The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1878-07-03
[ We are indebted to a friend for the follow
ing;l
APHHLOsOPHER'S FAITH.
Professor Henry's Last Letter.

pnlaj ID tne lhsV InaL FroI. uenTy
wrote (with the exception of few
brief business notes.:
SMITHSONIAN, April 18th, 1878,
MYDEAR Mr.. PATTERSON. Wehaye
been expecting to see you from day
to day for two weeks past, thinking
that you would be called to Wash
ington to give some information as
to the future of our finances and the
possibility of resuming specie pay
ment. commenced on two occa-
sions to write to you, but found SO
much difficulty in the use ofmyh hand
in the way Of holding apen, that l
gave up the attempt The doctors
say that l am gradually getting bet
ter. DR., Mitchell gave me visit on
his going South, and on his return
his report was favorable; but l still
suffer a good deal from oppression in
breathing,
have learned with pleasure that
E. and yourselfintend to go to Eu-
rope this Summer. Travel is the
most agreeable way of obtaining cos
mopolitan knowledge, and it is prob
able that events Of great Importance
will transplre in the East within u
few months. Yollwill have subjects
of interest to occupy your attention.
l have also learned that T. is to be
married next month";. and we shall
be happy to receive a visit from him
and his bride when they go upon
their wedding tour.
We live in a universe of change;
nothing remains the,same from one
moment till another, and each mo.
ment of recorded time has its sepa.
rate history. We are carried on BY
the-evcr.changing events in the line
of our destiny and at the end of the
year we are always at Il considerable
distance from the point Of its begin.
ming. How short the space between
the two cardinal points Of an earthly
career, the point Of birth and that of
dsath; and yet what universe of
wonders. are presta4sd to US in our
rapid. fight through this spacel
How sthail tile WELDON +uataiped by
a single life in its passage; and how
small the known when compared
with the unknow by the accumula-
ton of the millions oflives through
the art of printing in hundreds of
years!
How many questions press them
selves upon us in these contempla-
tions! Whence come we? Whittier
are we going? What is our final des-
tiny? The object of our creation?
What mysteries Of unfathomable
depth environ us on every side; but
after all our speculations and an at
tempt to grapple with the problem
of the universe, the simplest concep-
tion which explains and connects
the phenomena is that of the exis-
tence of one spiritual Being, infinite
in wisdom, in power. and all Divine
perfections; which exist always and
everywhere; which has created us
with intellectual faculties sufficient
in some degree to comprehend His
operations as they are developed in
nature by what is called Science. :"
This Being is Interchangeable, and
therefore His operations are always
in accordance with the same laws,
the conditions being the same
Events that happened a thousand
years ago will happen again thous-
and years to come, providing thocon-
dition of existence is the same. In
deed, universe not governed by law
would be universe without the cvi-
dence of an intellectual director. In
the scientific explanation ofphysical
phenomena we assume the existence
of q principle having properties suf,
ficicnt to produce the effects which
wo observe; and when the principle
so assumed explains by logical de-
ductions from all the phenomena, we
call it a theory; thus we have the
theory of light, the theory of cleo
tricity, etc. There is no proof how
ever, of the truth of these theories,
except the explanation of tho phe-
nomena which they are invented to
account for. This proof, however, is
sufficient in any case IN which every
fact is fully explained, and can be