CCXCV
MARKTWAIN’SRELIGION
Thereissuchafinalityaboutdeath；howeverinterestingitmaybeasanexperience，onecannotdiscussitafterwardwithone’sfriends。IhavethoughtitagreatpitythatMarkTwaincouldnotdiscuss，withHowellssay，orwithTwichell，thesensationsandtheparticularsofthechange，supposingtherebearecognizablechange，inthattransitionofwhichwehavespeculatedsomuch，withsuchslenderreturns。Nooneeverdebatedtheundiscoveredcountrymorethanhe。Inhiswhimsical，semi—seriousfashionhehadconsideredallthepossibilitiesofthefuturestate——
orthodoxandotherwise——andhaddrawnpicturesquelyoriginalconclusions。
HehadsentCaptainStormfieldinadreamtoreporttheaspectsoftheearlyChristianheaven。Hehadexaminedthescientificaspectsofthemoresubtlephilosophies。Hehadconsideredspiritualism，transmigration，thevariousesotericdoctrines，andintheendhehadlogicallymadeuphismindthatdeathconcludesall，whilewiththatlesslogicalhungerwhichsurvivesineveryhumanhearthehadneverceasedtoexpectanexistencebeyondthegrave。Hisdisbeliefandhispessimismwereidenticalintheirstructure。Theywereofhismind；neverofhisheart。