else but a plain circle. Thus, a round plate, when placed obliquely at a considerable distance from the eye, appears as an oval; and with its edge turned towards us, as a line. Thus, the sun and moon, though globular bodies, appear flat to the naked eye. Thus, the rings of Saturn appear sometimes like narrow, and sometimes like broad ellipses, sometimes like straight lines, and sometimes like a narrow shade; so that a comparison of all these different aspects was necessary before it could be inferred that these singular phenomena were in reality rings. Hence, at their first discovery by the telescope, they were considered as two small globes attached to the planet.-3. Another source of error arises from the impressions made on the mind in infancy, and from not comparing the intimations given by one sense with those of another. Children are apt to imagine that books are unpleasant things, and that learning and religion are drudgeries, when they have been driven to such tasks by the force of the scourge. They imagine the sky touches the distant hills, and that the stars are not risen till the sun be set. From this source we are apt to conclude that the air has no weight, because we do not feel its pressure; that the earth is at rest because we do not feel its motion; that the planets and stars are only a few miles distant; and that a vessel at anchor is in motion when we pass her swiftly, when sailing in a steamboat.-4. Our disposition to account for every thing on one or two principles. To this cause may be ascribed the disposition of some late philosophers to account for almost every phenomenon on the principle of electricity. Having traced its agency in producing thunder and lightning, they went so far as to attribute to its sole operation the phenomena of earthquakes, volcanoes, winds, rain, and even the various fluctuations of the animal spirits. To form a world, Epicurus required only a mass of hooked atoms moving in a certain manner; and Des Cartes, from observing that light bodies were moved round in a whirlwind, formed the idea of an immense vortex, or whirlpool in the heavens, to account for the motion of the planets round the sun.

5. The passions and affections lead to numerous sources of error. Love induces a mother to think her own child the fairest and the best. Intense hope and desire make a few days as long as so many weeks. The fear of the torture, of the galleys, or of a painful death, has induced multitudes to believe the grossest absurdities of the Romish church. Envy misrepresents the condition and character of our neighbour, and makes us believe that he is much worse than he really is. Above all, self-interest induces many to swaljow almost any opinion and to vindicate every

practice, however corrupt and absurd. Hence the most glaring abuses in church and state have been vindicated, in the most barefaced manner, by those who derive their emoluments from a system of corruption. It is from a spirit of selfishess, too, that we set up our own opinions in religion and philosophy as the tests of orthodoxy and truth; and from the same principle has arisen the antichristian practice of persecution-a practice as unreasonable as that of the tyrant, who, having a bed exactly fitted to his own size, stretched men of low stature on the rack till they were drawn out to the length of his bed, and cut a portion of the legs off any one whom he found too long for it. Who ever had recourse to violence and torture to prove the truths of geometry?—6. Our disposition to rely on the authority of others. We are apt, without sufficient inquiry, to rely on every thing we have been taught by our parents and teachers. An author of great respectability frequently drags thousands into mistakes and erroneous theories, merely by the splendour and authority of his name. For more than a thousand years the philosophers and divines of Europe were led into many egregious errors by a reliance on the authority of Aristotle a quotation from his writings was considered as a proof of any position, and useful discoveries were long rejected because they did not quadrate with the opinions of the Grecian philosopher. Luther, Calvin, and Knox were pious men and eminent reformers, and their peculiar opinions are not unfrequently imbibed by their followers, merely on the authority of their names. This is an error into which those are apt to fall who never apply their powers to rational investigations, and who are too indolent to think for themselves.

The above and similar sources of error might be illustrated to the young by numerous examples and circumstances; and rules and cautions given by which they might be enabled to guard against their pernicious influence in the sciences, in religion, in politics, and in the ordinary affairs of life. A brief view might likewise be given of the doctrine of Sophisms, and the means by which they may be detected; of which the following are specimens:-1. Accounting for a phenomenon or fact by assigning a false cause, or taking an accidental conjunction of things for a neces sary connection. We fall into this error, when from an accident we infer a property, wher from an example we infer a rule, when from a single act we infer a habit. Astrologers commit this error when they deduce the cause of the various events in the lives of men from the different aspects of the stars and planets. We reason on this sophism when we construe the appearance of a comet or an eclipse of the

sin as predicting the fate of princes, the revolution of nations, or the infliction of pestilence or famine; or when it rains at the new or full moon, and we infer that the moon is the cause of it; or when a person is in misery or distress, and we conclude that he must needs be a heinous sinner.-2. When we draw a conclusion from a premise which is only true by accident. We fall into this error when we reason against any thing because of the wrong use which has been made of it; as when we reason against printing, because it has sometimes been employed for raising sedition and promoting immorality; against reading the Bible because it has sometimes led to heresy; against Christianity, because it has been the accidental occasion of ontentions and persecutions, which do not flow from the Gospel, but are mere accidental circumstances, with which it has been sometimes attended. Other sophisms are such as the following: Mistaking the question or point to be proved-the Pelino Principii, or begging the question-imperfect enumeration-reasoning in a circle-concluding from what is true of a thing in its divided state, as if it were true in its compound state -ambiguity of words, and using them in different senses-with several others.

Of all the species of false reasonings, there is none more common than that of introducing into an argument propositions that are either false or doubtful, or taking for granted facts which have never been satisfactorily ascertained. In this way a false conclusion may be legitimately deduced, after such facts or propositions are admitted. Against this fallacious mode of reasoning the young should be carefully guarded, both in their own reason ings, and when listening to those of others; and habituated to scan every proposition or assertion, and ascertain its truth before admitting it into any chain of argument. In the speeches that were lately delivered in parliament in opposition to the Reform Bill, this species of reasoning was one distinguishing characteristic, when those orations had any show of argument. Fictions were brought forward as facts, vague and unfounded assertions were uttered with all the pomp of confidence and authority, and the idea of revolution, in its most horrid aspects, was substituted in place of salutary reformation, so that the haranguer would have required to have been stopped at almost every other sentence, till he had substantiated the truth of his premises. Such, however, is not unfrequently the way in which our representatives in parliament, the members of our corporations, and vast as semblages of our citizens at public meetings, are hurried along by a bold and impudent declaimer, and induced to cheer the sophister who is leading them on to the admission of a 18

falsehood, and to the approbation of measures subversive of human improvement.

It is therefore of vast importance to society, that the young be early trained to the proper use of their rational faculties-that they be accustomed to entertain clear and well-defined ideas on every subject--that they be enabled to appreciate the strength or weakness of arguments-that they feel the importance of prosecuting truth and duty in every department of learning-and that frequent exercises on important subjects be prescribed for stimulating their reasoning powers. It is lamentable to reflect on the deficiency and weakness of the great mass of mankind in this respect. On the most trifling grounds they will yield their assent to hundreds of propositions, most of which they do not understand. They will obstinately adhere to their preconceived opinions in the face of the strongest and most convincing arguments. They will swallow, without the least hesitation, the most absurd and extravagant notions; while all the reasoning we can bring forward will not convince them of the reality of truths and facts which have been clearly demonstrated. So wedded are they to the opinions they had first imbibed, that we might almost as soon attempt to teach a snail or a tortoise the truths of geometry as convince them that the earth turns round its axis, and that it is possible to determine the exact distance of the moon; while, at the same time, they will talk, with the utmost assurance, of the most abstruse mysteries which lie beyond the reach of the human understanding. This representation does not apply merely to the lower, but even to many in the higher ranks of society; and such a state of things has been productive of many injurious effects, in relation to the best interests of mankind. It has been the cause of most of the wars and commotions which have desolated the earth, and of the prevalence of those systems of tyranny, slavery, and injustice, which still so generally prevail. It has led to all the persecutions that have ever disgraced the church or the world. It has produced hundreds of foolish controversies in the visible church, either with respect to comparatively trifling opinions, or to those subjects which lie beyond the grasp of the faculties of man; and has dissevered Christian society into a number of discordant sectaries. It has prevented the improvement and happiness of the human race, and is the cause of all the ignorance, prejudices, intemperance, and vice, which appear among all ranks of society; for if men were to cultivate their intellectual powers aright, and apply them to rational purposes, few or none of these evils would abound in the world.

But it is deeply to be regretted, that in all (137)

M 2

assume the right to think for themselves, and to worship God according to their consciences. But, of all the arguments which have been tried, to produce conviction, there is none more powerful than the influence of gold This is an argument of so much force and efficacy, that none but a few stubborn minds have been capable of resisting it. It is possessed of the most wonderful properties-in a moment it enlightens the understanding, wins the affections, removes every doubt, silences every objection, clears up every difficulty, banishes every scruple, and generally causes the most sturdy logician to give up his point, and bend to its power. In short, it is an intermediate idea, or major proposition, which will lead to almost any conclusion. By this argument the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent, have been more quickly and effectually refuted than by all the wisdom of Solomon, or by all the reasonings of philosophy; and its powerful effects are to be seen in our own land, and in every nation under heaven.

Such have been the modes of reasoning which have most generally prevailed in the

O! foolish and infatuated reasoners! Is it not high time to undermine your logical principles and systems, to build on a new foundation, and to train the rising generation in such a manner, that they may employ their mental powers in accordance with the dictates of reason and the word of God.

ages, and even in the present age, legitimate
reasoning has been for the most part thrown
aside, and diabolical arguments substituted in
its stead. When men have been unable to
confute their antagonists by the force of argu-
ments, they have had recourse to "club law,"
and have knocked down their opponents and
all their reasonings, by the application of guns
and bayonets, and every species of physical
force. Louis XIV. of France, like most of
his compeers, was so convinced of the strength
of this mode of reasoning, that he engraved
upon his great guns the following inscription:
"Ratio ultima Regum," that is, the Logic of
princes-or, the last argument of kings. In
this mode of arguing, fifty thousand disputers
are frequently arranged on each side of a
question, and that party which can handle
their swords and muskets with most dexterity,
and blow the skulls and limbs of their antago-
nists to atoms, and slash their bodies to pieces,
are always reckoned, by their leaders, the most
expert logicians. There is another mode of
reasoning which has been frequently used
with disputants, and that is, arguing by torture,
in which the argument is sometimes screwed
up to such a pitch as to make the refractory world.
disputant confess his belief in any proposition,
however wild and extravagant. A mode of
arguing nearly akin to this is the application
of whips, sabres, gibbets, dungeons, musket-
balls, fire and fagots. In this way the Rom-
ish Church reasoned with the Hussites and
the Waldenses; and with the same weapons
confuted every Protestant who dared to call
in question the infallibility and the supreme
authority of the Roman Pontiff. In this way
Queen Mary and her bishops argued with 277
clergymen, gentlemen, tradesmen, and women,
when, for adhering to Protestant doctrines,
they were delivered over to be devoured by
the fires of Smithfield. It was in the same
way that Claverhouse and his "bloody bands"
reasoned with the Scottish Covenanters, when
he hunted them across moors and mosses, and
massacred them in cold blood; and that the
Star Chamber reasoned with the Non-con-
formists of England, when all their arguments
were confuted by fines, racks, and imprison-
ment. It is in this way that Nicholas of Rus-
sia has argued with the brave Poles, when
vindicating their liberties-when he sent them
chained, like wild beasts, to wander along
frightful deserts, and to perish in the forests
of Siberia and in the same way do all mobs
reason, when they furiously demolish the
houses, the manufactories, or the churches of
their opponents. On the same principles do
those men reason, who deprive their fellow-
citizens of the right of being eligible to cer-
tain civil offices, and attempt to degrade them
in the eyes of the public because they nobly

SECTION XIII.-Natural Theology.

Natural Theology is that branch of knowledge which proves and illustrates the attrbutes of the Deity from the works of naturea study which is open to all the inhabitants of the earth, and from which they may derive impressive views of the existence, the perfections, and the incessant agency of that Great Being who made and who governs the universe. "For, the invisible things of God, even His eternal Power and Divinity, are when duly attended to, clearly seen by the things that are made," and have been so in all ages, "from the creation of the world;" so that, "even the heathen nations are without excuse," if they neglect to trace in those works the being and attributes of their Creator, and refuse that tribute of reverence and obedience which is due to His perfections. This is a study in which the young should be early initiated. It lies at the foun dation of the religion of the Bible; for the inspired writers take for granted that we know the evidences of the existence of the Divine Being, and of some of the attributes with which he is invested, and direct us to the contemplation of the works of his hands, as proofs and illustrations of the truths they

SUBJECTS OF NATURAL THEOLOGY.

139

unfold. "Lift up thine eyes on high, and of animals-the power of vegetables to reprobehold Him who hath created these orbs: duce and continue their species, and the variety stand still, and consider the wondrous works of admirable means by which it is effected-of God. Great is the Lord, and of great the various methods employed to disperse the power; His understanding is infinite. His seeds of plants over the surface of the globe, works are manifold, and in wisdom He hath and to adorn it with vegetable beauties-the made them all." In exhibiting the works of adaptation of plants to the different climates, God to the young, in performing experiments and to the necessities of their respective inhato illustrate their properties, and in describing bitants—the admirable structure of their seeds, the laws and mechanism of the material world, roots, leaves, and sap-vessels, particularly as every opportunity should be taken of directing discovered by the microscope in transverse them to the displays of power, benevolence, sections of plants, &c.—their important uses wisdom, and intelligence, which these works in the system of nature, and the numerous exhibit. It should be deeply impressed upon beauties and varieties which they spread : ver their minds, that it is the highest and noblest the face of our terrestrial creation; particularly, end of science, to mark the evidences of wise the curious and admirable mechanism disand benevolent design, and to trace the in- played in the construction of animated beings, cessant agency of our Creator in all our sur- from the microscopic animalcula, ten hundred veys and investigations of the work of creation thousand times less than a visible point, to the -without an attention to which, the mere elephant and the whale-the organs of mastiknowledge of natural facts is an acquisition cation, deglutition, digestion, and secretion, all of a comparatively trivial nature. differently contrived, according to the strucAn intelligent teacher can seldom be at a ture of the animal and the aliments on which loss to direct the attention of his pupils to it feeds-the eyes of insects, and the thouthis subject; for there is no part of the scenery sands of transparent globules of which they of nature in which a discerning eye will not consist-the metamorphoses of caterpillars perceive the most evident traces of benevolent and other insects, and the peculiar organizadesign and infinite intelligence, not only in tion adapted to each state of their existencethe exquisite mechanism of animated beings, the numerous beauties and minute adaptations but in the structure of vegetables and mine- in the wings, feet, probosces, and feathers, of rals, and the general arrangement of the earth, gnats and other insects- the respiratory appathe waters, and the atmosphere. The adapta- ratus of fishes, and the nice adaptation of their tion of the solid parts of the globe for the bodies to the watery fluid in which they pass habitation of man and other terrestrial ani- their existence-the construction of birds, mals-the adaptation of the waters of the their pointed bills to penetrate the air, their ocean and of the rivers to the purposes of flexible tails serving as rudders, the lightness, commerce, and for the abode of countless strength, and tenacity of their feathers, and multitudes of organized beings-the colouring the whole structure of their bodies adapted to thrown over the canopy of heaven, and over the air in which they fly, and the food by the landscape of the earth-the process of which they are sustained-above all, the evaporation, and the innumerable benefits it wonders of the human frame, the numerous confers the agency of the atmosphere, the parts of which it is composed, the hundreds wonderful properties of its component parts, of bones and muscles, the thousands of veins, and its extensive influence in the animal and arteries, glands, nerves, and lymphatics, the vegetable kingdoms-the solar light, and the millions of scales and pores in the skin, the infinity of beautiful effects it produces the heart with its ventricles and auricles, the thousands of diversified objects which delight brain with its infinity of fibres, the lungs with the eye in the natural embellishments of crea- their millions of vesicles, the organs of sense, tion--the harmony and order, the grandeur with their multifarious adaptations and conand sublimity, of the celestial motions-the nections, and the harmonious movements, arrangements of the planetary system, and adjustments, and adaptations of all these the provision made for securing its perpetuity parts to the system of external nature and ---the relation of man to the agencies of to the promotion of the happiness of man,-external nature, as the action of water, air, these, and thousands of similar objects, adaptalight, heat, electricity, &c.-the proportion tions, and contrivances, will afford ample scope between the body of man, and the objects and for expatiating on the Power, Wisdom, and living beings around him-the mutual rela- Intelligence, of the Almighty Creator, and on tions which subsist between animals and the Benevolent contrivances which appear vegetables, and their co-operation in promoting the same design-the adaptation of almost every vegetable to the support of some species

throughout every part of the universal system; and were specimens of some of the objects now alluded to exhibited to the young,

it could not fail of arresting their attention, luminous arches, fiery meteors, whirlwinds, and inspiring them with admiration of the wonderful works of God.