210 THE RIDDLE OF THE UNIVEKSE. 



dearest possession and their most " priceless treasure." 

 It is, therefore, necessary to enter more deeply into 

 the subject, and — assuming it to be true — to make a 

 critical inquiry into its practical value. It soon 

 becomes apparent to the impartial critic that this 

 value rests, for the most part, on fancy, on the want 

 of clear judgment and consecutive thought. It is my 

 firm and honest conviction that a definitive abandon- 

 ment of these " athanatist illusions " would involve 

 no painful loss, but an inestimable positive gain for 

 humanity. 



Man's "emotional craving " clings to the belief on 

 immortality for two main reasons : firstly, in the hope 

 of securing better conditions of life beyond the grave; 

 and, secondly, in the hope of seeing once more the 

 dear and loved ones whom death has torn from us. 

 As for the first hope, it corresponds to a natural 

 feeling of the justice of compensation, which is quite 

 correct subjectively, but has no objective validity 

 whatever. We make our claim for an indemnity for 

 the unnumbered defects and sorrows of our earthly 

 existence, without the slightest real prospect or 

 guarantee of receiving it. We long for an eternal 

 life in which we shall meet no sadness and no pain, 

 but an unbounded peace and joy. The pictures that 

 most men form of this blissful existence are extremely 

 curious ; the immaterial soul is placed in the midst of 

 grossly material pleasures. The imagination of each 

 believer paints the enduring splendour according to 

 his personal taste. The American Indian, whose 

 athanatism Schiller has so well depicted, trusts to 

 find in his Paradise the finest hunting-grounds with 

 innumerable hordes of buffaloes and bears; the 

 Eskimo looks forward to sun- tipped icebergs with 



