24 EVOLUTION AND NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



possessed the power of working miracles, but 

 when he appealed to them at all, it was not to the 

 power displayed in them, but to their beneficent 

 character. Mohammad modestly disclaimed 

 the possession of any such power, no small 

 argument to unprejudiced minds, that he was 

 neither an impostor nor a fanatic.* 



All the laws of Nature which can be studied 

 at a distance (as connected with light, gravita- 

 tion, chemistry, etc.,) are invariably found to be 

 the same throughout the universe ; and it is no 

 unreasonable supposition that they are immu- 

 tably impressed upon matter by the Almighty, 

 and absolutely inseparable from its essence. 

 Their universality is one of the strongest 

 evidences which we possess for the unity of the 

 Supreme Mind of the Universe, though this does 

 not preclude the operation of one law upon 

 another, with or without the action of lower 

 intelligences, to produce infinite variations in 

 their results ; while the constant presence 

 and supervision of the Supreme may well be 

 imagined necessary both to the existence of 

 the Universe itself, and to the maintenance of 



* See also note to chap. xiv. 



