem to recognize each
other. With regard to the different degrees of strength of which our
affections are capable, he accounted for them by the place, more or
less near the centre, occupied by beings in their respective circles.

He gave mathematical expression to God's grand idea in the
co-ordination of the various human spheres. "Through man," he said,
"these spheres constituted a world intermediate between the
intelligence of the brute and the intelligence of the angels." As he
stated it, the divine Word nourishes the spiritual Word, the spiritual
Word nourishes the living Word, the living Word nourishes the animal
Word, the animal Word nourishes the vegetable Word, and the vegetable
Word is the expression of the life of the barren Word. These
successive evolutions, as of a chrysalis, which God thus wrought in
our souls, this infusorial life, so to speak, communicated from each
zone to the next, more vivid, more spiritual, more perceptive in its
ascent, represented, rather dimly no doubt, but marvelously enough to
his inexperienced hearers, the impulse given to Nature by the
Almighty. Supported by many texts from the Sacred Scriptures, which he
used as a commentary on his own statements to express by concrete
images the abstract arguments he felt to be wanting, he flourished the
Spirit of God like a torch over the deep secrets of creation, with an
eloquence peculiar to himself, and accents that urged conviction on
his audience. As he unfolded his mysterious system and all its
consequences, he gave a key to every symbol and justified the
vocation, the special gifts, the genius, the talent of each human
being.

Then, instinctively becoming physiological, he remarked on the
resemblance to certain animals stamped on some human faces, accounting