trine of a future state ought to be viewed as a strong presumption, that it is founded upon truth. The human mind is so constituted, that, when left to its native unbiassed energies, it necessarily infers the existence of a supreme Intelligence, from the existence of matter, and the economy of the material world; and, from the nature of the human faculties, and the moral attributes of God, it is almost as infallibly led to conclude, that a future existence is necessary, in order to gratify the boundless desires of the human soul, and to vindicate the wisdom and rectitude of the moral Governor of the world. These two grand truths, which constitute the foundation of all religion, and of every thing that is interesting to man as an intelligent agent, are interwoven with the theological creed of all nations; and, in almost every instance, where the one is called in question, the other is undermined or denied: so that the doctrine of the immortality of man may be considered as resting on the same foundation as the existence of a Supreme Intelligence. It must indeed be admitted, that individuals have appeared, in every age, who have endeavoured to call in question, or to deny, this fundamental truth. But this circumstance forms no valid objection to the force of the argument to which I have now adverted. For the number of such persons has been extremely small, when compared with the mass of mankind; and their opinions on this subject have generally originated either from wilful ignorance; from an affectation of singularity and of appearing superior to vulgar fears; or from indulging in a course of wickedness and impiety, which has led them to wish, and if possible to believe, that there are neither punishments nor rewards beyond the grave. If it appear strange and unnatural that any man should wish his soul to be mortal, Hierocles assigns the true reason of it: "A wicked man," says he, "is afraid of his judge, and therefore wishes his soul and body may perish together by death, rather than it should appear before the tribunal of God." If a number of fools should think fit to put out their own eyes, to prevent them from feeling the effects of light, as Democritus, the ancient philosopher, was said to have done, it would form no argument to prove that all the rest of the world was blind. And, if a few sceptics and profligates endeavour to blind the eyes of their understanding by sophistry and licentiousness, it cannot prevent the light of reason, which unveils the reali. ties of a future world, from shining on the rest of mankind, nor constitute the slightest argument to prove the fallacy of the doctrine they deny. SECTION II. On the desire of future existence implanted in the human mind. Those strong and restless desires after future existence and enjoyment, which are implanted in the soul of man, are a strong presumptive proof that he is possessed of an immortal nature. There is no human being who feels full satisfaction in his present enjoyments. The mind is for ever on the wing in the pursuit of new acquirements, of new objects, and, if possible, of higher degrees of felicity, than the present moment can afford. However exquisite any particular enjoyment may sometimes be found, it soon begins to lose its relish, and to pall the intellectual appetite. Hence the voracious desire, apparent among all ranks, for variety of amusements, both of a sensitive, and of an intellectual nature. Hence the keen desire for novelty, for tales of wonder, for beautiful and splendid exhibitions, and for intelligence respecting the passing occurrences of the day. Hence the eagerness with which the daily newspapers are read by all ranks who have it in their power to procure them. However novel or interesting the events which are detailed to-day, an appetite for fresh intelligence is excited before to-morrow. Amidst the numerous objects which are daily soliciting attention, amidst the variety of intelligence which newsmongers have carefully selected for the gratifi. cation of every taste, and amidst the fictitious scenes depicted by the Novelist and the Poet-"the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing." Hence, too, the insatiable desires of the miser in accumulating riches, and the unremitting career of ambition, in its pursuit of honours and of fame. And hence the ardour with which the philosopher prosecutes one discovery after another, without ever arriving at a resting-point, or sitting down contented with his present attainments. When Archimedes had discovered the mode of determining the relative quantities of gold and silver in Hiero's crown, did he rest satisfied with this new acquirement? No. The ecstacy he felt at the discovery, when he leaped from the bath, and ran naked through the streets of Syracuse, crying, "I have found it, I have found it"-soon subsided into indifference, and his mind pushed forward in quest of new discoveries. When Newton ascertained the law of universal gravitation, and Franklin discovered the identity of lightning and the electric fluid, and felt the transports which such discoveries must have excited, did they slacken their pace in the road of scientific discovery, or sit down contented with their past researches? No. One discovery gave a stimulus to the pursuit of another, and their career of improvement only terminated with their lives. After Alexander had led his victorious armies over Persia, Babylonia, Syria, Egypt, and India, and had conquered the greater part of the known world, did he sit down in peace, and enjoy the fruit of his conquests? No. His desires after new projects, and new expeditions, remained insatiable; his ambition rose even to madness; and when the philosopher Anaxarchus told him, there was an infinite number of worlds, he wept at the thought that his conquests were confined to one. These restless and unbounded desires are to be found agitating the breasts of men of all nations, of all ranks and conditions in life. If we ascend the thrones of princes, if we enter the palaces of the great, if we walk through the mansions of courtiers and statesmen, if we pry into the abodes of poverty and indigence, if we mingle with poets or philosophers, with manufacturers, merchants, mechanics, peasants, or beggars; if we survey the busy, bustling scene of a large city, the sequestered village, or the cot which stands in the lonely desert--we shall find, in every situation, and among every class, beings animated with desires of happiness, which no present enjoyment can gratify, and which no object within the limits of time can fully satiate. Whether we choose to indulge in ignorance, or to prosecute the path of knowledge; to loiter in indolence, or to exert our active powers with unremitting energy; to mingle with social beings, or to flee to the haunts of solitude,—we feel The soul uneasy, and confined from home, That the desire of immortality is common, and natural to all men, appears from a variety of actions, which can scarcely be accounted for on any other principle, and which prove that the mind feels conscious of its immortal destiny. Why, otherwise, should men be anxious about their reputation, and solicitous to secure their names from oblivion, and to perpetuate their fame, after they have descended into the grave? To accomplish such objects, and to gratify such desires, Poets, Orators, and Historians, have been flattered and rewarded to celebrate their actions; monuments of marble and of brass have been erected to represent their persons, and inscriptions engraved in the solid rock, to convey to future generations a record of the exploits they had achieved. Lofty columns, triumphal arches, towering pyramids, magnificent temples, palaces, and mausoleums, have been reared, to eternize their fame, and to make them live, as it were, in the eyes of their successors, through all the future ages of time. But, if the soul be destined to destruction at the hour of death, why should man be anxious about what shall happen, or what shall not happen hereafter, when he is reduced to a mere non-entity, and banished for ever from the universe of God? He can have no interest in any events that may befall the living world when he is cancelled from the face of creation, and when the spark of intelligence he possessed is quenched in everlasting night. If any man be fully convinced that the grave puts a final period to his existence, the only consistent action he can perform, when he finds his earthly wishes and expectations frustrated, is to rush into the arms of death, and rid himself at once of all the evils connected with his being. But we find the great majority of mankind, notwithstanding the numerous ills to which they are subjected, still clinging with eagerness to their mortal existence, and looking forward, with a certain degree of hope, to a termination of their sorrows. "They rather choose to bear those ills they have Than fly to others that they know not of." There is, I presume, no individual in a sound state of mind, who can entirely throw aside all concern about his posthumous reputation, and about the events that may hap. pen in the world after his decease. And if so, it clearly demonstrates, not only that he does not wish, but that he does not even suppose that his existence will be for ever extinguished at death. The idea of the shame of being exposed naked after their death, produced such a powerful effect upon the minds of the Milesian virgins, that it deter. red them from putting an end to their lives, after all other arguments had been tried in vain.* The desire of existence-and of existence, too, which has no termination, appears to be the foundation of all our desires, and of all the plans we form in life. Annihilation cannot be an ob. ject of desire to any rational being. We desire something that is real, something that is connected with happiness or enjoyment, but non-existence has no object nor concern whatever belonging to it. When a wicked man, under a consciousness of guilt, indulges a wish for annihilation after death, it is not because non-existence is in itself an object of desire, but he would choose it as the least of two evils: he would rather be blotted out of creation, than suffer the punishment due to his sins in the eternal world. It may also be remarked, that the desire of immortality, however vigorous it may be in ordinary minds, becomes still more glowing and ardent in proportion as the intellect is cultivated and expanded, and in proportion as the soul "I beseech men for God's sake, (says Hale,) that if at any time there arise in them a desire or a wish that others should speak well of their death; then at that time they would seriously consider, whether those motions are not from some spirit to continue a spirit, after it leaves its earthly habitation, rather than from an earthly spirit, a vapour which cannot act, or imagine, or desire, or fear things beyond its continuance." |