PROOFS FROM THE LIGHT OF NATURE. 



37 



HJ a transparent net-work within the compass of 

 one-twentieth of an inch and that myriads of 

 living beings exist, invisible to the unassisted 

 sight, with bodies as curiously organised, and 

 as nicely adapted to their situations as the bodies 

 of men and of the larger animals. So that the 

 whole frame of the material world presents a 

 scene of infinite wisdom and intelligence, and a 

 display of systematic order, beauty, and propor 

 tion. Every thing bears the marks of benevo 

 lent design, and is calculated to produce happi 

 ness in sentient beings. 



On the other hand, when we take a survey of 

 the moral world in all the periods of its history, 

 we perceive throughout almost every part of its 

 extent, an inextricable maze, and a scene of 

 clashing and confusion, which are directly op 

 posed to the harmony and order which pervade 

 the material system. When we take a retro 

 spective view of the moral state of mankind, 

 during the ages that are past, what do we behold, 

 but a revolting scene of perfidy, avarice, injus 

 tice, and revenge, of wars, rapine, devastation, 

 and bloodshed ; nation rising against nation, one 

 empire dashing against another, tyrants exercis 

 ing the most horrid cruelties, superstition and 

 idolatry immolating millions of victims, and a 

 set of desperate villains, termed heroes, prowling 

 over the world, turning fruitful fields into a wil 

 derness, burning towns and villages, plundering 

 palaces and temples, drenching the earth with 

 human gore, and erecting thrones on the ruins 

 of nations ? Here we behold an Alexander, with 

 his numerous armies, driving the ploughshare of 

 destruction through surrounding nations, levelling 

 cities with the dust, and massacring their inof 

 fensive inhabitants in order to gratify a mad 

 ambition, and to be eulogised as a hero, there 

 we behold a Xerxes, fired with pride and with 

 the lust of dominion, leading forward an army of 

 three millions of infatuated wretches to be 

 slaughtered by the victorious and indignant 

 Greeks. Here we behold an Ataric, with his 

 barbarous hordes, ravaging the southern coun 

 tries of Europe, overturning the most splendid 

 monuments of art, pillaging the metropolis of 

 the Roman empire, and deluging its streets and 

 houses with the blood of the slain, there we 

 behold a Tamerlane overrunning Persia, India, 

 and other regions of Asia, cai ry ing slaughter and 

 devastation in his train, and displaying his spor 

 tive cruelty, by pounding three or four thousand 

 people at a time in large mortars, and building 

 their bodies with bricks and mortar into a wall. 

 On the one hand, we behold six millions of 

 Crusadtrs marching in wild confusion through 

 the eastern parts of Europe, devouring every 

 tiling before them, like an army of locusts, 

 breathing destruction to Jews and infidels, and 

 massacring the inhabitants of Western Asia 

 with infernal fury. On the other hand, we be- 

 ftold the immense forces ofJenghiz Kan ravag 



ing the kingdoms of Eastern Asia, to an extent 

 of 15 millions* of square miles, beheading 

 100,000 prisoners at once, convulsing the world 

 with terror, and utterly exterminating from the 

 earth fourteen millions of human beings. At 

 one period, we behold the ambition and jealousy 

 of Marius and Sylla embroiling the Romans in 

 all the horrors of a civil war, deluging the city 

 of Rome for five days with the blood of her citi 

 zens, transfixing the heads of her senators with 

 poles, and dragging their bodies to the Forum to 

 be devoured by dogs. At another, we behold a 

 Nero trampling on the laws of nature and socie 

 ty, plunging into the most abominable debauche 

 ries, practising cruelties which fill the mind with 

 horror, murdering his wife Octavia, and his 

 mother Agrippina, insulting Heaven and man 

 kind by offering up thanksgivings to the gods on 

 the perpetration of these crimes, and setting 

 fire to Rome, that he might amuse himself with 

 the universal terror and despair which that ca 

 lamity inspired. At one epoch, we behold the 

 Goths and Vandals rushing like an overflowing 

 torrent, from east to west, and from north to 

 south, sweeping before them every vestige of 

 civilization and art, butchering all within their 

 reach without distinction of age or sex, and 

 marking their path with rapine, desolation, and 

 carnage. At another, we behold the emissaries 

 of the Romish See slaughtering, without dis 

 tinction or mercy, the mild and pious Albigen- 

 ses, and transforming their peaceful abodes into 

 a scene of universal consternation and horror, 

 while the inquisition is torturing thousands of 

 devoted victims, men of piety and virtue, and 

 committing their bodies to the flames. 



At one period of the worliJ,f almost the whole 

 earth appeared to be little else than one great 

 field of battle, in which the human race seemed 

 to be threatened with utter extermination. Tho 

 Vandals, Huns, Sarmatians, Alans, and Suevi, 

 were ravaging Gaul, Spain, Germany, and other 

 parts of the Roman empire; the Goths were 

 plundering Rome, arid laying waste the cities of 

 Italy ; the Saxons and Angles were overrunning 

 Britain and overturning the government of the 

 RomanSi, The armies of Justinian and of the 

 Huns and Vandals were desolating Africa, and 

 butchering mankind by millions. The whole 

 forces of Scythia were rushing with irresistible 

 impulse on the Roman empire, desolating the 

 countries, and almost exterminating the inhabi 

 tants wherever they came. , The Persian armies 

 were pillaging Hierapolis, Aleppo, and the sur 

 rounding cities, and reducing them to ashes ; and 

 were laying waste all Asia, from the Tigris to 

 the Bosphorus. The Arabians under Mahomet 



&quot; The conquests of Jenghiz Kan,&quot; says Millot, 

 &quot;were supposed to extend above eighteen hundred 

 leajrues from east to west, and a thousand from 

 south to north-&quot; Modern History, vol. 1. 



t About the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries of thg 

 Christian era. 



