The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-11

/ Don't Miss
same trouble when I como to try to
| write down why I believe it. But I
just do. and nothing can make me
think otherwise. 1t is that wretched
Intuition again.
! have only got one baby. but I be-
lieve that 1t Is personal and endowed
with individuality. No one can say
Why that should be. You can write
you will find some other baby answers
to all your special tests. But ] hold,
all the same. with all the mothers.
They know that their baby is indi-
vidual. If they are wrong. still all !
can q is that I am foolish enough
to throw in my lot with them and be
wrong also. But. all the same. I
know that l am not wrong. After
that. of course. ] believe in immortali-
ty, for IL I am an individual l am I'M
mortal. 1t Is said that a man who had
dined too well got into a crowded troll
ley and sat down by a stranger. Fall
ing into some doubt as to whether he
was going to his own home, he asked
the gentleman next to him. "Have you
ever seen me b%efore?" NO." was the
II do not" Then how on earth do
you know that it is me?"
Moses was not only convinced that
there was a place called Canaan, but
that he could lead the Israelites to II.
They did not all get there. Those who
believed that they could get in did so;
and all whom they persuaded to be-
lieve the same got in also. Well, I
believe that I shall attain to life i'm
mortal. ] am not legislating for any.
to do with the matter / know that 1
am going to. Eternal life is the COM
plement OF all Of my unsatisf1ed long.
ings and ideals. 1t fits in so we'll,
AS for others, I believe that each
maj must. account for himself. For
my part, ! am immortal always.
Death Is no argument against life.
hate arrogance. but all the same
when Paul said. Thou fool, except a
grain Of wheat die. it cannot live" l
do not blame him.. i think that the
materialist is beginning to say that
himself, from what ! see Of science.
Even the 'overslept defender Of the
faith" Is not SO anxious as he was. al
though belatcd scientists still confuse
the kernel with the shell. 1t seems by
no means impossible that science may
yet show that life as an entity on
earth does not exist; that organic and
inorganic are alike as dead or alive
only as one likes to speak of move
ment or growth as a sign Of life; that
purely scientifically there Is no death
of the body-which never was alive,
anyway. as we used to understand the
term-and that spiritual life is not on
~ In all and through all, but is all.
The futility Of death. anyhow. as an
argument against immortality is best
shown by the fact that nobody believes
1t to be an argument. This is only in
tuition, Of course; but it is also the
voice Of the mass Of the people, and
that is generally looked upon as being
as near to the "vox Del" as any cur
are scientists either Of the first cen
tury or of tho twentieth. In a demo.
cratic country like America this ought
to he a very helpful thought. for, in
spite of all the misgovernment Of the
people by the people for the people,
America still remains democratic. or
republican, and does not yet call for a
czar of its own.
Another somewhat potent reason
for my OWE faith in something be-
yond" is the fact that l personally am
compelled to believe in it.. However
much I might try to smother it, up 1t
hobs again. There is something which
will not take mo-" from my brain.
Whatever 1t is. there 1t is. insistent, ir-
repressible. Some call it the moral
life. some the ideal life. some the
not be browbeaten and told that it
does not exist. 1t is SO dominant and
at least so far able to demonstrate it.
self that / cannot deny 1t II I would.
Even the convicted murderer who
has longed to believe in his own ami
hilation has had moments Of qualms
and doubts.
How often have I resented the idea
that. though a parrot or a tree or a
crag should outlast my body. 1t should
also outlast me" I could not be-
lieve It. It makes me laugh to sup
pose 1t to be true. That would be the
economy OF a mad-house. Moreover.
Intellectual agnosticism has we'll been
stigmatized az neither wholesome nor
fruitful as a permanent position. And
my whole estimate Of the value Of life
and limb In its nationality is that it
should be useful. Perhaps I am not
heroic enough to formulate. for myself
an axiom which I do not wish in place
Of one which I do. ! do not want an.
initiation; I want life. I love the
Christ best when he says. II am come
that they might have life. and that
they might have It moro abundantly."
He who followeth me shall have. the
light Of life." Cold experience shows
me that my axiom IL a greater 1ncen.
tive to be useful and to make good, to
be unselfsh and worth while. than any
other which I know: and history cor.
firms 1t.
I am perfectly content to believe
that ! have been lied" Ito use the
phrase Of those who would otherwise
blame me) to devote my time to medt.
cine and surgery. and my leisure to
the sea, until that also became q part
Of my business. The fact 10, I have
given my time to the study Of mortali-
ty: I have accepted Immortality az
automatic. Anyhow, I take this now
to my comfort, that II I have been
wrong in 30 doing, and there 10 NO i'm.
mortality. ct least I have not. IKE the
~ascetics. added to my loss that Of the
ENJOYABLE use OF what does exist. II
I were annihilated tomorrow, I have
enjoyed books. and games, and birds,
and beasts. and the sea, and travel.
and friends; and to these at last,
thank God. has been added the su-
prennest Joy of a wife and child of my
own-and also many opportunities OF
] helping lame dogs over stiles. These