Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub

wandering in the wild night, his grey discrownèd head exposed To stand against the deep dread bolted thunder,

and driven

To hovel with swine and rogues forlorn

In short and musty straw,

learns to feel for "houseless poverty:"

Poor naked creatures, wheresoe'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you,
From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en
Too little care of this! Take physic, Pomp;
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel;
That thou may'st shake the superflux to them,
And shew the Heavens more just.

And so, God as the Great Physician often prescribes suffering, sickness, adversity, as the "physic" needed to the cure of selfishness the soul's deep-seated inveterate disease. And so, and often only so, like Lear, through sharp, bitter experience, we gain a depth of insight, a large and generous sympathy to which in prosperity and power we could not have attained.

It is then happy for us that in respect of physical and temporal good our prayers are not always answered, or rather, that they are answered better than in the particular modes which we in our short-sighted wisdom had desired.

Nor should pain and sickness be regarded as arbitrary, penal inflictions. They are the sentinels that warn us of danger, the guardian angels that watch over and protect us from destruction. When the young child places his hand in the fire, but for the instant monition of pain he would probably suffer it to remain there till the hand was utterly burned. But for the sharp pangs of cold and hunger where would have been the original incentive to exertion? And but for the physical evils flowing from excess how many would suffer their appetites to run riot? But for leprosy, plague, sweating sickness, cholera, and fever, our atmosphere would still be laden with miasma and pollution, and our cities be swarmeries of vermin, reeking with foulness and filth. Sickness and suffering are our kind beneficent instructors compelling us to study our own nature, its relations to the external world, and the conditions on which its health and interests depend. They may be called our physical conscience, warning us where we trespass, and by sharp rebukes urging us into the paths of wisdom and safety. They are God's voice speaking to us from a loftier eminence, and with more universal and binding conditions for good and evil, than either those of Gerizim or Ebal-"Thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments."

Could man neglect these commands, or violate them with

impunity, trusting to the efficacy of prayer and the interpositions of Providence to repair the breach of them, and avert their consequences, not only would the Order of the Universe be inverted, but he would be himself immeasurably degraded; instead of a free, active, rational, progressive being, with large discourse looking before and after; no longer relying on the constancies of Nature, or the exercise of his own intelligence, or impelled to vigorous thought and action by his necessities and constitution, he would be no more than a passive instrument; a mere animal, moved wholly by forces from without, or by implanted instincts; whose course, as he drifted on his path, might indeed, be watched by higher natures with a sort of pitying interest, but with no communion of sympathy, no sense of fellowship, no touch of that common nature which makes the whole world kin.

That the actual course of the Divine Providence is in all respects the best for us, is alike the faith of genuine piety and of enlightened reason. It is asked,-why those occasional instances of its manifestation which stand out so marked in some experiences are not constant and universal?—would not this more fully evidence the reality of a spiritual world and an overruling Providence? I think not. Were they thus common, were prayer uniformly followed by the attainment of that which we desire, not only would our apprehension of the true providential nature of these facts be dulled by their regular recurrence, but this regularity would itself be urged as evidence that they occurred by some law of natural and necessary sequence-that so far from being evidence of any spiritual and divine administration, they actually excluded such an hypothesis,just as we are told that the uniformities of Nature exhibit only the necessary operation of forces and laws, and exclude the hypothesis of a Personal Being-the Ordainer of this universal Order. That which we demand as evidence would in fact destroy its very character to us as evidence; would defeat the very end for which we seek it. On the other hand, were there no such instances the believer might well be disheartened and the scoffer would stand unrebuked. The withdrawal of that which has been to so many a solace and a stay, which has so largely contributed to sustain the faith of men in an invisible world and a Divine Providence would be, indeed, an irreparable loss!

God requires all men to be faithful to their several gifts, and these, in measure, are different in each:-to one, mechanical skill, that he may exercise it in invention or in handicraft; to another, perception of beauty in colour and form, that he may give to it expression on glowing canvas or breathing marble, filling the galleries of the mind with forms of truth, loveliness and grace,

and that he may interpret something of those inner subtle meanings and relations, growing out of that spiritual element from which all things subsist, and which we so dimly comprehend. The man gifted with natural sagacity and forethought is bound to exercise his penetration and his prudence, though not for himself alone. And he who more than his fellows, is endowed with the affluence of earnest faith, with a deep and abiding trust in the goodness and loving care of the All-Father, and who feels within him the call to some earnest and self-denying work, shall not he, too, be true to his nature, and shall not he receive according to his faithfulness and his needs? For they whom Providence thus signally marks out are not men in whom prayer and trust minister to selfishness and indolence, but men whose hearts are filled with some worthy self-denying purpose; to teach the ignorant, reclaim the erring, provide for the orphan, or some other form of missionary and apostolic labour. As God raises up leaders of men, inventors, statesmen, poets, so he from time to time raises up these men,-among other purposes, as living examples of the sympathy and intimate relation between the natural and the spiritual worlds, and of a Divine Order ruling Nature, and beyond it. This, at least, however imperfectly I may have expressed it, seems to me something of the Philosophy of Special Providence and Prayer. T. S.

WILLIAM HOWITT ON "SPIRITUALISM.”

WE extract the following vigorous exposition from The Dunfermline Press, July 4th:

"A correspondent who found fault with our animadversions on 'Spiritualism,' as contained in an article, entitled 'Imposture and Credulity,' which appeared in the Press of June 13, sends us the following letter on the subject from William Howitt, of London. As some of our readers will no doubt like to hear what so eminent a litterateur has to say on so keenly contested a subject, we make no apology for occupying so much valuable space with his communication. The letter, it will be observed, is addressed to our Alva correspondent, who is himself a enthusiast on the subject:

"Sir, I am much obliged to you for a copy of the Du fermline Saturday Press, containing the letter of A Working Man,' and the editor's remarks upon it. The Working Man is perfectly right both in his facts and his arguments. It i true that Spiritualism, since its revival in America about twenty years ago-for it is only a revival, having existed in every age and country before, and numbered the greatest

Let

intellects of all those ages and countries-has made more rapid, and at the same time, steady progress, than any other cause whatever-Christianity not excepted. In that short space of time it has attracted Twenty Millions of adherents. And by what means? Not by violent and fanatic agitation; not by vehement preaching and partizan canvassing; but simply by a calm and sensible examination of its facts. The editor of the Dunfermline Press says that a cause is not to be decided by numbers.' True, but numbers, and intellect, and character combined, must determine the value of any cause. And who are the men who have in every country embraced Spiritualism? The rabble? the ignorant? the fanatic? By no means. But the most intelligent and able men of all classes. When such is the case, surely it becomes the 'majority of reflecting men,' to use the words of your editor, to reflect on these facts. numbers go for nothing; but, when the numbers add also firstrate position, pre-eminent abilities, largest experience of men and their doings, weight of moral, religious, scientific, and political character, then the man who does not look into what these declare to be truth, is not a reflecting, but a very foolish and prejudiced man. Now, it is very remarkable that, when we proceed to enumerate the leading men who have embraced modern Spiritualism, we begin also to enumerate the preeminent intellects and characters of the age. In America you justly say that the shrewd and honest Abraham Lincoln was a Spiritualist. He was a devoted one. So also were, and are, the Hon. Robert Dale Owen and Judge Edmonds, so was Professor Hare. You are right in all these particulars. In fact, almost every eminent man in the American Government is a Spiritualist. Garrison, whom the anti-Spiritualists were so lately and enthusiastically fêteing in England, for his zealous services in the extinction of negro slavery, is an avowed Spiritualist. Horace Greeley, the editor of The Tribune, a man whose masterly political reasoning has done more than any man to direct the course of American politics, is a devoted Spiritualist. Longfellow, the poet, now in England, and just treated with the highest honours by the University of Cambridge, and about to be fêted by the whole literary world of England, is, and has long and openly been, a Spiritualist. But I might run over the majority of the great names of America. Turn to France. The shrewd Emperor, the illustrious Victor Hugo, the sage and able statesman Guizot, one of the most powerful champions of Christianity, are Spiritualists. So is Garibaldi, in Italy. In England, you might name a very long and distinguished list of men and women, of all classes, Spiritualists. If you had the authority you might mention names which would startle

no little those who affect to sneer at Spiritualism. It is confidently said that a Spiritualist sits on the throne of these realms, as we know that such do sit on those of the greatest nations of Europe. We know that the members of some of the chief ducal houses of Scotland, and of the noble houses of Ireland and England are Spiritualists. Are all these people likely to plunge their heads and their reputations into an unpopular cause without first looking well into it? But then, say the opponents, the scientific don't affect it. They must greatly qualify this assertion, for many and eminent scientific men have had the sense and the courage to look into it, and have found it a great truth. The editor of the Dunfermline Press remarks on your observations regarding Robert Chambers, that Chambers' Journal of the 13th of May last, has a certain article not flattering to Spiritualism. True, but not the less is Robert Chambers an avowed Spiritualist, and boldly came forward on the Home and Lyon trial, to express his faith in Mr. Home. The editor might quote articles in the Times, the Standard, the Star, and the Daily Telegraph, against Spiritualism, yet it is a well-known fact that on all these journals some of their ablest writers are Spiritualists; but it is not always prudent for a man to say what he is. This is not an age in love with martyrdom. But as to the scientific men. The editor is very ill informed when he says that Faraday 'speedily stripped Spiritualism of its mystery.' Nothing is better known throughout all London circles than that Faraday, on that occasion, made a gross blunder, and became the laughing-stock of even scientific men for it. He attributed the turning of tables to involuntary muscular action in the persons who, at séances, put their hands on them. But immediately tables not only moved, but rose into the air out of the reach of any hands. I, and thousands, have seen them do so often. Such things are more common than the rising of balloons. Nor was the moving of tables the only phenomena. Knocks were heard on floors, on walls, on ceilings quite out of the reach of hands. Every one who has seen the Davenports and all Europe has now seen them-knows that instruments fly about visibly in the air, quite beyond touch of hands. In the séances in London, attended by men and women of the highest intelligence and tact, flowers, fruit, birds even come through locked doors and barred shutters; spirit hands are felt, spirit voices heard; music is played on instruments that no hands can touch; drawings, writings, and singing are done by no visible persons. And who witness all these things from day to day? Scientific men, eminent lawyers, and literary men. It was the knowledge of these things which made Faraday see what a fool a wise man

« FöregåendeFortsätt »