act, and worlds revolve and intermingle without
number or end, -- deep yawning under deep,
and galaxy balancing galaxy, throughout absolute
space, -- or whether, without relations of time
and space, the same appearances are inscribed in
the constant faith of man? Whether nature en-
joy a substantial existence without, or is only in
the apocalypse of the mind, it is alike useful and
alike venerable to me. Be it what it may, it is
ideal to me so long as I cannot try the accuracy of
my senses.

The frivolous make themselves merry with the
Ideal theory, as if its consequences were burlesque;
as if it affected the stability of nature. It surely
does not. God never jests with us, and will not
compromise the end of nature by permitting any
inconsequence in its procession. Any distrust of
the permanence of laws would paralyze the facul-
ties of man. Their permanence is sacredly re-
spected, and his faith therein is perfect. The
wheels and springs of man are all set to the hy-
pothesis of the permanence of nature. We are not
built like a ship to be tossed, but like a house to
stand. It is a natural consequence of this struc-
ture, that so long as the active powers predominate
over the reflective, we resist with indignation any
hint that nature is more short-lived or mutable
than spirit. The broker, the wheelwright, the car-

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