,by ,john ,fiske  ,,essays ,,and        
,,philosophy   ,a ,,century ,,of        
,,science1 and other ,essays4  ,,myths  
,,and ,,myth-,,makers3 ,old ,tales and  
,superstitions interpreted by           
,comparative ,mythology4  ,,outlines    
,,of ,,cosmic ,,philosophy4 ,new        
,edition4 ,with introduction by ,josiah 
,royce1 and index4 #d vols4  ,,the      
,,unseen ,,world1 and other ,essays4    
,,excursions ,,of ,,an ,,evolutionist4  
,,darwinism1 and other ,essays4  ,,the  
,,destiny ,,of ,,man1 viewed in the     
,light of ,his ,origin4  ,,the ,,idea   
,,of ,,god1 as affected by ,modern      
,knowledge4  ,,through ,,nature ,,to    
,,god4  ,,life ,,everlasting4  ,for     
complete list of ,mr4 ,fiske's          
,historical and ,philosophical ,works1  
and ,essays1 see pages at the back of   
this work4   ,,houghton ,,mifflin       
,,company ,,boston ,,and ,,new ,,york   
,,life ,,everlasting                    
,illustration            ,,life         
,,everlasting                 ,,by      

,,john ,,fiske             ,illustration
           ,,boston ,,and ,,new ,,york  
,,houghton ,,mifflin ,,company      ,the
 ,riverside ,press ,cambridge           
,,copyright1 #aija1 ,,by ,,abby ,m4     
,,fiske1              ,,executrix       
,,all ,,rights ,,reserved               
,published ,september1 #aija            
,illustration   ,,note   ,on the evening
 of ,december #ai1 #aijj1 ,mr4 ,fiske   
delivered in ,sanders ,theatre1         
,cambridge1 the address here printed4   
,it was given at the request of ,harvard
 ,university1 in accordance with the    
terms of the ,ingersoll lectureship1 but
 it stood clearly in ,mr4 ,fiske's mind 
as a continuation1 and in a sense the   
completion1 of that series of           
philosophic studies successively issued 
under the titles1 ,the ,destiny of ,man 
viewed in the ,light of his ,origin1    
,the ,idea of ,god as affected by       
,modern ,knowledge1 and ,through ,nature
 to ,god4 ,mr4 ,fiske delayed the       
publication of ,life ,everlasting1 and  

it is possible that he designed         
amplifying it4 ,yet1 as he stated in his
 ,preface to ,the ,idea of ,god1 that   
both that book and ,the ,destiny of ,man
 were printed exactly as delivered1     
without the addition1 or subtraction1 or
 alteration of a single word1 so he may 
have intended to print this study in the
 same way4 ,at any rate it is now       
printed exactly as it was delivered1 his
 perfectly clear manuscript being       
carefully followed4    #d ,,park        
,,street1 ,,boston   ,autumn1 #aija     
,illustration   ,,the ,,ingersoll       
,,lectureship  ,extract from the will of
 ,miss ,caroline ,haskell ,ingersoll1   
who died in ,keene1 ,county of          
,cheshire1 ,new ,hampshire1 ,jan4 #bf1  
#ahic4   ,first4 ,in carrying out the   
wishes of my late beloved father1       
,george ,goldthwait ,ingersoll1 as      
declared by him in his last will and    
testament1 ,i give and bequeath to      
,harvard ,university in ,cambridge1     
,mass41 where my late father was        

graduated1 and which he always held in  
love and honor1 the sum of ,five        
thousand dollars 7#e1jjj7 as a fund for 
the establishment of a ,lectureship on a
 plan somewhat similar to that of the   
,dudleian lecture1 that is--one lecture 
to be delivered each year1 on any       
convenient day between the last day of  
,may and the first day of ,december1 on 
this subject1 the ,immortality of ,man1 
said lecture not to form a part of the  
usual college course1 nor to be         
delivered by any ,professor or ,tutor as
 part of his usual routine of           
instruction1 though any such ,professor 
or ,tutor may be appointed to such      
service4 ,the choice of said lecturer is
 not to be limited to any one religious 
denomination1 nor to any one profession1
 but may be that of either clergyman or 
layman1 the appointment to take place at
 least six months before the delivery of
 said lecture4 ,the above sum to be     
safely invested and three fourths of the
 annual interest thereof to be paid to  

the lecturer for his services and the   
remaining fourth to be expended in the  
publishment and gratuitous distribution 
of the lecture1 a copy of which is      
always to be furnished by the lecturer  
for such purpose4 ,the same lecture to  
be named and known as the ,ingersoll    
lecture on the ,immortality of ,man4    
,,life ,,everlasting     ,illustration  
,,life ,,everlasting   ,few incidents in
 ancient history are more tragic than   
the death of ,pompey4 ,the spectacle of 
the mighty warrior who had conquered the
 ,orient and contended with ,csar for   
the mastery of the world1 a defeated and
 despairing fugitive1 treacherously     
murdered and lying unburied on the      
,egyptian strand1 was one that drew     
tears from ,csar himself and from many  
another4 ,yet among the poets of the    
sixteenth century ,renaissance there was
 one who took a different view of the   
matter4 ,in an epigram of incomparable  
beauty ,francesco ,molsa exclaims3--    
,dux1 ,pharea quamvis jaceas inhumatus  

arena1       ,non ideo fati est svior   
ira tui3     ,indignum fuerat tellus    
tibi victa sepulcrum2       ,non decuit 
coelo1 te1 nisi1 ,magne1 tegi6  ,it is  
almost impossible to preserve in a      
translation the peculiar charm of these 
lines1 but a friend of mine in one of   
the pleasant student days of forty years
 ago produced this happy and fitting    
paraphrase3--      ,we grieve not1      
,pompey1 that to thee       ,no earthly 
tomb was given2     ,all lands subdued1 
nought else was free       ,to shelter  
thee but ,heaven6  ,here the art of the 
poet lies in the boldness with which he 
seizes upon one of the most subtle and  
startling effects of contrast4 ,in the  
very circumstance which to the ancient  
mind was the acme of humiliation and    
horror his genius discerns the occasion 
for most exalted panegyric1 the         
bitterness of death is lost in the      
abounding triumph of the soul enlarged  
and set free1 the attributes of woe are 
transformed into crowning glories4  ,it 

is just in this spirit of the ,modenese 
poet that mankind has sought to take    
away from death its sting1 from the     
grave its victory4 ,that solemn moment  
in which1 for those who have gone before
 and for us who are to follow1 the eye  
of sense beholds naught save the ending 
of the world1 the entrance upon a black 
and silent eternity1 the eye of faith   
declares to be the supreme moment of a  
new birth for the disenthralled soul1   
the introduction to a new era of life   
compared with which the present one is  
not worthy of the name4 ,greek3 ,tis d' 
oiden1 exclaims ,euripides1      ,greek3
 ,tis d' oiden ei to zn men esti        
katthanein1     ,to katthanein de zn8   
,who can tell but that this which we    
call life is really death1 from which   
what we call death is an awakening8     
,from this vantage ground of thought the
 human soul comes to look without dread 
upon the termination of this terrestrial
 existence4 ,the failure of the bodily  
powers1 the stoppage of the fluttering  

pulse1 the cold stillness upon the      
features so lately wreathed in smiles of
 merriment1 the corruption of the tomb1 
the breaking of the ties of love1 the   
loss of all that has given value to     
existence1 the dull blankness of        
irremediable sorrow1 the knell of       
everlasting farewells1--all this is     
seized upon by the sovereign imagination
 of man and transformed into a scene of 
transcending glory1 such as in all the  
vast career of the universe is reserved 
for humanity alone4 ,in the highest of  
creatures the ,divine immanence has     
acquired sufficient concentration and   
steadiness to survive the dissolution of
 the flesh and assert an individuality  
untrammelled by the limitations which in
 the present life everywhere            
persistently surround it4 ,upon this    
view death is not a calamity but a boon1
 not a punishment inflicted upon ,man1  
but the supreme manifestation of his    
exceptional prerogative as chief among  
,god's creatures4 ,thus the faith in    

immortal life is the great poetic       
achievement of the human mind1 it is    
all-pervasive1 it is concerned with     
every moment and every aspect of our    
existence as moral individuals1 and it  
is the one thing that makes this world  
inhabitable for beings constructed like 
ourselves4 ,the destruction of this     
sublime poetic conception would be like 
depriving a planet of its atmosphere2 it
 would leave nothing but a moral desert 
as cold and dead as the savage surface  
of the moon4  ,we have now to consider  
this supreme poetic achievement of      
man--his belief in his own              
,immortality--in the light of our modern
 studies of evolution2 we must notice   
some distinctions between its earlier   
and later stages1 and briefly examine   
some of the objections which have been  
alleged in the name of science against  
the validity of the belief4  ,here1 as  
in all departments of the efflorescence 
of the human mind1 the beginnings were  
lowly1 and necessarily so4 ,nothing very

 lofty or far-reaching could be expected
 from the kind of brain that was encased
 in the ,neanderthal skull4 ,among      
existing savages there are tribes       
concerning which travellers have doubted
 whether they possess ideas that can    
properly be called religious4 ,but      
wherever untutored humanity exists we   
find the conception of a world of ghosts
 more or less distinctly elaborated2 the
 thronging simulacra of departed        
tribesmen linger near their accustomed  
haunts1 keenly sensitive to favour or   
neglect1 and quick to punish all        
infractions of the rules which the stern
 exigencies of life in the wilderness   
have prescribed for the conduct of the  
tribe4 ,this crude primeval ghost-world 
is thus already closely associated with 
the ethical side of life1 and out of    
this association have grown some of the 
most colossal governing agencies by     
which the development of human society  
has been influenced4 ,it is therefore   
not without reason that modern students 

of anthropology devote so much time to  
animism and fetishism and other crude   
workings of that savage intelligence of 
which the primeval ghost-world is a     
product4  ,it is not at all unlikely    
that the savage's notion of ghosts may  
have originated chiefly in his          
experience of dreams1 and this is the   
explanation at present most in favour4  
,the sleeping warrior ranges far and    
wide over the country1 while he chases  
the buffalo and joins in the medicine   
dance with comrades known to have died  
yet now as active and as voluble as     
himself1 but suddenly the scene changes 
and he is back in his familiar hut      
surrounded by his people who can testify
 that he has not for a moment left them4
 ,it is not unlikely1 ,i say1 that the  
notion of one's conscious self as       
something which can quit the material   
body and return to it may have started  
in such often-repeated humble           
experiences4 ,it can hardly be doubted1 
however1 that this savage conception of 

the detachable conscious self is simply 
the primitive phase of the ,christian   
conception of the conscious soul which  
dwells within the perishable body and   
quits it at death4 ,through many stages 
of elaboration and refinement the       
sequence between the two conceptions is 
unmistakable4  ,at this point the       
materialist interposes with an argument 
which he regards as crushing4 ,he       
reminds us that if we would estimate the
 value of an idea1 as of a race-horse or
 a mastiff1 it is well to take a look at
 its pedigree4 ,what1 then1 is to be    
said--he scornfully asks--of a doctrine 
of personal immortality which when      
reduced to its lowest terms is seen to  
have started in a savage's              
misinterpretation of his dreams8 ,what  
more is needed to prove it unworthy of  
the serious attention of a scientific   
student of nature8 ,on the other hand1  
the student whose mood is truly         
scientific will feel that one of        
mankind's cardinal beliefs must not be  

dismissed too lightly because of the    
crudeness and error in that primitive   
stratum of human thought in which it    
first took root4 ,in his perceptions    
within certain limits the savage is     
eminently keen and accurate1 but when it
 comes to intellectual judgments that go
 at all below the surface of things his 
mind is a mere farrago of grotesque     
fancies1 wherein1 nevertheless1 some    
kernels of truth are here and there     
embedded4 ,it is a long way from the    
dragon swallowing the sun to the        
interposition of the moon's dark body   
between us and that luminary4 ,the      
dragon was a figment of fancy1 but the  
eclipse was none the less a fact4  ,now 
if we may take an illustration from the 
workings of an infant's mind1 it is     
pretty clearly made out that as baby    
sits propped among his pillows and turns
 his eyes hither and thither in         
following his mother's movements to and 
fro in the room1 she seems in coming    
toward him to enlarge and in going away 

to diminish in size1 like ,alice in     
,wonderland4 ,it is only with the       
education of the eye and the small      
muscles which adjust it that the larger 
area subtended on the retina instantly  
means comparative nearness and the      
smaller area comparative remoteness4 ,at
 first the sensations are interpreted   
directly1 and the impression upon baby's
 nascent intelligence is a gross error4 
,the mother is not waxing great and     
small by turns1 but only approaching and
 receding4 ,if1 however1 we consider    
that in baby's mind the enlarged retinal
 spot means more and the diminished spot
 less of the pleasurable feelings       
excited by a familiar and gracious      
presence1 the approach of which is      
greeted with smiles and out-stretched   
arms1 while its departure is bemoaned   
with cries and tears1 we see that as to 
the essentials of the situation the     
dawning intelligence is entirely right1 
although its specific interpretation is 
quite wrong4 ,mamma has not really      

dwindled and vanished like the penny in 
a conjurer's palm1 but has only flitted 
from the field of vision4  ,to come back
 now to our primeval savage1 when he    
sees in a dream his deceased comrade and
 mistakes the vision for a reality1 his 
error is not concerned with the most    
fundamental part of the matter4 ,the    
all-important fact is that this dreaming
 savage has somehow acquired a mental   
attitude toward death which is totally  
different from that of all other        
animals1 and is therefore peculiarly    
human4 ,throughout the half-dozen       
invertebrate branches or sub-kingdoms1  
where intelligence is manifested only in
 its lower forms of reflex action and   
instinct1 we find no evidence that any  
creature has come to know of death4     
,there is a sense1 no doubt1 in which we
 may say that the love of life is       
universal4 ,as a rule1 all animals shun 
danger1 and natural selection maintains 
this rule by the pitiless slaughter of  
all delinquents1 of all in whom the     

needful inherited tendencies are too    
weak4 ,but in the lower animal grades   
and in the vegetal world the courting of
 life and the shrinking from death go on
 without conscious intelligence1 as the 
blades of grass in a meadow or the      
clustering leaves upon a tree compete   
with one another for the maximum of     
exposure to sunshine until perhaps stout
 boughs and stems are warped or twisted 
in the struggle4 ,among invertebrates1  
even when we get so high as lobsters and
 cuttlefish1 the consciousness attendant
 upon the seizing of prey and the escape
 from enemies probably does not extend  
beyond the facts within the immediate   
sphere of vision4 ,even among those ants
 that have marshalled hosts and grand   
tactics there is doubtless no such thing
 as meditation of death4 ,passing to the
 vertebrates1 it is not until we reach  
the warm-blooded birds and mammals that 
we find what we are seeking4 ,among     
sundry birds and mammals we see         
indications of a dawning recognition of 

the presence of death4 ,an early        
manifestation is the sense of           
bereavement when the maternal instinct  
is rudely disturbed1 as in the cow      
mourning for her calf4 ,this feeling    
goes a little way1 but not a great way1 
beyond the sense of physical discomfort1
 and is soon relieved by milking4 ,much 
more intense and abiding is the feeling 
of bereavement among birds that mate for
 life1 and among the higher apes1 and it
 reaches its culmination in the dog     
whose intelligence and affections have  
been so profoundly modified through his 
immensely long comradeship with man4    
,nowhere in literature do we strike upon
 a deeper note of pathos than in        
,scott's immortal lines on the dog who  
starved while watching his young        
master's lifeless body1 alone upon a    
,highland moor3--      ,how long didst  
thou think that his silence was slumber8
     ,when the wind stirred his garment1
 how oft didst thou start6  ,yet even   
this devoted creature could have carried

 his thoughts but little way toward the 
point reached by our dreaming savage    
with his incipient ghost-world4 ,more   
power of abstraction and generalization 
was needed4 ,while the sight of the     
killing of a fellow-creature may arouse 
violent terror in the higher mammals    
below man1 there is nothing to indicate 
that the sight of the dead body awakens 
in the dumb spectator any general       
conceptions in which his own ultimate   
doom is included4 ,the only feeling     
aroused seems to vary between utter     
indifference and faint curiosity4       
,professor ,shaler makes a statement of 
cardinal importance in this connection  
when he says3 ,if we should seek some   
one mark which1 in the intellectual     
advance from the brutes to man1 might   
denote the passage to the human side1 we
 might well find it in the moment when  
it dawned on the nascent man that death 
was a mystery which he had in his turn  
to meet4#a  #a ,shaler1 ,the            
,individual1 p4 #aid4  ,it is therefore 

interesting to note that the first      
approaches1 albeit remote ones1 toward a
 realizing sense of death occur among   
those animals in which the beginnings of
 family life have been made1 and the    
habitual exercise of altruistic emotions
 helps to widen the intelligence and    
facilitate the appropriation to one's   
self of the experiences of one's        
comrades and mates4 ,such is the case   
with permanently mated birds and with   
the higher apes1 while the case of the  
dog1 exceptional as it is through his   
acquired dependence upon man1 has       
similar implications4 ,now ,i have      
elsewhere proved and repeatedly         
illustrated that the leading peculiarity
 which distinguished man's apelike      
progenitors from all other creatures was
 the progressive increase in the        
duration of infancy1 which was a direct 
consequence of expanding intelligence1  
and was moreover the immediate cause of 
the genesis of the human family and of  
human society4 ,it appears now that the 

realizing sense of death1 such as we    
find it in untutored men of primitive   
habits of thought1 has originated in the
 selfsame circumstances which have      
wrought the mighty change from          
gregariousness to sociality1 from the   
general level of mammalian existence to 
the unique level of humanity4 ,i have   
elsewhere called attention to the       
profoundly interesting fact that the    
notion of an ,unseen ,world beyond that 
in which we lead our daily lives is     
coeval with the earliest beginnings of  
,humanity upon our planet4 ,we may now  
observe that it adds greatly to the     
interest and to the significance of this
 fact1 when we find that the very       
circumstances which tended to single out
 our progenitors1 and raise them from   
the average mammalian level into        
,manhood1 tended also to make them      
realize the problem of death and meet it
 with a solution4 ,the grouping of facts
 now begins to make it appear that this 
primeval solution was but the natural   

outcome of the whole cosmic process that
 had gone before2 that when nascent     
,humanity first eluded the burden of the
 problem by rising above it1 this was   
but part and parcel of the unprecedented
 cosmic operation through which man's   
,humanity was developed and declared4   
,the long and cumulative play of cause  
and effect which wrought the lengthening
 of the period of helpless babyhood and 
the correlative maternal care1 and which
 thus differentiated the non-human horde
 of primates into a group of human      
clans1 was attended by a strong         
development of the sympathetic feelings 
as it vastly increased the mutual       
dependence among individuals4 ,during   
the same period the gradual acquirement 
of articulate speech was accompanied by 
a great increase in the powers of       
abstraction and generalization4 ,these  
new capacities were applied to the      
interpretation of death1 just as they   
were applied to all other things2 and   
thus1 in the very process of becoming   

human1 our progenitors arose to the     
consciousness of death as something with
 which humanity has always and          
everywhere to reckon4 ,from the earliest
 and most rudimentary stages of the     
process1 however1 the conception of     
death was not of an event which puts an 
end to human individuality1 but of an   
event which human individuality         
survives4 ,if we look at the            
circumstances of the genesis of mankind 
purely from the naturalist's point of   
view1 it cannot fail to be highly       
significant that the mental attitude    
toward death should from the first have 
assumed this form1 that the human soul  
should from the start have felt itself  
encompassed not only by the endless     
multitude of visible and tangible and   
audible things1 but also by an ,unseen  
,world4 ,in view of this striking fact  
it is of small moment that the earliest 
generalizations which in course of time 
developed into a world of ghosts and    
demons were grotesquely erroneous4      

,primitive theorizing is sure to be     
faulty and in the light of later        
knowledge comes to seem absurd and      
bizarre4 ,such has been in modern days  
the fate of the savage's ghost-world1   
along with the ,ptolemaic astronomy1 the
 doctrine of signatures1 and many       
another sample of the wisdom of the     
ancients4 ,but the fact that primitive  
man mis-stated his relation to the      
,unseen ,world in no wise militates     
against the truth of his assumption that
 such a world exists for us4  ,to this  
question as to the truth of the         
assumption ,i shall return in the       
sequel4 ,we have very briefly sketched  
the manner of its origination1 and here 
we may leave this part of our subject   
with the remark that the belief in a    
future life1 in a world unseen to mortal
 eyes1 is not only coeval with the      
beginnings of the human race but is also
 coextensive with it in all its         
subsequent stages of development4 ,it is
 in short one of the differential       

attributes of humanity4 ,man is not only
 the primate who possesses articulate   
speech and the power of abstract        
reasoning1 who is characterized by a    
long period of plastic infancy and a    
corresponding capacity for progress1 who
 is grouped in societies of which the   
primordial units were clans2 he is not  
only all this1 but he is the creature   
who expects to survive the event of     
physical death4 ,this expectation was   
one of his acquisitions gained while    
attaining to the human plane of         
existence1 and the interesting question 
in the natural history of man is whether
 it is to be regarded as a permanent    
acquisition1 or is rather analogous to  
the organ that subserves1 perhaps       
through long ages1 an important but     
temporary purpose1 after the fulfilment 
of which it dwindles into a rudiment    
neglected and forgotten4  ,i do not     
overlook the existence of divers        
theological systems in which the        
attitude toward a future life is very   

different from that with which our      
,christian education has made us        
familiar4 ,we sometimes hear such       
systems cited as exceptions to the      
alleged universality of the human belief
 in immortality4 ,the ,buddhist looks   
forward through myriads of successive   
sentient existences to a culminating    
state of ,nirwana1 which if not actual  
extinction is at least complete         
quiescence1 the absolute zero of being4 
,it hardly needs saying1 however1 that  
,buddhistic theology1 though it may have
 arrived at such a zero through long    
flights of metaphysical reasoning1 is   
nevertheless based in all its           
foundations upon the primitive belief in
 man's survival of death4 ,sometimes it 
is said that the ,jews of the ,old      
,testament times had no proper          
conception of immortality4 ,it can      
hardly be maintained1 however1 that such
 stories as that of the conversation at 
,endor between the living ,saul and the 
dead ,samuel could emanate from a people

 destitute of belief in a life after    
death4 ,in point of fact ancient ,jewish
 thought abounds in traces of the       
primitive ghost-world4 ,it is only by   
contrast with the glorious and inspiring
 ,christian development of the belief in
 immortality that the earlier           
dispensation seems so jejune and meagre 
in its faith4 ,there was little to      
arouse religious emotion in the dismal  
world of flitting shadows1 the ,sheol or
 ,hades from which the ,greek hero would
 so gladly have escaped1 even to take   
the most menial position in all the     
sunlit world4 ,greek and ,hebrew        
thought1 in what we call the classic    
ages1 stood alike in need of religious  
revival4 ,the mythic lore of the ,greek 
mind had flowered luxuriantly in sthetic
 fancies1 while the spiritual life of   
,judaism languished amid strict         
obedience to forms and precepts4 ,the   
far-reaching thoughts of ,greek         
philosophers and the lofty ethics of    
,hebrew preachers were divorced from the

 primitive ghost-world1 even as the     
mental processes of the modern scholar  
are separated by a great gulf from those
 of the woman who comes to scrub the    
floor4 ,the advent of ,christianity     
fused together the various elements4    
,the doctrine of a future life was      
endowed with all the moral significance 
that ,jewish thought could give to it1  
and with all the mystic glory that      
,hellenic speculation could contribute1 
so that the effect upon men was that of 
a fresh revelation of life and          
immortality through the gospel4         
,grotesque and hideous features also    
were brought in from the ghost-worlds of
 the classic ages1 as well as from that 
of the ,teutonic barbarians1 and the    
result is seen in medival ,christianity4
 ,at no other time1 perhaps1 has the    
,unseen ,world played such a leading    
part in men's minds as in the twelfth   
and thirteenth centuries of our         
,christian era1 in the age that         
witnessed the culmination of sublimity  

in church architecture1 in the society  
whose thought found comprehensive       
expression in the ,summa of ,st4        
,thomas1 as the thought of our times is 
expressed in ,spencer's ,first          
,principles1 in an intellectual         
atmosphere1 which just as it was about  
passing away was depicted for all coming
 time in the poem of ,dante4 ,it was a  
time of spiritual awakening such as     
mankind had never before witnessed1 but 
it was also an age of new problems1 an  
age wherein the seeds of revolt were    
thickly germinating4 ,the nature and    
constitution of the ,unseen ,world had  
been too rashly and too elaborately set 
forth in theorems born of the slender   
knowledge of primitive times1 and the   
growing tendency to interrogate ,nature 
soon led to conclusions which broke down
 the old edifice of thought4 ,in the    
sixteenth century came ,copernicus and  
administered such a shock to the mind as
 even ,luther's defiance of the papacy  
scarcely equalled4 ,in recent days1 when

 ,bishop ,wilberforce reckoned without  
his host in trying to twit ,huxley with 
his monkey ancestry1 our minds were     
getting inured to all sorts of audacious
 innovations1 so that they did not      
greatly disturb us4 ,for its unsettling 
effects upon time-honoured beliefs and  
mental habits the ,darwinian theory is  
no more to be compared to the           
,copernican than the invention of the   
steamboat is to be compared to the      
voyages of ,columbus4 ,we are in no     
danger of overrating the bewilderment   
that was wrought by the discovery that  
our earth is not the physical centre of 
things1 and that the sun apparently does
 not exist for the sole purpose of      
giving light and warmth to man's        
terrestrial habitat4 ,we need not wonder
 that in conservative ,spain scarcely a 
century ago the ,university of          
,salamanca prohibited the teaching of   
the ,newtonian astronomy4 ,we need not  
wonder that ,galileo should have been   
commanded to hold his tongue on a topic 

that seemed to cast discredit upon the  
whole theology that assumes man to be   
the central object of the ,divine care4 
,this unsettling of men's minds was of  
course indefinitely increased by the    
revolt of ,descartes against the        
scholastic philosophy1 by ,newton's     
immense contributions to physics1 and by
 such discoveries as those of ,harvey1  
,black1 and ,lavoisier1 which showed by 
what methods truth could be obtained    
concerning ,nature's operations1 and how
 different such methods were from those 
by which the accepted systems of        
theology had been built up4 ,the result 
has been wholesale skepticism directed  
against everything whatever that now    
exists or has ever existed in the shape 
of an ancient belief4 ,this result was  
first reached in ,france about the      
middle of the eighteenth century1 when  
the thoughts of ,locke and ,newton were 
eagerly absorbed in a community         
irritated beyond endurance by social    
injustice1 and in which the church had  

done much to forfeit respect4 ,thus came
 about that violent outbreak of         
materialistic atheism which1 in spite of
 its generous aims and many admirable   
achievements1 is surely one of the most 
mournful episodes in the history of     
human thought4 ,the ,french philosophers
 set an example to three generations2   
the note struck by ,diderot and ,buffon 
and ,d',alembert continued to resound   
until the scientific horizon had become 
radiant in every quarter with the       
promise of a brighter day1 and its      
echoes have not yet died4 ,it was but   
lately that the voice of ,lamettrie was 
heard again from the lips of ,strauss   
and ,buechner1 and even to-day we may   
sometimes be entertained by a belated   
eighteenth century naturalist who is    
fully persuaded that his denial of human
 immortality is an inevitable corollary 
from the doctrine of evolution4 ,indeed 
the progress of scientific discovery has
 been so rapid since the time of        
,diderot1 its achievements have been so 

vast1 its results so multifarious and so
 dazzling1 that it has well-nigh        
absorbed the attention of the foremost  
minds4 ,the dogmas of theology seem     
stale and empty1 the speculations of    
metaphysics vain and unprofitable1 in   
comparison with the fascinating marvels 
of chemistry and astronomy1 of          
palontology and spectrum analysis2 and  
it is natural that we should rejoice    
over the methods of research that are   
enabling us thus to wrest from ,nature a
 few of her long guarded secrets1 and to
 make up our minds to have nothing to do
 with conclusions that are not obtained 
or at least verified by such scientific 
methods4 ,daily we hear sounded the     
praises of observation1 of experiment1  
of comparison2 we are warned against    
long deductions1 since the strength of  
any chain of arguments is measured by   
that of its weakest link1 and experience
 is perpetually teaching us1 to our     
vexation and chagrin1 that what reason  
says must be so is not so1 that facts   

will not fit hypothesis4 ,the more      
things we try to explain1 the better we 
realize that we live in a world of      
unexplained residua4 ,away1 then1 with  
all so-called truths that cannot be     
tested by weights and measures1 or other
 direct appeals to the senses6 ,your    
modern philosopher will have nothing of 
them4 ,his system is composed1 from     
start to finish1 of scientific theorems4
 ,as for the higher speculations1 the   
deeper generalizations1 in which        
philosophy has been wont to indulge     
concerning the aim and meaning of       
existence1 he waves them away as        
profitless or even mischievous4 ,the    
world is full of questions as pressing  
as they are baffling4 ,as ,i once heard 
,herbert ,spencer say1 ,you cannot take 
up any problem in physics without being 
quickly led to some metaphysical problem
 which you can neither solve nor evade4 
,it was in order to secure philosophic  
peace of mind that ,auguste ,comte      
undertook to build up what he called    

,positive ,philosophy1 in which the     
existence of all such problems was to be
 complacently ignored1--much as the     
ostrich seeks escape from a dilemma by  
burying its head in the sand4 ,in a far 
more reverent and justifiable spirit the
 agnostic like ,huxley or ,spencer      
acknowledges the limitations of the     
human mind and builds as far as he may1 
leaving the rest to ,god4  ,in the      
fervour of this modern reliance upon    
scientific methods1 we are warned with  
especial emphasis against all humours   
and predilections which we may be in    
danger of cherishing as human beings4   
,in a new sense of the words we are     
reminded that the heart of man is       
deceitful and desperately wicked1 and if
 any belief is especially pleasant or   
consoling to us1 forthwith does ,science
 lay upon us her austere command to     
mortify the flesh and treat the belief  
in question with exceptional disfavour  
and suspicion4 ,thus there has grown up 
a kind of ,puritanism in the scientific 

temper which1 while announcing its      
unalterable purpose to follow ,truth    
though she lead us to ,hades1 takes a   
kind of grim satisfaction in emphasizing
 the place of destination4  ,now there  
can be no sort of doubt that this rigid 
and vigorous scientific temper is in the
 main eminently wholesome and           
commendable4 ,in the interests of       
intellectual honesty there is nothing   
which we need more than to be put on our
 guard against allowing our reasoning   
processes to be warped by our feelings4 
,nevertheless in steering clear of      
,scylla it would be a pity to tumble    
straight into the maw of ,charybdis1 and
 it behooves us to ask just how far the 
canons of scientific method are         
competent to guide us in dealing with   
ultimate questions4 ,science has given  
us so many surprises that our capacity  
for being shocked or astounded is       
well-nigh exhausted1 and our old        
unregenerate human nature has been      
bullied and badgered into something like

 humility2 so that now1 at the end of   
the greatest and most bewildering of    
centuries1 we may fitly pause for a     
moment and ask how fares it1 in these   
exacting days1 with that ,unseen ,world 
which man brought with him when he was  
first making his appearance on our      
planet8 ,and what has science to say    
about that time-honoured belief that the
 human soul survives the death of the   
human body8  ,the position that science 
irrevocably condemns such a belief seems
 at first sight a very strong one and   
has unquestionably had a good deal of   
weight with many minds of the present   
generation4 ,throughout the animal      
kingdom we never see sensation1         
perception1 instinct1 volition1         
reasoning1 or any of the phenomena which
 we distinguish as mental1 manifested   
except in connection with nerve-matter  
arranged in systems of various degrees  
of complexity4 ,we can trace sundry     
relations of general correspondence     
between the increasing manifestations of

 intelligence and the increasing        
complications of the nervous system4    
,injuries to the nervous structure      
entail failures of function1 either in  
the mental operations themselves or in  
the control which they exercise over the
 actions of the body2 there is either   
psychical aberration1 or loss of        
consciousness1 or muscular paralysis4   
,at the moment of death1 as soon as the 
current of arterial blood ceases to flow
 through the cerebral vessels1 all signs
 of consciousness cease for the         
looker-on2 and after the nervous system 
has been resolved into its elements1    
what reason have we to suppose that     
consciousness survives1 any more than   
that the wetness of water should survive
 its separation into oxygen and         
hydrogen8  ,so far as our terrestrial   
experience goes there can be but one    
answer to such a question4 ,we have no  
more warrant in experience for supposing
 consciousness to exist without a       
nervous system than we have for         

supposing the properties of water to    
exist in a world destitute of hydrogen  
and oxygen4 ,our power of framing       
conceptions is narrowly limited by      
experience1 and when we try to figure to
 ourselves the conditions of a future   
life we are either hopelessly baffled at
 the start or else we fall back upon    
grossly materialistic imagery4 ,the     
savage's ghost-world is a mere          
repetition of the fights and hunts with 
which he is familiar4 ,the early        
,christians looked forward to a speedy  
resurrection from ,sheol1 followed by an
 endless bodily existence upon a        
renovated earth4 ,dante's pictures of   
the ,unseen ,world are often so         
intensely materialistic as to seem      
grotesque in our more truly spiritual   
age4 ,popular conceptions of heaven     
to-day abound in symbolism that is      
confessedly a mere reflection from the  
world of matter2 insomuch that persons  
of sufficient culture to realize the    
inadequacy of these popular images are  

wont to avoid the difficulty by         
refraining from putting their hopes and 
beliefs into any definite or describable
 form4 ,among such minds there is a     
tacit agreement that the unseen world   
must be purely spiritual in             
constitution1 yet no mental image of    
such a world can be formed4 ,we are all 
agreed that life beyond the grave would 
be a delusion and a cruel mockery       
without the continuance of the tender   
household affections which alone make   
the present life worth living2 but to   
imagine the recognition of soul by soul 
apart from the material structure in    
which we have known soul to be          
manifested1 apart from the look of the  
loved face1 the tones of the loved      
voice1 or the renewed touch of the long 
vanished hand1 is something quite beyond
 our power4 ,even if you try to imagine 
your own psychical activity as          
continuing without the aid of the       
physical machinery of sensation1 you    
soon get into unmanageable difficulties4

 ,the furniture of your mind consists in
 great part of sensuous images1 chiefly 
visual1 and you cannot in thought follow
 yourself into a world that does not    
announce itself to you through sense    
impressions4 ,from all this it plainly  
appears that our notion of the survival 
of conscious activity apart from        
material conditions is not only         
unsupported by any evidence that can be 
gathered from the world of which we have
 experience but is utterly and          
hopelessly inconceivable4  ,the argument
 here summarized is in no way profound  
or abstruse2 it is extremely obvious1   
and as its propositions cannot well be  
controverted1 it has had great weight   
with many people4 ,i dare say it may be 
held responsible for the larger part of 
contemporary skepticism as to the future
 life4 ,people have grown accustomed to 
demanding scientific support for        
doctrines1 whereas this doctrine is not 
only destitute of scientific support but
 lands us in inconceivabilities2 is it  

not1 then1 untenable and absurd8 ,such  
is the common argument4 ,there are those
 who seek to meet it with inductive     
evidence of the presence of disembodied 
spirits or ghosts which hold direct     
communication only with certain         
specially endowed persons known as      
mediums4 ,concerning such inductive     
evidence it may be said that very little
 has as yet been brought forward which  
is likely to make much impression upon  
minds trained in investigation4 ,if its 
value as evidence were to be conceded1  
it would seem to point to the conclusion
 that the grade of intelligence which   
survives the grave is about on a par    
with that which in the present life we  
are accustomed to shut up in asylums for
 idiots4 ,on the whole the mediumistic  
ideas and methods are frankly           
materialistic1 their alleged            
communications with the other world are 
through sights and sounds1 and if their 
pretensions could be sustained the      
result would be simply the              

rehabilitation of the primitive         
ghost-world4 ,their theory of things    
moves on so low a plane as hardly to    
merit notice in a serious philosophic   
discussion4  ,to return to the argument 
that the doctrine of the survival of    
conscious activity apart from material  
conditions is unsupported by experience 
and is inconceivable1 we may observe    
that it is inconceivable just because it
 is entirely without foundation in      
experience4 ,our powers of conception   
are narrowly determined by the limits of
 our experience1 and when that          
experience has never furnished us with  
the materials for framing a conception  
we simply cannot frame it4 ,hence we    
cannot conceive of the conscious soul as
 entirely dissociated from any material 
vehicle4  ,now we are prepared to ask1  
,how much does this famous argument     
amount to1 as against the belief that   
the soul survives the body8 ,the answer 
is1 ,nothing6 absolutely nothing4 ,it   
not only fails to disprove the validity 

of the belief1 but it does not raise    
even the slightest prima facie          
presumption against it4 ,this will at   
once become apparent if we remember that
 human experience is very far indeed    
from being infinite1 and that there are 
in all probability immense regions of   
existence in every way as real as the   
region which we know1 yet concerning    
which we cannot form the faintest       
rudiment of a conception4 ,within the   
past century the study of light and     
other radiant forces has furnished us   
with a suggestive object-lesson4 ,the   
luminiferous ether combines properties  
which are inconceivable in connection4  
,how curious to think that we live and  
move in an ocean of ether in which the  
particles of all material things are    
floating like islands6 ,but how amazing 
to learn that this ocean of ether is    
also an adamantine firmament6 ,is not   
this sheer nonsense8 an ocean firmament 
of ether-adamant6 ,yet such seems to be 
the fact1 and our philosophy must make  

the best of it4 ,now suppose that all   
this world were crowded with disembodied
 souls1 an infinite throng most aptly   
called the majority1 a thousand or more 
on every spot in space as broad as the  
point of a cambric needle1 in what way  
could we become aware of their          
existence8 ,clearly in no way1 since we 
have no organ or faculty for the        
perception of soul apart from the       
material structure and activities in    
which it has been manifested throughout 
the whole course of our experience4     
,there we will suppose are the countless
 millions1 the existence of any one of  
whom1 could we detect it1 would suffice 
to demonstrate the doctrine of a future 
life1 and yet1 for lack of the requisite
 means of communication1 all this       
evidence is inaccessible4 ,such an      
illustration shows that the entire      
absence of testimony does not even raise
 a negative presumption except in cases 
where testimony is accessible4 ,the     
reason is obvious4 ,until we can go     

wherever the testimony may be1 we are   
not entitled to affirm that there is an 
absence of testimony4 ,so long as our   
knowledge is restricted by the          
conditions of this terrestrial life1 we 
are not in a position to make negative  
assertions as to regions of existence   
outside of these conditions4 ,we may    
feel quite free1 therefore1 to give due 
weight to any considerations which make 
it probable that consciousness survives 
the wreck of the material body4  ,we are
 now in a position to see the fallacy of
 ,moleschott's often-quoted aphorism1   
,no thought without phosphorus6 ,when   
this saying was a new one1 there were   
worthy people who felt that somehow it  
was all over with man's immortal soul4  
,with phosphorus you light your candle1 
and with phosphorus you discover        
,neptune and write the ,fifth ,symphony2
 how charmingly simple and convincing6  
,and yet was anything save a bit of     
rhetoric really gained by singling out  
phosphorus among the chemical           

constituents of brain tissue rather than
 nitrogen or carbon8 ,suppose the dictum
 had been1 ,no thought without a brain4 
,the obvious answer would have been1 ,if
 you refer to the present life1 most    
erudite professor1 your remark is true1 
but hardly novel or startling2 if you   
refer to any condition of things        
subsequent to death1 pray where did you 
obtain your knowledge8  ,nevertheless   
this point cannot be disposed of simply 
by exhibiting the flaw in ,moleschott's 
rhetoric4 ,his remark rests upon the    
assumption that conscious mental        
phenomena are products of the organic   
tissues with which they are associated4 
,this is of course the central          
stronghold of materialism4 ,a century   
ago the case was very boldly put when we
 were asked to believe that the brain   
secretes thought as the liver secretes  
bile4 ,nobody to-day would think of     
making such a comparison1 but it is more
 cautiously stated that consciousness is
 a function of the brain1 or at all     

events of the nervous system1 even as   
bile-making is a function of the liver4 
,before we yield any modicum of assent  
to this statement we may observe that   
function is a word with a wide range of 
meaning1 and we must insist upon some   
closer definition4 ,here materialism    
calls to its aid the discovery of the   
correlation and equivalence of forces1  
one of the most stupendous achievements 
of our century4 ,we now know that heat  
and light and electricity and actinism  
are not forces generically distinct and 
isolated each from the others4 ,all are 
specific modes of molecular motion1     
transformable one into another at any   
moment as naturally as a cloud condenses
 into raindrops4 ,any such molecular    
motion1 moreover1 may come from the     
arrested visible motion of a mass1 and  
may in turn be liberated so as to resume
 the form of visible motion1 as when an 
electric current is transformed into the
 onward movement of the trolley car4    
,the change in our conception of ,nature

 that has been wrought by this wonderful
 discovery is more profound than all    
changes that went before4 ,the balance  
in the hands of the chemist had already 
proved that no matter is ever lost but  
only transformed1 and that every        
material form at any moment visible owes
 its existence to the metamorphosis of  
some previous form4 ,so now it was      
further shown that the myriad properties
 or qualities of matter are simply the  
expression of myriads of activities     
which are all in a final analysis       
motions2 that no motion is ever lost but
 only transformed1 and that every kind  
of motion at any moment                 
perceptible--whether in the form of     
movement through space1 or of light1 or 
heat1 or electricity1 or the actinism   
that builds up the green stuff in the   
leaves of plants--owes its existence to 
the metamorphosis of some previous kind 
of motion4 ,every living organism is a  
marvellous aggregate of divers forms of 
matter performing divers characteristic 

motions1 and the sum total of these     
motions is the whole of life1 as        
regarded purely on its physical side4   
,when we take food we bring into the    
system sundry nitrogenous and           
hydrocarbon compounds1 each of which is 
alive with little energies or latent    
capacities for certain kinds of motion4 
,the oxygen of the air1 especially in   
its unstable form of ozone1 is a        
powerful inciter of chemical motions1   
and when we breathe it in1 the little   
latent capacities presently become      
actual motions4 ,some of them are       
realized in the rhythmical movements of 
heart and lungs1 some in the undulations
 that sustain the animal temperature1   
some in the formation of the tiny drops 
that collect in a secreting gland1 some 
in the repair of tissue by the          
substitution of new complex molecules   
for old ones that are broken down1 some 
in the contraction of a group of        
muscles1 some in the changes within the 
substance of nerve that accompany       

conscious thought1 sensation1 and       
volition4 ,ah1 yes1 here we come to it  
at last6 ,we do not doubt that all these
 myriad motions are members in a series 
of transformations1 wherein the         
appearance of each results from the     
disappearance of its predecessors4 ,we  
have neither the instruments nor the    
calculus to prove this in the infinite  
multitude of details1 but the general   
theory has been so completely           
established wherever it is accessible to
 instruments and calculus that we can   
have no hesitation in granting its      
universality wherever matter and motion 
are concerned in any shape or amount4   
,no scientific man will for a moment    
doubt that the little vibratory         
discharge between cerebral ganglia which
 accompanies a thought is one member in 
a series of molecular motions that might
 be measured and expressed in terms of  
quantity if we only possessed an        
apparatus sufficiently delicate and     
subtle4  ,now if such is the case with  

the little physical motion within the   
brain1 how is it with the accompanying  
thought8 ,does the correlation obtain   
between physical motions and conscious  
feelings8 ,are states of consciousness  
links in the ,protean series of motions1
 in such wise that the vibration within 
the brain produces the thought or       
feeling8 ,in other words is the thought 
or feeling merely a transformed         
vibration8 ,does a certain amount of    
vibration perish to be replaced by an   
exact equivalent in the shape of        
thought8 and then does the thought      
perish in the act of giving place to    
other vibrations which end in a visible 
motion of muscles8 as when1 for example1
 you hear the sound of a bell and start 
toward the door4  ,on this point there  
has been much confusion of ideas4 ,when 
,i put the question to ,tyndall in      
conversation1 nearly thirty years ago1  
he seemed to think that there must be   
some such completeness of correlation   
between the physical and the psychical2 

but his mind was not at ease on the     
subject4 ,herbert ,spencer1 in his      
,first ,principles1 rather cautiously   
took the same direction and tried to    
show how a certain amount of motion     
might be transformable into a certain   
amount of feeling4 ,he observed that the
 consciousness of effort or muscular    
strain in lifting a heavy weight is more
 intense than in lifting a light weight1
 and that when a loud sound sets up     
atmospheric vibrations of great         
amplitude the shock to our auditory     
consciousness is correspondingly greater
 than in the case of a gentle sound     
which sets up vibrations of small       
amplitude4 ,but when he comes to the    
inner regions of thought and emotion    
which are not reached by percussion and 
strain1 he is less successful in finding
 illustrations4 ,it is especially worthy
 of note that in the final edition of   
,first ,principles1 published in this   
year #aijj and in ,spencer's            
eighty-first1 he goes very far toward   

withdrawing from his original position1 
while in his ,preface he calls attention
 to this change as one of the most      
important in the book4 ,in my ,cosmic   
,philosophy1 published in #ahgd1 ,i     
maintained that to prove the            
transformation of motion into feeling or
 of feeling into motion is in the very  
nature of things impossible4 ,in order  
to be convinced of this1 let us go back 
a few years and ask how the great       
doctrine of the correlation of forces   
became established4 ,its first absolute 
verification occurred about #ahdf1 when 
,dr4 ,joule showed that the fall of #ggb
 lbs4 through one foot will raise the   
temperature of a pound of water one     
degree of ,fahrenheit4#b ,when this was 
proved it gave us the mechanical        
equivalent of heat1 and the theory      
acquired a truly scientific character4  
,similar quantitative correlations were 
established in the case of heat and     
chemical action by ,dulong and ,petit1  
and in the case of chemical action and  

electricity by ,faraday4 ,the truth of  
the theory is wholly a question of      
quantitative measurement4 ,now you can  
measure heat1 you can measure           
electricity1 and since the action of    
nerves in all probability consists of   
undulatory motions it is to some extent 
measurable1 and doubtless would be      
completely measurable had we the means4 
,but when you come to thoughts and      
emotions1 ,i beg to know how you are    
going to work to give an account of them
 in foot-pounds6 ,it is not simply that 
we have no means at hand1 no calculus   
equal to the occasion2 the thing is     
absurd on its face4 ,it is as true      
to-day as it was in the time of         
,descartes that thought is devoid of    
extension and cannot be submitted to    
mechanical measurement4  #b ,herbert    
,spencer1 ,first ,principles 7final     
ed471 p4 #ahe4  ,it appears to me1      
therefore1 that what we should really   
find1 if we could trace in detail the   
metamorphosis of motions within the     

body1 from the sense-organs to the      
brain1 and thence outward to the        
muscular system1 would be somewhat as   
follows3 the inward motion1 carrying the
 message into the brain1 would perish in
 giving place to the vibration which    
accompanies the conscious state2 and    
this vibration in turn would perish in  
giving place to the outward motion1     
carrying the mandate out to the muscles4
 ,if we had the means of measurement we 
could prove the equivalence from step to
 step4 ,but where would the conscious   
state1 the thought or feeling1 come into
 this circuit8 ,why1 nowhere4 ,the      
physical circuit of motions is complete 
in itself2 the state of consciousness is
 accessible only to its possessor4 ,to  
him it is the subjective equivalent of  
the vibration within the brain1 whereof 
it is neither the cause nor the effect1 
neither the producer nor the offspring1 
but simply the concomitant4 ,in other   
words the natural history of the mass of
 activities that are perpetually being  

concentrated within our bodies1 to be   
presently once more disintegrated and   
diffused1 shows us a closed circle which
 is entirely physical1 and in which one 
segment belongs to the nervous system4  
,as for our conscious life1 that forms  
no part of the closed circle but stands 
entirely outside of it1 concentric with 
the segment which belongs to the nervous
 system4  ,these conclusions are not at 
all in harmony with the materialistic   
view of the case4 ,if consciousness is a
 product of molecular motion1 it is a   
natural inference that it must lapse    
when the motion ceases4 ,but if         
consciousness is a kind of existence    
which within our experience accompanies 
a certain phase of molecular motion1    
then the case is entirely altered1 and  
the possibility or probability of the   
continuance of the one without the other
 becomes a subject for further inquiry4 
,materialists sometimes declare that the
 relation of conscious intelligence to  
the brain is like that of music to the  

harp1 and when the harp is broken there 
can be no more music4 ,an opposite view1
 long familiar to us1 is that the       
conscious soul is an emanation from the 
,divine ,intelligence that shapes and   
sustains the world1 and during its      
temporary imprisonment in material forms
 the brain is its instrument of         
expression4 ,thus the soul is not the   
music1 but the harper2 and obviously    
this view is in harmony with the        
conclusions which ,i have deduced from  
the correlation of forces4  ,upon these 
conclusions we cannot directly base an  
argument sustaining man's immortality1  
but we certainly remove the only serious
 objection that has ever been alleged   
against it4 ,we leave the field clear   
for those general considerations of     
philosophic analogy and moral           
probability which are all the guides    
upon which we can call for help in this 
arduous inquiry4 ,but it may be         
suggested at this point that perhaps our
 argument has acquired a wider scope    

than was at first contemplated4         
,consciousness is not peculiar to man1  
but is possessed in some degree by the  
greater portion of the animal kingdom4  
,among the higher birds and mammals the 
amount of conscious life is very        
considerable1 and here too it must be   
argued that consciousness is not a      
product of molecular motion in the      
nervous system but its concomitant4 ,the
 same argument which removes the        
objection to immortality for man removes
 it also for an indefinite number of    
animal species4 ,what1 then1 is to be   
said of the reasonableness of supposing 
a future life for sundry lower animals8 
and if we were to reach a negative      
conclusion in their case1 while reaching
 a positive conclusion in the case of   
man1 on what principle are we to draw   
the line8 ,sometimes we hear this       
question propounded as a difficulty in  
the ,darwinian theory of man's origin4  
,how could immortal man have been       
produced through heredity from an       

ephemeral brute8  ,the difficulty is one
 of the sort which we are apt to        
encounter when we try to designate      
absolute beginnings and to mark off hard
 and fast lines1 for in ,nature there   
are no such things4 ,voltaire asked the 
same kind of question more than a       
hundred years before ,darwinism had been
 heard of4 ,when does the immortal soul 
of the human individual come into       
existence8 ,is it at the moment of      
conception1 or when the new-born babe   
begins to breathe1 or at some moment    
between1 or even perhaps at some era of 
early childhood when moral              
responsibility can be said to have      
begun8 ,some of the answers to these    
questions would transform an ephemeral  
creature into an immortal one in the    
same person4 ,the most proper answer is 
a frank confession of ignorance4        
,whether it be in the individual or in  
the race1 we cannot tell just where the 
soul comes in4 ,a due heed to ,nature's 
analogies1 however1 is helpful in this  

connection4 ,the maxim that ,nature     
makes no leaps is far from true4        
,nature's habit is to make prodigious   
leaps1 but only after long preparation4 
,slowly rises the water in the tank1    
inch by inch through many a weary hour1 
until at length it over-flows and       
straightway vast systems of machinery   
are awakened into rumbling life4 ,slowly
 grows the eccentricity of the ellipse  
as you shift its position in the cone1  
and still the nature of the curve is not
 essentially varied1 when suddenly1     
presto6 one more little shift1 and the  
finite ellipse becomes an infinite      
hyperbola mocking our feeble powers of  
conception as it speeds away on its     
everlasting career4 ,perhaps in our     
ignorance such analogies may help us to 
realize the possibility that steadily   
developing ephemeral conscious life may 
reach a critical point where it suddenly
 puts on immortality4  ,if this         
suggestion is a sound one1 we must      
probably regard the conscious life of   

animals as only the ephemeral           
adumbration of that which comes to      
maturity in man4 ,the considerations    
adduced this evening must convince us   
that we are at perfect liberty to treat 
the question of man's immortality in the
 disinterested spirit of the naturalist4
 ,in the course of evolution there is no
 more philosophical difficulty in man's 
acquiring immortal life than in his     
acquiring the erect posture and         
articulate speech4 ,in my little book   
,the ,destiny of ,man ,i insisted upon  
the dramatic tendency or divine purpose 
indicated in the long cosmic process    
which has manifestly from the outset    
aimed at the production and perfection  
of the higher spiritual attributes of   
humanity4 ,in another little book1      
,through ,nature to ,god1 ,i called     
attention to the fact that belief in an 
,unseen ,world1 especially associated   
with the moral significance of life1 was
 coeval with the genesis of ,man1 and   
had played a predominating part in his  

development ever since1 and ,i argued   
that under such circumstances the belief
 must be based upon an eternal reality1 
since a contrary supposition is         
negatived by all that we know of the    
habits and methods of the cosmic process
 of ,evolution4 ,no time is left here to
 repeat these arguments1 but ,i hope    
enough has been said to indicate the    
probability that the patient study of   
evolution is likely soon to supply the  
basis for a ,natural ,theology more     
comprehensive1 more profound1 and more  
hopeful than could formerly have been   
imagined4 ,the ,nineteenth ,century has 
borne the brunt1 the ,twentieth will    
reap the fruition4     ,,writings ,,of  
,,john ,,fiske  ,illustration           
,historical   ,,the ,,discovery ,,of    
,,america      ,with some ,account of   
,ancient ,america and the ,spanish      
,conquest4 ,with     a ,steel ,portrait 
of ,mr4 ,fiske1 many maps1 facsimiles1  
etc4 #b vols4     crown #hvo1 gilt top1 
#c4fj4  ,the book brings together a     

great deal of information hitherto      
accessible only in special treatises1   
and elucidates with care and judgment   
some of the most perplexing problems in 
the history of discovery4--,the ,speaker
 7,london74   ,,old ,,virginia ,,and    
,,her ,,neighbours      #b vols4 crown  
#hvo1 gilt top1 #c4fj4 ,illustrated     
,edition1 #b vols4     #hvo1 #h4jj4     
,history has rarely been invested with  
such interest and charm as in these     
volumes4--,the ,outlook 7,new ,york74   
,,the ,,beginnings ,,of ,,new ,,england 
,or1 the ,puritan ,theocracy in its     
,relations to ,civil and ,religious     
,liberty4 ,crown #hvo1 #a4hj4           
,illustrated ,edition4 ,containing      
,portraits1 ,maps1 ,facsimiles1         
,contemporary ,views1 ,prints1 and other
     ,historic ,materials4 #hvo1 gilt   
top1 #d4jj4  ,having in the first       
chapters strikingly and convincingly    
shown that ,new ,england's history was  
the birth of centuries of travail1 and  
having prepared his readers to estimate 

at their true importance the events of  
our early colonial life1 ,mr4 ,fiske is 
ready to take up his task as the        
historian of the ,new ,england of the   
,puritans4--,advertiser 7,boston74      
,,the ,,dutch ,,and ,,quaker ,,colonies 
,,in ,,america      ,with #h ,maps4 #b  
vols4 crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #c4fj4      
,illustrated     ,edition1 #b vols4     
#hvo1 #h4jj4  ,the work is a lucid      
summary of the events of a changeful and
 important time1 carefully examined by a
 conscientious scholar1 who is master of
 his subject4--,daily ,news 7,london74  
,all prices are net4   ,,new ,,france   
,,and ,,new ,,england      ,with ,maps4 
,crown #hvo1 #a4hj4  ,illustrated       
,edition4 ,containing about #bjj        
,illustrations4 #hvo1 gilt top1 #d4jj4  
,this volume presents in broad and      
philosophic manner the causes and events
 which marked the victory on this       
continent of the ,english civilization  
over the ,french4   ,,the ,,american    
,,revolution      ,with ,plans of       

,battles1 and a ,steel ,portrait of     
,washington4 #b vols4     crown #hvo1   
gilt top1 #c4fj4 ,illustrated ,edition4 
,containing about     #cjj              
,illustrations4 #b vols4 #hvo1 gilt top1
 #h4jj4  ,beneath his sympathetic and   
illuminating touch the familiar story   
comes out in fresh and vivid            
colors4--,new ,orleans ,times-,democrat4
   ,,the ,,critical ,,period ,,of       
,,american ,,history1 #aghc-aghi        
,with ,map1 ,notes1 etc4 ,crown #hvo1   
gilt top1 #a4hj4 ,illustrated           
,edition4 ,containing about #agj        
,illustrations4 #hvo1 gilt top1 #d4jj4  
,the foregoing historical works also in 
the ,riverside ,pocket ,edition1 in #ab 
vols4 ,each with a frontispiece4 ,narrow
 #afmo1 limp leather1 #b4jj each4 ,the  
set1 #bd4jj4   ,,the ,,war ,,of         
,,independence      ,in ,riverside      
,library for ,young ,people4 ,with      
,maps4 #afmo1 #ge cents4   ,,the        
,,mississippi ,,valley ,,in ,,the       
,,civil ,,war      ,with #bc ,maps and  

,plans4 #a vol4 crown #hvo1 #a4hj4   ,a 
,,history ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states  
,,for ,,schools      ,with ,topical     
,analysis1 ,suggestive ,questions1 and  
,directions for     ,teachers1 by ,f4   
,a4 ,hill1 and ,illustrations and ,maps4
 ,crown #hvo1     #a4jj1 net4           
,,american ,,political ,,ideas          
,crown #hvo1 #a4ej4   ,religious and    
,philosophical   ,,the ,,destiny ,,of   
,,man      ,viewed in the ,light of ,his
 ,origin4 #afmo1 gilt top1 #a4jj4  ,of  
one thing we may be sure3 that none are 
leading us more surely or rapidly to the
 full truth than men like the author of 
this little book1 who reverently study  
the works of ,god for the lessons which 
,he would teach his                     
children4--,christian ,union 7,new      
,york74   ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,,god       
,as ,affected by ,modern ,knowledge4    
#afmo1 gilt top1 #a4jj4  ,the vigor1 the
 earnestness1 the honesty1 and the      
freedom from cant and subtlety in his   
writings are exceedingly refreshing4 ,he

 is a scholar1 a critic1 and a thinker  
of the first order4--,christian         
,register 7,boston74   ,,through        
,,nature ,,to ,,god      #afmo1 gilt    
top1 #a4jj4      ,,contents4--,the      
,mystery of ,evil2 ,the ,cosmic ,roots  
of ,love and     ,self-,sacrifice2 ,the 
,everlasting ,reality of ,religion4     
,the little volume has a reasonableness 
and a persuasiveness that cannot fail to
 commend its arguments to all4--,public 
,ledger 7,philadelphia74   ,,life       
,,everlasting      #afmo1 gilt top1     
#a4jj net4  ,this brief work is a       
contribution to the evolution of the    
theory of evolution on lines which are  
full of the deepest suggestiveness to   
,christian thinkers4--,the              
,congregationalist4   ,,outlines ,,of   
,,cosmic ,,philosophy      ,based on the
 ,doctrine of ,evolution1 with          
,criticisms on the ,positive            
,philosophy4 ,in #d volumes1 #hvo1      
#g4bj4  ,you must allow me to thank you 
for the very great interest with which  

,i have at last slowly read the whole of
 your work4444 ,i never in my life read 
so lucid an expositor 7and therefore    
thinker7 as you are4--,,charles         
,,darwin4   ,,darwinism1 ,,and ,,other  
,,essays      ,crown #hvo1 gilt top1    
#a4hj4   ,,myths ,,and ,,myth-,,makers  
,old ,tales and ,superstitions          
interpreted by ,comparative ,mythology4 
,crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #a4hj4   ,,the   
,,unseen ,,world      ,and ,other       
,essays4 ,crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #a4hj4  
,,excursions ,,of ,,an ,,evolutionist   
,crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #a4hj4           
,miscellaneous   ,a ,,century ,,of      
,,science      ,and ,other ,essays4     
,crown #hvo1 #a4hj4  ,among our         
thoughtful essayists there are none more
 brilliant than ,mr4 ,john ,fiske4 ,his 
pure style suits his clear              
thought4--,the ,nation 7,new ,york74    
,,civil ,,government ,,in ,,the ,,united
 ,,states      ,considered with some    
,reference to its ,origins4 ,with       
,questions on     the ,text by ,frank   

,a4 ,hill1 and ,bibliographical ,notes  
by ,mr4 ,fiske4     ,crown #hvo1 #a4jj1 
net4  ,it is most admirable1 alike in   
plan and execution1 and will do a vast  
amount of good in teaching our people   
the principles and forms of our civil   
institutions4--,,moses ,,coit ,,tyler1  
,professor of ,american ,constitutional 
,history and ,law1 ,cornell ,university4
   ,,houghton ,,mifflin ,,company       
,,boston3 #d ,,park ,,st42 ,,new ,,york3
 #af ,,east #dj,,th ,,st4