New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-05-18
THE IDEA OF LAW.
BOSTON RADICAL CLIIR.

MAY MEETING AT DIR. BARTOL's-RssAY BY THE
REV. SAM. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES BY MR..
WEISS, DR.. BART0L, MRS. HOWE, MRS. CHE
NEY, MR.. BLAKE, AND OTHERS.
BosToN, May 16.-The May Radical Club as
sembed yesterday under skies blue as the Italian ones
which Clifford paints and those Of who have never
seen them for ourselves believe in. The quaint spa
cous parors at No. II Chestnust were full Of flowers
and fragrance. All the pretty bonnets,
ana all the plain ones wore speotaoes. In the midst Of
the flow OF words the ur of founces and the breath
of roses perhaps invdous regret that WATSON
and Higginson absent, that neither Emerson
Acott had been lured from the classic shades of Con-
cord and that The Springfield Daily Republican, having
come out last month in full force. had failed to send
us Mr.. sanbcrn, whom we have claim Of SO long
standing But there the strange dark Of John
Weiss the youthfuly innocent counenance OF the Rev.
j. Villa Blake Mrs Cheney, Mrs. Howe dear, good Miss
Peabody in mourning for the recent loss Of her sister,
Mrs. Hawthorne, and looking Ike an elderly child
than ever; and many another wellknown and weliked
face. There too, was Dr. Bartol, silver Of hair and
tongue and the gentle old wife, who smiled beside him,
ready to make us all welcome. The essayist was the
Rev. Samuel Longfellow, brother Of Longfelow, the
poet and himself the writer Of many charming verses
that he could not have escaped being called the Poet
LougfcIlow II he had not had brother. Mr. LOngfellow
is fair saxonlooking man, who gives you the impress
sion of extremely sensitive and refined organization
Radical in his creed he is deeply religious in his nature
His voice is calm and sweet rather than passionate OF
eloquent and his is at modest and earnest
He spoke Of the Idea of Law" in Gods dealings with
men.
The idea Of law holds large place in modern thought
The laws Of nature the laws OF society," are phrases IA
miiar in all We hear also OF the laws OF trade,
OF certain order Of events taking place beyond the
control of individual wills, something inherent in the
to 20 ON as thew do This idea of law is everywhere
taking place of the notion of accident of arbitrary
lev the English phyaologist thinks il will Danish
the notion of anything Ike spontaneit IN the universe
he of epOuaneity and the idea OF freedom,
which believe in because feel them in ourselves,
and must needs aserbe them TO all spirits are not neces
the orderly and continuous method according to when
origin even though il must act under fixed CON
ditons. We need not be AFRAID that we
law There is freedom order than in avlessness
True freedom Of thinking is found In thinking logically
freedom in loving found in loving wisely and chasey
mot passions slave, but passions mascr. We mark
the progress of civilization by the gradual substitution
OF government OF laws Tor the arbitrary power OF des
pOtism AS intelligence progresses the antocrat gives
limited monarchy and that in Its turn 10 the
republic. And hnd-haVe found in the history or our
sentiment than loyalty to any king our delight in law
is a delight in order-physlcal ORDER, or beauty;
IePTer eS SEGe1 re cUneGted With c
till he brings it under general statement sees III II the
f than olOd; and we delight to know that each min
eral crystazes invariably into special forln Out OF
always roses the apple apples What security
well delight have in this presence OF law in out
ence law which makes scientific men unwilling 20
accept idea OF miracle Even conservative heoogans
beginning to spaek OF miracles the operations OF
hidden law-but when miracle is acknowledged to be
the result OF law hidden other does not cease to be
miracle and become simply rare event
The truly religious man can see God In the ordinary,
well in the extraordinary To the devout mind the
order Of nature far sacred divine far
more fun of Cod than any interruption Of order could
be. do not say that the order proves God and more
than the miracle would for you cannot find IN outward
nature the proof Of God In the soul Alone in the human
spirit. conscience, the affections, the WILL the ideal
Imagination, in these lies that primal sense of God which
own fCS va b ao Ts a On and So me me.
fun Of Illus ratOns of Him. and our research into
ways in the world of man. We must learn not 10 think
Of the law Of GOD for us as the arbitrary utterance OF his
ply steal, moral, and spiritual and so TO respect our
natures the revelations OF his purposes for US.
the perversion misuse OF some faculty or passion
propensity that in It's right use leads only to good
We recognize that the Love OF God aud the JUS
ce OF GOD and The Truth OF God and the Providence OF
Law, Law is Godaw is not power. but only the or
DERBY method by which power acts The love OF GOd
viewed law belongs not TO one man or one race alone
1t is universal do we ask individually TO appropriate
IT, any more tnan going out into the brightness OF sum
mer morning we ask that the sun ana air should espe
ciay distinguish us from our fellows And the proyl
dence of God, under this idea OF law will no. longer be
thought of as special interference nor even as mere gen
eral superintendent but as perfect ompresent saving
Presence saving STILL through all seeming destruction
and loss 1t Is said that in THIS conception OF Providence
we make no allowance for accident All events happen
under fixed laws, but the coincidence OF TWO events
bring about an accident and when we CONSIDER now
manifold these intersections We shall find ample
for much Of this element Of chance as We need,
TO explain life The justice Of Cod viewed IN the g1t or
Law loses its every shade Of implacaDty or arbitrar
1t is the justice of cause and effect Because we
live Gods universe and bis children, every law Of
his being also law OF being And the Law Of our
fethat Is the ideal OF our fe Its posslDles-ths Is
our Judge and il is our Redcemer, too Every moral
truth OF which once had visOn-every thought and
purpose of gOOdthat which we are capable OF being,
however faithless we have prOved-the ideal OF our
lie lit is that TO which we shall be held until it be
COmplisLed.
MIR. Weiss was the first speaker. He admired and
extoled the essay with the customary courtesy and
then took little exception to the statement that order
does not prove God 1t seemed 10 him that when the
finite soul first arrives at the idea Of order it fret arrives
at the idea Of the inniteof God You must gain that
idea OF pervadiDg unity which is the fragrance from
the topnost bOugh the tree of life and responds to
the infinite The idea of the divine unity is the cOOca-
ton Of all human gifts. Whenever, having that idea
present with you you touch any atom of creation OF the
order which cannot be broken you touch the skirts o
God There such thing as worship until the people
have taken hold Of this idea of unity OF order one OF
the finest contributions to the idea of law is that the adj
yocates of miracles beginning to ascrbe them to
deeper law not seeing that they thus to be mira
eIes Miss Peabody then INDUCED in gentle rhapsody
her idea doubtless being clear to herself that she for
got 10 make il clear 10 the rest closing, however with
the plain truth which Thsckeray stated In
another form when he said you must be
good II you want TO be happy-"Nhen the
soul moves on the lines Of law and order
IL is happy" Mrs Howe had missed the beginning OF
the essay but she asked TO discard the IDEA OF
specia Providence, how shall name that Presence
which goes along with us-the Presence which makes all
things work together for our good and sHops no acc
dent Mrs Cheney said that some one asked once what