Here and here alone center'd in the Realms of inexpressible Glory, we justly may imagine that primogenial Globe or Sphere of all Perfections, subject to the Extreams of neither Cold nor Heat, of eternal Temperance and Duration. Here we may not irrationally suppose the Vertues of the meritorious are at last rewarded and received into the full Possession of every Happiness, and to perfect Joy. The final and immortal State ordain'd for such human Beings, as have passed this Vortex of Probation thro' all the Degrees of human Nature with the supream Applause.
What vast room is here, for infinite Power and Wisdom to act in, and that so visibly takes Delight to bless all his Beings with his Bounty. And endless as his Prescience, Attributes, and Goodness, are undoubtedly all those natural and apparent Joys with which he manifests his Love to all his Creatures, a Multiplicity of Objects not to be enumerated. For wheresoever we turn our Eyes, and follow with our Reason, we may meet with Worlds of all Formations, suited no doubt to all Natures, Tastes, and Tempers, and every Class of Beings.
Here a Groupe of Worlds, all Vallies, Lakes, and Rivers, adorn'd with Mountains, Woods, and Lawns, Cascades and natural Fountains; there Worlds all fertile Islands, cover'd with Woods, perhaps upon a common Sea, and fill'd with Grottoes and romantick Caves. This Way, Worlds all Earth, with vast extensive Lawns and Vistoes, bounded with perpetual Greens, and interspersed with Groves and Wildernesses, full of all Varieties of Fruits and Flowers. That World subsisting perhaps by soft Rains, this by daily Dews, and Vapours; and a third by a central, subtle Moisture, arising like an Effluvia, through the Pores and Veins of the Earth, and exhaling or absorbing as the Season varies to answer Nature's Calls. Round some perhaps, so dense an Atmosphere, that the Inhabitants may fly from Place to Place, or be drawn through the Air in winged Chariots, and even sleep upon the Waves with Safety; round others possibly, so thin a fluid, that the Arts of Navigation may be totally unknown to it, and look'd upon as impracticable and absurd, as Chariot flying may be here with us; and some where not improbably, superior Beings to the human, may reside, and Man may be of a very inferior Class; the second, third, or fourth perhaps, and scarce allow'd to be a rational Creature. Worlds, with various Moons we know of already; Worlds, with Stars and Comets only, we equally can prove is very probable; and that there may be Worlds with various Suns, is not impossible. And hence it is obvious, that there may not be a Scene of Joy, which Poetry can paint, or Religion promise; but somewhere in the Universe it is prepared for the meritorious Part of Mankind. Thus all Infinity is full of States of Bliss; Angelic Choirs, Regions of Heroes, and Realms of Demi-Gods; Elysian Fields, Pindaric Shades, and Myriads of inchanting Mansions, not to be conceived either by Philosophy or Fancy, assisted by the strongest Genius and warmest Imagination.
All harmoniously crowded and provided with every Object of Beatitude, that Friendship, Love, or Society can inspire, the Muses or the Graces Frame; and all as permanent and perfect, that is destin'd to a Duration, suited to the Nature of their Existence and Degree of Cognisance; for as a very learned Writer observes upon this same Subject:
"How can we tell, but that there may be above us Beings of greater Powers, and more perfect Intellects, and capable of mighty Things, which yet may have corporeal Vehicles as we have, but finer and invisible? Nay, who knows, but that there may be even of these many Orders, rising in Dignity of Nature, and Amplitude of Power, one above another? It is no Way below the Philosophy of these Times, which seems to delight in inlarging the Capacities of Matter, to assert the Possibility of this."
From these amazing Ideas of Space in general, and from the particular Distance of the Stars, which separates as it were, one System of Bodies from another, and by so prodigious an extent, as scarce to be suppos'd a temporal Task. I think it naturally follows, had we no other Way to prove it, or any other Reason to believe it, that the Soul must of Necessity be immaterial; for as this Space seems so impassible to Matter, as not to be undertaken and performed without the Loss of Ages, in a State only of Transmigration, we may well imagine, that Change of Place is not effected this Way, but by some other Virtue or Property, more immediate, if not instantaneous.
I own next to Annihilation is the State of Oblivion, and this Way we may solve all Difficulties with regard to our being sensible of such a Loss of Existence; but if we allow the Soul to be immaterial, it no longer has any thing to do with Space, but as operating by Reflection only, or the Faculty of Thinking; it may be like the Imagination where it pleases in a Moment.
Objects of the Mind abstracted from the Senses of the Body, has no real or comparative Magnitude; that is, I would say, an Inch, a Foot, a Yard, a Mile, or a Million of Miles are all equally indefinite, and is thus prov'd; every finite Line is formed of an infinite Number of Points, and no finite Line can be solv'd into more. Thus if you will allow me the Expression, the Mind being magnified as all Objects are diminished, what seems impracticable in the natural State of Things, in an Ideal one, becomes very possible; that is, to make myself more intelligible, though we can hardly conceive, how any Being can pass from Syrius to the Sun, by natural Laws in their proper State, yet if proportionally reduced by a new Modification of Ideas, to the Bigness of a Ball 6 Feet Diameter, and to be only 680 Miles asunder; the Thing is very comprehensive and easy.
Plate XXXI.
