New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-05-29
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
OTHER WORLDLINESS.

OTHER wORLDLINESS.
BEYOND THE BOURNE. Reports of Traveller
Returned from The Undiscovered Country SUD
222. Fords. Howard & Hubert
Mr.. Fiske like many others, has yielded TO the
temptation, very strong upon moderns who are not
rank Materialsts, 10 frame solution Of the great
problem OF mans hereafter He has imagined the
Of who suffers In railway accident injuries
serious that he is supposed, during three days TO
be dead who is about TO be buried when signs OF life
ere perceived In him, and who at length rccover to
write down his experiences while In "The UndSs-
covered Country Speculations of this kind, Of
course always reflect the ideas of the period TO which
they belong, and the idiosyncrasies Of the thinker
who evolves them We have had many such expert
ments Of late years and In the nature Of the case
they have all been very plainly modelled upon num-
dane patterns. AS examples OF q particular class OF
imaginative production inclined to think that
the works of excel those Of men in this depart
ment, though as a rule they display less breadth and
philosophy. AS far interest is concerned, how
ever the aotherword" fancies of Mrs. Oliphant and
Mrs. Phelpsward surpass the similar efforts of most
masculine writer's and perhaps this is so because the
emotional counts for so much more with women than
with men, and because it lends poetry tenderness and
grace to their thoughts Of another life
The general idea of a future life propounded by Mr.
Fske is not so logical he appears to think it, and
few theologians would find much difficulty in picking
holes In the argument According to author the
disembodied spirit floats In space and its activities
consist in the pursuit of knowledge With the separa
ton from the body all passions eliminated yet the
affections persist undiminished. Now here we have
something like contradiction in terms for where do the
affections end and the passions begin or vice versa7
But the whole conception Of the passage from life
10 the other H unphilosophc, and certainly not In
harmony with evolutionary doctrine. which Mr.. Fiske
seems TO think he is following For In his view, no
matter how evil mans earthlfe may have been the
ALL fqnde Ea
enters into spirit life handicapped by want of prepare
ton, but so far as opportunity for progress is con-
cerned no worse off than the child who has died In
infancy Now such view has nothing in common
with evolutionary philosophy, nor does human ex
perence warrant the conclusion that death can effect
any sudden radical change Of character. We know
that bad in growing old often suffer organic decay
which disables them from gratifying their passions
But in such cases the desire rule persists and
there seems why this should not be the
case under the analogous conditions attending separa
ton from the body.
Mr.. Fiskes disembodied spirits are represented as
continually acquiring new knowledge Of the universe
but making comparatively little spiritual progress
Of the Great First Cause they know nothing, nor ex
pect ever 10 know anything. They are interested in
studying the various solar systems, and Mr.. Fiske
inerpoates, rather infelictously long account of
highly advanced another planet, who have
achieved q modified kind of Bellamyite commonwealth
"a gorifed communism as ii might be termed One
does not look for this kind of thing in description of
the other world, and is not prepared to welcome
it very cordially In suoh connection. Moreover the
title Of the chapter dealing with these advanced people,
Progress Of Perfect Race" is self contradictory for
that which Is perfect cannot progress or it would not
be perfect Progress is movement toward perfection
With the attainment Of perfection that movement must
obviously cease This, however, is but slight slip.
1t is In the exceeding indenitenese and vagueness of
ais details that Mr.. F1ske will disappoint many OF
his readers In matters of this kind the ma
1orty. knowing that they have gertrude de-
mand reaZable impressions, even though they be
papably erroneous 1t may further be objected that
Mr. Fishes spirits are too purely intellectual They
are rather d1Semboded minds than disembodIed souls
Your average human being is made up OF a good deal
which is either less or greater than intellect and TO
imagine human spirit stripped OF all that which has
done so much to make this life worth living is TO
Imply again radical change of nature quite incom
patible with the survival of identity How many of
any mans friends and acquaintance can he conceive
pf as finding pleasure through an eternity in the dis
cussion of great cosmical probIemsl How many
would be equal to the occupation, without passing
through mental improvement amounting to positive
transformation No doubt there is something nspirit-
ing and grand in the idea of roaming at will with the
speed of thought through the universe and examining
the illmitable mighty works which I'LL space; but to
most people, who II must be admitted very long
way rom angelic capabilities. there are GOODNESS and
remoteness about such conceptions which interfere
greatly with their attractivencss.
The difficulty is that TO interest human beings at all
deeply, appeal must be made to their humanity. II
may fatter their vanity somewhat be told that they
will leave all their purely mundane traits in the grave
and bourgeon forth demi gods but an assurance
necessarily suggests uncomfortable doubt whether
they really would recognize themselves ond one another
under the circumstances predicted. Mrs Oliphant
and Mrs Phelps peopled their Bourns" with men and
women and children such as everybody knows, and IN
vested them with feelings and yearnings and attributes
generally Of the kind. The Undiscovered
Country" of these ladies, moreover, a dccorously
diaphanous reflection Of nature she shows herself
In this terrestrial ball In fact it all like stepping
into another room better furnished and more
Portable than the left behind. and the change put
tiresome strain upon any reader Mr.. Fiske, the
other hand wants to be too sernly elevated and elc
waiting and why should he have flung his challenge
30 neellessly into the teeth of all the creeds in his
concluding essay-whch by the way, is not at all
original? No doubt there are many who think he
does to-day, but If his conception Of the next world
is to be regarded fair representation of what
semancipated" thought do toward recOnstrs citing
older views of the hereafter fear il will have be
admitted that the charm OF the prospect has not been
heightened by the elimination Of religion from it.
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