Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-06-16
PRTZE GRAFTON.

of the Philothesmian Society, King
College, May 23rd, 1871, to whom was
awarded the King Prize Medal. The
subject, NEVER LOST" +" having been
announced, Mr.. Long rose and said =
The persistent indestructibiity OF
matter has long been a scientific doc
trine. 1t has been held in theory and
demonstrated by experiment. In the
cycles of eternity there was a period
when the dark stiffness of nOnentity
reigned through all the realms of
SPACE. Al length the Omnific power
OF an infinite God. grasping the shad-
owy ghost of universal nothing. quick
ened il into substantial. potent, active
being Wherefore, according To the
immutable principles of august mathe-
matics, which constitute the method
Of Divine government in nature, In
fuity alone can cancel what infinity
has done. The foundation stones Of
all entity's stupenduuS fabric rest upon
! the omuiputeHce Of the Great | Am.
/ Not one atom can undergo destruc-
! ton until lie issues the mandate for its
abolition.
/ But i'm the progress of scientific in
| vestigatiOn, the consequent develo p
ment of truth has Unfolded the amaZ-
/ ing doctrine of the perpetual cOnser-
vation of immaterial forces. Although
/ this doctrine was long unknown, and
perhaps, is still rejected 10y many, the
/ unwasting perseverance of natures
J forces is necessary To the stability of
! the universe: upon heirenergy mate
rial existence depends: without their
energy definite materialijy Is impOSSi
/ BILE. GTaYitatiOn's and cohesiOn's
| forces are the ligaments of the inn
mense system: the stellar radiatiOns
! constitute the vital currents. Sus-
/ pend their united action and the uni
| verse would put on the ghastly hue of
I dissolution, and the vast array of dis
solving worlds and blackening suns,
/ rushing wildly woulddissipate. forever
and sink into the pulseless calm of
/ chaotic death. Since creations bril-
| liant morn not single ray of the least
! of immensity's stars has perished.
! For unnumbered ages our own diurnal
orb has been dispensing his vitalizing
forces. What mind can begin TO form
the faintest glimmering conception of
the infinitude of rays dispensed? Yet
not a single ray is lost. Each flash
lIl0 De3ifl HIS us tlCl lldl llliSSlDll
its mission lasting till the universe is
buried i'm the dismal grave of annihila-
ton. If, darting to some new-created
world, it struck a sleeping germ, it
awoke its latent power and nursed it
into blooming beauty; and then pass
ed on to other scenes cf action. And
though that were ten million years
ago, il is acting yet, or is stored up in
,f A fhn1ac-
and transformations, a thousand COM
mutations it may have undergone; or
a thousand ages it may have slum-
bered in its priSon-house, but 1t is an
actual, or a potential, power still. If it
passed each blooming world and struck
the fervid disk of blazing star-ROt
even there was it lOSt-lt helped
maintain that star, and there il tOsses
yet, or thence has gone TO the accom-
Blishment OF its mission on other shores
of immensity. If neither world ror
star is struck, it is going yet-with un-
checked speed 1t threads the maze OF
glittering Orbs-or, far beyond the
bounds of entity, it streaks the dark
ness of the void abyss, and before its
lightning wings wild chaos flees to
deeper glooms of noneXistence. JeEo-
VAN sees anu HulutS ilS NOhiSN AsOi
ever can that beam be lost. Thus by
the unwaning Interchange and perse-
verence Of forces, the immense web of
the universe is weaving, and it Will
continue undimnishCd 10y the loss of
single shred Till the fiat of the
Great Eternal shall strike it from the
loom of creation.
But all that grand array Of burnish-
"A a mud Nar,,ingr il la1It thn
evanescent shadow. while the uni
verse of mind is the permanent sub
stance of being. Ali that brilliant
fabric ere CternitN's morn may relapse
into pitchy chaos or dark nIhiliiy, but
the immortal mind, bright emauation
of eteruity's Father. Will endure un-
scathcd the stormy wreck OF worlds,
and, irradant. flourish cocNal with
the rcmotest flight OF duration. The
material universe ith its energiZlng
forces II an imPer 'ect and palpaLle i'm
aye of that exquisite and impalpable
something IA led iBttiect 1t Is "a vast
source of dim ana.o-ies from which a
man NAV draw and reason about him
self. Every burning sun in Yonder
beStudded armament, while it seems
forever and independently fixed in its
own deep. mo- eless vault, OWES its pO-
sition and character to its fellow suns.
/ Every unfolding bud of immortality
here, While its character and destiny
/ are determined exclusively by Is own
/ intentions and conduct, viii owe its
eternal charaCt and destiny To its fell
/ low immurtals. Every star IN immen-
/ ,itV Is photographed Oh every other
! star or world lis wandering RAYS have
! struck. The moral aud intellectual
! linpamentS of every man. who ever
/ lived, are iudeliblv written upon the
minds ofall with whom he lived or held
| communion. Thoughts, words and
! actions, constitute the forces of the
/ spiritual world. From mere analogy
the conclusion of the perpetuity of
moral and intellectual force or influ-
ence is natural, perhaps legitimate; /;
but in view Of mans nature it is nee
essary.
The human soul has by nature a
social disposition. While il is incon-
ceivablv susceptible of influe ces il is
more tenacious of their impressions
than the hardest diamond. Almost a
blank i'm the incipiency of its existence
the thoughts and feelings of others are
I craven into its adamantine texture to
I endure forever. Thus its character,
l though in constitution original and
peculiar, is nevertheless shaped by the
the thoughts and conduct of others
Constitutionally possessed of an activi-
ty more amazingly quick than light
ming, its actions are always determin-
ed by its emotions. EXquisitely SEN
Sitive 10 the slightest gossamer stroke
of influence, il is in the highest de-
gree emotional-its emotions ever
bearing the peculiar stamp of their
origin. Therefore, inevitably, as the
mind is and feels, SO viii it act; and
its actions invariably embody some OF
its moral and intellectual features,
which are indelibiy impressed on 9TH
er minds and thence are bodied forth
To be again impressed. Thus the pc
culiar traits CT every mind continue &c
lie transmitted and retTansmitted from
individual TO individual, and from
generation to generation, by the un'
ceasing energy of that human elec-
. tricity-sOcial influence. Though in
h