FINAL CAUSES. 351 



knew it to be for men to entertain such an 

 opinion. His advice is 



Illud in his rebus vitium vehementer et istum 

 Effugere errorem, vitareque prcemeditator, 

 Lumina ne facias oculorum clara creata, 

 Prospicere ut possimus. iv. 823. 



'Gainst their preposterous error guard thy mind 

 Who say each organ was for use design'd ; 

 Think not the visual orbs, so clear, so bright, 

 Were furnish'd for the purposes of sight. 



Undoubtedly the poet is so far right, that a 

 most " vehement" caution and vigilant " pre- 

 meditation" are necessary to avoid the " vice 

 and error" of such a persuasion. The study of 

 the adaptations of the human frame is so con- 

 vincing, that it carries the mind with it, in spite 

 of the resistance suggested by speculative sys- 

 tems. Cabanis, a modern French physiological 

 writer of great eminence, may be selected as a 

 proof of this. Both by the general character of 

 his own speculations, and by the tone of think- 

 ing prevalent around him, the consideration of 

 design in the works of nature was abhorrent from 

 his plan. Accordingly, he joins in repeating 

 Bacon's unfavourable mention of final causes. 

 Yet when he comes to speak of the laws of 

 reproduction of the human race, he appears to 

 feel himself compelled to admit the irresistible 

 manner in which such views force themselves 

 on the mind. *' I regard," he says, " with the 



