The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1872-11-29

: original, most thorough investigate
, of all He finds thst steam ia d
y generated Withou. heat, and pointir
to the furnace be is sure that the fY
cause has been discovered at last
n cit is fire that grinds the wteat!''
. o, foolish baTbarisns! What Wer
!, the dumb mill without the intellige1
will of man to decree its exlstenc
and control it's motion? Whist wer
e stone, and wood. and iron, and vate
: and fire, without the power Of MIN
that has harnessed them to do it
will. snd holds the reins in its owl
hand Study the mill, and admire il
/. /. but know you that neither it, nor an!
part OF it, is responsible for what i
, does 'Tis lot the milestone, nor tn
machinery, nor the engine, nor th'
furnace, that does the work. II is, {,
the fruest sense, the miller that grind
the uheat.
My brethren, the students Of nstur,
are often untutored barbariaDs inGod'I
mill. They grope blindly for the
truth, approximate towards it, but
fail to reach it In their admiration
of instruments. they forget Him who
has made aud who uses them. In
their study of modes of action, they
forget the Almighty Actor. Observ
ing life and growth, men ask, "What
produces these ?" One answers, "The
earth does it." And another, THE
air does it, And another, "The
water does it." And another, advan-
cling in scientific knowledge, cnes 81
have fourd the source of all light, and
life and growth. The Sun does every
thing. 1t is the central furnace from
which spring all the woodworking
forces OF the solar system!"
Very well, so far; but shall we stop
there? That furnace did not build
itself It does not feed itself 1t did
not adjust to itself, and to each other,
in harmonious cooperation, the worlds
composing the grand system of which
it is the center. When it shall be
demonstrated that steam mills grow,
or evolve, from the earth, and that
steam ships grow, or evolve, from
tre ocean, without the Intervention Of
of mans will and skill, then may we
believe that worlds, and systems of
worlds, and all that in them is, grow
or evolve, from chaos, without the ex
ercise ofthe almighty power and inf
mite wisdom of God. When it shall be
demonstrated that the milestone moves
all the machinery of the mill, from
itself back to the engine. then may
we all turn pantheists, and believe
that mind has its origin in matter,
that humanity is the highest form OF
deity, and that our immortality con-
sists only in the imperishsbility of the
dust from which our bodies have
evolvedi
The illustration have used answers
my purpose but impertectly; for it
may suggest that as the miller can set
bis mill to its work, and leave it for q
period to run on without his direct
control, SO God may have put the
world of nature into beng and activi-
ty, and then left it to move on for all
time under the laws He has appointed.
But the suggestion is illogical, and
easy OF refutation.
A clock running by means of weights
hangs on your wall. You may wind IL up
and leave it to run without your aid for
thirty hours,or longer, but you do not
leave it alone. You leave il within ature.
You place it under the power OF nat
ural law. The mysterious force which
we call gravitation tugs away at the
weights, pulling them steadily 10
wards The earth and in obedience TO
the law of gravitation, the clock per-
forms its task. The clock nature has
no power of motion within itself, but
it rests within another, "a larger nature,
and is governed thereby in all its
movements, So of all machinery
which man constructs. 1t is made in
harmony with the laws OF nature, is
governed by its laws, is moved by
the mysterious forces which operate
through them. The miller may there.
fore leave bis mill for a time, for he
leaves it under the care OF Nature
and her laws. But if Cod should re
tire from Nature, under whose care
could he leave her? What other and
larger nature shall the material universe
rest upon if God withdraws? What
laws are there, external to it, to which
it is adjusted, and in obedience to
which it may move on without God :
Remove the weights from your
clock, thus breaking its connection
with the law OF nature, which has con-
trolled its motion, and it no longer
keeps time. lis hands and wheels now
stand still, save when moved by the di
rect touch of your finger. So Nature,
having no other nature to fall back
upon, acts only in obedience to the
direct guidance of Gods hand.
And not as man touches his works
does God touch His. Man is confined
to a dlnIinutive material form. He
is subjected to the limitations Of time
and space. His own works may be tar
greater in physical magnitude than
himself. He can touch them only here
and there. No such limitation is upon
God. He is an omnipresent Spirit,
enveloping and permeating all space
and all matter. He touches on all
sides every minutest atom. "In him
we, with all nature, ''iive, and move,
and have our being" The poetry
and truth OF the one hundred and
thirty ninth psalm are equally sub
; lime:
Whittier shall go from thy Spirit;
{ Or whittier shallI dee from thy presencef
fIsscsnd up into heaven, Thou art there
IfImake my bed In hell, behold. Thou Ar
therei
IfItake the wings Of the morning.
And dwell In the uttermost parts Of the sea
Even there shall Thy hand lead me.
And Thy right hand shall hold me.
ItIsay. Surely the darkness shall cover me,
Even the night shall be Light about me-
This sense of Gods immediate pres
ence, OF the impossibilty OF escaP'
from Him, of our present de
o,5anca On His power, is one o