PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. an 
strengthen one set of impulses and weaken another; and 
that he can, within limits, control his actions. Conse- 
quently, he knows that he is not altogether an automaton. ~ 
If it could be shown that the hypothesis of necessity ex- 
plained matters which the common-sense view could not dec, 
then I might be inclined to believe in it. But such is not 
the case, and it seems to me that what the metaphysicians 
have really done is to prove that free will in man could not 
possibly have arisen through the action of physical causes. 
Here, therefore, we have another possible break in con- 
tinuity. Life, and perhaps free will, could not have arisen 
from antecedent conditions alone, and so the idea of the 
continuous action of secondary causes fails. 
When we try to follow the subject further. we are beset 
with innumerable difficulties arising from the complicated 
nature of the problem. However, it seems probable that 
the whole of biological evolution may be due to the working 
of natural laws which we already know, but the action of 
which we cannot trace out in detail. Nevertheless, we must 
remember that we have, as yet, no theory of variation that 
fits all the facts. At present, variations appear to be as 
capricious and unamenable to law as did the wind and rain 
to our forefathers. And. until they are reduced to order, 
and we understand how and why they arise, we must be 
careful not to push the doctrine of secondary causes too 
far. Mr. Herbert Spencer would account for everything 
by what he calls “equilibration”; but that is merely a 
word, and not an explanation. Possibly in the future, when 
we understand why variations occur, it may be found to 
_ be a useful word, but, as used by Mr. Spencer, it is only a 
cloak to hide our ignorance. 
But this doubt as to how far secondary law extends need 
not disturb us. If we are satisfied that we see in the pro 
gress of evolution, or in the origin of life, or in the existence 
of free will in man, a convincing argument for the belief 
in design, it is enough, and we may allow, without compunc- 
tion, that it is impossible to say how far back secondary law 
extends. 
Errects oF THE NEw TEACHING. 
This new doctrine of evolution has changed the whole 
aspect of Natural Philosophy. We are now compelled to 
assume as first cause a power outside of nature, without 
which the material Universe could never have come into 
existence. For, in the first place, if this Universe has in 
itself no power of rejuvenescence, it and its Creator cannot 
be one and the same. The mind which moves the Universe 
