NENTAL,
it is our intention to return to it in our August issue.

EDITOR'S TABLE.

MATTER AND SPIRIT.

We do not ordinarily feel disposed to criticize the articles of our
contributors; nor do we feel disposed now to do more than to offer a
brief suggestion in reference to a philosophical position assumed by the
author of an interesting article in our last number, entitled, 'TOUCHING
THE SOUL.' The writer assumes that matter and spirit are so utterly
opposite in their respective natures that they cannot be made to act
together in any way. For instance, he says: 'Here again the argument is
clinched by the mere distinction between matter and spirit, the one
being the very antipodes of, and incapable of acting upon the other.'
And again: 'To sum up the whole argument in a single sentence, the
physical senses are dependent for their perceptions upon the action of
matter, and hence spirit, which is not matter, can in no way affect
them.'

Unquestionably this statement is contradictory in itself, and, at all
events, cannot possibly be sustained to the extent of the assertion. The
actual existence of the soul in the body, and the perception of physical
objects and effects by the senses, are proofs undeniable that in this
instance, at least, there are mutual action and reaction between matter
and spirit. If it be said that this connection of the soul with the
organized frame is the only condition in which the material and
immaterial are known to be capable of acting upon each other, it is yet
wholly inaccurate and unphilosophical to say that this mutual action is
impossible.

But, in truth, the assertion is unphilosophical and incorrect in a far
wider sense, and in reference to a much more extensive range of
phenomena than those which concern the mysterious relations of the soul
with the human body. Throughout all nature are to be seen the plainest
indications of the influence and operation of spirit on the material
world. It is spirit only which animates, informs, and shapes the whole
universe. Wherever law prevails (and where does it not?) there is
intelligence, spirit, soul, acting to sustain it, during every moment of
its operation. Indeed it is doubtful whether any other than spiritual
power is to be found anywhere in nature. It seems to be too obvious a
truth to admit of any doubt or question, that matter, if it be of a
nature opposite to that of spirit, has been created as the instrument of
soul, having pro