OF tHE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 53 



from Prof. Tyndall's famous Belfast address : " The principles enun- 

 ciated by Democritus reveal his uncompromising antagonism to 

 those who deduced the phenomena of nature from the caprices of 

 the gods. They are briefly as follows : — i. From nothing comes 

 nothing. Nothing that exists can be destroyed, all changes are due 

 to the combination and separation of molecules. 2. Nothing 

 happens by chance ; every occurence has its cause from which it 

 follows by necessity. 3. The only existing things are the atoms and 

 empty space ; all else is man's opinion. 4. The atoms are infmite 

 in number and infinitely various in form ; they strike together, and 

 the lateral motions and whirling which thus arise are the beginnings 

 of worlds. 5. The varieties of all things depend upon the varieties 

 of their atoms, in number, size and aggregation. 6. The soul 

 consists of free, smooth, round atoms, like those of fire. These are 

 the most mobile of all They enter and penetrate the whole body, 

 and in their motions the phenomena of life arise. Then the atoms 

 of Democritus are individually without sensation ; they combine in 

 obedience to mechanical laws, and not only organic forms, but the 

 phenomena of sensation and thought are also the result of their 

 combination." Some one says that " The ancients have stolen all 

 our best thoughts," and thus it is that at any rate Democritus stole a 

 number of the thoughts of modern Material Philosophy. Owing to 

 the remarkable harmony of their opinions we are not surprised that 

 Prof. Tyndall seems in his address to elevate Democritus to a loftier 

 eminence than he is willing to assign to Plato and Aristotle. There 

 were other Atomists besides Democritus, but they need not engage 

 us. Democntus was born about 460 B. C, travelled extensively, 

 became the most learned man before Aristotle. Given space, the 

 atoms in space, local alteration or mechanical movement of the 

 atoms in space, this movement caused by a necessity springing from 

 the nature of the atoms — -out of these elements Democritus con- 

 structed the universe. 



Anaxagorus, who first introduced Philosophy in Athens, which 

 was henceforth for a long time to be its home, added to the notions 

 of his predecessors the thought of " a world forming intelligence 

 that was absolutely separated and free from matter, and that acted 

 on design." It would be a mistake however, to suppose that Anaxa. 

 gorous propounded anything like a theistic conception of the universe 

 as that phrase is commonly understood. And so with Anaxagoras 



