, 1877-10-21

! possessed one of the most luminous minds
the world has ever known. treated OF the
Will in an essay that rotains place in theo-
logical literature He held that Liberty
| consisted in the power OF doing what one
| wills. not in the power Of willing without
motive. Hence be believed that,
until she soul was regenerate, man
| would not have sufficient motives to will
properly Bishop BUTLER, in his IL Analogy,
argued that the conflict between Fate and
Free-Will need not be included in the Chris
tian scheme; on the contrary, he showed
| that the two theories in the end came to the
same thing. Nearly every great theologian
has examined the question, and probed It
deeply, and the variance Of views among
them is almost as infinite IS the perple1ltles
they have attempted TO clear away.
This is the question which Prof. TrNpALL
grappled in his last lecture. reports of which
have just reached America, aud which will
be found IN our columns. It would be an
unfair fetort upon him, perhaps, to say that
he has strayed out OF his province, and be-
come a trespasser on pre-empted ground
If the retort were fair, no student OF science
or theology would feel like making it; for
Prof TYNpA1L brings to the discussion Of
every subject wide information, an earnest
spirit, and d fascinating way Of putting
things. He has apparently stumbled into
the Free-Wiu maze, not entered it with pre-
meditation. The occasion which brought
the lecture forth WIS the meeting of the
Midland Institute at Birmingham, Oct: l.
The Professor began with depreca-
tory allusion to the circumstances under
which be found himself called upon
for an address, and said, almost in q
querulous manner, that other scientific men
were not required to yield their time, to a
similar degree, for popular discussions.
With this protest against speaking at all, he
advanced his main proposition thus: *'The
order and energy Of the universe hold to
be inherent, and not imposed from without
tho expression of fixed law and not of
arbitrary will, exercised by what CARLYLE
would call an almighty clockmaker." The
two conceptions, he held, were not SO much
opposed to each other after ell. In one es-
seutial particular at least they agree.
ssThey equally imply the interdependence
and harmonious interaction OF parts, and
the subordination Of the individual powers
of the universal organism to the working Of
the whole" In illustration OF this harmony,
Prof. TrSDALL stated briefly the present
condition of the doctrine of the Conservation
of Forces, showing that it applies with equal
pertinence to the action of the voltaic bot
terry and the muscles of the human arm
Heat is transformed into its equivalen
with US great precision in the one in
stance rs i'll the other. Following the
inquiry as to human notion, the cause was
traced successfully to the nerves, to the
centre of the nervous system, and to final
self. "Wo here find ourselves" said Prof.
TYSDAL1, ''face to fuce with problem which
Is the theme, at the present moment, of pro-
found and subtle controversy. What is the
casual connection, if any, between the object
i've and ubjective-between molecular mo-
tions and states of consciousness? A1y
answer is, know not, nor have I US yet met
anybody who knows" It is in this connec-
ton that moral responsibility emerges, and |
it is the possible loosening Of this RESPONSE |
bility that SO many Of Us dread. Within a
certain range, Prof. TYSDALL argues for the
freedom Of the will, but believes We are not !
complete masters Of the circumstances which |
create our motives, wishes, and tendencies to
action Our physical and intellectual proc
esscs are woven tor Us, not by US. Processes
in the conduct or regulation of which We
hnye no share hayo made us what We are.
- Here, surely, if anywhere, We are as clay
in the hands of the potter. It is the great
est Of delusions to suppose that We come
into this world as sheets Of white paper on
which the age can write anything it likes,
making us good o- bad noble or mean, as
the ayo pleases. The age can stunt, pro-
mote, or pervert pre-e1stent capacities, but
it caunot create them"
Prof. TTSpALLs theory Of Free-WM is
nearly connected, it will be seen, with the
doctrine OF Evolution, which, he contends,
is now accepted, even by the clerical world,
rs - the truth of Nature" But the evolu-
ton of morals is not so accepted, and will
not be, We funcy, on the authority of Prof
'rySpAIL, who IS here manifestly usurping
the functions OF the preacher. Science is
fixed, precise; it pretends to deal
with tncts, not with speculations. In his
discussion uf the nnlure Of Free-Wil, there
fore, Prof. IYSDALL LAS temporarily aban-
done.i his character Us u scientific man, and
taken on the garments OF n theolo6ian.
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