That storms and tempests have been instituted for some benevolent end, may, perhaps, be acknowledged, when their causes and effects are fully known, which at present is not the case. But, even amidst all our ignorance of these, it is surprising how small a portion of evil they would occasion, if men obeyed the laws which are actually ascertained. How many ships perish from being sent to sea in an old worn out condition, and ill equipped, through mere Acquisitiveness; and how many more, from captains and crews being chosen who are greatly deficient in knowledge, intelligence, and morality, in consequence of which they infringe the physical laws. The London Courier, of 29th April 1834, contained a list of ten British brigs of war, mostly employed as packet ships, which had foundered at sea within the preceding twelve years, owing to bad construction and bad condition; while, it remarked, that not one American private packet ship, out of the vast number constantly sailing between Liverpool and New York, is recollected to have perished in that manner. Such facts show in how small a degree nature is to blame for the calamities of shipwreck, and to how great an extent they arise from human negligence and folly. We ought to look to all these matters, before complaining of storms as natural institutions.

The last example of the mixed operation of the natural laws which I shall notice, is that which followed from the mercantile distresses of 1825-6. I have traced the origin of that visitation to excessive activity of Acquisitiveness, and a general ascendency of the animal and selfish faculties over the moral and intellectual powers. The punishments of these offences were manifold. The excesses infringed the moral law, and the chastisement for this was deprivation of the tranquil steady enjoyment that flows only from the sentiments, with severe suffering in the ruin of fortune and blasting of hope. These disappointments produced mental anguish and depression; which occasioned unhealthy action in the brain. The action of the brain being dis

turbed, a morbid nervous influence was transmitted to the whole corporeal system; bodily disease was superadded to mental sorrow, and, in some instances, the unhappy sufferers committed suicide to escape from these aggravated evils. Under the organic law, the children produced in this period of mental depression, bodily distress, and organic derangement, will inherit weak bodies, with feeble and irritable minds;-a hereditary chastisement of their fathers' transgressions.

In the instances now given, we discover the various laws acting in perfect harmony, and in subordination to the moral and intellectual. If our ancestors had not forsaken the supremacy of the moral sentiments, such fabrics as the houses in the old town of Edinburgh never would have been built; and if the modern proprietors had returned to that law, and kept profligate and drunken inhabitants out of them, the conflagration might still have been avoided. In the case of the ships, we saw, that wherever intellect and sentiment had been relaxed, and animal motives permitted to assume the supremacy, evil had speedily followed; and that where the higher powers were called forth, safety had been obtained. And, finally, in the case of the merchants and manufacturers, we traced their calamities directly to placing Acquisitiveness and Ambition above Intellect and Moral Sentiment.

Formidable and appalling, then, as these punishments are, yet, when we attend to the laws under which they occur, and perceive that the object and legitimate operation of every one of these laws, when observed, is to produce happiness to man; and that the punishments have the sole object in view of forcing him back to this enjoyment, we cannot, under the supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect, fail to bow in humility before them, as at once wise, just, and benevolent.

CHAPTER VIII.

INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS ON THE HAPPI

NESS OF INDIVIDUALS.

A FORMIDABLE objection has often been stated against the Natural Laws, namely, that although, when viewed abstractly, they appear beneficent and just, yet, when applied to individuals, they are undeniably the causes of extensive, severe, and unavoidable suffering; so that while, theoretically, the moral horizon appears to be cleared up, nevertheless, practically and substantially, the obscurity and intricacy remain undiminished. In answer, I have to observe, that, as the whole is just an aggregate of all the parts, if any natural institution, when viewed in its operation in regard to the race, is found to be just and beneficent, it cannot well be cruel and unjust to individuals, who are the component parts of that whole; and this, accordingly, I humbly conceive to admit of something approaching to demonstration. The form of dialogue is perhaps the best way of illustrating the subject, and if, in imitation of some of the classic fables, we suppose the suffering individuals to make an appeal to Jupiter, the law of gravitation may be thus exemplified.

It happened in a remote period, that a slater slipped from the roof of a high building, in consequence of a stone of the ridge having given way as he walked upright along it; he fell to the ground, had a leg broken, and was otherwise severely bruised. As he lay in bed suffering severe pain from his misfortune, he addressed Jupiter in these words: 'O Jupiter, thou art a cruel god, for thou hast made me so frail and imperfect a being, that I had not

faculties to perceive my danger, nor power to arrest my fall when its occurrence showed how horrible an evil awaited me. It were better for me that I had never been.' Jupiter, graciously bending his ear, heard the address, and answered: 'Of what law of mine dost thou complain?' Of the law of gravitation,' replied the slater; 'by its operation, the slight slip which my foot made upon the stone, which, quite unknown to me, was loose, precipitated me to the earth, and crushed my organized frame, never calculated to resist such violence.' 'I restore thee to thy station on the roof,' said Jupiter, 'heal all thy bruises, and, to convince thee of my benevolence, I suspend the law of gravitation as to thy body and all that is related to it; art thou now content?'

The slater, in deep emotion, offered up gratitude and thanks, and expressed the profoundest reverence for so just and beneficent a deity. In the very act of doing so, he found himself in perfect health, erect upon the ridge. of the roof, and, rejoicing, gazed around. His wonder, at so strange an event, having at last abated, he endeavored to walk along the ridge to arrive at the spot which he intended to repair: But the law of gravitation was suspended; and his body did not press upon the roof. There being no pressure, there was no resistance, and his legs moved backwards and forwards in the air without his body making progress in space. Alarmed at this occurrence, he stooped, seized his trowel, lifted it full of mortar, and made the motion of throwing it on the slates; but the mortar, freed from the trowel, hung in mid air; the law of gravitation was suspended as to it also. Nearly frantic with terror at such unexpected novelties of existence, he endeavored to descend to seek relief; but the law of gravitation was suspended as to his body, and it hung poised at the level of the ridge, like a balloon in the air. He tried to fling himself headlong down, to get rid of the uneasy sensation, but his body floated erect, and would not move downwards.

In an agony of consternation, he called once more upon Jupiter. He, ever kind and compassionate, heard his cry and pitied his distress, and asked, 'What evil hath befallen thee now, that thou art not yet content; have I not suspended, at thy request, the law which made thee fall? Now thou art safe from bruises and from broken limbs; why, then, dost thou still complain?'

The slater answered, 'In deep humiliation, I acknowledge my ignorance and presumption; restore me to my couch of pain, but give me back the benefits of thy law of gravitation.'

6

Thy wish is granted,' said Jupiter in reply. The slater in a moment lay on his bed of sickness, endured the visitation of the organic law, was restored to health, and again mounted to the roof that caused his recent pain. He thanked Jupiter anew from the depths of his soul, for the law of gravitation, with its countless benefits; and applied his faculties to study and obey it during the remainder of his life. This study opened up to him new and wonderful perceptions of the Creator's beneficence and wisdom, of which he had never even dreamed before; these views so excited and gratified his moral and intellectual powers, that he seemed to himself to have entered on a new existence. Ever after he observed the law of gravitation, and, in a good old age, when his organic frame was fairly worn out by natural decay, he transmitted his trade, his house, and much experience and wisdom, to his son, and died thanking and blessing Jupiter for having opened his eyes to the true theory of his scheme of

creation.

The attention of Jupiter was next attracted, by the loud groans and severe complaints of a husbandman, who addressed him thus: 'O Jupiter, I lie here racked with pain, and pass the hours in agony. without relief. Why hast ́thou created me so miserable a being?' Jupiter answered, 'What aileth thee, and of what institution of mine dost thou complain?' The husbandman replied, "The earth which