Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-11-16
should find there is more to be said for
this than we NAV now think.

| uOTc 10 MAKE pldlu Uno 1dCU ULdu Oul
thought is all we know. and that it il
therefore the greatest reality.
! And now what is thought?
What is done by the act OF thinking:
| Herbert Spencer defines thinking as
''the establishment of relations" the
mind sees the connection of things, sees
that one object touches another: there
is no gulf Of separation, the life and
force Of one flow into and influence
another. The heavens and the earth,
the sun, the atmosphere. the soil com.
bine to produce life and beauty; this
is the organic idea of the world-that
all its manifold parts are linked togeth-
er by an all-perva0ing law and unseen
power. The telescope and mathe-
| maticS combine to demonstrate the
interactiOn OF globes. Common prin-
cipleS were found to permeate them.
Gravity not only claSped all the con-
stellations, but all atoms, not grain
OF dust on the earth escaped this
ligature Of law.
Then the SpectroScope reveals to us
that not only does all matter gravitate
with all matter, but that all globes
contain the same constructive eleme-
ments; this idea of a physical unity
! was made more perfect by the dis
covery that light and heat are modes
of motion-that light leaps to us
from sun and stars by the propulsion
OF waveletS through universal ether;
in this way the fact became apparent
that the globes not only attract each
other but touch each other-that all
worlds throb with the mighty pulse
OF common life.
And SO beginning with the simple
idea OF cause and effect these diScov-
cries enlarge and enrich this truth Of
the unity OF nature. The principle of
continuity, the persistence of force,
the conservation of energy, the law Of
evolution are fuller and grander de-
velOpments of that truth.
The study Of every special science
leads to a philosophy. You cannot
look at any one thing deeply and
seriously, without having some
question started which leads you to
reason about it. You begin to ask
what it means and that carries you
over into another science. The
sciences are not separate and distinct,
they overlap each other. The new
chemistry for example tells you that
inorganic substances touch the Or
ganic,' that there is a point where one
touches the other and unfolds into a
form of life. The Psychologist finds
he cannot understand the body apart
from mind. The biologist cannot
avoid mixing psychology with his
theories of life. The psychologist dis
covers that the brain contains some
thing more than a heap Of molecules
or set OF loose ideas, that there is
something which binds them together,
quickenS them into life, illumineS
them with intelligence and gives them
motive and aim. The political econo-
mist begins to recognize that natural
law governs the secular affairs of men.
The modern historian is not content
to narrate series of disconnected
events. he knows that events are the
expressions of ideals and aspirations
and that a true history must show
what the ruling ideas are, how they
give cohesion to the national life and
gain victories through all the struggles
Of the people.
This is the dominant intellectual
movement of our time. The feeling
which gives energy and direction to
this movement is that of discomfort
with partial views. There is faith in
a larger truth than appears on the
surface. We cannot believe these
contradictions represent the deepest
and final truth. There must be a
method OF reconciling them, no rest
can be found until we learn what it is,
we 60 on.
Searching through all we feel and see,
The springs OF life. the depths of awe,
To hnd the law within the law"
And science has given us a clue by
which we may discover the law which
uniteS oppOSiteS. Science teaches us
that attraction and repulsion work to-
gether for beneticent ends-that
centrifugal and centripetal forces
make the equilibrium OF all bodies
Physiology teaches us that destruction
and renewal are both necessary to per-
petuate life-that the decay of tissue
creates the necessity for food, and so
perfect health is the result of the
harmonious action OF the two opposite
forces OF decomposition and nutrition.
The, antagonisms gradually disap-
pear as our knowledge extends. the
wider and deeper it is the more we see
the unity Of things and are led to
regard it as universal principle.
The word universe represents NOBLE
intellectual achievement. 1t is the
greatest word man has ever made. All
his knowledge and thinking have been
a preparation, giving him the mater
ialS and power to create that word, it
tells the story OF his success in recon-
Cling oppositeS and prophecies even
greater successes, it points to day
wh.n the vision Of the poet shall be
the faith of the thinker
Zone God. one law, one element,
And one far-off divine event,
To which the whole creation moves"
when health and sickn ess, good and
evil, light and darkness, JOY and
sorrow, life and death shall be seen to
work together for the eternal good of
mankind.
And what is the significance Of this
unifying process? What is man doing
in it? He is revealing the most
marvellous power he possesses. He is
constructing a rational world and
satisfying the highest demand of his
nature.
, Mans reason demands that he shall
/ find reason in the world. He is a
thinker, he must find thought there.
He is an individual, his being is a
unity and he cannot help seeking that
unity everywhere. That is the mean
| ing and the work of a rational life and
NO man WHO believes or glorieS in
Reason will shrink from the noble
task. Such man cannot be indiffer-
ent to truth. He cannot refuse to
learn the meaning Of facts and forces.
He will never say it is impossible to
know what the human heart Graves to
know. He will not doubt or deny the
future neither can he pronounce the