1 lO Chemical Phllosophi/. 



pies, to account for all the phenomena of motion^ 

 life, and viind; and on those very facts which 

 clearly prove w^ise design, and the superintending 

 care of an infinite Intelligence, have attempted 

 to build a fabric of atheistical philosophy. This is 

 a remarkable instance of those oppositions of set- 

 €7ice falsely so called^ of v^hich an inspired writer 

 speaks, and for which the past age has been re- 

 markably distinguished. 



How far the present fashionable system of 

 chemical doctrine and language may stand the 

 test of future experiments, and command the 

 assent of future generations, is far from being cer- 

 tain. He who has attended to the course of things 

 in the short space of time since it was published, 

 will see little reason to expect for it that undis- 

 turbed and permanent reign which its advocates 

 have fondly hoped. It is somewhere remarked 

 by Lord Bacon, that the sciences are apt to suffer 

 by being too soon reduced to a system. There are 

 probably few sciences to which this remark ap- 

 plies with such peculiar force as to chemistry. 

 The structure at present most popular is fair and 

 beautiful. An engaging simplicity reigns in al- 

 most every part. But many believe that this sim- 

 plicity is deceptive. Some of the doctrines which 

 hold an important place in the fabric are too vague 

 and conjectural to be admitted with full confi- 

 dence, and others are daily undergoing modifica- 

 tions, which threaten still further and more essen- 

 tial changes. Notwithstanding the mathematical 

 precision with which the sanguine chemist affects 

 to speak of his axioms, yet how discordant are 

 the results of different experiments ! These facts, 

 it must be acknowledged, " betray the lameness 

 of some received principles, and excite suspicions 

 with respect to the legitimacy of some capital 

 analyses." But the enlightened and enterprizing 



