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FMtHrM of this may ba MMioraphteaNv yniqua, wfhMi may of tha imafa* in «lw raprodMetion; or whMi tiflnilieanily dianfi tha UMnal iMthod of eoBy wtiMi QCdIourad eovart/ Couvartutada aoulour v> . r — ~|/Co«an damaiad/ I ^ Coovartura r—n^Covart raitorad and/or laminaiM/ I \/\ Cowvartura rattaurta at/ou paNiOiMa □ Co«ar tHia miHint^ La tHra da cowianiira jMahqua • ■. ■ ■ / . /. . '•..'■ □ Colourad mapi/ / CartM ftoraphiqim an eoulaur □ CokNMad ink (i.a. othar tlian Mua or Mack)/ Encra da eoutottr (i.a. autra qua biaua bu noira) □ Colourad plattt and/or ilhittratiom/ Piancliat at/ou illuttrations an eoulaur □ Bound with oti«ar ifiatariai/ flaMb avac d'autrat'ikMNMiantt □ Tight Mndkff may^cauia ihadowt or distortion alont intarior margin/ La raliura iarrte paut cautar da i'omhra ou da la distortion la lonf da la marfla intiriaura □ Blaiik laavas addad durinf rastoration may i within tha taxt Whanavar potsibia, thasa hava baan omittad from f iiminf/ II sa paut qua eartainas pagas Manchas aiouttes lors d'una rastauration a ppar a i ssan t dans la taxta. mats, lortqua cala itait possiMa. cas pagas n'ont pas M fihntes. Iloias / Notas lachniquas at biMioflraphiquas L'InstitM k mierofihni la maillaur axamplaira qu'il lui a M possiMa da sa proeurar. Las d*tails da eal axamplaira qui sont paut4tra urtiquM 4(^-' mmi^^W-^ ^iWf^^ 'SR" 'f ^T^ V pdllg of J(tlieisn) ■p. i ^^. f V THB REV. GEORGE SEXTON, LVL, ILK M. D. Honorary and Corretponding Fellow of the Royal Italian Society ofSeienct; Honorary Member of L'Accademia del Quirltl, Home ,' 'Member of the Victoria Inetitute; Philoaophical Society ofOreat Britain. . " AUTHOR OF "The Baseless Fabric of Scientiiic Scepticism,"' "Theistic Problems,*' "Fallacies of Secularism," " Light in the Cloud," •* Hiblical Difficulties Dispelled," etc NoOf irdpra Kotr/ieiv ra vpdyfiara Bia irdpToap iStna, —Plato THIRD EDITION. PHILADELPHIA: ; M. E. Book Room, 1018 Arch Street. ^^ TORCrNTO:|fc. W. Briggs, Methodist Book Roomy kichmond Street. (• y ■/ ^^' CiH^'it.^-'l ^w i^W- ^y ^»lia,^tir*^jf 0^^ii-i^i r^ 3-7- \'x\o ^3. f^ny^T'awP' " / ,if V \ i » - -. JiKli* / 3 f 1*^1 --■-» mmtb CMUNOM XI < THE FOLLY OF ATHEISM. A Discourse Delivered before the American InS^te of Christian Pbiipsophy. ■;■/• fl •f*--- • -V « »■'-'".■ •A%->iA»' ♦,^ qj% -t T W^^-la^ -V^-a ^J ^ ' - 1^ ■ T-.J«-.f=-.^-^TSK- H'-J-l^- • m I > . ("• .. Quid p..te«t e»« t«.« »p.M-"« umque per»picu.ini. c..i« « The Etenml Will is the Civator of the world. M Ho is the creator of the finite rea»<.n."— Ftc/t(«. • » The Laws of Nature cannot account for their own origin." ^-Jokn Sivnirt Uiii. " The omnipresence of soiuething which passes con.prehen- «on is a-belief which has nothing to fear from the most inex- Zi: i::gic. but o„ the contrary i, a l.lief wlnch^e n^ m- exorable logic shews to Ikj profoundly true. ^Herbert bpencev. " Forth from his »1b^ and lonely hiding-place. l>brtentou« sight I the owlet Atheism. Sailing on obscene wings athwart the moon. Drops his blue-fringed lid., and holds them close. And hooting at the glonoqs sun in Heaven. , Cries out. Where is it ?" ^Colerifge. ^^^ ' Printed by The 8tr»tfofd H.r»W Printing Co. . / / •/ •/■■ <' I' / ni. cum ill eMe mtur ?" u iH the • • ff ongin. The Folly of Atheism. uprehen- 08t inex- most iii- Speiicer, - '*•»' T will readily lie understood that the title of this (liscourHe hnH been uuKgested by and is baMd uu a pnsstti^' — /rell-known to everyone— in the ]k)ok of rsaluis/wherein we read that " the fool hath said in his heart, there is na God." The word here renderetl fool is 73^ ^*''^ hdhV, and is de- rived from a root signifyinf; to wither. It has doubtless a reference to the withering of the soul that a denial of God in- volves. In Psalm i. 3 we read of the godly man. " his leaf also shall not wither," where tJb^||tune'word is employed, signifying ^ spiritual degeneracy, or tM|^|Pwering of that part of man which "^^Vsi^rliim above the inferior creatures. The roan who- believes in God, and delights in His law, shall not only bring forth truit in abuildi^nce hi his actions, but his leaf ^also — the embellish- ment of his chnracter-^shall not wither or decline. When the Psalmist, therefore, Would deseri^ an At^leist, he speaks of him as one who i^ withered. His/actions Will be sterile, and his character barren. In allgrea^ aqd noble undertakings he will be unfriiitful. And this has been the characteristic of Atheism in all ages of the world. It is cold, negative, cheerless, and gloomy, lacking enthusiasm, feeling, emotion and sympathy. The Atheist often complains that David, in calling him a fool, w^ guilty of a lack of courtesy. But truth is higher than politeness. Strong language is often justifiable, and, as a rule, unbelievers are not slow to use it. They thunder and fulmin- ate, pile up expletives in their language, and hurl abroad their anathemas like ' small Joves incensed with passion. Moreover ■/■. \ 4 ^^ '■' .1. Yrr i o,,e of their own u|Kmtlek-no lew • i«rm,n«KO Umn TtioinM fHine— hM nenily ro-echoetl UftvUl'i wonU He Myt. " It li th« fool olilv 011.1 not the phih»*>pher. or pni.lent man. who would live M if there were lu. ( UMi." Daviil. however, cloe. not ugv the term iraiwUietl fo«.l. in un i.tTenHivo manner. Hia meaning in. that the man who my«, There is no (M. i« foohih ; hi. «mriln.il f.»cuUy im withered ; hi« reaaonin^ p^mern are at fault ; h« iulellect is defective on x\m higher *ide-the tide that opens up O.Kiw.ii.1. He in deatituU^ of that true wia.lon» which JongH to religion, and whi.h eun fin.l it« full ex^.reasion only in Divine worihip. Shake.<»|)e.irc Mays :— •• r.od shall »>c niy ho|»e, My itay, my guide, and tentern to my, feet." TheChriMtian nian who echo-.K this Hentiment cannot but feil that he wholuckH this ho|K.. lhi« guide and light, to illumu..- his path, walks in the darkness without a guide, ami destUule of any s.did groun.l f.»r hope. His refusal to be tlius led ana cheered is. to say the least of it, unwise. - Not alone: however; are the spiritual perceptions of Ih.. Atheist withere«l and deteriorated, but his reasoning iM.wen. „,ust iKj terribly at fault ; for nt every point to which we tmn the evidence of <}od« existence is overwhelming, llus I shall now proceed to show. " The question of Ootl's existence lies at the rwit of .ill religion, and is its foundation and supD^.rt. If there Ik- no (in.| then it is clear that every system of Theology in the world miiHt be false, and all worship idle and .lijlusive. The large majority of th^hopes and fears that have agitated men's minds from the dawn of humanity until now have been simply the mad dr.aius of millions of disordered brains. Uiseless as the visions ui the night and unsubaUntial as the hallucinations of a nmi.iur. Certoin it i«« that if Atheism be the true philosophy, the wholo woild withafew exceptional instances, h'^rdly worth naming, has been labouring under a huge .delusion ever since the time when the earliest records give us the fairttest knowledge of the / \ miyiti}(ii nml floingn of our r«ce. 'And rv«ii to-Ki(ionrt|iu initluH iK)t known to oni; man in a million — tho rHHl aru still in itiedurkneMiof ulil erroM, unit niiitled liy tho HU{Mi!iMtition of their fullierK To Hay the Ifant of it. lliis ht not a pleaiMUit Mlatv uf t)iingH to conlcmpliitu. when we tuke into oonsiderution the uniNUulh^liMl mnHolation thai religion has in all times l)r()|t^1it to tlin Hiiffuriug, the friundleii' and tho dis- tressed, the |)ersccn\,(Hl and the nftlicted, the sick and the dyi^j^* Not easily will men give up their faith in (itMl until something higlier, nobler and lietU^r adapted to human needs and human wants Ih) offered in itH place. Sh(»wu8 that (red by the gicat Qerniah — Richter — so well reinlereil into Knglish by Thomas Carlyle. He rent^rks — it is"^ Christ who is sup]Hi8ed to be s))eaking — " I went through the worUls, I niounU>d into the .suns, and Hew with the galajti^s through the wastes of Heaven ; but there is no (iod. 1 descend- as far as lieing ctists its shadow, and looked dowi) into the abyss, and cried, ' Father, where art thou (' Dut I heai-d only the everlasting storm which no one guides, and the gleaming rainbow of creation hung without a sun that made it, over th« abyss and trickled down. And when I looked up to the im- measurable world for the Divine ^j^e, it glared on me with an empty, black, bottomless eye-aocket, and Eternity lay upon Chaos, eating it and ruminating it. Cryon,ye dissonances; cry away the shadows, for'fle is not. . The pale grown shadows flitted away, as white vapour which frost has formed with the warm breath disappears, and all was void. And then cAine, fearful for the h£ait, the dead children who had been awakened in the church- yard into the temple, and cast themselves before the high form on the altar, .and said, ' Jesus, have we no Father ?' And he answered, with streaming tears,' We are all orphans, Pand you : we are without Father.' " Then came loud shrieking of disson^ ances, parting asunder of quivering temple walls, " grinding' >ress of Worlds, the torch dance of celestial wild-fires," " glim- lering souls upon the sea of Death." "void of immensity," [Dead, dumb, Nothingness." "Cold everlasting Necessity," -^K*i« *C ^ '# J r "Frantic Chance!" The contemplation is a terrible one. that we may be poor helplew orphans tosseil on the boisterous and uncertain sea of chance, with no compass to steer by, no' pilot to Rujjle, and no chart of the ocean on which we are drifting so recklessly and so mercilessly. Looking at the bare possibility of such a state of things we are led to cry out itf the language of Wordsworth : * , , Great God! I .'d rather be A pagan suckled in acreed outworn, . So that, standing on some pleasant lea, I might have glimpses that would make me less forlorn. But the question before us is whether this unlovely system be true or false. And my business is to prote it utterly false, neither conformable to science, reason or philosophy, and oppos- ed to all sound thought. Theism asserts that there is a God, and as far as I am concerned I do this in the most positive manner. I do not say I think there is a God, or I believe there iaa God, but, there is a God, or in other words Goil exists. The Atheist says there is no God. And do not let me be told here that Atheists do not deny the existence of God, for I can show you 'if necessary tliiit many of them have done so in the most dogmatic fashion* The more moderate form of unbelief, however, is content to say that there may be a God, but that sufficient evidence of His existence is not to be had. This is in reality not Atheism, but Agnosticism: Nevertheless it will answer equally well for my purpose on this occasion. Theism is as I will show you cap- able of furnishing a rational theory of the Universe, harmonitms and complete as a whole and therefore satisfactory from a philosophic standpoint, and we demand of Atheism that it shall do the same, and if it fail, as it most assuredly will, then we must pronounce it unphilosophic and false. You will find as a rule that the Atheist will take refuge behind a negation, saying that as he affirms nothing he cannot be expected to prme a negative, and hence by this means he seeks to nvgid all ar^'u- *Vide Appendi* A. _ :1: ' \/r ■' ■' ; ■ , .■' ,. _ ' ■ . ■;.. \ ... . -/■ .; ^tifr. ■ . . . t . ^ ,. -: . ' P^'^'S^fc's^^ep^j.r*'^ -t™?? 5-',r A*^ rm^-'-^fi^Wjw^Wi^y^^ niifeiit, save that of mere denial, which of cat^se is a very easy piocess, whatever niay be the truth that is set forth or affinned. Mr. Holyoake^ an authorityjon the Atheistic side; — himself an Atheist— has well said oif the mere Negationist, " His stock in trade is the simplest possible. He has only to deny what some- body else holds and he is set up in the art of controversy." This is very true.' Denials are of course simple enough. Pnlliiig o its effects. Now, if it can be shown— ns II feel confident it can— that the existence of God is reached by . {this process, we thereby bring tbeolosiy into the field of science, Lnd establish its primal truth upon the same footing as gravita- Ition or any other so-called natural law. And the Atheist who Iwould overturn oui theory is bound, in the first place, to show Ithat our induction does not square with the facts, and, in the Bcond, to give us a non-Theistic hypothesis which does. Sir [isaac Newton— and hardly a greater authority could be quoted -hn3 well said "The reasoning on to God lies properly Iwitliin the domain of science. For it belongs to science starting from phenomena''to stop not till it raise us to the hidden ground »f these phenomemu" And it is by this process— a strictly Bientific one- that we reach the proofs ofijod's existence In dealing with this question, we must, start from facts, for with facts all thought must begin, but not terminate. Lord icon has well observed that" those who have handled science have either been men of experiment or of theory. The men of Bxperiment are like thte ant— they only collect and use. The theorists are like the spiders who make cobwebs out of their ^wn substance. But the bee takes a middle course ; it gathers [ts materials from the flowers of the garden and the field, but fcransfornis and digests th€^ by a power of its own. Not unlike .,^.. / * f.- P.1 »§ r.J • -Tf«»Vj. "-T"-^ ff -^ \J ■ '.: ■ :■ .-■ ■"■.■■■ ■'■ ''2 ■ ■ ■■^ '■■■■• ■-: '"■■■■* . • ■ ■ ■ , t his i8 the true business of philosophy."* And it is this true principle of philosophy that must Ije followed in discussing the question before us. The nmterial that we use in thought must be gathered from facts; but our depisions must rest with the legitimate inferences that afe derived from these. All man's ' knowledge, according to Kant, begins with sensible exi>crieEce : but all does not come from experience. Every fact has a mean- ing. sometimes lying very deep down in its naH^«; and ihis meaning has to be extracted if we would arrive ftUaif accurate opinion? We nnist .luestion the phenomena of the universe, in oi^der to learn wbat tbey have to say of their eau.ses. their rela- tions and their purposes. . This may not always be an easy task, but it is a very essential om, if we would nirive at a correct conclusion. Sophocles remaiks:-* '* What's sought tor niay be iound, r iJut truth unscarch'd for seld6pi comes to liKht.t Tlii.*^ is terribly appKcabh to inaiiVof the Atheists that I hVe known. Their miuds api)ear to haVe been cast in such » mould tlmt thev can see nothing l)eyond the most piili)able of material things.' Hence facts have for them no meaning beyond that mere semblance which always appears on the outside. I will now hiy down a series of proppsitions to which I beg you to give me your attention. " I. I Exis-R 1 Know that I am a Conscious Personal BeiXO, OK WHAT l»HILO.SOrHEltS CAIX AN ECSO. In making this atfirMiation that I exist, 1 attirni of mysel f something that i.s simply amid.st the complexity <»f my sur- roundings and the variety of my thoughts. This Ego may manifest itself in a thousand diflTerent ways, but utidenieath these manifestations there lies .something that is substantial amidst the mere phenomenal vj.riations. That which 1 call *Novuni Organuni, Aph. 95. '\\€vyci BerafieXovfievoi'. I — A r.^:;-?!- , 4L.s^^%^(^t fiVI?* Jv^ia^ftB.! la f -(»"•. ••■■*. ■,»: :. 13 myself is not a collection of sensation or ajc'ongeries of th6ught» but a something to which both thought^'and sensations belongs It is a central point to which all the influences that affect ijae converge and from which all the affluences by which I affect other things diverge. When I uifii the pronoiin " I " it is to- mark myself in contradistinction, not only to all that^sur- irounds nie, but to all else that apipe'rtains to me. When- ever I affirm my consciousness ^ I t^'^re^^y affirm my existence as a separate personality; Sensation, i>erception^ volition, action, are reeoj^nized hjf nie, not as self, but as affections and exertions of self. 1 4m not and cannot be an abstraction, but a substantial existence, and my knowledge ot this existence is higher than n.ny 1 can possibly obtain of my surroundings or of anything which is exterior to me. Then I see around me other personages whom I infer lo be like myself, conscious thinking l)eings. I do not and amnot seej.heir Con- sciousiiess, but only tlie numifcstatioii of such consciousness which is fact enough. Prof. Mauriice has well, said " The stu- dent of history finds himself amidst a woild of I's." All my knowledge must be tested by my ciiwciousness. The external world can only be proved to exist by^|j|)ealing to this conscious- ness. The senses arc simply the iiilets to this and of themselves have no separate or iiideiMmdent menus of deciding anything. Here it is that the matcrinlistic philosophy so thoroughly breaks down, for it elevates uuUtcr aljove that by which alone material existences Can be known. IL It IS A Nkxjessarv Truth FROM WHICH thkhe is no ESCAPE that Something is Eternal, r Something must have existed from all Eternity. This truth is axiomatic. It is a necessity of thought and, conse- quently, needs no prcwf, and is .susceptible of none, because it is a necessity of thought. Something must have existed from all Eternity, or there had still i>een nought ; for ear nihilo nihil fit, " This," says Dr. Saiquel (Jlark, ;• is so evident and undeniable a prop9sition that no Ailicist in aiiy afge has ever presumed to assert the contrary ; and therefore tliere iS little need of being particular in the proof of it. For, since something now is, 'Us - '""*^";t ^if rst^wji'^'T^'-i^t, iiM? , ; - n^^i -ry \ f^'"-""ji mr t' . .u . „o*K:nc» alwavs was. Otherwise, the things* that Xhout cui^wWcl. i. . plain co»«.diot.on m term.. Fo to ^T Whatever exists has « cause, a reason, a grooud of ito ex- • U JSlti*.. o» which its existence re.ies, a ground or ^^whYitdoth exist mther than n«t ex,st-*.lher n the ^Ts^ity of iU o«n nature (and then it must have been of .Uelt eurnTor i" th* will of »me other U=ing (and then that other tog must, at le.4t, in the order of nature and eafls.. .ty. have SL before it) That something, therefore, has really exis^d ^Z all eternil,- is one of the «rt»inest and most^^ulenl truths iT^e «orld,.ckno«ledged by all men and d,s,,«ted by none. Yet Z the manner how it can be, there is ..othmg m nature more -Mcult for the mind of man to co„ceivs.than to very first plain and self-evident truth. For how anyth.ng ea.v have .existed eternally, thit is, l.»w an eu,rm.l dumt.on can be now J^tually past, is a thing utterly •« .mposaible for our narrow STito RS to comp.#.d as .nytlv»g that .s not an^ex- ■ p„ss contraction can be imagined ttfbe. And yet to deny ihe truth of the proposition, that an eterl,. duration .s now actimllv past, would be to assert something far umre ud.ntel ,«• S even au express and real co„tr«lictio„.- S«meth,„«, thereto c, mAtst have been eternal. . That eter.u.1 somethu.g, whatever maybe its nature, is infinite, at least .nduraU.m This is, I t»keit,a point upon which the Atheuit and the Thnst are both agreed. Nor can that which is inHnite m duration be. limited in extent, for that supposition would imply an inhnlle existence with a finite attribute, or a finite existence w.h aa infinite attribute; or some sort of existence combining in itself infinite and finite attributes, either of which is a contradiction of tirms, because it implies a finite infinity, which is as irralion. ,1 as . square circle or a crooked straight line. The point, there- fore, where a divergence takes place between the Atliei.«t and •Being and Attribotes ol God, 9th Ed., pp. «. 9- .■^<^4 WKr*a^F^«|%Jrji^^'^?^ '*^ f.*-., 'F» the Theist is as to the nature ol the one Infinite Existence* JII. Thb Eternal and Infinite Existence ih Not Man. This is so self-evident that no time need be taken up in proving it. Each individual man knoK^ that he has not existed from Eternity. Neither has the race to which he belongs. For in the first place such a supposition is philoso- phically absurd as it implies an infinite chain made up of finite linka And secondly, science has demonstrated thit there was a time on the planet when nian wa? nj)t. If i^ be said that man was evolved from a lower animal, I reply there was a time when no living orgai.isiiv existed. Man ytras therefore produced, that is, caused in time. ' Somewhat or some one must have preceded him, and brought him into being. And this cause, whatever may be its nature or by whatever name it may be called, must have been adeciuate to the production of the eflTect which we call man. It must not only have been capable of moulding his bodily organs with marvellous precision and skUl, adapting one to the ether, and the whole to the world in which he lives, but , it must have given him life, a task which could only be acbom- jplished by that which was itself alive as modern science fully jattests. This cause must therefore have been a living power, for that which does not live pannot impart life. .Moreover as jman is intelligent, this cause must have beencapi^le of impart- jing inte'ligence and therefore itself intemgent, for intelligence jto originate in noa-intelligence is re^ly for something to spring Ifrom nothing, which is absurd. And then that substratum in jman which constitutes him an Ego. which ui-derlies all the 'T>henomena of his external nature, could originate only in that vhich u not phenomenal but has an existence as an Eternal eality. A modern writer has well said " As imperatively as I ayself and all other phenomena of the visible world, with Jur limitations of place and time, demand the recognition of -^alities underlying and producing them, which realities consti- ite an invisible world l«yond the limits of place and time, so iperatively does the Hunted conditions, yet regulated play of tiese realities demand the recognition of a transcendent Reaii 7. an Ens RealisHimum, unlimited, unconditioned, by whom - 1 s 4. I ■ 16 . they must be a(yu9ted and actuated, from whom they must ■ tUMerWichkeit -.# t $. ''':'■" * ' ^ • ti^W- S " * " . " . ~ , ^ » ~ "TYf ."M^"™ '***-'! *f^'';' ^fljm'^wTi tb which they owe their origin. Limitation is an essential charactemtic of matter in all its forms. You cannot conceive. If you try, of unlimited matter. Now. that which is limitetl. in the very nature of things, can neither be Infinite nor Absolute. Yet there must be an Absolute, since without the Uncondition- ed, nothing that is conditioned could exist ; and there must be an Infinite, for it is one of the necessities of thought. You can- not-even think it out of e.xistence. The Atheist, then, is bound to tell us where and what is the Infiniteand Absolute existence. He must either show some form of matter that is unconditioned and unlinjited, which is, in fact, a c4>ntradiction in terms ; or prove that there is no Ab««ilute. existence, which is. in truth, to deny all existence; or he must admit that the Infinite is something transcending all material things, which is to re- lincjuish his Atheism. ^ ^. All the phenomena of the materinl universe, conniet ofasenee of changes, which artr also Relative, limited Subm- dinate and Secondary. This being so, to what conclusion are we li-ifesistibly driven by what Herbert Spencer calls "the momentuto of thought" which leads us from the things as they appear to the why and how of their existence ? The inference is as clear as that two and two make four, that there must be a Prime Mover from whom all these secondary movements spring. A consideration- of this fact it was that let Aristotle to ascend from all observ- able movements and principle- of motion up to what he calls the •• principle of principles," the fii-st" immoveable mover" which "causes all things else to move." All movements that ^we see ar«? conditioned by other movements. Nq single ^material thing with which we are acquainted can move itself lOr stop itself when set in motion. There is no property of imal^r letter kgown or more thoroughly established*than that ^ot IneHta* oti^it is now ca^p^ AfMUy. How, then, is fmotion caused ? I do not mean secondary motion, but primary * lotion. Whence do all these subordinate movements have ^heir origin ? There is no primary movement in any material ^ *FiUe AppencKx a '«L' n -i'-'^^^ '^i^hiS- i-^^ ^^ - J ' ^gi^^^^^r '* thing witii whifch wo ure ao«|ualiitetl. Motion connected with i»h«;noinena cannot Ihj elenmi. for the ph^noniona them- selves are Ininsient und dependent. l»rofeH«or Huxley liu well said : " The very natiiro of the phenomena demonstrates that they must have had' a beKinning, anil that they mut^ have an end."* Every change that Ih observe*! in a body is caused by Honiethinj»exteri.«r to itself. ;l E'tch vurt of the vuith'inL univerM nhewn iUelf to hiweltein an epct. ami viimt tUertfore owe iU existence to a caune outside iff ittdf. The Atheist cannot point to a single object in physical na- ture wliicli does not Iwar uinm it the marks -»f living Ikjcu caused by some power exJerior to itself. $uni» and stars, and ti-eesand flow' rs. and rolling waters, the violent tornado and the soft, gentle zephyr, the thunderstorm ami the dew-drop, the pebblestone on the sen beach and the mightiest range of moun- tains on the earth, the colossal mammoth and the tiny animal- cule that disports itself in a drop of water, all cry on C,* "Not in . me will you find the cause" of existence" No ; materiar. natui e is simply ^ series of effects— nothing more. Even man himself, the liighest of all created things, feels tliat he owes his existence to somewhat or to«omc one higher than himself. It has been well said by one : "We iirefno*' sufficient of ourselves— not self- originated, nor self-sustained. A few yearsagoand we were not ; a few years hence^and our bodies shall not be. A mystery is gathered about our little life. We have mi small conti-ol over things around us ; we are limiu»d and hemmed in on all sides. Our schemes fail, our plans miscarry. One after another our lights gA out. Our realities prove dreams. Our hopes waste away. We are not where we would W, nor what we would W. We find that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. We find our circumference ^-^ry iiear the centre, everywhere. And we feel an irresistible tendency to refer all things, ourselves with them.loa jwwer lieyoud us, sublime and mysterious,whicli we cannot measure, nor e\^ comprehend." Where, then, is the cause of alt things^ ourselves mer- tjes of any molecule. We ar», therefore, unable to ascril»e either th.e existence of the jiiolecules or the identity of their properties to I he operation of any of the causes which we call natural. On the other hand, the exact quidity of each molecule to all o^briH of the same kind givies it, lis Sir John Herschel bus well satii, the essential chara2ler of a manufaclured article^ and pre- cludes the idea of its being eti-rnaj and self -existen^||rii||ft «;e have been |ed. along a strictly »c||jPtific path, verv point at which science must stop. Not thiyt Scieiu ^^ from studying the external mechanism of ^ molecule which she canXl^t ^al^e to pieces, any iriore than fr(^nj investigating an ^''^^^Ikv^^'^''^^'^ cannot put together. Ifut, iji tracing back the %^Hh|^ |^%|ler. Science is arrested when she assures ht>rfu^ff^H^^^0^atiA. x$^i the molecule Ikis beei^ made, and on lhe^^B|b^t: has jfe^U^n iiiade by any of the proces.ses we! calHttMu^. • Thua^ature is an effect, a phenomenon, a manufactured article; in other words, a creation. And her (Jausettnd Creator is liod. V. Thekb mukt^Hk a FiKsT Cau.se, an UxcauhedCAusb. The idea oreausation— ^aiid it is a mental impossibility to escape from it— if followed out niu.st lejid inevitably to G(k1. *Professor Clerk Maxwell : President's Address, British Association, -X — -^^ — — J. > ' 'XX^ n ''k H ■4 , t ^r w ^Wt trace ftccurately the nexus between ceuee mid ct wl^iout ending in « first cause, that is sii uncausetl cause. xvhich W.18 not an effect This in truth is the idea thst if necessarily involved in cunsation ami any other view would '" iivolve the denial of ciuisation alioKether. It has lieen Homo- tiinort suggested that there might be an in6nite series of causes and effects. But that is almurd. for it 8up|K)8e8 an ininite chain iua«le up of flnite links which is an impossibility. And HiH'li a Hcrijjs of caumething else ; and, second. '« that it is itself tincause r ' '^^^-ji^f'^^^K: ,-/ 1. J ■r;; ^^> . ;^^,. ^ / . ,1' r; _1__L :^ '■=»*' ty-3 S " 1 ••'* ■ . ■■•■■ V '•',-.■ A r ■ ' \ '.• ■./■ ■/.: rs 23 •Mh other. Light, h<«t, electricity, megnctiam. etc— which were at one time •uppoeed to be entities, end celled impondor- eble bodiea. from the fact that they were not eubject to gravit- etion. and could not. therefore, be weighed— ore now recognised as modes of motion, that is, forms of force. There are no such . things as light and heat There is no electric fluid, although men still talk about it and write about it as though it had an actual existence. All theae phenomena consist of forms of force andean be converted each one into the other. But what then we nsk is the thing called force ? Motion ifl^ condition of mat- tec, we are told. Yes. but how did it beoome conditioned and what conditioned it ? Force and, motion are perfectly distinct Take an illustration which I have given elsewhere.* A b«I lying on the ground is set in motion. Now what has happen- ed ? Motion has been imparted to that which was before at rest. It is the same ball in an altered condition. Nothing has beeii added by the movement and nothing taken away. The motion aiinply implies that the ball has changed its place. But some- thing must have operated to cause the motion, or the rest had never l,een interrupted. That something we call force. Force then is known to us as the ability to produce certain changes io matter. It is the name given to that which originates motion, or changes the sute of a body with regard to motion • It can hardly be necessary for me here to enlaige upon the doctrine of the Unity of Eorce and the Conservation of Energy which modern science has brought so conspicuously to- the front, since no one who knows anything of science will have the temerity to dispute it. Kach mode of motion can be converted into the other, heat into light, electricity into magnetism and all into momentum. This is not theory, but demonstrable fact. In order to make the matter more clear, however, I may give a «mple illustration as detailed itf the Lecture Notes of Dr Meyer He says ; •• The heat de^Ioped by the ' falling force ' of a weight stnking the terminals of a compound thermal battery (formed by pieces of iron and Gennan silver wire twisted together at ' Alternate ends) caused a current of electricity through the wire. •Baseless Fabric of Scientific Scepticism, p. laa. ^* .-^ W^ , ■ ' ^1 . Tff^^i wlilch, being conducted through a helix, magnetised a needle (which then attracte. "■ .r •iatible force of logic, to the oonolution— Che on'y niiioiia} oiie — fchtfc the mind, which is the caiue of all motion in the varied phenomena of the piu^sical universe, is the ever present God. Motion cannot, per S. produce motion. It is a fundamenul axiom in physics that motion cannot be generated by motion itself, but only by force. Inertness and energy, activity and passivity are contradictory attributes, and cannot, therefore, be affirmed of the same thing. Any one who says that matter is inert, and yet at the same time maintains that it can exert. 4H1 f6roe.ime8 words without meaning, and, consequently, Ull^^^l nonsense. Herbert Spencer remarns: " Force is the ultimat£'-^ ' of ultimates. Matter and motion are differently conditioned manifestations of Force. And Force can be regarded only as a certain conditioned effect of the Unconditioned Causo—as the active reality indicating to us an Abeolute tteality by which it is imtaediately produced."* Force, therefore, cannot be attri- bute of matter, for it moulds and fashions matter. It is higher than any material existence. The entire physical universi is under tbe control of Force, ahd. but for it. must sin into u state of torpor, inactivity, stagnation, and death, or. possibly even cease to be. Force, therefore, not being in matter must be aought for in mind and in mind alone. Spirit force' is the only force possible in the universe. In all our experience we ^ow of but one originator of force. ]«rhich is volition. A hun- drad illustrations might be given did time permit. The doctrine that mmd is the originator of motion is as old as the hills ffow /^I'ApXW Kivn^its. says Anaxagoras. And all modem science 18 tending marvellously in the direction of this truth MoMon transformed in multiform ways, and transmitted thiough a thousand media, always commences in mind or spirit Dr Carpenter observes: " The deep-seated instincte of humanity' mind »!.?"!' 7?«hes of philosophy, alike point to mind -^ the one and only ^souit« of power."t And a farw^ter i«iai,--Sir^ohn HerseheU^marks. "The conception of ^ree 4W the origimitor of motion in matter without bodily contact, or tNatuie VI., J. 3ir 'vi- 4f^lJ^P- ^.T«^/&fcr;«-^^ the Intervention of any inter meiliinn, is eagentfal to the righi interpretation of physical phenomena, • • its exertion ma'«es itwlf manifest to our personal consciousness by the peculiar sensation of effort, *• ■■* and it Tforce] affords a point of contact, a connecting' link between the two great de- partments of being, mind ^d matter— the one as its originator, and the other us its recipient"* All the various forms of energy which we see manifested around us in the ten thousand phenomena of nature are simply so many transformations of pne force, springing from the one source of power, the Divine ■WUI. ■ " For how should nature occupy a charge, > Dull, as it is, and satisfy a law "^ ,1^^} So vast in its demands, unless impelled To ceaseless service by a ceaceless force, And under pres!ture of some conscious cause ? %i' / The Lord of all,'himself du-ough all diffused^ Sustains and is the life of all that lives. " VII. The Material Uxiverse Manifests Thought anit THEREFORE MUST BE THE WORK OF A ThINKER. Now mark, that which is not the result of thought cannot be translated into thought. Take a book in your hand, open It, and you see at once the orderly arrangement of letters into words, and of .words, into sentences. This bespeaks a certaitt amount of thought on the part of the author, and on the part of the compositor who set up the type. By no stretch of imagination can you conceive this arrangement to be the re- sult of chance or accident. The types might have been thrown down at random ten million times, and they never would have fallen into the order in which they were placed in the printer's form which was laid on the machine when a single sheet of the volume was worked off The book in question may not be a treatise on a very important topic, and the author may. have dealt with his subject very imperfectly; but still it is im- possible to imagine that the arrangement can be other than the result of mind. A volume of Shakespeare, of Newton, or of Kant, will differ greatly from an elementary school book, or 'Familiar^Lectvres of Science, p. 467. 'J% #: •♦J*^ 'J > ^:-m:, ^ vv ^iff^^S^ R' 1 ^^"' >x tWii- ^-4; '±:iii , fT" from the immature prwluctioti of an ignurant ami uninformed man ; but the difference will, after all; be one of degree only ; m both caM8 thought must have been at work to produce •' book at all. Chance is incompetent to form u single sentence to say utthing of writing several hundred pages. And the amount of thought contained in the volume will be the measure of what can be exi meted from it. In other words, you cannot get more thought out of a thing than hns been put into it You may get out less, because your mind may be incompetent to grasp all the meaning of the author ; and in that case you may misunderstand him through failing to reach his profundity But whether his thoughts be deep or shallow, there will be no question in your mind, when you see his boo^ that the pre- sence of the thinker has been there. Nbw, if thought can be V extracted from the material universe— in other words if order P and harmony can br detected-it is as certain that mind has .been at work as that the book before referred to was produced by an mtelligent being. And that such order does prevail I tokeit. no one will deny. For what is all our^ science but a reading of nature, ^ith a view to discover the meaning of her ftjrcea and her laws ? AH investigatio^n and all experiment is ^1 *".rf rA*^ '*'**'™ '^' '"^"^"« ^' '^' mysterious Un- guage that hks been so deeply engraven on her multiform pages. Again and again has Nature bee» most uptly comparedTa book. an4 a marvellous volutne it is. in which we may read- • " The perfect hand That poised, impels, and rules die whole." Xetme givj you a very simple illustration. There is a painting, say. ^f a greilt master. So perfect a work of art is it than men come long distances toseeit. and all wbogazeupo, It are charmed and delighted ; and leave impressed ^hTe tZsInH •'"*"' ''^ ^^"'^'- I^-'^l^'dscape.Tnd he tn^and.flowersare so mitural that they look a. ^h^iigh you could break oflf a twig or a leaf and cany it away wwL^h catt e browsing in the foregreund seeH tLj^^tl^t W really walk out of the framed « What . wonderfS JnZ^y^ *?< • ■* I * - *'^.'»'rT«7r\''"^Ffr,%^^^ 27 '*.K ,».^«V» excbim. " the man had who painted thai picture." But yoa did No n>.t..r . «e th*l „„w it i. fl„i.h«d Z I know *CZ'o by . ».«ter mind, .„d could h.,. com. in „„ other way W.ll 70« m ngh.. B«t remember th.t the pict«« i. . LiJZ, .nd therefore . copy. Yonder i, the origin.!, from whicrZ picture ,„ Uken. No, you „y it ^^^^ ^,^ ^ J^^ ^ copy, whilst theongin.! «„,e wiihouV.ny mind .t lo. Tth.! .y.tem the world e.er he«d of. But w. n.ve not don, «UK the picture yet After .11 the .mount of thought put intl ^ U bmited Supple you -hould pl«e . ,n.g„Vi„^ gCof high power on.bo«t . «,u.re inch of the b«kgJo„„d of the p.int,ng wh. would you «e ? Why. nothing b^t ,rd.„l^ fo' you woald fml to t.ke in the design of the painter .nd for thi r«t the p.int would be destitute of order or harmly. But pl«!e under the mireroecope .ny portion however .m.11 of the ori- g,n.I.ndyou wonid incre«e the bcuty, tor God h«.t.mped ""Pff »" Ihe >»<>»» -inu^ part u well „ „n the tout W- «m6fe,of the whole. Everywhere in the i.niven» we we order and h.rmony ,nd where theae «xi,t there is pl.p, ^ „here there u, plan there i, pnrpoae. and where there ia purpose, there « thought, .nd where there ia thought there ia a thinker ^ And ngbthere the Atheist atepa in with hi. t It. i. . Natu^l Uw. a, though that expUini: the wtl "thtng " t what I. I.W 1 It i. but . word often used in . „U 1ttrt«e. And the only *,urce of natund law in the Divine Uw-maker, who ia at once the originaU.r and the od- mmiatrator of the law. The diaUnguiahing characteristic of the physical univera* is that the laws by which it is governed are mathematical rela- tioua. CJraviutlon is a numerical law, and under iU influence the curves described by the heavenly bwliea are the ellipse circle parabola, and hyperlwla-tliat is. they all belong to the class of curves called conic sections, the properties of which «K5cupied the great mind of PUto thousands of years before Newton demon- strated that whatever was true of them might be transferred to the heavenly bodiea Many of the geometer's a priori laws were first sugg^ted by natural forma; and others, as Euclid'a .division in extreme and mean ratio, were afterwards discovered to be embodied in the universe. I have not time here, nor is it necessary, to explain these laws. They dre known to every mathematician. Suffice it to say that natural symmetry leads us to investigate, first, the mathematical law which it embodies, and then the mechanical law which embodies it. Thuf all the benefits that the race has derived from the pursuit and discovery of physical science have come to ua through the suggestions of geometrical thoughts in the universe. " Now, all regularity of form," says a modern writer, " is as truly an ex- pression of thought as a geometrical diagram can be. The par- ticles of matter uke their form in obedience to a force which is acting according to an intellectual law, imposing conditions on Its exercise. It does not alter the reajity of this ultimate de- pendence of symmetry upon thought, simply to introduce a chain of secondary causes, between the originat thinking and the final expression of the thought." A geometrical figure whether drawn by a piece of chalk upon a black board, or en,' graved on a block of wood and printed in a book, or making . Itself apparent iti natural phenomena, presents in the one case ¥,■■ ^■t X I'M^ *»^- '**' >»# 80 jM in the other* inoontrovertible evidence thai « geometer ha* hj thia meent expreMed a gvometrical thought. All natural forma couform mora or leee doiely to geonie- fcrinal ideals. Thi« is the com alike ia planete and eryaUla. in arUinaU and plant". Nature, therefore, mayVe looktMl upon as made up of a series of drawings and modelX by which the ■oience of mathematics may be taaght in theVhool of life. The inference is irresistible that an intelligent mmd has been •t work on the grandest and most magnifi(»nt scale conceiv- al^e. IVofessor Flint well remarks: "Could mere matter know th« absirusest properties of space and time and number, so aa to obey them in the wondrous way it does ? Could what has taken ho much mathematical knowledge anntif{cml\f • fur trMt«r man than Mr. Mill, and, therefore, n much b«tt«r « jndgv of thia question— remark* : " Overpowering proof of ip- \i 4«l||pnoe and benevolent deei|;rn liea around ua ; and if ever^iait perplex itien, .whether metaphysical or iictentifk. turn ua awajr .„« from them for a time, they come back upon ua with irresiatible fome, showing to ua through nature the influenoe of a free will, and leaching ua that all living beinga depend upon the*9ver> •etiog Creator and Ruler."* T^ia haa been' my own experience, and it haa lieen that of other men whoae minda for .<|itnie have been beclouded by doubta, but who by and by have lottn^ their way into the full sunlight of Chriat'a truth. Ten thoufland instaucea could lie given, aelectod from evei^ brench of knowledge, of the purpose and plan that pervadea>tM-' / univerae; but my object is not so much to quote large numbera of facta aatoreaaon upon a few that no one ever attempts to dispute. Now, if the existence of a Designing mind be got rid of from the universe, we are driven to the absurdity of sup- posing that all the order and harmony that exists in nature is the result of accident, or, as it has lieen fitly termed, the fortui* tons concourse of atoma I am well aware that Atheistic phil- osophers object strongly to the word chance. Yet how are we to get rid of it if there be no purpose — no plan 7 The cause of the present state of things must resolve itself into chance, after all, call it by what name you will Everything that does not occrfr by design must be the result of accident There is no . other alternative. Not that it is to be wondered at that the . very ugly and very unphilosophical word chance, should be the objected to ; but then theory with which it is indissolubly associated should ^so be renounced. If the arrangement that we see in the universe be not the result of plan on the part of some ■ mind, it must have come by chance, and in no other way. i(lii|^ Things might just us well have settled into some other shape as a' 'Address to the British Association, 1871. i ) V;.^.- u II iUl in which we now HimI tli«m And th« ehmntm wn grMl* ly ia kfor of th«ir doinK to. Th« prolmbility tnnat have been » IfW^ egainet the preMnt arninK«ment m to r«nd«r it nexl to impaeaible. For the order that we tee rtpeate tteelf contiQiiaUj «nd regulftrly, which erente reettltinff from cheoc«« never da On the contrary, when en ecciilenl tume up once, the fact iteelf it e reeeon for ue not to expect it ef^ain for « long time. When. •rer e particuUr reeult oociini frequently, we elweyt conclude that mind miut liave had something to do with the arrange- ment Ul ihrM dice be thrown up into the air at haphazard, and itia quite poaaible. but highly improbable, that they ahould ^1 fall witl^ the aix spota appermoat. Rut auppoae the experi- nent repeated a hundred timee. and alwaya with the tame re- •ult. there ia no man onlaide a LiAiatic Aaylunf who would not at once conclude that the dice were loaded. Tlie oaae ia pi«. ciaely similar to that we aee in Nature, only that the latter ia a thousand times the atronger of the two Kepler relates that onu^day. when he had long been meditoting upon atonia and the Uin by which they were governed, he was oAlled to dinner. There was a aalad on the table, and he aaid to his wife, who had prepared it : " Dost thou think that if from the creation plates of tin, leaves of lettuce, grains of salt, drops of oil and viuegar, and fragments of hard-boiled eggs, were floating in apace, in all directions and without order, chance could aasemble them to^ day to form a salsd f " His spouse replied, perhaps without seeing the joke, but yet very much to the purpose : " Certainly not so good a one, nor so well seasoned as this."* Now take the case of the motions of the heavenly bodies ; and it is but one instance of thousands that qiight be jjc^ven. The la to Pro- fessor de Morgan demonstrated that, when only eleven planets were known, the odds against chance— to which in such a case intelligence is the only alternative— being the cause of all these bodies moving in one direction round the aun, with an incon- siderable inclination of the pianea of their orbits, were twenty thousand millions to one. " What prospect," are his own words |l ■*^' •frMOMK ! w'4*t is^r? #is^ '^\.^. ■ i^-m^ * wookl lhAft h«v« hmn of inch a eoomiirmmet ol eireanutaiuMt II « tUl« of chaiK» fuMl imiu lh« cmljr »al«ord«at f Wtth reictni Ui the iiatu«n«H uf th« dirvciMiia. tiUi«i of which tnif(ht hAv« bMii from w«a4 to Mti. orfroiA «til to wwl. Um otM ia p«««iMlf liiutUr to the followiaff : Thar* It tk JMAary oonlainiiig bUdc •ad mtAu bUU. from Moh drnwlng of whioh il it m liktly a blfiek ball thall uriM tt t .vbilt om : wha It Iht ohanet ol (IniwitiK elflvftn ball* all whila t— antwar, 2,047 to 1 affaiiuil ii With regani to thn othar ((uaation. our |)oaition la thia : Tharo la a lottery containing an tntinita number of onunlflra. tuarked with all poaaibla difTarent angloa lata than a ri|^t mir1«. in atioh a manner that any angle is as likely to be drawn as another, to that in ten. drawings the mm of the anglea drawn may be any- thing under tan right anglea; now, what it t|ie chance of ten drawingN giving collectively leas than one right angl« ? — an* s«rer. 10,000.000 to I agninul iU I^Tow. witat is the ohauoe of both theaeeveolaooniing together ?— answer, more than 20,000.* 000,000 to one agaiitat it It 'it oooaequently of the aamt degree of probability that there h^a been aomething at work Wbich ia not chance in Ihe foi^iatton of the solai' system."* That such results oau have been brought about by chance ia Iteyond belief. Tis true Atheists deny that they believe in chansa, seeinfi; that they maintain all is regulale •i|»i«iiMa itM irtuik oMHtof. Wow. ' MoordifHr to Uw • m#«n« oaljr lb« dtiall* Aod anv*rjriiig artkr in which pUnotiMiiA omm, TIm bwt of iMittr* »»• not tiM powtn ol tMiortk Noih- Ittf !■ Me(NQpii«h«d by t»Mfn » Umj OMralj itidimu Um NuaU^ •d w»y i« «rbi«ii tMiurt worka Uw t«llt «• nothing o| titlMr (»«M'~«MMf>i M itnm«(li«u •nUKwt«nt--or dirwiion. or par- pott."* After all, ihorefort. if n« direrting mind Asiata, bj wboM volition ait thing* am gov«m«d. it ia by chanc*. and chmam alon*— h«w«Yer much you may attampi lo explain away the agly meaning <»f the won!— that thinga are aa they are. that aana haw baen fonneci -nd worlda peopled with living or«atur«% the perfection of whoae organisation far exceedaour moat |lniah- «d mechanical productions The Atheiatic theory reminda one ot the parody on Lucretina. by Jamea and Horace Smith, in reftr- tooe tO' Drury Lane Theair* : " I •Ing how casual brkk« In airy rllmb Encountnrd casual horsrhair, rasual lime i How rafter*, borne through wandering clouds elate. ^ KlM'd In their slope blue elemental vikte i Clasp'd solid beams in chance directed fury. And gave to birth our renovated Drury."* " Now, It is nut a whit more abiiuitl to HUp|)oa(f that the laiilding in which we are now awM)iubleA ' ! * Artemid., L ^ J^ ^~J ^M "''i^\*^y^^ s^ -^ "i ''^^^ -■-"^*,'-k. -f^ targa territory on the Darling- and tt» tributaries, have a tradi- tional faith in ' Baiame/ or ' BaiAmai,' literally 'the maker/ from 6oia, to m(ike or build. They say that Baiame made every- thing. . . . The Rev. J. Gunther, of Mudgee, who was many years engaged in the instruction of the Wiradhuri tribes, has record- ed the fact that these people ascribe to-Baiame ' three of'tlfB at- tributes of the God of the Bible '—supreme power, immortality, and goodne^. .n . . . A squatter, M. de Becker, who-lived many years at a remote station, where the blacks' were in frequent communication with him,, told me he had seefi^many of them di& with a cheerful anticipation of being soon in a 'belter cbantry,'"* God has, in truth, so implanted iihe idea of Him- self in maii's soul that it cannot fail to be discovered there by ^ all who look within, iind no circumstances are likely ever thor- oughly to erase it. " He who reflects upon himself," says Plo- tinus, " reflects upon his original, and finds the clearest impres- sion of some eternal nature and perfect being stamped upon his own soul" Religion preceded governments, and has a deeper root in society than any social law. It led the vanguard of civilization, and founded the mightiest empires that the y?orld has seen. -■■..■, - .■;■-■...;■; ;.'■ ■;>;■. : Z'-^'' ■'-..•■ ■':-' The fact that^man every where has some sort of idea of God has been considered a complete proof of the existence of such a Being by many of the greatest men that have ever lived— such men as Aiiselm. Spinoza, Descartes, Leibnitz, etc Their argu- < ment took the foUoWing form : " We have the idea of a perfect Being in our minda But existence is a part of this idea, and a ' necessary part ; for an imaginary being is less perfect than a^ teal being. Therefore, we are so made b& necessarily to believe in' the existence of a perfect Being. Whenever we think of Grod \ we are obliged to think of Him as existing. And we can have ; no higher proof of any reality than that we ileeessarily believe in ite existence^BO. soon as the idea of it arises -in our mind." Whether this argument be cpnclusive or not, that which springs from it #oet certainly is—viz.-, that religious , worship, in some *,'/*NaturtX. IK 521. -l- ■■■■■■■'■■■■■ '-'• '--'w-'^ . :'■■ . ■■.•"■' .. ', fr *.» T'Si , ^-^^^^rW^^S^?^' "' * ' ■ '*">° \ " ■' '"^'^ V ' ''-'"'■ 'i-' F , -i' Ji' '-'.' ' lyPt^ ■ . --^i. '^ • 4> 41 form or other, has been engaged in ia every age and in every land. If thi^ practice be hasied upon an iHusion, how can we know thfct anything 'is true ? For what is there that is more universal f If all religions are false, tiien universal humanity is in error. And that being so, we can have no possible' guar- antee for truth upon any subject Our most potent instinct* may be delusions, and our most cherished ideas hallucinations. But even then we require to be told how this' tremendous delu- sion called religion arose. What were the causes that gave ft • birth ? (What the circumstances that called it into being ? This u whav/be Atheist must explain if he wishes to recommend his philosophy. But -he has no explanation to give, and none is pos- ' sible upon his theory. The oitly solution.of the problem will be found in the fact that " God-consciousness "is deeply implanted in the soul ; and the aspiration after the Infinite, the All-Perfect, the Absolute One, iis a characteristic of universal humanity. Professor Tyndall has well said: " No Atheistical reasoning- can dislodge reiigion from the.heart of man. Logic cannot d^- . pdv^ us Of life, and religion is life to the religious. As an ex- 'perienoe of consciousness, it is perfectly beygnd the .assaults of logic."* This JB so ; and hence Atheism can never take firm hold of the mind of man. l|an is a religious beinfcand cin no more change his nature in llis respect than his j^hysioa form. Atheism is foreign to, human\nature, and can never, under any cireumstances. become general. The human soul finds its resting place only in, Ood, and nothing else can satisfy its deepest wants. It is the feishion now for wits to be -, ' Without a God, , Except some Force behind thjp things we see, j, Like, heat or light or electricity : ^d-oneisod^: '■}f Among these Oracles, who' stilltbelieves : In any God who tfiinks or loves or grieves. Biit there's a spirit, deep in the heart's core,' ^. Of reverence, 4# Wfiich, somehow will not bow down to adore » ' The mightiest force in Nature ; what is mwe, . •Preface to seventh edition of Belfast Address. -^ *\ * ' '^1 A /r / •■ '.'* .v jae, * V '*:,'W^!^ • •••'-^-!' ,•" U- • ' »! 4i / *•..,< Ihareatenae ' Of betas soinetluiig greater far th^ \ < Blind makers of the world n^icli adence knows. ' ■•» ■ ■..'■■ Worship I must, but may not worship aught ^. " W * .* •, And yoke to do me service, havingcaught • The secret of its power, witfi wonder fraught, ..^ But without mind ; ' \ : Andwiulercomprriiendit,ImQ«tbe- ^ Highw than that idiich eomprritends not me. You do not need to w(n«hip ? May be so j I judge you not ; Only, they say the dog that does not know A master, Uke a savage wolf, will grow, ^ ';■ - - Mating his lot, . ' ' ^ : And is a sorry brute, untilhe find "* "* • A mightier wi|l tban his, arid nobler mind. • What is it that AtfaeiBm has to offer us in exchange for the holy faith of whidi she seeks to rob us ? Simply nothing, and worse than nothing. She points as, not to the golden Client, bathed in brauty and robed in morning light — a symbol of univeFsal Love and Eternal Mercy — ^biit to a black and dismal abyss, from which issue hollow moans, cri^s of despair, and " the Everlasting No.'* She calls, upon us to look, not up to a sky dear and tender as the ,eye of God, " but vaguely all around ia* to a' coppen firmament pr^^Qt with^ earUiquake and tornado." Shel>ids us ezchangp oi!ir faith in a. Providence which feeds the ravens, m»rks the hiimble sparrow's fall, and bestows upon lan infinite pity and a watchful care that never sleeps, for be- ief in a l^te cmel as the Furies and -unrelenting as Satan. In )Ur distress and x>nr sotrow, when we struggle with fl|iB and pant after power to conquer and sympathy to cheer, she holds up before our teaxtal eyes, not the cross, a source of comfort to millions of our race, but a cruel skeleton, ' called Katural . La^, w^th hollow ey^-sdckets, rattling teeth, land mouldy bones. JListen to what Stoauss has. to say of the A^ism in which the unbelief of his early years culminated in old afj^e : " The loss of fRev. Walter C Smith. D. D. ♦ — • J ' ~ •* * i . • " ' i '* » — _ ^""^ ' « , 1 " J f ■ ■ _ ' ^ '•' •.■ 7: «■. . '_ * ""* ■« *' " -■ / ;■. ■ -1 48 ■'"*,' . the belief in Providence belongs, indeed, to the moet seiigible dA- privations which are connected with a renunciation of Christian* ifcj. ^ In the enon^us machine of Uie universe, amid the inces- sant Vhirl and hisii of its jagpl iron wheels, amid the deafening «rMh of its ponderous staiS]^ and hammers, in the midst of this whole terrific commotion, ^n— a helpless and defence!^ creature^finds himself pLiced, not secure for a mament thai on ^me imprudent motion a whe^l may not seize him and rend |um, a hammer crush him to powder. This sense of abandon^ ^ ment is at first something awful "• This is Atheism as descriW ed.by an Atheist. And d gloomy creed it is— enough to blaift all hope and cause deep despaif io^siBttle on universal humanity. For this wretched, miserable, mockery of life, shall we exchange the sweet joy and happiness of religion, that can cheer amia, direst distress, and ^sole Under heaviest afflictions ? That would, indeed, be a madman's act Spoke not DaVid truly when he described the man who denies God as foolish ? The Atheist can see nothing in the,uni verse but huge wheels, ponder- ous hammers, apd heavy beams ol^iron, governed by an irresistibly destiny, which at any moment may grind him to powder, and can in no case attom him either help or sympaihy. To the Chris- tian, (|I1 external things are seen to be full" of beauty and redolent . of life The carolling of the birds, the whisperings of the trees, ,and the balmy breezes, all tell of a wondrous Love by which earthly things^were, created and are upheld. Every opening bud> evefy' blooming flower, the busy insect on the wing, and , the mellowed golden t)eauty of the landscape nnd^r thotrays of the setting sun, all point U» the Everlasting Father and the bet- ter country. The blue mountains, with their crests of ^now and the calm azure of heaven's' arch overhead, proclaim that man-is loved by God Endeared for by the In^nite One. The following fable from Thomas Carlyle aptly describe the Athe- ist's Dofiition*:^ "'ilentlemen,* said a conjuror "one fine starry evening, 'those heavens are a deeeptio viaua: what you call stars are nothing but Jery motes in the air. Wait a littlp. 1 will clear them off, and show you how the matter is!' Where- * "rtie Old FaiUj and the New. . ii * '■Wi ^ ' '-"W _fwVjj->^j. upon the' artist produced & lofig syringe' of great force, and, stooping ovet a neighboring puddle, filled it with mud and dirty water, which he then squirted with might and main against the xeniih. The wiser of the company unfuried their umbrellas ; but most part, looking up in triumph, cried : ' Down with deltf- sion 1 It is an age of science ! Have we not tallow lights then ? ' Here the mud and dirty water fell and bespattered and besplat- t^red these simple persons, and even put out the eyes of several, so that they never saw the stars any more. Enlightened Utili- tarian ! Art thou aware that this patent logic-mill of thine, Which grindeth with such n«- clatter, is but a mill?" This fnechanical view of things can neither satisfy the demands of the intellect nor meet the wants of the heart. Man's earliest guide and first leaders looked to the heavens for support, and tequired fresh strength for their purpose by so doing. The' simple breathings of infancy point to fears of thiat which lies tl^yond material things, and the stoutest-hearted man— what- ever hb boasting)^ to the contrary— is in continual awe of the supernatural. The fears and hopes and desires of humanity all point to a spiritual source, whilst the deepest yearnings of the iianian heart tell of wants that can never be satisfied without trusttin^od. • Thei« is a grand poem, translated from the Russian hj the late Sir John Bowring. which, despite its length, is so good and so appropriate as to be worth reproducing here: .' , ' it • - ■".'.■■.'_ Oh, Thou Eternal One t whose presence bright All space dodi occupy, all motimi guide. ' IJnchai^ied. through Time's all-devastating flight ; ^^' . 1^ Being above all beingi I mighty One I Whom none can comprdiend. and none explore I * Who fill'st existence with Thyself atone ; ^ Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er ; Bong whom we call God, and know no more. In its subtime reseaich. Philosophy May measure out the ocean deep, may cc^mTN, : The sands, or die sun's rays ; but God ! for Thee There is no weight nor measure ; none can mount M pto Thy mysteries ; Reason's bri^test qnrk. : ■'.s ■'' • # * ... **■ , . ¥■■ ' if. 1 i [ . ■" ■ ■ ■' ■■,_ ■ V .''■'.' ."■■••■ ■..-...i.-s., ;' _ * I^V t : ( \ A Eb^< 4 0- • ,¥J3 f. ^' :;W^ 45 T^ from primeval nothing™^ id.t c J. 5j«^^then existence ;U«I.bn ' Eternity had Its foundation; air - Sprung forth from Thee.-of n»h» «.„ k TJy word created all. awidcStc^te; ^ So 'P^"*'**^""' «»» »P^* witi, rays d vine , ' * Thou art, and wert, and shall he » ril^ Ught-^ving „fe.sustainit^o^^^^^^^ 1;°"** ^"'"K with the end hast bourS^ And beautrfully miggled lifeand deathT * ^ A«^asthes,SS^:S;^ Shine round the sUver snow, the paieantrv A mfllion torches. lighted by Thy hand. Wander unwearied through the bluHL, • ' A»i~r^ "*""' Wes of crystal light A glonous company of golden stream^ *^'' Lamps of celestial ether burning bright. B« Thou to these art a, the nooato night ;- Y«S as a drop of water in the sea. AM this magnificence in Thee is lost In all the glory of suWimest thought. hbut an atom in the balance weighed Agamst Thy greatness , is a cypher bitmght ^ V, r ■•The force of this simile can h««ii. u • never witnessed tW stm Aiff ^„^Jfe W*^ »*y ^^ whohave wiuKsaca me sun shining witK ;;«*il jr5* "v* "/ moac '^^i-dng light jsrSute^^ tion "Vs^^^^ ^.«4^lMilittaiMt4fi*«< . ■fc \ Against Infinity. What am I. then ? Nought Nought but the influence of Thy light divine. Pervading worlds, hath reached my boaom too. Yei, in my spirit dodi Thy spirit shine. As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew. Nought ! But I Uve, and on Hope's pimons fly Eager towards Thy presence j for in Thee I live, and breathe, and dwell, asphing high, Even to the throne of Thy divinity. I am, O Cod ; and surely Thou must be ! Thou art ; directing, guiding all Thou art i Direct my understanding, then, to Thee ; Control my spirit, guide my wandering heart ; Though but an atom 'midst immensity. Still I am something fashioned by Thy hand ; I hold a middle sank 'twixt heaven and earth. On the last verge of mortal being stand, ^^ Qose to the realm where angels have their birdi. Just on the borders of the spirit land. The chain of being i;i complete in me j In me is matter's last gradation lost, And the next step b Spirit, Deity t ^ i I can command the lightning, and am dust ; , A monarch, and a slave ; a worm, a god ! Whence came I here, and how ? so marveUousIy Constructed and conceived ? This clod , Lives surely throi«h some higher energy. For from itself alone it cculd not be I «* Creator,— yes. Thy wisdom and Thy word Created me ! Thou Source of life and good I khou spirit of ffly spirit, and my Lord ! ^thy light. Thy love, in their bright plenitude, Filled me with an iftimortal soul to spring Over the abyss of death, and bode it wear The garment of eternal day, and wing Its heavenly flight beyond this little siAere, Even to its Source, to Thee, its Author, there. O thought ineffable ! O vision blest ! Though worthless our conceptions all of Thee, Yet shall tliy shadowett image fill our breast. And waft its homage to Thy Diet]f. God I thtos alone my lowly thought can soar,-^ „ Tht» ieek Thy presence. Being wise and good ! 'Midst Thy vast works, admire, obey, adore ; And when Ae tongue is doquent no more, The ?oul shall speak in teani "« ♦^"^'"♦'^ "■»"' «»>vey. WeII.Iet„„.e. Hie e^H^ ""'?.■»'"■,«» Athei.Ho one. I^verpool." w«,te „ Mlo^™'^^^*""«"'"8 """elf •• w. W., •uch men do not dei.» ^h. .."^ »™' ""i" matter. . If emphalicali, enough"'on*:S:tbjee!""™~ ;' """ »'»«« ?« the cli4^-.thU°]S:tT ll^*^*^'"" '■» *^ "Mtenoe «i ah, X haa m»^' ""^ » ■"""■eh Qod in ("life of 0„lile,- pT r ^^'f; "•' "y kiod of God." ■ . ■ m» Z4> The late Kobert Cooper wrote: ...imM^iMW^^ ■ »«/■' 'W • ■•■.; ■ ■ 48 . ■;■■,-■ *I t^m th« theory of God becauw it is not a fact " (" Pop»iUr DevelTpment of Atheism." p. 7). ThU is • curiouriy-woftied phrase, and shows what a fog the man's mmd was in. U literally means that he rejected the theory beoau« the said theory was not a fact, as though some theonaa were facts What he intends to say is. I suppose, that the exUtence of God is not a lact, which is assuredly a denial of that existence. One of the ablest writers in the Secular lUvuu>—i paper edited at the time by Mr. Charles Watts-who has recently beeniu this country-conclades an article on the existent Jcnown that only logical argument will be seriously dealt with. SeiitimenUihs.u or^ttempts to get behind ultimate fact*, will be ridiculed, not answered, for to such answer is impossible Facts, and deduc- tions from facts, can alone be taken as answers to the state, ments which I haye here maintained Tlurt xs no Qod, ^ Sectdar Review, January 20, 1888. p. 37. The italics are his own. Hei-e is a denial surely emphatic enough. And Mr. Joseph Symes, at that time tf sort of Lieutenant of Mr. Charley Bradlaugh, and a prominent lecturer on Sefcularistic platforms, writes : "Bah r There is no God ! The Christiana seem to have set up theirs to blaspheme mmr—Freetkinker, Oct 1, 1882, p. 310. The following is also to the purpose, and it illustrates at the ^me time Secular profundity of thought : ^ "An Atheist's answer to 'What waa the on^n of the^ Universe?' ■ ' ^ *■ --■•-v .'i: . •God oqly knows— and there is no 0<«."—S«nrfar JUview, Febriiary 3, 1883, p. 73. Aoooxdingto Secularism, therefore, thi) non-existent has knowledge; in other words, the non-existent exists. Truly. ri«ethinker8««aveiy'credalou8 8etof pw^le, ^ t' ^ir, ■ -•'» T •>• t 49 axl till, before • u,^ ITj ^ '" "■• North of F..„i / • «> «8^«»ly iKir„, ^r«"'r *"'"" When ".:„".;; know od«, a- rhJo # "* ^*"«t nidinient* «# 7 - working „,e„ who Ii.t„ to U^th^'""'" '"'I?' »'io • well to give th« following ,„,.u", 7 ''»' ''"»'. it may b« .? (Profe»«r of A,tm„«„y inj"^ "••P'*^ by P«.fe,^/chlil?. l^niversity of a.,„briZ, ," f'«'""««'«i PhiIo«>ph^ i„ i" «'^« to be pl«<»j „„ „ "^"*?' »» the WwL. CoT w»th the Aanrf ao as r^» k„ "[ pose tfte sphere to be ,u,«k JL «^ motion during «„„i,!^;^^»^«^^^^ P<«n«nt by regnhtin^ the moU^T'^ ' ""° P-T^^aof ex- by the hand. « that it .hallZt^H "'"'"■«"«' "^ "» «Phm of ««h., .^ ^^^,^,_ JightT« ."eS" '^"^ •" «>« "Otion 0' fcction being ^„,^^ "« «» of the sphere, the eflest ■^V-n -oggeet that the':CZ^^~"^J''e experiment # /^ *" ^«et proportion U, ■ ~ .' f ■, .' V '^T^ K ■is / / A ^ 1' ■■■:,;■,■■■ ■.■■:•: W. :■,, .. ■ ■■ ■■ .■ %. ■■ ■■ ;■ Bi*.Vmiin F. R. S., in his admirable work ^UtS'^.^ii^y^wSA-n.ptU.n." h.3^^^^^ tbe^ '""TCXu^ wbicb is di«ct.y,«iv.n.>nd immed^^- A. Ihe «>»'7 ";"~ wiU force, and all my knowledge of infer^ce._ _^^^ j^ „y ^nly foroe-finder-that is. the only poweftha^carfinTwithdUnstrati^^^ thati can show y**" ^ ^i!J^ twdn o! reasoned thought a})out anjr force or C. 1"*)®^ «****"'.__.„«, the fundamental proposi- fowe. '««jd»««»»?"*^'^*ySrflow, «.d'«n7he tion out of whKh f ' "J •n.S^&d., is this: In flnd- ?^"*^ /'^» SS aSi /ta^rtJ?! will, -.thtif aUthe ing force / t«tt «• »«. ?~* rf^, down wilhoat omiamon in ■*•?* •L"*.?^^to.lm« Jumd written .t the he«l ot cmdhMwihatlw^ ■ NOTa-0* ITOMS ANJ) CHANCE I ling of Atooui; who« creative brain . With eddying impubc buUt new Dniry Mne ; Not to the labooTf of wbservient man, To no young Wyatt appertains the plan ; J, ' - '- • V/?*«.;Jh. : .>>•««• ,*,r '"'" • I, *■ i \ i^" (3 ^. Each wild with hope. »»* "«»*»*rL^nttii ' Points the pleased ear and wags th' expectant tail. Ye fallen Wcka. in Dniry's ^^"^ )w.^ ^ Since doomed to slumber "°««=»»«J "P^*^ Sweet was the hour when, tempted by ytn^fa*a^ Congenial trowels smoothed your yellow cheeks, Float dulcet serenades upon the ear, Bends every atomfeom its ruddy sphere. , Twinkles each eye. and. peeping ftom ite veil, Marks in adverse crowd its destined male. The oWong beauties cUp ftieir hands of gnt. And biick-dust tilterings on the bieexes flit ; Then down they rush in amatory race, Their dusty bridegrooms eager to embrace. Some choose old lovers, some decide for new j But each, when fixed, is to her station time. Thus various bricks are made as taste invite. The red, the grey, the dingy, or the white. Perhaps some half-baked rover frank and free To alien beauty bends the lawless knee ; But. of unhallowed fascinations^ick. Soon quits his Cyprian for his married bnck. The Dido atom calls and scolds in vain. ^, No crisp i&»eas soothes the widow's pain. So in Chcapside. what time Aurora peeps, A mingled noise of dustinan, milk, and sweeps Falls on the housemaid's ear. Amaied. she stands. Then opes the door with cinder sabled>hands. And " matches " caUs. The dustman bubbled flat. Think^ tis for him, and doffs his fontailed hat ; The milkmsui. whom her second cries assail. With sudden sink unyokes the clinking paU. \ Kow louder grown, by tiims she screams and weeps. Alas ! her screaming only brings the sweeps. Sweeps but put out, she wants to raise, a flame, All caUs for matches, but 'tis still the same. Atoms and housepiaids, mark tfie moral true— If once you'gaa^rtray, no MATCH for you. As atoms in ont mass united mix. So bricks attiraction feel for kindred bricks; , Some in the cellar vein, perchance^on Wgh, - Fair chtn^ey chums on beds of mortar lie: «, ,£■'»'. 'A" » i' 58 Enamoured of the sytnpatfietic clod, ' - • Leapi the red bridegroom to the Ubourer's hod. And up ^ ladder hearr the'- workman taught To thhik he bean the bricks— mistaken thought t A proof behold— If near the top they iind The nymphs or broken-cornered or unkind, . ' Back to the bottom, leaping with a bound; They bear their bleeding carriers to the ground. So legends tell, along the l(rfty hill ,: .. Paced die twin heroes, gidlant Jack/and Jill ; On t^dged the Gemini to reaefa-l)K rail ^Ids the well's top from the expectant pail, 1 ! Jack falls ; and rolling in the rear, ^attraction of his kindred sphere ; heels begins his toppling tnu:k. Throws sympathetic somersets with Jack, And at the mountain's base bobs plump against him, whacK t Ye living atoms, who unconscious sit. Jumbled by chance in gallery, box and pit, For yOu no Peter opes the fabled door, ^ ^ ^ No churlish Charon plies the shadowy oar. Breathe but a space, and Boreas' casual sweep ' Shall beat your scattered corses o'er the deep To gorge die greedy elements and mix With water, marl and clay, and stones and sticks ; Wh||j|charged with fancied souls, sticks, stones, and clay Sbiuiiiike your seats, and hiss or clap the play. Oh happy age ! when convert Christians read No sacred writings but the Pagan creed ; O happy age ! when, spuming Newton's dreams, . Our poet's sons recite Lucretian themes. Abjure Ac idle systems of their youth, . And turn again to atoms and to truth. O happier still when England's dauntless (|^mes, Aw'd by no chaste alarms, no latent shames, Tht bard's fourth book unblushingly peruse. And learn therampant lesson xrf the stews ! ,J ♦ ^HtfSsi ,Vi?5 'ii-X " 'ix' f. ^I- :^ aX)TH, LETTERBP. t^WCE •i.oa i ' t .^ - ^^^;-«.'" «'Tli«isdc ProMertw," ( y. ^^ and in Um .^s^JtAf^^fe^^"^- aa ywwm sr" — th««ptendidtMU< ."-BSiiottieGa: BYTHESAMrAUTHOR. PWGP.5CENTS. Tb* Doctriots Of linwortallty W Taustlrt to tb* OW Teftainwt. - 11/ ••'> ^ ^ .»v-xL^oe of a Future State bunmw ^|g«tt,fUld , future State. ~' find tome ' TORONTO: . W. Briggs. Methodist Book Room, Richmond stitct s -I- 4 f'' *> ■^ - BOUNO ., c«,tH. car ^TTEKKO. PR^^ ..-c,^. Indirect eoid^ces of fl?e TpeKsonal : ; -- DiOinifi^ of ^f^risf. ; . BV TUB Rfv. FREiiERiGK Rowland young, d. a. ' REV. GEO. SEXTON. kA.;"i,r.i>; ■.* • : m FAPE* COVERS «fi,ci « GENli-: ' , " wjio 'value th* •London ,PuNJc X TORONTO} ^ 'ajk ' W. 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