381 
u Sufficiently enlightened man would recognize the vanity of 
his desires, and would die of disgust.” Nirvana , the utter and 
final extinction of being, is the only hope. Such is “ the sublime 
spirituality ” towards which we are tending — a spirituality 
which, according to a great poet, found its first rise in the 
bosom of “ Lucifer,” and its first disciple in the unhappy “ Cain.” 
Hartmann seems to be at present the guiding star amongst 
these wise men of the East. (Note E.) 
18. For myself, I look upon all this sublime spirituality as 
literally weighed in the balances and found wanting. I not 
only believe in the existence of the material universe, but also 
that the Creator formed everything very good, and that His 
works still proclaim the truth, which is contradicted by the 
philosophy we are considering. “The invisible things of Him, 
from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being under- 
stood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and 
Godhead, sO'that they are without excuse.” 
19. The Theory of Atoms was at first allied to Atheistic spe- 
culations; but, when more fully understood, it becomes favour- 
able to views of creative wisdom, and as Cudworth observes,* - 
“ there seems a natural connection between it and theology.” 
On the other hand, the denial of all real existence of the 
material world, must be set down as equally repugnant to 
religion and to common sense. 
Part II.— Motion. 
20. In the preceding part we have felt the difficulty of recog- 
nizing as scientific fact the Atomic Theory. We have learnt, 
it is to be hoped, a lesson of caution, which we must not forget, 
when carrying forward our investigations into a region where 
the balance and the weight threaten to fail us, and we have to 
look for other methods of investigating truth. 
21. We have seen that “the idea of motion” is vaunted as 
the highest discovery of “ the scientific and pure reason” of this 
century, now verging towards its decadence. For my own 
part, I must admit that my reason is so far from being “ pure 
reason” — so “ enslaved ” is it by the fetters of common sense — 
that I am unable to conceive of motion where “ matter and the 
atom have disappeared,” and there remains nothing to be moved . 
* Daubeny, on the Atomic Theory , p. 12, 
