The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-02-03


events that happen"
1T is contended by some that thoughts
are things. and that although a person
may be armed against them when awake
he might be Influenced by them when
asleep"
Thought Not Material.
cit does not seem to me that thought
is material. though | admit that / cannot
conceive NJ thought except in connection
with material organism Ii is impossible
for me to think a thought anart from a
brain. When the organism is destroyed,
the power of thought seems 70 have van
ished. No one can imagine that a stone
can think. or that q particle Of sand can
have an emotional nature We associate
thought with something that has wants
desires, and we do not and we cannot as
sociate thought with the inanirnate
Neither is il possible TO conceive of A
thought existing in space as a stone ex-
lists. We cannot conceive of a thought &C.
cupying space or Of having dimensions. OF
being large or small any more than we
can think Of a triangle with four sides. SO
L deny that thoughts are material entities
Has not prayer been frequently an
swered in such a direct way that you cam
not explain il by coincidence?"
Il have heard many people say that their
prayers have been answered, hut none OF
such a nature that ii could not have hap
pened without the prayer. Men may pray
Tor ram, and the probability IS that L VII
rain: but it certainly does not follow that
the rain was in answer TO prayer So, they
may pray for health, and they may retain
their health, but as thousands of people
retain health without having prayed for
health. the retention of health by this one
does not tend TO prove that IL was in answer
to prayer. So people have prayed for many
things that nave happened but they have
never established any direct relation be-
tween the prayer and the thing prayed
for. or, rather, the happening of that thing.
All the churches, / believe, in the United
States prayed for the restoration TO health
OF President Garfield, but the prayers had
no effect, simply because the wound was
mortal So. for many hundreds of years.
people have been praying for the CONVEX
sion OF the world. but that has not hap
pened. So far as l know Christians are not
willing to make an absolute test of prayer.
1t was once proposed by Mr.. Tyndall that
a test of prayer be made by praying for a
certain number of patients in the hospital
and leaving the same number unpraved for,
and then finding the per cent. of cures. But
the test was never tried. SO, If Christians
wish TO make a test of prayer they ought
not 10 take diseases Of which people are
frequently cured without prayer. They
should take something that no medicine
can accomplish. For instance: Here is
a man whose leg was ampu5ated Now.
let them pray for new leg to grow out
Of the remnant of the old one, and if il
does, I viii be one Of the first TO admit
that prayer has been answered. | know
or no help that man has ever received
from the supernatural. For many CEN
turtles people were prosecuted on account
of their religious opinions. Hundreds of
shaHak- Yasl-
in answer to prayer. opened the door of
the dungeon. Thousands and thousands
We're beheaded. and no God stopped the ak
in its downward stroke. Thousands and
thousands were burned at the stake. and
no God extinguished the fires. Millions
were enslaved. Countless mothers were
robbed of their babes and heaven was
deaf and dumb and blind. The Bastile
testified that no God answered prayer, and
Siberia today swears that no God suecors
the innocent or gives liberty 10 the just
anu noble. II a God viii not protect the
martyr, why should we ask Him to water
our garden?
Thought a Result.
Assuming that you are a materialist,
do you not believe that the laws which
govern the higher attenuations OF matter
arc applicable to thought? For instance,
light travels through the atmosphere in
tances. should not these thoughts or pray
ers of the Endeavorers have made the
force of their impact felt mentally upon
you?
'In the first place, l believe that there
is something in the universe In addition
10 what is called substance or material
Thought seems TO be a result but back
OF thought seems to be substance. No
matter whether we call II substance or
force. it is what we call something-that
is to say. something that is tangible. some
thing that occupies space. something that
defies destruction. l do not say that
thought is material. but I do say that
without the material there can be no
thought. The something we call light
travels from point To point but what we
call the luminous is produced only in con
junction with an optic nerve. and that
nerve belonging to a brain. There is q
physical basis for light. but only organ
lied beings take cogniZance Of what we
call the luminous. consequently there is
no possible similarity between light and
what you call the influence of thoughts. IN
light comes from the sun to the world there
must be a medium through which Il comes
and II thought travels from one brain 20
another. there must be a medium. and, as
I said before. these mediums are language
expression and action. and without these
there can be no transference of thought.
anu no THOUGHT can bf any POSSIBILITY Oh
rectly affect me that is not brought TO my
intelligence. either by language. signs or
actions. There is nothing miraculous.
nothing wonderful. In the sense OF being
supernatural, in anything. Men in despair
have called on the unknown. and they have
given to this unknown a name and have
imagined that II had certain attributes
and powers. and this is all natural When
man cannot help himself In his distress
in the darkness he calls upon the unknown
and that is prayer one cries out ln ship
wreck: Is there no one to heap me2' So
Juliet exclaims, Is there no pity In the
sweet heayens? This cry OF helpiessness,
this cry Of despair Is the natural prayer
and 50 far as | know Il has never been
answered. Ali the prayers 81 all tine
Christians in the world cannot coax one
drop Of rain from the c0ncave sky. All
the prayers Of all the Christians iu the
world cannot suspend the attraction Of
gravitation for "A bllionth part Of a see
ond. All the prayers OF all the Christians
in the world cannot change In any a rec
the nature Of any substance. The water
browns. the fire burns. the storm RACES:
the cyclone wrecks. the volcanoes devour
and the lava sestroys. and no attention Is
paid TO the words. the applications. Of
those who kneeI. So far as We know
help. Man must be the Providence Of
man"
\ New Version of ''Dixie.''
TINE .sspfvfass Lard"