The sun., 1907-08-11
FEE IMMORTALITY or TEE
SOUL.

To TIM EDTfo0 or TN 6UN-SH: There
Appeared ths othsr day ih <hs Washingtoo
HereH notable lsttsr by Mr.. Paul Cham
berlain on ImmortAlity. Il took tho Same
line - IN essay. hitherto Dpublishsd. on
the same qusstioa By Mr.. Chambsriain's
late fathsr. which have bssn permitted to
read. Both the lseter and the essay arc op
the negative sids Of tho question. which. In
the essay at least. is pronounced the hap
pier and better visw. as conducive to uaself-
ishness. though IL must DO unselhshness Of
a supreme kind. Annihnation b not .
cheerful word. Bacon han highly rhetori-
cal passage houting the fear OF death. His
was probably not very loving nature. nor
does he seem to have thought Of the part
ing from those We love.
The life OF the late Mr. Chamberlain was
evidently happy as we'll as good. That Of
his son. have no doubt. is the same. But
OF the lot Of the myriads whose lives.
through no fault Of their own. are. or In the
course Of history have been. unhappy. often
most miserable. what Ia 70 be said? II for
them there Ia no compensation, can we be-
lieve that benevolenoe and Justice rule the
woridl II tho world h not ruled by benevo-
lence and. justice, what Is our ground Of
hope?
The negative conclusion rids us, it II true.
OF the Dantean He'll. which paints the Deity
as incomparably worso than the worst
Italian tyrant. and. as it is to be everlasting.
concedes the final victory to evil.
We discard all ghost stories and spiritual
ist apparitions as at most signs Of q general
craving. We resign all reasoning like that
OF Butler, who describes the soul as indis-
cerptible. assuming that il exists separately
from the body. Nor can We be said to have
anything that wears the character Of Reve-
lation. That tho Founder OF Christianity
looked for q future life. with its rewards
and punishments. In evident. But he
brought no special message. lifted not the
curtain OF mystery. did nothing to clear
our minds upon the subject. His apologize
Of Dives and Lazarus shows that to Him As
we'll as to u the other world was . realm
Of tho imagination.
Is there anything in man not physical
OF apparently explained and limited BY the
transient conditions and necessities Of his
present state. anything which gives an
inkling OF Immortality! Our utilitarian
morality is tho offspring and adjunct Of
our condition here. But is there not an
,ksw
something more spiritual and higher than
conformity to the utilitarian code2 Hero
ism and self f-sacrifioe are not utilitarian.
We can hardly allow the Investigation to
be closed by the mere mention Of the tails
manic word Evolution. There may be
something still to be said on that subject.
Evolution cannot have evolved itself. nor
does it seem capable Of infallihle demon
spaces Of time for its action. But within
the space Of time Of which We In any way
have knowledge apparently no case Of
evolution has actually taken place. Ruji-
mentary likeness between the frame Of
the apo and that Of the man seems hardly
In itself . proof Of the generation Of man
from the ape
On no subject, however, docs one who
Il not a man Of scisnoe or philosopher feel
more intensely his de6cisnoy and his need OF
having his path lighted by tho perfectly
FREQ while revsreut inquiry. to pray for
which has BEEN the object OF these letters.
IL.