LAW; — ITS DEFINITIONS. 63 



conclusions, demands surely a very careful exami- 

 nation at our hands. 



What, then, is this Reign of Law ? What is 

 Law, and in what sense can it be said to reign ? 



Words, which should be the servants of Thought, 

 are too often its masters ; and there are very 

 few words which are used more ambiguously, and 

 therefore more injuriously, than the word " Law." 

 It may indeed be legitimately used in several 

 different senses, because in all cases as applied 

 in Science it is a metaphor, and one which has 

 relation to many different kinds and degrees of 

 likeness in the ideas which are compared. It 

 matters little in which of these senses it is used, 

 provided the distinctions between them are kept 

 clearly in view, and provided we watch against 

 the fallacies which must arise when we pass in- 

 sensibly from one meaning to another. And here 

 it may be observed, in passing, that the meta- 

 phors which are implied in Language are gene- 

 rally founded on analogies instinctively, and often 

 unconsciously, perceived, and which would not 

 be so perceived if they were not both deep and 

 true. In this case the idea which lies at the root 



