Morning journal and courier., 1883-02-24
Human Freedom.

From Sermon by James Freeman C1arke.J
 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 turn the vessels head to the right and left. And so in mans soul, the natural will can only when motive is presented, yield to it or resist it. It can lean one way CT the other that is all. It can say "Yes" or ''No,'' or it can say noth- ing If it exerts itself at all its effort is linn tied to these directions of assent or refusal. The testimony of consciousness is simply this, that we have this power of throwing our weight one way or the other, for or against the desire or motive which is presen- ted to us. If this were all, what would hu- man freedom 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 starboard 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 pre- dict to what shore his vessel will finally arrive.
 If man has nothing to steer by, no fixed convictions, no permanent principles of &C.,
 
 standing his freedom, the helpless slave of impulse and circumstance. If his inborn and inherited tendencies are good, and circum- stances favorable, his character will be good, his conduct virtuous. If he has inherited other tendencies, and grows up under unfav- orable circumstances, he will beswhat we call a bad man he will deserve no credit for his goodness in the one case, and no blame for 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 aequir- ing fixed regulative principles of conduct. He will be unfortunate, degraded and unhap- py, but not to blame.
 But now let us provide our sailor with a ships compass, accurate charts and instru- ments, 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 be- fore, of steering to the right or to. the left, the result will be that, let the winds blow or the currents dEift'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 com pass 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 shows him where he is. Knowl sdge has made him free to do what he wishes to do. to go where he wishes to go.
 Or, let us suppose that a man is walking in a 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 perfectly free to go where he will j; he has all his natural freedom. He can choose at every moment whether to go for ward or backward, to the right or left. Rut this power of choice avails him nothing. If he finds his way out, it will be by accident. His freedom therefore evidently is not real IT oaoopoT.IiohaS nnthin0 H0 not 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 becomes really free. Now he can go where he wants to go. Knowledge has set him free. He knows the truth ana the truth makes him free. But suppose this man is tied to tree. Now he feels wholly helpless If he succeeds in breaking 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.
 all men in 8 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 8 knowledge of the truth, becomes self direc- tive. Self f-direction is real freedom. 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 tine the second to accomplish that which belongs to eternity. Just as the knowledge of temporal facts and laws emancipates the will and en4bIes it to accomplish great re- suits in time, so the knowledge of God frees the soul from the chains of sense and sin, aud enables it to begin career of endless progress onward and upward.