Thoughts on Causality. 



235 



which it always frames of the character of its primary cause. 

 True it is, that the hue of humanity is reflected over it. 

 The first cause does assume human attributes. In the rude 

 conditions of society, they are bodily as well as spiritual ; 

 but afterwards, purely spiritual. Man is conscious of the 

 exercise of a power of causation on his own part, and he 

 knows nothing of any other mode of essential causation. 

 As long as all that he sees and investigates in the universe 

 is found coordinated to the powers and methods of his own 

 intellect, it would be an impossible philosophy to assume 

 that primary cause, when discovered, should not exert its 

 efficiency in a manner harmonious with the indications of 

 all the rest of the universe. The mind of humanity, there- 

 fore, in vests its primary cause with volition and intelligence. 

 It may be said that humanity's conceptions in this and many 

 other things are destitute of demonstrable foundation. I 

 do not wish to meet the objection now, but would suggest 

 thatsoundreasoningdemands that we proceed from grounds 

 which are strongly probable, rather than from the total 

 negation of them, because not demonstrated. The fallacy 

 of asserting that a given position cannot be demonstrated 

 true, and then proceeding to reason as if it were demon- 

 strated untrue, is a somewhat fashionable one, and has 

 served as the basis of a great deal of bulky and ostentatious, 

 if not very substantial philosophizing. 



Another observation to be made at this point, has refer- 

 ence to the relative influence of polytheistic and mono- 

 theistic conceptions upon the body and the march of science. 

 It is the characteristic of polytheism to stand ready to 

 recognize an indefinite number of first causes ; thus neces- 

 sarily retarding, instead of 3timulatiug, the search for 

 intermediate causes. Monotheism, while recognizing but 

 one absolutely first cause, must either favor the tendency 

 of lines of causation to converge at a point by the continual 

 interpolation of secondary causes or else must yield to the 

 anthropopathic instinct of uncultured mind, in assuming 



