$
- - - $
THE
SEAT OF THE SOUL,
AND
ITS IMMORTALITY:
INFERRED PROM
THE CASES OE PERSONS WHO HAVE SUFFERED AMPUTATION
OF THEIR LIMBS.
BY
JAMES GILLINGHAM,
SURGICAL MECHANICIAN, CIIARI}.
CHARD:
J. NOWLEN, PRINTER AND BOOKSELLER, HOLYROOD STREET.
LONDON:
' T. T. LEMARE,, 1, IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1 8 6 9.
Price Twopence; by Post Threepence .
a
m
The above Engravings are illustrative of the first case — that of the gamekeeper — referred to on page 3. The patient had an Artificial Arm made and applied by the author of this pamphlet, from whom Prospectuses, with Testimonials, &c., may be had on application.
THE SEAT OF THE SOUL,
AND
ITS IMMORTALITY:
INFERRED FROM
THE CASES OF PERSONS WHO HAVE SUFFERED AMPUTATION
OF THEIR LIMBS,
BY JAMES GILLINGHAM,
SURGICAL MECHANICIAN, CHARD .
CHARD:
J. NOWLEN, PRINTER AND BOOKSELLER, HOLYROOD STREET.
LONDON:
T. T. LEMARE, 1, IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1 8 6 9.
tj | * i 3 8
Waa 7 o o
/ 8 G *9
& G8 ^
THE SEAT OE THE SOUL,
AND
ITS IMMORTALITY.
“ Hath man a soul ? ” and “ Where is its seat ? ” are questions that have been asked in all ages.
Galen, in his time, supposed the brain to be the seat of the soul. Harvey, in his time, believed the spirit to be in the blood, — the blood being con¬ sidered to be the life of the man. Many are the opinions in reference to these great questions ; to which I am about to suggest another, which, how¬ ever, I do not offer as new in every respect.
I infer from the following facts, that the spirit and the body are of the same shape, and that the soul dwells in every part of the material man, while the head is the centre of action.
I will offer, firstly, facts gleaned from patients who have suffered amputa¬ tion of their limbs ; secondly, the truths I think these facts teach from reason ; and, thirdly, the testimony given by Revelation in bearing out the truth which reason asserts.
The cases of the patients referred to are as follows : —
The first case is that of a gamekeeper in the employ of Viscount Bridport, who had his arm blown off whilst ramming home a charge of powder into a cannon, which accident necessitated the amputation of the limb at the shoulder-joint. Five years have passed away, and during this period the keeper’s arm has mouldered to dust in the churchyard ; still he feels that he has a hand and arm, though the mate¬ rial part is removed. Indeed, he feels his hand plainer than ever. He can put his hand in any position, or move any particular joint he thinks proper. He will hold his (spiritual) hand up before his face, and say, “ My hand is before my eyes. I can¬ not see it ; but I know it is there, because I can feel it.” He says, too, that he could grasp a tool and use it, as he once did ; but he cannot, because the material part the spirit once acted upon is amputated.
The second case is that of a patient who had his leg amputated at the middle of the thigh, in consequence of a white swelling of the knee. He feels his leg and foot very sensitive, though the material part is removed. Shortly after the operation he got out of bed one morning to dress, and put out his leg to walk, unconscious of his loss, when suddenly he found the material pillar that had so long supported him removed, and he was obliged to grasp the first thing that came in his way, to save himself from falling.
4
The third case is that of a patient who had his foot torn off in a thrashing machine seventeen years ago. He still feels his foot, which is very sensitive, to the present time.
The fourth case is that of a patient who had both his hands blown off whilst ramming home a charge at the month of a cannon. He was taken home shortly after the accident, and they were about to carry him upstairs, when he expressed a wish to walk up. In ascending the stairs, not thinking for the moment that his hands were off, he stretched out his arms to grasp the baluster, when suddenly he exclaimed, “ Oh God ! I have lost my hands ! ”
The fifth case is that of a patient who had his leg amputated, or taken out of the socket, at the hip-joint. I asked him, whilst he was lying in the hospital, whether he felt his foot and leg. His reply was, “ Yes ; more so than I do the sound limb.”
The sixth case is that of a patient who had his leg taken off under the knee, owing to an injury caused by the explosion of a gun. He says : “ I still feel that I have a leg which I can never lose ; and have many a time put down my hand to feel it, when suddenly I have found myself grasping an insensible piece of wood.”
The seventh case is that of an old man with a wooden leg, whom I met by the way. “ Well, my man,” I asked, “ can you feel your foot ? ” “ Yes, sir,” replied
he, “and my ankle too, as sensitive as ever.” “How long have you lost your leg ?” “ Over forty years.”
The eighth case is that of a patient who had suffered the amputation of his leg, in consequence of a white swelling, when eighteen years of age. He departed this life not long since at the age of seventy-two. I knew him personally. I was anxious to know whether, after he had lost his leg fifty-four years, time had worn out this sensitive feeling. On my inquiring of his daughter, she said she had heard her father say that he had many a time felt his leg, and that in his last illness the limb became more sensitive than ever. When he turned in bed, and moved one leg, he moved the other also.
The ninth case is that of a patient who has had his shoulder-blade and arm taken out altogether. He now lives, and enjoys health. I had been corresponding -with him a short time, and was very anxious to know whether the taking away so large a portion of the body cut off the connection of the feeling of the hand and arm. I took the liberty of asking him. He kindly replied, and said : “ All that can be said of the gamekeeper can be said of me. I feel my hand and arm plainer than ever. By day my arm is close to my body, and my hand rests upon my hip ; but by night my hand and arm rest over my chest.”
The tenth and last case I offer is that of a boy nearly fifteen years of age, who had both his legs cut off by an engine running over him on the Great Northern Railway at Lincoln. One leg was cut off above the knee, and left on the line ; the other just under the knee, and left suspended by a piece of skin. The boy was perfectly sen¬ sible, and while on the stretcher at the hospital he was asked where the accident happened. In reply he said, “ Let me jump up, and I will run and show you.” A few weeks after the operation he got out of bed one morning to dress, not know¬ ing that he had lost his legs, consequently he fell on the two ends of his stumps, which were much injured.
Many other cases might be given ; but the foregoing will suffice. I will now come to the second part of my subject, namely, the truths which the above facts teach from reason.
Do they not teach this : that the spirit dwells in every part of the man, while the head is the centre of action ? The material man and the spiritual man have the same shape. The body is a compound ; it can be separated and destroyed. The spirit is an indivisible and substantial being, and can-
5
not be destroyed ; for where there can be no separation, there can be no destruction. The spiritual man remains perfect when a part of the material man has been removed by amputation. When the material arm is separated from the body, the spiritual arm is not separated, but remains connected with the spiritual man. Thus it is that a patient feels his limbs, though the material part be removed. It is the spirit which feels, and not the matter.
Man is clothed in a material body, in harmony with a material world ; and he is connected with it by his physical existence. The nerves of his body are the medium of communication between matter and spirit, and connect man to a natural world. But when the body, with its nerves, is thrown off by death, there remains no longer any connection or communication with the natural world ; and then the spiritual man takes his flight to a spiritual scene of action.
Some may be ready to say that they cannot see the spiritual limbs of those who have suffered amputation of the material part. Because we see them not, is no proof that the limbs are not. We cannot see the spirit of a friend, as he takes his flight the moment after death. Stand by his bedside : you listen to his last counsel — you see the quickness of his perception and the intelligence that beams from his eyes. The closer death approaches upon the clay, the more conscious and spiritual your friend becomes ; but while you stand and take the last farewell, the spiritual, thinking man quits the body, and you look upon a corpse. From the fact that you did not see your friend on his flight, would you say he is not ? Why did you not see him after he left the body p Simply because you looked through a material organ — the natural eye ; and it is impossible for us, with natural sight, to see a spirit, though the spirit of a departed one, like the spiritual arm that has lost the material part, may be close at our side.
Some say this feeling is the effect of imagination. We often imagine things ; but we are conscious that they are not real, and, like clouds, they soon pass away. But this feeling is a reality, and cleaves to its possessor to the last' moment of life. Not only so ; but in all cases of amputation the feeling that applies to the hand, applies to the foot, and that which applies to the foot applies to the taking off both legs, or extracting the shoulder- blade ; and that which applies to the taking away so large a portion of the body, applies to the whole material body. And if a man feels his arm or leg when the material part has slumbered in the grave fifty years, shall he not feel his whole spiritual man when the material part has slumbered in the grave a thousand years p It matters not how large a portion of the body be taken away — it does not annihilate the spiritual feeling ; and it matters not how long since the limb may have been amputated — time does not wear this feeling out.
Further ; the spiritual man and the material man are so mysteriously con¬ nected, that the spirit affects the body and the body affects the spirit. In health, the unity of the two is perfect, and they are in sympathy with each other ; yet see how the prick of a pin will disturb that unity ! The cold and the heat coming in contact with the body affect the spirit ; and the patient who has suffered amputation of a limb feels this change of temperature in the limb amputated as it becomes more sensitive ; and just before death the limb amputated becomes more sensitive than at any period during life. How remarkable ! that which is true of part of the spiritual man before death is
6
true of the whole ; and, although the spirit dwells within the material body, yet it is not of it ; but as death approaches, the spirit seems conscious, and exults in being freed from the clay.
Some say this feeling is the effect of memory. How so ? I can remember the things that occurred in my youth. I can see at this moment, with my mind’s eye, the fields in which I rambled, and can depict in my mind the happy faces of those with whom I spent many a playful hour. Several of them have gone to their rest ; yet, with my mind’s eye, I see them. But the body which, philosophically speaking, I possessed then, I possess not now. My material man has, since then, undergone a change ; yet I am confident that I am the same individual, spiritually. If I had suffered, during that time, the amputation of a limb, it could not effect a change in my spiritual man ; for the spiritual part would still remain sensitive and perfect. The body changes every seven years ; so the man who has lived seventy years has lived in ten different (but similar material) bodies. Though the mate¬ rial man has been constantly changing, the spiritual man is unchanged and the same. The decomposition of the body during life is similar to its decom¬ position after death : in the former case the body is seven years decompos¬ ing ; in the latter but a few weeks.
Others say that this feeling after amputation is caused by the connection of the limb with the nerves. How so ? The nerves are as perfect in a dead man as in a living one. If they were not, the student would fail in his dis¬ sections. But there is no feeling in a dead man or dead body. And why ? Because it is no longer inhabited by the spiritual man, but the body, with its nerves, through death has become mere physical matter. Nerves are not life, but the medium through which the spirit acts, to stimulate (through the power of the will) the muscles of the body into action, in order that man may be enabled to fulfil his earthly calling. For “ it is not in flesh to think, nor in bones to reason.”
Nerves are not spirit, any more than wires are electricity. The wires are but the medium through which electricity passes. But what is electricity ? We cannot say. Then, because the ablest philosopher cannot answer the ques¬ tion, would it not be madness to say there is no such thing, when we have such demonstrative evidences of it P And none but a madman would presume to say that there is no such thing as a living soul, simply because he cannot answer the question, “ What is life ?” the evidence of which we have within.
Further : this sensitive feeling not only applies to patients who have suf¬ fered the amputation of a limb, but also applies to those who have become paralysed. I knew a young person suffering from a spinal complaint, which disease so affected the nerves proceeding from that part, that the lower ex¬ tremities became dead or paralysed. She felt that she had legs, which were very sensitive ; but you might pinch or pierce her material legs, and there was no more feeling in them than if you had pierced a block of wood. Though the material limbs were on the body, the unity existing between them and the spirit became separated ; but the spiritual limbs were sensi¬ tive to the last moments of life.
Sometimes a tumour forms on the brain : it affects a nervous centre, which renders the whole of one side of the body paralysed or dead. You may brand with a hot iron, or pierce the body on that side, and there is no feeling. The limbs here are not amputated— the nerves are all connected. There is no
7
feeling in the part paralysed, notwithstanding its connection with the other part of the body. Still it is a stern fact that the patient can feel that half of the spiritual body, though the material part be dead. It is the spirit that feels ; there is no feeling in matter.
Further testimony can be given from reason to prove that the spiritual man inhabits every part of the material body, and, consequently, must have the same shape ; but is more beautiful, as it exists in a much higher degree.
A blind man can see, even when the material organ is taken away. He no longer sees natural objects, because he is deprived of the natural organ ; still he sees with the eye of the spirit, the material part of which is removed. And it is that eye by which (when freed from all that is material) we shall recognize and identify each other in a spiritual state.
In the hour of death we often have evidences of persons seeing with the spiritual eye when the natural eye has become dim. I give a case that has come under my notice : A mother was watching at the death-bed of her beloved daughter, who was not delirious, but calm and composed in spirit. Just before death she said, “ Mother — dear mother — do you see those beau¬ tiful angels F ” “ Where, my child ? ” “ There, mother,” pointing with her
finger, “ Hark ! mother ; hark ! Do you hear that sweet music ?” “ No, my
child.” “ Look again, mother ; do you not see those beautiful angels ? They are beckoning — they are coming for me. Quick ! mother — good bye ! ” She stretched out her hand, took the last farewell, and her happy spirit left the clay to enjoy the society of the just made perfect. The spirit had partly entered heaven before it had left the body. May it not be said that the Christian realizes heaven before he comes into full possession of it P And is not this the case also with the wicked P Just before death they realize the terrors of hell, even before they have left the natural body. They see the spirits of those whose consciences are smeared with the blood of their dark deeds, and all the terrors of hell loom up before them ; so that they enter its gloomy portals before they have left the natural world.
A deaf man can hear, though the drum of the ear be destroyed ; he can hear inwardly with the spiritual ear.
A dumb man can speak inwardly with his tongue, though he cannot arti¬ culate a single sound with his material tongue.
And a man who is blind, deaf, and dumb can think, see, hear, speak, and act, and so understand his Creator as to lift up his soul to Him in adoration and praise.
I have given the truth which reason dictates : others may think differently from myself, which they are quite at liberty to do. The facts have come before my notice, and I have gleaned and given them for the information of the reader ; and I have also given the inferences from them. I will now pass to the third part of my subject ; but before so doing, I will make a few remarks in reference to the objections that may be raised against this train of reasoning.
Some may be ready to ask the question, “ Will not some of these argu¬ ments apply to animals ? ” To this I answer in the words of others.
Butler says : “ Animals may have a natural immortality peculiar to them¬ selves ; but not a moral and intellectual sensibility. The present economy of nature requires such creatures (we could not do without them), and we know not what may be required in the next state of our existence.”
8
Another author says : “ The animals of creation come more nnder the physical law — they consequently can never do wrong ; but man is a moral creature, and therefore responsible at the bar of a higher tribunal.”
There is nothing monstrous in believing in the immortality of animals. We may find in insect life many striking illustrations of the change that must pass over us. One of these I give, which has come under my own notice, as well as under the notice of others. There is often to be seen in our soft-water cisterns a little red worm. Its specific gravity is equal to that of water : that is, it can either descend to the bottom or ascend to the top. As a worm, it is constituted for the element in which it lives, with a body in harmony with its present state of existence. After it has lived a short time in the water, and has done its work, as all insects have their mission to fulfil, it comes up to the surface of the water, and loses its speci¬ fic gravity, and cannot descend to the bottom. Its body has become lighter than water, and it floats on the surface. The head of the worm daily be¬ comes enlarged, until it bursts, and from the worm emerges a beautiful fly, which, when viewed through a microscope in the eye of the sun, is clothed with a brilliancy which glistens more brightly than the jewels of any earthly diadem. The body of the fly is very similar in form to that of the worm from which it has emerged, but still more beautiful. As the fly bursts forth it leaves the form of the worm, or the old clothing, on the surface of the water ; while the new-born creature wings its flight aloft to bask in the sun¬ shine of heaven. The worm has now changed its condition : it lives now in a different element, and has a beautiful body in harmony with its state. While a worm, it could not wing its flight upwards ; and now it is a fly it cannot go back to its original state — -a worm. This insect offers a striking illustration of the change which will pass over us. We live in a natural world ; we have natural bodies in harmony with our state ; we are consti¬ tuted for the world in which we live. Light to the eye — air to the lungs — food to the body, &c. Our material bodies are governed by the natural laws of this world, obedience to which brings its reward, and disobedience brings its punishment. We have a time to live, and a mission to fulfil on earth. Here we are sowing for eternity, and what we sow here we shall reap here¬ after. Death, when our work is done, creeps upon us ; we lose our specific gravity, and there is the tendency upwards — away from earth. We float as it were upon the surface, until our spirits expand and burst forth, leaving the old clothing upon the surface of the earth; then the spirit wings its flight away to the spirit world — a bxaghter scene of action, where it possesses a more beautiful body, in harmony with its existence. It then exists intel¬ lectually and substantially, but not materially. We, with our present con¬ stitution, are not fitted for heaven, and cannot go thither ; and those who are there, and are now clothed in beauty, cannot come back to their former state.
I will now pass to the third part of my subject, namely, the testimony given by Revelation in bearing out the truth which reason asserts.
When God created man, He created him from the dust : here he stands a material house — dust of the earth. Then God breathed into that material house a spirit — a living soul. Here is the union : soul and body — spirit and matter. After man’s creation comes his dissolution. Man dies (the natural man) : his body returns to the dust ; but his spirit to the God that gave it. Here again are soul and body — spirit and matter.
9
Then there is another death spoken of : spiritual death, which refers not to the natural body, but to the intellectual, thinking being, which can and will exist independent of the natural body. God’s words to Adam were, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die ; ” but Adam did not die. What do we understand by this F That Adam became separated from God by breaking His command ; and absence from God was spiritual death ; so that Adam died and lived spiritually as a substantial man, independent of his natural body. Again : as in Adam all die, so in Christ all live. How so ? since all men die (naturally) . What does it mean P That as all die in Adam spiritually, so all live in Christ spiritually. “I am,” says Christ, “the resurrection and the life : he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
What does our Lord mean by this P Man is born in sin and shaped in iniquity ; and there was a time when all men, though they lived naturally, were spiritually dead. Our Lord, therefore, meant that those who believed, and lived a life of faith upon Him, should live and never die. He that be¬ lieveth, passeth from death (not natural death) unto life ; and death hath no more power (not over his body) over his soul. “ If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death” — yet all men die naturally; but Christ means that they shall not see death spiritually, which refers to the death of the spiritual, thinking man, and not to the death of the body.
The above truth teaches this : that the natural or material man and the spiritual man, though united in the natural world, are apart and separate from each other ; and that there is a natural body and a spiritual body. The natural body is of the earth, earthy — God created man from the dust ; the spiritual is from heaven, heavenly — God breathed into man a spirit. The natural body returns to the dust — “ For this I say unto you, brethren : that flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of heaven ; ” but the spiritual man enters either heaven or hell.
We will now turn our thoughts to men individually, as recorded in Scrip¬ ture, and see what evidence is given in bearing out the assertion that the material man and the spiritual man are of the same shape.
The words of our Lord to the thief on the Cross were these : “ This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” Not his body — the natural man — that was left upon the Cross to be committed to the dust ; but the intelligent, thinking, acting man, should be with Him in Paradise, and should be there as a man, substantially, but not materially.
The angels that appeared unto men upon the earth appeared as men, spiritually and substantially. The angels that appeared to the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Shepherds, and the Apostles — they were in countenance and stature as men. They spoke and acted as men. They had not material bodies ; but they were clothed with celestial light, and were the inhabitants, not of a natural, but of a spiritual world. Surely, then, the spiritual man and the material man are of the same shape.
Moses and Elias appeared to Peter and John at the Mount of Transfigura¬ tion. They were represented as the identical men named, with the same countenances and the same individualities — consequently the same identity — as when upon earth ; but their bodies were slumbering in the dust, and had been for ages. Certainly the material man and the spiritual man must have the same shape. But how do we know that they really were the men
10
represented ? Because it is the testimony of the Spirit, and therefore must be true.
Then there is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which we take as a true figure of our state after death. If we do not take it so, away with it at once ; and if we away with this, why not away with all the rest ? No ; we will hold to it and cleave to it ; for, although a fiction to convey truth, still it is the testimony of the Spirit, and therefore must be true.
The bodies of both these men die, and are committed to the dust ; but in a spiritual state they are the same men, unaltered. They are actually the same men the moment after death as they were the moment before death : sufficient to prove that we shall be the same individuals after death as we are now, and our characters, with all our individualities, whether good or bad, will be stamped unalterably ; for he that is holy shall be holy still, and he that is filthy shall be filthy still.
The rich man sees Lazarus, and he sees Abraham, and Abraham, with Lazarus, is identified; but Abraham’s body was buried in Shechem centuries before. Abraham must have had the same countenance as on earth. But does the rich man see with his natural eye ? No ; that is in the grave ; but with his spiritual eye. He has a tongue — he speaks. His material tongue is in the grave ; but he speaks with his spiritual tongue, with which he has the full power of speech. Not only has he the power of speech ; but he has the power to think and the full power of memory. Worms are feeding on his brain ; still he has an active mind — he remembers his father’s house, his brethren, and his connection with that household. He has an ear, and Abra¬ ham, who has also the full power of speech, responds to his call ; but his material ear is in the grave. He hears with the spiritual ear. It is evident that the spiritual man, whether in heaven or in hell, is of the same shape and form as the material man ; for the rich man looks across the gulf to the better world, sees Lazarus, and identifies him as the same man that he saw on earth — yet Lazarus’s material face is in the grave : then the spiritual face must have the same outline of feature to be identified. Therefore the spiri¬ tual man dwells in every part of the material body.
Do not the Scriptures give us every reason to believe that we shall meet our friends in heaven P If so, we must have the same outline of countenance to be identified.
If the spiritual man and the material man have the same shape, so that we shall identify each other in a spirit world, then we must identify each other from memory. If so, shall we not remember our associations on earth ? I believe we shall. If I had wronged a fellow-creature, and were to meet him soon after in the spirit world, the first thing that would flash across my mind would be the wrong I had done him ; and this fact would be suffi¬ cient to prove that I was substantially the same man, though my body might be mouldering in the grave.
If the above be true, what then of all the actions of our life ? What of the shuffling, the falsehood, the trickery, and the cheating, which are now continually being practised by our fellow-men ? Ah ! it is not what a man assumes or appears to be, but what he really is in pi’inciple — which must spring from the inner life. If a man seventy yeai’S of age remembers the actions of his youth, what guarantee has he that he shall not remember the same a thousand years hence ? Since it is the memory of the intelligent
11
thinking man that lives, independent of the natural body, f< every man’s memory is his book of life, or the book of his own life,” upon which is en¬ graved — as with a pen of iron upon eternal brass — all the actions of his past life, which he will remember whether in heaven or in hell.
Some may differ with me on the above assertion, and may believe that a portion of man’s memory is closed, after death, to his evil doings. Was the rich man’s memory closed, or Lazarus’s ? If we remember the good, we re¬ member the evil. If we do not remember the one, we do not remember the other ; then we cannot remember anything. Then, if we have no memory, we are nobody, and cannot be responsible beings ; consequently there can be no reward or punishment.
In a lost state a man’s sins will add to his misery ; as there is no hope of recalling them, or of rendering restitution to those whom he has wronged. In a blissful state the remembrance of a man’s life may not, as it may be supposed, mar his happiness; but he will remember, and rejoice in, the mercy and grace that has saved him — not that he was more than others, or that he deserved more ; but that he had found eternal life, through Christ, by repentance of sin and obedience to faith. A subject breaks the laws of a king : the king offers certain conditions of pardon, which the criminal ac¬ cepts. Though he has obtained forgiveness, can he ever forget? No; he remembers ; but he is not sad — he rejoices in the mercy that saved him. Finding we are all erring creatures, and that everything that is secret shall be brought to light, may we not ever offer up the prayer, “ 0 Lord, help us to live in Thy fear ? ” then, when we are tempted to do a wrong thing, the remembrance that God’s eye is upon us will be a mighty check upon our evil doings.
Here, on earth, we are building up our life for eternity. The good or evil we do will follow us, (but not save us.) Here we sow the seed ; hereafter we shall reap the harvest ; and what we sow, we reap. As the tree falls, so it lies; as a man dies, so he riseth to judgment; and before that judgment he has the full vigour of memory. If otherwise, how shall he receive his just punishment or reward for the deeds done in the body ? The memory of the man must live. We may sometimes dispute and quarrel with our friends. “ To err is human : to forgive, divine.” It is good to forgive ; but we can never, never forget. The above may be thought too plain ; still there is hope, even for the greatest of sinners. Should we meet in heaven, we shall remember the associations of earth ; and though we may have been enemies at some time here, we shall remember with gratitude the conditions under which we meet there. We shall remember that we are met there through heartfelt sorrow for the wrong we had done each other on earth, — through repentance of sin and redemption through faith in a Saviour. Though ene¬ mies on earth, under these conditions we shall meet as friends in heaven, where our differences will be blended, our squabblings at an end, and the banner over us will be love.
If a man die, he will live again, and that independent of the natural body, which returns to the dust. The elements of which it is composed become dissolved into their constituent parts, to be scattered by the winds and waves — to be propelled into animal and vegetable life — to be transformed into flowers and grass — into the flesh of birds and beasts, and back to be propelled through the heart of man again, to help to build up anew the
12
bodies of men, which in their turn shall return to the dust, — for all flesh is grass. Notwithstanding the change that is constantly taking place with the dust of our ancestors, yet they themselves live to think, act, and enjoy a higher and nobler life in the spiritual world.
And as a further proof of this we have the vision of John. “ For he saw in heaven a great multitude, without number, of all kindreds, nations, and tongues, that had gone up out of great tribulation.” They had left their bodies upon earth, and, as spiritual, intelligent beings, they were enjoying the light of God’s presence ; and though John spoke of a vision, he spoke as if they were actually before the Throne, and gives us every reason to believe that the moment we die we shall, as substantial men, free from the clay, be admitted into the presence of God and the society of heaven.
The Scriptures further aflirm that the angels of the Lord are about our bed and about our path — that they are encamped about us : if so, we are walking daily up and down the camp. Thus our spiritual man is as closely connected with the spirit world as our bodies are with this material world. Death has only to rend the body in twain ; then the spirit world will burst upon the soul with all its vastness and glory.
Enough has been said to prove that the soul dwells in every part of the material man. I have given the facts from patients, the dictates of reason upon them, and the testimony of Revelation ; and now I must close my short pamphlet, trusting that the reader will deal charitably with the writer, pro¬ vided he thinks differently — -which he has a perfect right to do. I am not the first, neither shall I be the last, to reason on the immortality of the soul. Plato, in the dark ages of superstition, reasoned on the immortality of the soul without the light of divine truth : sufficient to prove that, without the Bible, God had not left Himself without witness. But had Plato lived a few centuries later, and heard the preaching of Paul, as he spoke from Mars’ hill at Athens, when he pealed forth the glorious truth, that life and immortality were brought to light through the Gospel, with what eagerness would Plato have listened ! Ah ! what a meeting would that have been, for reason and Revelation would then have embraced each other !:
Printed at the Office of “Nowlen’s Weekly Chronicle,” Chard.
The above Illustrations refer to the tenth case — that of the boy who lost both his legs by an accident on the railway, as mentioned on page 4. A pair of Artificial Legs were made for him by the author of this pamphlet, by whom Prospectuses, with Testimonials, &c., will be forwarded on application.