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pamphlet , it was well worth repr inting " , and its being subjoined to Capt . Tlurush ' s Letter increases the value of his seasonable , temperate and interesting publication , which we dismiss with a cordial recommendation of it to our readers .
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Art . IV . — The Wisdom and Goodness of God in the Appointment of Death . An Essay on the Moral Benefits of Death to Mankind , By David Eaton . 12 mo . pp . 48 . Sold by the Author , 187 , High-Holborn . 1822 .
T THE sensible author of this Essay M expresses his surprise that while so many volumes have been written on death , its " moral benefits" have been so much overlooked . These he
accordingly states and reasons upon in this little publication . Some of his observations have been anticipated in Mr . Watson ' s " Various Views of Death , " ( Mon . Repos . XVI . 305 , ) but
we know of no short treatise , drawn up in a popular form , which contains so much sound argument , enforcing a rational preparation for death , or administering consolation under its bereavements .
In the following passage , the author appears to us to take a just view both of human nature and the Divine dispensations : " Men , as frail beings , naturally contract in their journey through this world , certain habits and opinions which , though
not always absolutely wicked , are neither wise , nor pure , nor liberal , nor just . And , at a certain period of life , the mind becomes so stationaiy and contracted , as almost to preclude the possibility of enlargeinent ; and the habits are . so fixed , that scarcely any means are sufficient to
rectify or remove them . The whole history of man is decisive evidence of this truth . It la quite proverbial to say , that use is second nature , that custom is a tyrant ; we need only reflection and observation to perceive that habit is indeed
invincible . But death , by withdrawing the aged , not only removes their infirmities , but also their prejudices , their ignorance and their faults ; and younger minds , more pure , docile and ardent , profit by their errors and discoveries , and make those moral and intellectual attainments and improvements of which their
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fathers formed no conception . Death not only removes prejudiced individ uals from the world , but , by its apprehended approach , frequently removes an individual ' s prej udices from himself . Aud , a man awaking from the sleep of death , in . new circutu - stances , may have new feelings and see things in a very different light , as , in the
morning , the intemperate look hack with regret on the last night ' s excess . This reasoning supports the pleasing idea , that the world is , and will continue to be , improving : a fact as grateful to man as it is honourable to the moral government of God . "—Pp . 20 , 21 .
The following reflection , Which approves itself equally to reason and piety , is happily expressed : " All things are so fitly adjusted , so nicely balanced in due weight and measure , by the Divine Architect , that , wero the fear of death stronger than- it is , it
would produce settled gloom and melancholy , and destroy cheerfulness and all the innocent pleasures of life . If it were less awful and impressive , it would cease to produce that attention and those moral effects which now conduce so much
to knowledge , virtue and happiness . Or , if we had no doubts and fears , if our faith were stronger and our hopes brighter , if we had clearer views of the glory and felicity of heaven—our minds would be so fixed and absorbed by the blissful scene , that we should undervalue our
present existence ; this world and its affairs would cease to influence us , and its most important duties and labours would be neglected ; the moral economy of life would be at an end , and all those active energies which now so much conduce to the well-being of society , could
not exist . How great is the wisdom and goodness of God ! What a provision for happiness , by which the good man can enjoy both this world and the next!—< The light shineth / but not so brightly to
as oppress our vision , or to prevent , in many instances , both doubts and fears , which serve to increase our vigilance and inquiry ; yet the light of life is sufficiently strong to < excite ardent hope and strong desire , and to bear every wish above . " —Pp . 31 , 32 .
Upon the whole , we think that Mr . Eaton ' s Essay is entitled to a place amongst those publications on practical religion which the Unitarian Associations are accustomed to intermix , in their lists of works for distribution , with doctrinal and controversial pieces .
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368 Review . ~ Eaton ' s Essay on Death
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1822, page 368, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2513/page/48/
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