Γαι’ ευρυζερνος παντων εδος ασφαλες αιει
Αθανατων,
Eldest of beings, Chaos first arose,
Thence Earth wide stretched, the steadfast seat of all
The Immortals,
the young scholar first betrayed his inquisitive genius by asking “And chaos whence?” When in his riper years he had persuaded himself that this question was sufficiently answered by saying that chaos arose from the concourse of atoms, it is strange that the same inquisitive spirit did not again suggest the question “and atoms whence?” And it is clear that however often the question “whence?” had been answered, it would still start up as at first. Nor could it suffice as an answer to say, that earth, chaos, atoms, were portions of a series of changes which went back to eternity. The preceptor of Epicurus informed him, that to be satisfied on the subject of his inquiry, he must have recourse to the philosophers. If the young speculator had been told that chaos (if chaos indeed preceded the present order) was produced by an Eternal Being, in whom resided purpose and will, he would have received a suggestion which, duly matured by subsequent contemplation, might have led him to a philosophy far more satisfactory than the material scheme can ever be, to one who looks, either abroad into the universe, or within into his own bosom.
[CHAPTER IX.]
Mechanical Laws.
In the preceding observations we have supposed the laws, by which different kinds of matter act and are acted upon, to be already in existence; and have endeavoured to point out evidences of design and adaptation, displayed in the selection and arrangement of these materials of the universe. These materials are, it has appeared, supplied in such measures and disposed in such forms, that by means of their properties and laws the business of the world goes on harmoniously and beneficially. But a further question occurs: how came matter to have such properties and laws? Are these also to be considered as things of selection and institution? And if so, can we trace the reasons why the laws were established in their present form; why the properties which matter actually possesses were established and bestowed and bestowed upon it? We have already attempted, in a previous part of this work, to point out some of the advantages which are secured by the existing laws of heat, light and moisture. Can we, in the same manner, point out the benefits which arise from the present constitution of those laws of matter which are mainly concerned in the production of cosmical phenomena?
It will readily be perceived that the discussion of this point must necessarily require some effort of abstract thought. The laws and properties of which we have here to speak, the laws of motion and the universal properties of matter, are so closely interwoven with our conceptions of the external world, that we have great difficulty in conceiving them not to exist, or to exist other than they are. When we press or lift a stone, we can hardly imagine that it could, by possibility, do otherwise than resist our effort by its hardness and by its heaviness, qualities so familiar to us: when we throw it, it seems inevitable that its motion should depend on the impulse we give, just as we find that it invariably does.
Nor is it easy to say how far it is really possible to suppose the fundamental attributes of matter to be different from what they are. If we, in our thoughts, attempt to divest matter of its powers of resisting and moving, it ceases to be matter, according to our conceptions, and we can no longer reason upon it with any distinctness. And yet it is certain that we can conceive the laws of hardness and weight and motion to be quite different from what they are, and can point out some of the consequences which would result from such difference. The properties of matter, even the most fundamental and universal ones, do not obtain by any absolute necessity, resembling that which belongs to the properties of geometry. A line touching a circle is necessarily perpendicular to a line drawn to the centre through the point touched; for it may be shown that the contrary involves a contradiction. But there is no contradiction in supposing that a body’s motion should naturally diminish, or that its weight should increase in removing further from the earth’s centre.
Thus the properties of matter and the laws of motion are what we find them, not by virtue of any internal necessity which we can understand. The study of such laws and properties may therefore disclose to us the character of that external agency by which we conceive them to have been determined to be what they are; and this must be the same agency by which all other parts of the constitution of the universe were appointed and ordered.
But we can hardly expect, with regard to such subjects, that we shall be able to obtain any complete or adequate view of the reasons why these general laws are so selected, and so established. These laws are the universal basis of all operations which go on, at any moment, in every part of space, with regard to every particle of matter, organic and inorganic. All other laws and properties must have a reference to these, and must be influenced by them; both such as men have already discovered, and the far greater number which remain still unknown. The general economy and mutual relations of all parts of the universe, must be subordinate to the laws of motion and matter of which we here speak. We can easily suppose that the various processes of nature, and the dependencies of various creatures, are affected in the most comprehensive manner by these laws;—are simplified by their simplicity, made consistent by their universality; rendered regular by their symmetry. We can easily suppose that in this way there may be the most profound and admirable reasons for the existence of the present universal properties of matter, which we cannot apprehend in consequence of the limited nature of our knowledge, and of our faculties. For, compared with the whole extent of the universe, the whole aggregate of things and relations and connexions which exist in it, our knowledge is most narrow and partial, most shallow and superficial. We cannot suppose, therefore, that the reasons which we discover for the present form of the laws of nature go nearly to the full extent, or to the bottom of the reasons, which a more complete and profound insight would enable us to perceive. To do justice to such reasons, would require nothing less than a perfect acquaintance with the whole constitution of every part of creation; a knowledge which man has not, and, so far as we can conceive, never can have.