We are here placed in a mere scene of spiritual thraldom and
restraint. Our souls are shut in and limited by bounds and barriers;
shackled by mortal infirmities, and subject to all the gross
impediments of matter. In vain would they seek to act independently of
the body, and to mingle together in spiritual intercourse. They can
only act here through their fleshy organs. Their earthly loves are
made up of transient embraces and long separations. The most intimate
friendship, of what brief and scattered portions of time does it
consist! We take each other by the hand, and we exchange a few words
and looks of kindness, and we rejoice together for a few short
moments-and then days, months, years intervene, and we see and know
nothing of each other. Or, granting that we dwell together for the
full season of this our mortal life, the grave soon closes its gates
between us, and then our spirits are doomed to remain in separation
and widowhood; until they meet again in that more perfect state of
being, where soul will dwell with soul in blissful communion, and
there will be neither death, nor absence, nor any thing else to
interrupt our felicity.
* * * * *
In the foregoing paper, I have alluded to the writings of some of the
old Jewish rabbis.
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