THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY 127 



strictly from this standpoint of science, as Huxley 

 was careful to point out, there are no such things 

 as laws in the ordinary sense of precepts or decrees, 

 in the processes of Nature. What we do know is 

 that there are certain observed sequences of events 

 and that these do actually present to us a picture 

 of a uniform nature. But this is a different thing 

 from assuming, as many without any evidence are 

 prone to do, that these sequences are the result of 

 some inexorable compulsion or some intrinsic and 

 absolute necessity emerging out of the nature of 

 the universe, and that in no other way could things 

 take place than that in which as a matter of fact 

 we are accustomed to find that they do take place. 

 At the same time " for those who accept the 

 theistic position," as Fr. Sharpe very clearly puts it, 1 

 the rationale of the whole matter is this. The ob- 

 served course of Nature is due to the action of divine 

 power, which having certain ends in view attains 

 them in the most suitable way. So long, therefore, 

 as the ends in view remain the same, the means 

 adopted for their attainment will not vary ; and a 

 slight or infinitesimal variation in the ends will bring 

 about a precisely corresponding variation in the 

 means. But the ends to be secured by the course 

 of Nature are always the same ; or if they vary, do 

 so by an infinitesimal gradation. The sensible world 

 1 Op. cit., p. 133. 



