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Ser Humphrey Davy. Burt

President of the Royal Society, Zo

Published by Henry Fisher Caxton London. Mar. 1.1822.

THE

Emperial Magazine ;

OR, COMPENDIUM OF

RELIGIOUS, MORAL, & PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE.

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MARCH.] SOCIAL REFINEMENT HAS NO EXISTENCE WHERE LITERATURE IS UNKNOWN." [1822.

THE PHYSICAL AND MORAL WORLD.

wind returneth again according to its circuits. All the rivers run into the No. 3.-The Connection between Natural sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the and Revealed Truths further insist-place whence the rivers come, thither they return again."

ed on.

(Continued from col. 115.)

Thus, according to the method of nature in all her works, there are intervolutions, circles within circles, and wheels within wheels; so that each object depends, not merely upon those which precede or follow it, but also upon those which surround it, and the great whole of which it forms a part.

endless variety of ways, as to connect the whole in a manner into one.

As the system proposed by Mr. Macnab is somewhat new, and founded upon principles very different from such as in the present day carry popularity in their favour; it may not be improper to suggest a caution against And what is more astonishpremature judgment, merely from its first appearance. But what need we ing, all is so arranged, that every say? Has there ever appeared in this part is, as it were, a miniature of the fastidious world, any general improve- whole. The little circle is a miniature ment, which has not met the most of the great circle; and all the interformidable opposition? How mightily, mediate circles are so intervolved and for instance, was the Herverian doc-blended with each other, in such an trine of the circulation of the blood at first opposed? His demonstrations, however, being founded on facts, Matter may thus represent mind,* after a few struggles, at length gained either by analogy or antithesis, likea victory so complete, that no one now ness or unlikeness. This world, in ever calls the subject in question. In like manner, may represent the other like manner, What opposition had the worlds of the system; and the planetary present received theory of the planet-system, as a whole, may represent the ary system to encounter, ere it was fairly established, that the planets and the earth move round the sun, instead of the sun, planets, stars, and the whole heavens, moving round the earth-And what is proposed here, pray, but just an extension of the same principle? For in truth, What is the circulation of the blood, but a constant going to and fro from the heart, or centre, to the extremities, and from the extremities to the heart, or centre, again? Or, What is the motion of the planets of our system, and by analogy of all other systems, but a demonstration of the same thing? -See how beautifully the wise and philosophical King of Jerusalem describes these circumvolutions of nature in the language of common life, he says, Eccl. i. 5-7. “The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the north; it whirleth about continually; and the No. 38.-VOL, IV.

various other systems of the universe. Yea, man himself may be considered as a microcosm, a world in miniature, involving in his constitution all the constituent principles which compose the universe. The whole universe, it is evident, is under two different kinds of laws, the one physical, and the other moral and man, from the nature of his constitution, as a compound being, made up of body and mind, is alike allied to both.

We may therefore conclude, a priori, that, as the whole universe, both of matter and mind, had its origin from one common source, namely, the Divine Being, the laws of the physical part will correspond with those of the moral; and that whatever can be proved as evidently proceeding from this one source,-whether it regard the subject of Creation, that is, the

* See Introduction to Butler's Analogy, where the same thing is hinted, 0

physical laws under which creatures | upon reasoning, without foundation

are placed,-Or of Providence, that is, the laws by which they are governed,-Or of Redemption, that is, the principle upon which they are restored from their lapsed state; must harmonize, not only with the nature of God their author, but with the nature of man for whom they are designed, | and the whole system of both the worlds of matter and mind, to which he stands related.

"When therefore, we compare the known constitution and course of things, or what is said to be the moral system of nature, namely, the acknowledged dispensations of Providence, or that government under which we find ourselves placed, with what the scripture teaches us to believe and expect, in order to see whether they are analogous and of a piece; "it will be found, I think," says the celebrated Bishop Butler, "upon such a comparison, that they are very much so; that both may be traced up to the same general laws, and resolved into the same principles of divine conduct."

Taking it for granted, then, that the proofs of Creation, and Providence, and Redemption, as the peculiar works of God, are familiar to the mind of every one; it will be the object of these papers to trace their connection and correspondence, and to adduce them as the most convincing and satisfactory answers to objections brought against the evidence of Revelation.

Supposing the above observations to be so many undeniable facts, it will yet require considerable judgment properly to apply and illustrate them. The utmost caution will be necessary not to run the comparisons too far, or to make them speak things they were never designed. In the analogical and inductive method of reasoning, it must be regarded as a sine qua non, that the principles assumed as the foundation of our reasoning must not be doubtful or far-fetched. They ought to be self-evident truths, or, at least, truths proved and established as matters of fact; and all our reasonings from things known, to things unknown, should be unforced, and flow naturally and spontaneously as stream from a fountain.

for the principles which we assume, whether from the attributes of God or any thing else, is building a world upon hypothesis, like Des Cartes. Forming our notions upon reasoning from principles which are certain, but applied to cases to which we have no ground to apply them, (like those who explain the structure of the human body, and the nature of diseases, and medicines, from mere mathematics, without sufficient data) is an error much akin to the former; since what is assumed, in order to make the reasoning applicable, is hypothesis."*

For example, we have said, that man is a microcosm, or world in miniature, involving in his constitution all the constituent principles which compose the universe. But this, certainly, does not mean that the globe of this earth, is to be compared with the corporeal parts of a human being, with heart and lungs, thoracic and abdominal viscera, with internal linings, surrounded by ribs, muscles, and external integuments. To such an unbounded length, however, do some run the comparison. But such a comparison is entirely chimerical; and should it still be insisted on, that man is a microcosm, or world in miniature, it must be taken only in a general sense, and not run up in the manner some have done, without sufficient data. If the universe be taken in a general acceptation, as composed of | matter and mind, it is true in this sense that man is a microcosm; for the two principles which compose both are the same. And in this respect man stands distinguished from every other creature that we know: he is not a mere spirit, for he has a body; nor is he a mere living animal, for he has a rational mind; and therefore, the laws which govern man, must be those which relate not to one branch of the subject only, but to the whole universe both of matter and mind.

Upon this ground, it is reasonable to suppose, that the Author of our being would afford us not only a system of nature, such as that of which our experience and reason inform us, which is suited to our condition principally as we stand related to the maaterial world; but that he would also afford us a moral system, such as that

"Forming our notions of the constitution and government of the world

*Butler's Analogy.

contained in the scriptures, which is suited to our nature as we stand related also to the world of spirits. This supposition, I say, is so reasonable, as to lead us to conclude, that at no period of the world did God leave mankind to be guided by a system of nature only; but that long before any part of the scripture was written, he communicated to them all that was necessary, according to circumstances, of a moral system, which was preserved by such as feared him, and handed down to posterity by oral tradition. It is equally reasonable to suppose, that between these two systems, there should subsist the strictest analogy and harmony; for to such a conclusion we are necessarily led; first, from the circumstance of their being both productions of the same Author; and secondly, from their being both intended for the government of the same creature, to wit, man; who, though he be a compound of two principles, distinct from each other, forms yet but one being, and this one being so perfectly consistent with itself, as to constrain us to conclude that the laws which are to govern man, though of a two-fold nature, like the being whose conduct they are to regulate, must so perfectly agree, as to constitute but one whole.

Thus, is there a necessary connection established between physical and revealed truth, arising from the very nature of things.

Now, the object we propose, is to demonstrate their agreement; and in doing so, though hypothetical reasoning be inadmissible, yet, as Bishop Butler observes, "it must be allowed just, to join abstract reasoning with the observation of facts, and argue from such facts as are known, to others that are like them; from that part of the divine government over intelligent creatures, which comes under our view, to that larger and more general government over them, which is beyond it; and, from what is present, to collect what is likely, credible, or not incredible, will be hereafter."

The two classes of physical and revealed truth, though differing in their nature, are yet not to be separated from each other; because, notwithstanding this difference, they agree in their most essential property. They

are both divine in respect of their origin; and both are equally designed by their great Author to fulfil his eternal purposes. They ought not, therefore, to be set in opposition the one to the other; neither ought the one to be held up or extolled, at the expense of the other. This would be an error equally on either side; and as it regards things which in their source are equally divine, it is therefore inadmissible.

In article 6th of his theory, Mr. Macnab, for instance, attempts to demonstrate the utter uncertainty of all human knowledge, declaring that there is nothing absolute in regard to it ;-that there is no fixed principle, no standard, to which we can appeal, but the "Word of God," which "remaineth for ever."- "Upon this," says he, 'all knowledge depends. Remove this, and universal science becomes a chaos, where every attempt to systematize has proved abortive."

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"It is not in any human composition, but in the bible, that we are to search for the outlines of general knowledge, and a basis on which we may safely build." Art. 8th.

Here, I confess, I feel myself somewhat at a loss to understand his meaning. Had he expressed himself in such a manner as to imply, that nature alone, without the aid of revelation, was not capable of affording a sufficient foundation on which to build a system of universal science; that, in order to this, it was necessary to combine nature with revelation; then we could have understood, and admitted his position. But by setting aside the truths of nature, and those compositions of men which demonstrate such truths, as part of the basis of such a system, I conceive he has inadvertently, and without reason, run into the opposite extreme of those, who would affect to make what they denominate the "light of nature," to be every thing, and revelation nothing. Whereas, both are existences which have the divine Being for their author; and both, therefore, must be conjoined; for every system founded on the one independently of the other, must be for ever mutilated, inconsistent with itself, and standing on the slender basis of one foot, when two are evidently its province.

His reasoning, however, in regard to mere physical truths being insuffi

cient for such a purpose, seems to be just. He observes, art. 79th, "That unaided reason neither tells us what we are, whence we are, how we are, nor why we are. She gives us no satisfaction as to past, present, or future; but tells us to look to our moral feelings, and the word of God, for an answer to these questions. When we consult our moral feelings, every thing there is dark and inexplicable. Reason is bewildered in fathomless paradoxes, analogous to those concerning the origin of matter. We cannot account for our moral motives, and yet they influence all our thoughts and actions. Reason herself is only their sereant; ever busy in devising means to execute their imperious commands, whether good or evil.”

So constantly does our author keep this grand object in view, (though he has given us enough to do in other respects) and so forcibly does he urge it on all occasions, that I cannot deny myself the pleasure of here quoting some of his weighty sentiments which occur at the close of his work.

66

Where there is no stable principle stamped on the mind by moral feeling and the word of God, he judiciously remarks, That the quibbling of the intellect is endless; so that if logic be listened to, it can make black appear white, and white black. We should not think a lawyer deserving of a fee, unless he could throw a plausible lustre on either side of a cause.-Excepting the word of God, every thing is fleeting, transitory, uncertain, unstable, and susceptible of being twisted at the pleasure of intelligent men. Therefore, reserving his faith, and trust, and confidence, for the word of God alone, the Christian, in every thing else, should be an unlimited sceptic. Sense and reason may deceive him; but if he put his trust in Christ. the Friend of mankind will never forsake him in time of trouble, nor suffer him to be misled by the aberrations of a false philosophy. The bible is the book of books. It contains "the one thing needful;" and all other books are trash, except in so far as they tend to illustrate that one thing.

"But as all human science, if rightly understood, would tend to illustrate that one thing, we must not (like the brutal inquisitors) destroy even the writings of avowed infidels. For, in my judgment, there does not stand

upon record a better illustration of the truths of Christianity, than is to be found in the writings of Helvetius, Diderot, Voltaire, Hume, Bolingbroke, Volney, and other champions of infidelity. By a little ingenuity, it is quite easy to invert their own arguments upon themselves, and actually to metamorphose them into the appearance of Christian apologists, setting forth the perversions of the Amonian Idolatry."*

But while we insist on the necessary connection between the two classes of physical and revealed truths, we must be careful at the same time to distinguish between such truths and the subtleties of philosophy, by which both have been so grossly perverted. To free ourselves from the heathenish doctrines of philosophy, which were early introduced into the Christian church, by persons who had been educated in the schools of the philosophers, becoming converts to the Christian faith; we have only to take the pure word of God for our rule, and by no means to deviate from it to the right hand or to the left. To avoid, in like manner, the infidel principles which are almost constantly blended with physical truths, we must be careful to distinguish between the truths themselves, and the garb of sophistical reasoning with which they are clothed; as it is not with the latter, but with the former, that this subject has any thing to do. Facts, and theories built upon these facts, are very different things. The former can never run contrary to the scripture account of things, when we take in the whole of both; but rather, as having the same divine origin, establish and confirm it: whereas the latter, being founded solely upon the conjectures and suppositions of fallible men, uninfluenced by, or unfriendly to divine truth, cannot but stand opposed to it in all its bearings. The word of God, we ought then to make the "light of our feet, and the lamp of our path," in all that regards our moral interests; and to be most scrupulous in all that regards the system of nature, that we adopt no theory, or human explanation thereof, which runs counter to the moral system contained in the scriptures. And the reason is plain; for as both nature and

Macnab's Theory, page 470, 1. + Enfield's History of Philosophy.

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