I doubt, whether we can allow the authority of those metaphysical arguments which are made use of to defend the spirituality of the soul to be decisive; but they are sufficient to repulse the different attacks of materialists. The most evident opinion to me is, that we are too weak to comprehend the secret we search for. We have, according to our petty knowledge, divided the universe into two parts, spirit and matter; but this division serves only to distinguish the little we know from that which we have no knowledge of; there is perhaps an infinite gradation between the different properties which compose motion and life, instinct and intelligence; we can only express the ideas conceived by our understandings, and the general words which we make use of, serve only to detect the vain ambition of our mind; but with respect to the universe, in considering its immensity, we shall find, that there is sufficient space for all the shades and modifications we have no idea of. We confess, that it is the connection between our physical powers and intellectual faculties, and the action that they seem to have on each other, which nourishes our doubts and anxieties; but without this relation, without the appearance of our fall, all would be distinct in the fate of man, all would be manifest. It is then, because that there is a shade in the midst of the picture, which continually catches our attention, that we have need to collect the light of the mind and the feelings, in order to see in perspective our destiny; and it is from this motive that we find it necessary, above all, to be penetrated with the idea of a God, and to search for, in his power and goodness, the last explication which we want. There is, in the judgments of men, a contrast which I have often been struck with. Those people, who, at the sight of the immensity of the universe, at the view of the wonders in the midst of which they are placed, fear not to attribute to our intellectual faculties the power of interpreting and understanding every thing, and even the capacity of attaining almost to the hidden secrets of our nature; these same people are nevertheless most eager to strip the soul of its true dignity, and the most obstinate in refusing it spirituality and duration, and every thing else which can exalt it. But happily, these refusals or concessions fix not our fate: the nature of the soul will always be as unknown as the essence of the Supreme Being; and it is one of the proofs of its grandeur, to be wrapped up in the same mysteries which hide from us the universal spirit. But there are simple ideas and sentiments, which seem to bring along with them more comfort and hope than metaphysical arguments.