I will grant that the oriental notions of cosmogony, or the creation of the world, are a blot on their scripture page: because the pagan theologians were shorn of the light of Christianity, they were prone to refer creation to natural causes within their own comprehension, and their ideas were fabulous and impure. Thus, among the Hindoos and Egyptians, there is a mass of obscenity adduced to account for the development of the globe, in the associations of _Vishnu_ and _Siva_, and _Osiris_ and _Isis_; and the temples of Elephanta and Elora are adorned with symbolic paintings of this incarnation of Vishnu. Yet, with all this error, there is in the “Vedas” or Hindoo scriptures, a not remote analogy to the Bible itself; and, granting that the cosmogony of Phœnicia is little more than a mysterious romance; yet, whether the great cause be the _demiurgic spirit_ uniting with desire, or the being “That” of the Hindoos, the essence of all these mysteries still combines the grand scheme of the creation,—the formation of a beautiful world from a chaos of wide and dark waters. IDA. You are wandering very far eastward, Astrophel: I will propose this question to Evelyn. If it is so evident that the brain and mind, although not identical, exist in a most intimate union, may we not undervalue their relative influence by adducing the energy of intellect and brilliancy of conception possessed by many in advanced life? Remember the green old age of Plato, and Cicero, and Newton, and Johnson, and, above all, Goëthe, whose last work was brilliant as his first. And all this, coincident with that love of Infinite Wisdom that exists, (as we read in the “Consolations of a Philosopher,”) “even in the imperfect life which belongs to the earth, _increases with age_, outlives the perfection of the corporeal faculties, and, at the moment of death is felt by the conscious being.” Does this imply decay? EV. The retentive powers of old age, are the _exception_ to a rule, which the ultra spiritualist assumes as a _general_ rule, in attempting to disprove the growth and decay of mind, according to the age of the body. But as _lives_ are of different duration and _constitutions_ vary, so may _mental powers_ indicate different degrees of vigour. If mind _in_creases, no doubt it _de_creases; and I have known many, who retain every faculty but _memory_, which is the first to decay and indicate failing power; and so also is it with idiots, in whose _memory_, usually, the greatest defects appear; the faculty of counting numbers reaches only to three, and of letters to C, the third letter in the alphabet. Ida will grant that there is no more impressive lesson of humility than the dwindling and decay of genius, when, in the words of the Athenian misanthrope— “Nature, as it grows again toward earth, Is fashion’d for the journey, dull and heavy.” Reflect on the painful end of Sheridan and other brilliant wits of their day; that