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ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



work of all our future improvements in the world 

 beyond the grave, and give to those who have 

 acquired it, in conjunction with the cultivation 

 of moral principle, a superiority over others in 

 the employments and investigations peculiar to 

 that higher sphere of existence ; and, conse 

 quently, a more favourable and advantageous 

 outset into the new and unknown regions of the 

 invisible state. To suppose, that the leading 

 principles of scientific knowledge are of utility 

 only in the present world, is not only contrary to 

 every enlightened idea we can form of the future 

 state, either from reason or revelation, but would 

 remove some of the strongest motives which 

 should induce us to engage in the prosecution of 

 useful knowledge. ]f science is to be considered 

 as altogether confined in its views and effects, 

 to the transitory scene of this mortal state, its 

 attainment becomes a matter of comparatively 

 trivial importance. To a man hastening to the 

 verge of life, there could be no strong induce 

 ment to listen to its deductions or to engage in 

 its pursuits. But, if the principles of science, 

 when combined with the truths of revelation, ex 

 tend to higher objects than the construction of 

 machinery and the embellishment of human 

 life, if they point beyond the present to a future 

 world, if they tend to expand our views of the 

 attributes of the Divinity, and of the grandeur 

 of his kingdom, and if they prepare the mind 

 for entering into more ample views and profound 

 investigations of his plans and operations, in that 

 state of immortality to which we are destined, 

 it must be a matter of importance to every hu 

 man being, that his mind be imbued with such 

 knowledge, as introductory to the employments 

 of that eternal world which lies before him. 

 But, we may remark more particularly 



In the second place, that the acquisition of ge 

 neral knowledge, and habits of mental activity, 

 would induce persons to serious inquiries into the 

 evidences of a future state. Although there are 

 few persons, in a Christian country, who deny 

 the existence of a future world, yet we have too 

 much reason to believe, that the great majority 

 of the population in every country are not tho 

 roughly convinced of this important truth, and 

 that they pass their lives just as if the present 

 were the ultimate scene of their destination. 

 Notwithstanding all the &quot; church-going&quot; which 

 is so common among us, both among the higher 

 and the lower classes, and the numerous ser 

 mons which are preached in relation to this sub 

 ject, it does not appear, that the one-half of our 

 population have any fixed and impressive belief 

 of die reality of an eternal world. If it were 

 otherwise, it would be more frequently mani 

 fested in their general temper, conversation and 

 conduct. But we find the great mass of society 

 as keenly engaged in the all-engrossing pursuit 

 *f wealth and honours, as if the enjoyments of 

 this world were to last for ever. In general 



conversation in the social circle, the topic of a 

 future world, and our relation to it, is studiously 

 avoided. While a person may talk with the 

 utmost ease about a projected voyage to Ame 

 rica, the East Indies, or Van Diemen s Land, 

 and the geographical peculiarities of these re 

 gions, and be listened to with pleasure were he 

 to talk, in certain respectable companies, of his 

 departure, to another world, and of the important 

 realities to which he will be introduced in that 

 state, were he even to suggest a hint, that the 

 scene of our eternal destination ought occa 

 sionally to form the subject of conversation, 

 either a sarcastic sneer or a solemn gloom 

 would appear on every face, and he would be 

 regarded as a wild enthusiast or a sanctimo 

 nious hypocrite. But why should men manifest 

 such a degree of apathy in regard to this topic, 

 and even an aversion to the very idea of it, if 

 they live under solemn impressions of their con 

 nexion with an immortal existence ? Every ona 

 who admits the idea of a future world, must also 

 admit, that it is one of the most interesting and 

 momentous subjects that can occupy his atten 

 tion, and that it as far exceeds in importance the 

 concerns of this life, as the ages of eternity ex 

 ceed the fleeting periods of time. And, if so, 

 why should we not appear as eager and inter 

 ested in conversation on this subject, as we 

 sometimes are in relation to a voyage to some 

 distant land ? Yet, among the majority of our 

 fellow-men, there is scarcely any thing to which 

 their attention is less directed, and the very idea 

 of it is almost lost amidst the bustle of business, 

 the acquisition of wealth, the dissipations of so 

 ciety, and the vain pageantry of fashionable life. 

 Among many other causes of the indifference 

 which prevails on this subject, ignorance and 

 mental inactivity are none of the least. Im 

 mersed in sensual gratifications and pursuits, 

 unacquainted with the pleasures of intellect, and 

 unaccustomed to rational trains of reflection, 

 multitudes pass through life without any serious 

 consideration of the future scene of another 

 world, resolved, at the hour of dissolution, to 

 take their chance with the generations that have 

 gone before them. But, were men once aroused 

 to mental activity, and to the exercise of their 

 reasoning powers on important objects, they 

 would be qualified for investigating the evi 

 dences which demonstrate the immortality of 

 man, which could not fail to impress their minds 

 with a strong conviction of the dignity of their 

 intellectual natures, and of their high destina 

 tion. Those evidences are to be found in the 

 Christian revelation which has &quot;brought life 

 and immortality to light, and thrown a radiance 

 on the scenes beyond the grave. But, even inde 

 pendently of revelation, the evidences which 

 prove the immortal destiny of man, from the 

 light of nature, are so strong and powerful, that, 

 when weighed with seriousness and impartiality, 



