LAWS WHICH GOVERNMAN’S WILL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 438, 8 October 1908, Page 4

LAWS WHICH GOVERNMAN’S WILL.

(By Count Eeo Tolstoi)

When experience and reason have proved to a man that a stone always falls to the earth he regards the law as infallible, and always expects it to be accomplished. But when he is taught in the same way that his will is subject to laws he does not believe it, and cannot believe it. Experience and reason may prove to man time and again that under the same conditions and with the same temperament he always will act in the same way, but when for the thousandth time he begins to act under the specified conditions with temperament unchanged, he is just as sure as he was in the first place to act in accordance with his own will.

Every man, whether he be a philosopher or a. savage, may know by experience and reason there cannot possibly be two different actions under precisely the same conditions, and yet if he did not believe in the absurd possibility, which is the essence of free will, he would believe life itself to be impossible. Although it seems to be impossible, he feels sure that it is true, for if he cannot have free will he cannot understand life, and he cannot live a single instant. All the aspirations of men, all their reasons for living, tend in reality to augment their freedom of action. Riches and poverty, fame and obscurity, power and subjection, strength and weakness, health and disease, knowledge and ignorance, toil and pleasure, feasting and hunger, virtue and vice, are only so many varying degrees of liberty. We cannot possibly imagine a living man deprived of his free will.

When we consider the consciousness of a free, immutable and supreme will, subject neither to experience nor reason, acknowledged by all thinkers and known to all men, necessary even to their existence, we must look at the question in another way. According to jurisprudence, the actions of men are subject to general laws discoverable by statistics, and the question is, What is man’s responsibility to society because of his consciousness of free will ? According to ethics, man is dependent upon his natural temperament and the influences with which he is sur« rounded, and the question is, What is the faculty developed by consciousness of free will which enables man to distinguish between good and evil? According to history man, relatively to the life of humanity, seems to be subject to laws that govern the historical life, but outside of this relation he seems to be a free being, and the question is. Must the historical life of peoples, of humanity, be considered as tfie product of the fall or of the involuntary acts of meu ? When we speak of the transmigration of peoples, the barbarian invasion, of events of the siege of Napoleon 111., or simply of any act performed by any man at any moment, as, for instance, choosing one route rather than another for a promenade, we discover no contradiction ; the proportion of liberty and necessity is easily recognised. Our idea of the greater or less part played by liberty in any given act often varies according to the point of view from which we examine the phenomenon, but every act is invariably seen to be a reconciliation between liberty and necessity.

The greater the amount of liberty the less the amount of necessity, and inversely. The proportion of liberty and necessity diminishes or increases according to the point of view from which the act is examined, but the two are always inversely related. — Chicago Tribune.

“ Bill, yer forgot yer whip.” “ Never mind, I got me langwidge,” was the response. The wit of the jehu, however, belongs to the Australian bullock-driver alone. The other day in the Gore district, a three-horse team played up roughly on meeting a motor car. The driver, like his Australian prototype, used his “ langwidge,” and with such enthusiasm that a lady passenger in the car remonstrated with him, desiring to know where he acquired such a lurid vocabulary. “ Madame, it’s a gift,” jerked out the incensed jehu, and the lady was disposed to agree with him. There was a no-license rally down Christchurch way the other day. During the proceedings a lady lecturer was explaining the strength of whisky. To illustrate her idea, she took along a glass of whisky, a glass of water, and a kicking worm. When the psychological moment arrived she put the worm in the glass of water, and it began to swim. Triumphantly she then put in the whisky, and it gave one dying kick and offered up the ghost. “What brand is it?” cried a woman in the audience. “ XYZ ! ” was the reply. “I’ll have to get some of that,” cried the female interrogator, “ I’ve had worms all my life ! ” Every department of the Bon Marclieis now full to overflowing with the latest productions of fashion for spring and summer wear, inspection of which is invited by C. M. Boss and Co., Palmerston North.* Chamberlain’s Stomach and Liver Tablets are purely vegetable, and contain no ingredient that can in any way be injurious to the most delicate persou. ' Their action is mild and gentle without any of the painful sensations experienced by the use of Pills. Chamberlain’s Stomach and Liver Tablets act as a tonic, strengthen the system, and assist the natural movement of the bowels. For sale everywhere.

Magistrate Bishop believes in protecting the police from bludgeons. At Eyttelton on Wednesday a steward named John Dunlop, on remand from Wellington, was charged with having on September 19, at Eyttelton, used obscene language in a public place, to wit, on board the steamer Monowai, and also with having, at the same time and place, assaulted Sergt. Patrick Ryan while in the execution of his duty. In recording a conviction, Mr Bishop said that he intended to fine accused a considerable amount. Such conduct was absolutely inexcusable, and he would give the accused a very severe lesson. The charge of using obscene language would be dismissed, but for assaultiug Sergt. Ryan accused would be fined ;£io, in default three months’ imprisonment. A thrilling Terry tale is thus told by the Eyttelton Times: — Eionel Terry made another attempt to escape from his room in the gaol hospital at Lyttelton on Sunday night, and the means he adopted were somewhat ingenious. He dressed up a dummy, with the aid of some stuffing and a suit of clothes, to represent himself. To this he set fire, and then retreated to the opposite end of his room and cried for help. His plan seems to have been to draw away the attention of any assistant coming to his rescue for long enough to overpower him and then make good his escape. Unfortunately for this well-laid plot, half a dozen men rushed in and Terry’s chance was gone. Tlie cough that is contracted in the winter, and which continues through the spring and summer, nearly always indicates some throat or lung trouble, and should not be neglected. The ordinary cough medicine may soothe the throat but it has not the power to heal. Recovery is not complete, and a second attack is more liable to follow. You cannot get a better medicine for coughs of this description than Chamberlain’s Cough Remedy. Chamberlain’s Cough Remedy is an excellent medicine for all throat and lung trouble, for it not only soothes the irritation, but it heals the affected parts, and leaves them in such a healthy condition, that the danger of a sesond attack is removed. For sale everywhere.