340 



to appear as clothed in light, of so identifying themselves with 

 the thunders and lightnings of Mount Sinai as to be undistin- 

 guishable iu the description^ of ascending in the flame of the 

 altar, of calling forth a burst of fire from a rock by the pointing 

 of a staff, and as easily of spreading their wings on the blast and 

 destroymg the life of 180,000 men in one night. To roll with 

 power the stone from the door of the sepulchre, or to smite 

 Peter on the side with a gentle touch sufficient to wake the 

 sleeper, evince alike their power over the material world — guided 

 by perfect intelligence. 



54. But it will be objected that all these things are impossible 

 and incredible, because they are contrary to the laws of nature. 

 T^^e have then to consider what this expression (the laws of 

 nature) really means. 



55. In the charming and instructive book of the Duke of Argyll, 

 the noble author enlightens us " on the confusion of thought, 

 arising very much out of the ambiguity of lanofuage.^'' He 

 gives us five meanings in which the word law is habitually used 

 in science, which are certainly four too many to form the basis 

 of accurate reasoning. He also informs us, that of all the 

 senses in which the word law is used, there is only one in 

 which it is true that laws are immutable or invariable, and that 

 is the sense in which law is used to designate an individual 

 force. 



56. Let us, then, adhere to this simply rigid interpretation, and 

 we are delivered from an almost infinity of plausible sophisms. 

 A miracle, such, for instance, as iron being made to swim, is 

 impossible no doubt, as contrary to the law of gravitation, 

 otherwise it would not be a miracle. But, then, if we are 

 compelled to believe in the existence of another and a spiritual 

 world, having uncontrollable power to set aside the laws of this 

 material creation, — also of an Almighty Being, having infinite 

 dominion, — the question becomes simply one of testimony, not of 

 science, and reads thus : Is there sufficient human testimony to 

 lead us to believe that the order of this world, or what we call 

 the laws of nature, has been interfered with and those laws set 

 (in such instances) aside ? 



I have sought to show in Part I. [a) that the balance and 

 weights are the special criterion by which to judge our theories 

 regarding ponderable matter. In Part I. (6) I have endeavoured 

 to prove that the abandonment of this test, and the denial of 

 the real existence of matter, lead to mysticism. In Part II. 

 I have argued that the more abstract idea of motion is still 

 capable of being tested by the thermo-electric pile. In Part III. 

 I have ventured on still more intangible ground, that of an 

 ether scarcely capable of any test which can convey demonstra- 



