The independent., 1903-05-14

There were no places green and fresh
with hope There was no truth which
seemed to him beautiful; no cause
which seemed TO him holy; no sign
that there was anywhere in the
blind universe a God who cared.
.At last copy of Progress and
Poverty" fell into his hands. He had
heard that the book was dry reading.
For him it read like romance. be-
cause he went to it, not for enter
tainment but with consuming desire
to find solution for the dark prob
lem of poverty. In the mind of the
author he saw this blind universe re-
duced to order. He saw human
wretchedness and wrong traced to
their final causes, not in the mistakes
of the creator, but in the ignorance
of the creature. He saw that creation
was not colossal blunder. His soul
was stirred by the mighty thought oI
this book, which unfolded and re-
vealed to him the possibility OF a hui
man society living in conformity with
the laws of nature and rewarded for
it's obedience with abundance and
peace.
"The faith that was dead revived.
This book had saved him from unbe-
lief and pointed the way back to
larger and a happier and more ra-
tional faith than he had ever known.
when the young man had fnlshed
his story, Mr.. George replied that the
sweetest reward he could have was IN
such evidence that his teachings had
inspired his fellows with vital
faith in God and a new hope for man.
Then, putting his hand on the young
mans arm, he added:
"'My work is done. / have searched
and found law in its sovereign beauty,
even where men said there was no
law. If the soul dies there is break
in natures laws. That | cannot be-
lieye. These laws must hold their
sway even where we cannot see. We
cannot tell where or how, but we
have seen enough to establish our
faith in the universally of natural
law, therefore we must believe in the
future life of the soul
"The meaning of Henry George may
be made clear by the following illus
tration. A famous astronomer discov-
cred a certain law governing heavenly
bodies. According to this law, there
should have been, at a given place
in the heavens, a star. But men
could see no star there, and some ar
gued from the absence OF the star
that the astronomer was in error.
The astronomer insisted that if men
could not find the star it was the
fault of their eyesight and not the
fault of this law.
"At last, wonderful lens was in
vented, and behold, the star was
found, where the astronomer had de-
clared 1t ought to be. You see, the
astronomer had traced the law part
Way. He knew it must hold good all
the way. When others doubted, he
saw that star. He saw it with the eye
of faith, faith that was based upon
knowledge of law.
$50 it is with the life OF the soul.
The philosopher sees that the laws
of nature, when rightly understood,
point to the happiness and develop
ment of the human soul, as the goal
of creation. If the soul dies then life
is an infinite series of failures. This
he cannot believe. He insists that the
laws must hold good all the way. No
lens has been discovered powerful
enough to sight the shores of that
distant life, but it is the faith of the
philosopher, based upon a study or
natures laws, that in due time, stars
of glory yet unseen will be revealed
to man.
Meanwhile we adopt the faith
which offers us the only rational ex-
planation of the universe. namely,
that lif els a school-house for i'm
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