117 
verse, and when that also isended, as it will end, then pass on into 
another, a thinner and remoter Universe, still differently con- 
ditioned, and so on, and on, and acl infinitum, is at least differ- 
ent from the personal hope and expectation, of the Christian 
that after this life, he personally shall be “ for ever with the 
Lord.” To call the two ideas by one name, “ Immortality,” is 
at least misleading, though necessary to our authors' scheme. 
40. But to continue the examination. No chain, we know, 
is stronger than its weakest link. The force of our authors' 
argument must be tested at the junction between 
the visible and invisible. With their admirable tinuity isa"' 
power of exposition they have set lucidly before us Law ' 
this “ Law of Continuity” pervading the Visible Universe. 
Bightly, the unvaried uniformity of Nature suggests to us 
that it is no accident. It is not simply recognized then, as a 
fact, or series of facts, which might be otherwise. We could 
not imagine the absence of continuity in this Visible Universe. 
But what does this mean? Simply, that if we mark any fact, 
we look for something previous to account for it. 
The Principle of Continuity, as we have said, is essential also 
to what has, till lately, been known as the “ Law of Causation.” 
Now if we were asked for the distinct difference between the Law 
of Continuity, as viewed by science, and the Law of Causation, as 
regarded by philosophy, (the Principle of Continuity being com- 
mon to both), w'e should say, that it lies in a different approach 
to the facts. “ Continuity ” is palpably seen as we look on the 
phenomena on this side; “ Causation ” is a rational view of the 
same facts, regarded from the stand-point of the invisible. The 
facts may be the same, but they are viewed from 
opposite directions. The vast series of visible pheno- V tew^n“o C n- of 
mena are observed in the materialistic philosophy all c a “ dy t 
trooping up from the Unseen, with ‘'forces ” behind ausa 1011 ' 
them all hidden from sight. If looked at from behind by a 
higher philosophy, the series is just as “continuous; ” but the 
“forces” are detected, in their independent vitality, setting all in 
motion with no preceding continuity to be physicallydiscerned. 
41. Each event in the phenomenal Universe is preceded by a 
force in full activity, and the materialist z’ecognizes both, viz. the 
inert event, and the force inactivity. But what the latent force 
is, prior to its action at first, and at every point, is the subject 
of ultimate inquiry to every thinker who aspires to be more 
than a mere observer, or random collector of facts. The pheno- 
mena being the same, the “ Law of Continuity ” may be a 
phrase to express “ the how,” but the “ Law of Causation ” the 
“ why.” But these are not so shown to be the same. 
