The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-12-23
up for Southern and Western deficiencies, and
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A REMARKABLE BOOK.

~ ern Pilgrims dc New \ ork Derby &Jackson- Eo
sale By Taylor Msury, Washington, d.
i The little child, who, when asked what she
supposed her father was doing in heaven, re
piled, 80, l suppose he is playing with his
blocks" was probably nearer the truth than the
great mass of the Christian world. Our ideas
of the future life are extremely vague, and the
worst of tits, that any attempt to render them
less so is met with suspicion, if not rebuke,
for the folly and presumption of attempting to
pry into the hidden things of God. Heaven,
indeed, we have been taught, is place of per-
feet holiness and happiness, but holiness so
severe, and happiness so unvarying and pas
sive, that living, hearty, active nature breads
going to heaven but little less than not going
there. AT least, that was our own Juvenile ex.
perienee. The change which death produces
is supposed to be so entire, the revulsion so
great, that the soul can hardly be said to pre-.
serve its identity, 1t hears about the same re-
lation TO the soal on earth that the good little
children in books bear to the misehievous lit
tie scoundrels around us, that try our patience
every hour of their precions lives. We confess
reasonableness of this. Why the Bible should
use the strongest figures 10 help our conception
of Heaven, and yet be supposed to forbid all
conjeetures regarding it, has never been salts
factorily explained. 1t certainly seems to MS
that if people thought more of heaven, they
would think less of earth If the future had
more influence over us, the present would have
less. ~
Therefore we are glad this book has been
written. 1t is an honest, bold effort to put men
on the right track. Its central idea is that the
future life is a specialization of this. All the
faculties of the soul-love, hope, memory, joy,
mrth-not only retain their pristine yigor, but
are stimulated to new activity. There is new
impulse, but it is in the old direction One of the
greatest (perhaps the greatest) changes consists
describes this very happily. "The great unap-
preciated weight of sin, which, like our earth's
atmosphere, once weighed me down, was now
no more" The plan of the book is simple.
Two friends, Peter Schlemihl and Mrs. Jay,
meet in world devoted to art and beauty. Its
inhabitants are sinless beings, as indeed, the
inhabitants of all worlds, except our own, are
represented to be. Here painting, music. and
eloquence, are carried TO the highest perfection,
and taught to newcomers from the earth. Yet
the redeemed, notwithstanding their inferiority
in beauty, grace, and knowledge, are looked
upon with peculiar reverence as partakers Of
the Divine nature, i" one with God, as Christ and
God are one" Nothing" he says, " had in
spired him with such a sense of their angelic
goodness, as their condescension to the poverty
of his ideas But here they regard us as the
sons of God, and, as such, we are objects of
their admiration and love. Our histories are
more wonderful TO them than was the story of
Sinbad the Sailor TO us in our childhood Only
our tales are real, and they often ask questions
as to our intentions and motives of action in
our lives on earth, which lie beyond all our "a
pacties to answer. We are, indeed, infants in
comparison, but in their regard, we are, all Of
us, Mfdatas of the King Of Kings and Lord of
Lords
Our Christians of the nineteenth century form
a warm friendship with ST Perpetua, martyr
of the third, and with Faustinus and Calliste of
the first They entertain each other with ac-
counts their lives, and the peculiarites of their
several times just we should suppose they
would do, if men and women are the same per-
sons in heaven that they are on earth. The
old masters of harmony continue to exercise
their genius in producing grander oratorios than
ever reused an earthly audience 10 rapture
The golden-mouthed Chrysostom pours forth
his burning words TO an assembly, every one of
which is en- rapport to the speaker. Metaphy-
sicians still delight to discuss subjectivites and
objectivites. The little nun Angela is still
'' sober, steadfast, and demure,' till the genial
light melts away the gloom of the recluse. The
West End aristocrat is slightly exclusive, the
Fifth Avenue matron full of piquancy, and
Peter himself somewhat given to testing. This
will probably shock those who forgetting that
God made man in His own image, fancy
laughter to have been introduced since Eve ate
Che apple. Others may be disappointed at find
ng thAt We do not, by stepping into the other
gOrld, step at once into the arcana of all knuwl-
,dge brt must t0tiOU on to know. let. does
,ot the very structure of our minds prescribe
he law OF sequences? 1t is the prerogatiye of
smnipotence 10 see all at glance. Finite ma
lures must acquire gradually. Others still will
hardly relish the prospect of their old habits of
thought clinging to them after the mortal coil
is shutfled off, but philosophy shows that it
could hardly be otherwise, if we are TO preserve
our identity, if local change is not to produce
organic change.
But the author does not insist on our accept
ing his heaven entire. If we do not like his
world, he gives us the largest liberty to choose
smother. He is perfectly content to have pion-
eered the way, and pointed out to US the great
variety of worlds which we can pre-empt, at our
awn pleasure.
The whole tone and atmosphere of the book
re buoyant and joyous. Every page evinces, not
My an eye and ear for beauty. but a large
iearted sympathy with life in all its develop
nents. A liberal spirit pervades the work, vet
= is not erratic. Tho writer, seizing the prom
sent points of the early and the later Christian
ages, accepts the good and rejects the evil in
10Th. with discrimination as rare as it Is Judi.
: nous. Striking out boldly, attempting things
Uninterrupted vet in prose- he does not hesitate
- fortify himself with names so great that the
world will hardly dare gainsay Some of the
descriptions are very felicitous. We have
marked many more than we have room to
franscrbe, crowded as our columns are with
POLITICAL matter.
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