202 THE WORLD-ENERGY 



And doubtless the energy that was capable of bringing 

 about these conditions of potential energy primarily will 

 be perennially equal to this and all other tasks which it 

 pertains to its nature to perform. For the total quantity 

 of energy must forever remain undiminished according 

 to any rational interpretation of the doctrine of the 

 conservation or persistence of energy. 



And this doctrine, when reflected upon and fairly 

 understood, is seen to be, if not self-evident, at least 

 clear and consistent ; while the contrary of this doctrine 

 is plainly self -contradictory, and, hence, " unthinkable." 

 So forcibly, indeed, does the truth of this doctrine of the 

 persistence of energy appeal to Mr. Spencer, that he 

 declares it to be "the sole truth, which transcends expe- 

 rience by underlying it." * And so, too, it would seem, 

 it must appeal to all minds; though it is of the utmost 

 importance to bring into explicit statement the signifi- 

 cance that is only latent in the formulation usually given 

 to this truth. 



And, first, it is essential to fully appreciate 



a. THE ABSOLUTE UNITY OF ENERGY 



We have already seen that force or energy is necessarily 

 complex or manifold ; that at every point in space there is 

 a focus of force, and that the force thus focused consists 

 necessarily of the interfusion of attractions and repul- 

 sions. It is in this far that force appears especially as 

 manifold. 



On the other hand, the doctrine of the correlation of 

 forces points clearly to the conclusion that, after all, force 

 is, strictly speaking, a single totality having manifold 



* "First Principles," (N. Y. Ed.), p. 192. 



