The Van Buren press., 1876-02-29

selves as we are-this rule is the only re-
liable one. however far we may fall short
Of penetrating into all OF our nature
This we see demonstrated to us IN all
our Investigations, that we are organized
matter, in union with consciousness and
Intelligence; and that matter is the means
by which consciousness an intelligence
is made manifest Without matter, we
have no knowledge Of mind in this life
No intelligence is received or impaired,
except through means Of matter. Every
dav experience attest these truths, to
the mind capable of intelligent observa.
ton, when not encumbered andd arkened
by superstition, For example. 1t Is plain
that intelligence is manifested, directly
as the organism Is developed. The In
FAINT manil'ests it weakly; as It natures,
this power increases when 1t Is at the
maximum OF development, this power is
greatest, as the faculties are wanin by
age, this power di minishes; in the de-
crepitude OF age, the Intellectual powers
are much d minished even entirely abol-
ished, in some cases We find our minds
Influenced by our daily meals; the kind
and quality Of diet and by many exter-
nal, AS we'll as internal influences. II
time would permit us, illustrations Of
these facts could be presented, that would
make it as clear as other matters Of sci
ence. Possessed with soul within, to
which our members are instruments OF
communication with the outward world.
The body holds its tenure with the
soul, with great, and continued effort, as
long as they are in communion. We are,
as it were, continually taking in fuel in
our food, to keep up the supply, which
is continually dim inishing. on account OF
the waste of the elements OF our bodies
The heart and lungs, labor, incessently,
every moment of life, to keep the body
renewed, so that the soul may hold its
dominion in the tabernacle Of our frames.
As soon as they cease their action, the
body is no longer fit abode for the soul ;
it departs to obey the eternal laws for
its guidance. We now can see, that We
have three principles in nature, viz mat
ter, energy, and intelligence. The study
of these, in their various relations, is the
most exalted occupation that can engage
the mind Of man
Many having reached this far, have
become materialists, by which is meant,
that with the death Of he body, the soul
is annihilated. No doubt many honest
minds have stranded here; then, again,
Others, who wished to abandon all re-
straint, caught at the idea, as an indul-
gence that permits evil, without any re-
dress. Glad to release themselves from
the obligations of living an upright life,
sink into this uninspiring darkness Of
rnaterialsm, saying there is no intcll
gence higher than themselves-as the
muscle lying in the mud and slime Of the
bed of the stream, without sight or hear
ing, has no power to conceive Of any
thing on the shore, higher than itself
The greatest men, most welded to the
study vi nature, deem lnaterialsm as the
most damning Of errors. That which
blackens every prospect, and cuts short
every inspiring hope, that might hold out
an invitation to happiness. 1t is to say
that man was created, or exists for moth
ing; that his soul exists no more after
the cessation Of the life Of his body.
But, If the materialist should advance In
to the deeper harmonies Of nature, and
estimate the truth, displayed In the glow
ing beauties that make rich every theme
Of thought that make up science and phi.
losophy, he would find remedy for his
souls sickness, and feel, that 1t could be
no other than glorious, to be a partaker
in the submission to Him who shines with
/ IL. ~. Ma Al tv, Nh.
ject, whose nature, we have been able to
look into As, by the effect Of sleep,
the worried body becomes frightened,
so, by the touch of truth, the most repul
sive thing in nature becomes attractive.
| In nature, there is law Of good; and
law OF evil. To make it plain--when
properly nourished, the tree grows in lux.
urence and beauty; piercing the earth
with its roots, for support. and the i'm
bibtion of healthful nourshment lifting
its bou yhs and shrouding them in foliage,
spread to the freshness Of the whispering
winds, from which It takes elements for
its growth. The perfect and symmetri-
cal body, is now wounded by the boring
of an insect; a diseased growth is the
consequence; and gnarled excrescence,
filed with distorted living fibre, disngures
its former beauty-the law of the diseas.
cd growth, is no less regulated by nature,
than that Of the healthy growth-so, the
soul of man actuated by virtue, that is to
say, pure religion, is under laws that rem
der the happy results; while vice and ig-
norance, are equally subject to laws that
bring the evil consequences.
Philosophers. like other good men,
would like to associate in societies, for
the promotion of our higher nature; but
that kind of helpless, dogmatic religion,
characterised by the ct tying influence
of ignorance and superstition, has ever
repelled them, by its Jealous fears, that
the liberal, and wide extended research,
might propagate some doctrine injurious
to its cause The constant application
Of the mind to the Investigations Of the
beauties and sublimties of nature, causes
the philosopher to have an estimation of
the ciaracter Of our Eternal Father, so
, high, that the grovclers in superstition
have no mind to conceive Of it. 1t is for
this reason, think, that SO few great
philosophers are attached to churches.
1t is in the spread of knowledge, and
, n rvap aral acn,vpit ion cf truth and mira