106 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



and the supply of external objects fitted to pro- 

 duce it. 



" But either of these, and still more, both of 

 them, being too much to be attributed to accident, 

 nothing remains but the first supposition, that God, 

 when he created the human species, wished their 

 happiness ; and made for them the provision 

 which he has made, with that view and for that 

 purpose, 



" The same argument may be proposed in dif- 

 ferent terms ; thus : Contrivance proves design ; 

 and the predominant tendency of the contrivance 

 indicates the disposition of the designer. The 

 world abounds with contrivances ; and all the con- 

 trivances which we are acquainted with are di- 

 rected to beneficial purposes. Evil, no doubt, ex- 

 ists ; but is never, that we can perceive, the object 

 of contrivance. Teeth are contrived to eat, not 

 to ache ; their aching now and then is incidental 

 to the contrivance, perhaps inseparable from it : 

 or even, if you will, let it be called a defect in the 

 contrivance ; but it is not the object of it. This 

 is a distinction which well deserves to be attend- 

 ed to. In describing implements of husbandry, 

 you would hardly say of the sickle, that it is made 

 to cut the reaper*s hand : though from the con- 

 struction of the instrument, and the manner of 

 using it, this mischief often follows. But if you 

 had occasion to describe instruments of torture, or 

 execution, — this engine, you would say, is to ex- 

 tend the sinews : this to dislocate the joints: this 



