215 
Man has, in common with the lower animals, the psyche or 
animal soul, which in them, as in him, is intimately connected 
with the blood, and seems to possess the brain as its special 
organ of thought — thought which, to a certain extent, is 
shared by the lower animals, as, on the other hand, he shares 
in measure their instincts. 
But in the pneuma he stands solitary and alone. He can 
find no helpmeet amongst the lower animals to satisfy his 
'pneumatic nature. He is formed for God, and is restless till 
he finds rest in Him. He is the crowning work of the great 
Artificer, introduced last, as the link uniting the whole Cosmos 
with its Creator — made so far in the likeness of God as to 
seem to share in some measure His attributes. He is so great 
in his powers as to be somewhat less than Almighty, but yet 
so exalted as to be in reference to the lower creatures a kind 
of visible god upon earth. 
“ What a piece of work is a man ! How noble in reason ! 
How infinite in faculties ! in form and moving how express and 
admirable ! in action how like an angel ! in apprehension 
how like a god ! the beauty of the world ! the paragon of 
animals ! 
Can such a creature be the mere “ quintessence of dust ” ? 
Such and so great and so important a being cannot be a 
chance congeries of atoms. That Providence of the Almighty 
mind which cares for all creatures, must certainly be extended 
over man. His individual place in creation must be assigned by 
the fiat of his Judge, and his actions in this assigned sphere 
must be the object of special interest to that Being before 
whom not one of five little nestlings is forgotten. 
In order to understand the mystery of the continuation of 
the species and the consequent introduction of each individual 
into its appointed place in creation, we must first have a clear 
notion of the species itself. As regards man, we have con- 
sidered him as possessed of a threefold nature — “ body, soul, 
and spirit.-” Concerning the body we know that it is con- 
nected with, or even fabricated out of, the chemical elements of 
which we have cognizance by science. Concerning the soul wp 
know nothing of the kind, and concerning the spirit still less. 
We are assured of the reality by philosophy rather than by 
science of ethereal existence, and we have reason to believe 
that we here touch only the boundary of a vast unknown. 
* Hamlet, act ii. 
