But how, and still more why, things in general behave so respectably and loyally, is a wonder which is either utterly inexplicable, or explicable, I hold, only on the old theory that they obey Some One--whom we obey to a very limited extent indeed.

Not that this latter theory gets rid of the perpetual and omnipresent element of wondrousness.

If matter alone exists, it is a wonder and a mystery how it obeys itself.

If A Spirit exists, it is a wonder and a mystery how He makes matter obey Him.

All that the scientific man can do is, to confess the presence of mystery all day long; and to live in that wholesome and calm attitude of wonder which we call awe and reverence; that so he may be delivered from the unwholesome and passionate fits of wonder which we call astonishment, the child of ignorance and fear, and the parent of rashness and superstition.