Description

CONTENTS (very partial)
INTRODUCTION
Science is available in discussing the Survival of the Human Soul. The Existence of the Soul not a Question of Metaphysics. Philosophers of the Present Day have supplied
Matter for the Inquiry. The Author's Anonymous Pamphlet
on this Subject. The Existence of Ether affirmed by An-
tiquity and assumed by Scientists. Universal Belief that
the Spirit is destined to outlive the Body. Ether found in
Organic Life, and now looked for in Conscious Life. We
apply to the Human Soul the Law of Indestructibility of
Matter and Energy.
CHAPTER I
THE IDEA OF SURVIVAL IN THE VARIOUS CIVILISA-
TIONS OF ANTIQUITY
The Spiritual Insight of the Ancients. Tradition and Primitive Philosophy to be appealed to for Help in understanding Spiritual Matters. Evidences of a Belief in Survival among Prehistoric Races and Modern Savages. Chinese Ancestor-worship. The Evolution of the Survival Idea among the Egyptians. Transmigration of Souls believed in, but abhorred, by the Hindus. Survival as viewed by the Chaldeans, and by the Gauls. Immortality obscurely taught in the Old Testament. Taught also by the Greeks, and for a
Time by the Romans. The Christian Doctrine of Immor-
tality and Divine Love. Disagreement of Roman Catholics
and Protestants on the Question of a Purgatory. Survival
as viewed by Spiritists, and by Theosophists.
CHAPTER II
PREHISTORIC TRADITIONS AND REMAINS
Primitive Funeral Rites as Evidence of Belief in Survival.
Evolution of the Idea of Future Rewards and Punishments.
Influence of this Belief on Laws and Customs. Customs
which show that the Soul was believed to be entombed with
the Body. The Importance ascribed to Burial Rites.
Manes and Penates. In the Stone Age, Resurrection re-
garded as a New Birth. Drawings on Prehistoric Tombs,
expressive of the Hope of Resurrection. The Sun regarded
as the Author of All Life. Symbolical Ornamentation of
Tombs in Egypt and Greece. Summary of M. Soldi's Ideas
on Prehistoric Monuments. A Forecast of the Modern
Theory of a Vibrating Etheric Fluid.
CHAPTER III
SAVAGE TRIBES
Customs of Savages resulting from the Universal Belief in
Survival. Embalming. Cannibalism. Slaughter of Aged
and Infirm Relatives. Metempsychosis. Division of the
World into Infernal Regions and Blessed Regions. Inde-
pendent Elements in the Human Soul as viewed by Fijians,
Greenlanders, Algonquins, Polynesians, Malagashes, Dako-
tas, Siamese, Konds, and Burmese Karens.
CHAPTER IV
THE CHINESE
Influence of the Survival Notion on the Development of Ancient Civilisations as exemplified in the Chinese. The Origin of Ancestor-worship among the Chinese, Hindus, Greeks, and Romans. The Family System founded by Confucius. His Sacred Books. His Contemporary Philosophers : L&o Tsze in China, Pythagoras in Greece, and Sakyamuni in India. Lao Tsze's Belief in the Survival of an Individual, Conscious Soul. Composition of the Soul. The Necessity for Correct Funeral Rites and Offerings to the Dead. Chinese Horror of being deprived of Obsequies. Swords and other Pointed Articles used by Ancient Nations to drive away Importunate Spirits. Analogy between the Chinese Funeral-tablet and the Roman Imagines, The Part taken by Departed Spirits in all Family Matters. The Son's Duty to continue the Daily Ceremonial for the Happiness of his Deceased Father. How the Law provides Heirs for Men
who have no Sons.
CHAPTER V
THE EGYPTIANS
CHAPTER VI
THE HINDUS
CHAPTER VII
THE CHALDEANS