53 
tion the power of God to interfere in the distribution, at least, 
of natural force. To question this would be to question either 
His existence or His superiority to man, who, it is admitted, 
can do the same. And if God can exert a power thus far over 
matter, who shall undertake to say it must stop there ? who 
shall deny to Him a creative, as well as a distributive, power 
over it ? They only who assert that creation is in itself im- 
possible — an assertion which we have to consider presently. 
13. In the mean time I venture to quote the words of the 
Bishop of Edinburgh (Bishop Cotterill) in a paper read before 
this Institute on February 4, 1878, in which he endeavours to 
show that Will must have played a part in bringing about the 
present state of the universe. Referring to Mr. Herbert 
Spencer's account of the doctrine of evolution, which sets out 
from the hypothesis that all matter was once homogeneous, 
the Bishop observes : — Something must have determined the 
variety of forces; it cannot have arisen from the mutual 
action of the parts, for the structure is by supposition homo- 
geneous. If the universe should be supposed infinite and 
homogeneous, and, for example, the forces acting on it the 
mutual attraction of each particle, every particle would then 
be acted on by equal and opposite forces, and no change 
whatever could take place. If it were finite, the only effect 
could be the concentration, and, so to speak, the crystallization 
of the whole mass. The variety of nature necessarily implies 
the introduction of some other element besides that of uniform 
law. One arrangement may by its heterogeneity of structure 
and its different forces be developed into another yet more 
varied, with nothing but law to direct it ; but that which is 
homogeneous can never become varied by law alone. Variety 
itself thus points to a higher origin than law." 
14. If we assume that the shape of the homogeneous mass 
was spherical, which seems the most natural supposition, this 
reasoning seems quite conclusive. A homogeneous structure, 
whether infinite or finite, could, on that supposition, never 
become differentiated by any inherent power of its own. If 
infinite, it must be in equilibria, and there would be nothing 
to disturb its equilibrium. If finite, it would, supposing at- 
tractive forces to prevail, concentrate itself through the mutual 
attraction of its parts, or (if repulsion should prevail) would 
disperse itself through space, but still there would be nothing 
to differentiate one part from another. The fact, therefore, 
that they are differentiated proves that something more than 
mere law has acted upon them ; and what can this be but 
Will? 
1 5. In fairness, however, we should not overlook Mr. 
