114 



THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER. 



minds of the mass of the Christian world, when 

 preachers, in their sermons, endeavour to under 

 value scientific knowledge, by attempting to con 

 trast it with the doctrines of revelation. It would 

 be just as reasonable to attempt to contrast the se 

 veral doctrines, duties, and facts recorded in the 

 New Testament with each other, in order to de- 

 ermine their relative importance, and to show 

 which of them might be altogether overlooked 

 and discarded. The series of facts and of divine 

 revelations comprised in the bible; the moral 

 and political events which diversify the history 

 of nations; and the physical operations that are 

 going on among the rolling worlds on high, and 

 in the chymical changes of the invisible atoms of 

 matter, are all parts of one comprehensive sys 

 tem, under the direction of the Eternal Mind ; 

 every portion of which must have a certain rela 

 tion to the whole. 



And, therefore, instead of attempting to de 

 grade one part of the divine fabric in order to 

 enhance another, our duty is to take an expan 

 sive view of the whole, and to consider the 

 symmetry and proportion of its parts, and their 

 mutual bearings and relations in so far as our 

 opportunities, and the limited faculties of our 

 minds, will permit. 



If the remarks which have been thrown out in 

 this chapter, respecting the connexion of the 

 sciences with religion, have any foundation, it 

 will follow that sermons, lectures, systems of 

 divinity, and religious periodical works, should 

 embrace occasional illustrations of such subjects, 

 for the purpose of expanding the conceptions of 

 professed Christians, and of enabling them to 

 taKe large and comprehensive views of the per 



fections of the providence of the Almighty. It 

 is much to be regretted, that so many members 

 of the Christian church are absolute strangers 

 to such studies and contemplations ; while the 

 time and attention that might have been devoted 

 to such exercises, have, in many cases, been 

 usurped by the most grovelling affections, by 

 foolish pursuits, by gossiping chit-chat, and 

 slanderous conversation. Sha l the most trifling 

 and absurd opinions of ancient and modern he 

 retics be judged worthy of attention, and occupy 

 a place in religious journals, and even in discus 

 sions from the pulpit, and shall &quot; the mighty acts 

 of the Lord,&quot; and the visible wonders of his 

 power and wisdom, be thrown completely into 

 the shade ? To survey, with an eye of intelli 

 gence, the wide-extended theatre of the divine 

 operations to mark the agency of the Eternal 

 Mind in every object we behold, and in every 

 movement within us and around us, are some of 

 the noblest attainments of the rational soul ; and, 

 in conjunction with every ether Christian study 

 and acquirement, are calculated to make &quot; the 

 man of God perfect, and thoroughly furnished 

 unto every good work.&quot; By such studies, we 

 are. in some measure, assimilated to the angelic 

 tribes, whose powers of intellect are for ever 

 employed in such investigations and are gra 

 dually prepared for bearing a part in their im 

 mortal hymn &quot; Great and marvellous are thy 

 works, Lord God Almighty ; just and true are 

 thy ways, thou King of saints. Thou art wor- 

 vhy to receive glory, and honour, and power ; for 

 thou hast created all things, and (or thy pleasure 

 they are and were created.&quot; 



CHAPTER III. 



THE RELATION WHICH THE INVENTIONS OP HUMAN ART BEAR TO THE OBJECTS 

 OF RELIGION. 



IN this chapter, I shall briefly notice a few 

 philosophical and mechanical inventions which 

 nave an obvious bearing on religion, and on the 

 general propagation of Christianity among the 

 nations. 



The first, and perhaps the most important, of 

 the inventions to which I allude, is the Art cf 

 Printing. This art appears to have been in 

 vented (at least in Europe) about the year 1430, 

 by one Laurentius, or Lawrence Koster, a native 

 of Haerlem, a town in Holland. As he was 

 waiking in a wood near the city, he began to cut 

 some letters upon the rind of a beach tree, which, 

 for the sake of gratifying his fancy, being im 

 pressed on paper, he printed one or two lines as 

 % specimen for his grandchildren to follow. This 



having succeeded, he meditated greater things ; 

 and, first of all, invented a more glutinous writing 

 ink ; because he found the common ink sunk and 

 spread ; and thus formed whole pages of wood, 

 with letters cut upon them.* By the gradual 



I am aware, that the honour of this invention 

 has been claimed by other cities besides Haerlem, 

 particularly by Strasburg, and Mentx, a city of Ger 

 many ; and by other individuals besides Lanrentius, 

 chiefly by one Fust, commonly called Dr. Faustus ; 

 by Schoeffer, and by Gutenberg. It appears that the 

 art, with many of its implements, was stolen from 

 Laurentius by one of his servants, whom he had 

 bound, by an oath, to secrecy, who fled to Mentz, 

 and first commenced the process of printing in that 

 city. Here the art was improved by Fust and Schoef 

 fer, by their invention of metnttic, instead of wooden 

 types, which were first used. When Fust was in 

 Paris, disposing of some bibles he had printed, at 



