210 REMARKS ON MR. COMBE's *' CONSTITUTION OP MAN." 



mal and selfish faculties over the moral and intellectual powers. 

 His illustration, taken from Captain Lyon's faihire is singularly pa- 

 thetic and beautiful. The moral law, he says, shines forth with 

 delightful splendour, in the conduct of Captain Lyon and his crew, 

 when in the most forlorn condition. Piety, resignation, and manly 

 resolution, then animated them to the noblest efforts. On the prin- 

 ciple, that the power of accommodating our conduct to the natural 

 law« depends on the activity of the moral sentiments and intellect, 

 and that the more numerous the faculties which are excited the 

 greater is the energy imparted to the whole system — on this prin- 

 ciple, he would say, that, while Captain L.'s sufferings were, in a 

 great degree, brought on by infringements of the physical — his 

 escape was materially promoted by his obedience to the moral — law; 

 and that Providence, in the whole occurrence, proceeded on the 

 broad and general principle which sends advantage uniformly as the 

 reward of obedience to, and evil as the punishment of infringement 

 of, each divinely instituted law of creation. 



It has been remarked, that, although when viewed abstractedly, 

 the natural laws appear beneficent and just, yet they are undeniably 

 the cause of extensive, severe, and unavoidable suffering to indivi- 

 duals ; so that, while, theoretically, the moral horizon seems to be 

 cleared up, nevertheless, practically and substantially, the obscurity 

 and intricacy remain undiminished. The author, in reply to this 

 objection, observes — that, as the whole is but an aggregate of all 

 the parts, if any natural institution, when viewed in its operation 

 with regard to the race of beings, is found to be just and beneficent, 

 it cannot well be cruel and unjust to individuals who are component 

 parts of this aggregate ; and, accordingly, he holds that his position 

 admits of something approaching to a demonstration. He works 

 out this demonstration in the form of certain imaginary cases of the 

 suspension of various physical, organic, and social laws ; and these 

 inductions of his ideality are curious, amusing, and conclusive. 



Introductively to his remarks on the '^ relation between science 

 and scripture," Mr. Combe observes — that science, being an exposi- 

 tion of the Creators' works, it cannot be at variance with a correctly- 

 interpreted revelation of his will ; and, by reasoning and authority, 

 he shews #ie impropriety of testing science by the scriptural writ- 

 ings which were never intended to contain or expound a system of 

 natural philosophy. New doctrines have been branded as impious, 

 in all ages: even the primitive christians themselves were every- 

 where accounted a pack of atheists, and their religion the Atheism ; 

 they were denounced as mountebank impostors, and men of a despe- 



