The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-07-08
DR.. HIDENON GODIN NATURE.
4 Thoughtful and Scholarly Address
BY the Distinguished Preacher.
WORDS MATURE" AND NATURAL,
A Misconception In the Usc OF tho Two
which Are " idely aud sadly Abuse"'
Darwin's Mistaken iheoiy--Iext
oil the Address.

the normal classes OF the virginia Bust
ness College, on Broad street, was dehV-
cred by Rev. J. {. hiden last wednesday
morning at O'Clock IN the classroom oi
the school building.
The audience chamber was well hlled
with students ana teachers VINO gave
earnest attention 10 the minister eio-
euent words.
Dr. Hidens theme was God IN Ma
tlre." which he handled In MS usu"i
scholarly style.
The address met with warm commeh'
from students and faculty alike'
Dr. Hidcn spoke as follows;
rnat famous philosopher. Whewel, IN
the 'Briugewater Treatise has the ioi-
lowing thoughtful sentence: with re-
gard 10 the material world, we can at
least go so far as this-we can perceive
that events are brought about not by
insulated interpretations of divine power
cxerted in each particular case out ny
the establishment Of general laws.
In his immortal work The Analogy
Bishop Butler says: The only dlstihc'
meaning of the word natural is stated,
fixed or settled, since what IS hatur"i
rs much requires and prcsuDposes an
irtclligent agent TO render 1t sol. e. 10
effect IL continually or at stated times
as what Is supernatural or MIR culous
does to effect 1t fol- once.
In his famous work on The Advance
ment Of Learning, Lord Bacon says:
Let no man. out OF weak concert VI
sobriety or an ill-applied moderation,
think or maintain that man can searCh
TOO far or be too well studied In ihe
book of Gods word or in the pooh Vi
Gods works-divinity or philosophy; out
rather let men endeavor an endless pro-
gress or prohcience In both.
The desire to pry into the secrets oi
nature Is by no means MODERN airs
totle's work on Natural Philosophy Is
not much studied nowadays. III - re-
rarded as out of date. Nobody regards
The OH Greek as an authority on physics.
And vet i'm his "Physicae Auscultationes'
lin. A.. cap. s. s. e. after saying that ram
does not fail to make the grain grow
any more than il falls to spoil the farm
er's crop when threshed out OF doors, ne
adds $50 what binders the dinerent
parts (of the body from having TINS
merely accidental relation in nature! as
the teeth. for example, grow by neces-
sity the front ones sharp. adapted iot
dividing. and the grinders fiat, ana serV-
iceable for masticating the food' since
they are not made for the sake OF inns,
but IL was the result OF accident Anu
which there appears TO exist an adap-
tation 10 the end. WheresoeVer there-
fore. all things together chat Is all
the parts Of one whole) happened ike
ms If they were made for the sake OF
something. these were preserved, having
been Appropriately constituted by an IN
ternal spontaneity; and whatever Things
were not thus constituted perished ana
still perish
NATURAL SELECTION
Mr.. Clair Greco pointed out this pass
age to Mr.. Charles Darwin, ana the
author of 1.-The Origin of Species can
didly confessed that Aristotle had shad-
owed forth the principle OF "Naturai
Selection" more than two thousand years
before Mr.. Darwin was born!
When that great philosopher, John
Locke. first turned his attention to spec
ulations upon psychology, he found IL
a very dim region. and was obliged 10
confess that IL was extremely dlihcuIl
10 reach any well-founded and definite
results. Upon asking himself why TINS
was so. and after seriously rejecting
upon the question, he satisfied himself
that the difficulty arose largely from
using terms without settling upon any
distinct nearing.
The art OF defining either words or
things is extremely difficult; and until
we do define our terms, phllosophizing
is futile. Garrick was not altogether
wild when he called man fool for look
ing into a dictionary to settle the mean
ing of a word | once consulted very
large and very famous dictionary 10 learn
the meaning Of the word VIOLIN, ana
j learned that il was "a stringed instru-
ment Of music; see fiddle" but was not
much enlightened. nor much ediied TO
learn that a fiddle was "a stringed IN
strument of music see violin. Tne
photographers definition did not defne.
Ii was Just as true of guitar OF
banjo, of piano. and of variety OIL
other Instruments as it was of the violin.
To define a horse as "a four-footco
beast OF burden" is just as improper as
10 define a violin as "a stringed in
strtIment Of music" for the definition does
not distinguish the horse from the ass,
the OK. the camel and divers other quad
rupeds that are used to bear burdens.
View words are so widely and so sadly
abused as are the words nature and
natural" Time and again We hear and
read of what mature does and OF
what natural law accomplishes. rms
result is produced by natural laws
1.-THE laws of nature cause the planets
20 keen their orbits and their relative
the system" 1.-THE law OF gravitation
causes a ball thrown into the air 10
descend to the earth" In all such state
ments there is a sad confusion OF terms;
for In every one of them nature ana
Flaw" are assumed to be forces. Inc
law OF gravtatiOn is not force. IL Is
simply a statement OF the conditions un-
der which the force of gravitation UNI
formly operates. In other words, the
conditions under which forces act con-
stitute the laws of the universe. Ma
ture." In its widest meaning, is the
sum-total OF the conditions and arrange
ments under which the universe Is con
Quoted
The nature" Of thing is the fxed
and settled character of that thing. and
the laws of its nature are the nXed
and settled conditions under which II
exists or acts.
This view OF nature not only leaves
room for an intelligent governing mind
In the universe. but absolutely requires
Him Note the language used-"fXed.
stated. "settled" ALI paruciples OF ac-.
tive transitive verbs; and the actions
expressed by these verbs necessarily re-
quire an agent.
LAW OF GRAVITATfON.
But more exactly still: No small part
OF this fixing and settling" has been
done mathematically. The law of grav-
itaticn is solution of two problems
IN proportion" Every particle of mat
ter In the universe attracts every other
particle with force directly proportion
ed TO the quantity of matter. and IN
a.