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Title: First Principles Author: William Batchelder Greene Date: 1843 Language: en Topics: principles Source: https://www.libertarian-labyrinth.org/contrun/1842-william-b-greene-at-22/
THE stream flows between its banks, according to Love. The planets
sustain and restrain themselves, in their courses, by this same
principle. All nature governs itself by Love.
By this I understand that each created thing, is gifted to act, as
though it knew the properties, and ends to be attained which belong to
each of the others; and that each one so guides itself as not to
interfere with, or restrain, the workings of another; except when a
clashing of properties takes place, and then, a just and equitable
compromise is immediately effected.
This regard to the peculiarities, and constructions of each other,
appears to be an application of the principle of justice.
The sentence, âAll nature governs itself by Love,â implies a powerâthe
Power of Love. But this is not always perceived.
Looking out upon nature, we find all things moving, and revolving
according to some apparently everlasting and unchanging laws, of which
we have, as yet, obtained no knowledge, save that of their mere
existence.
Immediately we sum up all the changes of the seasons; the summer with
its overpowering heat; the winter with its intense cold; the movement of
the winds and the waves; the growth of the trees; the revolutions of the
sun, and the moon, and the stars; and then we turn our eyes inward, and
perceive in our own souls, that we decide concerning the performance of
any action, according as the motive for, is stronger or weaker than the
motive against; and because we have seen all this, we say:
There are in nature two classes of things: things which are governed,
and things which govern. The things which are governed are matter and
spirit. The things which govern, are the laws of matter and the laws of
spirit. Then we sum up all the laws which we know, and find that they
may be included in the first thought of justice or love. But the view is
changed; we now perceive the element of Activity, or Power.
Power (or activity) I call will, (not free will.)
As in the word Love, Power (or activity) is implied, so in the word
Power, Freedom is implied. But this is not always perceived.
There is a chain of causes and effects, which proceeds from the eternity
of the past and passes, link by link, through our little dominion of
time, thence stretching onward, till it is lost in the dim eternity to
come. The description of this chain, is the history of the
universe.âWhen we have performed an action, it is no longer ours, it
belongs to nature. As soon as an action goes forth, it gives birth to
another action, which last gives birth to still another, and so on
through all eternity. The little bustle and noise, which we have made,
appears small, beside the motion of the rest of the universe; but that
little bustle and noise will have their precise effect, and this effect
will continue to produce and reproduce itself forever. All that has been
done before my time, has left effects, to serve me as motives. All that
I do, and all that nature does in my time, will serve as motives to
those who come after me. All nature has been at work from the beginning
of time, until this day, to produce me, and my character.'âAll things
are full of labor; men cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with
seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that has been, is the
thing that shall be; and the thing that has been done, is the thing that
shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun.â When we see
these things, we think that it is well to know, and to love, nature;
for, according to her laws, are all things done, which are done, in the
world. We see that from good, good arises; and that from evil, evil
arises. We see that this is a law of nature. Then we say again, with
King Solomon, âGod shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there
is a time for every work, and for every purpose. Though a sinner do evil
a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it
will be well with them which fear God, but it shall not be well with the
wicked; neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow;
because he feareth not before God.â
Looking in upon ourselves, we find that we are not machines. We find
that we are something more than mere sieves, by which, nature
distinguishes stronger from weaker motives.
We find that, although we always act from a choice of motives, there is
no power in any motive, by which it acts irresistibly upon the mind. The
degrees of strength, by which motives act upon the mind, are given to
those motives, by the mind itself: The mind itself decides by what
motives it will be ruled; and often, it refuses to obey a motive coming
from without, because of a principle which it has formed for its own
government. The mind makes laws for itself; and changes those laws when
it pleases so to do. Matter obeys the strongest force, and it obeys that
force so far as it is stronger than all other opposite forces. But not
so spirit. Spirit opposes extraneous forces, by forces formed by, and in
itself.
The struggle between the soul, and extraneous force, constitutes
Spiritual Life. In every human action there is an element of Liberty,
and an element of Destiny. Liberty modifies destiny, and destiny
modifies liberty.
Man is not wholly free, neither is he wholly enslaved; for were he
wholly free, or wholly enslaved, he might continue to exist, but he
would cease to be man. Man is a free spirit, bound in chains and
fetters; but having power to throw off; one by one, the bands which
fasten him to the earth. If any man strive to rise above his destiny,
that man is a noble man; if any man knowingly succumb to his
circumstances, that man is an ignoble man.
A man is not an ignoble man, because he does ignoble things; but he does
ignoble things, because he is an ignoble man. A tree may be known by its
fruits.
The fool is driven before his destiny; but the man of understanding
rideth thereon.
There is a chain of causes and effects, which stretches from eternity to
eternity. This chain is a bridge, which connects the past with that
which is to come. Proceeding from that which is behind us, we step, link
by link, along this bridge, and press onward toward the shadowy future.
We know that this chain exists, because we see its links. We know that a
particular cause will never fail to brine forth its own particular
effect. As cause is to effect, in the material world, so, with certain
modifications, is motive to voluntary action in the human mind. No link,
in the immeasurable chain, could occupy any other place than the one
which it does occupy; for there is no such thing as chance.
This chain stretches forth from the eternity, which precedes our birth;
and these causes, under the name of motives, will always have their
precise effect, upon every operation of our minds, and upon every action
of our lives.
From like causes we never fail to experience like effects. Knowledge is
not vague and undetermined. The human mind is a legitimate object of
science.
If we have given, the precise character, and motives, of a man, we can
predict his conduct, under certain circumstances, as certainly as we can
predict an eclipse of the sun, or the return of a comet.
The old farmer knows more that the young beginner, because he has had
more experience. The old diplomatist knows more than the young
politician, because he has seen more men.
If I plant corn, I am as certain that I can sell it in the market, as I
am that it will come up in my fields. If I am the owner of a
manufactory, I am as certain that I can obtain men to labor in my mill,
as I am that my machinery will work. Men do not always sec this destiny;
but if adversity lays her iron hand upon them, and they perceive that
all avenues are closed, by which they would vent their activity, they
acknowledge this conjunction of causes and effects, which then asserts
its power. How often is it, that we would act, but cannot, because
circumstances oppose us; and circumstances mark out our destiny.
âNor would I have you mistake, in the point of your own liberty. These
is a liberty of corrupt nature, which is effected both by men and
beasts, to do what they list; and this liberty is inconsistent with
authority, impatient of all restraint; by this liberty sumus omnes
deteriores; ât is the grand enemy of truth and peace, and all the
ordinances of God are bent against it. But there is a civil, a moral, a
federal liberty, which is the proper end and object of authority; it is
a liberty for that only which is just and good; for this liberty you are
to stand with the hazard of your very lives and whatsoever crosses it,
is not authority, but a distemper thereof This liberty is maintained in
a way of subjection to authority; and the authority set over you will,
in all administrations for your good, be quietly submitted unto by all,
but such as have a disposition to shake off the yoke, and lose their
true liberty, by their murmuring at the honor and power of authority.â
Always man sees, above himself, an image of what he ought to be. This
image is not himself, but is what he ought to be. This image comprises,
in itself, goodness, power, and wisdom. As a man strives to realize this
idea of what he ought to be, he rises higher and higher; but, as he
rises higher and higher, this image removes from him and also rises
higher and higher, until it becomes infinite goodness, infinite power,
and infinite wisdom. When this idea has become thus perfected, and man
perceives it, he knows that the idea is the idea of God. Man says, it is
not me, it is not mine; but I see it, and it is the everlasting God.
Freedom is not the power to do wrong; it is the power to do right, the
power to exercise all the capacities of oneâs nature. There is but one
being that is absolutely free; that being is God. Man is the victim of
circumstances; he is never free in himself, but he can become free by
partaking of the absolute liberty, by partaking of âthe liberty of the
sons of God.â
There is no self-determining power of the will. Always the will obeys
the emotions of the sensibility, as modified by the dictates of the
intelligence. In other words, the precise conduct of a man may be known,
if we have given, the precise character of the man, and the motives
which are to act upon that character. Man is not accountable for the
motive, neither is he accountable for the action; but he is accountable
for the character. Man always has the idea before him of what he ought
to be, and, if he contemplate and love that idea, he will ascend toward
it; and if he ascend toward it, he will partake of the everlasting
liberty. But, if he scorns that idea, and prefers the fleeting
circumstances of time, he will fall from liberty and become a bond slave
of the Devil.
A man is not a murderer, because he commits murder: but he commits
murder, because he is a murderer. We condemn the man, because he commits
the deed; for, to us, a tree is known by its fruits only. There is One
that judgeth the heart.
Freedom, therefore, dwells in the intelligence; because it is by the
intelligence that we know God, when we perceive his manifestations. It
is by the intelligence that we look inward, and discover our own
limitations and weaknesses; and the knowledge of our own limitations and
weaknesses is the first step toward a remodeling; of our characters,
according to the everlasting idea. When adverse circumstances surround
us, and threaten to overwhelm us, do we overcome them, and assert our
superiority, our liberty, by an effort of the will? No. We look at these
circumstances, and study them, and then because we have obtained
knowledge, we turn aside these adverse circumstances, one after the
other, and at last we ride over that which at first threatened to
overwhelm us.
Were we mere spirits, and not spirits subjected to the circumstances of
the body, then might this idea, of what we ought to be, be sufficient to
maintain our liberty.
But we are not such spirits; we are bound down by material bodies,
surrounded by temptations, the victims of circumstances; and this divine
idea is hardly seen by those who are obliged to toil, daily and nightly,
to secure those things which are necessary to the body.
It is possible, if this idea were all that could lead us to liberty,
that among whole generations of men, there might not be a single one,
who should assert his freedom, and become the master of his destiny. For
the image wanes dim, because of the world which is seen, and the things
therein.
Would it not be a glorious mercy of God, if this idea, which is not man,
but which comes down to man, to show him the path of liberty, the path
which leads to God, should become man, and dwell among us, and die among
us, to show us how to assert the superiority of our souls over that
which is materialâto show us, in fine, the way to escape the bondage of
the body, and to attain to the liberty of the sons of God?
If this Idea, this Light, should come among us, if he should come as a
man like ourselves, we should know him, because he would do wonderful
things, which no man ever didâbecause he would begin a movement which
would go on, growing and growing, from generation to generation; and,
when men of the most remote ages perceived this movement, they would
recognise Him that commenced it. We should know him, because he would
testify of himself, and the light which is in us would testify of him;
for he would speak the words of truth, and these words would bring out
the dim and defaced image of the truth which is in us, until it should
reflect the blaze of the eternal glory.
He that believeth hath the witness in himself. The witness within and
the witness without. At the mouths of two or three witnesses shall every
word stand fast.
What are material objects? Material objects are the causes of
impressions. We do not perceive material objects; we only perceive the
impressions which they make upon us. Their different properties, smell,
taste, weight, color, extension, &c., only appear to us as their
different manners of acting, or of making impressions. We know material
objects by their properties only. We know than, therefore, only as
active beings, as forces. All the being of nature, minerals, vegetables,
&c., are nothing to us, but forces, or combinations of forces. These
forces are not like the soul, intelligent and free, but they are all
gifted with activity. Even those which have no property but simple
resistance are active, for resistance is action.
It is said that there is a simple substance, differing from, and lying
behind, all these properties. This simple substance I have never
perceived; I know no necessity for it: and I have, therefore, no reason
to believe that any such simple substance really exists.
A man, and the object upon which he acts, are two separate and distinct
things.
A man, and the instrument by which he acts, are also two separate and
distinct things.
If I cut a piece of wood, or write upon a sheet paper, the piece of wood
and the sheet of paper are objects upon which I act; they are,
therefore, not me.
The chisel with which I cut, and the pen with which I write, are
instruments by which I act; they are, therefore, not me. My hand is also
an instrument by which I act; my hand, therefore, is not me.
My whole body is a combination of instruments by which I act; my body,
therefore, is not me.
If I am not the object acted upon, nor the instrument by which the
action is performed, what then am I? I am, evidently, that which acts.
Although there is no material body without three dimensions, we often
make abstraction of one or two of them; for example, if we speak of the
size of a field, or of the height of a church, we consider a surface
only, or a line. But no such thing as a geometrical line, or as a
surface, tall) exists. When we speak of length, or of length and
breadth, we speak of things from which the perfection of their being has
been abstracted; but, when we speak of length, breadth, and depth, we
speak of a general formula which includes all the material bodies with
which we come in contact every day.
To facilitate study, Geometry is divided into three parts; the first
part treats of length; the second treats of length and breadth; the
third treats of length, breadth, and depth. The first two parts treat of
that from which all true being has been abstracted; the third part
treats of real, existing things.
Now, there is no soul which does not desire, think, and act: in other
words, there is no soul without sensibility, intelligence, and power.
When we speak of sensibility, intelligence, and power, or when we speak
of either sensibility, intelligence, or power, alone by itself, or when
we speak of any two of these, without the third, we speak; of things
which do not really exist, because that which forms the perfection of
their being has been abstracted from them. But when we speak of
sensibility, intelligence, and power, we speak of a general formula
which includes all the souls with which we come in contact every day. In
order to facilitate observation, we will endeavor to e examine
sensibility by itself; intelligence by itself; and power by itself:
1. By sensibility, the soul either perceives its own activity; or it
reacts upon itself by an emotion.
2. By intelligence, the soul either recognizes the causes of its own
activity; or having recognized those causes, it proceeds to recognise
their effects; or, it compares emotions,received through the
sensibility, with recognitions of cause and effect.
By power (activity, volition), the soul either simply produces effects
upon the material world: or, by producing such effects, it acts upon
other souls, through the instrumentality of language; or, it reacts upon
itself by the formation of an opinion, thereby producing a harmony
between the intelligence and the sensibility.
I have endeavored, in the last three paragraphs, to describe the action
of the soul by sensibility alone, by intelligence alone, and by power
alone; but I have not succeeded, and I cannot in my own mind conceive of
such separate action. The soul acts, and thinks, when it perceives; it
perceives, and acts, when it thinks; it perceives, and thinks, when it
acts. An emotion involves a thought, and a volition; a thought involves
an emotion, and a volition; a volition involves an emotion, and a
thought. If I attempt to examine one manner of acting by itself, the
other two immediately present themselves; if I attempt to examine the
three, I immediately perceive nothing but their unity; if I attempt to
examine their unity, the unit immediately disappears, and a triplicity
stands in its place. I do not pretend to explain this triplicity in
unity; I merely endeavor to show that it does, in fact, exist. It is
said that there is a soul different from, and manifesting itself by,
sensibility, intelligence, and power. I have never caught a glimpse of
any such soul; I see no necessity for such a soul; and I have,
therefore, no reason to believe that any such soul does really exist. It
appears to me that if the sensibility, intelligence, and power, which
belong to any manâs soul, should be so separated as not to act and react
upon each other, that the fact of their separation would amount to the
annihilation of the manâs soul. A true soul must fulfill the following
conditions; 1. It must be able to act; 2. It must be able to perceive
its own activity; 3. It must be able, while it perceives its ow n
activity, to recognise itself. These three, are reciprocally, the
conditions of each otherâs existence; and they include the fact of
consciousness.
There is in every man a love, an attraction, for that which is like
himself, and a dislike, a repulsion, for that which is unlike himself.
The highest characteristic of man is Life, and he loves every being in
which he perceives life, or the manifestations thereof; he dislikes
every being in which he perceives a tendency downwards, from life,
toward non-existence.
There are many beings incomplete, half dead, which we do not love; but
we do not dislike them because they partake of life, but because of
their tendency toward nonexistence. Man loves order, but he has a horror
of chaos.
It is natural for us to love our friends more than we love any other
created beings; and this is because they live, and because we have seen
more of their lives than we have of the lives of any other created
things. Our sensibilities are much affected when we see a tine statue,
or painting, because the statue, or painting, is a representative of
life; and when we perceive a statue, we recognise the living artist that
made it. We admire any piece of human labor; even a plain brick wall
possesses a certain interest, when compared with a loose heap of stones.
If the statue be so fine that we forget the artist, it is because the
statue is lifelike in itself, and the appearance of life in the statue,
renders it unnecessary for us to think; ofâ the living artist. But no
man would be so much affected h! the sight of a work of art, as he would
be by the sight of an equally perfect living person. If man possessed
nothing but sensibility, and activity, he would be acted upon by every
thing which came in contact with him; and, as each of these things would
lave its precise effect, his own conduct would be regulated by the
exterior world, he being but a mere machine. If man possessed nothing
but intelligence and activity, he would have no emotions to induce him
to think, neither would he have any subject of thought, and although be
would have the power of thought, be would not think, and therefore would
not truly live. The action of the intelligence upon the sensibility,
constitutes Life and nothing truly lives but spirit. Our life is a
struggle between two natures; if either were wanting, there would be no
struggle, and life would cease. Beauty, Justice, and Harmony, always
accompany Life, yet they do not constitute life ; but, if Life be
manifested, then will Beauty, Justice, and Harmony appear, because they
are attributes of that manifestation. Whenever we find either Beauty, or
Justice, or Peace, we recognise that there a Living Spirit either is, or
has once been. Yet Beauty, Justice, and Peace, are not that Living
Spirit, they are, it I may so speak, the language by which that Spirit
manifests itself We often find Beauty, and Justice, and Harmony, in the
work of a Spirit, after that Spirit has left its work, and departed from
it. The love of the Beautiful, the love of the Just, and the love of the
Harmonious, dwell in the sensibility; but the idea of Beauty, the idea
of Justice, and the idea of Harmony, dwell in the intelligence. Beauty
itself; Justice itself, Peace itself, are neither in the sensibility,
nor in the intelligence; they are with God. and are everlastingly the
same; but we can discover, as we move on, more and more concerning them.
God is the only perfect being. If we endeavor to move on toward the
perfection of our being, if we strive to follow the idea of what we
ought to be, which leads to infinite love, infinite wisdom, and infinite
power, we shall be on the right course. Whatever tends to assist us in
our journey is good. If we fall from the idea of what we ought to be,
and do not strive to perfect our natures, but move downward toward
infinite hatred, infinite folly, and infinite weakness, we shall be on
the wrong course. Whatever tends to press us downward is evil. The
existence of infinite power, infinite wisdom, infinite. love, supposes
the existence of something which is not them. The existence of the Yes,
supposes the existence of the No.
God thought a being partaking of will. wisdom, and sensibility. He
thought a body, with which this being was to be connected, and which was
to be the instrument by which it should manifest itself, and by which it
should maintain communion with what is without. The nature of this body
is explained below.
God thought an infinite variety of properties combined with each other,
in an infinitely diversified manner.
The being possessed of will, wisdom, sensibility, was one thought ; the
âinfinite variety of properties,â was another and a different thought.
God thought the being to be possessed of the power of causation, so far
as to be able to vary the position of that portion of the âinfinite
diversity and combination of properties â which formed its body; and, by
that means, to act on the âexterior combination of propertiesâ and to
modify them to a certain extent.
God thought the âcombination of propertiesâ to have the power to act
upon the body of the being, and by that means, to hold a certain
relation to the being itself.
The being possessed of will, wisdom, sensibility, is the soul of man.
The infinite variety of properties is the world of matter. The body is
that portion of the world of matter upon which the soul immediately
acts. All these exist in the thought of God.
Thus do I explain the Universe as the settled opinion of Almighty God;
and thus do I explain the relation which exists between the mind and
what is without.
W. B. G.