New-York tribune., 1871-07-26
MR CREELEh'S ADDRESS At AEpoy

laying Of the cornerstone os\Bachel College Ohio,
| Nj. Greeley says:
There those who talk ,onOr,ady . tdisrty Of L,.to.
Law Of Development Prssrcss though b bad osui h uo,s
hey Si anlccss all the mysteries cs,ton Bat an not ,
'"'ri demand q meaning and 1. de'erase ho, a.
ti'' meaning bridges The gf which The vori WV ir-oa a,
o'sreap 10 ny apprehension, law Is 0- dVta< c O. q.
| N"GsHi NiN, Or Il u r0hug That shsaa pleas. ~.
Author Of al tbing material BODY 10 n. r,et 80.
o'ae rauo poportonei 70 their relative writ .r
'n'iy eorespo1srg 20 tier Distance from oT r.. s
prehead that such attraction sLor abee sai o is,av. l,
natter 's ~ upomP mPuse Inevitable pro- ert e,n.sAcs
ce.yc"
Nothing certainly, he more proper than 10 den,Da
tne meaning Ot the terms presented TO you In d our..
OF argument whenever there is the least doubt "A IN ,h.
sense In which they used but, the other hand
nothing can be futile, for purposes Of arguuep,,
tOn tlan To take word out OF your adyersarys month
and say: do MT IN what sense NON use tha, o.
preston nave sense Of my quite different from
yours. IN which shall always insist upon usnvjtp A.,
Greeley seems to think that by this simple expcd,ent
ne can turn the argument OF the EyOutioR philosopher,
against themselves He catches OF them speaking
of law :" and although 10 has been abundantly er
palned TO the world that in scientific di.erse INF.
word has quite different from its legal or popnIsr
one he pounces upon ~ In triumph and says: " Abl
there have you To my apprehension Law Is the dic
tate Of an intelligent mind, IL h nothngp l. IL not
evident that the result OF such tactics a. these 4, Ia
Danish the word in question from scientific discussions al
tOgetucif Many NrlteIs already avoid
much possible this very ground that gives rsO 70
| so many Misunderstanding.
To pass on. Mr. Greeley readily cOmprehend. that
It should please the Author Of all things impress tho
force OF graytaton upon brute matter but he cannos
conceive that such attraction should nhere in and he in
separable from matter unprompted impulse In
eyitable c) property" must DE pardOned for saying
that these expressions evidence Of confusioa
of thought. Here we are presented with two things
one Of which Mr.. Greeley readily cOmprehends"
while the other he " conceive" Mark II Is nct
that one is credible and the other incredible but that
is cOmprehensi6e and the ether tncopprehens'bIs
The thing comprehensive and (by Mr Greeley compre
hended is that spirit should communicate motion or
force TO brute matter and the thing ineompreheDsble
that matterwe cannot this hypothesis call II brute
shoad possess motion force Of its Now. NAN
tain that as regards cOmprehensbiity there is ALSO
lutey no difference between the two conceptions the
mind pOWerles to grasp one as the other Tho prob
lem in either is to bring together in thought idc0s
hat are, in fact, the opposite poles Of hosght-to
conceive the action of spirit upon matter, or tho
union OF spirit with matter. Ii 80 happens that
Mr. Greeley has heard since his infancy that God
created the yOrds out OF nothing aud familiarity with
a OF words has created In his mind the ILLUSION that
the idea which these words attempts to express com
prehensibe There is abundant evidence, howeyef.
that thinkers less able than Mr. Greeley and far
more orthodox" have felt painful sense Of ineec
tua bankuess and helplessness in confronting the dea
or rather should say, in trying u frame an idea Of
creation the thing in truth is shcerly unhinkabe.
In the middle ages, the question often asked:
"where the world before it was created pa foolish
question enough IL like, but one which shows how
utterly bafed people were In attempting TO conceive
that which Mr.. Greeley so " readily eomprehend@
Perhaps il will he objected that 1t was not the act OF
creation which Mr. Greeley found 70 conceive,
but the impressng OF dead matter with active force II
So only say that, to my mind, the two Things are
but that, In any ease II would not gVe Mt Gree
ley very good footing for his arguments against tbs
/ n
basis of his creed utterly lncOncelYdbe act O feaon
In All probabity therefore am ght IN concluding that
when Mr. Greeley claims 10 understand how the mate
rial endowed with the force OF grayauon
he makes quite as little mystery OF the calling Of tho
What then are we to beevei Has Mr.. Greeley really
gained a philosophical stand point which enables him to
view ordinary phenomena the primal acts or creation.
or does he fall into the common error OF aneying thst
because he Is familiar with phrase ne must naei'tand
an the phrase imports strives 10 express Most per
sons it me, will think the latter hypothesis by
cannot dwell at any length on the remainder OF the
81 % All Teous beliefs into the three forms o
Atheism Pantheism, and Thesn, and upon the ohaFac
erstics assigned TO each or the three Ihe only ODsr
walton shall make is that Mr.. Greeley seems quite 70
overlook the wholly subjective, personal character OF
the creed he announces as his own. He seems TO think
that because certain things present themselves to ms
mind in certain way; they must exist precisely as no
has conceived them. He Is sentlmentalst who makes
his sentiments law for Others He talks OF The "unde
! vout astronomer" and Of IA boOdless specula-
oa s seSsa Ss[f@ Of moral n This is sewers
language when consider that the "bloodcss spec-
who would certainly object very strongly to being re-
garded as in a state OF moral anamia, The names OF
many OF them come into my mind and certainly they
seem the least bloodess set OF who were ever
united by common cause; Look at tue Positiylss OK
in what writers OF the present day do You see greater
feryor OF conviction, greater energy, or greater dSne
| may, which sustains them in the most aInom
tolls and gives unity aud force to thSlr hseS eS
! Or take Herbert Spencer, John stuart MIL ana
Charles Darwin Hse such eharacteT' as xSSs SSss
syVsa . axeual
sbityl" Let have such men. say De her Pt sPeJost
tons what they may; men who uadeteeg & o ,sesSDs
footsteps while in every page they Hrie Is N
The deep unsesh interest they feel ln the WepelnsU
their fellow-men The example OF such men oi inO1s
value to the world than the orthodoxy theoiognm y,
philosophical of many thousands inere 5 sreat s r~snsr
ating influence Of the future, Dut OF Ia,
high purpose and principle and M have faT Too
little and these the qualities which tHe'c ""0" Nv
cried theorists prominently display. ,, .do,,. ia
The mischief of such tone as MI Greeley p,I.m auDpI
that 1t authorizes and encourages t ~ aIi likely
ON the part of Others OF course he Is not a. az az
~ he initiated nv fhe spectators against whom MS as
il directed; but those IN whose eyes 'i taIk
isa daring nationalist, scarcely be DasG - h, y
of him and o him from the vantage ground Oi ha' sup"
ror authority 70 which they lay elau cev haze his
confident assertions Upon changing sentus s, indi
is a sentiment which changes or may ehhso same in
diydua from youth 10 maturity rom gyved IN
age 10 say nothing OF the wider changes "a ~ neriod
n9ssing from nation 10 nation or from per 81 not
mans last conviction always seems 70 mn nveded
10 others) better founded than those II Las III bs his
bnt who that has many years 10 i've can tn II. hs,ev
LAST convection of all will be And " 10 , ha, @ @ vtew
wars 10 live will be bold as TO assr Ii VA hv hoss
higher and truer than his own VIII ever Oc H''' ~
! who come after him -. .,or =, saerns 10 me- u
The conclusion OF the whole mateI md of Convictions
~. m. ~ of religious sentiments, ana oi s.Hr
u as TO the Divine constitution ana and ntro
o. ", Tho world 10 serve as SunhS III 30 10
men mem ~ nce over the life OF the ndVidual anu . v
furnish ground for attacks upon t.e sinSele ,o mat
~ thnrs ar for oracuar statements Win reglu hst ~
oi oio,nIib lie as far beyond the reach OF tne hgnos.
n,hiosnrber AS OF the simplest child am, III, yya'
very respectfully, ,,,- ,a-, vs." "
0ttqrd Canada, July II, 1871. a.,
Having thus given place, rercotm' 10 M.
lie sueur's essay, we simply move the Previous
Question: Is it, or is il not, manlfe'tly uus
,hat Thesm must exert a more powerful auu
Il Llos,,,a moral influence than either AIho-