INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



61 



position to himself, and to prevent mankind from 

 offering a certain portion of that tribute of adora 

 tion and thanksgiving which is due to his name. 



It is true, indeed, that the mere philosopher 

 has frequently been disposed to contemplate the 

 nniverse as if it were a self-acting and indepen 

 dent machine. He has sometimes walked through 

 the magnificent scenes of creation, and investi 

 gated the laws which govern the motions of the 

 celestial orbs, and the agencies which produce 

 the various phenomena of our sublunary system, 

 without offering up that tribute of thanksgiving 

 and praise which i? due to the great First Cause, 

 or feeling those emotions of adoration and reve 

 rence which such studies have a tendency to in 

 spire. But it is no less true, that the mere theo 

 logian has, likewise, not unfrequently, walked 

 through the field of revelation, studied its doc 

 trines, and facts and moral requisitions, written 

 volumes in support of its heavenly origin, and 

 defended its truths against the cavils of adversa 

 ries, without feeling that supreme love to God and 

 affection towards his neighbour which it is the 

 great object of the Scriptures to produce, and dis 

 playing a disposition and conduct directly repug 

 nant to its holy precepts. An argument founded 

 on the impiety of certain pretended philosophers, 

 to dissuade us from the study of the material 

 world, would, therefore, be equally powerful to 

 deter us from the study of divine revelation, when 

 we consider that many who profess to receive its 

 doctrines live in open defiance of its most sacred 

 requisitions. In both cases, such examples merely 

 show, that man is a frail inconsistent being, and 

 too frequently disposed to overlook his Creator, 

 and to wander from the source of happiness. 



In a work entitled, &quot; The Christian Philoso 

 pher&quot; I have endeavoured to illustrate this 

 subject at considerable length, and to show, that 

 the investigation of the works of creation, under 

 the guidance of true science, has a tendency to 

 expand our conceptions of the power, wisdom, 

 benevolence, and superintending providence of 

 God, and that the various sciences and the 

 inventions of art may be rendered subservient in 

 promoting the objects of true religion, and diffus 

 ing its influence among the nations. At present, 

 I shall confine my views, in the few following 

 remarks, to the illustration of the following posi 

 tion &quot; That science has a relation to a future 

 state.&quot; 



It is a very vague, and, in many points of 

 view, a fake assertion, which has so frequently 

 been reiterated that, what is generally termed 

 human knowledge, or the sciences, have no con 

 nexion with an immortal existence, and that they 

 will be of no utility whatever when this world 

 comes to an end. Truth, of every description, is, 

 from its very nature, eternal and unchangeable ; 

 and. consequently, it cannot be supposed a pre 

 posterous opinion, that the established principles 

 of several of our sciences will be the basis of 



reasoning and of action in a future state as 

 well as in the present. That a whole is greater 

 than any of its parts ; that the three angles 01 

 a triangle are equal to two right angles &quot;; that 

 the sides of a plain triangle are to one ano 

 ther, as the sides of the angles opposite to 

 them : these and many similar propositions are 

 equally true in heaven as on earth, and may 

 probably be as useful truths there as in our pre 

 sent abode. 



OBJECT OF SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION. 



In order to avoid misconception, and a confu 

 sion of thought on (his subject, it may not be 

 improper, in the first place, to define and illus 

 trate what is meant by the term Science. 



Science, in its most general acceptation, 

 denotes knowledge of every description ; in a 

 more restricted sense, it denotes that species of 

 knowledge which is acquired chiefly by the exer 

 cise of the human faculties; and in a still more 

 restricted sense, it denotes that systematic 

 species of knowledge which consists of rule and 

 order, such as geometry, arithmetic, algebra, 

 natural philosophy, geography, astronomy, chy- 

 mistry, mineralogy and botany. In the observa 

 tions which follow, the term may be taken in any 

 one of these senses ; but particularly in the last, 

 which is the most common and appropriate 

 meaning. By means of scientific investigation, 

 the powers of the human mind have been won 

 derfully strengthened and expanded, and our 

 knowledge of the operations of the Creator 

 extensively enlarged. Science has enabled us 

 to transport ourselves from one continent to 

 another, to steer our course through the pathless 

 ocean, and to survey all the variety of scenery 

 which the terraqueous globe displays; it has 

 taught us to mount upwards to the region of the 

 clouds, and to penetrate into the bowels of the 

 earth, to explore the changes which the earth has 

 undergone since the period of its creation. It 

 has laid open to our view the nature and consti 

 tution of the atmosphere, the principles of which 

 it is composed, and its agency in supporting fire 

 and flame, and vegetable and animal life. On 

 the principles which science has established, we 

 have been enabled to ascertain the distances of 

 many of the heavenly bodies, to compute their 

 magnitudes, and to determine the periods of their 

 revolutions ; and by means of the instruments it 

 has invented, we have been enabled to take a 

 nearer survey of distant worlds to contemplate 

 new wonders of creating power in regions of the 

 sky which lie far beyond the utmost stretch of the 

 unassisted eye, and to explore those invisible 

 regions, where myriads of living beings are con 

 centrated within the compass of a visible point. 

 In consequence of such discoveries, we nave 

 been enabled to acquire more clear and ample 

 conceptions of the amazing energies of omnipo- 



