Our reflections on the course of Nature have not proved that there is no God, but rather that there is. The order, regularity and certainty of natural forces indicates a changeless, exhaustless fountain from whence those forces flow. Amid the ceaseless mutations of the universe, this primal energy seems to be the one thing in which there is “no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” It flows on resistless along the same channels from age to age. It overwhelms whatever lies in its path. It would sweep away all the millions of earth like a grain of sand. It would sweep the very stars from the sky. Nothing can arrest it; nothing change its course. It accommodates itself to nobody; all must be accommodated to it, or suffer disaster. It is inexorable, like “that rock, upon which if a man fall, he shall be broken, but if it fall upon him, it will grind him to powder.” It is not man who is running this puny world; it is a changeless, eternal Power. No fear that any human combinations in capitols or temples will swerve this infinite energy, or control it in the least. That which is according to its nature it will do, and it will do nothing else. It is absolute monarch, and woe to him who resists its sway. We are amazed, awed and subdued in the contemplation. We begin to feel that there is but one thing for us to do, and that is, to learn its ways and by increasing knowledge and obedience, as rapidly as possible to put ourselves in accord with its goings-forth.
Should we enter some vast factory where there are acres of floor-space, and wheels and cogs and pulleys and hands and machines of patterns innumerable, all propelled by a giant engine hidden away in the cellar; should we see all this wilderness of wheels moving in concert, and every machine turning out the work for which it was intended, we should neither doubt the existence of the power, nor the benevolence of the whole design: nor if presently we saw a workman, reaching after some fancied good, drawn between wheels and mangled, or a hundred ignorant or careless persons caught up and whirled round and round and dashed to death; would we find any occasion to reverse our judgment—to doubt either the existence of a controlling force, or its essential goodness? Rather we should be impressed with its terrible supremacy, and with the importance of seeking out the lines of its manifestation and learning to avoid a conflict.
Law is not an entity, but only the mode of an entity; not a thing existing, but the attribute of a thing; not in itself a power, but the manner of the action of a power. When a power through a given cause produces a given effect, and the same effect from the same cause, this regularity of manifestation fulfills our idea of law.
The great original energy must act with this perfect regularity—that is, it must govern by law, and that equally, whether this original energy be a thing only, or a person. In either case, we must accept it as uncreated, necessary, having a definite constitution or nature. In this power or person, natural laws are rooted, and from it they proceed, as rays of light from the sun. To arrest the rays, you must quench the luminary; to arrest the current forces of nature, you must stay their author. The goings-forth of power from this exhaustless fountain are necessary, ceaseless, changeless, resistless. If this fountain is an impersonal force, we can no more expect it, on any account, to relax its energy, than we can expect the engine in the cellar to stop because some wretch up stairs has been caught between the wheels.
If it is personal, having the attributes of wisdom and goodness—which is the popular idea of God—still, from the very attributes with which it is invested, we must expect it to have all the uniformity, precision, and inexorableness of a machine. Its mode of action must be the same in all cases that are alike, though the series be infinite, else there will be more or less than perfect wisdom or perfect goodness in some of the series. More would be impossible: less would impeach the power; hence, the action must be uniform and resistless. It must show the characteristics of law—nothing else but law. God can not consent to do something that is not perfectly wise and perfectly good because He has been importuned so to do by fools, or because a creature is going to be crushed. Therefore, neither with Him—an infinitely wise and good being—nor with Nature’s laws, which are but the effluence of His nature, can there be any “variableness or shadow of turning.”
The general acceptance of this truth will mark a step forward in the progress of humanity. Such knowledge will largely displace the faith of the past and the present, but there will be a net gain. We have been looking for God outside of Nature; but while some profess to have seen him, the majority have been weak in faith, or wholly unbelieving. When we learn to see God in nature, we shall see him every day. We shall then truly realize that “in him we live and move and have our being.” We shall have substituted certainty in the governing power for something very like caprice. We shall not expect the Supernatural to forbid the Natural, any more than we shall expect the sun to quarrel with his beams. Knowing definitely what not to expect of God, we shall understand precisely what to expect from ourselves. We shall comprehend more fully the Maker’s meaning when He said, “Subdue and have dominion.”
Judaism alone, of all religions, took no cognizance of a future state. If man thoroughly adjusted himself to this world’s laws, he needed not fear for the hereafter. Therein is the strongest proof of its divine origin. And along this line a thousand victories have been won—but much yet remains. The results of human folly are lessening daily as man progresses. The means of rational enjoyment have been already vastly increased, and there will be further enlargement. But men, not angels, must do the work. Moses and his people stood, the sea before, and Pharaoh and his hosts behind them. In this extremity, he lifted his hands and cried to heaven. The answer that came was hardly such as he expected, but it may be very suggestive to us: “Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, THAT THEY GO FORWARD.”
| Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: |
|---|
| No so Romantic as it Looks=> Not so Romantic as it Looks {pg xiii} |
| harvest and and summer=> harvest and summer {pg 25} |
| which bring a rainy season=> which brings a rainy season {pg 34} |
| from 10° to to 15°=> from 10° to 15° {pg 38} |
| electrical discharges takes place=> electrical discharges take place {pg 44} |
| bricks to to the street=> bricks to the street {pg 81} |
| their more oppulent neighbors=> their more opulent neighbors {pg 87} |
| frivolty and idleness=> frivolity and idleness {pg 88} |
| witnesssd the horrible cremation=> witnesssed the horrible cremation {pg 92} |
| up to to the front door=> up to the front door {pg 98} |
| in some myterious way=> in some mysterious way {pg 109} |
| feared in this conntry=> feared in this country {pg 130} |
| population atttacted by=> population attracted by {pg 153} |
| basin of Hong Hong=> basin of Hong Kong {pg 157} |
| the shoal in in the winter=> the shoal in the winter {pg 168} |
| from the beyond the ship=> from beyond the ship {pg 189} |
| A portion of the tempest and of the!=> A portion of the tempest and of thee! {pg 220} |
| tremenduous electrical displays=> tremendous electrical displays {pg 223} |
| straw fused in in the same way=> straw fused in the same way {pg 224} |
| Quinitus Julius Eburnus became consul=> Quintus Julius Eburnus became consul {pg 229} |
| of the Lyse Fjord=> of the Lyse Fiord {pg 234} |
| observations of late years has shown=> observations of late years have shown {pg 254} |
| being the the only one=> being the only one {pg 261} |
| they liked the the work=> they liked the work {pg 299} |
| These uprotected tracts=> These unprotected tracts {pg 268} |
| where help not easily obtained=> where help is not easily obtained {pg 272} |
| the immediate vicinty of=> the immediate vicinity of {pg 294} |
| at a large scale-map=> at a large-scale map {pg 310} |
| the governmental committes=> the governmental committees {pg 315} |
| had even remotely conconceived=> had even remotely conceived {pg 332} |
| ten feet behing them=> ten feet behind them {pg 338} |
| succeeeed in escaping=> succeeded in escaping {pg 341} |
| magnificiently solid structure=> magnificently solid structure {pg 346} |
| droping shattered houses=> dropping shattered houses {pg 347} |
| of overwhelmning sorrow=> of overwhelming sorrow {pg 374} |
| Monday, the 3d, liberal contritions=> Monday, the 3d, liberal contributions {pg 382} |
| vast quanties of gas=> vast quantities of gas {pg 404} |
| character of the cave=> character of the the cave {pg 408} |
| twenty-four active volcanes=> twenty-four active volcanoes {pg 416} |
| The next unusal activity=> The next unusual activity {pg 434} |
| the material threwn out may reach=> the material thrown out may reach {pg 438} |
| the Vatna distriet in 1875=> the Vatna district in 1875 {pg 449} |
| the barometic oscillations=> the barometric oscillations {pg 480} |
| one hundrd and sixty-five=> one hundred and sixty-five {pg 491} |
| Portions of the country was upheaved=> Portions of the country were upheaved {pg 533} |
| the unitiated foreigner=> the uninitiated foreigner {pg 536} |
| At was felt at Charleston=> It was felt at Charleston {pg 553} |
| long standing fueds=> long standing feuds {pg 572} |
| killed killed fifteen thousand persons=> killed fifteen thousand persons {pg 585} |
| the unparalled horrors=> the unparalleled horrors {pg 592} |
| weaned from the the breast=> weaned from the breast {pg 602} |