324 LAUGEL'S PROBLEMS OF NATURE AND LIFE. 



them, though still ignorant of the intimate nature of 

 this great power of the universe. Unlike other forces 

 in the sublime simplicity of its laws, this very simplicity 

 becomes a bar to research. The legacy of ignorance 

 which Newton left behind him, declaring, with the 

 wonted candour of genius, that he did so, has de- 

 scended to his successors in the enquiry, who must, in 

 their turn, bequeath it to posterity. Several mathema- 

 ticians and experimentalists of our own time Faraday 

 among the latter have adventured on the research, 

 with the especial object of bringing Gravity into some 

 direct relation with the other forms of force, but 

 hitherto in vain, And we are compelled still to abide 

 in the simple view of Gravity as a force incorporate in 

 matter itself throughout the universe, and under every 

 shape which matter can assume, in our own or other 

 worlds. This itself is a grand conception ; but it is a 

 solitary and shapeless grandeur, which we might well 

 desire to exchange for more substantial knowledge. 



But while speaking of Gravity, can we rightly ex- 

 clude from the name or conception of Force those re- 

 pulsions which we recognise in the material world ; 

 most obviously in atomic actions and changes, and in 

 electric and magnetic phenomena ; but also, as we have 

 some reason to suppose, in cosmical changes beyond 

 the limits of our globe ? Boscovich admitted such re- 

 pulsions as a part of his theory of forces, and some 

 modern physicists (we pray for a happier word denoting 

 them) have adopted the same view. But it is a point 

 less regarded generally than it ought to be by those 

 who think or write on this subject. Other modes of 



