New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-09-11

Future, only the single instant which
we call the Present being actual The
Past is not non-existent, however; II
is stored In our memories, there Is
record of IL in matter, and the Present
is based upon II; the Future Is the
outcome of the Present, and is the
product Of Evolution.
The Sinniie of the Loom.
Existence is like the output from
a loom. The pattern, the design TOT
the weaving, is I'm some sort there
already: but whereas our looms are
mere machines, once the guiding cards
have been fed into them, the Loom OF
Time is complicated by multitude OF
free agents who can modify the web.
ma king the product more beautlful or
more ugly according as they are In
harmony or disharmony with the gen
eral scheme. I venture to maintain
that manifest imperfections are thus
accounted for. and that freedom could
be given on no other terms. nor at
any less cost.
"The ability thus TO work for veal or
woe is no Illusion; it is reality. re-
sponsible power which conscious agents
possess; wherefore the resulting fabric
is not something preordained and In
cxora bic. though by wide knowledge oil
character 1t may be inferred. Nothing
is inexorable except the uniform prog
ress OF Time; the cloth must be woven
but the pattern is not wholly fixed and
mechanically calculable.
Where inorganic matter alone is
concerned there everything is deter
mined. Wherever full consciousness
has entered new powers arise, and the
faculties and desires of the conscious
/ parts Of the scheme have an effect
upon the whole. 1t is not guided from
outside, but from within: and the guild
ing power is immanent at every instant
OF this guiding power we are a small
but not wholly insignificant portion.
Evolutionary Progress Is Real.
That evolutionary progress is real
is a doctrine Of profound significance.
and our efforts At social betterment
arc justified because We are part or
the scheme. a part that has become
conscious, part that realizes, dimly
ut any rate, what il is doing and what
it is aiming at. Planning and aiming
are therefore not absent from the
whole, for we are a part Of the whole
and are conscious OF them in our
selves.
Either We are immortal beings or
we are not. We may not know our
destiny, but We must have destiny OF
some sort. Those who make denials
are Just as likely 10 be wrong Us those
who make assertions; in fact denials
arc assertions thrown into negative
form. Scientific men are looked up TO
as authorities, and should be careful
not TO mislcad Science may not be
able 20 reveal human destiny, but it
certainly should not obscure IT, Things
arc as they are, whether we find them
out or not. and II We make rash and
false statements posterity will detect
us-if posterity ever troubles its head
about us.
Il am one Of those who think that
the methods Of Science arc not so linn
tied in their scope az has been thought.
that they can be applied much more
widely and that the Psychic region can
be studied and brought under law, too.
Allow US, anyhow. 10 mako the at
tempt. Give us Il fair field. Let those
who prefer the materialistic hypothe-
sis by all means develop their thesis as
far as they can. but let US try what
we can do I'm the Psychical region. and
see which wins. our methods are
really the same as theirs-the subject
matter differs. Neither should abuse
the other for making the attempt.