12 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF A FUTURE STATE. 



but the miserable chance of annihilation, or of 

 hell. There is not any reflection which can have 

 more reality than this, as there is none which 

 has greater terror. Let us set the bravest face 

 on our condition, and play the heroes as artfully 

 as we can, yet see here the issue which attends 

 the goodliest life upon earth ! It is in vain for 

 men to turn aside their thoughts from this eterni 

 ty which awaits them, as if they were able to 

 destroy it, by denying it a place intheir imagina 

 tion. It subsists in spite of them / it advances 

 unobserved ; and death, which is to draw the 

 curtain from it, will, in a short time, infallibly 

 reduce them to the dreadful necessity of being 

 forever nothing, or forever miserable.&quot; 



To treat a subject so interesting and moment- 

 jus, with levity or indifference ; to exert all the 

 energies of the soul in the pursuit of objects, 

 which a few years, at most, will snatch forever 

 from their embrace; and never to spend one 

 serious hour in reflecting on what may possibly 

 succeed the present scene of existence, ot. in 

 endeavoring to find some light, to clear up the 

 doubts that may hang over this important in 

 quiry, and to treat with derision and scorn those 

 who would direct them in this serious investiga 

 tion, is not only foolish and preposterous, but 

 the height of infatuation and of madness. It is 

 contrary to every principle on which reasonable 

 men act, in relation to the affairs of the present 

 world. To retain the profits of a lucrative busi 

 ness, or to prevent the loss of fortune, or of honor, 

 a man will sometimes strain every nerve, stretch 

 every faculty, deprive himself of sleep, submit 

 to numerous privations, encounter the raging 

 elements, and brave the dangers of the ocean. 

 Nay, he will often be overwhelmed with despond 

 ency at the slightest inconveniences, and will 

 pass whole weeks and months in sullenness and 

 chagrin, for an imaginary affront, or for the 

 loss of a few pounds, while, at the same time, 

 he remains perfectly indifferent, and without the 

 least emotion, in regard to the unknown scenes 

 of the eternal world, and the danger of endless 

 axisery to which he is exposed. Such a conduct, 

 and such dispositions, which are too frequently 

 realized in the case of thousands who occasion 

 ally mingle in our religious assemblies, are 

 obviously inconsistent with the dictates of pru 

 dence and of common sense, and with every thing 

 that ought to characterize a rational and an 

 accountable creature. 



When we look back into the inexplorable abyss 

 of that eternity which is already past ; when we 



look forward to the immeasurable extent, and 

 the unfathomable depth of eternity to come ; 

 when we behold Time, and all its circling years, 

 appearing only like a point on the surface of that 

 vast and boundless ocean ; when we consider 

 the immense spaces of the universe with which 

 we are surrounded, and the innumerable worlds 

 which lie dispersed in every direction throughout 

 the immeasurable tracts of ci cation ; when we 

 consider that our existence, as thinking beings, 

 may run parallel with interminable ages ; and 

 that, in the revolutions of eternity, we may exist 

 in regions of space immeasurably distant from 

 our present habitation, associate with other or 

 ders of intelligent beings, and pass through new 

 scenes and changes in distant worlds : and, when 

 we consider that our relation to time may be 

 dissolved, and our connexion with eternity com- 

 mence, within the space of a few months or years, 

 or even before the sun shall have described 

 another circuit around the earth no inquiry can 

 appear so momentous and interesting, as that 

 which leads t&amp;lt;? *he determination of our future 

 and eternal destiny, and of those realities which 

 await us beyond the tomb. To remain insensi 

 ble to the importance of such an inquiry, and 

 unaffected at the prospect of the result to which 

 it may lead ; while we are feelingly alive to all 

 the paltry concerns and little ills of life, would 

 argue the most unaccountable stupidity, incon 

 sistency and infatuation. 



The man whose heart pants after substantial 

 knowledge and felicity, whose affections centre 

 on the Author of his existence, and who delights 

 to contemplate his character and perfections, 

 will enter, with pleasure, on every investigation 

 which has a tendency to throw a light on the 

 scene of his future destination. He will weigh, 

 with impartiality, every consideration, and will 

 seize, with delight, upon every argument by 

 which a full conviction of his immortal destiny 

 may be indelibly riveted upon his mind ; and he 

 will endeavor to cheer his soul amidst the sor 

 rows of mortality, with the consideration that 

 &quot;when the earthly house of his tabernacle is 

 dissolved, he has a building of God, an house 

 not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.&quot; 



In illustrating the evidences of a future state, 

 I shall, in the first place, state some of those 

 proofs which reason, or the light of nature, fur- 

 nishes, of man s eternal destination; and sec 

 ondly, those which are derived from the system 

 of revelation. 



