Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1880-07-09
PhAntaSlnS Of the Brain.

The anclents believed that at the point
where mans rule and power over the
forces of the world ended, there destiny
began; and if a ship was wrecked at
sea, or if country was devastated by
IN epidemic, as such catastrophes were
clearly not brought about by mans
wishes or desires, they thought that
they could only be caused by some mys-
FERROUS superhuman power who meddled
with, and ruled over, human affairs.
We cannot certainly be surprised that
such should have been the views and
opinions Of persons who were ignorant
of the fact that storm or an epidemic
is but a natural effect resulting from
natural causes, and that its occurrence is
governed by laws as certain and invari-
able as that Of gravitation. In a country
where there were supposed to be gods
Vt the sea and gods Of the woods, rulers
If the wind and deities Of the river,
here manifestly was but Little room in
which mans free will could assert itself
But now, since we know that we have in
ruth only to contend with natural forces
md those, too, of a constant and uniform
'haracter. we can by studying their laws
:eEder them subservient to our wishes,
md make them become our ministers,
instead of allowing them to be our mas
ers. The electric current, which in the
orm Of lightning was once the fiery
sword of angry deity, has now become
the Willing messenger of man, and car
ries his commands to the uttermost parts
of the earth. Thus one of the most
marvellous and fearful instruments Of
Destiny, as it appeared to the inhabitants
Of Rome and Athens some twenty CEN
turtles ago, has in these later days lost
much Of its terrible character: and to
the great disgust of Jupiter and the other
lords Of Olympus, little Mr.. Dillettante
1t his scientific seances can give you as
much lightning as you wish. The fancy
and imagination are more powerful and
the night than they are in the daytime;
the land of darkness may be considered
as their proper and natural habitat; and
like the bats, they are most busy when
the sun has left US. Ignorance is land
of darkness, and when mortals had not
the remotest idea Of what was the cause
or nature of an eclipse, and when they
knew "less than nothing about cleo
tricity, it is hardly matter to be
wondered at that, as knowledge had
omitted to furnish the universe for them
with facts and realities, they allowed
imagination to supply the deficiency
with the first fctions and fancies that
presented themselves. The world was
to them tabula rasa, and they wrote
upon it whatever they thought it. Be-
sides these two causes of fatalism, name
ly, the existence of evil and the tran
scendant power and vastness of the uni
verse as compared with man, there is q
third to which we may here refer, and
that is the existence, or seeming exist
cnce, in the world of what we are pleased
to call Chance" Strictly speaking,
there is no such thing as "chance," for
nothing takes place without there being
some cause of its occurrence, although
in many cases that cause may, owing to
it's remoteness or minuteness, be con-
cealed from our view. Nevertheless
whenever an event happens Of the cause
of which they are entirely ignorant
men are wont to assume that it has
come to pass without being caused 1T all
or, as they term it, by Chance"