t.

It is not easy--perhaps it might be found, on trial, to be
impossible--to show that there is any real difference, except in name,
between mechanical Atheism and material Pantheism. Both equally affirm
the self-existence and eternity of the Universe; both equally deny the
fact of creation, and the doctrine of a living, personal God, distinct
from nature, and superior to it. The only apparent difference between
the two consists in this,--that the former speaks more of the rude
materials, and the cold, hard, unbending laws, which exist in Nature;
the latter speaks more of the vital powers, the subtle and ethereal
forces, which are at work in her bosom, and which may seem to impart
warmth and animation to a system that would otherwise be felt to be
cold, inert, and deathlike. But the mechanical Atheist never denied the
vital powers of Nature, he only attempted to account for them without an
intelligent first Cause; and the material Pantheist has little, if any,
advantage over him, except in this, that he has combined Chemistry with
Mechanics in attempting to account for the phenomena of the universe,
and has drawn his analogies from the laboratory and the crucible, the
process of vegetation, and the laws of reproduction and growth, not less
than from the formulae of Physical Science.

The theory of Material Pantheism runs insensibly into one or other of
the forms of naked Atheism to which we have already referred. Ignoring
the existence of mind, or of any spiritual Power distinct from Nature
and superior to it, it must necessarily hold the eternal existence of
matter; and, in this respect, it coincides entirely with the Atheistic
hypothesis. It may, or it may not, hold also the eternal existence of
the present _order of Nature_, including all the varieties of vegetable
and animal life. In the one case, it harmonizes with the ancient theory
of Atheism, as maintained by Ocellus Lucanus; in the other, it must run
into the modern theory of Development, if it makes any attempt to
account for the origin of new races, as made known by the researches of
Geologists. In either case, it is equivalent to Atheism, and dependent
on one or other of the various theories which have been applied to the
defence of the Atheist's creed.

It is worthy of remark, in this connection, how frequently those who are
the most daring and decided advocates of Atheism or Pantheism do
nevertheless ascribe to Nature many of the attributes which belong