hat the elephant becomes the most obedient of servants. All things are
subdued by the hand of man; he can resist nature while all other creatures
are captives of nature: none can depart from her requirements. Man alone
can resist nature. Nature attracts bodies to the center of the earth; man
through mechanical means goes far from it and soars in the air. Nature
prevents man from crossing the seas; man builds a ship, and he travels and
voyages across the great ocean, and so on; the subject is endless. For
example, man drives engines over the mountains and through the
wildernesses, and gathers in one spot the news of the events of the East
and West. All this is contrary to nature. The sea with its grandeur cannot
deviate by an atom from the laws of nature; the sun in all its
magnificence cannot deviate as much as a needle's point from the laws of
nature, and can never comprehend the conditions, the state, the qualities,
the movements and the nature of man.

What, then, is the power in this small body of man which encompasses all
this? What is this ruling power by which he subdues all things?

One more point remains. Modern philosophers say: "We have never seen the
spirit in man, and in spite of our researches into the secrets of the
human body, we do not perceive a spiritual power. How can we imagine a
power which is not sensible?" The theologians reply: "The spirit of the
animal also is not sensible, and through its bodily powers it cannot be
perceived. By what do you prove the existence of the spirit of the animal?
There is no doubt that from its effects you prove that in the animal there
is a power which is not in the plant, and this is the power of the
senses--that is to say, sight, hearing and also other powers; from these
you infer that there is an animal spirit. In the same way, from the proofs
and signs we have mentioned, we argue that there is a human spirit. Since
in the animal there are signs which are not in the plant, you say this
power of sensation is a property of the animal spirit; you also see in man
signs, powers and perfections which do not exist in the animal; therefore,
you infer that there is a power in him which the animal is without."

If we wish to deny everything that is not sensible, then we must deny the
realities which unquestionably exist. For example, ethereal matter is not
sensible, though it has an undoubted existence. The power of attraction is
not sensible, though it certainly exists. Fr