concern in individuals and their affairs. It is strange that the latter opinion should be adopted by any person who professes to bow to the authority of Scripture-which declares that a sparrow does not fall to the ground without the knowledge of our heavenly Father, and that the hairs of our heads are all numbered; or by any man who has calmly listened to the dictates of reason.

If God has certain designs to accomplish with respect to, or by means of men, how can his intention be fulfilled without particular attention to their circumstances, their movements, and all the events of their life? "There is no argument for a general (says H. More), but is also an argument for a particular providence, unless we can prove that the whole is not made up of parts; that generals are not composed of particulars; that nations are not compounded of families; that societies are not formed of individuals; that chains are not composed of links; that sums are not made up of units; that the interests of a community do not grow out of the well-being of its members."

52. It is again objected, that a particular providence is inconsistent with the liberty of man, and with the general laws which divine wisdom has established.

To this objection it is sufficient to reply, that God, having a perfect knowledge of the laws of nature, and of the operations of the human mind, and having the power of influencing the train of ideas in the mind of man, is undoubtedly able to direct his conduct without suspending, or interfering with the general laws of nature, or with the freedom of the human mind.

[Prof. Dick's Lectures on Providence.]

48. What is meant by the providence of God?

49. What are some of the arguments in proof of such a providence? 50. What objection is usually brought against the third argument for a particular providence?

51. Do these arguments prove a particular, or only a general providence?

52. What other strong objection is advanced against the doctrine of a particular providence?

CHARACTERISTICS OF MAN.

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BOOK II.

THE ACTIVE AND MORAL POWERS OF MAN, AND REMARKS UPON THEIR DUE REGULATION.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL PRELIMINARY VIEW OF THE CHARACTER AND CONDITION OF MAN.

53. I. THE characteristics by which man is distinguished from the other inhabitants of this world are two: he is rational, and immortal.

54. While the inferior animals are under the guidance of instinct, he is endowed with nobler principles.

Beside appetites, which he has in common with the brutes, he is dignified with intellectual, active, and moral powers, which they do not possess. Reason, memory,

and imagination; desires, affections, and a moral faculty, are wonderfully combined in his nature, and form a singular and interesting being.

He can observe, compare, and judge; he can vary his means, and suit his operations to the circumstances in which he is placed. He can turn in upon himself, and trace the operations of his own mind. He can survey the vast system of the universe; discover the laws by which it is governed; and learn the attributes of the Creator and Governor, from the works of his hand. He can surround himself by a new creation, and combine in endless variety the objects with which he is acquainted. He remembers the past; and the lessons of experience not only furnish him with instructions for the regulation of his present conduct, but also enable him to anticipate what he may expect from the future.

He hopes, and he fears; he loves, and desires, and pursues; he dreads, and he shuns. His moral faculty indicates the path of duty, and it applauds or condemns. His intellectual, active, and moral powers are finely ad

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IMMORTALITY OF MAN.

justed to each other, and form a being capable of much present enjoyment, and of vast improvement in intellectual and moral excellence.

How absurd is it to allege that undesigning chance produced such an intelligent and contriving being as Man!

II.—Arguments for the Immortality of Man.

55. (1.) Our first argument shall be derived from a conviction of our immortality that seems to be implanted in the human mind, and which is confirmed by the voice of nature in her external phenomena.

Oh, listen, man!

A voice within us speaks that startling word,
"Man, thou shalt never die." Celestial voices
Hymn it unto our souls: according harps,
By angel fingers touch'd, when the mild stars
Of morning sang together, sound forth still
The song of our great immortality:

Thick clustering orbs, and this our fair domain,

The tall, dark mountains, and the deep-toned seas,
Join in this solemn, universal song.

Oh, listen, ye, our spirits; drink it in

From all the air! "Tis in the gentle moonlight;
'Tis floating mid day's setting glories; Night,
Wrapped in her sable robe, with silent step
Comes to our bed and breathes it in our ears:
Night, and the dawn, bright day, and thoughtful eve,
All time, all bounds, the limitless expanse,

As one vast mystic instrument, are touch'd

By an unseen, living Hand, and conscious chords

Quiver with joy in this great jubilee.

The dying hear it; and as sounds of earth
Grow dull and distant, wake their passing souls
To mingle in this heavenly harmony.

R. H. DANA.

A portion of this argument, thus exquisitely set forth by Dana, will be amplified under some of the following heads.

(2.) Bishop Butler, in his Analogy, has shown that there is nothing in the circumstances of the death of the body, or in the analogy of nature around us, to render man's future existence improbable. On the contrary, he shows that the analogy of nature makes it probable, that as we are conscious that we are now living agents, so we shall go on to be such, notwithstanding the event of death, which, it is likely, may only serve to bring us into new scenes, and a new state of life and action, just as naturally as we came into the present.

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

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(3.) An argument against the contemporaneous death of the body and soul, and a presumptive argument therefore for the continued existence of the soul, notwithstanding the death of the body, has been formed of this sort: "Man at the age of twenty retains not a particle of the matter in which his mind was invested when he was born. Nevertheless at the age of eighty years, he is conscious of being the same individual he was as far back as his memory can go; that is to say, to the period when he was four or five years old. Whatever it be, therefore, in which this consciousness of identity resides, it cannot consist of a material substance, since it had been destroyed. It is, consequently, an ethereal spirit: as it remains the same throughout all the alterations that take place in the body, it is not dependent on the body for its existence, and it is calculated to survive the ever-changing frame in which it is encased."

(4.) It is argued, that if the present were the only state of human existence, the designs of the Creator, in the formation of man, would not be conformable to the usual operations of his wisdom. The noblest being with which we are acquainted just begins to evolve faculties which are never permitted to arrive at their full vigor, or to display their full beauty. Other animals reach the maturity and utmost limits of their powers. Far otherwise is it with man. He is possessed of many faculties which, in the present life, are never or but partially exerted. This we know to be the case with those who die young, or uninstructed, that is, with the greatest part of mankind : and this is the case in some measure with all.

It seems to be a law pervading sentient beings that they must reach all that perfection, and enjoy all that happiness of which their nature is susceptible: and why should man be considered an exception to that law? But as man's capacity for improvement is not exhausted in this world, there is reason from the analogy of nature to suppose that in a future state his faculties will be fully expanded and attain maturity. Is it not unreasonable also to suppose that a creature endowed with such noble faculties, and capable of such progressive and high improvement should, at once and forever, be arrested in his progress toward perfection?

(5.) It is remarkable that the wisest men in all ages,

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IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

and the greatest part of men in all nations, have believed that the soul will survive the body, however some them may have disfigured this belief by vain and incredible fictions.

Whence could the universal belief of the soul's immortality arise? It is true that all men have believed that the sun and starry heavens revolve about the earth; but this opinion is easily accounted for, being warranted by what seems to be the evidence of sense. It is also true that most nations have, at one time or other, acknowledged a plurality of gods; but this is a corruption of an original true opinion: for it is highly probable-nay, it appears from history-that a belief in one God was the more ancient opinion, and that Polytheism succeeded to it, and was a corruption of it. Now, it is not at all surprising that, when a true opinion is introduced among mankind, it should, in ignorant ages, be perverted by additional and fabulous circumstances.

But the immortality of the soul is not a corruption of an original true opinion, nor does it derive any support from the evidence of sense: it is itself an original opinion, and the testimony of sense seems rather to declare against it. Whence, then, could it arise?

Not from the artifice of priests or of politicians, in order to keep the world in awe, as some have vainly pretended; for there never was a time when all politicians and priests were wise and the rest of mankind fools, nor when they were all of the same opinion and concurred in the same design. It may be added that mankind have never yet adopted any opinion universally, merely upon the authority of politicians, philosophers, or priests.

This opinion, therefore, must have arisen from a natural suggestion of the human understanding, or from a divine revelation communicated to our first parents, and by them transmitted to their posterity. In either case this opinion will be allowed to be of the most respectable authority.

(6.) All men are formed with a natural desire and expectation of immortality. The thought of being reduced into nothing is shocking to a rational soul. These hopes and expectations are not the effect of education; for with a very few exceptions they are found in all ages and countries. Neither do they arise from self-conceit or