Page:The Judgment Day.pdf/94

 rest upon a strong internal, and very general conviction of its truth. A proposition which is generally assented to, and thus received as the common belief of the world, may still need to be proved. It may even be untrue. Such we know has been the case with many theories in science, which were once received as true, but are now known to be false. But a proposition which is sustained by a strong internal conviction and acknowledgement of its truth, has very little need of being proven. It may be illustrated and confirmed so as to be seen more clearly. But that internal and general conviction of its truth, constitutes in itself the highest order of proof.

That there is a spiritual world, is a proposition of this sort. It is true, that the general impression in regard to the nature and form of the spiritual world, appears to be very vague and indefinite; but the conviction that there is a spiritual, or, as it is called, another world, is so deeply engraven up on the spirit of man that it cannot be erased unless by destroying from the mind every thing that is truly human. The christian looks to that world as his future home; he talks of it as freely as of the world in which he now lives; and if his religious affections are deep and ardent, he feels a much livelier interest in it. He is, sometimes at least, conscious of an internal and spiritual sympathy with the inhabitants of that world, and looks forward with cherished delight to the time when he will be admitted into open communion with them. And even the wildest savage that inhabits our western forests, cherishes a firm belief in the existence of such a world. He may have no idea of any essential difference between that world and this; but it is well known that the indian tribes firmly believe that departed spirits still live, in what they call the spirit land. This belief is clearly shown by the peculiar form of their burial rites. When the warrior or the hunter is dismissed to that spirit land, he is abundantly furnished with horses, dogs, bows and arrows, and whatever else he is supposed to need. A little poem