IX THE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY 201 



Hume has discussed some of these questions in 

 the remarkable essay " On the Immortality of the 

 Soul," which was not published till after his death, 

 and which seems long to have remained but little 

 known. Nevertheless, indeed, possibly, for that 

 reason, its influence has been manifested in un- 

 expected quarters, and its main arguments have 

 been adduced by archi episcopal and episcopal 

 authority in evidence of the value of revelation. 

 Dr. Whately, 1 sometime Archbishop of Dublin, 

 paraphrases Hume, though he forgets to cite him ; 

 and Bishop Courtenay's elaborate work, 2 dedicat- 

 ed to the Archbishop, is a development of that 

 prelate's version of Hume's essay. 



This little piece occupies only some ten pages, 

 but it is not wonderful that it attracted an acute 

 logician like Whately, for it is a model of clear 

 and vigorous statement. The argument hardly 

 admits of condensation, so that I must let Hume 

 speak for himself : 



"By the mere light of reason it seems difficult to prove the 

 immortality of the soul : the arguments for it are commonly 

 derived either from metaphysical topics, or moral, or physical. 



1 Essays on Some of the Peculiarities of the Christian Religion^ 

 (Essay I. Revelation of a Future State), by Richard Whately, 

 D.D., Archbishop of Dublin. Fifth Edition, revised, 1846. 



2 The Future States : their Evidences and Nature ; considered 

 on Principles Physical, Moral, and Scriptural, with the Design 

 of showing the Value of the Gospel Revelation, by the Right Rev. 

 Reginald Courtenay, D.D., Lord Bishop of Kingston (Jamaica), 

 1857. 



