io THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCES OF 



of looking at it, but a purely superstitious way. 

 Let us take, for instance, as an illustration, a 

 perfectly parallel case. When Kepler was un- 

 able to explain by any known causes the paths 

 described by the planets, he resorted to a super- 

 natural explanation, and supposed that every 

 planet was guided in its movements by some 

 presiding angel. But when Newton supplied a 

 beautifully simple physical explanation, all per- 

 sons with a scientific habit of mind at once 

 abandoned the metaphysical explanation. Now, 

 to be consistent, the above-mentioned professors, 

 and all who think with them, ought still to 

 adhere to Kepler's hypothesis in preference to 

 Newton's explanation ; for, excepting the law 

 of parsimony, there is certainly no other logical 

 objection to the statement that the movements 

 of the planets afford as good evidence of the 

 influence of guiding angels as they do of the 

 influence of gravitation. 



