THE

UNIVERSAL LAWS OF BEING.

In the introduction to this work, and in the history of philosophical development which we have sketched as a preparation for the statement of Philosophy as Absolute Science, we have shown, that according to the nature of things, and also according to the most extensive philosophical recognitions, Philosophy must commence with conceptions of Absolute and Phenomenal Existence, and the relationship that exists between them; and we have also shown that the reason why no adequate conception of these has been obtained, and therefore why Philosophy has not been realized in the form of Absolute Science, is, that these primary facts have been conceived from a natural, unitarian, and pantheistic point of view, from which not a single phenomenon could be permanently and satisfactorily explained: so that the history of philosophy presents nothing but a succession of partial, contradictory, and discordant natural systems, which have been destructive to each other, and contain the elements of their own destruction. It must therefore be evident, that, to obtain an adequate foundation for Truth, we must realize a conception of the Universal Laws of Being which shall explain both Absolute and Phenomenal Existence; because we cannot conceive of any other rational foundation upon which either a conception of Being can be realized, or the phenomena of Creation explained. As a point of departure, or as the first step towards the realization of a conception of the Universal Laws which must constitute the ground of all Existence, we posit

INFINITE LAW as a universal tri-personal sphere of INDEFinite Life, subsisting Three in One as LIFE ITSELF. This tri-personal form of the Infinite we conceive to be individualized in three spheres, related as Spirit, Soul, and Body:

ABSOLUTE LIFE, or the INFINITE LAWS OF SPIRIT. ABSOLUTE SUBSTANCE, or the INFINITE LAWS OF SUBSTANCE. PHENOMENAL SUBSTANCE, or the INFINITE LAWS OF MATTER.

This Infinite Law we conceive to be a threefold principle, constituted by the Laws of UNITY, UNIVERSALITY, and MARRIAGE, realized as ONE in the relation of Soul, Body, and Spirit, which are incarnated in an Absolute Sphere of Being, as WISDOM, LOVE, and POWER; and in a Phenomenal Sphere of Being, as TRUTH, GOOD, and BEAUTY. We thus conceive Infinite Life to subsist in three spheres, related as Spirit, Soul, and Body; each sphere including three laws, an Intellective, an Affective, and an Active Principle, combined and operating as One, in the relation of Internal, External, and Medial, as Soul, Body, and Spirit; by which these relationships are established as the normal and necessary condition of all Life. This INFINITE CAUSE we now posit as the First Person in the Godhead, who is the Holy Ghost, or the SPIRIT OF Deity.

This Infinite Law is here stated as Indefinite, because it is conceivable only as Life without Form, and is therefore separated from Existence, which it is necessary to conceive as being constituted by forms of Definite Being; it not being possible to conceive Infinite Spiritual Cause except as an indefinite principle of Life. It will be seen that Existence cannot be conceived as resulting from the operation of these laws alone, because it must be supposed to include the operation of laws which are completely opposite to the Infinite Laws, not only as these have here been conceived, but as they have been recognized in all rational conceptions of the Infinite, as we have shown by the history of Philosophy; it being this fact that has made it impossible to realize any rational conception of Creation from a purely Infinite Principle or Substance. If we should conceive the Infinite to be the only Universal Law, we should exclude the possibility of conceiving any definite existence, either absolute or phenomenal ; because we cannot, any more than could the Eleatic philosophers, pass from this Infinite Unity to a Finite Multiplicity and this is necessary, not only to the conception of a phenomenal world, but also to the conception of Absolute Existence, or of a Personal God as Absolute Creating Cause. Existence is a definite Idea including divisibility, multiplicity, and diversity, and therefore demands a separating as well as a unifying and individualizing law; and must originally include the ideas of imperfection and evil, because these are necessarily introduced into it by this sepa

rating principle: but not one of these can be referred to the Infinite Life; and, if they do not subsist in it, they cannot proceed from it. Now, if Existence cannot be accounted for, even the existence of God as a self-conscious Personality, or as Absolute Creating Cause, because the ideas of diversity, partiality, and separation cannot be included in any conception of the Infinite, much less can Natural Life be accounted for; because we here find Falsehood, Hate, Imperfection, Death, manifested through propensities for Evil and for Destruction; and these cannot be referred to the Infinite Life as their source, but must be referred to some spiritual, self-subsisting cause opposite to the Infinite. Even if we should, like these Eleatic philosophers, refuse to recognize the existence of an external world, we should not avoid the necessity of recognizing some other than an Infinite Cause; not only because Existence cannot be accounted for upon this ground alone, but because the natural ideas here mentioned would still be facts of consciousness, which demand to be accounted for by the conception of some spiritual cause with which they correspond. It may therefore be seen, that in order to account for either absolute or phenomenal existence, or for any thing outside of the Infinite Life, which cannot be conceived as including Existence or any form of Definite Being, a Sphere of Universal Law opposite to the Infinite, and which we therefore call Finite, must be posited as a spiritual, self-subsisting Cause. Should we refuse to do this, and insist upon recognizing only One Universal Sphere of Being, we should not succeed in maintaining even this infinite ground, but should, like Spinoza, be obliged by a rational necessity virtually to deny its existence, by confounding or identifying this Infinite Cause with the phenomena of the Material Universe; so that natural phenomena, having their foundation in sensible experiences, would take the place of the spiritual causes which should be conceived as producing them, and we should be able to realize nothing but Materialism and Atheism. Now, in positing a second Universal Spiritual Cause, there is only one thing that we can do, and that is to conceive laws and substances opposite to those which constitute the Infinite, and therefore as being inversions of them; because a spiritual, self-subsisting cause must necessarily be conceived as universal; and we cannot, therefore, pass out of the limits of the Infinite without being obliged to posit another spiritual principle, also universal, which is a complete inversion of, and therefore a complete opposite to, the Infinite. We therefore posit

FINITE LAW as a universal tri-personal sphere of INDEFINITE DEATH, subsisting Three in One as DEATH ITSELF, individualized in three spheres related as Spirit, Soul, and Body:

ABSOLUTE DEATH, or the FINITE LAWS OF SPIRIT. ABSOLUTE SUBSTANCE, or the FINITE LAWS OF SUBSTANCE. PHENOMENAL SUBSTANCE, or the FINITE LAWS OF MATTer.

This Finite Law we conceive to be a threefold principle, constituted by the laws of DIVERSITY, PARTIALITY, and SEPARATION, realized as CHAOS in the relation of Soul, Body, and Spirit, which are incarnated in an Absolute Sphere of Being, as GUILE, HATE, and DESTRUCTION; and in a Phenomenal Sphere, as FALSEHOOD, EVIL, and DEFORMITY. We thus conceive Finite Law to subsist in three spheres, related as Spirit, Soul, and Body; each sphere including three Laws, an intellective, an affective, and an active principle, ― combined and operating as Chaos, in the relation of internal, external, and medial, as Soul, Body, and Spirit; by which these relationships are established as the normal and necessary condition of all Death.

The absolute necessity for this conception of a Finite Sphere. opposite to the Infinite is so evident, and this sphere is so clearly a demand of the Reason, that we do not see how its subsistence, as a primary cause of Existence, can be disputed. Having realized a conception of Infinite Life as constituted by the laws of Unity, Universality, and Marriage, in which these three make One, — in view of Absolute Existence, and of a Phenomenal World, the conclusion inevitably follows, that as the condition of this Existence and of this Creation, and of realizing in the mind the conception of a Personal God as a Creating Cause, a Universal Sphere in every thing opposite to the Infinite, but including the capacity for becoming receptive and productive from the Infinite, must be recognized, before any thing outside of the Infinite Indefinite Life can rationally be conceived. Universal, indefinite laws and substances opposite to those constituting the Infinite must be recognized before Existence or Definite Being can be conceived, either in an absolute or in a phenomenal sphere. This is particularly evident with regard to the phenomenal world, because nothing can here be conceived that does not include both unity and diversity, and this law of diversity has always been excluded from the conception of Infinite Life; and because Creation presents to us a collection of phenomena produced by the combination of vital and destructive principles, the latter of

which cannot be referred to the Infinite, because they are opposite to any rational conception of this principle, and correspond with the Finite Principle as here stated. To conceive Creation from the Infinite alone, we should have to suppose that the Infinite creates from itself the Opposite of itself; and although the ancient philosophers, in conceiving the origin of things from a strictly ontological and at the same time natural and unitarian point of view, were obliged to take this ground, it is one of the most irrational positions that can possibly be conceived, the tendency of which is to unsettle all our ideas of cause and effect, and also all our ideas of legitimate relationship. We are, therefore, fully justified in asserting that an opposite to the Infinite must be recognized before the first step can be taken in any legitimate conception of Definite Absolute Being as a Creating Cause, or in the explanation of the origin and nature of Creation or of a Phenomenal World. Some have supposed that the recognition of two universal spiritual causes would be the recognition of two Infinites, which is not admissible. But this arises in the mistake of conceiving the Infinite as the only universal, spiritual principle and substance, which excludes the possibility of recognizing any thing outside of this; a pantheistic idea which has been so extensively entertained as to prevent the realization of Philosophy in a rational form. We here recognize both the Infinite and the Finite as Universal Spiritual Principles and Causes: but we do not in this state a contradiction, because they constitute opposite spheres of subsistence which exclude each other, but the union of which is demanded as the condition of Existence; a universality that is shown in the fact, that the mind has never been able to conceive any definite form of being in which both infinite and finite laws, as they have here been stated, are not combined as the condition of its existence.

Having now shown that opposite self-subsisting, indefinite principles, substances, and causes must be recognized as constituting the opposite poles of Being, and having obtained a conception of these opposite Spiritual Causes, the question immediately arises, How can these opposite universal spheres, which exclude each other, and neither of which can be conscious of the other, become consciously united, and made to co-operate in production? Now, there is obviously but one way in which these things can be effected; and this is, that the opposite Laws included in these Infinite and Finite Principles should be combined in One