philosophical sense; and this I take to 1 tr firs! no-
ii i these three things" (Reid, Correspondence, p.
77,78).
"The liability of a thing to he influenced by a cause is called passivt power, or more properly susceptibility; while the efficacy of the cause is called activi power. Heat has the power of melting wax; and. in the lan- guage of some, ice has the power of being melted" | Day. On ili' Will. p. 33 i. s,e Cause.
It is usual to speak of a power of resistance in mat- ter, and of a power of endurance in mind. Both these are passivt power. Activt power is the principle of ac- tion, whi ther immanent or transient. Passivi power is the principle of bearing or receiving. See Reid, On the Actio* Powers; Id. On t/n Human Mind, and iki Intel- lectual Powers; Locke, On the Understanding; Stewart, Brown, and Abercrombie. See also Mind.
Powers, Grant, a Congregational clergyman, was horn at Mollis. X. II.. May :si, 1784; was educated at Dartmouth College, class of 1810; studied theology; was minister at Haverhill in 1 si, V -J'.', and at Goshen from Uig.27, 1829, to bis death, April, 1841. Heisthe author of an Essay upon the Inftuenci of the Imagina- tion on tin Nervous System, contributing to Falsi Hopes in Ei ligion : Histi ryofthi ' 'oos Country i L841, 12mo) : — and Centennial Address at IIollis{ 1830, 8vo). — Drake, Diet, of Amer. I iog. s. v.; Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and I th. s. v.
Powers, Hiram, an American sculptor, son of a farmer, and the eighth of nine children, was born at \\ Istock, Vi.. July 29, L805, and acquired the rudi- ments "('education at a free district school. While still a hoy. lie wenl to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he became an apprentice to a clock-maker, and about the same time formed the acquaintance of a German sculptor, who taught him to model in plaster. Subsequently he was employed for several years making wax-figures, and fitting them with machinery, for the Cincinnati Museum, n here his Infi rnal Regions horrified thousands of visitors. Ii is a hideous scene representing hell filled with terrific figures, moved by machinery, and acting the supposed agonies of the damned. In 1835 he went
to Washington, w here he executed the luists of several
distinguished persons. l',y the aid of Mr. Nicholas Longworth, he went to Florence, Italy, in 1837, to con- tinue his art-studies. He resided in that country until his death, which took place al Rome in 1876. ihl838Powers produced his statue of Eve, which excited the admira- tion of Thorwaldsen. His other works were of a sec- ular character, but they gave him great renown. See II. I . Lee, Familiar Sketches qfSadpturt and Sculptors i Boston, 1854, 2 vols. L2mo), vol. ii. ch. \.x\ ii ; Tucker- man, Book ■■/tin Artists, 8. v.; Living Age, Oct. 1847. Powers, Jesse K., a ministei of th.' Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was born in the county of Albemarle, Va., June 8, 1801. In May, 1826, while hi teaching a classical school, he was convert- ed, and united w'nh the Methodisl Episcopal Church. Shorl ly alter in- joined the t rtn elling connection, al the Bess ion of i he Virginia Conference (held at Raleigh in February, 1826). In 1830 he was admitted into full
connection and ordained deacon, and in 1882 W88 or- dained elder, lb- was a plain, faithful, earnest minister of the Gospel, always conscientiously discharging the duties of a Methodist preacher. Being unencumbered
with a family, he readily and cheerfully entered on whatever held of labor was assigned him. and every- where endeared himself to the people whom he served by his unaffected and consistent piety. For upwards of twoscore years he gave full proof of his ministry. In the latter part of his life, through affectionate regard for his welfare, and in consideration of his infirmities, his brethren of the Conference placed him on the list of supernumeraries; but so anxious was he to be in the regular pastoral work thai be appealed to the Confer- ence to place him among the < fie< live men, and he was appointed to the New Kent circuit : but the work was beyond his Btrength; he soon began to fail in health, and died March 1. 1869. See Minutes of Annual Con- ferences of the M. E. Church. South, lSf.P, p. 303.
Powers, John B., a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was born May 16, 1814, in Union District, S.C.; as a boy, removed to Alabama, and shortly after was converted; and. feeling called of God to preach the Gospel, accepted license in 1845. In 185G he entered the itinerant ranks of the Alabama Conference, and was appointed to the Weewokaville Circuit. He filled successively the Harpersville ami the Moscow circuits. In 1861 he entered the Confed- erate army in command of a company. His health failed, however, and he returned. From 1863 to L866 he was presiding elder of the Jasper District. In 1867 he served the Elyton Circuit; 1868-69, the Murine's Valley Circuit : 1870, the Jonesborough Circuit. In 1S71 he was appointed to the Monticello Circuit, bul died March 30. He was a conscientious and pious man. His administration as presiding elder was marked by promptness and great faithfulness in the discharge of all the duties pertaining to his office. His broad com- mon-sense and acquaintance with men gave him wis- dom in council. As a preacher, he had greal conn. 1 over the emotions of men, and was eminent!} successful in seasons of revival. See Minutes of Annual Confer' ences of the M. /;. Church, Smith. 1871, p. 5G5.