158 MAN'S ENDOWMENTS PROPHETIC. Infinite. What shall we say, then, of these rich endowments of our nature? Are they not immortal? Are they not so many earnests and foretastes of another and better state another and higher life? Do not these powers, manifestly capable of immense accession, seem to furnish warrant for their continuance beyond the grave? Will not these things — sources of happiness here, be richer in joy when free from the limitations and contractions of earth and sense? When we look at the attractive combination formed by the union of all these elements; at the abundant provision made for the social, moral, and intellectual nature of man, we are forced to ask the question, "Has God hung down these pictures from his throne as the most perfect imprints of the good and the fair, and not rather as dim shadowings of what may be, as helps to our faith, and stairs to our thoughts, climbing toward realms of a more refulgent summer, or a more enduring spring?" Surely affections that are planted so deep in the soul, sympathy so all-pervading, perception so keen, reflection so penetrating, recollection so pleasing, hope so bright, imagination so wide in its range, and adoration so appreciative, surely these were not given to wither like flowers by the chill hand of death. Their exercise here forecasts the ineffable felicity which would result from perfect development in a perfect sphere. God, it seems, would never lavish such wealth of nature upon the creature of a day, would never awaken such hopes and kindle such aspirations, hopes and aspirations that reach out after eternity for satisfaction, unless he had provided for their continued exercise and support. So far from even supposing their destruction, it is more natural, more reasonable and consistent, to conclude that greater perfection awaits them that a more entire union of all these elements will yet appear in the future, insuring not only the perpetuation of what we call our richest joys now, but an infinite accession to them all. GLOOMY PICTURE GLORIFIED. 159 Union and perfect harmony give great facility of action in all cases that fall under our observation; but who shall measure the felicity if these elements of which we have spoken arise to newness of power and action in a faultless sphere? When they shall flourish in the clear air of the celestial regions, then, and then only, shall we realize our loftiest ideals. Nature, in her sublimest aspects, does not give us what we desire. If there be nothing better, then we must go into the chamber of our souls, and write upon its walls the despairing sentence, Only a mockery!-say to our hopes, Ye are phantoms, to our yearnings, I know not whence ye are,— to our anticipations, Ye are hopeless illusions. Tell Genius to clip her wings, and Fancy to stay her flight; bid Reason veil her eye, and Excellence withhold her allurements; for there is nothing in all this but what shall soon cease to be. But stay; thou art not condemned to this gloomy work! Come forth from the dismal retirement, erase the sentence if thou hast written it, for a "voice comes from afar," telling of a surer light, and we turn to meet it; or if choice bid thee remain, raise the curtain of the darkened windows, and let the glorious sunlight in, and thou shalt read clear-written lines, that have hitherto been invisible; thou shalt discover beauty where before were distorted shadows, and order where only chaos reigned; yea, more, shalt find "God diffused through every part, God himself triumphant in the heart." 160 THE SURE GUIDE. CHAPTER X. GLORY AND CERTAINTY BEAM FROM REVELATION. The sure Guide. — Revelation a Sun. lation. Bible not dealing in direct Assertions.· Patriarchs influenced by the Belief of endless Life.—Prophetical Writings. — Christ.—The Apostles.- Vision of John. ""Tis Revelation satisfies all doubts, Explains all mysteries, except her own, And so illuminates the path of life, That fools discover it, and stray no more." Cowper. THUS far we have been guided by Reason and Nature, and have only arrived at the point of man's probable immortality. Both conscious and unconscious nature have indeed suggested it; the loves, hopes, desires, and aspirations of the one, and the rocks, groves, streams, and harmonies of the other, have all had voices to lift up in support of it; but nowhere have we reached absolute certainty; at no time has it appealed to the understanding with the force of an actual demonstration. We have had evidence; but the basis on which it rested was not so solid as we could wish. We have had strong presumptive proof; but who is satisfied with presumption, especially in the most important of all questions, final destiny? We have asked of Reason, "Shall man live again?" and it has said, "It seems a logical deduction from the fact that men have universally desired and believed that it might be so. Men desire to be perfect, and to enjoy greater facilities for the acquisition of knowledge; therefore it seems reasonable to suppose there will be ample scope for this desire; and since, up SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS ARGUMENTS. 161 to the last moment of earthly life, this remains in all its intensity, the conviction is strong, that an opportunity yet remains on the other side of time, a forecast of which is allowed here." We have observed man- the keenness of his moral perceptions, his foreboding of retribution, the inequalities of his condition, and seen in these things the shadows of things to come. We have inquired of Nature whereto life tendeth, and she tells us she knows no such thing as annihilation; that such inexplicable mysteries attend it, it is wiser to reject it, though even the cause for rejection cannot be explained. The peculiar elements of earthly happiness have also inclined us unto the belief that He who hath shown such special regard for the wants of mankind, in furnishing their terrestrial home, will also provide for their future necessities in an equally careful manner - yea, more, since that which survives earth and time is of infinitely greater consequence. Every step has given us additional confirmation, has strengthened our belief in the probability of a future life; but when we would know of a surety, and seek the requisite proof, we find, perchance, an echo, possibly a whisper, and, it may be, nothing but silence. The soul wearies with the unsatisfying round, and would fain emerge into a clearer light - a light that will give "form and comeliness" to many objects upon which it has long looked, but which have never assumed definite proportions by reason of the darkness. The hour has come. We leave the long aisles of Nature - her dim galleries; and have done with echoes and whispers. We shall use the twilight and lamplight of intellect, only so far as the faint or flickering rays may serve to increase the intensity of that radiance which shines so brightly on our future way; we grope no longer among tottering ruins and broken arches, for the storm and timedefying pyramids are as sands, compared with the everlasting structure that rises in eternal beauty and grandeur about us now; we cease from being anxious wanderers on an uncertain 162 REVELATION A SUN. shore, for tidings come of a good harbor and a blessed country, and our fears are hushed and our troubles calmed. Revelation, like a star, has appeared in the horizon like a star nay, rather, as a sun, to flood the earth with glory, and to bathe the world, as it were, in a sea of liquid light. We hail it as a harbinger of good to the souls of men, and look to it with eager expectation for that which every other source hath denied us. It comes as the dawning of a new era, the beginning of a new life, for plans and purposes are invested with new meaning; the plants and flowers of existence-its duties and hopes -strike their roots deeper, and send their shoots higher under the influence, while the whole moral and spiritual realm shows wonderful freshness and vigor, and yet not what it shall be when it is subjected to broader action, and becomes more thoroughly and perfectly receptive. What the refreshing shower is to the parched and thirsty earth in a time of drought such is revelation to the soul that feels the burning fever engendered by the miasmatic air to which it has been subject in some parts of nature. The lonely and benighted traveller forgets the fatigue and anxiety of a perilous journey, and feels fresh courage as he hears the sound of a human voice, or sees the curling smoke that tells him he is near the habitation of men. The mariner remembers not the dangers that threatened him and his tempesttossed bark when the wide expanse about him is securely calm; but traveller by sea or land, however great the danger, or wonderful the deliverance, never knew so great a joy, or experienced so perfect security, as he who long and vainly sought for the priceless boon of immortality in nature, and suddenly found it in revelation. We say nothing of the authority on which this word of revealed truth rests. It is all-sufficient for us. Were it not, we yet might say with another, "I will abide the precepts, admire the beauty, revere the mysteries, and, as far as in me lies, practise the mandates, of this sacred |