188 THE UNIVERSE 



is useless and absurd. As Flammarion has said, 

 there are only two sides to the question. When we 

 go to sleep at night there is always the possibility 

 that we may never awaken. Yet this thought does 

 not prevent us from falling asleep. In one case, sup- 

 pose death to end all ; it is but an unfinished sleep to 

 last forever. In the other case, should the soul sur- 

 vive the body, we shall reawaken in another world to 

 resume the activities of life. In this case the awaken- 

 ing must be rather delightful, as every form of life 

 and every creature finds its happiness in the exer- 

 cise of its natural energies and faculties. The deep 

 study of this important question and the disgust 

 at the indifference of men to this great problem of 

 human destiny impelled a great student of science 

 to attempt suicide. Because he saw everywhere 

 people absorbed in their material interests, accumu- 

 lating wealth, consecrating their lives to Mammon, 

 folly and passion and neglecting their nobler natures, 

 it made him doubt their fitness for an eternal exist- 

 ence, and he determined to know the truth at once 

 by plunging into the invisible unknown. 



Prof. Albert H. Walker, in a recent lecture May, 

 1903 makes a new distinction in philosophy and 

 religion, when he says : " Two systems of philosophy 

 will divide the attention and adherence of the peo- 

 ple of the twentieth century. One is the old system 

 of Epicurus which long preceded the rise of Chris- 

 tianity and which underlies the Declaration of Inde- 

 pendence; and the other is the philosophy of Chris- 

 tian science." 



His definition of religion and Atheism is some- 

 thing modern and unique. He says : "I define reli- 

 gion as belief in a God who cares; and Atheism as 



