DAN. xii. 2. "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." HOSEA xiii. 14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." MATT. X. 28. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." JOHN v. 28, 29. "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." 1 Cor. xv. 20. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept." 2 COR. v. 1. 'For we know, that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Earth to earth, and dust to dust, Like the seed in spring-time sown, Yet the seed, upraised again, Clothes with green the smiling plain; Onward as the seasons move, Leaves and blossoms deck the grove; Lost for ever when we die? Lord, from Nature's gloomy night JOHN HAMPDEN GURNEY. "Our Saviour Jesus Christ. . . . hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." F all the inquiries which can engage our attention, we find none of greater in terest and importance, than those which respect our existence in a future state. When we reflect on the thousand successive generations of our race, which have appeared upon the stage of time, but which have all long since passed away; when we think of the teeming millions that now lie imprisoned in the tomb; and, above all, when we behold the friends of our hearts, one after another, consigned to "the house appointed for all living," it is scarcely possible for us, if we consider at all, not to entertain the question, whither are these myriads gone? Has the grave closed over them for ever? With the dissolution of their bodies, have their spirits also perished? Or, do they still subsist in a disembodied state, and remain capable of exercising their essential faculties and powers? And if they do, in what part of God's universe, and in what circumstances, are they now placed? Questions such as these have formed the subject of investigation and study, among the reflecting portion of our species, in every age and country of the globe; but never could a full and satisfying answer be given to them, until "the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." We are not, however, to suppose from this declaration of the apostle, that, prior to the Saviour's advent, life and immortality were altogether unknown; for there can be no question, that, even previously to His appearing, both Jews and Gentiles did, in point of fact, possess a knowledge of a future state of being, though, indeed, a very imperfect one, compared with what He hath communicated by His gospel. Besides, it should be noticed, that the assertion of the apostle literally signifies, that Christ enlightened, illustrated, or threw light on the great doctrine of immortality, not by giving the first or only notice of it, but by dispelling the doubts and uncertainties in which it was involved, and giving to the world a better evidence for its truth and certainty, than ever they had possessed before. It belongs to us, therefore, first of all, to consider the evidence, which the world had for this doctrine, prior to the appearance of our Saviour, and then to show the superior evidence, which has been afforded by the gospel. On the first of these subjects, it cannot fail to strike us as a remarkable fact, that all mankind, more or less, have always had some persuasion of a future state of existence beyond death and the grave. This persuasion has been found to exist, not only among the polished and enlightened inhabitants of Greece and Rome, of Egypt and Asia, but even among the most savage and barbarous tribes, of whom history has preserved any traces. The ideas entertained respecting that future state have, indeed, in many instances, been extremely vague and fanciful; still, it is an unquestionable fact, that, in every country, and under every form of religious belief, there has been an almost universal agreement in regard to the general principle of the soul's immortality. Now, this universal agreement must |