The origin of thought has occupied the attention of all true philosophers. Are there two natures in man? If there be but one, is it soul or matter? If there be two, do the ideas come by the senses, or do they grow spontaneously in our soul, or indeed are they a combination of the action of exterior objects upon us and of the interior powers which we possess?

With these three questions, which have divided the philosophic world throughout all time, is involved the examination which affects virtue most directly: and the point of investigation is whether fate or free will determines the resolutions of men.

Among the ancients, fate proceeded from the will of the Gods; among the moderns, we attribute it to the course of things. Fate, among the ancients, was placed under the jurisdiction of free will, for the will of man struggled against events that occurred, and the moral resistance was invincible; the fatalism of the moderns, on the contrary, necessarily destroys confidence in free will; if circumstances make us what we are, then we are unable to resist their control; if exterior objects are the cause of everything which occurs in our soul, what independent thought can free us from their influence? The fate which descended from heaven filled the soul with a holy horror, while that which binds us to the earth produces only self degradation. What is the use of all these questions, may one ask? What is the use of anything else? may one answer. For what is there more important for man, than to know if he really incurs responsibility for his actions, and what relation the power of his will sustains towards the empire of surrounding circumstances? What would conscience be, if only our habits gave it birth, if it were nothing but the product of colors, of sounds, of perfumes, in fine of the circumstances of every kind with which we have been surrounded during our infancy?

Metaphysics, which is applied to discover what is the source of our ideas, produces a powerful influence, by its operations, on the nature and the force of our will; that metaphysics is at the same time the highest and the most necessary of all our species of knowledge; and the partisans of supreme utility, of moral utility, cannot treat it as an object of disdain.

Dependence of Mind upon Matter.

BY PIERCE C. GRACE, ESQ.

"The prejudice which is commonly entertained against metaphysical speculations," says Dugald Stewart, "seems to arise chiefly from two causes: first from an apprehension that the subjects about which they are employed, are placed beyond the reach of the human faculties; and secondly from a belief that these subjects have no relation to the business of life."

At the period when this remark was written, these objections to metaphysical disquisitions were urged with much greater force, because with more justness, than at the present day. For at that time, and for ages previous, the history of metaphysics, with but a few brilliant exceptions, presented a sad commentary on the vanity of the human intellect. The thousand wild and impracticable systems and theories those gloomy monuments of ruined thought and prostituted genius-the senseless disputations of visionary theorists and quibbling schoolmen the idealists and the materialists-the egoists and the systematic doubters-the sneering deist the mouthing pantheist, and the cold-blooded atheist, together with a legion of other clashing sects, a hideous progeny of the human mind conceived and begotten in the chaotic realms of baseless theory and wild conjecture, did indeed present plausible grounds for the objections alluded to. Men had wandered from the true path of philosophical inquiry which, if faithfully followed, will present nothing which the human powers cannot comprehend, and will lead to the happiest results in extending the pleasures, softening the cares, and defining the duties of man as a physical, intellectual, social and moral being. This truth has gained footing among the lovers of science. Psychologists and philosophers in general have become more rational in their investigations; they wander less from known facts, and, impressed with an humbler sense of their limited powers, they have, in a great measure, contented themselves in pursuing that path in which, if the sphere of their operations is more circumscribed, their searches for truth are more certain, and the benefits conferred on their fellow-men of a more lasting duration.

Thus, since the time when Mr. Stewart favored the world with his admirable speculations on the mind, men have been enabled to make rapid advances towards a more intimate acquaintance with the workings of that mysterious and subtle principle, and far from turning with distaste from the study, they have even sought it with avidity. For, as the student progresses the shadowy glimpses he is allowed to catch of that clouded world which lies beyond the limits of human ken-the gorgeous superstructure of divine omnipotence presented in the existence and development of the human mind; its admirable adaptation to the wants, situation and destiny

of man, and the feeling of lordly superiority which arises in his bosom when he contemplates the dignifled position allotted to him among the creations of God, render him eager in the pursuit of that sublime branch of knowledge which gives life and action to the nobler feelings of his nature, and whilst confirming his belief in the existence of an omniscient providence, gives him the fond assurance that he is destined for immortality. Science, properly so called, has indeed burst in glory through the dark mists of metaphysical anarchy and error, and now, hand in hand with christianity, holds on its brilliant course, a beacon light to the humble student who fain would read the burning characters inscribed upon the tablets of everlasting truth.

Nevertheless, among the mass of men, the prejudice to which Mr. Stewart alludes as existing in his time, still lingers.

There are still those who as an excuse for their indolence or their ignorance urge as objections to such a study, that the subjects discussed are beyond the reach of the human faculties, and that they have no connection with the concerns of life. But if such apologists would properly exert the powers they possess, they would find that their faculties have a wider and a more useful range, and the legitimate study of their own nature a more intimate connection with the concerns of life than they would fain profess to believe.

However, the course marked out in the conduct of the subject to which I desire to draw attention, will not, I trust, be subject to the objections alluded to. It is far from my intention to speculate or to theorize. Nice metaphysical distinctions, useless and fancy built visions, and futile quibbles upon the essence of mind and matter, will not enter the limits of this essay. It is my simple purpose, so far as known facts will allow me, to present a few rambling thoughts upon the manner in which the human mind may be considered dependent upon matter; how far and to what end that dependence exists, and the pleasures extended to man in consequence of its existence.

Without, then, attempting to prove the existence of mind and matter, or to descant on the distinction between them, I shall proceed upon the presumption that it is taken for granted, not only that mind and matter exist, but also that they exist separately and totally distinct in their natures, holding so far as it is possible for man to perceive, no quality in common: the one existing in a form palpable to the senses, presenting not only length, breadth, weight, figure, colour and divisibility, but also certain attributes, if I may be allowed the expression, such as motion, sound, space, odor, and the like: the other, impalpable to the senses and destitute of any of the properties by which we know matter, existing as an invisible, undefinable, intelligent, indivisible, and immortal principle.

It has been happily and forcibly hinted by an ancient writer,* that the brilliant destiny of man, and the dignified position and

Sallust.

glorious prerogatives which the creator intended he should hold and exercise among the manifestations of his omnipotence, are evidenced in his physical formation; that whilst all other animals are made with their heads and bodies bent towards the ground, evincing that their lives are dedicated to the gross, sordid, and mutable things of earth; man stands erect among them, his head and front and form elevated above the earth, he spurns beneath him, and his whole appearance bespeaking his pre-eminence in the scale of being and the lofty destiny that awaits him. The force with which this thought strikes us is increased, when we consider the high source whence it is derived; but the physical formation and upright attitude of man as a mere animal produced as an evidence of his high destiny, fades away and is lost in the brilliant testimony which a consideration of his mind in connection with the material world, adduces. In fact, if we are to search for any evidence it is to this we are ultimately driven. For where, independent of that mind, vill we find in man an evidence of his superiority among the Creator's works? Consider for a moment, what would be the condition of man as a mere animal, as a mere mechanical thing of organized and animated matter? Endeavour to picture for a moment a human form, bereft of mind; imagine it if you will in point of fine proportion, muscular strength, and capability of action, all that the sculptor in his brightest dreams has ever imagined as perfect in a human body. Give to this body animal life and animal instincts, such as exist in the brute creation, and thus fashioned, turn it out to wander on the broad world, to follow the instincts and gratify the appetites of the brute. What, I ask you, would become of this being? Guided alone by the instincts we have given him, and thrown entirely upon the mere powers of his animal frame, his physical conformation and his upright attitude would avail him not. Nay; they would prove a detriment to his existence, for they would render him less capable of battling for his life; they would render him comparatively powerless in obtaining necessary nutriment, and leave him an open and easy prey for superior brute force. Such a being, despite his noble proportions, would sink immeasurably on the scale of creation, and the whole animal world where was implanted superior muscular strength, larger physical proportion, or more agility in action, would rise far above him, and occupy a more elevated and important rank in nature. Helpless, wretched, and short-lived indeed would be the miserable being we have attempted to imagine! Where would be that power before which alone the whole brute creation quails; before which the royal lion and the vengeful tiger crouch in suppli ant dread! Where that magic spell by the potency of which the great granaries of nature are opened and made to pour forth their tributes for the nourishment of man! Where the glorified intelligence which has reduced the ocean into slavery, and smiles in calmness amidst the toss of its big and angry billows, which wrestles

with and conquers the rush of the dread tornado, and penetrates the bowels of the earth, and plays with the lightning in its awful course, and sits in judgment among the stars! Annihilate that potent and glorious principle, and what a shattered ruin of divine omnipotence would the material world present! Brute man hunted into caves and dens, unable to withstand the superior powers of the animals around him, would wither away from creation, and this vast globe, tremendous and grand as is its structure, would tumble through the realms of space, a wreck, a loathsome den of roving and wrangling beasts, a huge collection of useless matter, without object or design, unworthy the power and the wisdom of the God who formed it! And yet, that intelligence which so ennobles man, which places in his hands the sceptre of earthly power and pre-eminence among the vast works of the Creator, is in its operations so intimately connected with, and in a certain degree so dependent upon matter, that not only is it impossible for the nature of that connection to be seen, but many who have wasted their energies in the fruitless attempt to discover it, have been deluded into the fatal error that mind and matter are one and the same.

The human mind is that principle in man which is capable of thinking, willing, remembering, and reasoning. In its state of corporeal imprisonment, if I may so express myself, it is dependent on matter for the development of its faculties. All our ideas are derived through the operation of the external world upon our senses, and the operations of the mind upon the knowlege it thus requires. The first step which is taken in awakening the mind, and calling its powers into action, is sensation, which is peculiarly a consequence of animal and material organization. Sensation is instantaneously succeeded by perception and consciousness, which may in a measure be deemed co-existent, and these are followed by reflection, which is an operation of the mind compounded of consciousness, memory and comparison. Sensation is the effect produced upon an animated body of matter, by its coming in contact with, or approaching within the influence of material matter surrounding it. Perception may be termed the dawning of intellect, for following immediately upon sensation, it is the rousing effort of the mind brought by sensation to a knowledge of the existence of the object acting on the senses. Consciousness is a faculty by which we obtain a knowledge of the mental processes brought into action by sensation, and is in fact merely the mental act of attention to what is passing in the mind at the time. Reflection is a compound operation of the mind embracing numerous mental processes, such as a consciousness of existing mental actions, a memory of former sensations and perceptions, and former mental processes, and the power of comparing present sensations and perceptions with those that are past, of analyzing and drawing distinctions, arranging and separating subjects, and forming judgments and conclusions from them.