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Thus, in the first place, a new thing could never have

caused itself, because it could never have acted before it came

into existence. It must, therefore, have been brought into

being by something else.

Secondly, every change in anything which already exists

is, in fact, a new mode of being ; and therefore equally

demands a cause for its existence. It must, then, be due

either to something distinct from it, or to some antecedent

mode of being of that which now exists in its new mode.

Thus, when we awake from sleep, our awakening must

be due either to something external which has awakened us,

or to some change which has taken place in our own

organism. In the latter case, that change or new mode in our

being, which we call "wakening from sleep," had for its

cause an antecedent state of our body increased vigour of

the circulation or what not.

Moreover, all the various objects we see or feel must, each

of them, we know, be a result of the action of some cause or

causes external to it. This is, of course, most manifestly

evident with respect to every artistic product, and every-

thing which has been made by man. But a little reflexion

will show that the same is the case with all the products

of nature. No stone we tread upon, no patch of sand or mud,

can have come to be what it is, save by the action of

antecedent causes. The shape of every mountain is, at least,

largely due to the action of water, and so on. And this law

of causation applies to the most minute and simplest, as well

as to the largest and most complex, of bodies. Even pieces

of matter, which, so far as we yet know, consist of but one

chemical element such as a fragment of gold or carbon

Dwe the shape, place, and all the relations in which we find

them, to conditioning causes. And carbon in its brilliant

condition as a diamond (a state we term crystalline) is

equally an effect of causes ; and, as yet, all the causes which

Thus, in the first place, a new thing could never have

caused itself, because it could never have acted before it came

into existence. It must, therefore, have been brought into

being by something else.

Secondly, every change in anything which already exists

is, in fact, a new mode of being ; and therefore equally

demands a cause for its existence. It must, then, be due

either to something distinct from it, or to some antecedent

mode of being of that which now exists in its new mode.

Thus, when we awake from sleep, our awakening must

be due either to something external which has awakened us,

or to some change which has taken place in our own

organism. In the latter case, that change or new mode in our

being, which we call "wakening from sleep," had for its

cause an antecedent state of our body increased vigour of

the circulation or what not.

Moreover, all the various objects we see or feel must, each

of them, we know, be a result of the action of some cause or

causes external to it. This is, of course, most manifestly

evident with respect to every artistic product, and every-

thing which has been made by man. But a little reflexion

will show that the same is the case with all the products

of nature. No stone we tread upon, no patch of sand or mud,

can have come to be what it is, save by the action of

antecedent causes. The shape of every mountain is, at least,

largely due to the action of water, and so on. And this law

of causation applies to the most minute and simplest, as well

as to the largest and most complex, of bodies. Even pieces

of matter, which, so far as we yet know, consist of but one

chemical element such as a fragment of gold or carbon

Dwe the shape, place, and all the relations in which we find

them, to conditioning causes. And carbon in its brilliant

condition as a diamond (a state we term crystalline) is

equally an effect of causes ; and, as yet, all the causes which