viii THEISM; EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY 171 



" Were men led into the apprehension of invisible, intel- 

 ligent power, by a contemplation of the works of nature, 

 they could never possibly entertain any conception but of 

 one single being, who bestowed existence and order on this 

 vast machine, and adjusted all its parts according to one 

 regular plan or connected system. For though, to persons 

 of a certain turn of mind, it may not appear altogether ab- 

 surd, that several independent beings, endowed with su- 

 perior wisdom, might conspire in the contrivance and exe- 

 cution of one regular plan, yet is this a merely arbitrary 

 supposition, which, even if allowed possible, must be con- 

 fessed neither to be supported by probability nor necessity. 

 All things in the universe are evidently of a piece. Every- 

 thing is adjusted to everything. One design prevails 

 throughout the whole. And this uniformity leads the mind 

 to acknowledge one author ; because the conception of 

 different authors, without any distinction of attributes or 

 operations, serves only to give perplexity to the imagina- 

 tion, without bestowing any satisfaction on the understand- 

 ing." (IV. p. 442.) 



Thus Hume appears to have sincerely accepted 

 the two fundamental conclusions of the argument 

 from design; firstly, that a Deity exists; and, 

 secondly, that He possesses attributes more or less 

 allied to those of human intelligence. But, at this 

 embryonic stage of theology, Hume's progress is 

 arrested; and, after a survey of the development 

 of dogma, his " general corollary " is that 



" The whole is a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mys- 

 tery. Doubt, uncertainty, suspense of judgment, appear 

 the only result of our most accurate scrutiny concerning 

 this subject. But such is the frailty of human reason and 

 such the irresistible contagion of opinion, that even this 

 deliberate doubt could scarcely be upheld ; did we not en- 



