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Show 276 EXPLANATIONS. on an equal foot tng in respect to evidence with tltt a3t• ioms of geometry itself. " I apprehend that the considerations which give, at the pres~nt day, to the proof of the law of uniformity of successwn as true of all phenomena without exception, this character of. completeness and conclusiveness, are the following: Fust, that we now know it directly to be true of by far the greatest number of phenornena; that there are none of which we know it not to be true, the utmost that c~n be sa.id being, that _of some we cannot positively, from duect eVIdence, affirm Its truth ; \Yhile phenomenon after phenomenon, as they become better known to 'lts, are con.stantly passing from the latter class into the former; and in all cases in whi~h that tran~ition has not yet taken place, the absence o[ dtrect p1·oof JS accounted for by the rarity or the .obscurity of the phenomena, our deficient means of observ~ng .them! or th~ logical difficulties arising from the comphcahou of the Circumstances in which they occur· insomu.ch that, nohvithstandjng as rigid a dependenc~ upon gt ven conditions as exists in the case of any other phenomenon it was not likely that we should be better acquainted with those conditions than we are. Besides this fir t class of considerations, there is a second, which still further corroborates the conclusion, and fr01n the recoo-. nition of which the complete establishment of the unive~sal law may reasonably be dated. Although there are phenomena, the production and ch~nges of which elude all our attempts to reduce them universally to any ascer~ ained law yet in every such case the phen01nenon, or the obJects conce1·ned in it, are found in s01ne instances to obey the knoUJn laws of nature. The wind, for example, is the type of uncertainty and caprice, yet we find it in some ?ases obeying with as much constancy as any phenomena In nature the law of the tend~ncy of fluids to distribute themselves o as to equalize the pressure on every side oi each of their particle~; as in the case of the trade winds and the monsoons. Lightning might once have been supposed to obey no lavvs ; but since it has been ascertained to be identical with electricity, we know that the very same phen.omenon, in orne of it~ manifestations, is implicitly obed1ent to the action of fixed causes. I do not believe that there is now one object o·r event in all our expedenc• of 'J.tature, within the bounds of the solar system at least, whlch has not either. been ascertained by direct observation ·p .ltEDOMIN ANT 'l'HEOR Y EXAMINED. 277 to follow laws of its own, or been proved to be exactly sim· ila.r to objects and events, which, in more familiar mani· festations, or on a more li1nited scale, follow strict laws our inability to trace the same laws on the larger scale, and in the more recondite instances, being accounted for hy the number and complication of the modifying causes, or by their inaccessibility to observation.''* The whole question, then, stands thus. For th~ theory of universal order-that is, order as presiding in both the origin and administration of the world-we have the testimony of a vast number of facts in nature, and this one in addition-that whatf\Ver is reft from the domain of ignorance and made un,loubted matter of science, forms a new support to the same doctrine. The opposite view, once predominant, has been shrinking for ages into lesser space, and now maintains a footing only in a few departInents of nature which happen to be less liable than others to a clear investigation. The chief of these, if not almost the only one, is the origin of the organic kingdoms. So long as this remains obscure, the supernatural will have a certain hold upon enlightened persons. Should it ever be cleared up in a way that leaves no doubt of a natural orio-in of plants and animals, there must be a complete rev0olution in the view which is generally taken of our relation to the Father of our being. This prepares the way for a few remarks on the present state of opinion with regard to the origin of organic nature. The great difficulty here is the apparent determinateness of species. These forms of life being apparently unchangeable, or at least always showing a tendency to return to the character from which they may have diverg~ d the idea arises that there can have been no progression fr~m one to another; eac.h must have taken its special form, independently of other forr~s., directly fr?m the appointment of the Creator. The Edinburgh reviewer says, ''they were created by th.e hand of Go~ ~nd .adapted to the conditions of the penod." Now 1t 1s, In the first place, not certain that species constantly maintain a fixed character, for we have seen that what were long consid· ered as determinate species have been transmuted into rJhers. Passing, however, fr-om thi.s fact, as it is n?t generally received among men of science, there remain BOrne great difficulties in connecbon with the idea of spa• • System of Logic. ii., 116. |
