SOME THOUGHTS ON PERPETUAL MOTION. 395 



down, and, like a clock, will eventually demand the inter- 

 position of an Intelligent Will to re-establish its motion. 

 The denial of this proposition drives us to one of the fol- 

 lowing alternatives : first, that there exists in Nature an 

 endless series of causation — the remotest assignable cause 

 still hanging upon another cause not higher than a material 

 force — a conclusion entirely at variance with our intuitive 

 cognition of primary causation ; or, secondly, that one or 

 more of the series of causes can act in different modes, so 

 that what had just been done is presently undone, or done 

 differently, and thus new conditions created for the re- 

 newed activity of other forces. But the supposition of a 

 change in the mode of action of any force or cause contra- 

 dicts a fundamental axiom of philosophy. We have no au- 

 thority for such an assumption, and are not at liberty to 

 resort to it. 



It can not be denied that these are conclusions which are 

 repugnant to the popular apprehension of Nature's opera- 

 tions. The thought of a " machine," moreover, suggests 

 self-action, and seems at first to exclude that intelligent 

 special agency in Nature which we call Providence. The 

 solar system is, nevertheless, a combination of matter and 

 force whose movements can be calculated with the same 

 precision as those of a steam printing-press. If it be neces- 

 sary to protect our notion of a Providence, let us suppose 

 that those mighty forces which handle planets as if they 

 were engaged in a " game of ball" are not energies inher- 

 ent in matter, but the immediate efforts of a divine will. 

 It may be so. There is no logic which can overthrow the 

 assumption. But in either case, these energies are put 

 forth according to intelligible and unvarying methods / and 

 all that science asserts is, that if the methods remain the 

 same — that is, if the laws of Nature continue unchanged — 

 the course of cosmical activities will complete its round. 



