Carleton.] 236 [February. 



the end of time. Every year, almost every month, the press teems 

 with romances on the Will, which are seldom read, never believed, 

 and soon drop into oblivion. Other sciences are consistent, be- 

 cause founded in fact; but in mental philosophy the writer is never 

 for two consecutive pages in harmony with himself. 



The word Will is borrowed from the Scriptures, but diverted from 

 its appropriate meaning. The Will of God is His pleasure, or what- 

 ever is agreeable to Him. " Thy will be done on earth as it is in 

 heaven," is not a prayer for the exercise of His power, but that we 

 may do His pleasure on earth as it is done in heaven. Again : 

 " It is not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom 

 of heaven, but he that doeth the Will of my Father, which is in 

 heaven." That the word here means whatever is pleasing to God, 

 cannot admit of a doubt, nor can it be made to have any other mean- 

 ing throughout the whole body of the Scriptures. 



Such is the sense, also, in which it is used in common speech 

 among men. " If it be the Will of God, I shall reach home in 

 safety," or "that I shall live until ray son arrive from Europe." 

 " God willing, the Sacrament will be administered in this church 

 next sabbath." 



So every man's will means his pleasure. To one you say, " What 

 is your will, sir ?" " To know if you are willing to take the price 

 I offered you for your house." " No, I am not willing." To ano- 

 ther, " What is your will, sir?" " To borrow Scott's Commentary." 

 To a third, " W^hat is your will, sir?" " To request you to send 

 this letter to Liverpool." 



The dynamic power of the Will is altogether a fiction. It is simply 

 a passive capacity to receive pleasure, from whatever affects us agree- 

 ably at the time. An attribute is not an agent. 



CAUSES OF ACTION. 



Like all things else under the sun, the mind is passive, unti* 

 aroused by its appropriate causes, sensations, and ideas. It is neces- 

 sarily passive to all sensations before they are perceived, or to truths 

 in science before they are known. 



When not occupied by causes without, it is held in perpetual ex- 

 citement by its own unceasing trains of thought, a fact that has 

 deceived philosophers into a belief that the mind was an active prin- 

 ciple in itself and never at rest ; while all sound sleepers know that, 



