284 Natural Theology. 



ed in with moderation, but bringing disease of body, 

 decay of mind, and the degradation of the whole man 

 when indulged in to excess. The common obser- 

 vation of men has convinced them that avarice, glut- 

 tony, drunkenness, and licentiousness, are sources 

 of degradation and suffering. They plainly have not 

 the approval of Him who made man. 



There is among men a vast amount of physical 

 suffering ; the misery of want, the pains of disease, 

 and Death itself, the King of Terrors. The great 

 amount of this suffering can be traced directly to 

 vice. It not only brings anguish of mind, but it 

 often sows the seeds of disease in us, to be transmit- 

 ted to our children, to bear in us and in them its 

 legitimate fruits pain and early death. How much 

 of the suffering around us from poverty and disease 

 can thus be accounted for, and how much more 

 might be thus connected with vicious courses of life, 

 by going back and searching the history of past 

 generations ! 



So far we have considered man's . moral, physical, 

 and social nature as directly demanding a virtuous 

 life of him. They all three work in the same direc- 

 tion. But the physical world is also adapted to se- 

 cure this. The common wants of life, and the desires 

 created by civilization, are constantly demanding 

 more labor. Labor is painful, or at least it has such 

 an effect upon the system as restrains the man from 

 vicious action. It gives health and vigor to the 

 body, and yet has a tendency to moderate those ap- 

 petites and passions that are so apt to injure and 



