Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1883-04-26

aIt1Ou WuSbAGk &lA&h&k& o. AN8nA&MATG,
rational or irrational"
What a vast field for thought does
this eminent law-giver set before US
in his conception of that governing
power which holds all matter in obe-
diencel We can hardly grasp his
meaning It is SO intensive. For con-
venience in considering this question,
which at once reaches from earth to
heaven and embraces all the material
as well as the immaterial world, we
cannot do better than treat it under
retrospective headings that the author
himself has put before rs.
First. We have the animate world,
which includes every living creature,
whether endowed with reason or 9TH
er high attributes from the hand of
God, or such as belong to tho lower
Glars ofcreation comprehending all aH-
imal and vegetable matter. Under
this head each plant that springs from
the earth, each flower that blooms,
each tree that towers msjestieally in
the forests and lifts its spreading
branches toward the heavens is gov
erned by laws. The life-giving pow
ers that make the sweet scented rose
and gives strength and size to the
primeval oak are governed by the
laws Of nature as prescribed by God
Their laws of circulation aud assimi-
lation are similar TO those Of the hu-
man body. Without these laws, as
inmutable and as Interchangeable within
themselves as the eternal truths of
God, we would be able neither to gen.
eralize nor classify. And indeed, if
there was no governing principle in
vegetation as In man and other AMI
mails, Idoubt very much whether there
would be any vegetation at all; Tor,
without some regular rule of action,
one power might serve to destroy the
other, and thus all vegetation by con-
tiicting forces. ] believe, if God should
confuse instead of regulate the pro-
cesses of circulation from the root to
to the smallest tendrils, that all veg
citation would perish, and / can see no
simpler means for its destruction if
God should so desire it. And the
same may be applied with equal pro-
Priety to the animal kingdom. Now
let US consider the second heading.
Inanimate objects embrace all inor-
ganlc matter. For convenience have
not placed under this division plants
and trees, which | deemed better to
be treated under animate matter. in
order to apply the rules that give
them existence. OF all inanimate mat
te', the earth, on account of its vast
size and our immediate connection
with it, is our best example. 1t is by
the law of nature and natures God
that this great inorganic mass is held
in its position in space. 1t is by GER
tain fixed and unchangeable laws that
the sun keeps in its orbit and the
smaller planets revolye around it.
Without fixed laws and governing
principles world would run into world
and the universe would be an ocean
of confusion and desolation. The ap-
pie that falls from the tree, the rain
that descends from the clouds, though
small bodies of matter, are governed
by the same laws as the earth and
other planets. If the law of gravita-
f'On were not a fixed principle in ma
ture, we would aver it possible to stand
the climates of the two spheres, be al
ternately residents of the San and
earth or might possibly lodge on the
moon occasionally from our unstable
position in space.
But the third division of this sub
ject is of more immediate concern to
US since it has directly to do with man.
who, subject like all other animals to
the laws of nature, yet irrespective
of these laws has the power and priv
ilege of making laws for his govern
lnent as a social being. Endowed
with reason and a power of Judging
between right and wrong, which dis.
tinguishes him from the rest of ami
NAL creation, he is at once its living
type and speaking witness. He is
more subservient to the will of God
from his consciousness of a creative
bang as revealed through the Scrip
lures, and consequently he feels his
dependence, while all other animals
simply have their position in nature
without knowing why they exist and
without having any knowledge of or
part IN a future existene. But man.
too. though possessing a superiority
over the Test of animal kingdom. Is
governed by the Interchangeable laws
of nature, which by order and ar
rangement develop the sinew and
grow the stature. But law as applied
to rational beings has more directly
to do with rules of action prescribed
by a superior rational being To he
observed by an inferior, or, in other
words, it is the law which governs
man as a social being. It is a mere
impossibility for men to live in great
numbers and form nations without
definite rules Of government. Man is
the only exception to this rule. and
this fact seems to me TO be sufficient
to establish his superiority in the an
imal kingdom; for it is evident, from
Gods failure to prescribe rules of ac-
tion, knowing as He did that man
must have some law for governing
himself, He thereby acknowledges. by
His failure to do SO, His respect and
Difference to man in contradistinction
to the rest ofanimal creation. By the
mighty endowment of reason with