54 THE IMMORTALITY OF ANIMALS 



are not subject to any moral law and cannot sin, 

 there must be a future reward for their untold 

 suffering in this life. 



A man who is capable of understanding the 

 moral law which has been given him may violate 

 it and forfeit every advantage he was capable of 

 possessing, and have nothing left him but the sad 

 expectation of a dreadful sentence and a terrible 

 doom. 



In such a deplorable situation we often hear men 

 wish they were animals, or at least as innocent as a 

 dove or a lamb. And why not ? Far better a 

 sinless dove sitting upon the branch of a tree, 

 cooing the plaintive song the great Teacher has 

 taught it, than a wicked man with an appalling 

 apprehension of a miserable future and a certain 

 prospect of perdition staring him in the face. 

 Therefore if a man becomes wretched in the future 

 it is his own fault ; for he had the opportunity and 

 the power to mount to a glorious state of purity 

 and happiness, and if he neglects these the blame is 

 not upon his Creator. 



But on the other hand, if he makes a proper use 

 of his moral powers, and vanquishes, like a Christian 

 hero should, all the trials and difficulties that en- 



