ULTIMATE SCIENTIFIC IDEAS. 49 



Ultimate scientific ideas, especially those of the essen- 

 tial essences of things, the modes of absolute being or 

 existence, are the most imperfect and inadequate of any ; 

 amongst them we may include those of truth, cause, effect, 

 matter, mind, force, space, time, the absolute, the infinite, 

 and the self-created and self-existing cause of all things. 

 The idea of an absolute, infinite, omnipotent, self-created,' 

 and self-existing potential power, as we in our extremely 

 finite knowledge consider the cause of all things to be ; 

 the source of all truth, and cause of all matter and energy, 

 in which or whom we live, and move, and have our being, 

 cannot, indeed, be adequately realised. We can only 

 imagine that which is limited by some distinction of dif- 

 ference, and therefore cannot form a complete idea of an 

 unlimited or infinite changeless existence. We all have, 

 up to a certain extent, a definite consciousness, either in- 

 telligent or otherwise, of an Infinite Cause of all things, 

 and an indefinite consciousness of it beyond this. It is 

 because of the perfect sameness and unchangeable nature 

 of the Infinite Cause, that we are unable to immediately 

 apprehend ' the Unknown God.' 



By the process of inference or reasoning, we intelligently 

 arrive at the idea of the Great First Cause. c The fool hath 

 said in his heart, there is no God.' Our idea, that there 

 must be an absolute and infinite existence, and modes of 

 its action, is proved to be true by the uniformities of time,, 

 space, matter, energy, and the universality of causation ; 

 but what the essential nature of the existence is, of which 

 these are the modes, we cannot even imagine. The in- 

 ability of the human mind to realise ultimate ideas com- 

 pletely is also proved by the numerous attempts which have 

 been made, and the invariable failure to explain the essential 

 nature of those uniformities ; also by the almost infinite 

 varieties and forms of idea of an Ultimate Cause which have 



