190 ALFRED T. SCHOFIELD^ ESQ.^ M.D.^ M.R.C.S., ON 



First Cause caused the mind of man, as that He caused the 

 heavens and the earth. 



We therefore come to this, that the natural is matter imme- 

 diately fashioned by the mind of God ; and the artificial is 

 matter immediately fashioned by the mind of man, this itself 

 being the product of the mind of God. 



Nature therefore necessarily expresses " the glory of God 

 and sheweth His handiwork," for it is the transcnpt of His 

 mind ; whereas in the artificial we generally forget the re- 

 flected glory of the One who formed the human mind, in our 

 adoration of our own intellect and skill. All this is natural 

 enough, but rather childish. That French critic liad a keen 

 vision Avho said, "God is still generally acknowledged in 

 England, save by the street boys and the higher ])hilosophers." 



Turning to evolution there is no doubt a difficulty even 

 if in both cases we postulate an evolver. For while we 

 perceive that the finite mind of man cannot see at once a 

 watch in a sundial, or a steam engine in a kettle, but has 

 slowly to evolve the one out of the other ; when we come 

 to an infinite mind we cannot see why imperfect products 

 should precede the perfect. But were they imperfect? 

 We can see in the first rude engines and clocks their 

 great inferiority to the locomotives and chronometers of 

 to-day, but in geology and zoology we surely see equal per- 

 fection throughout all ages, each product being as truly 

 adapted to its environment then as now : an amoeba in its way 

 being as perfect as a man, a fungus as an oak. So that 

 evolution in natural things is not stamped with the imper- 

 fection of a finite mind as in artificial, but is due to some 

 other reason, which I may not now pursue. Indeed the time 

 has not yet arrived to consider the subject impartially, for 

 the strife of battle has hardly yet died away. 



To repeat then — the natural everywhere, from a molecule 

 of water formed by the chemical affinities of atoms to the 

 most distant nebul£e,a8 well as all living thmgs,are the product 

 of matter moulded by the mind of God, immediately ; whereas 

 the artificial is the product of matter moulded by the mind of 

 man immediatelv, his mind being the product of the mind of 

 God. 



There yet remains the question of animal products — What 

 is a bird's nest? What is a beaver's dam ? What are the 

 actions and works of animals ? Are they natural or arti- 

 ficial ? Our answer depends upon whether we recognize a 

 mind in an animal apart from the mind of God as seen in nature. 



