DITUbcf^cn/. "^/'^ ^i*VJA^ J^TK/iK' O THE HILOSOPHYOF LIFE AN ESSAY, BY ROBERT IVI. GOODMAN -" Thia scene of man ; A mighty maze, but not without a PIak,'* Marietta, Georgia 1863. THE WILLIAM R. PERKINS LIBRARY OF DUKE UNIVERSITY " Deliver ns from Evil-— for Thine is the Kingdom, t£ff fowER and the Glory, forever. Amen." INTRODUCTION Socrates recognized, and respected, the Religious sentiment which sustained th« Mythology of his Countrymen, and was too wise to assail the FORM of expression the sentiment had assumed. St. Paul said to the Athenians, " I found an altar with thi3 inscription: "To THE Unknown GoD." Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you." A higher, can only be permanently substituted for a lower, ?0RM, when founded upon higher mental development. The ittempt was made to give France democratic institutions. It failed, from the absence of popular mental dovelopment adapted to such institutions. The overthrow of the Catholic Worghip, and the attempt to substitute a crude philosophy, failed for the same reason. The people did not understand tlio philosophy and could not live without a Religion. To those opposed to the restoration of the popular religion, Napoleon said: "You are deceived; the clergy exist, and ever ^vill exist, as long as the people are imbued with a religious spirit and that disposition is PERMANRNT in the human heart. Wo have seen republics and democracies ; history has many examples of such governments to exhibit; but none of a State without an established worship." He conceived not only the necessity of some form of Keli^ ious worship, but, restored to the French, the popular form of Re- ligion, clearly perceiving that any other would be as little under- stood by them as the new truth of One Supreme Being, given by Socrates, was by the" Greeks. But, while it is irrational to attempt to impair popular faith in the chosen form of Religion, we must not, cannot, forget, that mind is progressive in development — that it is slowly, but continually, casting off the prejudices and varying the charac- ter, of the most enlightened forms of the religious sentiment.— The mental development, of ont age, often finds presented, a a ^vider range of thought, than the preceding, and rejects opin- ions, formerly received as unquestioned truths, and discovers, in he truths of the past, indications of higher future development. VI INTRODUCTIOS'. Inquiry, therefore, controlled by reason, should be unfettered by PREJUDICE. On this subject we may adopt the clear statement in the "Essay ©n the Human Understanding : " . "lu propositions then, wh08«- tertainty is built upon lh« clear percfplion, attained eitli'?r by Immediate mtuitioD, as ia self-eTident projHisi Lions. «r by •vident deduction Of leasoi) io dcmonstratiood, we need not' the aaAistance of lovelation, at> accessary to gain our assent, and introduce them into our minds. Because the natural ways of knowledge could settle them there, or had done it already ; which is the greatest .".ruiance we can have of anything, nnltss where God immediately rjveals it to us ; and there too out assurance cau be n» greater than our knowledge ia, that it is a ■Eevdaiion from God. But yet notUia^. Ithink, can, under that title, shake er overrule plain knowledge ; or raiionaily prevail, with any man to admit for true, ia direct contradiction to the cli?ar evidxjEca cfhid own un :' -. i'or since no evidence of our faculties, by wnlth wijj receive > /(.s-, c;*n exceed, if cr^ual, tho cer- tainly of our intuitive knowlcd-e. we can ntver receive for a truth anything that ia directly contrary to our clear and distiuct knowledge. lu oucL propo- sitions, therefore, it will be vain to urge them as a matter. of Jaith. They can- not move our assent, under that sr any other title whatever. For faiik tita. never conviuce us of any thing that contradicts our knowledge. iJecause though faith be founded on tho testimony of God (who caun»t lie) rcTealiag any prop- osition to us ; yet^we cannot have an assurance of the truth of its being a di- vine revelation, greater than our own knowledge : si. ce llie whole strength of the certainty depends upon our knowledge that God revealed if, will always have this objection hanging to it, viz : that we c;innot tell how to conceive that to come from Gud, tfie bountiful Auihor of our being, vhioh if reccivM for true, must overturn all ithe principles and foundation^* of knowledge he has given us, render all our faculties useless, wholly destroy the most excellent part of Ms workmanship, our understanding ; and put a man in a condition, x.-'if -.yn ]_o will have leds light, less conduct than the beaat that perisheth.'' : itLority has not been appealed to with a view of show- ing that tho ftilse and true, of ALL moral questions, must be de- term ined by reason ; but to sanction the /Employment of that fac ulty of the laind in the investigation' oi/ causes aifecting the phenomena of life — in combining, such /truths as will exhibit more clearly tho "Wisdom of Providenceyond to give the assurance o*f Knowledge to the Hope of immorm happiness. There is no system of Theology in/ harmony with the concep. tion of the iNriiijE Power, Wisdom/ and" Goodness, of CaOD— none recognizing harmony in tho ^urce of life. and in its Phe- nomena, and the inquiry ever comes home to us " Is the moral gover nment of Gob and the nature of Man to appear forever H'cordant ? Ia Man forever to appear at jyar with himself and vn INTEODUCTION. . • the Providence, under. ■vrL.ich he lives? Can no explanation he given so conclusive, that reason cannot doubt the Infinite Wis- dom, Power and Goodness of God, as displayed in the Creation ? Life, with, the great bulk of mankind, as "with the animals around us, is a scene of the present. Human reason has seldom, nnd never ifith complete satisfaction, connected the present -Rrith the FUTURE of the mind. Not until recently has science given to the grasp of intellect the history of the past to deci- pher the enigma of the present and to throw around the fu- ture an array of light, which leaves, in the explanation of the great purpose of life, but little to conjecture. To raise the mind to this high plane of thought — to read with an honest and appre- ciative mind the truths of physical science and the history of human life; to realize as the enlightened mind must, the evidences of a great purpose throughout this whole history, physical and morali which forever controls the present with reference to high purposes in the future, is to bring the conceptions of the mind in harmony with Providence and to give it that serene happiness, confidence, reliance, devotion, . which he alone can feel who " juslifies th{^ ways of God to man," To such contemplations the truths of the rfoll owing pngcs un' oi'ringly lead. From all the sources of human knowledge fort;* may^be abundantly adduced to; show that ProgixESS is the para- mount law of nature; and equally as clearly m^y be established the truth of man's subordination to that law. " If " said Wallaston, *' there is a Supreme Being, upon whom the existence of the world depends ; and nothing can be in it but what he either causes or permits to be ; then to own things to be as they are is to own what he causes, or at least per- mits to be caused or permitted ; and this is to take things as he gives them, to go into His constitution- of the world, and to sub- mit to His will, revealed in the book of xjature," " I desire that I may not be misunderstood in respect to the actings of wicked men. I do not say, it is agreeable to the will of Grod that what is ill done by them should be «o done ; 1. e. — that they. should use their liberty ill : but I ^ay, "when they have INTRODUCTION vui done this and committed some evil, it is agrfoable to His will, that he should allow it to have been committed." While these pages were passing through th« press the writer perused for the first time the interesting w»rk of Dr. Comb on the " Conititution of Man." He disclaims in that work an im- portant subject explained in these pages as "beyond the limits of the human understanding." He says : » The view now presented makes no attempt to explain why pain or evil exists, because I consider this inquiry to curpae9 the limits of the human understanding. It offers an explanation, however, of the use which pain serves — that tf enforcing obedi- ence to the na,|;ural laws." ^These laws are physical and intellectual. If progress is a law of matter and mind, then that which serTcs the purpose or use of urging forward this progress, furnishes its own answer as to why it exists, being essential to and inseparable from a prO" gressive creation. These pages have been printed in the midst of civil revolu- tion and under many disadvantages. But a limited 'number ol copies have been issued with a view of eliciting, from the mindf in the South of enlightened views, if the work should be deemed worthy, a careful and honest examination of the great subject; involved. Perhaps at a future day, the philosophy thus submit- ted to the reflecting mind, may be presented in a form -mon elaborate and intelligible. But, be this as it may. The write:, has, he thinks, only anticipated in conception, a recognition c general T)rmciT>le3, to which the combinations of art, science ani philosophy, wiil sooner or later compel the auscnt of all intelli- • gent mincis. CHAPTER I. INSPIRATION^, All Truth, whether intuitive or demonstrative ; whethei^ evolved from the native vigor of the mind, or, resulting from cultivated intellect : vrhether laboriously discovered in exploring the principles of matter or mind, or found in the contemplation of the Attributes of God, — is Inspiration aud comes from Gcd.* Galilleo — Columbus — •Newton, were inspired with great truths. It was inspiration which enabled Socrates to teach his friends a* JMSt conception of God — Plato to say that the Soul emana- ted from God — and Jksus to teach us that GuD is our Father, a name, dear to the human heart, expressive at ouce of origin, aud Love unbounded as the Infinite nature of its source. It was by Inspiration that all ir^Mi has been discovered wheth- er in ScienTie, Philosophy, Morals or Religion. It is hot meant that in any instance there has been miraculous inspiration, con- trary to, or »a1>ovc, tho general laws of nature ; but sinaply, that God has so organized the human mind, as to enable it, in the progress of life, to discover new Truths. It is not material to the subject, to determine, whether the Source of Life acts through laws which constitute the forms of vital manifestation ; or, whether His Spirit is immediately present in all forms. Whether it is through the medium of laws controlling the organization of matter and mind, or from the immediate, informing presence of the Divine ]Mind, it is equal- ly true that our just cohceptioiis flow from GoD.f * The genuine dielate of our natural faculties ?,4 the' voice of God, no loss than what he reveals from Heaven. — Reid's Works. t According to the German Philosophers, God is conceived as fhe^ibso- Jute and origiual Huing revealing himself- variously in outwHrd nature auil 10 ISfSPIRATtON. The' IiTTman mind is tlic ultimate result of Earthly organiza- lioQ anil differs from other forms only in character and degree of excellence. All forms, in their order^ reflect the qualities of Creative Intelligence. Design is n?areifested in all the irorks of Nature. Order, harraorty, and, adaptation to the support of veo-etahlc life, are manifest purposes in the organization of mat- ter. Reproduction and the support of animnl Aaturc arc pur- poses of vegetable life. Increase and pliysicn-l enjoyment are purposes manifested in animal organization. In each department of nature there arc apparent Irregulari- ties — apparent defects in the expression. Matter is sometimes convulsed with violence ; vegetation suhjected to adverse influenf- ces and animal natures unliappy ; but, the design — paramount to all disaster — accomplishes its purpose and vindicates the Wis- . dom and Goodness of God. It is the higher province of the human mind not only to take coil its wisdom as a ichole. Among these truths are prominent two which admit of no doubt. The Beginning of the Creation — and its constant Fro- grcss. These truths, alone, while they display the character of the Creation, if ^Ye maturely reflect upon them, fully exhibit the origin of what we call evil as constituent and essential to it. The Beyinnihg hurled into space this Globe, barren of life. Progress clothed it with verdure through the gradual changes in its own elements and covered it with life only when its soil and atmosphere, in the long processes of ages could sustain it. That such has been the Earth's physical history — constant, gradual improvement from an imperfect beginning, admits of no question. It need only be stated and we find it Avell stated by Hugh Miller : — "A partially consolidated planet, tempested by frequent earth- quakes of such terrible potency, that those of the historic ages would be but mtfre ripples of the earth's surfiice in comparison, could be no proper home for a creature so constituted as man. The fish or reptile, — animals of a limited range of instinct, ex- ceedin'^ly tenacious of life in most of their variciics, oviparous, prolific, and whose young, imaiediately on their escape from the eg(», can provide for themselves, might enjoy existeivce in such circumstances, to the full extent of their narrow capacities; and when death fell upon them, — though their remains, scattered over wide areas, continue to e.\hibit that distortion of posture incident to violent dissolution, which seems to speak of terror and suffering, — we inay safely conclude that there was but little realsuffeiing in the case. They were happy up to a certain point, and unconscious forever after. Fishes and reptiles were the proper inhabitants of our planet during the ages of the earth-tempests ; and when, under the operation of the chemical laws these bad become less frequent and terrible, the higher fiOOD AND EVir.. J5 mammals were introduced. That prolonged ages of these tem- pests did exist, and that they gradually settled down, until the state of things became at length comparatively fixed and stable, few geologists will be disposed to deny. The evidence which supports this special theory of the development of our planet in its capabilities as a scene of organized and sentient being, seems palpable at eviiry step. Look fa'st at these Grauwacke rocks; and, after marking how in one place the strata have been upturned on their edges for miles together, and how in another the Plutonic rock has risen molten from below, pass on to the Old Red Sandstone, and examine its significant platfornis of violent death,— its faults, displacements, and dislocations ; see, next, in the Coal Measures, those evidences of sinking and ever- sinking strata, for thousands of feet together ; mark in the Oolite those vast overlying masses of trap, stretching athwart the landscape, fur as the eye can reach : cbservc carefully how the signs of convulsion and catastrophe graduaUy lessen as we descend to the times of tho Tertisiry, though even in these ao-cs of the mammiferous quadruped, the earth must have had its oft- recurring ague fits of frightful intensity ; and then, on closin'>' the survey, consider how exceedingly i^artial and unfrcquent these earth-tempests have become in the recent periods. Yes, we find everyAvhere marks of at once jjroffressum and identity." Such has been the material progress of the Earth. The hir- tory of its Life — of its organized beings, is distinguished with the same great truths — Beginning and Progress. "Various considerations," remarks the above mentioned au- thor, "incline nie to hold, that the point is now very nearly de- termined at AVhich, "life was first breathed into tlic Wcitors." — The pyramid of organized existence, as it ascends into the by- past eternity, inclines scnsil^ly toward its apex—that apex of ^^beginning" in which, on far other than geological grounds, it is our privilege to believe, The brpad base of the superstructure, planted on the existing now, stretches across the entire scale of Jife; animal and vegetable ; but it contracts as it rises into the past; — man, — the quadrurtana, — the quadrupedal mammal, — the bird, — and the reptile, — are each in succession struck from off its breadih, until we at length see it with the vertcbrata, rep- U f:001» AND EVIL. resented by only the fish, nmroAving, as it "were, to a point ; and though the clouds of the u]>j)cr region may hide its extreme apex, -we infer from the declination of its sides, that it cannot penetrate much farther intt» the profound." The earth originated amid physical convulsions, and its whole history has been marked hy them. It wtrs through such violent chauf'cs that it was fitted as a habitation for Man. In the midst of these changes — of this progressive improvement of physical nature — he appears, the flower of the physical world, and finds imperfection, instabilit}^, upon all things and upon himself. With the instinct of self-preservation — the love of life — the hope of immortality — he Avondcrs why\all things were not made jwi-fcct and pcr;«rty2c??i — shudders at the seeming dis- order, and his imagination peoples the world with^ demons. Until experience accumulated, it was.;difiicult,'for man, to re- concile Evil with the Divine Attributes and hence the concep- tion of Demons and Spiritual conflict. We now begin to ap- preciate the intuition of the poet: - "Our proper bliss depends on what we blame. All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee, All chance, Djkectiox which thou caiis't not see; All discord, HAR:\nxY not understood; All partial evil, universal Good." Already science has demonstrated Beginning, in the ori- ginal molten condition of the Earth — and Progress, in all its changes. These great truths afford a stand-point from which new truths may be discovered. If the creation began with the organization of Matter ; if its irregularities, or convulsions, have resulted in the advancement of Good, through the count- less ages which have elapsed since the creation, then we must view the creation, as it is, — as beginning with the org^anization of Matter and controlled by eternal Progress. There is no difficulty in conceiving change, irregularity — Evil, to be a ne- cessary agency in such a creation and without which its order could not be Progressive. Why insensate, inert, dead Matter, was made the medium of GOOD AND !:VIL. 1* rital plienomena ; — yfhy it was mode a medium foi* Spiritual de- Telopment, is a problem beyond our reach. That such is the fact, science and religion concur, .-.nd mutually trace vital or- ganization back to our mother Earth. Whether this Matter is eternal or ci-eated, is also a frniti->-^ inquiry, as in either case, the fact remains the same, that life has been developed Thrcugii it^ and, apon this fa&t rests the explanation of Evil, physical and moraL If the Creation: had ^jeen pitrcty Spirifdal — untrammelcd with "this body of death," it would have been immaculate as an ema- nation of the Infinitely Perfect Natare of the Ditine Mind, and there could hate been no EviL Bnt we AXn KVfL. 10 ilie principle of life, niatei-ial, animal, and spivltual; — wliick made Bliss the oflspring of active and Avcll-dircctcd intellect? ''Who does not act is dead ; absovpt entire In miry sloth, no pride, no joy he hath ; 0, Icaden-hcartod man, to be in love with death." Look at the Creation — as it is — Pror/ressice in its order, and we. at once realize tlic necessity and the uses of Evil. Physi- cal irregularities, material or animal, arc incidents of Earthly Progress and have constantl}'- decreased -with the promotion of pli^-sical harmony or happiness. The ills that man is heir to have a like mission — a like object — the Harmony of Iiuman life. "If this world,"' siys Allison, were the final resting place of man; if it were intended to be the scat of unbroken happiness, and the human mind was so innocent and so deserving, as to be capable of enjoying unmixcil ftlicity, such a ni;ivked and una- voidaljle tendency (to war,) in human afll'^rs might well be a sub- ject of unmingled regret. ]>ut if the real condition of mankind be reflected on, and the necessity of suffering to the purification of the human heart taken into consideration, the observer Avill take a very different view of the matter. That war is an un- bounded source of human suffering to those encajjed in, or affec- ted by it, can bo doubted by none ; and if any were disposed to be skeptical on the subject, his hesitation would probably bo re- moved by a. consideration of the wars that followed the French Revolution. But is not suffering necessary to the purification of the human heart? Is it not in that ordeal that its selfish- ness, its corruptions, and its stains arc wa,shedout? Have we not been told by the highest authority, that man is made perfect by suffering ? Ls not misfortune, anxiety, and distress, the se- vere but salutary school of individual improvement ? And what is war but anxiety, distress, and often agony to nations ? Its great and lasting effect i.'^, to counteract the concentration of human interests upon self, to awaken the patriotic and gen- erous affections, to rouse that generous ardour which, spreading from breast to breast, obliterates for a time the sclfijjhness ot private interest, and leads to the general admission of great and heroic feelings." 20 GOOD AND EVIL. Profound and jjuignant arc many of the ills of life : but, none that cannot be borne with benefit to our spiritual nature. God has 60 organized our phjseal and moral being that suffering is less in reality than in expectation, ■while it refines and elevates the soul ; relaxes its tics to earth, and, it is found, that death itself, the last great evil, has no terror, save from the love of life, 'vvhile it opens to the developed Soul the portals of eternal happiness. In truth — "There's no such thing as death, To those who think aright; 'Tis but the racer casting off What most impedes his flight. 'Tis but one little act Life's drama must contain; One struggle keener than the rest, And then an end of pain. There's no such thing as death — 'Tis but the blossom's spray Sinking before the coming fruit That seeks the summer's ray. 'Tis but the bud displaced As comes the perfect flower, 'Tis hope exchanged for sight. And weariness for power." It is seen that whatever there is of Evil, physical or moral, results from the nature and order of the Creation, and that God is Wise and Good. That Evil is not a design of the Creation — but Good — resulting from the Law of Progress, governing material, animal and mental nature. As applicable to the crea- tion, as a Plan of the Divine Architect, ^\e can easily conceive that "whatever is, is eight." It is not for us to say that other ttian a progkessive creation would have accomplished higher or more perfect happiness! Bather, apart from all faith in, and reverence for, the Author of our being, our knowledge is beginning to unfold to our minds the Wisdom that there is in EVIL. It is ever found, ■where we can trace its results, produc- GOOD AXD EVIL. 21 tive of good. From pain comes uneasiness, and from uneasi- ness comes effort, and, whether that results in immediate good or ill, the ultimate is always beneficent. We may not always crace the beneficial eflects of crime — but we know that as it in- creases it approaches the crisis which overwhelms it and leaves society better and purer from its existence. But, Evil is only right as it advances the progress of nature, and is never right ix itself, any more than a tornado is the right condition of the atmosphere. Righteousness is perfection — a condition toward which we are advancing, but which we can never reach while anything remains to us Unknown. Physical irregularities have diminished under the guidance of the Divine Mind, and moral evil must continue to decrease on earth as hu- man Wisdom accumulates — must cease in Heaven, save in the existence, to the human spirit, of an eternity of undiscovered truth. The question tlien, *' Is God the Author of Evil" ? is com. pletely answered by the reply to that other question — "is God the Author of the Creation?" If we reply to this, as we must, in the affirmative, then, we have only ^to understand the natui'e of that creation, and its design, to render the existence of evil consistent with the highest conception of reason. First, then, it appears, that the basis of the Creation, — the medium of vital manifestation, — is Matter, — matter bearing all the evidences of disorder and imperfection. Now, if there had been no change — no improvement, in material condition or organization, since the primitive period, the earth would have attested the design of the Divine Mind, in the Creation, to have been, perpetual imperfection. But, on the contrary, we find nothing so marked — so manifest — in the earth's history, as pro- gressive improvement, not only iu the history of matter, but of life developed through matter, and, the progressive principle upon which the Creation is organized, is not only rendered appa- rent — but, as that principle can only result in i\iQ perfect happi- ness to which the human Soul aspires, the existence of Evil is reconciled with our highest conception of the Wisdom — the Pow- er and the Goodness of God. r:or)D a .n KVir. 2: Oi'ixcral Oi'Jer and Desigti in i tie Creation, furthvr considered, Tlic great departments of iiiture arc distinct — but all subor- dinate to one great purpose — flic development of wind. The material and animal departments are organized for dejinite tem- poral uses — the intcllcctnral nature for immortal Spiritual pro- gress. Contemplate, for a moment, these great departments of na- ture, as they are brought -VNlthin our comprehension. A recent ■writer says:— "In taking nn cnlnvgod view of the constitution of the niate- }-ial Uni'.erse, so far as it falls under our notice, it may be dis- covered that attention, at once extensive and minute, is paid to two great principles or methods of procedure. That one is the Principle of Order, 'or a general plan, pattern or type, to. Avbicli cvcrj- given object is made to conform with more or less precision. The other is the Principle of Special Adaptation, or particular end, by which each object, while constructed after .a general model, is, at the same time, accommodated to the situ- ation which it has to occupy, and a purpose which it is intended to serve. These two priifciples are exhibited in not a few inor- ganic objects, and thc}^ meet in the structure of every plant and every animal, and are characteristic of Intelligence. Many of the adaptations of in-organic objects to animals and plants, are so obvious that it is not necessary to dilate on them; indeed, they can scarcely be made more impressive by any sci- entific treatment. While the elejnejifs of nature obey their own methodical laws, they are so arranged as to form Jiving organ- isms, and supply them with needful sustenance. Each agent has its rule of action, hnt is made to co-oj^erate vrith every other. Law is suited to law, property fits into property, collocation is adapt- ed to collocation, and the result is harmony and beneficence. — The tvhole is dependent on every one of its parts, and the parts all lend their aid to the production of the whole. A break in a thread of the complicated net-work would occasion' the failure of the whole design." Physical science has been content with the demonstration of physical laws and with their classification as the Laws of Na- GOOD A.VI) EVIL. 23 TURE. Mental science upon tlie broad principle that law must have a Law-Giver, will class tlioui as tlie Laws of the Creator. "When Ave conceive the order of the material universe and the adaptions of its vai'ious elements to beneJ&ccnt results, the con- viction forces itself upon us that Lifinite Wisdom alone could have estahlished its laws or comtemplatcd their design, and de- sign in no department of nature is more apparent to humau in- telligence, than in the material, of wliich every brancli of physi- cal science ciivcs illustration. Material nutura passes insensibly into animal nature, and furnishing "OS it does the basis of animal organization and sub- sistence aftords the strongest evidence of the Unity of Design in the tuo departments. There is a manifest beginning in the or- ganization of means, and an appropriate result of vital organi- zation dependent on those means. Tlic elements of nature are, manifestly, harmonized for the support of vegetable life — and vegetable nature is organized, under fixed laws, for the support of animal existence. The leaf and flower, as if by instinct, unfold to execute their offices vital to the existence or propagation of the plant. We cannot doubt that tliis is the result of Law, prescribed by Intel- ligence adequate to the accomplishment ot the design. Law is also apparent in the physical and mental organization of ani- mals — laws controlling animal organization and operating with results as unerring as the laws of in- organic matter. Lender these laws the bee constructs its cell — the bird builds its nest — animals defend their young, provide for the future and defend the right of property. These are among the laws of animal or- ganization, and are as naturally developed, as the plant unfolds the beauty of its rose. The intelligence displa^-ed in the laws of material and animal nature, excites in the observer, admiration and Avonder. Those Avho have devoted attention, more exclusively, to physical sci- ence have sometimes fancied that matter is "All in All;" or that chemical action, animal instinct and human thought are immedi- ate exhibitions of a present informing Deity. It is surely more rational to conclude that the Laws which we have the capacity 2 1 OOOD AND EVIL. to conceive, botli in their operation and ilesign, are sueli as Infi- nite Wisdom has willed in all the modifications of Matter, and mind, and instead of being God, are only manifestations of thsrt creative Wisdom. It is unquestionable that God has developed intellect from His own Divine essence through matter; but it is un-wisc therefore, to conclude, that human intellect is the pro- duct of matter, or that it is Deity. It is doubtless Divine in its nature and a procreation of the Divinity; but developed un-. der laws which ramify all lower nature and fix its individual and perpetual indentity, *' llumboldt thought he could show why and hoAV this world and the universe itself is a Kosmos — a divine Avholo of life and intellect; namely, by its all-pervading eternal laws. Law is the supreme rule of the universe; and that law is wisdom, is in- tellect, is reason, whether viewed in the formation of planetary systems or in the organization of the worm."* An impression as erroTieous on the other hand prevails, that with the organization of the highest animal nature the laws of God cease to be determining and that the mind of man was left free and independent of the Great Ruler — abandoned to its self- government. Such is the foundation of all pojiular moral phil- osophy. This point has been discussed elsewhere with reference to the influence of the conditions of life upon the development of mind. Contemplate, for a moment, the mind in itself. We have glanced at the wonderful instincts of the inferior animals and conceive the difficulty of distinguishing between instinct and reason. Are we quite sure that all the phenomena of mind are not in- stinctive? What is instinct?! It is spontaneous thought or * Proceedings of the Royal Society ; Anniversary, Nov. 30, 1852. f All iuKtinct is a propensity prior to experience, and independent of in- Btruction.— Pa%'« Nat. Theologij. Passion, desire, memory, reason are all natural propensities prior to ex- perience, but modified by development. Propensity is not the right word as explanatory of insticct either in man or the lower animals. Natural impulsion, under tbo laws of organisation, to produce certain effects, better GOOD AND EVIL. 2.j action resulting from the physical and mental organization. — Can you say Avhcre instinct stops in us? Nearly all of our men- tal operations are confessedly instinctive and in no sense differ, ing from those of the lower animals, except in development. It is so with all those affections of the mind vrhich spring from organic impulse, and spontaneously — as love, anger — the love of offspring — all the passions and affections necessary to the pro^ servation, and physical happiness of the sjjecies. These are, be- yond questic n, involuntary and depend as little upon volition as the conformation of the foot or hand. They are Resultants, and necessarily so, of the human organization. Memory, judgment, reason, reflection, are innate qualities of the mind, as much so as passion or desire. They are Instinct- ive, and. Involuntarily developed. The development may be varied by cultivation, but the qualities are nonetheless instinct- ive. With care, proper location and nourishment you may change greatly the appearance of a flower ; but it is still the result of the organization to irhicli it belongs. You may contrast a Bacon and a savage, but you must confess that the develop- ment of the one proceeds from the native instincts of the other. Is there then a point in the human organization where instinct ceases and -where mental freedom begins — i. e., where man gov- erns himself? That which is instinctive, involuntary, or result- in"; from tlie anioial or";anization is the effect of the organization just as clearly so as the flower is the effect of vegetable organi- zation. AVe see the mother nourishing her offspring in obedience to a law of her nature. f We see an astronomer in the narrow defines instiuct, aud is as applicable to the development of I'eason, mcmo- rj, reflection, as to the Itjwer instincts. The faculties of the human mind arc, really, results of its organization, and it is as unavoidable to us, under natural impulsion, to avoid judging, reasoning, remembering as for the Bee to resist the impulsion to work. t In this point of view, Avliat can ba more philosophical, as well as beau- tiful, than the words of Mr. Feri^uson, that "natural affection springs up in the soul of the mother, as the milk springs in her breast, to furnish nourish- ment to her child." "The effect is here to the race," as the same autlior has excellently observed, wliat the vital motion of the heart is to the indi- vidual, too necessary to the preservation of nature's works, to be intrust- ed to the [)recariou3 will or iuteutioa of those most nearly concerned. — Du- f/ald Sic tear t. ;1G GOOD AND KVII.. ■vfalls of his room demonstrating tbo existence cf im unknown" plaHCt. Are not both Resultants of the human organization? — • Unquestionably they arc so, and the only difference is that the one is produced through the Emotional and the other through the Intellectual nature ; and the one is necessarily develop- ed — shall we say that the other is not? Can it be said that the nourishment of offr^pring could not have been left to the indopcn-' dent volition of the mother, in safety to the race, and yet, that the Great Ruler, could leave to h^man reason, uncontrolled by Divine Wisdom, the physical, moral and social advancement and well being of the species ? It is not so. Subordination does not terminate Avith the inferior animals — it embraces man. Ills affections, thoughts, actions, are all subject to the laws of the Great Ruler. It is true that man is far from understanding these laws, impressed as they are, upon his organism. It is true they are often violated — but, it is equally true that they control him and are constantly advancing and elevating the species. An order of being in the creation, possessed cf independent mental power would necessarily mar the unity of design in the Divine Government, inasmuch as the inferior power can never comprehend the perfections contemplated by Divine "Wisdom ; and the assumption of such a power in the creation is not only suggestive of anarchy in the earthly kingdom of God, but of the most extravagant conceptions of discord in the celestial abodes.* But when we reflect that the mind of man is wholly subordinate to the physical, social and moral conditions of life — to the physical and moral laws of the creation — a creation pro- gressive in its general order, material, animal and moral — we discover that unity of desvjn is preserved under the law of pro- gress ; that there is nothing in material — nothing in animal — nothing in moral nature, which has prevented perpetual advance- ment, under the law of progress, to higher conditions. " Everything that is earnest and solemn within us" says Humboldt, "arises out of the almost unconscious feeling of the * J'tc/c— Milton's r.iriidiKC Lcbt. r^ ^-^f^ji ' GOOD AND EVIL. 27 exalted order" and sublime regularity of nature, from the per- ception of «?uVy o/^;/rtn amidst eternally recurring variety of form." Such is, in biief, the order of nature — material, animal and mental, all subordinate to hnvs controlling the organization of matter and mind. Reflecting upon this order, a recent writer [McCosh] observes "in proportion as the sciences have become subdivided and narrowed to particular facts is there a desire Avaxing stronger among minds of large view to have the light ■which they have scattered collected into a focu?. As the special Sciences advance the old question -which has been from the be- ginning, will anew and anew be started — what is the general meaning of the laws which reign throughout the visible world ?" The same writer has well said that "it appears we are ap- proaching the time when an answer may be given to the old question." lie has partially given the answer. "As there is a certain laio ofprorjrcss in the development of the young animal to the day of its birth, so there seems to be some traces of par- allelism to this in the order of creation — a progress in uterine life, and a parallel march in the womb of time from the bef^in- ning of the creation to the day when man was ushered into ex- istence." Why terminate the march of progress with the appearance of man ? lias there been no advancement — no progress since? — Physical philosophy has no difficulty in discovering that the law of progress was the princi})le upon which the creation was or- ganized ; but physical philosophy stops within the domain of physical science, with the appearance of man, as if the design of the creation was then accomplished. " It is evident" says Ai^assiz, "that there is a manifest progress in the succession of beinf^s on the surface of the earth. This progress consists in an increasing similarity to the living fauna, and among the vertebra- ia, especially in their increasing resemblance to man. Eut this connection is not the consequence of a direct lineage bctAveen the faunas of diflferent ages. There is nothing like parental descent connecting them. The fishes of the raljeozoic age are in no re- . ledge — earries in it something wonderfully airreable to that andjition which is natural to the mind of man* Nay, it must be a prospect pleasing to God himself, to see his creation for ever beautifying in his eyes, and drawing nearer and nearer to liim, by greater degrees of resemblance. Methinks this single consideration, of the progress of a finite spirit to perfection, will be sulTicicnt to extinguish all envg in inferior natures, and all contempt in superior. That Cherubim, which now appears as a god to a human soul, knows very well that the period will come about in eternity, when the human soul shall be as perfect as he himself now is ; nay, when she shall look down upon that degree of perfection as much as she now falls short of it. It is true the higher nature still advances, and by that means preserves his distance and superiority in the scale of bcinc:; but he knows that how hi