Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/41

 empty words,  are  virtue  and  justice  to  exist  only in imagination?

What then! The robber  and  the  robbed,  the traitor to  his  country  and  he  who  gives  his  life for his  fatherland,  the  martyr  and  his  torturer, the unnatural  son  and  the  model  daughter,  are they all  to  share  the  same  fate  in  annihilation — in  the  same  nothingness? No, it  is  impossible even  to  imagine  anything  so  preposterous.

5. But  all  has  not  been  said. We have  within us a  heart  which  yearns  after  endless,  everlasting happiness! Happiness! The mere  mention of  this  word  makes  our  heart  beat  more quickly, and  stirs  our  being  to  its  inmost  depths This craving  for  happiness,  this  intense  longing, must be  destined  to  be  satisfied  at  some  future period. But where? Where is  this  endless  and complete happiness  for  which  we  long  so  ardently  —  where  is  it  to  be  found? Everything teaches us,  everything  proves  to  us,  that  it  can not be  found  upon  earth. Our heart  is,  indeed, not very  large,  but  the  universe  does  not  suffice to fill  it. Caesar, to  whom  at  one  time  half  the world was  subject,  said  with  melancholy  discontent: "Is  that  all?"

Therefore, if  the  longing  for  happiness  is  so firmly  rooted  in  our  heart,  and  yet  can  never find complete  or  permanent  satisfaction  upon earth, it  follows  that  it  must  be  possible  for  man to attain  it  after  this  life  is  ended,  that  means that death  is  not  annihilation. This reasoning should suffice.

6. But  we  have  kept  the  most  conclusive argument to  the  last. We have  the  words  of Christ  Himself  as  a  pledge  that  there  is  a  future life; and  He  speaks  as  follows:  "The  just  shall