DEFINITIONS
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"substance" or "fundamental stuff," of which we commonly imagine all objects of sensation to be composed.
vi. Nature
1. Nature means sometimes the (1) ordinary, or (2) orderly course of things apart from the present and direct intervention of human Will; sometimes the (3) ordinary or (4) orderly course of humanity; sometimes the (5) ordinary or (6) orderly course of all things.
2. Law of Nature is a metaphorical name for a frequently observed sequence of phenomena (apart from human Will), implying, to some minds, regularity; to others, absolute invariability.
3. Miracle means a supposed suspension of a Sequence, or Law, of Nature; Marvel, or Mighty Work, means a rare Sequence of Nature, in which great Effects are produced by Causes seemingly, but not really, inadequate.
4. "Supernatural" is the name given, in these letters, to the existence of a God; and to His creation and continuous development of all things: the divine action being regarded, not as contrary to Nature, but as above Nature; not as suspending the sequences of Nature, but as originating and supporting them.
vii. Will
The Will is the power of giving to some one of our desires, or to some one group of compatible desires, permanent predominance over the rest.
