Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-03-10
Human Freedom.

From Sermon by James Freeman Clarke.
Let us compare the human being to ship at
sea, and the power Of freedom to the steersman
with his helm. All he can do at any moment is
evidently only to trun the vessels head to the
right and left. And SO In mans soul. the nat
ural Willcan only. when a motive is presented,
yield to it or resist it. 1t can lean one way or
the other: that is ALL 1t can say Yes OF No"
or it can say nothing If 1t eXerts itself at all,
IS effort is limited to these directions of assent
or refusal. The testimony OF consciousness is
simply this. that we have this power of throw
ing our weight one way or the other for or
against the desire or motive which is presented
to US. II this We're all. what would human free
dom accomplish? Evidently nothing.
Let us return to our vessel. The man at the
helm can at any moment turn the rudder to the
right or left. and so direct the head OF the vessel
TO starDOard or port. But suppose he has no
compass no chart, no fixed star in the sky.
nothing to tell him which way to go. Let him
steer as he pleases. then the result will be the
same. He will be driven by the winds: he will
drift with the currents. He will be no better
than floating log, and any one who knows the
ocean currents and the steady course of the
winds can infallibly predict to what shore his
vessel will finally arrive
If man has nothing TO steer BY no fixed con-
victions, no permanent principles of action. he
becomes in like manner. notwithstanding his
freedom, the helpless slave of impulse and cir
cumstance. Ii his Unborn and inherited ten
denotes are good. and circumstances favorable.
his character will be good. his conduct virtuous
If he has inherited other tendencies and grows
up under unfavorable circumstances, he will be
what we call q bad man; he will deserve no
credit for his goodness in the one case and no
blame Tor his evil in the other. That is to say
he will not be blamable provided he has had no
opportunity OF knowing the truth and acquiring
fixed regulative principles of conduct. He will
De unfortunate, degraded and unhappy, but not
to blame.
But now let US provide our sailor with a ships
compass, accurate charts and instruments, and
let him have distinct purpose in his voyage
He wishes, we will say, to sail from New York
to Canton in China. Then. having only the
same power that he had before of steering to
the right or to the LETT, the result will be that
let the winds blow or the currents drift as they
Will, he is almost sure to reach his port at last
He knows the truth. and the truth makes him
free. His chart tells him which way to steer:
his compass enables him to keep his ships head
in that direction; his log shows him how fast he
Is running his daily observations of the sun
and stars show him where he IS. knowledge
has made him free to do what he wishes to do.
to go where he wishes to go.
Or let us suppose that man is walking in q
vast forest. He has lost his way. There is no
path which he can follow; he has no compass;
the sun or stars are behind clouds: he knows
none of the signs of the woods. Still he is per-
fectly free to go where he will; he has all his
natural freedom. He can choose at every mo-
ment whether.tO go forward or backward, to
the right or left. But this power Of choice avails
him nothing. If he finds his way out, it WILDE
by accident. His freedom, therefore, evidently
is not real freedom. 1t accomplishes nothing.
He cannot do what he wishes to do. But, now,
give this man guide. or let the stars come out.
to show him where the north lies, and he be-
comes really free. Now he can go where he
wants to go. knowledge has set him Free He
knows the truth, and the truth makes him free.
But suppose this man is tied to a tree. Now he
feels wholly helpless. If he succeeds in break
ing these chains, he exults In his freedom But
we have seen that his freedom will be practically
useless to him unless he has some method of
finding his way.
Human freedom then originally exists In all
men In a rudimental form. It is only the power
Of choice and as such may amount practically
to nothing. This undevelOped freedom will not
save man from being the slave Of appetite.
passion, circumstances But this same power.
when joined with knowledge of the truth. be-
comes sef-directive. Self-direction il real free
dom, and the only kind that is of any value In
this sense knowledge is power. But knowledge
Is OF two kinds, knowledge Of temporal things
and knowledge of eternal things. The first
makes us free to do the work which begins and
ends In time. the second to accomplish that
which belongs to eternity. Just as the knowl-
edge Of temporal facts and laws emancipate the
will and enables it to accomplish great results
In time. so the knowledge Of God frees the soul
from the chains Of sen:e and sin, and enables it
to begin a career Of endless progress onward
and upward.