Mr Combe's theory, and in favour of the opinions he opposes. 3. That as far as any conclusion can be drawn from history, from the monuments of ancient art, and other remains of antiquity, we are led irresistibly to the belief, that the most ancient nations have been as far, or farther advanced in moral and intellectual attainments, than those which succeeded them. 4. That the course of civilization has, from the first dawn of history until now, proceeded uniformly and exclusively from those countries which were first inhabited, and that no instance can be adduced of any barbarous nation, which, by its own unassisted efforts, ever advanced a single step in the career of moral and intellectual improvement. 5. That the inhabitants of this island have only been raised from barbarism to civilization, by successive conquests and intermixture with other nations, and by other extraordinary stimulating influences operating on the national mind, and coming from without, including, as the most important, the influence of Christianity. I shall then draw a closer comparison between the two opposite systems, that of Mr Combe on the one hand, and that of our divines and theologians on the other, and shall endeavour to shew which of them is most consistent with the facts, as far as these can be ascertained by natural reason, and a careful examination of evidence. And, lastly, adverting to the accusations which Mr Combe has brought against our religious instructors, and their mode of teaching, I shall endeavour to shew, both on a larger and a more confined scale, what good has already been accomplished by their means, leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions as to what is likely to be done, by a more extended application of the same means in future. I. Mr Combe's Analogies in support of his Hypothesis. My first position then is, that the analogies relied on by Mr Combe to prove his general principle, do, if any thing, prove the reverse. If we attend to the geological facts he enumerates, to what do they amount? Does it appear from them that the physical world, as originally constituted, " contained within itself the elements of improvement, which it required only time to bring to maturity?" The facts are directly in the teeth of such a supposition. I shall take the statement of them in Mr Combe's own words: "The globe, in the first state in which the imagination can venture to consider it, says Sir H. Davy, appears to have been a fluid mass, with an immense atmosphere, revolving in space round the sun. By its cooling, a portion of its atmosphere was probably condensed into water, which occupied a part of its surface. In this state no forms of life, such as now belong to our system, could have inhabited it. The crystalline rocks, or, as they are called by geologists, the primary rocks, which contain no vestiges of a former order of things, were the result of the first consolidation on its surface. Upon the farther cooling, the water, which, more or less, had covered it, contracted; depositions took place; shell-fish and coral insests were created, and began their labours. Islands appeared in the midst of the ocean, raised from the deep by the productive energies of millions of zoophytes. These islands became covered with vegetables fitted to bear a high temperature, such as palms, and various species of plants, similar to those which now exist in the hottest parts of the world. The submarine rocks of these new formations of land became covered with aquatic vegetables, on which various species of shell-fish and common fishes found their nourishment. As the temperature of the globe became lower, species of the oviparous reptiles appear to have been created to inhabit it; and the turtle, crocodile, and various gigantic animals of the Saurian (lizard) kind seem to have haunted the bays and waters of the primitive lands. But in this state of things there appears to have been no order of events similar to the present. Immense volcanic explosions seem to have taken place, accompanied by elevations and depressions of the surface of the globe, producing mountains, and causing new and extensive depositions from the primitive ocean. The remains of living beings, plants, fishes, birds, and oviparous reptiles, are found in the strata of rocks, which are the monuments and evidence of these changes. When these revolutions became less frequent, and the globe still more cooled, and inequalities of temperature were established by means of the mountain chains, more perfect animals became its inhabitants, such as the mammoth, megalonix, megatherium, and gigantic hyena, many of which have become extinct. Five successive races of plants, and four successive races of animals, appear to have been created and swept away by the physical revolutions of the globe, before the system of things became so permanent as to fit the world for man. In none of these formations, whether called secondary, tertiary, or diluvial, have the fossil remains of man, or any of his works, been discovered. At last, man was created, and since that period there has been little alteration in the physical circumstances of the globe." These are Mr Combe's statements, and not mine; and assuming them to be correct, what is their amount? Not certainly that the physical world "contained the elements of improvement within itself," and that these were "" evolved and brought to maturity" by the sole operation of " time;" but, on the contrary, that it required various successive exertions of creative power, before the jarring elements were reduced into order, and matters were brought into the state in which we now see them. In short, the history of the physical world, previous to the creation of man, presents us, according to Mr Combe's own account, with little else than a succession of creations and revolutions; in other words, so many distinct acts of Almighty power, by which successive alterations were induced upon its original constitution; and how, from a statement like this, Mr Combe can come to the conclusion, that the world" contains within itself the elements of improvement, which time will evolve and bring to maturity," I confess, surpasses my comprehension. To an ordinary understanding it does appear a prodigious non sequitur. The argument, as he states it, just comes to this. The world, as at first framed, contained so little of the elements of improvement within itself, that it required four or five successive exertions of creative power to bring it into a state, fitted for the reception of human inhabitants; therefore, (according to Mr Combe's new principles of analogical reasoning,) "the world contains within itself the elements of improvement, which time will evolve and bring to maturity, it having been constituted on the principle of a progressive system, like the acorn in reference to the oak ;" or, it may be stated more shortly thus,—The world originally did not contain within itself the principles of improvement, therefore it does contain within itself the principles of improvement.-Q. E.D. This is Mr Combe's logic. According to that which I believe to be more current in the world, the conclusion would be the direct contrary. If an analogical argument of this kind is good for any thing, it is good to this extent, that if in one department of the Creator's -- works we find a certain principle or method uniformly acted on, we may consider it probable, that the same principle or method will appear in his proceedings in other departments. For example, if it appears, that in the physical world the Creator has not left matters to proceed according to the blind operation of qualities impressed upon it from the beginning, but that he has at certain epochs interfered, and, by successive interpositions of his power, induced certain changes upon his original work, throughout a long series of ages, if this be true, as Mr Combe's statement indicates, there is reason, from analogy, to conclude that, in the moral world, the interference of the Almighty mind may also be required at certain epochs, in order to produce those changes in the state and character of our race, which are necessary to fulfil his intentions respecting us. I say we may regard this as probable, from analogy. I do not state that it is certain; but only that it would be quite consistent with the usual modes of operation of Deity, as we have seen them exemplified in the physical world, if it were so. It is extraordinary, that while Mr Combe states the principle of the argument from analogy quite correctly, he should draw a conclusion in perfect opposition to that principle. “The more we discover of creation," he observes, "the more conspicuously does uniformity of design appear to pervade its every department. We perceive here the physical world gradually improved and prepared for man." We do find it to have been so improved and prepared, but how? Not by the unassisted evolution of its own elements; not by any principle of improvement inherent within itself: but by successive exertions of the same Almighty power by which it was originally framed. The physical world, according to Mr Combe's account, has been improved and prepared B |