MIRACLES^ SCIENCE, AND PRAYER. 283 



the supernatural ; in other words, that what seems to us super- 

 natural to-day, may on better acquaintance seem natural to-morrow ? 

 Indeed, hardly otherwise can we reallj understand " the harmony " 

 of miracles " with the forces at work in nature," as we now ex- 

 perience it. 



The extreme difficulty of drawing any real boun'lary between the 

 natural and the supernatural comes out. in the discussion of " will." 

 Why should " will " be put down as " extra-natural " ? (see 

 p. 270). It would at least be a most unnatural thing for a man 

 to exist without a "will." No doubt the "will" belongs to the 

 spiritual order, as Mr. Lias observes. But does not the spiritual 

 belong to the etherial side of the universe ? And the functions 

 and energies of the etherial universe — as, for instance, light and 

 heat and electricity — are parts of nature, as viewed by science — 

 that is, they must be ranked in the natural order. The " will " is 

 certainly a jiart of nature, as well as the actions it govei-ns. 



There is an expression on page 277 to which I think perhaps 

 exception might be taken, where the writer speaks of the "intro- 

 duction into the visible universe of higher laws." Would it not be 

 better to say, the mauifestation to us of laws not yet comprehended 

 and recorded by us ? Also the word " law " in science is not used 

 to indicate a cause introduced for the sake of somo result to come, 

 but only as an expression of our conviction of the uniformity of 

 different lines of work, so to speak, in the machinery of the 

 Universe. We may well recall Professor Huxley's clear scientific 

 exposition of this subject in his remarks on one of Dr. Liddon'ii 

 sermons in the Nineteenth Century some time ago. There will, 

 no doubt, be laws discoverable in the constitution and functions 

 of the spiritual body described by St. Paul in 1 Cor. xv. ; but we 

 have no warrant for saying that they are, or will be, "introduced," 

 as for instance in connection with the Christian Dispensation. 

 They may have been in existence, though not yet fully perceived 

 by us. 



The will and power of God must indeed be regarded as above 

 the energies and forces and laws of the whole universe, and as 

 " overflowing," so to speak, into it. But when the scientist speaks 

 of the supernatural, he includes much more than the attributes of 

 Deitj? ; and bounds what he calls the natural with a very arbitrary 

 boundary. 



Is it so, that " the natural order presents itself to the mind simply 

 as the lowest and most mechanical portion of tbat larger Divine 

 order of which we human beings are permitted only to see the 



