Dr. Abercrombie, in his work on the Intellectual Powers, says: "There is thus, in the consciousness of every man, a deep impression of continued existence. The casuist may reason against it till he bewilder himself in his own sophistries; but a voice within gives the lie to his vain speculations, and pleads with authority for a life which is to come. The sincere and humble inquirer cherishes the impression while he seeks for further light on a subject so momentous; and he thus receives with absolute conviction the truth which beams upon him from the revelation of God, that the mysterious part of his being, which thinks, and wills, and reasons, shall, indeed, survive the wreck of its mortal tenement, and is destined for immortality." How mysterious is the union between mind and matter! how little we know of ourselves! how shallow is our deepest philosophy! We know that the mind is that part of our being which thinks and wills, reasons and remembers, but we know nothing of it except from these functions. "By means of the corporeal senses it holds intercourse with the things of the external world, and receives impressions from them, but of this connexion also we know nothing but the facts; when we attempt to speculate upon its nature and cause, we wander at once from the path of philosophical inquiry into conjectures, which are as far beyond the proper sphere as they are beyond the reach of human faculties. The object of true science on such a subject, therefore, is simply to investigate the facts or relations of phenomena, respecting the operations of mind itself, and the intercourse which it carries on with the external world." In a philosophic point of view, all our knowledge of the world around us is referable to the operations of the mind on the impressions conveyed to it through the senses, that is, perception. Nevertheless, in point of fact, the knowledge which is acquired by an individual through perception and mental agency, as reflection, memory, etc., is but a small part of what he possesses; it is to the perception and mental labour of others that he owes the great mass of knowledge he is gifted with. Generation after generation has contributed to accumulate a store of facts, a treasury of thoughts and reflections, to which succeeding generations have added, leaving them as a legacy to generations yet to come, who will contribute in their turn to the stock, and bequeath the treasure to their successors. Thus are we enriched by the labour of others, and not altogether by our own experience.