Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1866-09-25
(Commnncated)
Divine Providence. Reply Of D.

Our article in the HERALD of Sept.
4th, does not seem to suit your cor
respondent "S'' in some respects, and
we mist ask your indulgence in the
matter OF room, for brief reply.
The manner Of rs" is uneXception-
able, and he seems to be well advised
and candid withal. Controversy with
gentleman Of candor who is capable
OF doing justice to the side he may
espouse, is always pleasant, and may
be profitable, us such "a man nevita>
bly, accepts the force of reason even
against his most cherished convict
ions, and always bows to the majesty
OF Truth. He who will not do so is a
creature ofprejudiee, and nero big
OF. Bigotry, is positive evidence Of
very narrow mind, which we are
quite sure "S' does not possess.
The criticism upon the superfuous
use of the word "directed' in my arti-
Gle isjust, and will teach us to be less
hasty i'll the construction of our sen
tenees in the future. We arc thank
full for this quiet reminder.
IS" speaks of "Jllnd chance" in
contra distinction to the operation of
Divine Providence with i'll concealed
displeasure at the possibility Of a
thought, that chance enters at all in
the affairs Of the Universe but we
beg leave to assure him that the poor
sightless creature is a very quiet, not
always harmless, but certainly very
much abused Divinity. He seems to
be wholly subordinate to the laws of
nature and indeed, it is hard to tell
where his authority begins or where
it ends. Yet all men, at all times are
exposed to the operations Of chance
We are every moment of our lives
liable to loss of life or limb or proper
ty; by peculiar combinations or con
functions in nature. A bolt of light
ening descends and we happen to be
in the line Of it's path; it might have
come and performed exactly the same
thing had we been a thousand miles
away-our being just there at the IA
tai moment, must be called chance.
A ship filled with passengers, drifts
under the effects of wind and tides
upon q sunken rock, unknown to nav
igators, and in moment all arc lost.
The variation Of a few feet, in the
course of the supposed vessel, would
have saved her harmless. What
brought her to the fatal spot? We
say, "chance", S says "DiUine Pr0Ui.
dence."
We Will non, $40 two ,,,o,,o 20 olo.
cases of chance as occur to us : one
over persons, the other over inani-
mate things when we will pass to
another branch Of the subject. 1st,
person shall be blndfolded, and
placed upon vast trecless, trackIess
plain where nothing whatever shall
operate upon his senses to guide his
footsteps, and then be required to
travel certain number Of hours, in
as direct a line as possible. The track
that he would thus describe, would
be the result of chance. But if the
cOnvolutions, which thousand men
of like qualities, described under the
same circumstances exactly, could be
accurately mapped-they would show
on comparison, sufficient points of
resemblance to determine d general
law of nature applicable in such cases.
The chance then, in such case would
be but the observance ola law of ma.
ture
I'd Take the game of dice called
par crcettence-the "game Of chance"
Upon fair throw of three or more
dice, no one can tell how many spots
there will turn up. Chance rules here
all agree, but, if thousand men
should each make thousand throws
with the same dice, it is likely that
the aggregate number ofspots thrown
by each, would not vary much from
that thrown by the others. What
thus may seem to be freak Of
chance in the unit, is shown to be q
demonstrable problem in the mass.
BY thus aggregating the operations
of chance over the affairs of men with
reference to their casualties or losses
of life and property, all the rules
governing the conduct Of Insurance
Companies in fixing their rates OF in>
surance are evolved, which are based
upon theorems as exact and demon
strable as any problem in mathemat-
les.
We have occupied too much space
upon this matter of chance and we
will now conclude this paper, and
perhaps close the argument altogeth
er by requesting IS" to give US his
views at length upon the following
question, viz:
The doctrine of Individual volition
and responsibility in all matters of
Importance being fully admitted, how
is it possible to reconcile herewith,
the doctrine of an orer-ruling Provi-
dence-reaching and controlling those
voluntary CD acts of the individual
as understood by 80
D.