6 



carbon is abundant and gold scarce ? Whence did the 

 affinities come ? Did hydrogen construct itself on purpose to 

 be able to take one atom of oxygen into union with two ot 

 itself to produce water ? And, when both were self-made, 

 whence came the pressure by which their combined bulk was 

 reduced eighteen hundred times to make the great ocean of 

 water ? How were the diverse atomic weights determined, 

 so that lithium is but seven, while bismuth is two hundred 

 and ten ? These are but a few of the thousands of questions 

 which claim an answer before we can admit the independent 

 action of matter. 



And the difficulties are only removed a step further back, 

 by the adoption of the only alternative which is possible to 

 the Materialist, the eternal existence of matter, while that 

 theory carries with it certain grave difficulties peculiar to 

 itself. In the days of old, when matter was thought and 

 spoken of as one simple whole, it was possible, with at least 

 a show of reason, to argue for its eternity, but no man can 

 contend for sixty-three eternals. Geology shows that, so far 

 as our earth is concerned, there has been a constant process 

 of disintegration and reconstruction from the beginning, every 

 series of which is capable of measurement in time ; and the 

 most liberal donor of duration can go back to a precise and 

 definite beginning. Astronomy also teaches us that the solar 

 system can only have existed for a limited and definite period, 

 while all through its existence the motions of the several 

 members, both in direction and speed, have been ruled by 

 strict mathematical law. But such science can scarcely be 

 attributed to an assembly of unconscious and incompatible 

 atoms. Thus we are compelled to look for some intelligent 

 creator and distributor of matter in its various forms, adequate 

 both in knowledge and power, to account for the existence 

 and adjustment of the substance of the universe. 



But we are now met by a theory which, taking matter as 

 already existing, supposes it to possess inherent power of 

 development into all the forms of life we now see. An initial 

 difficulty here is the fact that, in all the changes taking place 

 in mere matter, a strict law or order is, and must be, observed. 

 In all chemical combination strict laws of quantivalence and 

 proportion prevent any more than a definite and invariable 

 number of specific atoms uniting to form any substance ; 

 while other laws compel the union of the appointed number 

 when brought into juxtaposition. Thus, matter pure and 

 simple as we find it in the atom, is incapable of independent 

 action, but follows an invariable order, which has existed ever 

 since matter existed. Development or progress, in material 



