that he then gave to nature certain laws, and to those laws a sort of inherent power; and that not only in accordance with these laws, but in obedience to them, the various changes and operations of the natural world have continued to move forward, the planets have rolled on in their orbits, the earth has revolved on its axis, and an unlimited number and variety of changes have taken place in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms. The common impression appears to be that there is a sort of inherent and as it were hereditary power in nature and its laws. The existence of such a general impression is clearly evident from the ordinary manner of speaking on this subject. We find men constantly writing and speaking of what nature does, of her laws, and her various operations in the visible world, as if nature were really a living active agent, and possessed some inherent power to direct her own movements and execute her own laws. It is true there are very few who would deny that this power was first given to nature by the Creator himself, but then the impression seems to be that she holds and uses it as a permanent gift. For example, how often do we hear the astronomer talking of the centripetal and tangential forces, which carry the earth forward in her orbit. He will demonstrate to you with mathematical certainty that the resultant of those forces must be the ellipse, in which we find the earth moving. When he arrives at the result does it occur to him that he has done nothing more than to show the final and ultimate, yet necessary and invariable effect of certain causes existing in the spiritual world,—causes originating in divine love and existing according to divine wisdom. There is reason to fear, that as a general fact, there is no recognition of any such principle. It is seen that the various changes and operations that are going on in the natural world are taking place according to certain general laws. These laws are called laws of nature, and the impression seems to be that nature has received, from the hand of her Creator, some power by which she executes these laws.
