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 The gift of Mrs. Cummings, 1 963
 
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 ^»)<0 R ^TT lO NH4* 
 
 Rev. Dr. E. M. CHAPMAN, 
 
 Of Dallas Lodge No. 197, I. O. B. B. 
 
 (DIP lD.^X^X^Ji^S, TESSI^fL-S- 
 
 Rev. SAM'L ULLMAN, 
 
 Of Birmingham Lodge No. 368, I. O. B. B. 
 
 OF BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA. 
 
 Delivered at Temple Emanuel, 
 
 During the Convention of 
 
 <^^ Ea (Bo M. Ma ^^ 
 
 Held in Binningham, Ala, 
 
 •^»: 
 
 1^-92. 
 Levy IJi'CS. &. Simou, 90 Common St., N, O.
 
 ^ 
 
 :2^^j:i I 
 
 f 
 
 Delivered at Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham, Ala. 
 
 Before the District Grand Lodge No. 7, I. O. B. B. 
 
 e,-7t :B-2- ^B^^ 
 
 I^ev. E. ]VI. eii£P]^£J\[, Ph. D. 
 
 "The B'Nai Brith; Its Mission and the Necessity 
 for its P2xistence and Perpetuity." 
 
 Ill every age, man has associated with his fellow mau, aud 
 history is well stored with instances of vast combinations of 
 men formed for various purposes aud demonstrating the tre- 
 mendous power of combined and associated action, for good 
 or for evil, as the case may be. This principal in the past, 
 however, has been applied mainly to the business of war, and 
 the most mighty associations of earth have been found in the 
 tented field, where 
 
 "Banner, spear and plume 
 Lead but to conquest and the tomb." 
 Great armies have flocked around the standard of war, aud 
 so complete and perfe(^t was their organization that every 
 nerve of ihe gigantic body was at the command of a single 
 mind, ready to do or dare or die at its bidding. And thus, 
 moved by a single impulse, the loug, mail-clad hosts have 
 gone out to engage in the shock of battle and cut each other 
 down, as grass is cut down by ttie scythe of the mower. Uni- 
 ted was their purpose, ardent their zeal and mightj their 
 power. But it was devoted, for the most part, to evil ends — 
 to strengthening the foundations of despotism and enabling 
 op[)ression to place its iron heel upon the necks of the people. 
 The toil and treasure and life thus wasted, would have bridg- 
 
 21 17678
 
 ed every river ami drained every swamp and cleared every 
 forest and made every inch of (lod's earth fertile as Eden, 
 aud have <;iven the light of knowledge to every child that 
 looks upou the sun. But, as it was, it accomplished little or 
 nothing for our race, except this one thing, to demonstrate 
 the power of associated action, and thus indicate the means 
 by which Israel's earthly redem])tiou is to be wrought out. 
 Thus ranch of the past. IJut the leading feature of the pres- 
 ent is, effort to concentrate the materials of human society, 
 to mould an<l foini the otherwise fragmentary and disjointed 
 mass, and to call out the united hosts of the world and engage 
 them, not in the strife for dominion or the carnage of war, 
 but in a peaceful struggle for God and for humanity. 
 
 Hence the various societies and associations, for purposes 
 of benevolence, that so honorably mark the character of the 
 present age. Hence the order, the beloved Order of B'Nai 
 Brith, neither last nor least among them Foremost among 
 the forward, strong and vigorous in her youth, she stands 
 here to-day, her temples, consisting of orphan asylums and 
 homes, rising in every part of our vast union, and th^ir por 
 tals thronged with the stranger, the sick, the poor, the widow 
 and the fatherless, who coaie, not as beggars to receive the 
 crumbs that fall from the rich niau'S table, but as welcome 
 guests and as their inherent right, to partake of the feast 
 which she has so bountifully prepared. 
 
 Associations there have been in the past — vast and power- 
 ful associations, and they have wrought mighty power; but 
 wide and powerful associations for ameliorating the condition 
 of our race, and for the relief of the suffering and misfortunes 
 of men, — these are of the present. 
 
 For this reason the present age is remarkable as it is hope- 
 ful. On the one hand, combinations for good are arising; 
 and on the other the hoary leagues of oppression and evil are 
 crumbling and tottering to tiieir fall. Never since the sun 
 shone ui)0u the earth has there been a i)eriod so auspicious 
 to the philanthropist, or so radiant with hope for man — never 
 one, in wiiich humanity was doing and accomplishing so much 
 for the achievement of its true destiny upon the earth. The
 
 -3- 
 
 deep foundations of the past are iiptiirued; the lethargy of 
 ages ie over, aud man is awake and alive to his interests, his 
 power, his dignity and his high mission in the world. 
 Thrones, where strong despotism has been secure for ages, 
 are tottering, and alljover the civilized world, power is slowly 
 but surely passing from the few to the many, and the world 
 has learned the lesson that a united people is stronger than 
 any throne. Truths, new and momentous, flash out and daz- 
 zle the eyes of the world, like strange meteors in the dark- 
 ness of the night. Improvement follows improvement, and 
 discovery treads close upon the heel of discovery, until the 
 air, the earth and the water, the steam and the lighting 
 itself, are under our control and made the ministers of our 
 pleasure. Nature, in her mightiest efforts, has reared no 
 mountain so high, aor fortified it with granite so hard, that 
 man will not tunnel at its base, and speed through its dark 
 caverns with his iron steed, while he, himself, sits at his ease 
 upon soft cushions of silk and velvet. Old ocean heaves no 
 wave so high that man will not mount and ride it witli safety; 
 nor blows there a wind so fierce that the wingless bark will 
 not cut its way through its very teeth. Earth itself has no 
 corner so dark and distant, that human thoughts and human 
 words may not be sent there, with a speed almost surpassing 
 the flight of time itself. And to what end are all these 
 mighty forces employed? Not mainly to purposes of war aud 
 the dominion of the few over the many; not to build up high 
 and impassable walls betweeu man and his fellow-man, but 
 to break down every barrier and remove every obstacle to a 
 fall and free aud instant intercourse, on terms of friendship 
 aud amity, and for the mutual good of mankind. Truly, 
 then, it is an age as remarkable as it is hojieful. It is an age 
 to be remembered — an age that will stamp itself upon the 
 the future— au age of wonders, to work revolutions for good 
 in states and empires, in arts aud sciences, and in all that 
 concerns the interests of our great race such as no former 
 age has seen, — no dream of the past imagined. 
 
 True enough, there are deep shades and somber shadows 
 that yet linger upon the earth. They are not all calm and
 
 —4- 
 
 traiiquil waters, nor sen^iie biiglit skies, over which and un- 
 der which, man must niaki' his way onward and ui)ward in 
 his career of destiny. The nations have not yet learned that 
 their interests antl prosi)erity and all that can exalt and en- 
 noble the human family ami shed luster upon the pages of 
 this world's history are to be found in civil and religious 
 liberty, in the i>aths — the peaceful paths— of benevolence, 
 brotherly love and harmony. Hence the strife and the con- 
 tention, th<' cruelty and the oppression that still prevail. 
 Hence, too, man is often the enemy of man. The bargainings 
 of avarice, the vaultings of ambition, the contests of political 
 parties, the prejudices and the bigotry of sects and denom 
 inations, the rivalries and competitions of business and the 
 endless graspings for honor and ollice,— all these are at work 
 and doing much to retard the progress of the good and the 
 true and to make life fitful and feverish. So, also, the spirit 
 of war prevails, and unto this day, with the exception of 
 grand old England and mighty America,— God bless them 
 both— the sword is the arbiter among nations. But there is 
 hope in the fact that there is effort— widespread and suc- 
 cessful effort— for human improvement, such as no other age 
 has witnessed. Armies there are indeed whose business it is 
 to light, to kill and destroy. But other armies there are, 
 whose mission is one of peace and good will, and whose work 
 it is to bind up the wounds of humanity, and this is one of 
 the missions of B'Nai Brith. Mighty are the the armies of 
 the nations; millions upon millions are armed for the fight, 
 for the bloody field of battle; the hosts of war are many; but 
 they are overshadowed and outnumbered by the legions of 
 those, whose mimes are enrolled in the vast combinations for 
 purposes ot benevolence and charity. Nevertheless, it must 
 be conceded that there are tendencies to evil and to decay 
 that call loudly for vigilance on our part and demand a 
 strong baud and a no less strong conservative power to pro- 
 tect us from foes both without and within. That power is 
 everywhere and always, no more nor less than the great law 
 of human lirotherhood, and in the practical infusion of this 
 law into the organic structure of our order resides the secret
 
 of success aud perpetuity. Without it, the i)roudest fabrics 
 of earth will fall; with it, the most incousiderable will stand 
 while the world standeth. The Order of B'Nai Brith is built 
 upon this law, and hence the conservative i)ower that it is de- 
 signed to exert upon our social and political status. Con- 
 sider, for a moment, some ot the leatures and tendencies of 
 the times tending to a disruption ol the ties that bind us in 
 one body and demanding the influence of some conservative 
 power to save us from evils of immense magnitude. 
 
 There is all abroad, in this country especially, a most tre- 
 raeudous intellectual activity and excitability which jjushes 
 to every extreme and results in all sorts of extravagancies 
 and ultraisms. The blood of young America is hot, and it 
 takes but little to make it boil. A. small spark will kindle a 
 mighty flame. Knowledge is no longer confined to the clois- 
 ter of the monk or the cell of the recluse, nor is it all pent up 
 in schools and colleges. But it is in the workshops of the 
 mechanic, the counting room of the merchant, the marts of 
 trade aud commerce and the fields of labor and industry. 
 Everywhere, thought is busy and this intellectual activity and 
 excitability are rife. As the eagle, long caged, when let 
 loose, will use his pinions to the utmost tension of every mus- 
 cle and sinew, now soaring aloft above the highest peaks of 
 the mountains, and now darting, with incredible velocity, 
 down their rugged sides; so the human intellect, long cramp- 
 ed and fettered, but now free, tasks itself to the full measure 
 of its strength and riots in all the luxury of its newly discov- 
 ered liberty. Flushed with success, elated with victories 
 already achieved and ardent with hope, it cannot wait for the 
 slow process of nature, but would compass its ends at once 
 and accomplish the work of centuries in a year. Moderate, 
 patient and persistent effort will not do; but we must fulfill, 
 in a somewhat questionable manner, the injunction, "What- 
 soever thy hand lindeth to do, do it with all thy might." If 
 the yellow ore gleams from the interstices of the rocks, or 
 glistens in the sands ot some far off country, forth rush the 
 armies of Mammon, eager with excitement, and each man in 
 hot haste to be first at the "diggings." They traverse the 
 wilderness, and leave their bones bleaching upon the plains,
 
 — 0— 
 
 and still the living tide rolLs on, trampling in thoughtless 
 eagerness iqion the skeletons of their predecessors. They 
 vault across the isthmus with a bound, and double the cape 
 with a whirl that makes the head dizzy. Splendid steam- 
 ships, with their furnaces glowing with vehement heat, and 
 crazy hulks, with masts and spars bending and creaking 
 under the last inch of canvas, are seen ploughing their way, 
 head onward, for the land of gold; and if one founders and 
 the other explodes, the excited passengers would, if they 
 could, mount a dolphin or a whale, and ride to the newly dis" 
 covered Clolconda. And so, the merchant at home cannot 
 wait to get rich in a safe and legitimate way, for he wants to 
 be rich in a day. He plunges into hazanlous and uncertain 
 speculations, makes a fortune one week and loses it the next, 
 and lives in such a perpetual fever that he becomes old in his 
 youth; and as one fails, another rushes into the same seething 
 cauldron ot excitement, to be dashed by the bubbling waters, 
 sometimes at the top and sometimes at the bottom, so that 
 none can tell from the position of this day what will be to- 
 morrow. In fact, everything goes by steam in these days of 
 railroads and lightning communication, and that, too, upon 
 the high-pressure principle. Two hundred pounds to the 
 inch is the lowest mark of the safety valve. Every man who 
 travels takes the lightning line. If the cars run off the track, 
 or there comes a collision of opposing trams, the excited pas- 
 senger extricates himself as best he may from the fragments, 
 ties up a bruised or broken limb with his pocket-handkerchief, 
 takes passage with the next Jehu that comes along, "leaving 
 the dead to bury the dead;" and so eager is he to be at the 
 journey's end, that if you were to put him astride a chain of 
 lightning, he would call for whip and spur to goad the lag- 
 gard element to greater speed. 
 
 It cannot be expected that a people, thus excitable and ex- 
 cited, will be content with calm, moderate and rational views 
 in their social and political relations, or that they will be 
 strongly conservative or always mindful of the great law of 
 hunuin brotherhood. The result is, a numerous brood of ex- 
 tremes and ullraisms.
 
 The partisan in politics is ever ready, to use a common 
 phrase, to "pitch in" and go his length for his party; the de- 
 votee ol sect pushes his zeal to the extreme of bigotry. The 
 one imagines that all true patriotism is garnered up in his 
 party, and the other is (juite certain that all genuine virtue 
 and religion are centered in his particular sect. Each man 
 has his hobby, and he rides it at Gilpin speed, and in his 
 haste, forgets that others are his brethren. And thus strand 
 after strand in the chain of brotherhood is sundered. Men 
 become isolated and estranged from one another and the 
 bond of our social and religious union is loosened. What is 
 necessary to counteract these impending evils is, a social 
 structure that shall assert and maintain the great law ot 
 brotherhood as the law that underlines and terminates all 
 other laws, and overlooking the distinctions of nations and 
 parties, shall bind them all in one bond of union and bid them 
 labor together for the communal good and for the good of all. 
 This conservative power resides permanently and pre-emi- 
 nently in the order of B'Nai I3rith. 
 
 It is a practical application of that broad and comprehen- 
 sive philosoi>hy, that mighty system of social architecture 
 which contemplates our entire race as a band of brothers and 
 gathers them together in bands where that relationship must 
 be acknowledged and practiced. It teaches that humanity — 
 not democratic or republican humanity, nor reform or ortho- 
 dox humanity — but man's humanity t:o man it is, that we 
 should love and serve. 
 
 How earnestly this philosophy is taught in all the ritual 
 of the order, and how securely its doors are barred against 
 the entrance of the narrow or unbrotherly spirit that exists 
 outside the lodge-room, you, my brethren, know full well. 
 "Be a blessing to mankind," is the phrase that greets the 
 initiate almost on the threshold of the lodge-room; 'be a 
 blessing to mankind," is almot-t the last injunction given him 
 as he takes upon himself the holy mission incubeut upon him 
 as a "Ben Brith." 
 
 On the broad platform of humanity we meet and mingle in 
 social intercourse; together, we sit down by the bedside of
 
 — S— 
 
 the sick and sootlu' hi« acliiu}^ head, wlieii disease sliakes the 
 stalwart iraine and IIk- iiies oflile burn low: together, we fol- 
 low him to the narrow house and lay him gently in the bosom 
 of his old mother earth, when death has done its work; to- 
 gether, we drop a tear at his grave, as we leave him there 
 with God, where all must shortly be; together, we go to his 
 deserted hearthstone, to shed the tears of sympathy and 
 earthly hope ui»<)n the dark night of a widow's w^oe, whose 
 idol is shattered and dead; and then, together, we take the 
 tender lambs ol' his Hock in our arms, to shield them from 
 danger and protect them from harm. 
 
 "Our beloved order has taken upon itself the mission of 
 uniting Israelites in the work of promoting their highest in- 
 terests and those of humanity; of developing, elevating and 
 defending the mental and moral character of our race: of in- 
 culcating the purest princij^es of [»liilanthropy, honor and 
 patriotism; of supi)orting science and art; of alleviating the 
 wants of the poor and needy; visiting and attending the sick; 
 providing for, protecting and assisting the widow and or- 
 phan, on the broadest, princii)les of humanity." Such is the 
 grandeur of the order and such its application to the law of 
 human biotherhood. It knows no north, no south, no east, 
 no we^t, but one c<»untry, one common humanity, one God 
 and one brotlierhood of man. 
 
 March on, then, brethren, and .•-ee to it that you taint not 
 nor glow weary in our great and blessed work. 
 
 "Aye, nerve thy spirit to the proof. 
 And blench not at thy chosen lot, 
 
 The riiuid good may stand aloof, 
 
 The sage may I'rown — yet faint thou not, 
 
 Nor heed the shaft, too surely cast, 
 The hissing, stinging bolt of scorn, 
 
 For with thy side shall dwell, at last. 
 The victory of endurance born."
 
 r5-V(32> eS\ Sfr -S=Z±? 
 
 :^ElS©ft.Y 
 
 • — (?. 
 
 ^ 
 
 DELIVERED AT TEMPLE EMANU-EL, BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 
 Before the District Grand Lodge No. 7, L O. B. B. 
 
 -^"2"- 
 
 Rev. SAM'L ULLMAN, 
 
 OF BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 
 
 uRevelatious from Nature," evidencing the existence of God, 
 perfect m unity, harmonious in design and beneflcient n. pur- 
 
 ^'Tiom the beginning of time no thought has en^ 
 gaged the mind of man more than that of God, or this, the 
 thought which accounts for the existence of a creator. It 
 will Dot be questioned that the time never was since the ex- 
 istence of man, in which there was not a belief in the exist- 
 ence of a being who was or is greater than man There nev^' 
 was a time when man doubted that cause preceded effect and 
 tha^. effect was the result of cause; hence, from the earliest 
 days of history, the race has always postulated something 
 that was more powerful, more mighty than man. Starting at 
 the cradle of history we find man in possession of a be lef in 
 the existence of a being who was the cause of a 1 things 
 which being so much more powerful than himself he adored 
 and worshipped in order to obtain the fulfillment of his desires. 
 The panorama of nature as it unfolded itself to man with its 
 varying scenes, the seeming conflict of elements, the resistless 
 wind, the rushing torrents, the raging fire, in all these he saw 
 something which he was powerless to cootrol; he could not 
 account for the power of a thing that he could feel but could 
 not see, that lulled him to rest and peace in one moment and 
 in the next drove him to dispair and destruction He couki 
 , uot perceive how it was that the sparkling fiuid spinning its 
 silvery thread along and down the hillside, in which he
 
 —10- 
 
 <iueiicbc(l liis thirst autl bathed his heated brow, couUl iu the 
 uext iiioineutbeso iiowerlul as to wrench the grauite rock lioui 
 its base, uor couhl he lathoiu the mystery of that elemeut, which 
 now in affectionate warmth drove and dispelled the chilly air 
 and in the next attained its greatest and most terrific power 
 when tVd by that force that he could hear and feel, but yet 
 not see. When all these conHicting powers were being 
 brought to his mental vision he was unable to account for 
 them, hence each of them had to be assigned to a power that 
 was still more powerful; thus nature which gave man the first 
 impressions as to the existence of some mighty power greater 
 than that possessed by man, also supplied the source from 
 which llowtd the belief of a plurality of gods. This belief 
 under the existing state of ignorance during the infancy of 
 the race, was perhaps most natural, and it required a consid- 
 erable degree of mental growth to appreciate the absurdities 
 that must result therefrom. The conflict that must arise in 
 such a system is apparent; of it was born the idea of one first 
 cause, one Creator, one God . 
 
 The impression or concei)tion of God thus gained is only the 
 beginning There are now reciuired the inductions of reason 
 from the facts iu the universe, in order to clothe the great 
 first cause with all the attributes essenti;il to the uncreated, 
 eternal, alhvise, infinite aud immaterial (iod. i^s such, God 
 is the father of all, none sharing with him his power, or au- 
 thority; as su(5h, God must, control the destiny of the human 
 race. This conception of the eternal being we call God, is the 
 contribution made by the Jew to humanity at large; for this 
 comu'ption, fortius priii(;i]>al, for this ideal, he has fought, 
 bled and died. To peipetuiite this, he measured his strength 
 with Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome, and though be 
 was compelled to surrender his country, his home, in these 
 contests, yet in so doing, the living principles of his belief 
 survived, which he, in his (lisper.-ion, bestowed upon all with 
 whom became iu contact; and whenever the justice of God 
 is called into (|uestion because of the suffering and martyrdom 
 which the .lew has sustaiiieil, we answer that the infinite can 
 not be grasped by the finite, or, as Moses said, "The se(;ret 
 things belong unto the eternal our God; but those things
 
 -11- 
 
 Whicb are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, 
 tliat we may do all the words of the law." But those who 
 questiou the justice of the eternal, those who question his ex 
 isteuce and those who deny his existence, will not accept as 
 proof anything that may be accredited as being inspired by 
 God through man; hence the past and present has product d 
 many eminent men who take issue with us upon these ques- 
 tions; possibly it may be true that the field of doubt is now 
 occupied by a larger number of scholarly men than ever be- 
 fore. They insist that, if God there is, he must be found in 
 the realms of nature, rather than in the realms of revelation; 
 in reason, and not in inspiration. To them we say that the 
 time never was in which such doubters did not exist, and to 
 them we say, as Job said to his friends: "Ask now the 
 beasts, and they will teach thee; and of the fowls of the heav- 
 ens, and they will show thee. Or speak to the earth and it 
 will teach thee, and the fishes of the sea will tell it to thee. 
 Who knoweth not, by all these, that the hand of the eternal 
 has done this? In whose hand is the soul of all Hving and 
 the spirit of all tieshf Let us go to nature, surely the natur- 
 alist cannot object, and in her realms let us find God, the 
 creator, the preserver and ruler of the universe. If nature is 
 to be the starting point, the materialist, the agnot^tic, must 
 accept Pope's conclusion, that 
 
 " Spite of pride, in erring reason's spite, 
 
 One truth is clear — whatever is, is right." 
 This well known and ofc recited couplet constitutes, in its 
 spirit and meaning, the theme on which I shall make my ob 
 servatious It is a short comment on what has been well de- 
 nominated the harmonies of nature — that prevailing aptitude 
 between the variou-4 works of creation, which holds them in 
 practical accord with each other. It is not necessary to state 
 that I believe in the existence of a great first cause, who is 
 eternal in being and infinite in wisdom, goodness and jwwer. 
 Nor is he less so in justice, mercy and his other attributes. 
 I believe him to be the creator and the arranger of the uni- 
 verse. He not only called it into being; he placed it in order 
 and laid it in subjection to the laws which govern it and in
 
 —12— 
 
 obedienc't' to those laws is every event to occur, that the crea- 
 tor is eternal in existence: that he is anterior to all other 
 existences, and all others necessarily ])rocee(l from him; that 
 the creator in the morning- ol creation was, as he is now, in 
 finite in jj^oodness an<l i)nrity, and IVoni a ne<'.essity arising" 
 out of his own nature he wishes lor a creation free from 
 ))lemish; that he was, as he is now, inlinite in knowledge and 
 wis(h)ni; that he was and is now infinite in power, and that Le 
 was compe'.ent to the execution of his design. The universe 
 must have been oiiginally perfect, each part ot it in harmony 
 with every part and obedient to the whole. 
 
 1 shall now present a briei view of some of the evidences 
 pertinent to the subject, lu this part of my task 1 encounter 
 hut one obstacle, and that is that the testimony which ])re 
 sents itself is so great and excellent that 1 iind it extremely 
 dillicult to select. Kature is replete with it. J-ook around 
 you as far as mortal ken can reach, or the closest investiga- 
 tion penetrate, from worlds to atoms, and nothing is discov- 
 ered but one universal scheme of aptitude; the more we ex- 
 amine It the more perfect it is found to be, and the deeper is 
 the admiration it excites. There exists nothing inapi)ropriate 
 to the place it occupies, nor can any change be ma<le which 
 would not be for the worse. Would you change the figures 
 of the sun and planets that move in space? Or mould them 
 into any other form 1 Then, unless a corresponding altera- 
 tion be made in their economy and the entire system to which 
 they belong, ruin would follow. Elevate plains and valleys, 
 or lower hills and mountains; reduce the surface of the earth 
 to a level, and it would become unfit for the sustenance of 
 the living beings, both vegetable and animal that now inhabit 
 it. The effect of a radical chauge in the atmosphere or the 
 ocean would be the same; any material alteration in the rela- 
 tive extent of land and sea would derange the present order 
 of things and call for new ones. All this is so self evident 
 that it would be taking up your time to prove it. 
 
 In tracing the scheme of adaptation it is worthy of remark, 
 that the more essential any agent is to the eristence and wel- 
 fare of living matter the more extensive is its prevalence, 
 and the more abundant its quantity. This is especially true
 
 of air, water and light. There is reason to believe, that if 
 any of these elemeuta were absent, living existence on earth 
 wouhl cease; they are therefore obtainable in every part of 
 the globe. This is also true as to color. The shades that 
 are most sahitary and pleasing- are blue and green; heuce the 
 field and forests are green, the ocean and the heavens are 
 blue, render them white, yellow or red, or give them any 
 strong and glaring color and they will injure the eyes, 
 unless they are also changed and brought into harmony with 
 them. This statement proves itself in the injury done to the 
 organ of vision by gazing too long into the sun, or at a vol- 
 cano during an intense eruption, and by the light reliecte<i 
 from plains and mountains covered with snow. 
 
 If I had the time to do justice to the subject it might be 
 both pleasing and instructive to take a view of the peculiar 
 adaptation of all vegetables where they grow in a native 
 state. This constitutes one of the most delightful harmonies 
 of nature; the leading points are soil, climate, humidity and 
 elevation above the level of the sea; from this arises the 
 boundless variety of the vegetable kingdom, every peculiar 
 track of country producing according to its native character; 
 hence could the whole surface of the earth be embraced in a 
 single view, it would exhibit a magnificent panorama of vege- 
 table mosiac. This picture so beautiful to the eye of taste 
 would be more so to the philosophic mind; in the latter 
 point of view, its beauty would consist in the scheme of ap- 
 titude indicate d by it. In fact, the whole, woidd present a 
 picture of design as resistless in its philosophy as it would 
 be grand in its outline and rich in its coloring. 
 
 If we turn our attention to the animal kingdom and inquire 
 for a moment into the character and condition of that inter- 
 esting department of nature, we will find nothing but order 
 and aptitude, everything precisely as our reason says it 
 should be. The animal kingdom being composed of many 
 kinds, the remarks made on the vegetable kingdom apply to 
 this; each kind inhabits the place most suitable to it, and 
 pursues from the same cause the mode of life that best befits 
 it. Take the- three great sub-divisions of the earth — land, air 
 and water — each peopled with distinct animals, and among
 
 -14- 
 
 eacli there exist what may be called iuteriiudiate races as 
 links to coni|)Iete the chain of being; all adopted to the rela- 
 tive elements to whi<!h they belong. It would be very inter- 
 esting to take up each division and discuss the respective 
 characteristics of each, but it would lead us too far. 
 
 We now come to the highest form of animal life — man. Is 
 anyone inclined to admit the perfection of creation, but deny 
 it, as it relates to the character of man, he, upon whom the 
 Creator has bestowed these (lualities that enable him to make 
 the material world subservient to his uses; to do so would im. 
 l)ly that the Creator was imperfect. For man, as everything 
 in animated nature, is subject to those Jaw8 that govern 
 nature. Let us contemplate man briefly, in his three-fold 
 nature, animal, intellectual and moral. His animal faculties 
 relate chiefly to his personal preservation and welfare, among 
 wliich the principal ones are to breathe, to eat and drink, to 
 exercise and sleep, and to avoid danger, for the use of which 
 faculties there is ever present when in a normal condition, a 
 monitor within to inform him when either is essential and powers 
 to enable him to enjoy them. As head of the animal kingdom, 
 man's providence is to rule; to this end his corporeal, mental 
 and moral attributes are adopted; these, with the faculties to 
 see, hear, speak, taste, touch, smell and think, enable him to 
 reach the highest realms of intellect. If all these qualities 
 presuppose a creator, a first cause, then we must go just one 
 step further and recognize a first cause in the moral world. 
 
 My views of the entire perfection of a scheme of creation 
 are such that I do not and cannot btlieve in the existence of 
 positive evil, either moral or physical. In common with 
 every rational being, I cannot believe in accident or chance. 
 All events are the result of principles and laws; by principles 
 and laws I mean those of creation. They come from the 
 Creator only. To contend that they come from any other 
 source would be to assert the existence of more creators and 
 supremes than one; for to establish laws and principles and 
 render theai oj)erative is as much a creative work as to pro- 
 du(;e matter. No one will allege that the creator or Deity 
 has ever founded a principle or law of abstract evil. I mean 
 a law of princii>Ie productive of evil alone, and if he did not
 
 — 15— 
 
 no other being could, hence it does not exist. All natural 
 laws and principles tend to good. Nor is it possible that 
 they produce both good and evil, for in direct opposition to 
 every known principle and fact, it would mean that the same 
 cause can produce uot only different but opposite effects; for 
 positive good and positive evil are the reverse of each other. 
 Thus then the matter seems to stand; in obedience to exist- 
 ing laws which the Creator established, every event tends to 
 the production of ultimate benefits; what we call evil even- 
 tually produces good. This could not be the case, were good 
 and evil the reverse of each other. Oppobites cannot 
 stand related as cause and effect. Light cannot produce 
 darkness nor cold produce heat. 
 
 1 fear that there is a possibility of being misuudertotood to 
 say that there is no evil. Tbere is something so called evil; 
 it is the perversion of good, it must exist, in order that our 
 moral powers may be exercised upon some objects; what are 
 these objects? I answer, our vices, our propensities to vice 
 or our misfortuues. The sole end of our moral faculties is to 
 check vice, or to counteract in some way what we call evik 
 Were in not for misfortune or want of some sort, on what 
 wculd our benevolence be exercised? Indeed, without 
 something to excite it to action, it would be a superfluous at- 
 tribute, an endowment without an end to render it useful. 
 Extinguish misfortune and want, trials and sorrows, and you 
 stop the foundation of V)enev^olence and friendship, or rob 
 human nature of the beauty and luster of some of its bright- 
 est moral jewels. If there were no propensity in man to do 
 wron^', what would become of the faculty of consciousness or 
 a sense of justice; the very existence of the sense of justice 
 implies existence of a contrary principal. Of firmness or for- 
 titude the same may be said, misfortune alone can give it ex- 
 ercise. Bodily pain, the loss of friends or wealth, deprivation 
 disgrace or calamity, or distress is essential to the develope 
 ment of these attributes. Of the feeling of piety the same is 
 true; that calami y has a tendency to develope it, is known to 
 every observant person; hardened to all moral sentiment 
 must be the man whose sympathy and sense of piety is not 
 aroused when sickness and death snatch some loved form
 
 —1(5- 
 
 fiom our side, and wLilc 1 do uo" admire, nor coniinend tlie 
 relifjion of lea r, I do say, that diliiculty and danger, calamity 
 and death strenjjthen our moral sentiments generally, and 
 among them that ot piety. Thus I might analyze the whole 
 moral character of man, and show that every element of it 
 has a positive and necessary relation to vice, mistortune or 
 some form of snffeiing; so that 1 am foiced to the conclusioD 
 that a world without vice, sorrow^ and misfortune would be a 
 world without virtue, sympathy and benevolence. 
 
 Not if all these elements in nature in the animal and vege- 
 table kingdom, in the mental and moral nature of man all 
 bes|)eak an allwise, benehcieut and harmonious design, im- 
 planting in ihe heart of man these moral principles which iu 
 their exercise call forth our admiration, veneration, grateful- 
 ness and love, how can we, as reasonable beings, deny the 
 creator, the designer, the deity our homage and worship? 
 But some will say it is absurd to approach our maker to ask 
 for special favors, particularly if based upon selfishness. I 
 agree in this conclusion, for in my creed, my philosO[)hy, 1 
 cannot have or conceive a si)ecial providence. Where a gen- 
 eral i)rovidence exists, under the government of perfect law, 
 a special one is not necessary, is in fact inadmissible, for I 
 hold iliat llie belief iu a si)ecial providence presupposes im- 
 perfection iu i he laws aud economy of creation. Hence our 
 worship of lio<l mu^t spring fiom motives of gratefulness, ad- 
 miration and \encration; grateful for all we have and the 
 p«)wer.s we possos, which enable us to seek and obtain the 
 better ailmiration lor the perfect scheme visible in creation, 
 and veneration lor the parental characteristics so sell evident 
 in his general )»rovidence. 
 
 Watei-, hie, air, plants, animals and man, and in short all 
 the greiit natural forces, through all their i)roducts, however 
 many and\aried, compose one world . Nay, more; science 
 em|)hati<;ally declares that all worlds compose one universe. 
 All arc d- ])en(l('ui, the one on the other: all inteiact on each 
 othei , and come under one aud the same series of physical 
 sequences. ^Ve cannot, therefore, as the ])rescientific ages 
 did, i>atcel out thenni\erse amoug a multitude ofdeitie-'. 
 iScience knows no pnuiheon. There must be one dominant
 
 —17— 
 
 and supreme power which rules over all. And this power, 
 which sits behind the laws of nature, must be inconceivably 
 great and wise. If it were not wise and strong beyond our 
 reach of thought, the universe, instead of being a harmony 
 of invariable sequences, would break into ruinous confusion. 
 What then shall we call this power ? We call it God. 
 Others hiding in unmeaning and self-contradictory phras 
 es, may call it "the stream of tendency" ignoring the fountain 
 from which the stream flows. We say, that law implies 
 a law-giver, that power implies a being from whom it proceeds, 
 and we worship him under the name of God as the sole source 
 of the forces and laws of nature. 1 shall conclude with an ex- 
 tract from Herbert Spencer, which for conciseness and per- 
 fection of thought, is, perhaps, the clearest indorsement of 
 my argument. "Consciousness of an inscrutable power mani 
 fested to us through all phenomena, has been growing ever 
 clearer and must eventually be freed from its perfections. 
 The certainty that on the one hand such a power exists, while 
 on the other hand its nature transcends intuition and is be- 
 yond imagination, is the certainty toward which intelligence 
 has from the first been progressing. To this conclusion 
 science inevitably arrives as it reaches its confines, while to 
 this conclusion religion is irresistably driven by criticism."
 
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