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nothing outside of A to be attracted, and all the attraction of A will lead to no motion. The infinite attraction of A upon itself is not exerted in any direction. There is no line of action, and never can be. Consequently no spontaneous motion on the part of A results from that point's infinite self-attraction. A point pulling itself along is as heroic an absurdity as Mr. Punch's wheeling himself on the tight-rope.

I have demonstrated from first principles, upon our grounds, the fact which the first law of motion embodies, the inertia of matter. Next I turn-round, indeed, some people will think-from Newton to the schoolmen. They, too, were spokesmen of a truth, mighty in metaphysics as are the laws of motion in mechanics,-" by what a thing is, by that it acts." The solitary element A, which we have just supposed, is by this, that it is attractive to an intensity varying as the inverse square of the distance between attractor and attracted. A is so attractive, independently of the being of any other element. While, however, no other element exists, A cannot be said to act, for action requires a patient physically distinct from the agent. Let then a second element B appear, one inch off A. A at once acts upon B, drawing that element towards itself with the intensity of action which we agreed to represent by a. By what, in this case, does A attract B? Surely by nothing else than by that by which A is attractive to the amount a at the distance of one inch; that is to say, by that by which A is, or by A's substantial act. Put B within the sphere of A's activity, and, without any change in A, that element, inactive before for want of an external object, hastens to perform an action. This is the proof of the scholastic dictum, forma est id quo agens agit, "the form (or act) is that whereby the agent acts." The act is the principle of activity. Reciprocally, the potential term is the principle of passivity. The term of a material element is the element itself as attracted by itself. In consequence of that attraction, the element keeps to one point of space. There the term is chained by the act. But the act is not infinite. It does not chain the term to every point of space, but to one point only, and not immovably there. The act not being infinite, the term is not actuated so much as it might be; it is potential, open to an increase of actuation. The terms of all created substances are potential; they receive being from their acts, but not infinite being, and consequently not immutability. When a second element is set beside the first, forthwith the potentiality of the term of the first element, or the fact that the element is not self-attracted to all the extent possible, exposes it to suffer an ulterior attraction, according to the

saying, "Every patient suffers to the amount of its potentiality," Omne patiens patitur in quantum est in potentia.

I find myself doing what it is hard to avoid when one writes metaphysics, delving down at every step deeper into mysteries. That I may not get buried under the débris, I will rise towards the surface, and treat very lightly of that most profound subject, the constitution of spiritual substance. The act of a pure spirit is the spirit's understanding of itself. The term is the spirit's being understood by itself. The spirit understands other things by understanding itself, either because itself is the Archetype of all of them, or because they work changes upon it, and through those changes manifest their activity and being. None but Infinite Being is infinitely intelligible to itself. A created spirit, in understanding self, understands a finite object, a field of intellect not the greatest possible. In this way, the term of every angel is potential, and the angel is liable to suffer a change, which will be something new for it to understand in itself, over and above what it understood there before. Thus, in spiritual substance, our brief survey has found traces of act, potential term, activity, and passivity, answering to what we saw in material substance-a marvellous analogy.

Starting from a study of relations, we have arrived to deal with the constitution of matter and the nature of understanding. It is high time to return à nos moutons. We were led away by a desire to investigate the transcendental relation which obtains among the metaphysical constituents of a thing. We found those constituents to be at first essence and being (essentia et esse), and then act, term, and being. We have exemplified act and term both in matter and in spirit. It remains to seize upon their transcendental relation. Is not the relation this, that the act is in the term and the term in the act-the attractor in the attracted and the attracted in the attractor, the intelligent in the understood and the understood in the intelligent-together conspiring to form one physical thing. The union of the two is the relation between them. But the union of the act and term is the being of the thing. Therefore being (esse) is the transcendental relation between the act and term, the two parts of the essence of everything. Forasmuch as this being, the result of the act and term conspiring, is the completion of the thing, we name it the complement. Everything consists metaphysically of act, term, and complement; and the complement is the transcendental relation between the act and the term.*

* The constituents actus and terminus, or forma and materia, are recognized in the schools. The third constituent is not expressly mentioned

This complement will be written down for an idle intruder, unless I vindicate in the concrete its claims to admission. They are most evident in spiritual substance. The complement there is the being of the spirit knowing (the act) in the spirit known (the term). The knower and the known in this case are mutually congruous and satisfactory; for they are one and the selfsame physical being, and no two things are so congruous and so satisfactory, one to another, as self is to self. True, we are often displeased with ourselves; but then it is some accidental mode of our being, not our substantial existence which provokes our displeasure. It is always satisfactory to exist-out of hell. Since the act of spiritual substance satisfies the term, and the term the act; the actual being of one in the other will be that whereby the spirit is complacently enamoured of itself. Such is the complement of spiritual substance. It is the root and origin of the spirit's affection for external things. Self-love embraces whatever the mind discovers in harmony with self. Self-love is of the essence of every person. It may grow up a noisome weed, it may bloom into the sweet flower of charity. That depends on how it is cultivated. In the heart where self is vilified, charity cannot dwell. They are philosophic proverbs-"Charity begins at home," and, Qui sibi malus, cui bonus?

Of

Enough, for the present, of transcendental relations. the relations styled predicamental, which lie, not among the metaphysical constituents of the same physical being, but between distinct physical beings, I shall not speak at length. The properties of a thing spring out of the thing's constituents, as I have declared them; and out of the properties of co-existent things, the relations between thing and thing take their rise. Thus, from the constituent which is called the act, come the properties of activity and position in time: from the term, come the properties of passivity and position in space: from the complement, come unity and position in number. The properties of activity and passivity occasion the relation of agent and patient: the property of having position in time puts a thing in the way of relations to the past, present, and future having position in space, a thing has relations of distance and being one, a thing enters into _relations of number. It is not opportune to evolve these heads.

Having thus far examined the Relative, I proceed to the

there. But you hear of essentia and esse; and esse is the complementum. I have a fancy that the much-canvassed distinction between the vipyεia and the ivre éxea of Aristotle is really this, that ivépyeta is the actus, and IVTEλéxtia the complementum.

examination of the Absolute. What is the Absolute? The non-Relative. Is there, then, a non-Relative? Is it knowable? I shall divide this question into three, and return a threefold

answer.

I. Does any substance exist devoid of predicamental relations? No; none whatever. For existent substance is either created or uncreated. If it is a creature, it is predicamentally related to its Creator, as effect to cause. There is, moreover, a complexity of predicamental relations binding all parts of creation together. Consider, for example, a human soul. I say nothing of the supernatural affinities of that soul. Who, indeed, should describe the all but hypostatic union of a soul in grace with God, its Father, Redeemer, and Sanctifier? Who should count the threads of that mystic web, the communion of saints? Who should follow those electric impulses of divine benediction, lighting on one head, and thrilling through to thousands? I set aside the supernatural and the divine, and address myself to the natural relations of a soul with creatures. And first with its own body. Have you marked the joints and fastenings which bind spirit and matter together, so close that one can neither act, nor suffer, nor be, in its present state, without its fellow? Then, look abroad, and see the soul in its attractions and repulsions, its loves and hates, among other souls: see how it grinds against them in daily intercourse, wearing off their angularities of character, and parting with its own. See it in its relations of likeness. It is like the angels, diminished a little less than they; it is like the animating principle of brutes, over whom it is queen. It is braver, wiser, more generous, truthful, and free than this human soul; and less brave, wise, generous, truthful, and free than that. The soul is like an element of matter; who has sufficiently explored that likeness? Moreover, it is a thing to number, counting one in the rank of substances. It has its past history, its work in the present, its destiny to come. It is localized after the manner of spirits, its place being marked by what it thinks of. If any life were long enough, I might stock a library describing the relations of one soul, and I should die ere the description was complete. Yes, so numerous are the streams of reciprocity flowing to and from the soul, not of an Augustus or a Charlemagne, but of the meanest negro, that, "if they were written one by one, I think the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."

Even God has not disdained to enter into predicamental relations. To eschew a verbal dispute, I explain the sense in which I understand that God is really related to His creatures.

He would be the selfsame Being, without diminution, or increase, or alteration, had He never stretched forth His hand to create. The relation with creatures is free on His part, and makes no difference in Him. Creatures, on the contrary, by the fact of their existence, must be related to God. They never could have come to be from any other source. All that is in them over and above negations, all that they positively are, is His work. But they do not react upon Him. In this sense I affirm that God has contracted predicamental relations. He essentially possesses the power of contracting them, though He might have abstained from exercising it.

II. Does any substance exist devoid of transcendental relations? No, again; none whatever. The denial here is stronger than in the former answer. Nothing can physically exist that does not contain a transcendental relation-the complement, which, as I have shown, everywhere results from the conspiring of the act and term. Act, Term, and Complement have place in God Himself. The argument which manifests their presence in an angel, applies to Deity. The difference is, that the divine Term is not potential-not open to any more actuation than it receives. An angel, learning the conversion of a sinner, understands in his own mind an impression which was not there before. His term is more fully actuated. But the fulness of God cannot increase, for He eternally fills the amplest compass of possible being. Whatever exists in creatures, exists in Him more perfectly. God is infinitely existent, infinitely intelligible, infinitely intelligent, and infinitely understood by Himself. So the Term in Him is not potential. He cannot be understood otherwise than as He is understood. He outdoes passivity. When the waters covered the earth, they could abate but not overflow. God fills heaven and earth. He can neither rise to a new perfection, nor fall from an old one.

My readers will not expect from me a dissertation on the Blessed Trinity. They are aware that, while the existence of God is a truth both of reason and revelation, the Trinity is a truth of revelation which reason is incompetent to discover. Apart from faith we never should have known that the act, term, and complement, which constitute created spirits, are in God represented by three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But now that we do know it, we find therein a confirmation of our philosophy, and much cause to admire the triune impress of their Maker which all creatures wear.

Creatures are physical beings, metaphysically composed of act, term, and complement. The physical being, as such, is something absolute; the act and the term are correlative; while

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