128 NATURAL HISTOEY 



History 'a general harmony, such as ancient philoso- 

 phers saw in other departments of nature, and regard- 

 ed as proof of an intelligent author ; and to the com- 

 mon mind the argument from special adaptation 

 will always be convincing far more so than those 

 higher speculations and proofs from our mental 

 constitution. So long as men can observe Mature 

 more easily than they can study their own minds, 

 so long will they be more convinced by the general 

 argument, as presented by Paley, than by the 

 intellectual and moral nature of man, which some 

 consider the only proof of a personal God. There 

 is, to say the least, a charm about the argument, and 

 it seems to us to have force. When we see special 

 adaptations, not occurring once merely, nor in one 

 kingdom, but in hundreds of instances adaptations 

 that we might never have thought of, but acknowl- 

 edge to be worthy of the greatest genius the 

 mind goes up to a personal God. The mental 

 philosopher may stand there and utter his warning, 

 he may say that the whole argument is a begging 

 of the question ; the answer practically will be this 

 "There are in nature adaptations worthy of the 



