We know there are those who pretend to consider this mere declamation; who say in substance, that it is needless to look into the future; to ask what we shall or shall not be after death; it is enough for us to consider the present. Such was the reasoning of ancient heathen philosophy; 'Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die ;' which carried out may thus practically teach; Let us think only of the present; never providing for future wants-never seeking the prospective comfort or happiness of ourselves or of those connected with us-never retaining any of our earthly gain for time which is to comenever doing any thing that is not connected with the present! Life has nothing in prospect, and there is no hereafter! Is this dealing unjustly with the old heathen saying? Nay; when we consider how unjustly that sentiment deals with humanity. The truth is, we are not satisfied to lie down and die, never asking the question about futurity. What awaits us when we shuffle off this mortal coil?' Where are we going? Into non-existence, or misery, or happiness? Show us the person who is utterly indifferent on this inquiry-who feels no emotions, and who desires to have no special feeling on the subject, and you show us but little else of a man than the form.

History assures us that in great minds where the light of revelation had never dawned, this longing for and expectation of a future existence is observed. Amidst all other opinions, this would find utterance. True to the divinity within,' men have spoken as though they were not to pass down in death to the shades of endless night, but as if the Being who gave them existence, had also spoken to them of his intention to make it eternal.1

1 Plato's master is represented as delighting to contemplate the destinies of the spirit hereafter :

Is the soul like what is divine, or like what is mortal? What is divine is born to govern, but the mortal substance to obey. Which of these does the soul resemble ¿ 'O Socrates,

Whence this desire in man to live hereafter ? The answer is, from God. He gave it; and he will satisfy it. The same Providence that so bountifully supplies all the wants of his other creatures, will not deny to his moral offspring the satisfaction of this 'longing after immortality. The cheerless doctrine of the unbeliever that death is an eternal sleep,' is a foul impeachment of the Creator's goodAnnihilation cannot be true.

ness.

"Tis immortality that gives to man

The sacred grandeur of his earthly hours;
"Tis happy immortality that can

Wake into fadeless glory all his powers.
There sin and sorrow never more shall bind
The mighty movings of a deathless mind.'

If, in view of the general providence as exhibited in nature, we cannot agree to the dark docrine of annihilation, what shall we say to that other idea which in all that is terrific and revolting, infinitely surpasses it-I mean ENDLESS WOE? This is a doctrine not only opposed to all that is holy and good in the character of Jehovah, but in direct contradiction

'O Socrates, it is clear that the soul must be divine, and the body the mortal element.

Yes, Kebes! the soul is most like the divine, the immortal, the intelligent; the one in form, and the incorruptible; and when it goes from hence, it passes to another place, like itself, excellent and pure, though now unseen; to Hades, and, truly, to a good and wise God.' He repeats this idea,

'Will it not then go to something like itself; to the Divine? To that which is divine, immortal, and wise? Certainly; and coming to it there, it will exist in happiness, free from error, ignorance, fears, and passions; yes, it will indeed pass the rest of its time with the gods themselves.'

When Socrates took the poisoned cup, he said; 'I draw confidence from the hope that something remains of man after death.'

Demosthenes, when advised to perform a dishonorable action to save his life, says; 'God forbid that after I have heard Xenocrates and Plato discourse so divinely on the immortality of the soul, I should prefer a life of infamy and disgrace, to an honorable death.'

Cicero has said,- If I am wrong in believing that the souls of men are immortal, I please myself in my mistake; nor while I live will I ever choose that this opinion, with which I am so much delighted, should be wrested from me. But if at death, I am to be annihilated, as some minute philosophers suppose, I am not afraid lest those wise men, when extinct too, should laugh at my error.'

to the clearest dictates of reason in the human soul.
It originated not in the wisdom of the Highest, but
in the mysticism and cruelty of ancient heathenism.
And Christians have received it into fellowship with
their opinions as one 'set up from everlasting, from
the beginning, or ever the earth was.' But nothing
which we behold in the wide universe of God agrees
with it. Never was it formed in the mind while
holding communion with nature. No murmuring
breeze ever brought the sound; no songster of the
grove ever gave it utterance. And had the dark
tempest and the rumbling thunder ever given inti-
mations of it, they would all have been dispelled
when the glory of the sun had broken forth again.
No shining star ever brought the sentiment to light;
nor was it imbibed while contemplating the gran-
deur of the firmament. Nor does revelation give it
credence; for her tuneful strings are all in unison
with nature. In believing it, men have contradict-
ed the great instructions every day received from
Him who maketh his sun to shine on the evil and
the good, and sendeth his rain on the just and the
unjust; and whose 'tender mercies are over all his
works.' Well might the distinguished poet make
the victim of ceaseless torment to ask of his Maker,-
'O why from silent earth,

Didst thou awake and curse me into birth?
Tear me from quiet, ravish me from night,
And make a thankless present of thy light?
Push into being a reverse of thee,

And animate a clod with misery?'

The Creator and

But this doctrine is not true. the created, heaven and earth, every manifestation of wisdom, justice, goodness and truth in the great universal kingdom-all, all stand opposed to it; and the nearer men approach to the high standard of justice and righteousness, the more will they be ashamed that their race ever so far dishonored the holy name of their Father, as to suppose him сараble of permitting interminable woe within his dominions. Man then shall not sleep in death forever;

he shall not awake to unending misery. He shall live again, to his God. The dust shall return to the dust as it was, and the spirit to God who gave it.'

Hitherto we have taken our lessons of nature. We have reasoned from what we know of the works and dealings of our Father above; and the result of our reasoning is in favor of a future happy existence for the enjoyment of universal man. Although nothing definite is proved from our consultations with nature, yet, all things considered, the weight of presumptive evidence is in agreement with this sentiment. And we hail it as one according with the best wishes, highest aspirations, and holiest prayers of the human soul. But what further evidence do we obtain that our conclusion is just?

This brings us to Revelation. We are assured in the word of God, that Jesus Christ is the RESURRECTION and the LIFE. He by the grace of God tasted death for every man; he died and rose again, that he might bring us to God. Much as we find in nature favorable to man's happy existence beyond the grave, nothing is presented us like the resurrection of our Lord from the dead. 'But now is Christ risen and become the first fruits of them that slept.' The event of the resurrection of Jesus, has been the theme of many a pen and tongue glowing with wisdom and eloquence. It is not for me to attempt a new version of a fact so well established in the world of reason and investigation; yet a word in relation to it may not be out of place.

The truth of this great event rests on the best of evidence. No better can be offered in confirmation of any fact which took place at the same distance of time. Those who were specially appointed as witnesses of the resurrection were the apostles; and however much they were despised for their doctrine, yet their veracity and moral integrity has borne the test of the strictest scrutiny. And with regard to their testimony concerning this event, they were uniformly agreed, persisting in it to the very last in face

of the whole force of opposition at work against them. At no time do we find them in doubt or hesitancy concerning it, neither could promises, or threatenings, or death—all of which they were called upon to meet, ever cause them to waver. From all the opposing reasoning brought against them, they were never led to suppose themselves deceived, or that they were practising deception with their fellow men. Notwithstanding their testimony implicated the whole Jewish nation in guilt, and all ranks were anxious to suppress it, this was found to be impossible; as the very opposers themselves were compelled to acknowledge the miracles wrought in its confirmation.

Immediately after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the apostles commenced preaching in his name, declaring that he had risen from the dead. In the face of civil and ecclesiastical power, religious prejudice, public opinion and indignation, they began to deliver their testimony at the great city of Jerusalem, the very place where these events took place. Reasoning with their enemies in the most candid and impartial manner, and placing themselves in a situation the most desirable for refutation, had their testimony been unsound, they appealed to the whole community around them, as witnesses with them of the same interesting facts. The only attempt at refutation which their enemies made was that always resorted to when argument is out of the question-persecution. But as this never convinces the understanding, it failed in this instance; until the final advice of Gamaliel the Jewish lawgiver was this; Refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught; but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.'

Excellent advice. More than eighteen hundred years have passed away; and although during that period many errors and absurdities have been min