Show MR GLADSTONE ON THE FUTURE LIFE The Right Honorable W E Gladstone Glad-stone begins a series of articles In the January number of the North American Ameri-can Review on The Future Life and the Condition of Man Therein How many numbers there will be Is not known but judging from the character of the first the inquiry is intended to be somewhat exhaustive and the urominence and character of the author au-thor will Insure a very general reading of it Mr Gladstone both in temper ment and moral and mental habits has been almost as much churchman as statesman Whenever political defeat has driven him from public life he I has always found consolation in religious I re-ligious studies and at such times has usually added something to religious literature And for that matter even in the days of his greatest political activity he has alternated his political politi-cal workwith religious studies Apparently Appar-ently his mind was relieved of its strain when preparing an English budget at which he is a recognized masterby diving headlong into the consideration of some metaphysical question concerning the immortality of the soul or rushing Into the arena of nubile discussion to defend Christianity Christian-ity against the assaults of Its adversaries adver-saries The Christian church speaking speak-ing without regard to its many divisions di-visions owes much to Mr Gladstone for the defense he has made of the Christian reunIon and beyond doubt Christendom honors him as among the first of Christian statesmen It is a real pleasure to see Mr Gladstone Glad-stone notwithstanding his falling powers of sight and hearing take up his pen to address the people on a subject a once so interesting and I fraught with such mighty consequences to humanity The pleasure of it is only equaled bv the wonder that one so far advanced in years is capable of i discussing such a theme with so much visor of which this first article gives promise We know there are some who are inclined to scoff at the old mans undertaking un-dertaking They will perhaps say as they have said before of like efforts that it is amusing in these hard and scientific times to see old age In superstitions su-perstitions lap with eager lips upon her withered breast Or to see old age creep Into the cradle of its second childhood and repeat the simple fables fa-bles that pleased It in its first But to our thinking there Is not a sierht I more noble than to see this old statesman states-man with all the batltes and strifes 1 of life passed away in the dignity cf his retirement devoting the few remaining re-maining days of life and consecrating the remaining powers of his great intellect In-tellect to the discussion of so noble a theme and we cannot forbear to express ex-press the hope that the flickering flame of his life may be made to burn more steadIly until the task Is altogether completed So much for the author now as to the matter The first uaner of Mr Gladstones is largely devoted to a review of Bishop Butlers first chapter on the Analogy of Religion Natural and Revealed to the Constitution and Course of Nature The review too is chiefly in the nature of a criticism of the Bishop a half complaint that in his great work he has not placed the argument for the immortality of the soul on Its firmest basis He noints out how the Bishop makes his argument in the first chapter chap-ter the title of which isOf a Future LifepartlY negative and partly affirmative af-firmative In the first part the Bishop shows the insufficiency of the presumptions pre-sumptions against the survival of the soul after death drawn from the character char-acter of death the second part Is devoted de-voted to a consideration of the likelihood likeli-hood drawn from nature or experience that the soul may survive death Mr Gladstone admits and even glories in the strength and sufficiency 01 the o it < > > 0 i negative part of the argumentthe i argument derived from the fact that j there is no evidence that the soul I cannot survive the phenomenon of I death But he deplores the scant material ma-terial for the affirmative part of tile argumnet that Is thelack of positive evidence from nature or experience that the soul may survive death I There are but three items that Butler relies upon as evidence for this side of the argument 1 The fact of existence carries with it a presumption of its continuance which presumption holds until rebutted rebut-ted by adverse presumption of proof 2 From the fact of swoons if not also from dreams we know that our living powers exist when there is no capacity of exercising them 3 From the fact that In certain mortal diseases the reflective powers remain wholly unaffected Butler I seems to Infer such an independence I as supplies a positive presumption of future existence I When you come to think that this is all that may be postulated on the affirmative side of the argument for the survival of the soul after death drawn from nature or experience we are not much surprised to hear Mr Gladstone say that we become sensible of how scanty is the supply of material at Bishop Butlers command com-mand and we begin to think that the statesmans complaint against the Bishop for not putting the argument for the fact of a future life on Its strongest basis is not altogether without with-out reason That surest basis is beyond all doubt the revelation of God to man and if we have not misunder I stood the spirit of this first article of Mr Gladstones we are of opinion that It is uoon that basis that he will ground the argument he intends to make |