I879-J 
Matter Active . 
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whether by beginning with it or returning to it, we are 
obliged to think of power — By what means did it produce 
atoms ? The ether as it exists, be it ether or gas, conveys 
power ; it therefore holds it in possession for a time ; heat 
and magnetic influence from the sun are proofs. Some men 
tell us that power exists only in connexion with our ele- 
ments; this is not known to us; we judge of its amount 
and quality by its action on our elements, but we cannot 
suppose it arriving from the sun without passing the inter- 
mediate space. Power, therefore, exists of a kind very quick 
and subtle, and of a kind different from heat, and that power 
or these powers may be able to transform the elements, 
whether that itself be convertible into heat or not. There 
may be many powers made out of one original power, and 
this would seem better proved than that there are many 
elements made out of one original element. In any case 
their wondrous effects are partly seen, and the existence of 
these agents give us some clue to the very numerous pheno- 
mena which Nature produces — all of them, one might say, 
quite inexplicable. He that says that he understands one 
of them, let him explain. The objedl of this is to show 
that heat by concussion is not the original phenomenon ; 
that heat also is not the original in all probability, but that 
elements must be formed before either exist. Something 
out of which they were formed, or are being formed, must 
have existed, or probably does exist, and power at any rate 
we must have to do anything, and that power is as myste- 
rious as ever. If this is right reasoning, the history of the 
Universe has other stages than have been conceived ; and 
as the body of man decomposes and composes, producing 
his life, so the Universe may be breaking up its matter and 
forming new matter at the same time. By this idea another 
glimpse is given us into the mode of comprehending the 
existence of time. We dare not say anything of the past 
and dread inconceivable eternity. 
John Dalton . — When you get into that vague and poetical 
region I am obliged to assent, meaning that I believe that 
all is wonderful and mysterious ; but have we made any- 
thing out of the discussion except this, that matter can do 
nothing without power, and that the power is not in the 
matter, such as we have it in our elements. If you mean 
so, I most gladly agree. 
Roger Bacon . — We have made out that the power began 
not by forming elements, but an original something very 
subtle, and I repeat this to fix it on your mind, because I 
feel sure that you will soon give up supposing our atoms to 
