New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-01-13
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MRS wIIIAPD's PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE.

MENT. BY Mrs ELIzABETH OsGoOD GOODRICH VIII
LARD. sv0. up. 49, Chicago: j. r. Walsh.
The commercial spirit of the age has often
been reproached as hostile to the cultivation of
philosophy and to interest in the deepest specua
tive problems. Everything, it is said, is now gov
erned by utlitaan considerations, and the pursuit OF
material prosperity absorbs the vigor Of society In
like manner, the republican form Of government Ill
this country has been deemed unfavorable to the
profound discussion of principles, and tending 10
dead level of intellect and thought, as well as OF
political guarantees. But the fact Is not niue
curious that in the newest forms of American society,"
among portions of the community most intensely
devoted to the cares of business the development OF
or material resources and the acquisition OF wealth.
passion for graphing with the most dlfhcut ques
tons OF speculation is often signalIy mahIesteu'
The boldcst flights of theory are found IN circles IN
which from their cultivation and general habits,
they were rs little to be expected as a snow
storm at the tropics, OF figs and oranges at the
North Pole. The day of illterate shOemakers
seem to have revived when men like
Jacob Boehme and George Fox meditated over their
lapstones and waxed ends the mysteries of the
Universe and announced their daring solution OF
the problems which had dehed the subtlety Of the
schools The present volume is case in point. 1t
comes from the great trading center of the West,
with prestige of literary culture, or celebrated
name, with no reliance on the authority OF the past
and apparently with consciousness of intellectual
audacIty plunging at once into the depths of cos
mology Ontology, and social organization, with an
ease and assurance of movement, which shows the
cearness of the writer's intuitiOns and the strength
of her convictions if not an evidence of their truth
We have compared her with Jacob Boehme, and
other unlearned mystics, tho utterance of whose
thoughts have made deep mark on the philoSophc
,Of hold pood in oil
spects, for although woman, and not member OF
the literary class by profession. she betrays
knowledge of the course and results of modern sci
ence, of which few women. and indeed few writers
of either sex can boast She starts from the doctrine
of the correlation of forces-which has been pro-
nounced by eminent authority to be the highest law
in physical science yet perceived by the human facul
ties-with a confidence and selfpOssession which
show how familiar she is with the ground and dis
cusses the views of philosophers like Herbert Spencer
Emerson, Darwin, and other revolutionary thinkers
with comprehension of their character and bearing
which is not always found among those who decide
most giby on their merits. At the same time her
work does not appear much like the product of
study as the fruit of natural reflections the mystcS
would say, it was something given TO her, rather
than what she had obtained by force Of will the
"broodings of the oversoul" in the language of En-
erson a verse from whose poems forms the motto TO
her volume.
The leading idea of the work is the prevalence of
the law of sexual order in the universe, explaining
the laws of sex in the organization and control of the
solar and human systems, and their perfect CORE
spondence with each other, and with the true laws
of society and government The laws OF our nature
are in harmony with the laws of the spheres and sex
must lie as deep as the laws by which they are moved
and controlled. Nature is birth as well as human
and nth unuIine The two factors
the production of nature or the universe, are Soul
and Law, each an eternal principle existing by ne
cessity. the Soul as the Mother, and Law as the
Father of Nature The quality of Soul is Power and
the quality of Law is Principle Matteris the sub
iect of constant changes and hence cannot be eternal
Ii has no SEX because it is the passive servant OF the
soul Matter is to soul and law what clay IS to the
potter marble to the sculptor or glass to the blower
Everywhere matter has its masculine, feminine, and
neuter Cod is not a manifestation OF nature but
nature is manifestation of God, just as the parent
is not the manifestation Of the child but the child OF
the parent. God is not manifestation at ALL except
through nature, a parent through the child. The
soul is not an idea but it is that which takes cognz
ance of an idea. Ideas only powerful because
they represent the essential power of the soul.
The soul uses ideas and senses as hands and feet
This word best expresses our idea Of an all pervadng
mower as il manifests itself in all the varied forms
of life Though soul cannot be produced by any re-
fnement of matter it is governed by the same laws
that control matter else it could not be organized i'll
connection with matter. Hence theI nature OF the
soul is judged Of 10y its manifestation through the
material element.
The human system is an organization of all the
powers and forces of the universe. We are children
of the EARTH the earth is the child of the sum- We
must be governed 10y the same laws of motion that
a.. m f,p nations
of the solar system The first law Of the SOUL accord
ing to the theory Of this work, is the law Of FORM
There could be 10 law without substance or sub
stance without law, and both must have form. The
elements of nature are organized into the various
forms of life by the law of motion. Motion cannot
come from any external source, because there can be
nothing external to infinite space and fuuness OF
substance. Hence, motion is the result Of some
internal necessity, some power OF attraction ana
repulsion acting between the primitive atoms OF
matter. Motion is caused by the nature and condl-
ton Of the elements, and grows out OF the same
eternal necessity by which the universe exists.
Starting from this principle the author proceeds to
a hold ANALYSIS of the fundamental laws of organiza
ton in the solar system. Aggregation rotation, and
oravitation are the concentrated action OF feminine
laws producing condensation and unity. as IN the
nrimitiye solar body. Centrifugation evolution, and
segregation are a reaction Of masculine laws, pro-
ducing division and individuality among the planets
Rotation. as a feminine principle, and centrifugation
as masculine principle, arc the two most distinct
laws of sex. All the laws Of motion are receivable
into three methods. First, molecular, or primal;
second, curvilinear, produced by the aggregation
and rotation of the elements Of matter; third,
rectlinear as in grayitation or tits centrifugal reac
ton. From the primal condition of the elements, as
an infinite sea of molecular motion, the author ven
lures to trace the birth and growth of suns and
..orlas ~. these laErs and methods Of motion. Our