New-York tribune., 1890-08-28
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
DEAD MANS DIARY. WRITTEN AFTER HIS
pECEAsE. With preface by G. 7: Dclaihy' NJ

A DEAD MANS DIARY, WRITTEN AFTER HIS
pECEAsE. With preface by g; 7: Dciiahy' H.
a. 12mo. PIP. 2l5. WaTd. Locke * co.
The natural fascination attaching TO speculation
upon q future state has produced curious ana cN-
tensive literature Of the subject, and IN conformity
with well known law thosc aspects of il least capable
Of demonstration and verhcatloa have commonly Oeel
treated most dogmstically. The blbl'ograpmcai ap'
pendiX 10 Aigcr's History of the Doctrine cl fu-
ture Life though by means cNhas'lvc iurIils's
a Good Illustration of the extent to which the human
Imagination has been exercised in this direction. fer
haps OF te most significant lessons OF ts ciaes Vi
books lies in the proof they afford OF the narrow I'M
itatlons of the creative fancy. Iii whatever age az
tempts have been made to represent po'tmor~m eA-
istence the conceptions of the age Will always be
found TO have strictly limited the picture In lhe
pairistic period when the views of Orlgea and his
followers tended to liberal and comparatively gchue
,nterpr,ta.lons of the doctrine of future punishment
imagined descents into he'll presented ttle more real
istic horrors than woud the visions of modern Cpi-
yersalist Toward the Middle Ages, when a strange
access OF fcrocty directed inventive energy 10 the eiab
grafton of torture and its general application. the
coDceptions of the under world would become as
CHASTITY and appalling the dominance OF chlVaUc'
cruelty could make them Then followed the reiais-
sance of intellect and the inevitable sccpucal rcac"'
which has been proceeding since. Two hundred
years ago a famous English theolosian wrote booh
which created great sensation on inc m"'c'4"liN
of hell6rc and this work Of swindcn was speedily
translated into French and German, and became Il
centre Of animated controversy. DR.. swlhdcn Wouiu
have none of the new tangled ideas Of hgurauVe
flames Nothing but real lake OF real hic c0niu
satisfy him. Only he refused to accept thc N"E'r
notion that the place of punishment was at the ccn'e
OF the earth. lie placed II in the SUM- ana "iotc
lcarnedIy in defence Of his hypothesis
Since then there have been numerous essays @'
description of Iadcs and in every Instance teY HiNo
reflected the religious belief OF the writer ana nave
drawn from the life Of the period such realism as 'y
uossess. Since there can he criterion for Suc'
works. perhaps the best 20 judge thenllS D.; ue41
fidelity to the prevailing tone of bc'ei In their SeVer
generations For graceful union Of poetic imagery
and religious emotion, MIS-. ELEPHANTS and Mrs Eilza'
beth Stuart Phelps's writings are unsurpassed LIS
Letters from Hell" printed year or Two ago "cFc
less attractive, yet still vigorous The book before
us a Dead Mans Diary" is a rather feeble scion
from the same stock 1t purpOrts to relate TIE super
natural experiences OF man who was thought 70 nave
died but who had merely fallen into trance. during
which, in contradiction Of all known Doctrines Oh INC
hereafter he at once plunged into torment lhc
general conception OF the other world IS here very
much mixed. showing that the writer had not Alto
reter abandoned the old theory of material suifcrngS
By a convenient vagueness and the evasion oi many
difficult questions he has sought TO escape the fate
of those authors whose love Of detail has caused them
t. be accused Of transferring the experiences ot TINS
life to another The general effect of this attempt at
compromise is not satisfactory however ana the author
IS moreover unwarrantably discurslvc. His vein
appears to be rather ddactc than narrative ana his
strong tendency to segmonizing does not add at
tractiveness TO lis book. The people who are perfectly
sure that they know all about the hereafter such as
swedenborg and Andrew Jackson Davis, proceed with
placid confidence and assurance which al least make
their descriptions interesting. This dialist. on the
other hand. p;ctends II have forgotten much OF
what he that the machinery OF his story seems un-
necessary to account for what he prccEd> 70 remember
The book is anoay ymOus. and the preface is By a
gentleman whose name is unfamiliar lie vonches
for the author being Of letters well known on
both sides of the Atlantic; but regarding this volume
as an example OF IL, literary powers. We must dcnur
10 Mr.. Bcamy's too hattering charaC t'Iizaton Il
need, no CHEST to tell anything found in these pages
ard the pains of two days. submission TO internal
torment would be poorly compensated by the acquisition
Of such pattudes and sich rciuTbshings Of current
specullon as arc here set forth with but little grace
Of s,yle or skill Of arrangement and presentation.