The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1859-07-22
The Ancients on the Immortality
Of the Soul,

As long as wo are held captive bv these
bodily chains, wo ohlv fulfill a certain part
of duty, only do a aborous days work. to
which we are compelled by necessity. Oar
souls, of heavenly parnntagc. have boon cx.
pcird from tIoir lofty dwelling places, and,
US it wcEo. sink into the miro of earth, a
place o! oXllc to our divine and eternal na.
ture. But, | believe that the immortal gods
have placed souls in human bodies to giyo
protection to the earth, who. while thov
contemplate tho heavenly bodies. NAV imi.
tate its unynrying regularity in their lives.
This view is not alono tho point of my own
understanding and ohscrvatiou,--hut it is
based upon the high testimony of the great
est philosophers was early taught that
Pythagoros and his disciples never doubted
that our souls wcro an outpouring of the
universal soul, which is God.
What moro shall say; / am convinced;
| feel that soul SO activo--a mcmOrv 50
wonderful. this lookiag onirdyd into tUtR-
rIty, SO many arts aud sciences, so many
discoveries and inventions, cannot belong
to II soul which is mortal, Our soul is in a
continual state of activity; this activity TINT
belongs to its nature has had no bCgnninn
neither shall it hnvo any end, because it
cannot give back ilsolf On the other hand
as tho soul is simple in its nature, and with.
out aEv mixture of foreign matter. il cannot
be divided, and TINT which is indivisiblo can
not die.-Cjccro.
Take good hued, my dear son, so that not
to think when | leave you, shall bo no.
whore, or that | shall cease to exist. Du-
ring the whole of tho timo havo boon with
you, YOU havo not seen my soul, but YOU
have known by my actions that it was in my
body. Believe. then, that this soul still OK
lists, even though it can no lonCor DO dis
covered in any way. OF n truth, the honor
which belongs to distinguished men would
not survive them, did not their souls com.
pol us to preserve their memories. have
never been abo to believe that souls lived
merely so long as they existed in mortal
bodies, as that they died as soon as thOy
left them; neither that they would lose all
consciousness when Sboy left bodies without
consciousness.
| havo beloved, on tho contrary, that at
tho moment when freed from all corporeal
DESIRES and returning to its primoval pu-
rity, the soul would DO fillud with con-
scious existence. Moreover, when the hu-
man being is dissolved by death, we know
what becomes of his component parts; be
cause everything returns to its original be.
united to tho body. or separated from it,,
remains always invisible You know of n
certainty, that nothing resembles death so
much as Sleeps but the activity of souls du-
ring sleep is precisely that which reveals
thcr divinity. Moro at liberty thon, and
moro independent. thoy afford us gIimpscs
into tuturity, of which moro will DO known
when they arc fully released from tho bonds
of tho body. Therefore, if it be thus with
mo, then become as Il God: but if the soul
dies with tho body, then you, who arc gods.
the creators and uphoIdcrs Of all these won.
der things, you should, nevertheless, guard
aud kccp my memory.
Even though | may be in error, still be-
lievn in tho Immortality of the soul, and
maintain my error with pleasure, and do
not wish to be set right in an error which
constitutes tho enjoyment OF my life.-Cu-
rus The Great.