184 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 



that all has not been created for "the best;" he declares 

 that the thunderbolt kills, and that the rain often falls 

 unpropitiously. He claims that if there were an 

 original scheme to introduce life upon the planet, and 

 make the most of it, the failures are so numerous, and 

 the disasters so frequent, that the good will not balance 

 the bad. The world is so full of thorns, and stings, and 

 fangs, that the dull of comprehension might readily 

 suppose that an Evil Spirit exercised a controlling in- 

 fluence in the government of cosmical affairs. . . . 



The optimist says that the earth was specially 

 made for the enjoyment of life, and that every thing 

 has been managed by a wise Creator for the best. It 

 would be illogical as well as irreverent to question the 

 cosmical scheme, for Omniscience made every thing, 

 and all things for good ! . . 



The geological representation of the earth's his- 

 tory is that a bad state of affairs, so far as life might 

 be concerned, gave place to better and better condi- 

 tions, until the sea and land were habitable. The 

 water and the air became gradually purer, and the 

 temperatures lower, or nearer what they now are. 

 Progress was observable from one period to another; 

 a progressive spirit seemed to pervade inanimate mat- 

 ter. If the geologist be a materialist, he speaks ot 

 the attributes of inorganic substances, and ascribes to 

 them inherent properties and powers, which are made 

 to do all that has been done in bringing about the 

 present state of affairs. A Creator, as generally un- 

 derstood, is wholly ignored, and all purposes and de- 

 signs, except such as the attributes of matter may de- 

 velop, are denied. Now, if there be no divine wisdom 

 or scheme in cosmic evolutions, a considerable degree 

 of intelligence must be assigned to the attributes of 



