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THOUGHTS ON DEATH.
By “ ROSEMARY.”
The idea of death being a consequence of man’s
succumbing to evil seems untenable. The remains
of pre-Adamite animals show that death reigned
triumphant over them before man is said by his deed
to have involved all the brute creation in his own
doom. The passage from this to any other world
must have been made denuded of the flesh (no matter
what man’s moral state), for how can we banish
gravitation? It is supposed by some that the act of
dying in itself is not necessarily painful,—allow this
to be the rule ; do away with bodily suffering, which
may probably with truth be considered the conse
quence of sin, let man choose the moment when he
will quit this world for another, and we should pro
bably see as many voluntary travellers to other worlds,
by the conveyance called Death, as at present to other
countries by any known means of transit. The
endless diversity of earth’s flowers suggests the idea
that each of the countless worlds around us, which
have been aptly termed the “ flowers of the sky,”
�2
may possess a beauty all its own and distinct from
the rest. What exquisite colouring must the planet
Jupiter possess with four moons of various hues!
How revelling in light must Saturn be with his
luminous bands, and what may not be the wondrous
glories of Neptune with
i attendant satellites !
If it be our high privilege to visit each, and find in
each fresh cause to reverence our Maker’s wisdom
and reciprocate His love, the undying Soul could
bear unharmed the heights and depths of adoration
never before called forth; but these poor bodies, for
which even Earth’s emotions often prove too strong,
would not the fate of the surcharged Leyden jar be
theirs?—shivered by excess of what it-was meant to
contain ? If so, where would be the use of carrying
them with us ?—supposing it were possible they could
traverse Space without the subversion of every known
law of nature. How insupportable would be the
idea of Eternity were it not for the counterbalancing
one of Space! Unlimited Time may well be em
ployed in learning the glories of unlimited Space.
If we are destined to see the works of the Creator
in various worlds, it follows as a matter of course
that Death is an “ Institution ” whereby the Soul lays
aside a covering, which its further requirements
render useless, to take another more in accordance
with them and with the specific gravity of whatever
world is its next destination ; and, on quitting that
world, Death must probably again be the Soul’s
�3
mode of transit, and we need seek no further for the
reason of Death than in the universal law, whereby
everything no longer suited to its first purpose is put
to another; hence, when by manifestations of Divine
Wisdom and Love hitherto unimagined the Soul will
be exalted by adoration never before called forth, a
body suited to its higher requirements will doubtless
be provided by the Creator; while thriftly mother
Nature, after various revivifying processes; re-adapts
these worn out frames to the requirements of her
younger children.
We all know that great dread—even though cause
less—is intense agony. Those who have witnessed
two children of different temperaments, led by their
father, approach a frightful shadow thrown by the
magic lantern, can realise this. Neither child could
really be hurt by the ugly shadow; but how fearful is
the suffering of the timid one, compared to that of him
who feels perfect security, because it is his father*s
hand which leads him. “ The Valley of the Shadow
of Death” is a suggestive expression!* Perhaps
we should derive more courage from it than we do;
at any rate, if Death, once passed, should prove but
a terrific Shadow, can it ever again excite fear; or will
it not, perhaps, be hailed as the invigorator of the
Soul, as Sleep is now of the Body ? or granted even
that there may be aught of peril to the Soul in Death,
* See “ Exposition of Twenty-third Psalm,” by Rev. John
Stevenson.—Jackson ; London, 1847.
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which is a proposition the Writer cannot for a moment
entertain, still, if we have once passed in safety through
it under shelter of the “ Everlasting Arms,” shall we
ever again distrust their power?
Therefore, though
Life and Death may alternate through all Eternity, as
Day and Night do through all Time, there is no
reason why Death’s recurrence should ever again
inspire dread. It is rare, however great a man’s
troubles may have been, to hear him declare he
would rather never have lived; then may we not trust
the same Providence which ordered our lot in this
world (so that at least it is bearable) without mis
giving for the future ?
WERTHEIMER, LEA AND CO., PRINTERS, FINSBURY CIRCUS.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
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Original Format
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Thoughts on death
Creator
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Yeates Crashaw, Rose Mary
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 4 p. ; 21 cm.
Notes: "Rosemary" is the pseudonym of Rose Mary Yeates Crashaw. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Date of publication from KVK. Printed by Wertheimer, Lea and Co., Finsbury Circus, London.
Publisher
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[s.n.]
Date
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[1869]
Identifier
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G5266
Subject
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Death
Rights
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Thoughts on death), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Conway Tracts
Death