“A.S. thought so great a question ought to be given for a written definition.  ‘No,’ said Margaret, ’that is of no use.  When we go away to think of anything, we never do think.  We all talk of life.  We all have some thought now.  Let us tell it.  C——­, what is life?’

    “C——­ replied,—­’It is to laugh, or cry, according to our
    organization.’

    “‘Good,’ said Margaret, ’but not grave enough.  Come, what is
    life?  I know what I think; I want you to find out what you
    think.’

“Miss P. replied,—­’Life is division from one’s principle of life in order to a conscious reoerganization.  We are cut up by time and circumstance, in order to feel our reproduction of the eternal law.’

    “Mrs. E.,—­’We live by the will of God, and the object of life
    is to submit,’ and went on into Calvinism.

    “Then came up all the antagonisms of Fate and Freedom.

    “Mrs. H. said,—­’God created us in order to have a perfect
    sympathy from us as free beings.’

    “Mrs. A.B. said she thought the object of life was to attain
    absolute freedom.  At this Margaret immediately and visibly
    kindled.

“C.S. said,—­’God creates from the fulness of life, and cannot but create; he created us to overflow, without being exhausted, because what he created, necessitated new creation.  It is not to make us happy, but creation is his happiness and ours.’

    “Margaret was then pressed to say what she considered life to
    be.

“Her answer was so full, clear, and concise, at once, that it cannot but be marred by being drawn through the scattering medium of my memory.  But here are some fragments of her satisfying statement.

“She began with God as Spirit, Life, so full as to create and love eternally, yet capable of pause.  Love and creativeness are dynamic forces, out of which we, individually, as creatures, go forth bearing his image, that is, having within our being the same dynamic forces, by which we also add constantly to the total sum of existence, and shaking off ignorance, and its effects, and by becoming more ourselves, i.e., more divine;—­destroying sin in its principle, we attain to absolute freedom, we return to God, conscious like himself, and, as his friends, giving, as well as receiving, felicity forevermore.  In short, we become gods, and able to give the life which we now feel ourselves able only to receive.

“On Saturday morning, Mrs. L.E. and Mrs. E.H. were present, and begged Margaret to repeat the statement concerning life, with which she closed the last conversation.  Margaret said she had forgotten every word she said.  She must have been inspired by a good genius, to have so satisfied everybody.—­but the good genius had left her.  She would try, however, to say what she thought, and trusted it would