the assurance of the
perfection of both His Redemption and His Judgment.

Now, against all this it is persistently alleged that even if He had the
power He could not have performed miracles, because miracles are
violations of law, and the Lawgiver cannot violate even mere physical
laws; but this specious fallacy is refuted by the simple assertion that
He introduced a new power or force to counteract or modify others, which
counteraction or modification of forces is no more than what is taking
place in every part of the world at every moment.

Before proceeding further we will illustrate the foregoing by testing
some assertions of the author of "Supernatural Religion."

"Man," he asserts, "is as much under the influence of gravitation as a
stone is" (vol. i. p. 40). Well, a marble statue is a stone. Can a
marble statue, after it is thrown down, rise up again of itself, and
stand upon its feet?

Again--

"The law of gravitation suffers no alteration, whether it cause the
fall of an apple or shape the orbit of a planet" (p. 40).

Of course the "law" suffers no alteration, but the force of gravitation
suffers considerable modification if you catch the apple in your hand,
or if the planet has an impulse given to it which compels it to career
round the sun instead of falling upon his surface. Again (page 40):--

"The harmonious action of physical laws, and their adaptability to
an infinite variety of forms, constitutes the perfection of that
code which produces the order of nature. The mere superiority of man
over lower forms of organic and inorganic matter does not lift him
above physical laws, and the analogy of every grade in nature
forbids the presumption that higher forms may exist which are exempt
from their control."

The number of fallacies in this short passage is remarkable. In the
first place laws never act, _i.e._ of themselves. They have to be
administered. Forces or powers act under the restraint of laws. I think
I am right in saying that all physical _laws_, as distinguished from
forces, are limitations of force. No man can conceive of a law acting by
itself. There is no such thing, for instance, as a "Reign of Law." A
power acts or, if you please, reigns, according to a law, but laws of
themselves can do nothing.

Again, the author says, "The mere superiority of man over lower forms of
organic and inorganic matter does not lift him above physical laws."

Yes, it