Experimental investigation of the spirit manifestations, [electronic ...

OF MATTER, MIND, AND SPIRIT. 389elusion of a (liiid. This is designated as a case of decomposition, andmay be exemplified by the process in which water is explosively decomposedby potassium, with which the oxygen of the water unites to theexclusion of hydrogen. When we sec that from seven parts, by weight,of charcoal, and about nine parts of water, sugar ensues; that the sweetnesswith which this sugar is endowed, is the result of a difference betweenthis substance and starch, in the proportion of the watery elements :starchconsisting of less water than sugar, with the same amount of charcoalwhen we learn that twelve parts, by weight, of charcoal, fourteen parts ofnitrogen, and one of hydrogen, constitute the deadly prussic acid; andwhen, in fact, we discover that the atoms of matter which compose ourflesh are capable of entering into as many active chemical combinationsas the beads of a kaleidoscope can be productive of figures, then itwill bemanifest that the phenomena characterizing what we call matter, as wellas the powers of that matter, are such as to prove our utterincapacity tocomprehend the powers and properties of material atoms, and that wemust not object to any wonder that nature may produce, because it isbeyond our comprehension.*1893. The belief in the powers displayed by matter does not thenresult from their being explicable, but from their being evident, just asthe elaboration of the chick from the egg demonstrates the fact that theyolk and the white have been converted into a chicken without our beingenabled to comprehend the process by which it has been efi'ected. Suchbeing the imperfection of our knowledge respecting the intricate nature ofmatter and its reactions, it seems to me inconsistent that there shouldhave been such backwardness to believe in the independent existence ofmind, of which the phenomena and properties are quite as evident asthose of matter, the mode of existence and operation in either case beinginscrutable.1894. The great distinction between mind and matter is the presenceof will on the one side, and the absence of it upon the other.Vis inertieeis the antipodes of will ; and if gravitation have any association with will,it will be that of the Creator ; but in the inert mass actuated, it servesonly to add to the evidence of incapability of self actuation.1895. Passion and reason, the parents of will, are properties as manifestas those which, surrounding a centre, give to it that idea of a central forcewhich indicates the presence of material atoms, though it does not constitutethem, as I have urged.189G. The existence of vis inertiae, gravitation, and chemical affinity,:•It were absurd to draw any conclusion from this, that incomprehensibility is a reasonfor believing the miracles ascribed to Mohammed or any other religious impostor. Thatwe cannot understand how a result is accomplished is no reason for disbelieving it in oppositionto the evidence of our senses ; but, at the same time, it forms no reason for believing,of itself, but is rather a clog upon belief, when intuitively awakened.