REV. JAMES MARTIXEAU AND BELFAST ADDRESS. 237 



in England and America : ' " It [the problem of con- 

 sciousness] does not daunt me at all. Of course you 

 understand that all along my atoms have been affected 

 by gravitation and polarity ; and now I have only to 

 insist with Fechner on a difference among molecules ; 

 there are the inorganic, which can change only their 

 place, like the particles in an undulation ; and there 

 are the organic, which can change their order, as in a 

 globule that turns itself inside out. With an adequate 

 number of these our problem will be manageable." 

 "Likely enough," we may say [" entirely unlikely," 

 say I], " seeing how careful you are to provide for all 

 emergencies ; and if any hitch should occur in the next 

 step, where you will have to pass from mere sentiency 

 to thought and will, you can again look in upon your 

 atoms, and fling among them a handful of Leibnitz's 

 monads, to serve as souls in little, and be ready, in a 

 latent form, with that Vorstellungs-fahigkeit which our 

 picturesque interpreters of nature so much prize." ' 



' But surely,' continues Mr. Martineau, ' you must 

 observe that this " matter " of yours alters its style with 

 every change of service : starting as a beggar with 

 scarce a rag of " property " to cover its bones, it turns 

 up as a prince when large undertakings are wanted. 

 " We must radically change our notions of matter," 

 says Professor Tyndall ; and then, he ventures to 

 believe, it will answer all demands, carrying " the 

 promise and potency of all terrestrial life." If the 

 measure of the required " change in our notions " had 

 been specified, the proposition would have had a real 

 meaning, and been susceptible of a test. It is easy 

 travelling through the stages of such an hypothesis ; 

 you deposit at your bank a round sum ere you start, 

 and, drawing on it piecemeal at every pause, complete 

 your grand tour without a debt.' 



