force--in other words, in the creation of any of the
features of the physical world--further than in the original creation of
the spirit which underlies and produces them. But this position is in
direct variance with the teachings of Holy Writ, wherein we are told
that He maketh every flower to bloom, every leaf to grow, and without
Him not even a sparrow falls to the ground. In fact, upon almost every
page of the sacred book is recognized and taught the fact of the direct
intervention of God, not only in human affairs, but also in every work
of nature, however minute and insignificant.

And as another result of this independent action, we should find this
spiritual force, as in the case of the human soul, frequently departing
from its normal state, deviating from the laws which now seem to control
it, and multiplying so-called 'freaks of nature,' abnormal works in the
physical world, calculated to derange the comfort of mankind and render
all things uncertain and insecure. In a word, it would be in the power
of such a force, or combination and opposition of forces, to turn the
earth again to its original chaos. With such a belief, then, we must
assume that God has delegated the care of the material world to other
hands of His own creation, and left the comfort and well-being of
humanity at the mercy of another spirit, no wiser and perhaps not even
so far advanced in the scale of progress as itself.

But it seems to me that the mysterious productive forces of nature can
in no wise be called spiritual. Certainly spirit 'animates, informs, and
shapes the universe,' in the sense that all things are created and all
agencies are kept in operation by an all-powerful God, who is himself
pure Spirit, but in no other sense; for God makes use of certain
principles or laws to accomplish all things in this world of ours. That
unknown force which vivifies the seed and produces the stalk, the blade,
and the ear, which clothes the earth with verdure, and which underlies
and induces all the works of nature, is not a thinking, reasoning
spirit, like that which renders humanity godlike; but a principle--a
law--a mere agency whereby the Almighty effects his designs, which is
wholly controlled by him, dependent upon him for its very existence, and
which in each individual instance ceases to be with the accomplishment
of its end; a principle which humanity cannot comprehend, and with which
human spirit can have no sympathy or connection ex