New-York tribune., 1874-11-07

a
Lrcretius, ~ history speaks truey was not the man
shrk question because Of It's logical consednences'
jOinder true Lucretian would make 10 the biShop
reasoning.
THE REJoINDER OF A LUCRETIAN.
"Ihave hstened,' he might say, :" TO your ingenious
argument with the interest OF philosopher IL pears
upon subject which eDgrossed OF the finest minds
and Rome. from Socrates and Plato to cicero
and Seneca 10 was not the doc trine or
Epcurus, that which learned from my master. Ie
taught me lhat from atopa az, @ Ia Ia
atoms they must return T1rough their enulesS S9"po
siti0ns and decOm positions the forms or bcast Dr am
flower appear and disappear come anu go, anu arc sen @
more. Death Is therefore the mere dissolution ol Ga
peculiar atoms and there can be nothing 10 survive
the disintegraton OF tho body; Ana ms ,neoIy ho
eloquent verse, have told yOu loI tne
very purpose or cOunteracilug certain doRnas "hIcn
dominated in hts time. He saw men everywhere IGFti r.
fed with and disasters. which they attriDuteh 10
the anger OF the gols, anu III order 10 dp'l tbe e
depicted those ideal beings In remote heavon OF apa
thy suJlmely indifferent To mOrs whlle nature poVeu
beneath, with her measureess ourses OF atoms ma
jcsticlly the roll OF his own nexlmter lie found hs
cOunryen wasting their best days IN alternate drcdd
and hope TaraTean tOrments aud Eysian raptGicS'
and adOnlshed them that the rnes ana highest virtue
wOdl such selfish motives. ana ONLY lOOS IOr Ihe
reward OF duty in tranquil enjoyment or the present
life. And that other remaining terror OF death wnicl
shading their path he stripped before 'IeIn
inO empty negaOn the mere loss OF lie, tne iasv
atomic tarl with which to gllde into the passoni@e3s @
calm OF the gods He yed about 60 years before tne
Christian AS have explained 10 you, he dled 10
the faith In which he had lived. aud by his own tragic
fate illustrated his creed as he stoo1, III tne po VI
e at the night OF his fame. about execute tnat pur
pose from which the more irresoute Hamlet qualed:
G S's Es,es. Sa, tas tss sG .a eas aea eS s5a
Tsose blind beginnings that have made me man.
Dish them anew to1e.9er At her ""
Now do uot say / have not said that adopt these
tbeoogc,l and ethical opnIons OF my master though
they were essential parts system but If should
lay them aside, as you nave ltid aside yours tneto
tested ike any other by the facts And t strikes mo
simply as STRONG physical analogy which sun LACKS
confirmation. Let show you how. Tor iDi9nt 10
DrOypd that death may De Dut Juc
birth Into another life that there Is hothlns @
asuT9 at I snts 1 pio e preen sneea surmsed
much when he ikened those who look for iu-
ture life to children in tho womb preparing for
this world You have also projected into the future
new and higher organic types beyond those Whlch,
in the past such attempted provision cannot seem
wholly unscientifc to Lucretianf, VINO believes IL
would have been possible from knoWledge OF the
properties OF the molecules OF tue cosmic vapor to have
predicted the state or the fauna or Britain ~ the year
1869 with as much certainty can say what VIII
happen to the vapor OF the breath on cold winters
day Nor have we any right TO assume that inan S
way from the IguanOd0n and his c0temporares TO
the Presidents aud members OF the British AssOcla-
ton. But at this point the difficulties begin fOuh nave
not supplied all the intermediate links IN your ideal
scale between future and our present orgaiilzed
selves You have shown tue one evolving out OF tue
other the higher out OF the lower. You have not ex'
hibted that coming psychca body as originating among
the spaceless punctudl forces or p isc pro-
cesses OF the present ornis exposed 10 view tho
OF It's peculiar faculties ana powers iou
have proved the capacity OF existing earth aud man
to produce such spiritual bodies You have nos deter
mined whether the interval between them and Us VIII be
brief long, whether they VII recover conscious ness
soon or whether they Will be developed slowly or
III moment. In word. the evidences OF such meta,
morphosis cannot be gathered from the existing
state OF Knowledge. and If immediately forth
coming would appear little short OF mlraculogs Upon
one point, however, we agreed You con-
cedc to science rights of unrestricted search and
discussion which have been 80 hardly won In the
progress OF learning and OF oerty Stuat Is all TASK
Aud beg that III the event OF any Other
trustworthy proofs OF future state beng prOduced IL
would be no bar to the theory in the OF Lu-
cretan should be found coincldent with the jew
and Christian prcudices ot right reverend pieiae
whom no one admires than do Ga the Contrary,
TO receive aud act upon IT, at least working hypoth-
esis would be but dictate OF Gre elk wisdom DIS well as
Roman virtue.'
LORD BACON AS UMPIRE BETWEEN BISHOP BUTLER
AND A LUCRETIAN.
Leaving these somewhat prejudced opponents let us
now turn to historic parsonage, accepted by
them and by us all with the concurrent voice OF more
than two centuries OF trial umpire according to
the stted verse OF Cowley,
Whom krg and nature chose
Francis Bacon neither mere scientist nor mere
divine, but a civilian and philosopher who embraced
yanced science and the beet divinity OF his time. He
projected and partly constructed magnincens n
Of the Sciences. which was designed to IN
clude all existing know LEDGE both divine and human,
in comprehensive system May we hnd any dccl-
sions of this high authority that VIII Dear upon the
class Of problems before us
AT first sight. would seem TO lean toward the Lii
cretian side Of them. After arguing that the inquiry
final is wrongly placed In physics, ana hath
made "a great devastation III that province he ADDS
Aud therefore, the natural PHILOSOPHERS OF Denocrtns
aud Others Who allow no God or mind In the frame OF
things but attribute the structure OF the universe 10
initiate aud trials OF nature, or wnat they call
fate or fortune, aud the OF particular
things the necessity of matter without any nterniX-
ture of final causes SEEM far as can Judge
the remains OF their philosophy much more solid, and
have deeper into nature with regard to ply slea
causes than tho philosophy Of Aristotle Plato and
tIi, only because they never medded with final causes
which the others were perpetually incucating."U
Soon, however lie restores the balance 10 the Butler
ian aide o. prOblemS Having explained that final
causes when kept where they belong within the bounds
of theology and metaphysics, are not repugnauU to
physical causes. but agree exceently with them
pressing the Intentions OF Providence IN the cOnse
Gnrnces Of nature nc concludes But Democrlus and
Epcurus when they advanced their far
tolerated by some Dut when they asserted the a0rc 0
things to be raised by ortutods concourse OF these
atoms without the help OF mind. they bee unyer-
sally ridiculous SO far physical causes from draw
ing of from God and Providence that on the con-
trary the philosophers employed In discovering them
ind rest but by flying to Col ana Providence at
last"
And when we inquire how these Two adjacent prov
inces be preserved AID austedwe may hear MIN
dscoursing OF Primary Philosophy, or mother OF all
around whom their wrangng ssterhOod is to be
IN see Crude s and but G not
than might have been expected III That age La TACT he
Is lueued to note Il as sun waning ana IN ernS tnds h
hour; For | find a certain rhapsody or natural
d pgc anr by us as m at being admired
@ mean is. Without AMBITION to design some general
science for the reception OF aXioms not peculiar 10
Que science, but common TO number of thom'
PHILOSOPHY THE UMPIRE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND
RELIGION.
The three personages before have thus illustrated
the claims which they respectively belong, aud the
interests which they represent. Philosophy, IN the best
Of the word the umpire between science and re-
lgion As that academic faculty which is complimentary
TO the Others t includes whatsoever Is common TO both
the secular and sacred departments of learning As the
Science OF knowledge, IL aims TO ascertain nductvey
the validity the limits and the functions OF reason aud
the great cOrrelate factors OF knowledge
As the science OF the absolute called by the Germans
IL takes within its scope both the finite and infinite
both the knowab and the for the respec