LETTER moral good; who can prefer the ancient paths which I. lead to them, and the sacred objects with which they are associated; and who therefore wish to direct their attention, at their leisure moments, to the great themes that are connected with what they are thus attached to. Several minds of much value are already beginning to contemplate the subject with increasing interest; and important elucidations of it may in time be expected, that will go far beyond any thing which these Letters can effect. But as every contribution will be of service, I will proceed to submit mine to your consideration, altho I cannot but be aware that the imperfection of the attempt may disappoint the friendly expectations of some whom I should be happy to please. The trains of thought which will be pursued may not be those that they would have preferred: the views exhibited may not coincide with theirs: sentiments may be expressed which they may occasionally hesitate to approve. Such results cannot but be painful to the writer, and yet must be risqued, or nothing can be written. No work can be satisfactory alike to all. knowlege, our reasonings and our tastes differ too much in each of us, for any thing like intellectual uniformity with each other, to be an individual characteristic. We may agree in principle, wish and feeling; but in the particular applications of these, a variety of inference and judgment always appears. Our Diversity of opinion must, therefore, be anticipated and submitted to, and on no subject of mental inquiry more than on the present; for the greatness of the theme will of itself preclude the adequate competency in any one to treat fully or fitly of it. I. This is obvious to all; and if I could myself forget LETTER such a fact, neither you nor any who may read these pages, would omit to perceive it. It is a difficulty which is inseparable from the subject, but yet ought not to be deemed a sufficient reason for abandoning the investigation altogether. The endeavour may be a personal failure; but the defects exhibited will serve as guides and motive to others to make stronger efforts, and to give their labors a more judicious direction. The promotion of truth and the benefit of mankind ought to supersede and silence every private purpose. Care indeed should be taken to avoid producing evil when we desire to do good; or our philanthropy will be a mischief, instead of a benefit. Too many instances of this bad effect have occurred in the last forty years not to exact great caution and self-mistrust, and very large deliberation, from every one who communicates to society his intellectual meditations. These suggestions are mentioned in order that I may add, that the desire to keep them constantly in recollection, shall not be absent, and that I will strive not to act in contradiction to them. Another reason why they do not deter me from renewing our inquiries, and for extending them to a larger field, is, that great and arduous as their theme always will be, yet we are only in the same relation to it, as we have had with all the more recondite and difficult subjects of human study. Much perseverance and many exertions are necessary in order to penetrate into what is unknown or obscure; and these must for some time be accompanied even with a certainty of defeat, before the intellect can effectually ascertain what it tries to explore. But every attempt lessens the difficulties for those who may follow, I. LETTER and always induces others to engage in the enterprise. Every effort promotes the advance, clears the path, and directs more exactly the exploring thought. It was in this way, and by such degrees, that European navigation reached the East Indies, and that European courage and industry discovered the North and South continents of the remote American portion of our globe. By such successive efforts, long unavailing, the grand principles of all our natural sciences have been unfolded ;'1 and the same results must be expected in all endeavours to perceive and elucidate the Sacred History of the World. Its paths are too lofty, too vast in their circuit, and too peculiar, to be easily discerned. Inquiries must succeed to inquiries before they can be descried or developed. The present essay aspires to do no more than to invite attention to the subject, amid the other interesting objects of mental curiosity which now press upon the active spirit, and to begin a course of thought and inquiry about it. Several reasons have made me think it important at the present juncture to do so, and this conviction has decided me to lay before you what appears to me to be true, where any certainty can be attained; and what seems most probable, when only conjecture can be resorted to. Our knowlege of Divine things, and our study of them, ought to have a proportionate increase with our 1 Astronomy is an instance of this. Among all the attempts of man to systematise and complete his knowlege, there is one science, Astronomy, in which he may be considered to have been successful. He has there attained a general and certain theory.' This is justly said. But for this success, the labour of the most highly-gifted portion of the species, for five thousand years, has been requisite.' Whewell's Address to British Association at Cambridge. Report, 1833, p. xxiii. I. acquisitions of natural science. The relation between LETTER the Creator and the creation is indestructible. The one will be everlastingly the cause of the other, and that cannot but be the effect of His causation. No changes of mind in ourselves, no lapse of time, no accumulations of human experience, no extension of our mathematical or physiological investigations can abolish this connection, nor preclude its consequences. As He lives and reigns, so He thinks and acts. He rules what He has made; and all that has been framed by Him are continually affected by His existence, His mind and His government. It is therefore of unceasing importance to us to become as fully acquainted with Him as possible; and to learn His will and purposes, His wishes and ordainments, as far and as largely as we can attain to the perception of them. These acquisitions can be realised only from the sources which He has provided for this purpose to us, and these will always be His works, His ways and His express communications. The study of these will constitute that branch of human knowlege which we may justly characterize as DIVINE PHILOSOPHY -a subject dear to the human mind in all ages, however inefficient the talent may have been to explore or explain it. It was obviously a frequent theme in the meditations and conversations of Socrates. It 2 2 Xenophon has transmitted some of these to us, as well as Plato; and in one passage says of Socrates, He thought that the gods took care of mankind, and not in the way many suppose, who imagine them to know some things only, and not others; for Socrates believed that they are conscious of all things; those said and done, and those also which are wished in silence; that they are every where present, and that they give suggestions to men concerning human affairs.' Aπоμ. l. i. c. 1. On this feeling, he exclaimed to Aristodemus, 'O my LETTER was a favorite one with his pupil Plato, and repeatedly gleams out amid the mazes of his colloquial dialectics. The Pythagoreans, the Stoics and the new Platonists of Alexandria discover to us the same desire of examining and discussing it; and it obtained no small portion of Cicero's diversified attention. But all these great men shew us the continuity of the will, rather than any success in accomplishing it. They wanted too much further knowlege, both human and Divine, to make any progress in the sublime inquiry. They all, like our Milton, felt its value; but they had not the means, or the opportunities, which we possess of more satisfactorily contemplating it.3 3 It is, then, for us not to neglect the advantages which we have above them, but, imbibing their spirit, to apply ourselves to do what they were unable to effectuate. Divine Philosophy ought now to be studied by us, as carefully and as generally, as natural philosophy evidently is. Numerous minds are zealously engaged upon this, and are inviting others to imitate their example. Never before has it been so much or so successfully attended to. It is even taking the form of annual festivals and theatrical exhibitions, in order to concentrate and stimulate the public attention to its merits and pursuits. good friend! consider, that as thy mind within thy body governs it as it chuses, so that understanding which is over us all, disposes of every thing as it pleases.' Ib. c. 4. 3 The lines of Milton are familiar to us: How charming is DIVINE PHILOSOPHY ! Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose, And a perpetual feast of nectared sweets, COMUS. |