ON MIK'ACf.ES. 205 



of wisdom or power in the author of nature. An all- 

 wise and all - powerful being does not require, like a 

 bad workman, to correct the faults of his work, by con- 

 stant interference with it. Divine wisdom and infinite power 

 would be displayed in the construction of an organism that 

 would go on of itself in accordance with the laws impressed 

 upon it when it left the Divine hand. To suppose that he 

 needs to "tinker it up/' is to make a supposition entirely un- 

 worthy of an Infinite Being. Just as it is impossible for God 

 to lie, so it is impossible for God to work a miracle, — morally 

 impossible. His infinite knowledge and wisdom would pro- 

 tect Him from defective conception ; His infinite power from 

 imperfect construction. The objection then is that a miracle 

 is of the nature of contrivance, and so is inconsistent with 

 Divine wisdom and power. 



It might be sufficient to reply that the popular conception of 

 the Divine Being may not be true. For the perfecting of His 

 handiwork He may be dependent upon the cheerful con- 

 currence of His intelligent creation. Such an answer would 

 be argumentatively suthcient. Mr. Mill has applied it in 

 relation to the existence of evil ; and there are, as the late 

 Professor Birks, in his Difficulties of Belief, points out, 

 indications, that the popular conception of God's omnipotence 

 is not consistent with the language of the Scriptures. 



(a) Mr. Babbage's Answer. 



But whatever force there is in the objection that a miracle 

 is an afterthought is completely met by the ingenious argu- 

 ment of the late Mr. Babbage, in his Bridgewater treatise. 

 Mr. Babbage supposes the construction of a calculating-machine 

 which shall proceed according to a given law for a certain 

 number of times, and at a given point shall vary the law, so 

 as to produce a number inconsistent with that law ; that it 

 shall then return to the original law and continue to produce 

 numbers in accordance with it ad wjinitum. The method of 

 the calculating-machine is supposed to illustrate the ordinary 

 operations of nature, and the interruption of the ordinary course 

 by the introduction of a miraculous dispensation. 



This supposition obviates any force that the objection 

 referred to may contain. The alterations were all included in 

 the organism when it received its chai'acter from the Divine 

 Artificer. A miraculous dispensation is thus regarded as a 



