Thus we see in the writings of Adelard, Theodoric, and William that the approach was tentatively made toward the acceptance of the doctrine that the universe is governed by natural laws. This doctrine, upon which the edifice of modern science has been built, was also given partial expression by other thinkers of the twelfth century. John of Salisbury stated in effect that a sequence of causes gives rise to all things that we may perceive with our senses, that we call these causes nature, that nothing happens that is not the result of natural causation even though the operation of this causation may be concealed from us; finally, that the first cause of all is the will of God.[576] Alan of Lille clothed a similar theory in allegory by personifying Nature in poetic form as the representative of God and making her say: “Hear how in this universe, as in a great city, order is established by the control of a majestic government” (Moffat’s translation).[577] Much the same opinion was expressed by an anonymous Scandinavian historian of the early thirteenth century in his Latin _Historia Norwegiae_. After describing a terrible volcanic upheaval from the bottom of the sea,[578] this writer adds that many people regard such occurrences as prodigies, believing that the world itself thereby gives warning of its own destruction.[579] Citing Solinus, he goes on to set forth a purely physical explanation of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and adds that, though it may not be possible to attain to clearsighted understanding of these phenomena and of the major marvels of the world, they should not be looked upon as prodigies nor considered as portents of universal cataclysm. On the contrary they are, as it were, the servants of the all-knowing and immutable founder of the universe to whose nature through some marvelous process they have been placed in bondage.[580] THE ORTHODOX TENDENCY