REFLECTIONS AND CONCLUSION. 411 



important. As Mivart puts it : " Out of many, say a 

 thousand million, reasons for the institution of the 

 laws of the physical universe, some few are to a cer- 

 tain extent conceivable by us; and amongst these 

 the benefits, material and moral, accruing from them 

 to men and to each individual man in every circum- 

 stance of his life play a certain, perhaps a very 

 subordinate, part." ' The existence of an intelligent 

 First Cause necessarily supposes that all forms of 

 organization must be purposeful, once such forms 

 exist, just as a world full of design manifestly pro- 

 claims the existence of a Designer. 



Again, there are some who seem to think, if they 

 can but find out how a law of nature operates, or 

 what may be one of the many millions of purposes 

 which an individual structure may serve, they have 

 thereby eliminated the action of Providence, or shown 

 it to be non-existent. They conclude that because, 

 forsooth, they understand how a thing is done, that 

 God did not do it. " No matter how wonderful, how 

 beautiful, how intimately complex and delicate has 

 been the machinery which has worked, perhaps for 

 centuries, perhaps for millions of ages, to bring about 

 some beneficent results, if they can but catch a 

 glimpse of the wheels, its Divine character disap- 

 pears." 



In marked contrast with the opinions of sciolists 

 and professed monists, respecting design and purpose 

 in nature, is the view entertained by one of the ablest 

 living masters of science, Lord Kelvin. " I feel pro- 

 foundly convinced," he declares, " that the argument 



1 " The Genesis of Species," p. 259. 



