The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1885-12-11
FIRST 1nUIn,
BY NATHANIEL IVES T.

They are automatic, fundamental
conclusive, imperial. They under
lie all knowledge, and precondtion
all experience. They are indepen-
dent princes of the mind, reigniug
by prescriptive right, being the
children of God. They are cOnstI-
tutiODal /; yea, they are common
law, contrary to which "man's mem
Ory ruuneth not" nor eau expe-
rience invalidate their authority,
nor science sap their throne. They
are the last umpires in every con-
trOversy, tue court of last resort,
from which there is no appeal.
They are a revelation from God, as
authoritative in the soul of man 10
the extent of their jurisdiction as
is the inspired and written word of
God. They are ecumenical, catho.
lie, 'believed always, everywhere,
aud by ALL" save those who have
first extinguished the light and
then put out their own eyes. They
stand the test OF absolute truth,
for their contradictory is impossi-
ble. Immutable, they are like God
himself, not one thing at Athens,
another thing at Rome, but the
same to Arab and Turk, to Greek
aud jew alike, to the frozen Green.
lander in his hut, and the swart
cOolry on the banks OF the Hoogly.
and to the veriest Congo that ever
tOiled in the rice swamp or sat aud
summed himself in the midst of his
pumpkins. In the impressive words
Of DIR. McCosh, "They have the
s@.cium OF our constitution and
can plead the authority of God"
And there is something intensely
solemn about them when we con-
slider that "they give no reasons
aud make no Mistakes aud that
God aloue is responsible for them
something doubly impressive when
we discover WHY it is We repOse in
them, instinctively, an unfhltering
trust which cannot be betrayed. II
is that each OF them is not a mere
empty form of tue mind, but has its
corresponding reality in the ohjec.
tive world, the one precontigured tC
the other, and both co.ordinated il
pre-established harmony, so thai
the necessities of thought are the
laws OF thugs" and valid argument
against all the pOmp aud pride o.
vain speculatiOUs. In this one fact
lies their truth, the truth of God
and the formal reason of our trust
aud certitude. We cannot think
them away. God has craven bis
''image" in nature aud in the sou
of mau, as Pbidias graved his i'm
age on the shield of Minerva, sc
that before God can be thought
away or destroyed, mau and Ma
ture must first perish together.
And what adds to the pre- eminent
right of these Truths to be believed
is that they supply the indeStructi-
BILE premises of that great deduc-
tive argument, whereby ve eSiab-
Iish the three great truths Of natu-
raj theOlogy-viz:
The existence OF God, moral ne.
sponsibility, aud the Immortality Of
the soul, truths which the Bible al
ways assumes and never attempts
to prove. Thus do these priHeiPid
of the miad, these necessary inlui.
tiOus Of reason, constitute the deep
est bedrock and bOttOmmOst sub
structure on which the whole TEN
pie of knowledge is reared. By a
necessity we cannot resist, the ne
cessity Of faith, we repOSe in them
the most absolute confidence, aud
are rewarded for our trust by a
gertrude no trials eau shake aud
no storms can wreck. Truths they
are,
Which, be they what they may,
Arc yet the light Of all our day,
The master light of all our seeing;
Truths that wake to perish. never,
which neither listlessness nor mad en-
deavOr
Can e'er abolish or destroy.