bo THE IMMORTALITY OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT. 



ritual ; that the soul was therefore deathless — immortal ; that it 

 could not die. 



Such thoughts reconciled Cicero, a heathen, to his bereavement. 

 These sweet inferences reconciled his mind to the removal of his 

 beloved child He found solace in the heart-reviving consideration 

 that they should meet again. These thoughts supported Socrates, we 

 are informed by Plato, when condemned unjustly to death by the 

 cruelty of his countrymen ; and upheld the great soul of Cato, about 

 to take refuge in the tomb from the corruptions and calamities of 

 his country. 



The great proofs of this subject, independent of these we have 

 adduced, are drawn from the laws of metaphysics, or as we might 

 say, from the nature of the case. And these are, 1st, its immate- 

 riality ; 2ndly, the fact that it possesses in itself no destructive qua- 

 lities ; 3rdly, from the nature of its powers and faculties ; and, 

 lastly, from the fact that it developes its nature by phrases and not 

 by additions. Upon these points we will not dilate, more than to 

 notice two contradictions. The understanding is capable of con- 

 sidering ; all classes of topics, whether they be material or immate- 

 rial. It can comprehend and explain all the physical laws and their 

 relations to every department of nature, animate and inanimate, as 

 has been done by Sir I. Newton, Marquis La Place, and by Linneeus. 

 It can contemplate subjects metaphysical with equal ease, and 

 analyse the most subtle elements of thought, as has been effected by 

 Condillac, D'Aleinbert, Reid, Locke, Dugald Stewart, and Thomas 

 Brown. It can contemplate eternity — eteniity that is to come, and 

 eternity that is past ; but the fact of assurance as to the actuality of 

 the event is more certain in the assurance that the mind feels with 

 reference to a past eternity than to a future. But the great proof of 

 the soul's immortality arises, in the opinion of the writer of this 

 essay, from the fact that the immortal mind developes itself by phases 

 and not by additions. 



In youth the imagination is active ; it is the period of genius, and 

 poetry, and romance ; it is the time for the dance and the song. 

 Novel thoughts, rich and fragrant, gush from the soul as water from 

 a fountain ; the tree is garlanded with blossom. After awhile, this 



