and through this the third; and discretes each from the other by a
covering drawn around it; from which it is clear that the first degree
is chief and singly supreme in the subsequent degrees; consequently that
in all things of the subsequent degrees, the first is the all.

196. When it is said that degrees are such in respect to each other, the
meaning is that substances are such in their degrees. This manner of
speaking by degrees is abstract, that is, universal, which makes the
statement applicable to every subject or thing which is in degrees of
this kind.

197. This can be applied to all those things which have been enumerated
in the preceding chapter, to the muscles, the nerves, the matters and
parts of both the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, to the organic
substances that are the subjects of thoughts and affections in man, to
atmospheres, to heat and light, and to love and wisdom. In all these,
the first is singly supreme in the subsequent things; yea, it is the
sole thing in them, and because it is the sole thing in them, it is the
all in them. That this is so is clear also from these well-known truths;
that the end is the all of the cause, and through the cause is the all
of the effect; and thus end, cause, and effect are called first, middle,
and last end. Further, that the cause of the cause is also the cause of
the thing caused; and that there is nothing essential in causes except
the end, and nothing essential in movement excepting effort [conatus];
also, that the substance that is substance in itself is the sole substance.

198. From all this it can clearly be seen that the Divine, which is
substance in itself, that is, the one only and sole substance, is the
substance from which is each and every thing that has been created; thus
that God is the All in all things of the universe, according to what has