“It would be the height of folly for us to say in this day of advanced ideas that any science is complete, for each day brings forth its investigations and these investigations reveal new ideas, and as these new ideas are put into practice those that stand the test will be retained and those that can not are relegated to the junk pile and the mind of man begins its search for more new ideas; and thus the endless chain continues to work. So it does not behoove one man to reject what another has presented until a thorough investigation be made, and even in the investigation of a false theory there is something to be gained even more than the mental exercise that the investigation has afforded, for if we find he is wrong in his propositions then our own ideas are strengthened, and there is absolutely no harm to come to the broad-minded man who carefully weighs every proposition presented.

In order to make a complete study of our philosophy we must study the integer, or life in its entirety, in its integrity. There is life, therefore there must be a source of life. Now, we do not care what this source of life be called, but there is, beyond the question of a doubt, a source. The very foundation of our philosophy is the knowledge of an intelligence which exists everywhere. In all ages men have tried, by all manner of systems of philosophy, to solve the phenomenon of life. Everywhere we meet the fact that there must be a cause before there can be an effect. The motto of Physical Science is “there must be an adequate cause for every phenomenon of nature.” Common sense teaches us that there can be no effect without a cause. Electricity is unseen, yet men do not deny its existence, for everywhere its manifestation is observed.

We see on every hand the expression of life. “We are bathed in an ocean of life.” “Cleave the wood and thou shalt find me. Lift the stone, and I am there.” We see all about us, effects, and the natural question is, “from whence.” The fundamental principle of our philosophy is the fact of the intelligent expression of life.

This intelligence is unseen, but the expression or manifestation is seen everywhere in the Universe, and it is folly to deny the existence of such an intelligence. We propose to take what we find of truth in other philosophies and make use of it; it is not necessary for Chiropractic to reject all that may have been said previously on the subject of the first cause.

The two systems of reasoning—the a priori, which infers effects from known causes, and the a posterior), which infers causes from observed effects—have been in use a long time; but, while the systems are right, the procedures have been wrong and have not led the investigators to the cause of incoordination in the body. Why these mistakes should be made with respect to pathological conditions in the body when they have not been made in considerations outside the body, I cannot tell.

When we find an abnormal condition (an effect) in the body, our procedure is from effect to cause, and so we are led back to the causative subluxation in the spinal column.

There are certain laws at work in the universe, but there is apparently more at work than the laws of chemistry and physics. I might say at this point that there are certain truths which we perceive intuitively and which cannot be perceived in any other way. To illustrate: The infinity of space we perceive by intuition, we accept the fact because of our inability to do otherwise; it is impossible for the finite mind to conceive of any limits to space; we can not think of a place where space does not exist; therefore we believe in the infinity of space because we cannot disbelieve it. The same is true with time; we cannot conceive of a condition where time will not be a factor. Neither of these facts can be demonstrated by any scientific tests; they are, however, everywhere accepted as self-evident and necessary truths. It is equally impossible for us to imagine any change or effect without a cause producing it. This is not only “evident” but “self-evident,” and in reality, there is nothing we are absolutely certain of except those things which are based on self-evident and necessary truths.

We can not think of law but as the outcome of Intelligence, and we see Intelligence manifest in every law. Tendency is the very nature of law, and tendency always looks toward an end, and this end shows the previous existence of Intelligence. We are not considering this form of moral standpoint or in any way whatsoever from a religious standpoint, but merely from the standpoint of the intelligent expression of life all about us, which evidences an Intelligence in the Universe.

This Intelligence has received many appellations in different ages by different races of people. Some speak of the First Cause as “Nature.” The Mohammedans refer to this power as “Allah”; the Indians as “Manitou”; the Hebrews as “Jehovah.” The term “I am” is used in the Bible; among the Christians the term “God” is used. It matters not what term is used. This does not change the entity; such an Intelligence does exist. Wherever this entity or Deity, if you please, is expressed we always see it expressed in an Intelligent way, therefore there must be intelligence. We find no place in the universe where intelligence is not expressed, therefore we would say it is universal; so it is the most natural thing that the term Universal Intelligence should be applied to this very apparent force in the Universe, and this is the name given by Dr. Palmer, and it is what we use Chiropractically, we cannot think of a term that would be more appropriate and comprehensive. In consideration of such an intelligence as this we might truly say with Tennyson, in his poem entitled “The Daisy,” in which he recounts some travels to Italy where he recalls his impressions of the Milan Cathedral. He says:

“O Milan, O the chanting choirs, The giant windows, blazon’d fires,

The height, the space, the gloom, the glory.”

In this subject we alike find height, space, gloom and glory and it seems almost the height of folly for finite educated intelligence to endeavor to study the Universal Intelligence. Consider only the material world, the majestic mountains whose masonry infinitely transcends the greatness of the old pyramids of Egypt; the glory of the beautiful sunset, the magnificence of which no painter’s frame is able to contain; consider the earth with its great chamber of coal and vaults of oil and gas. Where is the engineer that could have constructed the great natural water ways?

The great nations of the earth may well boast with pride and cherish the memory of their illustrious masters in art, but do not forget that “Art’s proudest triumph is to imitate nature.” What painter’s brush ever blended colors equal to those of the lily or the rose? The production of nature is made more beautiful under the microscope, but the beauty of the imitation on the canvas is destroyed by too close examination. Then consider the mechanism of the body. Now let us return to our original premise, that “for every effect there must be an adequate cause.” I believe an adequate cause in this case would be an intelligent cause, and since the cause is manifest everywhere in the universe it is in reality a universal cause. Then there is only one conclusion that we can reach and that is, that this first cause is a Universal Intelligence. All life is, then the expression of Universal Intelligence. Then to make a study of life we must start at the beginning; therefore, our first step in the normal complete cycle is Universal Intelligence.