med,
also without proof, that _extension_ and _thought_ are necessary
"attributes" of the one self-existent "substance," each of the two
exhibiting only a different aspect of his eternal essence, while both
are equally essential and equally infinite. And, finally, it is assumed,
still without proof, that Nature comprehends a twofold series of
existences, distinct from each other, but developed, as it were, in
parallel lines,--Corporeal and Intellectual beings, which correspond
respectively to the Divine attributes of extension and thought,--which
partake of the essential nature of these attributes, but exhibit them in
finite and transient forms, as mere modes or manifestations of the one
infinite "substance." These are some of the fundamental assumptions on
which he proceeds; they are not proved, nor even attempted to be proved;
for, although several are stated in the form of distinct propositions,
and accompanied with a formal demonstration, the most cursory inspection
of the pretended proof is sufficient to show that it consists entirely
in a series of _deductions from principles previously assumed_, and that
its validity must ultimately rest on the _definitions_ in which these
principles are embodied.

Now, let any one examine these "definitions," and he will find that they
are wholly arbitrary, and that he is not bound by any law of his
intellectual nature to admit them, still less entitled, on any ground of
experience, to assume and found upon them, as if they were self-evident
or axiomatic truths. It is possible, and it may even be legitimate and
useful for the purposes of philosophical speculation, to classify the
various objects of human knowledge by ranging them under the categories
of Substance, Attributes, and Modes. But is it a self-evident truth,
that there can be no substance in nature excepting such as is
self-existent and eternal? Is it a self-evident truth that man, with his
distinct personality and individual consciousness, is a mere "mode" or
affection of another being? Is it a self-evident truth that the ape, the
lizard, and the worm are equally "modes" of the same substance with the
angel and the seraph? Is it a self-evident truth that _extension_ and
_thought_ are equally expressive of the uncreated Essence and necessary
"attributes" of the Eternal? Is it a self-evident truth that no being
can exist in nature otherwise than by _development out of the Divine
substance_, and that the _creation_ of a