Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1842-07-25

! but which he found propounded, with even more
| force and precision, by the Sophiss aud wisdom
! mongers' of the Oldest days. The wealth of An
tiquity and the more gtlering, if not more valu'
able, treasures OF Modern times. in all departments
of thought and speculation, he had made his own.
But the distinctive feature of his intellectual hab-
! its was his single-eyed devotion to the highest
! gOOd-the earnest, unerrlng insight, the logical
| power and the answering courage with which
! he seized great principles OF Truth aud Duty, as
| they revealed themselves to his own soul, and
| built them up into glorious temple ol Moral aud
Religious Philosophy, massive aud imposing, but
OF exquisite beauty, IN which the Reason OF man
| might hunby and reyereny worship. At an
early stage OF his theological studies his own re-
Election led him to doubt aud soon 10 reject, the
| system OF Philosophy which he received from his
teachers, aud which generally prevailed both in
! England aud America. Many OF its dOgmas were
in conflict with the prooundesi convictions OF his
reason. lie was told in the Lecure-roOnI, from
the pages OF LocEE, that all our knowledge is de-
rived nom the revGaioas of sense and, though
! the shallow sophstry 10y which this doctrine was
sought to be sustained had been most lucidly ex-
posed aud proved 10 be IN contradiction to the
cearest, most undoubted facts OF consciousness,
thousands of years before It's reputed author saw
| the light he found il elevated 10 the pride Of place
and power in every school OF philosophy in this
and in other lands lie read in PALEY that the
personality oil man--the highest power Of human
the faculties which belong to brutes. The phi
losophy which was then in vogue asked him TO
believe thai in the nature of the understanding,
shared il is in degrees Of infinite diversity by
the individuals of the race, and liable as ii always
! is to error, are contained all the controlling pr IL
| cpes of beings that man is the creature and not
| the creator OF his motives, that the law of cause
and effect pervades the spiritual, as 1t does the
! natural world that the acts of the free will are
! thus determined by a law ab ertra that in fact
the power OF the will to act freely is only cdpa.
city TO be acted upon, according 10 law establish
ed without its consent, by the motives present in
the understanding These doctrines he found sus-
tanned by the most powerful inellects of the age,
aud enthroned in the high places OF Learning aud
Philosophy. The whole spiritual being of man
was thus subjected TO law of nature, from which
1t could not 10y any possibility be freed. Still the
same philosophy claimed to he the Defender of
the Christian Faith, and, while it thus placed man
under an inhexbe LatO of his nature, recognized
the feeling Of moral obligation to fulfil law a.
boue his nature. The inherent rrationaity and
absurdity of this had struck many minds. Some
had followed to their legitimate results these doc
! trlnes, and had landed IN denial of all spiritual
law and Of all moral obligation. Oilers more
conscientious, but less true TO the logical conclu-
sons OF their own minds, had thrown themselves
upon the authority Of Revelation, and received i'm
| pHcnIy The truths therein undeuably announced
though they felt m their souls that they were al
war with The tenets Of their philosophy. But none
Venlured TO doubt the correctness of the premises
which involved all these perplexing difficulties.
The reflection, serious and reverent, but pro-
found and clear. sighted, of DR.. Marsh led him in
10 neither OF these fatal errors. He never for n
moment doubted the substantial, al sufficing truth
of the Christian scheme. He Ind made it for
| himself the life OF his soul. In his own heart he
felt that it could not be shaken by the earthly in
teIlecr, for its foundation was deeply laid in the
transcendcnt spirit 1u looked upon it as The NV
| ing and substantial faith, which, 'as ,he cloud
| piercing rock, overhangs the strong hold of which
il had been the quarry, aud remains the founda-
! tlun.' But he sought system of Philosophy
which, while II should recognize the facts OF con
seriousness and the immol tai insiuc,> of the soul
should make them all harmonious with the spirit
and the teachings of the Christian faith. Hte re-
cognized II difference, wide inhnily, between
| the nature of man aud that of the brute. He fell
distinction between The reason and the underStGn.
ding of man. He believed that the will was free
| hot the creature of motives; that it made the
motives, and had wtmn itself the power Of deter
mining It's own acts. He rejected, in short, the
whole ground work of the seusuous philosophy
and sought for another which should elevate Mar
and indicate the Faith on which were based hi.
highest hopes. His belief, summed up in his own
words, was, that Christian Faith, SO far rom be-
ing irrational, is the Perfection of Human Reason.
Upon this was his whole system grounded and tc
/, devoted.
, In the philosophical writings 10 which he hat
recourse in his early studies he found little 10 sat
isfy these, his most earnest convictions. In tn,
! philosophy of Plato in the powerful specpIatlon
, Of some of The German writers, aud the might,
sentences of Lord Bacon, mingled as these were
with much that he deemed erroneous, and lhe
weight almost destroyed by ignorant or wilfuI, bu
universal mislnlerpretation, he found some confr
nation Of his own cherished views. But in tn,
writings oil Coleridge he hailed the fearless an
nouncement and the triumphant vndcation oil th
great truths for which his own mind had, in 81
lence but with power, been restleSsly in Search
He studied his works with eagerness aud delight
, and, as the best mode Of Introducing to the repub
lie OF American scholars the great doctrines TO
whose sake he regarded their powerful defender
with feeling of reverence and love, in 1929 h,
8 republished the ids to Reflection with copiou
} notes and Preliminary Essay, in review Of TIT
Philosophy 10 which he was opposed, and in ex
bibition of the main features OF that which he of
7 Tered as a substitute, which has been pronouncet
by eminent men Of both countries TO be Que of thu
most splendid specimens OF philosophical criticism
, which have appeared Tor many years. Encour
! aged by the powerful hold which this work imme
diatey acquired upon The thinking scholars, 70
whose use 1t was mainly intended, he subsequent
~ caused TO be reprinted several of the other work
of Coeridge. With the same general purpose il
= view, he translated from the German severn
3 works of phlosophic value, aud prepared new e
s ditonS of several of the best of the old Englis
divines. Tie effect of his labors in extendin!
l the fame and the philosophy OF CoIeridge is nov
. felt and may be seen in every section Of the land
+ slight but significant instance of his success
e may he remembered in the dishonest attempt Of
a publishing house in this city, but year or tw
since, to divert to their ill The pecunary prot
= lis of his eXerons TO which, are sorry to say
$ somewhat eminent divine of this city stoope,
a to lend himself We cannot forbear TO mentio
another instance, not of so glazing injustice ID
9 Marsh, but of wider injury to the public and tn
cause of Philosophy, on the part of publishn
e house in a neghborng city. About two year
i SINCE in furtherance OF his absorbing purpose, I'll
J. establishment of what he believed TO be the trIl
II system of philosophy and morals, DIR. Marsh wa
= about to publish new edition OF The Friend, wit
70 an extended, thorough and elaborate criticism
the writings Of Coleridge aud an exposition {
z bis PhilOsophN. Lie Ind Innde nrrnn nn,nnnts IN