Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1895-07-18
{. BENZ. ANDREWS.

E. BENZ. ANDREWS.
rorccful and Clear Argument by tho
Eminent President OF Brown University.
The whole argument for immortality
cannot he set forth here Tho best single
thought i'm the direction of such argument
is the mental necessity resting upon us,
in ort,cr to strong moral living, that we
should think OF thc present lie as part
Of d ational plan, which ii is not and can
not he if death ends all. We need to feel
that this distressed and hillowy existence
is not an accident, but part of q truly cos
mic order Otherwise our moral struggle;
are no more important than the collisions
of molecules Moral responsibility is
naught. We must be sure that the van
gushing of evil and the elevation Of our
nature to a noble ideal is going to amount
to something. 1t cannot be, we inwardly
and paSsionatcly say, "that the wages OF
holiness is DUST Lotto we'll urges
"Whilo we lay great stress upon maintain
ing the principles of our conduct in all
the purity Of unsclnshncss, We feel it
equally imperative that the world itself
should appear to us as a significant and
worthy whole. We require our own hap
pincsS, not for the sake of our happiness,
but because the reason Of the world would
lie turned into IurCaSun if we did not re-
jcct the thought that the work Of vanish
ing generations should go on forever only
bcnCiiting those who come latcs and being
ilrcparuhly wasted for the workers them.
selves. All human longing to find Il guild
ing thread in the confused variety of histo-
~ springs from the unsclfish desire to rec
ogni2c Il worthy and sacred order in the
system and course Of the world If deaf h
ends ali, Il man is cut off from this al
mighty source Of strength in his moral
fight. He is ranked with tho grass that
Withcrs and the brutcS that perish His
spiritual conflicts lose every clement that
can render them intclligiblc or hcartcn
him to enter into and prosecute them
bravcly. Our richest aspirations are stitcd
every moral spur Is dullcd. No doubt
many who believe that death ends all still
live nohly; but Mr.. Balfour, in his recent
book entitled 1.-The Foundations of Be
lief, clearly points out that such morality
is parasitic. No other author has made
SO evident as Mr.. Balfour the irrcduciblc
contradiction which the assumptions OF
natur1lism offer to our spontaneous mora
beliefs and promptings and to certain con
victions necessary to the preservation Of
socintv If noturo1isn, is truc ono COO, ~,
ro.so, why nnv scntimnnt irn,,l.o n,
conviction If odvontoqn to Tho ,nrr shoulf
ho ,,rcforrod ia ,r,, otbcr 50. mora wort, h,
Of consideration or obedience Tho Loerst
nupotitcs thr hardest sclH.brcss tho mos
fnrocious hotrnd muet Ina nIocnd ON IN,
Same lnvcl uf nohilitv ne tho most .nIf- do
nvinr deviation ar tho n,nst death Jcryinc
hnroi.,, An ,bo,, ,,,,,orio,,,.,,., .,lil.o va
Inv tho theory of nntnr,lisn "rvolvrd
fnr an. o,,d Two sou,o o,,d-,bo ,,,oir+o
nnncc or t,o corrn,,ui+,, or tbn rocn On,
i ~ noI,Io nc onv, otbor D,tho, ..roI,1n,
is = word witLoiIt meaning Tbc NOR,
results If this thinning bovo ne vct M,
fully revealed ,bomcnlvcs in onv cor
munitv lint tho scbis,n botwcon convic
lion and cnrlnct c,nrot cortirro f,,rn,-o,
Man, mind is at bottom rational his he
/ lirfs tal,inr effect sooncr or later i'm hi.
/ character Either uoturalistic thinl,in,
or else nltruisi ic conduct will nCtcr Il littl,
time 20 Inv the hoard Some hnyr thourh
| that nlt1llis1n can he rendered rational
I sliDposin1. the soul mortal. by omnhasizin
+ the race and its future as contIa,tcd will
. the iusiUniflcancc uf the Individual I'm
/ this suggestion affords no holm If tbcr
/ he no fu,lre life for the individual
then the race cannot LONG survive. In
period quite POSSIBLE to he measured. al
most within orr view the energies of on
solar system will decay. The sun will
shine no more. and the earth. TOO cold t,
pruducc or continue life will crn.o to IN
! The haLltotion of man. Then all will b.
a, if man had never been. RELIGION. rco
son. art with the rlorious records wbicl
tbcy had while mind WAS lcft 70 contcm
plato Them. will be clean gone forever
Life ana love. hate and deatL-oyorythin,
which now forms the object of Iumu,
I,nowlcdoo--wlll be cancelled in blank an
utilization. IL may Dcrhaps be truo tha
such a view is destined to be forced mo,
us, but that in such event character O
civilization shouId survive il to NV min,
incro dibIr Doubtless wbot Eoons man,