CHAPTER I. 



Old Conceptions of a Future Life. 



A CONSCIOUSNESS of immortality, 

 sometimes dim and vague, some- 

 times vivid and clear, seems to be char- 

 acteristic of the human race. However 

 low man may stand he cannot consider 

 death to be the end of his existence. 

 The conviction that he is immortal is 

 innate to him. Annihilation is con- 

 trary to the nature and demands of 

 his spirit. It is true that uncertainty 

 and doubt might arise, but man will 

 never be able wholly to uproot either 

 hope or fear as to the possibility of a 

 future life. 



Experiencing such feelings and pre- 

 sentiments, man finds himself amidst a 

 world where death and dissolution ev- 

 erywhere surround him. He sees the 



