What shall then deter his dying out of darkness into light? (l. 441.) _Fancy._ The deterrent is to be found in the suggestion by Fancy of the law rendering penal "voluntary passage from this life to that." He shall find--say, hell to punish who in aught curtails the term. (l. 463.) _Reason._ And what influence upon life it must be asked will this new knowledge exert? Life, says Reason, would thus be reduced to a condition of stagnation. The absolute certainty involved in this exact knowledge of the future would stultify action in the present. A result similar to that which, according to Karshish, was attained in the case of Lazarus. The things of this world matter not in view of an ever-present realization of Eternity. The use of faith is at an end as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," since all is clear, definite and, further still, unalterable to the inward vision. _Fancy._ Again Fancy interposes with the suggestion that this equal realization of future and present must be accompanied by an appreciation of the worth of life temporal and its opportunities, of the eternal import of the deeds wrought in the flesh. Thus the future life completely revealed would not, as Reason holds, supersede the uses of this, but would serve rather as an incentive to action in the present, on the assumption that the virtual reward of performance is reserved for the after-time. _Reason._ The final position is then examined by Reason. To the original premises--the existence of the soul, an intelligent being, and of a God, the author of an intelligible universe in which man's lot is cast--has been added the certainty of a future world, but a world into which man may not pass until his allotted term has been fulfilled on earth. Further, that in this world to come are to be dealt out allotments of happiness or misery in exact relative proportion to the deeds accomplished during the period of mortal life. That by laws as unerring and relentless as those of Nature's code, pain will follow evil-doing, pleasure will succeed acts of self-devotion to that which is esteemed goodness and truth. Absolute certainty in all things spiritual being thus established, free will becomes but a name, and the probationary character of life is at an end. Here again a reminiscence of the discussion contained in the early stanzas of _Easter Day_ when the Second Speaker suggests that faith may be A touchstone for God's purposes, Even as ourselves conceive of them. Could he acquit us or condemn For holding what no hand can loose, Rejecting when we can't but choose? As well award the victor's wreath To whosoever should take breath Duly each minute while he lived-- Grant heaven, because a man contrived To see its sunlight every day He walked forth on the public way. (_E. D._, iv, ll. 59-70.) So _La Saisiaz_