"These make him say,--If God has so arrayed
A fading world that quickly passes by,
Such rich provision of delight has made
For every human eye,
"What shall the eyes that wait for him survey
When his own presence gloriously appears
In worlds that were not founded for a day,
But for eternal years?" [9]
Here science seems to suggest a possible answer: the solution of problems
which have puzzled us here; the acquisition of new ideas; the unrolling
the history of the past; the world of animals and plants; the secrets of
space; the wonders of the stars and of the regions beyond the stars. To
become acquainted with all the beautiful and interesting spots of our own
world would indeed be something to look forward to, and our world is but
one of many millions. I sometimes wonder as I look away to the stars at
night whether it will ever be my privilege as a disembodied spirit to
visit and explore them. When we had made the great tour fresh interests
would have arisen, and we might well begin again.
Here there is an infinity of interest without anxiety. So that at last the
only doubt may be
"Lest an eternity should not suffice
To take the measure and the breadth and height
Of what there is reserved in Paradise
Its ever-new delight." [10]
Cicero surely did not exaggerate when he said, "O glorious day! when I
shall depart to that divine company and assemblage of spirits, and quit
this troubled and polluted scene. For I shall go not only to those great
men of whom I have spoken before, but also to my son Cato, than whom never
was better man born, nor more distinguished for pious affection; whose
body was burned by me, whereas, on the contrary, it was fitting that mine
should be burned by him. But his soul not deserting me, but oft looking
back, no doubt departed to these regions whither it saw that I myself was
destined to come. Which, though a distress to me, I seemed patiently to
endure: not that I bore it with indifference, but I comforted myself with
the recollection that the separation and distance between us would not
continue long. For these reasons, O Scipio (since you said that you with
Laelius were accustomed to wonder at this), old age is tolerable to me,
and not only not irksome, but even delightful. And if I am wrong in this,
that I believe the souls of men to be immortal, I willingly delude myself:
nor do I desire that this mistake, in which I take pleasure, should be
wrested from me as long as I live; but if I, when dead, shall have no
consciousness, as some narrow-minded philosophers imagine, I do not fear
lest dead philosophers should ridicule this my delusion."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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