not prevail with any one who has studied his teachings.
His reverence for the fundamental truths of religious faith was
profound, and every student of his writings will testify to the great
constructive value of his work. He builded upon an ancient foundation a
new and nobler structure of human destiny, solid in its simplicity and
beautiful in its innate grandeur.
But to the wide circle of Judge Troward's friends he will best and most
gloriously be remembered as a teacher. In his magic mind the
unfathomable revealed its depths and the illimitable its boundaries;
metaphysics took on the simplicity of the ponderable, and man himself
occupied a new and more dignified place in the Cosmos. Not only did he
perceive clearly, but he also possessed that quality of mind even more
rare than deep and clear perception, that clarity of expression and
exposition that can carry another and less-informed mind along with it,
on the current of its understanding, to a logical and comprehended
conclusion.
In his books, his lectures and his personality he was always ready to
take the student by the hand, and in perfect simplicity and friendliness
to walk and talk with him about the deeper mysteries of life--the life
that includes death--and to shed the brilliant light of his wisdom upon
the obscure and difficult problems that torment sincere but rebellious
minds.
His artistic nature found expression in brush and canvas and his great
love for the sea is reflected in many beautiful marine sketches. But if
painting was his recreation, his work was the pursuit of Truth wherever
to be found, and in whatever disguise.
His life has enriched and enlarged the lives of many, and all those who
knew him will understand that in helping others he was accomplishing
exactly what he most desired. Knowledge, to him, was worth only what it
yielded in uplifting humanity to a higher spiritual appreciation, and to
a deeper understanding of God's purpose and man's destiny.
A man, indeed! He strove not for a place,
Nor rest, nor rule. He daily walked with God.
His willing feet with service swift were shod--
An eager soul to serve the human race,
Illume the mind, and fill the heart with grace--
Hope blooms afresh where'er those feet have trod.
PAUL DERRICK.
SOME FACTS IN NATURE
If I were asked what, in my opinion, distinguishes the thought of the
present day from that of a previous generation, I should feel inclined
to say, it is the fact that people are beginning to realize that Thought
is a power in itself, one of the great forces of the Universe, and
ultimately the greatest of forces, directing all the others. This idea
seems to be, as the French say, "in the air," and this very well
expresses the state of the case--the idea is rapidly spreading through
many countries and through all classes, but it is still very much "in
the air." It is to a great extent as yet only in a gaseous condition,
vague and nebulous, and so not leading to the practical results, both
individual and collective, which might be expected of it, if it were
consolidated into a more workable form. We are like some amateurs who
want to paint finished pictures before they have studied the elements of
Art, and when they see an artist do without difficulty what they vainly
attempt, they look upon him as a being specially favoured by Providence,
instead of putting it down to their own want of knowledge. The idea is
true. Thought _is_ the great power of the Universe. But to make it
practically available we must know something of the principles by which
it works--that it is not a mere vaporous indefinable influence floating
around and subject to no known laws, but that on the contrary, it
follows laws as uncompromising as those of mathematics, while at the
same time allowing unlimited freedom to the individual.
Now the purpose of the following pages, is to suggest to the reader the
lines on which to find his way out of this nebulous sort of thought into
something more solid and reliable. I do not profess, like a certain
Negro preacher, to "unscrew the inscrutable," for we can never reach a
point where we shall not find the inscrutable still ahead of us; but if
I can indicate the use of a screw-driver instead of a hatchet, and that
the screws should be turned from left to right, instead of from right to
left, it may enable us to unscrew some things which would otherwise
remain screwed down tight. We are all beginners, and indeed the
hopefulness of life is in realizing that there are such vistas of
unending possibilities before us, that however far we may advance, we
shall always be on the threshold of something greater. We must be like
Peter
