278 THE REIGN OF LAW. 



is not a physical cause, but a Mental Pur- 

 pose. The physical means by which that pur- 

 pose is secured remain as dark as ever, and such 

 of them as are conceivable by us, are seen, like all 

 other physical forces, working to order, subject to 

 direction, and having that direction determined 

 by foresight, forethought, and contrivance. 



Correlation of Growth, in the sense of external 

 adaptations, may be said to be the most universal 

 of all the Laws of Nature. But it accounts for 

 the Origin of Organic Forms only in the same 

 sense in which it accounts for the origin of all 

 other phenomena, which in their result exhibit 

 adaptations, or fittings into use and service. Let 

 us take as an example, the origin, nature, and 

 capacities of Coal. That substance is correlated 

 in a truly wonderful manner with the needs, the 

 powers, and the capacities of Man. It contains 

 within itself, in a form condensed and portable, 

 a store of physical Force of incredible amount. 

 The particles of one pound weight of it are held 

 together by a Force which, when liberated and 

 applied in the form of heat, is capable of lifting 

 one million times its own weight to the height of 



