New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-09-21
GODS ACTIVE PRESENCE.

CATION OF OUR RACE.
To the piercing gaze of the astronomer, the
universe n revealed lnnumeraoe multitude oil orDs
or globes crclng through practical mhnty OF space
These globes being Opaque and OF such consistency that
one e. necessarily excluded points occupied by any
other be distinguishes their substance from the sur
rounding void Matter without meaning TO airn the
absolute non-exlsence Of Matter in any portion OF
space Unable to conceive either that the heavens are
verably boundess, what exist outside OF them IL
they have visible limits he confesses his apprehensons
finite and that there are doubtless far more worlds WIN
ont than within the range Of his most powerful eie
scope Unable to how the universe can nave nau
beginning be equally unable TO conceive OF as nav
ing existed from all eternity That 1t certainly mas hot
always existed substantially as it Dowis the hte nc can
Gather Of ifs history abundanty demonstrates Though
opr solar system may be comparatively modern, anu
though our planet is doubtless younger than the sun
around which it revolves, Science demonstrates
not only it's vast antiquity, but the fact that II
has undergone signal mutations and was long
unnhatited and incapable OF supporting animal
life BY many concurrent and irresistible tesu-
monies we well assured that the firm earth Whereoh
we tread was long wandering cloud of heated Vapor-
possibly resembling in substance If not in form modern
cometthat this ormless mass, whirng through space
but kept within orbit not unlike its present py tue
SIMS attraction, gradually cooled aud contracted hu
eping into rock at its surface, until 1t had slowly
assumed nearly the shape it still wears. Still heated oy
internal fires which since receded further from lts
IN colder region skyward were there CONCEALED into
rain which profusely, persistenty fell, washing ana
securing the surface Of the rocks, and ttrang tnen
against each other until their faces were GROUND INTO
dust which now forms the mineral portion OF the SOIL
Heat and light freely impaired from the sun, blending
with moisture and earth, at length produced vegeta-
tion this was followed in time by simpler and then Dy
more complex forms animal life; until at length Man
appeared "the roof and crown of things" material ana
teurc the being infinite in faculty, the master ana
lord of this visible world.
such as read them are the rude outlines OF the mode
in which all whereof we have knowledge came 10 pass
and the question at once What and whence their
impulse OF was neededY Did the bhnd merit u-
conscious soulless matter which was once all fog theh
hardened into rock, gradually shape Itself INTO living
organisms ascending step by step from lower 10 mgner'
until It became length Cesar Charlemagne, snakes
,eare Goethe Byron, NapOleon7 There are those who
talk sonOrOusly stridently OF aw-ot the Law OF Dc
velopment or Progresses though they had found IN
word KEY which unlOcks all the mysteries OF creation
But I am not sienced by a word: demand its mean-
ing and then seek TO determine how far that meaning
brdces the Gulf which tie word invoked TO overeap
To nv apprehension Law is the dictate OF an lntegeh'
will or is nothing. That it should please the Author
of all things make each material body to attract every
other in ratio proportional 10 their relative weight
and with an intensity corresponding TO their distance
from each other readily comprehend that such attrac
finn should uhcre in aud become inseparabe from mat
Ter as an unprOmpted impulse and inevitable property
I cannot conceive. To my apprehension GraVitauoh,
Magnetic Attraction, Electricity &C., are properties OF
matter which in themselves afford proofs OF creative
rnrnose Of Omnpotent design In short, whatever de-
uonstrates the presence Of Law in Nature atess the
being ana power Of God.
7ree diverse hyp0theses exhaust all the possible ex-
rapatons Of the gOody framework OF energies and ac
tvs of uses and beauties, whereby we are consciously
surrounded. They are
The ATHEIST which afirms the eternity Of Matter,
and the evolution Of all things therefrom by the blind
unknowng action and reaction OF substances upon eaon
other uninnuenced by any conscious existence Ou'Sue
of themselves; "
The PANTHE1sr, which afiirms kind of God, but so
bend and eonfounds him with the material universe as
20 make him its consequence rather than its eause-a re-
spant of forces which He did create which He can
not modify and Of whose very existence nc mas DO real
perception; -, -......-
a The TnEIsT, which air1ns God as the necessary
vital intelligent Author OF all things truly distinctly
copscous as any being be- directing guiding
superyising governing everywhere and always, SO that
nothing escapes His notice and no one can thWar HIS
purpose OF successfully defy His power
Now do not invite you the consideration OF meta
phvscal subtetie have neither taste for their dis
russon nOr aptness their calculation Iprofess mott
know how wherein God has His being. know that
we never can-a least in this stage Of existence IND
ont the Almighty to perfection" If there be those who
find any satisfaction in arguing that He Is or Is not
proporIv characterized as person. leave them TO enjoy
that satisfaction without contest or cav on my part
All that il most essential 10 my faith is an assurance
,ba, cod sees and hears and feels and knows at least
IA truly as doubtless far clearly than any other
being Above all affirm that He is possessed OF love
OF Justice higher doubtless but answering TO what in
Msn a. Conscience which mpels Him 20 hate sin ana
love righteousness aud that our deeds and lives are ac
oeptable or abhorrent His sight we obey defy
that Diyuest, a-cOmprehending precept which reads
"TbOu shalt love thy neghbOr as thysel" That this
can be affirmed OF any PaDtheistc conception OF God,
any more than OF blank Atheism am unable TO realize
For the mere assertion that God Is necessarily every
where present, everywhere active is not Panthesm.
Ancient seers and sages felt this deeply asserted 1t
as sharply, any spnoza or Hegel. whittier shall
90 from Thy spirit" asks David, whittier
shall fee from Thy presencei II ascend up into
heaven, Thou art there If make my bed in hell. be
hold Thou art there" &c Pope paraphrases and vers
des tins in affirming that the Divine energy
warns in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
CLOVIS in the stars and blossoms IN Ine tIg I
Lives through all life, extends through all extent
Spreads undivided operates unspeht'
To Him. no high no low NO great, no small
He ILLS, he bounds connects, aud equals all"
Not so much IN what IL afrms in what IL precudes
or by plain implication denies does Pantheism deprive us
OF Our Father, and in making God everything, reduce
him intellectually and morally nothing "Alike to
me are fame and shame says the Brahma OF Emerson
not 80 the Lord God OF Israel.
Let me not fall into the very error would condemn.
but remember that all definition is in sense, limitation,
and respect the warning that we have difficulty in
e9ling near 10 God unless attempt 70 define Him"
We know nothing OF the mode OF his existence and can
know nothing unless it lshal please HIM TO reveal IT,
Our aim 10 define but TO repel definitions which
virtually dvest Him OF all practical. intelligent direc
ton and control OF His unyerse-of all moral govern
ment OF His rational creatures What we affirm Is that
God is more than blind. creative Energy, an nex-
IL Eofa Wit fructifYiuQ PRINCIPLE.