of Edinhitrgh^ Session 1864-65. 265 
history we can trace anything beyond a series of disconnected facts, 
— anything in the nature of a Law. 
I propose in this paper to make some observations upon this sub- 
ject, in two of its most general aspects — 
1. Upon the idea of “Creation by Law,” how we should define 
it, and in what light we should regard it, 
2. On the bearing which existing theories on the “ Origin of 
Species” have upon our knowledge and conception of Creation by 
Law. 
The word “ Law” is very often so loosely used that it is absolutely 
necessary to begin any discussion on this subject by defining the 
sense in which it is to be understood. Much dispute, in science as 
well as in other matters, may often be avoided by a simple defini- 
tion. If Law be understood to mean nothing more than an “ ob- 
served order of facts,” there need be no discussion at all on “ Crea- 
tion by Law.” There can be no doubt whatever that there is an 
“ observed order” in the forms of organic life. They are all allied 
to each other after an order and gradation which is as certain as it is 
mysterious. But, assuredly, this is not the sense in which creation 
by law is so eagerly affirmed by some, and as jealously contested 
by others. “ Law,” however, generally means not merely the 
“observed order of facts,” but some Force which is its compelling 
cause. Force is the root idea of Law in its scientific sense. The 
law of gravitation, which is the purest example, is not merely the 
“ observed order” in which the heavenly bodies move, but it is the 
force which compels those movements, and (in a sense) explains 
them. The difference between “ law” in the narrower, and “law” 
in the larger sense, may be roughly illustrated by the “ Three 
special Laws” discovered by Kepler, as compared with the one 
universal Law discovered by Newton. The Three Laws of Kepler 
were simply and purel}^ “ an observed order of facts,” in respect 
to the planetary orbits. They stood by themselves — disconnected 
— their cause unknown. But the higher law discovered by Newton 
revealed their connection and their cause. The “ observed order” 
which Kepler had discovered was simply a necessary consequence 
of the law of gravitation. In its light, the three laws of Kepler 
have been merged and lost. 
It is true, indeed, that Law, in the narrower sense, suggests 
