96 On the Origin of 
ceed to state as briefly as possible, the objec- 
tions which weigh most strongly in my mind 
against it. The first of these I shall beg 
leave to state in the words of an often-quoted 
passage, 
Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus 
Inciderit. 
We do not find in the course either of 
common or extraordinary Providence, that 
the Divine Being interposes to perform any 
thing for us, which by the use of our own na- 
tural powers we can do for ourselves. To 
shew that there is not any thing in the art of 
writing which is beyond the natural capacity 
of man, is not necessarily a part of. our pre- 
sent business; it might rather be demanded of 
our antagonists to shew that there is; for it is 
a well known rule of logic, ‘that in all contro- 
versies of this nature, the onus probandi lies 
on theaffirmative side of the question. _How- 
ever, before I conclude this essay, I flatter 
myself that I shall be able to shew, in a man- 
ner sufficiently satisfactory, that this is not 
really the case, and that the invention before 
us is no more beyond the reach of the hu- 
man faculties, than a hundred others which 
have crowned with success the ingenuity and 
industry of man. 
