"Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies ;- "I have written under the conviction that no Philosophy of the Universe can satisfy the minds of thoughtful men which does not deal with such questions as inevitably force themselves on our notice, respecting the Author and the Object of the Universe; and also under the conviction that every Philosophy of the Universe which has any consistency, must suggest answers, at least conjectural, to such questions. No Cosmos is complete from which the question of Deity is excluded; and all Cosmology has a side turned towards Theology."-Whewell, Philosophy of Discovery, Preface, p. vi. "All science is but the intercalation, each more comprehensive than that which it endeavours to explain, between the great Primal Cause and the ultimate effect.”—Professor Allman's Address to the British Association at Bradford, 1873. "Glory about thee, without thee; and thou fulfillest thy doom, Tennyson. SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTER I. THIS Introductory Chapter consists of three parts. The first lays down the questions proposed, and shows the necessity of asking them. The second illustrates what may be termed in Art-phrase the motives of the Essay. The third briefly describes its method, and explains the readiest mode of studying Natural Theology. Analysis Inquiries underlying Natural Theology-Way in which they are answered by our Instinctive Persuasions-How far this answer is sufficing; how far influential. Phases of Doubt; undeclared Scepticism and Indifferentism-Origin and leaders of the modern Sceptical and Materialistic Schools-Doubts of Intellect distinguished from Scepticism of Immorality-Social dangers and alarms exemplified. Method of this Essay, and requests as to the mode of reading it -Divisions of Argument; their separate and consilient effect. Additional Notes and Illustrations. A. The Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone and others on Modern Scepticism. B.-On Corruption of the Judgment by misdirected Moral Sentiments. C.-On Special Pleading in History and Morals. D.-On the Method employed throughout this Essay. E. On the Effect of Consilient Proofs. THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL THEOLOGY. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. No subjects of thought have ever been proposed more essential to the culture and happiness of mankind than the two following inquiries. Upon the first, human minds dwell unweariedly through every change of circumstance from childhood to advanced age. It is this: What reason have we to look for a future life after that hour of dissolution which inevitably awaits us all ? The second question unites itself closely, as by indissoluble links, to the first. We always proceed to ask, Is there sufficient ground for believing in the existence of a Supreme Moral Being, to whose righteous care and kindness we can calmly commit ourselves when we come to die? Suppose any man to maintain that the universe we inhabit, -and we who are a portion of its occupants-came into existence by chance, he renounces at once every right and title to expect a life succeeding his bodily death. Chance-if the word means anything-means absolute uncertainty; and from that which is in its own nature uncertain, what continuing effects, what conclusive expectation, can be drawn? Neither is the prospect improved by Materialists (a), in whose (a) The language of this paragraph is the language of ordinary life. In Coleridge's "Table Talk,” for example, the subject of Man's distinguishing prerogative of Immortality is discussed by the great speaker, and his nephew's note of the discussion is headed "Materialism." There appears, indeed, considerable difficulty in finding a precise expression for the form of belief, or unbelief, commonly called Materialism. Most people speak of it as of some clear and well-defined theory until they begin seriously to investigate its rationale. Investigators are then apt to become loud in their complaints of its inexactness. Take by way of instance the following example. Speaking of "the doctrines of opinion the being of man comprehends no element differing essentially, and in kind, from the natural world he rules over. We see actually consequent upon every death-bed the decay of our material frame; if, therefore, that frame be not the casket of a brighter jewel, we can assuredly affirm no hope higher or happier than corruption. The feelings of most human beings revolt from a destiny so ignoble. And many persons are satisfied that this revolt of feeling is in itself a sufficient ground for some belief in Immortality. Why, they ask, should so powerful an instinct dwell in the breast of our race with only a misleading issue? The higher instincts of creatures below us do not mislead them regarding that which is to come. Insects innumerable make provision for the certain sustenance of a progeny they never can live to behold. They also anticipate for themselves a futurity of life and development. The caterpillar invests himself with the web he has spun, and sinks into a chrysalid-sepulchre, to emerge from it in sun-lighted beauty. Can any valid reason be assigned why the intuitive aspirations of man should be more fallacious than such practical foresights of the merely animal world below him? Materialism," Lord Brougham remarks: "The vague and indistinct form of the propositions in which they are conveyed affords one strong argument against their truth. It is not easy to annex a definite meaning to the proposition that mind is inseparably connected with a particular arrangement of the particles of matter; it is more difficult to say what they mean who call it a modification of matter; but to consider it as consisting in a combination of matter, as coming into existence the instant that the particles of matter assume a given arrangement, appears to be a wholly unintelligible collocation of words."-(Discourse of Natural Theology, p. 102). Under such circumstances it may seem difficult for many a Materialist to describe himself as the adherent of a distinct or closely reasoned system. The main point we would submit for his earnest consideration is the question whether his hypothesis lands him in certain subtle refinements concerning the nature and connection of Force, Mind, and those generalized facts which have been called the primary properties of Matter, or whether it leads him onward to the opinions described in the text. Looking at the subject in this light, we might feel inclined to draw a broad distinction between mere scientific Materialism and the Materialistic doctrines of sceptical philosophy. |