rows; by which he is elevated with hope, excited by enthusiasm, or sunk into the horrors of despair? These changes also he feels, in many instances, to be equally independent of impressions from without, and of the condition of his bodily frame. In the most peaceful state of every corporeal function, passion, remorse, or anguish may rage within; and while the body is racked by the most frightful diseases, the mind may repose in tranquillity and hope. He is taught by physiology that every part of his body is in a constant state of change, and that within a certain period every particle of it is renewed. But, amid these changes, he feels that the being whom he calls himself, remains essentially the same. In particular, his remembrance of the occurrences of his early days he feels to be totally inconsistent with the idea of an impression made upon a material organ, unless he has recourse to the absurdity of supposing that one series of particles, as they departed, transferred the picture to those which came to occupy their room.

If the being, then, which we call mind or soul be, to the utmost extent of our knowledge, thus dissimilar to, and distinct from, any thing that we know to be a result of bodily organization, what reason have we to believe that it should be affected by any change in the arrangement of material organs, except in so far as relates to its intercourse with this external world? The effects of that change which we call the death of an animal body are nothing more than a change in the arrangement of its constituent elements; for it can be demonstrated, on the strictest principles of chemistry, that not one particle of these elements ceases to exist. We have, in fact, no conception of annihilation; and our whole experience is opposed to the belief that one atom which ever existed has ceased to exist. There is, therefore, as Dr. Brown has well remarked, in the very decay of the body, an analogy which would seem to indicate the continued existence of the thinking principle, since that which we term decay is itself only another name for continued existence. To conceive, then, that any thing mental ceases to exist after death, when we know that every thing corporeal continues to exist, is a gratuitous assump

Evidence of consciousness. The feelings of the mind in many cases independent of bodily changes. Effect of death on the soul? Dr. Brown's remark.

tion, contrary to every rule of philosophical inquiry, and in direct opposition, not only to all the facts relating to mind itself, but even to the analogy which is furnished by the dissolution of the bodily frame.

To this mode of reasoning it has been objected, that it would go to establish an immaterial principle in the lower animals, which in them exhibits many of the phenomena of mind. I have only to answer, be it so. There are in the

lower animals many of the phenomena of mind; and, with regard to these, we also contend, that they are entirely distinct from any thing we know as the properties of matter, which is all that we mean, or can mean, by being immaterial. There are other principles superadded to material things, of the nature of which we are equally ignorant; such, for example, as the principle of vegetable life, and that of animal life. To say that these are properties of matter is merely arguing about a term; for what we mean by matter is something which is solid, extended, and divisible. That these properties are, in certain individuals, combined with simple or vegetable life,-in others, with animal life, that is, life and the powers of sensation and motion,and in others with animal life, and certain of those properties which we call mind,—are all facts equally beyond our comprehension. For any thing we know, they may all be immortal principles; and for any thing we know, matter itself may be immortal. The simple truth is, that we know nothing on the subject; and while, on the one hand, we have no title to assume an essence to be mortal because it possesses only the properties of matter; neither, on the other hand, have we any right to infer an essence to be immortal, because it possesses properties different from those of matter. We talk, indeed, about matter, and we talk about mind; we speculate concerning materiality and immateriality, until we argue ourselves into a kind of belief that we really understand something of the subject. The truth is that we understand nothing. Matter and mind are known to us by certain properties; these properties are quite distinct from each other; but in regard to both, it is entirely out of the reach of our faculties to advance a single step beyond the facts which are before us. Whether

Objection to this reasoning? Answer? Mental phenomena in the lower animals. Other principles. Our knowledge limited to what?

in their substratum or ultimate essence they are the same, or whether they are different, we know not, and never can know in our present state of being. Let us, then, be satisfied with the facts, when our utmost faculties can carry us no farther; let us cease to push our feeble speculations, when our duty is only to wonder and adore.

These considerations, while they are directly opposed to the crude conclusions of the materialist, also serve to show us how much the subject is removed beyond our limited faculties; and it is not on such speculations, therefore, that we rest the evidence for a future state of being. We know nothing of the nature or the essence of mind; but whatever may be its essence, and whatever may be the nature and extent of that mysterious connection which the Deity has established between it and our bodily organization, these points have no reference whatever to the great question of its future existence. This is a principle which seems to have been too much lost sight of in the discussion of this subject, namely, that our speculations respecting the imma teriality of the rational human soul have no influence on our belief of its immortality. This momentous truth rests on a species of evidence altogether different, which addresses itself to the moral constitution of man. It is found in those principles of his nature by which he feels upon his spirit the awe of a God, and looks forward to the future with anxiety or with hope;-by which he knows to distinguish truth from falsehood, and evil from good, and has forced upon him the conviction that he is a moral and responsible being. This is the power of conscience, that monitor within which raises its voice in the breast of every man, a witness for his Creator. He who resigns himself to its guidance, and he who repels its warnings, are both compelled to acknowledge its power; and, whether the good man.rejoices in the prospect of immortality, or the victim of remorse withers beneath an influence unseen by human eye, and shrinks from the anticipation of a reckoning to come, each has forced upon him á conviction, such as argument never gave, that the being which is essentially himself is distinct from any function of the body, and will survive in

Immortality of the soul. Real evidence of it-what? Conscience. Irresistible con viction on this subject.

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undiminished vigor when the body shall have fallen into decay.

When, indeed, we take into the inquiry the high principles of moral obligation, and the moral government of the Deity, this important truth is entirely independent of all our feeble speculations on the essence of mind. For though we were to suppose, with the materialist, that the rational soul of man is a mere chemical combination, which, by the dissolution of its elements, is dissipated to the four winds of - heaven, where is the improbability that the Power which framed the wondrous compound may collect these elements again, and combine them anew, for the great purposes of his moral administration. In our speculations on such a momentous subject we are too apt to be influenced by our conceptions of the powers and properties of physical things; but there is a point where this principle must be abandoned, and where the soundest philosophy requires that we take along with us a full recognisance of the power of God.

There is thus, in the consciousness of every man, a deep impression of continued existence. The casuist may reason against it till he bewilder himself in his own sophistries; but a voice within gives the lie to his vain speculations, and pleads with authority for a life which is to come. The sincere and humble inquirer cherishes the impression, while he seeks for farther light on a subject so momentous; and he thus receives, with absolute conviction, the truth which beams upon him from the revelation of God,—that the mysterious part of his being, which thinks, and wills, and reasons, shall indeed survive the wreck of its mortal tenement, and is destined for immortality.

Does materialism, if admitted, disprove immortality? How illustrated. Concluding remarks.