Allen, Ethan, 1738-1789. An essay on the universal plenitude of being and on the nature and immortality of the human soul and its agency : manuscript, [1784]. MS Am 1825. Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

or less circumpherence in nothing is but a mere chimera of the mind. It is the same as a great nothing, which can not be biger than a little nothing, since neither of them have any real existence, therefore there must be a plenum of real entity throughout the universe.

The definition of the word Space, is "the distance between any two bodies or points," but this distance is not in nonentity, but in the atmosphere (or etherial regions) which has its different degrees of Subtileness, that part which is contiguous to the cirface of (the) globe is thicker and heavier than that which is more remote from it. Those who have indeavoured to cross some part of the Andes in South America, the Highest Moun -tains in the known World, have part of them perished in consequence of the subtilety of the air, which in stead of heaving the vital bellowses, passed through the little pasirating perspirating pores of the body, and imediately deprived them of life, while others of the parts, advancing (not quite so high on the Mountain, but perceiving in themselves distress in the act of breathing, went down the Mountain again, till they came to a proper medium of air, where they could res breath as usual, and found by experience, that such lubbers as we are, was by nature incapable of inhabiting the etherial regions.

The ether which is much finer, or rarer than Air, in which animal life cannot subsist as before observed commences commences from

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the limit of our atmosphere, and extends we know not how far in the heavenly space, (not nonentity,) nor are we able to conceive of the different degrees of rarefycation, which by nature it is capable, of (or really possessed of) any more than we are able to conceive of perfect solidity. We may however be certain that neither ether or any other substance, can be so thin or subtile, as not to be, which excludes the notion of nonentity and consequently of a vacuum from the universe, and establishes the doctrine of a universal plenum.

Furthermore, there must be a universal plenum of intelligent being, abstractly considered from that of the material, otherwise God could not be omnipresent, for if there is a vacuum of all being, in any part of the creation (universe,) it would not only exclude the entity of matter, but of Spirit, and conseque -ntly circumscribe the infinity of God. That God should be included in any place, or excluded in (from) any place, is a contradiction to his being every where present. The infinity and omnipresence of God does not imply his being every thing, but every where, consequently his essence must needs pervade all nature, and possess all Space, as well as possess all knowledge power good_ ness and absolute perfection. To suppose that God is all things, would exclude his creation, and make us with other things, rational and irrational, to be parts or members of God, or to be included in his essence, whi -ch is absurd since on such a position, God would be weake miserable and sinful; we must therefore abstract the Idea of the essence of God from the essence

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of his creation, and conceive of him to be the author of nature, but not nature it self, and however inconceivable the Divine nature is to us, we must ascribe absolute perfection to it, for if we limit the perfection of God, in our conception of him (we) un-God him, and since in Order that God should be perfect he must be unlimited in his perfections, and as a premised exclusion of him from a vacuum, or from any part of space however Small (according to our comparative Idea of it,) would infringe on his attribute of infinity or actual possession of every part of the universe, therefore we infer an absolute plenum of intelligent entity.

Our senses and understandings are so imperfect in the just conception of material or moral entity, that we are more or less perplexed in our apprehension of the existence of matter of various densities and qualities; and at the same time to conceive of the universal existence of God, since we are accustomed to some kinds of conjealed substances being impassible to others; so that they cannot (from occular demonstration) be both in one and the same place at the same time, such sort of material existences can not pervade each other, but does it follow from hence that the pure and perfect essence of God can not pervade such bodies, or any others in the universe, undoubted(ly) God was wise enough, to have so constituted his Creation, as not to have precluded his own omnipresence whether we understand it (or)

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And if those bodies we denominate to be dense or conjealed, are no obstruction to the omnipresence of the Divine nature, then human Souls or other finite intelligences could be hindrance of its extention, (nor would) it interfere with their local existence. The Divine essence as we have already observed, being different from all others many (with the) other (rest) of its perfections, must be capable of, and actually pervade the creation. We do not know whether it is necessary or possible for two distinct human Souls to occupy or possess the same place, or identical part of Space at the same time or not, yet we readily perceived it to be requisite to an infinite Spiritual being, not to be included in any place, nor excleded from any place, and therefore must pos(s)ess all Space, and consequently pervade not only the essences of finite intelligences, but the universal creation, or it could not be omnipresent and consequently not a God, for as we have argued that a mere finite intelligent being, must exist some where if any where at all, so likewise the Divine essence must exist every where if at all, or it could not be omnipresent; for as a limited intelligent being, in order to have a place, must have some mysterious sort of Substance (for us) to enable it to possess or occupy the same, and give entity to it, so from the same parity of reasoning, we must admit that an infinite intelligent being, implies some pure Substance of which the Divine essence exists, and by which (it) is Omnipresent.

And though we cannot comprehend this infinite manner of existence, yet it implies no contradic

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contradiction, as it does (on the part of my opponents) to suppose an infinite being of no Substance, who existed no where, should pervade all nature and be absolutely omnipresent; and give being to the human Souls (of no substance;) who exist no where.

Christian tradition has undoubt -edly been the means of misguiding the minds of those who have been therein educated; on the subject of the Divine omnipresence. When (we) any of us can once be persuaded that a God (could) became incarnate, and live a number of months in the circumpherence of a womb, occupy an human organ, be born, & continue in a State of was born, occupied a human organ, and continued in a State of humanity about thirty years, and dyed as a man we loose sight of the his omnipresence, and at once conceive of him to be local. And when we consult the Theology of Moses, we find that he ascribes motion to God saying, "and the Lord came down upon the Mount Sinai," and again, "and the Lord came down to see the City, and the Tower which the children of men builded," and in another place he describes an interview which he had with the Lord, when he graciously gave him a peep at his back parts from a crevice of the rock as he passed by "that I will put thee in the (a) cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand, while I pass by, and I will take away my hand mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen." The perfection of omnipresence in God is inconsistent with motion in him. Local beings only are by nature capable

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