48 THE REIGN OF LAW. 



extending, and the matters over which it is found 

 prevailing, is one of the deepest mysteries both of 

 Religion and of Nature. We feel sometimes as if 

 we should like to get above this rule — into some 

 secret Presence where its bonds are broken. But 

 no glimpse is ever given us of anything, but 

 " Freedom within the bounds of Law." The Will 

 revealed to us in Religion is not — any more than 

 the Will revealed to us in Nature — a capricious 

 Will, but one with which, in this respect, " there 

 is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 



We return, then, to the point from which we 

 started. M. Guizot's affirmation that belief in the 

 Supernatural is essential to all Religion is true only 

 when it is understood in a special sense. Belief 

 in the existence of a Living Will — of a Personal 

 God — is indeed a requisite condition. Conviction 

 " that He is " must precede the conviction that 

 " He is the rewarder of those that diligently seek 

 Him." But the intellectual yoke involved in the 

 common idea of the Supernatural is a yoke which 

 men impose upon themselves. Obscure thought 

 and confused language are the main source of 

 difficulty. 



