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be among the best informed/' If those writers know the pre- 
sent state of electricity, as men so confident ought to do — 
electricity being at the root of all physical science — the ques- 
tion irresistibly suggests itself, whether any better illustra- 
tions than themselves can be found of the literal propriety of 
their own satire ? One conclusion is, at all events, inevitable, 
they are reduced to the necessity either of ignoring the new 
and universally required law of electrical force, now shown to 
be feasible, or abandoning the doctrine of conservation as 
absolutely untenable, letting the dependent “ correlation of 
forces" sink to a mere relation of action and reaction, in 
which either of them is made to counterbalance any of the 
others. If the physical attractions cannot be conserved , there 
is, of course, no need of one changing into another to account 
for its diminution; and it is quite satisfactory to conceive 
that each is produced in its required magnitude under any 
present circumstances as a result of the moral operation of the 
Deity, capable of seeing the end from the beginning, and of 
preparing by the physical laws for every eventuality. 
Reverting to the common nature I have attributed to mind, 
am I chargeable with straining analogy too far in adducing, 
as I have done, a creature, albeit the most dignified that 
observation has made known to man — man himself, to 
portray in humble degree the moral likeness of his Great 
Creator ? I think not ; when I contemplate what man can 
accomplish with respect to the material universe by his 
finite mental powers to conceive, to will, and to achieve, I 
perceive that those powers need only to be infinitely magni- 
fied to become identical with some of those displayed in the 
character of the Creator. And in the light of human reason 
there can be nothing irreverent in believing that the Deity 
has delegated certain of His mental attributes to subordinate 
beings, seeing that none of His creatures have any existence 
out of Himself notwithstanding He has gifted them with a 
conscious individuality. Our very persons and powers are to 
all intents and purposes still His, for all we have is in Him, 
and apart from Him we are absolutely nothing ; in Him we 
move and act. And though it appertains only to a mind with 
infinite power as well as sufficient intellect to will geometrical 
solids into material atoms — though the Divinity has restricted 
the operation of our volition, so far as matter is concerned, to 
certain parts of our own individualities placed by Him under 
our command for that purpose, we are enabled at our own 
physical risk and moral responsibility to exercise to an extent 
appointed by Himself, the godlike attribute of modifying and 
beautifying nature. This is hardly the place to say so, but 
