The Washington herald., 1907-08-12
TMMoRrALITy OF TIE sour.
Prof. Smith Comments on Mr.. Cham-
berlain's Recent Communication.


berlain's Recent Communication.
Goidwia Smith. in New York Sun.
There appeared the other day IN The
Washington Herald notable letter BY
Mr. Paul Chamberlain on Immortality. .
Il took the same line as an essay. hith-
etto unpublished, on the same question by
Mr.. Chamberlain's late father. which !
have been permitted to read. Both the
letter and the essay are on the negative
side of the question, which, in the essay
at least. is pronounced the happier and
better view, as conducive to unseifshness,
though it must be unselhshness Of a su-
pre.ne kind Annihilstion Is not a cheer
ful word. Bacon has a highly rhetorical
passage fouting the fear of death His
was probably not a very loving nature,
nor does he seem TO have thought of the
parting from those we love
The life OF the late Mr.. Chamberlain
was evidently happy as well as coed.
That Of his sou, / have no doubt, is the
same. But If 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 is to be said2 If for them there is
no compensation, can we believe that
.benevolence and justice rule the world
If the world is not ruled by benevolence
and Justice what is our ground OF hope?
The negative conclusion rids US, Il is
true, of the Dantean hell. which paints
the Deity as inconparably worse than the
worst italian tyrant. and, as II is TO be
everlasting, comedies the final victory to
evil.
We discard all ghost stories and spir-
itualist apparitions as at most signs Of a
general craving. We resign all reasoning
Ike that Of Butler. who describes the
soul as indiscerptible, assuming that II
exists separately from the body. Nor can
we be said TO have anything that wears
the character Of Revelation. That the
Founder Of Christianity looked for q fu-
ture life. with its rewards and punish
ments, is evident. But He brought no
special message. lifted not the curtain of
mystery. did nothing 10 clear cur minds
upon the subject. His apologize Of Dives
and Lazarus shows that 10 Him as well
as 10 us the other world was a realm OF
the imagination.
Is there anything in man not physical
OF apparently explained and limited by
tho transient conditions and necessities OF
his present state. anything which gives an
inkling Of Immortality? Our utilitarian
morality is the offspring and adjunct of
our conditions here. But is there not an
aspiration 10 character which points to
something more spiritual and higher than
conformity 10 the utilitarian code? Hero
ism and self-sacrifce are not utilitarian.
We can hardly allow the investigation
10 be closed by the mere mention Of the
talismanic word Evolution. There may
be something still 20 be said on that sub
ject. Evolution cannot have evolved It
self, nor does II seem capable Of infallible
demonstration. II. no doubt, postulates
vast spaces OF time for its action But
within the space OF time OF which we in
any way have knowledge, apparently 10
case OF evolution has actually taken place.
RudimenraTy likeness between the frame
Of the enc and that OF the man seems
hardly in itself proof Of the generation of
man from the ape.
On no subject, however, does one who
Is not man of science or 4 philosopher
feel more intensely his deficiency and his
need OF having his pain lighted by the
perfectly free while reverent inquiry. 10
pray Tor which has been the object Of
these letters.