Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-07-02
THE REIGN or LAW.


beings and one about physical nature
10 teach the child the operation oil
the laws of mind, on the one hand
and OF matter on the other--thesc two
processes seem to cover the field oil
human learning. For man ana ma
ture are the two great aspects OF real
ity which make up all the IDEAS we
have OF life and its limitations
These fields OF study the Doctor re-
marked are very different. Nature
always acts IN the same way, but
mans action can never with absolute
certainty be predicted. Nature al
ways obeys It's laws; man sometimes
fails TO do So We know for Ger
tainty what hydrogen will do IL we
apply to it lighted match; but we
are never quito sure what a person
VIII do under any given circumstan,
ces. In the same relations or under
the same conditions, hydrogen and all
the other substances act in precisely
the same way. But mar does not al
ways do the same things when placed
under the same circumstances.
This matter would be simple enough
and no one would be inclined to doubt
1t. If there were not important philo-
sophlcal doctrines connected with
these simple facts. one of them is
that man Cor mind is free; while
nature Cor matter) is bound TO act In
only one way under any given set OF
circumstances.
II is not meant that man can do
anything he chooses but only that he
usually has more than one course of
action open to him under almost any
conditions. Mans freedom consists in
his ability to choose and follow one
out of several possible courses of con-
duct.
Some people have argued that man
is under the same reign Of universal
law that governs matter--that moth
ing is exempt from the reign of fixed
and unvarying law; and this is true In
at least two aspects. Firstly, mans
body Is matter, and is subject to the
laws OF matter. Secondly, man him
self, as II mind or soul, is also gov
no doubt as uniform as those that con-
troll matter; but they are laws of an
entirely different nature.
We suppose that among all the
teachers who listen TO DR.. Suzzallo's |
there are none who would |
not agree that the benches and desks |
In their school rooms are governed by |
laws. and that these laws keep thesu
IN its place, etc; also, that
the pupils at these desks are also gov
erned by laws But none of them,
we imagine would be inclined to ad-
nit that the pupils are kept in order |
by the same laws, or even by the same
kind of laws, as those which keep the
benches and other physical things IN !
the school room in the places In which |
they have been arranged So great an |
absurdity as this has not occurred to |
the average mind, yet II has occurred |
to many men who are esteemed as |
thinkers. 1t is the stock argument
Of the athelstc and agnostlc school |
whose influence waned so lately. II |
Is the current sophistry that misloads |
many an immature scientist. The |
of the mistake consists I'm |
the adoption OF the truIsm that law |
rules all things in the universe, whether |
or mind or matter, whether person on |
object But this does not prove that |
the same kind of law rules both per- |
sons and things.
There are two kinds OF law. one is |
physical law, which means the uniform |
ways In which matter acts under the |
same circumstances The other is mo- |
nal law, which means the uniform |
ways In which minds, or persons, ought |
Ia act under given conditions In this |
case, however the agents do not always |
act In accordance with the laws that |
govern them. Persons sometimes vio- |
lato the laws under which they NE |
Human beings can break their law
whether we regard st as of human on |
of divine origin. Tho laws which are |
said TO control personal beings are |
simply commands; and those commands |
can be broken SIN, or crime is the
violation or breaking OF such human |
or divine law.
But physical law cannot be broken |
Mo one knows how TO set about break |
ing physical law. II cannot be brok- |
en- 1t breaks those who oppose lis uni |
form operation IL does not permit it, |
self to be broken and then punish the
offender. It's mere operation Furnishes
those who attempt To break II. ana is
course IL never stayed nor delayed for
an instant.
But tine moral laws "Thon shalt not |
steal, thou shalt moi KIN" are broken
daily, True, he offender Is punished.
sooner or later, either by man or by the
laws OF his own nature. or by the events
OF an oyorruling providence Hut he
can aud does break the law under |
which he lives, moves, and has his be-
ing And the tact that iaw broken
requires raparation, according 10 our
ideas OF Justice, pfoves only that, the |
moral law can be broken by those
whom II governs,
What Is the act ~ suicide hun
n violation Of the law that says |
Thou shalt not klng some pco-
Pie have argued that every one |
should be free 10 do as he pleases with |
MS own llfei but we humbly suppose
thh' those who so think are mistaken. |
shloide'' says a modern writer, "ls a |
rrllne' double and triple crime" IL |
10 murder since oiir lives ,,r, ,,,,, "a -.