Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1894-03-27
The Future Life OF A nimals.

Most of the passages in scripture which
are supposed to testify to the Immortality
of the lower animals appear to us to have
no bearing on the question at all. But we
would not say the same of the great pas
sage in which st. Paul speaks of the
"~hole creation" as groaning and travail
ing in pain until now, "wsiting for the
redemption of our body" which no doubt
implied, and was intended to imply, that
there Is come ''fsr-off divine event" to
which not only man, but the whole con
stitution of terrestrial nature, Is Journey
Ing, as a traveller journeys toward his goal.
Let 1t once be admitted that the purpose
of creation is an ideal purpose. and that
| that ideal purpose will by slow degrees be
| realized, and 1t becomes very difficult not
| to accept evolution as tending, not only In
| Its higher, bu. also in its lower phases, to
the elimination of all that Is evil and the
development of all that is good. Whsth-
er redemption In its larger sense is to be
achieved By all creatures made subject to
the law of suffering and sacrifice, CT
whether there may be law of redemp-
tion for the type which yet does not in
Il
lives which are included in that type, We
| cannot, of course, say. 1t is quite be-
| yend us to judge whether there may not
be plenty of finite creatures which are
mere instruments In the discipline and ed
ucstion of beings higher than themselves,
and which have no greater claim to any
individual Immortality than the grain of
sand, or the crystal or the flower.
| That is quite q tensble view, and the
late Charles Kingsley surely went beyond
l the region of even probable evidence when
he said, as Canon Wilberforce reports
him, that "Christ lived and died and sur
vived as much for the minutest insect
sucked into the jaws of a whale ss for the
| most intelligent of human bsinse." 1!
may be 60; but 1t far transcepds anything
| of the nature of revealed truth to declare
that it is 30. Unquestionsbly redemption
is, in the first place, revealed to Us as re-
dsmption from ain, and we cannot conceive
of q creature incapable of Gin as needing
redemption-at least in the only sense ir
} which redemption was announced by Christ
until It has 30 far risen In the scale oI
creation as to be capable of both Sin and
! righteousness. And 1t is surely mere con
] lecture whether every aephemeral beinc
} which fits across the scene is destined fol
such a career In the invisible world as vii
! eventually raise 1t to the stage of q mora
and spiritual existence. But this at lsss'
} may BIS said, that there are several being
, below the level of man which appear tc
have both strong personal affections and
! rudiments at least of q conscience. Ever
J Mr.. Romanes is one of the most earnes
believers in the conscience of the dog, snd
} there can be no question at all that tn,
} dog is capable of kind of fidelity whict
} presents all the chsrscteristics of loys
/ and passiopare devotion. When that 4,
! the case, and no doubt the same remari
= applies to many other animals beside
} dogs, there appear to be the germs of tIu,
moral and spiritual quality, and We could
hardly accept the truth of human immor
tslity without thinking IL most probabl,
that the same persistence of fndividua
tiife may be expected In races displaying
| such qualities whose life is limited 90 thi
visible world, and has not az yet beer
even partially lived in the invisible.
J Wherever something like human affec
tions and human fidelity has been dis
played we may fairly look for ultimat,
participation in human redemption. Bu
D we should very much hesitate to assert
Z with Charles King.lsy, that every "mi
nutest insect sucked Into the jaws of
whale" has the came share In Christie lif
and death and resurrection 90 beings VII,
. have felt the burden and revolted ssains
1 the CALLING yoke of moral evil. There 1
. surely far greater chasm between sucl
an insect aud moral being than there
between the "corn of wheat which, vhel
: It dies, brings forth much fruit, and th
! animalcule In question. II Seems 20 q
1 that the reasons which make for hnmal
!, Immortality only begin TO tell upon the ID
o sue after We have reached the level Il
0 which the germs Of moral and spiritui