The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-06
MIR. WENDLINGsS LECTURE,
The unseen Realities of Life" Dis
cussed Before n Large Audience.

cussed Before n Large Audience.
The lecture of Mr.. George r. Vending
at the Guards hall last night upon "Un-
seen Realities was one of the most. en-
joyable that the members of the Savannah
Lyceum have ever had the pleasure of
listening to.
The finished style of the speaker, the
interesting manner in which the subject
was handled and the real interest in
themselves of the matters presented, all
contributed to the success of the lecture
That something good was expected of Mr..
Vending was evident from the large au-
dience which gathered to hear him. 1t
was an audience worthy the best efforts
of a lecturer and one which he succeeded
in thoroughly interesting and pleasing.
Mr.. Vending was briefly introduced by
Mr.. Otis Ashmore. His lecture consisted
of a discussion of the relative claims of
material things as compared with spirit
ual and supernatural things, the
hidden forces of the universe
mind, but of the relative claims of the
things which are in evidence as compared
with those which are unseen, the spir-
itual and supernatural, TO the domination
and control of men.
Mr.. Vending combatted the materlalistic
that it was temporary and already on the
wane, because it fell too far short of hu-
man requirements. In spite of all the dis
coveries of all the greatest scientists they
had fallen far short of the demands of
humanity and had failed to supply that
which was requisite to displace the belief
in spiritual inspiration and Intervention in
human affairs. The current of modern
thought is away from materialism, he de-
cared
Can we find a rational foundation for
a belief in the supernatural" the lectur-
er inquired, and he undertook to show that
such foundation existed. The most po-
tent forces come from unseen sources,
and are themselves unseen, ne declared.
Man is what he is to-day by virtue of these
unseen forces. The deepest and most glo-
rous lesson of modern science is not ma
terialism, but a belief in the supernatu-
raj, Mr.. Vending said. He illustrated
the wide disparity between the material
forces and those unseen forces which gov
ems mankind by supposing science to have
created a being in perfect human form and
endeared with all the five senses of sight
sound, touch, taste and smell and yet en-
tirely devoid of all the human sentiments,
passions and emotions which sway man
kind. His conclusion from this was that
science could never account for these I'M
seen, intangible forces which govern man
and dominate his material nature.
In a similar manner the lecturer Illus
tratel his idea with pebble, a mere piece
of rock and yet comprising in itself the
history of thousands of years of develop
ment, possessing within itself qualities of
heat light and electricity, but each pow
erless unless put in motion by some in
terror force
Universal agnostcsm Mr.. Vending
contended. would mean universal intellect
ual paralysis The whole philosophy of
the agnostics, he said, might be summon
ed up in the few words, 1--WE give it up
Anumber of illustrations of the power
of unseen things were given. The declar-
alton of independence, hidden in the arch
ives at Washington and yet exercising
a tremendous influence upon the destiny
of the nation; John Wesley, Martin Luth-
err Calvin and the great religious revolu-
tons which they effected by means of the
unseen spiritual forces which animated
them.
Conscience, Mr.. Vending said, is a great
unseen reality, exercising It's powerful in
huence upon the destinies of men. Con-
science, he said, is not the mind itself
but the sheriff which arrests the guilty
criminal and brings him before the bar
of his higher intellect.
Passages from Shakespeare, Burns and
Goethe were quoted and dscoursed upon
in the most delightful manner. The great
poets and geniuses unite, he said, in re-
garding moral evil as a partly unseen
force. The things which control men. in
dividually and collectively, character, in
fuence, Imagination. courage, honor, love,
are all unseen forces, he said
Mr.. Vending concluded his lecture with
a summary of the ever-increasng influ-
euce of the principles of Jesus Christ upon
the world for the last twenty centuries.
the result of the unseen and spiritual
forces which governed and directed their
author.
The lecture lasted a little more than
an hour, but the large audience had been
thoroughly entertained and interested. and
had given no thought to time.
------e--es-S-
WILLIAMS WON IN EJcK4U pOvNDS