IllilliHWfl 1111 1 1 Ml HHH ■ ' 11 HHH mi II H -m 1 1 IE II Ifttt m mm In I lasuuuL ■ . "V ■ ' *3s^^^H * ^ 3^ * s> *3> V A* & 6 ^ THE LIBV I I WASH! N London : Spottiswoodes and Shaw, N.w-Strtet- Square. PREFACE. The following pages, like a great majority of books, were not written in the first instance with a view to publication. They had their origin in a casual conversation, in the reading which this induced, and in the reflections which thence arose. These reflections were by no means foreign to the writer's tem- perament, and he has followed them out from time to time, and noted down the results of his reading and meditation, as opportunity or incli- nation tempted him. The true nature of Eternity and Time was the first subject of his thoughts : and he has found it difficult to limit the topics which meditation upon the abstruse truths of metaphysical and psychological science suggests. It has occasionally been his lot to wander through romantic districts of foreign lands, with no companion but the star- lit canopy of heaven, and to find his mind wrapt in the contemplations which its infinite and mysterious being so na- turally inspires. When nature is seen displayed A 2 IV PREFACE. upon her grandest scale, her influence is power- fully exerted in tempting both mind and body to try untrodden paths, to aspire to high positions, and to labour onward through difficulties and dangers to the highest elevations that the powers of man can possibly attain. He who gives him- self up to this inspiriting impulse is sometimes pained to find himself enveloped in clouds, and sometimes rewarded with brilliant sunshine ; but he uniformly finds both body and mind invigo- rated by the exercise. In these scenes the writer has found how false lights, deceptive appearances, diversities of power of vision, and even liveliness or lack of imagina- tion, lead men who stand side by side to see differently the same thing. Since this is so when viewing terrestrial scenery, how much more so must it be the case when contemplating the remote objects of mental vision ; and how great a diversity of opinion must be anticipated on nearly all the topics discussed in the following pages. The writer has therein endeavoured to explain the true nature of Eternity and Time, — to point out certain phenomena of both, — and to examine certain doubtful or deceptive opinions respecting them. The concluding part of the work is devoted to PKEFACE. V pointing out the bearing which an accurate com- prehension of these truths has on certain im- portant questions touching the soul of man, that have been more or less agitated at nearly every period of the Christian era. The desultory manner, and the broken in- tervals, in which the book has been composed, have rendered it more fragmentary and less re- gularly arranged than the Author could have desired ; but as he never proposed to give to the world any thing that could be mistaken for a " system " of philosophy, this evil is of less moment. In discussing the subjects that have suggested themselves, he has introduced many theological views and opinions which are different from those now generally received. In doing so, he is anxious to guard himself from the supposition of assertiug that they are his, either by invention or adoption. He knows full well that many writers have put in print ideas which they erroneously, but sincerely, believed to be original, and that the great bulk of " new lights " in theology are but exploded heresies ; yet the doctrines herein discussed, whether true or false, appear to him worthy of further consideration. As in their fruitless search for the philosopher's A 3 VI PREFACE. stone, mediaeval chemists made many of the great discoveries on which modern chemistry is founded; so, in the elaborate and careful consideration of the difficulties of psychology, should those diffi- culties themselves receive no solution, important truths must be nevertheless incidentally dis- covered or confirmed. If so, the labourer will not be without his reward. But, above all things, the writer is anxious to guard himself against any suspicion of dogma- tising or laying down the law certainly or con- clusively on any of the topics discussed. He proposes to examine, to discuss, to sift them ; but, while he is ready to point out the conclusion to which the examination appears to him legitimately to lead, he has earnestly en- deavoured to express his opinions in that spirit of respect for others, toleration, and Christian charity, which a mind engaged in the earnest and honest search after truth learns from the very nature of its labours. To suggest an elevated train of thought, and to promote an earnest inquiry after truth in its purity, are the main objects of his work. CONTENTS. Introduction - Page 1 ETERNITY. The word familiar. Uncertain opinions of antiquity as to the existence of Eternity. This only proved by revelation. Its definition the object, not the commencement, of inquiry. Lord Brougham. Usually divided into the Infinite Past and the Infinite Future - - - 19 THE INFINITE PAST. The Infinite Past. Being without beginning. Usually con- sidered to be a point infinitely remote. Inability satis- factorily to conceive this idea. Inadequacy of the ex- planation as generally given. Inquiry into the nature of Time advisable 25 TIME. The word Time has two meanings : the one arbitrary, the other absolute. The second the object of inquiry. Its various aspects. Effect of change in the observer's position, east or west. Undulations of light and sound carried onwards into space. Effects perceived by sentient Beings on earth if travelling with similar rapidity ; and if travelling at their ordinary speed ; and if travelling into a 4 Vlll CONTENTS. space. " The Stars and the Earth." Result of illustrations. Time is caused by successive change in material form. Change in immaterial Being gives no idea of Time. Deep thought. Dreaming. To a Being unconscious of material change all existence is present. Increase and decrease of Time. Its divisibility. Unlimited addition to limited Being does not equal the infinite. Illustration. The expression " Time becomes nothing when compared with eternity," a source of error - - Page 29 THE INFINITE PAST, OR BEING WITHOUT BEGINNING. Distinct from past time. Can its nature vary? Peculiar property of Being without beginning cannot be lost. Can Being without beginning terminate ? The whole of Being without beginning is now present and can never cease - - - . - - 53 THE INFINITE FUTURE, OR BEING WITHOUT END. Three points of view. Its peculiar property of Being with- out end cannot be lost. Can Being without end be created in the future ? Its duration is in the Infinite Past 62 ETERNITY. Inaptitude of mathematics to this subject. Mathematical examination may be attempted with caution. Pre- vious modification of expression. Examination. Result. Neither the Infinite Past nor the Infinite Future can terminate in any point, past, present, or future. That which has an end in duration has a beginning in duration. That which has a beginning in duration has an end in duration. Being without beginning, eternal. Being with- CONTENTS IX out end, eternal. Archbishop Whateley. Cowley. Boe- thius. That which is eternal will be described in the present tense. Dr. Adam Clarke. Priority or conse- quence impossible without the lapse of time. Neither the end of time nor its beginning is the beginning of eternity - Page 67 REPEATED MANIFESTATIONS OF TIME. The beginning and end of time. Alfred Smee. Time exists by the will of the First Great Cause. Is another creation of time possible ? Not to be doubted by believers in revelation. Is it probable? Is it to be proved? The creation of two distinct manifestations of time is a reality. Is the number limited 78 TIME AND ETERNITY. Schlegel. Is obliged to assume a two-fold form of time. The one form is sensible time ; the other eternity. Views to a certain extent similar. Eternity and time. Time is not eternity fallen into a state of disorder. Caution required in asking " Who could have plunged eternity into disorder?" Answer to be received with greater caution. Time and eternity perfect. Adapted to twofold state of man. Time subjected to man in his original innocence. Received power over him after his trans- gression. And will again become his ministering spirit in his restoration - - - - - 86 THE IMMATERIAL. Four general principles obtained from the consideration of time and eternity. First application of them. Things of earth temporary. Of heaven eternal. The Divine attributes. Archbishop Whateley. Enlightened views of X CONTENTS. the Divine attributes far different from their full com- prehension. This impossible to man. Ideas of the im- material, negative and positive. Alfred Smee. Dr. King. Alfred Smee. Psalm cxxxix. Result of inquiry. This is applicable to all that is immaterial. Therefore to the arch-principle of evil. Other attributes not universally applicable to the immaterial. Omnipotence. Allmerciful- ness. Immutability. Heaven and hell. The soul of man. Each perfectly distinct. Possesses the essential attributes of the immaterial. These are now veiled from man's consciousness. The number of human souls. Aspiration of the spirit held in check by the restraint of the body Page 95 THE VISIBLE BODY. Resurrection of the body. Want of unanimity upon this . subject among writers upon divinity. Archbishop Tillot- son. Dr. Olinthus Gregory. Bishop Stillingfleet. John Locke. Dr. Watts. Dr. Clarke. Objection as to men eaten by fishes or by other men. Deformity. Language of Scripture. Archbishop Whateley. Sleep of the soul. Incorruptible body. Natural and spiritual body. St. Paul. Reply to Dr. Gregory. General omission in Scripture of reference to the resurrection of the wicked. John Locke. Many passages limited to the future state of the righteous. Soul reunited to the body after the lapse of unknown ages. Mary Somerville. M. J. Schleiden. Dean Stanhope* Change to a spiritual body. Does Scripture teach the resurrection of a body visible, limited, and material 115 THE SOUL OF MAN. Self-consciousness of its existence. Coexistent with self. Opinions of antiquity as to its immortality. Plato sup- CONTENTS. XI ports the doctrine by four arguments. These arguments instructive, but fail to produce conviction. Archbishop Whateley. Third argument of Plato. Origen. Distinction to be drawn between previous and eternal existence. Schlegel. Immortality of the soul not proved by Plato or Butler. Revelation the only sure guide - Page 141 ETERNITY OF THE SOUL. Reason required only where Scripture is silent. Eternity of the soul inferred from four considerations. Dr. Watts. Objection to apparent limit to Omnipotence answered. Qucestio vexata as to exact moment of the creation of each soul. Birth of the body not an actual creation. But a development from preceding organisation. And dependant upon man. Manifestation of the soul the act of a higher power. Influence of evil the cause of present ignorance. Wherefore is evil allowed ? Human reason not permitted to answer. Spirit of evil eternal. Schlegel. Lucifer. Fallen angels. Adam not immutable. Olinthus Gregory. Effects of evil at present day. Lord Ashley. Bishop of London. Dr. Conolly. Charles Dickens. State of many of the poor one of utter helplessness. Feelings with which they should be regarded. Bishop Butler. Appearance of such beings upon earth a punishment. Application of reason. Blaise Pascal. Population of the world. Number hastening onwards to everlasting punish- ment. Apparently at variance with a dispensation of mercy. Hartley on Man. Attempts to reconcile apparent contradiction. These not always successful. Perplexing thoughts of those unconvinced. As expressed by them in words. Sublimity of the Christian faith. It is that of a limited number. The question of the wavering. Of the Infidel. The answer of the Atheist. Of the Believer. Xll CONTENTS. Of the Christian philosopher. The soul eternal. Not the spirit of a good angel. Is it that of a fallen angel ? Is a season of probation given to the fallen angels ? Rev. Thomas Adam. The Prince of this world tempted one of his own evil spirits. Schlegel. Dante. Election a tenet of Calvinism. In accordance with Scripture. And with human ideas of justice. All the race of Adam are deserving of punishment - - Page 151 INDIVIDUAL GUILT. Each individual is rebelling in Eternity. Spiritual and eternal Beings are unable aud unwilling to repent. Con- tinuous obduracy. Satan. Punishment devised. Different from that of man. It is a merciful infliction. An opportunity of repentance, and a means of reconciliation - - 192 MANIFESTATION OF MAN UPON EARTH. Birth is the election of God. This extension of the Christian doctrine affords an instance of divine love. In accordance with Scripture. Reconciliation made for thrones and principalities and powers. Eternal knowledge of evil ir- reconcilable with happiness. The gift of oblivion. This gift not imaginary. Present life is one of suspended knowledge. Blaise Pascal. Reality of this gift not sus- ceptible of absolute proof. But in harmony with divine providence. And a further source of thankfulness. Rev. Thomas Adam - - - - - 195 CREATION. Repentance impossible in Eternity. Time given for repent- ance. Birth of Adam. Time and Eternity reign together. The first man not infallible. Resistance to temptation necessary for improvement. Test of obedience provided. CONTENTS. Xlll A test of universal virtue. Carlisle. Prohibition given was more than a test of virtue. Knowledge of evil threatened destruction to the gift of oblivion. And was a consciousness of sin. Butler - - Page 206 REVIEW. Antagonistic principles of good and evil. Ministering spirits. Dr. Whitby. Dr. Clarke. Rev. John Wesley. The Being of infinite goodness delights in mercy. By evil Beings purely spiritual conversion is undesired and unat- tainable. Birth a punishment. Therefore a proof of guilt committed in another sphere of existence. The punish- ment of Heaven a means of reconciliation. Such is our present dispensation. Fallen angels not yet condemned. Reserved for final sentence. Dr. Clarke. Birth of our first parents. Their peculiar trial an eminent instance of infinite wisdom and goodness. Former question again answered ------ 215 FALL OF MAN. Adam was innocent, holy, and divine. He was discontented, proud, and devilish. He had power to resist. He failed. His descendants doubly sinful. Dr. Hooker. Depravity of man. Divine goodness once again manifested - 226 REDEMPTION OF SINNERS. Birth of a human being similar to Adam possible at the present day. Such limited scheme of restoration not in accordance with infinite wisdom and goodness. Homily on the Passion. Gregory. Divine love manifested in redemption. Doubts entertained by some respecting its infinite depth. Their views stated. Their difficulty re- moved by a belief in the eternity of the soul. Beauty XIV CONTENTS. of scriptural description. Rev. Thomas Adam. Lowth's Isaiah. Type prefigured in Adam fulfilled - - 230 TYPE PREFIGURED IN ADAM. Fulfilment of the type to be further traced. Exercise of free will in resisting temptation necessary for the perfecting of the soul of Adam. Mortification of the desires of the flesh, and energy in the pursuit of good, necessary for the perfecting of all men. We are made partakers of heaven by obedience, by knowledge, by charity. Heavenly hap- piness proportioned to the frequent exercise of these duties on earth. St. Paul. Dr. Adam Clarke. Happiness will not be proportional to the amount of our gifts, but to their beneficial application - - Page 246 REFLECTIONS. Works of supererogation. Equal happiness. Adam was not meet for the kingdom of heaven. The criminal. The profligate. The reckless. The murderer. The murdered. The murderer's repentance upon the scaffold. Gregory. Rev. Thomas Adam. We are not sinners only by com- mission of sin upon earth. Justification visible and spi- ritual. Schlegel. Degrees of future happiness. Cowper. Temporary knowledge useless. Knowledge that tends to the increase of heavenly happiness to be sought after. Gregory. Type prefigured in Adam is threefold - 256 REPEATED SEASONS OF PROBATION. The number of spiritual beings probably unlimited. The present manifestation of time too limited for the trial of all. Repeated creations of time. During the present time a certain number of evil beings is forgiven. And a CONTENTS. XV certain number condemned. Of those condemned one portion has sinned through wilfulness. Another portion through ignorance. Dare we hope that a second season of probation will be given to these ? The just will be as the angels in heaven. Continuance of earthly friendships and love to be hoped for in heaven. All "whom we have known on earth may be condemned. And we shall be alone. Faith. Charity. Hope. Praise. Hartley on Man. Wollaston's " Religion of Nature." Bishop Porteus. Bishop Mann. Gregory. Schlegel. The angels in heaven. Schlegel. Dr. Whitby. The type prefigured in Adam a second time fulfilled. The just will be minis- tering spirits to those on earth. Far different aspect is now presented of loneliness in eternity. The type pre- figured in Adam yet again and again fulfilled. The do- minion of evil is ever losing power. The kingdom of good ever growing brighter in glory - - Page 272 NOTES. Note A. - - - - 295 Note B. - - - - - 300 Note C. - ib. Note D. - - - - - 301 INTRODUCTION. " Prove all things, hold fast that which is good. To exercise reason is the privilege of man : to him alone has it been given to explore the groves of knowledge, and ascertain the virtue of every tree and plant that grow therein. Countless are these in number, infinite in variety, but conspi- cuously and far above all others one proudly lifts its head to heaven : — " In the mid-garden tower'd a giant tree, Rock-rooted on a mountain-top it grew, Rear'd its unrivall'd head on high, And stretch'd a thousand branches o'er the sky, Drinking with all its leaves celestial dew." b Yery beautiful and pleasing to the sight is this monarch of the grove. In grandeur he rises from the ground, piercing the highest region of thought, and spreading his arms abroad in the vast expanse of the ideal. Difficult is the at- a 1 Thess. v. 2i. b Southey. 2 INTRODUCTION. tempt to climb, for every branch extends beyond the reach of sense and demands especial exertion of the intellect ; but to overcome all difficulty, and gain the top, exceeds the power of man. Perfect attainment of knowledge dwells with the unfettered spirit of immortality. Such is the philosophy which seeks to learn the nature of the infinite, the immaterial, and the eternal ; and such is the tree to the contem- plation of which we are about to direct the utmost power of mind. But we must first weigh the words of those who shun its presence as that of the fabled Upas, regarding it either as the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or as one of those, pleasing but delusive, which breathe the murky vapours from the sea of Sodom ; the fruit thus being the cause either of sin or disappointment. Among the opponents to these branches of knowledge, there are those who believe that the study of them involves no actual sin, but consider that the result obtained, after long and arduous inquiry, is not of suffi- cient importance to justify the length of the examination, and that the time so occupied might have been more profitably employed. There are, too, those who regard the wish to INTRODUCTION, 6 explore a distant country as a possible trans- gression ; and they consequently look upon every attempt to raise the thoughts into regions where their flight can be but with difficulty sustained, as an act of presumption by which man ap- proaches too closely those things the nature of which has not been revealed, and therefore (as they believe) forbidden to be sought after. It is true that the uncertainty and contra- diction which have attended the researches both of ancient and modern philosophers sufficiently prove that an ill-regulated or too ardent pursuit of this study must be attended with many evil effects ; and from this cause probably it has been too hastily regarded by some as an amusing spe- culation, serving only to sharpen the intellect, without aim or purpose, and unproductive of benefit. But is not this result to be attributed principally to the mode in which the exa- mination has been carried on, rather than to the nature of the subject ? With philosophers the lamp of revelation has, I fear, but too often burned in vain ; they have too frequently relied upon the unaided light of reason, and the over- confidence of the inquirer has supported that as a certainty which was in fact but the off- B 2 4 INTRODUCTION. spring of undigested theory. But by proceeding in accordance with Scripture, the Christian will not fall into the unbelief of the present German school; and by directing his thoughts to the contemplation of his high destiny, the man of cultivated mind raises himself far above the follies of those who take delight in frivolous pursuits, or pass their time in sensual gratifi- cation. Thus we are taught that our earthly nature is twofold. It is in two separate and distinct spheres that " we live and move and have our being." In the one are found the desires and wants of outward sense, in the other dwell the aspirations of the inward spirit. " They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit ; for to be carnally-minded is death, but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace." " This I say, then ; walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption ; INTRODUCTION. 5 but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." a And this higher life which thus earnestly seeks an immortal inheritance is likewise two- fold. It is not only a trial of faith and charity, but it is also a preparation for that season in which those " which came out of great tribu- lation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." b That study, therefore, is not of light value which teaches us how knowledge here obtained may influence our state hereafter ; that study by which we learn carefully to distinguish that which relates solely to the present life, and will perish with it, from that which is not only co- existent with the continuance of time, but also embraces the whole duration of eternity. The objects of sense, and the organs essential to their proper enjoyment, depend upon each other, and are mutually adapted. At least a portion of these material objects, and the corre- sponding modes of perception, will pass away. Many causes of sensible pleasure and pain have arisen from the spread of civilisation, and have a Rom. viii. 8. ; Gal. v. 16., vi. 8. b Rev. vii. 14. 16. b 3 6 INTRODUCTION. increased far beyond the original provision of nature ; but they are of man's formation, and, whether they be useful or the reverse, neces- sary or artificial, all are temporary. The know- ledge, therefore, which is applicable to their consideration can be but evanescent, and will hereafter become useless. " But this I say, brethren, the time is short : it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none ; and they that weep, as though they wept not ; and they that rejoice, as though they re- joiced not ; and they that buy, as though they possessed not ; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." a Concentration of thought upon subjects the most abstract may with some fail to produce any tangible result, any result of practical be- nefit ; but by it alone can man exercise, to its fullest extent, his power of reasoning — that most noble attribute, which entitles him to his proud pre-eminence over all created beings. We must, however, emphatically deny that this absence of useful application is inevitable ; we believe that great good may be derived from the unflinching a 1 Cor. vii. 29. INTRODUCTION. 7 prosecution of such inquiry, and we look forward with confidence to a time when the importance of these subjects v/ill be more generally acknow- ledged. This branch of study already possesses the sanction of antiquity, for Aristotle has said that when the investigation of subjects demand- ing the purest intellectual research is conducted with propriety, the inquirer is raised above mere physical knowledge, and is carried into the highest domains of science. But it has been reserved to the Christian alone to reject at once that which is opposed to revelation, and thus to define the extent of those regions to which the mind of man may aspire. In those calm moments when the soul holds communion with herself, desire for information attains its most ample development. It is amid the solitude of the mountain fastness, and under the dark star-lit vault of heaven, that in mid- night meditation this eager craving is felt within us, and the immortal spirit yearns for the knowledge of truth. Then it is that we fully feel that our body " is of the earth, earthy ; " that, in its present form, it acts as an obstruction to the aspiration of the soul; and that, by its present wants, it continually compels us to B 4 8 INTRODUCTION. withdraw from the contemplation of heavenly things, and to direct our thoughts towards those which are temporary. This earnest contem- plation of visible and invisible Being produces that disposition of mind which assists us in attaining and appreciating the highest intel- lectual and moral development ; but, above all, it is eminently calculated to induce us trustfully to look forward to that time to come when all doubt shall be dispersed, and it powerfully strengthens the belief that our future state of bliss will not be one in which the pleasure of sense will be exalted, but will rather be a state in which all the mysteries of creation shall be made clear. Thus, while this application of the powers of the mind brings forcibly before us the many deep things which lie hidden beneath the surface, and brings home to our perception our own great want of knowledge as to their nature, it raises up an eager hope and craving for satis- faction ; it points out the mode in which pre- paration is to be made for the reception of truth, and, with Divine guidance, it may possibly be a foretaste of that eternity in which the full flood of light shall be poured forth upon those who shall have walked worthily in the season of difficulty. INTRODUCTION. 9 The bold swimmer delights to breast the curling breakers, and thus prove his mastery over the rage of ocean. The rower, conscious of power and confident in skill, steers his frail bark amid contending currents, and carries her with safety over the broken waters. The man of cultivated mind, accustomed to turn his thoughts inwardly upon self-examination, and thus reflect upon their inmost nature, finds his own reward in conscious improvement, while all rejoice exultingly in the proud feeling of success over difficulty. But when the spirit of man rises to the contemplation of the hidden mys- teries of Being, and when, with each return from the regions of the Ideal, she wings her flight with increasing confidence, and gains new courage as the multiplying stores of knowledge are poured forth, what language can describe her ecstasy ! Thus would I answer those who assert that this branch of study is without aim or purpose. But there is one other consequence, which only becomes apparent as we continue to accustom ourselves to reflect upon these questions, as our thoughts consequently acquire a tendency to shape themselves in a particular form, and as we 10 INTRODUCTION. habitually estimate all things by the unchanging standard of their eternal value. A new sense, or rather a faculty beyond all sense, is actually called into existence. Not only are our af- fections weaned from the frivolous and tempo- rary pursuits of this transitory state, and fixed upon things above, but we are slowly though surely led to form a true and more elevated idea of a part of those joys which will be our portion when we shall be no longer tied and bound in this prison-house of flesh. It is by these thoughts that we are led, step by step and hour by hour, far from those scenes of strife which take from life's short span, and leave the trace of sin as a blot to stain the soul. It is by these thoughts that we are taught how slight should be the weight of those fears, for the ills of this life, which seem at times to drag us to the grave and plunge the soul in death. These thoughts, too, it is which show us the small worth of those vain hopes for the bright things of earth which we have drawn close to our hearts, and which are in our eyes the pearls of great price, that with toil and care we weave with a web of life, which it may be shall this hour pass from us. Surely, then, these are fruits well worth the time INTRODUCTION. 11 bestowed, and ought alone to be sufficient in- ducement for perseverance. The devout Christian may perhaps hesitate to penetrate deeply into the nature and grounds of his belief, fearing that he might thus put reason in the place of faith. But that determination of spirit, which blindly and without examination adheres to an article of belief for which it will not attempt to give a reason, is not faith, but superstition. It is but one degree, if any, above the blind ignorance of the unenlightened heathen, who clings to the ancient and time-honoured rites of his forefathers, who believes in the power of stocks and stones, and imitates in sensual pleasure the supposed nature of his deities. And yet to him we are accustomed to send forth missionaries, whose first duty it is to impress upon him the necessity of examining most closely the peculiarities of his own religion, while we ourselves hesitate to do that which we require of him. We deem it dangerous to in- quire into the mysteries of creation, and we refuse to examine rashly the foundations of our Christian faith, fearing that, urged on by the intoxicating influence of human pride in human intellect, we should place confidence in our de- 1 2 INTRODUCTION. ductions above our faith in God's teaching, and substitute the vanity of intellectual power for the humility and teachableness of those "little children of whom is the kingdom of God." A careful examination of the first principles of the philosophy of religion, conducted in a spirit of humble reliance upon His teaching, so far from leading us into idle and deluding specu- lations, may, and with God's blessing should, enable us to give a reason for the faith that is in us, and supply us with the means of satisfying the doubts, not only of ourselves, but of others : " for the two great lights of God, reason and revelation, never contradict each other, though one be superior to the other." a It is by the light of reason that we are enabled to preserve undefiled that invaluable heritage of religious freedom which Luther bequeathed to us, when, with the mighty energy of an en- lightened mind, he had shaken off the trammels of the Church of Rome. We inculcate the duty of a reasoning inquiry, and insist upon the benefit which it confers, when we seek to turn the heathen from the error of his way and to bring him within the fold of the One Shepherd. a Dr. Watts's Strength and Weakness of Human Reason. INTRODUCTION. 13 And we ourselves, by continually advancing in widening fields of knowledge, by exercising with greater diligence the Divine gift of reason, by receiving the immutable principles of justice and mercy as guides to the study of " the Law and of the Testimony;" — we ourselves, by constant prayer that the Divine teaching may accompany our efforts, hope thus gradually to reconcile the apparent contradictions of Scripture, to clear away the clouds which still overshadow our present existence, and to confirm our faith in the everlasting truth of that religion which is founded upon the " Rock of Ages." But if it be not intended that this noble gift of reason should be exerted to the utmost when directed to questions upon which Scripture is silent, who shall affix the limit ? Who shall set bounds to the manifestation and development of that " indefinite feeling of profound desire, which is satisfied with no earthly object, whether real or ideal, but is ever directed to the eternal and divine. . . . In certain happy temperaments, under circumstances favourable to their free expansion, this vague longing is peculiar to the age of youth, and is often enough observed there. Indeed, it is in that soft melancholy which is 14 INTRODUCTION. always joined with the half-unconscious but pleasant feeling of the blooming fulness of life, that lies the charm which the reminiscence of the days of youth possesses for the calm and quiet contemplations of old age. Here, too, the distinctive mark between the genuine and spurious manifestation of this feeling is both simple enough and easily found. For as this longing may in general be explained as an inchoate state — a love yet to be developed — the question reduces itself consequently to the simple one of deter- mining the nature of this love. If upon the first development and gratification of the passions this love immediately passes over to, and loses itself in, the ordinary realities of life, then is it no genuine manifestation of the heavenly feeling, but a mere earthly and sensual longing. But when it survives the youthful ebullition of the feelings, when it does but become deeper and more intense by time, when it is satisfied with no joys and stifled by no sorrows of earth — when, from the midst of the struggles of life and the pressure of the world, it turns like a light- seeing eye upon the storm-tossed waves of the ocean of time, to the heaven of heavens, watching to discover there some star of eternal hope — INTRODUCTION. 15 then is it that true and genuine longing, which, directing itself to the divine, is itself also of a celestial origin. Out of this root springs almost every thing that is intellectually beautiful and great — even the love of scientific certainty itself, and of a profound knowledge of life and nature. Philosophy indeed has no other source, and we might in this respect call it, with much propriety, the doctrine or the science of longing. But even that youthful longing, already noticed, is often- times a genuine, or at least the first, foundation of the higher and truer species, although, unlike the latter, it is as yet neither purely evolved nor refined by the course of time. " Could men's eyes be but once opened to seek it, how would they be amazed at the infinity which they have neglected, and might have at- tained to, and which generally in the world remains neglected and unattainecl ! But, of the many thousands whom this remark concerns, how very few ever attain to a clear cognition of their real destination! And the reason of this is simply the fact, that the faith of men is all too weak ; and, above all, that it is too vaguely general, too superficial, too little searching or profound — not sufficiently personal and childlike. 16 INTRODUCTION. . . . The longing after the eternal and divine which has been already described is the seeking of God ; but this calm inward assent of the will, whenever, with a childlike faith and an enduring love, and in steadfast hope, it is carried through and maintained with unwavering fidelity through- out life, is the actual finding of Him within us, and a constant adherence to Him when once we have found Him. As the root and principle of all that is best and noblest in man, this divine longing cannot be too highly estimated ; and nowhere is it so inimitably described, and its excellence so fully acknowledged, as in Holy Writ itself."* The preceding reflections give us undoubted cause for the conviction, that not only is this contemplation of invisible Being attended by results beneficial in the highest degree to us all, but that it is in strict unison with the will of Him who has placed us here, — not that we may regard the things of earth, but that we may set our affections upon the things of heaven. That which has been enjoined is for our good ; that which is for our good has been enjoined. " Man is evidently made for thinking ; this is the whole a Schlegel's Philosophy of Life, pp.34. 111. INTRODUCTION. 17 of his dignity, and the whole of his merit. To think as he ought, is the whole of his duty ; and the true order of thinking is to begin with himself, his Author, and his end. . . . Thus the whole of our dignity consists in thought. It is by this we are to elevate ourselves, and not by mere space and duration. Let us, then, labour to think well: this is the principle of morality." a "Keason is the light of the soul." "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good;" but "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God ;" " and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." b Spare there- fore no effort of the intellect. Seek earnestly to distinguish truth from falsehood, the just from the unjust. Withdraw the thoughts unflinchingly from frivolous and temporary pursuits, and concen- trate the utmost attention upon that which is spiritual and eternal. Penetrate unweariedly into the mysteries of creation, and search the Scriptures thoroughly that they may assist the light of reason in reconciling all things with the a Blaise Pascal : Thoughts on Religion, pp. 50. 118. h 1 Thess. v. 21. 3 1 John, iv. 1. ; 1 Peter, iii. 15. C 1 8 INTRODUCTION. marvellous attributes of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. But as the material and temporary sun of heaven shines upon the just and the unjust, so must the light of reason bring before man's spiritual and eternal consciousness both good and evil; and the wider his thoughts expand, and the higher the realm in which they take their flight, the greater are their power and their means both for good and evil. Temper- ately, therefore, and with moderation, let us begin our course ; and then, with the silver lamp of revelation in our hand, and the divine mani- festations of peace, goodwill, and charity to all men, as unerring guides through every diffi- culty, we may surely, without presumption, en- tertain the hope that we are not about too rashly to traverse realms of inquiry which man in his present state will probably never be per- mitted thoroughly to explore. THOUGHTS ON BEING, ETERNITY. What is Eternity ? can aught Paint its duration to the thought ? Tell all the sand the ocean laves, Tell all its changes, all its waves, Or tell, with more laborious pains, The drops its mighty mass contains : Be this astonishing account Augmented with the full amount Of all the drops the clouds have shed, Where'er their wat'ry fleeces spread, Thro' all Time's long-protracted tour, From Adam to the present hour ; — Still short the sum, nor can it vie With the more num'rous years that lie Embosom'd in Eternity. Attend, O man, with awe divine, For this Eternity is thine ! a " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. I am that I am, which is, and which was, and which is to come." b "With the word Eternity are associated the earliest ideas of childhood. But this familiarity a Gibbons. b John, viii. 58. ; Exod. iii. 14. 5 Rev. i. 8. c 2 20 THOUGHTS ON BEING. with the expression too frequently causes for- getfulness of the depth of meaning which it represents. We are satisfied with that which lies upon the surface, and have no desire to plunge beneath. We are conscious of time, for our senses note its passage ; but eternity appeals to the inner thought, and by an effort of the mind alone can it be perceived. Nay, I know not that the voice of reason herself speaks of eternity, for we find that its existence has by many been denied, while a belief in the immortality of spirit, and that in the fleeting nature of sen- sible objects, has each at times been rejected and received. By the philosophic schools of antiquity the eternity of spirit was more fre- quently denied than that of matter. Aristotle and the Peripatetics believed the vital heat of the body to arise from an ether which they called a fifth element, " neither heavy nor light, but of which the heaven and the stars are com- posed, and which, like them, is eternal." But in his treatise on courage this philosopher also remarks that " death is formidable beyond most other evils, on account of its excluding hope ; since it is a complete termination, and there ETERNITY. 21 does not appear to be any thing, either of good or evil, beyond it." a The Sceptics, if indeed they had a fixed belief, preferred death to life, because it offered that " complete state of calm indifference which, in their opinion, constituted happiness." Epicurus taught "that death was not the end of misery only, but the utter de- struction of existence." He, with Democritus, however, believed in the eternity of matter. " The Sadducees say that there is no resur- rection, neither angel, nor spirit." b A belief in eternity is of necessity held by all Christians, and indeed to the reality of its ex- istence but few infidels of modern days refuse assent. " 'Tis the Divinity that stirs within us, 'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter, And intimates eternity to man." c But there are some of us who are looking forward to an indistinct future when eternity shall appear, who believe that it will be created, but deny its present existence. Every doubt on this point is, however, removed by the words of that book in which we read of the " High a Arist. Eth. Nicom. b. iii. b Acts, xxiii. 8. c Addison. c 3 22 THOUGHTS ON BEING. and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity." a From that source, therefore, and from that alone, we draw full assurance that eternal Being, to which we are about to direct our thoughts, is not the uncertain creation of the imagination. There we learn that eternity is Being which now is and is now present. The nature of eternity we will not now at- tempt to define, for we must " regard the de- finition as rather the end of our inquiry than its commencement. Indeed this may generally be observed of metaphysical, or rather psycho- logical, inquiries : they are not like those of the mathematician, who must begin by defining ; but that is because his definition is in fact a statement of part of the hypothesis in each proposition. Thus whoever enunciates any pro- position respecting a property of the circle, pre- dicates that property of a figure whose radii are all equal, and it is as if he began by saying, ' Let there be a curve line such that all the straight lines drawn from its points to another point within it are equal, then I say that the rectangles are equal ; which, &c.' The general definition only saves the trouble of repeating a Isa. lvii. 15. ETERNITY. 23 this assumption as part of the hypothesis in each proposition. But the nature of any thing of which we discourse in psychology is not the hypothesis we start from ; it is the goal or con- clusion we are seeking to arrive at. Indeed, so it is in physical science also ; we do not begin, but end, by denning the qualities of bodies, or their action on one another But there must be a definition of terms which does not imply our stating the nature of the thing defined ; it only implies that we must under- stand what the thing is to which the given word applies." a Thus, although we are as yet unable to give a satisfactory definition of that of which it is our object, in the course of inquiry, to obtain a clear idea, it is necessary to understand what that Being is which we propose to contem- plate. Now a full and complete idea of the word Eternity is, I think, given by the conception of Being which has had no beginning, and which will have no end of Being, which includes in its duration the infinite past and the infinite future. It is in accordance with this meaning of the word that we find that those who have endeavoured a Lord Brougham. C 4 24 THOUGHTS ON BEING. to obtain clear ideas upon this subject have usually considered the whole duration of eternity as formed of two parts : — Infinitum a parte post: a beginning and no end, or the infinite future. Infinitum a parte ante: an end and no be- ginning, or the infinite past. By the earnest contemplation of these two divisions we hope to attain a full and perfect knowledge of the meaning of the word. But, as we advance in the examination of our subject, we shall be obliged to allude to the course of Time. It will therefore be necessary to obtain clear ideas of its nature, and a short digression must then be made for this purpose, but it will lead us back better fitted for resuming the contemplation of Eternity. After having thus dwelt upon the nature of time and of eternity we shall be prepared to consider whether there subsists between them any proportion or relation, or whether they be absolutely different and distinct. 25 THE INFINITE PAST. We have now to contemplate the Infinite Past and the Infinite Future. Many may be inclined to rest satisfied with the first ideas which these expressions are calculated to raise, and they may believe that their further development would lead to results of little importance, while the attempt would be attended with great diificulty. But let these words pass slowly before the eye of contemplation, and perhaps attention may suggest points for consideration which easily escape careless observation ; and let us hope that the results drawn from a careful examination and full developement of the subject will induce us to look upon eternity with feelings of more than usual awe, and lead the mind to a more perfect comprehension of subjects calculated to inspire feelings of solemn admiration and hopeful confidence. What is the Infinite Past ? The conception generally entertained by those whose inclination leads them to the consideration of such questions, 26 THOUGHTS ON BEING. is that the Infinite Past represents a point of duration infinitely remote from the present, a point which is endeavoured to be made ap- preciable by the mind by the adoption of a negative mode of explanation, by the statement of that which is in reality a succession of points, not one of which truly represents the Being of which we are in search. The imagination is called upon first to realise the idea of an instant of time at the greatest possible distance back- wards from the present ; and when we believe that success has attended this attempt, it is necessary to make a further effort in order to look upon the Infinite Past as a point still more remote/ I have endeavoured to state shortly and fairly this mode of realising the idea ; and I think that even those most disposed at first to deny the correctness of the explanation so given will, after consideration, acknowledge that, how- ever the most usual modes of attempting to convey ah idea of the Infinite Past may be varied, a " We can only judge of time by a succession of impres- sions on the mind, and it is usually by supposing an infinite succession that we arrive at our notion of eternity." — Hind's History of the Rise and Progress of Christianity, vol. i. ch. v. THE INFINITE PAST. 27 they must, when rigidly examined and dissected, end in the same result. I find it impossible to realise the idea of this supposed point ; it is to me one utterly incon- ceivable by the imagination, for, however dis- posed the mind may be towards the investigation, and however ardently it may wish for enlighten- ment, and however sincerely it may hope, and even believe, that success has attended its efforts, there must necessarily always exist this diffi- culty, — that to whatever remote distance in the past the imagination may travel backwards, and were it even then to proceed to a point, or to ten thousand points, each still further distant in the past, there must still be a point in the In- finite Past infinitely more remote. We have, in truth, been attempting continually to add to the duration of Being without beginning ; of Being, the past duration of which is infinite, and there- fore immeasurable and not susceptible of increase. Thus the Infinite Past cannot be represented by any point, real or imaginary ; so that, while we have perhaps fondly indulged the hope that reason and examination would remain satisfied with the idea which we had been taught to form, reflection at length awakens us to the certainty 28 THOUGHTS ON BEING. that our success has been failure, and that our hopes have been as those of the " foolish man which built his house upon the sand." Now this apparent inability to realise a correct idea of the Infinite Past, and the disappointment which has attended our attempt, cannot arise from the nature of the subject, for the actual Being we must admit to be real. We have seen that the explanation of the Infinite Past, which we have just considered, not only does not convey an adequate idea of that which it endeavours to make plain, but that it gives us reason to believe that our eyes have been dazzled by a false and uncertain light. We will therefore endeavour to acquire a more satis- factory idea of the Infinite Past; but, before making the attempt, let us devote a few thoughts to the nature of Time. 29 TIME. Two meanings have been attached to the word Time, and between these we must carefully dis- tinguish. One meaning is understood when the word is applied to those arbitrary divisions which we call days, years, &c, and which we have adopted in order that we may have a fixed standard to which we may refer as admeasure- ments of any limited amount of duration. It is when used in this sense that Locke calls time " the measure of duration," not meaning thereby that a day or a year is the measure of indefinite duration, but rather of proportional duration ; as an inch or a foot is not the measure of space or indefinite extension, but rather of proportional extension. Time used in this sense means one of those artificial divisions which are adapted to the powers and wants of man, and give us a " mode by which the human mind perceives the occurrence of events." The other, which may be called the absolute meaning, is understood when the word is used to embrace that which is 30 THOUGHTS ON BEING. of the past, the present, and the future, and not to define a particular admeasurement. It is then the representative of a duration regarding the nature of which our ideas may perhaps be somewhat uncertain. It is not an hour, nor a day, nor a year : " For time, though in eternity, applied To motion, measures all things durable By present, past, and future." a It is Time when thus generally applied that will be the subject of reflection in the follow- ing pages, and it is the active cause of its manifestation which we shall now attempt to ascertain. Now, we find that the appearance of time is modified in every conceivable way by the various aspects under which it is presented to the ob- servation of our senses. When we pass round the globe from west to east or from east to west, the watch gives no correct notion of local time. This can only be ascertained by the aid of an astronomical observation. For were we to start at noon and travel westward, so as to return to the same spot in twenty-four hours, the sun would appear stationary during the a Parad. Lost, book v. 1. 581. TIME. 3 J whole time; and upon a sun-dial carried with us the shadow would always remain the same length, always point in the same direction. Were we similarly to start at noon and travel eastward, so as to return to the same spot in twenty-four hours, we should twice pass through every hour of the day and night, twice should we see the sun set, twice should we see him rise, twice would the shadow upon the dial point towards the pole, twice would it increase in length, twice diminish. And, even in a physical point of view, distance does not make these cases absolutely impossible ; for as we leave the equator, the circular length of each succeeding parallel of latitude continually decreases, until at each pole it becomes nothing. Were we then, as before, to travel westward or eastward within a certain moderate distance of the pole, in one instance the sun would appear stationary, and in the other he would twice be seen to describe a circle in the heavens. In practice, as is well known, a ship sailing round the world from east to west, or from west to east, either loses or gains a day in her reckoning, so that upon return to port her crew would find that a day had been taken from, or added to, 32 THOUGHTS ON BEING. their length of life ; and let it be remembered that if (in order to remain day and night within the rays of the sun) the voyage were made within the polar circle, the accompanying dial would record each day as one of twenty-four hours, and the whole number of days as it would appear to the ship's crew. We all know that electricity, light, and sound are not instantaneously propagated through space, but that they travel at certain known and different rates of speed ; and with a sensation of wonder we have all listened to the opinion of astronomers, that there are at this moment stars in existence within that range of vision which the telescope gives, the light from which has not yet reached our earth, — light which may this night meet the observer's glance, or which may yet require the lapse of untold ages before it falls upon his eye. Now, whether this opinion be correct or not, it involves a supposition the reality of which is not only perfectly and clearly possible, but is one which falls within the scope of probability. But while our thoughts are dwelling upon the fact that rays of light may be rapidly nearing us from unknown worlds, how strikingly comes home to us Dr. Babbage's beau- TIME. 33 tiful idea, that an undulation once given, although constantly and uniformly diminishing in inten- sity, is borne continually onward into the depths of space, carrying with it to the remotest orb tidings of earthly action ! Every one of us is familiar with that well- known example of an undulation which is given by the effects of a stone when dropped into still water. We can readily imagine a fish, while basking in the sunshine, to be somewhat startled by the close approach of the missile, and to make off* at full speed so soon as he recovered from his alarm. He would quickly reach and pass beyond the outer circle of undulation ; but if he then paused to consider whether there were just cause for fear, the same undulation in its extending circle would overtake him and pass beyond. Should the fish not happen to be of a very courageous temperament, and should he conse- quently determine discretion to be the better part of valour, he would again take to flight, again place himself within the influence of the undula- tion, again go beyond its power. And the limit to the repetition of this process is clearly only to be found in the physical properties of matter. If we were in a railway train upon the Great D 34 THOUGHTS ON BEING. Western that left Exeter immediately after an explosion of gunpowder, and travelled at a rate a little greater than that of sound, we should overtake the undulation, hear the report, and pass beyond its reach. If our pace then slightly slackened upon an adverse gradient, the undula- tion would overtake us, we should again hear the report, and the sound of it would then be carried on to those beyond us. If we then got up the steam and increased our pace, we should once more reach the undulation, hear the report, and pass on to localities the inhabitants of which were yet to hear tidings of the explosion. And the number of repetitions of the same report which one individual might thus hear is clearly limited only by the penetrating power of sound, and by the perceptive power of our own faculties. a Upon the naked eye, a ray of light which has travelled a " distance inexpressible by numbers a Sound travels 1142 feet in a second, or thirteen miles in a minute ; and railway speed has not yet, I believe, ex- ceeded two miles in a minute, — so that at present we are unable, practically, to illustrate these facts. We can, how- ever, place ourselves in such a position that the same sound shall return to our ear after having passed over different amounts of distance. Hence the pleasing effect of the re- peating echo. TIME. 35 that have name " cannot produce a perceptible impression ; and when we remember the depths of infinity and the velocity of light, we at once see that these undulations must be rapidly carried far beyond the limited reach to which our present senses extend ; and we may perhaps hesitate to believe that a sentient being can equal in ra- pidity of progression the phenomena of a material creation. But we can readily realise the idea of a being possessing senses similar to our own, similar in kind but immeasurably superior in degree. Let us imagine two beings, A and B, thus endowed, at a station S before a clock in action situated at any distance from them. If, then, we imagine A to approach the clock with the velocity of light, he would see the hands pass over exactly double the space that they would appear to B to pass over ; and if B receded from the station S with the velocity of light, then would the hands of the clock appear to him perfectly stationary. Let us suppose S to be opposite a point from which drops of water are uniformly falling ; then if A, as before, similarly approached that point, he would see twice the number of drops fall that B would see if he remained sta- tionary ; and in order to see as many drops as A D 2 36 THOUGHTS ON BEING. saw, he would be obliged to recede from S at a rate three times that of light ; but the drops of water would appear to him to be rising and not falling. It is true that perception of this ap- parent difference in that which is a reality, is utterly beyond the limits of our faculties ; but we can conceive such an enlargement of their power, or such modification of matter, as would bring the occurrence of these appearances (which have here been introduced as undoubted facts, and not as the speculations of a visionary theory) strictly within the bounds of probability. And it is mathematically true, that to an individual approaching a clock, the hands must appear to move faster than they would appear to do to one who is receding or even stationary. a A a Let a = the rate of travelling in feet per hour of A, who T is approaching an ordinary clock ; let -p = the length of the hour-hand in feet ; and let P be its point : then r = the rate of P (nearly) as seen by a stationary observer in feet per hour ; and let b = the velocity of light in feet per hour. Required the ratio of the apparent difference of r as seen by A who approaches the clock, and by B who remains stationary at any distance from it. Let ?*, = the rate of P as seen by A : then — = ratio re- quired. New in order to ascertain the position of P as apparent TIME. 37 familiar practical illustration of this idea, as applied to sound, is afforded by the fact, that soldiers marching in column, with the band to A at any given point in his approach, the time occupied by him in travelling to that point must be added to the time required by light to travel the same distance, and this sum will be the amount of time apparently described to A upon the face of the clock : a a a + b ,\ ri = r + -jr = (-j- + 1) r = —j— . r ; , r x a -f b and — L = — j — . r b Let A approach the clock with a velocity equal to that of light ; then °^A = 2, and -^ = 2. b r That is, P would appear to A to move with double the velocity with which it would appear to B to move. It would occupy the same length of time, and appear to pass over twice the space. Let a = 4 . 5280 = 21,120, the ordinary walking pace of a man in feet per hour ; T let — = 5, the hour-hand of a church-clock in feet ; D then r = 30 ; let b = 200,000 . 5280 . 60 . 60, the rate of light in feet per hour ; a + b 3,801,600,021,120 ___, r, _, , 1 then ^-^ = "'" , ^^: ':!" and-^- = l + b 3,801,600,000,000 r ' 180,000,000 nearly. In any given amount of time, therefore, P would appear to A to pass over a space greater by one 180 millionth than that which it would appear to B to pass over. D 3 38 THOUGHTS ON BEING. leading, are unable to keep time and step simul- taneously. We have said that it is possible to conceive the existence of beings " possessing senses similar to our own, similar in kind but immeasurably su- perior in degree ;" but such beings are not purely imaginary, for have we not been taught that we ourselves shall be such when we " arise with our bodies " from the power of the grave, and ascend into everlasting habitations ? If we, then, should pass from earth to heaven, and move at a rate alternately faster and slower than that of light, then would one and the same occurrence upon earth appear to our perceptive faculties as if repeated ad infinitum. And were we to travel to the sun at any speed whatever, we should, at our arrival there, have seen occurrences taking place in a duration of time (say) ten minutes less than they would have appeared to have occupied to a stationary observer, whether he were placed upon the earth or upon the sun, or remained in any other spot throughout space that was within the range of vision. And if we were to leave a star situated at such a distance from the earth that the passage of light from one to the other would occupy one hundred years, TIME. 39 and were to travel to our earth in one second of earthly time, we should in that single second perceive all the daily and annual revolutions of the earth, and all that had occurred among its inhabitants during the previous century. And if light travel (say) at ten times the speed of sound, we should hear all that had occurred during the previous thousand years. Were we then to return from the earth to that distant orb in one hundred years of earthly time, then should we hear distributed through those hundred years all that had taken place upon the earth during the pre- ceding nine hundred, and a century would be the time given to us in which to observe the minute changes which would take place among visible objects daring a single second.* a " Lord Rosse's great telescope may at this very moment positively look backwards through time by the space of thirty millions of years, and be now revealing to us a star in the position it occupied at that vast distance in the past. Now we know that the sun, with his revolving planets, is ap- proaching that star at a rate which will carry us through the whole intermediate distance in 250 millions of years, so that, if such star continued to exist, those identical changes in its aspect which, to the eye of a stationary observer, require 280 millions of years for their mani- festation, would, to one who should accompany our earth in her immeasurable orbit, occupy but 250 millions of years d 4 40 THOUGHTS ON BEING. These views have been very ably and fully exemplified in a little work called " The Stars and the Earth," by an anonymous writer. And it is in his words that I propose to conclude this short inquiry into the nature of time : — " We have to show that the phenomena of the universe which are referable to space and time may be . . . well conceived, as forming together a single point ; . . . that a space of time which we call long or short, is actually and really caused by our human mode of comprehension. " Let us suppose that from some given time, for example from to-day, the course of the stars and of our earth becomes twice as rapid as before, and that the year passes by in six months, each season in six weeks, and each day in twelve hours ; that the period of the life of man is in like manner reduced to one half of its present duration, so that, speaking in general terms, the longest human life, instead of eighty years lasts for forty, each of which contains as many of the new days of twelve hours as the former years did when the days were twenty -four hours long ; the drawing of our breath and the in their occurrence, and would yet present the same pro- portional lengths of duration." TIME. 41 stroke of the pulse would proceed with double their usual rapidity, and our new period of life would appear to us of the normal length. " The hands of the clock would no longer make the circuit in one hour and in twelve, but the long hand in thirty minutes, the short one in six hours. The development of plants and animals would take place with double their usual speed, and the wind and the lightning would consume in their rapid course but one half of their present time. " With these suppositions, I ask in what way should we be affected by the change ? The answer to this question is, We should be cog- nizant of no change. We should even consider one who supposed or who attempted to point out that such a change had taken place, was mad, or we should look upon him as an enthusiast. We should have no possible ground to consider that any other condition had existed. " Now, as we can determine the lapse of any period of time only by comparison or by mea- suring it with some other period, and as every division of time which we use in our comparison or in our measurements has been lessened by 42 THOUGHTS ON BEING. one half its duration, the original proportion would still remain unchanged. " Our forty years would pass as the eighty did ; we should perform everything twice as quickly as before ; but as our life, our breath, and movements are proportionately hastened, it would be impossible to measure the increased speed, or even to remark it. As far as we could tell, everything had remained precisely as it was before, not comparative but absolutely, provided we had no standard external to the accelerated course of events in the world, by which we could perceive the changes or measure them. " A similar result would follow if we imagined the course of time reduced to the fourth, instead of to the half, so that the year would consist of three months, — the greatest age of man would be reduced to twenty of the present years, — and our entire life, with that of all the creatures about us, would be passed in a proportionately shortened period. In this case we should not only not perceive the change, but we should in reality suffer no change, since we should live to see every thing which we should otherwise have seen, and all the experience and the events of our life, in their duration and with their con- TIME. 43 sequences, would remain unchanged in the re- lations which they bear to one another. " For the same reasons, if the period and processes of life, and the course of events in the world around us, were accelerated a thousand or a million times, or, in short, if they were infi- nitely shortened, we should obtain a similar result ; and we can in this way imagine the entire course of the history of the world com- pressed into a single immeasurably short space of time, without our being able to perceive the change, — in fact, without our having undergone any change. For, whether any space of time is longer or shorter, is a question which can only be answered, and which can indeed only be looked upon, as reasonable, if we are able to compare the time to be measured with some other limited period ; but not if we compare it to the endless duration which is looked upon as without beginning and without end, which we call < Time.' " Hence the proposition that for the occurrence of any given event a certain lapse of time is requisite, maybe altogether rejected. This time which elapses during the occurrence is rather accidental than necessary, and it might as easily 44 THOUGHTS ON BEING. be any other period. . . . From all those con- siderations it becomes sufficiently clear that Time is merely a mode and condition by which the human mind, with the assistance of human senses, perceives the occurrence of events, whilst the events themselves, in all their fulness and perfection, may occur in a longer or a shorter time, and thus must be looked upon as inde- pendent of time. A thought or an idea is some- thing momentary. He who has such an idea, has it entire and at once. But he who wishes to communicate it to others, requires for the purpose a certain time, just as such a space is also necessary for those to whom it is communi- cated. Hence time is not necessary for the ori- gination or existence of the idea, but only for its communication and comprehension ; and the idea exists as independently of time, as, according to the points we have discussed before, the entire history of the world can and must be looked upon as independent of time. Time is only the rhythm of the world 1 s history. 11 a . . . The preceding facts and suppositions, which have been brought forward with the view of illustrating what we believe to be the true a The Stars and the Earth, p. 32. TIME. 45 theory of Time, will by some perhaps be thought uninteresting and visionary, while others may consider that they have little connexion with the subject. They have been designedly varied, and, upon careful examination, all will be found of greater or less force. But in this diversity it is hoped that every mind will meet with a point of view from which the real nature of Time may be seen in the wished-for light, and that we all, though selecting different roads, may together reach the same conclusion. Satis- factorily, however, to bring home to the mind all the illustrations that have been advanced will, it is true, demand from some a certain slight exertion of mental power ; but their con- sideration will therefore form a fitting prepa- ration for any effort of the intellect which may be required for the contemplation of Being purely immaterial in its character. This, then, is the result when the word Time means one or more of those divisions which we have adopted for our own convenience ; it is then, in the words of Locke, "the measure of duration/' But when, irrespectively of any certain known amount of duration, it is used to give an idea either of a part or of the ivhole of 46 THOUGHTS ON BEING. that passing Being itself which is of the past, the present, and the future, then time is not " the measure of duration;" on the contrary, continually broken succession is the measure of the whole duration of time, and of each arbitrary portion into which it has been divided. Each defined and limited portion, — a century, or ten thousand years, or that unknown length to which the whole duration of time shall have extended, — is pointed out not by unchanging duration, but by the broken and ever-changing succession of events which thus becomes a measure and an indicator. It is change in succeeding events that deter- mines the length of a day and of a year, that affixes their beginning and their end. It is the rotation of the earth that measures out the day; it is by the sun's apparent path among the con- stellations of the zodiac that the year is measured out and defined. Time, then, is the result of successive changes in material form. As it is the chronicle in which these are recorded, so it is also measured by their duration ; and as the aspect is varied under which these changes are presented to the ob- servation of our senses, so must also vary the TIME, 47 apparent duration of that time of which they are measure. " The relation of these changes to each other is termed the time of their occurrence ; that which changes the least frequently is said to be of the longest duration. 11 * We must be careful to bear in mind that change in immaterial Being can give no idea of time. The consciousness that ideas now exist in the mind is independent of matter ; and neither the contemplation of those ideas, nor the suc- cession of others which arise from reflecting upon their mutual relation, can give any knowledge of time. If the mind take no note of material objects, the lapse of time cannot be perceived. In deep thought, in dreaming, and when the succession of ideas is rapid and their impression vivid, then is the mind far from all sensible objects, and all knowledge of time, nay, time itself, is lost. It is true that frequently we are conscious that a portion of time has passed by while we have been earnestly thinking ; but this knowledge arises solely from the imperfection of mental operation. During the season of even most intense thought, momentary glimpses are caught of the outward world around us, and thus a Principles of the Human Mind, by Alfred Smee. 48 THOUGHTS ON BEING. we obtain a faint and imperfect notion of the passage of time. And in those seasons which occur at least once to all, and it may be oftener, when the mind is entirely abstracted from all connexion with this material world, then it is that the events of a life pass before us in time the duration of which is inappreciable. " For the brief continuance at least of such moments of intense existence, the limits of time seem to be broken through or removed. To this class belong those brief intervals of rapture which are enjoyed in the midst of deep and earnest devotion, — or of proper ecstasy, which, so far as it is genuine and real, we cannot but consider as [the enjoyment of] an interval of eternity in the midst of time, or as a fleeting glance into the higher world of full and un- checked spiritual life. Even the inward word- less prayer, in so far as it is preceded by a real emotion of the heart profoundly agitating its inmost feelings, is, as it were, a drop of eternity falling through time into the soul." a It is thus evident that if we were totally un- conscious of material change we should be unable to perceive succession, and could have no know- a Schlegel, p. 425. TIME. 49 ledge of time ; and that to a spiritual Being so placed, whether in his own nature good or evil, temporary or eternal, existence would occupy a continual present. We find no difficulty in conceiving the idea of a greater or of a less duration of time. We perceive that an addition to time necessarily causes an increase in its duration ; we readily admit that the abstraction of any amount of time would necessarily cause a decrease in its duration. And successive additions and sub- tractions, by which we thus vary the whole duration of time, must necessarily be attended with increase or diminution proportional both to every single change and to the whole of time itself. When unlimited addition does not cause increase, such duration is not time, but eternity. When, after unlimited subtraction, duration still remains unchanged, such duration is not time, but eternity. That Being which would be decreased by the continuous successive division of a limited por- tion must always remain in existence ; for, could it become nothing, there would be an end of the divisions, and they would not be continuous. That Being which may be increased by the sue- 50 THOUGHTS ON BEING. cessive addition of limited parts must always remain limited, because were it to become infi- nite continued addition could not produce in- crease, nor could subtraction then cause dimi- nution. Therefore, the addition or multiplication of limited Being, repeated without limit, does not equal the infinite. An unlimited number of feet is not infinity ; an unlimited number of hours is not eternity. We are utterly unable to imagine any limit to extended space. We naturally adopt the idea, incorrect though it be, that our earth is a central spot, and suppose that space extends equally in every direction. We are ever eager to penetrate deeper and still deeper into its illimitable bosom, and ever find the immeasur- able still deepening before the utmost flight of imagination. Thus, even with our limited powers of mind, we have not the slightest difficulty in comprehending either the reality of infinitely extended space, or in admitting the possibility, and even high probability, that the suns and planets which throughout infinity follow out their appointed courses are endless in repetition. Now, as these orbs, infinite in number, do not, and cannot, fill the infinite space in which they TIME. 51 are revolving, we have here an evident illus- tration of our foregoing conclusion, — that the infinite repetition of limited Being does not equal infinity. " Time, however exaggeratedly it may be increased, never becomes eternity; for time is made up of a series of events, each having a beginning and an end. Eternity is not made up of events, and has therefore no beginning, no end." a When stated portions of time are compared together, a certain fixed and unchanging pro- portion is the result ; but we are accustomed to hear that the whole of time, and, consequently, that any portion of it, " becomes nothing when compared with eternity." This reasoning, or rather assumption, appears to me the fruitful cause of difficulty ; for we cannot, by any effort of the mind, really and truly understand how that which, when viewed in one light, is seen actually to exist, and to possess a fixed pro- portion, could, when viewed in another light, lose all its former properties, cease to be, and become as nothing. I hope that the reader who shall accompany me in the following pages will find in them, and in his own reflections, a Smee, p. 281. E 2 52 THOUGHTS ON BEING. sufficient reason for believing in the absolute difference of time from eternity : lie will then remember that no comparison can be instituted between those things which are totally dissi- milar ; and he will readily see that, since time and eternity are in every respect different, they cannot be compared, and, consequently, that it is incorrect to state that " time becomes nothing when compared with eternity." It probably may, however, be considered that we have not proved the assertion that time and eternity are distinct. But as the reflections which are about to pass before us will throw additional light upon the question, it will be more satisfactory if we postpone its consideration for the present. We must therefore now proceed rather upon assumption than conviction, and recur hereafter to the contemplation of time, as distinguished from eternity. With those ideas, therefore, which we have obtained from the preceding views of time, let us once more return to the contemplation of the Infinite Past. 53 THE INFINITE PAST, OR BEING WITH- OUT BEGINNING. And we now find that the Infinite Past is wholly distinct from Past Time, — that they bear no pro- portion, nor even mutual" relation, whatever. Instead, therefore, of endeavouring to imagine some one point infinitely remote as the correct representative of the Infinite Past, let us rather regard it as Being continuous to the present, so that, when speaking of the Infinite Past, we may not form an incomplete and uncertain idea of some one point infinitely remote, but rather, if it be possible to conceive this idea, of a Being the duration of which is present and yet without beginning. The Infinite Past ! Being without Beginning ; Being which has been from the Infinite Past ; Being which has therefore never ceased ; Being which must have existed in the instant imme- diately preceding the present ; Being which was present as this thought floated in the imagin- ation, but which was of the Infinite Past before 54 THOUGHTS ON BEING. that thought was present ; Being which is therefore not an infinitely distant point, but rather an infinite diffusion existing in the pre- sent. Such is the Infinite Past. Such is Being without beginning. The possibility may occur to some that, in the hidden depths of the future, changes may take place sufficient to alter the very nature of " Being without beginning." Although the Infinite Past exist as such up to the present, yet may Imagination possibly depict some point in the future at which Memory might recal the knowledge of Being without beginning, while from the same point she might also recal a certain period between that point and the existing present, at which Being with- out beginning had ceased to be without begin- ning. This view may not present itself to the mind of every one who contemplates the subject ; and to many before whose vision it may have passed, the feature thus disclosed may not appear of sufficient importance to justify a pause in our onward course for its special examination. But as it is expedient in long and abstruse arguments that the first principles should be apprehended with clearness and certainty, I proceed at once to examine this doubt. I INFINITE PAST, OR BEING WITHOUT BEGINNING. 55 propose to inquire whether, notwithstanding the termination, such Being must still be regarded as without beginning. It is to be admitted that we know neither the nature nor number of the attributes or pro- perties which constitute Being without begin- ning. We are unable to distinguish those which are essential from those which are accidental, for such Being may be material or immaterial, ever- changing or throughout eternity the same, limited in extent or the occupant of infinity ; but, however these may vary, it cannot possibly ever lose its peculiar property of being without beginning. That only can be called into exist- ence which does not now exist. Therefore, that which does now exist cannot be called into existence. But to be called into existence is to receive a beginning. That which now is cannot receive a beginning either in the present or in the future : Being without beginning now is : Therefore, Being without beginning cannot receive a beginning either in the present or in the future : It therefore cannot be created in the past, in the present, or in the future : E 4 56 THOUGHTS ON BEING. Therefore Being, which is without beginning now, must ever be without beginning ; and could it possibly cease at an imagined point in the future, notwithstanding the termination, such Being must still be regarded as without begin- ning. So that, however other attributes of Being without beginning may throughout eternity vary in their nature or in their number, that peculiar attribute of duration in the Infinite Past which Being without beginning must have once possessed it now possesses in the present, and will possess in the future ; therefore the reasoning which we employ in the consideration of this peculiar attribute must ever be applica- ble, and the results we obtain correct, at what- ever point that consideration may take place, for, whether contemplated from a point in the past, present, or in the future, Being without beginning is for ever without beginning. There is, therefore, no point so far distant in the future but that Being without beginning must exist in the whole of the Infinite Past as contemplated from this point ; that is, since Being without beginning is now the Infinite Past, so must it also be the Infinite Past when that Infinite Past which continually receives addition INFINITE PAST, OR BEING WITHOUT BEGINNING. 57 without increase includes not only the imme- diate Present, but also all that duration which is included between the Present and the Infinite Future. In other words, that which exists in the Infinite Past is now, and can never cease. We have necessarily been led away from the immediate subject of discussion, and have in- directly and unintentionally arrived at the same conclusion to which we should have been con- ducted by the direct thread of argument. But the train of thought which this short digression has enabled us to pursue has effected the object of its introduction, and has convinced us that the truth of all ideas relating to the peculiar property of duration in the Infinite Past must be always the same, at whatever point of duration those ideas may be conceived. Let us now, therefore, return to the point of interruption, and ascertain whether there be any point at which Being without beginning can terminate. We must now regard Being without beginning not only as that which has existed in the Infinite Past, but as that which is actually so existing, because we have seen that it is now, and must always continue, without beginning. Now we know that this property of existence without 58 THOUGHTS ON BEING. beginning can never vary; consequently, from whatever point this Being may be contemplated, its aspect must ever be similar to that it now presents, that is, it must ever possess the pro- perty of existence; for if Being without be- ginning could by possibility have terminated at a certain point in the Past, then we should now be inquiring into the nature of Being having in the Present no actual existence, but yet con- tinuing to possess that property of existence in the Infinite Past which, having once been pos- sessed, can never be absent. Therefore, that which we should have been thus examining would be Being which is existing in the Infinite Past, but supposed to have ceased to exist at a certain point in the past, and therefore not now in existence. The mind is naturally inclined, when dis- cussing metaphysical questions, to seek assist- ance from the analogy of sensible objects. Nothing can be more erroneous. We are pro- bably, at this moment, forming to ourselves some vague image of a chain, endlessly extend- ing away from us, and we find no difficulty in believing that it may have a commencement at any certain distance. But that which we are INFINITE PAST, OR BEING WITHOUT BEGINNING. 59 now attempting to comprehend must not be compared with a material object, or even con- ceived of as an imaginary mathematical line in space. We are speaking of duration, of Being without beginning, Being which, throughout eternity, is now enduring, is still forming a portion of existence, which is therefore now in existence. Now present existence, as a pro- perty of duration, proves presence, although it is probable that it is only in reference to duration, whether of time or eternity, that this reasoning is true, and that it cannot be correctly applied to any other object of thought, whether visible or invisible. But Being without beginning is now in existence ; it is therefore now present. Again, if Being without beginning could ter- minate at a point in the future less distant from us than the Infinite Future, there would neces- sarily be a point in Time or in the Infinite Future yet more distant, from which Being without beginning could be contemplated, as continuing to exist in the Infinite Past, but as having ceased to exist at a certain point in the past, and, therefore, not in existence at that then present, but now future, imagined point of contemplation. But we know that Being without beginning 60 THOUGHTS ON BEING. does not and cannot terminate in the Infinite Past : however, therefore, we may assume its imaginary termination at some point of past, present, or future time, and consequently at some point describable by number, its existence must ever remain in the Infinite Past. Conse- quently such Being must be in existence at every imagined point of contemplation, whether that be past, present, or future. Thus at any point, however remote in the past or the future, Being which we now contemplate as without beginning must retain so much of its peculiar attribute as to enable it to be then similarly contemplated as without beginning, and conse- quently as existing in the Infinite Past. Being without beginning must therefore be in actual existence at that most remote past or future point of contemplation. It is Being which cannot be effaced ; it is Being which has always existed, is now existing, and must always exist. As we thus see that the termination or de- struction of any portion of Being without be- ginning is impossible, so also is it clear that all further beginning or creation of Being without beginning is likewise impossible, because the very act of creation would be the bestowal of a INFINITE PAST, OR BEING WITHOUT BEGINNING. 61 beginning. Therefore the whole of Being with- out beginning is now present and can never cease. It can therefore neither be increased nor diminished ; its duration is therefore infinite, and therefore equal to that of eternity. It is therefore equal to eternity, and therefore eternal. Thus has there passed before us one of those two portions of duration which, at the commence- ment of our inquiry, we selected as together constituting Eternity. We have attempted to penetrate the mystery which overshadows the Infinite Past, and the truth of our conclusion is, I think, as evident as the abstruse nature of the subject will permit. A similar chain of reasoning may be applied to the second part into which we have divided Eternity, and will prove that Being without end is now and has always been. But as the admission of this general proposition leads to important re- flections, it is advisable to enter more fully into its examination. 62 THE INFINITE FUTURE, OR BEING WITHOUT END. We are now about to consider the Infinite Future ; the Infinite Future, or Being without End. There are three points of view from which Being without end may be regarded. It may be contemplated from a point in the past, in the present, or in the future ; for it must ever retain its peculiar attribute of Being without end, be- cause, of whatever changes in its nature or its attributes eternity may be the witness, the In- finite Future must ever be without end. So that were Being without end possibly to receive a beginning in the past, present, or future, we are assured that, even admitting the possibility of that imagined point of creation, it must retain its peculiar attribute of Being without end : thus, as the property of Being without beginning cannot be bestowed, in the past, present, or future 3 , so neither in the past, present, or future can be be- a See p. 55. INFINITE FUTURE, OR BEING WITHOUT END. 63 stowed the property of Being without end. Thus, however other properties of Being without end may vary, it must ever possess that of con- tinuous existence. At the first glance, no diffi- culty appears to interfere with the supposition that Being without end can be created at any future point of time ; but, remembering that such Being is essentially different from all ordinary subjects of contemplation, let us endeavour to ascertain whether the facility with w T hich assent to this supposition is yielded arises from a con- viction of truth, or from carelessness in inquiry. Now, if Being without end could be created at a point in the future, then we could readily imagine a point still further in the future at which Being without end would be in existence, but from which could be contemplated a point in the past beyond which such Being would have no existence. We should then be contem- plating a point in the past beyond which Being without end had not existed, and we should perceive in the past the termination of such Being. But Being without end can never ter- minate, there can never be an end to its ex- istence. Being without end is that which exists in the Infinite Future, and must for ever remain 64 THOUGHTS ON BEING. so existing. If there exist a moment in the present, or a moment after the present, in which Being without end could not exist, then would there clearly be a portion of the future in which such Being is without existence ; and it could not then be said to be the occupant of the In- finite Future, because before its birth a portion of that future would have passed away. If such creation were possible, we should now be inquiring into the nature of Being which, according to the supposition, is not now in ex- istence, but which must ever possess the property of Being without end. We are not speaking of a sensible object, or of imaginary extension, but of Being an end to the existence of which, were we to search throughout eternity, we should never find. It is Being which is now enduring without end, which is continually forming a part of existence, which, in its never-ending duration, is now actually in existence. But, in reference to duration, whether of time or of eternity, present existence proves presence. Being with- out end is therefore now present, and that which exists in the Infinite Future must exist in the whole of the future. The present existence of Being without end INFINITE FUTURE, OR BEING WITHOUT END. 65 is an undoubted truth, and it is manifest that such Being must be not only existing in the present, but also that it must exist at every possible point in the future. Now, if this Being were created in the present, or had been created at any point in the past less distant from us than the Infinite Past, there must necessarily be a point or many points still further distant in the past that must have existed previously to its creation. Let the imagination travel back to this point in the past, and thence contemplate the future prospect. From that imaginary present but past point of contemplation, we should perceive another point in the future from which Being without end is to take its rise, and beyond which it would be existency in the Infinite Future — Being, be it remembered, not yet in existence at the point of contemplation, but nevertheless Being which cannot have an end. We have seen that the property of existing in the Infinite Future can never be absent ; that the property of Being without end can never be lost or de- stroyed. The Being therefore, the beginning of which we imagine at a point in the future, must be Being without end. But Being without end must be now present, and cannot receive a be- F 66 THOUGHTS ON BEING. ginning in the future ; there is, therefore, no point so far distant in the past but that Being without end must still be then existing. Since, then, Being without end must exist in the Infinite Future, is now existing in the Present, and must have existed at any point in the past less distant than the Infinite Past, there remains no point of time in which it could have been created. Its duration, therefore, is the Infinite Past, and the Infinite Future must be Being without beginning. 67 ETEENITY. Although it is always dangerous to treat sub- jects of this nature mathematically, it might, however, be satisfactory to some if the true nature of Eternity could be thus illustrated. We therefore propose to introduce what is in fact merely an attempt at such an examination, ex- pressing a doubt as to its aptitude. But, before we attempt to enter into this mathematical inquiry, let us turn our attention to a mode of expression which, although it may be well adapted for ordinary discussion, appears to be susceptible of improvement when applied to the subject now under consideration. The sense will not be altered, but we shall make use of language which carries clearer meaning, and is, I think, calculated to lead us more readily to a correct result. I propose here to employ the word end (the term of logicians) whether alluding to the beginning or to the termination of any portion of space or of duration. A short illus- tration will explain my intention. Let us imagine F 2 68 THOUGHTS ON BEING. in the past, present, or future, a material object 0, which during the continuance of its limited existence occupies a portion of space or a portion of duration, and let us in each case suppose this portion to be included between A and B. Xow, with reference both to space and duration, it is manifestly of no importance whatever whether A or B represent that point which would or- dinarily be called the end of 0, because while we dwell upon the portion of space included between A and B we are regarding that amount of extent which occupied; and when we pass either A or B we enter that portion of space wherein has no existence, or we are regarding that portion of duration wherein existed ; and when we pass either A or B we enter that portion of duration wherein has no existence: that is, both A and B represent the termination of the existence of 0, whether considered in reference to space or to duration. Therefore, in this sense, the word end may be correctly applied to the beginning and to the ter- mination of any portion of space or of duration. Let us once more conceive the idea of Being without beginning, that is, the idea of a portion of duration which extends into the Infinite Past ; ETERNITY. 69 and let us also once more conceive the idea of Being without end, that is, of duration which extends into the Infinite Future ; and, if it be possible, let us conceive the termination of the Infinite Past or of the Infinite Future at some fixed point in the past, present, or future. And let us represent this portion of duration by the letter E, and let the point of termination be represented by T. That is, E has existed in the Infinite Past, or will exist in the Infinite Future, but terminates when T is present. Now if, as before, we suppose this space to be included between A and B, then T must coincide either with A or B. If T coincide with A, that is, if E cease at A, then B must represent continuous duration, or eternity. If T coincide with B, then A must represent continuous duration, or eternity. First let us suppose that T coincide with A, that is, that the duration of E is limited by A; but, by our hypothesis, E is without ter- mination towards B, for B must represent in- finite duration either in the past or in the future. Now, how far soever we may imagine B to recede, E still continues in existence, for it is without one end ; it therefore never ceases to be, it actually and really endures. It is not of a material F 3 70 THOUGHTS ON BEING. object of which we now speak, but simply of a duration; so that by finding there is no limit to the extension of E in the direction indicated by B we cannot avoid the conclusion that E now is, that is, is present. Now exactly the same mode of reasoning may be applied to the second supposition, that T coincide with B, and the result will be the same : so that we have in a general form examined the question under both aspects, — the one upon the supposition, according to ordinary language, that A represented the be- ginning and B the end, and the other that B represented the beginning and A the end, of the supposed duration E. We have thus proved that neither the Infinite Past nor the Infinite Future can terminate in any point, whether past, present, or future. Therefore that which exists in the Infinite Past is now, and can never cease : That which will never cease is now, and is without beginning. Hence we derive two further conclusions: It cannot be possible that Being which will have an end can be without beginning, for if so it would then possess the character of the Infinite Past without existence in the Infinite Future ; and since we know that that which exists in the ETEENITY. 71 Infinite Past is now and can never cease, we also learn, 1st, that That which will have an end in duration may- be now, but must have had a beginning in duration. 2nd. We learn similarly, that That which has had a beginning in duration may be now, but must have an end in duration. It thus appears, that by travelling into the Infinite Past or into the Infinite Future we arrive at the present ; that the Infinite Past and the In- finite Future are literally and absolutely present. Being without beginning is that which exists in the Infinite Past, and must be for ever so existing there; it is now actual living Being. It cannot be measured by time, for infinity is its dwelling-place. It therefore cannot be divided into limited parts, because time would thus become its measure, and the repetition of limited Being would thus be made to equal that which is infinite. But if Being without beginning could have ceased (in some point of the past), then would time become its measure, for it would be time that measured, pointed out, and recorded its termination. Thus, too, Being without end is that which exists in the Infinite Future, and must be for ever F 4 72 THOUGHTS ON BEING. so existing there ; it is now actual living Being. It cannot be measured by time, for infinity is its dwelling-place. It cannot be divided into limited parts, for the repetition of limited Being would thus be made to equal the infinite, and by time would the duration of each be measured. It cannot begin to be at any point in the past, present, and future, for it would then be time that would record, measure, or point out its commencement. Since, then, Being without beginning embraces the Infinite Past, and cannot be measured by time, it cannot be increased by addition. Its duration is therefore infinite, and therefore equal to that of eternity, and therefore eternal. Since, too, Being without end embraces the Infinite Future, and cannot be measured by time, it cannot be increased by addition. Its duration is therefore infinite, and therefore equal to that of eternity, and therefore eternal. Thus, Being without beginning is eternal and indivisible ; Being without end is eternal and indivisible ; therefore also is Eternity indivisible. Thus, then, we learn that Eternity cannot in truth be divided into the Infinite Past and the Infinite Future. It is one single duration, an Everlasting Present, without past and without future. ETERNITY. 73 "We cannot, indeed, understand what it is to exist without any relation to Time ; yet we cannot but conclude, both from reason and re- velation, that with Him, the great I AM, there can be no distinction of past, present, and future, but that all things must be eternally present ; since all our notions of time may be clearly traced up to the succession of ideas or impressions on our minds, which succession cannot be supposed to take place with an Omniscient Being : so that the couplet of the poet Cowley, which has been by some laughed to scorn as absurd, will be found, if we duly consider it, to be the most appropriate expression possible of such imperfect and in- distinct notions as alone we can entertain on such a subject. * Nothing there is to come, and nothing past, But an eternal now does ever last.' " a Thus, while time is fleeting by, leaving in the far distance that which has been, approaching ever nearer that which is to come, and is thus recording upon its rapid pages the scenes of the past, the present, and the future, still does Eternity know no change, still is it one and a Essays on the Christian Religion, by Richard Whateley, D.D. (Archbishop of Dublin). 74 THOUGHTS ON BEING. indivisible, still does it remain immutable, an infinite, everlasting Present. This idea of Eternity, then, which we are con- templating as the representative of the absolute Present, very closely approaches to that enter- tained by Boethius, who defines eternity as " In- terminabilis vitce tota simul et perfecta possessio ; " the perfect possession of a whole endless existence altogether : a and it is perhaps exactly represented by the "perpetuum nunc" of an earlier philosophy. It is therefore clearly incorrect to speak of that which takes place in eternity either in the past or in the future tense : and in great proba- bility it may be similarly so to speak of it even in the present tense, for the past, the present, and the future are properties of time ; and as we believe that time and eternity are distinct, the assumption that they possessed any property in common might be productive of error. But language is for a finite capacity, and fails at once when she attempts to describe the infinite. We are, however, compelled to adopt some mode of expression ; and if, in all further consideration, we select the present tense, we shall, I think, be less open to error, and convey the full meaning a Boethius, De Consol. Philos. lib. v. par. 6. ETERNITY. 75 of our ideas in terms the most expressive that can be attained. Indeed, after the conclusions to which we have arrived, we must conceive Eter- nity as Being absolutely and always present : but we must bear in mind that this expression may not be logically correct ; for we cannot but be aware that there is something wanting that would enable us perfectly to succeed in descrip- tion. But if the reader feels with me the insuffi- ciency of language, and it may well be that of mental power also, I am content. I shall rest in the belief that his ideas are in unison with my own. Thought is more subtle than speech, and can alone satisfy the comprehension. " Before Abraham was, I am ; I am that I am, which is, and which was, and which is to come." I will here introduce, from Dr. Adam Clarke's analysis of Genesis, a few words which, although proving that the view we have taken of Time presents no feature of novelty, add materially to its effect, and increase the probability that it has been correctly drawn : — " Before the creative acts mentioned in this [first] chapter [of Genesis], all was eternity. Time signifies duration measured by the revolu- tions of the heavenly bodies; but prior to the 76 THOUGHTS ON BEING. creation of these bodies there could be no mea- surement of duration, and consequently no time ; therefore, In the beginning must necessarily mean the commencement of time which followed, or rather was produced by God's creative acts, as an effect follows or is produced by a cause." But from this passage we may also learn how great is the caution required in treating of such subjects as time and eternity. Since "in the beginning" must mean "the commencement of time produced by creative acts," it can scarcely be correct to say that " before these creative acts all was eternity," or that " prior to the creation of the heavenly bodies there could be no measure- ment of time." We cannot speak of existence or of Being previous to the creation of time, neither can we speak of Being subsequent to its destruc- tion ; for we can conceive neither priority nor consequence without entertaining the idea of time. We should, in fact, be describing the ex- istence of Being in relation to time, and as mea- sured by it previous to the creation of time and after its termination. We must therefore be careful not to imagine that time has been created and will end in the midst of a continuous ex- istence of eternity extending itself in the past ETERNITY. 77 and in the future beyond the beginning and end of time. Neither the end of time nor its beginning is the beginning of eternity ; for eternity now is. Neither is it the beginning of our perception of eternity ; for the believing soul during the short season of her mortal imprisonment succeeds at times in throwing aside the fetters which chain her to this world of sense, and soars again amid the infinite. Then it is that she breathes the air of immortality, and knows that she is a par- ticipator in the eternal. But we are looking forward to the end of time in the hope that in that moment the full unclouded light of the now present ever-existing perfect Eternity will be poured forth upon us, and that then we shall know even as we are known. 78 REPEATED MANIFESTATION OF TIME. And here the ever-flowing stream of thought brings before us another idea for contemplation. The beginning of succession in the change of material objects was the beginning of time, and the end of that succession will be the end of time. " We . . . believe that matter owes its properties to a power conferred upon it by the omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, eternal Creator, who first by His almighty fiat com- manded matter to attract, and who, by the same almighty fiat, may at any instant will attraction to cease; when worlds would end, when time would be no more. As far as regards all material pro- perties, He must have absolute power. At any moment He may dissolve the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and as instantaneously summon their particles to assume new shapes, to occupy new positions. This infinite power, or omnipo- tence, is totally of a different character from our power, which is derived from the properties of matter. Man's boasted power is derived from REPEATED MANIFESTATION OF TIME. 79 availing himself of attraction. The Deity can control that property, and from that we infer the attribute of Omnipotence." a By Omnipotence were and are all things created. By that same infinite power, and by that alone, can be de- stroyed all that has been, that now is, or that ever shall be ; and that same Omnipotent Will can again create a repetition of that which is destroyed. All created things, and time itself, then, look to the Great First Cause from whom they have their being. He willed that material form should be, and that time should be the consequence. His will it is that, at the appointed hour, created form should be destroyed and time should end. And at His will can created form and time itself be again created. May not, then, all-revealing Eternity be wit- nessing the creation of yet another Time, distinct from that which we now perceive, — the second creation of Time, — of another, yet of one in all respects the same ? Is, then, this our present Time the first that has been created ? May it not be that very second creation the possibility of which we have just admitted ? Nay, not the a The Sources of Physical Science, by Alfred Smee, p. 282. 80 THOUGHTS ON BEING. second, nor the third ; — it may be that number is insufficient to determine its order. To Omni- potence all things are possible. Who can affix a limit to the repetition of creation ? Who can tell the times that form may have arisen out of chaos ? or who can count those days that may have witnessed again and again the end of all things, that may have seen the elements of former creations melt again and again with fervid heat, and yield to the formless void ? Who, then, are those angels and ministering spirits of whom we read as of beings of another creation ? May they not be erring spirits who have passed through their season of trial, in an order and in time essentially distinct from our own ? It may be, that they have been embodied spirits who have lived in unconnected durations of time, each distinct and finite in itself. And the repe- tition of such durations of time may in themselves be unnumbered ; for we have already seen that even the infinitely repeated multiplication of limited Being cannot produce infinity. The un- limited repetition, therefore, of portions of time cannot be eternity. The supposition, therefore, of such infinitely repeated creations of time is not a hypothesis the EEPEATED MANIFESTATION OF TIME. 81 possibility of which is doubtful. On the con- trary, we cannot but understand the ideas which this train of thought has suggested ; and the possibility of such acts of Omnipotence is, to all believers in revelation, clear and undoubted. Before the mind of all such they will assume a form of greater or less probability. Many, assuredly, are indisposed to limit the works of Omnipotence to a single creation of material form, and consequently of time. With the greater joy, then, will they hail the idea of infinite re- petition, believing that it shadows forth faintly, yet worthily, one mighty attribute of their Creator. And yet further may it be permitted for such with reverence to direct the eye of thought, and to look upon the angels of heaven as beings who have in other time passed through that same valley of the shadow of death which is our lot, and who are now enjoying the same light of truth which will be our reward. The repeated manifestation of time is a dis- pensation in accordance with the conclusion which we have formed in relation to the nature of time and eternity. Were this otherwise, those conclusions would be at once proved G 82 THOUGHTS ON BEING. erroneous, because every Christian admits the possibility of such repeated creation. We now proceed to consider . the question of probability. We have absolute knowledge of the existence of two forms of duration. We believe in Eternity, and we know that Time has had a beginning and will have an end, and is therefore not eternal. Now, if the whole of all time be one fixed and determinate duration, eternity could not have existed before its beginning, since, if the whole of time that has ever been began six thousand or any fixed number of years ago, it is manifestly and utterly impossible that there should have been any existence whatever before those six thousand years began, because the very ex- pression "before" implies necessarily the pre- vious existence of succession, and therefore of time. Eternity manifestly cannot be before or after time, because it is time alone that can give priority or consequence. Neither can time be before or after eternity, because eternity is an everlasting present. Time, therefore, is essential to the presence of eternity. Time and eternity dwell each in the presence of the other. Where time is, there must eternity be also. But if the REPEATED MANIFESTATION OF TIME. 83 whole existence of time, which must thus be manifested throughout the infinite eternity, were not broken into distinct and independent parts, parts, it may be, unlimited in number, then would such Being be one continuous duration, without beginning and without end ; that is, time would be eternity, which is absurd. There must therefore be more than one distinct dura- tion of time. But since eternity is Being ever- lastingly present, embracing the Infinite Future and the Infinite Past, it must be present when our now present duration is without existence ; it must be present in the duration of yet another time, the end of which was the beginning of the present sera of creation. This other duration of time must likewise have had a beginning, pointed out by the end of a duration still more remote. Thus, too, will the end of our present temporary creation be the beginning of another similar creation of form, and of yet another duration of time. The present dispensation will pass away, and then " blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection." a He will behold how "the heavens shall wax old as doth a garment, and shall be changed ; " b and his speech will be of a Rev. xx. 6. b Heb. i. 11, 12, g 2 84 THOUGHTS ON BEING. praise and thanksgiving, as the words of the Apostle are fulfilled, " I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away." a The creation of two distinct manifestations of time is, then, a reality ; but it is clear that one cannot be before or after the other, because, between the separate duration of each, time would not be in existence, and, consequently, succession could neither be measured nor defined. But we are compelled to apply the same chain of thought to every distinct creation of time ; and however great a number we may assign to these durations of time, there must, if that number be limited, be a beginning and a termi- nation to the series. If the repeated creations of time could be described by number, then would they be limited in amount, and the diffi- culty which opposes the idea of existence before the beginning of time, or after its destruction, though thus removed to a greater distance, would still remain insuperable. The distinct and separate durations of our earthly sensible time, each limited in itself, are therefore un- a Rev. xxi. 1. REPEATED MANIFESTATION OF TIME. 85 limited in number, and are all manifested in the presence of indivisible eternity. We have now finished our separate examina- tions of Time and Eternity, and it only remains for us to bring both into the same point of view ; and this I propose to do by introducing the words of Schlegel, which, point out the way in which he seeks to establish a certain relation — for proportion there can be none — between Time and Eternity. G 3 86 TIME AND ETEKNITY. " So long as we believe in a great and irrecon- cilable contrariety between time and eternity, . . we cannot hope to extricate ourselves from the labyrinth in which external things and our own internal reflections involve the mind. This can only be effected by the idea of a two-fold time, such as it is our purpose accurately to define and bring before you. And this notion of a two-fold time arises from the difference between the one perfect and blissful time which is nought else than the inner pulse of life in an ever- flowing eternity, without beginning and without end, and that other time which is prisoned and fettered in this lower world of sense, where the stern present alone is prominent. . . . But now, if eternity is nothing else than time vitally full, inimitably perfect, and blissfully complete, who, we may ask, first of all caused or produced this earthly, fettered, and fragmentary time, which seems but the great bond-chain of the whole world of sense? and what then is this time TIME AND ETERNITY. 87 itself? I might answer this latter question by the words of the poet, that it 'is out of joint.' a ... • " Now if eternity is in itself and originally nothing more than the living, full, and essential time which is still invisible, and if our earthly, shackled, and fettered time of sense is but an eternity ' out of joint ' or fallen a prey to dis- order, it is easily conceivable that the two do not stand apart and have no mutual contact. On this hypothesis they may possess many a common point of transition from one sphere into the other. At least, such a point of transition is in general experience afforded us by death, which is mostly looked upon and regarded in this light." b In denying absolute contrariety between time and eternity, the supporters of this line of argu- ment are compelled to admit a two-fold time ; that is, the simultaneous existence of two per- fectly distinct kinds of time, between which there is no opposition nor contrariety. The one form represents that time which is perceptible to our senses, which we have defined as the result of successive change in material forms; the other a Hamlet, Act 1. Sc. 5. a Sehlegel, p. 416. g 4 88 THOUGHTS ON BEING. form of time is called eternity, our idea of which appears exactly to correspond with that enter- tained by Schlegel. " The question, therefore, is properly to de- termine whether there exists such an absolute opposition between time and eternity, that it is impossible for them to subsist in any mutual contract or relation but the one necessarily leads to the negation of the other, or whether at least there is not some conceivable transition from one to the other," Here the view which we have taken is, I think, to a certain extent the same as that of Schlegel, for the course of our reflections has led us to believe with him " that time and eternity are not incompatible with, or in hostile and irrecon- cilable opposition to, each other;" that "their ideas do not mutually destroy each other ; " and that they dwell each in the presence of the other. We both believe that time is a characteristic feature of " this world of sense," and that " eter- nity is infinite, not only ' a parte externa] i. e. everpassing yet everlasting, without beginning and without end; but also infinite 'a parte in- terna] so that in the endlessly living, thoroughly a Schlegel, p. 416. TIME AND ETERNITY. 89 luminous present, and in the blissful conscious- ness thereof, the whole past and also the whole future are equally actual, equally clear, and equally present as the very present itself." a Eternity is Being which can receive neither increase nor diminution. No amount added to or taken from eternity can produce change in duration. Eternity endures for ever, and can therefore neither be lengthened nor shortened; but whatever may have been the duration of time, addition would cause increase, subtraction, diminution. Eternity has neither past nor future ; for we have seen that the Infinite Past and the Infinite Future meet and are united in the Eternal Present. Neither does eternity know aught of proportion or relation ; for it is without change, ever-present pjid indivisible. But time ever varies, can be divided into relative proportions, and is chro- nicled in the past, the present, and the future. Eternity is one ; in duration infinite, in creation without repetition. Time is manifold ; in dura- tion limited, in creation infinitely repeated. Part of time is present ; it cannot be measured, for it is inconceivably small. The whole of eternity is a Schlegel, p. 414, 90 THOUGHTS ON BEING. present; it cannot be measured, for it is infinite. The presence of eternity is unbounded ; but the present time has two limits. If we cross the one, we enter into the past ; if we cross the other, we enter into the future. The past, like- wise, has two limits. If we cross the one, we enter the present sensible time ; if we cross the other, we pass the beginning of our existing dura- tion of time, but continue in ever-present eternity. Thus, too, has the future two limits. If we cross the one, we enter present sensible time; if we cross the other, we pass the end of this our time, but continue in present ever-existing eternity, in Being without beginning and without end. Such is Time, and such is Eternity. Can it, then, be correct to call Being, in nature so different from our earthly time, as but one of a twofold form of time ? And are we not too hasty if we believe that " the time which is ' out of joint/ the deranged and distracted time of sense, is nought but eternity fallen or brought into a state of disorder " ? a Should we not with caution entertain the question which must necessarily arise, — " Who can have plunged it into disorder, and perpetrated a Schlegel, p. 419. TIME AND ETERNITY. 91 this jarring interference with the primaeval har- mony, disturbing the inner pulse of the world's universal life which was originally so sound?" If so, with much greater caution must be re- ceived the answer, — that "the power or might which threw both time and existence, universal life and the whole world, into disorder, could have been no other than the spirit of absolute negation, which rose in revolt against the primary Source both of itself and of all : " the " spirit of eternal contradiction and endless destruction, 1 the Prince and Ruler of this world.' " The nature of time must ever be the same ; for if, in its onward course, aught of difference were to arise, then would it be time no longer, and would cease to be that same time which had hitherto been the subject of contemplation. Time is not eternity fallen into disorder. It is not a consequence of Satan's successful lies, and is not a part of the curse pronounced upon man's disobedience ; because time was created before the fall of man ; and such as time was in the beginning, such is it in the present. Both time and eternity came from the hand of their Maker perfect and without blemish. Both were the ministers of man in his innocence, and 92 THOUGHTS ON BEING. adapted to his twofold nature. His soul, in her aspirations and her longings, is the spiritual in- habitant of eternity ; and time is the historian of his bodily actions, and by its aid are they per- formed. In the pages of Time is chronicled every event that has occurred since the creation of form. Time, too, saw the birth of evil upon earth, but it affords the means of man's justifica- tion, and will witness the restoration of his spirit ; for it was Time whose early youth hailed the birth of the first father of mankind, — who looked upon his brow, and in solemn admiration there beheld the impressed image of his Maker, — who bowed down before the innocence of man, and was subject to him. It was Time, too, who, ere many days were numbered, saw the immortal spirit yielding to temptation, and mourned the first transgression. But thou, Time, hast heark- ened unto the voice of thy Creator, and art ful- filling His command. To thee was power given over him who had offended. Thy burdens are weighty, and sorely dost thou deal with each child of man. But although the hand thou layest upon him is heavy with affliction, yet is it tempered with mercy, and leads the willing spirit to salvation. Thou art performing thy appointed TIME AND ETERNITY. 93 duty, and in the book of judgment dost record each inmost thought of him who has fallen from his high estate. In thy sight, too, was fulfilled the whole scheme of redeeming love. Thou didst behold how, " by the offence of one, judg- ment came upon all men unto condemnation, and that by one man's disobedience many were made sinners." But thy eye saw, too, the one great Sacrifice through which, " by the righte- ousness of One, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life," and how, "by the obe- dience of One, shall many be made righteous." In thy hearing was uttered the " good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people ; " and thy ear heard the "multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good- will towards men." In thy presence, too, passed those fearful hours when " the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst ; " and before thee were uttered those words of more than human import, " It is finished ! " But at the appointed hour in which, through the merits of another, man shall enter into his perfect state, and his soul shall regain her lost innocence, thou wilt once again become his minis- 94 THOUGHTS ON BEING. tering spirit ; for when thou shalt have run thy course, and the voice of the angel shall u swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever, that there should be time no longer," then, as thou yieldest up thy life to Him who gave it, thou wilt open to man the gates of everlasting habitations, and with thy last breath thou wilt disperse every cloud which shall shroud the Infinite ! 95 THE IMMATERIAL. We have obtained from our inquiries into the nature of time and eternity these four general principles : — 1. That which exists in the Infinite Past is now, and can never end. 2. That which can never end, is now, and exists in the Infinite Past. 3. That which has had a beginning, may be now, but must have an end. 4. That which has an end, may be now, but must have a beginning. Let us now hasten to make the first and most noble application of these truths : 1 . The Great First Cause exists in the Infinite Past. Therefore, The Great First Cause is now, and can never end. 2. The Great First Cause is without end. Therefore, The Great First Cause is now, and exists in the Infinite Past. 3. " Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the 96 THOUGHTS ON BEING. foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands." a They all have had a beginning. Therefore, " They shall perish ; but Thou remainest : and they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed ; but Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." b 4. " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and there was no more sea. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away." c These all will have an end. M There is an eternity in which death and sorrow shall have no more dominion." Therefore, There has been a time " when He prepared the heavens, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the foundations of the deep, when He ap- pointed the foundations of the earth." d Therefore also, " We know that the whole a Heb. i. 10. b Heb. i. 11, 12. c Rev. xxi. 1. 4. d Prov. viii. 27. THE IMMATERIAL. 97 creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." a Therefore also, There was a time when " sin entered into the world, and death by sin." b These evidences of the eternity of Omnipo- tence bring forcibly before us the truth, that death, and sin, and all earthly things, whether visible or invisible, are to our faculties of a temporary nature ; and they lead us to the contemplation of the Author of all the great mysterious perfection of the Immaterial. But far be from us any intention to describe His incomprehensible attributes. Let it rather be our hope to remove that gross and material per- ception of them which some of us entertain, and to behold them in the clearest light which is at present permitted. " To have ascertained and to perceive a reason for anything that God has done, is far different from perceiving the reason ; though the two are often confounded." So, to believe that we may now possess a more j ust and enlightened idea of the Divine attributes than we have yet had, is far different from the impious boast of pride, — that it comprehends a Rom. viii. 22. b Rom. v. 12. c Whateley's Essays, p. 165. H 98 THOUGHTS ON BEING. the thoughts of the Creator. Thus, then, will we proceed, neither forgetting the necessity of deep reverence and humility, nor that the attain- ment of even limited success requires the exercise of man's highest faculties ; for, " though it is easy to say that we ought to love and worship, as well as reverence and fear, the Supreme Being, yet nothing is in fact more difficult for such a creature as man, surrounded too, as he is, by gross material objects, and necessarily occupied in worldly pur- suits, than to lift up his thoughts and affections to God. A Being whose nature is so incompre- hensible that our knowledge of Him is chiefly negative ; of whom we know not so much what He is, as what He is not; — it is difficult to make even a steady object of thought. Now we believe that God is a Spirit ; but we have a very faint notion of the nature of a Spirit, except in respect of its being not a body. God is eternal ; but we are bewildered with the very idea of Eternity, of which we only know that it is without beginning and icithout end : we say that the Divine attri- butes are infinite ; i. e., not bounded, unlimited. And even where our knowledge of God extends beyond mere negatives, we cannot but perceive, on attentive reflection, that the attributes as- THE IMMATERIAL. 99 signed to the Deity must, in reality, be such, in Him, as the ordinary sense of those same terms when applied to men can but very faintly shadow- out. But the difficulty is still greater when we attempt to set our affections on this awful and inconceivable Being; — to address as a tender parent Him who has formed out of nothing, and could annihilate in a moment, countless myriads, perhaps, of worlds, besides our own, and to whom " the nations are but as the drop of a bucket, and the small dust of a balance;" — to offer bur tribute of praise and obedience to Him who can neither be benefited nor hurt by us ; — to implore favour and deprecate punish- ment from Him who has no passions or wants as we have; — to confess our sins before Him who is exempt not only from all sin, but from all human infirmities and temptations; — and, in short, to hold spiritual intercourse with One with whom we can have no sympathy, and of whom we can with difficulty form any clear conception. " And this difficulty is not diminished, but rather increased, in proportion as man advances in refinement of notions, in cultivation of intellect, and in habits of profound philosophical reflection, and thus becomes less gross in his ideas of the H 2 100 THOUGHTS ON BEING. Supreme Being. To the dull and puerile under- standings of a semi-barbarous nation, such as the Israelites at the time of Moses, many of the cir- cumstances just mentioned would be less likely to occur than to those of a more enlightened people; and an habitual and practical piety would accordingly have been more easy of attain- ment to them — while favoured, as they were, with frequent sensible Divine interpositions of various kinds, and continually addressed by prophets in the name of the Lord, Jehovah, the tutelary God of their nation, — than to men of more enlarged minds and more thoughtful habits not favoured with the Gospel-revelation. " These impediments to devotion it is probable the apostle John had in mind when he said, 1 No man hath seen God at any time ; ' and he seems to have conceived the ' declaration ' of God by Jesus Christ was calculated, not, indeed, wholly to remove these impediments, but so far to moderate and lower them as to leave no in- superable difficulty to a willing mind." a "We must be careful not to imagine that the immaterial is simply the opposite of matter ; for within a receiver, exhausted in the most absolute a Whateley's Essays, p. 167. et seq. THE IMMATERIAL. 101 sense, in which there remains neither air, nor light, nor electricity, nor material Being of any kind whatever, whether visible or invisible, the immaterial may in one sense be said to dwell. But, although the interior of such receiver is in opposition to matter, it may or may not be that which is immaterial, for the exclusion of matter and material properties does not necessarily cause either the presence or absence of the im- material. The idea thus given is simply negative, and is inapplicable to that actual Being of which we are in search : our thoughts should rather seek to realise to our mind an image from which all positive principle is not thus excluded. " The attributes of the Creator of all material particles, naturally form a subject of the most sublime contemplation for all beings endowed with reason sufficient for that purpose. But here again we must refer to our incapacity to enter into a subject so much beyond human un- derstanding ; for man can only appreciate things which are material, and which, by virtue of their properties, communicate impressions through material organs to the human mind. We find that we cannot determine the absolute attributes of the Deity from physical science, but only infer H 3 102 THOUGHTS ON BEING. certain attributes by not attributing to His di- vinity the properties of matter, which solely derives its properties through the exertion of His power. In fact, nothing is more erroneous than the comparison of [physical] perfections in God with natural qualities in man. Out of this have arisen incalculable mistakes." a It is, no doubt, true that the first impulse of " our reason teaches us to ascribe these attributes to God by way of resemblance and analogy to such qualities and powers as we find most valu- able and perfect in ourselves." And "if we look into the Holy Scriptures, and consider the representations given us there of God or his attributes, we shall find them gene- rally of the same nature, and plainly borrowed from some resemblance to things with which we are acquainted by our senses. Thus, when the Holy Scriptures speak of God, they ascribe hands, and eyes, and feet to Him : not that it is designed that we should believe that He has any of these members according to the literal signification, but the meaning is, that He has a power to execute all those acts to the effecting of which these parts in us are instrumental ; that is, He a Smee's Sources of Physical Science, p. 278. THE IMMATERIAL. 103 can converse with men as well as if He had a tongue and mouth ; He can discern all that we do or say as perfectly as if He had eyes and ears ; He can reach us as well as if He had hands and feet ; He has as true and substantial a being as if He had a body ; and He is as truly present everywhere as if that body were infinitely ex- tended. And in truth, if all these things which are thus ascribed to Him did really and literally belong to Him, He could not do what He does near so effectually as we conceive and are sure He doth them by the faculties and properties which He really possesses, though what they are in themselves be unknown to us." a " If we review the properties of matter, we find that its first property is number ; that the juxtaposition of units forms addition and multi- plication, and the mass of matter so formed is susceptible of diminution and division. The material character of number forbids us to attach that property to the attributes of the Almighty ; for His attributes are clearly immaterial, having no connection with the properties which His mighty power caused matter to evince. Natural philosophy, therefore, teaches us that the Al- a Dr. King's Sermon, § 4. p. 6—10. ii 4 104 THOUGHTS ON BEING. mighty has no relation to number ; that, conse- quently, He is indivisible and incapable of addition. " As we must discard the very idea of number as being an attribute of God, so must we also deny the possibility of any attribute arising from attracted number. We cannot, therefore, give to His majesty form or size, for these are properties of His created matter. His presence, moreover, cannot be limited to one spot, for position is a material effect. He must extend over space, and, consequently, omnipresence must be a cha- racteristic attribute of His greatness. " His omnipresence cannot be interfered with by the presence in certain positions of created matter. Impenetrability is a property of matter perhaps by virtue of attraction, and therefore cannot interfere with the immaterial. The om- nipresence of the Deity will not be prevented by attracted matter ; but He must be present in the structure of the hardest stones, the most massy rocks, — in fact, throughout the matter of this great globe, and even throughout the matter existing over the universe. . . . " The power which conferred attraction on matter is present, not only where matter is, but THE IMMATERIAL. 105 even where matter is not ; inasmuch as position is a material phenomenon. In consequence of that omnipresence, we may infer that He is cognisant of every alteration of each respective particle of matter, which omnicognisance is called the omnipresence of the Deity. Our material bodies allow certain expressions to be carried to the mind through certain material organs called the senses ; and therefore we only appreciate those impressions which act upon those senses. His omnipresence must know every single change without respect to any material conditions. His omniscience cannot be interfered with by darkness, quiescence, or temperature. Darkness is no darkness with Him ; the stillness of an action cannot cause it to be hid from His observation. His omniscience is derived from omnipresence ; not from the properties of matter, from which man derives his knowledge. . . . " It is useless to conceal that these great and glorious perfections are quite incomprehensible to our senses : we can only appreciate material impressions ; all else is quite incomprehensible to our mind. To say that God has no relation to number, is as unintelligible as His omnipre- 106 THOUGHTS ON BEING. sence, His omniscience, or His eternity. We cannot conceive the nature of such attributes, though we are compelled to believe them, because we cannot conceive that such attributes should not exist. " What other attributes belong to the Al- mighty we are incapable of ascertaining by phy- sical science ; and even the contemplation of these we must admit will suffice to fill our minds with an amazement productive of reverence, submis- sion, and humility." a " Such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me ; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee ; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both a Smee's Sources of Physical Science, p. 279. THE IMMATERIAL. 107 alike to thee. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, Lord, thou knowest it alto- gether." a Thus have we raised our thoughts to that Spiritual Being of supreme goodness, that In- finite Immaterial, the " High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity;" whose diffusion em- braces unbounded space, and whose life-giving essence yet dwelleth in the secret soul of every one that keepeth His commandments ; who is in heaven the " Creator," in hell b the " Friend of Sinners," and on earth the " Mediator;" who is " the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." d But the ideas of the Divine attributes which we have here attained have arisen from contem- plating the distinction of matter from the imma- terial. The extracts which have been introduced extend, I fear, already too far ; but should any doubt the truth of the result which they exhibit, a reference to the originals, where the argument a Psalm cxxxix. b See 1 Pet. iii. 19. c Matt. xi. 19. d Heb. xiii. 8. 108 THOUGHTS ON BEING. is fully stated, would, I think, remove all hesi- tation. Admitting, then, and with justice, the correct- ness of these views, we perceive at once that they must be universally applicable to all that is im- material, and cannot be restricted to the Supreme Goodness. All the attributes, therefore, which we thus infer to be identified with the imma- terial, must be also applicable to the Arch-prin- ciple of Evil. Now we are not able thus to infer the attribute of omnipotence ; reason, therefore, thus tells us that the attribute of omnipotence is not essential to the immaterial. And by Scrip- ture we are assured that the power of Satan is limited, and that the power of Supreme Goodness is infinite, for " He is able to subdue all things unto himself," " and took on him the seed of Abraham, that, through death, He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil." a Neither are we able thus to infer the attribute of immutability ; reason, therefore, thus tells us that the attribute of immutability is not essential to the immaterial. The Scripture assures us that the reign of Satan shall be de- stroyed, and there we read of that Being of in- * Heb. ii. 14. THE IMMATEKIAL. 109 finite goodness who is " the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," whose words are, " I am the Lord ; I change not," a and who, in his power of eternal foreknowledge, hath said, " Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out." b Nor are we able thus to infer that the possession of a single moral attribute is essential to the immaterial: long- suffering, mercy, and love we know to be the cha- racteristics of One Adorable Being ; but we are taught that hatred, malice, and sleepless perseve- rance in works of darkness are identified with the great Enemy of Mankind. He, then, is another mighty power, the spiritual Being of evil, the im- material adversary of goodness, infinite in diffu- sion, though limited in power, who, " as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may de- vour," c as an unclean spirit entereth into the hearts of a wicked generation d , and as "the prince of the power of the air now worketh in the chil- dren of disobedience." e As eternity is in truth to an eternal Being always present, so is infinity always present to an infinite Being. We must, a Mai. iii. 6. * John, xii. 31. c 1 Pet. v. 8. d Matt. xii. 45. e 1 Eph. ii. 2. 110 THOUGHTS ON BEING. therefore, unhesitatingly dissent from that gross and vulgar conception of the " father of lies," which would give to him either a temporary duration, a bodily shape, or a limited sphere of existence. He is a spirit, and as such he both enters into the heart of every man and occupies infinity. All immaterial Being is essentially eternal, omnipresent, and omniscient ; and we are taught that Satan is eternal, omnipresent, and omniscient/ All immaterial Being is not essentially omnipotent, allmerciful, or immutable, and Satan, we know, is not omnipotent, nor all- merciful, nor immutable. But the immaterial embraces within itself both heaven and hell; for here again we must scrupulously reject every idea that relates to the visible creation. We must not be led astray either by the representative symbols which we find in the works of the poet, the painter, and the sculptor, or by the beautiful descriptions which abound in the Holy Scriptures, for we unhesitatingly acknowledge their figurative cha- racter. Here is the language of Job : " Canst thou by searching find out God ? canst thou a It should be observed that omniscience is here used for mere knowledge, and not wisdom. THE IMMATERIAL. Ill find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven ; what canst thou do ? deeper than hell ; what canst thou know ? The mea- sure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." a These and many similar ex- pressions were addressed to a people who de- lighted in the imaginative eloquence of the East, and are confessedly adapted to the comprehension of minds warmed, it may be, by the truths of religion, and nourishing the seeds of Christian charity, but neither enlightened by the dis- coveries of science nor refined by habitual re- flection. We know that they can scarcely be correctly entertained even in relation to this earth ; and that beyond our planet, and in the regions of space, height and depth and breadth must be absolutely and utterly unknown. Then must heaven and hell merge in the unbounded expanse of infinity. The works of Omnipotence which we see around and on every side, occupy that same infinite space wherein are now diffused without limit the house of mourning and the house blessed for evermore of the righteous. Neither for heaven nor for hell is there any limited place, any assignable spot; they are a Job, xi. 7—9. 112 THOUGHTS ON BEING. merged in the unbounded expanse of the infinite, in the immaterial abiding-place of the spiritual and infinitely diffused antagonistic beings of good and evil. Let him who believes that heaven and hell are not such, that they are not immaterial and in- finite, that they are not invisible, existing in the heart of man and throughout unbounded space, let him answer and tell of their nature and their position. Heaven is now existing, eternal, and not to be created in the future. It is, therefore, manifestly not a sensible dwelling-place, either in the bowels of the earth, or in the interior or on the surface of any distant planet. It is not intermingled as a visible kingdom among un- numbered systems of suns, because the light from every orb falls without obstruction upon the eye that loves to contemplate the immeasure- able beauty of a starlit canopy. We dare not say, we cannot conceive, that our Almighty Father, who is the " King of Heaven," should dwell so far from the presence of His children, that the vision is unable to penetrate the depth of separation. And, in truth, we know not that space does extend beyond the material creation ; on the contrary, we are disposed to THE IMMATERIAL. 113 believe that sun succeeds to sun, system to system, and nebulse beyond nebulas, infinitely without end ; and that as space is infinite, so likewise is the number of heavenly bodies that there un- ceasingly sing in harmony. No, it cannot be : He who dwelleth in heaven, who rests in the hearts of the righteous, who is around their bed and about their path, cannot be removed more remote than the mind of man can conceive ; nor can those heavenly mansions which are now in existence, and wherein the faithful are therefore now dwelling with Him in peace and holiness, be other than spiritual, infinite, and eternal. Thus, too, as unlimited space embraces the Author of Good and the Principle of Evil, so in like manner, dwelling within every man, and in constant op- position, is there " the spirit of good and a spirit of evil, each perfectly distinct. And as every other spiritual power, whether of righteousness or of wickedness, whether of good or evil, is perfectly distinct, and possesses a true inde- pendent existence (u7roa-TOL