I02 Musings by Camp- Fire a7id Wayside 



intelligence. Knowledge rushes out to fill the 

 empty voids of ignorance as unfailingly as light and 

 heat rush to fill the empty voids of space, and in 

 consequence of the operation of the same law. 

 This it is which inspires the orator, drives the pen, 

 the press, and the telegram in more senses than 

 one. The village gossip, in her humble way, is 

 charged with the same divine energy. What she 

 knows she must tell or perish. 



In the field of morals, the action of this law is 

 scarcely less vigorous. Virtuous men will make 

 great sacrifices and incur great toil to extend the 

 domain of morals. In the spiritual realm, it be- 

 comes one of the mightiest incentives that stirs the 

 heart of man. The cross, the dungeon, the rack, 

 the stake, cannot hinder the kingdom of heaven 

 from extending over the globe, and filling the earth 

 level with righteousness as the waters fill the sea. 

 We may say that the shining and circling universe 

 came into existence because God would fill empty 

 space with his embodied thoughts. Here, then, we 

 find a universal law which operates with equal 

 energy in every sphere of existence, which per- 

 meates and is the chief characteristic of every type 

 and form of life and activity — physical, mental, 

 moral, and spiritual. If we affirm the existence of 

 such an elemental force as the spiritual, we must 

 admit that it has this same permeating and diffusive 

 motive, and that it will enter into all forms and 

 types of life whatever. Its manifestation every- 



