Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-02-12

e tnHuenees, giving them Il free tran:
It port over its entire breadth, an
= allowing them to visit he lon
: coast lines of every continent, afford
n ing a health-giving circulation t
r the waters.
) And thus the catalogue OF pine
nomena increasing in number as w
r essay to rehearse prodigiou
) whether limited to terrestrial condi
l tions or enlarged into systemati,
: and cosmical proportions presents
! Itoour minds the fact that there is i
fixed and established arrangement
J relation and sequence Of things and
levents, the knowledge of which is
J gained through our intercourse with
the external world, and is the basis
of our anticipations and actions.
, This order, then, is Nature. We
recognize a pervadingand cotrolling
lac throughout the physical uni
verse, and assuming from the expe-
riences of the past that this law is
permanent, we feel confident that
we may predict the results of known
conditions. This power, however,
must be considered as limited by
the possible errors, inaccuracies or
failures of past observations under
analogous circumstances, as also by
the possible absence Of perfect anal
ogy in the cases compared. How
ever, then, the minor phases of the
material world may elude absolute
detection, by reason of the above
mentioned limitations however we
may be uncertain as to the exact
status, at any particular point of
4 time, of any one of the innumerable
"wheels within wheels" still, the
grand phenomena of the universe,
which are constant and sure, give
evidence that the ponderous fly
wheel of Nature continues torevolve
upon its frictionless axis, a pledge of
regularity, permanency and a steady
motion of the whole mechanism, at
a uniform rate and in a right direc-
ton.
Man alone, of all the creation, is
able to view with an intelligent and
appreciative eyethe wondersaround
him; he alone can analyze and un-
derstand them. With that innate
curiosity which prompts to investi-
cation, he sounds the depths, and
brings up what is interesting and
valuable probing the mysteries, he
extorts the unwilling secrets; he
tears away the veil from Natures
face, and thus discloses her true
countenance to the scrutiny of all.
To discover her course and order
to find out aohat she does, and how; I;
to detect the hidden relations be
tween antecedents and consequents,
between the so-called causes and
effects by enlarged research, to OBJ
tain the grand generalization or
laws, which are but the formulse of
her modes and methods; TO perceive
the connections and interplay of
one part with another; the balances,
checks and counterpoises to illus
trate the marvellous harmony of all
things these ire some of the lines
of effort which invite the attention
OF the student in this department.
Truly broad and noble field! To
trace phenomena to their sources,
further and further back-from birth
to prior birth, from one evolution to
another, an earlier evolution all of
which, like the old Roman roads,
which inevitably led up to Rome,
conduct US surely and certainly TO
the capital and source of all infiu-
ence and energy, divine inteIli-
gence and will. This view indeed
gives dignity b the study while,
then, some may be disposed and
may attempt to derogate from the
claims of natural science by urging
the plea that it is but the investiga-
ton of dead matter, and that its
results and teachings are cOnse-
quently not comparable in dignity
to those of the classics, of history
and literature, by which latter we
are brought into such immediate
contact with the heart and mind of
living, acting, thinking man let it
be remembered that we can and do !
hold up, in opposition to these he
man thoughts and deeds (not always
quite free from earthly taint) the
contemplation of a diUilae plan, ex-
pressed, upon prodigious scale, in
characters of light and beauty. The I
materidlizations OF Nature are the
voices of God
There are four important princi-
pies underlying the study and in
vestigation of Nature, which it
might be well here to signalize:
First-No change of any kind
whatever can occur without a. COM
petent agency as its cause. Atmos-
pheric and aerial currents, the move
ment of stone upon the ground,
the nieteor's rapid and brilliant
fiighr through the air, the earth
quake shock, the volcanic eruption,
the enlargement in volume of an
iron mass, the assumption of mag
netic properties by the same; in
short, every change in position, re-
lation and character, whether mo- !
lar, molecular or atomic, requires,
in accordance with our mental con-
stitution, "A connection with some
antecedent condition, out of which
it was evolved, and which is consid-
cred as a necessity of its occurrence.
1t is this demand of the mind in
regard to causation that renders the |
scientific the normal form into
which all human knowledge is ulti-
mately cast. The discovery of such
causai agencies and of their rela-
tions to the phenomena they are
addnced to explain, is "A prime OBJ
ject of the student in physical sci I
a.,ao