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    af Jesqs , ^ e are tyot favoured , vfith any direct information , e ^ pept in the appearance of Moses and Elias to him . Perhaps it may be found tp be as

    complete as the prospective assuredly is . The declaration of Dr . Watson , which occurs in his correspondence with Mr . Gibbon , will , on this view , appear equally reputable to the philosopher and divine : " I have no hope of a future existence * except that which is grounded on the truth of Christianity" [ Mon . Repos . XIII . 130 . ]

    In submitting these thoughts to the Monthly Repository , I feel considerable reluctance on account of their singularity . On lighter subjects novelty , if attainable , is not devoid of

    peculiar recommendation , but where the ground has been so often beaten over by the greatest of minds , any ney ¥ mode of scriptural investigation must necessarily excite , in a

    considerable degree , hesitation and doubt as to its accuracy . Aware of this disadvantage , and conscious of great inability , compared with the importance of the subject , if I lose my way , where others have gone in perfect safety , or

    sink where they have soared ; mistake is , perhaps , preferable to want of effort , and involuntary error to total inactivity . W . H .

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    Such , at least , we fiud to be the effect of this persuasion on the minds of Christians . Scarcely can a page be rea < J , either in the New Testament of

    or in the theological writing ^ Christians in after ages , Wtthout finding tl ) e future existence of man either plainly stated or implied . How comes it to pass then , if the Jews possessed this belief , that in places innumerable ,

    where we might expect to meet this doctrine , it is passed over in silence > What pious Christian parent , in the affecting situation of Israel blessing his sons , ^ whom he had collected around him in his last hours , would

    have omitted to mention this grand article of his creed , this reviving hope , which disarms death of its terror * , and is the best consolation to survivors , as it allows them to entertain the hope of a reunion beyond the gravel

    We are filled with just admiration at , the noble and exalted sentiments of the Jewish writers , respecting the being , perfections and universal daminion of the one true God $ bat why , when they speak of his mpral government of the world , do they

    not illustrate the doctrine of his providence , by adverting to a future economy of things , where a just retribution will take place ? The Psalmist confessed that his feet had well nigh slipped , when he beheld the prosperity of the wicked ; and that , for the

    moment , he ^ was ready to conclude that in vain had he washed his hands in innocency , for he / was plagued all the day , and chastened every morning ; and when , at length , having reflected more maturely oi ) the subject , he is able to reconcile these dispensations with the equity of Divine

    Providence , it is not by looking forward to another state of being , where the righteous will be rewarded * a # d t ) ie wicked suffer according to their crimes ; for he looks no farther tfrfto the grave , and considers the suddpn destruction and premature end of tfie ungodly as their punishment .

    What fairer opportunity could ** e afforded for bringing forward to advantage the doctrine of a future ( state than in the famous controversy ip ,-tfc £ book of Job , respecting the , JDiy w * e purposes in the ajE&jctipns of maukifid ? fttow is it than , if Job / and , liifo tferee friends believed in tfei * doctrine * that

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    g # t Silence of the Old Testament on future Life .

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    Si # f March Q 4 , 1819 . f 11 HE silence of the Jewish Scrip-JL tures respecting a future state of existence , has often appeared to me a very surprising- circumstance * Did the patriarchs , and after them the Jewish nation , down to the time of Christ , believe that the existence of

    man would be perpetuated beyond death * or did they not ? I should be greatly obliged to any . of your learned correspondents , to throw some light o # this * to me , interesting subject . "VVliMchever supposition is , adopted , it seems alt en fled with difficulties .

    If tl | e Jews believed in the immortality of many why do we And the subject so seldom , or as some will sayt never hinted at in their writings ? Qne would have expected that its

    importance woulq so fill their minds , that iu ; writing professedly on religio ^^ subj ect it would perpetually re ^ Ur ^ an ^ be ctearJy » nrf dietiuctly sfata ) , 9 g bath a motive to obedience W& % ^ p »*^ latory ground of hope

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1819, page 364, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1773/page/20/