, 1875-06-13

J 8 f'%-A
uochaIleneed. That the great God of the uni
verse is to be moved and changed in His mine
and p,,rtoyes by the petitions Of mortals has Al
| ways been favor're dogma, lneuIeated ny ths
p-.es:s Of all religions, and those dependent up
ou that o:der. 1t ID plainly OF the nrst lnte1es
to ,lix class OF nsu thai this belief Ahoula pro
vail. Only le: mankind beleye that tae7a IL !
personal Deing Of infinite power, who il limited
only py His own will in Going anything Whatever
and that. this Being vii hs:en to re
| a. those requests change HIS original purposes
! and interfere il, the natural sequence Of eseuta,
and il naturally follows that the class ct meL
who make It = business to study on. God, aux
to supeuntend tho worship OF Hin. are the Der
sous whG Will have the most SUCCESS IN ASKING
fAyorb At His hand. Thus IS the Office Of thu
priest or Clergyman magpifed IN the eres o
those about him III proportion to the amount O.
belief in tue doctrine.
Tho time has been, and. perhaps, is Dow. il
Some beniGhted portions of the earth. vheI
men believed their Priests could BY invocation,
bring tho ughtnings OF heaven upon their sim
PIE heads, or blast their crops with the breatt
Of al l1ate Deity. How does The ignorant Cath
Ole, the world over, tre1nble at tho th1eatenct
Interference OF his priest with his eternal, O:
well Is temporal welfare. When Mr.. Sullivan
approaches this subject, Ne eec, therefore, thai
be is interested IN propagauns tho doctrine 81
the efficacy af prayer, aud when he goes outside
/ Of mere cogulatic ASSERTION, and attempts te
yeaaon upon the matter, it il right that bis argu
| meuts be examined and teate1 a. to then force
| and conclusiyenefs.
Nou, MAINTAIN that tho argument Of Mr.. Sal
liyan, SO far as it is N Argument, IL sn artful
! piece OF sophistry. Heduced down TO syllo-
| Rls1n, bis Argument IL this:
! First premlsa-tiod il tho author and creator
| of the Laws of Nature.
Second Prtmise-The author and creator OF
laws can uodify, revoke, CT ,everse those laws st
| LIS pleasure
| c.x.1 ,.;.a T,or.forn tha rrsva-, ~ rs.
| may induce G I'd TO modify or reverse the action
| Of .hoso laws in pa1licula. instances.
| II either premise is Alse the corc luslon, Of
! course is not established. The frs. p ran;4e wo
will sayis correct though naoy learned men claim
/ that God and the LAWS OF Nature are coexls.ant
| fran eternity. The aecood promise claim to
| be false, and therein lies the sorhlstry. God,
though the author of the laws Of Nature. cannot
alter, or modify or reverse them without be1ng
] false to Himself and truth, which is impossible
I It ls = law Ut mathematics tlR. twice two
four aud Deity Himself cau never make il djf-
fercnt. 1t il q law Of matter that no two things
can exist in the same place At lhs sane time, and
the Almighty can never CAUSE Them so to do. 1t
is q law OF matter that the whole is more than
any OF it's parts; TINT all the angles Of triangle
J are equal to two right angles that any body
Set IL motion will move III q straight line till
acted upon By some other furce. And nil these
laws can never bo made otherwise By even Om-
ulpoteotent Power.
I'VE oil can soc that this statement must be
,rna No aca tLia u, t1,ia =. sa hac.raa ~. 1e,vu
80 s;mnie md the suh;ect within tl,a r.naa of
o,r r. noTranfjons Rat tnc ssme il eanaIi1 tTnn
~ ~ ,dha1 .,d -,ors c,n7ria9 lsus ~ ia,ra
~ rr-er,tst;or sinc,1;c,tc .T,ena'on i. ha,,
1-on,cst.on ~ annnd n;nns cat,nn and cont;n.
- ~. 49, ~ ra 5nst - nn.;,,ra nd
~ s 10 20 80 an
90 eo,,,5 .lot Nc ua,o
Ii,s'. ~ ~,,< or, ,J so
nnn4as is, 1a;L, 1us nis o"u ioiota aad ~. .u1us
Tug oe.us'n ol'4'oiss oe nao n'aoo in'o
e'upenooas as.
a'n nu1 ouI re1one1 1eo' 71ts 1!a n1ns auas ooa
coalu auapeua " teselsa L1s tans' eoee W 10
Eas tnee tnIs u n.y. useeaEAsy IN aasneE1ne
plase1 uus ne neec cn4' interfere " bringing
toane otnee 'aw ~ peat he BAYS tnat man Is
constantly amotiotating h:s own hards1!ps ny
snbou!hs Natofe ana 02aGl2e tae lava OF Aasure
bend TO h's WI and serve hls purposes: How
mucu more essu1' SAYS lno speaker, can ioo 90
th'e. While Tod. ee says Goes not, At sollcttl-
tlop, perhaps, CAUSE the grasshoppers
nJ miracle to instantly vanish from
s6ht, ne perhaps calsea great
Wind TO arse Which a"eeps them away. or an
other klnd Of insect to appear WHICH attacks and
desours the 'hoppeEs ls It possible that such
speclous reasoning decelTea intelligent people
lefaaps II deeeiSes even Mr. SULLIVAN himself.
II q WIND arises ana sweeps on the 'hoppers
Ejt1t M laT TA