the domain of the power, supposed to be superior to nature must
decrease, while the horizon of the known must as constantly continue to
enlarge.

It is no longer satisfactory to account for the fall and rise of nations
by saying, "It is the will of God." Such an explanation puts ignorance
and education upon exact equality, and does away with the idea of really
accounting for anything whatever.

Will the religionist pretend that the real end of science is to
ascertain how and why God acts? Science, from such a standpoint, would
consist in investigating the law of arbitrary action, and in a grand
endeavor to ascertain the rule necessarily obeyed by infinite caprice.

From a philosophical point of view, science is knowledge of the laws of
life; of the condition of happiness; of the facts by which we are
surrounded, and the relations we sustain to men and things--by means of
which man, so to speak, subjugates nature and bends the elemental powers
to his will, making blind force the servant of his brain.

A belief in special providence does away with the spirit of
investigation, and is inconsistent with personal efforts. Why should
man endeavor to thwart the designs of God? "Which of you, with taking
thought, can add to his stature one cubit?" Under the influence of this
belief, man, basking in the sunshine of a delusion, considers the lilies
of the field and refuses to take any thought for the morrow. Believing
himself in the power of an infinite being, who can, at any moment, dash
him to the lowest hell or raise him to the highest heaven, he
necessarily abandons the idea of accomplishing anything by his own
efforts. So long as this belief was general, the world was filled with