33^ MAN AND GOD. 



follow the laws of the mind's thought, and can as 

 little contradict the laws of logic as its thought upon 

 the most trivial of finite things. As, therefore, no 

 matter whether we call the mind finite or Infinite, 

 there can be no such thing as a real difference in 

 kind between the Finite and the Infinite, but only a 

 difference in degree, the Infinite Is not exempted 

 from the sway of the laws of logic and of sane 

 thought, and hence no indulgence can be shown to 

 the attempt to combine contradictory attributes in 

 the same conception. The Infinite must be judged 

 by the logical rules applicable to all things, and In 

 dealing with the Infinite, as with everything else, a 

 contradiction must be taken as an Indication of 

 somethinor amiss somewhere. 



§ 14. But perhaps it will be admitted that the 

 belief in the Infinite is not a matter of reason, not 

 susceptible of logical statement. It Is a matter of 

 feeling, and not even of all feeling (for it Is not a 

 matter of perception, ch. ix. § 5), but of subjective 

 emotion. Now this plea may be admitted in so far 

 as it seems to recognize that the belief in the Infinite 

 is reached by an unprovoked and ungrounded leap 

 into the Void, which can be justified neither by 

 reasoning nor by sense-experience. But the feeling 

 to which It appeals must assuredly be of the most 

 curious description. It affords an Intuitive and 

 immediate consciousness of the Infinite, which is 

 superior to all argument. It assures men not only of 

 the existence of the Infinite, but also of its infinity. 

 Its perception is so delicate that, even in the most 

 ignorant and unthinking, It can distinguish with 

 absolute certitude between real and practical In- 

 finlteness. So when it asserts that God's power I* 

 infinite rather than incalculably great, we are bound: 



