CHAPTER VIII. 



THE THREE BEGINNINGS. 



" GIVE me matter," said Kant, " and I will ex- 

 plain the formation of a world ; but give me 

 matter only, and I cannot explain the formation 

 of a caterpillar." This dictum is widely different 

 from that of Professor Tyndall, who discerns in 

 matter alone "the promise and potency of all 

 terrestrial life." To the same effect is his 

 eulogium on the Italian philosopher, Giordano 

 Bruno, of whom he tells us 1 that " he came to 

 the conclusion that Nature in her productions 

 does not imitate the technic of man. Her pro- 

 cess is one of unravelling and unfolding. The 

 infinity of forms under which matter appears 

 were not imposed upon it by an external 

 artificer ; by its own intrinsic force and virtue 

 it brings these forms forth. Matter is not the 

 mere naked, empty capacity which philosophers 

 have pictured her to be, but the universal 



1 " Belfast Address," pp. 19, 20. 



