The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1827-09-06
IMMORTALITY OF TIE SOUL.

From an article in the last number of Black
woods Magazine, quantity headed DE- OmFibas
rebiH ct qttibHsdGm dds" On all subjects aud
SOM others, we Join he following beaulitu,
passage. II is written with an energy aud Clio"
ot thought seldom to be surpassed:
Death can never be Indifferent till man is as
snlcd, which none was ever vet, that, with his
breath, his being posses into nothing. Whetheg
his hopes and fears steer by the chart and com-
pass OF formal creed, or drlit along the shore
lrss sea Of faithless conjecture, a possible eterni-
~ of bliss OF bale eau never be indifferent. The
idea of extinction is not terrible. simply because
man cannot form such an idea AT all. Let HIM
Try as long as he will--let HIN negative every
conceived and conceivable form OF future eNi,-
tencc he Is as fat as ever from having ex-
hanSted the inhnItude OF every possibility. I'm
aglnaton will continually produce the line OF
CONSCIOUSNESS through hnlllcss darkness. Ma
ny are the devices OF fancy to relieve the soul
from the dead weight of unideal nothing. Some
crave Il s,nscless duration in dry bones, or Sc
pulchra ashes, or CHASTITY mummles or, rather
than not 10 he, would dwell in the cold obstructi-
on otthc grave, or the damp hollow solitude of
the charneLhouse. Some choose a life III 9th
et's breath, an everlasting fame. aud listen de-
II = ted to the imaginary voice of unborn ages
Some secure a prrnancnce in their works, their
''"''' v Nhfii ptsUlly anu yet ntliitI tue IiO
tracted dissolution tine carcasc, nor the cease
less tradition of renoWn nor line OF progeny
stretched TO the crack of DOOM can add an M
slant TO the brief existence OF the conscious Be.
ing. On fathers held more papahle phantom
- dream OF grosSer substance--that the soul
the sell, the personal Identity only shifted lis
tenement and subssted by perpetual change
The following illustrates the influence If do
nestle aud national habits ON the character OF
the national religion, particularly in the early
geS oil society We cannot, however without
some qualification, admit, that, to account tor
the national temperament by the national creed
Is. in every sense of world. putting nn ei-
rect for ca,Se' 1t mig b. so. at rhe primi-
tive establishment otrclieious institutions but
afterwards, We imagine, the case alters. The
passage is fine, and the subject not uninteroSt-
ing:
Z" II is not strictly philosophical, however. to
account for the national temperament by the ma
tional creed. unless thai creed be really the unre-
sesled truth. u is putting an effect for cause.
We cannot suppose thai the Goths became a
hunting, warke, aud drunken people. because
they imagined their beaiitude hereafter 70 con
sisl in chasing everlasting reviviiied boat and
drinking ale in the Hall OF Odin, out of the
skulls OF their enemies No they copied a hea-
ven from their earthly pursuits aud desires. The
paradise OF human Inventions iSneYer more than
an imaginary eternity ofunalloyed human pleas
uIes, varied according TO the taste OF the invent
or. Fngil's Ely sum is filled with warriors, po-
cts and lawSivers, each reactng, in glorifed
sembianee, their old parts beneath that purer
sky. Platos conceptions Of II future state mani