“ For aught we know, the mind may be infinite in power, capacity and susceptibility;--it may only be limited by the nature of the physical organ with which it is connected during life.
Again: before mental philosophers attempt to gain any knowledge of the properties of mind, by reflecting upon consciousness, they should prove that the mind is at all capable of consciousness, independent of the body. If consciousness be purely a state of the mind, how, I ask, can it be totally suspended by certain states of the boy? Why are we not always conscious? Why is consciousness suspended during sleep? ”

“ If the soul is incapable of consciousness, when separated from the body, how can it be punished or rewarded? I answer, that we have no evidence of a future state of rewards and punishments, other than the Sacred Scriptures; and that whenever they speak of a future state, it is always mentioned in connection with the resurrection of the body; from which I take it to be a fair inference, that without the body the soul can neither enjoy felicity or endure pain. ”

“ Why, by certain forms of disease, is consciousness destroyed? Why do injuries to the body frequently suspend it? We know that even whilst life exists, we may be rendered unconscious, by accidents which affect only our physical constitution. ”

“ If the brain be the organ of the mind, the mind must manifest itself tho' this organ; nor can it perform any act without its instrumentality. And, if, as we have seen, the mind performs no action without employing a physical organ, must not every act of the mind be modified by the state or condition of that organ? If the organ be not perfect, can the manifestation be perfect? If the state of that organ be varied, must not the manifestation be varied also? By reflecting, then, upon our consciousness, we gain no knowledge of the powers, susceptibilities and capacity of the mind: and why? ”

“ Man is a complex being. The clements of his constitution are Mind and Matter. How these are connected, it is not for us to understand; but to determine the relative influence of the one upon the other is a subject fraught with the highest interest and importance. ”

“ Like the lone star of the heavens, in the deep solitude of nature's night, she sits the presiding divinity of the family mansion, its delight and its charm, its stay and its hope, when all around her is overshadowed with the gloom of despondency and despair. ”

“ In the mean time, the Englishman was rapidly advancing, with the intention of carrying the American by boarding. He was not ten yards astern, and at every moment gaining on the Rover. Buntline stood watching him as a tiger does his prey, scarcely breathing in the intensity of his interest, and awaiting with a painful suspense the moment when he might put his daring scheme into operation. ”

“ Brown, are identical with consciousness, be suspended also, by certain states or conditions of the body? If, then, our consciousness depends upon the state of our bodies,--and if we can know nothing of our own thoughts and sensations only through consciousness, certainly all we can know of mind is in its connection with matter. Every system of Mental Philosophy, therefore, which professes to treat of mind without regard to its connection with matter, must necessarily be defective in its fundamental principles. ”

“ And oh, how instinctively do we hang over the early scenes of our boyhood, brightened by the recollection of that waking eye that never closed while a single wave of misfortune or danger sighed around her child. ”

“ Leaving the squadron to make the best of their way, the reader must imagine himself upon the quarter-deck of the little brig, upon whose capture they were all so eagerly bent.
A single glance at her arrangements, and those who conducted them, would bespeak her a privateeer; indeed, were that good looking fellow, who has just laid down the trumpet and taken up the spy-glass, attired in uniform, the brig might be easily mistaken for a national vessel. She differs from one in no other particular. ”

“ Groups of men were now seen spiking the cannon 'fore and aft, so as to render them perfectly useless. The muskets were all thrown overboard, and the powder, with the exception of what each man carried about him, totally destroyed; this done, the crew armed themselves, and mustering aft, awaited the further orders of their commander. ”

“ In a few moments, the order to cast loose the guns followed, and every man commenced getting the iron machines ready for the work of death, with the alacrity and good humor peculiar to a sailor, and with an expedition and regularity that was the result of much previous experience in like matters. The tompanions were taken out--the train and side tackles cut adrift--the pumps rigged, and the deck sanded, 'fore and aft, to prevent them from becoming slippery with blood ”