THE PHILOSOPHY OF A FUTURE STATE. 



from so melancholy a topic. I say, pleasure, 

 oecause your brief and simple picture of the life 

 and demeanor of the excellent person whom I 

 trust that you will again meet, cannot be con 

 templated without the admiration due to her 

 virtues, and her pure and unpretending piety. 

 Her last moments were particularly striking ; 

 and I do not know, that in the course of reading 

 the story of mankind, and still less in my obser 

 vations upon the existing portion, I ever met with 

 any thing so unostentatiously beautiful. Indis 

 putably, the firm believers in the gospel have a 

 great advantage over all others for this simple 

 reason, that if true, they will have their reward 

 hereafter; and if there be no hereafter, they can 

 be but with the infidel in his eternal sleep, hav 

 ing had the assistance of an exalted hope through 

 life, without subsequent disappointment, since 

 (at the worst of them) out of nothing, nothing 

 can arise,&quot; not even sorrow. But a man s 

 creed does not depend upon himself , who can 

 say, I will believe this, that, or the other? and 

 least of all that which he least can comprehend ? 

 I have, however, observed, that those who have 

 begun with extreme faith, have in the end greatly 

 narrowed it, as Chillingworth, Clark, (who ended 

 as an Arian,) and some others; while on the 

 other hand, nothing is more common, than for 

 the early skeptic to end in a firm belief, like 

 Maupertius and Henry Kirke White. But 

 my business is to acknowledge your letter, and 

 not to make a dissertation. I am obliged to you 

 for your good wishes, and more obliged by the 

 extract from the papers of the beloved object 

 whose qualities you have so well described in a 

 few words. I can assure you, that all the fame 

 which ever cheated humanity into higher notions 

 of its own importance, would never weigh on my 

 mind against the pure and pious interest which 

 a virtuous being may be pleased to take in my 

 welfare. In this point of view, I would not ex 

 change the prayer of the deceased in my behalf, 

 for the united glory of Homer, Csesar, and Na 

 poleon, could such be accumulated upon a living 

 head. Do me the justice to suppose, that &quot; video 

 meliora proboque,&quot; however the &quot; deteriora se- 

 quor&quot; may have been applied to my conduct. I 

 have the honour to be your obliged and obedient 

 servant, BYRON. 



P. S. I do not know that I am addressing a 

 clergyman ; but I presume that you will not be 

 affronted by the mistake (if it is one) on the ad 

 dress of this letter. One who has so well ex 

 plained, and deeply felt, the doctrines of religion, 

 will excuse the error which led me to believe 

 him its minister. 



This letter, every one will admit, exhibits 

 Lord Byron in a much more amiable point of 

 view than the traits of his character sketched by 

 Mr. Dallas, prior to the year 1818. The fol 



lowing account of his deathbed sentiments t 

 extracted from &quot; Last days of Lord Byron.&quot; 



A very few days before his Lordship s death, 

 Mr. Parry relates : &quot; It was seven o clock in 

 the evening when I saw him, and then I took a 

 chair at his request, and sat down by his bed 

 side, and remained till ten o clock. He sat up in 

 his bed, and was then calm and collected. He 

 talked with me on a variety of subjects, con 

 nected with himself and his family. He spake 

 of death also with great composure, and though 

 he did i.ot believe his end was so very near, 

 there was something about him so serious and so 

 firm, so resigned and composed, so different from 

 any thi-.g I had ever before seen in him, that my 

 mind misgave, and at times foreboded his speedy 

 dissolution. Parry, he said, when I first went 

 to him, I have much wished to see you to 

 day. I have had most strange feelings, but my 

 head is now better. I have no gloomy thoughts, 

 and no idea but I shall recover. I am perfectly 

 collected I am s^re I am in my senses but a 

 melancholy will creep over me at times. The 

 mention of the subject brought the melancholy 

 topics back, and a few exclamations showed 

 what o-- jpied Lord Byron s mind when he was 

 left in silence and solitude. My wife! my 

 Ada ! my country ! the situation of this place 

 my removal impossible, and perhaps death all 

 combine to make me sad. I am convinced of&quot; 

 the happiness of domestic life. No man on 

 earth respects a virtuous woman more than I do ; 

 and the prospect of retirement in England, with 

 my wife and Ada, gives me an idea of happi 

 ness I have never experienced before. Retire 

 ment will be every thing to me, for heretofore to 

 me life has been like the ocean in a storm. You 

 have no conception of the unaccountable thoughts 

 which come into my mind when the fever attacks 

 me. Eternity and space are before me, but on 

 this subject, thank God, I am happy and at ease. 

 The thought of living eternally, of again reviv 

 ing, is a great pleasure. Christianity is the 

 purest and most liberal religion in the world, 

 but the numerous teachers who are continually 

 worrying mankind with their denunciations and 

 their doctrines, are the greatest enemies of re 

 ligion. I have read with more attention than half 

 of them the Book of Christianity, and I admire 

 the liberal and truly charitable principles which 

 Christ has laid down. There are questions 

 connected with this subject which none but Al- 

 mightv God can solve. Time and space who 

 can conceive ? None but God on him I rely. &quot; 



Who knows but the prayer of the amiable 

 young lady, inserted above, was the mean of 

 leading his Lordship to indulge such sentiments, 

 and of ultimately securing his eternal happiness ! 

 &quot; The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous 

 man availeth much.&quot; This consideration should 

 not only excite us to offer up intercessions in 

 behalf of particular individuals, but also to use 



