Morning journal and courier., 1882-05-11
Yale Theological School.

The Second Lecture by Dr. John w.
 DawsOn-ssThe Manifestations of Mind
 i'm Nature'-An Interesting Lecture.
 There was the usual large attendance at Marquand chapel yesterday afternoon to list en to the second lecture by Dr. John W. Dawson, of McGill University The speaker took for his subject ''The manifestations of m1nd in nature.'' He spoke for the most part extemporaneously, only now and then referring to his notes. The lecture was il- lustrated by several charts representing va rious forms of animal and vegetable life in ! geological ages. 'sNature," " said the speaker,
 lis sort of vast complicated machine, too ! large to be comprehended or controlled In ! looking upon nature as one complete thing we begin to look upon it's author as one be- ing. I am opposed to the agnostics, who
 claim that there is no evidence in nature of 8
 creative or guiding mind Herbert Spencer | defined life as the continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations but
 this adjustment implies reason in nature. | The apostle Paul truly said that the invisible things of God are made visible through the l things which he has made. In word, an in- telligent observer may perceive in the world around him evidences of higher power than himself
 "As soon men begin to consider natural forces and energies they see that nature ! works not erraticaly but according to fixed laws This is seen in the snowf akes. ' However varied may be their crys-
 utilization, they are all made accord ! ing to one simple law. Unwilling to
 attribute this overruling power to God,
 the agnostics are obliged to deify nature An individual animal is composed of a variety of parts which are continually acting and react ing upon each other. Each organism is like
 delicate machine which, if it be in any way interfered with is likely to be ruined. The
 arrangement made whereby animals living in | the water can float is wonderful. The
 nautilus, for instance, is divided into series ! of chambers containing air, which can be | filled or emptied by the animal at will, | thus allowing it to float or sink at pleasure. | At the present day there are but few animals l possessed of this apparatus, but there were many large species in the older geological periods In such and in many similar con \ trivances we have evidence of 8 mind to di- { rect it all. The complexity of these animals < is something greater than we can understand ! The smallest speck of protoplasm visible ! 1.4OO,OO molecules. Each of these mole
 cules is made up of SS2 atoms, of which 400 | are carbon, BIO hydrogen, 120 oxygen, 50
 nitrogen and sulphur or phosphorus. These | figures tend to show the infinite variety in ! nature when we think of the chance thus af- ! forded for the different arrangement of these particles of matter which is the substance of ! the egg of living creatures.
 s'Animal instinct also teaches us that there ! is a mind in nature. We may call animals
 machines if we will but we must suppose a
 maker or creator of these machines. If,with Professor Tyndall, we consider man as be- ! ing outside of nature, then when we judge
 nature by ourselves we judge wrongly. Ac-
 cording to his doctrine we must all be super
 natural beings, and yet the agnostics say that
 there is nothing supernatural at all. But if we
 consider man a part of nature nothing can
 better prove that there is mind in nature ! than the fact that we have minds ourselves" "
 The last lecture of the course will be given
 to morrow afternoon at o'clock on "Some
 of the Relations of Science to Divine Revela- ! taon."