trained minds to follow the steps of this universal intelligence
which is always in advance of them. The more deeply we investigate the
world we live in, the more clear it must become to us that all our
science is the translation into words or numerical symbols of that order
which already exists. If the clear statement of this existing order is
the highest that the human intellect can reach, this surely argues a
corresponding intelligence in the power which gives rise to this great
sequence of order and interrelation, so as to constitute one harmonious
whole. Now, unless we fall back on the idea of a workman working upon
material external to himself--in which case we have to explain the
phenomenon of the workman--the only conception we can form of this power
is that it is the Living Spirit inherent in the heart of every atom,
giving it outward form and definition, and becoming in it those
intrinsic polarities which constitute its characteristic nature.

There is no random work here. Every attraction and repulsion acts with
its proper force collecting the atoms into molecules, the molecules into
tissues, the tissues into organs, and the organs into individuals. At
each stage of the progress we get the sum of the intelligent forces
which operate in the constituent parts, _plus_ a higher degree of
intelligence which we may regard as the collective intelligence superior
to that of the mere sum-total of the parts, something which belongs to
the individual _as a whole_, and not to the parts as such. These are
facts which can be amply proved from physical science; and they also
supply a great law in spiritual science, which is that in any collective
body the intelligence of the whole is superior to that of the sum of the
parts.

Spirit is at the root of all things, and thoughtful observation shows
that its operation is guided by unfailing intelligence which adapts
means to ends, and harmonises the entire universe of manifested being in
those wonderful ways which physical science renders clearer every day;
and this intelligence must be in the generating spirit itself, because
there is no other source from which it could proceed. On these grounds,
therefore, we may distinctly affirm that Spirit is intelligent, and that
whatever it does is done by the intelligent adaptation of means to ends.

But Spirit is also responsive. And here we have to fall back upon the
law above stated, that the mere sum of the intelligence of Spirit in