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of man, represents the supposed promotion of man from the mere brute consciousness—the clay-soul, to the soul self-contemplative, whereby he discovers that there is an infinite above and around his finite being, and whereby he aspires after the perfect. The consequence, to the mass of men, was all the evil and trouble since come upon them,—whether as a punishment, or as an alleviation, does not explicitly appear, save from the assertion that hope still remained in the hands of man,—and that it came as the very foundation of the whole parcel of his evils. Prometheus—the God in man which would exalt him—the speculative spirit, thenceforth finds itself in finite bonds, while the eagle of ambition (or the vulture of conscience, as you will,) gnaws at his vitals, which daily grow, or rather nightly grow, again. That is, the animal nature, of its own force, and reacting tendency, defies the unattained infinite, and keeps hi!h still alive. In the true spirit of the fable, Prometheus still is bound, and the eagle gnaws him still. But another and a baser hand has marred the fable, in the view of finishing that which never can be finished, and added the conclusion that Hercules, or the perfection of the physical man, finally slew or shall slay the longing, hungry curiosity and ambition of the soul, and set it at perfect liberty.

Let us look at another fable. Tantalus, although a son of Jove, was a speculator in theology. He invited all the gods to his table, and even sacrificed and served thereon his own son, that he might discover somewhat concerning their divinity. But the gods smelled his design, and would not eat of his