THE LIFE OF MAN. 213 



under all the series of objects of which that tree is 

 one ? What is it that appears to us under the form 

 of seed, of soil, of air, then of the organization of a 

 tree, then, it may be, of ashes, flame, and smoke, 

 and so on ; botli before and after, in an indefinite 

 succession ? It is one existence that is presented to 

 us throghout all, just as one solid may be presented 

 to the eye under many different points of vie\v. In 

 seeking to learn the actual from the phenomenal, we 

 must remember this, and frame our thoughts accord- 

 ingly. What one existence makes us perceive in 

 ways so manifold ? 



How far it is possible at present to advance, or 

 whether it be possible to advance at all in this 

 inquiry, we need not here decide. But one interest- 

 ing question presents itself upon the threshold of it, 

 a consideration of which may tend to make our 

 path more clear. 



Nothing in nature changes but the appearance ; it 

 is the varied representation to us of an existence 

 which is ever the same. These changes of appear- 

 ance, therefore that is, the entire succession of 

 change known as the "course of nature" might 



