278 MAN AND THE WORLD. 



bers of force units, and speak of the conservation 

 'of mass and energy, is a fact given only by experi- 

 ^etice, anH one which need hold good only in so far 

 as it subserves to the idea of the whole. And if 

 It be objected that a thing can not act where it is 

 not, it may be replied that the divine Force is 

 omnipresent, or its action in matter may be com- 

 pared to a piece of machinery which remained in 

 action In the absence of its constructor, which affected 

 us on reaching certain spots, and which might fairly 

 be said to represent a constant will of its constructor. 

 But if we penetrate a little deeper, the difficulty 

 will appear gratuitous. For we have seen (§ 10) 

 that Space can not be an ultimate reality, but must 

 be regarded as a creation of the divine Force on 

 precisely the same footing as Matter, and need not 

 ■ appear real to us except in our present condition. 



Thus the '' objective " world in Space and Time 

 "would be the direct creation in our consciousness 

 of the divine Force, and represent merely a state 

 or condition of our mind, which need not be true 

 or exist at all, except for a being in that condition. 

 And yet it would be the only reality and the primary 

 object of knowledge for such a consciousness. 



§ 22. We have spoken hitherto of the world 

 as a manifestation of divine Force, and treated the 

 physical forces from the point of view of the sub- 

 ject of which they were forces. But Force, to be 

 real, requires at least two factors, and cannot act 

 upon nothing, any more than it can be the force 

 of nothing. We must consider, then, the objects 

 also upon which the divine Force acts. It must 

 be a manifestation to (something or) somebody, it 

 must act upon (something or) somebody. Upon 

 whom ? Upon us, surely, for it Is to us that the 



