258 ON THE HUMAN FACULTIES, 



and which, independently of other important 

 purposes, appear to have been placed in the way 

 of man, to compensate him for the deficiencies 

 which so obviously predominate in his natural 

 character. 



Our experience has taught us that the world, 

 as at present created, was not intended to give 

 to man a negative place in its concerns; nor as, 

 in the other parts of animated nature, simply to 

 supply his wants as the necessities of the mo- 

 ment suggested ; but that he should progressively, 

 and by the dint of his own labour and ingenuity, 

 discover the means, not only of obtaining sub- 

 sistence, but also of occupying his mind in those 

 various directions, that were to give character to 

 his species; and by enlarging its powers, and 

 increasing its knowledge, prepare him for the 

 higher destinies which await him. 



The globe, therefore, has not been constructed 

 internally upon those simple principles, which 

 might have been sufficient for a more limited 

 creation; nor are the animals and vegetables 

 that adorn its surface, exclusively adapted to the 

 mere preservation of life; but admit of a diver- 

 sity of other applications, the operation of many of 

 which, cannot be brought within any of the na- 

 tural laws that we are acquainted with ; but 

 require some superior agency to discover and 

 call into use the capabilities of which they are 

 susceptible. 



