34 THE REIGN OF LAW. 



we see the Natural, in the largest sense, includ- 

 ing and embodying the Supernatural ; the Ma- 

 terial, including the Supermateriah No possible 

 theory, whether true or false, in respect to the 

 physical means employed to preserve the cor- 

 respondence of parts which runs through all 

 Creation can affect the certainty of that mental 

 plan and purpose which alone makes such cor- 

 respondence intelligible to us, and in which alone 

 it may be said to exist. 



It must always be remembered that the two 

 ideas, — that of a Physical Cause and that of a Men- 

 tal Purpose, — are not antagonistic ; only the one is 

 larger and more comprehensive than the other. 

 Let us take a case. In many animal frames there 

 are what have been called " silent members " — 

 members which have no reference to the life or 

 use of the animal, but only to the general pat- 

 tern on which all vertebrate skeletons have been 

 formed. Mr Darwin, when he sees such a mem- 

 ber in any animal, concludes with certainty that 

 this animal is the lineal descendant by ordinary 

 generation of some other animal in which that 

 member was not silent but turned to use. Pro- 



