lation. There are, however, some views apparently forced on the inquiring mind by nature itself, which seem to open up a glimpse of the truth.

The first thing that naturally occurs to a philosopher examining this sublunary system by the light of nature alone, is, that there is a certain want of adaptation between the human mind and the world in which it exists; that, while every thing else is most strictly and wisely adapted to its situation and circumstances, man, the chief of earthly existences, is a remarkable exception. This is, to a certain extent, true of our natural wants :"There exists not a single animal," St Pierre justly remarks, “but what is lodged, clothed, fed by the hand of Nature, without care, and almost without labour. Man alone, from his birth upward, is overwhelmed with calamity. First, he is born naked, and possessed of so little instinct, that if the mother who bare him were not to rear him for several years, he would perish of hunger, of heat, or of cold. He knows nothing but from the experience of his parents. They are under the necessity of finding him a place where to lodge, of weaving garments for him, of providing his food for eight or ten years. Whatever encomiums may have been passed on certain countries for their fertility, and the mildness of their climate, I know of no one in which subsistence of the simplest kind does not cost man both solicitude and labour."

There are, doubtless, compensations for all these inconveniences, but they are such as prove incontestably that man is in a state of discipline,-that there is a studied plan to develope and exercise the powers and faculties of his mind. And for what? If this plan refer merely to a present life, so far as happiness and moral worth are concerned, it fails of its object. "When man has collected around him," observes the same author, every thing necessary to a quiet and comfortable life, ambition, jealousy, avarice, gluttony, incontinency, or langour,

* Study viii.

66

takes possession of his heart. He perishes almost always the victim of his own passions." This is but too true of those who have no higher object than the gratification of their senses. Meanwhile, indeed, their intellectual faculties are cultivated and expanded; but to what purpose, if they are to go down to the grave and be “ they had never been ?"

as if

If there be a future state of existence, the difficulty is solved; for in that case new and nobler motives of action are presented to the mind,—a regulating principle is introduced, which, like a skilful pilot, steers the bark to its destined port. We are no longer left to the mercy of the winds and waves, soon to perish miserably; but with our chart in our hands, we ply steadily forwards in spite of opposing storms and currents; courting every favouring breeze; assiduously avoiding adverse gales and currents, or even skilfully employing these to aid us in our course; and only at ease when we find ourselves making progress towards the consummation of all our anxieties and toils. The doctrine of future existence, then, is necessary to render our situation in this world intelligible; and the hope which it inspires, is of essential importance for the useful regulation of our lives.

It is from the nature of the human mind itself, however, rather than from external circumstances, that we derive the strongest argument of unassisted reason for the doctrine of immortality. Its powers and faculties are superior to its present condition. The objects with which it is conversant are not capable of affording it solid and permanent satisfaction. It is susceptible of indefinite improvement; but there is no sublunary pursuit sufficiently enlarged to occupy it, or sufficiently valuable to constitute its happiness. It is always aspiring, and never content. As its powers expand, they only become more unsuitable to its circumstances; and the more pleasures it is capable of enjoying, and the greater the range of knowledge it is able to grasp, the more deeply does it feel how inadequate are the things

more.

of earth to its gratification. This want of adaptation is totally unlike what takes place in other things. It is an anomaly of which Nature herself teaches us to inquire the cause.-We find it only in a future existence. There is another consideration, still, arising from this view of the indefinite improvement of the human soul. It seems altogether inconsistent with the uniform analogy of nature that such a being should perish. Other animals possess just such faculties and instincts as fit them for the situation in which they are placed, and no As there is nothing wanting to them, so there is nothing superfluous. But it is otherwise with man if his soul is to be dissolved along with his body. Its qualities, capable of unlimited expansion, shall then have been created in vain. They have only begun to exist; shall they be nipped in the bud? An interminable career is before them; shall they be arrested when the race is but just commenced? There is an intellect to cultivate, a moral faculty to exercise, duties to perform, and aspirations and hopes to cherish; have all these qualities and views been implanted to be suddenly quenched in nothingness? If so, then the analogy of nature is broken, and the noblest of the Creator's mundane works is an abortion.

These are the most powerful arguments by which the immortality of the human soul has been maintained. He who has attended to the bearing`of the facts which have been adduced in the course of our inquiry, will be best able to appreciate their force. If he is satisfied that in all other particulars the adaptations are complete, and that here only they fail, he will probably see reason to conclude, that this remarkable anomaly must be owing to the connexion of the human race with another system; and while in this he discovers an argument to prove the solid foundation of those future expectations which rise unbidden in his heart, and seem to be an instinct of his nature, he will at the same time perceive a new light cast on the whole system of creation. Man is in a state

of preparation for a higher destiny. The world is formed to prepare him for that destiny. He is in the school of Providence, educating for immortality. The situation and circumstances of inferior existences, while they are suitable to their condition, are peculiarly, and above all, contrived for this object, and, with reference to him, are the means to that end. And here, again, there is the most consummate skill, the most comprehensive benevolence, the most refined adaptation!

These are, at least, plausible conjectures, but they are not demonstration. Let us rejoice that they are confirmed and rendered as certain as the existence of the Eternal himself, by Him who has "brought life and immortality to light by his gospel."

THIRTEENTH WEEK-SATURDAY.

RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE ARGUMENT.-DISCIPLINE.

WHEN We become assured of the fact, that man is destined for immortality, all the difficulties which a view of Nature, as a state of change and decay, presented to the mind, are removed or diminished, and we come to see more clearly how the disorders which seem to prevail in the world, may be reconciled to the Divine perfections.

I have already adverted to this subject, and placed it in various aspects. At present, my object is to bring the question of discipline into one point of view, and to show its bearing on the condition and operations of external nature. Fatal experience proves that the human mind, as regards its moral faculties, is in such a state of disorder, that the ordinary events of life do not affect it in a salutary manner. Under the influence both of prosperity and adversity, as well as under alternate vicissitudes in our condition, the heart may remain unimproved. It may indeed be hardened and deteriorated by every

change of fortune, and by every permanent state in which the events of life may place it. When surrounded with all the means of gratification, it may become selfish and worldly; when in circumstances of privation and suffering, it may be rendered peevish, disheartened, and discontented; when visited with alternate sunshine and gloom, selfish cares and anxieties may only gather the thicker around it.

It is not, then, in the mere circumstances of life, that we are to look for the moral improvement of the human character. It is true, as has already been shown, that every thing seems naturally designed, and admirably contrived, for urging forward the intellectual improvement of man, and, in this respect, the system of discipline may be considered complete; but it is not so, as regards his morals. Here peculiarly lies the taint of the fall; and, what is asleep must be awakened,-what is dead must be revived,—the Divine image, which erewhile animated the soul, must be restored,-before apostate man can be in a fit condition to profit by the moral discipline provided for him.

The means of this renovation, however, are placed within his reach, and the disciple of Him who died for sinners, is freely invited to ask, that he may receive. The way is open, and cannot be mistaken; for it is traced by the blood of his Redeemer. To such a man, the world is a state of moral discipline, every way suitable to his condition. God is his Father, whose eye watches over him; whose hand supplies his necessary food; whose Book instructs him; whose smile cheers and encourages, whose frown awes, whose rod corrects him.

In this view, nothing can be more admirable than the adaptations of external nature to his situation. He is a child of a family early trained under the tender eye of a mother; and supported, during the helpless years of infancy, by the means provided for him by an affectionate father; and, in his brothers and sisters, associated with companions and equals who are bound together by a

VOL. III.

2 c