versal tradition derived from the first parents of the human race; to an innate sentiment originally impressed on the soul of man; to a Divine revelation disseminated and handed down from one generation to another, or to the deductions of human reason-it forms a strong presumption, and a powerful argument, in favor of the position we are now endeavoring to support. If it is to be traced back to the original progenitors of mankind, it must be regarded as one of those truths which were recognized by man in a state of innocence, when his affections were pure, and his understanding fortified against delusion and error. If it be a sentiment which was originally impressed on the human soul by the hand of its Creator, we do violence to the law of our nature, when we disregard its intimations, or attempt to resist the force of its evidence. If it ought to be considered as originally derived from Revelation, then it is corroborative of the truth of the Sacred Records, in which 'life and immortality' are clearly exhibited. And, if it be regarded as likewise one of the deductions of natural reason, we are left without excuse, if we attempt to obscure its evidence, or to overlook the important consequences which it involves.

"As the consent of all nations has been generally considered as a powerful argument for the existence of a Deity, so the universal belief of mankind in the doctrine of a future state ought to be viewed as 'a strong presumption, that it is founded upon truth. The human mind is so constituted, that when left to its native unbiassed energies, it necessarily infers the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, from the existence of matter, and the economy of the material

world; and, from the nature of the human faculties, and the moral attributes of God, it is almost as infallibly led to conclude, that a future existence is necessary, in order to gratify the boundless desires of the human soul, and to indicate the wisdom and rectitude of the moral Governor of the world.

"These two grand truths, which constitute the foundation of all religion, and of everything that is interesting to man as an intelligent agent, are interwoven with the theological creed of all nations; and in almost every instance, where the one is called in question, the other is undermined or denied: so that the doctrine of the immortality of man may be considered as resting on the same foundation as the existence of a Supreme Intelligence." "'*

We have quoted thus largely from Dr. Dick in the present chapter, not that the argument is original with him, or because the main statement with which this chapter commences, heeded to be thus fortified in order to be credited by the well-informed and candid reader; but rather because of the amount of testimony condensed into a small compass, and as tribute to the memory of one who while on earth treated with a master's hand the glorious theme of immortal existence after death.

*Philosophy of a Future State, Part I. Chap. I.

a

versal tradition derived from the first parents of the human race; to an innate sentiment originally impressed on the soul of man; to a Divine revelation disseminated and handed down from one generation to another, or to the deductions of human reason-it forms a strong presumption, and a powerful argument, in favor of the position we are now endeavoring to support. If it is to be traced back to the original progenitors of mankind, it must be regarded as one of those truths which were recognized by man in a state of innocence, when his affections were pure, and his understanding fortified against delusion and error. If it be a sentiment which was originally impressed on the human soul by the hand of its Creator, we do violence to the law of our nature, when we disregard its intimations, or attempt to resist the force of its evidence. If it ought to be considered as originally derived from Revelation, then it is corroborative of the truth of the Sacred Records, in which 'life and immortality' are clearly exhibited. And, if it be regarded as likewise one of the deductions. of natural reason, we are left without excuse, if we attempt to obscure its evidence, or to overlook the important consequences which it involves.

"As the consent of all nations has been generally considered as a powerful argument for the existence of a Deity, so the universal belief of mankind in the doctrine of a future state ought to be viewed as ‘a strong presumption, that it is founded upon truth. The human mind is so constituted, that when left to its native unbiassed energies, it necessarily infers the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, from the existence of matter, and the economy of the material

world; and, from the nature of the human faculties, and the moral attributes of God, it is almost as infallibly led to conclude, that a future existence is necessary, in order to gratify the boundless desires of the human soul, and to indicate the wisdom and rectitude of the moral Governor of the world.

"These two grand truths, which constitute the foundation of all religion, and of everything that is interesting to man as an intelligent agent, are interwoven with the theological creed of all nations; and in almost every instance, where the one is called in question, the other is undermined or denied: so that the doctrine of the immortality of man may be considered as resting on the same foundation as the existence of a Supreme Intelligence."*

We have quoted thus largely from Dr. Dick in the present chapter, not that the argument is original with him, or because the main statement with which this chapter commences, heeded to be thus fortified in order to be credited by the well-informed and candid reader; but rather because of the amount of testimony condensed into a small compass, and as a tribute to the memory of one who while on earth treated with a master's hand the glorious theme of immortal existence after death.

*Philosophy of a Future State, Part I. Chap. I.

CHAPTER IV.

THE RELATION OF MAN TO THE LOWER ANIMALS.

Stupendous link in Nature's endless chain

Midway from nothing to the Deity.

THE relation of the different species of animals to each other, and of man to the whole, affords a strong presumption that though allied to them by his animal nature, he has also a higher and spiritual nature, by which he is also allied to superior beings in the great chain of intellectual existence.

I. If we look abroad over the vast field of animal creation, we shall find that no species stands alone, or isolated from its fellows of other species; but that all are related by resemblances more or less striking, and linked together in one grand chain, from the lowest forms of unorganized matter, up to the most perfect of all organization, the human body.

The oyster, with only the senses of taste and feeling at most, seems to link the animal world to the mineral. The polypi-half vegetable and half animal -link together these two kingdoms. The bat unites the birds and the quadrupeds; and the flying-fish the birds and the fish.

"The bat, the flying-squirrel, the flying-opossum, are instances of animals of the class mammalia, ap