750 
AN ESSAY ON THE FUTURE EXISTENCE 
the thinking principle in animals as to require no further remarks 
on this head. We cannot have a mind without a nervous system 
of some sort ; and in none of the tribe of zoophytes, such as sponges, 
polypi, and medusae, have any traces of organs bearing the least 
analogy to a nervous system been discovered, not even in the 
largest specimens of the last named tribe, some of which are nearly 
two feet in diameter. 
The conclusion to which we arrive on this portion of our subject 
is this, — that the mind or thinking principle in the brute is as indi- 
visible and indestructible by second causes as the mind of man. 
A simple substance can neither be divided nor decompounded ; the 
soul of the animal, therefore, can perish only by annihilation ; and 
we do not see that the Sacred Scriptures warrant such a conclu- 
sion, but rather they expressly and decidedly prove the contrary. 
“ Iknoiv ,” said the inspired writer, “ that whatsoever God doeth , 
it shall he for ever; nothing can he put to it, nor any thing taken 
from it! ’ Were a minister of the gospel to deliver a sermon on 
the immortality of the soul, he could not choose a more appropriate 
text than this, as it clearly shews that God has produced no being 
that he intends ultimately to destroy, and that he made every 
thing in reference to eternity. And what better proof can we have 
of the truth of the latter part of the verse, than the fact, that al- 
though hybrids are constantly created, both in the animal and 
vegetable worlds, by the interference of man, yet it is only to a 
limited extent that any alteration can be effected. There is no 
perpetuation of their kind ; the almighty fiat, “ So far shalt thou go, 
and no farther”, is here beautifully and strikingly exemplified, since 
the present race of both animals and plants are exactly the same 
with the exception of some slight alteration made by climate, soil, 
and manner of living, as they were 4000 years since. 
The Divine Mind knoweth no change : “ That which hath been, is 
now ; and that which is to he, hath already heen ; and God re - 
quireth that which is past." Chance can do nothing : the mighty 
motion of the earth, the blowing of a summer’s breeze, or the un- 
stable sailing of a cloud, each has a will that moves it; “and the 
same universal law which exists now, ruled over our planet when 
angel harps rolled first their deep notes over our world, as it 
sprung forth in its young and peerless beauty from the hands of the 
Deity.” 
It is far from our wish to prove a single argument by reference 
to passages in Holy Writ, and reasoning therefrom ; yet we cannot 
allow others to do so, and draw conclusions contrary to the truth 
and real meaning of the text. One of the most preposterous and 
absurd conclusions that have been arrived at in this manner is, — 
THAT ALL THE INFERIOR ANIMALS WERE CREATED FOR THE 
