NATURALISTS NATURAL LAW. 



143 



sent state of this science may be found in Cuvier's 

 Dictionnairc des Sciences Nattirelles, which has been 

 publishing, since 1816, in Paris, in large 4to. Among 

 the manuals on natural history, Blumenbach's Natur- 

 geschichte is one of the most distinguished. Not un- 

 worthy to be mentioned here is the Naturhistorischer 

 Atlas, by Goldfuss (Diisseldorf, 1824). 



NATURALISTS, ASSOCIATION OF GERMAN PHY- 

 SICIANS AND. Natural philosophy and natural history 

 are studies very extensively cultivated in Germany, 

 by men who devote themselves particularly to the 

 scientific pursuit of these studies, as well as by 

 physicians, &c. ; and it was thought that an annual 

 meeting, which might assemble many of the persons 

 thus engaged, would have the most beneficial influence 

 on the progress of science, by the free interchange 

 of their ideas and discoveries, and the mutual stimu- 

 lus which they would afford eacli other, besides the 

 benefit which those from a distance would derive 

 from visiting the various museums and libraries. 

 Professor Oken proposed, accordingly, a plan of 

 such a society, which actually went into operation 

 in 1822, and has repeated its annual meetings, 

 each time in a different city, alternately in Southern 

 and Northern Germany, ever since, with the most 

 successful results. The society was established 

 September 18, 1822. Its meetings are always in 

 autumn, and do not last longer than a week. Every 

 author of a work on natural philosophy or medicine 

 is considered a member ; inaugural dissertations, 

 however, are not considered as scientific works for 

 this purpose. No election of members takes place. 

 Whoever attends is a member for the time. Meet- 

 ings are always with open doors, and begin Septem- 

 ber 18. The members are divided into classes, who 

 meet by themselves, in addition to the general meet- 

 ings. Each year a president and secretary (the only 

 officers) are chosen for the next year. The associa- 

 tion makes no assessment, and holds no property 

 except its records. The expenses of the meeting 

 are defrayed by the members present. Men of 

 science from almost all parts of Europe have attended 

 Ihe last meetings, and, in 1829, when it was at Heidel- 

 berg, an invitation was received from the baron De 

 Ferussac, in Paris, requesting this association to co- 

 operate with the society who carry on the Universal 

 Bulletin, in Paris. See a more minute account of 

 this society in No. LXVII. of the North American 

 Review, with a translation of its constitution. 



NATURALIZATION. See Alien. 



NATURAL LAW, or, as it is commonly called, 

 the law of nature, is that system of principles, which 

 human reason has discovered to regulate the conduct 

 of man in all his various relations. Doctor Paley 

 defines it to be the science, which teaches men their 

 duty and the reasons of it. In its largest sense, it 

 comprehends natural theology, moral philosophy, and 

 political philosophy; in other words, it comprehends 

 man's duties to God, to himself, to other men, and as 

 a member of political society. The obligatory force 

 of the law of nature upon man is derived from its 

 presumed coincidence with the will of his Creator. 

 God has fashioned man according to his own good 

 pleasure, and has fixed the laws of his being, and 

 determined his powers and faculties. He has the 

 supreme right to prescribe the rules, by which man 

 shall regulate his conduct, and the means, by which 

 he shall obtain happiness and avoid misery. He has 

 given to man the power of discerning between good 

 and evil, and a liberty of choice in the use of those 

 means, which lead to happiness or misery. The 

 whole duty of man therefore consists in two things 

 first, in making constant efforts to ascertain what is 

 the will of God ; and, secondly, in obedience to that 

 will when ascertained. For the purposes of the pre- 



sent article, we shall assume, without undertaking to 

 prove, that there is a God of infinite power, know- 

 ledge, wisdom, benevolence, justice, and mercy ; that 

 he has created man with suitable powers and faculties 

 to pursue and obtain happiness ; that man is a moral, 

 dependent, and accountable being ; that his soul is 

 immortal ; that his ultimate happiness or misery is 

 dependent upon his own conduct ; that there is a 

 future state of retribution, in which the inequalities 

 of the present life will be adjusted according to 

 supreme wisdom and goodness ; that, by a right ap- 

 plication of his powers and faculties, man may always 

 discern and pursue his duty ; that virtue, or doing 

 good to mankind in obedience to the will of God, has 

 attached to it the reward of everlasting happiness; 

 and that vice, or doing wrong in disobedience to that 

 will, is, by the very constitution of man's nature, 

 necessarily connected with suffering and misery, 

 directly or ultimately. In short, that man cannot be 

 permanently happy by the practice of vice, and must 

 be permanently happy by the practice of virtue. We 

 shall assume these propositions, not because they are 

 not susceptible of complete proof, but because, not 

 being intended to be discussed in this place, they 

 nevertheless form the basis of the subsequent remarks. 

 From the moral government of God, and the moral 

 capacity and accountability of man, we deduce his 

 general rights and duties. 1. His duties towards 

 God. In the just performance of these duties consists 

 piety or devotion. In a large sense, indeed, every 

 performance of our duty is but a performance ot 

 some duty towards God ; since it is his will which 

 makes it a duty. But in the restrained sense, in which 

 we are accustomed to use the phrase, we refer it to 

 those duties of which God is peculiarly the object. 

 As he is our Creator, we owe him supreme worship 

 and reverence ; as he is our Benefactor, we owe 

 him constant gratitude and thankfulness ; as he is 

 our Lawgiver and Judge, we owe an unreserved 

 obedience to his commands. We are frail and de- 

 pendent beings, and we have constant reason to 

 implore his assistance, his mercy and his forgiveness. 

 Hence arises the duty of prayer, as a solemn recog- 

 nition of our dependence on God ; as a means of 

 religious improvement and of cultivating devout 

 affections ; as an effectual instrument of communing 

 with our own hearts ; as a source of consolation 

 under the afflictions oY life ; and as an exercise of 

 piety fitted to give a spiritual elevation to our 

 thoughts, and a livelier and more enduring sense of 

 our duty. From the same causes also flow the duty 

 of public and social worship ; of maintaining religious 

 institutions ; of aiding in the diffusion of religious 

 knowledge ; and of keeping in view, in all our words 

 and actions, an habitual and reverential fear of God. 

 2. The duties of man towards himself, or those 

 which terminate in himself. Among these we may 

 enumerate the duty of personal holiness ; of self- 

 preservation ; of temperance ; of humility ; of per- 

 sonal improvement in knowledge, wisdom, and 

 virtue ; and of preserving a conscience void of 

 offence towards God and towards man.- 3. The 

 duties of man towards other men, or what are 

 called his relative duties, arising from the various 

 relations, which he sustains or may sustain to- 

 wards others. Now these duties flow from the 

 correspondent rights of others. And this leads us 

 to the consideration of the different sorts of rights. 

 Rights are usually divided into such as ane natural 

 or adventitious, alienable or inalienable, perfect or 

 imperfect. We call those rights natural, which be- 

 long to all mankind, and result from our very nature 

 and condition; such are a man's right to his life, limbs, 

 and liberty, to the produce of his personal labour, 

 at least to the extent of his present wants, and to 



