I 
~-11~1~~~~~~~
0110HIo 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL,
CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF THE
HOLY SCRIPTURES,
THE TESTIMONY OF
REASON AND NATURE,
AND THE VARIOUS PHENOMENA OF
LIFE AND DEATIIH.
"Immortality o'ersweeps
All pains, all tears, all time, all fears; and peals
Like the eternal thunders of the deep,
Into my heart this truth-THou Uv'SI FR "EN I"-BYRON.
BY
REV. HIIIRAM  MATTISON, D. D.,
AUTHOR OF o DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY," AND VARIOUS ASTRYO
NOMICAL AND MUSICAL WORKS.
THIRD EDITION.
PHILADELPHIA:
PERKINPINE & HIGGINS,
No. 56 NORTH FOURTH STREET.
1867. 
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by
HIIRAM MATTISCO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania.
WESTCOTT & THOKSON, 8TREOTYPES.
CAXTON PRESS OF
SHERMAN & CO., PHILADELPHIA.
-i1
f. 
CONTENTS.
PART FIRST.
SCRIPTURE  DOCTRINE  OF  IMMORTALITY.
CHAPTER I.
PAGI
Philosophical Distinction between Matter and Spirit................... 11
CHAPTER ILI.
Matter and Spirit Distinct-Scripture Testimony........................ 18
CHAPTER IlL
Two-fold Nature of Man-A Spirit.in a Body........................... 22
CHAPTER IV.
Souls not Pre-existent, nor Supplied by Immediate Creation, but
Propagated............................................................ 29
CHAPTER V.
The Nature of Death............................................................. 42
CHAPTER VI.
Conscious existence of Souls between Death and the Resurrection. 54
CHAPTER VII.
The alleged Sleep of the Soul between Death and the Resurrection. 73
CHAPTER VIII.
The "Intermediate State," or the Place of Souls between Death
and the Resurrection...................................................... 95
3
i. - j 
4                        CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
PAGN
Immortal Existence not a Result of Faith in Christ..................... 121
l7~ ~CHAPTER X.
Supposed Annihilation of the Wicked at the Day of Judgment..... 131
PART SECOND.
RATIONAL EVIDENCES OF A FUTURE LIFE.
CHAPTER I.
Character and Value of the Rational Argument......................... 147
CHAPTER II.
Indications of Another Life in the Structure and Phenomena of
the Natural World........................................................... 154
CHAPTER III.
Argument drawn from the General Belief of Mankind............... 163
CHAPTER IV.
The Relation of Man to the Lower Animals............................... 180
CHAPTER V.
The Immortality of the Soul inferred from the Structure of the
Body in which it dwells................................................... 185
CHAPTER VI.
Dominion of the Soul over the Body......................................... 193
CHAPTER  VII.
Unequal Development of the Mind and Body............................. 203
CHAPTER VIII.
Energy of the Soul, in cases where Physical Organs are wanting... 209
CHAPTER IX.
Unimpaired Mental Powers under Bodily Mutilation................    214 
CONTENTS.                           5
CHAPTER X.
PAGE
Reverie, Sleep, Dreaming, Catalepsy........................................ 219
CHAPTER XI.
Vigor of the Soul in the Hour of Death.................................... 232
CHAPTER XII.
The Dissolution of the Body affords no ground for the Presump     tion that the Mind perishes with it.................................... 238
CHAPTER XIILI.
Argument drawn from the Indestructibility of Matter.................. 245
CHAPTER XIV.
The Soul Immaterial, and therefore Immortal............................ 250
CHAPTER XV.
Powers of the Soul-Memory.................................................. 258
CHAPTER XVI.
Powers of the Soul continued-Rapidity of our Mental Processes. 277
CHAPTER XVII.
Powers of the Soul continued-Capabilities of Improvement, and
Vast Achievements........................................................... 285
CHAPTER XVIILI.
Immortality inferable from the Nature of our desires.................. 294
CHAPTER XIX.
The Moral Nature of Man-Conscience, Remorse, &C.................. 307
CHAPTER XX.
Our continued Love for the Dead a proof of Immortality.............. 322
CHAPTER XXI.
Natural Emblems of the Soul's Departure at Death..................... 330
CHAPTER XXILI.
Summary of the Argument, and Practical Conclusions................. 340 
6                      CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIII.
PAGI
Consolation for the Bereft and Sorrowing................................. 354
CHAPTER XXIV.
Glorious Prospects before the Dying Christian........................... 361
CHAPTER XXV.
Closing Appeal to the Unconverted.......................................... 372
Appendix............................................................................. 381
Index of Soripture Quotations................................................ 387
Index of Poetic Quotations.................................................... 391
General Index..................................................................... 393
I..............................................................!    t 
PREFACE,
THE work here presented to the public is the result of more
or less reading, thought and preaching upon the subject for
the last twenty-five years. At first the few facts and arguments in possession were embodied in a single discourse,
upon what we have styled the Rational Evidences of a future
life. As we still read and thought upon the subject, and
preached upon it once or twice every year, revising with each
delivery, the single sermon soon expanded into three; and
finally into a course of Six Lectures, covering most of the
ground traversed in the present volume. These Lectures
were delivered in the several churches of which the writer
was pastor, and elsewhere, with apparent interest and profit
on the part of the people; and as their publication had been
repeatedly called for, it was decided as early as 1856 to
issue them in their present form, should it please God to
spare the life of the writer till it could be accomplished.
After a delay of years, and amid the onerous duties of a
city pastorate, we have at length embodied the matter of
these Lectures in book form, committing our thoughts and
illustrations to the enduring page, in hope that we may thus
not only reach many whom we should never see face to face,
but may thus still preach on when the living voice is hushed
forever in death.
7 
PREFACE.
And yet, let it be distinctly understood, that the following
chapters are not sermons. With the exception of the last two
or three, no one would suspect from their form or style that
their author was a clergyman, or that the matter of the book
had ever been embodied in pulpit discourses. Every paragraph has been re-written; and, so far as we are aware, not a
trace of their former sermonic aspect remains.
The order of the argument is different from that of any
other work upon the subject with which we are acquainted.
Believing with Mr. Watson, that without a revelation from
God, either oral or written, we could have no knowledge
of a future state, we have placed the Scripture argument in
the foreground, where we think it logically and rightfully
belongs; using the Rational argument only as a collateral
support and elucidator of the grand and glorious revelation
from God. Our reasons for this order are given at the commencement of Part Second.
The style of the work is designedly plain and simple.
Although we trust it may repay perusal even by the student
and the theologian, it was written for the farmer, the mechanic, the apprentice, the young Christian, and especially
for the young minister whose opportunities for study have
been limited, and to whom books upon the subject are seldom
accessible. And yet we claim for the book a good degree of
originality; not only in the arrangement of its matter, but
also in its arguments and illustrations.
The Poetic Quotations embodied in the work, add greatly
to its value.  Many of them are exceedingly pertinent and
beautiful, and will be new to most of our readers. They are
the gatherings of thirty years, from a great variety of sources;
and as we know not the authors of many of them, nor
whence we obtained them, we have omitted all quotation
marks and credits in the body of the work, now saying
8 
PREFACE.
here, instead, that none of them are original with the writer.
Most of them will be easily identified by persons familiar with
the poets.
To the friends of our youth and early manhood-fellow
Christians and fellow-laborers of other years-who, like the
writer, begin to mark the lengthening shadows of life's fleeting day, and to look for the opening of the eternal gates-to
all such we proffer here once more our Christian salutations.
We shall meet but few of you again in this world; but hope
to greet you finally in that " better country," where decay and
death are unknown, and where,
The dirge-like sound of parting words,
Shall smite the soul no more.
The plate fronting the title is an excellent copy of a photograph taken in April, 1864. It is inserted in the belief that
in the estimation of some it may add interest to the volume,
and as a tribute of affection and remembrance to many
cherished earthly friends, scattered here and there over the
fields of our former itinerant labors, but whom we expect to
meet no more in this world. It may not be an unwelcome
souvenir to some while we yet live; and may be valued by
others-kindred in the flesh and beloved brethren in Christas a memorial of our former earthly being, when we have left
earth and time forever. For we would not be forgotten here,
either while we live nor after our "departure."  May we
meet again in peace beyond the grave!
And now, grateful to Heaven that life and strength have
been granted us to complete the work, and commending it to
God in the language of the prayer with which it closes, we
consecrate it to the future.  May it cheer and encourage the
Christian, establish the wavering, console the bereft and
sorrowing, convince the unbeliever, awaken the thoughtless
9 
PREFACE.
and unconcerned, and bring sinners to God, when the hand
that wrote it has crumbled back to dust!
H. MATTISON.
NEw YORK, Aug. 5, 1864.
NoTE.-It is the author's purpose, should life and health
permit, to prepare a similar volume upon The Resurrection
of the Dead, to be followed by another upon The Heavenly
World, and still another, upon the subject of Future Punishment. Should a gracious Providence favor this design, it is
hoped that the entire four volumes may be issued, in uniform
style, as early as January 1867 at the latest.
10 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
PART FIRST.
SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY.
CHAPTER I.
PHILOSOPHICAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN MATTER AND
SPIRIT.
I. TiHE term matter is a generic term applied to
all substances, of which we have knowledge by our
natural senses. Whatever is visible or tangible, or
has form  or color, or odor, or may be heard, or
smelled, or tasted, or which we may control or direct
by material agencies, is justly denominated a material
substance.
II. But our knowledge of matter is confined wholly
to its properties, some of which are revealed to one of
the senses, and some to another. We may have sensible evidence of the form and color of a substance,
but of the ultimate particles of which it is composed,
we know nothing beyond their qualities or attributes.
III. As a general rule, the peculiar properties of
the various species of material objects adhere tenaciously to their original substances.   We  cannot
change lead into gold, or silver into iron. This fact
justifies the belief, that while each is alike material,
there is an essential difference in the ultimate particles
of which these substances are composed; or, in other
11 
12      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
words, that the properties of gold, &c., are due, not to
the adventitious circumstances of arrangement or
chemical combination, but to the very nature of their
ultimate elements.
IV. As gold, and iron, and lead, and silver, are
known by their distinguishing and peculiar properties, so matter, under whatever form, and with whatever special qualities, is known to possess certain
general properties, which it possesses under every
form, and under every circumstance of combination.
These properties are termed essential, because, so far
as we know, matter does not and cannot exist without
them.
V. The fact that matter under certain forms has
but one or two properties by which it can reveal itself
to our senses, while in other cases it has many such
properties; affords no ground for the presumption
that matter ever exists without any such qualities.
Such a presumption is not only contrary to all observation and experience, and to all the analogies of nature,
but is both contradictory and absurd; in that it assumes the existence of a substance, of whose existence
it is impossible, in the very nature of things, that we
should ever have any knowledge.
VI. We have saidthatmaterial substances areknown
only by their properties; and that the number of
qualities revealed to the senses, varies in different
substances. An orange, for instance, is yellow and
round to the sight; fragrant to the smell; smooth and
soft to the touch; sweet to the taste; and may be heard
as it falls from the hand, or from the bough upon
which it grew. It thus addresses all of our senses.
But the atmosphere, which is as truly material as gold 
DISTINCTION BETWEEN MATTER AND SPIRIT.  13
or marble, can only be heard and felt. We can
neither see nor taste nor smell it.  Those qualities,
therefore, which appeal to these latter senses, cannot
b6 essential properties of matter.
VII. Light, caloric, electricity and magnetism, find
their appropriate classification, as material substances: for though they have but few of the qualities
of matter, as generally found to exist, they are nevertheless more or less subject to mechanical laws, like
the more gross and ponderable substances. Light
may be evolved, reflected, refracted and analyzed, so
as to separate its component rays. Calorie may be
generated, transferred and divided. Electricity may
be collected, transferred and divided; and magnetism
can be divided and transferred. Thus, though in
some respects as unlike solid matter on the one hand,
as thought or spirit on the'other, all these subtile
essences, and all others of their class, bear the image
and superscription of materiality. No one of them
has consciousness or knowledge, will or memory;
while, on the other hand, their subjugation to mechanical laws, proclaims them as belonging to the
material world.
VIII. The same general Jlaw which enables us to
identify a substance as material, enables us also to
identify each particular species of material substances.
For instance, we have learned by observation and experience, that a certain metallic substance is yellow
and very heavy; that it melts at a certain temperature; is very malleable and ductile, and is not
easily corroded. This substance we call gold. Whenever, therefore, we find a substance possessing all
these qualities and none other, we pronounce it gold. 
14       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
And so on through all the realm of nature. All
classifications and all science are based upon this
law of agreement, or disagreement in qualities. If
we find a substance with all the properties of copper
and no others, we are logically obliged to classify it
as copper, unless we are prepared to unsettle the
foundation of all science, and of all human knowledge.
IX. Ascending from species to genus, whenever
we find a substance, however subtile or attenuated,
that exhibits one or more of the properties of matter,
and is evidently subject to one or more of the laws
of the material world, we are constrained to pronounce it a material substance; however, it may differ
in its qualities from matter in many other forms.
We may not demand the hardness of steel, the
weight of platinum, or the brilliancy of the diamond,
before we pronounce it material. It is enough that
it is known to possess one quality known to belong
exclusively to material substances; or that it is
subject to one law to which matter only renders obedience.
X. But if, for example, in the course of our investigations, we were to find a substance exhibiting all the
properties of gold, with the additional quality of
transparency, we have found a new metal. That one
additional quality places it outside of all existing
classifications, and calls for the recognition of a new
species.
Such, then? is the great law which pervades the
whole realm of nature, and lies at the foundation of
all human knowledge. To ignore it, is to discard all
physical science, and to shut our eyes to the light re 
DISTINCTION BETWEEN MATTER AND SPIRIT.  15
fiected, through the medium of science, from all the
works of God.
XI. But we have come to know of a class of qualities, or attributes, or phenomena, that are not known
to belong to matter in any of its existing forms. Intelligence, reason, judgment, memory,  consciousness,
reflection and hope, are not known to belong to matter; and upon the same principle that we create a
new species in science, when we find in any substance
or object, an assemblage of qualities before unknown;
the development of intelligence, reason, &c., demands
the recognition of a corresponding essence, different
from matter, to which these attributes may be referred. For as all properties of matter imply a basis
or ultimate substance to which they belong, and of
which they are properties; so reason, memory and
reflection, necessarily imply an ultimate essence to
which they belong, and to which they may be referred.
And if the difference in ultimate essences corresponds
with the difference in their qualities, and phenomena,
(as we have reason to believe,) then the difference between the essence which exhibits intelligence, memory
and reason, and that which exhibits only extension,
color and divisibility, must be as great as the difference in their properties respectively. The ultimate
entity, therefore, which exhibits extension, color and
form, must be essentially different in its very nature,
from that which exhibits reason, hope and memory.
There is a broad gulf between them-an immovable
boundary that neither can pass.
XII. To that ultimate essence, therefore, which
exhibits consciousness, intelligence, memory, will, and
reason, we give the name of SPIRIT. As we may not
I 
16      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
refer the properties of silver to a piece of iron; so we
may not refer the properties of spirit to any material
basis.
The properties of matter and spirit respectively,
are essential characteristics of the respective essences,
to which they belong. Copper cannot be iron, be
cause it has not the peculiar properties of iron, and
has a set of distinguishing properties of its own; and
iron cannot be copper for the same reason. So of
matter and spirit: matter cannot be spirit, because it
exhibits none of the properties of spirit, and has its
own distinguishing properties; and spirit cannot be
matter, because it has none of the properties of matter, and has an assemblage of distinguishing attributes
of its own.
Here, then, is the basis of the first grand division
of the universe; namely, into MATTER and SPIRIT.*
On the one side of this infinite boundary line, are
GOD and angels, and the spirits of men; and on the
other side, all things material, whether animal, vege table, or mineral; organic, or inorganic; fluids, or
solids; atoms, worlds, or systems. The former con
*" So far as the researches of philosophy extend, there are but two
primary substances in the universe, and these are MATTER and SPIRIT.
All we know of these substances, is certain properties and phenomena
which they exhibit. Matter is known to possess the properties of impenetrability, extension, figure, divisibility, indestructibility, attraction. Spirit is that which thinks, perceives, remembers, reasons, wills,
and is susceptible of love, hatred, joy, and grief. The former of these
properties are found in our bodies, in common with all other matter;
the latter constitute the phenomena of the mind. It is not reasonable
to suppose that properties so opposite to each other, inhere in the same
substance, and the only rational conclusion is that matter is not mind,
and that mind is not matter." Lee's Theology, p. 257. 
DISTINCTION BETWEEN MATTER AND SPIRIT. 17
stitute the spiritual and the latter, the material universe.
Such is the teaching of all true philosophy, and
such we shall find to be the verdict of Divine Reve-,
lation.
2 
18       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CIIAPTER II.
MATTER AND SPIRIT DISTINCT-SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY.
ASSUMING the Divine Inspiration and infallible
authority of the Christian Scriptures, we shall now
proceed to show that they everywhere recognize the
philosophical distinction between MATTER and SPIRIT,
and the twofold nature of man.
I. " GOD is a SPIRIT." So taught the Great
Teacher. John iv. 24. The same is taught 2 Cor.
iii. 17, "Now the Lord is that Spirit"-and wherever
the Spirit of God is spoken of throughout the Bible.
Not that God has a spirit, as if his spiritual nature
was united with another nature more gross and
material; but that he is a spirit-immaterial, uncompounded, and indivisible; and unconnected with bodily
form or organs.
The same is implied wherever we are taught that
God exists in all places, at the same time, or fills immensity with his all-pervading presence. "Behold,
heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain
thee." 1 Kings, viii. 27. "Whither shall I go from
thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I mako
my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take tho
wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me." Psa. cxxix. 7-10. 
MATTER AND SPIRIT DISTINCT.
"Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?"
Jer. xxiii. 24. Now, unless a material being can
have infinite extension, or universal presence, the
omnipresence of God is impossible to him, as a
material being.  Hence, to assert his omnipresence,
is virtually to assert his spirituality. On the other
hand, to materialize the Deity, is not only to adopt a
fundamental principle of Pantheism, but also to deny
his omnipresence; either of which is equivalent to the
denial of his existence.
Upon the authority of the Bible, then, we affirm
that in God himself we have a glorious specimen of
purely spiritual existence-an all-wise, all-powerful,
everywhere present SPIRIT, without hody, or material
organs. The existence, therefore, of at least one
purely spiritual being, conscious, intelligent, and
active, cannot be denied without denying the existence
and spirituality of the Godhead.*
II. THE  I-IHOLY  ANGELS  ARE SPIRITS.   This is
taught  Psa.  civ. 4.   "Who  maketh  his  angels
spirits," &c.,-and is cited by St. Paul, Heb. i. 7,
as being spoken of "the angels of God." As God is
a spirit, immaterial, invisible, and unembodied, so
his angels, who stand in his presence, and do his
pleasure, hearkening unto the voice of his word, are
spirits also. Like Jehovah, the Father of spirits,
they may have power to impress the natural senses,
*It is no valid objection to this argument that Jehovah has sometimes
manifested himself to the bodily senses of man, as when he has been
seen as a flame of fire, or a human form, or a cloud, or a dove; or heard
as a human voice. Such manifestations furnish no ground for the assumption that God has a bodily form, or material existence; but simply
that he has condescended to manifest himself to the senses of men, in a
few instances, for wise and beneficent purposes.
19 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
for the purpose of communicating with mortals, as they
have done in a few instances; but this in no way detracts from the idea of their pure spirituality. For
even the Infinite Spirit has at times seemed to have
form, and has spoken to man "face to face."*
III. THE FALLEN ANGELS or DEVILS are also SPIRITS.
They were once obedient and holy; but "they kept
not their first estate." Jude 6. And though they
"sinned," and were "cast down to hell," 2 Pet. ii.
4; and though Christ saw Satan fall as lightning
from heaven, Luke x. 19; this dire fall did not
change their essential nature as spirits. Hence, they
are spirits still; and are merely characterized as
"evil spirits," "unclean spirits,"&c., throughout the
New Testament. And hence the facility with which
they could come out of, and enter into human bodies,
already the abode of one human spirit. Though no
two drops of water, or particles of gas, can occupy
precisely the same space at the same time, we have
reason to think it is far different with spirits; for in
the case of Mary Magdalene, out of whom the Redeemer cast seven devils, Mark xvi. 9; there were
no less than seven of these "evil spirits," as Luke
calls them, viii. 2; and one human soul in one body,
at the same time. And in' the case recorded, Luke
viii. 26-36, one man had a "legion" of these "unclean spirits" in him at the same time; for "many
devils were entered into him." If there was one for
*"Whatever is actually seen," says Archbishop Whately, "or presented to any of the senses, whether natural or supernatural, must of
course be material: but a like effect may be produced on the mind (as
we experience in the ease of imagination and dreaming, and, as we
read, in the case of visions,) without the presence (as far as we know)
of any material object."  Future State, p. 59.
20 
MATTER AND SPIRIT DISTINCT.
each of the swine, into which they entered, there were
not less than two thousand in one human body, Mark
v. 13. And this was possible only because though
devils, they were still spirits, like the unfallen Seraphim, and like God, their all-perfect Creator.*
The Holy Scriptures thus plainly teach us that
there are in the universe these three classes of purely
spiritual beings-GOD, who is a spirit; the iHoly
Angels; and the Fallen Angels, or I)evils. And if
one is material, so must the other be. They are all
"SPIRITS;" and as such cannot be bodies.
*Mr. Geo. Storrs, a noted advocate of annihilationism, virtually admits that the fallen angels are spirits. When, speaking of their final
annihilation, he says, "How indescribably tremendous must be that
wrath which shall utterly consume A SPIRIT; a wrath so tremendous
that even MIGHTY ANGELS utterly perish under it."  Six Sermons, p. 34.
21 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
aOHAPTER III.
TWO-FOLD NATURE OF MAN-A SPIRIT IN A BODY.
IN the two previous chapters we have seen that
matter and spirit are distinct essences; and that to
deny the existence of pure and unembodied spirits, is
not only to discard the very foundations of all true
science, and contradict the plainest teaching of the
Scriptures, but to materialize the Deity. We have
also seen that the angels, both fallen and unfallen,
are spirits also, like Jehovah himself. Thus we have
not only proved the reality of the distinction between
matter and spirit, but have adduced whole classes of
specimens of purely spiritual existences. Leaving these
points, therefore, as incontrovertibly established, we
shall now proceed to show that man,  also, has a
purely spiritual nature, distinct from the body in which
it dwells, and therefore, capable of a separate and conscious existence, when the body is dissolved.
By distinct, we mean of an entirely different
nature. As electricity is distinct from the body in
which it may exist, and light is distinct from the
crystal through which it passes, and every part of
which it pervades; so the spirit of man, though now
in the body is distinct from it; and as capable of
separate existence without a body, as electricity is
without a conductor, or light without a telescope.
22 
MAN'S TWO-FOLD NATURE.
True  philosophy  and revelation  are  always  in
harmony.   As we might expect, therefore, the Holy
Scriptures every where recognize the philosophical
distinction between matter and spirit, and the two-fold
nature of man. The following passages may be taken
as examples:  I. Numbers xvi. 22, and xxii. 27; Goc is declared
to be the "God of the spirits of allflesh." But what
can this language mean, if "spirit" and "flesh" are
the same? or, in other words, if man has no "spirit"
or soul distinct from the material body?
II. Job iv. 18, 19.  "Behold, he put no trust in
his servants; and his angels he charged with folly,
How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed t
before the moth?" In this passage the soul is as
clearly distinguished from the body, as the occupant
of the house is distinguished from the house; and to
confound the spirit with the body, would be to affirm
that the house and he who dwells in it are essentially
the same.
III. Job xiv. 22. "But his flesh upon him shall
have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn."
Here the "flesh" and "soul" are distinct-the flesh
is "upon him," or envelops the soul; while the soul is
"within him," or in the body. And these two, the
"flesh" without, and the " soul" within, constitute the
man.
IV. Job xxxii. 8. "But there is a spirit in man,
and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding." Here the "spirit in man" is plainly
distinguished from the physical man, in which it
dwells. And "understanding" instead of being re
23 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
cognized as a result of mere animal organization, is
expressly attributed to "the inspiration of the
Almighty,"-the animating of a mortal body with its
tenant spirit.
V. Isa. xxxi. 3. "Now the Egyptians are men, and
not God; and their bones flesh and not spirit." Hlere
the distinction between flesh and spirit is as plainly
marked, as that between man and God; and we may
quite as reasonably confound the creature man with
his Creator, as to confound flesh with spirit.
VI. Zech. xii. 1. "The Lord stretcheth forth the'
heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and
formeth the spirit of man within him." Here the
same doctrine is inculcated.   The  "spirit within
man," and the "man" which the spirit is "within," are
as distinct as the house, and the tenant within the
house.
VII. Rom. viii. 16. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
Here the term "spirit" is applied to both God and
man in the same passage, as if, in one nature, man
was as much a spirit as his Maker. If, then, this is
not the case what can such language mean?
VIII. 1 Cor. ii. 11.  "For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in
him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but
the Spirit of God."
As the seat of knowledge in man, is not in the flesh
and bones, nor even in the brain, but in the "spirit"
"which is in him;" so "the things of God" are confined to the infinite mind; and can no more be fully
understood by man, spirit as he is, than "the things
of a man," can be understood by his material body.
24 
MAN'S TWO-FOLD NATURE.
The distinction between the human body and soul
is most obvious, and the parallelism of the text most
striking.
IX. 1 Cor. vi. 20.-"-For ye are bought with a
price; therefore, glorify God in your body, and in
your spirit, which are God's."
In this passage, the "body" and "spirit" are so
clearly distinguished, that no comment can make it
more plain.
X. 2 Cor. iv. 16. —"For which cause we faint
not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." Now what
could the apostle have meant by the "outward man,"
if it was not his body? and what by the "inward
man," if it was not his soul? How can such scriptures be reconciled with the Materialists idea, that
man has no soul distinct from his material body?
XI. "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years
ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether
out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such
an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew
such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body,
I cannot tell: God knoweth;) how that he was caught
up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which
it is not lawful for a man to utter." 2 Cor. xii. 4.
On the supposition that St. Paul was a Materialist,
and did not believe in the existence of the human
spirit, distinct from the body, what could he have
meant in the above passage, by "in the body," and
" out of the body?." He must certainly have known
that he was not "out of the body," if such a thing
was impossible. But he held to the true philosophythat in his normal state he was a spirit " in the body;"
25 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
but there was yet another state, in which it was possible for him to exist; namely, that of separation from
the body. In which of these two states he was caught
up to the third heaven, he could not tell.
XII. The history of the creation of the first man,
Genesis first and second chapters, shows conclusively,
that he was created as a compound being, consisting of a
material body and an immaterial soul. "And God said,
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God created he him; male
and female created he them." Here we have the
general fact asserted, that the Infinite Spirit created
man in his own image. I-Ie must therefore have had
a spiritual nature, unless the offspring of "the Father
of spirits" was simply a material being, and at the
same time, "in the image" of that God who is a spirit.
The order of events, or exact process of his creation,
is more fully described in the second chapter, verse
7th. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living soul." Mark the
order of events as here stated.
First, The Lord God "formed man of the dust of
the ground." This was of course a material naturehis body. There it lay, perfect in all its parts, but
cold and motionless. The bones, and muscles, and
tendons, and veins, and heart, and arteries, and brain,
and nerves, and lungs, and eyes, and ears, were all
in place and ready for action; but as yet, there was
26 
MAN'S TWO-FOLD NATURE.
no consciousness, nor sensation, nor life, nor motion.
The heart had never throbbed, nor the lungs respired.
The brain could not think, nor the nerves feel. The
eye could not see, the ear hear, nor the palate taste.
And why not? Was not the animal organism perfect
and complete? And if thought and reason are the
result of animal organization alone, why could not the
brain have thought, the nerves felt, and the eyes
seen? What need of the "breath of life" to set this
wonderful machinery in motion? But there was no
life, no motion, no intelligence. The eye could no
more see of itself than a refracting telescope. The
ear could no more hear than a metallic ear trumpet.
The quenchless fires of the immortal nature had not
yet been kindled. The intelligent conscious spirit
was not yet there. The "man" formed of "dust"
was as yet a mere human body, inanimate and lifeless.
The second step in the process of creation, was the
vivifying or animation of this man of dust. God
"breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." This
act was plainly the infusion or inspiration of a spiritual
nature into the material body. It was not the imparting of a merely animal life-it was more.  Dr.
Adam Clarke, like most other Hebrew critics, renders
the passage, "nishmath chaiyim, the breath of LIVES,
i. e., animal and intellectual."  Benson renders the
phrase, "the soul of lives," and the author of the
"Literal Translation from the Hebrew," renders the
passage, "and Jehovah Elohim formed a very man of
dust of the ground, and blew into his nostrils the
LIVING SPIRIT, and man was for a living creature."*
* For a somewhat elaborate discussion of this point, see Jewish
Chronicle for 1852, p. 57.
27 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Not only did animal life then begin, but also that
higher life in which consisted, in a great measure, the
image of his Maker. Hle was but a body before; but
has now become "a living SOUL." Thus God "gave"
man his spirit, Eccl. xii. 7, so that henceforth, "'there
is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth them understanding."* Job xxxviii. 8.
Thus the history of the creation of Adam shows as
plainly as language can, that both his animal and intellectual "lives" began with the union of the spiritual
nature with a material body. We thus learn synthetically what man is, by ascertaining his component
essences, and the history and circumstances of their
union. The same conclusions will be arrived at in a
subsequent chapter, by what may be called the analytical method. But as all men, are not created as
were Adam and Eve, and as questions have arisen as
to the origin of the souls of mankind in generalwhether they pre-exist, are created from time to time,
or are in some way transmitted; we must turn aside
for a time to these side issues in the next chapter.
* "That the soul is immaterial," says Dr. Clarke, "and forms no
part of the human body, is proved from the Scriptural account of the
creation of Adam-his body being completely formed out of the dust
of the earth, in all its organization, before the breath of lives was
breathed into it by the Almighty, and in consequence of which Adam
became a living soul, or animated being. Allowing the Scriptural account to be true, this argument is sovereignly conclusive." Life, ed,
1837, pp. 504, 505.
28 
THE PROPAGATION OF SOULS.
CHAPTER IV.
SOULS NOT PRE-EXISTENT, NOR SUPPLIED BY IMME        DIATE CREATION, BUT PROPAGATED.
AT the risk of breaking somewhat the connection
between the preceding and the following chapter, we
devote a few pages just here to a somewhat curious
and not unimportant question in regard to the immediate origin of souls, in the case of individual human
beings. If man is a compound being, consisting of a
soul and body, and if the former is a distinct essence
from the latter, and capable of existence independently of the body, may it not have lived before it
became embodied? And if so, when is the soul united
to the body? And if not pre-existent, are souls
created one by one, as they are wanted for bodies
conceived and in process of growth? or are they
propagated with the body?
These we say are both curious and important
questions-curious because among the deep things of
God and of nature, and important because of their
bearing upon the question of the separate existence
of souls, and also upon the doctrine of transmitted
depravity. Indeed these questions often take the
form of objections to the doctrine of the distinct existence of human spirits.
There are four distinct hypotheses upon this sub
29 
30      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
ject: that souls are pro-created by the angels; that
they are created by God, and pre-exist in another
state before they appear here in the body; that they
are created by the Deity, at the time of their union
with the body; and that they are propagated or transmitted from parent to child in accordance with certain
laws as yet unknown to man.*
Let us examine these hypotheses in order:
I. The idea of angelic pro-creation is founded solely
upon the similitude which is supposed to exist between
angels and the souls of men. But the more we study
the subject in the light of the Scriptures, the more
clearly shall we see that the vast difference between
human souls and angels, utterly precludes the notion
that the former are the offspring of the latter. "This
fancy,i' says Flavel, "needs not any industry to overthrow it; for though it be certain there is a similitude
and resemblance betwixt angels and souls, both being
immaterial substances, yet angels neither propagate
by generation, nor is it in their power to create the
least fly or worm in the world, much less the soul of
man, the highest, noblest, and most excellent being.
Great power they have, but no creating power. That
is God's incommunicable property. And pro-create
our souls they did not, for they are spirits, yet are
spirits of another species."t
II. The notion that all souls were created together
and at once, as the angels are supposed to have been,
and not one by one, as men are born into the world,
has also had its advocates. The Brahmins believe in the
pre-existence of souls, as well as in their transmigra
* Bogue's Lectures. Vol. I. p. 258.
t Treatise of the Soul of Man. (Ed. 1789,) p. 79. 
THE PROPAGATION OF SOULS.
tion.  "Of this opinion was Plato, who thought all
human souls to be created together before their bodies,
and placed in some glorious and suitable mansion, as
the stars, till at last growing weary of heavenly, and
falling in love with earthly things, for a punishment
of that crime, they were cast into bodies, as into so
many prisons."
"Origen imbibed this notion of the pre-existence
of souls. And upon this supposition it was, that
Porphyry tells us in the life of Plotinus, he blushed
as often as he thought of his being in a body, as a
man that had lived in reputation and honor blushes,
when he is lodged in prison.
"The ground on which the stoics founded their
opinion was, the great dignity and excellence of the
soul, which inclined them to think they had never
been degraded and abased as they are, by dwelling in
such vile bodies, but for their faults; and that it was
for some former sin of theirs, that they slid down into
gross matter, and were caught into a vital union with
it; whereas, had they not sinned, they had lived in
celestial and splendid habitations, more suitable to
their dignity."*
So far as pre-existence, and sinning in a previous
state are concerned, Dr. Edward Beecher has recently
advocated substantially the same view. In order, as
he supposes, to vindicate the divine character and at
the same time account for the origin of evil, and the
fall and depravity of our first parents, he supposes that
they had enjoyed a probationary existence, before
entering their bodies in Eden; and that in this pre
* Flavel, pp. 77-8.
31 
32       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
existent state they had sinned and contracted a tendency to disobedience and a deep moral defilement.
"By thus running back," says Dr. B., "to a previous
state, we can mark a sphere in which those principles
were observed toward new-created minds which consist with the character of God as revealed in the Bible;
and, on those principles, we can account for all the
native depravity and entire sinfulness of man; and, as
no testimony of God confines us to this world for the
origin of human depravity, then if these things are so,
the character of God and the general principles and
parts of the system prove that sin did not originate
here, but that this dispensation is merely a step in
the great system of exposure by which God is to be
disclosed, truth and holiness vindicated, and error,
unbelief, and sin to be exposed, paralyzed and punished forever.*
Of the general theory of the pre-existence of souls,
Mr. Flavel further says: "But this is a pure creature
of fancy: for, (1.) No soul in the world is conscious
to itself of such a pre-existence, nor can remember
when it was owner of any other habitation than that
it now dwells in.t (2.) Nor doth the scripture give
us the least hint of any such thing."T
III. The hypothesis that souls are created from
time to time, for each individual body, is also beset
with numerous difficulties. (1.) It involves the idea,
* Conflict of Ages, p. 488. A brief but excellent review of this fanciful theory may be found in the Ladies' Repository, for January and
February, 1857, pp, 53, 114.
t For a curious paper on the seeming recollections of scenes and
events of a previous life, see National Magazine for Sept., 1857, pp.
268-271.
1 Treatise of the Soul, p. 78. 
TIE  PROPAGATION OF SOULS.
of continuous creation, which has no foundation in
scripture. (2.) It is incompatible with the doctrine
of inherent moral corruption, which is clearly taught in
the Bible. How a pure spirit fresh from the hands
of its Creator could come into the world tainted by
sin, as the scriptures teach us that human souls are
born, is more than we can understand. It certainly
involves the idea of physical depravity, a great absurdity, or of no depravity at all, unless souls go forth
depraved from the hands of a holy God. (3.) It
throws a shade over the divine character, by making
God a partner in transgression, in the case of all
illegitimate offspring; for if he creates a soul for
every human body begotten, either at or before its
birth; then even the profligate and the vile have
power, while pursuing a course of sin, to control the
creative acts of the Deity, and involve him as a party
to their transgressions. An hypothesis which draws
after it such terrible consequences, must, therefore,
be abandoned as erroneous.
But notwithstanding these and many other difficulties, the more common opinion, probably, among all
orders of Christians, is, that souls are created, one
by one, immediately by God. Many wise and good
men have advocated this doctrine. It is the view
taken by Flavel in his elaborate and generally excellent treatise, who refers to Theodoret and Pemble
as of the same opinion.* His theory of depravity is
that "souls are neither pure nor impure as they come
from the hand of the Creator. But if it [a question
supposed] respect the condition and state in which
* Treatise, pp. 77, 79
3
33 
34      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
God created them, I answer with Baronius," says he:
"they are created neither morally pure nor impure:
they receive neither purity nor impurity from him,
but only their naked essence, and the natural powers
and properties flowing therefrom. He inspires not
any impurity into them, for he cannot be the author
of sin who is the avenger of it. Nor doth he create
them in their original purity and rectitude; for the
sin of Adam lost that, and God justly withholds it
from his posterity."*
We quote this passage not to endorse either the
doctrine or the argument, but rather to show to what
a strange theory the writer was obliged to resort, to
maintain his doctrine of immediate creation, in connection with the doctrine of natural depravity. And,
as if not satisfied with the first soiation of the difficulty, he immediately proceeds to show, virtually,
that after all, moral defilement is derived from the
body-the oft exploded theory of physical depravity.
IV. The doctrine that souls are propagated by
some mysterious, and yet natural laws of generation,
seems more accordant with the Scriptures, and with
the various physical and mental phenomena involved
in the perpetuity of our species. It is an interesting
faet, that although the creation of Eve was as much a
miracle as that of Adam, no mention is made ini history of the event of the inspiration or infusion of
the "breath of life" or spirit into her body, as was
the case with that of Adam. Here is the narrative:
"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the
man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for
him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall
* Treatise, p. 84. 
THE PROPPGATION OF SOULS.
upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs,
and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib,
which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam
said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was
taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh." Gen. ii. 18-24.
Would it be a forced construction of this passage,
to say, that the omission of all reference to the infusion of a soul into the body of Eve, was designed to
teach that her spirit was in some way propagated, in
connection with the "rib," and that, after the first
instance, souls were no more to be breathed into
bodies by a direct act of the Almighty, than bodies
were to be formed complete out of the dust of the
earth.
The following pertinent remarks upon the general
subject, are from the pen of Mr. Watson:  "A question, as to the transmission of this corruption of nature from parents to children, has been debated among those who, nevertheless, admit the fact;
some contending, that the soul is ex traduce; others,
that it is by immediate creation.  It is certain that
as to the metaphysical part of this question, we can
come to no satisfactory conclusion. The Scriptures,
however, appear to be more in favor of the doctrine
of traduction. "Adam begat a son in his own likeness." "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh,"
which refers certainly to the soul as well as to the
body.
"The fact also of certain dispositions and eminent
35 
36      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
faculties of the mind, being often found in families,
appears to favor this notion; though it may be
plausibly said, that, as the mind operates by bodily
instruments, there may be a family constitution of the
body, as there is of likeness, which may be more favorable to the excitement and exertion of certain faculties
than others.
"The usual argument against this traduction of the
human spirit is, that the doctrine of its generation
tends to materialism. But this arises from a mistaken view of that in which the pro-creation of a
human being lies, which does not consist in the production out of nothing of either of the parts of which
the compound being, man,  is constituted,  but in
uniting them substantially with one another. The
matter of the body is not, then, first made, but disposed, nor can it be supposed that the soul is by that
act first produced.
"That belongs to a higher power; and then the only
question is, whether all souls were created in Adam,
and are transmitted by a law peculiar to themselves,
which is always under the control of the will of that
same watchful Providence, of whose constant agency
in the production and ordering of the kinds sexes,
and circumstances of the animal creation, we have
abundant proof; or whether they are immediately
created. The usual objection to the last notion is,
that God cannot create an evil nature; but if our
corruption is the result of privation, not of positive
infection, the notion of the immediate creation of the
soul is cleared of a great difficulty, though it is not
wholly disentangled.
"But the tenet of the soul's descent appears to have 
THE PROPAGATION OF SOULS.
most countenance from the language of Scripture,
and it is no small confirmation of it, that when God
designed to incarnate his own Son, he stepped out of
the ordinary course, and formed a sinless human nature
immediately, by the power of the Holy Ghost."*
"Since the reformation," says Knapp, "this theory
has been more approved than any other, not only by the
philosophers and naturalists, but also by the Lutheran
church. Luther himself appeared much inclined to wards it, although he did not declare himself dis tinctly in favor of it. But in the "Formula Con cordie," it was distinctly taught, that the soul, as
well as the body, was propagated by parents in ordinary generation. The reason why this theory is so
much preferred by theologians, is, that it affords the
easiest solution of the doctrine of native depravity.
If in the souls of our first progenitors, the souls of all
their posterity existed potentially, and the souls of
the former were polluted and sinful; those of the
latter must be so too. This hypothesis is not however free from objections; and it is very difficult to reconcile it with some philosophical opinions which are
universally received."t
Mr. Wesley once believed in the immediate creation
of souls, and so explained Heb. xii. 9, in his Notes
on the New Testament.  But in his journal for Feb.
27, 1762, he says:-"I had a striking proof that
God can teach by whom he will teach. A man full
of words, but not of understanding, convinced me of
what I could never see before, that anima ex traduce;
[the soul is derived by propagation or traduction,] that
* Institutes, in one vol. pp. 362, 363.
t Lectures on Theology. Vol. I. p. 417.
37 
38      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
all the souls of his posterity, as well as their bodies,
were in our first parents."*
Under date of Oct. 25, 1763, he wrote as follows:
It may be of use to insert part of a letter I received
about this time:  "In reading your notes on Heb. xii., awhile since,
I was struck with your exposition of the ninth verse:
'Perhaps these expressions, fathers of our flesh, and
Father of spirits, intimate that our earthly fathers are
only the parents of our bodies; our souls not being
derived from them, but rather created by the immediate power of God, and infused into the body from
age to age.'t
"But meeting with a curious old book, which asserts
a contrary doctrine, I hope you will pardon my freedom in transcribing, and begging your thoughts upon
it.
"'That souls are not immediately infused by God,
but mediately propagated by the parent, is proved,
1. From the Divine rest; And he rested on the seventh
day from all the work which he had made; Gen. ii. 1:
2. From the blessing mentioned Gen. i. 28; And God
blessed them, and said unto them, Be fruitful and
multiply; for this does not relate to a part, but to the
whole of man: 3. From the generation of Seth; And
Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image;
Gen. v. 3; for this image principally consisted in the
* Works, Vol. IV. p. 115.
t After Mr. Wesley changed his opinions upon this subject, he struck
this sentence from his Notes altogether, and substituting in its place the
passage now standing in his Notes, which entirely evades the subject
of the origin of human souls, except, so far as to say, that God is at
some time, and in some way either directly or remotely, "the author,
maintainer, and perfecter of our spiritual life." 
THE PROPAGATION OF SOULS.
soul: 4. From the procession of the soul from the
parent, mentioned Gen. xlvi. 26; All the souls which
came out of his loins: 5. From the very consideration
of sin; for they are infused, (1.) Either pure, and then
(I.) They will either be free from original sin, the
primary seat of which is the soul; and so God will be
cruel in condemning the soul for what it is not guilty
of; or (II.) We must suppose the impure body to
pollute the soul, which is absurd: or (2.) They are infused impure; and in that case, God will be the cause
of impurity, which is impossible.   This is further
proved from the doctrine of regeneration; for that
which is regenerated was also generated or begotten;
but the whole man is regenerated, therefore, the whole
man is generated. Compare John iii. 6. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit; and Eph. iv. 23. And be renewed
in the spirit of your mind.
"'That  the human  soul is propagated  by the
parents together with the body, is further proved,
1. By the creation of Eve, whose soul is not said to
have been breathed into her by God; 2. From the
confession of David; Behold ] was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me; Psalm li. 5;
which words cannot possibly relate to the body only;
3. From our redemption: what Christ did not assume,
he did not redeem; if, therefore, he did not assume
his soul, together with his body, from the Virgin Mary,
our souls are not redeemed by Christ; which is evidently false: 4. From similar expressions, Job. x. 8.
Thy hands have made and fashioned me; and Psalm
cxxxix. 13, For thou hast possessed my reins: thou
hast covered me in my mother's womb; where God is
39 
40       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
said to have formed us with his own hands, which yet
is no otherwise done than mediately by generation:
5. From the nature of the begetter and the begotten:
they are of one species; but the man who begets consisting of a soul and body, and a body without a soul,
are not one species.
"'Again, supposing the soul to be infused by the
Deity, either, 1. It will be free from sin, and so God
himself will be accused as guilty of injustice, in condemning a pure spirit, and infusing it into an impure
body; or, 2. Hie will be accounted the author of the
seul's pollution, by uniting it, a pure spirit, to an impure body, in order that it should be polluted:* 3. A
double absurdity will follow upon the supposition;
viz. (1.) The organical parts of man only will be
slaves to sin: (2.) The immortal spirit would be corrupted by the mortal body: (3.) Or, if the soul, being
thus infused, be polluted by sin, it will follow, that
God is expressly assigned to be the cause of sin;
which is the highest blasphemy.'"
The general doctrine of the above extract is more
or less sustained by the analogies of vegetable reproduction. The seed consists not merely of the incipient
organization of the plant or tree that shall be, but
also of a mysterious principle of life, proceeding from
the parent, and propagated in the seed. Of that
vitalizing principle we know as little as of the essence
of the soul itself; and can no more comprehend how
that principle can be transmitted in a small and dry
seed, detached from the parent bough, than we can
* We by no means endorse the doctrine of this passage, that the body
itself can be the seat of moral pollution. Matter can have no moral
character. 
THE PROPAGATION OF SOULS.
comprehend how souls may be propagated by natural
generation. The one we know to be true, mysterious
*as it is; and the other is not to be doubted merely because it is incomprehensible.*
* One of the best papers we have ever read, on the question, "Is the
esoul transmitted or created?" may be found in the Ladies' Repository
for March, 1857. That the soul is transmitted is thus argued. 1. From
hereditary depravity. 2. From the completion of the work of creation
prior to the Sabbath. 3. From the want of discrimination in the Scriptures between the origin of the soul, and that of the body. 4. From the
creation of Eve. 5. From the transmission of psychical peculiarities.
6. From the analogies of the animal and vegetable kingdom. 7. From
the Incarnation of Christ, and 8. From the fact of a common humanity.
The curious reader will do well to look up and read the articles entire.
41 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER V.
THE NATURE OF DEATH.
LET US now return from the seeming digression of
the last chapter.
Having shown in chapter third, that the natural
life of Adam began with the union of his spiritual and
material natures, we shall now proceed to show that
it was to end with a separation of these two natures.
I. The original decree of death, Gen. iii. 19, implies only the death of the body. "In the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou return
unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for
dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Here it is plain, that only so much of man as was
"dust," and "taken out of the ground," was doomed
to return to dust again. But the "breath of lives"
breathed into Adam by his Creator, was not "dust,"
nor "taken out of the ground." It had therefore no
affinity for the material clod, and was not doomed to
return to the dust with the body at death.
Life is real, life is earnest;
And the grave is not its goal:
"Dust thou art-to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.
II. Answering to the above view, we find that
wherever the fulflment of this decree is spoken of in
42 
THE NATURE OF DEATH.
the Scriptures, it is described as taking effect upon
the "dust" or body only; while the spirit is released
from the body and survives its dissolution. Take the
following, as examples in point:- 
Eccl. vii. 8. " There is no man that hath power over
the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power
in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that
war: neither shall wickedness deliver those that are
given to it." This passage clearly refers to death;
and the expression "to retain the spirit," clearly implies that in death the spirit departs from the body.
It cannot be "retained" either by the burial of the
body or by any other means.
Eccl. xii. 7. "Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was: and the spirit shall return to God
who gave it." The decay of the mortal body had
been traced step by step through its successive stages
of decline. The eye had grown dim; the grinders
had ceased because they were few; the voice had
failed; and the almond tree had come to flourish; and
at length the silver cord is loosed, and the golden
bowl broken. But instead of saying, "then the aged
man dies," the same idea is expressed in the language
already cited-"then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was." The allusion to Gen. iii. 19, is
unmistakable; and it is a most lucid comment upon
that passage. It shows us most clearly the scope
and design of the decree, "dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return;" viz., that the "dust" or body
only is to "return to the earth as it was," while "the
spirit returns unto God who gave it."
III. To the same effect is Job xxxiv. 15.  "If he
set his heart upon man, if he gather into himself his
43 
44       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together,
and man shall turn again unto dust." Here observe,
,that contrary to the theory of our modern "Bible
Deists," the "spirit" and "breath" of man are two
distinct things; and when God "gathers these unto
himself," man "turns again unto dust." Surely it is
not the spirit,which God gathers unto himself, that
returns to dust; but the body, and that only.
IV. In Eccl. iii. 19, 20, we are taught that death
as inevitably awaits man, as it does the beasts which
perish. "For that which befalleth the sons of men
befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as
the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all
one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above
a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all
are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." But lest
it should be understood that the death of man is in all
respects like the death of a beast, it is immediately
added, "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth
upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" They do not die alike. Their
bodies die thus: "as the one dieth so dieth the other."
"'All turn to dust again." But while "the spirit of
the beast," like his body, "goeth downward to the
earth," the spirit of the man "goeth upward." It is
not of earth, and may not perish with the mortal
body.
V. The numerous scriptural descriptions of death as
the "giving up of the ghost," convey the idea of the
separation of the ghost or spirit from the body.
Abraham "gave up the ghost," Gen. xxv. 8; Isaac
"gave up the ghost," Gen. xxxv. 29; Jacob "yielded
up the ghost," Gen. xlix. 33; and "when Jesus had 
THE NATURE OF DEATH.
cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit: and having said this he
gave up the ghost," Luke xxiii. 46. "But man dieth
and wasteth away, yea, man giveth up the ghost, and
where is he?" Job xiv. 10. Sapphira "fell down and
yielded up the ghost," Acts v. 10; and so throughout
the Scriptures; the giving up of the ghost is a com mon phrase to signify dying. Now whatever may be
meant by the "ghost" or spirit, (a point that will be
considered elsewhere,) it is evident from the above
passages, that death is a "giving up" or departure of
the spirit from the body.
VI. That death is a separation of the soul from
the body, is clearly implied, 1 Kings xvii. 20-22,
where Elijah prayed that the son of the widow of
Zarephath might be restored to life. "And he cried
unto the LORD, and said, 0 LORD my God, hast thou
also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn,
by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon
the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and
said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's
soul come into him again. And the LORD heard the
voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into
him again, and he revived."
Here instead of praying that the child's lungs
might be inflated with air, the prophet prays that his
"soul" might re-enter the lifeless body;  and in
answer to the prayer "the soul of the child came into
him again, and he revived." Though he had once
crossed the Jordan of death, and all its bitterness was
past; though he had joined the blood-washed company
in Paradise, and was now a companion of angels and
glorified saints; yet, in answer to prayer he is re
45 
46      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
manded back to earth, to re-inhabit his mortal tenement. The race of probation is again renewed, and
the home of immortals can only be regained, by passing a second time the dark gateway of eternity.
VII. When the ruler's daughter was raised to life,
Luke viii. 49-55, it is said, "And her spirit [Gr.
pneuma] came again, and she arose straightway, &c.;"
implying that in dying her spirit had left the body,
and must needs "come again" before she could again
be restored to life.
VIII. When David learned that his beloved child was
dead, 2 Sam. xii. 19-23, he ceased to weep and fast;
and when questioned respecting his singular conduct,
he said, "But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast?
Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but
he shall not return to me;"-language plainly indicating the belief that in some sense his child had gone
hence, whence he could not return; and that the bereft
father expected to depart also-to "go to him"- when
this mortal life should terminate.
IX. The departure of the soul at death is compared
to the escape of a bird from the hands of the fowler.
Ps. xc. 10. "The days of our years are threescore
years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be
fourscore years, yet is their strength, labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we FLY AWAY "* A
- The opinions of the uninspired Jewish writers a few centuries before
Christ, may be gathered from the following passage from the Apocrypha: "But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and
there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the universe they
seem to die: and their departure is taken for misery, and their going
from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace. For though
they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality." Wisdom, iii. 14. 
THE NATURE OF DEATH.
very singular expression for a writer to use, who believed that man has no distinct spiritual nature, and
that the soul becomes extinct with the dissolution of
the body.
X. 2 Cor. v. 6-9. "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the
body, we are absent from the Lord: for we walk by
faith, not by sight; we are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be
present with the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that,
whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him."
What does St. Paul here mean by "at home in the
body," and "absent from the body," if the soul and
body are not essentially distinct, and if death is not a
separation of the one from the other? What Materialist would ever employ such language in reference to
himself or the event of death? And in what sense
was Paul "absent from the Lord" while "at home in
the body?"  HIow must he be "absent from the body"
before he could be "present with the Lord? Is not
this its obvious meaning; that previously to death he
could not be with Christ, because he had "passed into
the heavens;" but that at death his soul would leave
the body, and ascend to Paradise, there to be "present" with Christ for ever?'
XI. The inspired writers represent the human body
as a "tabernacle," or frail dwelling-place; and death
as the putting off of this tabernacle. Thus St. Paul,
2 Cor. v. 1-4: "For we know that  if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a
building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from
47 
48       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be
found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do
groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be
swallowed up of life."
So also, St. Peter, 2d Epistle, i. 12-15. "Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and
be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it
meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you
up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that
shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our
Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me. Moreover I will
endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to
have these things always in remembrance."
The literal tabernacle here referred to, was the gorgeous tent in which was the ark of the covenant, and
the symbol of the Divine presence, resting "between
the cherubim." In the journeying of the Israelites,
this tabernacle was often taken down, or "put off"
from over the ark, while the ark of the covenant, the
sacred heart and centre of the tabernacle, remaining
unchanged, was borne on to the next station.  To
this practice the apostle alludes in the text, as illustrative of death-the putting off or decay of the body,
while the soul, like the ark of God, moves on to the
next stage of being, where the body, like the tabernacle, shall in due time clothe it again and for ever.
In these passages, then, the "tabernacle" to be
"dissolved," and the dwellers in the tabernacle are
as distinct as the house and its ocoupant. And that
by the "putting off" his "tabernacle," (as Christ had
shown him, John xxi. 18, 19;) Peter meant his "de 
THE NATURE OF DEATH.
cease," is equally clear. But how can the use of
such figures be justified upon the supposition that man
has no immaterial spirit that will outlive the body?
In what sense are we in a tabernacle, so that death is
the putting off of our tabernacle, if it be not that
death is the separation of soul and body?
XII. St. Paul was wont to describe death as a
"departure," to occur when he should cease "to abide
in the flesh," and without which he could not "be
with Christ." Thus Phil. i. 21-24. "For to me to
live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the
flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall
choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two,
having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ;
which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh
is more needful for you."
What does the apostle here mean by "abiding in
the flesh," if it be not living in the body.    And what
by "departing," if it be not dying and ascending to
heaven?  Is he not obviously speaking of death?
And how could he "be with Christ" after death, if
his whole being went down together into the tomb, to
dwell in silence and corruption to the general resurrection?  Though "to live was Christ," yet "to die
was gain;" not because he would find the oblivion of
ages in the grave, but because he would ascend "to
be with Christ" in the heavenly world, which is "far
better" than the most intimate spiritual fellowship
with him in this mortal life. It is scarcely.possible
for language more clearly to teach the doctrine that
death is a separation of body and spirit, and a departure of the latter from this world.
The same doctrine is taught in numerous other
4
49 
50      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Scriptures, as, for instance 2 Tim. iv. 6, where the
apostle says, "I am now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at hand," &c.
Also, Gen. xxxv. "And it came to pass  as her
soul was in departing, (for she died,) &c." It was revealed to Simeon that he should not see death till he
had seen the Lord's Christ; and when he saw the infant Redeemer, he said, " Lord, now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, -according to thy word." To
him, also, death was a departure, which could not be
true in any sense if the soul died with the body, and
was not separated from it.
XIII. Jacob is said to have been gathered unto his
people at the moment of death, Gen. xlix. 33, though
his body was not buried with the bodies of his ancestors till months afterward.
" And when Jacob had made an end of commanding
his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and
yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people."
Jacob died in Goshen in Egypt, but was buried in
the land of Canaan.  They were forty days embalming the body, and the mourning in Egypt continued
thirty days longer. Joseph then obtained permission
of Pharaoh to go and bury his father. Ch. 1. 3-6.
Hiow long they were going is not stated; but they
mourned seven days more at the threshing-floor of
Atad, ch. 1. 10, so that at least eighty days elapsed
between the alleged gathering unto his people, and
the burial of the body in the cave of Machpelah in
Canaan:  How, then, was he "gathered unto his
people" at the time of his death, if it was not by the
departure of his soul to Paradise, the home of Isaac,
his father, and his grand-father Abraham? 
THE NATURE OF DEATH.
The testimony that this place bears to the immortality of the soul, and to its existence separate from
the body, should not be lightly regarded. In the
same moment in which Jacob is said to have gathered
up his feet into the bed, and to have expired, it is
added, and was gathered unto his people. It is certain
that his body was not then gathered to his people, nor
till seven weeks after; and it is not likely that a circumstance so distant in point both of time and place,
would have been thus anticipated, and associated with
facts that took place at that moment. I cannot help,
therefore, considering this an additional evidence for
the immateriality of the soul; and that it was intended
by the Holy Spirit. to carry this grand and consolatory sentiment, that when a holy man ceases to live
among his fellows, his soul becomes an inhabitant of
another world and is joined to the spirits of just men
made perfect."*
XIV. That death is a mere separation of soul and
body, is further evident from James ii. 26.-"- For as
the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without
works is dead also." Here the apostle refers for the
illustration of his subject, to a fact acknowledged by
all professing Christians of his day, viz: that the body
was "dead" when it was "without the spirit;" or, in
other words, that death is a separation of the soul and
body of man.
Such, according to the infallible testimony of the
word of God, is the nature of death. The original
decree consigns "the dust" only to the dust; while
"the spirit returns to God who gave it." Though
" man shall turn again unto dust," like the beast, his
* Dr. A. Clarke's notes on the passage.
51 
52      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
"spirit and his breath" shall his Maker "gather unto
himself." Death is "the giving up of the ghost,"
and the dead are not restored to life, unless their
"souls come into them again."  We "fly away" at
death, and must be "absent from the body" to be
"present with the Lord." We are now dwelling in
"earthly houses of this tabernacle" which we shall
"put off" at death; to pass, if Christians, to "a house
not made with hands eternal in the heavens." We
now "abide in the flesh," but are destined to "depart
and be with Christ; which is far better." Death will
sever the mystic tie that binds the spirit to a material
body; and these two essentially different natures will
part company till the resurrection morning. Can we
better conclude this chapter than by quoting the following beautiful lines from Mrs. Sigourney?
FAREWELL OF THE SOUL TO THE BODY.
Companion dear! the hour draws nigh
The sentence speeds-to die, to die.
So long in mystic union held,
So close with strong embrace compell'd,
How can'st thou bear the dread decree,
That strikes thy clasping nerves from me?
-To Him who on this mortal shore,
The same encircling vestment wore,
To Him I look, to Him I bend,
To Him thy shuddering frame commend.
- If I have ever caus'd thee pain,
The throbbing heart, the burning brain,
With cares and vigils turn'd thee pale,
And scorn'd thee when thy strength did failForgive! forgive!-thy task doth cease,
Friend! Lover!-let us part in peace.
If thou didst sometimes check my force,
Or, trifling, stay mine upward course,
Or lure from heaven my wavering trust,
Or bore my drooping wing to dust 
THE NATURE OF DEATH.
I blame thee not, the strife is done,
I know thou wert the weaker one,
The vase of earth, the trembling clod,
Constrained to hold thebreath of God.
-Well hast thou in my service wrought,
Thy brow hath mirror'd forth my thought,
To wear my smile thy lips hath glow'd,
Thy tear, to speak my sorrow, flowed,
Thine ear hath borne me rich supplies
Of sweetly varied melodies,
Thy hands my prompted deeds have done,
Thy feet upon my errands run
Yes, thou hast marked my bidding well,
Faithful and true! farewell, farewell.
. *         *       -       *.*      *
58
0 
54      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER VI.
CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE OF SOULS BETWEEN DEATH AND
THE RESURRECTION.
THEa last chapter was devoted mainly to a single
point-the nature of death;-the object being to show
that according to the Scriptures, which are our only
guide upon this subject, death is but the separation of
the two natures of man, the body and the spirit. So
far as this point is established, it goes also to establish. the proposition argued in Chapter III., viz: that
man has a two-fold nature, a body and a spirit.  In like
manner, whatever tends to prove that man has a
conscious existence after death, will go equally to
establish the doctrine of purely spiritual existence,
and of the two-fold nature of man; as also, that death
is but the separation of these two natures, and not the
extinction of either.
Until quite recently, it has never been necessary to
enter into a formal argument to prove the immortality
of the soul from the Bible, with any who professed to
believe its teachings. But within a few years past,
certain persons who, by a system of literalism, had so
interpreted the Bible as to prove, as they thought,
that the world would end on a given day; by the
same principles of interpretation applied to the subject of a future state, have demonstrated, as we 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATH.
think with equal uncertainty, that man has no soul
distinct from the body, or capable of existence after
the body dies. It would surprise no one to find this
sentiment in the writings of Hobbs or Hume; but, to
find men professing to be Christians, and yet attempting to prove this fundamental principle of Deism from
the Bible, may well excite astonishment. It is in
view of this theological monstrosity that we have thus
far so carefully examined the Scriptures step by step,
and adduced their unequivocal and overwhelming testimony in proof of the immortality of man.
But, before we proceed further in this examination,
it may be well to call to mind the fact that the Jews,
among whom Christ and his apostles taught, were in
the main firm believers in the  soul's immortality.
They were divided into three principal sects-the
PPharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes.
The PHARISEES held to the immortality of the soul
and the existence of angels. Hence when it is said,
Acts xxiii. 8, that "the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit," it is added, " but
the Pharisees CONFESS BOTH." It is true that some of
them held to the transmiyration of souls from one
body to another,* but this in no way affected the
simple question of purely spiritual existence, and the
soul's immortality. In his discourse to the Greeks
concerning Hades, Josephus says, "This is the discourse concerning Hades, wherein the souls of all men
are confined until a proper season which God hath
determined, when he will make a resurrection of all
men from the dead.  *  *  *  And to every body
shall its own soul be restored." This was beyond all
' Horne's Introduction, Vol. I. p. 144.
55 
56      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
question the prevailing belief among the Jews, at the
time of our Lord and his apostles-a belief professedly
drawn from their sacred writings. If, therefore, this
doctrine was erroneous, our Saviour and his apostles
ought so to have spoken and written as to have condemned it; or at least to have given it no countenance.   But instead of this, we hear St. Paul exclaiming on one occasion, long after his conversion,
"I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee," Acts xxiii. 6.
The SADDUCEES denied the immortality of the soul,
if not all purely spiritual existence. Josephus says,
"the doctrine of the Sadducees is this, THAT SOULS
DIE WITH THE  BODIES."*   "They take  away the
belief of the immortal existence of the soul, and the
punishments  and rewards  of  lades."t  St. Luke
says, Acts xxiii. 8, that "the Sadducees say that
there is no resurrection, neither ANGEL nor SPIRIT."T
On this point, therefore, those who now teach that
there is no " spirit" distinct from the animal nature,
and that, consequently, the soul dies with the body,
are only reproducing the oft refuted doctrines of the
ancient Sadducees.
The ESSENES, like the Pharisees,  "held, among
other tenets, the immortality of the soul, (though they
denied the resurrection of the body,) the existence of
angels, and a state of future rewards and punishments;"~ so that the Sadducees excepted, who were
~* Antiquities, b. xviii. ~ 4.            t Wars, b. viii. ~ 14.
t "Neither angel. That there are no angels. They deny the existence of good or bad angels. I Nor Spirit,' or soul. They held that
there was nothing but matter. They were materialists, and supposed
that all the operations which we ascribe to mind, could be traced to
some modification of matter."  Barnes' Notes.
2 See Ilorne's Introduction, Vol. I. p. 146. 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATH.
but an inconsiderable sect,* the whole Jewish nation,
among whom Christ and his apostles went "preaching the kingdom of God," believed in the immortality
of the soul, and in future rewards and punishments.
This fact will enable us the better to understand the
design of the New Testament writers, in the use of
the language employed by them. Let us see, then,
if they have not taught, and did not design to teach
the doctrine of the soul's immortality.
I. All those scriptures cited in the preceding
chapter to show that the death of man is a mere
separation of the soul from the body, imply also the
conscious existence of the soul in its disembodied state,
and its immortality. If the spirit "returns to God who
gave it," when "the dust returns to the earth;" if
it "goeth upward," "flies away," "puts off" its
"earthly house of this tabernacle;" and "departs to
be with Christ," it has proved itself immortal by passing unhurt the vale of death, and extending its existence forward into a region where death is forever unknown. And unless we suppose it possible that the
soul should live on forever in a state of unconsciousness, the idea of a future and immortal existence
necessarily involves the idea that such existence will
be one of conscious memory and reflection, and of
endless joy or sorrow.
II. When the angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses
in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bush, he said,
"4I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob," Exodus iii. 2, 6; and when the
Sadducees encountered our Lord, respecting the resur
* "This doctrine is received but by a few."  Josephus Ant. b. xviii.
~ 4.
57 
58      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
rection, Luke xx. 27, 37, he said to them, "Now that
the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush,
when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is
not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live
unto him."
Jehovah appeared to Moses in the bush 1491 years
before Christ. Abraham died B. C. 1821; Isaac B.
C. 1716; and Jacob B. C. 1689; consequently, at
that time (B. C. 1491) Abraham had been dead 330
years, Isaac 225 years, and Jacob 198 years. And
yet, God declared himself to be the God of these three
persons who had long been dead.
The argument of our Lord based upon this passage
is this: God "is not the God of the dead," or of
those who are extinct or annihilated. But God was
at that time the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
Therefore, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must still have
been alive. And this logical deduction from the premi
ses laid down, is supported by the plain declaration of
our Lord-" FOR ALL LIVE UNTO HIM.   We talk of
the death of man, because we see the "earthly house"
dissolved; but it is only an illusion.
"There is no death; what seems such, is transition."
The body dies, but the soul survives death; so that
he who is the God of the living only, is still the God
of the departed, because "all live unto him."
The bearing of this quotation of our Lord upon the
subject of the resurrection of the dead is obvious.
The Sadducees denied all future existence. They
held that when a man died all life both of soul and 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATIH.
body became extinct together, and that neither would
ever be reproduced. With them, therefore, the two
doctrines-the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead-stood or fell together; and to
prove that the souls of men live after death, was
effectually to overthrow the system of the Sadducees,
and silence their objections to the resurrection of the
body. If any life beyond the grave could be proved
from the Pentateuch, the authority of which they professed to revere, their theory was in ruins, and the
resurrection of the body was-established.
III. It is said, Luke xxiii. 42, 43, that the dying
thief upon the cross said to Jesus, "Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus
said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, to-day shalt
thou be with me in Paradise." It is obvious that the
thief expected soon to die.  Indeed there was and
could have been no hope of escape. It is equally
certain that the prevailing belief among the Jews at
this time was, that the soul left the body at death,
and went to Hades or the world of spirits, to return
again at the general resurrection. This was no doubt
the belief of the thief when he said, "Lord, remember
me, etc."
The term "Paradise" signifies pleasure or delight,
and is used in the New Testament to signify the
abode of the spirits of the righteous between death
and the resurrection.  St. Paul was caught up  to
Paradise, 2 Cor. xii. 4; and when the Spirit would incite believers to holy living by the promise of eternal
life, he says, "To him that overcometh will I give to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
Paradise of God;" Rev. ii. 7. Now, the promise of
59 
60       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
the Saviour was, that the thief should be with him in
Paradise THAT DAY; and, as Paradise is the place of
separate souls, to which Paul was caught up, where
grows the tree of life, the purport of the whole is, that
according to the prevailing belief of the separate existence of souls implied in the prayer of the dying
but penitent thief, he should be with Christ that day
in a place of happiness. If the Saviour meant simply
to say that they would both soon be in the grave, it
was no news to the thief, and no answer to his prayer.
And if Paradise meant simply the place of the deada "paradise"  of unconscious non-existence-what
kind of a "remembrance" was that which the dying
malfactor obtained? and what better off was he who
repented and prayed, than he who railed and was forgotten? The passage can have but one meaning,
therefore; and that is, that the soul of the dying thief
should be saved; and should meet the human soul
of Christ, which he was about to commend to his
Father's hands, in the abode of forgiven and glorified
spirits.
IV. The conscious existence of the soul after death,
is clearly taught in the parable of the rich man, and
Lazarus, Luke xvi. 19-31.  We say parable, though
the same doctrine is taught whether we regard the
account as a parable, or as a veritable history. In
either case, the souls of the dead are represented as
living, talking and remembering, being "comforted"
or "tormented" after death.  The rich man "died, and
was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in
torments."  "The beggar died, and was carried by
the angels to Abraham's bosom." Now what does
this "comfort" and "torment"  after  death-this 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATH.
reference to the " life-time" of Dives as then pastthe request that Lazarus be sent back to earth, and
the plea that " if one went unto them from the dead,
they will repent"-indeed, what does this whole narrative teach, if it be not that the soul lives after the
body dies, and is happy or miserable in another
world?
Let any one turn to this narrative, and read it
carefully over, verse after verse, and if he does not
find there the conscious existence of souls after death,
he can find it in no creed, or essay, or argument
whatever. Language could scarcely teach that doctrine more plainly; and the mind that can misinterpret or pervert such language, would pervert any
language that could be employed.
Upon the subject of the locality of human spirits in
the unseen state, Bishop Horsley has the following
observations:  "The soul existing after death, and separate from
the body, though of a nature immaterial, must be in
some place; for however metaphysicians may talk of
space as one of the adjuncts of body, as if nothing
but gross sensible body could be limited to a place,
to exist without relation to space seems to be one of
the incommunicable perfections of the Divine Being;
and it is hardly to be conceived that any created
spirit, of however high an order, can be without
locality, or without such determination of its existence
at any given time to some certain place; that it shall
be true to say of it,' Here it is, and not elsewhere.' "*
Y. Our Saviour teaches, Matt. x. 28, that the soul
cannot be killed-that though men can kill the body,
* Horsley's Sermons, Vol. II. pp. 89, 90
61 
62      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
they cannot kill the soul.   "And fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." The
soul is not the body, nor the body the soul; so that
while men are able to kill the one, they are not able
to kill the other. But if the soul was a simple result
of animal organization-the operations of the brainas materialism teaches-then whoever killed the body,
would, at the same time kill the soul. But so distinct are they, and so do they differ as to their mortality, that while men are "able to kill the body,"
they are " NOT ABLE TO KILL THE SOUL." That ethereal nature LIVES still, though the body dies. The
poor material casket may be wasted, and wrecked, and
smothered up in the dust from whence it came.
Yet not thus buried, or extinct,
The vital spark shall lie;
For in life's wreck that spark shall rise,
To seek its kindred sky. -
And if those who are able to kill the body are not
able to kill the soul, how say some among us that the
body and soul are the same, and that to kill the one
is, in all cases, to kill the other also?
VI.  St. Paul teaches  1 Thess.  v. 9, 10, that
whether the righteous live or die, they are to live with
Christ.  "For God hath not appointed us unto wrath,
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us, that, whether we WAKE or SLErEP, [that is
LIVE or DIE] we should LIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM."
Even if they "sleep" they are nevertheless to "LIVE,"
and "to be with Christ, which is far better."
For there is no sleep, no grave so deep,
That can hold the human soul. 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATH.
"Neither life nor DEATH" can separate the good
man from his everlasting portion in Jesus Christ.
VII. In the account of Christ's transfiguration,
Matt. xvii. 3, we are told that "there appeared unto
him Moses and Elias talking unto him." Elias was
translated without seeing death, nine hundred and
twenty-eight years before, 2 Kings 2d chapter; and
Moses DIED on Mount Nebo fourteen hundred and
eighty-three years before. "So Moses, the servant
of the Lord, died there, in the land of Moab-and he
[Jehovah] buried him in a valley in the land of Moab,
over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth the
place of his sepulchre unto this day." Deut. xxxiv. 5.
Here notice, first, that Moses was dead and buried.
In the second place, it is certain that, at the time of
the transfiguration his body had not been raised from
the dead. St. Paul declares, Acts xxvi. 23, that
"the prophets and Moses" had taught, "that Christ
should suffer, and that he should be the first that
should rise from the dead." In the first epistle of
Paul to the Corinthians, xv. 20, he declares that
Christ had become "the first fruits of them that slept;"
and Col. i. 18, he styles him "the first born from the
dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." The Revelator also styles him "the firstbegotten of the dead," Rev. i. 5.
Though several had been restored from death to
life prior to the crucifixion, no one of them was raised
to immortality. Of the subjects of the resurrection
proper it can be said, "neither shall they die any
more;" but this was not the case with the widow's son
raised by Elijah; nor with the son of the widow of
Nain, nor with Lazarus.   These  all died  again.
63 
64       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Never until Christ burst the bars of death, was a dead
human body raised to life and immortality. And as
the transfiguration was before the crucifixion and
resurrection, it is certain that the body of Moses had
not been raised from the dead.
What was it, then, that appeared on mount Tabor,
and talked with Christ?-that which Matthew calls
"Moses?" It was not the body of Moses, for that
had not been raised from death, but still slept "in a
valley in the land of Moab." It must, therefore,
have been his spirit, unless he had some other nature
beside body and spirit, that might with propriety be
called "Moses."*
Here, then, we have the spirit of Moses, with
Christ and Elias on the summit of Tabor, near fifteen
centuries after his body died, and while it yet slumbered in its unknown resting-place, where it doubtless
sleeps unto this day. It is certain, therefore, that
the soul can and does survive the death of the body;
and can live, and think, and even "talk" if necessary,
ages after its "earthly house" has crumbled back to
dust.
VIII. The Scriptures uniformly teach that the
righteous enter upon at least an earnest of their
eternal reward immediately'after death. The heavenly
Canaan, like the earthly, is but just beyond Jordan.
When the good man yields his breath,
(For the good man never dies,)
Bright beyond the vale of death,
Lo! the land of promise lies.
For his soul to "depart" is to "be with Christ.'-:
Phil. i. 23. Though he "sleep" or die, he lives
* See Macknight on Heb. xi. 40 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATH.
together with Christ. 1 Thess. v. 10. Lazarus died,
and was carried at once to Abraham's bosom. Luke
xvi. 22. When the earthly house is dissolved, we
enter that not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.
To be absent from the body is to be present with
the Lord. 2 Cor. v. 7. "Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord FROM HIENCEFORTH." Rev. xiv. 13.
"Gr. aparti.  From this time; now, immediately."*
They have not to sleep in the grave for perhaps
thousands of years, a long and dreamless parenthesis
of being,-before their heavenly joys begin; but enter
at once upon their glorious reward.
We know when the silver cord is loosed,
And the veil is rent away,
Not long and dark shall the passage be,
To the realms of endless day.
The eye that shuts in the mortal hour,
Shall open the next in bliss;
The welcome shall sound in the heavenly world,
Ere the farewell is hushed in this.
"The transition is doubtless instantaneous. It is
no tiresome walk down through a lonely, dark valley;
it is no weary flight upward, as the eagle mounts,
higher and higher; but no sooner is a believer's soul
disembodied, than it is in Paradise. The partition
once broken down, what shall hinder an immediate
view of all beyond? And oh, what a morning is that
day-break of glory! The sun of righteousness shines
in all its brightness. It is the effulgence of Christ's
person which lights up that whole far-stretching world,
and sheds a quickening radiance on every resident
'*Dr. A. Clarke.
5
65 
66       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
there. If, two thousand years before Christ's coming
on earth, Abraham rejoiced to see his day, what must
be the joy of seeing him as he now is, at the right
hand of majesty, in the heavens!
"Stray beams of his lustre often fall on the dying
believer before his soul leaves its tenement.'This
is heaven begun,' said Rev. Thomas Scott;'I have
done with darkness, forever-forever. Satan is vanquished. Nothing now remains but salvation, with
eternal glory-eternal glory.'
"Come to the veranda of a Braminic temple. In
the last spasms of Asiatic cholera, Gordon Hall cries,
'Glory, glory, glory!' and he
'Passed through Glory's morning gate,
And walked in Paradise.'
"'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, from
henceforth!'  Blessed are the dead-not survivors,
not the most favored of those who remain here, still
sinning and repenting, and so imperfectly serving
God-but blessed are the dead in Christ who have
ceased from sin, are made perfect in holiness, and
have passed into Paradise."*
"Life makes the soul dependent on the dust,
Death gives her wings to mount above the spheres.
*       *      -*      *      X       *.*.*:       *
Death wounds to cure; —we fall,-we rise,-we reign!
Spring from our fetters, fasten in the skies,
WVhere blooming Eden withers in our sight.
Death gives us more than was in Eden lost;      This king of terrors is the prince of Peace."
When DR. FISK was about to depart, he was heard
* Thompson's "Better Land." 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATH.
to exclaim, "from a chair to a throne."* To his fond
wife whom he saw weeping, he said, "Do not suppose
that your husband will be buried in the cold, dark
earth of the college cemetery; this emaciated, suffering body may be laid there to sleep, but your husband
cannot be buried. I shall be unspeakably happy with
Christ in heaven."
The Rev. C. Love, minister at Lawrence Jewry, in
London, was beheaded on Tower Hill, Aug. 22,1651,
in the time of Cromwell, for being suspected of plotting against the government. While standing on the
scaffold he uttered the following most pathetic and
weighty remarks:
" Although there be but little between me and
death, yet this bears up my heart, there is little between me and heaven.
It comforted Dr. Taylor, the martyr, when he was
going to execution, that there was but two stiles between him and his Father's house-but two steps
between me and glory. It is but lying down upon
that block and I shall ascend upon a throne. I am
this day sailing toward the ocean of eternity-through
a rough passage to my haven of rest; through a red
sea to the promised land.
*       *        *       *        *        *       *
"Behold I am this day making a double exchange;
I  am  changing  a pulpit for  a  scaffold,  and  a
scaffold for a throne; and I might add a third-I am
changing the presence of this numerous multitude on
Tower Hill for the innumerable company of saints
and angels in heaven, the holy hill of Zion-and I
am changing a guard of soldiers for a guard of angels,
* He was unable to lie down, and died sitting in a chair.
67 
68      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
which will receive me and carry me to Abraham's
bosom. This scaffold is the best pulpit that ever I
preached in. In my church pulpit, God, through his
grace, made me an instrument to bring others to
heaven; but in this pulpit, he will bring me to
heaven."
Such has been the hope of God's people in every
age. In this hope they lived, and in it they died.
And oh how disappointed if, instead of a convoy of
angels, and the opening glories of the eternal day,
they drank the lethean draught of annihilation, and
sank down to non-existence; or found a long home
amid unbroken silence and corruption!   What  a
doctrine to teach as the gospel of Christ!
If this theory be true, how dreary is eternity! Its
"whole family in heaven," Eph. iii. 15, consists of
Enoch and Elijah who were translated, and Christ
and those who arose after his resurrection. There is
no "world of spirits bright;" and eternity is well nigh
void. And the materialism that consigns the soul of
man to the dust, implies the non-existence of angels
as well; and, indeed, if carried cut to its logical
consequences, must blot out the Infinite Spirit himself!
This modern Sadduceeism denies all distinction
between the righteous and the wicked till the general
resurrection.   Not only have the old saints, and
patriarchs, and prophets been waiting for ages, without as yet a ray of light, or a gleam of conscious
being; but they have yet to wait till the end of time.
And the wicked are no worse off. With all the difference there is in the present life, and the difference
that will exist hereafter, we are told that for ages be 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATH.
tween death and the resurrection, there is no differ
ence whatever!  Both are wrapped alike in the tranquil slumbers of non-existence!
IX. In harmony with the preceding representation,
that the souls of the righteous ascend at once to Paradise when the body dies, the book of Revelation represents the righteous dead  as already "before  the
throne," singing and praising God in the land of life.
They are a great multitude, of all nations, and kindreds, and people and tongues-are clothed with white
robes, and have palms in their hands.  "These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne
of God, and serve him day and night in his temple:
and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among
them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any
more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the
throne shall feed them, and shall lead~them unto living
fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes."
HIappy dwellers in that "better country!"
Every tear is wiped away,
Sighs no more shall heave the breast;
Night is lost in endless day,
Sorrow in eternal rest.
Now all these Apocalyptic views of the heavenly
world (of which there are many) are essentially wrong,
and misleading, unless it be true that the souls of the
righteous dead are now happy with Christ in heaven,
though their bodies slumber in the grave. For let it
not be forgotten, that the scene is laid beyond the
69 
70      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
region of sorrow, tears and death; consequently the
descriptions can apply to no assembly this side the
tomb. They are our happy brethren, who, like Moses,
have crossed the flood, and entered Canaan, though
their bodies still sleep in the vale of death.
No oppressive heat they feel,
From the sun's directer ray;
In a milder clime they dwell,
Region of eternal day.
X. Answering to the representation that the souls
of the righteous are now happy with Christ in Paradise, we have the further representation that THEY
ARE TO RETURN WITH HIM, when he comes to raise
the dead and judge the world.  Zechariah says, "And
the Lord my God shall come, and ALL THE SAINTS
WITH THEE," Ch. xiv. 5.  St. Jude informs us that
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these
things, saying, "Behold the Lord cometh WITH TEN
THOUSAND OF HIS SAINTS, to execute judgment upon
all, etc.," Jude 14, 15, and St. Paul inculcates the
same doctrine when he speaks of "the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, WITH ALL HIS SAINTS," 1 Thess. iii.
13.  Now what, we ask, are these "saints" that are
to come with Christ at his second appearing, if they
are not the souls of his people who have been with
him in Paradise during the intermediate period between death and the resurrection? They cannot be
the bodies of his saints, for they will not be raised till
Christ arrives, and therefore cannot come with him.
It is plain, therefore, that they are the souls of the
righteous dead who have been in Paradise with him
for ages, and who now return with him as he comes to
raise their bodies to glory and immortality. 
CONSCIOUS BEING AFTER DEATH.
Hark! the Judgment trumpet calls!
Soul, rebuild thy house of clay,
Immortality thy walls,
And eternity thy day.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still lived in the time of
Moses, though their bodies had long been dead.   The
penitent thief was with Christ in Paradise before the
twelfth hour of the day of the crucifixion, though the
bodies of both were on earth, under the dominion of
death. Lazarus passed at once to Abraham's bosom,
and the rich man to the torments of hell immediately
after death. Men cannot kill the soul; for whether
we sleep or wake we shall live together with Christ.
Moses was with Christ on the mount, though his body
still slumbered in the valley of Moab. The righteous
depart at death to be with Christ; and the dead, who
die in the Lord, are blessed from henceforth. A part
of the family of God yet dwell on earth; but others
are with Christ in glory. 0 blessed and glorious
truth!
One family we dwell in Him,
One church above, beneath,
Though now divided by the stream,
The narrow stream of death.
The sainted dead are already before the throne,
and serve God day and night in his temple; and when
Christ shall appear in the clouds of heaven to raise
the dead, and burn the world, and judge all men and
angels, these "saints" shall attend him down  his
starry pathway, to re-enter their bodies, now made
incorruptible and glorious, and for the redemption of
which they have so long waited. Rom. viii. 23. Thus
fully redeemed from death shall they ascend to the
71 
72      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
heaven of heavens, to be forever with the Lord.
Then shall the gates lift up their heads, and the everlasting doors be lifted up; and the King of Glory,
with his people shall enter in, to dwell in God's presence FOREVER! May both writer and reader be found
in that glorious procession! 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
CHAPTER VII.
THE ALLEGED SLEEP OF THE SOUL BETWEEN DEATH
AND THE RESURRECTION.
BESIDES adducing the direct Scripture proofs of the
soul's immortality, it is proper to notice in this connection, certain new and peculiar views upon this subject,
recently promulgated in this country and in England.
Heretofore, Deism has usually denied both the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body;
not because these doctrines were not taught in the
Bible, but rather because they were therein taught.
Denying the truth of the Scriptures, and spurning all
their teachings, it claimed to follow Reason and Nature, and thence to derive proof that when a man dies
that is his end forever.
But within a few years past an attempt has been
made to unite the most pernicious features of Deism
with one or two Bible truths; and to inculcate the
whole as the veritable teachings of divine revelation.
Thus we are told, by men professing to believe the
Bible that man has no spiritual nature whatever distinct from his body; and that when that is dissolved
by death, what is called the soul or mind goes out
like an expiring lamp. Thus far they go hand in
hand with the old Deists; and with these fatal errors
they connect the doctrine of the resurrection of the
73 
74       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
body, when that which is called the "soul," say they,
will be again evolved, and rewards and punishments
will ensue. To this is added the notion that the
punishment of the wicked will consist of their utter
destruction of being, or annihilation, at the final judgment.
These are what we call new and strange doctrines
-a sort of hybrid theology or cross between open infidelity and Bible Christianity. As the advocates of
this mixed theory profess to respect the Scriptures,
it is quite natural that they should attempt to press
them into their service.   It is altogether proper,
then, in a treatise like this, to notice these anomalous attempts to prove the non-immortality, or
literal death of the soul from the Sacred Writings.
The present chapter, therefore, will be devoted to the
alleged Scripture proofs that the soul or spirit of man
is but a result of animal organization, and becomes
extinct at the death of the body.
1. It is alleged that, as a general rule, we are to
understand the Scriptures in their literal sense.  It
is also affirmed that the original terms rendered soul,
Spirit, and ghost, literally signify wind or breath; and
that, therefore, when applied to man, they mean no
more than the literal breath which leaves the body at
death. In reply to this view we answer, that to give
a literal interpretation to all the terms, and phrases,
and figures of the Bible, is not only to understand it
as we interpret no other book, but to turn it into nonsense. It is quite true that most of the terms employed to represent spiritual things were first used to
represent material objects; but are they, therefore, to
be taken in their literal and material sense? Take, 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
for example, the Greek term pneuma, which primarily signifies wind or air; must we, therefore, always adhere to this original meaning?  "God is a
Spirit" (pneuma) John iv. 24. Is he, therefore, mere
wind, or air, or breath?. In Acts v. 3, the term rendered Holy Ghost is pneuma. Rom. viii. 16, where it
is said, "the Spirit itself beareth witness with our
Spirit,"-Auto  to pneuma  me  to  pneuma,-the
same term being employed to represent the human
and Divine Spirit. 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11, the term pneuma
is once used to denote "the spirit of a man," and
thrice, in the same connection, to denote the Spirit of
God-pneuma tou Theou.  So, also, chapter 6, verse
20, the terms rendered Spirit of God are, pneuma tou
Theou. Unless, therefore, the Spirit of God is mere
wind, air or breath, the term pneuma must be understood to mean something more than this material substance. And, if it means a pure spirit, when applied
to the Deity, must it not be taken in the same sense
when, in the very same passage, it is applied to man?
Would the Holy Ghost use the term pneuma in the
sense of a pure spirit in one line, and in the sense of
mere wind or breath in the next?  Most certainly
not.
There is another process by which we may test the
correctness of the literalists' theory that the terms
rendered soul and spirit mean simply the breath-a
process which even the unlearned cannot fail to understand.  If the original terms rendered "soul" and
"spirit"  in our English Scriptures  mean  simply
the breath, then if we put the word "breath" in
the place of the words "soul" and "spirit," wherever they occur, our "bad translation" (so called)
75 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
will be rectified; and the texts cited will convey to
us their true meaning. Let us translate a few passages according to this theory. And, first, a few
samples in which the word SOUL occurs, putting the
word BREATH, in the place of SOUL.
Psalm xix. 7:-" The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the BREATH."  Psalm lxxxvi. 4:-" Rejoice the BREATH of thy servant: for unto thee, O
Lord, do I lift up my BREATH."  Psalm cvi. 15:"And he gave them their request; but sent leanness
into their BREATHS."  Matt. x. 28:-" And fear not
them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
BREATH: but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both BREATH and body in hell."  Matt. xxvi. 35:"Then said he unto them, my BREATH is sorrowful
even unto death." Luke xii. 19:-" And I will say
to my BREATH, BREATH, thou hast much goods laid up
for many years."  1 Thess. v. 23:-" And I pray
God your whole spirit and BREATH and body be preserved blameless, etc."  HIeb. vi. 19:-" Which hope
we have as an anchor to the BREATH."  HIeb. x. 39:" But we are  -  of them that believe to the saving of
the BREATH."  James v. 20:-" Let him know that he
which converteth a sinner from the error of his way
shall save a BREATH from death, etc." 2 Peter ii.
8:-" Lot dwelling in Sodom, vexed his righteous
BREATH from day to day."
In the following specimens the word BREATH is put
in the place of SPIRIT, with which it is said to be
synonymous:  Job xxxii. 18:-"For I am full of matter; the
BREATH within me constraineth me."  Eccl. iii. 21:
"Who knoweth the BREATH of man that goeth up
76 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
ward, and the BREATH of the beast that goeth down ward  to the earth."  Acts  xxiii. 8:-" Fcr  the
Sadducees say there is no resurrection, neither angel,
nor BREATH; but the Pharisees confess both." Also,
verse 9:-"If a BREATH or an angel hath spoken to
him."  Rom. ii. 29:-" Circumcision is that of the
heart, in the BREATH;" and viii. 16:-"The BREATH
itself beareth witness with our BREATH that we are
the children of God." 1 Cor. ii. 11:-" For what man
knoweth the things of a man, save the BREATH of a
man that is in him?" 1 Cor. v. 5:-"To deliver such
a one unto Satan-that the BREATH may be saved in
the day of the Lord Jesus." 1 Cor. vi. 5:-" For ye
are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in
your body and BREATH which are his." 2 Cor. vii. 1:"Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and BREATH."  Gal. vi. 15:-" Brethren, the
grace of our Load Jesus Christ be with your BREATH.
Amen."*
Such is the havoc which this wild and unscriptural
theory makes with the word of God; for if the original
terms rendered "'soul" and "spirit" mean the literal
breath, it is altogether proper and fair to put breath
in their place; whereupon the Bible becomes one of
the most unintelligible, not to say ridiculous productions, that ever was written. There is no alterna
*Nothing would justify the exhibition of the Scriptures in so ridiculous a light, but a desire to explode one of the popular assumptions of
the Annihilationists in the briefest possible space, by exposing the
absurdity of their principles. If there be, therefore, a seeming want
of dignity and reverence for the Scriptures in these illustrative examples, it is due to the false principles that we combat, and not to any
unfairness or want of candor in their application. We have simply
answered the Annihilationists according to their folly.
77 
78       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
tive: we must either accept all this absurdity as the
true meaning of the Scriptures, or reject the absurd
principle of interpretation from which these consequences flow; and with the exploding of the principle,
the whole argument falls to the ground.
II. It is argued that if the soul is a part of man,
and men die, the soul must die as well as the body;
otherwise the man does not die. This reasoning
might appear sound, were it not for the fact that the
Scriptures guard against such an error by teaching,
as we have shown in chapter iv., that the death of a
human being is but the separation of his two-fold
nature,-the soul and body-and the extinction of his
animal life. And even without this special instruction as to the nature of death, the above argument is
fallacious on another account, insomuch as it assumes
that-whatever is affirmed of a human being, is affirmed
of each and every part of that being. We affirm that
a man is asleep, and yet his spirit may be awake in
dreams, or somnambulism.   So  we may say he is
sick; but we do not thereby affirm that his soul is
sick. We habitually affirm that of man, which is true
of any part of him. Man being a compound being,
we can scarce avoid this mode of expression. As we
affirm of Christ whatever is true of either of his
natures, so of man;-we say he is intelligent, without
affirming that his body is intelligent. In the same
manner we affirm that he dies, without in the least
implying that his soul dies. The dust may return to
the earth as it was, but the spirit returns to God who
gave it. Eccl. xii. 7.
III. It is affirmed that the numerous Scriptures in
which death is spoken of as a sleep, convey the idea 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
of the extinction of the soul at death.  "The sleep
of the soul after death," says Bishop Hobart, "in that
sense which supposes it to be unconscious, is a modern
invention, unknown to the ancient popular creed of
both Jews and heathens, repugnant to reason, and
contradicted by Scripture."*
The term sleep, when applied to death, must either
be understood literally or figuratively. But it cannot
be understood literally, because in literal sleep the
animal life is not extinguished; the functions of but
few of the bodily organs are suspended; the body
does not tend to decay; and the subject may be easily
roused again to wakefulness. None of these are true
of the dead; consequently the steep of death is not a
literal sleep.
Again: If death were a literal sleep, it would by
no means imply unconsciousness, much less the extinction of the soul; for in sleep we think, and reason,
and hope, and fear, and enjoy, and suffer in our
dreams, as really as when we are awake. Such a
sleep, therefore, would fall far short of the materialists' idea of the sleep of the soul at death. For
natural sleep is not only perfectly compatible with
continued consciousness, but absolutely implies the
perpetuity of our conscious being, under circumstances
of renewed vigor and activity. "If he sleep," said
the disciples of Lazarus, "he shall do well."  Men
sleep to increase and not to extinguish the mental
and physical energies.
"The comparison between the state of the dead,
and a state of sleep, is beautiful and appropriate.
Sleep is that relaxation from the toils and afflictions
* State of the Departed, p. 48.
79 
80      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
of life, that short suspension of the powers of corporeal
sense and action, which are succeeded by a more
vigorous exercise of the animal and intellectual
faculties. And so death, releasing us entirely from
our conflicts with the trials of this mortal existence,
and suspending all the corporeal functions, is followed
by a reviviscence of our whole nature, in the active
delights and unalloyed glories of the heavenly state."*
It is safe, therefore, to affirm, that death cannot be
a literal sleep; and that if it were it would rather
support than conflict with the doctrine of the conscious
existence of the soul after death.
But if death is not literally a sleep, it can only be
so figuratively. In'metaphorical language we call
one thing by the name of another, on account of certain resemblances between the two. It is only a
short way of making a comparison. Thus Christ is
called a lion, a lamb, a rock, a vine, a shepherd, bread,
&c. So as the death of a body in several respects
resembles its falling asleep, the term " sleep" is employed metaphorically to represent death; without in
the slightest degree implying the extinction of thought
and consciousness.
"The expression sleep, or sleeping, so frequently
applied in Scripture to the state of the dead, is evidently metaphorical; derived from the resemblance
between a dead body, and the body of a person asleep.
The body is said figuratively to "sleep in the dust of
the earth;" expecting a resurrection at that day,
when the dead, both small and great, shall be summoned to stand before God. Hence the word cemetery, and dormitory, from the Greek and Latin words
* State of the Departed, p. 45. 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
xoetao and dormio, to sleep, are applied to the re ceptacles of the dead."
"The term sleep, applied to the state of the dead,
denotes not unconsciousness, but a freedom from the.
cares and labors of life; and, as it respects the right eous, expresses comfortable enjoyment, rest, security,
and felicity. It is a phrase by which, in all lan guages, the state of the dead is denoted. And yet
the popular belief among all nations, assigns conscious ness and activity to the departed."*
IV. Psa. xxxvii. 9, 10:-"For evil doers shall be
cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall
inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the
wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be."
From this passage it is argued that death is a
cessation of conscious existence. But who does not
see that the expression  "shall not be," is the same
as that the wicked shall be "cut off;" or shall not
"inherit the earth?" The idea is, that the wicked
shall not live out half their days, and shall soon disappear from the earth. And all that is said of him,
is said of "his place." Of both alike it is said, they
"shall not be." And it is still further evident that
the whole relates to the present life, from what follows in the next verse:-"But the meek shall inherit
the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." It would be quite as logical, therefore, to infer that the righteous shall live here forever,
because it is said they shall inherit the earth; as to
argue that the wicked shall cease to exist altogether,
* State of the Departed, p. 45.
6
81 
82      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
because they are not to inherit the earth, but to be
cut off.
V. Eccl. iii. 18-20, has often been quoted to
show that man like the brute, has no soul that will
outlive the body.  " I said in mine heart concerning
the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons
of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth
them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they
have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto
one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust
again."
Two things are observable respecting this text.
First, it purports to be but a meditation or reflection of
the writer.  " I said in mine heart, etc.;" and is more
of the nature of a temptation to unbelief respecting a
future state than any thing else. In the next place,
lest it should be misunderstood, and used as it sometimes has been by modern materialists, it is added in
the very next verse, " Who knoweth the spirit of
man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast
that goeth downward to the earth?"
It is thus shown that the deaths of the sons of men
and of beasts are alike only so far as their bodies are
concerned; while they are very unlike as to their
spiritual natures. While one, like the bodies with
which they are connected, " goeth downward to the
earth," the other "goeth upward," or "returns to
God who gave it." Ch. xii. 7.
VI. Psalm vi. 4:-" Return 0 Lord, deliver my
soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. For in death 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who
shall give thee thanks?"
The prayer of the Psalmist that God would save
him, is here urged upon the ground that it will be too
late after death. This is the obvious import of the
passage. The "remembrance"' and "thanks" mentioned, are, therefore, such as are required in this
world, as conditions of salvation. Such are not to be
found in death or the grave; hence the earnest prayer
for salvation while it might be found. There can be
no such remembrance of God or thanksgiving to him
in death or the grave.
VII. Psalm cxv. 17, 18:-"The dead praise not
the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. But
we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for
evermore."
If the first of these passages teaches that the dead
have no knowledge of God, the second certainly contradicts it, unless the Psalmist expected to live in this
world "for evermore;" for such was to be the duration of his praise. It is plain, therefore, that in this
passage, like the one preceding, the meaning is that
none of the dead repent and turn to the Lord, and
thus first begin to praise him; while the righteous, like
David, can still say,
My days of praise shall ne'er be past,
While life, and thought, and being last,
Or immortality endures.
VIII. Ecl. ix. 4-6:-" For to him that is joined to
all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better
than a dead lion. For the living know that they
shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither
88 
84      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
have they any more a reward; for the memory of
them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred,
and their envy, is now perished; neither have they
any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done
under the sun."
It requires very little effort to see that this text, like
the two preceding, has reference solely to what the dead
can know, or do, or receive, of any thing "under the
sun;" that is in this world. The last two verses are
simply explanatory of the statement of the first, that
our hope and interest in all things earthly, are limited
to this short and transitory life. The passage has no
bearing, therefore, upon the question whether or not
the soul is conscious after the body dies.
IX. Isaiah xxxviii. 17, 18:-" Behold, for peace I
had great bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast
cast all my sins behind thy back. For the grave
cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they
that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
The living, the living, he.shall praise thee, as I do
this day: the father to the children shall make known
thy truth."
The subject of this passage is the same as in the
three preceding-the necessity of timely repentance
and pardon.  The Psalmist was grateful to God that
though once in "great bitterness," his soul had been
"delivered" by the pardon of his sins.  And he magnifies the grace of God by the consideration that
mercy came before it was  too late.  "The  grave
cannot praise thee," or turn to the service of God;
the dead "cannot hope for thy truth."  It is too late
then to hear the voice of warning.   "The living," 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
alone are thus privileged; and to them only can men
"make known thy truth."
Acts ii. 34:-" For David is not yet ascended into
the heavens, etc." The argument founded upon this
passage is that as David's spirit had not ascended into
the heavens, it must have been slumbering in the
grave with his body; and, therefore, the doctrine of
the immortality of the soul cannot be true. But unfortunately for the argument, the whole drift of the
context shows that Peter was speaking of David's
body and not of his soul. The subject under consideration is the resurrection of Christ; and the apostle affirms first, that Christ had been raised from the
dead.  "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the
pains of death: because it was not possible that he
should be holden of it." Verse 24. In the second
place, he shows why it was not possible that Christ
should be holden of death.  "For David speaketh
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my
face; for he is on my right hand, that I should not
be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my
tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in
hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;
thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance."
Verses 25-28.
This prophecy, it is then urged, did not relate to
David personally, but to Christ, the seed of David.
"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of
the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried,
and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
85 
86       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on
his throne; he, seeing this before, spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in
hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus
hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now
see and hear." Verses 29-33.
Then comes in the passage first cited. " For David
is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my
right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,
that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have
crucified, both Lord and Christ."
The argument of the apostle is, that the prophecy
could not have related to David personally, because it
was never fulfilled in him. He saw corruption, and
his sepulchre was yet with them.   "For David, after
he had served his own generation by the will of God,
fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw
corruption: but he whom God raised again saw no
corruption:"-Acts xiii. 36, 37. The prophecy spoke
also of a "path of life," or way to immortality, and
an ascension to the right hand of God, neither of
which had been fulfilled in regard to the body of
David.  "For David is not passed into the heavens."
He is neither raised nor enthroned; and yet such is
the import of the prophecy.   For "he saith himself,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right
hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool." If, then, 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
such are the prophecies, which were never fulfilled in
David personally, it is plain that he "spoke of the
resurrection of Christ," and not of himself. Nothing,
therefore, could be more foreign to the subject than
to understand the remark that David had not yet ascended into heaven, as relating to his soul!  It is
precisely like affirming that his soul had not gone to
hades, or the world of spirits, because his body was
yet in the grave.
XI. 1 Cor. xv. 16-18:-" For if the dead rise not,
then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then
they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
perished."
The argument founded upon this passage, is, that
if Christ is not risen, and there is no resurrection,
there can be no future existence.  This is true only
in the sense intended by the apostle; and that is, that
if Christ is not risen from the dead, the whole system
which he taught, including the immortality of the
soul as well as the resurrection of the body, falls to
the ground.  This the most firm believer in the immortality of the soul will readily admit. For if
Christ be not risen, the whole Christian system is a
cunningly devised fable; the hopes it inspires are delusive; and so far as we have any evidence to the
contrary from any other and surer word of prophecy,
the dead in Christ are perished.   But even then, as
we shall see hereafter, the word "perished" implies
the loss of the soul only, or its failure to reach
Paradise, rather than its having fallen into nonexistence.
XII. 2 Tim. iv. 6-8:-" For I am now ready to be
8T 
88       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I
have fought a good fight, I have finished mny course, I
have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not
to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. "
From this passage it is argued that St. Paul did
not expect his crown of righteousness till the second
coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead;
and that consequently he had no reward, and indeed
no conscious existence from death to that period.
But the conclusion is not warranted by the premises.
We are ready to admit that the "crown of righteousness "-the full and glorious reward of the righteouswill not be administered till the resurrection; but it
by no means follows that there is no reward, nor happiness, nor existence, till the resurrected believer is
fully crowned. And the fact that St. Paul looked
forward with hope and joy to the resurrection of the
dead, no more proves that he expected nothing before
that event, than the same hope in a Christian now,
proves that he believes in the death of the soul. In
fact the firmer our belief in the immortality of the
soul, the more ardent and joyful our hope of the resurrection of the body. So with St. Paul: he knew
that to die was gain-to be with Christ which is far
better-and yet he looked forward with rapturous
joy, to the day when his salvation should be completed in the resurrection of his body. Such in fact
is the true explanation of all those Scriptures in
which the righteous seem to dwell upon the resurrection of the dead, as an object of hope and desire. 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
Not that they can have no happiness or conscious ex
istence till the body is raised, but because the resur rection of their bodies incorruptible and glorious is the
last and crowning act of their salvation from the power
of sin and death. Is it at all strange, therefore, that
they look forward to that glorious consummation,
with holy joy and triumph?
XII.  That the early Christians and martyrs for
the word of God understood the Scriptures as we have
explained them, and looked for conscious joy in Para dise immediately after death, might be shown to almost
any extent from ecclesiastical history. But this would
lead us too far aside from our purpose to confine ourself in this part of our inquiry, almost exclusively to
the Sacred Writings. A few brief references, however, may not be out of place.
Of the thousands of Christian martyrs who sealed
the truth with their blood during the first three centuries of the Christian era, not one of them gave expression in his last moments, so far as can be ascertained, to the idea that his soul would die or become
unconscious when the body was dissolved. On the
contrary they uniformly express the hope of immediate and conscious happiness after death. Take the
following as examples:
POLYCARP was the companion of St. John, and
often heard him preach. HIe suffered martyrdom,
A. D. 166, in the eighty-seventh year of his age.
When the Proconsul threatened him with wild beasts
unless he recanted, he answered, "call them;" and
when the proconsul threatened to burn him alive, he
answered, "You threaten fire that burns for a moment
and is soon extinguished, for you know nothing of
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90       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
the judgment to come, and the fire of eternal punishment reserved for the wicked." In his last prayer as
he stood bound to the stake, after mentioning the
blessed martyrs, he said, "Among whom may I be
received in thy sight this day, &c." *
From these passages it is clear that Polycarp, the
companion of St. John, not only believed in "eternal
punishment," but looked for an immediate life with
Christ in Paradise, when the pains of martyrdom
were over. For him to die was to be introduced at
once into the presence of God, and the society of the
blessed who had gone before. And Eusebius, who
wrote the account A. D). 324, concludes the narrative
of his martyrdom by saying, he was "crowned with
the crown of immortality." Neither the martyr nor
the historian, therefore, believed in the doctrine of
the death or sleep of souls.
Lucius perished under Urbicius about the time of
Polycarp. When Urbicius commanded him to be led
forth, Lucius thanked him, saying he was now "liberated from wicked masters, and was going to the good
Father and King, even God."t  To die was to go to
God, and not to cease to exist.
BIBLIAS, while suffering the torture of martyrdom,
was at the point to renounce Christ and escape, when
"she was reminded," it is said, "by the punishment
before her, of the ETERNAL PUNISHMENT OF HELL,"
and remained steadfast to the last.1 She had no
idea, therefore, that the death of a sinner placed him
beyond the possibility of eternal punishment.
Again in the same book and chapter, Eusebius
* Eusebius' Ecl. Hist. bk. iv. Chap. xv.
t Ibid. b. iv. Ch. xviii.                          t Ibid. b. V. Ch. i. 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
speaks of "those noble wrestlers," the martyrs, as
having sustained a diversified contest; " come off with
a glorious victory, and borne away the crown of immortality."'
BLANDINA was suspended on a stake, and exposed
as food for wild beasts.  She persuaded those who
believed in Christ that "every one who suffers for
Christ, will for ever enjoy communion with the living
God." And yet, if annihilationism be true, she has
not yet come to communion with God, and may not
for a thousand years to come.
A little further on the historian says, "Thus she
overcame the enemy in many trials, [the wild beasts
refused to attack her,] and in the conflict received the
crown of IMMORTALITY." On the next page it is
said, " But the blessed Blandina, last of all, as a noble
mother that had animated her children and SENT THEM
AS VICTORS TO THE GREAT KING, herself retracing the
ground of all the conflicts her children had endured,
HASTENED at last, with joy and exultation at the
issue, TO THEM, as if she were invited to a marriage
feast, and not to be cast to wild beasts."*
Such was the testimony of the first martyrs-such
the doctrine they learned from the Apostles, and
from the Itoly Scriptures. And I hesitate not to
say that not the first instance can be cited in which,
during the first three centuries, a Christian expressed
any other hope in his last hours than that of entering
AT ONCE upon the joys of an endless life.
XIII. I cannot refrain, in this connection, from
adducing a few additional proofs of the views and
hopes of the early martyrs. They are too striking
* Eusebius' Eccl. Hist. b. v. Ch. 1.
91 
92  THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
and conclusive to be omitted-monumental witnesses
that stand unchanged by the lapse of ages, like the
records of creation, written in the everlasting hills.
The Catacombs of Rome are a subterranean city of
the dead; in which the bodies of the martyrs were
buried during the first three centuries of the Christian
era. The inscriptions upon these tombs throw no little
light upon the faith of the early Christians. Take
the following as examples: "Borne away by angels
on the seventh Ides of January."   "In Christ, Alexander is not dead, but lives above the stars-his body
rests in this tomb."   "Among the innocent ones."
" One who lives with God." "Gone to dwell with
Christ."  "Snatched home  eternally, etc."  Other
inscriptions speak of the day of their departure, as
their "natal" or birth day; and what is still more
significant, the word death is never used in reference
to one of all that vast company of the departed!
Such is the testimony of these mute and incorruptible witnesses, to the separate and immortal existence of human souls when their bodies return to dust.*
The doctrine of the death or sleep of the soul from
death to the resurrection, is liable to numerous and
insuperable objections, a few of which may be briefly
stated.
1. It is contrary to that large class of Scriptures
cited in Chapter II., which go to show that matter
and spirit are distinct essences.
2. It is contrary to a still larger list cited in
Chapter III., which represent man as a two-fold
being-a spirit in a body.
X National Magazine, Vol. v. pp. 123, 224, 227; or, Bishop Kip's
Work upon the Catacombs. 
ALLEGED SLEEP OF SOULS.
3. It is contrary, to all those Scriptures cited in
Chapter IV., which go to prove that death is the
separation of soul and body, and not the extinction
of thought or consciousness.
4. It is contrary to a still larger and very explicit
list of texts cited in Chapter V., which directly prove
the conscious existence of the soul after death.
5. It is degrading to our species, in that it reduces
man to a level with the brute; and so far as the effect
of death upon him is concerned, gives him no preeminence over the beast.*
6. It represents the eternal world as an empty
void, so far as human spirits are concerned-as upon
this theory there are no human souls in heaven till
the general resurrection; whereas, the Scriptures represent heaven as already peopled with a vast and joyful company which no man can number. See Rev.
vii. 9-14.
7. It makes no distinction between the righteous
and the wicked for long ages after death. Cain, and
Abel, and Jeremiah, and Jezebel, and Judas, and St.
John, and Payson, and Thomas Paine; and indeed,
all sinners and saints, share precisely the same fate
from death to the resurrection. It is to all alike a
dreary unbroken parenthesis of being-a dark and
yawning chasm in existence itself! In the case of
the patriarchs and prophets a life of communion with
God is followed by a worse than banishment of centuries; and the glory and bliss of heaven is preceded by
ages of darkness and non-existence! Is this all that
* An infidel, who had been attempting to prove that men have no
souls, asked a lady with an air of triumph what she thought of his
philosophy. "It appears to me," she replied, "that you have been
employing a good deal of talent to prove yourself a beast."
93 
94      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
God has promised to his saints? Is this the best that
he can do for his followers when the present life shall
end?  Is this "the hope of glory" which swelled the
bosoms of the apostles and prophets, and emboldened
the martyrs to meet death even with joy and triumph?
Ah no!  It is "another gospel!"  The martyrs died
with a different hope. With them it was death and
immediate glory.
And so with modern Christian believers. Among
the millions who have made the Bible their study
during the last fifteen hundred years, how very few
have understood it to teach any other doctrine. Not
one in ten thousand. And yet they were not Infidels
nor Papists, but devout Protestant Christians. They
read the blessed Bible to learn the way to heaven, and
they understood it to teach that death only separated
the inner from the outer man, and introduced the
souls of the righteous to eternal joys. In this faith
they lived, and in this hope they died.
But were the primitive saints and martyrs all in
error? Have nine hundred and ninety-nine out of
every thousand of Christians who have ever lived, lived
in error upon this vital point, and died with a false
hope? Believe it, who can! Nay, rather; their's
was the true gospel of the life to come, their's the
well-grounded hope of immortality. 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE "INTERMEDIATE STATE;" OR THE PLACE OF SOULS
BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION.
IN the last three chapters we have shown, that
death is but the separation of the soul from the body;
and that the soul neither sleeps nor becomes unconscious between death and the resurrection. We have
also shown incidentally that the souls of the righteous
will be happy, and those of the wicked miserable immediately after death, and during this intermediate
period.   But  an  interesting question  arises  just
here: -VWere are the souls of men during this intermediate period from death to the resurrection? Are
they in the final heaven and hell that shall be
after the resurrection and general judgment, or
in intermediate abodes differing from their final allotment?
That the state of souls disembodied is, in some respects, different from that of souls embodied, is
obvious; so that few will deny an intermediate state,
who believe in a resurrection of the body. But the
question here proposed relates, not to the state merely,
but to the place of souls between the death of the
body and its final resurrection.
Upon this question little has been said in modern
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96       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
times, even by writers upon a future life.* For this
there may have been two reasons-a foregone impression that the Scriptures shed but little light upon
the subject; and a vague apprehension that in some
way the doctrine of an intermediate place of souls,
favors the doctrine of Purgatory, and of final and
universal restoration. But this by no means follows.
The doctrine of an intermediate place of souls may be
true, and the idea of purification there and of final
restoration a fiction.
That the place of souls between death and the
resurrection is different from their final abode, was
generally believed by the primitive church. It is a
doctrine of the Church of England, and of the Protestant Episcopal church in this country, and was
certainly believed by JOHN WESLEY and DR. ADAM
CLARKE, two of the great lights of Methodism. It
was also advocated by SCOTT, and MAGEE, and
CAMPBELL, among the Presbyterians; as well as by
scores of learned and pious men who were never suspected either of Popery or Universalism. We have,
therefore, no reason to reject this doctrine, or to discuss it with prejudice, or fear, from any apprehension
that its tendency is to favor the errors above alluded
to.
That there is an intermediate place as well as a
state of souls between death and the resurrection, i
seems highly probable from the following considerations:  I. There must of necessity be a great difference between the intermediate state of souls  and
* The best treatise we have seen is that on "T he State of the Departed," by Bishop Hobart. 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
their final condition after the resurrection of their
bodies.
Man is a compound being consisting of body and
soul. Death is a separation of these two natures.
The soul of the good man goes to "Paradise," and
the body goes back to corruption.
Now it must be obvious that just so far as the want
of an immortal and glorified body is an imperfection
in man, (not moral, perhaps, but physical,) he is in an
imperfect state till his body is raised from the dead.
And if no imperfection can enter the final abode of
the righteous, man is not prepared to enter his final
dwelling-place, till after the general resurrection.
And if so there is an analogical necessity for an intermediate place of souls between death and the resurrection, answering somewhat to the peculiar state
of disembodied spirits.
Again: It should be remembered, not only that
man's normal condition is soul and body in union,
while a state of separation and dissolution is an abnormal state;-a sort of parenthesis in his being;but that this abnormal condition is a result of sin;
and one of the victories achieved by it, from which
even the righteous are not yet delivered. No man is
or can be fully "saved," therefore, while his body is
yet in the grave, under the dominion of death. When
that is raised in incorruption, and power, and glory;
aud re-inhabited by the soul which was dislodged from
it at death, then, and not till then, will any be
"saved" in the highest and fullest sense; and death
be swallowed up of victory. Why, then, should souls
go up beforehand to the heavenly mansions, to which
they are admitted when made perfect and complete
7
97 
98       THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
by the general resurrection? Is not an intermediate
place of souls more in harmony with this imperfect
and abnormal state, than the highest exaltation in the
heavenly world?
II. There are intimations in the Scriptures of an
established order, on the part of God to introduce all
his saints to their final and glorious reward at one and
the same time. Mark, we say the "final" reward.
Take the following passages as samples.
1. 1 Thess. iv. 15-17:-"Forthis we say unto you by
the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and
so shall we ever be with the Lord."
In the 15th verse the word "prevent" is used in
its old English sense of to go before or anticipate.
The living Christian, who hears the sound of the resurrection trumpet, and is changed from mortal to
immortality in a moment, shall not go before or outstrip his brother Christian,'whose body has been dissolved by death, and whose inanimate dust sleeps in
the grave.  "The dead in Christ shall rise first."
Not, as some understand it, before the wicked rise,
but before the ri#hteous who "are alive and remain,"
ascend.  "Then,"-after  the righteous dead  have
arisen-both shall be caught up together to meet the
Lord in the air, and to be forever wih  the Lord.
This established order, therefore,seem',o imply that 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 
the righteous do not enter the final heaven at death,
that there must be an intermediate abode, where their
souls are in joy and felicity.
2. Iteb. xi. 39, 40, speaking of the Old Testament
saints, the apostle says:-" And these all, having
obtained a good report through faith, received not the
promise: God having provided some better thing for
us, that they without us should not be made perfect."
This last clause is generally understood to teach
that the saints of former ages are not "made perfect,"
that is, do not enter upon their eternal reward, till
those of the later dispensation enter also upon their
final glory.  MR. WESLEY in his notes says, "that
they might not be perfected without us.  That is, that
we might all be perfected together in heaven." DR.
CLARKE SayS,-" The preceding believers cannot be
consummated even in glory, till the gospel church
arrives in the heaven of heavens."
Upon this passage DR. MACKNIGHiT observes:
"Made perfect," here signifies made complete, by receiving the whole of the blessings promised to believers, the expectation of which animated the ancients,
whose great actions are celebrated in the preceding
part of the chapter.  These blessings are the resurrection of the body, the everlasting possession of the
heavenly country, and the full enjoyment of God as
their exceeding great reward. The apostle's doctrine
that believers are all to be rewarded together, and at
the same time, is agreeable to Christ's declaration,
who told his disciples that they were not to come to
the place he was going away to prepare for them, till
he returned from heaven to carry them to it. * *
This determination, not to reward the ancients with
-. 99;: 
100     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
out us, is highly proper; because the power and
veracity of God will be more illustriously displayed
in the view of angels and men, by raising the whole
of Abraham's seed from the dead at once, and by introducing them into the heavenly country in a body,
after a public acquittal at the day of judgment, than
if each were made perfect separately at their death.*
Now if such be the order of God in reference to his
people, how say some among us that Abel, and Noah,
and Job, and the prophets ascended at once to their
final heaven the moment they dropped their earthly
tabernacles? If the saints who are alive at Christ's
second coming cannot ascend till the saints who "sleep
in the dust of the earth" are raised, to go with them;
and if none of God's people of former ages are made
perfect without or before the saints of the last days,
is not-their present state an imperfect one, so far as
their fulness of joy is concerned? And does not that
imperfection of state, imply a corresponding imperfection of place, or an intermediate Paradise, other than
our final home after the resurrection?
III. The same general idea is more directly conveyed in a numerous class of Scriptures, which teach
that men are not to be fully rewarded or punished till
Christ's second coming and the resurrection.
Matt. xiii. 39-43 -"The harvest is the end of the
world. * * * * The Son of man shall send forth his
angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all
things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and
shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the right
* See Commentary and Notes. 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
eous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father."
2 Thess. i. 7-10: —"And to you, who are troubled,
rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of
his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his
saints, and to be admired in all them that believe
(because our testimony among you was believed) in
that day."
2 Pet. iii. 7:-"But the heavens and the earth,
which are now, by the same word are kept in store,
reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men." These passages relate to
the wicked, and clearly teach that they are not to be
"cast into a furnace of fire;" to "be punished with
everlasting destruction," and to experience their
complete "perdition," till the second coming of Christ
and the resurrection. Take also another still more
extended -class that speak only of the righteous:  Luke xiv. 13, 14: -"But.when thou makest a
feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind;
and thou shalt be blessed: for they cannot recompense
thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection
of the just."
1 Pet. i. 5, 7, 13:-" Who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. That the trial of your faith, being
much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found  unto
101 
102     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of
Jesus Christ. Wherefore gird up the loins of your
mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesttus
Christ."
1 Pet. iv. 13:-"But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory
shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding
joy."
1 Pet. v. 4:-" And when the chief Shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth
not away."
2 Tim. iv. 8:-" Henceforth there is laid up for me
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to
me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
1 John iii. 2:-" Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet  appear what we shall be:
but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is."
John xiv. 2, 3:-" In my Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also."
In this last passage the reception of the righteous
to the heavenly mansions prepared for them As represented as to occur when Christ comes again, and not
at the hour of death.  And so in the other passages
cited-they all clearly teach that the righteous are
not to "shine forth as the' sun" in the kingdom of 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
God; to be "recompensed;" to "be glad with exceed ing joy;" to receive their "crowns of glory, etc.,"
till Christ descends again from heaven, raises the
dead, and distributes to all men their eternal rewards.
How, then, can it be true that the heaven to which
the spirits of the righteous ascend, and where they
now are, is the very heaven to which they shall return after the general resurrection and final judgment?
IV. Still more strikingly, if possible, is the doctrine of an intermediate place of souls implied in
every description of the final judgment. Matt. xxv.
31, and onward is one of the most unequivocal and
imposing of these descriptions. The Son of God
descends from heaven, with his holy angels; all nations are summoned before him.  He then proceeds
to separate the righteous from the wicked, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. To the righteous he says, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world;" and to the wicked, "Depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels."  "And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life
eternal."  Whatever that fulness of joy or misery
may be to which men are thus finally adjudged, unless
the Scriptures are utterly misleading, it is plain that
the righteous do not "inherit the kingdom" of their
complete and eternal glory till after the resurrection
and final judgment. Neither do the wicked depart to
their final and everlasting doom before that time.
The same doctrine is taught in the parable of the
talents, Matt. xxiv. 14-30:-It is not till "the Lord
of those servants cometh," that he saith to the "good
103 
104     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
and faithful," "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;"
or of the wicked, "Cast ye the unprofitable servant
into outer darkness." So in the parable of the wise
and foolish virgin, in the same chapter-it is not till
"the bridegroom cometh," that the wise "go in unto
the marriage," and the door is shut against the
foolish.
Upon the hypothesis of no intermediate place of
souls, and their introduction to the final heaven or
hell, immediately after death, both have entered on
their respective rewards, in their eternal abodes, before they are judged, and without their immortal
bodies. They are then each to be called subsequently,
from their respective abodes, judged and sent back
to the very places from whence they came!  Does not
such a theory destroy much of the consistency (we
speak with reverence) much of the reasonableness of
and sublimity of the grand and solemn procedure?
If men are to be publicly judged and rewarded or
punished, at the resurrection, why should they be rewarded or punished in the same manner, and the
same place, before the resurrection and final judgment? And what can be the force of the sentence,
"Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom;" "Depart, ye
cursed into everlasting fire;" if the former has been
inheriting the "kingdom," and the latter enduring
the "' fire" for long ages before?
We know it has been replied that there will be
other degrees of joy or sorrow after the resurrection
and final judgment, sufficient to warrant the language
of the preceding descriptions. But it is not so much
of new degrees of joy or sorrow that shall follow the
day of judgment, of which the Scriptures seem to 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
speak, as of new abodes both for the righteous and
the wicked. Then the righteous are to come to their
heavenly Zion, with songs, and everlasting joy upon
their heads; and then the wicked are to "go away into
everlasting punishment." Surely, then, they have
not entered upon either already; but the souls of each
are in Hades-the place of souls, happy or miserable
as their works have been, but awaiting the coming of
the Son of man; the resurrection of their bodies; the
final judgment; and the final heaven or hell that are
to follow.
The doctrine of an intermediate state is, therefore,
the only doctrine that can be reconciled with the
Scripture doctrine of a general judgment; and by
losing sight of it many have been perplexed with those
Scriptures which connect rewards and punishments
with the resurrection. And some have thus been led
even to countenance the doctrine of the sleep or extinction of the soul, during the death of the body, to
the support of which these Scriptures are perverted.
V. We have several descriptions of the resurrection
of the dead, both in the Old and New Testament, in
all of which it is implied that souls do not return after
the resurrection and general judgment, to the places
from which they come forth to be judged. We cite a
few specimens.
HIosea xiii. 14, is one of these descriptions. "I
will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will
redeem them from death: 0 death, I will be thy
plagues; 0 grave, I will be thy destruction: repenltance shall be hid from mine eyes." That this passage is a prophecy of the resurrection is certain from
the use made of it by St. Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 54, 55
!
105 
106      TIlE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
We  have first the announcement, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death;" and then the triumphant
double apostrophe to death and the grave, " 0
death, I will be thy plagues; 0 grave, I will be
thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine
eyes."
Fully to appreciate this sublime prophecy, we must
remember what man is; what death does to him;
and what the resurrection is to effect. As man, he
consists of a material and mortal body, and an immaterial and immortal spirit. Death separates the soul
from the body, consigning the latter to the dust, and
the former to htades-the abode of departed souls.
In the resurrection the body is raised from death to
life and immortality, and the soul leaves its intermediate abode, to re-enter its deathless body, and to
dwell in it forever.
Answering to all this a triumphant apostrophe is
addressed, in the above passage, as well to the place
of souls, as to the grave.  "0 death, [Hebrew maveth
-the principle of corruption, the grave,] I will be thy
plagues. 0 grave, [Hebrew sheol-the place of the
dead,] I will be thy destruction." "Sheol," says
Clarke, "shall be destroyed, for it must deliver up
its dead,"-the souls of men.   "1Maveth shall be
annihilated, for the body shall be raised incorruptible."
The import, then, of this prophetic description is
not that sheol or the present abode of souls shall continue after the resurrection, any more than maveth,
the present abode of dead bodies shall continue.
Both are alike to pass away, to be succeeded by the 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
everlasting habitations to which men will be assigned
after the general resurrection.
In the xvth chapter of first Corinthians, St. Paul
cites this same passage, with slight modification.
His subject is the resurrection of the dead.  He has
just constructed one of the most sublime arguments
ever put forth upon any subject, and thus crowns the
glorious structure:  "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on immortality. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory. 0 death, where is thy
sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory? The sting
of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Here the believer's victory is consummated in the
resurrection, "through our Lord Jesus Christ:" and
in that glorious consummation "the saying that is
written" by the prophet "shall be brought to pass."
But observe that here also the present abode of
souls and the grave are each separately addressed,
and both are to be alike abolished in the resurrection.
"0 death, [Gr. thanate,] where is thy sting?"  Thy
power to harm  is gone-thy prey  set free!  "0
grave, [Gr. hades-the place of souls,] where is thy
victory?"  "Hlades," says CLARKE, "which we translate grave, is generally understood to be the place of
separate spirits." "0O hades," says MR. WESLEY,
"the receptacle of separate souls where is thy victory? Hades literally relates to the invisible world,
107 
108      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
and relates to souls; death to the body." And so
DR. BARNES, "0 hades-the place of the dead."
And mark, that hades no more retains the souls of
men after the resurrection, than the grave does their
bodies. They come each from their respective temporary abodes, and re-unite. Hades and the grave
are thus superseded and abolished, and immortal
man then enters upon his eternal dwelling-place.
Finally, in the twentieth chapter of Revelation,
we have still another prophecy and a more sublime
and minute description of the general resurrection:
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God; and the books were opened: and another book
was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works. And the sea
gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they
were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death."
Here, in the thirteenth verse, as in the prophecy of
Ilosea, and the quotation of St. Paul, there is a twofold yielding up in the resurrection; the one relating
to souls and the other to bodies. Both death, (the
grave,) and Hades, the place of souls, delivered up
their dead, the one the souls, and the other the bodies.
" Hades, the place of separate spirits," says CLARKE.
" The sea and death have the bodies of all human
beings; Hlades their spirits." " Death gave up all 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
the bodies of men," says MR. WESLEY, "and lades,
the receptacle of separate souls, gave them up to be
re-united to their bodies."
Then  death or the grave and Hades  are both
abolished. " And death and hell were cast into the
lake of fire;" that is, says Mr. Wesley, "were abolished for ever. For neither the righteous nor the
wicked were to die any more: their souls and bodies
were no more to be separated. Consequently, neither
death nor hades could any more have a being."
Thus each of these inspired descriptions of the resurrection, strongly implies, to say the least, that in that
future consummation the souls of men will come from
a place to which they will not return, but which will
be superseded by other and different abodes, which
shall be unalterable  and eternal.   Their  present
abodes must therefore be only intermediate and temporary, and not the final heaven or hell that shall be,
beyond the day of judgment.
VI. The same doctrine seems also to be taught by
our Saviour in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke xvi. 19. To understand this parable fully
it should be borne in mind that the Jews, to whom our
Lord was speaking, or at least, the chief sect of that
people, held to the doctrine of an intermediate state.
This is evident from Josephus' discourse to the Greeks
upon  that very subject.   Josephus was a learned
Jewish historian, who wrote about A. D. 80. In his
discourse to the Greeks concerning HIades, he says:
"Now, as to Hades, wherein the souls of the righteous
and unrighteous are detained, it is necessary to speak of
it. * * This region is allotted as a place of custody for
souls, in which angels are appointed as guardians to
109 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
them, who distribute to them temporary punishments,
agreeable to every one's behavior and manners.
"In this region there is a certain place set apart,
as a lake of unquenchable fire, whereinto we suppose
no one hath hitherto been cast, but it is prepared for
a day afore determined by God, in which one righteous sentence shall deservedly be passed upon all men;
when the unjust, and those that have been disobedient
to God, and have given honor to such idols as have
been the vain operations of the hands of men, as to
God himself, shall be adjudged to this everlasting
punishment, as having been the cause of defilement;
while the just shall obtain an incorruptible and neverfading kingdom.  These are now, indeed, confined in
hades, but not in the same place wherein the unjust
are confined."
This passage clearly sets forth the Jewish idea of
the nature of hades, as a receptacle of souls, both
good and bad; and we cite it solely for this purpose,
and not to settle anything directly as to the existence or non-existence of an intermediate state.
Still further on he gives the current belief that in
the resurrection the souls in hades will be united with
their former bodies made immortal.
"This is the discourse concerning hades, wherein
the souls of all men are confined until a proper season
which God hath determined, when he will make a resurrection of all men from the dead. * * * * And
to every body shall its own soul be restored."
He then proceeds to give an account of the general
judgment, which he describes as following the resurrection, and the re-union of the souls of men with
their bodies; and to be followed by everlasting hap
110 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
piness to the righteous, and eternal misery to the
wicked. It is certain, therefore, from this discourse,
as well as from other testimony that in connection
with the doctrines of the immortality of the soul, the
resurrection of the body, and a day of judgment, the
Jews generally held to that of an intermediate state,
or abode of spirits, between death and the resurrec tion. This place they called sheol in Hebrew, and
hades in Greek; and described it as the common re ceptacle of both the righteous and the wicked, having
separate apartments for each, viz., Abraham's bosom
for the righteous, and Tartarus or Gehenna for the
wicked.
Now such being the current theology upon the subject among the Jews-the Pharisees at least-how
must they have understood the parable of the rich
man and Lazarus? Who can read it now, in the
light of tlhe known belief of those to whom it was.addressed, and not perceive that it is built upon their
acknowledged doctrine of an intermediate state; and
is a virtual endorsement of it?  Take for instance the
part of the parable from the 22d to the 26th verses
inclusive.
"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the
rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he
lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he
cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue;-for I am  tormented in this flame.  But Abraham said, Son, rememtbe that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good
ill 
112      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he
is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all
this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed:
so that they which would pass from hence to you
cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come
from thence."
After describing the abode of the righteous in
hades, Josephus says, "This place we call the bosom
of Abraham." So in the parable, and according to
the Jewish belief as described by Josephus, as soon as
Lazarus dies he is taken in charge by good angels, and
conveyed to Abraham's bosom.
"The Jews from whom  the phrase is borrowed,
spoke of all true believers as going to Abraham, as
being in his bosom. To be in Abraham's bosom was
equivalent with them to the being'in the garden of
Eden,' or'under the throne of glory,' the being
gathered unto the general receptacle of happy but
waiting  souls.   The  expression  already existing
among them, received here the sanction and seal of
Christ, and has come thus to be accepted by the
church, which has understood by it in like manner
the state of painless expectation, of blissful repose,
which should intervene between 4he death of the faithful in Christ Jesus, and their perfect consummation
and bliss at his coming in his glorious kingdom. It
is the'Paradise' of Luke xxiii. 43, the place of the
souls under the altar, Rev. vi. 9; it is, as some distinguish it, blessedness, but not glory."*
The rich man also dies, but in hell (hades) he lifts
up his eyes, not being in "Abraham's bosom," but
"in torment."  Abraham's bosom was just as much
* Trench's Notes on the Parables, pp. 376, 377. 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
in hell, (that is, in hades, or the place of departed
spirits,) as was the place of "torment." Mark, also,
that they are represented as within sig7ht and hearing
of each other, though there is an impassable gulf be tween them; and that the time for alleviating each
other's sufferings, and for exerting an influence on
earth is forever past.
"Abraham's bosom is not heaven, though it will
issue in heaven, neither is hades'hell,' though to
issue in it when death and hades shall be east into the
lake of fire, which is the proper hell. Rev. xx. 14.
It is a place of restraint where the souls of the
wicked are reserved to the judgment of the great
day, &c."*
So fully then do the leading features of this parable answer to the Jewish theology concerning an intermediate state, that when we consider to whom it
was addressed, we conclude, not only that it was
based upon that doctrine, but that our Lord intended
thereby to endorse the doctrine of an intermediate
state, upon which the parable is so obviously founded.
VII. The words of our Lord to the penitent thief,
To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise," Luke
xxiii. 43, seem also to imply an intermediate state.
That this penitent was a Jew and not a Pagan, is evident from his words to the other thief,' Dost not
thou fear GOD, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?" He must, therefore, have understood the word
Paradise, as used by our Lord in its ordinary Jewish
acceptation.   Primarily it denoted the garden of
Eden,t from which it came to be used for any place
* Trench's Notes on the Parables, p. 379.
t Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, book L Chap. L
8
113 
114      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
of "pleasure or delight;" and it is obviously here
used by the Saviour to denote the abode of happy
souls after death.  It was then "about the ninth
hour," or near three o'clock, P. M., and the promise,
"To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise," imp
ported that before that Jewish day, which would end
at six o'clock, was closed, the soul of the praying
penitent should be with the soul of the Redeemer, in
the abode of departed spirits.
That this promise was literally fulfilled is certain.
The only remaining question, is, Where is Paradise?
Does it here mean heaven, in the final sense of that
term, or simply the abode of happy souls in hades,
the place of the departed?
Whatever will help to determine where the soul of
Christ was while his body lay in the grave, will tend
in the same measure, to determine where the soul of
the penitent thief was, and whether there is or is not
an intermediate place of souls, distinct from heaven
and hell, where they remain till after the final judgment. Let us inquire, then, what light the Scriptures throw upon the first of these questions.
1. In the sixteenth Psalm we have the following
prophecy of the resurrection of Christ.  " I have set the LORD always before me: because
he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my
flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy
One to see corruption."
2. In the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter distinctly applies this passage to Christ
and his resurrection: 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
"For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw
the Lord always before my face; for he is on my
right hand, that I should not be moved: therefore
did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; more over also my flesh shall rest in hope: because thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer
thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made
known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me
full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren,
let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is
with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him,
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did
see corruption.   This  Jesus  hath  God raised up,
whereof we all are witnesses."
The soul of Christ, then, was in hades-the place
of departed spirits-while his body lay in the grave;
and as Paradise, according to the Jewish idea, was a
department of hades, the promise to the penitent thief
and the remark of the apostle (",his soul was not left
in hell"-hades,) are in perfect keeping with the idea
that the Paradise to which Christ went, and where he
met the soul of the penitent thief, was in hades, or
the separate place of souls, and not in the final abode
of the righteous after the resurrection.*
3. In the seventeenth Psalm the Hebrew word translated "hell" is sheol, which simply means the state or
place of the dead, without reference to their happiness
* See Pearson on the Creed, American edition, page 346 and onward.
115 
116      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
or misery; and in Acts ii. 27, 31, the Greek word
htades, also rendered "hell," has the same general
meaning. The soul of Christ was not left in sheol or
hades, whither it had gone, but came back to re-enter
the body it had left, which was not suffered to see
corruption.  It is clear then, that the "Paradise"
where the soul of the penitent thief met that of Christ,
was in hades, where the soul of Christ was, but from
which it came at his resurrection.   "Thou wilt not
leave my soul in hades."
4. Althoughthe expression "I am not yet ascended,"
John xx. 17, probably relates to the ascension of the
body of Christ to heaven, it seems hardly compatible
with the idea that his soul ascended thither while his
-body lay in the grave. It appears much more in
harmony with the ancient confession that his soul
"descended into hell," or hades, the place of departed
souls, and did not ascend to the heaven of glory
where the righteous shall dwell forever.
5. So also of the expression, " For David is not yet
ascended into the heavens," no doubt relates mainly
to his body; that is to say, it is a denial that the pro phecy just cited had been fulfilled in David by his resur rection. And yet the statement seems hardly consis tent with the popular idea that the soul of David had
at that time been in the heaven of heavens more than
a thousand years. But upon the hypothesis of an in termediate state all is clear.  He was in "Paradise"
or "Abraham's" bosom, as was the soul of Christ
while his body lay in the grave; but yet, he "is not
ascended into heaven," and will not so ascend till his
body is raised in glory.  Then, like their glorious
"forerunner," the saints of God shall ascend far above 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
all heavens, to the eternal mansions prepared for
them. All these considerations go to show that the
words of Christ to the penitent thief imply what is
called an "Intermediate State."
VIII. Despite the plausibility of the popular theory
that souls go either to heaven or hell as soon as the body
dies, the Holy Scriptures certainly seem to teach the
doctrine of an intermediate place of souls, called
sheol and hades, distinct from heaven and hell, and
where souls remain from death to the resurrectionthat this intermediate place embraces Paradise and
Tartarus, the separate abodes of the spirits of the
righteous and the wicked-that hades is but a temporary abode of souls, from which all shall come
forth  in  the  resurrection,  when  hades  and  the
grave shall both be abolished;-and that following
the abolition of hades, and the grave, will come the
general judgment, when the wicked will be cast into
Tartarus or Gehenna, (hell itself,) and the righteous
exalted to the heaven of heavens, to be forever with
the Lord.
This view not only explains such Scriptures as "no
man hath ascended up to heaven," etc.; but it seems
to harmonize the order of events. at the end of time,
and to vindicate the reasonableness and moral grandeur of the Day of Judgment. It also greatly exalts
our ideas of the final rewards of the blessed, to conceive that none enter upon them till the last traces
of the effects of sin are wiped away by raising even
the bodies of the saints to glory and immortality.
But that even this theory has its difficulties, we are
free to admit; though they seem to us less formidable
than those which beset the prevailing popular theology
117 
118S    THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
To the common objection that this view dims the
belierer's hope, and dampens the ardor of his celestial
longings, by obscuring his immediate prospects after
death; and deferring the bestowment of his "crown
of life," till the resurrection, we answer; that it can
only be the case where the theory of an intermediate
state is misunderstood. The believer's conceptions of
his future rest are derived from the descriptions of
the Bible-the robes of white-the palms of victorythe harps of gold-the crowns of life, and songs of
everlasting joy. But suppose all this is but a description of Paradise, and not of the final and eternal
mansions? Suppose it should turn out that eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard but little as yet even in the
Scriptures, of that "far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory," which lies beyond the resurrection
morning?
In the viith chapter of Revelation we have a description of the great multitude who stand before the
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes,
and with palms in their hands.
In the xxth chapter, verses 12-15, we have a description of the resurrection and judgment.   The
former, therefore, if descriptive of the happiness of
the righteous in another life, must  be understood
to relate only to the intermediate state, and not to
the heaven that shall follow the Day of Judgment.
This last seems to be more especially described in
Chapter xxi.; for immediately after the description
of the resurrection and general judgment, Chapter xx.,
we have an account of "a new heaven and a new
earth," the first heaven, as well as the first earth
having passed away. Then follows a description of 
THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.
"the holy city, New Jerusalem," the everlasting home
of all whose names are written in the Lamb's Book
of Life.  Now, what are we to understand by the
idea that the first heaven is to pass away, to be succeeded by the New Jerusalem, if it be not that "Paradise" or "Abraham's bosom," is to be abolished after
the resurrection, to be followed by a more glorious
mansion, as the final abode of the saints? May not
what we see in Rev. vii., be only as the porter's lodge,
down by the gates of immortality, while the glorious,
heavenly mansion is as yet hidden or but dimly seen
amid the unrevealed glory beyond?
Not a shadow is thrown across the flowery plains of
Paradise, by the idea of another and more perfect
rest hereafter. Oh no! Let the Christian still gaze
in rapture upon the white-robed company who triumph
there. Let him listen to their immortal rejoicings.
Let him know that to all this his freed spirit shall be
exalted the moment it leaves the earthly tabernacle.
Let him hope and long for this rest, as he may, and
he shall not be disappointed. But let him also know,
that when Christ shall descend from heaven to raise
the dead, and judge all men-when their salvation
shall thus be perfected, and he shall say to the righteous, "inherit the kingdom;"  then shall he enter a
world of beauty and splendor to which Paradise, with
all its joys, has been but a faint and imperfect shadow;
and then shall he know "the far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory." And having entered upon
this his glorious dwelling-place, he shall go out no
more; but shall be forever with the Lord.
And so of the sinner. The "torments" of hades
are but the beginning of his sorrow. For when his
119 
120      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
body has been raised as Christ has said "unto the
resurrection of damnation," John v. 29, then and not
till then shall he be punished with "everlasting destruction;"-and depart into "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
From all these considerations, then, we believe the
doctrine of an' Intermediate State;" or separate
abode of souls between death and the resurrection, to
be a doctrine of the Bible; and to be taught and received as such.   It explains  all those Scriptures
which speak of the rewarding of the saints at the
resurrection, without implying that they have no
conscious existence till then; and is in other respects
amost "wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort."*
* For a more extended treatment of the subject the reader is referred
to Bishop iHobart's "State of the Departed," and to Pierson on the
Creed. See also Watson's Theological Institutes, Part Second, Ch. xxix.;
Wesley's works, Vol. ii. pp. 466, 7, and notes on Luke, xxiii. 43. 
IMMORTALITY NOT THROUGH FAITH.
CHAPTER IX.
IMMORTAL EXISTENCE NOT A RESULT OF FAITH IN
CHRIST.
UNLIKE the open Deism of the past, the modern
theory of annihilation rests largely upon the assump tion that the penalty of sin is extinction of being.
The idea that the wicked will be annihilated at the
day of judgment is especially dependent upon the
former assumption. The theory is that the penalty
of sin, in the first instance, and onward, is "death,"
in the sense of annihilation; and that, consequently,
all who fail of -salvation through faith in Christ, will
finally go out of existence.
Mr. Dobney, an able English writer, and the apostle
of this school of theologians, is thus clear and explicit
upon the first part of this theory.. Commenting upon
Gen. ii. 17, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou
-shalt surely die," he says:   "The very words would seem to shut us up to the
idea that uitter destruction, cessation of existence, return to that nothingness out of which the divine
power had called him, was the death threatened to
our first father in case of transgression."
Again:-" We find ourselves imperatively compelled to believe that the sentence pronounced in case
121 
122     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
of transgression, considered in itself, and as it must
have been understood by Adam, and as it was expounded by the Judge himself, and was illustrated in
the banishment from the life-sustaining tree, * * *
conveyed the sole idea of cessation of existence-a
return to that blank nothingness out of which he was
brought-and that unless a remedial system had
mercifully intervened, when Adam died there would
have been an utter and everlasting extinction of his
conscious being."
Still again:-" The death threatened to Adam was
the death of the entire man, the cessation of all conscious existence, etc."*
Mr. Ellis, an American advocate of annihilation,
reiterates the same view:-" The penalty threatened,
was to end in death; and God's interpretation of it
plainly declared, that it would result in death, a
gradual returning to the primitive elements of his
being, the dust; and the facts show that it did result
in death, in the entire extinction of his being."t
Mr. Hudson, another American advocate of the
future annihilation of the wicked, seems to adopt the
same views, though he has nowhere stated them with
equal clearness.
But there are two classes of theorists in this country,
who, while they unite in denying the immortality of
man, differ widely as to the grounds of this denial.
One class, like Messrs. Storrs, and Ellis, and Hastings regard the soul as a material essence-in fact as
part of the body-and as having no existence whatever 
when the animal organism is dissolved.
* Dobney on Future Punishment, pp. 128, 134, 135.
t Bible vs.Tradition, p. 62. 
IMMORTALITY NOT THROUGHII FAITH.
One of Mr. Ellis' chapters is entitled, "Proof from
the Bible of the corporeal nature and mortality of the
soul of man, etc." "The very highest nature," says
he, "that man has, irrespective of Christ and the resurrection, is flesh, an evanescent wind."* When the
body is raised again, say they, the soul also will live
again; and not before; and when at the judgment the
wicked are "burned up," their souls will go out of
being as they did at the first or natural death of the
body; and will live no more forever. Now, if the
first assumption were true, viz.: the materiality of the
spirit of man, all else might follow. The soul might
cease to live when the body died, and only live again
when the body was raised; and if the body was again
dissolved, by fire or any other means, the soul might
perish with it. But the main point being an erroneous assumption, all that is built upon it must be without foundation.
But there are other annihilationists who cannot
quite adopt the idea that the soul is material, and
are, therefore, compelled to admit its conscious existence separate from and independent of the body; but
who nevertheless hold that the wicked will be annihilated at the Day of Judgment.. Of this class is Mr.
C. F. Hudson.  "The writer," says he, "with many
others, regards the soul not as a mere result of the
physical organism, nor as dying with the body. By
reason of the Redemption, or in some other divine
economy, the entire sentence of death is divided in
the case of those who incur it, the soul finally perish ing in the so-called'second death.' "t
This theory is, if possible, more absurd than that
* Treatise, pp. 15, 20.       t Christ our Life, p. 3,
123 
124     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
of Mr. Storrs; for if, as Mr. Hudson admits, the soul
is to such an extent indestructible as to survive the
dissolution of the body, and live for ages independent
of it, that fact of itself furnishes a strong presumption
against its subsequent annihilation, by any catastrophe that may overtake it.
Besides, the theory of "dividing" the penalty is,
to say the least, a theological novelty, an invention to
give a show of consistency to a discordant theological
system. The original decree was "IN THiE DAY that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."  Orthodox
Christians believe the death threatened to have been
spiritual, a loss of God's favour and falling under the
curse of his broken law, and that it fell upon Adam
and Eve that day, as God had threatened. But those
who, like Mr. Hudson, make the death threatened to
consist of annihilation, are obliged either to deny that
the penalty ever visited the transgressors, or to defer
its execution till the body dies; and then, if they find
the soul outliving the body, must follow that up to
the last day, and thus complete their work of annihilation! Thus "the sentence is divided" by all the
years that lie between the natural death of the first
sinner. when his body perished, and the day of Judgment, when his "death" is completed by the annihilation of his soul!
Upon this theory the meaning of the passage "in
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,"
would be, "thou shalt surely die sooner or later, thy
body at the end of near a thousand years, (Gen. v. 4,)
and the soul after some six thousand years more, i. e.
at the day of Judgment."   Surely, this is not only 
IMMORTALITY NOT THROUGH FAITH.
"' dividing," but deferring, and as we think strangely
distorting "the sentence of death."
But to come to the particular subject of this chapter. It is admitted that the everlasting life promised
the righteous, and the " death" with which the finally
impenitent are threatened,  are conditional.   " He
that believeth in the Son of God shall not perish, but
have everlasting life."  Christ is, indeed, "our life,"
-the living bread that came down from heaven, of
which if we eat we shall live forever. And so, on the
other hand, "the wages of sin is death;" and he that
believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him.
But the question is, what do " life" and "death"
mean, when used to denote the results of faith in
Christ on the one hand, and of unbelief on the other?
The whole controversy turns upon the settlement of
this question.  If " everlasting life," means continued
existence merely, and " death" means annihilation,
the question is settled. Immortality is not a destiny
but a privilege, to be secured by faith. But if the
terms "life" and'" death" as thus employed, are used
metaphorically, to indicate salvation, or deliverance
from spiritual death on the one.hand, and "damnation," or the " second death" on the other, then the
hypothesis of a conditional immortality finds no support from the doctrine of conditional life and death. 
That the terms above referred to, are used metaphorically, to indicate eonditions of being, and not existence or non-existence, is obvious from the follow
ing considerations.
I. In metaphorical language we call one object or
quality or event by the name of another, on account
125 
126      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
of the resemblance between the two. Thus Christ is a
"rock"  a "vine,"  a "lamb,"  &c.   And  as the
elements of language are derived from things terrestrial and visible, all ideas in regard to the spiritual
and unseen world must needs be conveyed to us in
terms first employed in reference to things temporal and material.  Hence it is that heaven itself is
described as a "city" and "country," and even the
soul of man can find no more etherial word with
which to clothe itself, than that which represents the
intangible and invisible atmosphere.
And so in regard to the terms "life" and "death,"
when used to indicate rewards and punishments. As
l/fe is the most precious boon known to mortals here,
it is employed in the Scriptures to represent the inestimable blessings which God has in reserve for the
righteous; and as death is regarded as the most
dreaded of all earthly calamities to the body, it is employed to represent the great calamity to the soul in a
coming life-its banishment from God's presence for
ever.
II. If the term "life," when employed as above
stated, means simple existence, and " death" non-existence, then the Scriptures should never employ any
terms or phrases, when speaking of the results of faith
or unbelief in this life, other than such as convey this
meaning, and may be substituted by the term immortal Qn the one hand and annihilation on the other.
But such is not the fact. " He that believeth not,
shall be damned," said Christ.  Now who will affirm
that the damnation here spoken of is not the final reward of unbelief, or that it does not distinctly import a malediction resting upon a still living soul? 
IMMORTALITY NOT THROUGH FAITH.
Will it do to render the sentence, "He that believeth
and is baptized shall be immortal, and he that believeth
not, shall be annihilated?" Every one can see, by this
experiment, that the words "saved" and "damned"
are not used in the sense of made immortal and annihilated; and consequently that such do not constitute
the reward and penalty of unbelief, or of a life of
sin.
III. If the final "death" of the sinner were annihilation, then every description of that death should indicate not only freedom from all suffering for ever, but
the termination of all existence. It would be as misleading to employ terms and figures and parables conveying an idea of suffering beyond the day of judgment, as it would to speak of our suffering ages before
we had existence. But what are the facts? When
the righteous enter "life eternal" the wicked "go
away into everlasting punishment." Can that mean
annihilation?  And if so, how is it " everlasting?"
How is it, if the wicked go out of being, that "their
worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched?" How
is it that we hear the voice of weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth from souls that have been
stricken out of existence?
IV. If it had been the design of Christ and his
apostles to teach that the penalty of sin is annihilation,
while continued being was the reward of piety, a doctrine of so much importance would not have been
confined to the use of the terms life and death, (which
have never been understood to imply simple existence
and non-existence, except by the Deist and the unenlightened heathen) but would have been expressed in
other words, as the true sense of these terms now is
127 
128      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
The righteous are to "inherit the kingdom"-to
"sit down in the kingdom of God "-to walk with
Christ in white, etc., all as elements of salvation and
results of saving faith in Christ; but by no terms or
figures is the idea ever conveyed that their salvation
consists either wholly or in part in deliverance from
annihilation. They praise God that their robes have
been washed, and made white in the blood of the
Lamb; that is, that they have been fitted for a blissful
eternity; but never for release from utter extinction.
No such danger ever threatened them, and they
praise God and the Lamb for no such deliverance.
And aside from the terms "die" and "death,"
neither of which imply annihilation, there is not a
warning or admonition in all the Bible that enforces
faith in Christ by the threat of annihilation. The
appeal is always to the more terrible and consequently
more potent consideration of endless banishment from
God, and from the glory of his power.
V. Those who insist that the term "death" as applied
to the sinner in a future state, implies annihilation,
ought to be able to show that such is its meaning
when applied to man in this world; that is, that when
a wicked man, at least, dies in this world he ceases to
exist. But instead of this Mr. Hudson admits that
his soul lives on for ages, though in the language of
earth he is dead. If, then, the term does not imply
non-existence in its original application, by what
stretch of interpretation is it made to signify extinction of being in another life?
Even the materialist, who holds to the future resurrection and annihilation of the wicked, does not
regard natural death as an annihilation. Though 
IMMORTALITY NOT THROUGH FAITIH.
their theory might logically compel them to regard it
in this light, nevertheless, they keep up the personal
identity in some way, from death to the resurrection;
-a supposition utterly irreconcilable with the idea
that natural death is annihilation.   To such also we
may ask with equal propriety, why do you understand the terms "death" and "die" to imply cessation of being? Is it not a meaning foreign to their
original import even according to your own admissions?
From age to age and from pole to pole the term
"death" when applied to man here has been understood to mean a certain condition of being, and not
non-existence.   And  so  you still understand it.
Why, then, do you not understand it in the same
sense when applied to man in a future state; that is,
as imparting a circumstance or quality of existence,
rather than annihilation?
Such is beyond all question the sense in which the
term is employed in the Bible; so that when "life" is
promised to such as believe in Christ, it does not
mean immortal existence merely, but eternal HAPPINESS.  Hence, future HAPPINESS alone is conditioned
upon faith in Christ, and not our future being. Consequently the future non-existence of the wicked
cannot follow for lack of a vital connection with
Christ, by faith in him.  He is "our life" in that he
restores the soul to spiritual life by his Spirit, raises
our bodies from the dead, and finally crowns the
righteous with glory in heaven. But our immortal existence is not made dependent upon the reception or
rejection of salvation through his name. We shall
exist forever, whether in happiness through faith in
Christ and a holy life, or in misery through a life
9
129 
130      THE IMMORlTALITY OF THIE SOUL.
of sin, and the rejection of offered mercy through Him,
the only Saviour.
But there are yet other views of the doctrine of
annihilation which will require to be considered in a
distinct chapter. 
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED.
CHAPTER X.
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED AT THE DAY
OF JUDGMENT.
THOUGH  the particular subject of this chapter is
not necessarily connected with the question whether
or not the soul survives the death of the body, still as
the doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked is often
taught in connection with that of the sleep or death
of souls, and is directly opposed to the idea of an
unending existence after death, we deem it proper to
devote a few pages to its special consideration.
The prevailing belief among Christians, is, that
when Christ again appears he will raise all the deadthe just and the unjust-that they will all be summoned before his judgment-seat and judged; and that
the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, while the righteous will inherit eternal life.
But the new theory recently promulgated, asserts
that the wicked, having been raised from the dead
and judged, will then be stricken out of being, or
utterly annihilated.* So far as we are aware, this
* Materialists are not exactly agreed upon this particular point. Mr.
Ellis, in his "Bible V8. Tradition" contends that the wicked shall cease
to exist, but dodges the question whether or not they shall be raised
from the dead. See page 234, where he asks in capitals, "WILL TEE
WICKED DEAD BE RAISED TO LIFE AGAIN?" but leaves it unanswered.
131 
132      THE IMMORTALITY OF TIlE SOUL.
doctrine is confined almost exclusively to the class of
Second Adventists already alluded to; and as they
profess to found their belief upon this point also
upon the Scriptures, it may be well to notice some
of the more prominent passages upon which they depend.
I. Those Scriptures that speak of the wicked as to
be "destroyed," are claimed as teaching that they
shall be annihilated.  But destruction and annihilation are very different things. A thing is said to be
destroyed when it is seriously injured. Thus St.
Paul said, "-)estroy not him with thy meat, for whom
Christ died," Rom.  xiv. 15; but surely he did not
mean to warn the Romans against annihilating each
other. So Christ came to destroy the Devil, HIeb. ii.
14; but did he annihilate him? And do the wicked
who "destroy the earth," Rev. xi. 18, annihilate the
earth? Though the term is used in a great variety
of senses it never means to annihilate; consequently
the threatened destruction of the wicked is no proof
of their approaching annihilation.
II. It is said the wicked are to "veri.sh," and
must, therefore, go out of existence. But if we
attach this sense to the term verish, we can prove not
only the annihilation of the wicked, but of the right
So far as he has shown to the contrary, he believed that when a sinner
dies, that is the end of him forever. Mr. Dobney and Mr. Hudson, on
the contrary, are plainly committed to a general resurrection, and the
subsequent annihilation of the wicked; while Mr. Storrs teaches the
resurrection of all, and the subsequent annihilation of all wicked men
and devils. lie says, "the death which is the wages of sin is-an
actual extermination of being;" and also that the wicked "are not punished till after the judgment of the great day." Sermons, pp. 16, 17.
Of course, then, their annihilation does not take place till after they
ire raised from the dead. 
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED.   133
eons also.  "There is a just man that perisheth in his
righteousness;" Eccl. vii. 15.  "The righteous perish eth and no man layeth it to heart;" Isa. lvii. 1.  St:
Peter says, 2d Epistle, iii. 6, that "the world being
overflowed with water, perished." But was the globe
then  annihilated?   Of  the  "heavens"  and  the
"earth," it is said, "they shall perish;" lieb. i. 11;
and yet when this perishing is explained, it is said,
"and they shall be changed."  They perish, but are
not annihilated. So of the wicked-they shall perish,
that is, they shall be condemned and sent away into
everlasting punishment, but their existence, like that
of the old world which perished by water, shall continue on forever and ever.
IllI. Several passages that speak of the wicked as
to be "consumed," are urged in proof of their annihilation.  But this term, like destroy and perish, is
never used in the sense of annihilated. "I shall one
day be consumed by the hand of Saul," said David,
1 Sam. xxvii. 1; but surely he did not expect Saul to
annihilate him. So the Psalmist said, "Mine eye is
consumed," Psa. vi. 7; and'My bones are consumed,"
Psa. xxxi. 10; and yet neither his eye nor his bones
were annihilated.  Of man as a race it is said, "For
we are consumed by thine anger," Psa. xc. 7, though
the race yet lived; and God said of the children of
Israel, "I have consumed them in mine  anger;"
though they were then living by hundreds of thousands.
"Take heed," says the apostle, "that ye be not consumned one of another." Gal. v. 15. Does the word
"consumed," then, mean annihilated?
IV. But it is said, "The wicked are to be burned
up, which must mean, put out of existence."  By no 
134     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
means. Literal burning annihilates nothing. The
wood may be decomposed, and its elements scattered
in the form of flame, and vapor, and smoke, and
ashes, but nothing goes out of existence by the process of coinbustion. IJence, "burning up" never
implies annihilation.
Besides; The passages that most strongly assert
the burning up of the wicked, are found in the last
chapter of Malachi:
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as
an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do
wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh
shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it
*        *       *        *        *        *        *
"And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall
be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that
I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts."
And yet, this predicted burning up was all accomplished at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans,
when few, if any of the wicked were literally burned,
and not one of them literally became as ashes under
the feet of the Christians.
Of the latter it was said, "' But unto you that fear
my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with
healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow
up as calves of the stall." Accordingly they all
escaped unhurt. But the Jews were slaughtered in
great numbers, and their city, Jerusalem, was laid
waste. And this is described in the glowing language
of prophecy as "burning them up;" and making them
as "ashes under the soles of their feet."
That the above is the true meaning of the passages 
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED. 135
cited, is evident from the last two verses of the
chapter:-" Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of
the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the father
to the children, and the heart of the children to
their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse."
Now this Elijah, or Elias, who came, was John the
Baptist. Gabriel had said of him before his birth,
"And he shall go before him [Christ] in the spirit
and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers
to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the just; to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord." Our Saviour said, "For all the prophets
and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will
receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come." Matt.
xi. 13, 14.
"And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes
that Elias must first come? And he answered and
told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all
things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that
he mast suffer many things, and be set at nought.
But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and
they have done unto him whatsoeyer they listed, as it
is written of him." Mark ix. 11-13.
John was Elias metaphorically, because he had "the
spirit and power of Elias." And he was sent "before
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord," when he visited his chosen people with sore
judgments, and made Mount Zion a perpetual desolation. It is evident, therefore, that this "burning
up" of the wicked, upon which modern Annihilationists depend so much, not only falls infinitely short 
136     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
of the annihilation of anything, but has no reference
whatever to the day of judgment, or the final destruction of the wicked.
Several other terms employed in the Scriptures to
represent the punishment of the wicked, such as that
they shall be "slain," "devoured," "blotted out,"
"hewn down," "cut off," etc., are urged as teaching
the doctrine of annihilation; but such a use of these
terms is so evident a perversion of their meaning that
it would be a waste of time to consider them in detail.
They are all of the same general class and import,
when applied to the punishment of the sinner, and
can never, by/any fair construction, be pressed into
the service of annihilationism.
V. The notion that the wicked are first to be raised
from the dead and then struck out of existence, as the
punishment for their sins, is not only without warrant
from the Holy Scriptures, but is liable to many other
insuperable objections.
1. It is in direct conflict with Ecel. iii. 14; "I
know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall stand forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken
from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him."  That this passage relates to the doings
of Jehovah in the work of creation, is obvious from
the fact that it is true of him in no other respect.
"Whatsoever God doeth," in creating, "shall stand
forever;"-shall never go out of existence.  "Nothing
can be put to it"-no being can add to the creation
of God,-"nor  anything taken from it"-nothing
which God ushers into being can be uncreated, or put
out of being.   "And God doeth it that men should
fear before him"-that is, that they may know that 
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED.  137
they shall forever exist, and may fear the unending
consequences of a life of sin. But the wicked have
little to "fear" if the worst that awaits them after
death is an eternity of non-existence!  Such an
object of fear is precisely like the vacuity of being
which filled eternal ages before our existence began.
2. This theory makes no distinction between the
state of the sinner before and after the day of judgment. It generally assumes that their souls go out
of existence at death; are re-produced by the resurrection; and then sent back again into non-existence,
precisely as they were before they were raised. To
what, then, does their condemnation and punishment
amount, if they were suffering precisely the same
penalty before as after the resurrection? They are
simply raised up from the fathomless abyss of nonexistence,- to be plunged back again into the same
infinite depths, to remain there forever!
3. This theory consigns the righteous to the same
punishment from death to the resurrection, (which in
some cases must be many thousand years,) which is
inflicted upon the wicked in the last day. The souls
of the righteous are said to become extinct with the
death of the body. Not only dons all consciousness
cease, but their very being ends. And this is all that
the wicked are said to suffer after the day of judgment. They are simply sent back where the righteous were from death to the resurrection!
4. The doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked
is contrary to the Scripture doctrine of degrees of
punishment in a future state. Christ said, "Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long 
138      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation," Matt. xxiii. 14; implying that there are degrees of "damnation," or punishment, in reserve for
the wicked.
Again he said, "And that servant, which knew his
lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy
of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto
whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of
him they will ask the more." Luke xii. 47, 48. The
"stripes," or punishment, is to be proportioned to
the knowledge and guilt of the individual sinner.
To the same effect is the statement, Rev. xx. 12,
that  men  are to be judged "according  to their
works, " and Rev. xxii. 12, that they are to be rewarded upon the same principle; "And, behold, I
come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be." These
passages plainly involve the doctrine of degrees of
punishment, for sins committed in this life. The
hypocritical Pharisee, who, for a pretence makes
long prayers, and yet devours widows' houses, is to
receive a "greater damnation" than the common
sinner. Some are to be beaten with few stripes, and
some with many, according to their guilt.
But how can this be true if the wicked are to be
annihilated? Are there any degrees in annihilation?
Certainly not.  Consequently if that is the penalty
of sin, the punishment of all would be precisely alike,
in direct opposition to the word of God.
5. The apostle speaks, Heb. x. 28, 29, of a "much 
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED. 139
sorer punishment" than death.  "He  that despised
Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose
ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the
blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified,
an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit
of grace?"
But if death is the extinction of conscious being,
and this is to be the penalty visited upon the wicked
after they are raised and judged, there is no sorer
punishment  than death.   And  though those  who
trample under foot the Son of God are "worthy" of a
"much  sorer punishment" than those who rejected
the law of Moses, still no difference can be made.
They must all drink the same lethean draught of annihilation, and go out of being alike and forever.
6. The penalty of sin is never represented as annihilation, but always as positive and conscious suffering.
Take the following passages as specimens:
Matt. xxv. 30:-"And  cast ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth."
Luke xii. 28:-" There shall be.weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of
God, and you yourselves thrust out."
Luke xvi. 23:-" And in hell he lifted up his eyes,
being in torments."
Rom. ii. 8, 9:-" Indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth
evil; of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile."
Such passages are utterly irreconcilable with the 
140      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
doctrine that the wicked are to be annihilated.
Their punishment is to consist of "anguish" and
"torment,"-manifesting itself in "weeping  and
gnashing of teeth."
7. This theory is directly opposed to the plain teaching of the Scriptures, that the punishment of the
sinner shall be everlasting.*
Matt. xxv. 46:-"And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal." In this text the Greek word rendered
"everlasting" is aionion-a word which in its proper
grammatical sense means unending. It is the word
almost invariably used in the New Testament to
represent the unending joys of the righteous. Take
the following instances as examples:
Matt. xix. 16:-"And behold, one came and said
unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do
that I may have eternal life P"
Mark x. 30:-" But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and
sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with
persecutions; and in the world to come, eternal life."
Luke x. 25:-" And behold, a certain lawyer stood
up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life P"
John iii. 16: —" For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting
life."
Besides, it is the very word used for this purpose
in the passage first cited:-"But the righteous into
*For an excellent summary of the Scripture testimony upen this
point, see Lee's Theology, pp. 311-331, inclusive. 
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED. 141
zoen ten aionion-life eternal." The punishment of
the wicked must be coeval, therefore, with the eternal
life of the righteous.
But this cannot be true, if the wicked cease to
exist just when the joys of the righteous begin. Upon
this hypothesis their punishment is but for a moment,
during the process of annihilation, or at most from
the time they are raised from the dead till they again
go out of being.
The only reply that can be made to this objection
is, that as their non-existence is endless, the punishment thus becomes eternal. We answer, that punishment is "pain or suffering inflicted on a person for a
crime;"* and necessarily implies a subject of such punishment. Surely the sinner cannot be "punished,"
ages after he has ceased to exist. If, then, he is to
go away into everlasting "punishment," his existence
must be unending.
No punishment or damnation can possibly exist, in
reference to a being that has no existence. And if
the wicked are to go away into everlasting punishment, as the Scriptures affirm, they must exist forever; and the idea of their annihilation is erroneous.
8. The doctrine under consideration is in direct
conflict with every description of the day of judgment
and the punishment of the wicked. To them it is to
be said, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire," Matt. xxv. 41, and they shall "go away" into
this "everlasting punishment."   How  can a being
that is annihilated "depart"' from  Christ, or "go
away"  into punishment  at all?  The  unprofitable
* Webster. 
142  THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
servant, verse 30th, is to be "cast into outer dark.
ness," but not annihilated.   The wicked shall be
"cast into a furnace of fire," Matt. xiii. 50, but instead of its being the end of their existence, they
shall still live on; for "there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth."  The man who  had not on a
wedding garment, Matt. xxii. 13, was "taken away
and cast into outer darkness." But here also, was
"weeping and gnashing of teeth;" i. e., intense and
conscious suffering. "Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God;" and "he that
believeth not shall be damned." But in neither case
is it said that they shall be annihilated. The foolish
virgins are shut out of heaven, but they still live to
cry, "Lord, Lord, open to us;" Matt. xxv. 10, 11.
And those who seek improperly, or too late, and are
consequently not able to enter in at the strait gate,
are to "stand without and knock, and say, Lord, Lord,
open to us." But to all such Christ will say, " Depart from me, all ye that work iniquity." Luke xiii.
24-27. How very different all this from the sentence
of utter annihilation!
9. This doctrine really destroys all personal identity in the day of judgment, and all personal responsibility, on the part of the souls that shall then exist,
for the acts of the previous life. For if man has no
soul, distinct from his body, then memory, and knowledge, and moral accountability must be perpetuated
in the grave, and their seat must be in the mouldering ashes of the dead, or they can have no perpetuity
whatever. But as this cannot be, and is denied even
by Annihilationists themselves, it follows upon their
own theory, that the accountable moral agent becomes 
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED. 143
extinct at death.   So, if this theory be  true, all
memory, and knowledge, and consciousness, and accountability are then at an end.
But when the body is raised again, the power that
thinks, and reasons, and remembers, is re-produced;
or rather a soul is evolved; for it is in fact a new
creation. That which before did not exist is brought
into being. Now we should like to know what connection this conscious spirit can have with the spirit
or soul of the former body? Is the electricity generated by an electrical machine to-day, the same that
was generated by the same instrument a hundred
years ago?
So of the risen dead: will the souls evolved in the
resurrection, according to this theory, be the same as
those evolved by the mortal bodies before they died?
Will they know what was known by spirits of the
former bodies, and remember the events of the present
life?  And  if not, wherein consists  the identity?
What chain connects the resurrection spirit, so to
speak, with the mortal spirit, or spirit that knew, and
thought, and remembered in the first body? How
can the soul of the resurrection body remember what
took place before it came into existence? And how
can it be accountable for what was done by the former
spirit, that has long before ceased to exist?
Take away, then, the continued and conscious ex.
istence of the soul between death and the resurrection,
and we have no means of personal identity-no link
connecting the moral and accountable agents of the
resurrection morning, with those who lived and sinned
or served God here in the present life. The alleged
extinction of the soul at death, creates a parenthesis 
144      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
of being-a yawning chasm of non-existence, over which
the spirit shall never wing its backward flight to call
up the memories of the life it once lived in the body.
If the theory be true, the soul that is evolved in the
resurrection, is a new-born soul. It can no more
know or remember what took place in the body before
death, than we can remember what took place a
thousand ages before we existed. Neither can it be
responsible for anything back of its own conscious
doings, after it is brought into being by the resurrection of the body. Why, then, should it be annihilated?
or punished in any manner whatever? As well might
Adam have been annihilated an hour after he was
created, for the rebellion of Satan before the world
was made. Such are some of the absurdities of this
attempt to sustain one of the worst features of I)eism
by the word of God.
We have thus shown, in the first place, that the
philosophical distinction between matter and spirit is a
legitimate and proper one, founded in the very nature
of things, and necessarily resulting from a study of
the phenomena of mind and matter, and the application to both of the principles of classification, which lie
at the foundation of all science, and of all human
knowledge. Turning then to the Holy Scriptures, we
have shown by the most conclusive and abundant
proofs that they everywhere recognise the distinction
between matter and spirit, and the two-fold nature of
man, as clearly as they recognise the being of a
God. True, they nowhere formally assert, in so many
words, that man has a spirit distinct from the body in 
SUPPOSED ANNIHILATION OF THE WICKED.  145
which it dwells, and capable of a separate and inde pendent existence when the body is dissolved; but they
assume it as a truth not to be called in question, pre cisely as the being of a God is everywhere assumed
throughout the Bible.
After a brief chapter on the supposed origin of souls,
we have proved from the Scripture, that as life began
with the infusion of " the living Spirit" into the body
of Adam, so death is the reverse of this process-the
separation of the soul from the body-a putting off of
the fleshly tabernacle-the giving up of the ghost-the
departure of the soul-a flying away, to be absent from
the body and present with the Lord.
Next in order we have proved from the same " sure
word of prophecy," that souls thus separated from the
body by death, live on in conscious joy or sorrow, in
the place of departed spirits, from death to the resurrection; and that the idea of the cessation of conscious
being, or the " sleep" of souls from death to the resurrection, has no warrant in the word of God.
In the chapter on the "Intermediate State," it is
shown that instead of implying that souls have no
reward or punishment till the second coming of Christ
and the resurrection, those Scriptures which speak of
rewards and punishments as to be distributed at the
resurrection and final judgment, relate solely to the
perfection or fulness of both, which will be brought to 
all men at the revelation of Christ to judge the world.
Thus, all such Scriptures are shown to be in perfect
harmony with the idea of conscious being, and partial
rewards and punishments during the intermediate
period, or before the resurrection and final judgment.
In the ninth chapter we have proved that the pen   10 
TIHE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
alty of sin is not annihilation, but conscious suffering,
-that Christ did not die to redeem men from nonexistence, but from the " wrath to come," or the endless consequences of sin in another life; and that consequently our immortality or continued existence after
death is not dependent upon our faith in Christ. And
finally, we have shown that the declarations of the
Bible that the wicked are to " perish," "die," " be
consumed,"  " destroyed,"  " burned  up,"  " slain,"
"devoured," "blotted out," "hewn down," "cut off,"
&c., in no wise imply their non-existence; and that the
idea of the annihilation of the wicked at the day of
judgment is in conflict with the whole tenor of'the
Sacred Writings.
And here we might close the argument so far as
many of our readers are concerned.    By  the mouth
of these many inspired witnesses, every principle of
the Christian theory of the soul's separate and conscious immortality is fully established.
But there is another class of reasoners, who, while
they admit that the Bible plainly teaches the two-fold
nature of man, and the immortality of the soul, claim
that Reagon and Nature, or in other words, the phenomena of mental and physical development, of life, decay,
and death, and of the natural world, in general, all
point to oblivion as the end of manx, and are therefore
in confilict with the idea of another life after death
However  complete, therefore, the demonstration
from the Scriptures, it is due to the advocate of " Nat
tural Religion," to accompany him also to his favorite
field of research, and see if both reason and nature de
not respond to revelation, that the soul of man lives
on forever.
146 
PART SECOND.
RATIONAL EVIDENCES OF A FUTURE LIFE.
CHAPTER I.
CHARACTER AND VALUE OF THE RATIONAL ARGUMENT.
WE have thus far confined our inquiries to the
teachings of the Holy Scriptures. Let us now turn
our attention to what are called the rational evidences
of man's immortality.
I. By the rational evidences of a future life, we
mean such evidences as may be gathered outside of
the pages of Divine Revelation, by reflection upon the
facts and phenomena of the natural world; the relations of man to the material creation; the powers and
susceptibilities of the soul; and the various phenomena
of life and death.
"The evidences of a future state," says Dr. Dick,
"which the light of reason affords, though not so clear
and decisive as those which are derived from Divine
Revelation, are worthy of the serious consideration
of every one in whose mind the least doubt remains
on this important subject. The conviction they are
calculated to produce, when attentively weighed, is
sufficient to leave every one without excuse who
trifles with the concerns of his future destiny, and
overlooks his relations to the eternal world."
147 
148      TiE IMMORTALITY OF TIIE SOUL.
"Though the realities of a future world are not
presented directly to the eye of sense, yet the faculties with which man is endowed, when properly exercised on all the physical and moral scenes which
the universe displays, are sufficient to evince the
highest degree of probability, if not absolute certainty,
that his duration and his sphere of action are not
confined to the narrow limits of the present world,
but have a relation to a future and immortal existence." *
"I am not sure," says Dr. Erskine Mason, "in
these days of physiological research and philosophic
pride, that it is a waste of time or labor, or an inappropriate work for the advocate of truth to ransack
the analogies of things, to trace the correspondence
between the natural and the spiritual, if for no other
purpose than to show that a skepticism as to'the
life to come' has no warrant whatever in any of the
things which are seen and known as yet."t
II. The Author of the Bible is the author of
nature; hence all true science is in perfect harmony
with revealed religion. And the fact that in all the
researches and discoveries of modern times, nothing
has been found in the realm of nature to contradict
any portion of the sacred writings, while all other
ancient writings are in perpetual conflict with modern
science, is one of the strongest proofs that the Bible
is from God, the infinite Creator of all things. So
of each particular truth of revelation: if, upon its
being announced every fact and phenomena of nature
is in harmony with it, this circumstance of itself
* Philosophy of a Future State, Chapter I.
t Sermon on the Life to Come, Pastor's Legacy, p. 190. 
CHARACTER OF THE ARGUMENT.
affords a presumptive and collateral evidence of its
truth.
A mysterious murder is committed, and the supposed criminal is arrested. A theory of the murder
is set forth by the press, or by the states attorney.
If that theory is in conflict with any known facts in
regard to the supposed criminal or his victim, such
conflict goes far to discredit the theory; but if, on the
other hand, the theory is in harmony with and explains all the known facts of the case, there at once
arises a strong presumption of the truth of the
theory.
So of all revealed truth, and especially of the
doctrine of a future state. If it is found to agree
most wonderfully with all we know of ourselves or
of the natural world, such agreement goes far to corroborate the doctrine, and to strengthen in our minds
the conviction of its truth.
III. Two errors, we think, have been committed in
regard to the nature and value of the rational evidences of man's immortality. _Firt, we deem it a
mistake to suppose that such evidence is primary; or
in other words that it could be discovered or understood at all, without the light of the Bible first thrown
upon the problem of our being, and afterward reflected from all the works of God. Until that "star
of eternity" gilds the scene, all natural intimations
of immortality are latent.   They  are like hieroglyphics upon the walls of some dark cavern, existing
but undecyphered, till the darkness of ages is dispersed by the flambeau of the curious traveler. Then
only can he see and read them.
But suppose a gorgeous chandelier, suspended from
149 
150      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
the ceiling of the cavern, had been burning for ages;
and suppose, as in some of the mines of the old world,
one were born and grew up there, and had never
seen darkness. How natural for him to imagine, as
he stood with his back to the central luminary, that
he was not dependent upon it for a knowledge of the
characters before him.
So with the Deist. The world has never been
without revelation of some sort. The lamp from
heaven has been shining upon our dark world for
ages. We have had no opportunity to ascertain what
we could or could not have done, in the absence of its
beams.  And  yet the Deist says, "Man shall live
forever. We learn it from nature, independently of
all aid from the Bible." Lord Herbert, the apostle
of English Deism, who affirmed the sufficiency of
reason and natural religion, and rejected the Bible as
unnecessary and superfluous, inserted as one of the
five principles of his natural creed the doctrine of a
future state of rewards and punishments.
The celebrated Thomas Paine was orthodox so far
as the fact of another state of existence is concerned.
Hence he wrote, "I believe in one God, and no more,
and hope for happiness beyond this life."* This
class of Deists read the hieroglyphics aright, but
ignored the light without which they could never have
read the first character.
An aged and otherwise intelligent Deist once
affirmed in the hearing of the writer, that he was in
no degree indebted to the Bible for a knowledge of
God, or of his attributes; that he had demonstrated
* This passage taken from his "Age of Reason," is inscribed upon
his monument at New Rochelle, N. Y. 
CHARACTER OF THE ARGUMENT.
all originally for himself, without aid or suggestion
from revelation. When asked how old he was when
he made the discovery, he fixed the period at twelve
years; but when asked where he had lived for twelve
years without ever hearing of a God, he was confounded. Neither could he tell how it was that he, a
boy of twelve summers, could infer the being of one
God, infinite, just, and unchangeable, from his works,
while the sages of antiquity, with all their vast
mental resources and discipline, multiplied their
divinities by thousands, and invested them with
every hateful attribute and passion of the human
heart.
This, then, is the first error, we should rather say
abuse of the rational etvidences of another life-viz.
to magnify them unduly, and install them in place of
that only "sure word of prophecy," the sacred Scriptures. *
But it may be asked, if immortality may be inferred from reason and nature, why is not the belief
universal? Why were the sages of Greece and Rome
in doubt, even with the light of a traditional revelation to aid their perceptions?  "I hope," said Socrates, " I am now going to good men, though this I
would not take upon me positively to affirm."t
"Which of these is true," said Cicero, (referring to
the two theories of life or no life after death) God
only knows; and which is most probable a very great
"The evidences of human reason in favor of the immortality of the
soul have their use; but they are not adapted to the comprehension of
all. Neither can they, considered separate from Divine revelation, impart a sure hope and confidence."-Helffenstein's Theology, p. 371.
t Helffenstein's Theology, p. 15.
151 
152     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
question." "When I read I assent; but when 1
have laid down the book, all that assent vanishes."
All this led Seneca to say, that "Immortality, however desirable, was rather promised than proved by
those great men."
IV. A second error, in our opinion, and one into
which not a few writers upon the subject have fallen,
is to ignore or undervalue the testimony of reason
and nature to the great and glorious doctrine of Immortality.* Because the Deist has made too much of
them ought we to fly to the opposite extreme, and
make too little of them? Will it disparage revealed
religion for us to listen to the voice of nature, whose
echoes have been first awakened by the voice of God
from heaven? Shall we refuse to read or apply the
inscription upon the wall, lest we disparage the lamp
by which we read it?  The Bible is the source of all
true knowledge of God and of a future life. Without
it there would be no startling traditions, no "Natural
Theology."
But while we thus magnify the "lively oracles,"
we are not confined to them. The Deist may reject
Revelation, but the Christian need not, therefore,
reject Nature.  We are as welcome to all her "testimonies," as is the most ardent disciple of "Natural
Religion;" and we study them with a Divine interpretation; and amid a celestial radiance against which
he has closed his eyes for ever.
V. The Rational Evidences of Immortality, to
which attention is called in the following chapters, is
not then regarded as primary and independent, but
rather as evidences made available by Divine Revela
* Even some Christian writers have fallen into this error. 
CHARACTER OF THE ARGUMENT.
tion. It is consequently only collateral to our chief
source of knowledge, the Holy Scriptures; and instead of being a sufficient guide of itself, should only
be regarded as corroborative of that Book which brings
life and immortality to light, andalone is able to make
wise unto salvation. Thus the Bible shines on, peerless in the moral heavens, while the Christian believer
exults in its undimmed brightness, and rejoices amid
scenes of beauty and grandeur illumined by its effulgence. But as the moon is made conspicuous and
beautiful by the light of the sun, so all nature shines
in the light of the BIBLE, and thus helps to light up
the moral universe, by reflecting back upon the human
heart and understanding its celestial beams. Such
we conceive to be the nature of the argument drawn
from reason and nature, and its true relation to the
clearer light of Divine Revelation.
153 
154     TIHE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER II.
INDICATIONS OF ANOTHER LIFE IN THE STRUCTURE
AND PHENOMENA OF THE NATURAL WORLD.
Read Nature; Nature is the friend of truth;
Nature is Christian; preaches to mankind,
And bids dead matter aid us in our creed.
I. A SQUADRON of ships are about to proceed to
sea, or to engage in battle. Upon almost every ship
may be seen a man waving a small red and white flag
in various directions. It may be noticed by a landsman, but of its utility and design he is utterly ignorant. Much less can he understand the import or
meaning of these signal flags and their singular movements. But tell him that these men with flags belong
to the signal-corps of the fleet; and place in his hands
the manual which explains the import of every flag
and motion; and these otherwise unmeaning signals
become as intelligible as the plainest language; and
are invested with equal power to inspire courage, enkindle hope or fill with terror.
So in regard to many of the facts and phenomena
of material existence. In the absence of the Bible,
which brings life and immortality to light, they may
seem altogether unintelligible and unmeaning; when
in the light of that all-perfect manual of creation, 
VARIOUS NATURAL PHENOMENA.
every important natural phenomenon has its significance, and the whole material universe responds to
the glorious announcement that man shall live forever.
II. Suppose man placed upon our planet with the
constitution and phenomena of nature as they now
are. Suppose him subject to death as at present, but
with no intimation from any source that his brief and
sad life would ever be renewed or prolonged after
death. He steps upon our planet amid the glory of
a bright spring-day, with no instructer and no experience. He has never seen night or darkness, and
knows nothing of them. The sun is on the meridian,
and for ought that he knows to the contrary, will remain there forever. In a short time, however, he
notices that the shadows of objects are traveling
around t6 the eastward. But this scarcely awakens
a thought, much less excites alarm.
A few hours elapse and the sun is fast sinking towards the western horizon; the light and heat are
sensibly diminished; and a slight foreboding seizes the
mind of the stranger. Downward still sinks the orb of
day, till at length his western limb reaches the horizon and he begins to disappear.. The light fades from
hill and vale and sea and sky, till all nature is wrapped
in the pall of darkness.
But as the sun goes down, and darkness takes the
place of his beams, that very darkness becomes the
revealer of a scene of glory in the heavens above, of
which the stranger had before no conception, and
which with perpetual daylight had never greeted mor tal vision, or filled the human mind with wonder an(l
amazement. True, the beholder is surrounded with
155 
156      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
darkness and gloom, but it seems only ordained because needful, to extend his range of vision, and introduce him early to a knowledge of other and brighter,
though more distant worlds. Here, then, is the first
lesson of the first half day of his earthly being.
Darkness is needful to reveal the unnumbered
and far-off glories of the celestial concave, and write
it on the physical universe that the fading of an earthly glory is but the precursor of a celestial effulgence
that shall not grow dim with passing ages, but is enduring as the pillars of heaven.
Mysterious Night! when our first parent knew
Thee, from report divine, and heard thy name,
Did he not tremble for this lovely frame,
This glorious canopy of light and blue?
Yet,'neath a curtain of translucent dew,
Bathed in the rays of the great setting flame,
Hesperus with the host of heaven came;
And lo! creation widen'd in men's view.
Who could have thought such darkness lay conceal'd
Within thy beams, 0 Sun! or who could find,
Whilst fly, and leaf, and insect stood revealed,
That to such countless orbs thou mad'st us blind?
Why do we then shun death with anxious strife?
If light can thus deceive us, may not life?
The night rolls on, and man,  the stranger just
placed amid these scenes, is left to his own reflections
and forebodings. He has no tutor to explain to him
the nature of the change that has taken place since
he stood a few hours before amid the glories of noontide; and no experience to intimate to him that the
surrounding darkness shall ever again give place to
the light of day. He has never seen a sun-rising, or
heard of one. To him the going down of the sun
was the death of nature, and he has no hope or ground 
VARIOUS NATURAL PHENOMENA.
of hope that he will ever rise again. All is darkness,
sorrow and despair.
But lo! as he bemoans the sad phenomenon that
has draped the world in mourning, a dim light is seen
in the eastern sky. More and more brightly it shoots
up from the horizon; the gaze of the stranger is fixed;
his heart throbs with emotions of hope and fear; till
at length he beholds the hills and valleys disrobed of
their dark vestments; and clasps his hands in rapture as he sees an orb of fire emerge from the horizon,
and commence its journey up the eastern sky.  Moreover, he marks how fresh and beautiful the landscape
appears; how fragrant the fiowecs; how sweet the
songs sent up from every grove, as if to welcome the
coming day. 
Now here is the second lesson of his first natural
day upon the earth-a kind of death, burial and resurrection-a lesson that may quell his fears amid
all coming changes; that may apply to himself as well
as to other objects; and should at least assure him
that the disappearance of a bright object from view,
and the reign of darkness and uncertainty, affords no
proof or presumption, even, that the retiring object is
lost, or will not still pursue its path of glory to unnumbered ages. Observation and experience have
taught him that
- The star that sets
Beyond the western wave is not extinct.
It brightens in another hemisphere,
And gilds another evening with its rays.
We do not affirm that Adam and Eve so interpreted these natural phenomena. Our theory is that
they could not so understand them as "foregleams of
157 
158     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
immortality" without first having communicated to
them the knowledge of another life. But whether
understood or not, the phenomena remain the same;
and as if ordained to throw light upon the subject of
man's descent to the tomb, warn us not to infer extinction from retirement, obscurity and darkness; but
rather to look upward for the stars of immortality
when life's sun goes down; and to look, though the night
of death may come, for a bright and a glorious morning.
III. Suppose further that when man was first placed
upon the earth the moon was at her full-a mild and
lovely object passing nightly through the heavens.
As the sun goes down in the west, she arises in serene majesty in the east. But the next evening she
is later in her appearing, and when at length visible
is sensibly diminished in her magnitude. From night
to night she lingers more and more behind the hour
of her first appearing, and contracts more and more
in her magnitude till finally she is lost amid the effulgence of the sun, and disappears entirely from view.
For ought the beholder knows to the contrary she has
gone to her fiery sepulchre, and will shine upon man
and his abode no more forever.
But wait a fortnight and that now dishonored,
faded, buried celestial object will have re-asserted all
her former splendor, and may be seen rising in the
east, as at the first, the glorious queen of night.
Though she seemed to be dead and lost, she emerges
from her obscurity to shine again with undimmed effulgence in the open void of heaven. Such are the
lessons of the first month-a celestial orb fading and
retiring from view, but anon restored again to its original life and grandeur. 
VARIOUS NATURAL PHENOMENA.
IV. But our pupil arrived and took his place here
amid all the sweetness and beauty of Spring. Bright
flowers of every form and hue greeted his vision and
filled the air with their fragrance. The forests and
hills were clothed with their vestments of green, and
not an object of sorrow or decay greeted his vision
throughout all the realm of vegetable life. And so
far as he knows to the contrary this state of things is
as unchangeable as the throne of the Creator.
A few months pass and the flowers have faded; the
forests are stripped of their foliage; the streams are
bound in icy chains; the hills and valleys are covered
with snow; and death reigns over the whole realm of
nature. With no experience and no one to tell him
that this is but a pause in life, to be succeeded by
new vigor and beauty, what would be the natural
feelings of such a stranger?  How certainly would
he mourn the loss of those days of song, and bloom,
and brightness, now gone to return no more. He
has never seen a spring open on the land, or heard of
the change from winter to spring; and is therefore
left a prey to all the fears and forebodings with which
the death of every leaf and flower and blade of grass
would necessarily fill his mind and his imagination.
But the winter rolls on-the brighter suns and
wormer breezes of spring melt the snows from plain
and mountain; the buds swell and expand into foliage;
the tender grass shoots up from the pastures; and
again all nature is clad in robes of beauty, and her
seeming death and burial give place to the most joyful life and animation.  This is the lesson of a yearnature fading, dying, buried, and nature reviving,
rising, restored to her wonted animation and beauty.
159 
160     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
V. A few weeks of observation will reveal another
not altogether insignificant fact, viz., that in a certain
sense life is to a large extent evolved from death
throughout the whole realm of nature. Living animals
are sustained in life by food, composed of dead animals
and vegetables; and living vegetation in turn is fed
and nourished by decayed vegetable and animal substances.   Though death does not originate life, it
sustains it, and life seems to spring more vigorously
from the very triumphs of death.
Remote as this fact may seem from the subject
under discussion, it shows at least the intimate relation between death and life in their lower types, and
may therefore be cited as a natural intimation that
the death of man here is made tributary, in the wise
economy of the Creator, to a higher and more enduring life hereafter.
VI. A fiery meteor is seen throwing his long train
over half the heavens. It is in view when the stranger first looks up at the celestial concave. But in a
short time it begins to retire from view, and at length
entirely disappears. Man lives on, like Methuselah,
one hundred, two hundred, four hundred years, but
sees nothing more of the strange light in the sky. At
length, perhaps after centuries,
Lo! from the dread immensity of space,
Returning with accelerated force,
The flaming comet to the sun descends.
Though long given up for lost, and perhaps forgotten, he too stands forth again among the living, a
bright celestial emblem of immortality.
Such are a few of the intimations of a future state
drawn from the structure and phenomena of the 
VARIOUS NATURAL PHENOMENA.
natural world-witnesses naturally mute to us because we fail to understand their language, but yet
intelligible and important when consulted in the light
of the glorious revealed truth that the spirit of man
never dies. Then each star that glows in the heavens when the sun sinks below the western hills; each
opening day when the gloom of night is past; each
waxing moon emerging from her obscuration; each
opening spring  bursting every wintry chain  and
tomb, and filling all nature with beauty and fragrance;
each long-lost comet returning again to our heavens
after an absence of ages; and each material atom that
defies annihilation-all these illustrate and corroborate
the glorious truth that man shall live on immortal,
despite the shadows of death, and the hiding of his
mortal light for a time amid the dark recesses of the
grave. We know they are but the alphabet of what
we need to know of death and the world to come; but
they afford instruction clear and cogent to this one
point, that we be not deceived by appearances to regard any thing as lost or extinct that becomes robed
in darkness, or is hidden for a time from the eyes of
mortals. The very mechanism of nature seems to
have been arranged so as to teach and reiterate this
great lesson. And what pupil has she but man? To
whom shall the lesson apply if not to him; and to
what portion of his allotment on earth if not to the
solemn period when the light of his mortal life shall
fade, and his sun go down to rise no more on earth or
time?
Let, then, each glowing star, and rising sun, and
full-orbed moon, and opening spring, and fiery comet,
yea every material object that God has made echo
11
161 
162     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
and re-echo the glorious truth, that though life's brief
day will soon close, and the darkness of the tomb
cover us, there is a bright and glorious day beyond
earth's deepest shadows; and the life we now live is
but the vestibule of Immortality. 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
CHAPTER III.
ARGUMENT DRAWN FROM THE GENERAL BELIEF OF
MANKIND.
THE extent to which the doctrine of the immortality
of the soul has prevailed among men, in all ages of
the world, has generally been regarded as furnishing
a strong presumptive proof of the truth of that
doctrine.  "When  we discourse of the eternity of
souls," says Seneca, "the general consent of all men
either fearing or worshipping the hellish powers, is
of very great moment." "In every thing," says
Cicero, "the consent of all nations is to be accounted
the law of nature, and to resist it, is to resist the
voice of God."
Though few Christian writers would fully endorse
these views, especially those of the latter, the consent
of all nations to the doctrine certainly deserves to be
noticed among the rational evidences of a future
state. Let us then consider the chief points in the
argument.
I. That the idea is almost co-extensive with the
race of mankind,  will scarcely be  doubted.   No
matter what other opinions may enter into the religion of any people, these three will be found associated in almost every system, viz., the existence of a
163 
164     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Supreme Being, the immortality of the soul, and
future rewards  and punishments.   Whatever  may
have been the origin of these opinions, the fact is undeniable, that upon these points all nations are in
the main agreed.
"That the thinking principle in man is of an immortal nature," says Dr. Dick, "was believed by the
ancient Egyptians, the Persians, the Phenicians, the
Scythians, the Celts, the Druids, the Assyrians-by the
wisest and most celebrated characters among the Greeks
and Romans, and by almost every other ancient nation
and tribe whose records have reached our times. The
notions, indeed, which many of them entertained of
the scenes of futurity were very obscure and imperfect, but they all embraced the idea, that death is not
the destruction of the rational soul, but only its
introduction to a new and unknown state of existence."
"The ancient Scythians believed that death was
only a change of habitation; and the Magian sect,
which prevailed in Babylon, Media, Assyria, and
Persia, admitted the doctrine of eternal rewards and
punishments." *
II. "It is well known," says Dr. Dick, "that
Plato, Socrates, and other Greek philosophers, held
the doctrine of the soul's immortality." t
In his admirable dialogue, entitled "The Phaedon,"
Plato represents Socrates, a little before his death,
encompassed with a circle of philosophers, and dis
* Philosophy of a Future State, Book 1.
t This is no doubt true in a general sense, though it must be admitted, as elsewhere shown, that they hold this doctrine with a measure
of doubt and uncertainty. 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
coursing with them on the arguments which prove the
eternal destiny of man. "When the dead," says he,
"are arrived at the rendezvous of departed souls,
whither their angel conducts them, they are all
judged. Those who have passed their lives in a
manner neither entirely criminal, nor absolutely
innocent, are sent into a place where they suffer pains
proportioned to their faults, till, being purged and
cleansed of their guilt, and afterwards restored to
liberty, they receive the reward of the good actions
done in the body. Those who are judged to be incurable, on account of the greatness of their crimes,
the fatal destiny that passes judgment upon them,
hurls them into Tartarus, from whence they never
depart.
"Those who are found guilty of crimes, great indeed, but-worthy of pardon, who  have committed
violences, in the transports of rage against their
father or mother, or have killed some one in a like
emotion, and afterwards repented-suffer the same
punishment with the lost, but for a time only, till, by
prayers and supplications, they have obtained pardon
from those they have injured.  But those who have
passed through life with peculiar sanctity of manners,
are received on high, into a purer region, where they
live without their bodies to all eternity, in a series
of joys and delights which cannot be described."
III. From such considerations Socrates concludes:
"If the soul be immortal, it requires to be cultivated with attention, not only for what we call the'
time of life, but for that which is to follow, I mean
eternity; and the least neglect in this point may be
attended with endless consequences. If death were
165 
166      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
the final extinction of being, the wicked would be
great gainers by it, by being delivered at once from
their bodies, their souls, and their vices; but as the
soul is immortal, it has no other means of being freed
from its evils, nor any safety for it, but in becoming
very good and very wise; for it carries nothing with
it, but its good or bad deeds, its virtues and vices,
which are commonly the consequences of the education it has received, and the causes of eternal happiness or misery."
The following additional extract from the same
dialogue, is perhaps still more pertinent.
Socrates. "Answer me; what is that which, when
in the body makes it alive?"
Kebes. "The soul."
S. "Will it always be so?"
K-. "How can it be otherwise?"
S. "Will the soul, then, always bring life to whatever it occupies?"
K. "Certainly."
S. "Is there anything contrary to life, or nothing?"
K. "There is."
S. "What?"
K. "Death."
S. "Will the soul receive the contrary to what it
introduces?"
K. "By no means."
S. "But what do we call that which does not receive death?"
K. "Immortal."
S. "The soul will not receive death, you say?"
K. "No."
S. "Is the soul, then, immortal?" 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
K. "It is immortal."
S. "When, therefore, death comes upon man, what
is mortal in him perishes, as it is seen to do; but
what is immortal withdraws itself from death, safe and
uncorrupted?"
K. "This is clear."
S. "We may, then, be sure that, more than all
things, 0 Kebes! the soul is immortal and incorruptible, and that our souls will still be in existence
in Hades." *
" Having held such discourse with his friends,
he kept silence for some time, and then drank off
the whole of the poisonous draught, which had been
put into his hand, with amazing tranquility, and an
inexpressible serenity of aspect, as one who was
about to exchange a short and wretched life, for a
blessed and eternal existence."
When Cato found it in vain to attempt to animate
his soldiers against Coesar, he resolved to die by his
own hand. After supping cheerfully as usual, he retired to his bed-chamber and read over this dialogue
of Plato upon the soul's immortality two or three
times, and then committed the crime of self-destruction by which he has blackened his character for all
coming time. But the reading of the dialogue under
such circumstances shows if not a belief in, at least a
desire to be assured of an immortal existence after
death.
In Cicero De -enectute he puts the following language into the mouth of Cato:
"Oh happy day when I shall quit this impure and
corrupt multitude and join myself to that divine com            Turner's Sacred History, VoL L p. 102.
167 
168      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
pany and council of souls who have quitted the earth
before me. There I shall find not only those illustrious personages to whom I have spoken, but also my
Cato, who I can say was one of the best men ever
born and whom none ever excelled in virtue and piety.
I have placed his body on this funeral pile whereon
he ought to have laid mine. But his soul has not left
me, and without losing sight of me he has only gone before, into a country where he saw I should rejoin him.
This, my lot, I seem to bear courageously; not indeed
that I do bear it with resignation; but I shall comfort myself with the persuasion that the interval between his departure and mine will not be long."*
IV. Plato tells us of an ancient law concerning men
which was always and is still in force among the gods,
that those who lived just and holy lives should after
their death go into the isles of the blessed, where they
should enjoy all manner of happiness without the
least intermixture of misery; but that those who
lived here unjustly and ungodly should be sent into
that prison of just punishment which is called Hell."t
The apostrophe of the Roman Emperor, Adrian,
to his soul, is also equally in point:
"Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thiag,
Must we no longer live together?
And dost thou prune thy trembling wing,
To take thy flight, thou know'st not whither?
"Thy pleasing vein, thy humorous folly,
Lies all neglected, all forgot!
And pensive, wavering melancholy,
Thou hop'st and fear- st thou know'st not what>.
* Dr. Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel xiii. a&33
t Plat. Geor. p. 311. 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
The descriptions and allusions, contained in the
writings of the ancient poets, are a convincing proof
that the notion of the soul's immortality was a universal opinion in the times in which they wrote, and
among the nations to whom their writings were addressed.
Homner, the oldest and greatest of the Greek poets,
who lived and wrote about the time of Solomon-say
a thousand years before Christ-embodies the doctrine
of the soul's immortality both in the Iliad and the
Odyssey.   Indeed it is the first doctrine that arrests
attention at the very commencement of the Iliad.
Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring,
Of woes unnumbered, heavenly goddess sing;
That wrath which hurled to Pluto's gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore.*
Nothing could be plainer than that this extract
teaches the true nature of death-that it is i separation of the soul from the body-and that the soul is
immaterial and immortal.
His account of the descent of Ulysses into hell,
and his description of Minos in the shades below, distributing justice to the dead assembled in troops
around his tribunal, and pronouncing irrevocable judgment, which decides their everlasting fate, demonstrate
that they entertained the belief that virtues are rewarded and that crimes are punished in another state
of existence.
"The poems of Ovwd and Viryil contain a variety
of descriptions, in which the same opinions are in
* Pope's translation of the Iliad, Book 1, v. 1-6.
169 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
volved.  Their notions of future punishment are set
forth in the descriptions they give of Ixion, who was
fastened to a wheel, and whirled about continually
with a swift and rapid motion-of Tantalus, who for
the loathsome banquet he made for the gods, was set
in water up to the chin, with apples hanging to his
very lips, yet had no power either to stoop to quench
his raging thirst, or to reach to the other to satisfy
his craving appetite-of the Fifty -)aughters of -Danaus, who for the barbarous massacre of their husbands in one night, were condemned in hell to fill a
barrel full of holes with water, which ran out as fast
as it was filled-of Sisyphus, who, for his robberies,
was set to roll a great stone up a steep hill, which,
when it was just at the top, suddenly fell down again,
and so renewed his labor-and of Tityus, who was
adjudged to have a vulture to feed upon his liver and
entrails, which still grew and increased as they were
devoured."
"Their notions of future happiness are embodied
in the descriptions they have given of the Hesperian
gardens, and the Elysian fields, where the souls of
the virtuous rest secure from every danger, and enjoy
perpetual and uninterrupted bliss."
Pindar, the prince of lyric poets, wrote about four
hundred years before Christ. The following translation of his Second Ode, will illustrate the theology of
the Greeks touching a future state, at the time it was
written.
TRANSLATION OF PINDAR'S SECOND ODE.
The islands of the blest they say,
The islands of the blest
Are peaceful and happy by night and day
Far away in the glorious west.
170 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
They need not the moon in that land of delight,
They need not the pale, pale star;
The sun he is bright by day and night,
Where the souls of the blessed are.
They till not the ground, they plough not the wave,
They labor not-never! oh, never!
Not a tear do they shed, not a sigh do they heave,
They are happy forever and ever.
Soft is the breeze, like the evening one,
When the sun hath gone to his rest;
And the sky is pure, and the clouds there are none,
In the islands of the blest.
The deep, clear sea, in its mazy bed,
Doth garlands of gems unfold;
Not a tree but it blazes with crowns for the dead,
Even flowers of living gold.*
Such were the views held by the ancients in regard
to a future life, and the conscious happiness or misery
of souls in the world to come.
That the original idea of another life after death
was matter of direct revelation from God, communicated to Adam and Eve, and confirmed to others after
them, is no doubt true; but the idea being in the
world, however obscured or distorted in its traditional
progress from age to age, men were enabled to reason
upon its probable truth or otherwise, and compare the
supposition with the facts and phenomena of the mind
and of the natural world around them.  Hence the
general impression among the ancients that the soul
survives the dissolution of the body.  "Right reason," said Osterwald, more than a century ago, "informs us that the soul is of a substance entirely different from the body, and not liable to corruption;
* Cambridge University Magazine
171 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
hence the very Heathen believe in the immortality of
the soul."*
VI. And as the nations of antiquity recognized the
doctrine of a future state of existence, so there is
scarcely a nation or tribe of mankind, presently existing, however barbarous and untutored, in which the
same opinion does not prevail.
"The natives of the Society Isles believe that after
death there is not only a state of conscious existence,
but degrees of eminence and felicity, according as
men have been more or less pleasing to the Eatova,
or Deity, while upon earth."
"The chiefs of the -Friendly Islands believe in the
immortality of their souls, which at death, they say, is
immediately conveyed in a fast-sailing canoe, to a
distant country called Doobludha, which they describe
as resembling the Mahometan paradise,-that those
who are conveyed thither are no more subject to death,
but feast on all the favourite productions of their
native soil, with which this blissful abode is plentifully furnished."
"The New Zealanders believe, that the third day
after the interment of a man, the heart separates
itself from the corpse, and that this separation is announced by a general breeze of wind, which gives
warning of its approach, by an inferior divinity that
hovers over the grave, and who carries it to the clouds.
They believe that the soul of the man whose flesh is
devoured by the enemy, is doomed to a perpetual fire,
while the soul of the man whose body has been res
* John Frederick Osterwald was a celebrated divine of Switzerland,
who died in 1741. See Compendium of Christian Theology, translated
from the Latin by Rev. John McMains, 1788.
172 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
cued from those that killed him, and the souls of all
who die a natural death, ascend to the habitations of
the gods."
"The inhabitants of the Pelew ]slands, according
to the account of Captain Wilson, although they have
few religious rites and ceremonies, believe in one
Supreme Being, and in a future state of rewards and
punishments."
"In the religion of the Kalmuc Tartars, the doctrine of a future state holds a conspicuous place.
They believe that hell is situated in the middle region,
between heaven and earth, and their devils are represented with all sorts of frightful forms of a black and
hideous aspect, with the heads of goats, lions, and
unicorns. Their holy Lamas, who have obtained a
victory over all their passions, are supposed to pass
immediately into heaven, where they enjoy perfect
rest, and exercise in divine service."
"The Samoiedians of northern Tartary believe, that
there is one Supreme Being, that he is our all-merciful and common Parent, and that he will reward with
a happy state hereafter, those who live virtuously in
this world."
"The Birmans believe in the transmigration of
souls, after which they maintain, that the radically
bad will be sentenced to lasting punishment, while the
good will enjoy eternal happiness on a mountain
called Meru."
" The various tribes which inhabit the continent of
Africa, in so far as we are acquainted with their
religious opinions, appear to recognize the doctrine
of a future state. * * * The inhabitants of the interior, according to the account of Mr. Park, believe in
173 
174     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
one Supreme Ruler, and expect hereafter to enter
into a state of misery or felicity. The Gallas of
Abyssinia, though they reject the doctrine of future
punishment, admit the reality of a future state. The
Mandingoes, the Jaloffs, the Feloops, the Foulahs,
the Moors, and all other tribes who have embraced
the Mahometan faith, recognize the doctrine of the
immortality of the soul, and of future rewards in a
celestial paradise."
"The natives of -Dahomey entertain the same belief;
and hence, it is a common practice with the sovereign
of that country, to send an account to his forefathers
of any remarkable event, by delivering a message to
whoever may happen to be near him at the time, and
then ordering his head to be chopped off immediately,
that he may serve as a courier, to convey intelligence
to the world of spirits."*
"The Persians are said to leave one part of their
graves open, from a belief that the dead will be reanimated, and visited by angels, who will appoint
them to their appropriate abode in a future state.
From a similar belief, thousands of Hindoo widows
annually sacrifice themselves on the funeral piles of
their deceased husbands, in the hope of enjoying with
them the felicities of eternal life."t
"The Japanese believe that the souls of men and
beasts are alike immortal; that a just distribution of
rewards and punishments takes place after death;
that there are different degrees of happiness as well
* M'Leod's Voyage to Africa, 1820, p. 64.
t This was no doubt true in 1827, when Dr. Dick wrote, but the
suttee has since been abolished over all that country. But this in no
wise affects the argument. 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
as of punishment, and that the souls of the wicked
transmigrate, after death, into the bodies of animals,
and at last, in case of amendment, are translated
back again into the human form."*
"From  a conviction of the reality of a future
world, the Wahabbe Arabs regard it as impicuis to
mourn for the dead, who, they say, are enjoying
felicity with Mahomet in paradise; and the Javanese
make several feasts, on the decease of their friends
and relations, to commemorate their entrance ipto a
world of bliss."
" The ancient Scandinavians taught that the brave
were to revel forever in the halls of Valhalla, and
drink mead offered them by maidens, from the skulls
of their enemies. Some of the Pagan Arabs said,
that of the blood near the brain a bird was formed,
which once in a century visited the sepulchre; and
others believed in a resurrection.
"The Patagonians in mentioning the dead, call
them those who are with God, and out of the world.
The Tongo people suppose the souls of their dead
chiefs to be in a delightful island of shadows. The
Yucatanese represent the abode of the good as a pleasant land of plenty, under the shade of a mighty
tree.
The first natives of this continent seen by the
Spaniards, taught that the souls of good men went to
a pleasant valley, where all kinds of fruit were abundant; and that the dea,d walked abroad in the night,
and feasted with the living. Charlevoix says, that
the Indians paid a great regard to dreams, as embracing an intercourse with spirits. They imagined
Thunberg's Travels. 
175 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
a paradise in the West, a land where nature glowed
with an eternal sunset.
"The ancient Mexicans supposed three places for
the departed: the house of sun, for such as fell in
battle, or died captives, and women who perished in
childhood; the place of the god of water for the
drowned, for children, and for those who died of
dropsy, tumors, and similar diseases, or of accidental
wounds; and the place of darkness, in the centre of
the earth."
To these very ample testimonies we may add that
of our own native Indians, who uniformly believe in
an immortal existence after death, in the celestial
hunting grounds-the beautiful islands-where deer,
and buffalo without number graze on the hills and
through the valleys where the good are always successful in the chase, and the wicked ever pursue in
vain.  To this "better country" they believe the
Great Spirit will conduct them at the close of life.
Hence their bow and arrows are often deposited with
their bodies, that they may have them to use in the
spirit world.
"The  Chickasaws believed that the souls of red
men walked up and down near the place where they
died, or were laid; and said that they had often heard
cries and noises where prisoners had been burned.
The Indians of Cumana supposed echo to be the
voice of the departed.
Lo the poor Indian whose untutored mind,
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind,
Whose soul proud science never taught to stray,
Beyond the solar walk or milky wayYet simple nature to his hope has given,
Beyond the cloud-topped hill, an humble heaven;
4
176 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
Some safer world in depth of woods embraced,
Some happier island in the watery waste,
Where slaves once more their native land behold,
No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold,And thinks, admitted to yon equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company.
"Thus it appears, that not only the philosophers
of antiquity, and the most civilized nations presently
existing on the globe, have recognized the doctrine
of the immortality of man, but that even the most
savage and untutored tribes fortify their minds in the
prospect of death, with the hope of a happiness commensurate with their desires, in the regions beyond
the grave. Among the numerous and diversified
tribes that are scattered over the different regions
of the earth, that agree in scarcely any other sentiment or article of religious belief, we here find the
most perfect harmony in their recognition of a
Supreme Intelligence, and in their belief that the
soul survives the dissolution of its mortal frame.
And, as Cicero long since observed,'In everything
the consent of all nations is to be accounted the law
of nature, and to resist it, is to resist the voice of
God.' For we can scarcely suppose, in consistency
with the divine  perfections, that an  error, on a
subject of so vast importance to mankind, should
obtain the universal belief of all nations and ages,
and that God himself would suffer a world of rational
beings, throughout every generation, to be carried
away by a delusion, and to be tantalized by a hope
which has no foundation in nature, and which is contrary to the plan of his moral government."
VII. "To whatever cause this universal belief of a
future existence is to be traced-whether to a uni
12
177 
178     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
versal tradition derived from the first parents of the
human race; to an innate sentiment originally impressed on the soul of man; to a Divine revelation
disseminated and handed down from one generation
to another, or to the deductions of human reason-it
forms a strong presumption, and a powerful argument, in favor of the position we are now endeavoring to support. If it is to be traced back to the
original progenitors of mankind, it must be regarded
as one of those truths which were recognized by man
in a state of innocence, when his affections were pure,
and his understanding fortified against delusion and
error. If it be a sentiment which was originally impressed on the human soul by the hand of its Creator,
we do violence to the law of our nature, when we
disregard its intimations, or attempt to resist the force
of its evidence. If it ought to be considered as
originally derived from Revelation, then it is corroborative of the truth of the Sacred Records, in which
'life and immortality' are clearly exhibited. And,
if it be regarded as likewise one of the deductions
of natural reason, we are left without excuse, if we
attempt to obscure its evidence, or to overlook the
important consequences which it involves.
"As the consent of all niations has been generally
considered as a powerful argument for the existence
of a Deity, so the universal belief of mankind in the
doctrine 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 
BELIEF OF ALL NATIONS.
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 indicate the wisdom and'
rectitude of the moral Governor of the world.
"These two grand truths, which constitute the
foundation of all religion, and of everything 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." *
We have quoted thus largely from Dr. Dick in the
present chapter, not that the argument is original
with him, or because the main statement with which
this chapter commences, needed to be thus fortified in
order to be credited by the well-informed and candid
reader; but rather because of the amount of testimony condensed into a small compass, and as a
tribute to the memory of one who while on earth
treated with a master's hand the glorious theme of
immortal existence after death.
* Philosophy of a Future State, Part I. Chap. I.
179 
180      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER IV.
THE RELATION OF MAN TO THE LOWER ANIMALS.
Stupendous link in Nature's endless chain
Midway from nothing to the Deity.
THE relation of the different species of animals to
each other, and of man to the whole, affords a strong
presumption that though allied to them by his animal
nature, he has also a higher and spiritual nature, by
which he is also allied to superior beings in the great
chain of intellectual existence.
I. If we look abroad over the vast field of animal
creation, we shall find that no species stands alone,
or isolated from its fellows of other species; but that
all are related by resemblances more or less striking,
and linked together in one grand chain, from the
lowest forms of unorganized matter, up to the most
perfect of all organization, the human body.
The oyster, with only the senses of taste and feeling at most, seems to link the animal world to the
mineral. The polypi-half vegetable and half animal
-link together these two kingdoms. The bat unites
the birds and the quadrupeds; and the flying-fish the
birds and the fish.
"The bat, the flying-squirrel, the flying-opossum,
are instances of animals of the class mammalia, ap 
MAN'S RELATION TO THE LOWER ANIMALS.  181
proximating to that of birds in the possession of
wings, or organs resembling them, whilst the ornithorhynchus resembles them in the structure of its
mouth and its mode of producing its young by
eggs.
On the other hand, the ostrich, the cassowary, and
the dodo, which have wings so short as to be incapable of flying, and therefore always run or walk, are
instances of birds approaching, in some degree, to
the character of quadrupeds. So, too, the cetaceous
tribe affords an example of the transition from
mammalia to fishes; the flying-fish, of the transition
from birds to fishes; the dragons of that from birds
to reptiles." *
Thus through all the realm of nature, each inferior
tribe is linked to the next above; and the link by
which they are united shares the natures of both the
superior and the inferior races. Indeed, nature is
one grand chain, from the crudest forms of unorganized matter, through the whole vegetable and animal
kingdoms, up to man at the head of all.
"Of systems possible, if it's confessed
That wisdom infinite must form the best,
Where all must fall or not coherent be,
And all that rises, rise in due degree;
Then, in the scale of reasoning life,'tis plain,
There must be somewhere such a rank as man;
And all the questions (wrangle e'er so long)
Is only this, if God has placed him wrong."
"In the chain of animals," says Smellie, "man is
unquestionably the chief or capital link. As a highly
rational animal, improved with science and arts, he
* Smellie's Philosophy of Natural History, Boston Ed. p. 309. 
182      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
is, in some measure, related to beings of superior
order, wherever they exist."*
"Man," says President Hopkins, "has been called
the microcosm, or little world, because, while he has
a distinctive nature of his own, he is a partaker and
representative of every thing in the inferior creation.
In him are united the material and the spiritual, the
animal and the rational. He has instincts, propensities, desires, passions, by which he is allied to the
animals; he has also reason, conscience, free-will, by
which he is allied to higher intelligences and to
God."t
II. Now the manner in which the various kingdoms
of nature-the animal, vegetable, and mineral-and
also the different species in each kingdom are linked
together requires, if the analogy is to hold good
throughout creation, that man, who stands at the
head of this lower world, should connect with the next
link above in the chain of being,which would require a
nature distinctly spiritual, and quite above that of the
beast that perishes. 
Look nature through,'tis neat gradation all,
By what minute degrees her scale ascends!
Each middle nature joined at each extreme;
To that above it joined, to that beneath,
Parts into parts reciprocally shot,
Abhor divorce. What love of union reigns!
Here dormant matter waits a call to life;
Half-life, half-death, join there; here life and sense,
There sense from reason steals a glimmering ray;
Reason shines out in man.  But how preserved
The chain unbroken upward to the realms
Of incorporeal life? Those realms of bliss,
* Smellie's Philosophy of Natural History, p. 307.
t Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity, p. 167. 
MAN'S RELATION TO THE LOWER ANIMALS. 183
Where death hath no dominion?  Grant a make
Half-mortal, half-immortal; earthly part
And part ethereal: grant the soul of man
Eternal, or in man the series ends.
Wide yawns the gap; connection is no more;
Checked reason halts; her next step wants support;
Striving to climb, she tumbles from her scheme,
A scheme analogy pronounced so true;
Analogy! man's surest guide below.
The relation of man to this lower world is not only
precisely that assigned him in the Scriptures, but
just the relation to suggest his connection with superior beings, and a more exalted state of existence.
"Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,
and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou
madest him to have dominion over the works of thy
hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all
sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and
whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." Ps.
viii. 5-8.
Standing, there, where the Scriptures place him,
at the head of all that lives and moves; on the land
or in the air and sea, and tracing the wonderful
gradating from the crudest form of animal life, upward to himself, man may truthfully exclaim,
"The chain of being is complete in me,
In me is matter's last gradation lost,
And the next step is spirit-Deity!
I can command the lightning, and am dust!
A monarch and a save! a worm, a god!"
And being thus at the head of this lower world,
and only "a little lower than the angels," he occupies the place, to say the least, of the connecting
link between the terrestrial and the celestial. And 
184     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
when to this fact we add the obvious fact of his superior intellectuality, the conviction is strengthened that
in his higher nature he is a SPIRIT, and thus allied to
those invisible beings called angels, who throng the
shores of immortality. 
PERFECTION OF THE HUMAN BODY.
CHAPTER V.
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL INFERRED FROM THE
STRUCTURE OF THE BODY IN WHICH IT DWELLS.
I. "I AM fearfully and wonderfully made," said
the Psalmist three thousand years ago; and modern
physiology fully justifies the exclamation. Of all
living organisms the human body is the most perfect.
Taken as a whole it is the grand climax of all animal
existence,' the embodiment of the grand ideal of
organic perfection, toward which all other animals,
tribe by tribe, seem to have been advanced by the
Creator by regular and successive approaches. As it
was the last created, so it was superior to all others,
and worthy to be the palace of that celestial nature,
who, under God, should rule this lower world.
"It is a wonderful fact developed by geology, combined with comparative anatomy, that all the forms
of animal existence find the perfected completion of
their type in man. Their whole system through ages,
converges individually and collectively, like a vast
pyramid in him, as its apex. Termination in man is
the tendency in which they all advance. Hence man
is the being of which all the past animal system was
a prophecy."*
*Methodist Quarterly Review for April 1859.
185 
186      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
"The recognition of an ideal exemplar for the
vertebrated animals," says Professor Owen: "proves,
that the knowledge of such a being as man, must
have existed before man appeared. * * * * The
archetypal idea was manifested in the flesh under
divers modifications upon this planet long prior to the
existence of those animal specie that actually exemplify it."
"It is evident," says Professor Agassiz: "that
there is a manifest progress in the succession of
being on the surface of the earth * * especially in
their increasing resemblance to man.
Hugh Miller tells us in his "Testimony of the
Rocks" that "man is pre-eminently what a theologian
would term the antetypal existence-the being in
whom the types meet and are fulfilled,"-and Oken
calls him "the sum of all the animals."
Such is the testimony of these students of physical
nature given entirely out of view of its bearing upon
the question of the immortality of the soul. The fact,
therefore, upon which we insist, namely, that the human body is the most perfect of all animal organizations, will scarcely be disputed. For beauty of figure,
grace of motion, utility, strength and convenience all
combined it has no equal in all the realm of animal
life. The human hand alone with its bones and joints
and muscles and tendons and nerves and arteries and
veins-its exquisite form and adaptation to the wants
of man-has been the wonder and admiration of the
anatomist in every age. And so of other portions
of the human organism.
"We  cannot, with propriety, say that one complete animal is nobler than another, because of any 
PERFECTIONS OF THE HUMAN BODY.
prominence of particular organs as compared with its
whole body; nor is one creature to be called monstrous
or ugly, in comparison with another, for each is exactly fitted to its place in the grand scale of existence, and therefore, all are alike beautiful, as exhibiting the wonderful wisdom and beneficence of God.
But creation is graduated, and every creature has its
proper place. The totality of an animal's framework,
its position on the scale of being. If we measure
man according to this standard his superiority is at
once evident."*
II. "The  organization of man,"  says  Lavater,
"peculiarly distinguishes him from all other earthly
beings; and his physiognomy, that is to say, the superfices and outlines of his organization, show him to
be infinitely superior to all those visible beings by
which he is surrounded."t
Of all the numberless animal organisms with which
the beneficent Creator has peopled the globe, and with
all their wonderful variety and beauty and exquisite
workmanship, and adaptation to their various abodes
and habits of life, the body of man alone i8 adapted
to the occupancy and demands of an intelligent spirit.
"As the habits of certain animals have been correctly inferred from the examination of detached portions of their structure, so from almost any part of
man's body we may at once discover that it was constructed for the accommodation and delight of an intellectual being. In fact, the excellency of man (as
an animal) consists in the delicate adaptation of his
structure, for without this the reasoning principle would
* Power of the Soul over the Body by George Moore, M. D. p. 18.
t Essay on Physiology.
187 
188      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
be out of place. He is the most delicate creature
on the earth."*
Nor is this all. He is not only the most delicate
creature on the earth in his physical organization, but,
as already stated, the human body is the only animal
organization in existence, through which the soul of
man could exercise all its functions, and fully manifest and develope all its capabilities.
Suppose, for illustration, the soul of some tailor or
watch-maker should be transferred from the body in
which it dwells to that of a dog or swan; what could
he do in such a body? Could he handle a needle or
use a forcep in either of those bodies? The horse is
among the most beautiful and noble of animals. Look
at him as described by Job:   " Hast thou given the
horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?  Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?
the glory of his nostrils is terrible.  He  paweth in
the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on
to meet the armed men.  He mocketh at fear, and is
not afrighted; neither turneth he back from the
sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground
with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it
is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the
trumpets, Ha, ha! and he smelleth the battle afar off,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting."
But suppose the spirit of Milton had been lodged
in such a physical organization, perfect as it seems to
be, could he ever have produced Paradise Lost?
Could he have held a pen with his uncloven hoof, or
dictated his poem to an amanuensis through the throat
* Moore on the Soul and Body, p. 21. 
PERFECTION OF THE HUMAN BODY.
of such an animal? Most certainly not. And the
same would be true of every quadruped, and bird and
fish throughout natur'.  And why?  Simply because
there is not another animal body on earth adapted to
become the abode of a rational spirit. The bodies of
the lower animals are all adapted to their uses-to
cleave the air or shoot through the waters, and seize
their prey, or otherwise supply their physical wants;
but not a body among them all is adapted to the demands of an intellectual life. What animal but man
could play a flute, or a piano, even if endowed with
the musical talent of a Mozart?
"How nice a structure must be called into play
when a skillful pianist, by the aid of an additional
instrument fitted to his convenience, executes an intricate piece of music, not only in a wonderfully rapid succession of mechanical movements, but also in
a manner fully to express the very feelings of the
soul?
"But how much more forcibly is the same power
manifested in the human voice! By it the spirit
speaks, not only in infinite variety of articulated
sounds, but more marvellously still by the modulated
language of tones, so as to excite into ecstacy or agony every sympathy within us."
But we must not forget that as the soul requires a
peculiar body through which to manifest its wondrous
powers, so the exquisitely wrought body of man,
would be utterly useless to a less intelligent spiritual
being than the soul which occupies it. Like the lamp
in the distant light-house, it is the spirit in man after
all that illuminates the body, and gives to it its chief
importance and utility. Without it there would be
189 
190      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
no music or poetry or sculpture or painting or scientific or mechanical creations, however capable the
body might be of doing its part towards their production.
"What is it that so skillfully touches the musical
instrument? What is it that enjoys as well as actuates, receives as well as communicates, through this
inscrutable organization? It is, as we have said, the
soul or spirit, without which this body were more unmeaning than a statue, and only fit, as it would tend,
to decay. It is the soul which animates the features
and causes them to present a living picture of each
passion, so that the inmost agitations of the heart become visible in a moment, and the wish that would
seek concealment betrays its presence and its power,
in the vivid eye, while the blood kindles into crimson
with a thought that burns along the brow. It is this
which diffuses a sweet serenity and rest upon the visage, when our feelings are tranquilized, and our
thoughts abide with heaven, like the ocean in a calm,
reflecting the peaceful glories of the cloudless skies.
This indwelling spirit of power blends our features
into unison and harmony, and awakes "the music
breathing from the face," when in association with
those we love, and heart answering to heart, we live
in sympathy, while memory and hope repose alike in
smiles upon the bosom of enjoyment. It is a flame
from heaven purer than Promethean fire, that vivifies
and energizes the breathing form. It is an immaterial essence, a being, that quickens matter and imparts
life, sensation, motion, to the intricate framework of
our bodies; which wills when we act, attends when
we perceive, looks into the past when we reflect, and 
PERFECTION OF THE HUMAN BODY.
not content with the present, shoots with all its aims
and all its hopes into the futurity that is forever
dawning upon it."
So pertinent to the general subject is this extract,
that we could not well withhold it from the reader,
even though a portion of it has but a slight bearing
upon the particular point to which this chapter is devoted. To return, then, to the topic in hand:
"If the body of man had been constituted on any
inferior model, art and science could have had no outward existence, and reason must have been imprisoned
in brute form.  Supposing human knowledge then
possible, man could only have been manifest as a subtle beast.'It is mind that makes the body rich,'
but the soul needs a corresponding body, and God has
wedded them together, in perfect suitability to their
present business and abode."
The body of man alone is adapted to the demands
of an occupant possessed of intelligence, genius, science, art, and skill; and may therefore be regarded
as indicating in itself the exalted nature of the soul
of which it is the dwelling-place. We lack the speed
of the antelope, the strength of the bison, the hearing
of the elk, the sight of the panther, and the keen
scent of the fox-hound, but all these qualities together,
and every other in which the bodies of the lower animal
excel that of man, are more than compensated for by
the single apparatus by which these lines are written
-the human hand. God made the human body to
be the abode of an angelic nature. As it lay there
fresh from the all-forming hand, before he breathed
into it the immortal spirit, it was the fit abode for a
seraphic nature, such as God placed within it.
191 
192      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Now as we may logically infer the character of the
occupant of the house, from the character and appearance of the house itself, so we may logically infer the
character, dignity and destiny of the soul of man,
from the character of the earthly house in which the
Creator has assigned it its present, and we may add,
its everlasting abode. For we may not only contemplate the body as it now is, but also as it shall be beyond the resurrection, and when mortality is swallowed up of life.
The perfection of the human body, therefore, as
compared with other animal bodies, betokens the exalted charactei of its occupant, and suggests for the
soul of man a destiny unlike that of the beast that
perishes.
Look on that glorious face!
There the quick play of varied passions see!
Look on that brow of thought! must it not be
A spirit's dwelling-place?
Would God a palace rear
For a frail being of no nobler life,
Than that which closes with the dying strife,
A life that endeth here?
Ah, no! the tenant must,
More glorious than its glorious mansion be;
Whose dome and column soon alas! we see
All crumbling back to dust. 
DOMINION OVER THE BODY.
CHAPTER VI.'
DOMINION OF THE SOUL OVER THE BODY.
THE dominion of mind over matter in general, and
especially of the soul over the body, proves the latter
to be a mere instrument of the soul, and not the soul
itself.
I. The general supremacy of mind over matter will
scarcely be questioned.   It is shown in all the
mechanical arts, in sculpture and painting, and in all
the improvements effected in the animal and vegetable
kingdom. The original wild rose, from which man,
"working together with God," has developed a score
of exquisite varieties, was originally a simple four
leaved flower, neither beautiful nor fragrant. And
the same may be said in general of scores of our
floral beauties and favorites-they are to a great extent human productions. Our fruits, whether berries
or peaches, pears or apples, have become what they
are by cultivation, from very unpromising beginnings.
So of our grains and garden vegetables.
And is not the same true of our domestic animals
-horses, oxen, sheep, swine, and fowls of all kinds?
Were not their ancestors in their wild state feeble
and worthless pigmies, compared with their domesti    13
193 
1.94     THE IMMORTALITY OF TIlE SOUL.
cated posterity? By careful observation upon cause
and effect, and the use of such means as were adapted
to produce the desired end, these different animals
have been improved to double the size and value of
their progenitors, while in a wild state.
And what is all this but the triumph of spirit over
matter?-of the soul of man, over the obstacles in the
way of the complete development of portions of the
vegetable and animal kingdoms? Indeed, it is more
than this; it is carrying out a general plan, by
laws established by the Deity, and with his continued co-operation, to an extent that seems scarcely
to have been contemplated in the original creation.
II. The almost complete subserviency of material
creation, in one form or another, to the wants and
happiness of man, seems to justify the conclusion
that the material universe was created after all the
angelic hosts, and, in some way to minister to the
development and happiness of intellectual life. The
heavens declare the glory of God, not only to men
but to angels. And who that believes in those bright
celestial spirits can doubt the complete subjection of
all material things to their convenience and happiness? If men in the body can do what we see done,
in the creation of unnumbered forms of beauty and
utility from the various elements of nature, what
must be the power of an angel over material things?
Were the globe a solid mass of crystal, the beams
of the sun would pass through it as swiftly as through
vacant space. And could not a celestial do as much?
If Gabriel were to meet a vast planet in his ethereal
flights, would he be obliged to turn aside and go 
DOMINION OVER THE BODY.
around it, as a ship at sea would sail around an
island? Such is the superiority of spirit over matter, that angels and disembodied human souls can
doubtless fly through solid marble and granite as
easily and as swiftly as in the open void of heaven!
III. It is believed by many to be a matter of consciousness that they dwell in a body, from which they
are as distinct as light is from the crystal through
which it passes. We "feel" that we (the thinking
power) are not the body, and the body is not ourselves. Nor is it a valid objection to this view to
affirm that if it were a matter of consciousness, all
men would arrive at the same conclusion, and there
would be no dispute upon the subject. A metaphysician may be conscious of certain mental phenomena,
of which others may have no knowledge, for the
simple reason, that he has made the subject a study,
and is accustomed to noting with care and accuracy
his mental states and processes. So in regard to the
occupancy of the body-the vast majority of mankind
never think of the subject, and have therefore no distinct consciousness in regard to it. But let a person
sit down and, turning his thoughts within, calmly
contemplate the relation of that which thinks, and
reasons, and remembers within him, to the physical
frame with which it is connected; and if he does not
realize a consciousness that he is not the body, but
merely its occupant, we believe it will be either because such consciousness is at war with his creed, or
because he is unaccustomed to distinguishing between
his consciousness and his sensations. Who that reflects ever confounds the thinking principle within
him, with his feet or hips, or arms, or even with the
195 
196      TIHE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
brain? * Are we not conscious that these are but instruments through which we communicate with the
external world?
IV. But whatever may be thought of our c6nsciousness of the occupancy of the body, as a distinct question, there is another point, equally pertinent to our
argument, as we conceive, and, upon which there can
be no dispute. 
Every person is conscious of the control he exercises over his own body, as over a machine to be
operated by him at will. At his bidding the hand
rises or falls, or moves horizontally; or the feet convey the body to a different locality. With the exception of a few involuntary motions, like that of the
hcart, or of the lungs during sleep, the whole machine
is obedient to the will. The mind sits enthroned
like a mariner at the helm, or an engineer at his post,
and the body obeys all its mandates.
And even when through fracture, or dislocation, or
paralysis, an arm or a leg becomes immovable, how
distinct the consciousness that the difficulty is in the
machine which is out of order, and not in the operator, who retains all his powers and capabilities unimpaired. We are distinctly conscious that the mind
controls the body, and not the body the mind.
The material is consciously subject to the spiritual.
V. All these facts point unmistakably to the conclusion that the body is not the soul, or any part of
it, but the mere instrument through which the mind
* We are conscious of an effort in connection with the brain, in thinkIng and hard study; but it is equally true that "the mind is sensibly
in every limb, and acts wherever it pleases to act, provided the
mechanism be fit for use." Moore's Power of the Soul over the Body,
p. 70. 
DOMINION OVER THE BODY.
holds intercourse with the material world. No part
of the body indicates that it is, in itself, the moving
power. On the contrary the relation of some of the
organs, at least, to artificial aids to sensation, show
conclusively that like them they are mere instruments
of a higher power, which uses them. Take for illustration the human eye and ear.
"We are accustomed to say the eye sees, the ear
hears, the finger feels, and so forth; but such language is incorrect, and only admissible because we
are accustomed to the error, and our expressions are
necessarily accommodated to ignorance, or are not
equal to our knowledge. The eye itself no more sees
than the telescope which we hold before it to assist
our vision. The ear hears not any more than the
trumpet of tin, which the deaf man directs towards
the speaker to convey the sound of his voice, and so
with regard to all the organs of sense. They are but
instruments which become the media of intelligence
to the absolute mind, which uses them, whenever that
mind is inclined or obliged to employ them. Or,
perhaps, they might be more correctly represented as
the seats or proper places of impressions, because of
their exact adaptation to external influences."
"The slightest examination of the organs of sense
will convince an observer that they are constructed
merely as instruments. What is the eye but a most
perfect optical contrivance? * * No mechanism invented by man was ever so well contrived or so well
placed, or could move so precisely as required under
the action of its pullies.  No servant was ever so
obedient; for without a conscious effort of the will,
without a command, and as if instinct with the mind
197 
198      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
that employs it, this exquisite aparatus, which is
both a camera obscura and a telescope, instantaneously takes the direction of a desire, and accommodates itself to the range of distance and the degree
of light."
"And so of the ear: it is a complete acoustic instrument, with its exterior trumpet to collect sounds,
and its vibrating tympanum, and its chamber and
winding passages, and its dense fluids, so well calculated to propagate and modify vibrations, and its minute and sensitive muscles, to act as cords to brace
the drum, just as required, and to move the jointed
piston, which regulates the water in its channels, according to circumstances, and the whole built up within a stone-like structure, which prevents the sound
from being wasted."*
And so of the organs of speech and song and that
most wonderful of all contrivances, the human hand.
They are all adapted to perform the will of an indwelling and controlling rational spirit-such duties
as no other original organism is ever called upon or
is competent to perform.
V. The same general idea is thus forcibly elaborated by Bishop Butler:
"If we consider our bodies somewhat more distinctly, as made up of organs and instruments of perception and of motion, it will bring us to the same
conclusion. Thus, the common optical experiments
show, and even the observation how sight is assisted
by glasses, shows, that we see with our eyes, in the
same sense as we see with glasses.  Nor is there any
* Dr. Moore on the Power of the Soul over the Body, American Ed.
pp. 25-27. 
DOMINION OVER THE BODY.
reason to believe, that we see with them in any other
sense; any other, I mean, which would lead us to
think the eye itself a percipient. The like is to be
said of hearing: and our feeling distant solid matter
by means of somewhat in our hand, seems an instance
of the like kind, as to the subject we are considering.
All these are instances of foreign matter, or such as
is no part of our body, being instrumental in preparing objects for, and conveying them to the perceiving power, in a manner similar, or like to the manner
in which our organs of sense prepare and convey them.
Both are, in a like way, instruments of our receiving
such ideas from external objects, as the Author of
nature appointed those external objects to be the occasions of exciting in us. However, glasses are evidently instances of this; namely, of matter, which
is no part- of our body, preparing objects for, and conveying them towards the perceiving power, in like
manner as our bodily organs do. And if we see with
our eyes only in the same manner as we do with
glasses, the like may justly be concluded from analogy,
of all our other senses. It is not intended, by anything here said, to affirm, that the whole apparatus
of vision, or of perception by any other of our senses,
can be traced, through all its steps, quite up to the
living power of seeing, or perceiving; but that, so
far as it can be traced by experimental observations,
so far it appears, that our organs of sense prepare
and convey on objects, in order to their being perceived, in like manner as foreign matter does, without
affording any shadow of appearance, that they themselves perceive. And that we have no reason to
think our organs of sense percipients, is confirmed by
199 
200     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
instances of persons losing some of them, the living
beings themselves, their former occupiers, remaining
unimpaired. It is confirmed also by the experience
of dreams; by which we find we are at present possessed of a latent, and what would otherwise be an
unimagined unknown power of perceiving sensible objects, in as strong and lively a manner without our
external organs of sense, as with them."*
VI. It is no sufficient reply to the above view to
allege that the control of which we speak is simply
the dominion of the brain over the muscles and bones,
through the medium of the nervous system. For if
we attribute this conscious supremacy and control to
the brain alone, as a purely material substance, then
we must attribute to it all the other functions and
powers of the human soul, or rather declare the brain
to be the soul itself, and not the mere instrument
through which the mind operates upon other portions
of the body. This brings us squarely on to the platform of materialism, and justifies a glance at the notion that the brain in itself considered, is the original source of thought and consciousness.
" The brain has been analyzed, and more than eight
tenths of its substance has been found to be water.
Indeed this, mixed up with a little albumen, a still
less quantity of fat, osmazome, phosphorus, acids,
salts and sulphur, constitute its material elements.
In all cases  water  largely predominates.   Take
even the pineal gland-that interior and mysterious
organ of the brain, supposed by Descartes, and by
many philosophers after him, to be the peculiar seat
of the soul-even this has been analyzed.  Its prin
* Butler's Analogy, Part I. Chapter i. 
DOMINION OVER THE BODY.
cipal elements are found to be phosphate of lime, to gether with a small proportion of carbonate of lime
and phosphates of ammonia and magnesia."
"If the brain at large constitutes the soul, then
the soul is only a peculiar combination of oxygen and
hydrogen with albumen, acids, salts, sulphur, etc. Or,
if the pineal gland constitutes the soul, then the principal element of soul is phosphate of lime!
"If this wonderful theory is true, it may be safely
conceded that we gain somethiny by it. We have at
last found out what the soul is. And when the wise
man again inquires,'Who knoweth the spirit of
man?' these sage philosophers may respond,'We!
it is phosphate of lime.' But what! has a peculiar
combination of a few elemental substances; has phosphate of lime been the cause, the fons et origo, of all
the glorious manifestations of intellect that have been
made among men? Is it osmazome that has given origin to the creations of art? Is it oxygen that blazes
out in the glowing fires of eloquence? Was it hydrogen that soared in the philosophy of Newton, and
sought with all-comprehending grasp to encircle the
universe of God? Was it phosphate of lime that
wove the garlands of poetry, and thus touched the
tender chords of human sympathy, taste and sentiment?"*
And what has materialism to respond to this point
blank challenge? Is it prepared to attribute effects
so ethereal and rapturous, to the gross and ponderable cause to which it belongs if its assumption be
true? Will it thus elevate the stream above its source,
or gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles?
Dr. Clark's "Man all Imxmortal," p. 5.
201 
202      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
But we must pass to another topic. We have shown
ini the present chapter the dominion of mind over
matter, in general, as shown in the arts, and in the
development by man of portions of the vegetable and
animal creation. We have also suggested the probable order of creation, and the relation of the material
to the spiritual universe. Consulting our personal
consciousness upon the question of our spiritual occupancy of the body, we have shown by the control
which the spirit exercises over the physical organism,
and the relation of some of our organs to certain artificial helps to sensation, that the body as a whole is
the mere instrument of the mind, and no more the
mind itself, than the locomotive is the engineer that
runs it. And finally, that the idea that the brain is
the living agent that controls the wondrous mechanism,
and-is the source of all our mental phenomena, is
upon its face a palpable absurdity.
From all this we conclude that although the body
may be laid aside at death, as one lays down a telescope or a musical instrument, the mind will still live
on, unconscious of disability, and unaffected by the
fate of the material organism with which it was for a
time o)nnected, and over which it once held dominion. 
UNEQUAL DEVELOPMENT OF MIND AND BODY.  203
CHAPTER VII.
UNEQUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE MIND AND BODY.
THAT the body and soul are distinct essences, and
that the latter is not wholly dependent upon the
former for its powers and capabilities, may be seen
by a comparison of various physical and mental
phenomena, in the relations which the body and
spirit bear to each other in their present state of
union.
I. The body reaches its acme of vigor and power
at the age of thirty-five or forty.* From that period
it is first stationary for a few years, and then, gradually declines. Not so the mind. When the body
halts, as if to rest from its toilsome progress, the mind
presses onward as if spurning all impediments and
continues her progressive march for years after the
body has begun to decline.
These facts go to corroborate the doctrine of man's
two-fold nature, and of the capability of the soul to
exist even independently of the body.
* Bishop D. W. Clark fixes the zenith of bodily vigor at twenty-five
or thirty, and the period of the greatest intellectual vigor at from forty
to fifty. See Man all Immortal, p. 127. We think he fixes both these
points too early in life, though that by no means affects the general fact,
or the force of the argument. 
204      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
II. But to this it is replied that the decay of the
mental faculties in extreme age, when the bodily powers give way, justifies the inference that when the
body utterly fails, the mind will become extinct with
it. But this by no means follows; because in the
first place, the mind does not always decay with the
body, as numerous and striking instances attest.
Dryden translated the Iliad at the age of sixty-eight.
Sir Isaac Newton solved the famous problem of the
trajectories at the age of seventy-three. Hobbs translated the Odyssey at the age of eighty-seven and the
Iliad at the age of eighty-eight. Dr. Adam Clarke
died at the age of seventy-two and John Wesley at
the age of eighty-eight, both as vigorous intellectually
as at the age of forty.
Now if the body and mind were identical, they
would not only fail together in most instances, but
always; hence a single exception, like those above
cited, (and many others still more striking,) proves
the distinct spirituality of the mind, and its power to
exercise its functions independently of the condition
of the body in which it dwells. In the second place
it is a law of the universe that few changes that take
place in nature shall be abrupt and sudden. The refracting power of the atmosphere renders gradual the
approach and departure of the king of day. But for
this the gloom of midnight would suddenly give place
at the sun-rising to the painful glare of his untemapered beams; while at his going down the full blaze
of day would be suddenly succeeded by deep and
blinding darkness. Little by little the light fades
from us, as the sun sinks down towards the western
horizon, that the transition from day to night may
0 
UNEQUAL DEVELOPMENT OF MIND AND BODY.  205
be both expected and agreeable. So in regard to
man's brief day; the rule of nature is that the transition from this life to another shall be gradual, and
therefore the more welcome; and that failing powers
of body and mind shall herald our departure out of
time, and our entrance upon an eternal state of existence.*
Why then should the seeming mental decay of man
as the body fails, even if that were the universal law,
be regarded as furnishing even a presumption that
the change of death is to terminate his existence?
Does not nature herself furnish us with analogies
upon which we may found a far more cheering expectation?
Let us not, then, misinterpret
-  The gentle interlude,
Of second childhood's sweet simplicity,
A spring in autumn gentle and subdued,
Telling of life to be.
Flushing the weary heart
With loving pictures of life's early bowers,
Wreathing the spirit ere it doth depart,
With sweet immortal flowers.
* Upon the subject of "Growing Old," Henry Ward  Beecher has
somewhere uttered the following characteristic remarks: "Who cares,
then, whether the hair be white or black? Who cares whether the eye
be far-sighted or near-sighted? Who cares whether the hearing be poor
or good? Who cares what becomes of the senses? This is not my
whole life.  This body is not my  only heritage.  I go to that bright
land where the immortal part shines up and on forever and ever. And
this consideration takes away the sadness occasioned by the consciousness of the failure of the earthly faculties."
But what of the resurrection, and the "glorious body" in which  the
saints shall dwell after that event?  Will the soul be disembodied "forever and ever?" 
206      THE IMMORTALITY OF THiE SOUL.
III. It is claimed by those who deny the immortality of the soul, that intelligence is a simple result
of animal organization, as electricity is a result of the
combination of certain elements in the galvanic
battery; and that consequently when the body is dissolved or dies, all mind or intelligence will cease, as
galvanic action ceases when the battery is destroyed.
But if this were true, the development of intelligence
should in all cases be in exact proportion to the development and perfection of the bodily organism.
No one expects the same galvanic power from a small
Leyden jar that he does from a large one. Neither
does he expect the same-result from a single jar, that
he does from a combination of jars in a battery.
And, upon the principle above assumed, the same
should be true of human bodies in the development
of intelligence-such development should be in exact
proportion to the size and perfection of the physical
organization. The man of the most healthful and
stalwart body should invariably exhibit the most intelligence; while the effeminate, sickly, and diminutive should develope mental weakness and imbecility.
But such is not the case.
For, while it is admitted that the mind and body
sympathize with each other, and that a healthy body
is favorable to mental development, while the opposite
in some cases seriously affects the intellect; it nevertheless remains true that there is no such correspondence between the development of the mind and
the body, as the doctrine of materialism demands.
For,
1. Persons of the same age and of equal physical 
UNEQUAL DEVELOPMENT OF MIND AND BODY. 207
development often have a very unequal mental development. 
2. It often happens that persons of very small or
delicate or feeble bodies possess wonderful intellectual
powers.
Isaac Watts, Richard Watson, Henry Kirk White,
and Robert Pollok may be cited as examples. And
even "General Tom Thumb," as he is called, and
Calvin Edson, "the living skeleton," seemed to possess their mental powers in full vigor, though their
respective bodies were anomalies in human physiology.
The newspapers for October 1861, contained an
account of an Indian dwarf in Central America, 30
years old, but 17 inches high, born without arms
or legs, yet perfect in health, and speaking two
languages.
Persons are not unfirequently to be met with whose
souls seem to be so out of proportion to their bodies,
as to remind one of a frail ferry boat propelled by a
marine engine of a thousand horse power, causing
it to tremble from k];el to capstan at every revolution.
3. Thousands of persons of the most robust and
perfect physical organizations, rise but little above
the rank of idiots in point of intelligence. As animal
organisms they are well nigh faultless, while in matters of thought and knowledge they are strikingly
weak and deficient.
All these are facts so well known as to require no
further proof or illustration.   And  yet they  are
diametrically opposed to the fundamental principles
of materialism. They not only indicate a distinction 
208     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
between body and spirit, and that the latter is not
dependent upon the former for its being and powers;
but they also go to establish the idea that the mind
may exist separate from the body, and when all the
organs through which it held communion with the
material world have crumbled back to dust. 
HER ENERGY UNDER DISABILITIES.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SOUL, IN CASES WHERE PHYSICAL
ORGANS ARE WANTING.
THE energy often displayed by the soul of man in
extemporizing for herself new channels of communi cation with the external world, when any of her
natural organs are destroyed, is another of the
"signals" of her immortality.  Are the eye and ear
both wanting or useless, the smell and touch-the
hands, and feet, and nose are made, to a great extent,
to supply their place.
I. James Mitchell, who was deaf, blind, and dumb,
could tell if a stranger were present, and in what
direction, by the sense of smell alone. Dr. Moyse, a
blind man, could distinguish a black dress on his
friend by the same means. A blind man of Puiseaux,
in France, could determine the quantity of fluid in a
vessel, by the sound it produced by running from one
vessel to another. Dr. Rush speaks of two blind.
brothers who once resided in Philadelphia, who knew
when they approached a post in walking across a
street, by the peculiar sound which the ground under
their feet emitted in the neighborhood of the post;
and could tell the names of a number of tame pigeons,
with which they amused themselves in a little garden,
14
209
ENERGY OF 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
by only hearing them fly over their heads. Dr.
Saunderson, who lost his sight in very early youth,
and remained blind through life, acquired such acuteness of touch that he could distinguish, by merely
letting them pass through his fingers, spurious coins,
which were so well executed as to deceive even skillful judges who could see. John Metcalf, of England,
though perfectly blind, became an efficient surveyor.*
II. MR. FELA, of Antwerp, was a successful painter.
And yet he kad no hands or arms.  Insurmountable as
this obstacle might seem it was overcome by his incontrollable genius. Holding the pencil between his
toes instead of his fingers, he succeeded better than
many others with arms and hands but destitute of
his artistic inspiration. t
X Upham's Mental Philosophy, pp. 60-65.
tA writer in the New York Evening Post for August 21, 1862, thus
refers to this " armless painter of Antwerp.
"A little over a year ago I sauntered one day into the museum of
that quaint and clean oity, and from lingering here and there before
prim Dutch pictures, my attention was attracted by the singular movements of a person in the distance seated before his easel. The thermometer was somewhere in the'nineties,' and the seated artist was using
his footkerchief."
"Seat yourself on an ordinary chair; doff boots; so trim the inner
covering of your feet, commonly called socks, that your toes will be
free to do your bidding; take now your kerchief between the toe and
'index' finger of, say your right foot, and with the kerchief so held
'cool off' and dry your face, the back part of your head and your neck
fore and aft.  Transfer now the kerchief to the grasp of the left foot,
and let a like footipulation be gone through with until the left side be
made comfortable, and you will, in part, have done what, to my great
astonishment, that armless artist Fela accomplished with apparent
ease."
"Mr. Fela was copying a little figure from  a group by an old
master. His picture was far advanced; he worked on the eye, and the
delicacy of the touch seemed the most marvellous feat of his feet that I
saw accomplishd.d'
210 
HER ENERGY UNDER DISABILITIES.
III. MISS MARY COLLINS of New Jersey had
been blind from infancy. At the age of forty she
embraced Christ as her Saviour and hope, and
conceived a strong desire to read the word of God.
By the sale of ballads of her own composing in'
the streets of Philadelphia, she obtained money with
which to procure a "spelling book," in raised characters, and two weeks' tuition in some school for
the blind. She went on, studying and reading with
her fingers, till she had mastered the alphabet, and
could read easy words and sentences. A copy of
the Psalms in raised letters was then procured for
her, and when the writer saw her at a camp-meeting
in 1841, she had read most of the Psalms several
times over.
But what arrested attention more than anything
else was'that all her fingers were wrapped up,
each in a white  cloth, except one on each hand,
then in use to read with; and on opening the book
of Psalms, whole pages were found stained, line
after line, with blood! The tops of the raised letters, though of paper, were hard and sharp, so
that in a short time they wore through her finger
ends; and before she was aware of it, the blood
would be oozing from her fingers, as she was feeling
out the letters, words and sentences, line after line,
and drinking in divine knowledge therefrom, as
from fountains of living waters. "Blessed be the
Lord my strength," she exclaimed, "which teacheth
my  hands to war  and my fingers to fight."  Psi
cxliv. 1.
"Never," said she, "shall I forget my feelings
when, trying to read a little in a raised New Testa
211 
212     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
ment, I came to a long and hard word which I
had never found in the Psalms, and began to spell
it out, r-e-s-u-r-r-e-c-and it flashed upon my mind
that it was RESURRECTION!  It was the first time I
had ever read that startling word, and my soul was
thrilled as by an electric shock."
She spent most of her time in reading, and when
one set of fingers were worn through, and became
painful, she would wrap them up to heal a little and
undo the next best pair. Thus she kept four fingers
on each hand, almost constantly worn through and
bleeding, that they might serve as eyes to convey
to the soul a knowledge of the form of the letters,
and through the letters and words a knowledge of the
mind of God.*
Now if the body of man is a kind of galvanic
battery, and intelligence a mere result of certain
material combinations, why this struggle of the soul
to assert herself, when her natural channels of
intercourse with the outside world are destroyed?
Will electricity make its way through glass if a
proper conductor be wanting? Will light penetrate
sheet iron if it cannot enter or escape by a window? And if intelligence, after all, is but a phenomenon of matter under certain conditions, why
does it spurn all material laws, and cut out new
channels for itself where its natural media are destroyed?
All this fertility of resource-this energy of the
t
* Such cases strongly support the opinion of Diderot, that persons
deprived of both sight and hearing, might so increase the sensibility
of touch as to locate the soul in the tips of the fingers. See Upham'e
Mental Philosophy, p. 66. 
HER ENERGY UNDER DISABILITIES.
soul amid physical adversity-is but an advertisement of her unlikeness to anything else on earth, and
a token of the subordination of the body to the spirit,
and the relation of the latter to an enduring and an
immortal state of existence.
213 
214     THED IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL..
CHAPTER IX.
UNIMPAIRED MENTAL POWERS UNDER BODILY MUTILA                      TIONS.
THE- ability of the soul to retain all her faculties
unimpaired while the body is subjected to great mutilation, is a striking proof of her independence, and
of her immortal destination.
I. If the mind were material and mortal like the
body, or rather, were it a mere phase of a bodily
function, as materialism assumes, not only should
intelligence be in all cases in exact proportion to
the size and power of the body, and ebb and flow as
health fades or returns; but every case of physical
mutilation should be attended with a corresponding
loss of intelligence. The loss of an arm or a leg
should be just so much abstracted from the mind of
the subject.
II. But such is not the case. A survivor of the wars of
the first Napoleon lost an eye, an arm, a leg, and a piece
of his skull, (which was substituted by a silver plate,)
and yet not a thought was lost, neither was there the
slightest diminution of intelligence. In the battles
of the late rebellion of 1861, one man lost both arms,
and both legs, but lost none of his grammar, or
geography, or military tactics.' He  was conscious 
UNIMPAIRED BY BODILY MUTILATIONS.
that his soul was still entire and unimpaired, though
the body in which it dwelt was reduced to an inert
and unseemly trunk of human flesh. How, then, are
we deceived by our very consciousness, if the mind,
by remaining intact amid such physical mutilation
does not thereby indicate her independence of the
body, and her destination for immortality.*
III. But it may be replied that the brain is the
thinking power and the seat of knowledge, and consequently the loss of the legs and arms ought 4ot to
affect the intelligence. Let us see: the spinal marrow
is but an elongation of the brain, and is of the same
medullary substance. And so of all the nerves that
branch off from it, from the head to the pelvis;- they
are all of the same general substance as the brain.
While, therefore, the amount of cerebral matter in
the limbs is much'less than is left in the cavity of the
skull, it is certainly an appreciable amount, as compared with the whole,-an amount the loss of which
ought sensibly to affect the intellect,if materialism be
true.  For if brain is all the soul man possesses, and
the nerves are in reality a part of the brain, then
whoever loses part of his nervous system by the loss
of a limb, inevitably loses part of his brain power, or
'* A young officer in the British army had engaged himself in marriage to a young lady in England, before embarking for this country.
While here, he was wounded and lost a leg. HIe accordingly wrote his
atffianced bride that he was maimed and disfigured, and so different
from what he was when the engagement was formed, that he felt it his
duty to release her from all obligation to become his wife. To this
manly and honorable letter the lady returned the equally noble reply,
that she was willing to marry him if there was enough of his body left to
hold his soul,-a reply that indicated her appreciation of the two-fold
nature of man, and the subordinate importance of the body to the immortal spirit.
215 
216      THE IMMORTALITY OF. THE SOUL.
soul, and should know less and have less mental
capacity than before the amputation. But as this is
not the case, it follows that though the mind may
operate through the nervous system, it is nevertheless
distinct from that system, and may survive, though
that may perish.
IV. Even the brain itself may be extensively diseased, if not wholly removed, without affecting the
reasoning faculties.
Bishop Clark refers to a case mentioned by Abercrombie in which one half of the entire brain of a
lady had been reduced to a mass of suppuration by
disease, and yet she had retained her faculties to the
last, and had been enjoying herself at a convivial
party only a few hours before her sudden death. He
also cites a case mentioned by Dr. Ferrier in which a
man who died suddenly, but who had retained all his
faculties unimpaired till the moment of death, was
found upon examination to have a brain the right
hemisphere of which was destroyed by suppuration.*
"The celebrated Saussure was affected with extensive disorganization of the brain for the space of five
years, without any sensible alteration of the intellectual powers.  Mr. Howship relates a case where, in
consequence of a slight blow on the head, the whole
lobe of the brain was found in a state of scirrhus
forty years afterward. But with the exception of occasional pain, the subject had no other symptoms till
towards the decline of life, when she became gradually sleepy and stupid.
"A lad aged eleven years received a kick from a
horse, which fractured the frontal bone. In two hours
* Man all Immortal, p. 64. 
UNIMPAIRED BY BODILY MUTILATION.   217
after, he recovered every faculty of his mind, and
they continued vigorous for six weeks, and to an hour
of his death, which took place on the forty-third day.
He sat up every day, often walked to the window,
frequently laughed at the gambols of the boys in the
streets, &c. On dissection, the space of the skull
previously occupied by the right anterior and middle
lobes of the cerebrum, presented a perfect cavity, filled
with sero-purulent matter, the lobe having been destroyed by suppuration.  The third lobe was much
disorganized. The left hemisphere was in a state of
ramollissement (or softening) down to the corpus callosum."*
To the same effect is the celebrated case recorded
by O'Halloran, where there was great destruction of
the brain without any derangement of the intellect.
"The whole brain," says Dr. Payne, "may be
sliced down to the medulla oblongata, or beginning of
the spinal cord, without affecting, at the time, the organic functions."t
"Morgagni and Ilaller," says Bishop Clark, "claim
to have ascertained by a wide induction of facts, that
every part of the brain has been found to be destroyed
or disorganized, in one instance or another, while yet
the individuals have not been deprived of mind, or
even affected in their intellectual powers."}
"M. Flouren's experiments," says DI)r. Moore, " are
too numerous and extensive to quote; but they prove
that the brain may be destroyed to a large extent, in
*: Medical and Physiological Commentaries, Vol. 2, p. 139, note; also
Payne on the Soul and Instinct, note, p. 90.
t Payne on the Soul, Instinct and Life, p. 36.
t Man all Immortal, pp. 63, 64. 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
any direction, without destroying any of its functions."*
Such instances not only disprove the fundamental
assumptions of Phrenology, but they equally overthrow
materialism in general, and foreshadow  an immortal
life for the spirit, by indicating her ability to live on
undisturbed in her functions not only while the body
is mutilated, or wasted by disease, but even while her
most vital medium of connection with the material
world is more or less removed, indurated or dissolved.
"The mutilations which the human body undergoes," says Chalmers' "and yet without the destruction of the living powers, warrant the conclusion,
not that the soul must, but that the soul may survive
the entire dissolution of that material frame-work
wherewith it is now encompassed!'t
* "Soul and Body," p. 54..
t Lectures on Butler's Analogy, Posthumous works, Vol. 2, p. 62.
218 
REVERY, DREAMING AND CATALEPSY.
CHAPTER X.
REVERY, SLEEP, DREAMING AND CATALEPSY.
IN the previous chapter we have called attention to
a variety of physical and mental phenomena, exhibited by the body and mind in their present state of
union, and which go to prove the distinct spiritual nature of the latter, and its power to survive the decay
of the body, and live on, with all its functions unimpaired, when the body is dissolved. In continuation
of the same general topic-the relations of the soul
to the body-let us now look at another class of phenomena, namely, those that occur in revery, sleep,
dreaming, catalepsy, &c., and see if they also do not
all converge to the same point, and furnish strong
presumptive proof that the spirit of man is immortal.
I. "Revery," says Dr. Good, "is the dream of a
man while awake. He is so intently bent upon a particular train of thought, that he is torpid to every
thing else: he sees nothing, he hears nothing, he feels
nothing; and the only difference between the two,
(revery and dreaming) is, that in common dreaming,
the sensitive and irritative power of the external
senses is exhausted progressively and generally, while
the will partakes of the exhaustion; and that in revery the whole is directed to a single outlet, the will,
219 
220     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
instead of being exhausted, being riveted upon this
one point alone; and the external senses being alone
rendered torpid from the drain that is thus made upon
them to support the superabundant flow of a sensitive
and irritative power expended upon the prevailing
ecstacy. "*
The celebrated Rittenhouse was so absorbed in witnessing the transit of Venus across the sun's disc in
1799 as to lose all control over his muscular system,
and become helpless in the observatory. Another
modern astronomer passed a whole night in his observatory, witnessing a celestial phenomenon, and on being accosted in the morning replied that he would go
to bed before it was late. He had gazed the whole
night and did not know it.
The mathematician Viote was sometimes so absorbed -by his calculations that he has been known to
pass three days and three nights without food. It is
related of the Italian poet Marini, that while he was
intensely engaged in revising his Adonis, he placed his
leg on the fire, where it burned for some time without
his being aware of it.t
Such cases seem almost incredible, and yet they
can scarce be doubted. Budhist devotees so far abstract themselves as not only to endure what would
cause extreme suffering to others without the least apparent pain, but also to become unconscious of all
bodily existence.
II. Look also at the phenomenon of sleep.  Suppose, instead of the present order of things, it had
been ordained that man should sleep only once a year,
t Book of Nature, p. 253.
t Moore's Power of the Soul, &c., p. 105. 
REVERY, DREAMING AND CATALEPSY.
and then only for a few hours; and suppose men had
lived a year without any experience or knowledge,
upon the subject before the first instance of sleep occurred. At length one of their number begins to,
grow languid, ceases to talk, seeks a couch as if sick,
his eyes close, and he becomes inactive. In vain is
he called upon to explain the difficulty-he neither
sees nor hears. All intelligence is as perfectly suppressed for the time being as if he were dead.
Now in the absence of experience what reason
would his comrades have for supposing he would
ever again awake to consciousness and intelligence?
Would not the natural inference rather be that all
thought and knowledge were at an end forever?
"What  can  possibly be more opposite to each
other," says John Mason Good, "than the two states
of wakefulness and sleep?-the senses in full vigor
and activity, alive to every pursuit, and braced up to
every exertion,-and a suspension of all sense whatever, a looseness and inertness of the voluntary
powers, so nearly akin to death, that nothing but a
daily experience of the fact itself could justify us in
expecting that we should ever recover from it." *
And yet in a short time the sleeper awakes, and is
more vigorous and active than before. A mysterious
change has come over the body, but the mind still
lives on-a natural intimation that it may survive
still greater changes, and live even when we sleep
our last sleep, and the body is dissolved.
III. But the activity and achievements of the mind,
at times, in what are called dreams, is perhaps still
more pertinent to the subject under consideration.
* Book of Nature, See. vii. p. 243.
221 
222     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
A student retires to bed perplexed with a difficult
problem, and perhaps despairing of its solution. He
falls asleep and in a dream solves the problem, and
on waking finds his solution correct. A mechanic or
inventor is in trouble about some piece of machinery,
and in that state of mind retires to rest.  HIe falls
asleep, but the mind goes on with its operations, and
in a dream, he sees how the difficulty may be obviated,
and that very idea, reached while the body was
asleep, may be the most important item in a valuable
invention and patent.
"A gentleman engaged in a banking establishment
made an error in his account, and, after an interval
of several months, spent days and nights in vain
endeavors to discover where the mistake lay. At
length, worn out by fatigue, he went to bed, and in a
dream recollected all the circumstances that gave rise
to the error.  HIe remembered that on a certain day
several persons were waiting in the bank, when one
individual, who was a most amazing stammerer, became so excessively impatient and noisy that, to get
rid of him, his money was paid before his turn, and
the entrance of this sum was neglected, and thus
arose the deficiency in the account." *
"Tartini, a celebrated violin player, composed his
famous ]Devil's Sonata while he dreamed that the
devil challenged him to a trial of skill, on his own
violin. Cabanis often, during his dreams, saw clearly
into the bearing of political events which baffled him
when awake. Condorcet frequently left his deep and
complicated calculations unfinished when obliged to
* Moore's Soul and Body, p. 117. 
REVERY, DREAMING AND CATALEPSY.   223
retire to rest, and found their results unfolded in his
dreams." *
"I have formerly referred," says Abercrombie,
"to some remarkable cases in which languages long
forgotten were recovered during a state of delirium.
Something very analogous seems to occur in dreaming, of which I have received the following example
from an able and intelligent friend.  In his youth he
was very fond of the Greek language, and made considerable progress in it; but afterwards, being actively
engaged in other pursuits, he so entirely forgot it
that he could not even read the words. But he has
often dreamed of reading Greek works which he had
been accustomed to use at college, and with a most
vivid impression of fully understanding them." t
Sir John Herschell, the famous astronomer, declared that the following stanza was composed by
him while asleep and dreaming November 28, 1841,
and written down immediately on waking:
Throw thyself on thy God, nor mock him with feeble denial?
Sure of his love, and oh! sure of his mercy at last;
Bitter and deep though the draught, yet shun not the cup of thy trial,
But in its healing effect, smile at its bitterness past.
Coleridge, the poet, says that as he was once reading in the Pilgrimage of Purehas an account of the
palace and garden of Khan Kubla, he fell into a
sleep, and in that situation composed an entire poem
of not less than two hundred lines, some of which he
afterwards committed to writing. The poem is entitled Kubla Khan, and begins as follows:
* Moore's Soul and Body, p. 82.
t Intellectual Philosophy, p. 205.
41 
224     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
In Hanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree;
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.*
And how often is it the case that the mind keeps
up its exertions during our sleeping hours to such an
extent that we feel oppressed with fatigue on waking,
as if we had been toiling rather than sleeping.
Now upon the hypothesis that the body and mind
are alike material, how are these things to be accounted for? The body is at rest, why is not the
spirit? Why, when the body is prostrate and quiet
does the soul seem often to seize the occasion, to
roam abroad into unexplored regions, and hear, and
see, and act, and suffer, or rejoice, without the intervention of material organs? Surely this is a strange
phenomenon if the body and mind are identical, and
the soul is destined now and hereafter to share the
fate of its material tenement. Should not our very
dreams by night instruct us that we have within
these changing bodies of ours a living active principle
-a spirit-which disdains implicit obedience to physical laws, refuses to share in the vicissitudes of the
material body-to rest when it rests, and die when it
dies,-and may, therefore, live on when the body
shall crumble back to dust.
"Her ceaseless flight, though devious, speaks her nature
Of subtler essence than the trodden clod;
Active, ethereal, towering, unconfined,
Unfettered with her gross companion's fall; Even silent night proclaims my soul immortal:
Even silent night proclaims eternal day."
* Upham's Mental Philosophy, p. 108. 
REVERY, DREAMING AND CATALEPSY.   225
IV. The conscious activity of the soul while the
body is in a state of trance, or catalepsy, is another
indication of her independency of the body, and her
probable immortality.
"We have all heard and read," says Dr. Good,
"of such extraordinary occurrences of trances, or
apparent absences of the soul from the body; we
have heard and read of persons who, after having
been apparently dead for many days, and on the
point of being buried, have returned.to a full possession of life and health; and although most of
these histories are wrapped up in so much mystery
and superstition, as to -e altogether unworthy of
notice, there are many too cautiously drawn up and
authenticated to be dismissed in so cursory a manner."
In the early history of "camp meetings" in this
country instances of catalepsy induced by religious
excitement were frequent.   In those cases all the
animal functions were suspended; the countenance
was pale as a corpse; the body grew stiff and cold;
and nearly every indication of death appeared. And
yet during these periods the subject was usually intensely conscious, and upon recovery would describe
the activity and the experiences of the mind during
that strange parenthesis, in the most glowing language. But perhaps no one case will more fully
illustrate this general subject, than that of REV.
WM.  TENNENT,  a Presbyterian  minister of Freehold, N.J.
" He was conversing one morning with his brother,
in Latin, o the state of the soul, when he fainted
*Book of Nature, p. 252.
15
I 
226      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
'and died away. After the usual time he was laid out
on a board, according to the common practice of the
country, and the neighborhood were invited to attend
the funeral on the next day. In the evening his physician and friend returned from a ride into the country, and was afflicted beyond measure at the news of
his death.   ie could not be persuaded that it was
certain; and, on being told that one of the persons
who had assisted in laying out the body thought he
had observed a little tremor of the flesh under the
arm, although the body was cold and stiff, he endeavored to ascertain the fact. Hle first put his own
hand into warm water, to make it as sensitive as possible, and then felt under the arm, and at the heart,
and affirmed that he felt an unusual warmth, though
no one else could.
4' ie had the body restored to a warm bed, and insisted that the people who had been invited to the funeral, should be requested not to attend. To this the
brother objected as absurd, the eyes being sunk, the
lips discolored, and the whole body cold and stiff.
HIowever, the doctor finally prevailed, and all probable means were used to discover symptoms of returning life.  But the third. day arrived, and no hopes
were entertained of success but by the doctor, who
never left him night or day. The people were again
invited, and assembled to attend the funeral. The
doctor still objected, and at last confined his request
for delay to one hour, then to half an hour, and finally
to a quarter of an hour.
"Ile had discovered that the tongue was much
swollen, and threatened to crack. He was endeavoring to soften it by some emollient ointment, put upon 
REVERY, DREAMING AND CATALEPSY.
it with a feather, when the brother came in, about the
expiration of the last period, and mistaking what the
doctor was doing for an attempt to feed him, manifested some resentment, and said, in a spirited tone,
'It is shameful to be feeding a lifeless corpse;' and
insisted, with earnestness, that the funeral should immediately proceed.
"At this critical and important moment, the body,
to the great alarm and astonishment of all present,
opened its eyes, gave a dreadful groan,  and sank
again into apparent death. This put an end to all
thought of burying him, and every effort was again
employed, in hopes of bringing about a speedy resuscitation. In about an hour, the eyes again opened, a
heavy groan proceeded from the body, and again all
appearance of animation vanished.  In another hour
life seemed to return with more power, and a complete
revival took place, to the great joy of the family and
friends, and to the no small astonishment and conviction of the very many who had been ridiculing'the
idea of restoring to life a dead body."*
"The writer of these memoirs,'' says his biographer, "was greatly interested by these uncommon
events; and on a favorable occasion, earnestly pressed
Mr. Tennent for a minute account of what his views
and apprehensions were, while he lay in this extraordinary state of suspended animation. He discovered
great reluctance to enter into any explanation of his
perceptions and feelings at that time; but being importunately urged to do it, he at length consented,
and proceeded with a solemnity not to be described:
"While I was conversing with my brother," said
* Life of Rev.'William TenLent, pp. 23, 24.
227
t 
228     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
he, "on the state of my soul, and the fears I had entertained for my future welfare, I found myself, in
an instant, in another state of existence, under the
direction of a superior being, who ordered me to follow him. I was accordingly wafted along, I know
not how, till I beheld at a distance an ineffable glory,
the impression of which on my mind it is impossible
to communicate to mortal man. I immediately reflected on my happy change, and thought-Well, blessed
be God! I am safe at last, notwithstanding all my
fears. I saw an innumerable host of happy beings,
surrounding the inexpressible glory, in acts of adoration and joyous worship; but I did not see any bodily
shape or representation in the glorious appearance.
I heard things unutterable. I heard their songs and
hallelujahs of thanksgiving and praise, with unspeakable rapture. I felt joy unutterable and full of glory.
I then applied to my conductor, and requested leave
to join the happy throng; on which he tapped me on
the shoulder and said,' You must return to the earth.'
This seemed like a sword through my heart. In an
instant I recollected to have seen my brother standing
before me disputing with the doctor. The three days
during which I had appeared lifeless, seemed to me
to be not more than ten or twenty minutes. The idea
of returning to this world of sorrow and trouble gave
me such a shock that I fainted repeatedly.
"Such was the effect on my mind of what I had
seen and heard, that if it be possible for a human being to live entirely above the world and the things of
it, for sometime afterward, I was that person. The
ravishing sounds of the songs and hallelujahs that I
heard, and the very words that were uttered, were not 
REVERY, DREAMING AND CATALEPSY.   229
out of my ears, when awake, for at least three years.
All the kingdoms of the earth were in my sight as
nothing and vanity; and so great were my ideas of
heavenly glory, that nothing which did not in some
measure relate to it, could command my serious attention."*
How strikingly does such a narrative remind one
of the trance of Peter, Acts x. 10, and of the words
of Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 2-4: "I knew  a man in Christ
about fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell:
God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third
heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the
body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and
heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a
man to utter."
What reason have we for doubting that the trance
of Mr. Tennent was similar to that of St. Paul, and
that in both instances the soul was temporarily separated from the body? We base no argument on this
assumption, however, being content with the indisputable fact in all these cases, that the mind is conscious
and active though the body is apparently dead.
V. Persons resuscitated from apparent drowning
often relate similar experiences of the consciousness
and activity of the mind, while every animal function
of the body was suspended. Memory, will, consciousness, hope and fear were as active as if the body was
in its normal state, and all its functions in active
play.
VI. In other instances, though the heart and lungs,
* Life of Tenent, pp. 28-31. 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
which are among the most vital portions of the human
frame, have ceased to perform their functions, and
have continued inactive for a greater or less period
of time, the mind has retained not only its consciousness, but the unimpaired use of all its faculties and
powers.  Take the following instance copied from the
Book of Nature by Dr. John Mason Good, as an illustration in point:
"In the year 1769, Mr. John Hunter, being then
forty-one years of age, of a sound constitution, and
subject to no disease except a casual fit of the gout,
was suddenly attacked with a pain in the stomach,
which was shortly succeeded by a total suspension of
the action of the heart and lungs.  By the power of
the will, or rather by violent striving, he occasionally
inflated the lungs, but over the heart he had no control- whatever; nor, though he was attended by four
of the chief physicians in London from the first, could
the action of either be restored by medicine. In
about three-quarters of an hour, however, the vital
actions began to return of their own accord, and in
two hours he was perfectly recovered.
"In this attack," observed Mr. (now Sir Everard)
Home, who has given an interesting memoir of his
life, "there was a suspension of the most material
involuntary actions; even involuntary breathing was
stopped; while sensation, with its consequences, as
thinking and acting, with the will, were perfect, and
all the voluntary actions were as strong as before."
"In the whole history of man," continued Dr.
Good, "I do not know of a more extraordinary case.
The functions of the soul were perfect, while the most
important functions of the body, those upon which
230 
REVERY) DREAMING AND CATALEPSY.
life depends absolutely, in all ordinary cases, were
dead for nearly an hour. Why did not the soul depart from the body? and why did not the body itself
commence that change, that subjection to the laws of
chemical affinity which it evinces in every ordinary
case of the death or inaction of the vital organs?
Because in the present instance, as in every ins:tance.
of suspended animation from hanging or drowning,
the vital principle, whatever it consists in, had not
ceased, or deserted the corporeal frame. It continued
visible in its effect, though invisible in its essence
and, mode of operation."*
Is there no significance in all these facts? How
strikingly do they comport with and corroborate the
revealed doctrine of the soul's immortality. And
how completely do they refute the opposite idea that
the mind is merely a function of the body, necessarily
sharing its condition of quiescence or activity, and
doomed to perish when the body dies.  Ah, no!
Cold in the dust this perished heart may lie,
But that which warmed it once shall never die.
* Book of Nature, pp. 253, 254.
231 
232     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER XI.
VIGOR AND ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL IN THE HOUR OF
DEATH.
Life makes the soul dependent on the dust,
Death gives her wings to mount above the spheres.
THE vigor and activity of the soul in the hour of
death, and amid bodily dissolution, is an evidence
of its independency of the body, and its consequent
immortality.
I. The history of the Christian martyrs furnishes
many striking illustrations of the power of the soul
to rise superior to the terrors of death, and the
agony of bodily dissolution, and show herself essentially indestructible and immortal.
Polyearp sang hymns of praise to God while his
body was being consumed by the fires of martyrdom.
While John Huss was being burned he sang a hymn
with so loud and cheerful a voice that it was heard
above the crackling of the fagots, and the noise of
the multitude.  Jerome of Prague sang amid  the
flames of martyrdom till his voice was stifled by
them.
"Thus we hear Lambert while consuming by a
slow fire, exclaiming,'None but Christ! none but
Christ!'  Thus also died Cranmer-the soul triumph 
VIGOR AMIID BODILY DISSOLUTION.
ing over all that was terrible in bodily sufferingsteadily hold his hand in the flame, and exclaim,
while it is being consumed,'This hand! this wicked
hand.'
"So also Mrs. Cecily Ormes, who was added to the
noble host of martyrs at the early age of twenty-two.
Approaching the stake, already charred by the fires
that had consumed two martyrs before her, she
clasped it with her hands, exclaiming,'Welcome!
welcome, Cross of Christ!'
"But a still more striking instance of the triumph
of the soul over the body is the case of James Bainham. When his legs and his arms were half consumed, and his body scorched and seething in the
flame, he cried out to the bystanders,'Ye look for
miracles! Hlere, now, ye may see one. This fire is
to me a bed of roses.'
'"Before being led to the stake, Mr. Hawkes agreed
with his friends upon a signal by which to express
his feelings when he should be no longer capable of
speech. When he was so nearly consumed that all
thought him dead, and when his- whole body was
crisped with the fire, the skin of his arms drawn up,
and his fingers literally consumed, suddenly seeming
to recollect the appointed signal, he raised his fingerless hands above his head and clapped them three
times in token of triumph." *
Thus triumphed many of the martyrs, while their
bodies were being devoured by wild beasts, or consumed by fire.
IIo Numerous instances of unimpaired and even
unusual intellectual vigor in the hour of death, by
* Man all Immortal, pp. 60, 61.
233 
234     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
disease, and when the body was already a ruin,
fully demonstrate that the body and spirit are
distinct; and that the latter may remain uninjured
and vigorous, though the former has crumbled back
to dust.
"The Rev. Alanson Reed, only half an hour before
his last breath, said,'I know full well that I am at
the point of death, but the idea of a spirit being extinguished in death, is utterly inconceivable. The
soul is going forth, but it has no consciousness of
dying; rather the consciousness of living on rises
above every other feeling, and it is impossible for me
to doubt.'
"The celebrated Boerhaave contemplated the perceptible difference between his mind and his body, in
his last illness, as being like a philosophical experiment to him, that his intellectual self would not perish
with his bodily dissolution.
"H-aller, as death advanced to the mastery over
his bodily system, could only measure its progress
by keeping his fingers upon his own pulse.'The
artery, my  friend,' said he  at length,' ceases to
beat;' and almost instantly expired.
"The Rev. Mr. ialyburton, when dying, said to a
brother minister,'I think my case is a pretty fair
demonstration of the immortality of the soul.  My
bones'are rising through my skin. This body is
going away to corruption, and yet my intellectuals
are so lively, that I cannot perceive the least alteration or decay in them." *
"It  seems,"  said Dr.'Payson amid  his dying
agonies, "as if the soul disdained such a narrow
*Man all Immortal, p. 68. 
VIGOR AMID BODILY DISSOLUTION.
prison, and was determined to break through with
an angel's energy-until it mounts on high.   It
seems as if my soul had found a pair of new wings,
and was so eager to try them that, in her fluttering,
she would rend the fine net-work of the body to
pieces."
"I now feel," said -Dr. Fisk, when near his end,
"a strength of soul, and an energy of mind which
this body, though afflicted and pained, cannot impair. The soul has an energy of its own. And so
far from my body pressing my soul down to the dust,
I feel as if  my soul had. almost power to raise my
body upward, and bear it away." In view of such a
death, well might the poet exclaim,
Oh may I triumph so,
When all my warfare's past;
And, dying, find my latest foe,
Under my feet at last!
III. It will not be denied that the hope of eternal
life which inspires the bosom of the dying Christian, has a tendency to invigorate the soul, and
impart in the hour of death a supernatural strength
and courage. And yet it cannot be said that the
above recited mental phenomena are wholly due to
this cause. The soul has exhibited the same intellectual vigor, and superiority to the  body, even
when the unhappy subject was dying in despair.
To give but a single illustration, take the case of
the young man of high position, and of superior
talents and education, whose last hours are so touchingly described by Dr. Young. To spare the feelings
of his relatives and friends, he speaks of him under a
fictitious name.
235 
236      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
"This body," says the wretched Altamont, "is all
weakness and pain; but my soul, as if stung up by
torment to greater strength and spirit, is full powerful to reason, full mighty to suffer. And that which
thus triumphs within the jaws of mortality, is, doubtless, immortal."
IV. The bearing of such instances upon the subject of the soul's immortality is obvious. They clearly
show that the mind is not the body; that it does not
waste with it, and does not die with it.
"To make the argument plain," says Dr. Lee, "we
say that a single instance in which the mind kindles
up at the moment of death, and blazes out with unwonted intellectual fires, while the body is wan and
cold and helpless, cannot be reconciled with the idea
that the mind is any part of the material body, and
that it wastes and dies with it.  On the other hand
those cases in which the mind appears to waste with
the body and go out like the sun, passing gradually
behind a cloud, deeper and darker, until its last ray
is lost, can be explained in perfect harmony with the
theory of the immateriality of the mind, and even its
immortality. Does the mind fail, as in second childhood-or does it grow gradually dim as the body
wastes under the influence of disease? The explanation is this: the bodily organs through which the mind
communicates with the material world, in these particular cases, are impaired by age or disease. In
many cases of death from sickness, the mind appears
to waste away, or gradually sink into a state of sleep,
merely because the will does not determine it in a direction to develope itself to the world without. But
that the mind is there, distinct from the wasting, dy 
VIGOR AMID BODILY DISSOLUTION.
ing body, is clear from the many cases already referred to, in which the mind, being roused by the
prospect of heaven, or seized with the terror of impending perdition, flashes with the fires of immortality, and sheds a living glare as it quits its house of
clay, and enters upon the destinies of the spirit
world.
"This has often been witnessed in the dying moments of both the Christian and the sinner. There
are but few Christian pastors who have been long devoted to their work, that have not in their visits
among the sick and dying, more than once stood by
the bedside of those whose last moments left upon
their minds a vivid impression of the undying nature
of the soul."*
0 change! 0 wondrous change!
Burst are the prison bars;
This moment there so low,
So agonized, and now
Beyond the stars!
0 change!  Stupendous change!
There lies the soulless clod;
The sun eternal breaks,
The new immortal wakes,
Wakes with his God!
* Lee's Theology, p. 267.
I
237 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER XII.
THE DISSOLUTION OF THE BODY AFFORDS NO PRE  SUMPTION THAT THE MIND PERISHES WITH IT.
I
I live, move, am conscious; what shall bar my being?
Where is the rude hand to rend this tissue of existence?
Not thine, shadowy Death, what art thou but a phantom?
Not thine, foul Corruption, what'art thou but a fear?
For death is merely absent life, as darkness absent light;
Not even a suspension, for the life hath sailed away.
HOWEVER clearly the Bible may teach the doctrine
of a future state, and however loudly Nature may respond to this revelation,  we have no practical acquaintance with disembodied spirits.   All that we
have known of the human soul has been in its connection with the body. All our experiences and habits
of thought and utterance, associate the mindcl of man
wvith the body, in relations so intimate, that it is but
a natural, though an erroneous induction, that when
one perishes the other must perish also. And yet a
moment5s attention to the subject, in the light of other
physical phenomena with which we are acquainted,
might convince us that the dissolution of the body
does not afford even a presumption that the soul perishes with it.
I. It, is a general fact in nature that the dissolution
238 
WHY PERISH WITH THE BODY?
of a compound substance, does not involve the elements of which it is composed, in the same common
destiny. If we burn a piece of hard coal, a portion
"goeth downward," returning to the earth as it was,
in the form of ashes; while other and more volatile
elements ascend, and are either consumed by combustion, or mingle with the atmosphere. And so of
almost every element in nature; let it be submitted
to any great and radical change, and certain portions
of it are almost sure to elude our grasp and escape.
Let a man be placed upon an insulating stool, and
charged with electricity till every hair of his head
stands erect. Could he be reduced to ashes, or got
into a coffin without the escape of the electricity?
We might handle him with the greatest care, and with
gloves made of non-conducting substances, and yet it
would escape; if in no other way the very atmosphere
would gradually remove it.
Have we not, then, In these facts, an analogy in the
natural world-one that might at least guard us
against the conclusion that the dissolution of the human body, necessarily involved the entire man in a
common destiny and ruin?
If there is an element in nature with which the
human body may be charged, which will inevitably
escape unimpaired, though the body be destroyed,
may there not also be an ethereal principle in man,
which thinks and reasons and hopes and fears, and
which will escape uninjured though the body be dissolved?
II. Every person is conscious of his personal; and
intellectual identity, from childhood to old age, no
matter what changes may have taken place in the body.
239 
240      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
1. How great the change in the size and form
and appearance of every human body, from childhood to maturity. A few years, even, will often
so change and disguise a person that their most intimate friends can scarcely recognize them.
2. A man may lose both arms, and both legs, and
yet he is conscious of being the same thinking spiritual being that he was before.
3. It is said to be a well-established fact in human
physiology, that the body is completely changed, so
that every person has an entirely new body, so far as
the matter of which it is composed is concerned, every
seven years.   Take, then, for example, a person
eighty years of age; upon the supposition just stated;
the substance of his body has been changed no less
than ten times since he was ten years old. And,
yet though he has had ten new bodies during the previous seventy years, he is conscious that so far as the
mind is concerned, he is the same identical person who
saw and heard and laughed and wept seventy years
before.
" The identity of the organization is preserved only
as the identity of a watch is preserved, which when
seventy years old, has had every wheel and part supplied with new ones ten times. All the wheels have
been used up and supplied ten times, but it is the
same watch."
"This may be seen by the unlettered reader who
has never studied physiology. He knows that he
must take food every day to supply the perpetual
waste of his system-that what he eats forms blood,
and flesh, and bones. This could not be necessary,
were there not a perpetual waste. This is further
o 
WHY PERISH WITH THE BODY?
proved from the fact that the moment we cease to receive a sufficient degree of nutriment, the body begins to waste and become thinner, as the saying is,
it grows poor. A person may be nearly starved to
death, or emaciated with sickness, until reduced to
one quarter his usual weight, and then in a few weeks
recover, and be as full and heavy as before. Does
the body consist of the same particles of matter now
that it did before? Certainly not; the waste has
been supplied with new matter, and yet the person is
conscious of having preserved his identity through all
these changes; he is certain that he that thinks and
feels now, is he that thought and felt before these
changes took place."*
4. But we have no such consciousness that the body
in which we find ourselves at three-score years, is in
its substance the same body in which we played in
childhood. If consciousness gives any testimony upon
this point, her verdict will be that the outer man has
been changing from year to year, during 1l our pilgrimage, not only in its form and magnitude, but also
in the very elements of its being.
How different with the mind. Instead of feeling
that that has changed while these great changes have
taken place with the body, we retain amid all these
changes, a distinct consciousness of our own spiritual
identity-that we are the same identical conscious intelligence that hoped and feared in our childhood
bodies sixty years before.t
Now what is the legitimate inference from a fact
* Lee on the Soul, new edition, pp. 33, 34.
t See Moore's Power of the Soul over the Body, p. 15. Also, Butler's essay on personal Identity.
16
241 
242      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
like this if it be not that the mind is not the body,
but is distinct from it; and that however the body
may be changed, either gradually or imperceptibly,
or suddenly or palpably, that the mind will live on,
retaining its personal identity, and its powers undestroyed, through all subsequent bodily mutations.
III. Bishop Butler has thus forcibly stated the
same general argument:
"We have already, several times over, lost a great
part, or perhaps the whole of our body, according to
certain common established laws of nature; yet we
remain the same living agents; when we shall lose as
great a part, or the whole, by another common established law of nature, death, why may we not also remain the same?   That  the  alienation  has been
gradual in one case, and in the other will be more at
once, does not prove anything to the contrary. We
have passed undestroyed through those many and
great revolutions of matter, so peculiarly appropriate
to ourselves; why should we imagine death to be so
fatal to us?
"Nor can it be objected, that what is thus alienated or lost, is no part of our original solid body, but
only adventitious matter; because we may lose entire
limbs which must have contained many solid parts and
vessels of the original body; or if this be not admitted, we have no proof that any of these solid parts
are dissolved or alienated by death; though, by the
way, we are very nearly related to that extraneous or
adventitious matter, whilst it continues united to and
distending the several parts of our solid body. But,
after all, the relation a person bears to those parts of
his body to which he is the most nearly related, what 
WHY PERISH WITH THE BODY?
does it appear to amount to but this, that the living agent
and those parts of the body mutually affect each other?
And the same thing, in kind, though not in degree,
may be said of all foreign matter, which gives us ideas,
and which we have any power over. From these ob-o
servations, the whole ground of the imagination is
removed, that the dissolution of any matter is the destruction of a living agent, from the interest he once
had in such matter."*
IV. But an objection to the argument based upon
the conscious identity of the mind, amid bodily
changes, has been founded upon the acknowledged
sympathy of the mind with the body, and especially
upon the well-known fact that in many cases an injury
to the brain destroys consciousness. This would be
somewhat forcible, perhaps, were it true that in every
case where the brain was diseased or partially removed,
the mind was impaired to the same extent. But if
cases occur where even the brain may be seriously injured or disorganized, while the mind remains with
all her faculties unimpaired, the objection falls to the
ground. The instances of mental derangement in
such cases, no more prove that the mind will perish
when the entire brain is dissolved, than the unconsciousness of one man during sleep, proves that all
who sleep are meanwhile unconscious.
But it is not only true that the soul indicates her
immortality by retaining her powers and faculties unimpaired, amid extensive bodily mutilations; but even
the brain-the especial organ of the mind-may suffer largely, as we have shown in a previous chapter,t
* Analogy, Part I.
t See chapter ix. page 215.
243 
244     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
without deranging a thought of the indwelling and undying spirit. And so of the entire body. It is not
the soul or any part of it, and may waste and be dissolved without the extinction of that other and higher
nature, which is spiritual, indestructible and immortal.
As the swift-winged arrow may be speeding on its
way, though the bow from which it is sent may be
snapped and ruined, and as the light of the fixed
stars might continue to shoot on through space for
ages, though the stars themselves were suddenly annihilated, so the life of the soul will go on in the future forever, though the body from which it springs
at death has crumbled back to dust. 
THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF MATTER.    245
CHAPTER XIII.
ARGUMENT DRAWN FROM THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF
MATTER.
IT has generally been assumed by those who deny
the immortality of the soul, that annihilation is even
more natural than creation. How that may be we
care not to inquire. Neither are we disposed to
deny that so far as power to effect the result is concerned, God could annihilate the entire universe in a
moment of time. But so far as we have any light
upon the subject, instead of its being even an occasional event, it seems to be established as a law of
nature, that nothing that is once launched into being
shall ever go out of existence.
I. Natural philosophy teaches us that of all this
vast creation no substance has yet been found, however subtle or refined, which man has power to
annihilate, or put utterly out of being. It may be a
hailstone or a drop of water, and we may freeze it,
or heat it to steam, or decompose it into its elementary gases, and explode it; or evaporate it; but it
still exists, every atom of it; and disperse or change
its elements as we may, they will forever defy all
efforts at their annihilation. And so of every substance, solid or fluid, animal, mineral, or vegetable, 
246     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOTJL.
through the whole realm of nature. Annihilation is a
name for what never yet occurred to matter, and
never can.
"A mass of atoms may be separated and changed
from one form to another by chemical and mechanical forces, but not one of them can ever be lost; for
in all cases where a body is apparently destroyed,
it can be shown experimentally that the parts are
only separated, and can be collected again. Thus,
when wood is burned in the fire, it appears to be
annihilated; but if we collect the products-the
smoke and ashes, we shall find the same quantity in
weight that existed in the wood. In fact, we shall
find a larger amount of matter than was originally
contained in the wood, owing to the oxygen of the
air which has combined with the wood in the process
of combustion.
"When gunpowder is exploded, the products may
all be collected again. The same is found true in
every case where matter changes its form or composition. We know that the material atoms of our own
bodies are constantly changing, but not one of them
is ever annihilated. That atom of matter which was
struck from its kindred particles ages since, may
have passed through many forms, solid, liquid, and
gaseous, perhaps through animal and vegetable bodies,
before it entered the kernel of grain, and became a
portion of our own system; and there are many
changes which it will undergo there before it shall be
cast out into the air as pure as at first, to enter other
forms and nourish other systems. Matter is thus
ever changing, but never destroyed." *
* Gray's Elements of Natural Philosophy, pp. 22, 23. 
TIEE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF MATTER.    247
Here, then, is a distinct intimation of a great law
in nature herself, that change is not extinction of
being; and therefore that death may not be the last
of man.
II. The Holy Scriptures teach the same philosophy,
"Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing
can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and
God doeth it, that men should fear before him."
"It shall be forever"-shall always exist. "Nothing
can be put to it." A congress of archangels could
not add a pebble to the universe. "Nor anything
takenfrom it." All the intelligent universe, God excepted, could not annihilate a grain of sand. "And
God doeth it that men should fear before him."   This
fixedness of the material creation is ordained that we,
knowing that whatever God launches into being by
his creative fiat, must exist forever, may understand
our own immortal destination, and may fear to provoke
the unending displeasure of the Almighty.
III. Such being the fact in the material world,
namely, that so far as we have knowledge nothing
can be annihilated, the advocate of the non-existence
of souls after the change of death, reasons against the
undeniable and stubborn fact, that all philosophy is
against him. Every analogy of nature is a protest
against hislcold and cheerless creed. In talking of
"annihilation," he talks of that which has never yet
occurred even to a grain of sand; and employs a name
which represents nothing but an imaginary nonentity.*
- Some writer, perhaps Samuel Drew the metaphysician, coined the
word zamiff to represent an imaginary something as yet unknown,
which should be neither matter nor spirit. The term annihilation has
an analogous import; as it is used to represent an imaginary event
that never did occur and never can. 
248     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.)
IV. In contemplating this characteristic of the
material world, we should not forget that it applies as
well to the elements of which our bodies are composed,
as to any other.
Corruption, closely noted, is but a dissolving of the parts.
The parts remain, and nothing lost, to build a better whole.
The oxygen, and iron, and lime, and phosphorus
that enter into the composition of our bodies, are to
exist forever. Why, then, should the spirit cease to be?
But it may be replied that the body no longer
exists as a body. We grant it; but it exists as matter, and still retains all its original attributes and
capabilities as such, and may live again in other
forms and under other auspices from age to age. And
if the same be conceded in regard to the essence of
the soul, notwithstanding failing powers and perhaps
a seeming parenthesis of unconscious being just before
death, we shall still have an immortality with all our
powers as spirits unimpaired and vigorous forever.
We have thus shown that so far as we can learn
from all observation and experience, matter is indestructible; and that it is a law of the universe that
whatever is once launched into being shall, in one
form or another, exist forever.
Now if this be true of matter much more of mind,
unless it caAf be shown that mind is inferior to and
more perishable than matter. If it were granted,
even, that the soul is a material substance, its endless
existence would be a legitimate inference from the
indestructibility of matter. And in proportion as the
soul is found superior to matter, is the inference
strengthened that she might survive, though matter
shouldcease to exist. 
THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF MATTER.    249
Would not the idea of the extinction of the spirit
by any means be contrary to all the analogies of nature?
" Can it be so?
Matter immortal, and shall spirit die?
Above the nobler shall less noble rise?
Shall man alone for whom all else survives,
No resurrection know? Shall man alone,
Imperial man be sown in barren ground?
Less privileged than the grain on which he feeds?"
No! The idea is not only repulsive to every instinct of our natures, but is both irrational and absurd. Shall the pyramids of Egypt resist the corroding power of time, and stand undecayed for ages,
when the mind that designed them has long since
ceased to exist? Even the body, though doomed to
dissolution, will still exist, with all its capabilities of
reconstruction  and immortal vitality.  Why, then,
should its occupant and ruler cease to be? The superior utterly perish, while the inferior survives?
Why should this gross integument endure
If its undying guest be lost forever?
Oh! let us keep the soul embalmed and pure,
In living virtues, that when both must sever,
Although corruption may our frame consume,
The immortal spirit in the skies may bloom. 
250      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE SOUL IMMATERIAL AND THEREFORE IMMORTAL.
IN the preceding chapters our inquiries have been
exclusively confined either to the materia world, or
to the relations which the soul sustains to matter, and
its phenomena under various material changes. With
a few slight exceptions no allusion has been made to
the abstract mental and moral powers of man, as furnishing in themselves considered, a strong presumptive argument'that the soul is immortal. Let us now
pass to this branch of the general argument, namely,
to the evidences of immortality which may be drawn
from the powers and susceptibilities of the soul herself.
I. We think it may safely be assumed at the outset that, if he who made the soul at the first designed
her to exist forever, every power and attribute of her
being would correspond with this design. Not only
her relations to the body, and the various phenomena
of life and death would harmonize with the idea of
continued existence, as shown in the previous chapters, but the effects of all influences brought to bear
upon our spiritual natures, while in connection with
the body, would be such only as are compatible with
the idea of immortal existence after death.
II. If the question of durability related to some 
SPIRIT NOT MATERIAL.
ponderous and solid substance, such as materials for
a building, and we had no experience to guide us in
its solution; we should most probably proceed analytically, to ascertain its composition; its power of resisting heat and cold and moisture; its relation
to other durable substances; and how it is affected by the ordinary causes of dissolution. May not
a similar process be employed in considering the
question of the soul's immortality? True, the soul is
not susceptible of physical analysis like a block of
granite; and yet so numerous and various are her
powers, and so distinct from each other, that their
separate contemplation is not wholly unlike the chemical analysis of a compound substance, and the determining of its general character by the study of its
component elements.  Let us inquire then, whether
or not there is anything in the nature or attributes of
the soul herself, that foreshadow her continued and
conscious existence when the body is dissolved.
III. In the preceding chapter we have shown that
continued being is a law of the material universe;
and that consequently the soul of man will survive
the event of death, unless it can be shown to be more
liable to perish than the material world with which it
is here connected. Let us now inquire whether the
nature of the soul, as a spiritual and indissoluble essence, does not render her future non-existence even
less probable than if she were a bar of gold, or a
block of marble.
If the soul is really an immaterial essence-a pure
spirit-wholly different from the body, in which it
dwells, does not that fact in itself greatly strengthen
the probability that it will continue to exist after the
251 
252     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
body is dissolved; or, indeed, that it is in its very
nature incapable of annihilation. But here arises the
great question, Is the soul immaterial?
IV. Different writers have varied greatly in the
prominence which they have given to this question in
their productions..Flavel, in his " Treatise on the
Soul of Man," scarcely alludes to it, in a volume extending to nearly five hundred octavo pages.* Samuel Drew, the celebrated English metaphysician, makes
it more prominent, and treats it more thoroughly and
conclusively, in our opinion than any other writer.t
But his style is metaphysical, and it requires the
closest attention for an ordinary reader to understand
and appreciate his arguments. On this account his
book, though small in size, and eminently able, has
never been a popular one, and his arguments are comparatively unknown. -Dr. Dick, in his Philosophy of a
Future State, barely mentions the subject of the soul's
immateriality, but dismisses it, on the ground of the
difficulty of so stating the proofs of the fact, as to
have them understood and appreciated by ordinary
readers. In Bishop Clark's recent work, we have little or nothing upon the subject, as a distinct topic.
It is not unlikely that the omission of this argument by modern writers, is to some extent a sort of
reaction, caused by the excessive prominence given to
it by Mr. Drew, and to the fact alluded to by Dr. Dick,
that it is not easy to adapt it to popular apprehension.
Nevertheless-, in our view it is an important element
in this discussion; and one upon the settlement of
which to a great extent the whole question of the
-- London edition, 1739.
t Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Human Soul. 
SPIRIT NOT MATERIAL.
soul's immortality depends. In our opinion, therefore,
the true course lies between the extremes of an extended metaphysical discussion on the one hand, like
that of Mr. Drew, and passing by the question in
comparative silence.*
In the first and second chapters of part first we have
touched briefly upon the subject, but recur to it again
not only on account of its intrinsic importance,
but because it is a question belonging as well to the
department of rational investigation, as to that of
Scriptural proof.
V. The superiority of mind over matter as shown
elsewhere is witnessed on every hand. The control
of the mind over the body; all the products of art,
mechanical ingenuity and skill; and all the wonderful achievements of the human soul in the rearm of
nature, proclaim her what the Scriptures declare her
to be, master of the material creation. Is it likely,
then, that mind which exercises this wonderful control is of the same nature as the forms of being over
which it reigns?  Is it one mere animal having "dominion" over all other animals? Is it one part of
the body ruling the other parts?
This very supremacy of man over the lower world,
as read in the Scriptures, and seen everywhere in
fact, betokens superior power and a superior nature;
and as he reigns by his mental and not by his physical superiority,t his rule in this lower world implies a
Dr. Luther Lee has hit this medium very happily in his work on
the Immortality of the Soul, in which he treats this point very clearly
and ably, and yet with admirable brevity.
t As a mere animal, and aside from its adaptation to the uses of a ra,
tional spirit, the human body is in some respects inferior to many other
animals. The horse, and owl, lions, cats, &c., can see where man cannot. In strength, and speed, and hearing, and smelling, and endurance
253 
254     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
spiritual nature, by virtue of which he sways his
scepter.
VI. That either matter or spirit are indestructible
in such a sense that God could not annihilate them,
is absurd. He who created can with equal ease destroy the universe. But that he has so constituted
both as that they will continue on despite all created
powers,  we  fully believe.   The  soul is therefore
naturally immortal; that is, God has endowed it with
immortality as a part of its very nature.*   It seems
to have been the opinion of Mr. Tupper, however,
that but for redemption Adam and Eve would have
been annihilated.
"If then, as annihilated by sin, the soul was ever forfeit,
Godhead paid the mighty price, the pledge hath been redeemed:
He, from the waters of Oblivion raised the drowning race,
- Lifting them even to himself, the baseless Rock of Ages." t
But we regard this as an erroneous view of the
grounds of our immortality. Christ did not die to
save us from annihilation, but that the immortal ex
and instinct, they are inconceivably his superiors. Take from man the
single endowment of reason; or in other words, dispossess the human
body of its indwelling immaterial.spirit, and man is of all animals perhaps the most helpless and dependent.
* "Immortality," says Dr. Good, "is in every instance a special gift
of the Creator; and so wide is the gulf that exists between the intelligence of man and that of the brute tribes, that there can be no diffiaulty in conceiving where the line is drawn, and the special endowment
terminates. It is an attribute natural to the being of man, merely because his indulgent Maker has made it so; but there is nothing either
in natural or revealed religion that can lead us to the same conclusion
in respect of brutes; and hence to speak of their natural immortality is
altogether visionary and unphilosophical. 
t Proverbial Philosophy, p. 95.
Book of Nature, p. 331. 
SPIRIT NOT MATERIAL.
istence before us might be one of joy and gladness,
and not one of endless remorse and sorrow.
But to return to the point in hand: if the soul is
indestructible and immortal, it is so because God
wills it, and not because of anything in the nature
of either matter or mind, which renders annihilation
impossible by the infinite Creator.
The true form of the argument drawn from the
spiritual nature of the soul, is, therefore, as we conceive, to infer immortality from the adaptation of the
soul, as a spirit, to exist forever; and not from any
alleged impossibility of annihilation.
The Divine Being will not annihilate the souls of
men, (a legitimate inference from his doings in the
natural world,) and has made them incapable of annihilation by material agencies. We can form no conception of any method by which a pure spirit can be
injuriously affected by material contact, or by physical
power.
"Material bodies can never act but when they
bring their surfaces in contact with each other. As
an immaterial substance has no surface, it is a contradiction to suppose that matter can ever be brought
into contact with it: to suppose such a contact possible, is to suppose a surface in an immaterial being,
which at the same time is excluded by its natural immateriality. Whatever has an exterior must have an
interior; and what has both must be extended: and
what is thus extended, cannot be immaterial. An
immaterial substance, therefore, can have no surface
and that which has no surface can never be brought
into contact with that which has; it therefore follows
that the soul must be inaccessible to all violence
255 
256     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
from matter, and that it cannot perish through its
instrumentality." *
The soul of man is not a thing to be dissolved, or
melted, or frozen, or pulverized. As well attempt to
weigh a pain, or solidify a fear; so that if the soul
has no power to dread beyond the realm of material
creation, her passport to endless existence is clear,
and immortality certain.
VII. Even some of the elements around us may
aid our conceptions of the powers and capabilities of
the immortal spirit. Who can trace the footsteps of
the magnetic currents, either on our planet or through
the celestial spaces? Could not light pass through a
globe of crystal thousands of miles in diameter without obstruction? or electricity through a globe of iron
in an instant of time, and experience no hindrance?
How, then, with a spirit, which no chains can bind,
or material prison detain.   Can any one suppose
that the angels on one side of our planet, who desire
to visit an heir of salvation upon the other side, are
obliged to fly around a hemisphere, soaring over continents and seas to reach their destination? If light
can pass through the diamond, and electricity through
the hardest steel, cannot a celestial being take the
shorter route of the earth;s diameter, and fly through
rocks, and floods, and internal fires, as in the open
void of heaven?  Must  they turn aside whenever
they meet a material orb in the celestial spaces?
Do they not rather dart through them, as a sunbeam
through a window pane, and as if matter had no existence?
And so of the human soul: as a spirit, can material
* Drew on the Immortality of the Soul. 
SPIRIT NOT MATERIAL.
bonds confine her, or retard her movements?  What
retort can hold her, or alchymy dissolve her?  What
cords can bind her, or enginery crush her? What
floods can drown or flames consume her?  What men
or angels will become her executioners, and undertake the task of her annihilation? Much better
attempt to solidify a sunbeam, or convert the lightning's flash into a tangible thunderbolt.
Spirit may control matter, but matter has no
dominion over spirit.  No  axe of steel can ever
behead her, no polished blade can ever pierce her.
The soul secure in her existence, smiles,
At the drawn dagger and defies its point.
The stars may fade away. The sun himself,
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years,
But she shall flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amid the war of elements,
The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.
257
17 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER XV.
POWERS OF THE SOUL-MEMORY.
Who reads his bosom reads immortal life;
Or Nature there, imposing on her sons,
HIas written fables: man was made a lie.
IN the preceding chapter an argument for the soul's
immortality was based upon her nature as a spiritual
essence. Let us now proceed to an analysis of her
powers and capabilities, and see if they do not afford
evidence in themselves that she is destined to an
endless state of existence.
Among the most wonderful of all our faculties is
that of MEMORY. It may be defined as the power of
the soul to treasure up ideas, and to recall them at
will, or have them recalled by association, contrast,
&c. Of this power or faculty of the mind, the following may be affirmed:
I. Under favorable circumstances memory may be
cultivated to an almost unlimited extent. It is related by Seneca of the Roman orator Hortensius,
that, after sitting a whole day at a public sale, he
gave an account, from memory, in the evening, of all
things sold, with the prices and names of the purchasers; and this account, when compared with what
258 
POWER OF MEMORY.
had been taken in writing by a notary, was found to
be exact in every particular.
An Englishman, at a certain time, came to Frederic
the Great of Prussia, for the express purpose of
giving him an exhibition of his power of recollection.
Frederic sent for Voltaire, who read to the king a
pretty long poem which he.had just finished. The
Englishman was present, and was in such a position
that he could hear every word of the poem; but was
concealed from Voltaire's notice. After the reading
of the poem was finished, Frederic observed to the
author that the production could not be an original
one, as there was a foreign gentleman present who
could recite every word of it. Voltaire listened with
amazement to the stranger, as he repeated, word for
word, the poem which he had been at so much pains
in composing; and, giving way to a momentary freak
of passion, he tore the manuscript in pieces. A
statement was then made to him of the circumstances
under which the Englishman became acquainted with
his poem, which had the effect to mitigate his anger,
and he was very willing to do penance for the suddenness of his passion by copying down the work
from a second repetition of it by the stranger, who
was able to go through with it as before.*
"An instance of remarkable power of memory
in an Indian orator, is given in Smith's History
of the Colony of New York. In 1689 commissioners
from Boston, Plymouth, and Connecticut, had a
conference with the five Indian Nations, at Albany;
when a Mohawk sachem, in a speech of great
length, answered the message of the commissioners,
* Upham's Mental Philosophy, pp. 168, 169.
259 
"G0      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
and repeated all that had been said the preceding
day."
"Cyrus knew the names of all the soldiers in his
army. Lucius Scipio knew the names of the Roman
people.   Mithridates, who  ruled over twenty-two
kingdoms, delivered laws to them in as many languages, and publicly addressed the natives of each
kingdom in their own tongue, without an interpreter.
Charmidas, or rather Charmeades, could name all the
books in a great library as they stood in order.
Bonaparte is said to have had, in many respects, a
wonderfully-retentive  memory.   It is related of
Moderata Fonte, an Italian lady and an authoress
of note, that she could repeat verbatim, a sermon
or discourse which she had heard but once. The same
is related of Thomas Fuller, author of the'Worthies
of-England."
"Sir Walter Scott possessed a remarkable memory,
Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, records a striking evidence of this. On a fishing excursion in the Tweed,
the party sat down upon the bank,' Scott,' says the
Ettrick Shepherd,'desired me to sing them my
ballad of Gilman's clench. Now, be it remembered
that this ballad had never been printed; I had merely
composed it by rote, and, on finishing it three years
before, had sung it once over to Sir Walter. I began it at his request, but at the eighth or ninth stanza
I stuck in it, and could not get on with another
verse; on which he began it again, and recited it
every word from beginning to end. It being a very
long ballad, consisting of eighty-eight stanzas, I testified my astonishment, knowing that he had never 
POWER OF MEMORY.
heard it but once, and even then did not appear to be
paying particular attention."
"Sydney Smith had an extraordinary memory
always ready.  He could repeat pages of poetry,
English, Latin, and French-when, where, or how he
learned them no one of his family pretended to
know; but they were always ready and appropriate
in company, when conversation turned that way. The
memory of Grotius was so retentive that he remembered almost everything he read."
"Professor Porson possessed a prodigious memory.
When a boy at Eton school, he discovered the most
astonishing powers of memory. In going up to a
lesson one day, he was accosted by a boy in the same
form-'Porson, what have you got there?''Horace.'
'Let me look at it.' Porson handed the book to the
boy, who, pretending to return it, dexterously substituted another in its place, with which Porson proceeded. Being called on by the master, he read and
construed Carm. I. x., very regularly. Observing
the class to laugh, the master said,'Porson, you seem
to me to be reading on one side of the page, while I
am looking at the other; pray whose edition have
you?' Porson hesitated.'Let me see it,' rejoined
the master; who, to his great surprise found it to be
an English Ovid. Porson was ordered to go on;
which he did easily, correctly, and promptly, to the
end of the ode."
"It is said that Dr. Leyden had so strong a
memory that he could repeat correctly a long act of
Parliament, or any similar document, after a single
perusal. Woodfall's extraordinary power of reporting the debates in the House of Commons without
261 
262      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
aid of written memoranda, is well known. During a
debate he used to close his eyes and lean with both
hands upon his stick, resolutely excluding all extraneous associations. The accuracy and precision of
his reports brought his newspaper into great repute.
He would retain a full recollection of a particular
debate a fortnight after it had occurred, and during
the intervention of other debates. He used to say
that it was put by in a corner of his mind for future
reference." *
Pascal forgot nothing that he ever read or thought.
Ben Jonson could recall every line which he had ever
written. A blind Scotchman in Glasgow, who died
a few years ago, could repeat the entire Scriptures,
Old Testament and New.
The Roman emperor Adrian had a memory so
tenacious that he recollected every incident of his
life, and knew'the name of every soldier in his vast
army.
Dumas informs us that, when the emperor Napoleon decided to abandon the invasion of England, and
attack the emperor of Austria, it was necessary to
confide to'the chief of his staff not only the idea of
'the plan of the campaign which he meditated, but,
likewise, to develope all the details. He dictated to
M. DARU, off-hand, and without once stopping, those
memorable instructions, that admirable plan of the
campaign, which was executed precisely as he had
fixed it, doubtless after profound meditation. In
these instructions, the march of every day, the
places at which the army should arrive at successive
periods, and the place and almost the day on which
* Man all Immortal, pp. 381-383. 
POWER OF MEMORY.
the great battle should be fought, were minutely
specified. With these previous instructions the actual
result corresponded." *
"The power of a strong memory, even in its ordinary, unquickened state, is astonishing.   So  few
people cultivate the memory that they are oftentimes
incredulous of well authenticated instances of remarkable retentiveness."
II. It is matter of common experience, that events
which we had not thought of for long years, and that
we had apparently forgotten, are often brought distinctly to our knowledge again by some accidental
remark or incident; so that of all that we have "forgotten" as we call it, or that we are now unable to
remember, no man can tell how soon heomay be able
to remember more or less of which his mind is now
wholly oblivious.
III. Distance of time, of itself, seems to have no
unfavorable effect upon the memory. The aged remember the events of their youth even more distinctly than recent occurrences. This is no doubt
due to the fact that the attention is more easily
arrested and fixed in early life than in after years;
but even if this be the case, it shows that the lapse
of sixty or seventy years has little or no power to
obliterate the records of memory.
IV. Under extraordinary excitements it often happens that memory seems to bring forth all her treasures, and to call up in review and in rapid succession,
all the events of our past lives. Of the manifestations of this remarkable power of the soul, a few instances may be cited.
a Wayland's Intellectual Philosophy, p. 258.
263 
264      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
1. "Mr.  R. of Bowland, a gentleman of landed
property in the vale of Gala, was prosecuted for a
very considerable sum, the accumulated arrears of
teind, (or tithe,) for which he was said to be indebted
to a noble family, the titulars, (lay impropriators of
the tithes.) Mr. R. was strongly impressed with the
belief that his father had, by a form of process peculiar to the law of Scotland, purchased these lands
from the titular, and therefore that the present prosecution was  groundless.   But after an industrious
search among his father's papers, an investigation of
the public records, and a careful inquiry among all
persons who had transacted law-business for his father,
no evidence could be recovered to support his defence.
The period was now near at hand when he conceived
the loss of his lawsuit to be inevitable, and he had
formed his determination to ride to Edinburgh next
day, and make the best bargain he could in, the way
of compromise. He went to bed with this resolution,
and with all the circumstances of the case floating
upon his mind, had a dream to the following purpose:
His father, who had been many years dead, appeared
to him, he thought, and asked him why he was disturbed in his mind. In dreams men are not surprised
at such apparitions. Mr. R. thought that he informed
his father of the cause of his distress, adding that the
payment of a considerable sum of money was the
more unpleasant to him, because he had a strong consciousness that it was not due, though he was unable
to recover any evidence in support of his belief.
'You are right, my son,' replied the paternal shade;
'I did acquire right to those teinds, for payment of
which you are now prosecuted. The papers relating 
POWER OF MEMORY.
to the transaction are in the hands of Mr., a
writer (or attorney) who is now retired from professional business, and resides at Inveresk, near Edinburgh. He was a person whom I employed on that occasion for a particular reason, but who never, on any
other occasion, transacted business on my account.
It is very possible,' pursued the vision,'that Mr.
- may have forgotten a matter which is now of a
very old date; but you may call it to his recollection
by this token, that when I came to pay his account,
there was difficulty in getting change for a Portugal
piece of gold, and that we were forced to drink out
the balance at a tavern.'
"Mr. R. awoke in the morning, with all the words
of his vision imprinted on his mind, and thought it
worth while to ride across the country to Inveresk,
instead of going straight to Edinburgh. When he
came there he waited on the gentleman mentioned in
the dream, a very old man; without saying anything
of the vision, he inquired whether he remembered
having conducted such a matter for his deceased father.
The old gentleman could not at first bring the circumstance to his recollection; but, on mention of the Portugal piece of gold, the whole returned upon his memory; he made an immediate search for the papers
and recovered them,-so that Mr. R. carried to Edinburgh the documents necessary to gain the cause
which he was on the verge of losing."
"There is every reason to believe that this very
interesting case is referable to the principle lately
mentioned; that the gentleman had heard the circumstances from his father, but had entirely forgotten
them, until the frequent and intense application of his
265 
266      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
mind to the subject with which they were connected
at length gave rise to a train of association which recalled them in the dream. So the same principles are
referable to the two following anecdotes, which we
have received as entirely authentic.
2. "A gentleman of the law in Edinburgh had mislaid an important paper, relating to some affairs on
which a public meeting was soon to be held.  He had
been making most anxious search for it for many
days; but the evening of the day preceding that on
which the meeting was to be held had arrived, without
his being able to discover it.  He went to bed under
great anxiety and disappointment, and dreamed that
the paper was in a box appropriated to the papers of
a particular family, with which it was in no way connected; it was accordingly found there in the morning.
3. "Another individual, connected with a public
office, had mislaid a paper of such importance, that
he was threatened with the loss of his situation if he
did not produce it. After a long but unsuccessful
search, under intense anxiety, he also dreamed of dis
covering the paper in a particular place, and found it
there accordingly.*
4. "The following," says Dr. Abercrombie, "occurred to a particular friend of mine, and may be relied upon in its most minute particulars:
"The gentleman was at the time connected with one
of the principal banks in Glasgow, and was at his place
at the teller's table, where money is paid, when a person entered demanding payment of a sum of six pounds.
There were several people waiting, who were, in turn,
* Abercrombie's Intellectual Philosophy, pp. 203-7. 
POWER OF MEMORY.
entitled to be attended before him; but he was extremely impatient, and rather noisy; and, being besides a remarkable stammerer, he became so annoying, that another gentleman requested my friend to
pay him his money and get rid of him.  He did so,
accordingly, but with an expression of impatience at
being obliged to attend to him before his turn, and
thought no more of the transaction.  At the end of
the year, which was eight or nine months after, the
books of the bank could not be made to balance,
the deficiency being exactly six pounds.   Several
days and nights had been spent in endeavoring to discover the error, but without success; when, at last,
my friend returned home, much fatigued, and went
to bed.  He dreamed of being at his place in the
bank, and the whole transaction with the stammerer,
as now detailed, passed before him in all its particulars. He awoke under a full impression that the dream
was to lead him to a discovery of what he was so anxiously in search of; and, on examination, soon discovered
that the sum paid to this person in the manner now
mentioned, had been neglected to be inserted in the
book of interests, and that it exactly accounted for
the error in the balance."*
The following similar instance, is also.to the same
effect:
5. " A gentleman who was appointed to an office
in one of the principal banks in Edinburgh, found on
balancing his first day's transactions, that the money
under his charge was deficient by ten pounds. After
many fruitless attempts to discover the cause of the
error, he went home, not a little annoyed by the re              Intellectual Philosophy, pp. 203-4.
267 
268     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
suit of his first experience in banking. In the night
he dreamed that he was at his place in the bank,
and that a gentleman who was personally known to
him presented a draft for ten pounds. On awaking, he recollected the dream, and also recollected
that the gentleman who appeared in it had actually
received ten pounds. On going to the bank, he found
that he had neglected to enter the payment, and that
the gentleman's order had by accident fallen among
some pieces of paper, which had been thrown on the
floor to be swept away."*
6. It is a well-known fact, that to men brought
into sudden peril,-there comes flashing in upon
their minds all the scenes of their past life.
"A friend of mine," says Theodore Tilton, "told
me, a few days ago, of an accident which occurred to
a relative of his while riding through one of the recently broken  roads in West  Philadelphia. Hlis
horse became frightened, and ran away; the rider
feared that he would be dashed to pieces upon a pile
of stones that lay by the side of the road; but,
escaping without harm, he afterwards said that in
that one solitary instance of imminent peril, there
flashed through his mind a recollection of all past life,
-his childhood, his youth, his early manhood, his
business affairs, his family." t
7. Numerous instances are on record in which persons who have been recovered from drowning have
declared that at a certain period in the process of
suffocation, after the lungs had become filled with
water, the  mind  became  indescribably  clear  and
* Intellectual Philosophy, p. 204.
t Lecture in Music Hall, Boston, June, 1860. 
POWER OF MEMORY.
active; and that the minutest events of their past
lives arose distinctly to view, and passed rapidly before the mind.
"An individual of my acquaintance," says Bishop
Clark, "was nearly drowned some years since.  He
stated that when first precipitated into the foaming
deep, he fully realized the hopelessness of his condition; but almost at the very moment the recollection
of former events and of former years came rushing
upon the memory.   Its action was intense and rapid.
Everything was remembered with all the distinctness
of present life.  Incidents, events, acts, words-all
started up in rapid succession, till his whole past life
seemed to be reflected as from a mirror. His memory
seemed to have grasped every event from very childhood to middle life, and hung them up, as though
painted on canvas, before the broad glance of the
drowning man. Almost by a miracle he was plucked
from the very jaws of death; but ever after was he
accustomed to dwell with astonishment and wonder
upon the singular developments of his memory while
the floods-compassed him about, and to declare that
he believed it possible for the mind to recollect everything that had ever come within the range of thought
and feeling." *
Admiral Beaufort of the British navy had a similar
experience under similar circumstances. "Every incident of my life," said he, "seemed to glance across
my recollection-not in mere outline, but the whole
picture filled up with every minute and collateral
feature.  The whole period of my existence seemed
to be placed before me in a kind of panoramic re
* Treatise, p. 390.
269 
270      THE IMMORTALITY OF TIlE SOUL.
view, and each act of it seemed to be accompanied by
a consciousness of right and wrong."
Such instances might be multiplied, but it is not
necessary.
8. In other cases the most astonishing powers
of memory have been exhibited under the excitement
of disease.
In a Catholic town in Germany, a young woman
of four or five-and-twenty, who could neither read nor
write, was seized with a nervous fever, during which
she was incessantly talking Greek, Latin, and HIebrew, with much pomp and distinctness of enunciation. The case attracted much attention, and many
sentences which she uttered, being taken down by
some learned person present, were found to be coherent and intelligible, each for itself, but with little ot
no connection with each other. Of the Hebrew only
a small portion could be traced to the Bible; the remainder was that form of Hebrew which is usually
called Rabbinic. Ignorant, and simple, and harmless, as this young woman was known to be, no one
suspected any deception; and no explanation could
for a long time be given, although inquiries were
made for that purpose in different families where she
had resided as a servant.
Through the zeal, however, and philosophical spirit
of a young physician, all the necessary information
was in the end obtained. The woman was of poor
parents, and at nine years of age had been kindly
taken to be brought up by an old Protestant minister,
who lived at some distance. He was a very learned
man; being not only a great Hebraist, but acquainted
also with Rabbinical writings, the Greek and Latin 
POWER OF MEMORY.
fathers, &c. The passages which had been taken
down in the delirious ravings of the young woman,
were found by the physician precisely to agree with
passages in some books in those languages which had
formerly belonged to him.  But these facts were not
a full explanation of the case. It appeared, on
further inquiry, that the patriarchal Protestant had
been in the habit for many years of walking up and
down a passage of his house, into which the kitchen
door opened, and to read to himself with a loud voice
out of his favorite books. This attracted the notice of
the poor and ignorant domestic whom he had taken
into hi4 family; the passages made an impression on
her memory; and although probably for a long time
beyond the reach of her recollection when in health,
they were at last vividly restored, and were uttered
in the way above mentioned, in consequence of the
feverish state of the physical system, particularly of
the brain.*
9. Abercrombie mentions the case of a poor woman,
sick in a hospital, who, during a fever, talked in her
sleep. The physician drew near to hear what she
was saying, and to ascertain whether there was
any coherency in her speech.   She began to talk
of the condition of other patients, describing with
singular minuteness the aspects of their disease.
The physician queried whether these remarks could
apply to any of the patients in the hospital; but, on
looking round at the various sick beds, he could see
no proper application whatever. Calling some other
physicians to examine the case, they all approached
the bedside and listened attentively. One of the
* Upham's Mental Philosophy, pp. 185 186.
271 
272     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUIL.
number remembered the face of the woman as that
of a patient who had been in the hospital some two
years before, sick with the same fever; and when
the attendants were called, they also recognized her,
and, as she murmured in her sleep, discovered that
her remarks applied with wonderful precision to the
sick persons in the hospital two years before. So
that those impressions which, during her two years
of comparative restoration to health had remained
entirely dormant, now again the moment the hand of
disease was laid upon her, were quickened into this
strange life.
From cases like these, philosophers have concluded that no impression made upon the mind is ever
utterly lost. Such was the conclusion of Lord Bacon,
and of others after him.
As one has well said, "The resurrection of memory
is a physical fact which science has proved and no
man can gainsay.  Every impression made upon the
mind is abiding. What is written on this tablet
endures as if it were written on tables of stone.
There is no oblivion! The old mythological Water
of Lethe, into which a sad thought once dropped, was
fabled to be drowned forever, never flowed except in
the myth." *
Though we may think we have utterly forgotten
and lost a name, or an event, yet such is the constitution of the soul, that some word or incident may call
up the long forgotten name or event, the very next
moment of our life.
Lulled in the countless chambers of the brain,
Our thoughts are linked by many a hidden chain,
* Theodore Tilton, in the Lecture previously referred to. 
POWER OF MEMORY.
Awake but one, and lo, what myriads rise!
Each stamps its image as the other flies.
V. Now what is the bearing of all these facts, illus trating the nature and power of the memory, upon
the question of the soul's continued existence after
death? Perhaps we may better understand their import and force in the light of an illustration or two
drawn from the physical world.
1. A naturalist who has never seen a honey bee is
called upon to observe its habits, and ascertain whether
it has power to survive a northern winter, and live on
through the summer, or must perish like the butterfly,
by the first frosts of autumn. Watching its habits
he observes, first, that it feeds and lives on the nectar
and pollen gathered from flowers. In the second
place, he observes that it is storing up both these elements of life in a secure and warm place, carefully
sealing up every vessel, and eating nothing therefrom, till the frosts have killed the flowers, when it
opens cell after cell of its stores to supply its daily
wants.
Now without waiting for the issue of the coming
spring, or even for the effect of intense cold upon the
subject of his observations, would not a thoughtful
mind inevitably come to the conclusion that whatever
might be the result in this particular instance, the
Creator de8sined this species of insect to survive confinement, cold and storm, and go forth amid the sunshine of other springs, to taste the sweetness, behold the beauty and breathe the fragrance of newborn flowers, when the rigors of winter have passed
away.
2  Take another illustration:  A  naturalist who
18
273 
274     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
has no knowledge of such an animal, is called upon
to dissect the body of a camel, in order to ascertain its
habits, abode, &c. Coming to the stomach, he finds
it to consist of a central sack into which the food descends, and from which it is raised for further mastication, as is the case with the ox, goat, &c. But
around this central stomach he finds several other
subordinate cavities, so constructed that when filled
their mouths are closed tightly by muscular action, or
opened at pleasure. Moreover, he finds that some of
these side cavities are filled with fresh water, while
others are empty; and that although the camel has
taken no water for several days, there is a quantity
of fresh water in the stomach, as if he had just been
drinking.*
From these facts he would infer that the fresh water-in the main stomach was from the empty side
stomachs-that the animal had power to unseal one
of those reservoirs and empty its contents into the
stomach proper whenever he was thirsty, or his food
needed moistening-that he could drink a large supply of water at a time,-and go a long time without
drinking; and was therefore adapted to and designed
for long journeys over a desert country where water
could seldom be obtained. Such would be the testi mony of " Reason and Nature" as to the destiny of
the species, and its capability of living amid burn ing sands, where the antelope and the bison would die
* Travelers in the deserts of Arabia are sometimes obliged to slaugh
ter a camel out of their caravans in order to save their own lives by the
water found in those wonderful reservoirs.  "If worst oomes to the
worst," said an old Arab, "we  can sacrifice one of our camels for
the sake of the water which Allah has provided him with a reservoir
in his stomach."  Life in the Desert, by L. Du Couret, pp. 251-283. 
POWER OF MEMORY.
of thirst. It would in no wise invalidate the argument to show that in this case the animal was born in
a menagerie, and had never had occasion to store up
water for long journeys over burning deserts. The
use or disuse of his peculiar physical organism is an,
indifferent incident. HIis Creator has constructed the
species so that they are adapted to and capable of
such journeys, as no other animal is; they are therefore made for them; and, as a species destined to such
journeys.
3. Let the same process of reasoning be applied
to the problem of immortality. As the bee stores up
the food on which she feeds in summer in quantities
sufficient for the ensuing winter, so the mind treasures up in the store-house of memory the elements
of her manifested life, and indicates unmistakably
her power to retain and under favorable circumstances
to reproduce every idea ever committed to her charge.
But of what avail would be this wonderful instinct
of the bee, if she were destined to die in autumn, and
leave all her treasures of food untasted? Not to
speak irreverently would not such an anomaly be characterized as a mistake in the economy of Nature? Is
not that frugal instinct in itself a prophecy of continued being in other years? So of the faculty of
memory-is it not also a prophecy of the continued
being of the soul when the vicissitudes of this mortal
life are forever past?
And if the physical economy of " the ship of the
desert," in itself indicates both her capabilities and
her destination, does not the faculty of memory indicate with equal clearness that the soul of man is
adapted to the long journey of immortality, and will
275 
276      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
open up all her treasures of thought and of knowledge
in the world beyond the grave.
Then shall the soul around her call,
The treasures that she gathered here;
And painted on the eternal wall,
The past shall re-appear.
VI. The ability of the soul to re-produce, under
favorable circumstances, all the events, words and
thoughts of its past experience, has led some to regard the memory of man as one of the "books" to
be opened in the day of judgment, and from which
all men are to be judged. Rev. xx. 12. HIowever that
may be, of one thing we may be assured, that in the
life to come all the scenes of the present life will rise
again to view on the enduring tablet of memory, to
become a source of joy or of sorrow through all the
years of eternity.
Each fainter trace that memory holds,
So darkly of departed years,
At one broad glance the soul beholds,
And all that was at once appears!
If we add to a memory that will reproduce all the
past; even " every vain and idle word," a conscience
so quickened as not only to' discriminate the nicest
shades of right and wrong, of guilt and innocency,
but also to tear the soul with keenest sense of guilt
and of agonizing remorse, may we not have the embodiment of "the worm that dieth not, and the fire
that shall never be quenched?" Mark ix. 45.
But as this question leads us beyond the range of
our appropriate inquiry, we dismiss it to continue the
argument for immortality based upon the powers of
the soul herself. 
RAPIDITY OF THOUGHT.
CHAPTER XVI.
POWERS OF THIE SOUL CONTINUED-RAPIDITY OF OUR
MENTAL PROCESSES.
In man the more we dive, the more we see
Heaven's signet stamping an immortal make.
I. INTUITION is defined as "the act by which the
mind perceives the agreement or disagreement of two
ideas, or the truth of things, immediately, or the moment they are presented, without the intervention of
other ideas, or without reasoning or deduction." *
This may be sufficiently correct for a popular definition, and yet we think it needs qualifying. If it had
said "without conscious reasoning or deduction," we
believe it would have been more strictly correct. Is
not what we call intuition a conclusion reached by a
process of reasoning so rapid, that we are simply unconscious of it? Is not an intuition, so called, a
conclusion or judgment, even though reached in an
instant? and if so-is it not based upon some data or
premises, which are the basis of the intuition?
We may not be able to point out the grounds of
our intuition, in any given case, or to detect a process of reasoning, and yet such grounds exist, beyond
all question, and govern our intuitions; and whether
* Webster.
277 
278      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
conscious of it or not, every intuition is a process of
reasoning instantaneously consummated. All intuitions, therefore, are specimens of the rapidity of our
mental processes.
II. The rapidity with.which an experienced accountant will add up long columns of figures, without
error, affords another illustration of the same power.
How inconceivably rapid must be the mental action
in such cases. Beginning on the right the form of
the first figure is first noted, from which the number
of units it represents is ascertained. This noted, the
operator passes to the next, carrying with him a distinct idea of the amount of the first figure. He
passes to the second, notes its form, ascertains its
value, adds it to the first, ascertains the amount, and
with this new amount passes to the third figure, and
so on to the end of the first column, and from column
to column. A great variety of distinct acts take place
in the mind, in regard to each figure; and yet thousands
of persons will add a column of figures the height
of an ordinary ledger page, and extending to five or
six figures in width, in half the time it will take to
read this paragraph.
III. The case of Truman Henry Safford, furnishes
an illustration in point.
"After a very superficial attendance at a country
school in Vermont, with an attenuated frame and
feeble health, this boy, at the age of nine years and
six months, produced the " Youth's Almanac for
1846," having made all the calculations of eclipses,
the rising and setting of the sun, &c., &c., without
any assistance whatever; and that recently, in the
thirteenth year of his age, and in the same unassisted 
RAPIDITY OF THOUGHT.
manner, he calculated the orbit of the telescopic
comet of November, 1848, and with an accuracy, as I
am  informed, which is corroborated by the  best
astronomers.   The interrogatories were of a very
difficult nature, resolved mentally and according to
the rules of science, and generally with great instantaneousness.   For the purpose of testing the
reach of his mind in computation, he was finally asked
to "multiply in his head 365,365,365,365,365,365, by
365,365,365,365,365,365. He flew round the room
like a top, and pulled his pantaloons over the top of
his boots, bit his hand, rolled his eyes in their sockets,
until, in not more than one minute, said he, 133,491,
850,208,566,925,016,658,299,941,583,225. Whatwas
still more wonderful, he began to multiply at the left
hand, and to bring out the answer from left to right,
giving first, 133,491, &c. Here, confounded above
measure, I gave up the examination." *
Here we have the most satisfactory proof that a
mere boy multiplied 365,365,365,365,365,365, by
365,365,365,365,365,365, in " not more than one
minute," and gave the correct product!
Now whether it were performed in a day or a
minute, one thing is certain; and that is, that the
numerical value of each figure must have been distinctly comprehended, and also its increased value,
as affected by its distance from the first figure on
the right. Then each of the separate figures of the
first line, must be multiplied by each of those in
the second; and finally the result of each distinct
multipliceation must be added up, as one grand total.
But there are eighteen distinct figures in each
* Paine on the Soul, Instinct and Life, pp. 51, 52.
279 
280     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
line. To multiply the eighteen figures in the first
line, by the first figure of the second line, will require eighteen distinct multiplications, the product of
which will be unlike in each distinct instance; and as
there are eighteen distinct figures by which the first
line is to be multiplied, there must be three hundred
and twenty-four distinct multiplications, to say nothing
of the effort of remembering each figure of the
products, and their places, and of adding up the
whole, mentally, without slate or blackboard. And
all this in one minute! It seems incredible, and yet
it cannot reasonably be doubted.
IV. Another illustration of this wonderful power
of the soul, is found in the phenomena of dreaming.
Events which would take whole days or weeks are
sometimes gone through with in our dreams in a
few minutes. The jarring of a door, which awakens
us by its opening, may cause us to dream of robbers, or other calamities, in the very instant of
awaking.
"A friend of mine," says Abercrombie, "dreamed
that he crossed the Atlantic, and spent a fortnight
in America. In embarking on his return, he fell
into the sea; and, having awoke with the fright,
discovered that he had not been asleep above ten
minutes."
Count Lavallette, who some years since was condemned to death in France, relates a dream which
occurred during his imprisonment as follows: " One
night while I was asleep, the clock of the Palais de
Justice struck twelve and awoke me. I heard the
gate open to relieve the sentry; but fell asleep again
immediately.  In this sleep I dreamed that I was 
RAPIDITY OF THOUGHIT.
standing in the Rue St. iHonord, at the corner of the
Rue de l'Echelle. A melancholy darkness spread
around me; all was still; nevertheless, a low and
uncertain sound arose.   All of a sudden, I per ceived at the bottom of the street, and advancing
towards me, a troop of cavalry, the men and horses,
however, all flayed. This horrible troop continued
passing in a rapid gallop, and casting frightful looks
on me. Their march, I thought, continued for five
hours; and they were followed by an immense number
of artillery-wagons, full of bleeding corpses, whose
limbs still quivered; a disgusting smell of blood and
bitumen almost choked me. At length the iron gate
of the prison shutting with great force, awoke me
again. I made my repeater strike; it was no more
than midnight; so that the horrible phantasmagoria
had lasted no more than two or three minutes; that is
to say, the time necessary for relieving the sentry
and shutting the gate. The cold was severe and
watchword short. The next day the turnkey confirmed my calculations."
"Our dreams not unfrequently go through all the
particulars of some long journey, or of some military
expedition, or of a circumnavigation of the globe,
or of other long and perilous undertakings, in a
less number of hours than it would take weeks or
months, or even years, actually to perform them.
We go from land to land, and from city to city,
and into desert places; we experience transitions
from joy to sorrow, and from poverty to wealth; we
are occupied in the scenes and transactions of many
long months; and then our slumbers are scattered,
281 
282     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
and behold they are the doings of a fleeting watch of
the night."*
V. The power of the soul to conduct her processes with inconceivable celerity is seen again in
those instances of fright and of apparent drowning,
recorded in a previous chapter.t Not only is memory true to reproduce the past, without a trace
obliterated, but it is done in an instant. So far as
reviewing every event of our past experience is
concerned, so rapid is our mental action, under circumstances adapted to call into play the power of
the soul, that it is but the work of a moment.
From such developments we are warranted in the
conclusion that under favorable circumstances the
soul of man may be capable of minutely reviewing
the history of our globe from the dawn of time to its
close, in a single hour! We must not judge of the
future even by our sublimest achievements in this
mortal life. It doth not yet appear what we shall
be. Oh what glory and bliss may await the righteous, even in the exercise of his mental powers alone!
With the universe for his text book, a world taken at
a lesson, and eternity for his school-days, who  can
anticipate the lofty goal to which he may at length
ascend? Though now a little lower than the angels,
may not the period arrive in the glorious future,
when the present attainments of seraphim and
cherubim shall appear to God's ransomed  people
but as the rudest elements of knowledge, the mere
alphabet of man's intellectual endowments.
VI. Still another illustration of the rapidity of our
*T Upham's Mental Philosophy, pp. 113, 114.
t See especially, page 268, of chapter xv. 
RAPIDITY OF THOUGHT.
mental processes, may be found in the flights of the
imagination.  Let this power be excited, and how
marvelous the speed of thought!
How swift is a glance of the mind,
Compared with the speed of its flight,
The tempest itself lags behind,
And the swift-winged arrows of light.
Or as another has more strikingly depicted the
same power of the soul,
How swift thought travels. Lo the cannon's flash,
The swift-winged lightnings, and the whirlwind's dash,
Much slower move. Hoarse thunder's leaping sound,
Hurled orbs careering through the void profound,
And Time, swift charrioteer, all fly behind
The speed of thought! Sunlight, our servant kind,
Along the extended void each minute flies,
Twelve million miles to greet our waiting eyes;
Yet swifter thought. Yes, this winged power of soul,
Can travel round the globe, call at each pole,
Visit the Moon, the portals of the Sun,
Thence step from world to world, through systems run,
O'er fields of stars where blazing comets stray,
To Nature's verge; trace back time's traveled way,
Six thousand years to where creation rose,
Thence back and onward to creation's close;
To Heaven's metropolis where seraphs burn,
And, but one minute gone, to earth return,
Without the least fatigue; but ready quite,
To stretch her wings, and take another Alight.*
Such is the celerity with which the soul is capable
of carrying on her various processes of remembering
and reasoning and imagination.   How wonderful,
then, how subtle and ethereal must be that mysterious
nature which is capable of such feats of activity. She
has no inertia to be overcome by mechanical force; no
liability to burst asunder like a Sheffield grind-stone,
* Triumph of Truth, by Rev. Charles Giles.
283 
284     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
from her too rapid revolutions; and no tendency to
spontaneous combustion from excessive friction.
Though she act with the speed of lightning, there
is no material manifestation, no friction, no noise.
Though she outstrips the sunbeams in the race, her
form shall cast no shadow as she passes, nor jostle a
dew-drop from the morning flowers. All this she can
do because she is a spirit. Were she of earth, she
must,needs move like earthly things, and like them,
might perish at last; but spurning the dull tediousness of inert matter, she acts like a celestial being,
and thus proclaims, both her title to and her fitness
for an immortal state of existence. 
HER VAST ACHIEVEMENTS.
CHAPTER XVII.
POWERS OF THE SOUL CONTINUED-CAPABILITIES OF
IMPROVEMENT, AND VAST ACHIEVEMENTS.
CONTINUING our analysis of the powers and susceptibilities of the soul, let us now look at her capacity for improvement, as compared with the lower
animals, and as in some measure attested by her
achievements even during this brief and inauspicious
life.
I. That reason and instinct are not identical, we
shall not pause to argue at length. When we see the
lower tribes endowed with instinct to select their food;
swim if thrown into the water; hide upon the approach of danger, &c., from the day of birth,-to migrate with unerrring precision, both as to the time and
the direction, and a thousand other things for which
man has no corresponding instinct, it is obvious that
the Creator gave instinct to be the guide of the lower
animals, leaving man to be governed by the higher
endowment of reason. Hence man has but a single
instinct, and that is to draw his food from his mother's
breast; and even that is supplanted by reason before
six months have elapsed.  On the other hand the
birds of the air, the quadrupeds, the insect tribes,
and even the fish of the sea, are all richly endowed
285 
286      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
with various instincts, which continue through life,
but have scarce a semblance of reason.
II. But though the endowment of instinct usually
remains during the life of its possessor, there is no improvement. The beaver builds his dam and his house
during the last year of his life, precisely as he did
the first; and those of this generation precisely like
those of a thousand generations past. So of the
bee; she builds her honey-comb to-day, precisely as
in the days of Samson or of David, three thousand
years ago. And so on through all the animal tribes.
There is no progress; no invention, no improvement
upon the past, no building upon the acquisitions of
preceding generations. Though some of them may
live for a century, they reach their zenith of knowledge in a few short years, at longest, and can go no
further.
A horse becomes accustomed to his stable;-it takes
fire, but it is impossible to remove him except by deception or force; and even when fairly out, if left
free to follow his instincts he will rush back into the
flames and perish. And yet he is one of the most
sagacious of animals. But capable as he may be of
improvement in minor things, probably a century of
training would fail to give him reason enough not to
rush into the jaws of certain death, merely because he
has been in the habit of being fed and of resting in
a building now wrapped in flames. Such is the quality of the "reason" which materialism insists upon
according to the brute creation.
III. From these undeniable facts, look now at the
progressive character of reason. Step by step and
link by link, the soul moves onward and upward from 
HER VAST ACHIEVEMENTS.
one principle to another, and from premises to remote
conclusions, till she plants herself above the stars.
So far as we know, there is no limit to her capacity
for storing up knowledge. Failing bodily powers
may arrest her progress and obscure her light for a
time, but this argues nothing against continued vigor
in the intermediate state nor when the soul shall come
to dwell in her resurrection body. Even in this life,
both the field of investigation and the capacity of improvement may be regarded as unlimited.
Were man to live coeval with the sun,
The patriarch pupil would be learning still,
Yet, dying, leave his lesson half unlearned.
With all the disabilities under which the mind of
man exists in our present fallen state, the capability
of endless progress in knowledge is as apparent as
the ability to acquire knowledge at all. In this
we discover the broad line of demarkation which distinguishes man from the beast that perishes.
IV. In further illustration of the capacity of man
for acquiring knowledge, look at his actual achievements in the various fields of human research. Take
the sciences, for example. Here is one man, who
like Solomon, knew every plant, and shrub, and
flower, and tree, from the cedar of Lebanon, to the
hyssop upon the wall. 1 Kings iv. 33. He can tell
you of the structure, and habits, and abode of each,
whether in the valleys or on the hills, on the land or
in the depths of the sea. Another makes geology
his study, and can tell you the origin, and age, and
peculiarities of every rock, and gem, and mineral,
and fossil in all the earth. It is his delight to
dwell amid "the chief things of the ancient moun
287 
288      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
tains, and the precious things of the lasting hills."
Deut. xxxiii. 13. Another is equally familiar with
the geography of every part of the globe, its continents and oceans, rivers and mountains, climate and
productions. And so of optics and magnetism, pneumatics and chemistry, natural history and astronomy,
mathematics and languages, mental philosophy and
logic, rhetoric and history, physiology and medicine,
law and theology, architecture, navigation, mechanics,
invention, poetry, sculpture, and painting; and a
thousand other minor departments of knowledge and
skill which we cannot enumerate.
And how wonderful the elevation to which man has
attained in each of these departments.
Earth's disembowel'd! measured are the skies!
Stars are detected in their deep recess!
Creation widens! Vanquish'd Nature yields!
Her secrets are extorted! Art prevails!
What monuments of genius, spirit, power!
The astronomer will predict a transit or an eclipse
to a minute a thousand years to come, and tell you
precisely where it will or will not be visible on
the earth's surface, and its precise extent and duration. So familiar is he with the mechanism. of the
heavens, and with "the geometry of God."   The
chemist will separate the gold from the silver, though
thoroughly fused and blended together; or detect the
smallest quantity of arsenic, though scattered through
the whole human body. The physiologist knows
every bone, and muscle, and artery, and vein, and
nerve, and gland, and organ, from the crown of the
head to the sole of the foot, with their proper offices,
and functions, and perhaps the symptoms of every 
IIER VAST ACHIEVEMENTS.
disease, and the effect of every remedy. And thus
on through every department of human research.
No matter what speciality we single out, the amount
that is already known by man in that single depart ment is almost overwhelming to our contemplations.
Think of all that is known of language, of history, of
mathematics, of architecture, and of the mechanical
arts.   Look  at the immense  libraries, embracing
scores of volumes in each branch of study. Look at
the collections of minerals, and shells, and birds, and
quadrupeds, and reptiles, and fishes, and insects
gathered by man, to aid him in his investigations.
There are enough objects of scientific interest in the
Smithsonian Institute in Washington, or in the
Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia, to bewilder and almost overwhelm an ordinary observer.
Go to the Patent Office in Washington and look at
the fifty thousand models, more or less, deposited
there by inventors. Think of the research and mental
power of which each model is an embodiment.
In a word the height of knowledge to which man
has attained in each department of skill and of knowledge is almost overwhelming to the common understanding. And yet, judging from the achievements
of the last half century, our progress even in this
world is but just begun. Look at the advance in the
use of steam since Robert Fulton launched his first
steam boat. So of the daguerreotype, of telegraphing,
of printing, and stereotyping, and a thousand othler
branches of human industry.
Whose footsteps these?-Immortals have been here,
Could less than sours immortal this have done?
Earth's covered o'er with proofs of souls immortal,
And proofs of Immortality forget.
19
289 
290      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
But we must forbear. The mind grows weary
under the contemplation of even the briefest outline
of the accomplished attainments of the human soul.
V. But it is not necessary to embrace all this in
order to secure a foundation for the inference that
the soul of man is immortal. The capability of unlimited progress is seen in the development of the
mind in each particular case, without this overwhelming survey of the already hoarded treasures of the
immortal spirit. The locomotive that comes thundering along the valleys, and burrowing through the
hills with its thousands of passengers, or its hundreds
of tons of merchandise, ascending the steep grade like
a Titan, and scorning fatigue, and yet manageable as
an infant, proclaims by every shout that it sends out
on the air, reverberating along the hills, "my builder
is immortal!" And such is the voice of every cotton
factory, every cathedral, every steamer, every suspension bridge, every iron-clad war ship, every steam
printing-press, every sewing or knitting-machine,
every chronometer, or mariner's compass, diving-bell,
or balloon.
The works of man are the witnesses of his capacity
for improvement, the living monument attesting his
adaptation to another state of existence.
VI. Should it be replied that although the amount
of knowledge acquired by man is almost inconceivably
vast, no one mind has comprehended it all-that it
has been gathered by different persons, in different
lands and ages, by each pursuing a speciality; we
admit the fact, but deny that it vitiates the argument. Why does the linguist, for instance, devote
his life to the study of language?  Is it because he is 
HER VAST ACHIEVEMENTS.
ineapable of learning history, or science, or law, or
medicine? By no means; but because this life is too
short to allow him to explore the whole field. Like
a poor student, who can afford but a single term at
an academy, and who, wishing to turn his opportunities to the best account, selects writing and bookkeeping as his studies, and devotes all his time and
energies to them; so with man here. His student
life is too short for him to pursue the entire course
which the Creator has placed before him. He must
choose his speciality and pursue it, turn his attainments to the best account during this short life, and
await the developments of the world to come.
It is not, then, a want of capacity that restricts him,
but a want of time.  How often have individuals been
found who were equally at home in several vast fields
of learning.  And suppose vigor, and life, and opportunities were extended for centuries, who can say
that the soul of one man is not fully competent to
acquire all the knowledge within the reach of mankind? That the human soul is capable of this there
can be no doubt. With the universe for our text-book,
and eternity for our school-days, well may the apostle
say, "it doth not yet appear what we shall be."
VII. Let us now apply these facts, illustrative of
the powers of the soul, to the question of her continued existence after death. Have they such scope
in this brief life, as to justify their bestowment by an
all-wise Creator? Would a kind parent send his son
to toil over Greek, and Latin, and mathematics, who
knew that he must die before he could graduate?
And is not the Deity equally economical in the bestowment of powers and opportunities? If so, the
291 
292      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
very capacity of the human soul for endless improvement, is both a token and a pledge that her way shall
be onward, and that she is destined to another and an
endless state of existence.
Say, can a soul possessed
Of such extensive, deep, tremendous powers,
Enlarging still, be but a finer breath,
Of spirits dancing through their tubes,
And then forever lost in vacant air?
"When I consider," says Cicero, "the wonderful
activity of the mind, so great a memory of what is
past, and such a capacity of penetrating into the
future; when I behold such a number of arts and
sciences, and such a multitude of discoveries thence
arising; I believe, and am firmly persuaded, that a
nature which contains so many things within itself
cannot be mortal." *
The progressive character of reason, and the capability of the soul for unlimited improvement, constitute a natnral argument for immortality that might
well impress the mind of a heathen philosopher.
And if it was of weight then, when science and the
arts were but in their infancy, how is it now, when
the achievements of the human mind are augmented
an hundred fold? And yet our education is but just
begun. We see but through a glass darkly, and know
but in part. We have capacity for limitless improvement, but lack time and opportunity for full development. Shall, then these latent powers slumber unimproved forever?  Are not the tiny unspread wings
of the chrysalis a sure omen  and pledge of its
destination to flit from field to field and from flower
*De Senectute, Cap. 21. 
HER VAST ACHIEVEMENTS.
to flower, as the gorgeous butterfly?* So of the
powers of the soul, as yet undeveloped in this life.
Nor are our powers to perish immature;
But after feeble effort here, beneath
A brighter sun, and in a nobler soil,
Transplanted from this sublunary bed,
Shall flourish fair, and put forth all their bloom.
*"The worm that crawls upon the ground and prepares its own
grave in which to wait for its coming transformation, yet bears on its
unsightly form those very prominences which mark the places of gold
and silver spangles on the wings of the released and soaring insect." 
293 
294     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER XVIII.
IMMORTALITY INFERABLE FROM THE NATURE OF OUR
DESIRES.
Our heads, our hearts, our passions, and our powers,
Speak the same language, call us to the skies.
IN the last three chapters we have spoken somewhat at length of the powers of the soul, as furnishing
a natural argument for immortality. Let us now
turn from this survey of our intellectual energies, to
the contemplation of our desires.
1. The thirst for knowledye which is so common to
man, and which is exhibited in the natural curiosity
of all men, as well as in the toils and achievements
of the student, is incapable of satisfactory explanation, except upon the hypothesis of a future state of
existence.
Hiow true is it, that "the eye is not satisfied with
seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing." Prov. i. 8.
No matter how much knowledge one has acquired, he
still thirsts and toils for more, till failing bodily
powers arrest his upward progress, and terminate his
earthly being in the midst of the race, his soul more
conscious of its powers and capabilities than ever before, and more eager to reach a higher goal than at
the beginning of its journey. 
NATURE OF OUR DESIRES.
"I know not," said Sir Isaac Newton, "what I
may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to
have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore,
and diverting myself in now and then finding a
smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary,
whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered
before me.   And  yet, these'smoother pebbles,"
which he had found, were the laws of gravitation
which hold the stars in their serene courses, standing
as pillars of adamant underneath them; these "prettier shells," were the method of Fluxions and the
Binomial Theorem, a theory of colors established
upon thousands of costly experiments, and laws of
light so subtle and beautiful that their imprint upon
science seemed to give it a new and celestial illumination."
"When William Herschell, dissatisfied with the
musical profession to which he had been bred, determined to devote himself to the study of the stars,
and to the minute investigation of their motions and
laws, he found no telescope that could answer the
demands of his exquisite and searching mind. He
therefore determined to construct one for himself;
and after what seemed to others a marvelous labor,
he completed a refractor five feet in length. But
this was not sufficient; and speedily transcending it
he turned from the heavens, and commenced the construction of another more adequate to his enlarged
wants, not ceasing from the effort till it was rewarded by the completion of an instrument seven
feet in length, perhaps the most remarkable'optic
glass' at that time possessed by any similar observer.
295 
296      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
"But still this could not give him all the answers
which he sought to his nightly inquiries; so that the
labors which had been for a little suspended were
again renewed to construct another, now of ten feet;
and yet a little while later, another still, of twenty
feet in focal length. And it was not till at last he
had planned and built that magnificent instrument
erected at Slough, with its tube of forty feet in
length, slung up amid pillars, braces, and beams, like
a very mortar of observations bombarding the skies,
-with its speculum of almost fifty inches in superficial diameter, and with its magnifying power of
6,500-that he was measurably satisfied with his
apparatus for study.
"And even then, it is on record that this equipment did not fully meet his desires; and that nothing
but what seemed the insuperable difficulties of the
work at his age, prevented the erection of a still more
stupendous instrument, before which the new nebula
which he had discovered should be resolved into suns,
or be shown the misty seed-plots of worlds, and by
whose continued micometrical measurements of the
relations of the fixed stars, the elements of the parallax
should at last be ascertained.
"So always the scientific' judgment of man is instinctively running forward to new attainments, and
a more complete mastery. It treats all instruments,
the most elaborate and complete, as the traveler upon
the mountain treats the staff which he has cut in a
hedge by the way-side; only using it as a helper, and
throwing it away when the end has been gained, or
retaining it as a memento of the course it has
assisted. It will never pause satisfied, this faculty 
NATURE OF OUR DESIRES.
of the judgment, with any result accessible in time;
but conscious of capacities unexhausted by use, and
superior to any defined acquirement, it will press
still upward till the universe shall be scrutinized, and
then only will rest when clearly and fully it has re produced by its analysis the thought of the Almighty.
"It is very instructive and impressive to observe,
too, how age, in the absence of physical disease, and
of protracting pain, does not oppose or retard this
spontaneous movement. The principle of curiosity,
as an intellectual principle, the desire for true and
satisfying knowledge,-and the power of the judgment to satisfy this desire, exploring and explaining
what attracts its attention,-both grow as they are
used, while that use is legitimate and fills God's
plan; and they are never so strong, unless sickness
exhausts and shatters the frame, as when the studies
already prosecuted have been largest and most profound. To the end of his life, the student whose
frame remains unshaken, writes on morals and history, on science and on fine art, and his inquiries
in all the departments of nature are marked by as
keen and strenuous an enthusiasm as when in his
youth he traversed the hills and the valleys on foot.
As the skiff, which the boy builds, grows at last to
the steamship, and the hut of the pioneer, to the
palace which the citizen rears and adorns,-while yet
neither of these is felt to be final with him, or
adequate to the highest conception he can form,so the thought of the child expands and accumulates
to the science of manhood, and still is admitted insufficient.
"In this, then, we see, unmistakably declared, the
297 
298      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
capacity of the soul for still higher attainments,
through the use of its constructive and analytic
power examinining truth, when it passes from the
present to a future state of being. The fact that it
goes on still triumphing and enlarging as long as it
here is properly used,-unexhausted by its endeavors,
yet still unsatisfied with any result, so far as we can
follow or trace it,-seems a promise and the prophecy, if not the proof of the fact, that if its existence
outlasts that of the body, a yet higher mission, on a
more noble sphere, may be hereafter given it to accomplish. Having looked at the stars from beneath,
and from afar, it may, with superior and immediate
vision look upon them from above, when treading on
the pavement, whose dust they are." *
"Were a man sure," says Dr. Moore, "that he
could not possibly possess a better than this earthly
life, to look off from this dull cold spot would only
be to aggravate his doom. The glory of distant
worlds would fall like a blight upon his being, for it
would suggest possibilities of intelligence and delight
forever beyond his reach." t
'Tis Immortality,'tis that alone
Amid life's pains, abasements, emptiness,
The soul can comfort, elevate, and fill.
II. The desire to be remembered on earth after we
are dead, may also be reckoned among the indices of
our coming immortality.
How few are willing to be forgotten when the grave
shall cover them.
* Graham  Lectures, by Rev. Richard S. Storrs, Jr., D.D. pp. 290294.
t Power of the Soul, &c., Harper's ed., p. 9. 
NATURE OF OUR DESIRES.
For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey.
This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor east one longing, lingering look behind?
Men have even been known to commit deeds of infamy, that their names might be perpetuated on the
records of time. Now upon what principle is this
fact to be accounted for, if man is not destined to
survive the stroke of death? Is it not in reality an
outgrowth of the innate conviction, which despite all
theories to the contrary, pervades the soul, that our
being is not to end with the dissolution of the mortal
body, and that in some way we may still have an
interest in the living and conscious universe, and
may wish to be remembered beyond the change of
death?
"Why otherwise," says Dr. Dick, "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
eternise 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
299 
300     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
anxious about what shall happen, or what shall not
happen hereafter, when he is reduced to a mere nonentity, and banished forever 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." *
III. The almost universal discontent of man in
this world is a prophecy of another state of existence.
Not only is it true of an Alexander that when the
civilized world had been brought under his sceptre,
he sighed and wept that he had not another world to
conquer;t but the same principle is indigenous in
every heart. Where do we find the person who is
satisfied  and  quite contented?   No  matter  what
wealth, or fame, or knowledge, or power, or earthly
pleasures; man still sighs for more. The patient ox,
that has satisfied his appetite from the green and
fresh pastures, seeks a couch upon the same soft
carpet, and as he lies there ruminating, he is the
living embodiment of satisfaction and contentment.
Not a thought of future want disturbs his perfect
tranquility. Not a desire of his nature remains unsatisfied, or is still reaching out for further gratification. Not so with man. From the king upon his
throne, to the beggar upon the dunghill, all sigh for
something beyond their present possessions and enjoyments.
Philosophy of a Future State, Part I., Chap. i., Sec. 2.
t Augustus said even of the infamous Herod the Great, that his soul
was too great for his kingdom. Watson's Theological Dictionary,
Article Herod. 
NATURE OF OUR DESIRES.
Man, ill at ease,
In this, not his own place, this foreign field,
Where Nature fodders him with other food
Than was ordained his cravings to suffice,
Poor in abundance, famish'd at a feast,
Sighs on for something more when most enjoyed.
Of the fact here asserted there will be no dispute.
What, then, is its explanation? Has the Creator
made "the beast that perishes," to find his every desire
gratified, while man is created with immortal longings
that shall have no satisfactory response either in time
or in eternity?
Is Heaven then kinder to thy flocks than thee?
Not so; thy pasture richer, but remote;
In part remote; for that remoter part
Man bleats from instinct, though, perhaps, debauch'd
By sense, his reason sleeps, nor dreams the cause.
The cause how obvious, when his reason wakes!
His grief is but his grandeur in disguise,
And discontent is immortality!
The leopard or tiger that paces his cave hour after
hour, the very genius of discontent, shows, by his
very restlessness, that he was not created for the
menagerie, but for the far reaching jungle. So of the
human soul in the present life.
Man's misery declares him born for bliss;
His anxious heart asserts the truth I sing,
And gives the sceptic in his head-the lie.
IV. The nature, influence, and universal prevalence
of hope, point unmistakably to another state of being
beyond the grave.
We speak not here of the hope of the Christian,
which entereth to that within the veil, and appre
301 
802      TIIE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
hends as its object a blissful immortality; but of
those hopes that relate to future earthly objects, and
are ever pointing to brighter scenes and happier
years to come.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never is, but always to be bless'd.
Though the promised objects are seldom reached,
and, when attained, never satisfy the promises and
expectations of the past, yet' the soul is ever ready
to receive each new promise with implicit confidence,
so that life is made up of a succession of eager races
from goal to goal, till the race of probation is run,
and the goal eternal is reached.
Now why is this if man has but one life? Why
this stretching out of her arms into the coming future
at all, if the soul expires at death? Or, if she be
constituted thus to gaze upon ideal bliss in years
whose arrival she may never greet, why has not her
Maker provided that at least in all such cases, the
reality of what is enjoyed shall fully equal the brightest
visions of hope?
But not so. We still hope and sigh for coming
happiness, and are incapable of throwing off faith in
the enchanting future, or'becoming wise by our repeated disappointments. How strange if there is no
future for man beyond the grave!
The darkest of enigmas human hope;
Of all the darkest, if at death we die.
Upon that dark hypothesis nature, reason, mental
philosophy, all fail to furnish us with a key to the
strange anomaly. But grant a Future Life and all 
NATURE OF OUR DESIRES.
is clear.   The race we run under the stimulus of
this wonderful power, is but a phase of a celestial
attraction ordained of Heaven to draw us to the skies.
The momentum generated under its impulses, bearing
us onward through life, from stage to stage, was designed not so much to speed each minor and earthly
race, as to bear the soul onward toward the heavenly
goal, and finally across the river of death to her
native country above. And the successive disappointments of this life, that are so soon and so easily
retrieved by a new promise and hope cast into the
distant future, are obviously intended to teach us
that our rest and happiness are not to be found below
-la lesson appropriate only to beings destined to immortality.
Thus, while on the one hand the soul is lured on
by hope to her endless abode, she is weaned from
earth by repeated disappointments, and taught to
look for realization and satisfaction, not in this
world, but rather in that beyond the tomb. Oh how
salutary these divine lessons! Well may an immortal
being, after such an experience here for a time,
and when the light of a better world has dawned
upon his delighted vision, lift his soul to heaven and
sing,
Let me go, why should I tarry?
What has earth to bind me here?
What, but cares, and toils, and sorrows?
What, but death, and pain, and fear?
Let me go, for hopes most cherished,
Blasted round me often lie,
Oh! I've gathered brightest flowers,
But to see them fade and die.
Thus hope tells us of another life, not only by
303 
304      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
the inspiration and solace which it draws from
the mysterious, enchanting future, but also by
the successive demise or failure of its brightest
earthly creations. A wise and beneficent Creator
could never tantalize us with the hope of future
being, had we not been predestinated to immortality.
Shall I be left forgotten in the dust,
When Fate, relenting, lets the flower revive?
Shall Nature's voice, to man alone unjust,
Bid him, though doomed to perish, hope to live?
Is it for this fair Virtue oft must strive
With disappointment, penury, and pain?
No! Heaven's immortal springs shall yet arrive,
And man's majestic beauty bloom again,
Bright through th' eternal year of Love's triumphant reign.
V. The desire of immortality itself, in the soul of
man, is both an omen and a pledge of another life
after death.
Look through all nature and show me if you
can a single instance in which God has given to
one of his sentient creatures,-quadruped, bird, fish,
reptile, or insect-a desire for the gratification of
which he has made full provision. Whether it relates to abode, or appetite, or pastime, or instincts,
the law is universal-the means for its gratification
is the counterpart of each desire, and answers to it
as light answers to the eye, or water to the fins of the
inhabitants of the deep.
Whenever the idea is once lodged in the human
soul that there may be an immortal life after death,
it immediately enkindles a desire to live forever.
Henceforth we shudder at the thought of annihilation. 
NATURE OF OUR DESIRES.
" Could you, so rich in rapture fear an end,
That ghastly thought would drink up all your joy."
Henceforth, though he may not be a Christian,
he desires to exist forever. Even though clouds
of doubt and uncertainty may shade his prospects
of bliss in the life to come, the soul cries out "let me
8till exist!" Even the prospect of misery beyond
the grave, is often more we]come to the mind and
heart of man than the thought of non-existence; and
that for the reason that while future misery to the
unforgiven is in harmony as well with the nature
of man as with the government of God, the future
non-existence of the soul is opposed to both; and
we might therefore expect to find every instinct
and intuition and power of the soul arrayed against
it.
And how is this desire strengthened by a virtuous
life.
Guilt only makes annihilation gain.
There is no one thought that can so effectually
chill and petrify the devout heart, as that of nonexistence  after death.   If, then, the alliances of
virtue are with truth, and those of sin are with error,
the doctrine of immortality must be true, and that of
annihilation false.
According, then, to all the analogies of the natural;
world, the existence of a strong desire in the soul
herself to live on forever, is a proof and pledge that
her Creator formed her for such destiny, and has
provided infallibly against all failure and disappointment.
20
305 
306      TIlE IMMORTALITY OF THIE SOUL.
It must be so; Plato, thou reasonest well;
Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
This longing after immortality?
Or whence this secret dread and inward horror,
Of falling into naught? Why shrinks the soul
Back on herself, and startles at destruction?
'Tis the divinity that stirs within us;
'Tis Heaven itself that points out an hereafter,
And intimates atr,*, to man. 
CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE MORAL NATURE OF MAN, CONSCIENCE, REMORSE.
IN considering the powers of the soul thus far, we
have dwelt mainly upon her intellectual capabilities.
Let us turn now for a moment to the contemplation
of her moral powers, and see if they do not with equal
clearness indicate another state of existence — after
death.
I. That mysterious principle or faculty of the soul
called conscience, implies another life in which the soul
may be held accountable for her doings in the present
world.
Conscience has been defined as "the faculty, power,
or principle within us, which decides on the lawful
ness or unlawfulness of our own actions and affections,
and instantly approves or condemns them."* Others
call it the moral sense, merely.  It seems to include
a perception of the agreement or disagreement of our
conduct and affections with some acknowledged standard of right and wrong, and a capability of feeling
unhappy under the perception of our guilt.
One of the poets has said,
Conscience is the mirror of our souls,
Which represents the errors of our live,
In their full shape.
* Webster.
307 
308     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Another has described it as,
The worm that never dies! the "thorn within"
That pricks and pains!  The whip and scourge of sin!
The voice of God in man! which without rest,
Does softly cry within a troubled breast.
II. Of. the power of conscience alone to make its
guilty possessor wretched, history furnishes a great
variety of examples.
"While Belshazzar was carousing at an impious
banquet with his wives and concubines and a thousand
of his nobles, the appearance of the fingers of a man's
hand, and of the writing on an opposite wall, threw
him into such consternation, that his thoughts terrified him, the girdles of his loins were loosed, and his
knees smote one against another. Hiis terror, in such
circumstances, cannot be supposed to have proceeded
from a fear of man; for he was surrounded by his
guards and his princes, and all the delights of music,
and of a splendid entertainment. Nor did it arise
from the sentence of condemnation written on the
wall; for he was then ignorant both of the writing
and of its meaning. But he was conscious of the
wickedness of which he had been guilty, and of the
sacrilegious impiety in which he was then indulging,
and, therefore, the extraordinary appearance on the
wall, was considered as an awful foreboding of punishment from that Almighty and invisible Being
whom he had offended.
Tiberius, one of the Roman emperors, was a gloomy,
treacherous, and cruel tyrant. The lives of his people became the sport of his savage disposition. Barely
to take them away was not sufficient, if their death
was not tormenting and atrocious. He ordered, on 
CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE.
one occasion, a general massacre of all who were detained in prison, on account of the conspiracy of Sejanus his minister, and heaps of carcases were piled
up in the public places.  His private vices and debaucheries were also incessant, and revolting to every
principle of decency and virtue. Yet this tyrant,
while acting in the plenitude of his power, and
imagining himself beyond the control of every law,
had his mind tortured with dreadful apprehensions.
We are informed by Tacitus, that in a letter to the
Senate, he opened the inward wounds of his breast,
with such words of despair as might have moved pity
in those who were under the continual fear of his tyranny.* Neither the splendour of his situation as an
emperor, nor the solitary retreats to which he retired,
could shield him from the accusations of his conscience,
but he himself was forced to confess the mental
agonies he endured as a punishment for his crimes.
Antiochus Epzpihanes was another tyrant remarkable for his cruelty and impiety. He laid siege to
the city of Jerusalem, exercised the most horrid
cruelties upon its inhabitants, slaughtered forty thousand of them in three days, and polluted, in the most
impious manner, the temple, and the worship of the
God of Israel. Some time afterwards, when he was
breathing out curses against the Jews for having restored their ancient worship, and threatening to destroy the whole nation, and to make Jerusalem the
common place of sepulture to all the Jews, he was
seized with a grievous torment in his inward parts,
and excessive pangs of the colic, accompanied with
Tiberium non fortuna, non solitudines protegebant, quin tormenta
pectoris suasque poenas ipse fateretur, &c.-Tacitts.
309 
810      THIE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
such terrors as no remedies could assuage.  " Worms
crawled from every part of him; his flesh fell away
piece-meal, and the stench was so great that it became
intolerable to the whole army; and he thus finished
an impious life, by a miserable death."*  During this
disorder, says Polybius, he was troubled with a perpetual delirium, imagining that spectres stood continually before him, reproaching him with his crimes.
Similar relations are given by historians, of Herod
who slaughtered the infants at Bethlehem, of Galerius
Maximianus the author of the tenth persecution
against the Christians, of the infamous Philip II. of
Spain, and of many others whose names stand conspicuous on the rolls of impiety and crime.
It is related of Charles IX. of France, who ordered
the horrible Bartholomew massacre, and assisted in
this- bloody tragedy, that, ever after, he had a fierceness in his looks, and a colour in his cheeks, which he
never had before;-that he slept little and never
sound; and waked frequently in great agonies, requiring soft music to compose him to rest; and at
length died of a lingering disorder, after having undergone the most exquisite torments both of body and
mind.
D'Aubigne informs us that Henry IV. frequently
told, among his most intimate friends, that eight days
after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, he saw a vast
number of ravens perch and croak on the pavilion of
the Louvre; that the same night Charles IX. after he
had been two hours in bed, started up, roused his
grooms of the chamber, and sent them out to listen to
a great noise of groans in the air, and among others,
Rollin's An. His. 
CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE.
some furious and threatening voices, the whole resembling what was heard on the night of the massacre; that all these various cries were so striking, so
remarkable, and so articulate, that Charles, believing
that the enemies of the Montmorencies and of their
partisans had surprised and attacked them, sent a detachment of his guards to prevent this new massacre.
-It is scarcely necessary to add, that the intelligence
brought from Paris proved these apprehensions to be
groundless, and that the noises heard, must have
been the fanciful creations of the guilty conscience of
the king, countenanced by the vivid remembrance of
those around him of the horrors of St. Bartholomew's
day.
King Richard the III. after he had murdered his
innocent royal nephews, was so tormented in conscience, as Sir Thomas More reports from the gentlemen of his bed chamber, that he had no peace or quiet
in himself, but always carried it as if some imminent
danger was near him. His eyes were always whirling about on this side, and on that side; he wore a
shirt of mail, and was always laying his hand upon
his dagger, looking as furiously as if he was ready to
strike.  Hle had no quiet in his mind by day, nor
could take any rest by night, but, molested with terrifying dreams, would start out of his bed, and run
like a distracted man about the chamber.*
This state of mind, in reference to another case,
is admirably described, in the following lines of
Dryden.
"Amidst your train this unseen judge will wait,
Examine how you came by all your state;
i;- Stow's Annals, p. 460.
311 
312     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Upbraid your impious pomp, and in your ear
Will hollow, rebel! traitor! murderer!
Your ill-got power, wan looks, and care shall bring,
Known but by discontent to be a king.
Of crowds afraid, yet anxious when alone,
You'll sit and brood your sorrows on a throne."
Bessus the Paonian being reproached with ill-nature
for pulling down a nest of young sparrows and killing
them, answered, that he had reason so to do, "Because these little birds never ceased falsely to accuse
him of the murder of his father."  This parricide had
been till then concealed and unknown; but the revenging fury of conscience caused it to be discovered by
himself, who was justly to suffer for it.
That notorious skeptic and semi-atheist, Mr. Hlobbes, author of the "Leviathan," had been the means
of poisoning many young gentlemen and others with
his wicked principles, as the Earl of Rochester con:essed, with extreme compunction, on his death-bed.
It was remarked, by those who narrowly observed his
conduct, that "' though in a humor of bravado he
would speak strange and unbecoming things of God;
yet in his study, in the dark, and in his retired
thoughts, he trembled before him." He could not
endure to be left alone in an empty house. He could
not, even in his old age, bear any discourse of death,
and seemed to cast off all thoughts of it. Hie could
not bear to sleep in the dark; and if his candle happened to go out in the night he would awake in terror
and amazement, a plain indication, that he was unable to bear the dismal reflections of his dark and
desolate mind, and knew not how to extinguish, nor
how to bear the light of "the candle of the Lord"
within him. lIe is said to have left the world, with 
CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE.
great reluctance, under terrible apprehensions of a
dark and unknown futurity.
"Conscience, the torturer of the soul, unseen,
Does fiercely brandish a sharp scourge within.
Severe decrees may keep our tongues in awe,
But to our thoughts what edict can give law?
Even you yourself to your own breast shall tell
Your crimes, and your own Conscience be your Hell."*
How conscience spoke in the souls of Joseph's
brethren, when they found themselves in trouble in
the land of Pharaoh.
"And they said one to another, We are verily guilty
concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of
his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear;
therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you,
saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would
not hear! therefore, behold, also his blood is required." Gen. xlii. 21, 22.
How easily Herod could believe in the resurrection
of the dead, after murderingJohn the Baptist. When
he heard of the miracles of Christ, he was sure that
John had risen again from the dead, and might soon
appear and hold him to account for his bloody deeds.
"And king Herod heard of him, (for his name was
spread abroad,) and he said, That John the Baptist
was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works
do shew forth themselves in him." Mark vi. 14.
Other instances nearer home, and of more recent
date are equally striking. Take the following which
have appeared from time to time in the public prints
during the last few years.
* Future State, pp. 72-75.
313 
314      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Rev. Daniel Lindly, after an absence of forty
years-more than half of the time passed as a missionary in Africa-returned to this country, and
recently revisited Athens, Ohio-the home of his
childhood, the theatre of his youthful days. He
trod again upon the old Campus, walked through the
old college halls, stood upon the cliff-the rocky
rostrum of college boys.   Ile examined  the old
paths, and inquired for the companions of his youth.
Changes had passed upon every scene, and few,
indeed, were the associates of early life he could
recognize there. But his name and presence were
known, and he was asked to preach at night, and
to give some account of his life in Africa. At the
close of the services, a very respectable and aged
gentleman approached, and desired him to take a
walk.
They passed on, and when they had reached a
somewhat retired place, the gentleman turned and
said: "Brother Lindly! if a man has ever done a
wrong, has committed a sin, don't you think he should
confess it?"
"Why,  yes," said Mr.  Lindly, "if thereby he
may glorify God; if it will make amends to the
party wronged, or do good to the party who sinned."
"Well, that is just what I think. I am just in
that predicament. I have long desired and prayed
for an opportunity to make a confession and amendment to you. * * When we were boys together,
fifty years ago, we were playing together.
"You dropped a quarter of a dollar, I snatched it
up, and put it in my pocket: I claimed it as my own
and kept it. 
CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE.
"It was, perhaps, a little mean, dirty trick, and it
has worried and troubled me ever since."
"Oh! it was a small matter, and I have no recollection of it," said Mr. Lindly.
"Ah, you may call it a small matter, but it has
been a mighty burden for me to bear.
"I have carried it now for fifty years.  I would
not carry it for fifty more for all the gold of California.
And suppose I had to carry it for fifty thousand years,
or for all eternity! No, sir; it is no small matter: it
has been growing bigger, and heavier and heavier, and
I want to get rid of it.
"I have no doubt you have forgotten it, but I
could never forget it. I have not, for the last fifty
years, heard your name mentioned, or the name of
your father, or any of the family, but that quarter
has come- in connection. Why, the very buttons on
your coat-every thing that is round, represents a
quarter. Sun, moon, and stars, are magnified and
illuminated quarters. You need not call it a little
sin; if it was, it has grown mightily to plague me;
and deservedly, too."
With this, the gentleman took from his pocketbook a five franc piece, worn bright and smooth, and
said: "I wish you to take this; it belongs to you;
it is rightfully yours, and will be no burden to you.
And if this is not enough, I will give more." Mr.
Lindly accepted it, and the gentleman raised himself erect and drew a long breath, as a man would who
has thrown off a heavy load. He was at last relieved.
In February 1863, the following anonymous note,
with its enclosure, was received at the Metropolitan
Bank, New York.
315 
316     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE t,( j'L.
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 1863.
"MR. J. F. WILLIAMS: Enclosed please find
$309, the property of the Metropolitan Bank."
Soon afterward a similar event occurred in another
direction, as the following, cut from the New York
Tribune of March 7, 1863, will show.
"On Wednesday, the President received, by Adams
& Co's. Express, a package of'greenbacks, amounting to $868, which sum the writer of an accompanying letter says he obtained from the Government
dishonestly, and which he therefore returns. The
letter is dated Brooklyn, March 2, 1863, and signed
' Candido Securo.'"
On the second of February, 1864, the following
also appeared in the columns of the same paper
"The sum of $70 was received at the Treasury
Department to-day, in a letter dated Boston, which
said it was for duty on an article, not designed for
sale, imported some years ago. The writer says the
compound interest and premium on gold have been
added to the amount originally due."
Such cases remind us of the unhappy Judas, who,
after having betrayed his Lord and Master, was
smitten with remorse of. conscience, brought back
the bribe for which he had committed the deed of infamy, threw down the money in the temple, and
went out and put an end to his own life. Matt.
xxvii. 3-5.   Oh  how  terrible the power of conscience to agonize and ruin the guilty and unforgiven
soul!
Now it is by no means probable that, in either
of the above recent cases the parties had the least
fear of detection or exposure in this world. In 
CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE.
this respect they were no doubt perfectly safe; and
if not there is no proof that restitution rendered
their detection any less probable, or, in that respect,
relieved them from any measure of anxiety. Evidently such was not the object of any one of
these restitutions, but rather to relieve the soul of
her sense of guilt and remorse,-to allay the forebodings of detection and exposure in a future and
eternal state.
III. The following instances relate to still higher
offences.
"One or two years since, a citizen of Alabama
was tried for murder, but through some technicality was acquitted. He went forth, however, with
the brand upon him, and wherever he wandered,
people made room for the murderer to pass. He was
shunned as one with the leprosy. Some weeks since,
the man shut himself in a room with no companion
but a barrel of whisky, and plunged into the deepest
intoxication, drinking, it is said, a quart of the liquor
at a draught. In this condition he lingered through
two or three months in the most intense mental
agony, and finally died."
So gnaws the grief of conscience evermore,
And in the heart it is so deeply grave,
That they may never sleep nor rest therefor,
Nor think one thought but on the dread they have.
Albert TV. Zicks, the murderer, who was executed at Bedloe's Island, near New York, July
13, 1860, made the following statement to the reporters, as published in the New York daily papers
at the time.
"For years conscience has slumbered; I have not
317 
318      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
heard her voice at all. No deed of desperation has
seemed to me too desperate; no crime has seemed too
dark or bloody. My soul seemed dead to all remorse
or dread, and fear has been a feeling which, until
now, I have never known.
"But in this lonely cell, away from all the excitements which have always been the support of
my restless nature-within these solemn walls, where
I see none but those who guard me, or those come to
look at me, as upon some wild beast; here, where no
sounds fall upon my ear but the footsteps of the
keeper, as he paces with measured tread the long
corridor outside, or harsh, discordant clank of
heavy doors slamming, or the grating of bolts
and the creaking of hinges-conscience, so long
dead, has at last awakened, and now stings me
with anguish, and fills my  soul with dread  and
horror.
"I look back upon my way of life, and see the
path marked with blood and crime, and in the still
midnight, if I sleep, I act the dreadful scenes anew.
Again I imbue my hand in the red blood of my
victims; again I rob the unsuspecting traveler, or
violate the most sacred sanctities of life, to satisfy
my greed of gold, or headstrong, unchecked passions; and if I wake, I seem  to see my victims
glaring at me through the gloom of my cell, or
hear them shriek aloud for vengeance on my guilty
head.
"The past is one great horror! The future one
dread fear. A heavy, insupportable weight is on my
heart, and I feel as if, did I not reveal its fearful
secrets, I should go mad. 
CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE.
How awful is that hour, when conscience stings
The hoary wretch, who on his death-bed hears,
Deep in his soul, the thundering voice, that rings,
In one dark, damning moment, crimes of years,
And screaming like a vulture in his ears,
Tells, one by one, his thoughts and deeds of shame;
How wild the fury of his soul careers?
His swart eye flashes with intensest flame,
And like the tortures rack the wrestling of his frame.
"Violence done to the conscience, which is of the
essence of sin, is a wrenching of the soul into a
moral dislocation. It is a rupture of the bands which
keep the moral fabric in its integrity, and from the
consequent suffering there is no exemption. What
matters the question of outward positive inflictions,
when we have wrapped up within us the elements
of unknown sorrows, from which we can no more
escape than from our own consciousness!" *
If, then, such is the power of conscience to make
the guilty wretched in the present life, despite our
blunted perceptions and the hardening influence of
sin, what will it be when every sin shall stand forth
clear and distinct upon the enduring pages of memory,
and the conscience that has so long slumbered or
been but half awake, shall be roused to the fullest apprehension of its guilt, and to the keenest possible
sense of its endless desert!
IV. We see that even here, notwithstanding all
that may be done to deaden the sensibilities, and
hush the voice of conscience in the soul of man, it has
power to fill the mind with indescribable horrors, and
to sting the immortal spirit with an agony that no
language can depict.
"Now, how are we to account for such terrors of
*Bush on the Resurrection, p. 396.
319 
320     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
conscience, and awful forebodings of futurity, if there
be no existence beyond the grave? especially when
we consider, that many of those who have been thus
tormented have occupied stations of rank and power,
which raised them above the fear of punishment from
man? If they got their schemes accomplished, their
passions gratified, and their persons and possessions
secured from temporal danger, why did they feel
compunction or alarm in the prospect of futurity? for
every mental disquietude of this description implies a
dread of something future. They had no great reason
to be afraid even of the Almighty himself, if his vengeance do not extend beyond the present world. They
beheld the physical and moral World moving onward
according to certain fixed and immutable laws. They
beheld no miracles of vengeance-no Almighty arm
visibly hurling the thunderbolts of heaven against the
workers of iniquity. They saw that one event happened to all, to the righteotus as well as to the wicked,
and that death was an evil to which they behooved
sooner or later to submit. They encountered hostile
armies with fortitude, and beheld all the dread apparatus of war without dismay. Yet, in their secret retirements, in their fortified retreats, where no eye
but the eye of God was upon them, and when no
hostile incursion was apprehended, they trembled at
a shadow, and felt a thousand disquietudes from the
reproaches of an inward monitor which they could
not escape. These things appear altogether inexplicable if there be no retribution beyond the grave.
"We are, therefore, irresistibly led to the conclusion, that the voice of conscience, in such cases, is the
voice of God declaring his abhorrence of wicked deeds 
CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE.
and the punishment which they deserve, and that his
providence presides over the actions of moral agents,
and gives intimations of the future destiny of those
haughty spirits who obstinately persist in their trespasses. And, consequently, as the peace and serenity
of virtuous minds are preludes of nobler enjoyments
in a future life, so those terrors which now assail the
wicked may be considered as the beginnings of that
misery and anguish which will be consummated in the
world to come, in the case of those who add final impenitence to all their other crimes." *
* Future State, p. 76.
21
321 
322     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER XX.
OUR CONTINUED LOVE FOR THE DEAD A PROOF OF IM                   MORTALITY.
IF it be admitted that there is an all-wise and
infinite Creator, it must also be admitted that except
so far as we have induced discord and conflict by
sin, all our powers and susceptibilities are in perfect
harmony with the circumstances of our present being,
and with the fact or otherwise of a future state of
existence.
Fishes, whose home is in subterranean rivers, are
found without eyes.   As  they are never wanted
where no light ever comes, though their ancestors
once possessed them, after a few generations nature
causes them to be closed forever. If the bird were
never to fly, no half-formed wings would be seen,
while yet the birdlet is confined to the narrow limits
of its shell.
And so of the soul of man: if she had not been
predestinated by her Creator for another and an
endless state, she would never have been invested
with those wonderful powers and capabilities with
which we find her so richly endowed, and which so
eminently befit and adorn her as an accountable and
immortal intelligence. 
LOVE FOR THE DEAD.
Look for example at the fact named at the head
of this chapter-our continued remembrance of and
love for the dead after they have passed from our
earthly view forever, and their bodies have crumbled
back to dust.
I. This passion or emotion of the soul is so common to all ages and lands that it might almost be
called a universal instinct of the human heart. Why
was it that the aborigines of our own country were
wont  to  send  messages of love by the wild forest
birds, to their kindred in the spirit land? Why do
some of the heathen kneel annually at the graves
of their dead, and whisper "I love you still?" With
what unearthly tenderness do we still cling to those
whom  we once knew and loved in this world, but
who have passed from our society to return no
more.   The bereft mother still loves  her darling
babe, though its lifeless form reposes in the tomb,
and she well knows it is but a mass of corruption. Nor is this all. If she scrutinize that tender
tie that connects her aching heart with the departed
object of her love, she is conscious that it is not
the lifeless clod to which she so fondly clings, but
that which thought, and knew, and smiled upon her
though the little form it cast off at death-the spirit
babe that has soared away to heaven! Hence she
sings even amid her tears,
"The great Jehovah from above,
An angel bright did send,
And took my little harmless dove,
To joys that never end."
And still, though assured of its unalloyed happiness
in another life, she can never forget it or cease to love
323 
324      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
it.  From time to time I see her, looking over its
playthings or garments long years after the body is
dissolved in the tomb, and weeping with an affection as fresh and ardent as on the day when she
imprinted the farewell kiss upon its cold and marble
brow.
Hiow touchingly is this continued love for the dead
described in the following beautiful lines by Miss
Priest:
"Over the river they beckon to me,
Loved ones who've crossed to the further side;
The gleam of their snowy robes I see,
But their voices are lost in the rushing tide.
There's one with ringlets of sunny gold,
And eyes the reflection of heaven's own blue;
He crossed in the twilight gray and cold,
And the pale mist hid him from mortal view;
We saw not the angels that met him there,
The gates of the city we could not see Over the river, over the river,
My brother stands waiting to welcome me,
"Over the river the boatman pale,
Carried another, the household pet;
Her brown curls wave in the gentle gale,
Darling Minnie! I see her yet.
She crossed on her bosom her dimple hands,
And fearlessly entered the phantom bark;
We felt it glide from the silver sands,
And all our sunshine grew strangely dark;
We know she is safe on the further side,
Where all the ransomed and angels be Over the river, the mystic river,
My childhood's idol is waiting for me.
"For none return from those quiet shores,
Who cross with the boatman cold and pale,
We hear the dip of their golden oars,
And catch a glimpse of their snowy sail; 
LOVE FOR THE DEAD.
And lo, they have passed from our yearning hearts,
They cross the stream and are lost for aye.
We may not sunder the vail apart,
That hides from our vision the gates of day.
We only know that their barks no more,
May sail with us o'er life's stormy sea;
Yet somewhere, I know, on the unseen shore,
They watch, and beckon, and wait for me.
"And I sit and think where the sunset's gold,
Is flushing river, and hill, and shore,
I shall one day stand by the waters cold,
And list for the sound of the boatman's oar;
I shall watch for a gleam of the flapping sail,
I shall hear the boat as it gains the strand,
I shall pass from sight with the boatman pale,
To the better shore of the spirit land;
I shall know the loved that have gone before,
And joyfully sweet will the meeting be,
When over the river, the peaceful river,
The angel of death shall carry me."
A poor helpless girl, a cripple, who was doomed
from childhood to pain and deformity, but who, nevertheless, felt all the warm impulses of an immortal
nature, thus wrote and sung of "the loved and lost"
who had gone before:
"Our buried friends can we forget,
Although they've passed death's gloomy river?
They live within our memory yet,
And in our love must live for ever.
And, though they've gone a while before,
To join the ransomed hosts in heaven,
Our hearts will love them more and more,
Till earthly chains at last be riven.
"I heard them bid the world adieu:
I saw them on the rolling billow:
Their far-off home appeared in view,
While yet they pressed a dying pillow.
325 
326     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
I heard the parting pilgrim tell,
While passing Jordan's lonely river,Adieu to earth,-now all is well Now all is well with me forever.
" Oh! how I long to join their wing,
And range their fields of blooming flowers:
Come, holy watchers, come and bring
A mourner to your blissful bowers.
I'd speed with rapture on my way,
Nor would I pause at Jordan's river:
With songs I'd enter endless day,
And live with my loved friends forever."
II. Of the same general significance is the interest
we all feel in whatever relates to the departed dead,
and especially in the fond inquiry, "shall we know
ou.r friends beyond the grave?." We have no space
for the consideration of this question here, and shall
return to it in a future chapter; but as a fact needing
little proof or illustration, we barely point to it now
as an omen of our coming immortality. It is but a phase
of the same love that adorns the cold pale corpse with
flowers, and builds the monument, sculptures the marble
with words of tenderest affection, and for long years
afterward bedews the grave with tears.
III. Now we argue that the very existence of this
continued love for the dead is in itself a proof of their
continued being, and by parity of reasoning, of the
immortality of all human spirits. If all souls perished
at death, the infinite and all-merciful Creator would
have so constituted us that the moment a parent or
child or wife or husband was dead, we should cease to
love them forever.
Take an illustration from the history of a recent
scientific discovery.
For many years previous to 1845 it had been known 
LOVE FOR THE DEAD.
that the planet Uranus was subject to certain perturbations in its orbit; which could not be accounted for
by the attraction of the sun, and of the other planetary bodies.* From the nature and amount of these
perturbations, Le Verrier, a French mathematician,
demonstrated the existence of an undiscovered planet,
and so completely did he determine its place in the
distant heavens, that when Dr. Galle of the Berlin
Observatory pointed his telescope to the place designated by Le Verrier, he not only found the new planet,
but found it within one degree of its computed location!
HIere, then, we have not only an unknown planet
casting the spell of its attraction upon those that are
known and seen, and producing thereby its visible effects, but to the eye of reason these mysterious effects
become the infallible proofs of the existence and direction of another world, hitherto undiscovered and
unknown.t So with the human soul and its continued love for the dead. We follow them to the
shores of the final river, and they recede from our
* It should be remembered, that in accordance with the Newtonian
law of gravitation, every body in the Solar System attracts every
other; that the attraction of each body is proportioned to its quantity
of matter; and that in the same body the power of attraction varies
inversely as the square of the distance. In order, therefore, to compute
the exact place of a planet in its orbit about the sun, it is necessary not
merely to regard the attraction of the central body, but also to allow
for the influence of all the other bodies of the Solar system. To compute the exact orbit which a planet will describe, subject to the attractions of all the members of the solar system, is consequently one of the
grandest problems of astronomy.
t For a full and accurate account of this wonderful discovery, see
" Recent Progress of Astronomy," by Prof. Loomis, published by the
Ilarpers.
327 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
view. No more do we listen to the music of their
friendly voices, or behold the light of their smiling
countenances. In all these respects they are hidden
from our view by the vail of death, as from creation's
morning Neptune had lain hidden from all mortal
vision in the depths of immensity.
The misty vail
Of mortality blinds the eye,
That we see not the hovering angel bands,
On the shores of eternity.
But though distant and invisible we feel the spell
of their celestial attraction. Yielding thereto our
hearts are the subjects of tender perturbations, and
sighs and tears are the witnesses of the susceptibility
of our own natures to its distant and silent power.
Now we argue that the very existence of this continued love for the dead is, in itself, a proof of their
continued and immortal existence. For if all souls
perished at death, the infinite and all-merciful Creator
would have so constituted us that the moment a parent,
or child, or wife, or husband, was dead, all love for them
would cease forever. Has the Creator so constituted
the human soul that, despite itself, it remembers and
still loves objects that have long ceased to exist? Has
this palpable and tender effect no adequate cause?
Comes this mysterious powerful attraction, that draws
us so sweetly towards the unseen country, from the
empty void of non-existence? To suppose this, is to
impeach the Creator of the human heart, and to charge
him with trifling with our most tender and most holy
affections.
While, then, we follow our friends to the river of
death, and after they have crossed wander sadly up
328 
LOVE FOR THE DEAD.
and down its banks, still bound to them by the cords
of a deathless love, every pang we feel when we realize that they are gone-every emotion of tenderness
that thrills our hearts with its warm immortal glowevery tear that we shed, or sigh that we heave-each
and all are but so many proofs in the soul herself that
the dead, whose memory we so fondly cherish, still
live immortal beyond the grave.
329 
330     THE IMMORTALITY OF THiE SOUL.
CHAPTER XXI.
NATURAL  EMBLEMS OF THE SOUL'S DEPARTURE AT
DEATH.
AMONG the rational evidences of a future state of
existence, the natural world furnishes various phenomena strikingly illustrative of the departure of the
soul from the body in the hour of death. To a few
of these we shall now call attention.
I; The bursting of the shell in which the birdlet is
confined, when the period of incubation is over, may
not inaptly be said to represent and illustrate the
emancipation of the soul when our mortal existence
shall terminate.
Before this transition, though it had feet and eyes
and mouth and wings, they could serve no appreciable purpose, unless it should be to indicate a coming
existence under new and more favorable auspices.
Like the latent or but half developed powers of the
soul in the present world, they are a silent yet cogent
prophecy of a more glorious state of being to come.
But at length the shell bursts and the prisoner is
free! One by one the powers of taste and voice and
eye and wing are  disclosed, till the once hapless
prisoner, is seen shooting through air and light, over
forest and hill and plain, 
NATURAL EMBLEMS OF IMMORTALITY.   331
Where nothing earthly bounds his sight,
Nor shadow dims his way.*
So of the great transition in the hour of death. It
is but the breaking of the earthen vessel, that the soul
may stretch her glad wings and soar beyond the
stars
How fitly, then, may the Christian be represented
as saying to his friend who is weeping over his lifeless body,
The soul that thou hast loved,
Will not be there,
It will have plumed its wings,
And soared afar.
Then weep not o'er my change,
When I am free.
When I've left my cell and gained,
My liberty.
II. The pine tree, fresh and green amid the snows
* The following by Rev. Dr. Todd, though in language adapted to
children, is a clear and attractive presentation of the same general
idea:
"A little Robin lay curled up, unhatched in his small blue shell.
Dim, very dim rays of light came through the small pores of the shell.
He thus talked with himself: "Well, I'm a very, very small fellow, and
I am in a narrow world. I seem to have parts and things about me which
I cannot use. There is something that seems to be a mouth, but I have
no food for it here; something that seems to be feet, but I cannot walk
with them; something coiled up that seems like wings, but what can I do
with them? This is a narrow place, and I can't use these things, and
I can't understand why I have them. I am told, indeed, of another
state, where the light is brighter and stronger, and where there is room,
and where I can use all these things; but Oh dear! I can't now understand these sayings!" But in a few days his shell fell off, and his eyes
opened, and his mouth received food, and feathers covered him, and
his wings were complete, and his feet perfect, and he could run, and
fly, and sing. as he rose up over houses, and passed over rivers and
high trees. He could now see and enjoy this new, this higher, this
better state. He was made for this and not for the egg state. He now
saw why he had the things called wings, legs, and the like. 
332     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
of winter, has been used as an emblem of the life of
man beyond death, as in the following beautiful lines
by E. C. Riggs. The author, a young man of delicate
health, had, within a few years, followed a noble brother
and two affectionate sisters to that sacred retreat of
which he speaks.
When life's brief, changing scenes are o'er,
And I on earth shall dwell no more,
Then lay this mouldering form away
Beside the dust, the hallowed clay
Of friends and kindred loved so well,
Who sleep within the quiet dell,
Where rippling waters, dancing by,
Sing soft and sweet their lullaby.
When death unbars the door for me,
And lets the imprisoned spirit free
To roam through verdant fields above,
Where all is peace and joy and love
Then lay my body'neath the sod,
By mourners' feet so often trod,
Where brother's, sisters' dust is laid,
Beneath the pine-tree's soothing shade.
There lay the broken casket down;
'Twill useless be with jewels gone.
Let that sweet pine an emblem be
Of Life and Immortality;
And let the robins build their nest
Among its branches, o'er my breast;
There make their home and rear their young,
And cheer the day with joyous song.
And let the rootlets of that tree,
While creeping downward, twine round me;
And, from the dust that crumbles there,
Drink in the food they need, and bear
It upward to the topmost boughs,
To give them life through winter's snows,
And keep them green long as they waveA type of life beyond the grave. 
NATURAL EMBLEMS OF IMMORTALITY.
While grows the pine, and upward shoots,
And downward sends its tender rootsDefiance giving to the blast,
As through its leaves it rushes pastRemember, friends, the soul shall live
In worlds on high. Then do not grieve;
For death is only a remove
From earth below to heaven above.
III. The opening flower of the water lily, as it
reaches the surface of the lake in its upward progress,
may illustrate the expansion of our immortal powers,
when death is swallowed up of life. In the earlier
stages of its growth it is but an unsightly stem and
bulb, covered with slime and mud, and pressing its
way slowly up from the bottom of the stagnant pool,
through mud and decaying vegetation. There is no
visible flower, no expansion, no beauty, no fragrance.
At length it reaches the surface of the water, and instead of growing upward still, till it stands up above
the water, it instinctively pauses at its surface, opens
its calyx, lays down its overcoat upon the gentle water,
as if to stand sentinel, and separate the world beneath
from which it has just emerged from that above in
which it is henceforth to dwell. Having thus reached
a higher and purer element, it opens its spotless
bosom, drinks in the light of heaven, lifts its anthers
still upward toward the skies, and fills the air with its
fragrance.
So with the soul of man. In the present life she
grovels in darkness and sin, and at best can move but
slowly upward, through ignorance, decay, and death,
towards a more auspicious region. But when at
length she shall reach the grave, lay aside there
the outer vestments of the flesh, and inhale the
333 
334      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
atmosphere of immortality, she shall develope beauty
and fragrance as yet scarce suspected, and wear a
regalia befitting her higher and more glorious state
of existence.
IV. The "seven year locust," as it is called,
emerges from the earth at the end of its period, and
crawls up upon the trees and shrubs, a rude, unsightly
insect, without wings or voice, or power to eat.
Fastening itself to a leaf or limb by the strong
claws of its fore legs, it seems at first to fall into a
stupor; and then bursts open on the back, from the
head to the waist, whereupon the new insect crawls
out, ascends to the topmost bough of the tree,
stretches and dries its wings, sings its resurrection
song, and at length soars from tree to tree unencumbered, free and joyful.*
V. Travelers tell us of a similar insect in Japana large beetle, which, at a certain period of its growth,
bursts its unsightly casement, emerges from its ruins
as an immense and gorgeous butterfly, and goes
singing away towards the skies.t What a beautiful
emblem of the putting off of our fleshly tabernacle at
death, and the going forth of the glorified spirit to a
better and an immortal life!
VI. The term psyche, says Dwight in his Grecian
and Roman Mythology, signifies a butterfly, as well
as the human soul. It is not unlikely, therefore,
* The author has some twenty of the abandoned coffins of this curious
insect, obtained by him at Newark, N. J., in 1859. They were found
still hanging to the lower limbs or leaves of the trees, while their former
occupants were perched upon the topmost boughs, beyond all danger or
annoyance, and were filling the air with their monotonous and piercing
melodies.
t Payne's Geography, Vol. i. p. 20. 
NATURAL EMBLEMS OF IMMORTALITY.    335
that such was its original import, as pneuma originally
signified only air or wind; and that it was chosen to
represent the immortal spirit of man, because the
transition of that insect from its chrysalis to its
butterfly state, was such a striking emblem of the
emerging of the soul from the body at the hour of death.
Look at that curious insect in its caterpillar state.
IHow active and voracious. How regular and healthful its growth. But at length it seems to fall sick
and lose its appetite. Its skin becomes wrinkled,
like that of an old man; its coat of hair becomes thin,
and changed in color, and it seems about to die. But
let no one be deceived by these appearances. Its
youth will soon be renewed like the eagles. In a few
days the gorgeous butterfly will emerge from that uncouth and sickening form, like a spirit bursting from
the body, to flaunt its gay wings in the sunbeams,
and drink in nectar from every opening flower.
What an exquisite emblem of the going forth of
the soul from the body at the hour of death, to inhabit the regions of eternal day!
Child of the sun! pursue thy rapturous flight,
Mingling with her thou lov'st in fields of light,
And where the flowers of Paradise unfold,
Quaff fragrant nectar from their cups of gold.
There shall thy wings, rich as an evening sky,
Expand and shut, in silent ecstacy;        Yet wert thou once a worm,-a thing that crept
On the bare earth, then wrought a tomb and slept.
And such is man-soon from this cell of clay,
To burst a seraph in the blaze of day.
Speaking of this wonderful transformation, an able
writer says:
"It seems like a resurrection from the tomb into a
fresh life, with celestial destinations. It is so analo 
336      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
gous to that which the human spirit is appointed to
undergo, that the intellect cannot well avoid viewing
the insect transformation as the emblem, the token,
the natural herald and promise of our own. The
ancients, without our Christian Revelation, thought
so; for one of their most pleasing imaginations, yet
visible on some of their grave-stones, which we dig
up, is that of a butterfly over the name or the inscription whieh they record. They place the insect
there as the representation of the Psyche-of the
animating and surviving soul; as the intimation
that it will re-appear in a new form and region of
being. It is thus analogous to the word'resurgam'
on our hatchments. It beautifully and picturesquely
declares,'Non omnis moriar-I shall not wholly die;
but I hope yet to rise again.' The allusion and
applicability are so striking that I cannot but believe that one of the great purposes of the Deity in
creating his insect kingdom was to excite this sentiment in the human heart; and to raise by it the contemplative mind to look forward to a possible revival
from the tomb, as the butterfly from its sepulchral
chrysalis." *
"The transmutations," says Chalmers, "which take
place in the state of other animals, as birds and insects, and yet with the subsistence of the living principle in each of the stages; warrant the conclusion,
not that the soul must, but that the soul may survive
the entire dissolution of that material frame-work
wherewith it is now encompassed." t
* Professor Bush.
t Chalmers' Lectures on Butler's Analogy, Lecture I., Part I., Section 2. 
NATURAL EMBLEMS OF IMMORTALITY.   337
"Like the insect, the human personality has three
states, and changes, and forms of being, but continues
indestructible through all. It emerges from its ovum
into the figure and life of the present fleshly body; it
rests in its earthly grave, unextinguished, though
visible to mortal eye no longer; and it will emerge
from that at its appointed time into its ethereal nature
and immortalized capacities; always the same self in
each transmutation; never dying or dissolving with
its material investment; but surviving, to bloom in
everlasting youth amid the most exquisite felicitythe spiritualized butterfly, with angel wings perhaps,
and an imperishable vitality." *
We cite this extract as containing several )eautiful
ideas, and, on the whole, pertinent to our theme, but
there is one point upon which we wish, in passing, to
indicate our dissent; and that is, where the writer
speaks of the "human personality" as resting in the
grave unextinguished, to emerge therefrom at the
resurrection. He seems here to imagine that the soul
sleeps in the grave till the body is raised; and yet so
contrary is this idea to what he had before said of the
"psyche-the animating and surviving soul," that we
rather attribute it to the confounding of the two ideas
of the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection
of the body, for the time being, in the mind of the
writer; and to an overweening desire for the moment:
to make the analogy between the case of man and the
butterfly as complete as possible. He had no'idea
after all of the sleep of the soul in the grave from
death to the general resurrection.
We have thus seen that various facts and phe
* Turner's Sacred History of the World, p. 354.
22 
338      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
nomena in the natural world are strikingly adapted
to shadow forth and illustrate the change of death,
and the survivency of the spirit when the body dies.
That such was the design of these arrangements on
the part of the Creator, it might be too much to affirm;
and yet what Christian can doubt that they were so
intended? Who but man can become the observer
and the student of these phenomena? And to what
can he apply them,if not to the problem of immortality?
Man is not all of earth;
The glowing brightness of bright Fancy's fires,The boundlessness of all his soul's desires,   Prove him of heavenly birth.
Look on his glorious face!
There the quick play of varied passions see!
Look on that brow of thought! Must it not be
A spirit's dwelling-place?
Behold that changing eye!
Does not that glance of tenderness and love,
That love of high resolve, or pity, prove
Something that will not die?
The grave can claim no part,
Save that on which there falleth our sad tears;
Clay cannot cover all those hopes and fears
Which swell each throbbing heart.
Would God a palace rear
For a frail being with no nobler life
Than that which closes with the dying strife?
A life that endeth here?
Ah, no? the tenant must
More glorious than its glorious mansion be;
Whose dome and columns soon, alas! we see
All crumbling into dust. 
NATURAL EMBLEMS OF IMMORTALITY.    339
Dust may to dust return,
Ashes to kindred ashes fall again;
But thought dies not: of all the mind's bright train
None find a funeral urn.
Then, though thine eye grow dim,
And sluggish flow the current of thy blood,
Look up, 0 man! in steadfast faith, to God;
For thou shalt go to him. 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CIHAPTER XXII.
SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT AND PRACTICAL CON                    CLUSIONS.
WE have now gone over the entire ground of the
argument, noticing the principal evidences, natural
and revealed, of the soul's immortality. Let us now
recapitulate the various points established and considerations urged, and notice the bearing of the general
doctrine upon several other minor questions in which
we all have or should have a deep and abiding interest.
In the first ten chapters, devoted to the development of the Scripture doctrine of immortality, we have
shown that matter and spirit are distinct essencesthat man is a two-fold being, consisting of a spirit
in a body-that souls are propagated and not immediately created-that as the life of Adam  began
with the union of the spirit with his body, so death is
a separation of these two natures of man-that souls
do not become extinct at death, or sleep in the grave
with the body till the resurrection, but have a separate and conscious existence from death to the resurrection morning-that they do not at once enter upon
their final abode, but remain in Hades, " Paradise," or
"the intermediate state," till their bodies are raised
E40 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS.
in the last day-that immortal existence is not a re.
sult of redemption, hinging upon our faith in Christ;
and that the supposed annihilation of the wicked at
the day of judgment is both unscriptural and absurd.
In the last twenty-one chapters, Part Second, devoted to the Rational Evidences of a Future Life,
we have explained the character and value of the
Rational Argument; have cited various indications of
another life in the structure and phenomena of the
natural world; and have corroborated the infallible
teaching of the Divine Oracles, by arguments drawn
from the general belief of mankind-the relation of
man to the lower animals- the exquisite structure of
the human body-the dominion of the soul over the
body-the unequal development of the mind and
body-the energy of the soul in cases where physical
organs are wanting-the completeness of our mental
powers under bodily mutilations-the phenomena of
reverie, sleep, dreaming and catalepsy; and the vigor
and activity of the soul in the hour of death. We
have also shown from natural analogies that the dissolution of the human body affords no ground for the
presumption that the mind perishes withit; and have
sustained the teachings of the Bible by arguments
drawn from the indestructibility of matter,-the immateriality of the soul, and her powers of memory,the rapidity of her mental process-her capabilities
of improvement, and her vast achievements in know
ledge and skill, the desire for posthumous remembrance and fame, our earthly discontent, the power of
hope, and our longings for immortality.
To all this we have added an argument drawn from
our forebodings of the future, and the power of con
341 
342      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
science and remorse; and another drawn from our
continued love for the dead, closing in the last chapter with the fragmentary gleanings of the field, under
the head of natural emblems of the soul's departure at
death.
We have thus seen that although nature and reason are incapable of satisfactorily revealing or discovering a future state of existence, yet, when once
revealed, they fully respond to and corroborate this
glorious truth. As earth echoed back the voice of
God in the thunders of Sinai, so when a voice from
heaven resounds in our ears the glad tidings-" Another life after death,"-the hills and vales of earth,
the plants that grow, the beasts under our dominion,
and the insect tribes-the moon and the stars, the
human body and the deathless soul with all her
powers, echo back the joyful pean-" another life!another life!!-ANOTIER LIFE!!!"
Oh, listen, man!
A voice within us speaks that startling word,
Man, thou 8halt never die! Celestial voices
Hymn it into our souls. According harps
By angel fingers touched when the mild stars
Of morning sang together, sound forth still,
The song of our great Immortality.
And now, what is the practical bearing of the great
and glorious truth that both heaven and earth have
conspired to teach us? What lessons ought we to
deduce from the survey of the evidences of an immortal, endless life after death, as developed in the preceding chapters? What should be the effect of the
light of this great central truth, upon other and subordinate questions by which it is surrounded? We
answer, 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS.
I. That it discloses, in a strong and cheering light,
the IMPORTANCE, PERFECTION AND GLORY OF REVEALED
RELIGION.
With all the light that " Reason and Nature" could
shed upon the anxious problem, even with the aid of
an early revelation, borne along the ages through the
channels of tradition-the philosophers and sages of
antiquity were utterly unable fully to assure themselves of another life beyond the grave. The best that
Socrates could say, was, " I hope I am going to good
men, though this I would not take upon me peremptorily to assert." Speaking of the two ideas, of immortality and of non-existence, Cicero could only affirm,
"Which of these is true God only knows, and which is
most probable a very great question."  "When I
read* I assent; but when I have laid down the book,
all that assent vanishes."  And such only was the
faith of Seneca.  " Immortality," said he, "however
desirable, is rather promised than proved by those great
men."t
Such is the light of "reason and nature." Not
thus doubtful is the Christian believer. Hie knows
that if his earthly house is dissolved, he has a building
of God, eternal in the heavens;. that to depart is to
be with Christ, which is far better; and that beyond
this transitory life there awaits him a conscious and
joyful spiritual existence —a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory.
Of the ages without revelation as compared with
the present, it may well be said,
Once star on star in kind succession rose,
Now the great sun in healing splendor glows;
* The writings of Socrates and Plato.    t Socrates and Plato.
343 
344      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
And the man who rejects the Bible, and trusts to
nature alone as his tutor, must ever wander in darkness and uncertainty, a prey to distressing doubts and
anxious forebodings as to what awaits him when his
change shall come.   Look  at Henry Kirk White
first as a votary of natural religion, and then as a
devout student of the Bible, as described in his own
inimitable "Star of Bethlehem."
Once on the raging seas I rode,
The storm was loud, the night was dark,
The ocean yawned, and rudely blowed
The wind that tossed my foundering bark.
Deep horror then my vitals froze;
Death struck, I ceased the tide to stem;
When suddenly a star arose,
It was the Star of Bethlehem.
It was my guide, my light, my all;
It bade my dark forebodings cease;
And through the storm and danger's thrall,
It led me to the port of peace.
Now safely moored-my perils o'er,
I'll sing, first in night's diadem,
Forever and forevermore,
The Star! the Star of Bethlehem.
And it is only by the assurances of God's holy
word that the soul ever can be "safely moored," or
have her "dark forebodings" entirely cease.
How truthfully, also, has Beattie described the difference between natural and revealed religion, in his
beautiful " HIermit."
'Twas thus by the glare of false science betray'd,
That leads, to bewilder; and dazzles to blind;
My thoughts went to roam, from shade onward to shade,
Destruction before me, and sorrow behind. 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS.
"Oh pity, great Father of light," then I cried,
"Thy creature who fain would not wander from thee;
So, humbly in dust I relinquish my pride:
From doubt and from darkness thou only canst free!
"And darkness and doubt are now fleeing away,
No longer I roam in conjecture forlorn,
So breaks on the traveler, faint, and astray,
The bright and the balmy effulgence of morn.
See Truth, Love, and Mercy in triumph descending,
And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom!
On the cold cheek of Death smiles and roses are blending,
And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb."
Thus are life and immortality brought to light by
the gospel.
Oh thou thrice blessed word of God!
Most wondrous book! bright candle of the Lord!
Star of eternity! the only star
By which the bark of man could navigate
The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss
Securely;-only star which rose on time,
And, on its dark and troubled billows, still
As generation, drifting swiftly by,
Succeeded generation, threw a ray
Of heaven's own light, and to the hills of God,
The everlasting hills, pointed the sinner's eye.
By the anxious doubts and fears of the unbelieving
heart, and by all the cherished joys that spring from
the hope of a better and endless life after death, let
us love, and study, and believe, and obey that holy
volume the BIBLE, which alone is able to dispel
all gloom and fear, and point the eager anxious
spirit of man to the bright and open pathway of immortality!
II.  Though reason and nature are unable satisfactorily to reveal a future state, YET ARE THEY NOT
ON THAT ACCOUNT TO BE DESPISED OR UNDERVALUED.
345 
346      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
As the ally and elucidator of revealed truth,
natural theology has its legitimate office and its importance. Our complaint of the Deist is, not that he
honors reason and nature, but that he lavishes upon
them the attention and the homage due to revelation
alone, and rejects the only guide that can make him
truly wise. On the contrary, we should welcome to
our vision the light from heaven, and let it variegate
and beautify the whole realm of nature. With the
Bible in our hands,
Nature all o'er is consecrated ground,
Teeming with growths immortal and divine.
Nature and revelation have a common Author, and
are ever in harmony; hence, unless the judgment has
been first perverted, and the reasoning faculties
clouided by the dark shadows of scepticism, the most
devout student of Nature will ever be found among
the most humble and devout worshippers of the true
and living God. As Christian believers, therefore,
we have no quarrel with "natural religion," when
properly interpreted and applied, and kept in its
legitimate sphere as the ally and elucidator of the
Bible.
III. The years of our future and immortal existence stand IN  IMPRESSIVE CONTRAST WITH  OUR
PRESENT BRIEF AND RAPIDLY DEPARTING LIFE.
Well may  it be called a "vapor,"  a "hand's
breadth," a "tale that is told."
Lo, on a narrow neck of land,
'Twixt two unbounded seas we stand.
Behind us are the numberless years of the past, 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS.
and before us roll the countless ages of eternity to
come. "Life is a rapid moment, and it hastens to be
gone; it gathers dimness and expires."* Like a
bubble upon the wave it soon breaks and is seen no
more.
With all its cares and anxieties, its days and
nights and months and rolling years-its hopes and
fears and joys and sorrows-what is this mortal life
but the mere beginning of an endless existence?
This is the bud of being, the dim dawn,
The twilight of our day, the vestibule:
Life's theater, as yet is shut; and Death,
Strong death alone can heave the massy bar,
This gross impediment of clay remove,
And set us, embryos of existence, free.
As was said of a little girl whose pure spirit was
early called away from earth, so it might also have
been said of her had she lived and shone on earth for
half a century.
She sparkled, was exhaled, and went to heaven.
We step upon the stage of conscious being, cast a
hasty glance around us, draw a few breaths, smile,
shed a few tears, utter a groan of agony, and are
gone! And, yet, we live, and shall live forever!
Go count the leaves of all earth's forests, the drops
of every sea and lake and stream, the sands of every
shore, and all the stars of heaven-let each represent
an age of the coming future, and when the last leaf
and drop and star and grain of sand is told off in
* Rev. Dr. Dempster at a missionary meeting in Watertown, N.Y.,
in 1836, as he was about to embark for Buenos Ayres as a missionary.
347 
348     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
registering the ongoing cycles of our immortal ex.
istence, even then we shall but have commenced to
live; and the years of our conscious eternal life-time
shall still go on, and on forever! *
IV. The doctrine of the soul'8 immortality should
enable us THE B3ETTER TO UNDERSTAND THE INESTIMABLE VALUE OF THIS SHORT AND FLEETING LIFE.
As the years of childhood throw their influence
forward upon the character and destiny and happiness of man as long as he lives in this world, and as
the right improvement or neglect of spring-time determines the quality and the amount of the coming
harvest, so this short life, brief and fleeting as it is,
will throw forward its light or its shade upon all the
years of our coming existence. As well expect the
right eye of that little boy, that has been put out by
the rebounding arrow from his cross-bow, to be restored when he reaches manhood, as to expect the
soul to recover from the scars and bruises and dislocations of sin, in the world to which she goes. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap; and here
only may we sow to the Spirit-to truth and virtue,
and faith and holy living-that we may hereafter reap
eternal life.
* What a very great sum is a billion!  It is a million of millions.  A
million seems large enough; but a million of millions! how long do
you suppose it would take you to count it? A mill which makes one
hundred pins in a minute, if kept to work night and day, would only
make fifty-two millions five hundred and ninety-six thousand pins a
year; and at that rate the mill must work twenty thousand years without stopping a single moment, in order to turn out a billion of pins.
What a vast sum, then, is a billion; it is beyond our reach to conceive
of it. And yet, when a billion of years shall have passed, eternity will
seem to have just begun.  How important, then, is the question, "Where
shall I spend eternity?" 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS.
How, then, can we squander these precious hours
and days and years, in idle amusements and dissipation? How neglect from year to year the great salvation provided in Jesus Christ?  Oh how unwise,
how perilous, how suicidal!
No room for mirth or trifling here,
For worldly hope or worldly fear,
If life so soon is gone.
Like the swift ships it is speeding away, and will
soon be gone, to return no more.
Our life as a dream; our time as a stream,
Glides swiftly away,
And the fugitive moment refuses to stay.
The arrow is flown,-the moment is gone,
The millennial year
Rushes on to our view, and eternity's here.
As the generations that have preceded us like the
successive waves of the sea are now all numbered with
the dead, so we, dear reader, shall soon have done
with all things earthly, and entered upon our eternal
reward. Neglect not, then, the time and opportunities
that you now enjoy.
Seize, mortal! seize the transient hour,
Improve each moment as it flies;
Life's a short summer, man a flower;
He dies, alas! how soon, he dies.
The Rabbins had a legend that when Methuselah
was four hundred and sixty years old, the angel of
the Lord appeared to him, told him that he was to
live five centuries longer, and advised him to erect for
himself a permanent  dwelling-place.   "Only five
hundred years?" said the patriarch with a sigh; "'if
349 
350     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
that is all I need no better dwelling. My old tent
will answer till I leave the world."
Alas how few of us fully realize that this is not our
home and live as strangers and pilgrims in the earth.
Oh for more of the spirit of this beautiful legend,
even among the professed Christians and ministers of
the land!
The soul of man, a native of the skies,
High-born, and free, her freedom should maintain,
Unsold, unmortgaged for earth's little bribes.
V. In view of the endless years before us, look at the
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THINGS TEMPORAL AND THINGS
ETERNAL.
The body needs food and raiment and shelter only
for a few short years and yet how we struggle and
toil and vex ourselves, and burden and enslave the
immortal nature within us, to lay up much goods for
many years. But of what account will it be to any
of us a hundred years to come whether we were clad
in coarse raiment, fed upon plain food and dwelt and
died in a hovel, or were clothed in purple and fine
linen, fared sumptuously every day, and lived and
died in a palace? How little can our earthly condition in these respects, affect our destiny or our happiness in the world of spirits to which we go.
But not so with the immortal nature. If that has
neglected to put on the wedding garment and to taste
that bread of life of which if we eat we shall live
forever, all is lost! True religion, and that alone,
can prepare us either to live or die, or to be happy
forever beyond the grave.
Souls are her charge; to her'tis given
To train them for their native heaven. 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS.
While, therefore, as beings dwelling for a time in
houses of clay, we give a portion of our attention and
efforts to the satisfying of the demands of these dying
natures, how unwise and unbecoming immortal beings
to lavish all our time and powers upon the things of
earth, as if we had no heaven to gain, and no hell to
shun beyond the tomb!
Oh may we set our affections upon things above and
not upon things on the earth! It is of little account
how we are circumstanced here for a few brief years,
whether rich or poor, honored or forgotten, if we are
wise unto salvation, live for eternity, and lay hold
upon everlasting life.
No matter which my thoughts employ;
A moment's misery or joy;
But oh! when both shall end,
Where shall I find my destined place?
Shall I my everlasting days
With fiends or angels spend?
Nothing is worth a thought beneath,
But how I may escape the death
That never, never dies!
How make mine own election sure;
And when I fail on earth, secure
A mansion in the skies.
Oh let us live, not for the body alone-for earth and
time-but for the soul, for heaven and immortality!
For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a
man give in exchange for his soul?
VI. In view of an immortal existence after death,
HOW REASONABLE AND SUBLIME AND GLORIOUS THE
WORK OF REDEMPTION BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
To those who deny an immortal existence to man,
351 
3'52    THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
it is not strange that the glorious doctrine of redemption should seem a cunningly devised fable, and Jesus
Christ as a root out of dry ground. If no hereafter
awaits us, of what importance or real value can the
redemption of the soul be?  "Let us eat, and drink,
for to-morrow we die." But if we are to live forever beyond the grave-if the curse of sin must
either be removed by a sacrificial expiation, accepted
by each individual spirit, or borne forever in the world
to come, then the redemption of the soul becomes a
theme that angels may well desire to look into. Well
might the Father eternal give his only begotten Son
to become the propitiation for our sins. Well might
he wrap himself in the vestments of our humanity,
that through death he might redeem us from the curse
of the law, becoming a curse for us. Well might he
bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that the
blessings of pardon and holiness might light up all
the ages of our endless existence. Such an object is
worthy of God,-and of the infinite sacrifice of Calvary
made to secure it.
And no wonder that heaven and earth, angels and
devils, are enlisted in the solution of the problem of
the character of our future existence —a problem that
can only be measured by the agonies of the cross and
the years of our coming eternity!
The soul of man-Jehovah's breath!
That keeps two worlds at strife;
Hell moves beneath to work its death,
Heaven stoops to give it life.
When we contemplate her powers-her capabilities
of improvement, and of joy or sorrow-and her destination to endless being; then only do we rise to some 
RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSIONS.
just conception of her almost infinite value. Of what
importance is a city, a fleet of ships, an empire, compared with one deathless soul of man?
Knowest thou the importance of a soul immortal?
Behold yon midnight glory! world on world!
Amazing pomp! redouble this amazes
Ten thousand add, add twice ten thousand more,
Then weigh the whole! One soul outweighs them all,
And calls the astonishing magnificence
Of unintelligent creation poor!
28
353 
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER XXIII.
CONSOLATION FOR THE BEREFT AND SORROWING.
A FIRM belief in the immortality of the soul is
well calculated to mitigate our sorrow and dry our
tears when those we love are removed from us by
death.
I. It is consoling to think as we see the once fair
and lovely forms of friends and kindred consigned
to the tomb, that they STILL LIVE, AND MAY REMEMBER AND LOVE US STILL IN THE FAR OFF SPIRIT
LAND.
Why, what is death but life
In other forms of being-life without
The coarser attributes of man, the dull
And momently decaying frame which holds
The eternal spirit in, and binds it down
To brotherhood with brutes? There's no such thing
As death! What's called so is but the beginning
Of a new existence; a fresh segment in
The eternal round of change.
Though we  talk of them  as dead, yet theirs  alone
is "the land of life."
"This is the desert, this the solitude:
How populous, how vital is the grave!"
Well may we write upon  the tomb-stone,  "Not
lost, but gone before." A beloved Christian friend
has left us, but he has only emigrated to a "better
354 
CONSOLATION FOR THE BEREFT.
country." We see beyond the stream the smoke of
his cottage. Was the deceased a tender infant, a
lovely little boy or girl? They have part in the great
propitiation, without faith, without baptism, without
"extreme unction," or any other ceremony.   Christ
the second Adam has for them fully retrieved the
ruin brought upon them by the first. There is no
place in hell for infant spirits; for "of such is the
kingdom of heaven." Look up, then, bereft and
weeping mother! Like flocks of snow-white doves, the
souls of the early dead hover over the heavenly paradise, and dwell in the light of God's presence forever.
Even though you may not be a Christian, and
therefore feel that you are not prepared to die, yet
in respect to the babe that has been removed from
you, all is safe. It had no knowledge of God, of his
holy law, of the sin of Adam, or of Christ the Saviour,
and could have none; and without repentance or faith
its little robes are washed and made white in the blood
of the Lamb. Think of it, then, not as in that tiny
grave where you go to weep, but above the stars; not
as while with you subject to sickness, pain, and
death, but where none ever say I am sick, and where
sickness, pain, and death, are unknown. Not as inhabiting a world of sin, but a citizen of that bright
and holy land, where no clouds are seen, no tears
flow, where flowers never fade, and where "sorro?
and sighing shall flee away!"
II. I)o you weep for a pious brother, parent, child,
or companion?  THEY LIVE AND ARE AT REST!
"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from
henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labors." Rev. xiv. 13.
355 
356      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
I see a world of spirits bright,
That taste the pleasure there;
They all are robed in spotless white,
And conquering palms they bear.
" I shall go to him," said the heart-stricken David
of his departed son.  Oh how this thought has soothed
the agonies of millions of bleeding hearts! "My
brother, my wife, my gentle babe are gone, but they
live immortal with the angels, where all tears are
wiped  away."   Happy  dwellers in  that  "better
country."
Dreams may not picture a world so fair,
Sorrow and sin may not enter there,
Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom,
'Tis beyond the stars, and beyond the tomb.
Oh could they but speak to us from those realms
of peace, how would they chide our sorrows, and bid
us to weep no more. Methinks could we in this lower
world but hear their joyful chorus-their song of
triumph and rejoicing would be
I shine in the light of God;
His likeness stamps my brow;
Through the valley of death my feet have trod.
And I reign in glory now.
No sin, no grief, no pain,
Safe in my happy home,
My fears all fled, my doubts all slain,
My hour of triumph's come.
I have reached the joys of heaven;
I am one of the sainted band;
To my head a crown of gold is given,
And a harp is in my hand.
Do you mourn when another star
Shines out in the glittering sky?
Do you weep when the raging voice of war
And the storms of conflict die? 
CONSOLATION FOR THE BEREFT.
Then why do your tears run down,
Why your hearts so sorely riven,
For another gem in a Saviour's crown,
And another soul in heaven?
Think of the scenes of glory that passed before
the enraptured gaze of the Revelator.   See that
gorgeous city, with its gates of pearl, its twelve
foundations, its streets of gold, its river and its trees
of life! Do you see that joyful company in white
robes?  Mark  those palms of victory!  See those
crowns of life adorning every brow! Mark how with
harp and voice they pour forth their songs of everlasting joy unto God and the Lamb! Your departed
kindred are there! Your friend is one of that joyful
and immortal company.
Oh their crowns! how bright they sparkle,
Such as monarchs never wore:
They are gone to richer pastures,'
Jesus is their Shepherd there:
Hail! ye happy, happy spirits,
Death no more shall make you fear,
Grief nor sorrow, pain nor anguish,
Shall no more distress you there.
Then wipe away those tears. Anoint thy head
and wash thy face, that thou appear no more to
sorrow. The land of darkness and tears, and the
gates of death are passed; your kindred have entered heaven. Then weep no more till you too
shall go, where all tears are wiped away.
III. We may expect, if Christians, TO MEET AND
KNOW OUR PIOUS KINDRED, IN THE LAND BEYOND TIHE
GRAVE.
We are not to know less but more hereafter.  Now
357 
358      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
we know in part, but then that which is perfect will
have come. This is our childhood, that shall be our
maturer life, when we shall have put away childish
things. Now we see through a glass darkly, but then
face to face, and knowing as we are known. Abraham,
Dives, and Lazarus, knew each other. Moses and
Elias are Moses and Elias still. The immortal whom
John saw, Rev. xxii. 8, 9, introduced himself as a
"fellow servant," and "of his brethren the prophets;"
and the Jews are to see and know Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.
It cannot be that the saved shall not know each
other in the heavenly land. Such an arrangement
would detract indescribably from the bliss of that final
state. "A stranger in heaven! The past all forgotten! Father, mother, wife, children and other
kindred here, but I can never know them! I promised
to meet some of them in heaven-they are here, I am
here, I may have met them, sung with them, shouted
with them, harped with them, walked the streets of the
city and the sea of glass with them, bowed before the
everlasting throne with them, but I do not, cannot
know them! Earth was the grave of friendship-I can
greet those I knew and loved on earth no more for ever!"  Ah  no, heart-strickenmourner! No  such
soliloquy will ever be heard beyond the grave. Heaven
is a land of purest social bliss, peopled with bright
circles of deathless friends.   We shall know each other
in heaven!
Yes! oh, yes! in that land, that happy land,
They that meet shall know each other,
Far beyond the rolling river,
Meet to sing and love forever,
In that happy land. 
CONSOLATION FOR THE BEREFT.
How joyful the thought of such a meeting! How
blissful the prospect of such a heaven! How fondly
we dwell upon the tender theme of re-union with "the
loved and lost" in the regions of eternal life!  We
stand and gaze across the river of death, we believe
and hope, and yet we love to repeat the fond interrogatory-"-' Shall I know my kindred in heaven?"
When we hear the music ringing,
Thro' the bright, celestial dome,
When sweet angel voices singing,
Gladly bid us welcome home,
To the land of ancient story,
Where the spirit knows no care,
In the land of light and glory,
Shall we know each other there?
When the holy angels meet us,
As we go to join their band,
Shall we know the friends that greet us
In the glorious sp-irit land?
Shall we see their bright eyes shining
On us, as in days of yore?
Shall we feel their dear arms twining,
Fondly round us as before?
Yes! my earth-worn soul rejoices,
And my weary heart grows light,
For the thrilling angel voices,
And the angel faces bright,
That shall welcome me in heaven,
Are the loved of long ago,
And to them'tis kindly given,
Thus their mortal friends to know.
Oh! ye weary ones and sad ones,
Droop not, faint not by the way!
Ye shall join the loved and lost ones,
In the land of perfect day!
iHarp-strings touched by angel fingers,
Murmur in my raptured ear,
Ever more their sweet tones linger,
W4'e shall know each other there!
359 
360      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Thus does the hope of another life after death become a solace to the wounded and bereft spirit, a
balm for the aching and bleeding heart. Oh may all
who weep on earth lay hold of its divine consolations,
and weep no more! 
THE GOOD MAN'S PROSPECTS.
CHAPTER XXIV.
GLORIOUS PROSPECTS BEFORE THE DYING CHRISTIAN.
Weep not, my Redeemer lives;
Heavenward springing from the dust,
Clear-eyed Hope her comfort gives;
Faith, Heaven's champion, bids us trust;
Love vernal whispers nigh,
"Child of God, fear not to die!"
IN view of the doctrine of the soul's immortality,
how bright and glorious the prospeet before the dying
believer.
0 glorious hope of immortality!
At thought of thee, the coffin, and the tomb,
Affright no more; and even the monster Death
Loses his fearful form and seems a friend.
Death to the good man is but the dawning of an
eternal day. Not till then does he enter upon a life
unclogged by corruption.  Hie ascends to be with
Christ, which is far better. Then farewell earthfarewell toil and pain and tears and death! iHe
goes to join the immortal company of heaven, who
ring and shine in the presence of God forever.
And though the hills of death
May hide the bright array,
The marshalled brotherhood of souls
Still keeps its upward way;
361 
362      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Upward! forever upward!
I see their march sublime,
And hear the glorious music
Of the conquerors of time.
No doubts, no darkness, no fear! The two-leaved
gates of eternity are gently opening before him,
and the light of that brighter world is pouring forth
upon the scene of his departure.  Hark! He sings!
-What is this absorbs me quite,Steals my senses, shuts my sight,Drowns my spirit, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
The world recedes: it disappears;
Heaven opens on my eyes; m; ears
With sounds seraphic ring.
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
0 grave, where is thy victory?
0 death, where is thy sting?
See the dying Mozart, as he stands by the river
of death, looks back upon the toils of the past, and
forward to the joys of the immortal future. How
appropriate the language of his "cygnean" song, the
last he heard on earth.*
* Wolfgang Mozart, the great German composer, died at Vienna in the
year 1791. There is something strikingly beautiful and touching in
the circumstances of his death. His sweetest song was the last he sung
-the Requiem. I-e had been employed upon this exquisite piece for
several weeks, his soul filled with inspirations of richest melody, and
already claiming kindred with immortality. After giving it its last
touch, and breathing into it that undying spirit of song which was to
consecrate it through all time, as his "cygnean strain," he fell into a
gentle and quiet slumber.   At length the light footsteps of  his
daughter Emilie awoke him.  " Come hither," said he, "my Emiliemy task is done-the Requiem-s-y Requiem is finished."  "Say not
so, dear father," said the gentle girl, interrupting him as tears stood in
her eyes. "You must be better-you look better, for even now your 
THIE GOOD MAN'S PROSPECTS.
Spirit! thy labor is o'er!
Thy term of probation is run,
Thy steps are now bound for the untrodden shore,
And the race of immortals begun.
Spirit! look not on the strife,
Or the pleasures of earth with regretPause not on the threshold of limitless life
To mourn for the thing that is set.
Spirit! no fetters can bind,
No wicked have power to molest;
There the weary, like thee-the wretched shall find
A haven, a mansion of rest.
Spirit! how bright is the road
For which thou art now on the wing.
Thy home it will be with thy Saviour and God,
Their loud hallelujahs to sing.
In that better land "there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain, for the former things are passed away."
There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the
weary are forever at rest. There the Lamb that is in
cheek has a glow upon it. I am sure we will nurse you well again.
Let me bring you something refreshing." "Do not deceive yourself,
my love," said the dying father, "this wasted form can never be restored by human aid. From Reaven's mercy alone do I look for aid,
in this my dying hour. You spoke of. refreshment, my Emilie-take
these my last notes —sit down to my piano here-sing with them the
hymn of your sainted mother-let me once more hear those tones which
have been so long my solacemnent and delight." Emilie obeyed, and
with a voice enriched with tenderest emotion, sang the following
stanzas:
Spirit I thy labor is o'er, &c.
as cited above.
As she concluded, she dwelt for a moment upon the low melancholy
notes of the piece, and then turning from the instrument looked in
silence for the approving smile of her father. It was the still passionless smile which the rapt and joyous spirit left-with the seal of death
upon those features.
363 
364     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
the midst of the throne shall lead us to fountains of
living waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from
our eyes.
No tear shall be in heaven, no gathering gloom,
Shall o'er that glorious landscape ever come,
No tears shall fall, in sadness o'er those flowers,
That breathe their fragrance through celestial bowers.
No tear shall be in heaven, no sorrows reign,
No secret anguish, no corporeal pain;
No shivering limbs, no burning fever there,
No soul's eclipse, no winter of despair,
No night shall be in heaven, but endless noon,
No fast declining sun, nor waning moon,
But there the Lamb shall yield perpetual light,
'Mid pastures green, and waters ever bright.
No tear shall be in heaven, no darkened room,
No bed of death, or silence of the tomb;
But breezes ever fresh with love and truth,
Shall brace the frame with an immortal youth.
In view of such a consummation, of what account
are our momentary earthly sufferings, trials, disappointments, or persecutions? Are they worthy to be
compared with the glory to be revealed? Should we
not rather bless God for every pang we feel, knowing
that our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory?
Then, oh my soul, despond no more,
The storm of life will soon be o'er,
And I shall find the peaceful shore
Of everlasting rest.
0 happy day!  Oh joyful hour,
When freed from earth my soul shall tower,
Beyond the reach of Satan's power,
To be forever blest. 
THE GOOD MAN'S PROSPECTS.
Well might the dying Mrs. Osgood write, with her
feet almost upon the eternal shore,
I'm going through the eternal gates,
Ere June's sweet roses blow;
Death's lovely angel leads me there,
And it is sweet to go.
Beloved reader! Does your bosom glow with this
glorious hope of joys immortal beyond the grave?
If so, let us rejoice together.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not
away. May neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to comne, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, ever separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  May this "good hope
through grace," be our solace and strength through
life, our support and consolation in death, and only
cease to shine and glow within us, when mortality is
swallowed up of life!
I said, "let us rejoice together." And yet the
lines I now write will be read by some, when the
hand that writes them has crumbled back to dust
But even then let us rejoice together:
Onearmy of the living God,
To his command we bow;
Part of his host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now.
From beyond the stars we may exclaim, Rejoice
365 
366      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
0 earth!  Cry out and shout ye inhabitants of Zion!
ye heirs of glory on the way to these heavenly mansions!  While from earth you may respond, Sing on!
ye heavenly hosts, sing on! By faith we hear your
melodies-we see your shining robes and sparkling
crowns-we are treading the narrow way you trodwe have an earnest of our future inheritance,-we
are fighting the good fight of faith, and expect to
overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and to meet you
ere long in heaven!"
There all the ship's company meet,
Who sailed with the Master beneath;
With shouting each other they greet,
And triumph o'er sorrow and death,
The voyage of life's at an end,
The mortal affliction is past;
The age that in heaven they spend,
Forever and ever shall last.
Cold and heat, hunger and thirst, weariness, sickness, pain, and death-all these are forever past.
The mourner is blessed by his Saviour and God,
The parted rejoin in that blest abode;
'Tis a mansion of beauty and glory and light,
And the angels are there.in their robes of white:
Its walls are of onyx-stone, jasper and gold,
But the half of its beauty can never be toldOur friends wait us there, and they beckon away,
We hasten to join them in endless day.
But it will not be the everlasting rest-the robes
and palms,-the harps and streets of gold-the river
and trees of life-the society of the angels; the meeting again with those who have gone before, that will
constitute the bliss of heaven. 
THE GOOD MAN'S PROSPECTS.
Not all the harps above,
Can make a heavenly place,
If God his residence remove,
Or but conceal his face.
To THEE and THEE alone,
The angels owe their bliss;
They sit around the glorious throne
And dwell where JEsuS is.
Well might a devout servant of God declare that
he expected to gaze a thousand years upon him who
bought him with his own blood, before he could
notice any merely earthly friend or relative, however dear.  Pure and holy and bright and enduring
as are the heavenly mansions, they would be all
clouds and darkness and gloom without the light
of the Lamb.
When on my new-fledged wings I rise,
To tread those shores beyond the skies,
What object first shall strike my eyes?
And where shall I begin my joys?
I'll run through every golden street,
And ask each blissful soul I meet,
Where is the God whose praise ye sing?
Oh lead a stranger to your King.t
But these pages may be read by some of the
friends of our youth and early manhood,-fellowChristians and fellow-laborers of other years,-who,
like the writer begin to mark the lengthening shadows
of life's declining day, and are looking for the welcome opening of the eternal gates.
To all such, who may look upon the memorial of
our former earthly being, fronting the title page,
when we are gone, or drop a tear over the spot where
367 
368     THIIE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
our ashes rest-to all such, kindred in the flesh, and
beloved brethren in Christ, we would say,
The soul that thou hast loved
Will not be there,
It will have plumed its wings,
And soared afar.
Then weep not o'er my change,
When I am freeWhen I've left my cell and gained
My liberty.
Afar in yonder sky,
I'll find my home,
And wait in realms of light
For thee to come.
Call me not back to earth,
To leave my crown,
I have fought through sin and death,
My victory's won.
Excuse, indulgent reader, these frank and unaffected disclosures of our personal hopes and prospects.
They are the spontaneous outgushings of a heart still
youthful and fresh in its friendships and Christian
affections-a tribute to the memory of thousands of
cherished earthly friends, scattered here and there
over the fields of our itinerant labor, but whom we
shall meet no more on earth. May we all meet in
peace beyond the grave!
But of the prospect that opens before the good man
in        the hour of death,
Who can paint the scenes of glory
Where the ransomed dwell on high?
Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither
hath it entered into the heart of man fully to conceive of the glory that awaits the Christian beyond
the vale of death. 
THIE GOOD MAN'S PROSPECTS.
No sickness there,
No weary wasting of the frame away,
No fearful shrinking from the midnight air,
No dread of summer's bright and fervid ray.
No hidden grief,
No wild and cheerless visions of despair,
No vain petition for a swift relief,
No tearful eye, no broken hearts are there.
Care has no home
Within that realm of ceaseless praise and song:
Its tossing billows break and melt in foam,
Far from the mansions of the spirit throng.
The storm's black wing
Is never spread athwart celestial skies:
Its wailings blend not with the voice of spring,
As some poor tender floweret fades and dies.
No night distils
Its chilling dews upon the tender frame:
No morn is needed there! the light which fills
That land of glory, from its Maker came.
No parting friends
O'er mournful recollections have to weep:
No bed of death enduring love attends
To watch the coming of a pulseless sleep.
No blasted flowers,
Or withered bud celestial gardens know:
No scorching blast, or fierce descending shower,
Scatters destruction like a ruthless foe.
No battle word
Alarms the sacred host with fear and dread:
The song of peace creation's morning heard,
Is sung wherever angel footsteps tread.
Let us depart,
If home like this await the weary soul:
Look up thou stricken one! thy wounded heart
Shall bleed no more at sorrow's stern control.
369
),4 
370      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
With faith our guide,
White-robed and innocent, to tread the way,
Why fear to plunge in Jordan's rolling tide,
And find the haven of eternal day?
Such is the prospect opened before the Christian as
he passes the gates of death.  No wonder he often
shouts.  No  wonder he cries, "Victory! Victory!
through the blood of the Lamb!"
Why should I shrink at pain or woe?
Or feel, at death, dismay?
I've Canaan's goodly land in view,
And realms of endless day.
Then welcome Death! welcome the tomb and the
bright world beyond! Welcome ye angels immortal!  Welcome ye blissful hosts, once of earth, and
heirs of sorrow pain and death, but now forever
free!  Welcome my long-lost kindred who await my
coming!
Welcome, thrice welcome, ye gates of day!
thou city of my God! All hail Immortality! All
hail ETERNAL LIFE!!
Forever with the Lord!
Amen, so let it be!
Life from the dead is in that word,
'Tis immortality.
Here in the body pent,
Absent from him I roam;
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
A day's march nearer home.
Forever with the Lord!
Father, if'tis thy will,
The promise of that faithful word,
E'en here to me fulfil. 
THE GOOD MAN'S PROSPECTS.
So, when my latest breath
Shall rend the veil in twain,
By death I shall escape from death,
And life eternal gain.
Knowing as I am known,
How shall I love that word,
And oft repeat before the throne,
Forever with the Lord!
371 
372      THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
CHAPTER XXV.
CLOSING APPEAL TO THE UNCONVERTED.
'Tis not the whole of life to live,
Nor all of death to die.
AND now dear reader, our work draws to a close.
A few more pages and our communion with you may
end forever. To what additional theme ought those
pages to be devoted?  If you are to exist forever in
another world-if the life that now is, is to determine
our allotment in the world to come, and, especially if
you are not a Christian, and have no good hope
through grace of everlasting life in heaven, what
ought I to say to you in closing the discussion of the
momentous theme of the soul's immortality?  Will
you not expect an appeal in behalf of that undying
spirit whose endless interests you have so long neglected? And will you not listen as a candidate for
immortality, whose days are so soon to be accomplished as the days of an hireling?
I. -Have you a doubt in your own mind that your soul
is immortal, and that you are to live in joy or woe forever?
Is not this doctrine clearly revealed in the Holy
Scriptures, and corroborated by all the facts and
phenomena of reason and nature?  Have you the
remotest idea that when you die that is to be your 
CLOSING APPEAL.
end? You shudder at the thought. Every power
and susceptibility of your undying nature cries out
against the idea. You shrink back from the contemplation of the cold, dark, cheerless abyss of non-existence. You cannot, you would not shake off the
conviction that that which thinks and knows and
hopes and fears within you shall always exist.
The sun is but a spark of fire,
A transient meteor of the sky;
The soul, immortal as its sire,
Shall never die!
Whatever else, then, you may for the present believe or reject, let this great truth sink deep into your
heart-I am to exist eternally! Believe it, ponder
it, cherish it, till it shall permeate the whole soul and
spirit, chasten your aspirations and relishes and hopes
and mould your purposes for a life befitting your immortal destination.
II. I beseech you to ponder the character of your
past life.
Are you not a sinner in the sight of God? Have
you not often and long trampled upon his holy law,
and done despite to the Spirit of grace? If they are
cursed who continue not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them, are you not under this
curse? and does not the wrath of God abide upon
you?  Oh be candid and impartial with your own soul.
You are alone with God, oh think as for eternity!
'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours,
And ask them what report they bore to heaven.
Oh may the blessed Spirit of God seal upon the
373 
374     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
conscience afresh a sense of the guilt and desert
of sin, and of your need of pardon and reconciliation to God, before you go hence and are here no
more!
III. Remember the relation of the present life to the
interminable future, as the seed-time of an immortal
harvest.
As we sow here so shall we reap hereafter.  Beyond this fleeting life there is prepared for the
righteous a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
There is a heaven, a glorious heaven beyond the
stars.
"And there shall in no wise enter into it anything
that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in
the Lamb's book of life." Rev. xxi. 27.
"-And there shall be no more curse: but the throne
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his
servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face;
and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there
shall be no night there; and they need no candle,
neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth
them light: and they shall reign forever and ever."
Rev. xxii. 3-5.
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that
they may have right to the tree of life, and may
enter in through the gates into the city." Rev.
xxii. 15.
Yes, blessed be the Lord,
Beyond this vale of tears,
There is a life above,
Unmeasured by the flight of years;
And all that life is love. 
CLOSING APPEAL.
Be assured also, that a miserable eternity awaits
the unforgiven and unsanctified.
There is a death whose pang,
Outlasts the fleeting breath:
Oh what eternal horrors hang,
Around the second death!
The redeemed and blood-washed shall "see life"
and enter heaven.
"Bnt the fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burneth with fire
and brimstone: which is the second death." Rev.
xxi. 8.
"For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Rev. xxii. 15.
"And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Matt.
xxv. 46.
Oh do not be beguiled by the syren song of "no
hell beyond the grave," to steer on without pardon
or hope, till you are forever wrecked amid the dark
rocks of error and the breakers of death! Trust not
your endless destiny to a speculation that has no
countenance in the word of God, and has failed its
thousands when they most needed the girdings of
truth and hope, and when it was too late to build on
the Rock of Ages.
IV. Remember that your only hope is in Jesus
Christ, the Savioutr of lost souls.
375 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
Talk they of morals? 0 thou bleeding Love,
Thou Maker of new morals to mankind!
The grand morality is love to Thee.
"Other foundation can no man lay than that is
laid, which is Jesus Christ." "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness as filthy rags."
We are only forgiven "through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus," and "washed from our sins in his
blood."   There is "no  other name  given  under
heaven, or among men, whereby we must be saved."
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saveth us, by the
washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the
Holy Ghost."
V. Remember, also, that salvation from sin is through
faith in the blood of Christ.
" He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."
" He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."
For "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so was the Son of man lifted up, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life." Hle only becomes our personal propitiation "through faith in his blood;" for
"with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
VI. Do not be deluded by the idea that because you
cannot merit heaven, or wash away the guilt of sin, by
a righteous life, that, therefore, you have nothing to do
that you may be saved.
We  are workers together with God.    Thou/gh
salvation is of grace, still in an infinitely important
sense is it true that,
376 
CLOSING APPEAL.
We shape ourselves the joy or woe,
Of which the coming life is made,
And fill our future hemisphere,
With sunshine or with shade.
God has made us free, and has set life and death
before us.  Christ has died for us, the just for the
unjust that he might bring us to God, and it is for us
to believe on him and live, or reject him and perish.
Ages pass away,
Thrones fall, and nations disappear, and worlds
Grow old and go to wreck; the soul alone
Endures, and what she chooseth for herself,
The arbiter of her own destiny,
That only shall be permanent.
God has done all on his part that is necessary for
your salvation, at least till you turn penitently to
him: it-now remains for you to settle your endless
destiny. If you will you may be saved! You yet
live, and,
Life is the hour that God has given
.T' escape from hell and fly to heaven;
The day of grace-and mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.
VII. Finally, brother immortal, candidate for
heaven or hell, purchase of a Redeemer's blood, let
me entreat you to act at once, and neglect no longer
the great salvation!
Are you young? So much the more hope in your
case if you now turn to God. Have y6u spent much
of your short life in sin already? So much the
greater need of immediate action. Time is flying;
life is speeding away; we travel enchanted ground;
and death and hell pursue!  "Behold now is the
accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation."
377
t 
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
While God invites, how blest the day!
How sweet the gospel's charming sound!
Come, sinner, haste, oh haste away,
While yet a pardoning God is found.
A little longer and it may be forever too late!
Why, then delay?
Hasten, sinner, to return!
Stay not for the morrow's sun,
Lest thy lamp should fail to burn,
Ere salvation's work is done.
PRAYER.
GOD of infinite mercies! Look thou upon
these pages with favor  and compassion.
Pardon their many errors and imperfections.
Attend them with thy blessing, and shed thou
upon the mind and heart of all who shall read
them the light and precious guidance of thy Hioly
Spirit. May they be instrumental in thy hands
in convincing the unbeliever of his immortal
destination.   May  they strengthen  the  faith,
brighten the prospects,. and increase the joys
of thy people. May they tend to bind the
hearts of all who read them, to thy precious
word, and to the cross of Christ. May they
alleviate the sorrows of the bereft and brokenhearted; impress the soul of the reader with a
deeper sense of the brevity and importance of
this mortal life, the vanity of all things earthly,
and the inestimable value of things spiritual
378 
CLOSING APPEAL.
and eternal. Above all, 0 Lord, we humbly
beseech thee, so to follow with thy blessing
this humble volume, wherever it may go, and
by whomsoever it may be read, that as thy
servant was brought to repentance and faith in
thee through the instrumentality of a book,*
so this book may be the means in thy hands of
winning souls to Christ, who shall shine as the
stars forever and ever.
Bless especially, we beseech thee, the unconverted reader as he may close this volume,
and be about to turn his thoughts to other
themes and pursuits. May he be persuaded by
the brevity and uncertainty of life, the everlasting years before him after death, the joys of
heaven, the pains of hell, the voice of conscience, the blood of Christ, and the strivings
of the Holy Ghost, to GIVE THEE HIS HEART!
And to Thy name shall be the everlasting
praise!
And now unto the ever blessed and adorable
TRINiTY-the FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST
-— one God, world without end-be honor and
The writer was convinced of sin and led to Christ, in December,
1834, through the instrumentality of" The Course of Time, a poem by
ROBERT'POLLOK."
Oh happy day that fixed my choice,
On Thee my Saviour and my God.
379 
380     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
power, dominion and glory, forever and ever.
Amen.
NOTE.-As stated in the Preface, so we here repeat, that it is the
Author's purpose, should life and health permit, to prepare a similar
volume soon upon The Resurrection of the -Dead; to be followed by one
devoted exclusively to The Heavenly World, and another upon the
subject of Future Punishment.  Should a gracious Providence favor this
design, it is hoped that the entire four volumes may be issued, in uniform style, as early as January, 1867 at latest. 
APPENDIX.
THE following excellent poems are so pertinent to
the subject of Immortality, and yet so seldom to be
met with, that we insert them here as well for the
edification of the devout reader, as to prevent their
falling into oblivion.
The first is by Mrs. S. K. Furman, but we are
unable to give the author of the second.
THE OLD MAN'S VALEDICTORY.
Wayworn, infirm, and old,
Lo, on my pilgrim's trusty staff I bow;
While evening's gathering shadows, damp and cold,
Fall on my heart and brow.
The winds of time have swept,
Long since, my youth and manhood's prime away;
And through my frame a withering blight has crept      The mildew of decay.
Along life's backward track
Sweet echoes float from out my cottage door;
And oft in solitude I wander back
To seek the loved once more.
881 
382      THIE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
My children, fair and bright
As golden sunbeams, gathered round me there;
Again I view the mother's fond delight
And list her trusting prayer.
Blest little ones that came
And caroled till their angel-plumes were given,
Perched in our hearts and lisped the parents' names,
Then flew away to heaven.
And long, lone years have flown
Since with her meek hands folded on her breast,
My gentle wife, o'er weary, laid her down
Beside her babes to rest.
0 then, in that great grief,
God's loving chastenings I no longer spurned,
But sought the proffered balm of sweet relief
For which my spirit yearned.
Since then a rugged way
Ofttimes has led me through misfortune's vale;
Yet His sure word and grace have been my stay,
Whose promises ne'er faiL
Safe through the wilderness,
My home grows nearer in the realms of love;
Soon I shall join the sacred strains of bliss
Sung by the blest above.
In prayer and trust I wait
On life's dim threshold, free from doubt and fears,
Watching the opening of death's mystic gate
To the eternal years. 
APPENDIX.
O'twas a touching sight!
A toil-worn pilgrim on the golden strand,
With white locks waving in the mellow light
Of the soft Beulah Land:
That gentle interlude
Of second childhood's sweet simplicity,
A spring in autumn, tender and subdued,
Telling of life to be:
Flushing the weary heart
With loving pictures of life's early bowers,
Wreathing the spirit ere it doth depart
With sweet immortal flowers.
When came the Sabbath day
They bore him in with slow and muffled tread;
In hallowed rest before the altar lay,
White-robed, the sainted dead.
Earth's sorrows all are past;
On his mute lips the smile of joy we see,
And these his tender words, to us the last,
His valedictory.
IMMORTAL LONGINGS.
Christ, let me come to thee!
My heart is weary, and I long for rest;
Is not my earthly mission well-nigh done?
I cannot bear this burden on my breast  It weighs my spirit downward like a stone.
383 
384     THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
My saddened life is ever vailed in clouds,
And midnight darkness hath come o'er my soul.
My once bright hopes are wrapped away in shrouds,
And sorrow's heavy surges round me roll.
Sweet Christ, O may I come?
Christ, let me come to thee!
Life hath a dark Sahara been to me!
The few bright flowers that bloomed along my way
Were soon transplanted-each beloved tree
To bloom perennial in the " perfect day."
My dear loved ones sit round thy golden throne,
And wait-a broken circle till I come;
Let me not linger here on earth alone  O let me join them in their heavenly home!
Sweet Christ, 0 may I come?
Christ, let me come to thee!
Behind me roars the angry ocean tide;
Each crested wave comes nearer, nearer still:
The muttering thunders in the billows hide;
I shudder at their hoarse, loud voice so chill;
I cannot meet the fierce, wild storm of life!
I have no strength to battle with it more!
Too long I've wrestled in the painful strife;
I must lay down the burden that I bore.
Sweet Christ, O may I come?
Christ, let me come to thee!
In dreams I hear thy white-robed angels sing
The golden glories of their beauteous land;
I hear the rustle of each snowy wing,
And feel their touch upon my fevered hand. 
APPENDIX.
Colder than ever seems the earth to me,
When I awake and see them flit away;
I strain my eyes the last bright glimpse to see,
And watch them vanish through the gates of day.
Sweet Christ, O may I come?
Christ, let me come to thee!
I watch my toiling breath grow faint and slow;
I note the hectic deepening day by day,
And feel my life is like a wreath of snow,
Which one kind breath of heaven would melt away.
A little longer in this world of vice  The wished-for boundary is almost passedI see the shining shore of Paradise,
I know my pain is almost o'er at last.
Sweet Christ, 0 let me come!
Christ, let me come to thee!
I've seen the gates that guard thy holy clime;
And often caught a gleam from far (within;)
I know they'll open in thine own good time,
And let thy weary, wandering child come in.
I've had, all through this weary care and pain,
One blessed hope, that ne'er has known despairIt cheers me like the sunshine after rain!
I know thou'lt hear my deep and heartfelt prayer,
And let me come to thee I
25
385  
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS.
GENESIS.
CHAP.    VERSE PAGE
I... 26, 27............ 26
II... f                38
" -   7......            X............ 26
X"  t...........33 X.. 121
"... 18-24............. 34, 35
III,     19............ 42
v...... 3............ 38
" 4............ 124
xxv.....    8............ 44
XXXV...... 18............ 50
XLII...... 21, 22............ 313
"         29............ 44
XLVI..  26............ 39
XLIX..... 33............ 44, 50
L...... 3-6............ 50
"...... 10............ 50
CHAP.                VERSE
II........I.....        11............
JOB.
IV.. 18,19............
X1 8............
III 19.......42         XIV..   10.....4
XIV..~ l............3
It" 22.........
XXXII.    8..........
..  18............
XXXIV.. 15.
XXXVIII.........
PSALMS.
VI................
*......
VIII...   5-8............
XVI... 8-10............
XIX...     7............
XXXI...    10............1
XXXVII...  9,10............
LI...    5......... 
LXXXVI..        4.........
XC...     7............
o    10............
CIV...    4............
CVI...    15............
CXV... 17, 18.............
CXXIX...  7-10............
CXXXIX...    13..........3
"...   14............
XXVII...... 1CC....
ECCLESIASTES.
III.......... 14............
"..........  18-20............
.......... 19-21............
"....21............
VII.......... 8..........
1 3....................
Ix: 2..........8  4............
XII...........  7.............
387
II KINGS.
PAGS
63
23
39
45
23
23
76
43
28
82
133
183
114
76
133
81
39
76
133
46
18
76
83
18
39
185
EXODUS.
57
III............ 2-6............
NUMBERS.
XVI........ 22............
27............
23
23
DEUTERONOMY.
XXXIII..... 13............
XXXIV.....       5............
288
63
I SAMUEL.
133
. II SAMUEL.
XII........... 19-23............
136
62
44
76
43
133
83
28
46
I KINGS.
]IV......
viii...... 2z............
XXVII...... 20-22...........
287
18
45 
388     INDEX OF SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS.
ECCLESIASTES.
CHAP.      VERSE         PAGE
XII.......... 7      I........... 43
"...........  7.......... 78
"........... 7............    82
CHAP.    VERSE
XVI..........  9............
"..........  16............
I".........   16 2......
"........  16 V............
LUKE.
I....... 1.....
II         9....... 2.....
VIII.... 2, 26-32............ 7
"....... 49-55............
X....... 19............1
"....1 25 1.........125
XII.......  19............
".     28.............
".    4,48.............
XIII...... 24,27............
XIV....... 13, 14............
XVI....... 19............
"....... 19-39............
.........  22............
"....... 22-26............
23...... 23...........
xx....... 27, 37............
XXIII....... 42, 43....
."..      43............
."..      43............
AT E4"....... 4.....
JOHN.
ISAIAH.
XXXI..   3............ 24
XXXVIII.. 17,1]8............ 84
LIV..    6............ 376
LVII..    1............ 133
JEREMIAH.
XXIII....... 24............ 19
HOSEA.
XIII......... 14............ 105
XII.......... I...... 24...... 24
XIV.......... 5............ 70
IV............. 1-3............ 134
"............. 5,  6............  135
MATTHEW.
X       28............ 61N
..." 28............  76
XI...... 13,14............ 135
XIII...... 39-43............ 100
"...... 50............ 142
XVII...... 3............ 63
XIX...... 16............1.. 140
XXII...... 13............ 142
XXIII..14...... 14...... 138
XXIV...... 14-30......... 103
XXV... 10,11............ 142
"...... 30............ 139
"...... 30............ 142
"...... 31...... 103
"...... 41............ 141
"...... 46............ 140
"        46............ 375
XXVI:.....  35............ 76
XXVII...... 3-5............ 316
III..........  3............
"...........  6...........
"(.........  6..........6
"..........  13...........
"t........14
V.......... 4............
"          16............
IV~ZZ~   24..........
".....24.....
30~~~~~~~V..........14   XX.........7.......1
XIV..........  2, 3...........
XX.......... 17............
XXI.......... 18,19............
ACTS.
II.......   24............
....... 25-28............
"....... 25-32............
"....... 27-31............
....... 29-33............
"....... 34............
"M. 34............
IV......2  1..........
V 3............
".......  10............
X....... 10...........
MARK.
V......... 13...........1   21
VI..........  14............3 313
IX.......... 11-13............ 1 35
" 45.............. 276
X:JJJJJ~i  ~3............ 140
MARK.
VERSE
PAGE
20
126
376
142
135
50
20
46
20
140
76
139
138
142
101
109
60
65
ill
139
58
59
112
113
45
ZECHARIAK.
MALACHI.
142
35
39
li
36
140
18
75
120
102
116
48
85
85
115
116
86
85
116
36
T5
10
22 
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS.
COLOSSIANS.
CHAP.        VERSE           PAGE
XIII....... 36, 37............ 86
XXIII....... 6............ 56
"....... 8............ 55
".      8............ 59
"....... 8,9............ 77
xxv i....... 23............ 63
CHAP.           VERSE                PAGE
I............... 18........... 63
I THESSALONIANS.
I..........  7-1.....7-10....... 101
IV............ 15,17.......... 98
V............ 9, 10............ 62
"............ 10.......... 65
"............ 23............ 76
ROMANS.
II......... 8,9............ 11
".. 16.............. 77
"...29.............. 77
III.........24........... 376
".......... 25............ 376
VIII...     16............ 24
"... 16.............. 75
".... 23............ 71
X........ 10......... 376
XIv......... 15............ 132
IV............   6............  50
"............  6-8............ 87
"............ 8............ 102
III............ 5.....36.......  376
PHILEMON.
I CORINTHIANS.
II............ 10,11............ 75
"............ it............ 24
"...         11.......... 11  77
III............ 11                 3............ 376
V....;..... 5......5..... 77
VI............ 5............ 77
",............ 20............ 25
".......... 20............ 75
XV   *      16-18.......... 87
"............ 20............ 63
"............ 53-57........... 107
"............ 54,55............ 105
HEBREWS.
I............   I           97............9
"..........11............ 133
...II....... 14............ 132
..........   19............76
X..........   28, 2 9............ 138
"............ 76
XI.......39,40............99
XII..........9............ 37
JAMES.
II.............. 26............ 51
,V.............  20............  76
II CORINTHIANS.
III........... 17............ 18
IV......... 16............ 25
.........o,  17............ 118
V....... 1-4........ 47
"............ 6-9............ 47
"........... 7........... 65
VII........... 1............ 77
XII........... 2-4............ 229
"....     4............... 25
"........... 4............ 59
I PETER.
I...........   5,7,13........... 101
IV........... 13............   102
V............  4............ 102
II PETER.
I............  12-15............48
II............ 4............ 20
."... 8............ 76
III............ 6............ 133
V............   7 1............   01
EPHESIANS.
III............ 1685............ 68
IV............ 23............ 39
d,
III.......2..... 2............  ]02
"............ 2............ 291
389
ACTS.
II TIMOTHY.
TITUS.
......... 21-24............ 49
GALATIANS.
v............ 15............ 133
V.T............ 15............ 77
I JOHN. 
390     INDEX OF SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS.
JUDE.
CH"AP.           ViERSE             PAGE
VER.......... 6............ 20
".......... 14,15.......... 70
CHAP.     VERSE        PAGE
XVI........ 13......... 65
XX......... 12........... 138
"......... 12............ 276
"......... 12-15............   118
".....14.......... 113
XXI.........    X  8......... 375
" 2     7.........36...  374
XXII......... 3-5........... 374
."......... 8,9............  358
" V.........  12............. 276
".........  15............  376
"......... 1...  15.........375
REVELATION.
REVELATION.
I......... 5............ 63
".........  5............ 376
II......... 7............ 59
VI......... 9............ 112
VII......... 14-17............ 69
XI.........18  132
.IV......... 13............ 355 
INDEX OF POETIC QUOTATIONS.
PAGE
Life makes the soul dependent.  66
Lo! from the dread immensity. 160
Lo! on a narrow neck of land. 346
Lo, the poor Indian, whose... 176
Look on that glorious face..... 192
Look Nature through,'tis nice. 182
Lulled in the countless charm. 272
Man ill at ease in.................. 301
Man is not all of earth......... 338
Man's misery declares him..... 301
Most wondrous book............. 345
My days of praise shall ne'er..  83
Mysterious Night! when our.. 156
Nature all o'er is consecrated. 346
No oppressive heat they feel...  70
No room for mirth, or........... 349
No sickness there................. 369
Nor are our powers to perish.. 293
No matter which my thoughts. 351
Not all the harps above......... 367
No tears shall be in heaven... 364
0   change! 0 wondrous change. 237
0 glorious hope of immortality. 361
0 listen, man, a voice........... 342
Of systems possible, if its...... 181
0 happy day that fixed my.... 379
0   may I triumph so.............. 235
Once on the raging seas I rode. 344
One army of the living God... 365
One family we dwell in him...  71
0 thou thrice blessed word of. 345
0 their crowns how bright.... 357
Our buried friends can we...... 324
Our life as a dream, our time. 349
Over the river they beckon.... 324
Poor, little, pretty, fluttering.. 168
Read Nature; Nature is the... 154
Sad were the life we may part. 145
Say, can the soul; possessed.. 292
Seize mortal! seize the.......... 349
Shall I be left forgotten in..... 304
She sparkled, was exhaled..... 347
So gnaws the grief of............ 317
391
PAGE
I.chilles' wrath, to Greece...... 169
./,ges pass away, thrones fall.. 377
-Amidst your train this unseen. 311
A,,id though the hills of death. 361
Byond this vale of tears...... 374
C,,,n it be so? matter immortal. 249
Clild of the sun, pursue thy.. 335
Clrist, let me come to thee!... 383
Co.d in the dust this perished. 231
c o-npanion dear, the hour...... 52
Coiscience, the torturer of the. 313
Coiscience is the mirror of the. 307
Coild you, so rich in rapture.. 305
I)e-,th wounds to cure, we...... 66
I)retms may not picture a...... 356
Eaci fainter-trace that.......... 276
Earh's disemboweled............ 288
Eve-y tear is wiped away...... 69
For -.here is no sleep............. 62
For -Yho to dumb forgetfulness. 299
Forerer with the Lord.......... 370
Guil only makes annihilation. 305
Her Ceaseless flight, though.... 224
Har! the Judgment trumpet. 71
liast,n, sinner, to return....... 378
He p,ssed, through glorious... 66
Hopesprings eternal in the... 302
How twful in the hour.......... 319
How wift thought travels..... 283
How wift is a glance of the... 283
I live move, am conscious..... 238
I see, world of spirits.......... 356
I;hirB in the light of God.... 356
If, thn, as annihilate by sin.. 254
I'm gin, through the eternal. 365
In mat, the more we dive...... 277
In Ha)adu did Kubla-Khan... 224
Is Heaen then kinder to...... 301
It mus be so; Plato, thou..... 306
Know'e,t thou the importance. 353
Let mego, why should I 303
Life is,eal, life is ear-nest...... 42
Life is',he hour that God...... 377 
INDEX OF POETIC QUOTATIONS.
PAGE
'Tis greatly wise to talk with. 373
'Tis immortality,'tis that...... 298
'Tis not the whole of life to... 372
'Twas thus by the glare of..... 344
Wayworn, infirm and old...... 382
We know when the silver...... 65
We shape ourselves the joy or. 377
Were man to live coeval with. 287
Weep not, my Redeemer lives. 361
What is this absorbs me quite. 362
When the good man yields....  64
When life's brief changing..... 332
When on my new-fledged...... 367
When we hear the music....... 351
Where nothing earthly bounds.  33L
While God invites, how......... 3 78
Who can paint the scenes of... 3!8
Who reads his bosom, reads... 2'8
Whose footsteps these........... 239
Why should I shrink at pain.. 370
Why should the gross.......... 519
Why, what is death but life...'54
Yes, heaven is near us..........;28
Yet not thus buried or extinct.  158
Yes! oh yes! in that land...... 358
PAGE
S    ouls are her charge, to her... 350
Spirit, thy labor is o'e r...........1 W     wh    363
Stupendous link in ~ature's... 180
Talk they of morals.............. 376
The chain of being i      s............ 183
The               darkest of enigmas.....o... 302
The gentl     e    i     nterlude, of......o a hb m e... 205
The great Jeh         ovah                      from........ 323
The   isles of the blessed, they....... 170
The mourne r is  blesse d by h          is. 366
The soul, secure in her.......... 257
The soul of man, Jehovah's... 352
The  soul that  thou  hast loved. 368
The star     that se ts o.................. 157
The sun is but a spark of fire. 373
The worm that never dies...... 398
Then 0 my soul, depend no... 364
Then shall the soul around.... 276
There all the ship's company.. 366
There is a death whose pang.. 375
There is no death, what......... 58
There is no sleep, no grave.... 62
This is the bud of being, the.. 347
This is the desert, this the..... 354
Throw thyself on thy God..... 223
392
-f 
GENERAL INDEX.
ABORIGINES  of Mexico, belief of the,
175, 176-of the United States, 176.
Abraham, the bosom of, 60, 65-meaning
of the phrase, 112.
Adam, creation of, 26, 28.
Adrian, the Roman emperor, address to
his soul, 168-remarkable memory
of, 262.
Age, in itself, no impediment to con     tinued mental improvement, 297.
Altemont, terrible death of, 236.
Analogy of Nature against annihilation,
249.
Angels, purely spiritual beings, 19- im    plied annihilation of, 144 —not hin    dered in flight by material obsta    cles, 194.
Annihilation of Souls alleged, 131- ab    surdity of the doctrine of the, 127    objections to the doctrine of, 136-145
-of Angels, 144.
Annihilation of matter, possible with
God, 245-never has taken place,
246-analogy of nature against it,
249-denied in the Scriptures, 247.
Animals, domestic, improvement of, 193.
Antiochus Epiphanes, cruelty and re    morse of, 309-terrible death of, 310.
Arabs, belief of in the soul's immor    tality, 175.
Ascension to heaven, order of the, 98.
Assyrians, ancient, belief of in the soul's
immortality, 164.
Bainham, James, triumphant death of,
233.
Bee, the honey, illustration from, 273.
Beecher, Rev. Hlenry Ward, remarks of
upon growing old, 205, note.
Beetle in Japan, remarkable transfor    mation of, 334.
Beasts, death of, 44, 82.
Beattie, poem by, "the hermit," 344.
Beaufort, Admiral, remarkable case of,
269.
Belshazzar, remorse and fear of, 308.
Besus, remorse of conscience of. 312.
Bible, and science ill harmony, 148    Pollok's description of the, 345.
Billion, a, inconceivable number, in 348
-note.
Birdlets in the shell, 330-description
of by Dr. Todd, 331-note.
Birmans, belief of  in   a  future state,
173.
Bl       ind  persons, remarkable perceptions
of, 209.
Boerhaave, death of, 234.
Brain, the, no t  the mind, analysi  s of,
200, 243-may be         diseased, or to a
gre at  extent re mo ved, an d no t affect
the int ellect,  216-illustrative  cases
cite d, 2 17, 218.
Bod y of  man,   a tab     ernacle, 47, 48-dead
wtit,  hout the spirit, 51-not the soul,
203,  244-di ssolution   of no proof
that the mind perishes with it, 239
-its elements  indestructi ble,  248    changes in the from childhood to
manhood-m utilations of  the  do
not affect the integrity of the mind,
240 - completely changed every
seven years,  ibid-emac i ation  and
restoration of does not change tho
mind, 241-no conscious identity of
from youth to old age, ibid-per
fection of, 185 - Professors Owen
and Agassiz, and Hugh Miller upon
the, 186-remark of Lavater, 187
— alone adapted to the powers
of the soul of man, 187, 188    Dominion of the soul over, 193    Conscious occupancy of by thb
spirit, 195-Conscious control over
by the soul, 196-a mere instrument
of the soul, 196 —quotation from
Butler respecting, 198 —Develop    meiit of, 203-vigor of the, when
greatest, 203.
Breath, the, not the soul, 75-77.
Burning up, not annihilation, 133,136.
Bush, Professor, quotations from, 319,
335.
Butler, Bishop, extracts from, 242.
Butterfly, metamorphose of, and address
to, 335.
Cato, anecdote of, 167-citation from
Cicero respecting, ibid.
Camel, stomach of, illustration from
the, 273-extract respecting, note,
ibid.
393
-1 
GENERAL INDEX.
Catalepsy, remarkable  case of, 225    proof of the independency of the
mind of the body, ibid-cases of
Peter and Paul, 229. ~
Caterpillars, transformation of, 335.
Celts, the ancient, belief of in the soul's
immortality, 164.
Chain of animal life, 180-Smellie on
the, 181 —poetry respecting, 182,
183.
Chalmers,  Dr., citations from,  218    another, respecting insects, 336.
Changes, seldom abrupt in Nature, 204.
Christ, soul of, where while his body
was in the grave, 114, 115-the
sinner's only hope, 375-salvation
only through faith in his blood,
376.
Chickasaw Indians, belief of in a future
state, 176.
Cicero,  passages from, 163, 167, 177,
292.
Clark, Bishop, reference to his recent
book, 252.
Clarke, Dr. Adam, on  the burial of
Jacob, 51.
Classification  of material  substances,
how effected, 13.
Coal, decomposition of, not its annihila        s
tion, 239.
Coleridge, remarkable dream of, 223.
Collins, Miss Mary, case of, 211.
Caloric, materiality of, 13.
Comets, return of, 160.
Consdience, definitions  of, 307-poetic
description of, 308-power of to
make the guilty wretched, 308-319
-bearing of upon the question
of a future state, 320-restitution
under  the power of, 31316-re    morse  of  Hobbes, 312- (See  Re    morse.)
Consolation for the bereft, 354.
"Consumed," not equivalent to annihi    lated, 133.
Conversion  of the writer, means  by
which brought about, 379, note.
Count Lavallette, anecdote of, 280.
Cranmer, triumphant death of, 232.
Creation of man, process of the, 26-28.
Cyrus, remarkable memory of, 260.
David, hope of, 356-" not yet ascended
into heaven,"-meaning of the ex    pression, 85-87, 116.
Day and Night, phenomena of, 155.
Dahomey, belief of the inhabitants of,
174.
Death, the nature of, 42-a giving up
of the ghost, 44-a "putting off of
this tabernacle," 47-a departure,
49 —not a literal sleep, 79, 80    views of Dobney respecting, 121    not annihilation, 125-130-a penalty
for sin, 125.
Death, triumph over, 232, 235-Polycarp,
John Huss, Je rome of Prague, Cran     mer and Lambert, 232 —Mr. Ormes,
James Bainham, and Mr. Hawkes,
234-Rev. Alamon Reed, Boerhaave,
Rev. Mr. Hlialyburton, Dr. Payson,
234-Dr. William Fiske, 235.
Death, desire to be renmembered after,
298-followed by immediate glory,
65, 72, 89, 9 —natural emblems of,
330-338.
Dead, the over continued love for, 322    still bring, 354-if  Christians, at
rest, 355.
Decay of the intellect in old age, how
accounted for, 204.
Deist, an aged, anecdote of, 151-errors
of the, 149,150.
Dempster, Rev. John, D. D., brief passage
from, 347.
De Senectute, of Cicero, quotation from,
167.
Desires, the nature of our, a proof of im    mortality, 294-to be remembered
after death, 298.
"Destroyed," not equivalent to annihi    lated, 132.
Devils, immortality of, 20.
Dick, Dr. Thomas, views of, 252-quota    tions from, 147, 164, 165, 172, 179,
299, 319-321.
Diodoret, opinion  of respecting  the
senses, 212, note.
Discontent of man, a proof of a future
state, 300.
Dobney, views of  re spe cting the  nature
of  dea th, 1 21.
Dreaming, rapidity of thought in, 280,
281-proof of the independent ex    istence. of th e soul,  22a-examp les
of, 222, 223.
Drew, Samuel, reference to, 247, 253    quotations from, 255.
Drowning, activity of the mind in, 229    case of Admiral Beaufort, 269.
Druids,  the an cien t, belief of respecting
the immorta lit y of  the soul, 164.
"Dust," Gen. iii. 19, does not include the
soul, 42, 43.
Dwarf, an Indian, remarkable intelli     gence of, 207.
Egyptians, the ancient, belief of in a
future state, 164.
Electricity, materiality of, 13-distinct
from the substance in which it
dwells, 22-body charged with, 239.
Elias, appearing of, upon Mount Tabor,
63.
Ellis, opinions of, 122-a materialist, 123.
Essences, the, belief of in the soul's im     mortality, 56.
Eternity, compared with time, 346-350.
Farewell of the Soul to the Body, 52.
Fella, M., the painter without hands,
210.
Fish, without eyes, 322.
Fisk, Dr. Wilbur, triumphant death of,
66, 235.
Friendly Islands, belief of the inhabi     tants of in the soul's immortality,
172.
394 
GENERAL INDEX.
Fruits and flowers, improvement of, by
cultivation, 193.
Furman, Mr. S. K., poem by, 381.
Future Punishment, proposed wish upon,
380, note.
Gabriel, not hindered in flight by mate    rial obstacles, 194.
Gallas, of Abyssinia, belief of in the
soul's immortality, 174.
Ghost, the giving up of, 44.
God, a Spirit without body, 18-omni    presence of, 18,19-the God of the
dead, 57.
Good, Dr. John Mason, remarks of upon
the subject of sleep, 221.
Graham Lectures, by Dr. Storrs, quoted,
295-298.
Gray's Philosophy, extract from, 246.
Greeks, the ancient, belief of respecting
the soul's immortality, 164.
Hades, meaning of the term, 106-Jose    phus' description of, 108-111.
Ilaller, triumphant death of, 234.
Halyburton, happy death of, 234.
Ilawkes, happy death of, 233.
Heaven, purity of, 375-order of ascen    sion to, 98 —hope of a support in
death, 235-recognition of friends
in, 326. (See Paradise.)
Heavenly world, proposed work upon,
380, note.
Helffenstein, quotation from, 151, note.
Henry IV., remorse of, 310.
Herbert,  Lord,  creed  of referred to,
- 150.
Herod the Great, miserable death of,
310-remark of Augustus respect    ing, 300, note-remorse of, 313.
Herschell, William, constructing tele    scopes, 295.
Herschlell, Sir John, remarkable dreams
of, 223.
Hicks, Albert W., confession of as to his
remorse of conscience, 317.
Hobbes, Thomas, remorse of, 312.
Hobart, Bishop, quotation from respect    ing the import of the term "sleep,"
81.
Homer, Iliad and Odyssey of, both teach
the doctrine of the soul's immor    tality, 169.
Honey bee, illustration from the, 273.
Hope, a proof of man's immortality, 301
-of heaven, a support in death, 235.
Hopkins, President,  extract from  re    spectiicg man, 182.
Iforse, sublime description of the, 188.
IIorsley, Bishop, quotation from respect    ing the Intermediate state, 61.
Hudson, Mr. C. F., views of respecting
the soul, 123.
Hunter,  John,  remarkable  cataleptic
case of, 230.
Huss, John, triumphant death of, 232.
Iliad of Homer, teaches the doctrine of
the soul's immortality, 169.
Immortal Longings, a poem, 383.
Immortality, natural,  254-Dr. Good's
views of, 254, note-Rational Evi    dences of defined, 147-not a result
of faith in Christ, 121-nor of re    demption, 254-the desire of a proof
of another life, 304-306.
In dian dw arf, intelligence of, 207.
Indians of  Nor th America, belief of in a
future state, 176.
Insects,  transmutations of, 336.
Instinct,  distinct from reason,  285-Il    lustrations       of, 285, 286.
Intermediate state, extract fr om Bishop
Horsley respecting, 61-necessarily
different from  the final,  96-an    ab    normal condition, 97-not th    e final
state, 98-not one of          complete re    ward or puniishmnenlt, 100-implied
in   description  of the judgment, 103
-taught  by Christ, 103-109-views
of                    Jews  respecting the,  109-111    views of  Protestant writers respect -
ing, 96, 99.
Intuition,  explanat ion    of the term, 277.
Jacob, burial of, 51.
Japan, curious beetle in, 334.
Japanese  and Javanese, belief of   respect    ing a future state, 174, 175.
Jerome of Prague, triumphant death of,
232.
Jews, belief of in the soul's immortality,
57-views of different sects of repre    senting an intermediate state, 109    111.
Josephus, lFlavius, extracts from con    cerning Hades, 55, 109,110.
Judgment, descriptions of the day of,
141.
Kalmuc Tartars, belief of respecting
another life, 173.
Knowledge, our thirst for, a proof of our
immortal destination, 294.
Lambert, happy death of, 232.
Lazarus, carried to " Abraham's bosom,"
60, 65.
Lectures, Graham's, quoted, 296-298.
Lee, Dr. Luther, quoted, 16, note, 236,
240-note respecting his work, 253.
Lessons from Natural phenomena, 154.
Le Verrier, discovery of a New Planet
by, 326, illustration drawn from,
327.
Leyden, Dr., remarkable memory of,
261.
Life, evolved from death, 160-brevity
of, 346-infinite value of, 348-rela    tioni of to eternity, 374.
Light, materiality of, 13.
Lily, the water, an emblem of immor    tality, 333.
Lord Herbert, opinions of noticed, 150.
Love, Rev. C., happy death of, 67.
Love for the dead, 321-329.
Locusts, the "seven year," traneforma
tion of, 334.
395 
GENERAL INDEX.
Magnetism, materiality  of, 13-invisi-  Morgagni  and  Hailer, statements  of
bility of, 256.                            concerning the brain, 217.
Man, two-fold nature of, 22-creation of,  Moses, appearing of on Mount Tabor, 63.
26-28-imperfect during the inter-  Mozart, requiem and death of, 362.
mediate state, 96, 57-not fully re    warded or punished till the general  Napoleon, remarkable memory of, 262.
resurrection, 100-relation to brutes,  Nature, phenomena of, lessons from, 154
180,182-vast achievements of, 287,         -161.
289-his works proclaim his iirmor-  Natural Theology, relation of to revealed
tality, 289, 290-why often confined       truth, 147-153-importance of, 148,
to a special pursuit, 290, 291-a mi-       152-See Theology.)
crocosm, 182-body of, see" Body."   Nerves, of the same  substance as the
Mankind, general belief of, touching the       brain, 215.
soul's immortality, 163.              Newton, Sir Isaac, remarks of concerning
Martyrs, hopes of in death, 67, 89, 92-        his discoveries and attainments, 295.
triumphant death of the, 232, 233.    New Zealanders, belief of respecting a
Mason, Dr. Erskine, extract from, on the       future life, 172.
study of Natural Theology, 148.
Matter, the term defined, 11-extent of  Odyssey of Homer, teaches the immor    our knowledge  of, ibid-difference         tality of the soul, 169.
in the ultimate particles of, 11, 12-   Officer, a young British, case of, 215, note.
essential properties of, 12-how clas- O'Halloran, remarkable case of referred
sifited, 13-how identified, as such,       to, 217.
14-distinguishlied from spirit in the  Oricces,    s. Cecelia, happy death of, 233.
Scriptures, 18-21-created to minis- Osterwald, Rev. John  Frederic, extract
ter to the happine ss of spiritual life,   fronm, 171, note.
194-indestructibility of; 245-God  Ox, contentment of the, 300.
could annihilate, ibid-never did nor  Ovid, taught the soul's immortality, 169.
will, 247, 248, 254, 255-durability
of, how tested, 251.                   Paine, Thomas, monument and hope of,
Materialists, disagreement among, as to        150.
the alleged annihilation of souls,  Paradise, what and where, 59-Lazarus
131, note.                                 in, 60-glory and happiness of, 118,
Memory, capability of cultivation, 258-        119.
of Etortensius, an  Indian, 258-of   Patagonians, belief of in the immor    Cyrus,  Scipio,  Mithridates,  Char-       tality of the soul, 175.
meades, Mo(lerata Fonte, Thomsas   Paschal, remarkable menmory of, 263.
Fuller, and  Sir Walter Scott, 260  Paul, St., caught up to Paradise, 25, 229.
-of Sydney Smith, Professor  Por-  Payson, Rev. Dr., happy deatle of, 234.
son, Dr. Leyden anid Woodfall, 261  Pelew Islands, belief of the inhabitants
-of  Pascal, a  blind  Scotchm-an,         of the, 172.
Adrian, and Napoleon, 262-of Bow e-  "Perisled," meani ng of the termi, 87    land, a lawyer, 264-Inot necessarily      snot equiivaleslt to asiiiliilated, 132.
affected by distance of time, 263-   Personial id(lentity, how destroyed, 1-.b.
quickened by sudden peril, 268-in  Persians, the ancient, belief of in a future
drowning, 269-by  fever, 270-its          state, 164-Pheiciais, ibid.
resurrection a well established fact,  Pharisees, belief of in the soul's irmmor
272-one  of the "books" of the             tality, 55-St. Paul belonged to the
judgment, ibid-illustration of the         sect of the, 56.
bearing of, in the argument, 273-275. Phmdon, citation from the, 165-167.
M     ental action, rapidity of, 277-284-re-  Philosophy, teachings of,  17-Extracts
markable instance of mental multi-         from Gray's Natural, 246.
plication, 279.                       Pine tree, an emblem of immortality, 332.
Mithridates, remarkable memory of, 260.  Pindar, ode of; 170.
Methuselah, legend of the Rabbins re- Plato, quotation from, 168.
specting, 349.                        Poetry, (see Index of Poetic Quotations,)
Microcosm. man a, 182.                          391.
Mind, progress of the, in knowledge,  Polycarp, trinumphant death of, 232.
after the body begins to fail, 203-   Porsoil, Professor, remarkable memory
decay of in old age explained, 204-        of, 261.
not dependent upon a healthy brain,  Priest, Miss, exquisite poem by, 324.
255- indestructible  by  material  Prayer, for the reader, &c., closing the
agencies, 255-257.                         volume, 378.
Mitchel, James, remarkable ability of  Prospect, glorious, before  the dying
to recognize persons, 209.                 Christian, 36]-371.
Modern nations, belief of respecting the  Psvyche, import of the term, 334.
sotil's immoretality, 172-176.         Pulislhlllent, futue, degrees on; 17-to
Moon, clhange  o)f; lessons  from, the,        be  endless, 140 - proposedl work
158.                                       Uipon, 380, note.
396 
GENERAL INDEX.
Rabbins, legend of the respecting Methu    selah,       349.
Rational  evidences of Immortality,   d       e    fined, 147-the         ory         of the, 149-152    (See Natural Theology.)
Reason,                             progressive character of, 286, 287.
Reason               and Nature, insufficiency            of, as
teache rs                  of Religion, 343, 345-not
to be u      nderstood,        346.
R           e      capitulation  of Arguments, 340.
R          ecognition of friends in heaven, 3 26, 360.
Redemption, reasonableness and glory
of, 351.
Reed, Rev. Alans on, happy death    of, 234.
Relation        of        m3an  to the  lower animals,
180-182.
R          eligion, N atur     al, not    a primary revela    tio     n, 152-5not satisfactory, 343-re    lation      of  to  revealed, 147-153-(See
Theology.)
Religion, revealed, perfection  an           d glory
of, 343.
Remorse of B        elshazzar  a nd Tib   erius, 308,
309, of Antiochus Epiphanes, 309,
of  Ilerod, Galerius  Maximiaious,
P     hi lip III.    of      Spain; Charles IX.      of
France, and Henry IV., 310-of King
Richard  III.,  311 - of  Joseph's
brethren, 313-                   of others, 316-of
Albert W. Hicks, 317-(See Con,
science.)
Restitutions,   under th e powe r of ca n    science, 314-316.
R          esurr ectio n  o f th e  De ad, pr oposed work
up        on the, 380-order of      t he, 98-de    scription of the, 105.
Reverie, definition of the term,  219-   ex   S amp les    of, Rittenhouse, Viote, Ma    rinit, &c., 220.
Richard III., remorse of, 311.
Riggs, Mr. E. C., poem by, 332.
Romans, the ancient, belief of in a future
state, 164.
Saddu,cees, doctrine of the, 56.
Safford, Henry T., wonderful mental
achievements of, 278.
Saints, the souls of, to return with
Christ, 70, 71.
Salvation, only through faith in Christ,
376.
Samoidians, the ancient, belief of in a
future state, 173.
Saussure, remarkable case of, 216.
Scandinavians, the ancient belief of in
the soul's immortality, 175.
Scipio, Lucius, remarkable memory of,
260.
Science and the Bible, harmony between,
148.
Scott, Sir Walter, remarkable memory
of, 260.
Scythians, the ancient, belief of in a
future state, 164.
Seasons, the, changes of, a lesson, &c., 159.
Seneca, doubts of respecting a future
state, 152-quotations from, 163.
Sheol, meaning of the term, 106,115.
Ships, squadron of, illustration from, 154.
Sin, the penalty of not annihilation, 139.
Sleep,  description  of,  and  quotations
from  Dr. Good respecting,  221-of
souls, objections to, the doctrine of,
92-94-quotations from Bishop  Ho    bart respecting the meaning of the
term, 81-(See Soul.)
Smith, Sydney, extraordinary memory
of, 261.
Socrates, belief and hope of, 151-quota    tions from, 165.
Souls, distinct from the body, 22-not all
created together, 30-not created for
each body, 32-propagated, 37 —" fly
away" at death, 46-farewell of to
the body, 52-Conscious existence
of between death and the resurrec    tion, 54-cannot be killed, 62-live
with Christ after death, ibid-alleged
sleep of, 73-sleep of not literal, 79    81-place of between death and the
resurrection, 95-imperfect during
the intermediate state, 96-alleged
annihilation  of,  121-Adrian's ad    dress to his, 168-the light of the
body, 189-its dignity inferable from
the perfection of  the  body, 192-do    minion of over the body, 193-energy
of where physical organs are want    ing, 209-powers of unimpaired un    der bodily mutilations, 214-energy
of in the hour of death, 232-con    scious identity of from childhood to
old age, 239-sympathy of with the
body, 243-immateriality of the, 250
powers of, 250-capabilities of im    provemenlt, 285-291-vast achieve    meiits, ibid, and 287-289-poetic de    scription of the value of, 353.
Society Islanders, belief of in a future
state, 172.
Spinal marrow, a continuation of the
brain, and of the same substance,
215.
Spirit, properties of, 15-distinct from
matter, 16-capable of separate ex    istence, 22-distinguished from the
body in the Scriptures, 18-25-the
seat of knowledge, 24-of beasts go
downward, 44, 82-triumph of over
nmatter and power to pass material
barriers, 194-disembodied, we no
practical acquaintance with, 238    (See Soul.)
Spiritual beings, three classes of, 21.
Squadron of ships, illustration from a,
154.
State, the Intermediate, 94-(See Inter    mediate State.)
Storrs, George, errors of respecting  the
nature of  the soul, 122.
Storrs, Dr. Richard S., quotations from
his Grahalm's Lectures, 296.
Summary of the argument, 340.
Tartini, remarkable dream of, 222.
Taylor, Dr., triumipha%nt death of, 67.
Tennant, Rev. Wim., trance of, 225.
The Dead, our continued love for, 322.
397 
GENERAL INDEX.
Theology, natural, remarks of Dr. Mason
respecting, 148-two errors respect    ing, 149-152-relation to revealed
religion, 152.
The righteous, happiness of in heaven,
355-357.
Thought, rapidity of, 277-in adding up
figures, 278-in  multiplying-Saf    ford,) 278-in dreaming, 280,281-in
cases of apparent drowning, 282-in
flights of the imagination, 283.
Tiberius, remorse of, 308, 309.
Tilton, Theodore, extracts from, 268,272.
Time, as compared with Eternity, 346    350.
Traduction of souls explained, Wesley's
and Luther's views of the, 3741.
Transfiguration of Christ, 63.
Tupper, views of respecting the grounds
of our immortality, 254.
Turner's Sacred History, extract from,
837.
'Unconverted readers, appeal to, 372.
Universe, first grand division of the, 16.
Uranus, perturbations of, 327.
Valedictory, the Old Man's, 381.
Value, comparative, of things temporal
and eternal, 350.
Virgil, taught the immortality of the
soul.
Wesley, John, extract from on the origin
of souls,  38-41.
White, IHIenry Kirk, experience of, 344.
Worm, the undying, 276.
Yucatanese, belief of in the soul's im    mortality, 175.
Zamiff, origin and meaning of the term,
247, note.
398