OR, MAN'S PRESENT AND FUTURE CONDITION "Shall I be left forgotten in the dust, When fate, relenting, lets the flowers revive? Shall nature's voice, to man alone unjust, Bid him, though doomed to perish, hope to live?" BEATTIE. BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE TRIPLE JUDGMENT," LONDON: WILLIAM FREEMAN, 102, FLEET STREET. 1862. [The right of Translation and Reproduction is reserved] 100. u. 82. PREFACE. Ir was not the Author's intention to have offered anything by way of preface to this work, as prefaces generally betray anxiety for self, and if lengthy, are seldom read; but so many treatises have appeared from writers of all ages and creeds on the subject of man's destiny, that he concluded a few explanatory remarks were needed to point out the object and purport of the following pages. Notwithstanding the restlessness, revelry, and unbelief at present rampant in the earth, there is a voice in human nature which makes itself heard, testifying that all mankind agree in looking forward to some future state, by whatever name they are pleased to call it. % Under the title of "To Be, or Not to Be?" the Author has sought to demonstrate the truth of man's present and future existence, and to present before his readers, in as simple and intelligent a form as possible, what has been revealed on this subject. He has sought no new revelation, nor does he lay claim to much originality of thought; his aim has been to gather up the fragments of truth he has found scattered abroad, and collect them; so that nothing may be lost. The things contained in the following pages have been the result of many years' careful study and mature thought. Many who are now no longer in mortality have been comforted by their perusal, and some, in their last moments, have thanked the Author for the peace ministered by them, as well as the hopes they have inspired. From time to time he has been asked to publish them, but an unwillingness has hitherto deterred him. Considering, however, the favourable reception of his former works and imbued with the belief that the following pages, if attentively read, may conduce to some good, he ventures to solicit their perusal by the public. London, September, 1862. |