In short, there are seasons when a thoughtful and tender spirit is tempted to feel as if some malignant power were commissioned to seek out all that is most beautiful, harmonious, and delightful in the experience of our race, only to imbitter, confound, and destroy.
And even where the experience of life has been the most favorable, as its closing years come on early friends pass away, the capacities and resources of enjoyment diminish, and the dim cloud that shrouds the closing vista awakens solemn and anxious meditations on the untried and silent future. Such experiences bring forth the heart-yearning questions that come, as it were, from the united voice of sad and suffering humanity:
"Is there a God that controls the destinies of man? If so, what are his character and designs? Is this sad life our only portion, or shall we live beyond the grave? If there is another life before us, what influence has our conduct and character here on its solemn destinies?
Are we left to our own unaided faculties to reason out from the nature of things around us the replies to these momentous questions, or has the Author of our being given some direct revelation to guide us?
If such a revelation exists, is it made accessible to all, or must one portion of our race necessarily depend on fallible and interested interpreters?
Does this revelation agree with reason and experience, and does it contain all that we need both for safe guidance and for peace of mind?"
It is believed that, in the following pages, it will be seen that every mind, of even only ordinary capacity, is furnished with the means of answering all these questions, and with as much certainty as appertains to the ordinary practical questions of this life.
At the same time, it will appear that most of the difficulties and diversities of opinions in religious matters have mainly resulted from neglecting these means of obtaining truth and peace, and that the "good times coming" are all depending on the proper use of these means.
As introductory to the first main topic, it is important to refer to the fact that, in all languages, man is recognized as possessing what is called _reason_. He is called a _reasonable_ being and a _reasoning_ being, and it is claimed that it is his reason that places him at the head of creation in this world.