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164
Glaucus; Or, The Wonders of the Shore
·
Charles Kingsley
104
A
mere
custom
of
Nature.
We
see
the
same
phenomenon
happen
a
great
many
times;
and
we
infer
from
thence
that
it
has
a
custom
of
happening;
and
therefore
we
call
it
a
law:
but
we
have
not
seen
the
law;
all
we
have
seen
is
the
phenomenon
which
we
suppose
to
indicate
the
law.
We
have
seen
things
fall:
but
we
never
saw
a
little
flying
thing
pulling
them
down,
with
“gravitation”
labelled
on
its
back;
and
the
question,
why
things
fall,
and
how,
is
just
where
it
was
before
Newton
was
born,
and
is
likely
to
remain
there.
All
we
can
say
is,
that
Nature
has
her
customs,
and
that
other
customs
ensue,
when
those
customs
appear:
but
that
as
to
what
connects
cause
and
effect,
as
to
what
is
the
reason,
the
final
cause,
or
even
the
causa
causans,
of
any
phenomenon,
we
know
not
more
but
less
than
ever;
for
those
laws
or
customs
which
seem
to
us
simplest
(“endosmose,”
for
instance,
or
“gravitation”),
are
just
the
most
inexplicable,
logically
unexpected,
seemingly
arbitrary,
certainly
supernatural—
miraculous,
if
you
will;
for
no
natural
and
physical
cause
whatsoever
can
be
assigned
for
them;
while
if
anyone
shall
argue
against
their
being
miraculous
and
supernatural
on
the
ground
of
their
being
so
common,
I
can
only
answer,
that
of
all
absurd
and
illogical
arguments,
this
is
the
most
so.
For
what
has
the
number
of
times
which
the
miracle
occurs
to
do
with
the
question,
save
to
increase
the
wonder?
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